TURN UP THE HEAT ON THE BUREAUCRATS!
FIGHT COLD DAYS FOR THOSE OUTSIDE!
E-Mail or Phone the Transportation and Public Works Commission [TPWC] members:
Philip Boutelle philboutelle@gmail.com (831) 515-1364
Brooke Crumpton* (vice-chair) (831) 535-2572 (H) brookecrumpton@gmail.com
Peggy Dolgenos 822 (831) 429-8555 (H) opeggy@cruzio.com (831) 459-6301 x239
Erich Ryan Friedrich 461-5985 (H) e.friedrich10@gmail.com
Dale Hendsbee** (chair) (831) 234-4103 (H) dale@m-me.com 426-3186 (B)
Donald E. Roland 421-9507 (H) donranda@sbcglobal.net (831) 206-5115
J.D. Sotelo 458-9491 (H) jdsotelo@aol.com
DEMAND THAT THE TPWC ASK CITY COUNCIL
(a) to deny and denounce the plan to deny parking spaces to disabled and homeless vehicles, as well as the public generally [this is the 24-hour Parking Ban proposed on Coral, Fern, and Limekiln Streets];
(b) to reexamine night-time parking bans–which are currently clearly directed against homeless individuals whose only housing is their vehicle which are present in other parts of the City;
(c) to research safe parking spaces for vulnerable homeless families whose protection from abuse and weather is their vehicle;
(d) to report publicly & regularly to the Public any requests for Permit Parking areas that restrict parking–particularly at night–& do so when those requests appear, not after facilitating them with police & staff help;
(e) to require full police reports on any anecdotal “crime” or “nuisance” problems in the area so the public can see the real as distinguished from the claimed problems there.
Please cc rnorse3@hotmail.com if you have sent any complaints or concerns to any of these folks. Or send me a copy if you’ve already sent out a concern. The issue is still hanging in the balance so your opinion may count.
BACKGROUND OF THE 24 HOUR HOMELESS PARKING BAN
The Public Works Department in mid-April, after behind-the-scenes enabling from SCPD officer Ken Deeg and some staff, began posting signs indicating that in a month they would make Fern, Limekiln, and Coral Streets the first-ever parking-by-permit-only-24-
Naturally these streets are those closest to the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center [HLOSC] at 115 Coral St.–which does not provide full parking for its clients. The streets involved are already in a Permit Parking Zone and posted no parking at night and parking during the day for only 2 hours–without a permit.
HLOSC Director Jannan Thomas has declined to verify whether the HLOSC has officially supported this Homeless Parking Ban, but that was the impression left by Parking Director Marlin Granlund in his e-mails. Thomas refused to confirm or deny the situation in a recent e-mail exchange. Other sources report that at least some in the HLOSC management bureaucracy are unhappy with the proposed Ban.
Activists who attempted to gather signatures against the Ban were ordered off the area adjacent to the sidewalk of the HLOSC by a staff member and activists gathering signatures were then harassed by an Officer Bill Azua whose presence discouraged some from signing–though more than 50 people eventually signed a petition
According to posted signs, the “public comment” period to oppose this unprecedented 24-hour Parking Ban ended May 13th. Granlund advised me that unless 67% of the property owners/managers/renters on those streets sent in cards opposing the 24-hour Ban the Ban would proceed. He did say that the Ban would be postponed and sent to the Transportation and Public Works Commission [TPWC] for public comment, discussion, and vote if he received one letter of opposition.
More than a week ago, I sent him that letter. He then immediately e-mailed me that he might have “misspoken” and was conferring with the City Attorney. Since then I heard nothing.
The TPWC has a meeting today at 7 PM at City Council chambers and there is nothing on their agenda on this issue (which is posted on line). But Granlund has refused to clarify whether the project is proceeding anyway.
When I then requested the e-mail addresses of the TPWC to advise them of this peculiar procedure, I was told all mail had to go through “the staff”, then that I would hear from her at the end of the day. When a week had gone by, I contacted staff again to get e-mail contacts and was told they would not give them out. Councilmember Posner, though sympathetic, suggested he wanted to “work behind the scenes” rather than explicitly request in e-mail that city staff give the public access to their own Commission members. Posner feared offending staff, apparently.
A few minutes ago–I received the e-mail addresses of the TPWC members that should have been provided a week ago. I still have no clear information on whether the Public Works Department is proceeding with its 24-hour parking ban, though Councilmember Posner says it’s currently “stalled” though not necessarily reversed.
WITH NO CLEAR DISMISSAL OF THIS ATTACK ON HOMELESS PEOPLE IN VEHICLES, WE NEED TO STEP UP THE PRESSURE!