Weary HUFFsters, straggling in from Freedom SleepOut #13 will find a dose of coffee and cantankerousness at the weekly HUFF-orama. Rumors that Cal Tran or other badged bozos are giving “littering” tickets along the tracks (but not for litter, rather–clean up and move or have your stuff confiscated) , city attorney seems to confirm that zero camping tickets are being dismissed under the ‘on the waiting list’ exemption, new informational flier on getting your name on the River St. Waiting List by phone to avoid tickets, and, possibly a more restive than usual SleepOut #14 coming up on October 20th. Sleep out and then force your eyes open for the HUFF meet…!
Sarasota Homeless Strike Back; Santa Cruz Freedom Sleepers at City Hall for Round 13 Tuesday Night
NOTES BY NORSE It looks like Santa Cruz police, rangers, and city attorney are adopting the same deaf-to-reason, blind-to-compassion approach that Sarasota authorities use, as described in this mainstream article. One woman at the Red Church reported tonight that police and rangers have begun using littering tickets instead of camping citations, under a state code which allows for arrests and jail to frighten homeless people into cleaning up areas and moving out. She also reported railroad authorities using leaf blowers to harass homeless campers near the tracks.
Meanwhile the City Attorney’s office confirms that no sleeping ban citations were dismissed under MC 6.36.055 (the “get on a waiting list, get your camping ticket dismissed” provision) this summer. That means hundreds of $157 citations went to court and then probably to “Failure to Pay” status with hundreds of dollars of extra fines added. At the same time City Council declined to fund closing emergency shelter services (which were serving only a handful for shelter but more for food, showers, laundry, and bathrooms). Santa Cruz city, the courts, et. al apparently have no decriminalization plan and should lose HUD funding (See “Local Officials Have Pushed To Criminalize Homelessness For Years. The Feds Are Starting To Push Back” at http://thinkprogress.org/
Freedom Sleepers continue their spotlight on injustice tomorrow night at Santa Cruz City Hall (See “Freedom Sleepers 13th Community Sleepout ” at https://www.indybay.org/
Meanwhile the City Attorney’s office confirms that no sleeping ban citations were dismissed under MC 6.36.055 (the “get on a waiting list, get your camping ticket dismissed” provision) this summer. That means hundreds of $157 citations went to court and then probably to “Failure to Pay” status with hundreds of dollars of extra fines added. At the same time City Council declined to fund closing emergency shelter services (which were serving only a handful for shelter but more for food, showers, laundry, and bathrooms). Santa Cruz city, the courts, et. al apparently have no decriminalization plan and should lose HUD funding (See “Local Officials Have Pushed To Criminalize Homelessness For Years. The Feds Are Starting To Push Back” at http://thinkprogress.org/
Freedom Sleepers continue their spotlight on injustice tomorrow night at Santa Cruz City Hall (See “Freedom Sleepers 13th Community Sleepout ” at https://www.indybay.org/
Homeless sue Sarasota, police
Sarasota Police Officer Daniel Furner checks IDs of two homeless men at Centennial Park in Sarasota.
STAFF PHOTO / MIKE LANG
STAFF PHOTO / MIKE LANG
By Emily Le Coz
Published: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 8:01 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 8:01 p.m.
SARASOTA – A lawsuit filed late Wednesday by six homeless men against the city of Sarasota, its police department and the police chief alleges cruel and unusual punishment in the enforcement of ordinances that criminalize sleeping outdoors and thus violate their Eighth Amendment rights.
They also allege that the city unfairly enforces its panhandling ordinance by restricting the practice to certain locations in violation of their First Amendment rights of free speech, specifically, to solicit charitable contributions in a public forum.
The men seek a court order banning the city from enforcing those ordinances, unspecified compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs and any other relief deemed appropriate.
The complaint was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida in Sarasota County circuit court.
It’s the latest move in a years-long debate about Sarasota’s treatment of, and response to, the roofless residents who live in the city once named America’s meanest by the National Coalition for the Homeless.
City attorney Bob Fournier hadn’t yet seen the lawsuit but said he had anticipated it based on conversations with Michael Barfield, vice president of the ACLU of Florida. Fournier plans to discuss the matter with the City Commission on Monday.
“I expect the city and the Salvation Army to defend our practices vigorously,” said Doug Logan, Sarasota’s homeless services director.
At issue is Sarasota’s lodging ordinance, which prohibits individuals from sleeping outside on public or private property without the consent of the property owner. It also requires police to offer violators transportation to an available shelter. Those who accept the offer avoid arrest or citation; those who refuse face sanctions.
Police made four arrests and issued 175 complaint summons under the ordinance in 2014, and made one arrest and issued 50 summons so far this year, Police Chief Bernadette DiPino said.
“Our officers have offered every person they encounter resources and services, and they get turned down all the time,” DiPino said. “It’s not a crime to be homeless, but they can’t break the law.”
The lawsuit cites different numbers. It says Sarasota criminally prosecuted 192 individuals for lodging outdoors in 2014 and 62 so far this year. It also cited criminal prosecutions of individuals found in a park after hours — 139 cases last year and 40 so far this year.
In 2013, the lawsuit says, the city prosecuted 354 people for lodging outdoors and 127 for being in a park after hours for total of 882 people prosecuted under the ordinances since Jan. 1, 2013.
The lawsuit further alleges that police officers cite individuals even when the community’s primary homeless shelter, the Salvation Army, is full and can’t accept individuals.
But Salvation Army local Commander Major Ethan Frizzell said the shelter never refuses to lodge individuals brought in by police, even when they’re intoxicated.
The lawsuit claims current accommodations at the Salvation Army don’t meet the minimum standards for shelter and thus the city can’t reasonably enforce the ordinance.
The shelter can accommodate 260 people nightly. Some sleep on regular beds. The rest sleep on overflow mats arranged on the kitchen floor.
Those overflow mats, the lawsuit claims, exceed the shelter’s capacity as defined in its conditional-use permit issued by the city. It also says the kitchen and hallway where the mats are placed don’t provide adequate emergency ingress and egress, and that people sleeping on the mats don’t have the minimum 35 square feet of space required by city’s current zoning regulations.
“The Salvation Army does fantastic work, but they don’t have the resources or the facility to meet the needs of the chronic homeless,” Barfield said. “Until there’s a solution by the politicians, the city must stop with the criminal prosecutions. It’s morally and legally wrong for the city to use the criminal justice system to solve the problem. That practice doesn’t work because you can’t deter sleeping.”
Sarasota Fire Marshal John Reed said Wednesday that he recently visited the Salvation Army at the request of a concerned individual but that he won’t have any information about potential code and zoning violations until after a follow-up visit later this month.
For the city’s panhandling ordinance, the lawsuit claims that because it selectively bans the solicitation of donations based on location and other factors, it unconstitutionally singles out the homeless.
It notes that the city allows people to ask for charitable contributions or seek political support and questions the difference between that and someone asking for a personal donation.
An estimated 1,460 single homeless adults live in Sarasota County, which has a shortage of at least 1,187 beds to accommodate them, according to a November 2013 report by a consultant hired by the city and county, Robert Marbut.
Although they had initially collaborated on plans to address the community homeless population, city and county officials have been at odds to find a common solution.
The county wants to build a come-as-you-are shelter, ideally somewhere within the city where most of the homeless people congregate; the city wants to implement a “Housing First” solution that finds homeless people permanent lodging.
They are set to resume the discussion after two years at a joint meeting set for Nov. 6.
Barfield said homeless residents don’t have time to wait. They need relief now.
“I’m pleased the community is going to have these conversations,” Frizzell said. “It may be unfortunate they’re having them in a lawsuit.”
MORE COMMENTS AT http://www.heraldtribune.com/
Santa Cruz Camping Ticket Dismissal Info: Spread It Around
The City’s camping ordinance MC 6.36 was amended in 2010 after successful protests by PeaceCamp 2010 to require dismissal of all MC 6.36 citations if one was on one of two Waiting Lists–the Paul Lee Loft or the River St. Shelter [or if the Winter Armory is full] Though both agencies refused to give those signed up evidence to show to the police that they were on these lists, the City Attorney’s office did dismiss some if not all citations for those who were on the Waiting Lists. The River St. Shelter is the only “emergency shelter” currently operating in the City of Santa Cruz. Paul Lee Loft still closed except to those taken into the program with a “path to housing” as part of what appears to be an intentional decision to “disinvite” homeless people not in programs likely to get state or federal programming. This has resulted in a cut-off of laundry, shelter, socializing, bathroom, and meal services to the majority of homeless people in Santa Cruz. The one “service” remaining is dismissal of camping citations.
AVOID CAMPING TICKETS: CALL 459-6644 (24-Hour Number)
THIS IS THE RIVER ST. SHELTER’S NUMBER–ASK TO BE PUT ON THEIR WAITING LIST
LEAVE YOUR NAME (SAY IT AND SPELL IT) OVER THE PHONE
IF YOU HAVE A PHONE NUMBER, ASK THEM TO CALL YOU BACK TO CONFIRM YOU ARE ON THE LIST
THIS SHOULD NULLIFY FUTURE MC 6.36 TICKETS ONLY NOT OTHER TICKETS OR EARLIER TICKETS
YOU MUST CALL BACK EVERY THREE DAYS TO KEEP YOURSELF ON THE WAITING LIST
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE THEIR SHELTER; JUST GET ON THEIR LIST
COPS MAY TICKET YOU ANYWAY—BUT THOSE TICKETS MUST BE DISMISSED IF YOU’RE ON THE LIST
IF TICKETED WHILE NOT ON THE WAITING LIST, CALL 423-HUFF FOR ADVICE
Flier by Norse of HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) 423-4833 www.huffsantacruz.org 309 Cedar PMB #14B 10-3-15
FOR A COPY OF THIS FLIER AS A PDF, GO TO https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/10/04/18778412.php .
On the plus side, River St. Shelter now allows folks to sign up for their Waiting List by telephone on a 24-hour answering machine (though the machine says their “office hours” are 2 PM to 8 AM, so it may be best to call during those times). You give to the machine your name and ask to be placed on the Waiting List. You can also ask for a call-back for confirmation.
Freedom Sleepers tested the process on Friday and found they got a callback when they called to get an unhoused person on the list. It’s not clear when they actually pick up the phones there. I say it’s “24-hours” because we actually called them outside their peculiar 2 PM to 8 AM hours (around noon) and got a call-back confirmation for the person we put on the list.
I was also told that at an earlier point that you must call back every three days to keep your name on the list.
On the negative side, it’s hard to physically access the River St. Shelter with the new prison-like gate, guards, and ID cards. The management there advised us by phone last week that they still won’t write letters documenting that their shelter is full on any particular night, even if it is. This does not serve the many–which includes those who just got into town, who doesn’t want to take up space which more disabled or vulnerable folks might need, or who simply believe in providing their own shelter (whether that be the stars, a tent, or a vehicle). In the past such a letter (usually from the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center’s Paul Lee Loft was sufficient “evidence” for Commissioner Kim Baskett of Dept. 10 to dismiss MC 6.36 citations.
If you find yourself one of the hundreds who get camping tickets every month in town, contact HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) for info on how to subpoena the records of the River St. Shelter into court to document that there was no legal shelter and so invoke what’s called “the necessity defense”. Our phone number is 831-423-4833. It’s not a cell phone so leave a message and/or come to our weekly meeting at 11 AM Wednesdays at the Sub Rosa Cafe, or check us out at Freedom Sleeper Tuesday nights at City Hall where we challenge the Sleeping Ban.
It’s best to get on the Waiting List even if you have no intention of using the River St. Shelter, feel you are likely to be ineligible for any reason (pets, partner, too much stuff, etc.),or whatever. Because simply being on the list means that MC 6.36.055 requires the City Attorney to dismiss your citation (if it’s a MC 6.36 citation).
For your own use, I include a flier to download and use or pass on to those who might find it useful.
The River St. Shelter number is 831-459-6644. Continue reading
Fighting the Sleeping Ban–in the past, present, and future–in Santa Cruz
NOTE BY NORSE: Tomorrow Free Radio Santa Cruz will be broadcasting at 101.3 (and streaming at freakradio.org) an older debate between former Mayor Mike Rotkin and attorney/activist Ed Frey on the Sleeping Ban (MC 6.36.010a)–the law that makes it illegal to sleep on all public and most private property between 11 PM and 8:30 AM. Ed Frey (with the assistance of HUFF) initiated PeaceCamp2010 on July 4, 2010, five years ago to the day when the Freedom Sleepers began their weekly protests at City Hall. If you missed the broadcast/stream (or it didn’t get broadcast for some reason–we still don’t have a studio), go to http://radiolibre.org/brb/
PC 2010 was the 3 month long struggle 5 years ago that successfully created the MC 6.36.055 “nullification” provision of the Camping Ordinance. This provision supposedly requires dismissal of all MC 6.36 (camping) tickets if a person is on the waiting list of Homeless (Lack of) Services Center’s Paul Lee Loft and/or that of the Encompass River St. Shelter,. There is no more waiting list at Paul Lee. However River St.’s list can be accessed 24-hours a day at 459-6644, though much of the time it’s an answering machine. However, at least yesterday when one Freedom Sleeper called in to put his name on the Waiting List (so as to get tickets dismissed short of court by the City Attorney), he received a call back confirming he was on the list. So encourage homeless friends to call up and get on the list.
So far mostly MC 13.04.011 (being on the City Hall grounds after 10 PM) have been given out to those daring to exercise their right of peaceful petition and protest there at night. The strategy being used by many Freedom Sleepers is to be on the sidewalks with bags laid out after 10 PM–where for the last month they’ve faced bright klieg lights powered by noisy diesel engines, and–one one occasion–rousting by police “for sidewalk cleaning”. However we’ve generally found no actual camping tickets issued there on Tuesday night, so Freedom Sleepers has decided to declare the area a provisional Safe Sleeping Zone–especially during the day. It is generally legal to sleep on public property–particularly parks and City Hall grounds–during the day (8:30 AM to 11 PM), though abusive First Alarm Security guards, paid by the City, are rousting people there [See “Waking the Freedom Sleepers” at https://www.indybay.org/
Brent Adams has posted a brief video of pre-protest harassment right before Freedom SleepOut #12 on 9-29 at https://www.facebook.com/
| Title: | Freedom Sleepers 13th Community Sleepout |
| START DATE: | Tuesday October 06 |
| TIME: | 5:00 PM – 5:00 AM |
| Location Details: | |
| Santa Cruz City Hall 809 Center Street Santa Cruz, CA |
|
| Event Type: | Other |
| Contact Name | Steve Pleich |
| Email Address | spleich [at] gmail.com |
| Phone Number | 831-466-6078 |
| Address | |
| Lucky Thirteen!
Join us for our 13th Community Sleepout! To protest the criminalization of people experiencing homelessness and to work toward the repeal of the camping and sleeping bans! Tuesday, October 6, 2015 5:00pm – Sleepout begins REASONS FOR THE SLEEP-OUT Authorities continue to harass and cite members of the Santa Cruz unhoused community with citations. This is happening even though there is no emergency walk-in shelter for the city’s 1500-2000 homeless; waiting lists are full and generally seem to require a “path to housing”, social worker, and/or disability check. GUIDELINES AND GRUB There will also be a set of proposed guidelines issued at the 6 PM General Assembly Tuesday, suggesting a “quiet for sleepers” and clean-up policy. For articles about past sleepouts and the Freedom Sleepers go to freedomsleepers.org |
|
Free Radio Santa Cruz Update
While Free Radio Santa Cruz is still on the stream and on the air, because we have lost our studio space and are still searching for another ($500 reward still!), we’ll be playing pre-recorded shows. In my case, until I learn how to prepare shows via computer, these will be old Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides shows.
Thursday 10-1 the show will be a replay of an ancient 2004 show (selected somewhat randomly). Specifically, the November 4th show of that year. Which can also be heard at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/
You can also hear a variety of shows (hundreds, in fact) by going to http://huffsantacruz.org/
I’ll hope to be more selective until I can actually return to the air live or create and upload audio files that are more up-to-the-moment. Patience, faithful listeners.
Offers of help are welcome.
Robert Norse
HUFF putters and sputters–11 am today Sub Rosa 9-30-15
In the wake of Freedom SleepOut #12 and the Blue Box Arraignment/Festival of the Streets this morning of Abbi Samuels and Keith McHenry, HUFF will be brooding on the latest Bell v. Boise court decision turning back the homeless lawsuit, upcoming Broken Windows forum in S.F. Thursday, the Exodus from the Jungle and homeless forum in San Jose Friday–and other coffee-drenched topics…
Festival of the Streets to follow Freedom Sleep-Out #12
| Title: | Food Not Bombs Resumes Feeding at Freedom SleepOut #12 |
| START DATE: | Tuesday September 29 |
| TIME: | 5:00 PM – 5:00 AM |
| Location Details: | |
| In and around Santa Cruz City Hall at 809 Center St. across from the Main Library and the Civic Auditorium. Partially at City Council itself, which meets in the afternoon and evening, partially in the Council Courtyard, and partially on the sidewalks surrounding City Hall and across Center and Church streets. Police typically drive peaceful protesters away from City Hall and last week forced them off the sidewalk for an unusual and hours-late-in-coming “sidewalk cleaning”. | |
| Event Type: | Protest |
| Contact Name | Robert Norse |
| Email Address | rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com |
| Phone Number | 831-423-4833 |
| Address | 309 Cedar PMB 14B S.C. CA 95060 |
| Food Not Bombs activist Keith McHenry will be serving food at the protest at different points during the night and morning.
FESTIVAL OF THE STREETS WEDNESDAY MORNING The “blue boxes” expanded the small spaces city reactionaries have designated as “performance pens” for downtown artists, vendors, speakers, and tablers. DISAPPEARING BLUE DOTS Recently the “blue dot boxes” have returned, but artists such as Alex Skelton and Joff Jones have insisted on their right to display and sell their artwork outside the few constricted spaces. Recently their citations for violating MC 5.43 were struck down by Commissioner Kim Baskett, for unclear reasons. More background from Keith McHenry & others at http://www.indybay.org/ WHAT A FREEDOM SLEEPOUT IS ALL ABOUT Some coverage of last Tuesday’s Freedom Sleep-Out: http://www.indybay.org/ Cops and rangers still enforce anti-sleeping laws in Santa Cruz such as the notorious MC 6.36 (which bans sleeping and covering up with blankets after 11 PM). They harass, cite, arrest, and issue stay-away orders for homeless folks with no shelter seeking refuge in parks and other “closed areas” under MC 13.04.011 (which authorizes closing any public spaces without public hearing or comment). SHELTER SHENANGANS AND POLICE HARASSMENT We have also received reports of security guards turning away people trying to get in to sign the Waiting Lists at the River St. Shower. Showers at the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center have recently reopened during mid-day for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but meals, bathrooms, and laundry for the general homeless population remain cut off since June. Even before the recent shelter shutdown and “no emergency services” makeover, Santa Cruz had no shelter for 95% of its homeless residents, clients were being required to show ID, and confronted with a prison-like fenced-in area there. TALK TO THE COMMUNITY VIA THE CITY COUNCIL Those who wish to speak to the community (via the tv when addressing City Council) will have an opportunity around 5 PM Tuesday during the so-called Oral Communications period. At the last Council meeting, Lane delayed this period more than 2 hours to accommodate a reactionary attack on RV’s. HARASSMENT AND PROTEST CONTINUE Picketers greeted Mayor Don Lane at his recent appearance at the Rio Theater for a “compassion” event [See “Freedom Sleepers Press Conference ” at http://www.indybay.org/ The continued pressure at these weekly protests also provides a place for homeless people to sleep together in groups, documents how SCPD and First Alarm Security moves to repress protest as well as simple homeless survival behavior, and hopefully paves the way for future community, court, and federal government intervention. Come on down and be a part of it! Rabbi Phil Posner, the usual contact person for the Freedom Sleepers, is away on a social/religious journey and will be returning in November. The perspectives expressed in this story are mine. |
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Future of Free Radio Santa Cruz’s Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides
Free Radio Santa Cruz, which carries my twice-weekly show Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides, is still broadcasting at 101.3 FM in Santa Cruz and freakradio.org.
However we are not live because we haven’t found studio space. There’s still a $500 reward for anyone who can find us a place that we negotiate a year’s lease on in the Santa Cruz area. And our transmitter needs a space, since, as for the last few years, it’s at a foreclosed location and may be forced to close down any time with only a week or two notice.
Older shows (hundreds of them) are available for addicts at http://radiolibre.org/brb/ Real old shows can be found at http://huffsantacruz.org/
Today’s show will air at the usual time (and hopefully Sunday’s too), but it will be a repeat of last week’s (or an older show). I haven’t yet mastered the technical expertise to post my own shows to the FRSC server, but hope to learn soon.
Much thanks to all you listeners out there over the years (and hopefully in future years).
For those who have questions, show ideas, events to announce, or reports from the street–call me at 831-423-4833 or e-mail me at rnorse3@hotmail.com .
Robert Norse
– –
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No More Bucks For Bigotry? Will the Feds Clean House in Santa Cruz?
NOTES BY NORSE: On Wednesday morning Santa Cruz police ramped up their attack on Freedom Sleepers at City Hall. A group of 20 people for the 11th Tuesday night weathered the high-intensity klieg lights, belching diesel engines, “no parking zones” and First Alarm Security surveillance to demand that the “no shelter, no sleep” policies of the Santa Cruz City Council end.
Homeless people and their housed supporters were driven onto the concrete sidewalk with the arrival of 14 police officers around midnight. One homeless woman–April– was given a $198 citation for “being at City Hall after dark”; the next day she was seen being carried in a stretcher near the SCPD HQ. Adding abuse to injury, police then conducted a second raid against protesters in sleeping bags who moved to the sidewalk to be “legal”, rousting with demands they leave so that “sidewalk cleaning” could be done.
Two hours later, for the first time in several months, a sidewalk scrubber machine arrived. The operator told one activist that he’d never done this before, i.e. that it was not a regular cleaning activity-./ The activist inferred that this was a new harassment tactic to discourage both protest and homeless people sleeping publicly in groups (where it is actually safer for them). Freedom Sleepers announced they will be back at City Hall for their 12 protest next Tuesday.
Vancouver, Washington ended its nighttime sleeping ban in a second vote of its City Council Monday night. But Santa Cruz bosses refuse to respect the basic survival need of sleep for those they want out of sight and out of town. Perhaps a pinch in the pocketbook may add some punch to the dozen protests. It’s not clear how much funding comes from federal sources, but if cash to the cruelty-coated policy of City Manager Martin Bernal is cut off, otherwise bigoted budget-minded bureaucrats may think again.
The River St. Shelter recently “liberalized” its policities allowing phone sign-up’s (831-459-6644) for its (lengthy) Waiting List. While on the list homeless people who get Sleeping Ban tickets supposedly get them automatically dismissed short of court. Of course, throughout July and August, the River St. Shelter’s own logs show it had none on its Waiting List that were dismissed. And requests to write a letter to the courts specifying that the shelter was full elicited a firm “no”. This was a 180 degree change in policy from previous years. But if their funding is threatened, will the compassion-challenged “service providers” suddenly shift course? If they have to show a record of abandoning NIMBY drive-out-the-poor criminalization policies or face a cash cutoff, things may change. To get the bucks, they and their friends in the police department may have to start respecting human rights long ignored.
TO FOLLOW THE LINKS IN THE ARTICLE BELOW, GO TO: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/09/22/3704274/hud-homelessness-criminalization-funding/
Criminalizing Homelessness Can Now Cost Cities Federal Money
by Scott Keyes Sep 22, 2015 2:22pm
After arguing last month that local ordinances criminalizing people for being homeless are unconstitutional, the Obama administration will now tie federal funding to whether municipalities are cracking down on criminalization measures.
Every year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gives out $1.9 billion in grants to local Continuums of Care, public-private partnerships that tackle homelessness in a specific area. These grants are doled out in a competitive process whereby applicants must fill out a lengthy questionnaire about how they plan to use the money, as well as their current policies.
Last week, though, HUD announced that it would begin asking applicants to describe the steps they are taking to reduce the criminalization of homelessness. Ordinances that criminalize homelessness, also known as “anti-vagrancy” or “quality of life” laws, include making it illegal to sit down on a sidewalk, ask passersby for spare change, or sleep in a public place. Applicants for the federal money will have to show they are engaging with local policymakers or law enforcement about criminalization policies, as well as implementing new community plans to ensure homelessness is not criminalized. Failing to combat such ordinances will hurt a Continuum of Care’s chances of winning new funds.
The change comes after the administration filed a brief in federal court arguing that criminalization violates the Eighth Amendment’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, hailed the latest move. “We welcome the federal government’s direction of tax limited dollars to the places that will most effectively use that money to address homelessness,” Foscarinis said in a statement. She also noted that HUD is giving sufficient weight to criminalization policies that the question “in many cases could be the difference between receiving funding and not.”
The Obama administration has made a pattern of connecting federal funding to desired outcomes in localities. Its signature education achievement, Race to the Top, encouraged schools across the country to raise their standards by making it a prerequisite to receive more federal funding. Obamacare ties some hospital funding to how effectively they avoid preventable infections and patient re-admissions. Homeless advocates hope that connecting HUD funding to the fight against homeless criminalization will have a similar impact.
It would come at a time that these policies have been popping up at an alarming rate. A study this year from the UC Berkeley law school identified over 500 anti-homeless laws on the books in just 58 California cities, while researchers at the Seattle University School of Law found criminalization ordinances in Washington had risen over 50 percent since 2000. Continue reading
City Manager Stonewalls Sleeping Ban Protesters
Silence from the City Manager on the Eve of the 11th Freedom Sleepers Protest
by Robert Norse ( rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com )
Tuesday Sep 22nd, 2015 5:33 AM
Tuesday Sep 22nd, 2015 5:33 AM
On 9-22, I received a brief e-mail from City Manager Martin Bernal regarding the recent escalation of police force and First Alarm security guard violence against the Freedom Sleepers–a group protesting the City’s criminalization of homeless people. I present the following correspondence for public review so the community can decide what needs to be done next around this cruel repression of the most basic of human rights–the Right to Sleep at night without harassment. In a city which has essentially closed all accessible emergency shelter. Recent tallying of citations by police and rangers reveals nearly 1000 citations have been issued under MC 6.36 (Camping, Blanket, and Sleeping Bans) in the last three months. Nearly an equal number have been issued for MC 13.04.011 (“being in a closed area”–meaning being in a park, greenbelt, or at City Hall after dark). Fines for these offenses range from $157 to $198. The River St. Shelter refuses to voluntarily provide information to the courts documenting that their shelters were full on nights when people got citations.
Police intensified repression at our Tuesday 9-1 peaceful Freedom Sleepers protest demanding the Right to Sleep at night for those outside.
On 9-1 (and all subsequent Tuesdays) we were greeted with Security Guards, high-intensity klieg lights, a ‘no parking’ zone established around the protest area and harsher police behavior leading to unjustified arrests and First Alarm violence.
On 9-8 we sought to present a compromise proposal to Bernal regarding our willingness to leave City Hall if there were two weeks of good faith no-ticketing under the Sleeping Ban and other anti-camping ordinances, given the complete lack of emergency shelter.
We also tried to deal with vague staff accusations of activist misconduct undocumented by any specific complaints and contradicted by the reports of security guards and city employees. Several of us met with City Manager Martin (pronounced marTEEn) Bernal the morning before the 9-8 City Council meeting. Bernal dismissed our compromise proposal (which also included asking police to contact the River St. Shelter to determine if there were any beds before issuing a Sleeping Ban citation) but agreed to respond to certain other concerns. Police repression intensified with the false arrest of myself, Kevin Rothwell, and Lucero Luna. Our arrests were followed on 9-15 by that of Abbi Samuels for walking across the street with a thermos of coffee for the protest and that of Christina Barnes for talking back to a First Alarm Security Guard.
When Bernal had not responded as promised, I wrote to him.
FIRST LETTER FOLLOWING UP ON 9-8 MEETING BETWEEN FREEDOM SLEEPERS AND CITY MANAGER MARTIN BERNAL
From: rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com To: mbernal [at] cityofsantacruz.com
Subject: Following Up on 9-8 Meeting
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2015 09:49:50 -0700Martin:
At the meeting you had with Rabbi Phil Posner, Steve Pleich, Steve Carter and me on 9-8, you agreed to follow up on assessing whether MC 13.04.011 allows us to be on the the City Hall grounds on access pathways according to the clear language of the statute. And whether the language of this statute was going to be respected in the future, unlike in past incidents where it has not been.
Many of us face citations for being on the City Hall grounds “after closing hours” which will shortly be going to court. I expect these citations to either be dismissed (and to advise us of this fact) or let us know you intend to proceed with prosecution–so that we can prepare the requisite subpoenas. I suggest the simplest approach is for you to direct police to acknowledge their error and proceed with a clean slate and a respect for the presence of peaceful protesters at City Hall.
You also agreed to determine whether we will be provided clear access to the City Council agendas–as we were not last night when there were at least 4 posted agendas of Commissions or Committees meeting in the next 48 hours.
You’ve also declined to provide any written evidence of complaints or concerns about past Freedom Sleeper sleep-out’s, though these undocumented “concerns’ have reportedly been used to intensify harassment of peaceful protesters. Is your position still unchanged on this issue?
Your First Alarm Security–present in unusually heavy force last night (5 of them)–recently assaulted an African-American woman, Christina Barnes, whose screams of pain lasted for five minutes. The First Alarm guards involved covered their badges and name plates and refused to give their superior’s name. What if anything will you be doing about this?
Please advise me at your earliest, since I’m meeting with HUFF members today at 11 AM. And it has been more than a week.
Thanks,
Robert Norse
HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom)831-423-4833BERNAL’S REPLY AND SUBSEQUENT CORRESPONDENCE ARE AT https://www.indybay.org/
newsitems/2015/09/20/18777872. php?show_comments=1#18777950