Fort Lauderdale mayor wants to use old BSO jail as homeless shelter, county opposed
MIAMI - We found a man, with all his belongings, living on the sidewalk next to Fort Lauderdale's downtown bus station. "How long have you lived on the street," CBS News Miami's Ted Scouten asked. "Too long," he said.
He doesn't want to give his name, but he tells us he's concerned about Florida's new law that bans sleeping in public places.
"It's messed up, that's what I can tell you. Everywhere you go, the rent is too high. So, how you going to live?" he asked.
On the flip side, Charles King is a Fort Lauderdale real estate agent. "I don't think we want to be like Los Angeles, Portland, or New York City," King said.
He says there are too many people living on the street and it impacts his business.
"It's like kryptonite. People see this stuff in parks and streets, the chaos that goes on in intersections, people maybe they'll live in South Florida, but live in the suburbs," he said.
The law banning encampments like this one at the park and ride in Fort Lauderdale goes into effect in October. It allows local governments to open temporary shelters and provide services.
"What are we supposed to do? Money is not falling from the sky," said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis. He wants to use the old BSO jail known as "The Stockade" as a shelter. The county is opposed.
"We understand that there is a request that we find shelter for them. If we don't have those resources we're going to do our bests to try to work with the county which we believe has more resources," he said.
Mayor Trantalis said the city gets more people experiencing homelessness than other cities that people from all over the county are brought to the hospital here, as well as the main jail.
"You're not brought back to where you started, you're left on the streets of Fort Lauderdale. We're working with the sheriff's department and the hospital district to make sure we change those protocols," he pointed out.
The mayor said they've already expanded outreach programs. He tells us he's against criminalizing homelessness but without resources, that may be what happens.
"We certainly want to make sure the homeless are treated well, but at the same time, we have to be fair to the people in our community. If that means we're going to start arresting people, taking them out of the parks, if that's our only solution, then that may be where we're headed," he warned.
The city commission will take up the new law at its next commission meeting. County Mayor Nan Rich said she is strongly opposed to arresting people who are experiencing homelessness. She said the county will continue with its outreach programs and affordable house plans as a way to cut down on people living on the street.
