Fairlawn Council to Discuss Panhandling, Budget, Internet Cafes Tonight

*Editor's note: This is an updated version of this story. Mayor William Roth said the police chief will not speak at tonight's meeting.

The main topic of discussion at tonight's City Council of the Whole Meeting will be the 2012 budget, said Mayor William Roth. The preliminary budget was put in place last year, and council is required to pass the final budget in March.

Also on the agenda are Internet sweepstakes cafes and panhandling.

For the last several weeks, Chief Kenneth Walsh has been reading over and editing new ordinances that would regulate Internet sweepstakes cafes. The ordinance dictates where an Internet cafe can open in the city and the requirements the owner has to meet before opening.

on banning the cafes until the regulation legislation has been voted in.

one requires the panhandler to register with the city and the other dictates where and when they can panhandle.

On both topics, city Law Director Edward Riegler has said "We're not banning, we're regulating it."

Riegler and Mayor William Roth will talk more about each topic at tonight's meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. in The agenda is attached to the media portion of this article.