St Pete police destroy tents of the homeless...to be "compassionate."

[madfloridian]

The St Petersburg police department major who gave the orders to cut up and destroy the tents of the homeless was in an interview with WTSP-TV in St Pete.

Looks like Mayor Rick Baker and the police chief just let her take the fall. WTSP has a fairly long video up about it, showing all the anger it has caused in the community. The reporter was holding up stacks of angry emails, some from other states...accusing them of acting like Nazis.

I watched this lady, and she only seems concerned that her decision backfired...not that it was heartless and meanspirited, and perhaps even illegal. No, she was only concerned about the anger it caused. There is an interview of the whiny whimpy mayor, that good Baptist Rick Baker.

Here is the WTSP video and article:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/florida/news-article.aspx?storyid=74253

Here is a picture from a recent rally at Mayor Baker's Baptist church begging him not to destroy the tents of the homeless. He had threatened to destroy the tents, but now seems to be saying he didn't. Baloney, I say.

Heartwarming picture of a vigil in front of St Pete Mayor Rick Baker's church.



There are more pictures at the link.

And here is the You Tube video that is posted in the DU video section.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x13777

It is sickening to watch. Florida is at it again.

[ThomCat]

1. I hope that city stays pissed off long enough

to boot everyone who participated in this. Heartless bastards. x(

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. I wonder how this mayor would feel...

if somebody took a backhoe and knocked down his house.

[shain from kane]

3. Bonus march. Hooverville.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army

[madfloridian]

4. Fascinating info, thanks for sharing.

I am very upset about this stuff. Our own city is doing the same thing by making stringent rules about feeding the homeless. It affects them greatly because they don't know where they can go to get food at times.

[JAbuchan08]

5. They OWNED the tents

They could have evicted the people (and I would still think that is wrong), but instead they went and DESTROYED the people's property.

On edit: I wrote that before I saw the mayor. WHOAAH!!!

[madfloridian]

6. Mayor Baker had just dismantled their other tent city.

Police operation leaves city stained

"After St. Petersburg police cut down the tents of homeless people camped beneath an overpass, the reaction was swift and predictable. Replays of the video on local television and the Web site YouTube brought a flood of harsh criticism for the city's heavy-handed tactics. Contrary to Mayor Rick Baker's favorite opening line, it wasn't a great day in the city of St. Petersburg.

Police Chief Chuck Harmon, who approved the raid, stated the obvious: "I think the perception was not good of how and what we did." No kidding. So why couldn't Harmon have foreseen that outcome? Now, people worldwide will view St. Petersburg as a heartless place where police destroy the property of those who have little to begin with. Good luck on reversing that image anytime soon.

Days earlier, Baker had handled the dismantling of a larger tent city nearby with more finesse. County and private social service agencies were brought in to offer the campers help in the form of rent vouchers, bus tickets home or shelter space. Those who refused or failed to get such help formed a new tent city."



Mayor Rick Baker playing his guitar.

Picture courtesy of Saturday Morning Market

[wakeme2008]

7. As soon as I finish my contract in Va, I will pick up my things in storage

in Tampa and putting FlorDuh in my rear view mirror. There is no hope for the state I have lived in for 35 years. :shrug:

[KG]

8. if baker wasn't in the loop, let him prove it by firing harmon

[madfloridian]

9. Did you hear Baker's wimpy comments in the video?

He was actually muttering.

[madfloridian]

10. The homeless wrote a letter to the editor. It is sad and moving.

I had not realized that the previous tent city that Mayor Baker had shut down was on the property of St Vincent De Paul. The city threatened that group with zoning issues, and finally forced the shut down.

I had not realized that 60% of the homeless in those tents were working people. This is moving.

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/10/Neighborhoodtimes/Tent_city_residents_a.shtml

We the residents of the St. Petersburg Tent City ask for your support and love. You may have read about the tent city in the papers or saw us on the TV. You have seen our tents, maybe even our faces; now we want to share with you our hearts.

Who are we? More than 60 percent of our tent city people work full time. We build your condominiums, clean your houses, and serve and cook your food in the restaurants. We have slept on the streets, in your alleys, on your beaches and in your parks, trying for nothing more than to get a good night's sleep without being arrested, beaten or rained on.

For many of us, the tent city has allowed us our first good night's sleep in months or years. We can leave our possessions, our books, our family pictures and our lives in the safety of a tent as we rise after a good night's sleep to either go to work or find work. Instead of working to pay $125 a week for a cockroach-ridden motel, we now live among new friends and can save our money and not be ripped off by these motels.

These next two paragraphs are amazing. They had organized themselves into a community with service hours to care to their tent city.

We have all signed a contract that we have written. For instance, No. 2 of the rules is "I WILL pledge a minimum of FOUR hours a week to maintaining the integrity of the SPTC beyond my own tent." And what do we do? We pick up the trash, maintain the portabole toilets, work in the tent city's office, and work as part of the tent city press group. We are barbers who cut hair. We have two men who fix bicycles donated to us so that members of our community can have transportation to work. We have people who are mediators in disputes, guard our community, cut our grass, and trim our trees. We contribute to both our community and your city. Many of us pay taxes just like you.

Now we are under attack by the mayor of St. Petersburg. St. Vincent de Paul gave us a vacant weed- and garbage-ridden lot that in just over a week has been turned into a functioning and caring community. We are told that the tent city must be closed because it is unsanitary. Where was this concern when we were living in alleys and sleeping on the streets? Now we have portable toilets, water and a trash bin! The social service agencies are now scrambling for more money to serve the homeless, with the promise of giving us mats for a few days or a few weeks. Why would they want this when for many of us the tent city provides not only protection, but also a nurturing community?

This was January 10th. It looks like this is the 2nd tent city that has been shut down. I know every city will have to cope with these problems, but St Petersburg should be embarrassed for the way they handled this.

And don't forget the video in the DU Video section.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x13777

[shance]

11. Thank you for this post Floridian and the wonderful, inspiring pictures.

n/t

[madfloridian]

12. It is something communities must deal with compassionately.

This mayor and that city's police have not shown that compassion at all.

[madfloridian]

13. Some comments by Mayor Baker and a city councilman.

Nothing really wrong with these comments, they just seem to have priorities out of order for such church goers as they are. Jesus Christ would have welcomed the protest in front of the church, IMHO.

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/08/Southpinellas/Pickets_greet_mayor_a.shtml

The Mayor:

"Baker defended Sunday the city's response to the homeless issue and addressed the protest.

"This is America, and people have a right to protest," Baker said. "But protesting at a church is not something I'd recommend. Fortunately, I have a loving church, and the pastor invited the protesters to worship with us today, which a number of them did."

Actually a church is not a bad place to protest at all.

City Councilman Bill Foster:

City Council Chairman Bill Foster, who last week criticized the city's eviction ultimatum, said a lot of positive things have spun out of last week's controversy. He called the demonstration "unfortunate."

"We have momentum for the homeless cause," he said "Demonstrating in front of a house of worship, in my opinion, that sets it back some. You're not going to make friends with the top guy in the city doing that."

This Foster statement especially bothered me.

At the same time, he said, the city wanted to send a message that it will not be a welcome center for people who choose to live on the streets.