Orlando mayor defends regulations for feeding the homeless

Orlando mayor defends regulations for feeding the homeless
Mark Schlueb Sentinel Staff Writer
June 25, 2008
A confident Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer took the stand in federal court Tuesday, defending the city's regulations on feeding the homeless in public parks.

It was the final day of a trial that pitted the rights of the homeless against the city's responsibility to protect its parks and citizens.The homeless advocates who are suing the city over the 2006 rules are the ones who called Dyer to testify. But that decision may have hurt their case.

Attorneys for Orlando Food Not Bombs and First Vagabonds Church of God questioned Dyer for less than five minutes, and he had no problem coming up with answers.

The city's lawyers then questioned the mayor for 20 minutes, discussing his administration's programs to help the homeless and the complaints the city had received about feedings that regularly drew dozens of transients to Lake Eola Park.