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Food Not Bombs wins right to feed hungry

SPT

The group, which says it's part of an international revolutionary movement, declared victory this week against Mayor Pam Iorio. It got Iorio to back away from a ban on feeding the homeless in city parks.

Iorio's administration persuaded prosecutors to drop criminal charges against protesters who were arrested when they fed the homeless at Massey Park downtown.

For now, the city also will allow the group to feed the hungry at city parks.

But the group's celebrations could be fleeting.

City lawyers will rewrite a city ordinance that governs how people can use parks to include specific, clear guidelines on what's allowed.

The new language could give city officials stronger legal authority to prohibit the group from feeding the homeless without providing security, bathrooms and insurance.

City Attorney David Smith said Monday that he doesn't want to create another conflict with Food Not Bombs.

But the ordinance will have clear rules designed to keep parks clean and safe that everyone will have to follow, he said.

"I don't see why they would have a problem with it," Smith said.

Smith has asked a lawyer for the protesters to help him craft the new ordinance.

The lawyer, University of Florida law professor Joe Jackson, said the city struck a "cooperative tone."

His clients were arrested on trespassing charges when they refused to follow police orders to leave the park. They were distributing food to the homeless in a park, which violated city policy.

Iorio originally defended the arrests, saying the city needed to enforce the ban to keep parks inviting for everyone.

Monday, she said she backed down on advice from city lawyers who thought the ordinance needed "improvements."

The old ordinance offered no guidelines for how city parks could be used. Instead, it delegated power to the parks director, who had blanket authority to do what he wanted. The broad authority to curb speech in parks would not have won a court challenge, Jackson said.

Under the current city rules, people applying for a permit to use a park had to explain how the event would reflect positively on the city, Jackson said. Applicants also had to give city officials copies of any literature that would be distributed at parks.

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