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Now in addition to their desire for the homeless to eat in restaurants, the Nutter administration is claiming another national tactic for outlawing eating, generating garbage. (LA Times link below about the national push) From Inq: "Deputy Mayor Michael DiBerardinis insisted the law was not targeting religious programs feeding homeless people but was the only way he could stretch limited resources to maintain the parks for all residents. "The regularity of these [feedings] puts a burden on the system," DiBerardinis testified. "It's not about who it is, it's the activity, and any suggestion that we don't want the homeless people there is dead wrong." DiBerardinis testified that the homeless feedings - usually on Vine Street between 18th and 19th Streets in front of the Family Court building and the Free Library - forces him to devote disproportionate personnel and money to maintain a small portion of Fairmount Park's 9,200 acres"
People in Philadelphia need to realize that all city policies are part of the national neoliberal agenda pushed by the Democrat/Republican duopoly. Using garbage or littering is the other reason which has been claimed by municipalities outlawing eating in parks. DiBerardinis testimony is the first I've seen it here. But in the literature, the garbage justification predates the safety and dignity arguments by over a decade. It seems that the Nutter administration is ready to extend the eating ban to everyone instead of backing off of the anti-homeless civil rights violations, as I always expected. As someone who has a great deal of professional experience coordinating outreach services, I can tell you the Nutter nonsense is absolute crap. He claims that outreach services to recruit homeless people in need of mental health sevices requires a sit down restaurant. But as needle exchange programs demonstrated, it is offering assessment and referral, at the point of contact, that provides the best gateway to necessary services! If the city officials were honest about comprehensive services, they would simply send out an outreach worker to assist these humanitarian groups on the parkway. But our city officials are full of shit. As Sister Scullion points out, the very behavioral health care safety net is being destroyed at the same time that these liars are claiming that they want restaurants and a good comprehensive referral system for the homeless. The bullshit can't get much deeper!
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