By Patty Talahongva

    On the morning of June 21, two children were enjoying their time off from school, hanging out in their home in the area of 13th Street and Montebello Road. Around 11:30 a.m., the doorbell rang. The children, who had been lectured numerous times by their parents to never open the door to strangers, ignored the bell—even after it rang a second time.

    The man standing at the doorway, who witnesses later described as holding a clipboard and wearing a red shirt and dark blue pants, waited a few moments. He then went around to the back of the house and, using a crowbar, attempted to pry open a door.

    When the man realized the two children were inside, he jumped into a waiting vehicle and left.

 

It is a situation that has many neighborhoods on high alert this summer as both real and fake solicitors hit the streets looking to part you from some of your hard-earned money, whether for a magazine subscription, or to help a charitable cause, or to try the latest cleaning product. Separating who is legitimate from who might be a criminal is a game that residents say they shouldn’t have to play—if the city would only regulate these door-to-door salesmen.

    By the end of the year the city of Phoenix could finally have a solicitation ordinance drafted and ready to be implemented. But first, city officials are meeting with representatives of the grassroots organization Sales, Solicitations, and Distributions (SS & D) United to see what compromises can be reached to address complaints from residents.

    Jackie Rich has lived in the North Central area for 22 years, and currently is on the board of the Murphy Trail Estates Neighborhood Association (7th Street to Central Avenue, Bethany Home Road to Maryland Avenue). As a member of the board, she has received several complaints from homeowners about solicitors in the neighborhood.

    “I guess I’m surprised that Phoenix doesn’t have an ordinance when all the surrounding cities have one,” she points out. Rich was appointed to the Solicitation Ordinance Work Group as the representative from Council District 6. She’s attended all of the public meetings to discuss this issue, with the most recent one being held July 20. “I shared some of the ideas and opinions that I have received from neighbors who have e-mailed me,” she says.

    “I don’t have a personal ax to grind in this issue,” Rich adds. “My biggest beef is people who come to the door and lie to you. That really makes me mad.”

    Rich says she’s had young people come to the door saying they’re high school students raising money for the National Honor Society and claiming they live somewhere nearby. That doesn’t work in her neighborhood.

“Our neighborhood is really networked,” she explains. “They can’t do that. We found on three or four occasions that they made up their story.”

That leads to suspicions the person might really be looking for a place to burglarize.

    Kathy Seid, Rancho Solano Block Watch captain, says she has received numerous phone calls and e-mails from her neighbors about suspicious solicitors as well, particularly this summer. Seid says that even though the police can’t really do much right now except ask them to move on, it’s still important to call Crime Stop (602-262-6151) and ask them to respond and ID any solicitors.

    By doing this, it places those solicitors within a certain neighborhood a specific time, and the police will then have the name of the company they supposedly works for, Seid points out. This can be helpful information in some cases (such as any burglaries reported that day in that general area and time frame). It also discourages solicitors who are not legitimate from coming to a neighborhood, she adds.

    Rich says the comments at the latest Solicitation Ordinance Work Group meeting included discussing whether a full-blown ordinance is needed or just an education program. The city also is now looking at other groups to partner with to keep costs low for all parties.

    One area it might save some money is in fingerprinting. If the vendor already has his or her fingerprints on file that information could be shared so no one has to pay more money to get a duplicate set.

    “It’s to streamline the process for people who are legitimate,” says Rich.

    Councilman Tom Simplot, who represents District 4, suggested the idea of doing a partnership with other cities to share resources and ideas. City officials have compared the ordinances in adjacent municipalities. Neighboring Tempe has an ordinance that requires, among other things, that some vendors be bonded. In that city comparison provided by Phoenix, there are 50 active licenses in Tempe and there have been no administrative actions taken in the last three years. That would include revoking or suspending a vendor’s license.

    Magnolia Lee presented at one meeting. She represents SS & D. The group has its own concerns and ideas of how to address the issue. For starters, they propose the city create a dedicated hotline phone number so that residents can report actual abuse cases. Tempe has such a hotline. They also recommend appointing an ombudsman or a mediating panel for cases that aren’t easily resolved.

    To help enforce an ordinance, the group suggests repeat offenders have their registration temporarily or permanently suspended. They also agree all door-to-door solicitors be pre-screened as a safety measure for everyone. This would include a background check. And they believe some sort of uniformed ID card be issued so folks will learn it and recognize the solicitor as a bona-fide agent. Again, Tempe has both requirements.

    Not all Valley cities have restrictions on the hours solicitors can go door-to-door. The ones that do require solicitors not show up until 8 or 9 a.m. and wrap up their day by sunset. Tempe does not require this but it’s part of the ordinances in Mesa and Glendale.

    The SS & D group also recommends that businesses applying for such permits be required to give a short explanation on their product, service or basic reason for having to go door-to-door, so the city knows they have legitimate business. And they are agreeable to charging a small fee for a permit. “It seems really reasonable, the stuff that’s in there,” says Rich.

    The next meeting of the Solicitation Ordinance Working Group will be held sometime in the last week of September. A date has not yet been set but you can check the city’s website: www.phoenix.gov. All public meetings must be posted at least 24 hours in advance. City Attorney James Hays is tasked with drafting the ordinance.

Rich remains optimistic. “I think the hope for most of us is when we have an ordinance in place, we would have some way to acknowledge the people who are here legitimately and not call the police whenever we see people going door to door.”

    Send your comments and suggestions relating to the proposed ordinance to: Jackie Rich, jvrich@cox.net; or Councilman Tom Simplot,      council.district.4@phoenix.gov. Please put “solicitation ordinance” in the subject line.