Keeping Up the Pressure: Open the Bathrooms ! 2:30 PM Sunday September 8th San Lorenzo Park

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We will be flyering and inviting folks to join future events prior to and after the the Mime Troupe performance.

The issue: reopening the Louden Nelson bathrooms. (See “Demonstrators Keep the Restrooms Open at Louden Nelson Center” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/09/03/18825952.php). As well as opening the San Lorenzo park bathrooms at night. The City’s 1000-2000 homeless have no actual bathroom facilities (though three very limited portapotties) for nighttime use currently.

Santa Cruz City Council has ducked the issue of reopening the Louden Nelson bathrooms and passed it to their talk shop, the CACH (Community Advisory Committee on Homelessness). At their Tuesday meeting, they avoided any action on the issue in spite of the City Council’s direction.

Digesting the Two Protests at 1220 River and Louden Nelson– 11 AM Sub Rosa at 703 Pacific, followed by the woeful warriors of HUFF Wednesday September 4th !

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CONSCIENCE AND ACTION IDEAS  9-4-19

Note:  Agenda Ideas are simply suggestions and subject to change and addition from anyone in the group.  They cover a wide range of possibilities.

  • Announcements: Choice of Action Items; Timekeeper & Time Limits; Vibes Guy 
  • Louden Nelson Bathroom Protest Success: 8-27 Council Implications; Upcoming Council Meeting; Glover Pre-Meet Friday 5:30 PM
  • Continuing the Posner Organizing Efforts along with Homeless Union organizing
  • 1220 Protest Aftermath and Campground Organizing
  • Any City Council Issues to be Raised for Agenda or Plans for September 10th?
  • Ross Lawsuit and Union Organizing Report: Phone a Cop Proposal
  • FREE Mime Troupe Show Sat & Sun Sept 7-8 2:30 PM San Lorenzo Park “Treasure Island”  Union Table Organizing There?
                                                


For HUFFsters

  • Announcements: Including Brief Summaries of Agenda Items
  • Further Action on C & A Items
  • Street and Campground Report
  • August 29th Monterey Court Hearing 1200 Aguajito Rd for Salinas Injunction Against Cop Harassment at Sherwood Park 1:30 PM
  • Chief Mills Latest Responses on Choke-Holds, Rape Kits, and the SCPD Bathroom
  • Updates: Stepping Up in Santa Cruz Poverty Pimp PR Checking: Eli and Laura Report; Helping Homeless Union Tabling
  • End of Recycling Report
  • Public Records Updates: Bathroom Data–Norse and Colby’s Data  Some at https://cityofsantacruz.sharefile.com/d-s34d2fddbfc2468da

End Bathroom Banditry! Restore Community Access to the Louden Nelson Bathrooms: Direct Action Protest Tomorrow 1:30 PM Tuesday September 3

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Direct Action Protest

Liberate the Locked Lavatories at London Nelson (aka Louden Nelson) Center
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
1:30 PM
301 Center St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Come at 1 PM to Help Make Signs, Set-Up
Demand Open Bathrooms !
•    Parks and Recreation [P&R] Supervisor Iseth Rae continues to
keep the public Louden Nelson bathrooms closed to all but “program
participants”.
•    Her boss P&R Director Tony Elliot, his boss City Manager
Martin Bernal, and the City Council majority, headed by Vice-Mayor
Justin Cummings continue to deny the elderly, the ill, the disabled, the
homeless, and the general toilets, reversing decades of free access.
•    Public Records show no documentation justifying the year-long
closure  other than the usual vandalism caused by an increase in use.
This was prompted by the closure of homeless facilities and Bernal’s
institutional failure to provide more bathrooms city-wide.
•    Activists from Conscience and Action, Homeless United for
Friendship & Freedom, Food Not Bombs, the California Homeless Union and
other groups are continuing the Freedom Sleepers “Give a Shit” campaign
from 2017, demanding decent and fair bathroom access.
•    Louden Nelson Staff claim the “nearby” police station
bathrooms are accessible; however police say they are only open when the
Community Room is in use—which is irregularly.
•    Rae additionally backs a dangerous and discriminatory
“homeless are dangerous” narrative with fences around the park, a First
Alarm guard, and a new set of restrictive regulations
•    Appeals to Elliot, Rae, Bernal, and the City Council have been
shined on or ignored for over a year. Councilmember Drew Glover’s direct
attempts to have City Council open the bathrooms have been indefinitely
delayed by Mayor Watkins and Vice-Mayor Cummings.

Council Locks Out Elders, Disabled, and Poor from Louden Nelson Bathrooms: Protest Tomorrow 9-2 Tuesday 1:30 PM at Louden Nelson Center 301 Center St.

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A City Council meeting that lasted to 11 PM or shortly thereafter last Tuesday night (8-27) featured long anecdotal presentations by London (Louden) Nelson Community Center [LNCC] Supervisor Iseth Rae and her boss Parks and Recreation chief Tony Elliot. A long line of speakers and a list of organizations tried with no success to reason with the Council.  Senior, disabled, homeless, & basketball players will continue to be excluded from the Louden Nelson bathrooms.

Come to LNCC tomorrow and support an immediate “open bathrooms” policy !

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AGENDA MANIPULATIONS,PUSHBACK BY THE PUBLIC, SILENCE FROM THE PROGRESSIVES
Mayor Watkins whittled down a long line of speakers at Oral Communications at 7 PM, a number in support of Councilmembers Krohn and Glover. Some attacked the Glover-Krohn recall, with charges the paid signature gatherers were involved. Others denounced the public smear of Glover and Krohn embodied in the months-long “investigation”. Another singled out City Manager Bernal’s latest memo of last week instructing staff not to communicate with Glover except through him and the staff heads.

Krohn attempted earlier in the day to move the Council Meeting Calendar back to its position near the end of the agenda, from which Watkins had moved it in June. His motion failed 3-4.

Neither he, Krohn, nor Brown attempted to require the Mayor to bring back survival encampments, the selective enforcement against homeless people of infractions, a public process for setting the agenda, or other matters raised months ago by Glover.

Any of these items could have been proposed for forced inclusion on the next agenda by motion and majority vote….


LONGER STORY, COMMENTS, AND FLYER CAN BE ACCESSED AT https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/09/02/18825901.php

Bathrobespiere’s Broadsides radio show streams today (9-1-19) at 9:30AM at www.freakradio.org: Blue-Clad SCPD Bullies Hit the Post Office Sleepers, Part 2 of the River St. Campground Protest, City Council’s Shit-in-the-Bushes Solution; 1989 KZSC Flashback

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KEEP OUR CREAKY VOICES COMING !


Free Radio Santa Cruz is waiting with $300 for info leading to a 10′ X 10′ studio space with bathroom, internet, and electrical access–either indoors or out (we’ll build a structure).  We’re also seeking a transmitter space where we can put up an antenna–a backyard, a multistory home, a high tree–help us spread the word.   Help us so we can help you!


Tonight’s show streams at freakradio.org and archives at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html
Additional archives of the two Drew Glover meetings will be posted at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html soon.


On today’s show:
  • Officer Bailey and his Armed Companions Falsely Cite Steve Irving & two others at the Fence Next to the Main Post Office, then Scare Away Other Unhoused Folks at the Town Clock
  • Former Ross Camp Roughrider, now Riverstreet Camp Refugee Rosemary gives Part 2 of the Protest Interview outside the closed gate at 1220 River St.
  • The Watkins Treatment: More School-Marming the Public at Oral Communications 8-27
  • The Public protest & the “Progressives” sell out leaving the London Nelson Lavatories locked
  • RV Family Life Under Fire: Spirited Squawks from Barracuda Mama Alicia Kuhl
  • Even more here and there, if you’re listening.
Before there was a Free Radio Santa Cruz…Flashback to Unarchived Rebroadcasts of KZSC’s Coverage of Soupcrime Arrests June 1989
  • A young Keith McHenry on the early days of Food Not Bombs
  • Slyshoes Sandra Loranger, Soupserving Scofflaw, on the eve of her Santa Cruz trial.

Stories Local and Distant

    • York Covers the Council’s  Cowardly Crap-Out on the Louden Nelson bathrooms

https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2019/08/28/public-access-to-santa-cruz-bathrooms-a-continuing-debate/

WHAT YOU CAN DO BETWEEN SHOWS:

  • Join the “Open the Bathrooms Now!” Action at London (Louden) Nelson September 3rd 1:30 PM.
  • Support Alternative Survival Camps and Squats in the Wake of the City Council “Away on Vacation” Abdication as Homeless People Face Police Lies and Turn-Aways from Shelter.
  • Join the Ross Camp Lawsuit Seeking Damages–Whether you were at Ross Camp or Not: Protect Survival Camps Everywhere! Contact Barracuda Mama at 831-431-7766 or Visit the Union of the Homeless table 4-6 PM at the Saturday and Sunday Food Not Bombs Meals at the Main Post Office
  • Donate to Existing Homeless Encampments, NOT Poverty-Pimp Posturers– Survival Demands Blankets, Water, Tarps, Portapotties & Trash Pick-Up’s–and Deter Police Harassment by being On Call to Document It.
  • Additional Needs for Community Samaritans!–More Needs: Potable Water for Drinking and Grey Water for Washing, Laundry Access so Clothes Don’t Mildew, a Drainage System Against the Rains, More Space in Additional Spots, Monitor and Expose Cop Crackdowns
  • Support Food Not Bombs,  the Warming Center’s Day/Night Storage Program, HUFF, Conscience and Action,Santa Cruz Union of the Homeless documenting, providing resources, & publicizing the situation.

  •  Check out The Santa Cruz Community, Santa Cruz Homeless Advocates & Homeless Outside in Santa Cruz, Monterey County Homeless Advocates, SNAIL, HEART Disabled Homeless People,  & Power Surge Tenants Rights on Facebook
  •   Exchange information with other supporters there to generate more communication and better solutions in the future.
  •   Listen in to Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides at freakradio.org Thursdays 6-8 PM, Sundays 9:30 AM- 3 PM
  •   If you must, expropriate items from chain stores.  Don’t steal from vulnerable fellow homeless or local businesses!

Bathrobespiere’s Broadsides radio show streams tonight (8-29-19) at 6 PM at www.freakradio.org: Chatter around last Tuesday’s Shitty Council Meeting and a Taste of the 1220 River St. Protest

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STILL SCRAMBLING FOR A STUDIO AND TROLLING FOR A TRANSMITTER SITE!
 

$300 REWARD for info leading to a 10′ X 10′ Free Radio Santa Cruz studio space.  

We need access to a bathroom, internet, and electricity.–either indoors or out (we’ll build a structure if necessary). 

We’re also seeking a transmitter space where we can put up an antenna–a backyard, a multistory home, a high tree–help us spread the word.   


Tonight’s show streams at freakradio.org and archives at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html  

On tonight’s show:
  • Rough Voices Against the Recall (of Glover and Krohn) at Tuesday’s Oral Communications
  • Unending Commentary from the Caustic Jaws of Bathrobespierre Robert
  • Fragments from the Food Not Bombs Feed Last Saturday
  • Scraps and Snips from The Red Church & at Another Monday Meal
  • A Pinch of Protest:  Interview with 1220 River St. Camp resident Rosemary

City Attorney Stonewalls Homeless Activists on Settlement Conference

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After leveling the Ross Camp, sending its 200-300 residents fleeing into the parks, greenbelt, downtown, and neighborhoods, and fencing off the area, the City is now refusing to sit down and work out compromise settlement terms as suggested by Judge Edward Devila. It apparently prefers to incur more costs.at the expense of its homeless residents.

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This flyer presents the proposals made and rejected by the City Attorney without any discussion publicly or in open City Council session. And without comment from any Councilmember, including the “Progressive” faction.    City Attorney: Dump, Disperse, and Disappear Those Outside
For more details, to post and read comments, go to https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/29/18825795.php .

Protest/Press Conference Today at the River St. Campground–1220 River St. 10 AM Thursday August 29th

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Time for More Privacy, Decency, & Accessibility at Salvation Army’s 1220 River St. Camp
iCal Import into your personal calendar
Date Thursday August 29
Time 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Event Type Press Conference
Organizer/Author California Homeless Union/HUFF/C&A/FNB
Email rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com
Phone 8314234833
Location Details
1220 River St. in front of the Salvation Army’s 60 tent “no walking in or out” Campground
The press conference/protest follows up on last May’s appeal to the Salvation Army management.

That event urged the Army to allow greater freedom and privacy for camp residents and to provide important upgrades in the living conditions there such as showers and protection from the heat.

See https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2019/05/13/activists-question-new-santa-cruz-homeless-camp-operations/

Today’s event is again sponsored by the Santa Cruz Homeless Union, Conscience and Action, Food Not Bombs, and HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom).

It will be followed by a supportive visit to Monterey Superior Court (1:30 PM, Department 13, 1200 Aguajito Road ) in support of the Salinas Homeless Union’s court suit seeking to stop the police harassment of folks outside at Sherwood Park in Salinas.

It follows a partially successful challenge to the City’s discriminatory closing of bathrooms prompting City Council last Tueday night to act. An unusually cohesive Progressive majority voted 4-3
(1) to reopen the City Hall bathrooms (closed since the Freedom Sleeper protests of 2015-2017);
(2) to refer the Louden Nelson bathrooms issue to the homeless-focused CACH group, and
(3) to require the Parks and Recreation manager Tony Elliot get approval from City Council for any future closings of City facilities.

Activists have also scheduled a Direct Action ‘Open the Damn Bathrooms” event for Tuesday September 3rd at 1:30 PM at Louden Nelson Center. Concerned community members are invited to attend, witness, and/or participate.

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Council Chaos and Protests Impending: Join Us at the 11 AM Conscience and Action group to work it out– Sub Rosa at 703 Pacific, followed by the weary HUFF meeting, Wednesday August 28th !

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 CONSCIENCE AND ACTION IDEAS  8-28-19

Note:  Agenda Ideas are simply suggestions and subject to change and addition from anyone in the group.  They cover a wide range of possibilities.

  • Announcements: Choice of Action Items; Timekeeper & Time Limits; Vibes Guy 
  • Follow-Up on Marcos Meeting; Protest Prep for Tomorrow
  • Potty Protest at Louden Nelson on Tuesday
  • City Council Update: Small Victory on City Hall Bathroom Reopening for a Month; Draw on the CACH Referrals; Defeat on Louden Nelson
  • Any City Council Issues to be Raised for Agenda or Plans for September 10th?
  • Ross Lawsuit and Union Organizing Report: Phone a Cop Proposal
  • Possible Glover call (10 minutes available on his end)                                                                             

For HUFFsters

  • Announcements: Including Brief Summaries of Agenda Items
  • Further Action on C & A Items
  • Street and Campground Report
  • August 29th Monterey Court Hearing 1200 Aguajito Rd for Salinas Injunction Against Cop Harassment at Sherwood Park 1:30 PM
  • Chief Mills Latest Responses on Choke-Holds, Rape Kits, and the SCPD Bathroom
  • What’s to be Done With SC Homeless Union Documentation?
  • Stepping Up in Santa Cruz Poverty Pimp PR Checking: Eli and Laura Report?
  • End of Recycling Report
  • Public Records Updates: Bathroom Data–Norse and Colby’s Data  Some at https://cityofsantacruz.sharefile.com/d-s34d2fddbfc2468da

UPCOMING PROTESTS/COURT DATES

  • Thursday August 29 1:30 PM   Court for the Sherwood Park Plaintiffs seeking to enjoin Salinas authorities from harassment of the homeless  1200 Aguajito Road MONTEREY.  
  • Thursday August 29 10 AM   Press Conference at Protest outside 1220 River St. 
  • Tuesday, September 3, 1:30 PM Louden Nelson Potty Protest

City Council To Back Louden Nelson Bathroom Lockout 7:30 PM Tuesday August 27th

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Who Will Change City Council’s Dirty Diapers at Louden Nelson and City Hall?

Item #1 on the City Council’s Evening Agenda at 7:30 PM on Tuesday 8-26 endorses the Continued Exclusionary “Closed Bathroom” Policies of Louden Nelson Supervisor Iseth Rae and her superior Tony Elliot. The Parks and Recreation [P&R] Commission have essentially reversed Councilmember Drew Glover’s original proposal, which Mayor Watkins and City Manager Bernal successfully delayed for six months.
AGENDA ITEM
http://scsire.cityofsantacruz..com/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=1173&doctype=AGENDA lays out the City’s thin case for its “exclude the broader community” policy.

BIGOTED BACKGROUND
In spite of the lack of specific documentation justifying her action, Louden Nelson Supervisor Iseth Rae closed and locked the Louden Nelson bathrooms in March 2018, reserving their use to “those in programs”. Tony Elliot of the City’s Parks and Recreation oversees Iseth Rae’s management.

When the San Lorenzo Winter Campground was shut down without providing adequate alternate sleeping facilities for unhoused residents, those without shelter began to sleep in Laurel Park, adjacent to the Louden Nelson Center. Use of the bathrooms increased.

Though masking the discriminatory policy as being concerned with “illegal” behavior (such as sleeping near the Center, using the washrooms to shave and wash, and “drug use”), the wholesale exclusion was clearly intended at unhoused people.

It also significantly impacts the entire community. The nearest bathrooms are blocks away (with the exception of the police department, which is usually not available, according to a beat officer).

At the same time, Rae and the P & R created a “Security Patrol” at Laurel Park, as well as a locked fence. Rae upped the ante in March 2018 by locking the public bathrooms and requiring users to get a code. That code was only given out to authorized individuals, that is, those “participating in programs” at the Louden Nelson Center. Using the park, visiting the Center, and simply needing to use the bathroom were not enough. Even if you were disabled, ill, a minor, a senior, or afflicted with a medical condition.

SCANT DOCUMENTATION FOR THE LOCK-OUT
When asked to present evidence for the need of this policy, Rae responded by describing several incidents in 2016 and 2017, but had no documentation showing unusual amounts of vandalism or lawbreaking or behavior that “threatened” children.

Close analysis of the public records involving staff memos, bills for repair, etc. revealed no regular or extensive damage at the bathrooms. At the P & R Commission meeting this summer, Rae presented no written evidence justifying her exclusionary policy.

COMMUNITY PROTEST AND COMMISSION REFUSAL
She did note that some conservative neighbors and a few neighborhood groups had complained about the “inappropriate behavior”. By contrast, the ACLU and at least one musical performer (David Rovics) reacted with outrage and moved their meetings elsewhere in response to the anti-homeless policies.

When one member of the P & R Commission noted state law seemed to require that public bathrooms in public buildings be open to the entire public, not simply those chosen by the managers, the Commission voted to continue banning bathroom use even to regular Laurel Park users until such time as the City Attorney advised otherwise.

Louden Nelson Center was originally named after London Nelson, a former slave, who donated the property to the school district in the mid-1800s. London’s first name was erroneously changed to “Louden” in documents after the 1930s, but almost no documents before that time show his name as anything other than “London.” according to local historian Phil Reader. I use the altered name “Louden” accustomed to this usage.

Bathrooms at City Hall have been closed since 2015 in spite of repeated protests–the apparent purpose to shut down the “Freedom Sleeper” protests of 2015-2017. The City has spent thousands of dollars tearing up the grass and replacing it with rocky ground, hiring First Alarm “security” patrols, and making it a crime to circulate a petition on City Hall grounds after dark.

E-MAIL THE BATHROOM BLOCKADERS
The swing vote on this issue is, as usual, Vice Mayor Justin Cummings, who has declined so far to meet with HUFF on this or any other issue.

E-Mail him at jcummings [at] cityofsantacruz.com or phone him at 420-5020 to demand a restoration of decency and fair treatment there. The entire City Council can be reached at citycouncil [at] cityofsantacruz.com .

DIRECT ACTION MAY FLUSH AWAY THE BLOCKAGE
Repeated protests on this issue and meetings with P & R higher-up Carol Scurich, City Manager Martin Bernal, and current P & R boss Tony Elliot have led nowhere. A Direct Action protest held some weeks ago did open up the women’s bathroom for an hour.

Another protest is planned for 1:30 PM at Louden Nelson Center Tuesday September 3rd in the event that City Council continues its “no homeless” policies.

NEGOTIATIONS PROVE FUTILE
“Access and Hours of Parks and Recreation Facilities” –the only item on the evening agenda at
Tony Elliot’s justification for locking down the bathrooms can be found under Memorandum on Louden Nelson Communty Center Restrooms. No dates and costs are mentioned. Nor is any comparison made with upkeep costs for other bathrooms. After two hour-long meetings, Elliot has still not responded with any specifics to the concerns raised by Conscience and Action and HUFF.

PREVIOUS STORIES AND FLYERS
“Direct Action–Liberate the Locked Louden Nelson Bathrooms ” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/13/18824679.php
“Time to Get Off the Pot: Louden Nelson–Reopen Your Bathrooms to All the Public ” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/06/18824484.php
“Parks and Rec Set to Sabotage Glover “Open the Bathrooms” Proposal ” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/07/01/18824343.php
“Liberate Locked Lavatories ” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/09/30/18817923.php
“Bathrooms, Winter Survival, and Community Caring — A Rally — Join Us! ” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/09/18/18817622.php
“Pee & Poo Protest: Reopen Essential Bathrooms for the Public and the Poor ” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/07/14/18816456.php