DANA POINT : Council Vote May Close Soup Kitchen

The founder of a soup kitchen and halfway house vowed Wednesday to continue operating despite a City Council decision that could doom the facility.

Marc Ely-Chaitlin, organizer of the Mildred Rose Memorial Foundation, called the council members “mean-spirited” for voting 4 to 1 Tuesday to deny waiving a $1,900 deposit that must be made before the city staff will process the facility’s operating permits. Ely-Chaitlin, who opened the soup kitchen and halfway house on Olinda Drive in April, insists that his group cannot afford the deposit.

The council’s action will likely set in motion city procedures that will forcibly close the operation.

“We are in for an uphill battle, but I am not going to give up,” Ely-Chaitlin said. “We realize that these are political creatures we are dealing with and we will have to deal with them in a political way.”

Mayor Mike Eggers and Council Members Judy Curreri, Eileen Krause and Karen Lloreda voted not to waive the fee, saying that they support the group’s goals but that Ely-Chaitlin broke city ordinances by opening the facility without the necessary permits. They also questioned whether the soup kitchen should be in a residential neighborhood.

“Ely-Chaitlin says he has an obligation to serve the poor, but we on the council have a moral obligation to protect the rights of the property owners and residents of that neighborhood,” Eggers said. “(He) has shown that he has no respect for city ordinances or the rights of others in that neighborhood.”

Councilman Bill Bamattre was the sole dissenter in the 4-1 vote.

The foundation operates in a leased, five-unit apartment building in the Lantern Village residential neighborhood, where it offers free food and low-cost housing to the poor. About 20 people live there.

Ely-Chaitlin said if the council does not reconsider its action, he will appeal to voters and ask them not to reelect the four who opposed the waiver.

“The council is stomping on the face and on the aspirations of the poor people of this city,” Ely-Chaitlin said. “All they want to do is redevelop this area, bulldoze our building and run all of the poor people out of town. But the people of this city want a council with a heart.”