Door-to-door sales people in Galesburg will now end up having a photo I.D. given to them in order to keep residents safe.
The Galesburg City Council Monday night unanimously approved changes to the so-called “peddler and hawker” licenses which they must obtain before they try to sell at even one house.
And City Manager Eric Hanson says the change to a photo I.D. system couldn’t come soon enough.
“Last year, we had roughly 12 badges issued for people selling solar energy,” Eric Hanson, City Manager, told aldermen. “We currently have 58 people out marketing solar energy across our community.”
Each solicitor will be subject to a criminal background check done by Galesburg Police before they’re issued a permit, and will be identified by whatever name is on their drivers license.
Hanson says now solicitor permits can’t be obtained by someone and transferred to someone else, which also was a problem in the past.
“There are folks out there who are legitimately trying to…earn a living, and…operate a business,” Hanson told WGIL prior to the vote. “There are others that, unfortunately, sometimes take advantage of folks. We especially saw that with some of our elderly residents being targeted.”
The change applies to all door-to-door solicitors, not just those trying to sign people up for solar power.
The council Monday also approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, that will see the city reimbursed for the work Galesburg Fire did helping to clean up a diesel spill in February at Lake Storey, caused of a leak in a generator on some nearby — but long unused — state property.
