{"id":192,"date":"2012-03-14T02:13:40","date_gmt":"2012-03-14T02:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/?p=192"},"modified":"2012-12-18T00:39:41","modified_gmt":"2012-12-18T00:39:41","slug":"occupy-arcata-heights-ends-with-a-splatter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/occupy-arcata-heights-ends-with-a-splatter\/","title":{"rendered":"Occupy Arcata Heights Ends With A Splatter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin L. Hoover – Arcata Eye Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
Anderson Valley Advertiser, March 14, 2012<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Tom<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Vanciel’s Occupy Arcata House. Photos by KLH | Eye<\/p>\n

K STREET \u2013 The house is still there at 1250 K Street, replete with painted slogans and redolent with animal waste. But the numerous two- and four-legged occupants who lived in and around Tom Vanciel\u2019s urban homestead are gone, this time for good\u2026 probably.<\/p>\n

Vanciel is casually known as \u201cYak Man\u201d for his strolls around town in the company of his yak. Sometimes he is accompanied by roommate Samuel Sanchez, known to casual observers at \u201cGoat Man\u201d for his town treks with his goat companion.<\/p>\n

In recent months, Vanciel and Sanchez have been joined at the house by kindred spirit Geronimo Garcia, whom one neighbor referred to as \u201cChicken Man,\u201d for the flock of fowl which lived in and around his residential bike trailer in the driveway.<\/p>\n

Last Thursday morning, Arcata Police stood by as the house\u2019s water service was turned off. But the yak, goat and chicken men had already departed.<\/p>\n

The house is now owned by the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Freddie Mac, which foreclosed on it last year. Though ownership transferred last Oct. 27, Vanciel and his flock refused to depart until last Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Samuel Sanchez and Tom Vanciel roam about town with their companion animals.<\/p>\n

By the time it was vacated and secured last Thursday night, the $300,000 property had become an animal farm, inside and out. A dozen or so goats, a yak, chickens and possibly a cow had been living there with their human companions. The impacts of the dense habitation on the single-family residential home are easily seen \u2013 and smelled.<\/p>\n

The backyard, once a carefully tended wonderland, is a defoliated, waste-drenched bog. Former resident Rebecca LaCasse recalled when Mildred Moore, now deceased, owned the home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was full of old roses, big old camellias and fragrant rhodies, it had a round-a-bout path through mounds of oxalis,\u201d recalled LaCasse. \u201cThere were scads of daffodil and narcissus, Japanese maples\u2026it was like a beautiful forest grove.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had created a beautiful garden with a small pond in the back, full of established plants and trees.\u201d remembered Kate Christensen, who also lived there for a time. \u201cThe inside of the house was in good condition. Hardwood floors in great shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those hardwood floors, as well as the walls, closets and even the bathtub are presently covered in pools of housepaint. Thursday morning, the gray paint was still wet throughout the house, with the largest splatter in the front bedroom spelling out \u201cLOVE\u201d in capital letters.<\/p>\n

Straw and animal feces are strewn about\u2013 mingled with the wet paint in places \u2013 and the stinging stench of urine pervades the house. Bedrooms host abandoned personal knick-knacks and animal enclosures, while walls are covered in slogans advocating peace, liberty and understanding. \u201cSTOP HATE\u201d is written in toothpaste on the bathroom mirror.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A mixed-media, mixed message \u2013 love through vandalism? \u2013 in paint, straw and other random objects in the front bedroom.<\/p>\n

Since 2010, Vanciel<\/a> has been ignoring warning letters from the City about Land Use Code violations for keeping the farm animals at the suburban home. Last May, he and his animals departed to the Southwest for a time, but the rugged individualist and his animal entourage returned to the home he purchased with his wife Nancy in August, 2007.<\/p>\n

When his wife moved out a couple of years ago, say neighbors, Vanciel\u2019s eccentricities surfaced and magnified, as did negative encounters with authority. Facing foreclosure by Bank of America, Vanciel\u2019s\u00a0 angry suspicion of the society around him intensified, and he dug in.<\/p>\n

Tapping into the energy around last fall\u2019s progressive quasi-insurgency, Vanciel rechristened his home \u201cOccupy Arcata Heights.\u201d\u00a0 The in-town animal ranch, plus the modifications to the property, brought inevitable attempts at enforcement of Arcata\u2019s Land Use Code in the neighborhood which is\u00a0 zoned Residential Low-Density.<\/p>\n

Each City complaint or letter from the bank only seemed to deepen Vanciel\u2019s resolve and bring forth more conflict with neighbors, who were increasingly alarmed at the goings-on at his home.<\/p>\n

The final spiral began several days before last Christmas,\u00a0 when Vanciel got a letter from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (\u201cFreddie Mac\u201d) warning him of imminent eviction.<\/p>\n

This was followed by another round of warning letters from the City, with a rare Nuisance Abatement agenda item slated for next week\u2019s City Council meeting. As late as last week, City Building Official Dean Renfer was still corresponding with Freddie Mac officials about violations at the house.<\/p>\n

A letter dated Monday, March 5 notes building code violations over an addition to the garage roof, since removed, and the presence of large animals in violation of the Land Use Code.<\/p>\n

Neighbors said Vanciel had constructed a 24-foot-tall \u201cmeditation tower\u201d in the backyard at one point. Last April, a neighbor complained that Vanciel had built a fence on his property, even nailing boards to the neighbor\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

To Vanciel, the objections were a ruse to legitimize theft of his property and to silence his objections to government wrongdoing. In repeated complaints to the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District, he claimed that toxic emissions from Rich\u2019s Body Shop across the street had exacerbated his health problems, physical and mental. None of the alleged violations were ever verified.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d call whenever he got a whiff of something,\u201d said Al Steer, compliance and enforcement division manager. \u201cHe\u2019d call up and start screaming, and I don\u2019t put up with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Steer dutifully checked out the complaints.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went over two times and sent three officers on six occasions,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was a minimum of 10 visits. On no case was there any exceedence of any kind of emission limit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vanciel also believes that fluoride in drinking water has corrupted the thought processes of those who consume it, making them obedient to government control. A neighbor passing by last weekend was told \u2013 loudly \u2013 she was in the grip of delusion by the \u201cfluoride tea\u201d that composes Arcata\u2019s drinking water.<\/p>\n

Conversations with passersby followed a similar pattern \u2013 initially cordial, but swiftly escalating into shouting as Vanciel, Sanchez and Garcia would lose their composure.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe tends to run to the high side,\u201d Steer said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Like Occupy emplacements at Arcata City Hall and in Eureka, the K Street occupation station was riven by internal dissension as well as rocky relations with the outside world.<\/p>\n

A neighbor reported loud arguments in the backyard, with Vanciel telling Garcia to stop drinking and warning him that he would be evicted. Somewhat comically, Garcia replied that Vanciel couldn\u2019t evict him from a property he didn\u2019t own, the neighbor said.<\/p>\n

Other neighbors said that Garcia spent three nights up on the house\u2019s rooftop haranguing the neighborhood over various issues. \u201cHe was very loud for a long time,\u201d said next-door neighbor Michael Winkler, who happens to be Arcata\u2019s mayor. \u201cThen the cops came and after that, not a peep.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sign reading \u201cGeronimo Motel\u201d soon appeared in the house\u2019s front yard in apparent mockery of the former City Council candidate\u2019s continued occupancy.<\/p>\n

Neighbor Eliot Baker\u2019s experience was typical. \u201cI tried to talk to them during a loud fight they were having in the yard recently, waking me up by screaming at each other and slamming things around,\u201d Baker said. \u201cThey told me to fuck off because they were role-modeling fighting without guns. After an attempted lecture on the Constitution I just walked away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Vanciel<\/p>\n

Despite heading up a City government which Vanciel had termed a \u201cfascist puppet dictatorship,\u201d the affable Mayor Winkler maintained neighborly, non-political relations with the irascible crew. He said Garcia told him that Freddie Mac had obtained a court order evicting everyone on March 8.<\/p>\n

With the house now vacant, Freddie Mac will presumably make repairs and put the property back on the market. The damage, while unsightly, is mostly superficial and reversible.<\/p>\n

But that resolution leaves some questions unanswered. Unknown for now are the present whereabouts of Vanciel and associates. Another riddle for many is the contradiction inherent in Vanciel\u2019s ways \u2013 ardently advocating love, but usually with severe, hair-trigger hostility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a disconnect between the slogans plastered all over their house and their complete and utter lack of respect and willingness to build community with their neighbors,\u201d Eliot said. \u201cLove isn\u2019t just something you write or say, it is something you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winkler said Vanciel was doing the best he could in uniquely challenging circumstances, pursuing his ideals despite severe emotional and financial hardship. \u201cHe had some difficult challenges,\u201d Winkler said, noting that Vanciel\u2019s wife had left him two years ago. \u201cThe Occupy movement gave meaning to his life,\u201d Winkler observed. \u201cHis home was a center for his alternative lifestyle and a place to express his beliefs, his outrage at the economic and social conditions in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contacted last week, Vanciel was suspicious of the inquiry. \u201cTo use the metaphor of five minutes to midnight before atomic destruction, he wrote in an e-mail, \u201cMay\u00a0 I ask why\u00a0 it is you\u2019ve waited\u00a0 to offer help?\u201d<\/p>\n

Vanciel went on the explain his relationship with his animal companions, and their joint mission in Arcata: \u201cThe Sacred Holy\u00a0 Yaks that Sam and I accompany and shepherd from the evils of this murderous society are not to be approached by meat eaters, tobacco smokers, alcohol drinkers, gun bearers or imperial fascists. These are special spiritual envoys from Tibet. We are blessed to accompany\u00a0 them on their spiritual mission. They are here to purify and bless the mess you call Arcata.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kevin L. Hoover – Arcata Eye Editor Anderson Valley Advertiser, March 14, 2012 Tom Vanciel’s Occupy Arcata House. Photos by KLH | Eye K STREET \u2013 The house is still there at 1250 K Street, replete with painted slogans and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58],"tags":[69,70],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":517,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions\/517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}