Fingers are pointing in every direction.
Miami Beach city officials say they were blindsided Friday night when 41 homeless people were suddenly bused from Camillus House in Miami to the Bikini Hostel on West Avenue in Miami Beach. Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez said the hostel doesn’t have the services those people need.
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“It was truly inhumane, something that should never happen when there are appropriate facilities,” Fernandez said.
The City of Miami brought the unhoused people from Camillus House to Miami Beach.
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“Of those 41, more than a dozen and a half were senior citizens, people in their mid to late 70’s, some of them were disabled in wheelchairs, one of them was blind," said Ron Book, who runs the Homeless Trust. "There was no other option, we didn’t release people to the street, city of Miami didn’t release people to the street, Camillus House released them to the street."
“We did not put anyone out on the streets and we wouldn’t have done that,” said Eddie Gloria, the CEO of Camillus House.
Gloria said they had plans to move the homeless out gradually.
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“And suddenly the city decided on its own to come and pick up their people, those are clients they placed in our beds, and take them to Miami Beach, we were not consulted, we were not informed,” Gloria said.
This all happened on the same day that a judge ruled in favor of the Miami Beach City Commission’s cancelation of a referendum which would have imposed a one-percent tax on restaurants to help fund the Homeless Trust.
“Is it a coincidence that a few hours earlier that the judge ruled that the one percent homeless tax would be removed from the Miami Beach ballot, is that a coincidence?” Fernandez said. “Society has already failed these homeless individuals, the last thing they need is for the individuals who are there to lend them compassionate assistance to use them as pawns.”
Book said there was no ulterior motive, saying with homeless shelters in the county totally full, the hostel in Miami Beach was the best place available on short notice.
“This was a smart, wise, and compassionate thing to do, and if people don’t like the decision, I’m really sorry for them,” Book said, pointing out that Miami Beach has no homeless shelters.
I asked him if it had anything to do with political retribution.
“It would be a lie to say anything other than no,” Book replied.
The City of Miami says this all started when reimbursement negotiations with Camillus House broke down, but the city also said in a statement that it will provide services such as food, counseling and job placement to the people it moved to the hostel.
The Homeless Trust says it will do what it always does, which is to continue to look for long-term housing for those people.
