Who says Strip headliners and resort VIPs have all the hangers-on? If you really want to see an entourage whirl itself into a frenzy, visit Huntridge Circle Park, Frank Wright Plaza or other open spaces frequented by the homeless.

Since the Las Vegas City Council banned the feeding of bums in parks last month, valley vagrants have been beset by caterers, legal advisers, homeless "advocates" and a throng of breathless media. Where's a hobo to go for some peace and quiet?

The groupies are in agreement: The mean city government has gone too far in targeting the operators of "mobile soup kitchens," folks so eager to make themselves feel good by offering charity to others they don't care that they're ruining parks and nurturing dependency among the city's most vulnerable residents.

Rather than direct homeless people toward the downtown shelters and agencies that provide difference-making counseling, aid and services, these chuck wagons attract squatters to neighborhood fields and playgrounds.

As a result, the taxpayers who live around Huntridge Circle have essentially lost the use of their community park. Oh sure, they're free to plan family picnics there. But having to step over used condoms and wake vomit-stained winos asleep on picnic tables tends to leave everyone decidedly less hungry.

It's unfortunate that local governments must add law after law to the books to try to keep public spaces clear of derelicts. These people have a right to enjoy public spaces, but they have no right to turn them into flophouses.

The city's new ordinance has legitimate purposes: keeping bums out of neighborhoods and preventing misguided good Samaritans from derailing the work of taxpayer-funded services and charities. The law won't leave beggars starving in the streets.

The ACLU of Nevada says the ordinance is unconstitutional, and the organization plans to ask a court to throw it out.

If that happens, expect the groupies to throw a party at a park near you -- they'll bring the food.