Panhandling out of control

Spokane, we have a problem. Seven months ago, I moved from the South Hill to downtown to be closer to my part-time job. I have found feces on stairwells, urine, syringes, passed-out drug- or alcohol-addled individuals on sidewalks. Not in alleys or under shrubs, but on streets like Main and Howard, Howard and Sprague, and other areas where hard-working families and tourists visit and shop. They are being panhandled, bummed and hassled; forced to cross the street to avoid these individuals, and their dogs and filth.

A few blocks west, take a walk south on Cedar and observe the number of broken passenger-side vehicle glass on the sidewalks. Careful you don’t trip over the sleeping man or woman under the railroad overpass. Today, there was a broken car window across from KHQ on Sprague. How do we clean it up, and quickly?

Jim Bickel

Spokane