FTAA protest leaders said Tuesday that they face a housing shortage after government officials pressured two local religious groups to renege on commitments to provide a vacant lot for a campsite and space in a church.
State officials vetoed a tentative plan to set up a campsite in a vacant lot north of downtown. The parcel is leased to the Camillus House homeless shelter by the state Department of Children and Families.
And after meetings with Coral Gables city officials, ministers at the Coral Gables Congregational Church backed off a plan to let as many as 100 protesters stay in the church building.
The downtown campsite which would have been located on a five-acre lot along Northwest Seventh Avenue between 17th and 18th streets was proposed to Camillus House late last week by city and county officials acting in consultation with the two governments community relations boards.
According to Jack Blumenfeld, vice chair of the Miami Community Relations Board, the county had offered to supply tents. Miami City Manager Joe Arriola had offered to pay for toilet facilities out of his own pocket.
The Camillus House lease agreement doesn t allow for that kind of use, said DCF District 11 spokesman Peter Coates. That decision was taken in Tallahassee.
DCF public affairs chief Bill Spann confirmed that department lawyers had rejected the campsite deal. But he declined to discuss the lease restrictions. He said no copy of the lease was available.
Camillus House spokesman Sam Gil was unaware of the DCF actions. We have no problem offering the space to folks with no place to go, he said. All we asked for was some insurance coverage.
Coral Gables Congregational Church minister Tom Nordberg said that his original decision to house FTAA protesters had come in response to a request from the denomination s Ohio headquarters.
However, he said, Since then we have had conversations with officials from the city of Coral Gables. As the fruit of those conversations we decided, of our own accord, that this was not a suitable facility for that purpose.
Nordberg said the conversations included Coral Gables police representatives. One told the Daily Business Review that possible fire code violations were among the issues raised.
We ve now arranged through our congregation to have half the original number housed at the homes of congregation members, Nordberg said. But he declined to characterize his guests as protesters. I don t know if they are or not. They re visitors to the area who have an interest in the FTAA.
We have a longstanding relationship with the city of Coral Gables, Nordberg added. When they have advice for us, our ears are open.
The paddy wagon
A running count of arrest totals continues to be a moving target, with new cases reported on a haphazard basis since the legal resources of the city and the protest groups are both stretched so thin.
Among other incidents:
--Miami ACLU leader Lida Rodriguez-Taseff says she now represents a woman who was ticketed Friday for running a red light on her bicycle and allegedly subjected to an illegal search near the protesters headquarters at 2300 N. Miami Ave.
--Protest leaders and a law enforcement source reported two male individuals arrested on misdemeanor charges for urinating in a public space Monday. The law enforcement source characterized the arrest as selective. The defendants were released on the basis of time served, which a protester source described as an admission that it s a bogus charge.
--Another protester, Isaac Aldrich, 26, of Canyon, Calif., was arrested Monday and charged with felony battery of a police officer after he was observed staring at the FTAA barrier fence along Biscayne Boulevard at Flagler Street, according to a police report.
We approached the defendant in a friendly manner, the arresting officer wrote, when Aldrich made a quick motion toward his right side pocket where the officer observed a bulge. The officer alleged that Aldrich pushed the officer s arm as a pat down was attempted.
No further description of the arrest or the bulge on the 6-foot tall, 150-pound Aldrich is contained in the report.
--Protesters continued to complain of petty harassment and intimidation at the demonstrators 23rd Street convergence center and at their wellness center, a first aid facility at 532 N. Miami Ave., where convoys of police regularly pass by in patrol cars, on bicycle and on foot. But one protester added, It s so predictable by now it s a nonissue.
Steve Ellman can be reached at sellman@floridabiz.com or at (561) 820-2071.
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