Tempe, AZ – One week after hosting its annual MLK Diversity Awards Breakfast to honor the legacy and need for social change embodied by Martin Luther King, Jr.,  members of the New Deal Meal private club of the housed and unhoused gathered to share food and community as they do each Sunday. However, during the sharing this week, a Tempe police officer informed organizers that the City considered the private gathering to be a public event that lacked a special event permit and would likely lead to Ron Tapscott being criminally cited next Sunday.

Tapscott previously was involved in organizing opposition to the proposed Coyotes arena through the group Tempe 1st. In an audiotape released last week, he was slandered in an illegal city council executive session as a “crazy uncle,” and those critical of the area project were referred to as “cave people.” 

Now, the City wants to charge community organizer Tapscott with a criminal offense. The police interaction transcript can be found here. The police officer was clear that he was following directions of “the City,” presumably the community services director, the city manager, mayor, and council.

Tapscott, a retired social worker, has spent years using his home as a meeting place in order to get the mayor and city manager to work with, as opposed to against, residents in developing an inclusive community approach to homelessness.

Since September, Tempe faith leaders have joined the CIty in mediation meetings to discuss the use of Moeur Park as an ideal place to provide outreach services to the unhoused and food-insecure. Moeur Park, at Curry and Mill, is about half a mile from any housed resident of Tempe. Before his arrest in July for sharing food without a special event permit required for public events,  Austin Davis had done outreach to the homeless there and at other parks. Davis is now banned from all city parks for all of 2025, though he continues to dedicate himself to homeless individuals trying to secure housing and services.

The City’s director of community services has been part of the meetings with faith leaders. Ten days ago, in an email to Ron Tapscott, the director described discussions with faith leaders as “fruitful,” while insisting the New Deal Meal needed a special event permit that would essentially close down homeless outreach at Moeur Park. The email reveals that the CIty is being duplicitous. Criminalizing food-sharing does not come solely from the director of community services, but most likely with the express agreement of the City Manager, who has been helping conduct the meetings with faith leaders.

Dave Wells, a Quaker, who helped launch Tempe’s Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program in 2006 and has both been volunteering on Sundays as well as attending the interfaith meetings said, “I’m flabbergasted that the City would be so dishonest with its dealings with faith leaders. Father Greg Boyle, founder of HomeBoys Industries in Los Angeles, was in Phoenix this week and emphasized how critical it was to work collectively and build relationships of love and connection. That’s exactly what happens on Sundays, and the City is planning to make that a crime.”

Former Councilmember and current State Senator Lauren Kuby added: “There are so many unmet needs in our community, and we are a community that steps up to help those in need. The New Deal Meal Club is a private group, a club that seeks to bring community and comfort to the hungry and unhoused. Sharing food should never be a crime. We should seek to partner with our residents for their humanitarian efforts – not punish them.”

Rev. Dr. Tom Martinez, Sr. Minister, Tempe’s Desert Palms United Church of Christ: “Despite the City’s laudable efforts to create wrap-around services to address the crisis of homelessness, we would be a stronger community if the resources being spent targeting humanitarian efforts were instead used to create a drop in center for the homeless. This crisis is not going away. A more humane response would be one that allowed for humanitarian relief while at the same time bolstering the necessary infrastructure to address the real human needs of people in crisis. A drop-in center where unhoused persons could get off the streets during the day would be a step in the right direction.”

Hilary Cummings, a Tempe resident active in the community, noted: “Where is our compassion for our neighbors? We all need food, shelter, and community. We need to care for one another. Where is the crime in that? Leviticus 19:18 states: ‘You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Comment from someone who wished to remain anonymous: “Now the CIty is going after private gatherings? Will they now require permits and liability insurance to hold company picnics, birthday parties, or Quinceañera celebrations as well? The City’s intention is clear; they aim to shut down a private right to share food with those in need.”

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