Where I Live

Fifth meanest city, Gainesville, Florida

• October 27th, 2009 8:12 pm ET

James Martin Author

10 worst cities for treatment of the homeless
James Martin

Gainesville Florida has a history of abuse of homeless persons; so much so that it is a wonder their ranking is only #5 in mistreatment instead of number 2 or 3. They have torn up “tent cities” and made it next to impossible for people to solicit aid, even if they do it peacefully. In September 2007, against the wishes of homeless advocates and even city officials, the city commission closed down a major tent city by force, using uniformed and armed officers to clean out the tent area. It was part of a 10 year plan to end homelessness. Why they think it will take 10 years is anyone’s guess, but that guess is wrong. They decided it was more important to pay $75k on a fence around the property and only $20k on shelter beds to house those displaced in the tent city raid. Eventually the city increased that to $67k but still failed to solve any problems. After the closure, even more homeless moved in and doubled the numbers by April 2009.
Panhandling is also another issue that earns Gainesville a bad reputation for helping the homeless. In July 2007 the enacted an ordinance that not only punishes the person soliciting funds, be it peacefully or not, but also targets the giver as well. They specifically “ban all transactions between a motorist and a pedestrian on streets, in bike lanes and on bike paths within the city limits.” Both the panhandler and motorist can be charged with a “municipal ordinance violation, a crime that carries a potential penalty of $500 [or] six months in jail [or both] per offense” if they donate money from their car on a public roadway.
Southern Legal Counsel, a non-profit public interest law firm, challenged the ordinance
as a violation of a settlement agreement it had reached with the city in 2006. That lawsuit
had challenged two state statutes and an ordinance that prohibited homeless individuals
from standing on public sidewalks while holding signs soliciting donations. The
resulting settlement from that lawsuit enjoined the city from amending or enacting “any
ordinances which prohibit plaintiffs or other persons from engaging in protected First
Amendment activity of standing on a public sidewalk, peacefully holding a sign soliciting
charitable donations on behalf of or for their own personal benefit and not otherwise
violating any lawful statute, ordinance, or order.” Ultimately, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida found that the city had not violated the terms of 2006 agreement regarding freedom of speech and panhandling.
St. Francis House, one of two downtown shelters and soup kitchens has seen a surge in meal needs grow from the legal limit of 130 meals per day to 250. In March 2009 the commission decided to start enforcing the limit and turning Lynch Park (across the street) into a dog park that can also handle the 120+ over flow of homeless needing meals. So now we have the homeless being treated no better than dogs. Two hearty thumbs down for Gainesville and its 10 yr plan and for its treating the homeless like animals.

MY Comment---This may be  2 yrs  old but not much has changed----except there is one not two shelters