If the negative reactions to St. Petersburg's homeless population don't let up over the next year, the city might earn itself the title of "Meanest City in the Nation."

Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition to End Homelessness, says the city leaders' decision to destroy tents in a Jan. 19 raid on tent city may merit the ill-favored label.

"St. Pete's allegedly progressive reputation has taken a hit," Stoops says by phone from his Washington, D.C., office. "St. Pete, Ft. Myers, Sarasota, Orlando — every city in Florida could make the list."

The NCEH and the National Poverty Law Center choose the "meanest city" every two years based on cities' laws or actions that criminalize the homeless. Sarasota made No. 1 on the list in 2006 when city commissioners passed an anti-lodging ordinance that gave police permission to arrest people who camped on city property like parks and sidewalks. One of the elements necessary for arrest under the law is that the person "has no other place to live."

Stoops says the meanest-city label will not be chosen until the end of this year, but it will most likely fall to a Florida city.

"There's a harsher attitude toward the visible homeless population in downtown Florida cities," he says, listing a litany of ordinances and violence directed toward the homeless from the Panhandle to South Florida.

Stoops says physical attacks on homeless men and women are also on the rise in Florida. The murder of two homeless men on Jan. 17 is prompting Stoops to visit St. Pete this month to release a national report on last year's near-record number of hate crimes and violent attacks against people experiencing homelessness.

"I think there is a connection between the criminalization of homelessness and violence against people," Stoops says. "In communities where there's a negative climate it kind of gives permission or says to people, 'It's okay to beat up some homeless people.'"

Stoops hopes his February appearance will push city leaders to start addressing the root causes of homelessness and abandon any more callous reactions to the city's growing problem.

"I'm set to come down and stir up trouble," he says.

This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 6, 2007.