NOTES BY NORSE: Two strong articles by homeless activists in Palo Alto correct the misstatements of bigotfriendly authorities and reveal the human dimensions of the proposed attack on the main affordable housing for homeless people in California (vehicles).
Tony Ciampi presents his research on the status of anti-vehicular housing laws in the South Bay (in sharp contrast to the claims of the staff report). Staff and Council campercrushers are insisting all other cities and counties neighboring have anti-habitation laws. Ciampi’s report disputes this.
Santa Cruz, of course, continues to explicitly criminalize sleeping in vehicles–though only at night (11 PM to 8:30 AM–see http://www.codepublishing.com/
CA/SantaCruz/ MC 6.36.010a).An unholy alliance of the Seaside Company, the SCPD, the City Council, gentrification-zealous neighborhood groups like Santa Cruz Neighbors, the “tourists-are-us” Downtown Association, and outright bigoted Take-Back-Santa-Cruz-style groups have combined on the mayor-appointed Public Safety Citizen’s Task Force. The Public Hysteria Task Farce (as I call it) meets every other Wednesday 6 PM at the SCPD Community Room It’s open to the public (though they usually don’t allow you to speak or present testimony). Its agendas, staff reports, and minutes are available at http://www.cityofsantacruz.
com/index.aspx?page=1924 . So far the City has refused to provide access to audios of the past meetings.The head of this “Homeless Crimes” group is Seaside Company PR huckster Kris Reyes and includes “let the addicts die!” stalwart Steve Schlicht, vice-chair retired anti-homeless cop Jim Howes, Take-Back-Santa-Cruz sympathizer Renee Golder, and a host of other disreputables (see http://www.cityofsantacruz.
com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx? for the full list), hand-picked by Mayor “Bullwhip” Bryant, whose idea of law enforcement is being brutal to homeless people (destroying their camps, property, dignity, & rights).documentid=32263 I’ll hope to have a report out on the Palo Alto City Council cabal’s plan to criminalize homeless people in vehicles either on this e-mail list or through my radio show Thursday night 6-8 PM at http://tunein.com/radio/FRSC-
s47254/
From: t.ciampi@hotmail.com
Subject: Signage Required Prior To Enforcement of VHO
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2013 01:22:54 -0600
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-
corroborated by the case law:
SLO HOMELESS ALLIANCE; V. CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO;
Judge orders police to stop citing homeless for sleeping in cars
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
The city of San Luis Obispo was ordered Thursday by a Superior Court judge to pay $133,880 in legal fees and other associated costs to the two attorneys who sued the city over its treatment of homeless people living and sleeping in their vehicles. The ruling brings the city’s cost to settle the lawsuit to more than $270,000.
Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
If the city of Palo Alto erects signs at Cubberley Center the vehicle dwellers will move to Gereenmeadow necessitating signs in Greenmeadow. After signs are erected in Greenmeadow the vehicle dwellers will move to Fairmeadow and then on to Adobe Meadow and Palo Verde. After signs are erected in those neighborhoods the vehicle dwellers will move to Midtown and Barron Park eventually settling down in Old Palo Alto and Professorville. In the end there will be thousands of signs on every block in Palo Alto to deal with 30 cars.
Councilman Larry Klein,
My apologies, I was incorrect about Pacifica and San Francisco not having a Vehicle Habitation Ordinance as I was misinformed by local homeless advocates there. However I have recently been informed that it is still legal to live in a vehicle in most places in San Francisco and Pacifica because there are no signs posted in the majority of those districts, only a few small areas is living in a vehicle prohibited.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/
It should also be noted that
Mountain View allows Vehicle Habitation in commercial areas and prohibits Vehicle Habitation in residential areas.
SEC. 19.111. Regulation of storage or parking of vehicles in residential areas.
“No vehicle parked upon any public street shall be occupied or used for dwelling purpose.”
ONLY REFERS TO RESIDENTIAL AREAS
http://library.municode.com/
I’ve heard reports as many as 70 vehicle dwellers living in Mtn. View’s commercial areas.
I spoke with Mountain View Community Service Officer Leslie Ota on May 15, 2013. Ms. Ota supplied me with Mtn. View’s current muni-code SEC. 19.111. (c) regarding the use of vehicles in residential areas. She also informed me that the city/police department were receiving numerous complaints from businesses in commercial areas regarding people sleeping/living in their vehicles.
She also stated to me that she was tasked to investigate the expansion of Mtn. View’s vehicle habitation ordinance to include all commercial areas as a result of Palo Alto enacting a Vehicle Habitation Ordinance. A response to the belief that Palo Alto’s vehicle dwellers will move to Mtn. View. I believe she stated that she conducted an preliminary report during last fall and early winter, Oct-Dec. 2012.
Mr. Klein you are doing to Mountain View what you have been complaining about that other cities have been doingto Palo Alto, force the homeless to move Palo Alto.
San Jose:
based upon the ordinance, 6.46.040, cited in the staff report, 3965, it is NOT ILLEGAL live in a car in San Jose. 6.46.040 only refers to trailers and house cars- VC 362 not regular cars.
Menlo Park:
Chapter 8.04
NUISANCES1
(18) Human occupation as a dwelling or residence of a motor vehicle, recreation vehicle or a structure not qualified as a dwelling unit under Title 16 of this code;
All that this ordinance states is that a motor vehicles such as an RVs or Campers are not subject to the zoning codes listed in Title 16:
Menlo Park does not have an ordinance as confirmed by the Menlo PD.
From: | Acker, Nicole M (NMAcker@menlopark.org) This sender is in your contact list. |
Sent: | Tue 7/09/13 6:43 PM |
To: | t.ciampi@hotmail.com (t.ciampi@hotmail.com); abjpd1@gmail.com (abjpd1@gmail.com) |
Cc: | McIntyre, Alex D (admcintyre@menlopark.org); Jerome-Robinson, Starla L ( |
To Mr. Ciampi and Mr. James,
It is not illegal to sleep in your vehicle (except in trailers – see below) in the City of Menlo Park; however, we do discourage it for safety reasons. The exception to this is in the following ordinances from our municipal code which addresses sleeping in a trailer coach. In addition there is an overnight parking ordinance for parked vehicles in Menlo Park overnight, which I have included below.
Chapter 7.20 – TRAILER AND TRAILER CAMPS
7.20.010 Definitions………………………………………………
…………………………….
I will be sending out a training bulletin to the police officers and sergeants of our department as a reminder. We realize that the City of Palo Alto is working on an ordinance to ban sleeping in vehicles, which does not impact our City.
Best Regards,
Nicole
Nicole Acker| Management Analyst – Training/Hiring/Public Information
Menlo Park Police Department
701 Laurel Street
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-330-6325 direct phone
650-330-6300 main | 650-327-1682 fax
Tony Ciampi
From: chuck jagoda <chuckjagoda1@gmail.com>
To: Tony Ciampi <t.ciampi@hotmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 4, 2013 1:50 AM
Subject: Alternative Suggestions–some examples
Hi Everyone,
Chuck Jagoda –sometime Cubberley car camper