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Soliciting
June 3, 2008
During the Courtesy of the Floor portion of the agenda, Jennifer Whiteman and a neighbor read a statement complaining about the repeated presence of people soliciting in her neighborhood; she said that she had been approached three times. She had made several calls to the police department and also to the town clerk's office which issues permits for solicitors.
She wanted the town to revoke the permits of people who violated the conditions of the permit, such as ringing doorbells after 8pm, or returning to the same house more than one time. She also wanted the police to do more thorough background checks before permits were issued and in general felt that the town's existing code governing soliciting needed to be looked at and possibly revised.
At the conclusion of Courtesy of the Floor, Supervisor Peters explained that this has been a problem since the 1970s when he was on the police force. He said that the board will take a look at the code at a work session.
Town Clerk Alice Roker explained that solicitors had rights to do what they were doing but that she could, and actually has, revoked permits if she is informed that a specific solicitor is violating the conditions of their permit. She said the company that was currently sending out solicitors was Paragon Sales, which was the same company that Ms. Whiteman noted had been the subject of a negative article in the Journal News.
March 24, 2009, work session
Picking up on an issue raised last summer, Town Clerk Alice Roker discussed possible changes in the town's local law regulating peddlers. She noted that non profit groups are exempt for being required to get a permit although they are bound by other sections of the law, such as restrictions on when the peddlers can go door to door. She said she was mindful that an outright ban on peddlers would likely be a violation of the First Amendment but that if a person didn't want a peddler on their property they should post a sign. Police Chief Daniel McMahon said that ignoring such a sign would constitute trespass and would be a violation of the law. Ms. Roker said she would have some signs made up.
One of the proposed changes would be to require the police to do a finger print check before a license was issued in addition to the existing requirement that the police do a background check. The town could charge a fee for the finger printing and it was suggested that $35 would be an appropriate amount. A second change would be to limit the hours of operation to 5pm instead of the current language that says until sundown.
Ms. Roker will work with the town attorney on the proposed changes.
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