Police Chief Murray Rodd was on the show this week. He kicked off what will become a weekly feature on the morning show about our great downtown.
It really is a cool downtown that we have in Peterborough. It wasn't that long ago you could have shot a cannon ball down George Street after 8pm on any given night and not hit a soul. Today there are amazing shows at Showplace, Market Hall, Gordon Best, Peterborough Theatre Guild, etc. And the restaurants. I now run into business contacts in the GTA who identify Peterborough with their new favorite restaurant they discovered the last time they were at the cottage. I love our downtown restaurants.
Ok, that's some of the good stuff about our downtown. On the negative side, I'm like a lot of people who are concerned with the increasing number of panhandlers downtown; especially the well-dressed young men who seem to only hit the streets late Saturday afternoon. Hmmm. Saturday night party money possibly?
I know some of the true 'regulars' by first name. They're not bad people and I struggle with a pang of guilt when I turn down their request for cash. But I know for a fact that millions in tax dollars and donated dollars fund local organizations that exist only to help those who are hungry and homeless. That's not a cop out. That's reality. Another reality is that the money you're giving to panhandlers is not going to the basic necessities like food and clothing. So we're not helping at all when we give to panhandlers. In fact we're hurting them. Chief Rodd told me of a panhandling local who said he likely would have tried to get his life turned around sooner if it hadn't been so easy to get money on streets of this city.
We're nice people here in Peterborough. But nice people are often easy marks. So, if you want to make the downtown panhandling problem disappear and really help people, please, stop the charity!