How long is the average traffic light? It seems like a long time, but it is usually 30 seconds, sometimes more. If you don’t get through in one cycle, it could be a minute or more?

Life is not like TiVo, where you can skip past the unwanted or unpleasant parts. But a city that strives for sustainability does not only try to address symptoms of challenges, it addresses the root causes as best it can.

In the case of our woeful economy, there is not much the city of Auburn can do, especially when former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan suggests it is the worst economy he has ever seen, as he told ABC News on Sunday, Sept. 14.

So, when it comes to what was called in this paper aggressive panhandling, the city can only make sure there are resources for the truly needy.

The city has assisted the work of the Auburn Food Bank to the point where it is a model for such projects and it is run by someone who believes in the concept of Christian charity, which speaks much louder than any words can.

Is it legal to be aggressive? No. Are more laws needed to handle such panhandlers, or is this another case for that old Libertarian bumper sticker that says, “There Ought to be a Law” and the word Law is crossed out and the word choice is pasted in.

You decide.

There always will be folks looking for a handout, rather than a chance. In a free society, we must put up with them and work to fix the systems that make food too expensive for many.

Encouraging local agriculture is one step a truly sustainable city takes. More on that in future columns.

For resources on Sustainability in Auburn see www.SustainableAuburn.org.

Paul Nelson, M.A., is the founding director of www.GlobalVoicesRadio.org