Pastor to Be Arraigned on Charges Related to Homeless Shelter

Wiley S. Drake, the Southern Baptist pastor who wants to build a homeless shelter on church property, is to be arraigned in Orange County Municipal Court in Fullerton today on charges of violating several city laws, including one that restricts camping.

Assistant City Prosecutor Gregory P. Palmer has filed 11 misdemeanor charges against Drake. A hearing before Judge Richard E. Behn was postponed in December so that Drake and his attorneys could seek to have the case dismissed.

The case arose from a long-running feud between Drake and city officials over a homeless camp on the grounds of First Southern Baptist Church.

City code enforcement officers first told Drake in July that the camping was illegal, but the pastor insisted that his aid to the poor was a religious mission protected by the 1st Amendment.

The two sides reached an accord in December when Drake agreed to hire round-the-clock security guards, but Palmer later said the guards were the same homeless people who were living at the church.

Though the guards were training for certification by the state, Palmer said the agreement had called for Drake to hire a neutral security firm and thus violated the agreement.

Drake’s attorneys have filed motions to have the case dismissed.

“I’ll plead not guilty,” Drake said Thursday. “I think the judge will kick it out because it’s a free exercise of religion.”

The pastor and the city also had agreed in September that Drake could serve the homeless on church grounds if he submitted plans to build a shelter to house them.

Those plans went before the Planning Commission on Wednesday night, but a vote on the issue was postponed until Feb. 12. In the meantime, Drake is supposed to submit guidelines he will follow in operating the shelter.