Monthly Archives: November 2016

Older and Colder- Back for Election Night SleepOut #70

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Date Tuesday November 08
Time 4:00 PM – 9:00 AM
Location Details
Weathering new attacks by First Alarm “security” thugs, out-of-the-park Rangers, and idle SCPD officers, the Freedom Sleepers will plant themselves on the sidewalk and nearby brick areas. The goal: to make homeless sleep after 11 PM is a right and not a crime. This in an increasingly homeless-aphobic town where there is shelter for only a handful of the 1000-2000 outside. Food Not Bombs and Joe Schultz will supply edibles and coffee. The event runs from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday mid-morning.
Event Type Protest
Organizer/Author Keith McHenry (story by Norse)
Email keith [at] foodnotbombs.net
Phone 575-770–3377
Note: This posting is the perspective of Robert Norse. Keith McHenry is point person and organizer for the Freedom SleepOut.

ELECTION INDIGESTION
As the Council election race ends, none of the candidates still running seem to have been particularly strong or specific in demanding police accountability and legal changes. Or an end to the anti-homeless sweeps now rough and regular. Some find hope in the past writings of some of the “New City Council” slate of Glover, Schnaar, S. Brown, and Krohn. They may be”the lesser evil” to the “Queen of Mean” Mayor Mathews slate of J. Brown, Singleton, and Watkins.

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HUFF Hops to It Today (Wednesday 11-2-16) at 11 AM As Ever at Ye Olde Sub Rosea Cafe

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In the wake of Freedom SleepOut #69 and the “Vent and Vamoose!” session with SCPD’s “No Audio, No Video, No Names” Chief Vogel and Vice-Chief Martinez up at the Peace United Church last night, we’ll be sizing up creative ways of educating the interested and pressuring the complacent around the dangerously expanded police power in Santa Cruz–particularly as it impacts the unhoused.   Also on the agenda”  Coastal Commission RV update,
Guarding Against the Guardian Angels, Spotlighting Harassment Around City Hall and the Library, and Getting the Goods on the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center.

Come prepared to drink coffee and chat endlessly.

We’ll also be making final prep for the “Return to Cop Corner” protest Thursday at 1 PM.  See https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2016/11/01/18792930.php.

Return to Cop Corner : Indybay
www.indybay.org
On the sidewalk at the corner of Laurel and Center Street (at the location of the SCPD main station).

 

 

Halt Lethal Practices by the SCPD: Cop Corner Protest Thursday November 3 1:30 PM at Center and Laurel

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HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) is concerned with the tepid reaction of the community, “social justice” organizations, and city council candidates to the SCPD slaying of Sean Arlt two weeks ago.

We are outraged at the subsequent stonewalling by City Manager Martin Bernal, Police Chief Kevin Vogel, Mayor Cynthia Mathews, and the entire Santa Cruz City Council–allowing the police to withhold the name of Arlt’s killer as well as the video and audio of the incident.

Join us to look for ways to raise the lethal issues that local police, their politician friends, and those in power generally choose to ignore. Up for discussion: a march to the D.A.’s office to demand release of the audio and video; a mass waiting room visit to the SCPD, an all night vigil and/or encampment outside the SCPD, and other proposals.
arlt_cop_corner_protest_for_11-3.pdf_600_.jpgDownload PDF (167.6kb)

updated_2015_flyer.pdf_600_.jpgDownload PDF (68.0kb)

Some of these issues have been raised for years. No answers. For the last year, the SCPD has withheld information on racial and class profiling. HUFF is looking for volunteers to help with Public Records Act discovery and analysis.
http://huffsantacruz.org
HUFF E-MAIL ARCHIVE AND BLOG. HUFF Blog About a dozen times a week HUFF activists send out e-mails about local protests, homeless news in Santa Cruz and other cities …

Freedom SleepOut #69 Dodges Wet Weather as Council Runs Through Another Do-Nothing Meeting

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Date-Tuesday November 01

Time-5:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location Details- Along the edges of power–the sidewalks adjoining Santa Cruz City Hall–city staff conducts business as usual while homeless people hide and shiver as winter deepens. Our local 21st Century civil rights fighters gather for their weekly Tuesday night protest, complete with hot soup, (usually) hot morning coffee, and increasingly cold night winds. The gathering runs from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning as usual when police, rangers, First Alarm Security thugs, and the newly-arrived Guardian Angels are expected to resume harassment patrols around the library and City Hall. Event Type-ProtestOrganizer/Author-Keith McHenry (story by Norse)

Email-keith [at] foodnotbombs.net

Phone-575-770–3377