THOUSAND OAKS : Salvation Army Gets OK to Solicit at Mall
Bells will be ringing today at the Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks, and Salvation Army officials are elated.
Bowing to public pressure and legal arguments from the charity group, mall officials reversed an earlier decision to deny the group permission to solicit this year.
The group had posted a kettle at the mall for 20 years and had counted on raising $10,000 this holiday season.
Steven Rice, director of the charity’s legal and insurance department at the Los Angeles division headquarters, said Thursday he offered Bill Mendelsohn, Janss Marketplace manager, legal advice on court cases governing access rights and that Mendelsohn was “very gracious.”
Rice said Mendelsohn had expressed concern about “the intimidation element of other organizations” but had no problem with the Salvation Army.
Mendelsohn himself declined to comment.
“The issue of access to shopping areas is real and of national significance,” said Cathy Ramsdale, regional director of the group’s Ventura County Service Extension. “We believe the state and federal constitutions and public sympathy support our presence in malls, shopping centers and at retail store locations.”
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