Controversy Over City Commissioner's "Homeless" Email

An Orlando city commissioner's email is creating quite a controversy over Orlando's homeless. The email from an aide to Commissioner Patty Sheehan refers to group "feedings" of homeless people and a new effort to move them away from Lake Eola.

READ THE EMAIL: Email Regarding Homeless(PDF file)

The email is just a few paragraphs, but it has caused quite the controversy.

"I just felt it was a little slimy, a little underhanded," said homeless rights activist Cooper Brinson.

The email, written by Commissioner Patty Sheehan's aide, Chase Smith, was sent to eight business owners in the Thornton Park neighborhood, talking about Sheehan's proposed ordinance banning well-intentioned volunteers from feeding the homeless there each Wednesday afternoon.

Email News Sign-Up Multiple Choices - Auto sign-up (LEFT ALIGN) GET WFTV NEWS HEADLINES BY EMAIL 9 a.m. Headlines Noon Headlines 4 p.m. Headlines News of the Strange Breaking News Alerts The intent of the ordinance, Smith wrote, is to try to move the large groups of homeless out of downtown and create less of a "situation" for the businesses and residents, potentially resolving many of the "post-feeding issues that everyone's experiencing" downtown.

Brinson said the group giving out the food, Food Not Bombs, needs a helping hand from city leaders and not the boot.

"They're just pushing the problem away to another place so they don't have to look at it," he said.

But it isn't so cut and dry. Ask people who live or own businesses in the area and they tell a much different story.

"Their set of rules on the street isn't our set of rules," said Robin Stotter.

Stotter plans to open a new restaurant right on the park in three months. Over the past three months, he said, the homeless population has exploded.

"When I come to work every day, I have to get people out of my front door. I have to get 'em out of the stairs getting down," he said. "They come into the building during the day. I found two people doing heroin in my bathroom."

Stotter fears a recent rise in neighborhood crime is scaring customers away.

It's an argument blurred by the rhetoric in an email whose own author admits is a bit strong.

Eyewitness News spoke to Sheehan's assistant who wrote the email and, while he said he does regret the choice of words, he does not regret the message that something has to change in the park and anyone who wants a say should show up at a public meeting on Monday.

Sheehan's proposed ordinance would move the permitted location for the so-called "feedings" to an area near city hall. There is a public hearing on the plan set for Monday at 2:00pm at City Hall.