FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - A Florida city called state health inspectors on itself to report rats in a downtown park so it could evict homeless people living there.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/2rGeJFI ) that Fort Lauderdale called the state health department last month to report rats in city-owned Stranahan Park.
A state health inspector cited the city and gave it 30 days to clean the park. Using that citation, Fort Lauderdale ordered 60 people from the park and threw away any belongings that went unclaimed.
Advocates for the homeless said one woman lost a laptop computer while others lost birth certificates, Social Security cards, identification cards and family photos.
Mayor Jack Seiler said that when the state cited the city, officials had no choice but to act.
