Otis Pace, Jr. never misses an opportunity to give a warm and cheery hello to people passing him on the sidewalk. It's part of how he earns his keep.
For the past 10 years, the former Texan has stood beside a metal utility box at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle. He doesn't ask for anything, but he doesn't have to: The small cardboard box he holds out acts like an offering plate to the pedestrians who pass Pace, many greeting him by name.
"Hey, darling," he says to a woman coming down the sidewalk. "What it is," she answers proudly.
Years ago, Pace, 48, worked construction jobs, but he now lumbers when he walks from a bum hip. He gets federal disability benefits, but it isn't quite enough, he says, to keep him in his one-bedroom apartment in Burien.
So he stands, day in and day out, brightening people's day for a tip. He considers himself an institution: People know him, he says, and often tell him their troubles or ask his advice.
The Downtown Seattle Association, on the other hand, considers Pace something of a nuisance: He's one of 25 panhandlers that the business organization tracks on a list it keeps and has been citing as a reason that Seattle needs the aggressive solicitation ordinance proposed by Councilmember Tim Burgess.
The panhandler list was obtained by Real Change after Burgess spoke about the proposed ordinance at a Feb. 25 public safety forum held by the DSA. The Public Safety Committee he chairs is scheduled to vote April 7 on the ordinance, which would allow police to ticket individuals for following people, using profanity or asking money within 15 feet of a person using a cash machine or parking meter.
Randy Hurlow, a spokesperson for the Downtown Seattle Association, says the details on the list, which include a physical description, location, routine and personal data on Pace and the others, are collected by one of DSA's "downtown ambassadors": bicycle patrollers who are funded by Seattle's Metropolitan Improvement District, a special property tax district whose services are run by the DSA.
The ambassadors "routinely document observances of various street behaviors, including panhandling," Hurlow says in an e-mail. The "Top 25" panhandler list, in particular, was started in 2007 in preparation for a public education campaign the DSA launched to encourage people to give money to human service agencies