A Warrenton woman is circulating an online petition to ask city officials to create an ordinance to end panhandling.Some call panhandlers, people who beg for money in public, a nuisance or a potential safety hazard. Others say complaints about panhandlers are cruel; they are people in need of help. There, too, is an argument that trying to ban panhandlers is a threat to free speech for them and the people who feel good about giving to them.People who panhandle do it for every reason imaginable, from poverty and homelessness to drug addiction or criminal history to just pulling a scam. Unfortunately, it’s difficult for anyone to know who they are passing by or giving their money to.Jennifer Schipper, a resident, is taking action. She wants to collect 50 signatures to submit to Warrenton Mayor Eric Schleuter to create an ordinance that would “clean up our streets and make them safer” from panhandlers.“Anyone who approaches a car in a lane of traffic endangers not just himself, but motorists on the roadway. This ordinance would apply to both the person asking for money/soliciting, and the motorist giving/accepting in the exchange. The offense would carry a penalty for both parties,” Schipper says in the petition email. The email comes with a link to petitions.moveon.org.The penalty is to be decided, Schipper said, as is specific wording for the ordinance she’s lobbying for. She believes a monetary penalty would act as a deterrent for panhandlers, especially if signs are posted in strategic areas around the city.Her complaints boil down to panhandlers leaving trash behind, risking injury to motorists and themselves and the question of whether or not they are genuinely in need.“There are quite a few with drug and crime issues,” said Schipper, who said she has been researching how other towns deal with panhandlers.She believes people who are really in need can get help by other means.“If they truly need shelter, there are places that can help with that,” Schipper said, adding there is help for people who really need food and work and panhandling should not be the better option for them.Agape in Warrenton is one of the places that would provide such services. Agape Executive Director Michelle Bernth said she has seen panhandlers at or near Walmart in Warrenton.“You see the occasional person. It’s not every day,” Bernth said. “What I don’t see is the same person there all the time. What you’re seeing, I think, are more transient people; people coming through on their way to somewhere else.”Bernth said Agape knows or at least is familiar with local people in need. She doesn’t recognize the people at Walmart asking for money.Agape’s stance is for everyone to be treated with compassion, kindness and respect.Warrenton Chief of Police Larry Ellard said Warrenton does not have a problem with panhandlers, but they do show up in town, mostly in and around Walmart near the Interstate 70 and Highway 47 intersection. He said Warrenton has an ordinance on solicitation. Although it does not specifically mention panhandlers, he said it applies to panhandlers.In short, the ordinance says anyone who solicits on public property of the city is guilty of a misdemeanor and people who want to solicit for charitable purposes must receive a written permit from the city.Police respond quickly to a complaint.“It gets addressed as soon as it comes up,” Ellard said.Panhandling has been a helpful tool for those in need. Conversely, it can be a tax-free income for anyone who has the gumption to make a career out of it.Schipper said she sees the same people panhandling around the Flying J Truck Center off I-70 at the 188 mile marker. Warren County Sheriff’s deputies patrol the area around Flying J. Sheriff Kevin Harrison said the county does not have laws specific to panhandling.Harrison said law enforcement is aware of certain individuals who panhandle there and are misrepresenting themselves to prey upon people’s sympathy.He added he has seen panhandlers get chased away by police just to watch them jump into a nice car and drive away.Harrison understands the dilemma for bystanders.“Some of these people collect significant amounts of money doing this,” he said. “(And) some people are genuinely in need, and you want to help.”Interstate 70