Q: Is it true that the City Commission took action to prohibit St. Francis House from serving more than 130 meals at holidays?
A: There has been no recent action or direction by the City Commission related to meal service at St. Francis House. Approximately 18 years ago, long before the tenure of any current elected official, the City Commission passed general code provisions that regulate food distribution centers for the needy that are not operated at a place of religious assembly (sec. 30-111) and those that are operated at places of religious assembly (sec. 30-91). These code provisions address, among other things, a limit on the number of meals within a 24-hour period, distance requirements and management plan requirements. These code provisions make no special distinction for holiday meals. This ordinance has not been reviewed by the City Commission at any time during my nearly 12-year tenure.
In certain zoning districts, a special use permit is required to operate a food distribution center for the needy. This is the case with the St. Francis House property. Under the City Code, the City Plan Board reviews and issues special use permits as they did for St. Francis House in the early 1990's. This permit was renewed most recently by the Plan Board in March of 2009. Mr. Vann indicated to me today that St. Frances House consciously chose not to ask for an ordinance change to raise this meal limit in their most recent permit process. The issue regarding holiday meal service at St. Francis House was only brought to the attention of the City Commission, via e-mail from a homeless advocate, last Wednesday, Oct. 21. On Thursday morning, Oct. 22, I spoke to two members of the board of St. Francis House (Al Cockrell and Fred Vyverberg), with witnesses present, regarding the fact that this was not a matter that the commission had provided any direction on, and that I and the City will certainly be willing to try to work out a solution. On Monday, Oct. 26, Commissioner Donovan sent an e-mail asking for additional information and solutions. At my direction, this matter has been scheduled for discussion at the City Commission meeting on the afternoon of Thursday, Nov. 5. I have every reason to believe the City Commission and our staff will work to find a solution that ensures an opportunity to serve meals to more people than could be accommodated at St. Francis House alone, with or without a meal limit.
Q: Why is someone spreading information that the City turned down such a request?
A: On Oct. 22, Assistant City Manager Fred Murry sent a letter in reference to this matter to Mr. Kent Vann. This letter does not turn down the request. To the contrary, it states, "While it is challenging, the City and St. Francis House can expedite an amendment to the Special Use Permit to exceed the meal limitation for Thanksgiving and Christmas day (the two days you specifically inquired about). I would suggest that the application be filed as soon as possible…" However, upon further discussion with City Planning Staff, Mr. Murry's letter was further clarified. As stated above, the meal limitation is specified in the City Code, so any change would first have to be accomplished by a revision to the City Code and then to the St. Francis House Special Use Permit. As this cannot, as a practical matter, be accomplished by Thanksgiving Day, the City is offering to open the Martin Luther King Jr. recreational facility on Thanksgiving Day to any group who would like to serve a Thanksgiving Meal to the public on that day. Any interested group should register in advance by contacting Mr. Murry at (352) 334-5010. The MLK Center is a beautiful facility that has seating for several hundred people at one time, and excellent parking and other public accommodations. Other alternatives also exist and have been suggested.
Q: Why is there a 130-meal limit in the first place?
A: This has been a provision in the Gainesville Code of Ordinances since before 1992. The intent was, and is, simply to distribute the services to destitute people across the community, rather than to concentrate them all in one location. St. Francis House has never been legally authorized to serve more than this number, and has, or should have, been aware of this during its entire existence at its current location. The initial permit issued, and the permit re-issued earlier this year, were based on that level of service provision. All zoning and special use permit decisions throughout the city consider off-site impacts, and weigh those against the benefits that the use provides.
The role of a city government includes balancing the needs, rights and responsibilities of property owners and citizens with differing and sometimes adverse interests. As was demonstrated on the record during the recent SFH permit hearings, many adjacent property owners have experienced what they believe to be substantial negative off-site impacts from clients of St. Francis House. The imposition of a meal limit at any single location is simply an effort to balance competing interests between various citizens and property owners.
Q: Isn't this immoral? Aren't people then left to starve?
A: Every place of religious assembly throughout our community is authorized to serve meals and house homeless persons, subject to the limitations and permit requirements set forth in City Code Sec. 30-91. However, the administrative enforcement of those limitations and requirements have been temporarily suspended since March 28, 2008, when the City Commission directed the City manager not to issue or deny any permits under Sec. 30-91 until the Community Development Committee studied those regulations and returned with proposed amendments. The Committee is returning to the City Commission with recommendations on Nov. 5, 2009. In addition, it should be noted that these code provisions only regulate the operation of a food distribution center for the needy (as defined in City Code), they do not preclude or prohibit a place of religious assembly from hosting a holiday meal open to the public. At various times, the City of Gainesville and Alachua County, through the joint Office on Homelessness, have contacted the more than 300 places of religious assembly in our community to seek assistance in helping those in need. To date, little interest has been shown toward expanding such services, though some downtown churches, such as Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and First Methodist Church, have been among the congregations who consistently provide such assistance. While this is very helpful and appreciated, their work does not substantially spread the burden of helping people in need who exist beyond the borders of downtown. In addition, the City has continued to allow meal service at the Downtown Plaza with few limitations. In recent months, the City has been actively working to encourage other service providers who are able to provide meals to do so, but there has been an emergence of competition among different entities and an unwillingness to work cooperatively to increase legal meal service in a coordinated manner. The City continues to seek a workable and respectful plan for addressing this need.
Q: If the 130-meal limit has been in place since the 1990's, what has changed recently?
A: Earlier this year, the Special Use Permit that allows St. Francis House to operate was up for renewal. The primary responsibility of the Plan Board, which heard the permit request, was to determine whether the facility had been operating in substantial compliance with the existing permit. In reality, although the 130 limit has been in place since at least 1992, it has not been actively enforced by either the St. Francis House or the City of Gainesville. It became evident, in the course of the permit process, that if the permit were re-issued without regard to this fact, then the City would likely face lawsuits from other property owners and residents who feel as if they have been aggrieved by lax enforcement of the code requirements. The City Plan Board re-issued the permit, but added a new permit condition that St. Francis House file semi-annual status reports and allow periodic inspection by city staff to ensure that they remain in compliance with permit and code requirements, including the meal limits.
Q: Why wasn't the issue of serving meals at Christmas and Thanksgiving addressed at the time that the Special Use Permit was re-issued?
A: Again the meal limitation is established in the City Code and provides no special rules or waivers for holidays. The Code cannot be changed by Special Use Permit. As stated above, St. Francis House or others can request that the Code requirements be changed by legislative action (passage of a general ordinance) of the City Commission.
Q: Why isn't the City doing more to help the homeless? Is St. Francis House the only group really doing anything?
A: For more than four years, the City and county governments have been working methodically toward increasing resources to help homeless individuals. Some examples of this include:
• Working to acquire a site for a Homeless One Stop Center (that will provide meals, 60 shelter beds and other services) on 53rd Avenue, and committing and seeking funding for a multi-million dollar construction project.
• Allocation of more than $560,000 in federal stimulus dollars for homelessness prevention efforts to pay for apartment rent, security deposits, utilities, etc.
• Several years of funding winter shelter beds, via St. Francis House, Holy Trinity and private hotel rooms.
• Funding of the "Ticket Home" program to reunite homeless individuals with family members, treatment programs or other "receivers" who can assist them.
• Funding of the joint City/County Office on Homelessness, which has obtained millions in additional dollars to support homeless services.
• Development and implementation of the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.
It is worth noting that in part because of the disproportionate impact of social service provision on the downtown, almost all of the City's actions to help homeless people have been widely criticized and protested by both proponents and opponents. In this same period of time, the city's budget has been cut in excess of $10 million per year relative to prior anticipated revenues, and our ability to address any given concern has been impacted as a result. It is difficult to ignore the fact some homeless advocates sometimes minimize the real and tangible issues created by the concentration of homelessness in the downtown, which is one small area of our community, but the one that should feel welcoming to all people, rich and poor, housed and homeless, young and old, liberal and conservative. It is a myth that it is only "rich business people" who are complaining to the City regarding the impacts of homeless people in the downtown. There are many residents of moderate means, employees, office workers, church-goers and others who feel negatively impacted and even frightened by the current situation. Acknowledging and helping to address this fact is a necessary step toward resolution of these issues.
Q: The City of Gainesville has been listed as one of the nation's "Meanest Cities" toward homeless, for closing tent city and enforcing this meal limit. What is wrong with the city?
A: In reality, the cities who have been placed on this list are actually all communities that are doing SOMETHING to help homeless people, albeit imperfectly. There are many communities that do little or nothing for homeless people, so those that take up the responsibility end up with "more than their fair share" of work to do. Unlike most government programs, one of the difficult issues around helping homeless people is that the better the services you provide, the more people who come forward to seek those services. In an environment in which there is no requirement for basic human needs to be met in all jurisdictions, those who do provide services end up taking up the burden for those who don't, and the better your services are, the more people you attract who need them. In reality, Gainesville is a city of 130,000 that is trying to provide almost all of the homeless services in a multi-county region of more rural, suburban and disadvantaged communities. And because we are "the Sunshine State," Florida attracts a disproportionate number of homeless people from throughout the rest of the nation. We have more than 300 shelter beds in our community, and few in any of the surrounding rural and suburban areas. The Point-in-Time homeless surveys taken in recent years have shown that the percentage of homeless people who originate in Alachua County (people who were last housed or employed here) has dropped from around 57 percentage to below 49 percentage. The number of people in need from beyond our borders continues to climb, but our resources have not grown proportionately.
The tent city site was closed because it was unsafe, unmanageable and located on private property that was not zoned or permitted for such use, and public property containing both a closed unlined landfill and the outfall from a wastewater treatment plant. The City of Gainesville cannot simply decide to ignore its own codes related to zoning, health and safety, as it is the entity that creates and enforces such codes among other property owners. The City cannot and should not knowingly tolerate a dangerous living situation on its own property, or on that of other landowners. The city, and all of its elected and appointed officials, do believe in providing compassionate and effective care for homeless residents and others in need, and, in addition to the government programs listed above, have actively supported non-profits and faith organizations toward this end.
Q: Well when are things going to get better? The City keeps talking about a One Stop; why don't they just have St. Francis House act as the One Stop?
A: Earlier this year, the City Commission voted unanimously to approach St. Francis House to serve as the location of an interim One Stop, for appropriate negotiated compensation. This request was turned down by St. Francis, for reasons that were not communicated to the City Commission, though efforts to engage all parties continue. As recently as today, I spoke with Kent Vann about the City's continuing desire to have St. Francis House work with all of the other engaged service providers toward this end, and he indicated a sincere willingness to do so.
The City anticipates an 18 month process of permitting and constructing the One Stop GRACE Marketplace on 53rd Avenue, which is expected to provide 60 shelter beds and meal service, as well as a host of other needed services. Transportation to and from other locations, including St. Francis House, will be provided.
Q: What more can I do to help?
A: The City's main avenue for working to address issues related to Homelessness is the Implementation Committee for the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness. This committee is chaired by Commissioner Rodney Long and myself and meets approximately bi-monthly.
More recently, the City and County worked with numerous non-profit and other groups to complete a Hunger Abatement Plan that has several implementation efforts underway as well. In addition, in December the City will be working with a large community-wide event to restock area food pantries and raise awareness around issues of hunger and poverty in our community. Many opportunities to assist with all these efforts exist, and you may call Fred Murry at 352-334-5010 for upcoming dates and further information.
Because the City of Gainesville is responsible for passing and enforcing rules that respect competing rights and interests of all citizens and are enforceable in courts of law, it is not reasonable to expect the City to simply ignore its regulations. Regulations can be amended, based on methodical review and broad public input that, again, balances competing public needs. St. Francis House certainly can approach the City Commission to request a change to the current code limitations for food distribution centers for the needy. I have recommended that on Nov. 5 we initiate the process of, at a minimum, providing for a lifting of the 130- person limit for important holidays. Again, unfortunately, it is unlikely that this lengthy process, as required by law, will be completed in time for this holiday season. Had the issue been raised by St. Francis House prior to the middle of October, resolution would have been much easier to achieve.
As with anything in life, communications that are accurate and respectful are most likely to lead to understanding and resolution of differences.
Sincerely,
Pegeen Hanrahan
Mayor
