About 25 people showed up to a sit-in at the Main Street breezeway in Penticton Tuesday in support of a local street person facing court action from city hall over a panhandling dispute.
Though Paul Braun hasn鈥檛 been at his regular spot in the breezeway as often lately, he was at his perch Tuesday by noon, with a cohort of supporters slowly filtering in, including his legal representative, Paul Varga, who sat beside him.
鈥淭hey all know what鈥檚 going on. It鈥檚 no secret,鈥� Braun said of his supporters, adding it felt good to have a show of solidarity. 鈥淭he only people that think it鈥檚 wrong is the city. And they think it鈥檚 wrong while standing in front of the (kindness) meter that鈥檚 doing the same thing.鈥�
Related:
Between noon and 12:30 p.m., the crowd grew to about 25 from 15, as supporters slowly trickled in and out and passed by offering hugs, while one attendee even made a pot of soup for the small rally.
鈥淚 think that it鈥檚 not right that people are targeted just because they don鈥檛 have a job or they鈥檙e homeless or what have you,鈥� said Sherri Morrison, who brought the soup. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen a lot of street people, and I鈥檝e walked by Paul many times and he鈥檚 never said a mean thing or been aggressive.鈥�
Christine Volk, one of the organizers of the Monday night dinners for the homeless in Nanaimo Square, said she showed up to bring more awareness to the issue, saying she has seen negativity toward the homeless population in other instances, herself.
Related:
鈥淐ertainly, reading in the news, you can see in the articles all the time 鈥� where people are talking against the homeless. You know, 鈥榳hy are they here, close down things so that they鈥檒l move on,鈥欌�� she said.
鈥淓ven at Nanaimo Square we鈥檝e had some trouble, where the bylaw would like it moved to another location because people want to, in their words, 鈥榯ake back the square,鈥� but it is a public place. These are the citizens of our town, and we need to have compassion because that could be any of us.鈥�
That was a sentiment shared by another attendee, who said there aren鈥檛 enough housing alternatives for someone if they lose a source of income.
鈥淲here do we go then? We don鈥檛 have alternatives in Penticton. Where is there a decent place to rent? $1,200 a month is not low income,鈥� Betty Mahar said. 鈥淭hey make tickets up at the office, and then they throw them in his lap when going by. That鈥檚 pathetic.鈥�
Related:
The city has handed Braun eight $110 tickets for violating section 5.2 of the , which prohibits panhandling 鈥渋n a manner to cause an obstruction,鈥� which is defined as being within 10 metres of a pedestrian walkway.
Braun has not paid the tickets, amounting to $880 in total, and the city handed him a subpoena to appear in court in late fall last year. Though Varga has characterized the city鈥檚 tack on the issue as a 鈥渨ar on the homeless,鈥� the city took aim at that phrasing in a public statement released Tuesday in advance of the sit-in.
鈥淣othing could be further from the truth. Mr. Braun is not homeless and has a residence,鈥� the city鈥檚 statement read, referring to Braun now living at the Fairhaven social housing project.
鈥淢r. Braun continues to defy the Bylaw and has rejected what the media has quoted as a 鈥榮weetheart deal鈥� from the city prosecutor that would require Mr. Braun to simply comply with the bylaw.鈥�
Related:
The 鈥渟weetheart deal鈥� the city mentioned refers to the wording city lawyer Troy DeSouza used to describe a city offer to cut the legal action if Braun agrees to pay $100 and obey the bylaw, and Varga took issue with the city referencing the offer.
鈥淢y understanding of our negotiations was between the city鈥檚 lawyer and myself, and not between the media and him,鈥� Varga said. 鈥淣ow, if he鈥檚 wanting to release the details on that without prejudice communication, I guess you should release the whole thing.鈥�
DeSouza has also taken aim at Varga in the past for speaking to the media about the case, telling the court in a hearing last week it was the city鈥檚 鈥減reference to try this in the court of law,鈥� not the court of public opinion.
The issue is set to go to trial from Sept. 11-14, with a pretrial conference set for late June.
Related:
dustin.godfrey@pentictonwesternnews.com
Like us on and follow us on .
