West Warwick Town Council reverses course, votes ‘no’ to panhandling signs

The Town council in West Warwick was trying to do something different to curb panhandling in the town, but a passed proposal suddenly reversed course as concerned residents got heated about the issue Tuesday.

Last month, the proposal to hang signs around town to discourage panhandling and encourage donations to charities passed the council without any issues.

But Tuesday night the council reversed its decision and those signs will not be hung up around town.

The idea came from Council President David Gosselin and in July’s meeting the full council voted in favor of it.

It’s a touchy subject and Tuesday there was a lot of emotion about it.

Gosselin insisted that the proposal was aimed at keeping the streets safe.

"We don’t know who is on the corners and we don’t know why they’re at the corners," Gosselin said. "I’ve seen it and other people have seen it."

Gosselin went on to say that there isn’t a giant problem in the town, but some residents said it’s a pointless proposal because there is no problem.

Others said it demonizes the poor.

Gosselin told ABC 6 they reversed course because of the concern of some residents, but he still would be in favor of putting up the signs.

Since they decided against the signs, the council would like to see more mental health and addiction services as a long term plan.