The Southwestern Company Internship Difference Blog
With the proliferation of traveling sales crews in recent years, I have run across some towns that are putting more strict rules in place for door-to-door sales.
As I’ve touched on before with this blog… is this really fixing the issue or is this simply a band-aid to make the public feel like city leaders have done something to address the issue?
Sometimes limits have to have limits. When it comes to restricting door-to-door sales, towns run the risk of restricting an individual’s First Amendment right to Commercial Free Speech.
This recently came up in St. Peters, Missouri. In this case, additional limits on door-to-door was reviewed and dropped after City Attorney Randy Weber was heard from. Weber specifically cited courts who have deemed limiting door-to-door times for only specified times as unconstitutional. Weber further added there has to be a nexus between criminal activity and solicitation – which in this case there was not.
One idea that came form the city meetings was to put the enforcement part in the hands of the citizens by having those who wished not to be solicited to on their properties to post a sign.
For those with a good sense of humor - both home-owner and solicitor - this sign would work well.
By posting their property, the solicitor has a clear indication of the wishes of the homeowner – unless of course, if the original homeowner who posted it moved. But by far and away, in my experience with homeowner associations, local law enforcement and elected city officials, I think this is the best option.
On a side note: Southwestern Advantage has long worked with local officials and citizens to make communities safer for both the residents and the solicitors. We appreciate all the people over the years who have assisted in this endeavor – from the thousands of Southwestern Advantage alumni to town administrators and clerks.
To view the entire article about St. Peters, MO: http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/stcharles/news/st-peters-backs-off-limiting-solicitations/article_bf8d3f67-f346-5c07-af0b-26ef0de05f61.html
