Prince William panhandling initiative remains in flux

The future of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors’ crackdown on community panhandling remains uncertain.

The board voted unanimously last month to defer a $550,000 proposal on the issue, known as the Panhandling Response Initiative, to an undetermined date after county staff provided an update on the initiative’s progress. 

The county’s initial proposal included $324,000 for coordinated community safety response and outreach implementation, $16,000 for a communications and marketing plan and a $210,000 donation to Keep Prince William Beautiful, a local nonprofit, in fiscal 2025 to implement a pilot employment program.

During the board’s Oct. 8 meeting, Deputy County Executive for Health, Well-being and Environmental Sustainability Elijah Johnson outlined a plan to employ homeless community members as part of the pilot employment program. Johnson cited similar programs in Albuquerque, N.M., and Fairfax County that had proven fruitful. 

Under the program, people who are homeless would be employees of Keep Prince William Beautiful, not the county government, and would be paid $13 per hour over two days per week for local litter control work.

The proposal came on the heels of Republican Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega’s February directive instructing the county attorney to write legislation to once more ban panhandling in Prince William County. The practice was once prohibited in the county, but state and federal court cases ultimately ruled the local law was an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.

In an Oct. 23 email to InsideNoVa, Vega said the board was united in its hesitancy to move forward with the plan in its current state. 

“The prevailing sentiment was that it did not adequately address my original directive regarding safety measures for the transfer of items between vehicles and pedestrians on public roads,” Vega told InsideNoVa. “This remains a priority for me, and I look forward to further discussions with my colleagues, though I currently don’t have information on when that will take place.” 

On Oct. 8, Johnson said county staff have been listening to the board and the broader community on the issue, and they have witnessed a few close calls.

“Although we haven’t had incidents and people getting hit, panhandlers getting it, we have had near-misses – we do see people who are in the medians or in the streets that are panhandling,” Johnson said. 

During the meeting, Vega probed Johnson on the source of funding for the program. Johnson replied the county would be funding Keep Prince William Beautiful, with a hiring cap based on the board’s annual budget.

Later in the meeting, Republican Brentsville District Supervisor Tom Gordy stressed that the board needs to identify locations where panhandling is prevalent and install “better signage” at those locations, with a particular need to make it “bold.” 

Chair At-Large Deshundra Jefferson, a Democrat, concurred with Vega in concluding the proposal did not meet the latter’s original directive from February.

“We cannot always arrest our way out of a problem,” Jefferson said.

Vega noted harassing and arresting panhandlers “was never the intent of the initiative.”  

Republican Gainesville District Supervisor Bob Weir was in line with his colleagues. “I think we’re setting this up to fail…we’ve been accused of criminalizing panhandling – that was not the directive," he said.

When several supervisors expressed skepticism regarding the proposal, Gordy attempted to resurrect the communications and marketing section of the plan provided additional funding be allocated. 

“I agree that $16,000 does not go a long way,” Gordy said from the dais.

County Executive Christopher J. Shorter said he wanted to work with county staff to more deeply explore the communications section as a standalone facet of the proposal. 

Jefferson ultimately issued a directive instructing county staff to “[examine] the costs associated with signage, [identify] the necessary resources, and report their findings back to the board,” according to the board's minutes.

Responding to several supervisors’ earlier comments regarding gang-related crime, domestic violence and other issues in homeless encampments, Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny A. Boddye, a Democrat, expressed optimism regarding potential efforts to curb panhandling.

“As Elijah [Johnson] said, we’re not going to eradicate panhandling from Prince William County – it would be unrealistic to believe that,” Boddye said. “I believe that what we have at least are the building blocks of something that can really holistically tackle it at its root.”