Virginia Ledford spoke quietly into the microphone in the Chattanooga City Council meeting Tuesday evening.
“Sometimes I panhandle,” she said. “I’m embarrassed to stand here talking to y’all about it. I freeze, sometimes I burn up, standing at the corner. The reason I do that is because I don’t have enough money to pay my bills and get food for myself and my animals.
“I only get $54 in food stamps a month,” Ledford said, beginning to weep. “Please, don’t stop the panhandling. Don’t put people in jail for panhandling.”
Ledford was among more than a dozen people who came to the council to protest plans to enact a citywide ordinance against “aggressive” panhandling. It allows police to issue $50 citations to beggars who block someone’s path, touch or yell at them. It doesn’t apply to people who merely ask for money without acting to stop or intimidate passersby.
The ordinance has been in place since 2002 in the downtown tourism and restaurant district, but police Chief David Roddy last week asked the council to extend it citywide. That would keep aggressive beggars from just relocating, he said, and would give his officers a reason to check them for warrants or to offer them services.