I would like to sincerely thank City Councilmember Virginia Haugen for her interest in the letter I wrote to the Auburn Reporter (“The day the music stopped,” April 2). It is rare to find a public servant who takes the time to read and address the issues her constituency cares about. She should be commended for this.

Unfortunately, I do take umbrage with Haguen’s reasoning for dismissing my concern.

In her response, Haugen states that Auburn has made “panhandling” illegal and that police officers are there to enforce the law. This reasoning prompted me to review the city ordinances. One chapter directly addresses the issue. It states, “it is unlawful for any person to engage in aggressive begging in any public place in the city.”

It further defines the act of aggressive begging, which I will paraphrase, as begging with intent to intimidate or mislead, begging in an unsafe manner either to the beggar or the recipient of the begging, begging that exploits children, and begging that provides services or products that are unwanted or unrequested and then demanding payment for them through the exertion of pressure.

I agree with Haugen: aggressive begging is a nuisance and a blight to the city, and the law, as it reads, should be enforced. My issues come when we apply this definition to the situation in question. A young man playing a saxophone in-between storefronts hardly constitutes aggressive begging. His act meets none of the criteria for aggressive begging defined in the ordinance.

At no point have I witnessed this man exert any pressure or attempt to intimidate any patron. He poses no risk to himself or others, and I have yet to see him exploit a child in his act. His playing of a musical instrument, at worst, could constitute a passive request for pocket change with no recourse if payment is not received.

So where exactly does this young man break the law? Do we punish him because he chooses a nontraditional way of expressing his talent with the city? Are we afraid that he will influence others and our fair city will be inundated with street musicians? Or, has Auburn become so callous and skeptical that we fear even those who clearly pose us no harm and dismiss them into the periphery?

– Timothy McCabe