Meanwhile the City Attorney’s office confirms that no sleeping ban citations were dismissed under MC 6.36.055 (the “get on a waiting list, get your camping ticket dismissed” provision) this summer. That means hundreds of $157 citations went to court and then probably to “Failure to Pay” status with hundreds of dollars of extra fines added. At the same time City Council declined to fund closing emergency shelter services (which were serving only a handful for shelter but more for food, showers, laundry, and bathrooms). Santa Cruz city, the courts, et. al apparently have no decriminalization plan and should lose HUD funding (See “Local Officials Have Pushed To Criminalize Homelessness For Years. The Feds Are Starting To Push Back” at http://thinkprogress.org/
Freedom Sleepers continue their spotlight on injustice tomorrow night at Santa Cruz City Hall (See “Freedom Sleepers 13th Community Sleepout ” at https://www.indybay.org/
Homeless sue Sarasota, police
STAFF PHOTO / MIKE LANG
Published: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 8:01 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 8:01 p.m.
They also allege that the city unfairly enforces its panhandling ordinance by restricting the practice to certain locations in violation of their First Amendment rights of free speech, specifically, to solicit charitable contributions in a public forum.
The men seek a court order banning the city from enforcing those ordinances, unspecified compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs and any other relief deemed appropriate.
The complaint was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida in Sarasota County circuit court.
It’s the latest move in a years-long debate about Sarasota’s treatment of, and response to, the roofless residents who live in the city once named America’s meanest by the National Coalition for the Homeless.
City attorney Bob Fournier hadn’t yet seen the lawsuit but said he had anticipated it based on conversations with Michael Barfield, vice president of the ACLU of Florida. Fournier plans to discuss the matter with the City Commission on Monday.
“I expect the city and the Salvation Army to defend our practices vigorously,” said Doug Logan, Sarasota’s homeless services director.
At issue is Sarasota’s lodging ordinance, which prohibits individuals from sleeping outside on public or private property without the consent of the property owner. It also requires police to offer violators transportation to an available shelter. Those who accept the offer avoid arrest or citation; those who refuse face sanctions.
Police made four arrests and issued 175 complaint summons under the ordinance in 2014, and made one arrest and issued 50 summons so far this year, Police Chief Bernadette DiPino said.
“Our officers have offered every person they encounter resources and services, and they get turned down all the time,” DiPino said. “It’s not a crime to be homeless, but they can’t break the law.”
The lawsuit cites different numbers. It says Sarasota criminally prosecuted 192 individuals for lodging outdoors in 2014 and 62 so far this year. It also cited criminal prosecutions of individuals found in a park after hours — 139 cases last year and 40 so far this year.
In 2013, the lawsuit says, the city prosecuted 354 people for lodging outdoors and 127 for being in a park after hours for total of 882 people prosecuted under the ordinances since Jan. 1, 2013.
The lawsuit further alleges that police officers cite individuals even when the community’s primary homeless shelter, the Salvation Army, is full and can’t accept individuals.
But Salvation Army local Commander Major Ethan Frizzell said the shelter never refuses to lodge individuals brought in by police, even when they’re intoxicated.
The lawsuit claims current accommodations at the Salvation Army don’t meet the minimum standards for shelter and thus the city can’t reasonably enforce the ordinance.
The shelter can accommodate 260 people nightly. Some sleep on regular beds. The rest sleep on overflow mats arranged on the kitchen floor.
Those overflow mats, the lawsuit claims, exceed the shelter’s capacity as defined in its conditional-use permit issued by the city. It also says the kitchen and hallway where the mats are placed don’t provide adequate emergency ingress and egress, and that people sleeping on the mats don’t have the minimum 35 square feet of space required by city’s current zoning regulations.
“The Salvation Army does fantastic work, but they don’t have the resources or the facility to meet the needs of the chronic homeless,” Barfield said. “Until there’s a solution by the politicians, the city must stop with the criminal prosecutions. It’s morally and legally wrong for the city to use the criminal justice system to solve the problem. That practice doesn’t work because you can’t deter sleeping.”
Sarasota Fire Marshal John Reed said Wednesday that he recently visited the Salvation Army at the request of a concerned individual but that he won’t have any information about potential code and zoning violations until after a follow-up visit later this month.
For the city’s panhandling ordinance, the lawsuit claims that because it selectively bans the solicitation of donations based on location and other factors, it unconstitutionally singles out the homeless.
It notes that the city allows people to ask for charitable contributions or seek political support and questions the difference between that and someone asking for a personal donation.
An estimated 1,460 single homeless adults live in Sarasota County, which has a shortage of at least 1,187 beds to accommodate them, according to a November 2013 report by a consultant hired by the city and county, Robert Marbut.
Although they had initially collaborated on plans to address the community homeless population, city and county officials have been at odds to find a common solution.
The county wants to build a come-as-you-are shelter, ideally somewhere within the city where most of the homeless people congregate; the city wants to implement a “Housing First” solution that finds homeless people permanent lodging.
They are set to resume the discussion after two years at a joint meeting set for Nov. 6.
Barfield said homeless residents don’t have time to wait. They need relief now.
“I’m pleased the community is going to have these conversations,” Frizzell said. “It may be unfortunate they’re having them in a lawsuit.”
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