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Newspaper Hawkers Oppose Street Solicitation Ban
Carl Orth/SUNCOAST
Wendy Burress of Holiday was among newspaper vendors who spoke out Tuesday, Jan. 27, against proposed county regulations that would ban roadside solicitations. Pasco County commissioners assured the newspaper vendors they would be exempt from any roadside solicitation rule changes.
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Published: January 27, 2009
NEW PORT RICHEY - Dozens of newspaper street vendors made some headlines of their own today by protesting possible changes in Pasco County rules.
Vendors from across the county passionately testified before the Pasco County Commission, which has been considering a ban on roadside solicitations.
The ranks of protesters today included one New Port Richey woman pregnant with twins. She and many other people rely on the income from Sunday newspaper sales at street corners, the woman said.
"We got the message loud and clear," Commissioner Ted Schrader said after listening to numerous pleas. "I don't want to put more people out of work."
Commissioners pledged to exempt newspaper street vendors from any changes in regulations on roadside sales. The possible changes had been intended to control solicitors for charitable groups who dart in and out of traffic, Commissioner Pat Mulieri said.
The vendors, also known as hawkers in newspaper industry parlance, have become a familiar sight to area drivers. The vendors stand in medians at intersections along U.S. 19 and Little Road and other major Pasco roadways selling Sunday editions of daily newspapers.
The roadside vendors are trained and wear safety vests, one newspaper wholesaler noted.
Wendy Burress of Holiday pushed her baby in a stroller up to the podium at the County Commission today. A ban on street sales of newspapers would only add to the Pasco unemployment rate, she argued.
After failing to find a job, she and her husband turned to newspaper hawking to earn a living, Burress said. There are seven vendors in her neighborhood alone, she said.
"Why would you want to stop people from helping themselves?" she asked commissioners. "Would you like more homeless, more hungry, more jobless, more foreclosures?"
A Dade City construction worker told commissioners he had been out of work for three years and had been living in a tent before taking up newspaper hawking.
A Port Richey man said he used the extra income from newspapers sales to help his mother, who has breast cancer, pay her bills.
Commissioners also heard from a roadside vendor who sells peanuts.
Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.
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