As he touted Fort Lauderdale’s “great renaissance,” Mayor Dean Trantalis addressed a major issue still affecting the city during his State of the City address Monday night: homelessness.
“Homelessness remains one of our greatest challenges facing our community,” Trantalis said during his speech. “It’s complex. It is human. It requires us to be both compassionate and firm, but we also will not tolerate conduct that harms our community.”
Starting Wednesday, the mayor announced, the City of Fort Lauderdale is expanding its homelessness response by increasing staff and reorganizing the team to better address the needs of the city’s homeless population. This comes as Fort Lauderdale, especially its affluent downtown area, is experiencing a flurry of flashy real estate developments, young professionals moving in and overall economic growth.
The city will add seven new job positions to its homelessness team, the mayor said, bringing it to 20 employees that will focus on three main pillars: street engagement, intensive outreach and program services…