SM City Hall poised to enforce 2002 law
By Daily Press staff
Providers of free food for the homeless made a statement on Tuesday by setting up a food line on the lawn of City Hall. They say a law that makes it more difficult to distribute food is unconstitutional.
The Santa Monica City Council was expected to adopt some minor changes to a law passed in 2002 to protect its constitutionality. Even though the law was supposed to begin being enforced in November 2002 — a month after it passed — it still isn’t more than a year later. That’s because the law was challenged in federal court by the National Lawyers Guild and homeless advocates.
But a federal judge ruled in the city’s favor late last year, and City Hall is poised to begin enforcing the law, which creates hurdles to feeding the homeless in public parks.
Homeless rights advocates say the law violates the constitutional rights of the charities and religious organizations that run food programs by giving the city unilateral power to prevent programs from being set up in the city’s parks.
The ordinance forces charitable organizations running free meal programs in city parks to apply for a permit if the gathering is more than 150 people. Each organization must also receive a permit from the Los Angeles County Health Department that verifies their program follows health codes and is not conducted more than three times in a 90-day period.
About 40 people gathered in front of City Hall on Tuesday to take advantage of food offered by a Venice-based organization called “Food Not Bombs.” No police were present, and it appeared as though the group was allowed to distribute food with no citations by the city or the county health department.
Some council members voted for curbing meal programs in the parks to force the charitable organizations to link their programs with city-funded social service agencies.
City officials say the ordinance doesn’t create any new barriers to food lines. Rather, it allows for laws that are already on the books to be enforced.
However, many volunteers of various food distribution programs said they don’t believe the city is trying to protect the health of the homeless with its new law. They believe the city enacted its ordinance to help clear the city of its homeless.
The National Lawyers Guild plans to appeal the ruling.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 25, 2004. Read the original PDF.