HUFFish stuff from one HUFFster: Israel Freedom Sleeper [FS] Documentary tonight, FS July 5 Speak-Out, Updates on Recycling, MHCAN, Andy C.’s “Bedbugs at River St.” concern, and whatever you bring… Coffee as ever.
Author Archives: huffsantacruz
#48: Freedom Sleepers Again at City Hall Tuesday Night; Documentary the Next Day at Del Mar Theater
Long-Awaited Freedom Sleeper Mini-Documentary Will Follow SleepOut #48 | |||
Date | Tuesday June 07 | ||
Time | 5:00 PM – 5:00 AM | ||
Location Details | |||
On the sidewalk outside City Hall at 809 Center St. across from the Main Library downtown
The protest runs from Tuesday afternoon through mid-morning Wednesday. |
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Event Type | Protest | ||
Contact Name | Keith McHenry (article written by Norse) | ||
Email Address | keith [at] foodnotbombs.net | ||
Phone Number | 575-770–3377 | ||
https://www.indybay.org/
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Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides Resumes Recent Interview Broadcasting–Lots of Voices Raging!
Thursday’s Bathrobes Show 6-8 PM features Street Interviews and Other Updates
Canvasing the Sunday Food Not Bombs line for news and views; belated partial accountability for two brutal Alameda County sheriffs; Wes White’s Salinas City Hall Sleep-In Report…and other stuff as well.
The show broadcasts at 101.3 FM and streams on the internet at freakradio.org at 6-8 PM (June 2nd). It will archive at http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/
Go to http://radiolibre.org/brb/ for older shows–as well as the latest show. To see some of them described go to http://huffsantacruz.org/
For the really old shows go to http://huffsantacruz.org/
HUFF welcomes new arrivals and old regulars 11 AM Sub Rosa Cafe 703 Pacific
On the agenda: Items you bring, Freedom Sleepers–Suggestions for Expansion and Growth, the FS Documentary Short, Supporting MHCAN Clients, Potential Federal Lawsuit to Open City Hall Grounds, the Food Not Bombs Dance-on-the-Steps Saturday, and more ! With coffee!
Another Tuesday Night, Another Sleep-Out (#47!)
Protest Slumber Time at City Hall Grounds…Again…with Freedom SleepOut #47 | |
Date | Tuesday May 31 |
Time | 5:00 PM – 5:00 AM |
Location Details | |
Around ye olde Santa Cruz City Hall, with slumber to be likely pushed to the sidewalk, though sleepers may choose to spead out to different (all legally forbidden) locations. | |
Event Type | Protest |
Contact Name | Keith McHenry |
Email Address | keith [at] foodnotbombs.net |
Phone Number | 575-770–3377 |
Warmer days, but still cold nights for those outside and without basic human rights. One of these is the right to sleep legally without fear of police harassment not anywhere and everywhere–but somewhere. This is the aim of the Freedom Sleepers. With no shelter available,
We’re hoping that those fed up with the current system, on the right and left, will support the right of poor people to be free of this kind of state abuse. Many hundreds, perhaps thousands, attended a Bernie Sanders rally today. We call upon those same folks to support a restoration of civil rights locally.
Folks sleeping outside should also consider giving a call to the River St. Shelter at 459-6644 to put their name on the waiting list, with a renewal call every three days. Being on the waiting list supposedly means all 6.36 (camping, blanket, and sleeping tickets) will be automatically dismissed by the City Attorney.
THE COMING CRACKDOWN
Last week, City Council expanded the anti-homeless laws there to include many traditional vendors of handicrafts and jewelry, as well as banning face painting, oil painting, beading, sewing, and many other innocent and unobstructive behaviors on Pacific Avenue completely in a very restrictive interpretation of the 1st Amendment.
The suffocation of street culture on Pacific Avenue and surrounding streets downtown impacts unhoused and poor people. Many vendors there live in their vehicles. Peaceful sparechangers will now have to compete for space with guitarists, tablers, and others. Having a human or cat companion is illegal, as well.
The number of “exempt” zones (the areas demarked with blue brackets on the sidewalk) have been reduced, the requirements tightened, and the highly unpopular “move every hour” law made more severe. No warnings are required before the giving of $250 citations after 61 minutes, even if you agree to move along.
RUMBLINGS OF RESISTANCE
Craft artists like Featherlady continue to vow resistance to the new ordinances when they go into effect around June 24th. Shindig, Sam, James and other craftfolk continue to display and sell their wares. On Sunday previously jailed painters Alex and Joff were still displaying their work outside the exempt zones (also called blue boxes) and being ignored by police (who previously gathered in groups of more than 70 to arrest them a month ago).
Vendors, performers, and supporters can join SAFE (Sidewalks Are For Everyone) by contacting HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom) at 831-423-4844 or e-mailing rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com.
All are invited to drop by the Freedom Sleepers from 5 PM Tuesday to 9 AM Wednesday. Or check out the HUFF meeting at 11 AM at the Sub Rosa Cafe at 703 Pacific Ave.
More information on the Council’s “Vanish the Vendors” law:
http://www.indybay.org/
“Mathews Council Crushes Handicraft Vendors; Freedom SleepOut #46 Soldiers On”
Robert Norse wrote up this event description.
https://www.facebook.com/
TO MAKE OR READ COMMENTS GO TO: https://www.indybay.org/
Flashback Show Ten Years to 2-12-06 with long-gone but still remembered Roughrider Richard Quigley and a host of obscure old-timers when they were youngertimers
Apologies to listeners. The I-pod ate my painstakingly prepared 4 1/2 hour show which featured another go-around at the “Vanish the Vendors” City Council, last week on the street, fine audio from The Grapes of Wrath, and lots of hard-hitting slightly-off-key political/educational rage songs from Ryan Harvey. Maybe next time…
Instead we’ll be broadcasting an oldie:
Sunday, February 12, 2006 show includes Richard Quigley interviewed on being banned from Aptos Safeway for trying to buy an “I know I’m stupid to be a loyal Safeway customer” …Discussion of the Patriot Act… “Deadman” being excluded from his wife’s funeral in Hollister the day before……”Mr. TV”….Bike church update from Road Scholar…Musical Mike and Valkyrie Valerie describing police selective enforcement against political tablers and activists near New Leaf Market…Ryan of Tent University at UCSC calling in against SCPD spygate, with Tent U update …The Brune interviews: judge drops dog-on-the-mall charge…Sylvia Karas, MHCAN Board member and psychiatric survivor speaks on AB1421 (easier psych commitment) and Prop 63 (funding of services), ducks question on whether she’ll stand up for medical marijuana use among her clients…Caller reports high-speed unsafe police chase ending in crash on 2-11…and more!
Thursday’s Bathrobes Show 6-8 PM features Street Interviews Against the Vanish-the-Vendors Law
And that’s mostly it !The show broadcasts at 101.3 FM and streams on the internet at freakradio.org at 6-8 PM (May 26th). It will archive at http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/
Go to http://radiolibre.org/brb/ for older shows–as well as the latest show. To see some of them described go to http://huffsantacruz.org/
For the really old shows go to http://huffsantacruz.org/
Gasp along with HUFF still choking from 5-24 Council Meeting, Sub Rosa Wednesday 5-25 11 AM
HUFF barely survived going mad gasping the bad air of bigotry in yesterday’s City Council meeting. The Council ignored all critical public testimony from those who braved the toxic situation there. Also coming up: mobilizing for educational outreach and protest in support of the vendors association, report from Project Connect, Taking the Unhoused Civil Rights Struggle to the Staff, MHCAN report….and, as ever…more… with coffee and stuff!
Vanish the Vendors Law, RV Night Ban, Big Police Budget & Freedom SleepOut #46 (whew!)
On the docket shortly after 2:20 p.m., Mathews’ City Council will likely rubberstamp the staff’s law reducing performance, vending, and “free speech” spaces by half. The new law will also seriously stiffen the “Move Along Every Hour” law. It will require anyone with a table or display device (anything “capable of holding tangible things”) to move along every 61 minutes. No warning will be required. Fines for overstaying your time or being outside the “exempt” areas (the blue bracketed areas on the sidewalk) will be $250 to $300 when court fees are added.The new Commercial Vending ban bars selling or displaying for donation any articles like clothing, scarves, crystals, rocks, geodes, and many other articles. This true whether anywhere on Pacific Avenue or the adjoining streets, whether inside or outside the Blue Boxes. Banned performances also may include face-painting, creating visual art, “visual art produced with limited variation”, handicrafts such as weaving, carving, stitching, sewing, lacing, and beading.The “clear” standard is whether an item though it has an “expressive purpose”, it is “deemed to have more than nominal utility apart from its communication, if it has a common and dominant non-expressive purpose.
Permitted performers such as singers, dancers, jugglers, puppeteers, magicians, actors, will be allowed to put a donation-seeking device directly on the sidewalk with their table, instruments, and possessions entirely contained within the Blue Boxes.
SCRUNCHING THE SPACE
A map of the Blue Boxes showed only 17 between Plaza Lane and Soquel Avenue. Only two spaces are available on the Del Mar Theater block in spite of the wide sidewalks. Much sidewalk space is taken up with privatized outdoor areas next to sidewalk cafes, unpermitted merchant A-frame advertising signs (technically illegal) and other city equipment. The expansive vacant space remaining is banned for “display device” use.
Defeated on May 10th at the first reading was a motion to allow “a few” spaces against any buildings for performers as repeatedly requested. Playing against the sides of building used to be regular practice prior to 2002 under the Voluntary Street Performers Guidelines.
There is no provision for public input or regular public hearing on the adequacy of these spaces or concerns about inappropriate police or host enforcement. Apparently these issues are left in the merchant-friendly hands of staffers like Redevelopment Agency leftover Julie Hende and Assistant City Manager Scott Collins. Both have a history of creating laws or projects that reduce public space at the behest of nearby merchants.
Vendors under the leadership of Shindig, a jewelry vendor, have begun signing up to oppose and fight back against the laws. HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) joined Shindig on Sunday to circulate petitions opposing the destruction of street culture. Many of these laws originate with a 1994 deal between merchants and a “progressive” City Council to clear away homeless-looking people from the sidewalk by instituting ever-expanding zones where it’s been forbidden to sit, table, peacefully spare change, perform, or vend.
DRIVING OUT THE RV’s: THANK COUNCILMEMBER NIROYAN
Agenda item #13 returns Councilmember Richelle Niroyan’s toxic attack on families living in their vehicles with a nighttime ban on RV parking anywhere in the City unless you’re a resident with a permit.
Though the federal government accepts homeless people as “residents” in allowing them to vote at the spot they currently frequent or try to find rest at, Santa Cruz will now ban homeless vehicle dwellers from applying for “resident” permits, no matter how long they’ve lived in town.
Niroyan’s latest attack on the poor on behalf of West Side wealthier folks who are concerned that RV’s block their view or “make them nervous” will have to meet a Coastal Commission review–which now seems more likely according to letters in the agenda packet.
BUDGET BOMBAST TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
The City’s 2017 Budget will be up for discussion beginning at 7 PM tonight all day tomorrow beginning at 9 AM. Social services (what little there is) will be up for discussion tonight with local agencies squabbling for tiny pieces of the ever-diminishing pie. Tomorrow morning Parks and Recreation (slated to take over First Alarm enforcement on Pacific Avenue and notorious for heavy ticketing and stay-away harassment in the parks at night) will be up for budget discussion at 9:10 AM. The police budget follows at 10:10 AM.
BLOATED POLICE/RANGER BUDGET
Strangely missing from the budget presentation on-line but occupying more than half of it in years past is the policing budget for the SCPD and Parks & Recreation. Nor is there any indication of the total budget with a pie chart indicating which departments get how much. In fact, nowhere in the budget agenda attachment that I’ve found is there any indication of what the total budget is for this year. City Administrator Bren Lehr was unable to find these stats in the budget, but after tracking the matter to the Finance Department, I found that this year’s budget is $90 million or so. And 42% of it goes to cops and rangers.
Mayor Mathews has declined to clarify when public comment will be allowed. I’ve sent her an e-mail asking her to correct this problem, but so far she hasn’t responded.
To address the real problems in the police departments generally, I suggest taking a long hard look at Black Lives Matters’ proposed reforms at http://www.joincampaignzero.
The Social Service component of the budget is less than $2 million.
FREEDOM SLEEPERS SUSTAIN VIGIL
For the 46th night, unhoused folks and their supporters will gather for soup (thanks to India Joze), coffee, and company through the night. Last week there were no tickets issued in spite of harassment driving poor people from the bricks and City Hall courtyard onto the sidewalk, where none have been prosecuted for sleeping.
Robert Norse (the author of this piece) is still facing charges for MC 13.04.011–being in a park after dark. This charge was widely used against Freedom Sleepers last summer and fall. I went to court on Friday and had my demurrer dismissed with a trial set for 10 AM on June 24. Motions hearing will be 10 AM June 17th in Dept. 1.
Though an original Freedom Sleeper, I am now simply writing and reporting. Hats off to activists Abbi Samuels, Zav Hershfield, and others who are holding down the protest each Tuesday. Support them in any way you can or propose new actions to end the Sleeping Ban!
https://www.indybay.org/