By Mark Schlueb, Orlando Sentinel 7:05 p.m. EDT, April 13, 2011
Despite losing its battle in court on Tuesday, the group that sparked Orlando's restrictions on feeding the homeless in downtown parks still shared food with the needy at Lake Eola Park on Wednesday evening.
Members of Orlando Food Not Bombs fed more than 100 hungry people at Orlando's signature park at 5:30 p.m., just as they've done every Wednesday for several years.They dined on vegetarian stew, vegetables, bread, cupcakes and juice, ladled out by anti-poverty activists.
Bruce Shawen, who is homeless, said he hopes the feedings can continue elsewhere, perhaps in the parking lot of a nearby church.
"It really boils down to money. If you have no money, you have no rights," Shawen said.
Added Eric Montanez, a member of Food Not Bombs, "We are doing a food-sharing today, and we're organizing to discuss what we need to do in the future. This ordinance is starving people out of Orlando."
Montanez was charged with violating the city's homeless feeding restrictions in 2007 and ultimately cleared by a jury. But Montanez and other homeless advocates were dealt a blow Tuesday, when the U.S. District Court of Appeal for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled against their constitutional challenge of the city's ordinance.
The court ruled that city rules restricting how often large groups of people can be fed in any single park are reasonable and don't violate the Constitution.
The ordinance hadn't been enforced while the court case was pending. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said the city would not enforce it Wednesday, either, but the feedings that attract large groups won't be allowed to continue indefinitely.
"We will not enforce the ordinance today, but we would hope that from here on out they would voluntarily comply," Dyer said. "They had their day in court to argue the merits of their case, the court decided we were right, and I would hope that law-abiding citizens who are not out to create mischief would adhere to the ordinance."
Representatives of the city's police, parks, public works and legal departments will meet and decide how to enforce the rules. The ordinance carries a penalty of 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or both.
Dyer held a news conference Wednesday, in part to refute the notion that Orlando is mean to the homeless. He pointed to $6.6 million in funding from the city and Orange County for a new shelter at the Coalition for the Homeless, additional funding for the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness, and other initiatives.
"The way this is sometimes portrayed in the media is that the city is somehow preventing homeless people altogether. Nothing is further from the truth," Dyer said.
The city ordinance, which applies to 41 parks within two miles of downtown, requires groups that are feeding 25 or more people to obtain a city permit. Each group is allowed only two permits per park each year, effectively forcing regular feedings to move from park to park.
"We must balance between providing for the needs of the homeless and the individual neighborhoods that are impacted," Dyer said.
But at Lake Eola Park, Theresa McDonald said shelter and other services for the homeless are few, and the homeless are many.
"I sleep on the steps of First United Methodist Church, and there is a whole porch full of people there – 30 to 40 people," said McDonald, who uses a wheelchair. "Where are we supposed to go?"
mschlueb@tribune.com or 407-420-5417
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Leave your comment. SHould we feed homeless in Lake Eola?
IF, and I do mean IF we feed them it should not be with tax dollars.
It should also not be done in Downtown Orlando at all and defiantly at Lake Eola.
Since they have moved back it crime has increased drastically. Cars have been broken into and people have been harassed.
Many sexual offenders are off the grin and homeless, I mention this because there is a park there and kids are there ALL the time.
I agree they need help. Better training on how to hold a job. Begging and Trash diving in city limits should be outlawed.
Its a balancing act I will side with people who are contributing in some way to society. Takers like many homeless have the attitude that they are entitled to what others have earned.
Right now the city can not afford to help the habitual homeless.
Andy Carson
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