CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - For a Navy veteran with kidney disease, playing guitar on the side of the street has become the only way to pay for healthy food.
"People are always calling the police for no reason just because they think we are eyesores," said Kevin Morgan, who said he served on the USS Ranger CV-61 aircraft carrier.
Morgan plays music and accepts donations on Providence Boulevard.
But recently that's become complicated. A Clarksville city ordinance passed in October has made solicitation and hand-to-hand transactions on the side of the road illegal.
According to the new law, violators will incur $50 in fines plus court costs.
Morgan receives $60 a month in food stamps but is unable to buy healthy food out of it.
"I have to buy hot dogs and stuff like that, which is not healthy. So I am either going to die miserably or I try to be healthy for the rest of my days," Morgan said.
He said his life expectancy is around five more years.
"I am trying to eat well. The law doesn't give a darn," Morgan said. "The City Council thinks it is a safety issue, but I'm not on the street."
The panhandling law passed 9-2 on Sept. 6. Councilman Wallace Redd and Councilman David Allen voted against it.
The ordinance states, "No person shall use or occupy any portion of the public right-of-way ... for the purpose of storing or exhibiting any goods, merchandise or materials (or) selling or attempting to sell, any goods, merchandise or other materials, or any services."
Councilwoman Deanna McLaughlin additionally suggested imposing a fine on drivers who hand anything out a window to a standing pedestrian, but that failed 3-8.
Law enforcement response
Clarksville Police Chief Al Ansley said there has been only one crash involving a panhandler.
"Standing on the side of the road is not against the law; there has to be some type of transaction," he said.
According to Ansley, police are permitted by the ordinance to issue citations if they see a violation of the law. But he said a panhandling law is tough to enforce.
He said refusal to pay a speeding ticket could incur a charge in the state court, but the panhandling ordinance does not have a backup on a state level.
There is no state law against a person standing on the side of the road holding a sign.
Possible reversion?
Councilman-elect Tim Chandler said he wants to look at reversing the law after he takes office in January.
"I think it is something that needs to be revisited," Chandler said. "I don't know how long the process will be, but it is something that I strongly feel needs to be revisited."
That would be good news to Morgan. Since the law went into effect in October, he said he has been bringing in only about $7 to $10 every four to five hours.
He hasn't been charged the $50 fine. But he couldn't afford to pay it or the court costs anyway, he said.
"Court costs means $500. I don't have any money to buy food, I don't have that kind of money."
Morgan said he has tried asking for food from local churches and nonprofit organizations. The food they usually offer, however, doesn't match his limited diet.
Sometimes people bring him potato chips and burgers, which he cannot eat.
"That is all processed and salt. I can eat apples, carrots, protein, chicken," he said. "I buy turkey, it lasts two weeks."
Literally singing for his supper remains his best option.
Morgan said he sits at various places around town and plays and sings, but he often gets kicked out.
The ordinance does not apply to private property, but that doesn't help.
"I just don't know a private property anywhere that will let me do that," Morgan said.
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Information from: The Leaf-Chronicle, http://www.theleafchronicle.com