Anti-Homeless Laws Return August 19th

On Tuesday, August 19th, the City of Fort Lauderdale will have almost every anti-homeless law that they proposed back in January on the schedule. While most are expected to be deferred until the next meeting on September 3rd, it shows the City is still quite determined to see all the Homeless Hate Laws enacted this fall.

One way or another ordinances or amendments to ordinances for the public indecency code, and expansions against panhandling, storage on public property, and camping on public property are all scheduled on the agenda and open to public comment. Join homeless advocates as we continue to convince the City to stop these laws.

Park closed 8.15.2014

The bigger picture for the homeless folk in downtown Fort Lauderdale is even darker. "All Aboard Florida" is coming with a major redevelopment plan for the area surrounding the downtown bus terminal - one of the primary areas that homeless people are still allowed to congregate around downtown. But talks of "promoting commerce" with the building of condos and shops is also a veiled threat at the dozens of people who live in this area because of its current lack of value. And if you want a cursory example of how homeless people's freedom of movement downtown is determined entirely by the wealthy and powerful, look no further than Stranahan Park, which was closed again on Friday because the Women's Club was doing an event next door.

Beyond the suffering that will be created by these laws, this will also leave only one remaining proposal from the  batch  created by the City back in January: a public sharing ban. The City approving these 4 laws will mean that all their attention will be focused on stealing food from out of the mouths of hungry people. We have to stop them!

First the park is filled and fenced...will these sharings disappear as well?