Operator: “911, what’s your emergency?”
Caller: “PLEASE HURRY! THEY’RE FEEDING HOMELESS PEOPLE WITHOUT A PERMIT!”
Kansas City officials conducted a coordinated sting on charities they suspected of feeding the homeless without a permit — then doused the food in bleach and threw it away. https://t.co/B4dOUybRqm
— Michael Hendrix (@michael_hendrix) November 13, 2018
“A coordinated sting” to shut down the charities? WTF is wrong with us:
“Charged with feeding the homeless without a permit? Damn, why didn’t I think of that one?” – Orwell in the afterlife https://t.co/hA4vywnDiC
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) November 13, 2018
Rules are rules, says Kansas City’s mayor:
Regarding the incident involving Free Hot Soup & @KCMOHealthDept: Rules are there to protect the public's health, and all groups must follow them, no exceptions. https://t.co/WaIo0QMI98
— Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) November 5, 2018
More from Mayor James…
The charity was warned. The charity was given an explanation. Nevertheless, the charity persisted in feeding homeless people (please ignore his 1. numbering system 2. spelling errors):
There is a lot of discussion about the food destruction issue and I’m happy to tell you some things I have learned about this incident:1) At the meeting of the North Blue RidgeNeighborhood Association, a representative of Free Hot Soup was advised (1)
— Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) November 7, 2018
Recommended
(2) they could not serve food without a permit. (2) on the night of this incident, health department inspectors were at 4 locations on this very subject. (3) At 3 of the locations those serving were advised they could not and told they could either
— Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) November 7, 2018
(3) destroy the food or take it away and those three locations did that. (5) at the location in question, when the server was given the same options, they allegedly responded that if the food was thrown in the trash, they would get it out and serve it. Thus the beach.
— Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) November 7, 2018
(4) subsequently, a male purporting to represent the Free Hot Soup organization appeared at the health dept and spoke to a health dept supervisor who advised him that health dept would provide free permits, food handlers cards and training for them if they wanted.
— Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) November 7, 2018
(5) the meeting minutes document that a warning was given and further that neighbors adjacent to Winner Park were concerned about the practice for various reasons. So, that’s the other side of the story, but one this is constant, the health dept is charged
— Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) November 7, 2018
(6) protecting community health and there have been instances where people have gotten ill in the heartfelt attempt to feed those who need feeding. Even good intentions require some regulation for the good of the public. Sorry this all happened but it’s not allays what it seems.
— Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) November 7, 2018
To quote the great Ronald Reagan, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.'”
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