Panhandlers: Asking Our Elected Officials

Update: County Attorney Denise Nieman responded. See bottom of this article.

Mary Lou Berger
Mary Lou Berger

Having received numerous complaints from readers about panhandlers, we decided to contact our elected officials to see if they have anything meaningful to say on the subject. Here’s our letter to the County Commissioners Steven Abrams and Mary Lou Berger, along with County Attorney Denise Nieman and a few others.
Steven Abrams
Steven Abrams

Commissioners Abrams and Berger,
West Boca News receives frequent complaints from our readers about panhandlers, mainly at intersections.
I see them often myself at major intersections. Complaints relate to most major intersections on 441, Glades Road, Palmetto Park Road and more.
Since you are the county elected officials for West Boca, I’d like to ask you some questions on behalf of our readers regarding panhandlers and panhandling.
Do you consider panhandling to be a problem?
What, if anything, should the county do about it?
What, if anything, have you done about it?
I’ve included others as cc’s on this message, including the County Attorney, West Boca Community Council, and a few people in PBSO.
If you prefer, I would be happy to meet with you in person in or near West Boca. Or maybe Ms. Scarborough could make this a topic for a Community Council meeting and you could attend.
Warren Redlich
West Boca News

Denise Nieman
Denise Nieman

We will wait to see if we get any response from them and will, of course, inform our readers what we hear.
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The response from the County Attorney follows:
This is a difficult issue that comes up regularly. The County has investigated and discussed panhandling many times throughout the years, including the possibility of enacting an ordinance. However, due to current laws and court cases, the County has not adopted an ordinance banning or regulating panhandling due to the difficulty of doing so within the parameters of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Marlene Everitt, a senior attorney in my office, is an expert on this topic, and has prepared a summary of the law that she recently shared with some concerned constituents. I hope this overview is helpful to you:

Streets, medians and sidewalks, hereinafter collectively referred to as ‘Right-of-Ways’ are traditional public forums and as such are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. This protection limits, but does not eliminate, a government’s ability to restrict the time, place and manner of activities in the Rights-of-Ways. However, the regulation must be the least restrictive means necessary to promote the health, safety and welfare of the public and apply equally to all individuals and groups attempting to use a public Rights of Way.
Under this analysis, it is impossible to allow some people or groups to use the Right-of-Ways and deny that right to others; irrespective of whether it is called loitering or vagrancy or whether it benefits the individual or group to which an individual belongs. Under current law, we cannot ban panhandlers from using the medians without banning firefighters and the Police Benevolent Association as well.

Notwithstanding the difficulty in prohibiting panhandling, the Board of County Commissioners has not given up on the issue. At the Commissioners’ request, staff will continue to keep abreast of what’s happening on the local, state and federal level and advise the Board of any updates or changes in the law.

Accident on Yamato Near Jog?

A reader called us to report lanes blocked on Yamato west of Jog Road with substantial police presence. We don’t see anything on Google Maps Traffic. However we did see these items on the county scanner from shortly after noon:
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Stations 52, 53 and 57 are all in West Boca. Station 53 indicates a traumatic injury, and that station is the closest to Yamato and Jog.
So far we do not have more information.

DUI Homicide Arrest from July Accident

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In July we reported on a fatal accident that occurred at the corner of Palmetto Park and 441. Police comments at the time suggested that Kelsey Cooper (above, 32) was to blame and that they suspected some kind of alcohol or drug impairment.
Court records show charges were filed against her on Monday and she was arrested on Tuesday. An appearance was scheduled for Wednesday morning but there’s no record in the system yet as to what happened. However, the Sheriff’s blotter shows that she was released on bond Wednesday afternoon.
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The charges against Ms. Cooper include both DUI Manslaughter and Negligent Vehicular Manslaughter. We have not seen the toxicology report, but the Palm Beach Post reported that it showed her blood-alcohol level was “three times the legal limit” and also that it showed “signs of cocaine.”
Of course Ms. Cooper is innocent at this stage of the process. Her reported address is in the Boca Pointe community, northeast of Powerline and SW 18th. We see no criminal history for her, other than a minor traffic ticket in 2012.
The case is vaguely similar to two other DUI Homicide cases we’ve reported on in the past. Bianca Fichtel’s case from an accident with a bicyclist on Yamato at I-95 is still pending. We also previously reported on the appellate dismissal of the case against Angela Stracar from an accident that occurred in front of Boca Isles on Cain Blvd.

Rollover Accident on Glades: Photos and Eyewitness Account

For most web browsers, clicking on any photo in this article will bring up a larger image.
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Around 2:30 pm today we were notified of an accident on Glades Road at Ponderosa, and we headed over. We spoke to an eyewitness, Andrew Setzer of Margate. He reported that the white commercial vehicle was headed northbound on Ponderosa, crossing Glades. There were two vehicles headed westbound. The one in the left lane saw the white vehicle and slowed to avoid it. It appeared that the woman driving the black car did not see it, as perhaps her view was blocked by the vehicle to her left.
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The black car “T-boned” into the white commercial vehicle, causing it to roll onto its side. As Mr. Setzer saw it, the white vehicle failed to yield right of way and the black car was not traveling at an excessive speed. Accidents like this can happen out of nowhere, and it can cause not only physical, and emotional harm but financial harm as well. If you find yourself in a car accident, although it might not be what you think of first, you might want to look into getting in touch with someone like Joye Law Firm as they might be able to help you ease the harm an accident can cause.
The intersection of Glades and Ponderosa is about 1.5 miles west of 441:

In the photo below you can see the dent in the side of the white commercial vehicle on its right (top) side.
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The black car sustained extensive damage as can be seen in the photos below:
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The woman driving the black car was taken by an ambulance soon after we arrived. You can see her on a stretcher in the photo below:
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The driver of the white vehicle, marked with “Universal Blinds & Shutters, Inc.,” was also taken by ambulance later on. Here he is on a stretcher. Please note that with both we made an effort not to show their faces in this article.
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We are happy to report that neither of the drivers appeared to be critically injured. Both appeared to be conscious and communicating with Fire Rescue workers. In accidents such as the ones in this post it could have ended a lot differently, thankfully it didn’t here. There are many who hesitate when it comes to getting compensation for their accident, unsure what to do next. However it could be helpful for their recovery, helping with hospital bills and providing other types of financial help to those who have been affect by an a car accident. It is important to look into whether or not you can claim on an accident since since there is a time limit on when you can claim. If you would like to find out more information, you might want to read up on the icbc claim time limit as well as other information that might be helpful for your case.
The Fire Rescue crew was active on the scene. We saw them taking care of some kind of fluid spill in the roadway:
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As usual you can click on any photos in this article to see a larger version.
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