Modular Building Offered for Homeless

A businessman who has followed the Rev. Wiley S. Drake’s legal troubles with the city offered Thursday to donate a temporary shelter for the homeless to Drake’s church.

Robert McClure, director of the mortgage company Equibuild Corp. in Irvine, said he would donate a prefabricated modular building to First Southern Baptist Church to help Drake resolve his problems stemming from the housing of homeless people.

“As an observer, I fully support his efforts,” McClure said. “I hadn’t realized I could be a help until I saw in the newspaper that they were excavating and in need of a shelter. . . . I’ve supported him in no way other than prayer before.”

City officials have complained for two years that Drake was sheltering the homeless in a covered patio that does not meet building codes.

In June 1997, Drake was found guilty in Municipal Court of four misdemeanor counts of violating city codes. He was spared jail time, but the church was put on probation for three years and ordered to meet codes.

The city still has a lawsuit pending against Drake requiring him eventually to build a permanent structure and establishing deadlines.

Drake has met one deadline to complete at least the grading for a permanent shelter. His agreement with the city requires the shelter to be built by December, but the temporary building may resolve the issue--temporarily.

“We’re concerned that we’re not stuck with this temporary building,” Deputy City Atty. D. Craig Fox said. “At a certain point, he’ll have to get rid of it.”

But, Fox added, if the modular passes all codes, it should provide a resolution to the city’s pending lawsuit against Drake.

“We’re optimistic,” Fox said.