I'm still waiting on her to make us proud.

Franklin signs ban on panhandling

By TY TAGAMIThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 08/22/05

Saying you want money for nothing is officially illegal in downtown Atlanta and at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
Mayor Shirley Franklin has quietly signed legislation that bans verbal panhandling in those tourist destinations.
The ordinance restricting "commercial solicitation" was adopted by city council Aug. 15 after two months of heated public hearings, where business people fed up with beggars were pitted against free speech advocates crusading for the homeless. Franklin signed it Friday and is expected to deliver it to the city clerk's office today.
The law makes it illegal to ask for money or other valuables in a public place "under circumstances where a reasonable person would understand that the purchase is a donation."
The Atlanta Police Department will begin enforcement immediately, said Lt. Trudy Boyce, the downtown day watch commander. That doesn't mean arrests will be immediate, but it does mean that a specially trained team of five officers could begin referring some panhandlers to social services Tuesday, she said.
It could take at least a month until the law is fully enforced, said David Edwards, a program management officer who handles special assignments for the mayor. Signs must be installed to clarify where the ban will be in effect, and police from other jurisdictions — MARTA, the Capitol police, the National Park Service and Georgia State University — must be notified, he said.
An all-out ban on verbal begging — one can still ask for money silently, with a sign — is in effect in a so-called "tourist triangle" that extends from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive northward to Ralph McGill Boulevard and from Marietta Street eastward to Piedmont Avenue.
Franklin wanted the downtown ban, and the council added the King site last week. That added area is enclosed by Auburn Avenue, Jackson Street, Irwin Street and