Minister’s Supporters Rally at City Hall

In a show of support for the Southern Baptist minister convicted of illegally housing the homeless, about 20 demonstrators Monday waved signs and passed out fliers outside a City Council meeting.

A few supporters of the Rev. Wiley S. Drake later carried their protest inside City Hall, arguing that council members should permit the preacher to build a homeless shelter.

City officials, in a heated exchange with the supporters, defended the decision to deny a building permit until Drake submitted acceptable rules and regulations for the proposed shelter.

The initial demonstration along Beach Boulevard included the forewoman of the Municipal Court jury that convicted Drake last month of four misdemeanor city zoning code violations.

Becky Ostrander said she hated to find Drake guilty, but that city law and legal instructions required the jury to reach the verdict.

“I admire what one man is doing to try and make a difference and I’m ashamed there aren’t more people who support him,” said Ostrander, a 47-year-old legal secretary from Buena Park.

Meanwhile, Drake’s attorney, Jon Alexander, said he is busy interviewing jurors in preparation for the preacher’s sentencing Friday.

Drake faces up to six months in jail and a maximum $1,000 fine per count, although city officials have said they will seek probation instead.

Despite the verdict, Drake has refused to evict about 40 homeless men and women until they have someplace else to go.

Drake attended the demonstration, arranged by an unnamed local church, but did not address the City Council.

“I’m glad to see that people in the community are willing to show their support for what this church is doing,” the 53-year-old minister said about his parish on Western Avenue.

City officials have said the case was not about the homeless, but about public safety.

For example, the city said the church’s makeshift sleeping enclosure failed city codes.