James, Warren defend West Palm's homeless assistance amid criticism of feeding ordinance
Elected officials in West Palm Beach defended the city's efforts to help the homeless last week amid continued criticism of its ordinance requiring people and groups to get a permit before feeding groups of 25 or more at city parks.
"I stand with our staff," Commissioner Shalonda Warren said during the Monday, Dec. 11 meeting. "I believe that our staff works very hard, that our staff is compassionate. I believe we are doing the best we can in the face of something that is devastating and is impacting our entire country."
Warren and other City Commission members moved tweaks to its large-scale feeding event policy one step closer to final approval, voting again to alter the ordinance by establishing a timeframe of 10 business days during which the city must either approve or deny permit applications. Commissioners will have to approve the new ordinance a third and final time before it goes into effect.
The initial ordinance, approved in March, was successfully challenged by the advocacy group Food Not Bombs, which argued that feeding the homeless was a social and political statement that was being unconstitutionally restrained.
A Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge agreed, ruling that the city's lack of a timeframe for approving or denying permit applications could, in essence, allow the city to sit on those applications beyond the period when the feeding program was supposed to take place. That, the judge ruled, would be an unconstitutional prior restraint of the free-speech rights of the groups applying for permits to feed the homeless.
More: Can groups feed the homeless in city parks? Judge weighs in
Rather than scrap the ordinance, however, the city has decided to tweak it to add a timeframe and waive what had been a $25 permit application fee.
Those changes weren't enough for homeless advocates, who blasted the ordinance as hard-hearted.
Sandy Matkivich, one of several people arrested for violating the previous ordinance and a frequent critic of Mayor Keith James, urged commissioners to consider the struggles of homeless people as they decide on the ordinance.
"I want you to think about what you're doing with this vote," Matkivich said. "I want you to think of the people you're hurting with this vote. Their clothes are dirty. They don't smell too good. They don't have a roof over their head. They wander the streets all night and sleep in the parks all day because, at nighttime, they're attacked and brutalized."
Matkivich then tore into the mayor, which she does at nearly every City Commission meeting.
"James started this war with the homeless because he promised the wealthy he'd get them out of sight," Matkivich said. "James cannot accomplish this without city commissioners' vote. I want you to think about that, and, when it comes time for vote, please — into the microphone — I want to hear who approved it and who seconded it. Think about what you're doing. You all get enough to eat. You all got a roof over your head. These people do not."
There is no public record of James promising the wealthy that he'd get the homeless out of sight, and, after another resident criticized the permit ordinance, he and Warren defended the city's efforts to help the homeless.
"I do believe that our (Housing and Community Development) department has done a tremendous amount of work in this area," Warren said.
Warren asked city staff members if, as critics of the ordinance allege, there are no homeless feeding programs on the weekends. Assistant City Administrator Armando Fana told her there are "several churches that do provide feedings on the weekend."
Fana noted that the ordinance does not affect those feeding programs.
James then spoke up, ticking off a string of data points highlighting the city's efforts to help the homeless including:
10 full-time employees assigned to help the homeless
Helped 246 chronically homeless people find shelter from Oct. 1, 2022 through Sept. 30
Reconnected 86 homeless people with a loved one or family member through the city's Homeward Bound program
Referred 66 homeless people to mental health and substance abuse services
Worked with the Health Care District of Palm Beach County and St. Ann Place to refer an additional 251 homeless people to mental health and substance abuse services
1,485 engagements with homeless people at city parks, neighborhoods and targeted locations
165 informational engagements conducted with local businesses and community groups
Addressed 232 requests for assistance through the city's "Homeless Activity Reporter" cell phone application, where people can direct city staff to a homeless person in need
James addressed critics of his administration's efforts to help the homeless.
"As a city, we are making efforts not just to feed someone for a day or two but to connect them with more permanent assistance, whether it's substance abuse, mental health, shelter, etc.," James said. "It may make some feel good if they provide a meal. But I go back to the old proverb, 'You can give a man fish, and he can eat for a day; you can teach a man to fish, and he can eat for a lifetime.' What we are trying to do is match these individuals with more long-term, supportive services, not a single meal here or there."
As he has before, James said the new ordinance is designed to make sure the city's waterfront and parks are used by all.
"There's got to be a balance," the mayor said. "If the abundance of unhoused are making those parks and waterways unattractive to those who may want to walk their baby strollers there, who may want to walk or jog, that's not the proper balance.
"We as a city are trying our best to provide a balance where we're empathetic to the homeless, but we're also working hard to make sure the quality of life that we so cherish in this city, particularly with our parks and waterways, continues to be made available."
Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach officials tout assistance to homeless amid criticism
