(a) Permit Required for Certain Solicitations and Canvassing. It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit money or any other form of financial assistance or to sell or to offer for sale anything of value for or on behalf of any charitable, religious, patriotic, social, educational, benevolent, fraternal or philanthropic organization, purpose, program, drive or fund within the City, or to make canvasses or surveys, or to secure answers to forms or questionnaires, or to seek personal data or information from persons within the City, unless such person shall first obtain a permit to so solicit or sell such thing of value for such purpose, program, drive, fund or organization, or to make such canvass, survey, secure answers to forms or questionnaires, or to seek personal data or information from persons within the City, such permit to be issued under the terms and regulations provided in this article. Any such solicitation shall include solicitations made by individual solicitors and canvassers whether by the placing of solicitation boxes, by telephone, by television or radio program announcements, by the use of the United States mails, by telegraph, or by any other means or method.
(b) Contents of Application for Permit. The application for permission to solicit or canvass as set forth in subsection (c) hereof, shall be sworn to and shall contain the following information:
(1) Name of the organization applying for a permit and the address of its headquarters.
(2) Names and addresses of its principal officers and managers.
(3) The purpose for which such permit is desired and the use to be made of any receipts there from.
(4) Names and addresses of the persons by whom the receipts are to be disbursed.
(5) Names and addresses of the persons who will be in direct charge of such sale or solicitation.
(6) An outline of the method to be used in such solicitation or sale.
(7) The amount of money expected to be realized from such solicitation or sale.
(8) The amount of wages, fees, commissions, expenses or emoluments to be expended or paid in connection with such solicitation or sale, together with the manner in which such wages, fees, commissions, expenses or emoluments are to be expended and to whom they are to be paid.
(9) A full Statement of the character and extent of the charitable, religious, patriotic, social, benevolent, fraternal or philanthropic work now being done by the applicant organization.
(10) The purpose or use to be made of such canvass, survey or personal data or information when obtained and completed.
(11) The public solicitations advisory committee may require such other information as it may deem necessary.
(c) Submittal of Application for Permit. When any applicant shall file with the City Recorder an application on a form approved by the City Recorder the applicant must have answered, under oath, all of the questions therein and he shall furnish to the Recorder all such other information he may require in determining whether permission shall be granted to such person for any of the aforementioned purposes, and the failure or refusal to file such application and furnish such information shall constitute sufficient grounds for the Recorder to deny the applicant permission to act as aforesaid. The Recorder, in granting such permit, may impose such conditions and limitations upon the use of the permit as it may deem reasonable or proper.
(d) Action on Application; Issuance of Permit; Fee; Term; Renewals. The City Recorder shall determine from the application for a permit, and from such facts as may be developed in connection with such application, whether or not a permit shall be granted the applicant. If the decision is that a permit shall be granted, the Recorder, upon receipt of a fee of one dollar ($1.00) from the applicant, shall issue to such applicant a permit for a period not longer than three months; provided, that he may renew and extend such permit for a period not to exceed three additional months at any one time.
(e) Suspension and Revocation of Permit. Any permit issued pursuant to this article may be revoked or suspended by the Mayor upon evidence of fraud or misrepresentation committed by the person requesting said permit, or his agents, in and about any solicitation, canvass or survey for the purposes set forth in subsection (a) hereof, or if, in the opinion of the Mayor, any practice pursued or any act committed in the solicitation, canvass or survey or in the disposition of the proceeds is unfair, unjust or inequitable, or the use of such information is detrimental to the public welfare.
(f) Identification Cards. The City Recorder shall furnish any applicant for a permit under this article proposing to have more than twenty-five solicitors or canvassers, with identification cards to be used by individual solicitors or canvassers, upon the payment of fifteen cents for each such card. Such identification card shall show that the bearer is authorized by the City for any of the aforesaid purposes, and such other information as may be required. The Recorder may exempt any applicant from securing such identification cards for each individual solicitor or canvasser; provided, that the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Recorder that each of its solicitors or canvassers will have some means of individual identification furnished by the applicant, or otherwise, will provide to the public evidence that any such solicitation, canvass or survey is bona fide and has been approved by the City.
(g) Disposition of Fees. All fees paid by virtue of this article shall be deposited in the general fund. The operating expenses required in the administration of this article shall be paid by the City Recorder from the general fund of the City.
(h) Appeals. An applicant for a permit under the provisions of this article may appeal from any action to the City Council; provided, that notice of such appeal shall be filed with the City Recorder within fourteen days from the date of the action appealed from. No formal method of procedure shall be necessary for making such appeal, but such procedure shall be fixed by the City Council.
(i) Construction.
(1) Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to prevent or forbid any pastor, priest, rabbi, rector, minister of the gospel or the governing body of any church located within the county, or the members or officers of any established group, society, association or corporation that is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, patriotic, social, educational, benevolent, fraternal, philanthropic or political purposes, not operated for profit, and in which none of the net earnings of such group, society, association, corporation or organization inure to the pecuniary benefit of any person, shareholder or individual from conducting a solicitation. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent or forbid any person, group, society, association, corporation or organization in the foregoing categories to conduct a sale to the public of admission tickets to any event sponsored by such organization, and which event shall occur at a date subsequent to such public sale.
(2) Nothing contained in this article regarding charitable solicitations, canvasses or surveys, shall be construed to legalize any act which would otherwise be a violation of the law.
(j) Violations and Penalties. Any person violating any of the provisions of this article or failing or refusing to abide by, and comply with, any of the rules and regulations promulgated by the Mayor, City Recorder, or by the City Council, to effectuate the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, for the first offense be fined not less than one dollar nor more than one hundred dollars; for a second offense, any such person shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars; and for any third or subsequent violation thereof any such person shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars or may be confined to jail not less than one nor more than thirty days, or may be both fined and imprisoned. Each succeeding day a violation of this section exists shall constitute a new and separate offense.