BELLEVILLE, IL. (KMOX) - Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert was cornered Tuesday in a parking lot by the Rev. Larry Rice.    The Rev. Rice was pushing for a shelter for the homeless in Belleville.

The mayor said The Rev Rice had already been approved for a permit to use a city park this Saturday to set up a 12 hour temporary shelter, and mayor Eckert felt the confrontation was uncalled-for.

” I felt that if he (Rice) wanted to work on homelessness and not just sensationalize things for a sound bite on the news , we need to structure one of these meetings that we talked about with numerous elected officials and church officials”  Mayor Eckert told KMOX.

The Rev. Rice is calling the event in Belleville “12 hours of shelter, safety and sanctuary.”