The Ocala City Council with meet with the City Attorney’s office in a shade meeting to discuss a potential settlement in a lawsuit brought about by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of multiple, local homeless individuals.
Assistant City Attorney Patrick G. Gilligan made the request for a private attorney-client meeting with Ocala City Council members during the council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, July 20.
During the “shade” meeting, Gilligan hopes to discuss settlement negotiations and strategy related to litigation expenditures for the case.
All government meetings in Florida are subject to the Sunshine Law and must be publicly recorded. A court reporter will be represent to record this meeting, and the transcript will become a part of the public record upon conclusion of the litigation.
The lawsuit was filed by the Southern Legal Counsel and the ACLU on behalf of six individuals “experiencing poverty” and homelessness for extended periods of time. It challenges two municipal ordinances enacted by the City of Ocala that restrict the plaintiffs’ “ability to request charity from fellow residents,” according to the complaint.
Among a long list of specific prohibitions, Chapter 58 of the City of Ocala’s Code of Ordinances prohibits “aggressive panhandling or begging on any sidewalk, highway, street, roadway, right-of-way, parking lot, park, or other public or semi-public area or in any public building lobby, entranceway, plaza or common area, public forum or limited public forum” within city limits.
“We did, I think, agree on some conclusions about some things. They’ve got some proposals on some other things,” said Gilligan about the mediation that had taken place with opposing counsel.
Council members will meet on Friday, July 30, 2021 at 12:45 p.m. for the shade meeting.