SANTA MONICA : Initiative Drive Urges Crackdown on Panhandlers

A group of Santa Monica residents is seeking to place a public safety initiative on the November ballot that includes provisions to crack down on aggressive panhandling and close the parks earlier at night.

The measure is being sponsored by a group that calls itself Citizens for Safe Parks and Streets. Leaders of the petition drive include the president of the Santa Monica Police Officers Assn., Steven Brackett, Sunset Park activist Jean Sedillos and Los Angeles prosecutor Ruth Ebner.

Among other things, the initiative would require beggars to stay at least three feet from the people they approach for money and to refrain from panhandling near bank automated teller machines or in public parking garages.