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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2016
Spare a dime? Cities
install meters to
combat panhandling
By PAT EATON-ROBB
Associated Press
NEW HAVEN, Conn.
— In cities across the coun-
try, parking-style meters col-
lect loose change from donors
in an attempt to cut down on
panhandling — a strategy crit-
ics argue is wrongheaded and
in vain.
New Haven is among the
latest to install the meters,
which sit curbside and col-
lect donations in the form of
cash or credit cards for pro-
grams that benefit the home-
less. The city has four brightly
colored meters in areas where
panhandling has been a prob-
lem and plans to install six
more to support local, non-
profit organizations that help
the homeless.
“It’s meant to generate sup-
plemental funds for homeless
services and steer well-mean-
ing, generously donated cash
away from the business of
panhandling,” Mayor Toni
Harp said.
The first meters went up in
2007 in Denver, and other cit-
ies have followed suit. They
were recently installed in Pas-
adena, California; Indianapo-
lis; and Corpus Christi, Texas.
“We get at least one call
a month from cities who are
looking to replicate the pro-
gram,” said Julie Smith, a
spokeswoman for Denver’s
Road Home, which runs the
meter program in that city.
Some disagree
But some advocates for the
homeless say the meters do
little to stop the needy from
requesting handouts and ques-
tion whether it’s worth the cost
to install and maintain them.
Panhandling is not illegal,
and people who need money
will still ask for it, meters or no,
said Mark Horvath, a national
advocate for the homeless and
founder of the advocacy group
Invisible People. The meters,
he said, reinforce the stereo-
type that all panhandlers are
bums who want money for
drugs or booze.
“It’s a false stereotype.
A huge percentage of peo-
ple who are panhandling are
in housing, but they can’t
afford to make ends meet,” he
said. “There are so many bet-
ter solutions than putting up
meters, like the permanent
support of affordable housing
and a living wage.”
Smith and others acknowl-
edge they have no data or
studies to show the meters
have reduced panhandling, but
say they are still worth install-
ing as part of larger efforts to
stem homelessness.
Joe Drury, 57, begged for
change on a late December
morning in Annapolis, Mary-
land, which has several down-
town meters raising money
to help defray transportation
costs for people residing at a
shelter.
“These meters just sit here
all day, but nobody gives me
nothing,” Drury said. “I can
sometimes go a whole day
without eating.”
700 meters
In Dade County, Florida,
a food and beverage tax pro-
vides about $24 million a year
as part of a $61 million bud-
get for programs to help the
homeless. Meters, by compar-
ison, bring in about $50,000
a year, said Ron Book, the
chairman of the Miami-Dade
County Homeless Trust.
The program began a
decade ago, and there are now
more than 700 meters, many
paid for by local businesses
and supplemented by larger
donation boxes inside many
buildings.
All of them, he said, help
reinforce the message that
there is a better way to address
the problem of homelessness
than throwing money into a
panhandler’s cup.
Growing number of Americans
are retiring outside of the US
By MARIA ZAMUDIO
For The Associated Press
Newly widowed, Kay
McCowen quit her job, sold
her house, applied for Social
Security and retired to Mex-
ico. It was a move she and her
husband, Mel, had discussed
before he passed away in 2012.
“I wanted to find a place
where I could afford to live off
my Social Security,” she said.
“The weather here is so per-
fect, and it’s a beautiful place.”
She is among a grow-
ing number of Americans
who are retiring outside the
United States. The number
grew 17 percent between 2010
and 2015 and is expected to
increase over the next 10 years
as more baby boomers retire.
Just under 400,000 Amer-
ican retirees are now living
abroad, according to the Social
Security Administration. The
countries they have chosen
most often: Canada, Japan,
Mexico, Germany and the
United Kingdom.
Retirees most often cite the
cost of living as the reason for
moving elsewhere said Olivia
S. Mitchell, director of the Pen-
sion Research Council at the
University of Pennsylvania’s
Wharton School.
“I think that many people
retire when they are in good
health and they are interested
in stretching their dollars and
seeing the world,” Mitchell
said.
McCowen’s rent in Ajijic,
a community outside Guadala-
jara near Mexico’s Lake Cha-
pala, is half of what she was
paying in Texas. And since the
weather is moderate, utility
bills are inexpensive.
In some countries, Mitchell
said, retirees also may find it
less expensive to hire someone
to do their laundry, clean, cook
and even provide long-term
care than in the United States.
McCowen has a commu-
nity of other American retirees
nearby and has adjusted well.
Joseph Roginski via AP
Joseph Roginski, right, holds a package in a storeroom of
the Misawa City Hall in Japan, where donations of cloth-
ing and supplies were being kept for earthquake relief
efforts. He says that while the cost of living is higher in
Japan, access to health care is not.
Hurdles to overcome
But for others there are hur-
dles to overcome to adjust to
life in a different country.
Viviana Rojas, an associate
professor at the University of
Texas at San Antonio, says the
biggest obstacle is not speak-
ing the language or knowing
the culture.
“Many of the people we
interviewed said they spoke
Spanish, but they actually
spoke very little Spanish,”
said Rojas, who is writing a
book about retirees in Mexico.
“They didn’t have the capac-
ity of speaking enough Span-
ish to meet their basic needs
like going to the doctor or to
the store.”
Access to health care also
can be a challenge. While retir-
ees still can receive Social
Security benefits, Medicare is
not available to those living
abroad, Mitchell said.
Joseph Roginski, 71, says
that while the cost of living
is higher in Japan, access to
health care is not. “Things
are very expensive here. It is
impossible to live off Social
Security alone,” said Roginski,
who was stationed in Japan in
1968. “But health insurance is
a major factor in staying here.”
The former military lan-
guage and intelligence special-
ist said he pays $350 annually
to be part of Japan’s national
health insurance. His policy
covers 70 percent of his costs.
The rest is covered by a sec-
ondary insurance program for
retired military personnel.
Japan top pick
Japan experienced biggest
growth, 42 percent, of Amer-
ican retirees than any other
country between 2010 and
2014, according to data from
the Social Security Adminis-
tration. The large U.S. military
presence in the country may be
a factor.
There are more than 50,000
U.S. military servicemen and
-women stationed in Japan.
The presence is so large that
in the island of Okinawa, the
U.S. military occupies about
19 percent of the area, accord-
ing to Ellis S. Krauss, profes-
sor emeritus of Japanese poli-
tics and policy-making at the
University of California, San
Diego.
Roginski, who volun-
teers for the Misawa Air Base
Retiree Activities Office, said
he helps connect more than
450 retirees and their families
living in Northern Japan with
resources. He said he would
never move back to the United
States.
“We have a real strong
sense of security here,” he said.
“I can leave my door unlocked
and no one will take anything.
When I go to another country I
feel nervous, but when I come
back I feel like I’m home.”
Mexico has become home
for retired firefighter, Dan Wil-
liams, 72, and his wife, Donna,
68. The couple has been living
near the same retirement com-
munity in Lake Chapala for 14
years.
“The climate and the med-
ical services are very good,”
Williams said.
Williams teaches paint-
ing to adults and children and
puts together a monthly mag-
azine for the local American
Legion. He is also a member
of the Lake Chapala Society,
which offers daily activities for
American retirees.
It was those same services
that attracted McCowen to the
region.
“Before moving, I found
out how many widowed and
divorced women lived here,”
she said. “There is comfort in
numbers.”
She says she loves being in
a lively community.
“I see older people walk-
ing year round. I see them all
over the place even in their
wheelchairs. If they were in the
U.S., they would probably be
in a nursing home,” she said. “I
don’t think I could move back.”
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