For 17 years, religious groups fed homeless people, and the city and private donors put up hundreds of thousands of dollars for social workers to find them housing and services.<\/p>\n
But Malibu United Methodist Church \u2014 facing pressure from the city \u2014 in recent weeks took a U-turn, deciding twice-weekly dinners for homeless people would stop after Thanksgiving. The cutoff came after city officials summoned organizers and suggested they were attracting more homeless people and making the problem worse.<\/p>\n
The issue boiled over on conservative and Christian online forums, where Malibu residents were castigated as liberal hypocrites. Lurid death threats poured in to City Hall.<\/p>\n
At an emotional public hearing last week, Mayor Skylar Peak denied ordering the meals to end, but he also apologized for \u201cmiscommunication.\u201d<\/p>\n