Linda Jolly is a Redwood City activist who lives in her vehicle. I’d like to hear more details from her on her own successful appeals of vehicular habitation cites.
Santa Cruz has an ordinance banning sleeping in one’s vehicle from 11 PM to 8:30 AM which is frequently enforced.
If any folks have information to add about successful challenges or activist response to this attack on people whose only homes are their vehicles, please let us know (at rnorse3@hotmail.com ).
See http://radiolibre.org/brb/ for my latest shows, and http://www.huffsantacruz.org/
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 15:56:07 -0700
From: lindajolley9@yahoo.com
Subject: did u tell listeners about legal help for car-dwellers??
To: rnorse3@hotmail.com
CC: carrie.leroy@skadden.com; stoptheban13@gmail.com
—- Forwarded Message —–
From: Stop the Ban <stoptheban13@gmail.com>
To:
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2013 10:43 AM
Subject: Fwd: Stop the Ban – Plaintiffs
Dear All –Our friend Carrie LeRoy (with St. Marks Episcopal) is building a pro bono legal team to represent plaintiffs in vehicle-dwelling disputes with the City of Palo Alto. Please see below. She works with the prestigious home town law firm Skadden, and she’s one serious dude and a beautiful soul!I recommend her highly to all.
Best,
Mary———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Carrie LeRoy
Date: Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 12:36 PM
Subject: Plaintiffs
To: Mary KleinHi Mary,Could you please let the leaders of the Stop the Ban coalition know that a group of attorneys (think I’ve rounded most of them up) is looking for vehicle-dweller plaintiffs to represent on a pro bono basis? If there are parents with children who attend the PAUSD, elderly folks or folks with medical conditions or disabilities, we’d be particularly interested in hearing from them. Also, anyone who is on a waiting list for a homeless shelter might be helpful to us (to show that sleeping in a car is not a lifestyle choice, but a necessity).Re: kids in the PAUSD, federal law requires that homeless children in our district be admitted to our public schools:The McKinney-Vento Definition of HomelessSubtitle B of Title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Title X, Part C, of the No Child Left Behind Act) defines “homeless” as follows: The term “homeless children and youths”–(A) means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning of section 103(a)(1)); and (B) includes–(i) children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;(ii) children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (within the meaning of section 103(a)(2)(C));
(iii) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
(iv) migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).
Among the other issues with the VHO, it is preempted by this federal law as to children who attend the PAUSD (because in order to attend, the child needs to be homeless and residing in our district–the VHO would make this impossible for vehicle dwellers).Thanks,Carrie
—
Mary Colleen Kleinc: 650-421-1881
—Stop the Ban is a coalition of individuals and organizations that oppose Palo Alto’s ordinance that would ban vehicle dwelling. We think the city can address this issue in a more humane and creative way.Organizations participating in the coalition include:
Action Council of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto
Palo Alto Friends MeetingFirst Presbyterian Church of Palo AltoCommunity Cooperation Team
Green Party of Santa Clara County
Midtown Neighbors & Friends
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Occupy Redwood City
Occupy San Jose
Peninsula Direct Action
Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
Santa Clara County Single Payer Healthcare Coalition
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom