{"id":2298,"date":"2016-02-06T16:28:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-06T16:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/?p=2298"},"modified":"2016-02-06T16:28:05","modified_gmt":"2016-02-06T16:28:05","slug":"sacramento-update-same-crap-about-camping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/sacramento-update-same-crap-about-camping\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento Update: Same Crap about &#8220;Camping&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">NOTE BY NORSE:\u00a0 Tip of the Hat to Linda Lemaster for posting this Sacramento update on the Freedom Sleepers Facebook page.\u00a0 Word I got was that Freedom SleepOut #30 continued its small persistent presence on February 2nd in front of City Hall.\u00a0 Has the formerly 24-hour bathroom at the Soquel St.garage across from New Leaf Market in Santa Cruz been reopened in the wee hours as it was intended to be?\u00a0\u00a0 A sympathetic worker said that shelter insufficiency has resulted in folks holding up in the bathrooms at night for protection and privacy&#8211;the right reason to establish safe camping zones, sanctuary villages, affordable housing, cheap SRO&#8217;s, etc. but not to shut down bathrooms.\u00a0 Obviously.\u00a0 Still no apparently public word from former Mayor Don Lane&#8217;s &#8220;let&#8217;s end the embarrassment and remove sleeping from the camping ordinance, but keep it illegal to fall asleep in any park at night and continue the hostile stay-away orders that I voted for 2 years ago&#8221;.\u00a0\u00a0 I have been down for the count for awhile, but I haven&#8217;t heard anything new brewing.<\/p>\n<p>Leave comments about the below story at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsreview.com\/sacramento\/debunking-five-myths-about-sacramentos\/content?oid=19884547\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.newsreview.com\/<wbr \/>sacramento\/debunking-five-<wbr \/>myths-about-sacramentos\/<wbr \/>content?oid=19884547<\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h1>Debunking five myths about Sacramento\u2019s latest homelessness debate<\/h1>\n<div>Our shelters do not have enough beds for everyone, and other necessary facts.<\/div>\n<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsreview.com\/sacramento\/raheem-f-hosseini\/author\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"author\">Raheem F. Hosseini<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsreview.com\/sacramento\/Contact?content=19884547\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">raheemh@newsreview.com<\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-size: 10px;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">This article was published on <\/span><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsreview.com\/sacramento\/2016-02-04\/archive\" target=\"_blank\"><time datetime=\"2016-02-04\">02.04.16<\/time><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-size: large;\">. <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-size: 10px;\">\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"300\" align=\"right\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><img class=\"CToWUd a6T\" tabindex=\"0\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/ci5.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/3kLRNe9RRwzptI4OySO7j7PuZ7HTVsD9VzsaRov3dnYJGgEOvv45ia2WWQTginRsC7wqHo3lMmhjbRhFDI1VrPrR4K4A1ZY1dKR3cwQ01CXbC9Z-AcVQv7owSblG7vUkDQHR6Bty39wH7IJqjLud3NhdTr5C4sDXSJh-8r567ugb=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/www.newsreview.com\/imager\/debunking-five-myths-about-sacramentos\/b\/original\/19884547\/47ff\/news1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">The homeless protest inched closer to City Hall\u2019s front entrance this past Friday. <\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><img class=\"CToWUd\" src=\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/0t6HNsGJh5WFABwXMbhx5ZTbeHZcxWimtDYnOQoObbVLZ1OdQJnzHFilZZV_m8YmJ441VkUNS75HFRcyH6BFd4_f=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/www.newsreview.com\/images\/spacer.gif\" alt=\"spacer\" height=\"10\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b>With tensions frothing between Sacramento city officials and the local Right to Rest protest movement,<\/b><\/span><span style=\"font-size: large;\"> SN&amp;R decided to tackle some of the most common\u2014and insulting\u2014misconceptions about the current debate.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b>Myth No. 1: This is about camping.<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We remember camping: Mom smearing us with mosquito repellant, dad wrestling with tent poles\u2014the city of Sacramento\u2019s \u201cunlawful camping\u201d ordinance has nothing to do with that.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis makes it against the law to live outdoors,\u201d explains Paula Lomazzi, a former homeless woman who runs the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee. \u201cAnd when there\u2019s not [another] option for everyone, that\u2019s like saying you can\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As written, city code 12.52.030 prohibits camping on any public or private property\u2014so, everywhere\u2014unless it\u2019s for temporary recreation or events. In other words, it\u2019s OK to sleep outside unless that\u2019s your only choice.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And if it is, be prepared to pay a $1,000 fine and spend six months in jail, because the city has couched its ordinance under the state\u2019s public nuisance law. Violating it is a misdemeanor, which means a criminal record, though most violations are reduced to infractions.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMaking it a crime to live outside doesn\u2019t keep anyone from living outside,\u201d says Niki Jones of Wind Youth Services, the area\u2019s only service-provider for young people experiencing homelessness. \u201cIt just makes it harder to change your situation.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b>Myth No. 2: There\u2019s enough shelter to go around.<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not even close, says Joan Burke, Sacramento Loaves &amp; Fishes\u2019 advocacy director. \u201cThe most important fact about the emergency shelter system in Sacramento is that the shelters do not have enough beds for everyone seeking shelter and routinely turn away people for lack of space,\u201d she says by email.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All totaled, there are 1,033 slots scattered across more than two-dozen shelter or motel programs in Sacramento County, \u201ceach with its own intake procedures and target populations,\u201d Burke says. \u201cThe process of getting into a shelter is anything but user friendly or efficient.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">By the city\u2019s own low-ball estimate, 2,659 people experience homelessness on any given night in Sacramento County. (There are actually way more, but we\u2019ll get to that later.) That right there shows there aren\u2019t nearly enough beds to go around.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A Loaves &amp; Fishes survey of 336 guests who arrived for lunch one day revealed that 63 percent of them had slept outside the previous night. The wait-list for Wind\u2019s 12-bed shelter, meanwhile, includes more than 100 people, says development director Sarah Mullins.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The city likes to wave a 5 percent vacancy rate to prove that there\u2019s still room at the shelters, but that\u2019s fuzzy math of the most disingenuous order. Burke says people sometimes don\u2019t show up at the last minute for reservations. Then there are the homeless people with mental and developmental disabilities, physical ailments or substance addictions (it\u2019s often a cocktail) who Burke says simply can\u2019t function in a communal shelter setting. There are few, if any, crisis-placement options for them.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis handful of unfilled beds is what permits the powers that be to proclaim that our shelters have vacancies,\u201d she says.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b>Myth No. 3: There are \u201conly\u201d 2,659 homeless people in Sacramento.<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That number comes from a biennial tally called the point-in-time, or PIT, survey, and is accepted as the standard when it comes to quantifying how many people experience homelessness on any given night in Sacramento County.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s also a massive understatement, say homeless-service providers.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First off, PIT surveys occur every two years on a single winter night when homeless residents are even less likely to dwell in heavily trafficked areas due to the weather. They don\u2019t account for anyone who\u2019s couch-surfing, staying in a motel or sleeping in a car. These massive undertakings are also undercut by planning shortcomings and inadequate training, say two service providers who participated in them.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u201cIt was really sloppily done,\u201d says one.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yet the city swears by these figures, saying on its website that the PIT survey \u201cis the community\u2019s best way to estimate the number of people experiencing homelessness, including those in certain subpopulations, such as transition-age youth.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Worse, we in the media often repeat the PIT figures without qualification, as if they accurately reflect the scope of our housing problem. They don\u2019t.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To put it in perspective, the 2015 PIT count found 291 homeless youth under the age of 24. But the Wind drop-in center for homeless youth served 918 different individuals from this age group last year. \u201cYouth experiencing homelessness are grossly under reported,\u201d Mullins says.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Get ready to have your mind blown. According to an analysis of federal enrollment data\u2014which does include couch-surfing and sleeping in cars or motels\u2014the California Homeless Youth Project determined that nearly 12,000 local school children lacked permanent housing during the 2012-13 school year. And that\u2019s just kids.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reconnecting this to the camping issue was PS7 elementary school teacher Erica Talbott, who put the matter in stark relief at a recent city council meeting. \u201cI find it absolutely tragic that the students in my classroom \u2026 are unable to learn during the day because they are unable to sleep at night, all due to the camping ordinance that\u2019s in place. Because of this law, my 8-year-olds are criminals,\u201d she told council members. \u201cI respectfully ask you where they are supposed to sleep tonight.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The council didn\u2019t have an answer. But it\u2019s always been better at counting votes than counting constituents.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b>Myth No. 4: \u201cHomeless protesters\u201d are the only ones complaining.<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Teachers and labor activists. Medical and nursing students. Religious leaders from Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths. Members of the LGBTQ community and Black Lives Matter movement. And, yes, homeless residents and activists. This is the rapidly expanding coalition that is demanding the repeal of the city\u2019s anti-camping law.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What a real fringe group.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ever since the occupation outside of City Hall began December 8, 2015, officials have tried to diminish the Right to Rest movement as a small band of agitators who rebuff the city\u2019s attempts to help. But officials are losing that PR battle.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While homeless protesters do make up a majority of those who have camped on City Hall\u2019s front porch for two months now, the coalition goes beyond those without shelter. California Homeless Youth Project director Shahera Hyatt explains this has as much to do with common interests as it does compassion. \u201cThe privatization of public space affects us all. The militarization of our police affects us all,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s just that they\u2019ve felt the effects first.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As the Right to Rest coalition has expanded, its opposition has dwindled in size, if not power. At a recent city council meeting, special-education teacher Trina Allen pointed out the disparity in allies, with politicians, cops and connected business interests on one side, and everyone else on the other. Or, as she put it, \u201cbasically the people your policies, your police and your ideology currently and have historically subjugated.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b>Myth No. 5: Repealing the anti-camping ordinance will increase public defecation.<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Type \u201cSacramento homeless\u201d into Yahoo\u2019s search engine and the first thing to pop up, thankfully, is \u201cSacramento Homeless Organizing Committee.\u201d But the second result is \u201cSacramento homeless defecate.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Disappointingly, poop has become the central talking point for public officials clinging to their increasingly unpopular policy. At a press conference last month, both Councilman Steve Hansen and Deputy Police Chief Ken Bernard offered variations on this theme. Here\u2019s Hansen: \u201cWe can\u2019t allow people to camp in alleys, to urinate and defecate wherever they want.\u201d And Bernard: \u201cWe want to solve this problem, but we can\u2019t allow people to camp in alleys, camp on the side of houses, urinate and defecate wherever they want to.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This confused us. Does having the legal right to sleep cause someone to lose control of their bowels?<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, it turns out.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThey have a demented urge to dehumanize people by painting them as one-dimensional barbarians,\u201d says Omar Sahak, who belongs to a group of UC Davis medical and nursing students that\u2019s joined the Right to Rest coalition. \u201cThey could rather think about how to meet basic human biological needs. There is a great prototype toilet already developed for the Tenderloin in S.F.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Point taken.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hansen and Bernard made what\u2019s called a false equivalency. The city\u2019s argument for keeping the camping ban is riddled with them. Other members of the council, including mayoral candidate Angelique Ashby, keep saying that repealing the ban would somehow mean that they\u2019ve accepted homelessness as the city\u2019s status quo.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Two points: (1) That ship has already sailed. Thank Oprah\u2019s 2009 visit to Tent City. (2) Decriminalizing people\u2019s ability to sleep outside doesn\u2019t mean the city can\u2019t still pursue the permanent housing solutions it\u2019s outlined. In fact, it\u2019ll have more resources to do so since it will spend less on citing, arresting, booking and jailing people for the crime of making us uncomfortable.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe can work on solutions while honoring somebody\u2019s human dignity and allowing them to sleep,\u201d says Wind\u2019s Jones. \u201cPeople are going to be going to the bathroom either way. What\u2019s going to affect that is whether there are accessible public restrooms, and there aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Case in point: The city recently padlocked public restrooms in city parks and inside of City Hall. It justified the decision on its website by saying the restrooms were being used for illegal activities and had \u201cbecome filthy.\u201d But that\u2019s misleading. According to a cost analysis document from the city, people were using the restrooms to sleep and bathe.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The camping law prevents public defecation the same way that the city\u2019s public nudity ban erases genitalia: by pushing the crap out of sight.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; NOTE BY NORSE:\u00a0 Tip of the Hat to Linda Lemaster for posting this Sacramento update on the Freedom Sleepers Facebook page.\u00a0 Word I got was that Freedom SleepOut #30 continued its small persistent presence on February 2nd in front &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/sacramento-update-same-crap-about-camping\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[4,14,107],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298"}],"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=2298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2299,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions\/2299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}