6 PM tonight 9-28-17 on 101.3 FM, streams at freakradio.org: Interviews with Santa Monica’s Peggy Lee Kennedy, Fresno’s Mike Rhodes, and Salinas’s Wes White

“Katzenjammer” Keith McHenry also reports on the rumored crackdown October 1st against the Post Office Survival Sleepers.

Current street reports and messages can be left at 831-423-4833.

The show streams on freakradio.org and archives at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170928.mp3

For info on how to act and not just listen while gentrification galooses take over the City and drive out the poor, go to the Food Not Bombs and  Freedom Sleeper facebook pages.  Or directly to the Main Post Office, or where ever the struggle is raging.

Freedom SleepOut #115 reportedly received soup and coffee–but no sleepers reported.  The new Survival Sleepers are encamped around the Main Post Office, though reportedly under threat to leave or face citations in the next two weeks.

Volunteer to support the Homeless struggling against Dehumanization at 575-330-3377 or by meeting with folks on the street.

Back from the Boonies! HUFF meets tomorrow at 11 AM at the Sub Rosa Cafe 9-27.

The usual Sub Rosa Cafe 11 AM meeting at 703 Pacific tomorrow (Wednesday September 27) is back.

On the agenda: What to do when the new “liberal” police chief moves on the Post Office Survival Sleepers on October 1st…Preparing a defense for the Stay-Away Stupidity which intensifies on October 12th…implications of the new Unreasonably Disturbing Noise ordinance voted into law at City Council Tuesday…and a few surprises…

A description of the nasty law expanded police selective enforcement powers can be found at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/09/12/18802845.php (“Stacked Deck Stay-Away Law Expansion Promises More Pain for Poor Outside“)   If you’d like to help review the Public Records (still not fully disclosed) and/or help fight the Stay-Away orders as they are individually levied on homeless folks, contact Food Not Bombs  or HUFF  (numbers below).  Let these folks know if you or anyone you know has recently been given a Stay-Away order along with an Infraction ticket, particularly if it’s for longer than 24 hours (or 72 hours after October 12th when the new expanded law goes into effect).

Also please report conditions in San Lorenzo Park and around the Post Office.  
If you abhor meetings and wish to work on Public Records, Help compile accounts of Police/Ranger abuses, Monitor the new Library Rules, and/or Assist in getting interviews for Free Radio broadcasts or You-Tube Postings, contact Bathrobespierre Robert at 831-423-4833.  Activists around Food Not Bombs and the Freedom Sleepers are also looking for help gathering volunteers for the support meals on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday as well as folks who want to help homeless harassed with citations for Being Visibly Homeless.  Contact them at 575-770-3377

9:30 AM Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides Covers Features Poetry by Julia Vinograd and Commentary Galore Plus A Flashback to 1-17-10 with activists grilling then-Mayor Mike Rotkin–Tune in at 101.3 FM or freakradio.org Sunday September 24

Today’s show gives us a preview of Julia Vinograd’s latest book Walls plus updates.

The 1-17-10 Flashback features the Rotkin Roast as well as audio of the HUFF singers given $200+ tickets for singing “Downtown” with lyrics denouncing anti-homeless laws and practices in downtown Santa Cruz.

The complete show can be found at http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb100117.mp3  It is described in detail at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/brb-descriptions.html#JAN17 .  Go to Sunday, January 17, 2010 to get the grim particulars.

Contact 575-770-3377 to volunteer different kinds of support for the Survival Sleepers now dispersed to the Post Office and points along Pacific Avenue  and support Food Not Bombs locally and those whose only resting place is an illegal piece of sidewalk.

Leave your comments and questions at the same number.   Still a $500 reward for any info leading to Free Radio’s finding a 10′ X 10′  studio space for Free Radio Santa Cruz to rent in Santa Cruz.

Later in the day after the show has aired, the Sunday 9-24 show archives at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170924.mp3.

6 PM tonight 9-21-17 on 101.3 FM, streams at freakradio.org: Keith McHenry Update and Flashback to August 9, 1999–Inside the Santa Cruz Sentinel–A Refugee Reports!

“Katzenjammer” Keith McHenry muses on rumors and prospects, followed by a Flashback to August 5, 1999 where the Santa Cruz Scent-Anal receives a thorough dissection by a former reporter and homeless activists V-Man, Skidmark Bob, Bathrobespierre Robert, and others.

Current street reports and messages can be left at 831-423-4833.

The show streams on freakradio.org and archives at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170921.mp3

For info on how to act and not just listen while gentrification galooses take over the City and drive out the poor, go to the Food Not Bombs and  Freedom Sleeper facebook pages.  Or directly to the Main Post Office, or where ever the struggle is raging.

Freedom SleepOut #115 reportedly received soup and coffee–but no sleepers reported.  The new Survival Sleepers are encamped around the Main Post Office, though reportedly under threat to leave or face citations in the next two weeks.

Volunteer to support the Homeless struggling against Dehumanization at 575-330-3377 or by meeting with folks on the street.

 

Another Week of No-Show For Weary HUFFsters– 11 AM September 20th Sub Rosa Meeting Called Off

The usual Sub Rosa Cafe 11 AM meeting at 703 Pacific tomorrow (Wednesday September 20) will not be formally happening today, although the Cafe may be open and some HUFF members may be there. If you wish to pin down a HUFF meeting for next week, contact Robert at 423-4833.

Tune in at 7 PM Thursday 9-21 on Free Radio Santa Cruz to hear poetry from Berkeley poet Julia Vinograd’s newest book Detour as well as updates both gloomy and encouraging. National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty attorney Tristia Bauman has asked HUFF for its extensive trove of Public Records with an eye to some kind of legal filing in November perhaps.  Another legal researcher is investigating homeless encampments.

The second reading of the Unreasonably Disturbing Noise law changes will likely be on next Tuesday’s City Council agenda.   Packed with subjective criteria retaining police discretionary powers, it nonetheless limits police power over sound amplification.  Check out the 9-12 City Council’s Agenda (Item #21) for the proposed law which pass unanimously last week 7-0.

A description of the nasty law expanded police selective enforcement powers can be found at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/09/12/18802845.php (“Stacked Deck Stay-Away Law Expansion Promises More Pain for Poor Outside“)   If you’d like to help review the Public Records (still not fully disclosed) and/or help fight the Stay-Away orders as they are individually levied on homeless folks, contact Food Not Bombs  or HUFF  (numbers below).  Let these folks know if you or anyone you know has recently been given a Stay-Away order along with an Infraction ticket, particularly if it’s for longer than 24 hours (or 72 hours after October 12th when the new expanded law goes into effect).

Also please report conditions in San Lorenzo Park and around the Post Office.  
If you abhor meetings and wish to work on Public Records, Help compile accounts of Police/Ranger abuses, Monitor the new Library Rules, and/or Assist in getting interviews for Free Radio broadcasts or You-Tube Postings, contact Bathrobespierre Robert at 831-423-4833.  Activists around Food Not Bombs and the Freedom Sleepers are also looking for help gathering volunteers for the support meals on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday as well as folks who want to help homeless harassed with citations for Being Visibly Homeless.  Contact them at 575-770-3377

9:30 AM Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides Covers Updates on Marijuana, Syringes, and “Unreasonably Disturbing Noise” at City Council, Lapis Road Latest, A Taste of the Mime Troupe and More!–Tune in at 101.3 FM or freakradio.org

Today’s show includes Carol Denny on Pepperspray Politics in Berkeley, Tenant Activist Organizing in Santa Cruz, and Caustic Commentary by Bathrobespierre on Everything.

Contact 575-770-3377 to volunteer different kinds of support for the Survival Sleepers now dispersed to the Post Office and points along Pacific Avenue  and support Food Not Bombs locally and those whose only resting place is an illegal piece of sidewalk.

Leave your comments and questions at the same number.   Still a $500 reward for any info leading to Free Radio’s finding a 10′ X 10′  studio space for Free Radio Santa Cruz to rent in Santa Cruz.

Later in the day after the show has aired, the Sunday 9-17 show archives at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170917.mp3.

Final Triumph of the Expanded Stay Away Law at City Council; Interview with Police Chief Andy Mills 6 PM tonight 9-14-17 on 101.3 FM, streams at freakradio.org

The 9-12 City Council passed the Stay Away expansion law targeting homeless and poor people outside under the guise of “establishing standards”.  Extensive commentary and the entire Council “discussion”.   New SCPD chief Andy Mills responded to a lengthy interrogation outside City Hall.

Current street reports and messages can be left at 831-423-4833.

The show streams on freakradio.org and archives at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170914.mp3

For info on how to act and not just listen while gentrification galooses take over the City and drive out the poor, go to the Food Not Bombs and  Freedom Sleeper facebook pages.  Or directly to the Main Post Office, or where ever the struggle is raging.

Freedom SleepOut #114 reportedly received soup and coffee–but no sleepers reported.

Volunteer to support the Homeless struggling against Dehumanization at 575-330-3377 or by meeting with folks on the street.

Today’s Meeting Cancelled–HUFF Retreats in Mourning over Council’s Ballooning of Police Anti-Homeless Powers in Deceptively Named “School Safety” Zones 9-13

The usual Sub Rosa Cafe 11 AM meeting at 703 Pacific tomorrow (Wednesday September 13) will not be formally happening today, although the Cafe may be open and some HUFF members may be there.

A description of the nasty law expanded police selective enforcement powers can be found at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/09/12/18802845.php (“Stacked Deck Stay-Away Law Expansion Promises More Pain for Poor Outside“)   If you’d like to help review the Public Records (still not fully disclosed) and/or help fight the Stay-Away orders as they are individually levied on homeless folks, contact Food Not Bombs  or HUFF  (numbers below).

Tune in at 7 PM Thursday 9-14 on Free Radio Santa Cruz to hear an interview with Police Chief Andy Mills, whose supportive (and misleading) testimony helped pass the toxic Stay-Away expansion 4-3  (Mayor Chase unexpectedly joined the opposition with Brown and Krohn).
If you abhor meetings and wish to work on Public Records, Help compile accounts of Police/Ranger abuses, Monitor the new Library Rules, and/or Assist in getting interviews for Free Radio broadcasts or You-Tube Postings, contact Bathrobespierre Robert at 831-423-4833.  Activists around Food Not Bombs and the Freedom Sleepers are also looking for help gathering volunteers for the support meals on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday as well as folks who want to help homeless harassed with citations for Being Visibly Homeless.  Contact them at 575-770-3377

Stacked Deck Stay-Away Law Expansion Promises More Pain for Poor Outside at City Council Today

Coming up today at City Council on the noon agenda (unusually early) is Item, #14. It may come up within an hour by 1 PM if not before. MC 13.08.100 exponentially expands the time a cop or ranger can unilaterally order a person to leave an area and not return. The vastly expanded area includes the Pogonip, Arana Gulch, and Moore Creek. The law is billed as a “School Safety” law, though the vast majority of the area covered is much further than 300′ from a school.
MISSING INFORMATION: NO RACE OR ADDRESSES
Forwarded to me today yesterday were the attached P & R cites for 2016 and 2017, with addresses, which is helpful, but requiring some going over to see just who got the Stay-Aways and for what offenses and who didn’t. The SCPD records did not include the addresses. Neither SCPD nor P & R included race, which is interesting. There’s hardly time to do a thorough review of these to determine how severely the current 13.08.100 impacted homeless folks. Nor how much it cost the City to do it, and how much P & R time it took up for what specific “criminal offenses”.

What the records do show is massive use of the Stay-Away order. No indication of for how long the Stay-Away periods are. Nor how many have been cited with possible year in jail crimes for violating the Stay-Aways. Nor is there any record of the fabled “resources” that the largely homeless people seeking distant refuge in greenbelt areas have supposedly available to them.

There’s also no indication of the specific locations on the citations, i.e. to clarify how many were issued within 300′ of a school. Since the overwhelming majority of territory (covered by Moore’s Creek, Arana Gulch, and Pogonip) is far beyond any schools and hence not relevant to any “School Safety Enhancement Zone”, it seems clear the purpose of this is to triple the immediate punishment of anyone getting a citation prior to going to court.

Could this be to avoid the “bother” of proving someone guilty of a crime, or the shame of making a crime out of necessary survival behavior? Those outside need to sleep after 11 PM and may find a distant spot to sleep on public land in an area that has conveniently been declared “closed”.

FALSE POLICE CHIEF CLAIM THAT LAW AVOIDS CREATING CRIMINAL RECORDS
Police Chief Andy Mills’s claim that the current law and tripled-time law being considered today for final passage will “avoid criminalization of the homeless” is ridiculous, since each Stay-Away comes after an officer tickets for an underlying Infraction offense–which creates the criminal record. Or is Chief Mills claiming that he’s directing or advising his officers to issue the infractions simply to give a pretext to give a Stay-Away, and then not to show up in court so the infractions will then be dismissed?

NOT GUILTY IN COURT? STILL REQUIRED TO STAY-AWAY.
Also a finding of “not guilty” by the court (which would only happen a month or more later) does not necessarily trigger an end to the Stay-Away order. There’s no provision in the 13.08.100 for that.

The wording of the statute is flawed and insufficient. As well as there being no specific provision in the law to end Stay-Aways if there’s no conviction. Even if a judge finds a defendant “not guilty” if there is ever a court trial, the City’s “preponderance of the evidence” standard which justifies the Stay-Away order prevails. As described in 13.08.100(b) even with a prior City Manager-run so-called pre-court Appeal Hearing, the “Preponderance of the Evidence” standard overrules the judge’s “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” judgment. The Stay-Away order, in the absence of any action by court or City Manager would continue according to the proposed wording of the law.

HUGE OVERREACH OF TERRITORY: THE TEXT OF THE NEW LAW
Under Terrazas’s Public Safety Committee “Schools Safety Enhancement Zones” expansion of the Stay-Aways the law for the entire Pogonip, Arana Gulch, and Moore Creek will read

“(a) Any person who receives a citation or is arrested [in these areas–and not just within 300- of a school]… for a violation of the Santa Cruz Municipal Code or state law may be ordered by the citing/arresting city officer at the time of the citation/arrest to vacate that park or beach property and not to re-enter said property again for the period of time specified below. Any such order shall apply to both the park or beach property at which the citation/arrest occurs and to any other park or beach property at which such an order was issued within the previous year. Any person who violates such an order from a city officer shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(1) First offense: 72 hours from the time of the citing/arresting officer’s order.
(2) Second offense within 3 weeks of the first offense: 3 weeks from the date of the citing/arresting officer’s order in response to the second offense.
(3) Third offense within 90 days of the second offense: 90 days from the date of the citing/arresting officer’s order in response to the third offense.
(4) Fourth offense within 18 months of the third offense: 18 months from the date of the citing/arresting officer’s order in response to the fourth offense.
(5) Fifth offense within 3 years of the fourth offense: 3 years from the date of the citing/arresting officer’s order in response to the fifth offense. [emphasis mine]”

ARBITRARY POLICE POWER ALLOWS LONG-TIME BANS
I emphasize “may” in 13.08.100(a) because it gives the police officer unbridled discretion to issue or not issue a stay-away order simply on the basis of any infraction ticket, without a objective standard.

An individual getting four different citations–say for sleeping after 11 PM, being in a park after dark, sitting down within 14′ of a building on the sidewalk downtown, and smoking in a back area of the park in the first week, would face a 3 month stay away and a misdemeanor charge with a fine of $1000 and/or 6 months or a year in jail.

PHONY CLAIM OF “DIRECTING THE HOMELESS TO RESOURCES”
This in a town where there is no emergency shelter and 1000-2000 homeless outside. Essentially non-existent resources for the overwhelming majority.

THE FOLKS BEING TARGETED
Earlier research showing just what kind of “crimes” and what kind of people are getting targeted is at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/02/05/18768065.php?show_comments=1#18768117. at Statistical Evidence of Park Rangers & SCPD Targeting Homeless Folks for Sleeping in Parks .

MISSING PUBLIC REVIEWS IN THE PAST
Supposedly Terrazas’s Public Safety Committee was supposed to review this matter six months after passage in 2015, but I’m not aware that he ever did so. On-line minutes and agendas for his Committee are not currently available.

Earlier story on the Stay-Away Stampede:  “Toxic Expansion of Stay-Away Ordinance Hits Council Agenda Today” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/08/22/18802084.php
The proposed law needs to be tabled and sent to Public Hearings to consider more closely the actual alternate resources available, the impact on the poor population, and the costs.

9:30 AM Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides Covers Santa Barbara’s Long-Time Activist Peter Marin, the Lapis Road Survivor Jay Reed, “Whip ‘Em Into Shape” Wes White and a Flashback to January 29, 2015–Tune in at 101.3 FM or freakradio.org

Today’s Updates in interview and commentary cover host of the 4-5 hour showtime.  Enjoy!

Today’s January 29, 2015 Flashback features Analysis of the 2nd Round of the Stay-Away Order Struggle at City Council back then, and a dialogue with legal worker Ray Glock-Grueneich.

Contact 575-770-3377 to volunteer different kinds of support for the Survival Sleepers now dispersed to the Post Office and points along Pacific Avenue  and support Food Not Bombs locally and those whose only resting place is an illegal piece of sidewalk.

Leave your comments and questions at the same number.   Still a $500 reward for any info leading to Free Radio’s finding a 10′ X 10′  studio space for Free Radio Santa Cruz to rent in Santa Cruz.

The complete original version of the June 9, 2013 flashback can be found at  http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb150129.mp3   It is considerably longer.

 

Later in the day after the show has aired, the Sunday 9-10 show archives at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170910.mp3.