HUFF in the Wilds: Special meeting 10:15 AM Wednesday 2-28-18 at San Lorenzo Benchlands Look for the Protest Signs

We will be moving from our usual Sub Rosa location next to the Bike Church to the San Lorenzo Benchlands as the City forces campers to leave.

  PLEASE COME DOWN TO SAN LORENZO PARK TODAY TO ASSIST FOLKS:

    •   Help document the mass deportation to nowhere with audio and camera
    •   Assist, if you wish, in helping move homeless gear
    •   Support the Warming Center, Food Not Bombs,  HUFF and other activists in documenting, providing resources, & publicizing the situation.
    •   Back up homeless efforts to organize either as in protest or to demand adequate and accessible facilities.
    •   Exchange information with other supporters there to generate more communication and better solutions in the future


    UP FOR DISCUSSION AS WE EYEBALL THE BENCHLAND EVICTIONS:

  • More Reports from Santa Ana Riverbed Encampment,
  • Communicating with Other Encampments to the North and South
  • Stories from the Street Around Us

 

Several Suggested Strategies for Those Left Outside

A double-sided flier I circulated today and will do again tomorrow, energy willing. The San Lorenzo Benchlands area contains scores of tents which now face eviction. The “humanitarian” cover for this removal operation is a $90,000/month fenced off area on the edge of town at 1220 River St. with unclear access policies and three levels of policing (internal hosts, First Alarm Security outside, and a nearby mobile Police Substation.

The deadline for eviction tomorrow, according to workers at the River St. campground, is 11 AM. While I found numerous City-funded workers helping move homeless property from San Lorenzo to River St. today, there is clearly no place for most homeless people in the City to go.

HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) activists will be down at the San Lorenzo Campground to observe and document the eviction of the poorest in our community 10:15 AM Wednesday 2-28.  Join us and post any video you take.
Read more and make comments at

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/02/27/18807021.php

Flyer is at https://www.indybay.org/uploads/2018/02/27/campground_evictions__side_one.pdf
and https://www.indybay.org/uploads/2018/02/27/campground_evictions_side_two.pdf

LAST DAY OF THE SAN LORENZO CAMPGROUND? COME DOWN TO DOCUMENT THE CREATION OF INTERNAL REFUGEES!

According to Channel 8, today, Tuesday February 27th, is the last day for survival campers in the San Lorenzo Benchlands.  


      The only immediate campground alternatives is a barbed wire-ringed fenced-off space at the edge of town at 1220 River St.  It looks to be 1/3 the size of the current San Lorenzo campground.   Homeless people are considered too dangerous to be able to walk to and from the campground, so those using it must be ferried to and from.  It is reportedly already almost completely filled.  It costs $90,000 a month–which is likely far     more than was spent on San Lorenzo, with only a fraction of its clients.  Homeless advocates and homeless people were not consulted in its creation.  Its existence seems more of a fluffy PR cover for the elimination of the San Lorenzo campground with no real alternatives..

       The other “shelter alternative” is the Winter Shelter program slated to end in mid April. It involves body searches, strict entering and leaving times, and other aspects that make it unsuitable for many outside.  It is current limited to around 110 people.  There are no plans for a summer shelter program other than the “have your ‘Path to Housing’ cash or vouchers” ready program of the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center.

        Given these sober facts, it’s nonsense to believe government claims that San Lorenzo campers are being given a real alternative –at least for most.  Much of the ballyhoo around these “shelter proposals” seems simply to be a way of dressing up mass eviction & possible crackdown city-wide.

        The San Lorenzo campground was initially created as a “toleration” zone given the Hepatitis A epidemic.  Won’t removing the campground recreate the bad conditions?


       PLEASE COME DOWN TO SAN LORENZO PARK TODAY TO ASSIST FOLKS.

  •   Help document the mass deportation to nowhere with audio and camera
  •   Assist, if you wish, in helping move homeless gear
  •   Support the Warming Center, Food Not Bombs,  HUFF and other activists in documenting, providing resources, & publicizing the situation.
  •   Back up homeless efforts to organize either as in protest or to demand adequate and accessible facilities.
  •   Exchange information with other supporters there to generate more communication and better solutions in the future.


This e-mail is from HUFF and does not necessarily represent the views of the Warming Center or Food Not Bombs
.

A LONGER E-MAIL WITH MORE DETAILS WILL FOLLOW

       PLEASE COME DOWN TO SAN LORENZO PARK TODAY 

    •   Help document the mass deportation to nowhere with audio and camera
  •   Assist, if you wish, in helping move homeless gear
  •   Support the Warming Center, Food Not Bombs,  HUFF and other activists in documenting, providing resources, & publicizing the situation.
  •   Back up homeless efforts to organize either as in protest or to demand adequate and accessible facilities.
  •   Exchange information with other supporters there to generate more communication and better solutions in the future.

This e-mail is the opinion of HUFF and does not necessarily represent the views of Food Not Bombs or the Warming Center.

Sunday 2-25-18 9:30 AM-2:30 PM Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides at 101.3 FM & freakradio.org: Brent and Bathrobespierre on the Smashing of the San Lorenzo Campground, the Marysville Report, and Other Voices; December 15, 2011 Flashback

Current Stuff:

  • Roadrider Curtis Reliford on Racist Repression in Santa Cruz

  • Shantytown Sharon Scoffs at the River St. Campground

  • “Big Drum” Brent surveys the Impending San Lorenzo Campground Destruction

  • Raelyn Butcher and Brian Brown of Marysville Report Organization Energy Up North

The early December 15, 2011 Street and Phone Interviews Flashback covers:

    • Brent looks back on the 75 River St. Occupation two weeks later
    • Nutcracker Nick and others on the Occupy Wall Street Shut down of the Oakland Ports
    • Updates on the False Police Arrests at the First San Lorenzo Camp Shutdown 7 Years Ago
    • Sheriffs Ignore the Supervisors Smart Meter Moratorium
    • Other stuff as well
  •  


    This show archives tomorrow at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html

    Leave your comments and questions at 831-423-4833.

    Contact 575-770-3377 to volunteer to help Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs locally through Facebook. Donate blankets to the San Lorenzo Campers (until they get ousted on February 28th) either directly or through the Warming Center Project  at 831-234-9848.

    Check out Homeless Outside in Santa Cruz  on Facebook.
     

     

    HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) meets Wednesday 2-28-18 11 AM

    at the Sub Rosa Cafe (next to the Bike Church at 703 Pacific).  Coffee on the house.  Special emergency meeting to monitor the City’s Sweep-Away of the San Lorenzo Campground.


    Call 423-4833 to volunteer for or learn more about civil rights work on homeless civil rights issues.

    .

Tonight 2-22-18 at 6 PM Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides on Free Radio Santa Cruz at 101.3 FM — May 31, 2001 Flashback Featuring Sweet Street and Suite Activist Michael Schmidt, Tenants Rights Activist Donna Deiss, and more

Voices from Yesteryear’s Show include

  • (Unsuccessful) Board of Supervisors Candidate Mike Schmidt, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce,
  • Donna Deiss of the Santa Cruz Tenants Union,
  • Terrible Tony of WAMM and FRSC,
  • Outspoken Homeless and Homeless Issues Task Force Activist Doug McGrath,  
  • Bathrobespierre Robert on the Koffee Klatch 3 Legal Case

Read coverage of the Koffee Klatch 3 case at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/StreetSpiritSantaCruz/2001-1-still-waiting-for-justice-001.pdf , http://www.huffsantacruz.org/StreetSpiritSantaCruz/2001-4-homeless-activists-banned-from-sc-city-hall-001.pdf,
http://www.huffsantacruz.org/StreetSpiritSantaCruz/153.City’s%20Suit%20Dismissed%20Against%20The%20Koffee%20Klatch%203=7-2000.pdf, and
http://www.huffsantacruz.org/StreetSpiritSantaCruz/154.Suit%20Dismissed(cont.)=7-2000.pdf

Free Radio, as usual, streams at freakradio.org.  The show archives under Lost Shows on the HUFF website at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html.   Look for the Latest Show – 2/22/2018  Thursday, February 22, 2018 – Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides.  

HUFF back in its usual place 11 AM today Wednesday 2-21-18 at the Sub Rosa

Up for discussion around the coffee table:  

  • February 28th Closing of the San Lorenzo Park Campground,
  • Reports from Santa Ana Encampment,
  • Updates on the Projected River St. “Boneyard” Campground,
  • tonight’s Santa Cruz Neighbor’s Meeting at the Cop Shop Community Room 7-8:30 PM with SCPD Chief Mills, City Manager Bernal, and others
  • Analyzing the Recently Released Neighborhood Safety Team Reports and their Impact on MHCAN
  • Stories from the Street that Stride In…

Sunday 2-18-18 9:30 AM-3 PM Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides at 101.3 FM & freakradio.org: Berkeley’s Tenacious Model Encampment, How to Pass a Rent Control Initiative, and a February 2001 Flashback

Current Stuff:

 

  • Activist David Silva In Medical Crisis in Maputo, Mozambique
  • First Look at the Executive Summary of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty’s Tent City USA Report
  • Berkeley’s First They Came for the Homeless Encampment Activists Stacy and Ben Give Updates
  • Orange County Judge Pushes For Real Alternatives to Santa Ana Riverbed Camp He is Ordering Dispersed Tuesday
  • How to Gather Signatures and Voter Registration for Santa Cruz City Rent Control–a Training
  • Suspicious Sticker Seller Interview on Pacific Avenue
  • Visionsong Valerie, Dreamcatcher, and Others Sing and Spout at the Red Church 2-11
  • ‘Katzenjamer’ Keith McHenry’s Grin-Through-the-Gloom Report

 

The early February 2001 Street and Phone Interviews Flashback covers 

  • Bad Luck Ben Describes a Vehicular Sleeping Ban Bust
  • Battling Bob Lamonika on the Phone Describes the 17-Years-Ago Struggle for Rent Control
  • Crossroads Chris Brozda on his Arrest and 180-Day Incarceration for Photographing Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt
  • Disabled Vehicle Dweller Mark Anderson on his Lone Sleeping & Marijuana Tickets–4 Days in Jail
  • Connie and Cynthia Recall the 1995 Coral St. Open Air Shelter, Bogus Cop Stops
  • Plus more, natch

This show archives tomorrow at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html

Leave your comments and questions at 831-423-4833.

Contact 575-770-3377 to volunteer to help Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs locally through Facebook. Donate blankets to the San Lorenzo Campers (until they get ousted on February 28th) either directly or through the Warming Center Project.

Check out Homeless Outside in Santa Cruz  on Facebook.
Still a $500 reward for any info leading to Free Radio’s finding a 10′ X 10′  studio space for Free Radio Santa Cruz to rent in Santa Cruz.

HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) meets Wednesday 2-21-18 11 AM at the Sub Rosa Cafe (next to the Bike Church at 703 Pacific).  Coffee on the house.

Call 423-4833 to volunteer for or learn more about civil rights work on homeless civil rights issues.

Tonight 2-15-18 at 6 PM Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides on Free Radio Santa Cruz at 101.3 FM — Boneyard Blues at City Council and Brent Adams’ Update

Plus lots of musical interludes from the Parody Project at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Parody+Project

Free Radio, as usual, streams at freakradio.org.  The show archives under Lost Shows on the HUFF website at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html.   Look for the Latest Show – 2/15/2018  Thursday, February 15, 2018 – Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides.  

Santa Cruz Neighbors Meeting NEXT Wednesday, February 21st

Santa Cruz Neighbors is happy to announce our guest panelists for our next meeting on February 21st 7 – 8:30pm at 155 Center St

Our panelists will be from the County and the City.

They will be presenting briefly each of their perspectives as they have been working together.

The panelists will include:

Carlos Palacios –County Administrative Officer

Elissa Benson – Asst. County Administrative

Officer Rayne Marr – Homeless Service Coordinator

Martin Bernal – City Manager

Chief Andrew Mills – Santa Cruz Police Department

Susie O’Hara – City Principal Management Analyst

We will have a short question and answer period after the panel discussion and presentation.

Deborah Elston elston13@earthlink.net Santa Cruz Neighbors, Inc. 15 years of Neighbors Helping Neighbors www.santacruzneighbors.org email@santacruzneighbors.org LIKE and follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/santacruz.neighbors

Join your own Neighborhood at Nextdoor.com

NO HUFF TODAY! Next HUFF meet is Wednesday February 21- 11 AM Sub Rosa Cafe

Since we’re meeting bi-weekly now, there’s no meeting today.

But in the wake of the surprising victory with Council passing an emergency rent freeze and a just eviction protection law last night, check out
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/lifestyle/20180213/santa-cruz-institutes-rent-hike-freeze-eviction-rules
Mountain View chatterings:

Mountain View Forum explores ongoing issue of vehicle dwellers.

https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/news/201-traffic-development/57159-

Campers and RVs in Mountain View

https://www.lwvlamv.org/league-news/report-on-league-forum-campers-and-rvs-in-our-city/

Victories on the horizon in southern California:

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/california-fight-over-homeless-camp-faces-key-day-in-court/

An  older story suggesting the value of state passage of local Homeless Bill of Rights laws:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-homeless-harassment-suit-20180205-story.html


On the down side, the Terrazas City Council unanimously passed a February 28th eviction date for the San Lorenzo Campground.  The mass eviction is being sanitized with sweet talk about the River Street Camp, the renamed “boneyard” at 1220 River St.– a much smaller area surrounded with barbed wire which bars walk-in’s and will oust people during the day.

First They Came for the Homeless activist Mike Zint suggests core campers stay together and try the Berkeley solution (See First They Came for the Homeless facebook page).  Organize or get pulverized.

More discussion of this on my Thursday Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides show 6-8 PM at 101.3 FM and freakradio.org.  For archived shows, go to huffsantacruz.org and click on “Lost Shows”.

You can also contact HUFF central by phone for assignments, reports, and updates at 831-423-4833.   We need help reviewing the SCPD’s Citation record to see how accurate Chief Mills’ “No Sleeping Ban Citations at Night on Public Property” policy aligns with SCPD practice over the last 2-3 months.

For outside updates, check out Facebook pages for Santa CruzFood Not Bombs and Homeless Outside in Santa Cruz.      Interesting stuff.

To check earlier Public Records Act requests archived several years ago by Avanti-ista Avian, go to https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0By8mqYfeMfFEN1ZVVE9mdXA0YkE .

A tip of the hat to RV activist Julie Ann for forwarding me most of the stories mentioned above.  Her continuing work can be found on Facebook at RV Fulltimers.