Judge Urges Pastor and City to Mediate Homeless Dispute

Southern Baptist Pastor Wiley S. Drake on Friday pleaded not guilty in Municipal Court to nine misdemeanor charges that he had sheltered homeless people in violation of municipal codes and said he will refuse to kick them off church property during mediation efforts arranged by the judge.

In a 25-minute meeting in chambers, Judge Richard E. Behn, of the Municipal Court in Fullerton, suggested to Drake, his defense attorney, Jon Alexander, and to deputy city prosecutor Greg Palmer of Buena Park that they resolve their differences outside of court, and even volunteered to help find a mediator to aid in settling the matter.

Both sides agreed, but Drake said that if the arbitrator tells him he needs to remove the homeless from his church’s property, he won’t do it.

“We want to tell people about Jesus, feed the hungry and take care of the poor,” Drake said. “The city has said they don’t want that, so we’ll have to go to trial.”

About 30 homeless people sleep each night at the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, and hundreds gather weekly for giveaways of food and clothing.

The controversy over Drake’s offering shelter to the homeless began last summer, when neighbors complained to the city about transients overrunning the neighborhood. The city charged Drake with violating an anti-camping ordinance for allowing people to sleep in cars in the church parking lot.

Drake said he answers to a “tougher boss” and that helping the poor is not only a 1st Amendment right, but his religious duty.

“We want to work with the city. But we will not cease being a church,” Drake said. “I am not going to make a man, his wife and his two kids, sleeping in the car, leave church property because they are violating a camping ordinance. I am not a policeman. I am a pastor.” The city this week also denied Drake’s request to build a permanent shelter on church grounds, because Drake had rejected 27 conditions that the city wanted to impose before issuing the building permit. Palmer, the prosecutor, said the city wants to ensure the shelter’s safe operation.

“We’re not trying to take away his ministry. All we want is for him to make it legal,” Palmer said. “They’re interested in making sure people are saved and don’t burn in hell. All we are concerned with is that they don’t burn here on Earth from unsafe conditions.”

Judge Behn dismissed two storage violation charges against Drake because they were vague and set a pretrial hearing for March 17. If the matter is not resolved before then, a jury trial will follow on April 10.