Marty Mirabel, aka “Pirate”, showed up with a dozen protesters at the County Building Monday (7-27) for a cancelled pre-trial court date. Marty was defending the vehicular home of a friend from 10+ cops two weeks before and charged with multiple felonies for “obstructing”, “battery” and such.
Protesters from HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom), Food Not Bombs, and the broader community rallied in single digit numbers and spoke broadly about recent police harassment of unhoused folks, particularly dangerous during the COVID pandemic. see “Emergency Protest–COVID-19 in S.C. Jails & Shelters ” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2020/07/26/18835408.php.

Also increasingly apparent is the City and County’s insistence on keeping unhoused folks into unhealthy group shelters instead of providing the motel and housing access funded by Project Roomkey and Housekey moneys.

The Santa Cruz Homeless Union’s Safe Parking program, run by Alicia Kuhl, is imperiled by a plan to restrip parking spots along Olive St. near the Mission St. CVS in order to criminalize vehicular homes parked there for a year or more.

Already vehicle dwellers have been frightened away from Swanton and Delaware Streets with new signage, traffic cones, and police tape in violation of Coastal Commission law that requires there be coastal access for RV’s and vehicles.

The local Coastal Commission agency is fundamentally in bed with city bureaucrats and the police and their “Drive the Homeless Out of Town” agenda in spite of the COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place requirements and the long-term Coastal regulations.

Several years ago Councilwoman Richelle Niroynan’s anti-homeless “No RVs at night:” law was essentially vetoed by the Coastal Commission. See “Unexpected Victory at Coastal Commission Overturning Nighttime RV Ban” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2016/08/11/18790030.php .

Direct Action by Black Lives Matter activists, concerned with the attacks on unhoused people in Santa Cruz took down the fences around the Town Clock and the Post Office twice as well as the fences along the Water St. bridge overlook areas. HUFF activists will discuss preparing for future actions demanding authorities remove restrictive signage and end harassment of vehicular residents at once at tomorrow’s HUFF meeting.

More extensive audio of the protest will likely be played on the netcast of the Thursday Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides show July 30th which will be archived at https://www1.huffsantacruz.org/lost/FRSC%207-30-20.mp3 . http://www.huffsantacruz.org
Further protests will be considered at the 7-29 HUFF meeting 11 AM at the Sub Rosa Cafe. More audio of the 7-27 Court steps protest in the 7-30 Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides show. For audio of the 7-22 Protests at Mayor Cummings and Vice-Mayor Mathews Homes go to https://www1.huffsantacruz.org/lost/1%20FRSC%207-26-20.mp3 . http://www.huffsantacruz.org
FOR AUDIO SELECTIONS FROM THE COURTHOUSE PROTEST 7-27 AND TO COMMENT GO TO https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2020/07/28/18835474.php

HUFF Agenda Suggestions  7-22-20

• Watsonville COVID-19 Outbreak:  https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2020/07/20/covid-19-cluster-closes-south-county-homeless-shelter/  
• Possible Poll-Tabling at the Benchlands and a Joint Coalition Direct Action  to Restore Water There
• Report on Monday’s Night-Time Shriek-Out at Cynthia Mathews and Andy Mills HQ.

• Bringing the Protest to Politicians & Bureaurats—Wharf Roundabout 7 PM 
• Update and Lesson from Robert’s Beach Resistance in Seaside: Wes’s Report
• HUFF Position on the Shut-down Commerce-wise and Protest-Wise and No-Motel-Wise
• Vendor Situation and Police/Street Reports
• Phone Contacts with BLM, Dem Socialists, Glover-Krohn progressives and other street groups
• St. Francis Soup Kitchen Discrimination Status
• Olive and Delaware Street Organizing and Support; 72-Hour Sticker Harassment
• Return of the print edition of the Street Spirit  newspaper
• Riess Protections for 5150ed S.C. Locals- Further Updates
• Cherie reports Motel worker has told her they’ll be open for her until December, suggesting extended Motel residence…for a few
  
  Upcoming Events

• The Upcoming S.C. Shitty Council Race: Alicia Kuhl’s Candidacy & Endorsements: Town Clock 2 PM
• 2^nd Disturb-the-Comfortable, Comfort-the-Disturbed Speak-Out Starting at Wharf 7 PM tonight.
• Likely Protest at Pirate (Marty Mirabel)’s Prelminary Hearing 10:30 AM Monday July 27^th Courthouse

The HUFF website is back!  Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides shows are being netcast Thursdays 6-8 PM and Sundays 9:30 AM – 3 PM at freakradio.org.  Archives of most recent shows are available anytime at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows..html 

Volunteer assistance is badly needed. Bring your reports for rebroadcast on the net at Free Radio Santa Cruz (freakradio.org) either to the meeting or call in at 831-423-4833.  Or post them yourself at www.indybay.org/santacruz or on facebook.

HUFF Agenda Suggestions  7-15-20

Police killings that happened or were uncovered/publicized in the last week:   

         In Portland, Oregon, an unidentified federal agent shot & seriously injured Donavan La Bella, a 26-year-old protester, on Saturday.  He was holding a stereo speaker above his head when he was hit in the head with a so-called less lethal round after protesters threw back a police-hurled smoke grenade. Yesterday he remained hospitalized in serious condition with a fractured skull & broken bones in his face

          In Arkansas, Calvin Salyers, a police officer…charged with manslaughter after fatally shooting a fellow police officer Scott Hutton who knocked on his front door in early June who had come to the house to pick up a patrol car.

           Phoenix cop Michael McGillis tackles Mariah Valenzuela in traffic stop a week ago; video newly released.

REPORTS AND/OR ACTION

• Public Records Refusal from Administrator Bonnie Bush   A HUFF mini-protest, tabling, encampment, or march to a Policy Maker’s House or Business..
• Fighting Back Against Vigilante Harassment: Alicia Kuhl’s TRO Try in Court Yesterday
• The Upcoming S..C. Shitty Council Race: Alicia Kuhl’s Candidacy & Endorsements
• SC Union of the Homeless Update & Other Organizational Homeless Activity
• Keith’s Possible Arraignment 1 PM Tomorrow Dept. 1 for Expropriating Police Seizure Vats
• Learning from and Supporting Robert’s Beach Resistance in Seaside: Wes’s Report
• HUFF Position on the Shut-down Commerce-wise and Protest-Wise
• Call-In to Tonight’s Shitty Council Meeting in Seaside and Its Aftermath: Defund & Disengage
• Vendor Situation and Police/Street Reports
• Phone Contacts with BLM, Dem Socialists, Glover-Krohn progressives and other street groups
• The new Shelter-in-Place Shutdown: Implications
• Status Report on the CDC-disapproved Group Shelters which are Santa Cruz’s main duck-and-dodge response to the Project Roomkey funding, leaving hundreds of vulnerable houseless people at risk
• St. Francis Soup Kitchen Discrimination Status
• Olive and Delaware Street Organizing and Support; 72-Hour Sticker Harassment
• Return of the print edition of the Street Spirit  newspaper
• Riess Protections for 5150ed S.C. Locals–Research
• Reports on 7-9 Scotts Valley BLM Protest; 7-11 BLM Protest SLV, Paddle Out for Tamario Smith 7-11 and Upcoming Protests
  
  
  The HUFF website is back!  Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides shows are being netcast Thursdays 6-8 PM and Sundays 9:30 AM – 3 PM at freakradio.org.  Archives of most recent shows are available anytime at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html 
  
  Volunteer assistance?   Bring your reports for rebroadcast on the net at Free Radio Santa Cruz (freakradio.org) either to the meeting or call in at 831-423-4833.
  
   
  Grand Jury report: https://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Portals/0/County/GrandJury/GJ2020_final/MicroHomes_Report.pdf

HUFF Agenda Suggestions  7-8-20 Start at 11 AM    Coffee Free    Meeting in Courtyard not Indoors.

With City Council and the powerful City Manager refusing to respond to three separate calls for defunding our overamped police.  Two regular June Council meetings had an overwhelming majority of voices at the Oral Communications period calling for fundamental change—and that was repeated last Thursday June2nd at the contrived “Special Meeting”.   Public protest demanding these changes was shown by the five and a half hour long protest and march from the Town Clock to the Boardwalk and back.

LIKELY AGENDA ITEMS-

• A HUFF mini-protest, tabling, encampment, or march to a Policy Maker’s House or Business.
• Discussion of the HUFF response to the proposed Vendor Ban cited on the 7-2 Agenda.
• Co-ordination with BLM, Dem Socialists, Glover-Krohn progressives and other new  groups concerned with Civil Rights, Renter Protection, Social Services and Public Access in Santa Cruz
• Status Report on the CDC-disapproved Group Shelters which are Santa Cruz’s main duck-and-dodge response to the Project Roomkey funding, leaving hundreds of vulnerable houseless people at risk
• Info Gathering and Protest at St. Francis Soup Kitchen for Recent Discrimination
• Olive and Delaware Street Organizing and Support of Vehicular Residents Under Fire
• Return of the print edition of the Street Spirit  newspaper
• Psychiatric authority seizure of a HUFF member (Angel) and her removal to Fremont

UPCOMING PROTESTS

Paddle Out for Tamario Smith   Cowells Beach  Saturday July 11th 6pm Worldwide Solidarity in Surfing Honoring the dead from police brutality or misconduct
Bring mask and flowers/petals to offer in ceremony. Organized by Indigenous Surf Club, in affiliation with Barrios Unidos, Black Girls Surf, and Black Lives Matter Movement in Santa Cruz

The HUFF website is still under reconstruction.  Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides shows are still being netcast Thursdays 6-8 PM and Sundays 9:30 AM – 3 PM at freakradio.org and some archives are available.  Volunteer assistance is badly needed. Bring your reports for rebroadcast on the net at Free Radio Santa Cruz (freakradio.org) either to the meeting or call in at 831-423-4833.

With the Sub Rosa Cafe courtyard reopening and the “Public Not Invited” City Council meeting slated for tomorrow.  That Agenda was finally released today (24 hours before the meeting) at  https://ecm.cityofsantacruz.com/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/Search?dropid=4&mtids=103%2C105 though I found it hard to open. 

We start at 11 AM — Coffee free.  Suggested topics topics:

• Protest and Organizing Against the “Public Excluded” Rubberstamp Meeting Planned for Thursday July 2nd
  
• Discussion of the HUFF response to the reimposed Vendor Restrictions on the Agenda
• Co-ordination with BLM and other groups concerned with restoring Civil Rights and Public Access in Santa Cruz
• City Manager and Council’s Overfunding of the SCPD with no Fund Real Safety, i.e. No Defund Police Violence
  
• Status Report on the CDC-disapproved Group Shelters which are Santa Cruz’s main duck-and-dodge response to the Project Roomkey funding, leaving hundreds of vulnerable houseless people at risk
• Regular Public Tabling Against Police Budget and Anti-Homeless Behavior in Receptive Times  
  
• Taking Back Public Spaces as Up-Scale Cafes Seize the Sidewalk
• Challenging City Manager Martin Bernal’s Rule-By-Decree
• Return of the print edition of the Street Spirit  newspaper
• Psychiatric authority seizure of a HUFF member (Angel) and her removal to Fremont
  

Every bit of correspondence to the City Council regarding in their correspondence packet urges cutting the bloated police budget.

The HUFF website is still under reconstruction.  Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides shows are still being netcast Thursdays 6-8 PM and Sundays 9:30 AM – 3 PM at freakradio.org and some archives are available.  Volunteer assistance is badly needed.

Bring your reports for rebroadcast on the net at Free Radio Santa Cruz (freakradio.org) either to the meeting or call in at 831-423-4833.

The Sub Rosa Cafe announced it is reopening–at least for this meeting Wednesday.  11 AM — Coffee likely.  Likely topics: Fund Real Safety, Defund Police Violence, Status Report on the CDC-disapproved Group Shelters which are Santa Cruz’s main duck-and-dodge response to the Project Housekey funding, leaving hundreds of vulnerable houseless people at risk, Taking Back Public Spaces as Up-Scale Cafes Seize the Sidewalk, Challenging Martin Bernal’s Rule-By-Decree…and more…

The Agenda will be laid out in more detail. following a planned massive call-in to City Council today by the Coalition to Defund the SCPD and other groups at 6 PM.  Details at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2020/06/23/18834505.php (chatting with a Conscience-Deaf Council).

The HUFF website is currently under reconstruction.  Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides shows are still being netcast Thursdays 6-8 PM and Sundays 9:30 AM – 3 PM at freakradio.org but archives are generally unavailable.
No new Street Spirit newspapers yet, but bring your reports for rebroadcast on the net at Free Radio Santa Cruz (freakradio.org)