St. Petersburg mayoral candidates detail positions on the homeless

Most mayor candidate espouse getting tough on vagrants

Here are more details about the positions of the candidates on the homeless.

Jamie Bennett, 57, City Council member: Would expand the no-panhandling zone from just a part of downtown to Central Avenue, from Beach Drive to U.S. 19.

Paul Congemi, 52, homeless advocate: Has pledged to create more shelters. Said anti-panhandling laws should be tougher but did not elaborate.

Kathleen Ford, 52, a lawyer: Would consider expanding the no-panhandling zone. Her police department would also aggressively go after panhandlers on roadways.

Bill Foster, 46, a lawyer: Would consider prohibiting begging throughout downtown. He would ask city attorneys to figure out how to ban repeat offenders from an area.

Deveron Gibbons, 36, business executive: Would ban panhandling on interstate exits across the city and make police more visible.

Ed Helm, 64, a retired lawyer: The only candidate against aggressive enforcement. Instead, he said would he would attempt to copy a program in Daytona Beach that provides homeless participants with jobs and housing in exchange for cleaning up city roads. He would also attempt to create more living wage jobs by working with small business owners and eco-tourism operators. "If someone asks me for help, I help them," said Helm. "That's how I was raised."

Scott Wagman, 56, real estate investor: Would create a volunteer civilian patrol, dressed in brightly colored T-shirts, to inform people downtown why they shouldn't give directly to the homeless. Wagman, who plans to hire 100 more police officers in four years, said he would make sure officers walked around downtown so they could more easily catch and deter offenders. He would explore creating a community court to address repeat offenders.

John Warren, 60, restaurateur: Would give business owners some control over the sidewalks in front of their stores so panhandlers could be cited for trespassing, expand no-panhandling zone and make police more visible.

Larry Williams, 64, a business owner: Would ask other cities what they are doing. Potential lawsuits would not deter him. "Bring it," said Williams.

Wagman, Bennett and Richard Eldridge, 47, a medical student: Would push new education campaigns to persuade donors to give directly to social service agencies. "We can certainly put it on TV, and we can certainly tell people," said Bennett.

Ford, Bennett, Foster and Gibbons said they would also work with local social service agencies to help get vagrants off the streets. Ford said she would give developers incentives to create more affordable housing and ask churches to house homeless families.