Mayors unsatisfied with panhandling bill

by Krystal Paco

Guam - Bill 75 could put an end to panhandling, at least on the island's busy intersections. Senators Tina Muna Barnes and Brant McCreadie introduced the legislation last week on behalf of the Mayors Council of Guam, but at today's council meeting, mayors expressed concerns with its current language.

Ordot-Chalan Pago mayor Jesse Gogue says the bill needs more restrictions. "What this is saying is that we're not stopping panhandling," he said. "It's just this aggressive method of panhandling. The subsection of law if anybody who does it has to have reflective vest they can't be younger than the age of 18, and so on and so forth, but none of that subsection of code has been integrated into this new bill."

Meanwhile, Merizo mayor Ernest Chargualaf hopes lawmakers will consider more than $200 fines for panhandling, but jail time. The bill was referred to Senator Tom Ada's Committee on Transportation.

A public hearing has yet to be scheduled.