CLEARLAKE, Calif. – This week the Clearlake City Council will consider how to address a growing panhandling problem in the city of Clearlake and have a new discussion on whether to allow dogs in city parks.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 24, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
In a report to the council, City Manager Joan Phillipe recommends that staff prepare an ordinance to deal with panhandling.
“Several officers in the police department have taken the initiative to be proactive in addressing a growing panhandling problem in the city before there is a serious consequence,” she wrote.
She said officers have received increased complaints from citizens and businesses about panhandling, a practice which the city code doesn't address, which leaves the police department “without a full set of tools to address the problem.”
It's also significant to note, said Phillipe, that state law doesn't specifically address panhandling.
City staff has researched how other cities have addressed the problem, and that information can be used for a draft ordinance, she suggested.
She said panhandling can bring with it a number of safety concerns, can sometimes be confrontational or harassing, and also can affect businesses and the community at large.
In other business, the council will take up a matter it discussed last September involving whether city municipal code should be amended to allow dogs in city parks.
It was a majority of the council's conclusion at the September meeting that the city code be left as it was for the time being. Council members who opposed the change were concerned about safety and hygiene.
In her report to the council on the item, Phillipe – who arrived in the city last October – said that she researched the September meeting and also previous staff efforts on the topic, and found a draft ordinance from 2009 that addresses many of the concerns the council had last fall.
Phillipe's report includes a copy of that two-page 2009 draft ordinance, which previously has not been presented to the council.
Considering that draft ordinance is one of three options she suggests to the council, along with leaving the municipal code as it is or providing a dog park on an as-yet undetermined property.
Also on Thursday, the council will designate voting delegates and alternates for the League of California Cities' annual conference in September.
In addition, three presentations will take place honoring the Clearlake Police Officer of the Year, 2012 Stars of Lake County Award winners Bill stone, Alvaro Valencia and Eli Wade; and Lake County Office of Education Workability Crew.
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