I spoke with Rev. Nathan Monk yesterday afternoon after our interview on IN Your Head Radio. The minister who has been an advocate for the homeless for years said that he expected a crowd to attend tonight’s Pensacola City Council meeting, based on the emails that he has received.
The Pensacola City Council will vote on an ordinance proposed by Councilwoman Sherri Myers that would change the homeless ordinance regarding “camping” and blankets that Mayor Hayward and his staff pushed through the city council last May.
Rev. Monk said that he would like the council to also consider the recent recommendation from the mayor’s office, and proposed by Councilman Larry Johnson, that would form a task force on the homeless issue. For that to happen, a super majority of the council would have to approve adding it to the agenda. Monk believed that valuable momentum would be lost if the task force wasn’t approved tonight.
The task force was mentioned when the original “camping” ordinance was passed last year. Councilman Johnson, whom Mayor Hayward announced he wants to chair the committee, played a part in the discussion.
Johnson asked attorney Alistar McKenzie, who was speaking against the ordinance, on how to deal with homeless people in downtown Pensacola. Johnson said that he had gotten calls from business owners and wanted to know if McKenzie had solutions for their concerns.
McKenzie replied, “You can pass some laws, at some place, to help assist, but passing these ordinances in a knee-jerk reaction is unacceptable. There are no proposals on the table to assist these people right now.”
He recommended the city council form a committee made up of human rights activists to come up with solutions.
Johnson thanked him. The ordinance passed and the committee was never appointed.
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Rev. Monk’s online petition had 13,428 signatures as of 5:30 am this morning.
The Pensacola City Council meeting begins at 5:30 tonight at city hall.
