Tag Archives: Food Not Bombs

Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides streams today (11-3-19) at 9:30AM at www.freakradio.org: Marathon Interview with Santa Barbara’s Peter Marin, Drew Glover’s Council report, Fox on the Harm Reduction Coalition, Cooper On Louden Nelson Hassles & More !

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FREE CASH FROM FREE RADIO; GET US BACK ON THE AIR AND ON THE PHONE LINES:

Free Radio Santa Cruz stands ready to dole out $300 for info leading to a 10′ X 10′ studio space with bathroom, internet, and electrical access–either indoors or out (we’ll build a structure).  We’re also seeking a transmitter space where we can put up an antenna–a backyard, a multistory home, a high tree–help us spread the word.   Help us so we can help you!


Today’s show streams at freakradio.org and archives at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html   

Desiree Quintero’s Memorial Today at 5 PM at the Food Not Bombs Meal; Tuesday 9 AM through the day with a special 4 PM Focus


Current Events on the Show
  • 10-26 and 11-2 Food Not Bombs Updates from Kazenjammer Keith McHenry
  • Fox Reviews the proposed expansion of Needle exchange and other Harm Reduction measures in Santa Cruz
  • Red Church Roundabout with Pastor Joel Miller, Sonoma County Shawn and Erin, Tizzymind Trollking, Noel ‘n Pirate, Sheltersafe Tania, Omar ‘n Richard, Trixie, Bounced-off-the-Beach Blue, Matt on Palomar Death of Jake, Louden Nelson Refugee, Portuguese Cowboy Tony Released from 10 Days in Jail, Cooper, Dreamcatcher, Merryweather Mike,  Sass ‘Em Back Susan, CACH collaborator Rafa, Katzenjammer Keith, and more!
  • Passionate Patriarch Peter Marin Cracks Wise and Long on the fight against Santa Barbara’s Latest Ordinance
  • Councilmember Drew Glover’s Agenda Update (Selections)
  • Food Not Bombs Reportage from Katzenjammer Keith on the Recall, historical anecdotes, and dimly positive prospects from Vice-Mayor Cummings
  • A Slew Of Food Not Bombs Interviews with Matthew, Russell, Professor Hi Speed, Ricardo, Timothy, Patric, Merryweather Mike, Tyler, Cooper, Dreamcatcher…and (whew) more.
  • Sureheart Shelly Describes the Horrendous Hoops She Faces Outside as a blind Senior.
Act Locally or Regret Repeatedly
  • Remember Desiree Quintero Today at 5 PM in a Santa Cruz Union of the Homeless Memorial outside the Main Post Office, City Officials Lie, Homeless Folks Die.
  • Daylong tabling and protest at City Hall starting 9 AM Tuesday November 5th at 809 Center St.
  • 2nd Memorial at City Hall 4 PM Tuesday November 5th with Possible March to Wake the Dead CACH “Homeless Helper” Committee–meeting 6 PM at the “No bathrooms for the homeless” Louden (London) Nelson former Community Center
  • Document Homeless Discrimination & Sign Up for Direct Action to “Open the Bathrooms Now!” Action at City-wide at the Union of the Homeless table at the Food Not Bombs meals Saturday and Sunday 4-6 PM outside the Main Post Office.
  • “Pee In” Protest Led by “Stop the Stupidity” Stina Dissident Member of the City’s CACH Committee may be coming soon to the next City Council meeting 11-12  Bring Your Sample to Document the Need!
  • Provide Direct Support to Survival Camps & Squats as City Council Ignores the Winter Shelter Emergency; Skip the Poverty Pimp Entrepreneurs
  • Post Your Documentation of Police and Ranger “Move Along” Mischief or Pass it on to Barracuda Mama at 831-431-7766 
  • Check out the 5 PM Union of the Homeless meeting at the Food Not Bombs Event in front of the Main Post Office Every Sunday.
  • Donate to Existing Homeless Encampments, NOT Poverty-Pimp Posturers– Survival Demands Blankets, Water, Tarps, Portapotties & Trash Pick-Up’s–and Deter Police Harassment by being On Call to Document It.
  • Additional Needs for Community Samaritans!–More Needs: Potable Water for Drinking and Grey Water for Washing, Laundry Access so Clothes Don’t Mildew, a Drainage System Against the Rains, More Space in Additional Spots, Monitor and Expose Cop Crackdowns
  • Support Food Not Bombs,  the Warming Center’s Day/Night Storage Program, HUFF, Conscience and Action,Santa Cruz Union of the Homeless documenting, providing resources, & publicizing the situation.

  •  Check out The Santa Cruz Community, Santa Cruz Homeless Advocates & Homeless Outside in Santa Cruz, Monterey County Homeless Advocates, SNAIL, HEART Disabled Homeless People,  Power Surge Tenants Rights, Bay Area Landless People’s Alliance, and more on Facebook..then go out and do something!
  •   Exchange information with other supporters there to generate more communication and better solutions in the future.
  •   Listen in to Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides at freakradio.org Thursdays 6-8 PM, Sundays 9:30 AM- 3 PM
  •   If you must, expropriate items from chain stores.  Don’t steal from vulnerable fellow homeless or local businesses!

Fences not Services–the New Santa Cruz Solution?

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NOTE FROM NORSE:   The flyer is self-explanatory.

                                        Yesterday River St Campground Commandante Susie O’Hara broke the City Council’s commitment and announced its closing next month.  Some if not all of the homeless workers have reportedly have been laid off.  The Council’s commitment to a storage and shelter area for even the small number in the campground (60-70 at max) was unceremoniously abandoned.

                                        Meanwhile no Winter Shelter, other than a partial distant AFC-run, nighttime-only no-storage facility with half the capacity of last year’s limited program will be stacked with River St. Campground refugees for the first week according to the Sentinel story (https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2018/10/16/santa-cruz-to-shutter-city-run-homeless-encampment-by-nov-30/).

                                         Yesterday HUFF decided to mobilize public support for an alternative encampment, perhaps at City Hall, perhaps at the Post Office, perhaps–as last year–at San Lorenzo Park. Others have proposed a mobile “Camp Dignity” solution such as prompted Portland, OR authorities to finally authorize a small distant campground space for some of the homeless in that city.  (https://dignityvillage.org/).  There has also been talk of establishing a campground in the Greenbelt areas, or setting up a protest camp in front of City Manager Martin Bernal‘s home or possibly that of City Council Mayor David Terrazas.

                                          Yesterday city agencies fenced off the grassy areas and the bathrooms at San Lorenzo park.  Armed uniformed thugs were stalking the park, driving away the poor and the public there.  15 hours ago Food Not Bombs activist Keith McHenry wrote “Fencing off the parks from the homeless before the city of Santa Cruz shuts down the Boneyard Camp where some of those without housing had been living under city supervision for the past several months. Shelter space also cut just before the cold rains come. Total war against the poor. Maybe we should retake City Hall.”

                                            Meanwhile harassment, citation, camp demolition, and vehicle towing continues against the vast majority of the homeless who are not and have never been offered shelter–or even the right to create their own protection against the cold.

                              

                                            Come to the 5 PM Saturday October 20th meeting at the Food Not Bombs meal near the main Post Office…or start your own encampment.  

                                             The Martin v. Boise federal appeals court ruling applies to California and other western states. (https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/09/04/15-35845.pdf).

                                             However, that won’t stop police from harassing you–they’re doing so now under “trespass” and “public area closed” laws.   At Monday’s Public Safety Committee meeting, Mills documented a surge in such citations this even as he claimed his uniformed gunmen had stopped Sleeping Ban harassment.   (https://scsire.cityofsantacruz.com/sirepub_PSCom/cache/2/amhktxussfn4fg1u35mud5t4/476782010182018095532533.PDF)

                                              Last year, Andy Mills’ police and rangers shut down public protest against the City’s unconstitutional “no sleep at night for the poor” policies.  They falsely rousted the Freedom Sleepers there by falsely using “blocking the sidewalk” laws.

                                              Be prepared to deal with intensified police harassment.

                                              Note:  I also include a note from City Manager Martin Bernal for his “side of the story” following the flyer below.

Attachment(s) from Robert Norse | View attachments on the web

1 of 1 File(s)

FENCING OUT THOSE WITH OUT HOMES IS CRUEL.pdf

Silva Celebration and Memorial Saturday May 12th Noon-3 PM Sub Rosa Cafe, 4-6 PM Sidewalk near the Main Post Office Downtown

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Date: Saturday May 12

Location Details:  SubRosa (next to the Bike Church).   Refreshments available. Tip a glass to David!   Followed by Food Not Bombs Fiesta 4pm to 6pm at the downtown post office.

Celebrating the life of David Minton Silva,who loved to dance and dress silly and travel.

He was a long-time activist fighting the City’s anti-homeless Sleeping Ban, a social worker, a survivor of HIV, and a writer.

His colorful and persistent presence was a constant thorn in the side to the Santa Cruz Council with his fasts, speeches, organizing, and general silliness.

He died abroad in a Maputo, Mozambique hospital while traveling, following his bliss.

More information at https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=david%20minton%20silva%20remembered

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/03/18/18807495.php

Great Activist and Grampa David Silva passed away. Remembering some of his winning ways, some history, a tribute.

Crackdown at the City Council Sidewalk and Interview with Mayor Chase 6 – 8 PM Free Radio 5-18 (tonight!) at 101.3 FM; At City Hall: Emergency Defense Meeting at 6 PM for Freedom & Survival Sleepers

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If you can’t make it to the Emergency Meeting today at 6 PM, Contact Keith and Abbi at 575-770-3377 to provide immediate support for the Survival Sleepers–now facing a round-the-clock attack, designed to drive them at the Freedom Sleepers from City Hall and expand “no homeless” zones outside the library and elsewhere in the city.

Leave your comments and questions at 831-423-4833.

Tonight’s show also streams at www.freakradio.organd archives at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170518.mp3

 

If you missed the Sunday show, it ran too long for the normal archive (http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170518.mp3 ).  To catch the full show go to http://huffsantacruz.org/lost/FRSC%205-14-17.MP3 & http://huffsantacruz.org/lost/FRSC%205-14-17%202.MP3 for six plus hours of mind-numbing sweet street chatter!  For Bathrobespierre’s Broadsides fans, other Lost shows (that missed the regular archives) can be found at http://www.huffsantacruz.org/Lostshows.html .

Emergency Freedom Sleepers Sleep Out Tonight

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DateFriday May 12

Time6:00 PM – 6:00 AM 

Location Details 809 Center St. City Hall Courtyard and Sidewalk along Center St

Event Type Protest

Organizer/Author Keith McHenry (posting by Norse)

Email keith [at] foodnotbombs.net

Phone 575-770–3377 

PLEASE ATTEND !

The City Manager, Martín Bernal made a number of policy changes that will have an impact on those without housing all across Santa Cruz, the Freedom Sleepers and the Survival Sleepers at City Hall.

The City of Santa Cruz has made it illegal to be at City Hall from 6:00 PM to 7:00 AM Monday through Friday and has closed all of the City Hall grounds on Saturday and Sunday. The signs posted this morning also ban amplified sound without a permit, personal property on sidewalks, walls or pathways, bicycles or sitting, lying on sidewalks, walls, pathways or courtyard areas. There are reports that these policies will be enforced at a number of other city buildings in Santa Cruz.

Library staff have also reported that City Manager, Martín Bernal will be removing the benches outside the library and stationing two or more police officers at City Hall.

The Freedom Sleepers campaign inspired an attempt by Councilpersons Don Lane and Micah Posner to seek a change in the camping ban in March 2016 to make it legal to sleep outside, ending the law that made it a crime to sleep outside or in a vehicle from 11:00 PM to 8:30 AM.

Their proposed change failed to gain enough votes. In response to pressure from the Freedom Sleepers the council did create a Homelessness Coordinating Committee whose report was introduced at the May 9, 2017 City Council meeting.

Local unhoused people started their own nightly protest at City Hall the night after the Winter Shelter closed who are referred to as the Survival Sleepers.

Signs stating that it is illegal to participate in the activities of the protest were posted this morning at City Hall. More signs restricting the homeless were placed at the Downtown Library this afternoon.

To see the new posted restrictions go to https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155150021813820&set=a.489759988819.266614.691903819&type=3&theater

PLEASE JOIN US WITH VIDEO AND AUDIO EVEN IF YOU CAN’T STAY THE NIGHT!

Please contact Keith McHenry at 575-770-3377

Freedom SleepOut #85 To Face Wettest Winter and Squad Cars at Midnight?

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 Date Tuesday February 21

Time 4:00 PM Tuesday – 9 AM Wednesday

Location Details Back again to City Hall–still the dark center of Sleeping Ban law and enforcement under City Manager Martin Bernal and the Watkins-Terrazas City Council. Determined activists and a crew of homeless folks will be huddling beneath the eaves of the buildings at City Hall until being driven out into the rain , wind, and cold. Just looking for a night of community and relative safety from the Sleeping Ban, they’ll be in sleeping bags, under tents, in vehicles, whereever they can, hoping to spark conscience from the broader community. Food Not Bombs and Joe Schultz will feed. Protest goes, as ever, from mid-afternoon Tuesday to mid-morning Wednesday.

Event Type Protest

Organizer/Author Keith McHenry (story by Norse)

Email keith@foodnotbombs.net

Phone 575-770–3377

FIGHTING TRUMP EVERYWHERE BUT NOT LOCAL TRUMPISM IN SANTA CRUZ
Protests against Trump across the state and nation have failed so far to catalyze any local protests against Trumpism in Santa Cruz. Particularly concerning the most basic civil rights of our own refugees who face sweeps, property confiscations, harassment, and the nighttime Sleeping Ban–all measures designed to drive them out of town and out of sight.

Folks at a recent Black Lives Matter protest in Capitola this Saturday did seem sympathetic to concerns that SCPD policies impacting black folks, immigrants, and just ordinary folks were also a matter of serious concern regarding homeless folks. See “Community Support for Black Lives Matter in Capitola” at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/02/18/18796619.php

POLICE SWAMPED PROTEST WITH FLEET OF VEHICLES LAST WEEK
Freedom Sleepers return this Tuesday fresh from the harsh memory of massive police response against last week’s protest on 2-14.

During that protest, eight SCPD squad cars showed up to arrest activist Maxwell Green in the dead of night ( https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154889337533820&set=pcb.10154889337793820&type=3&theater ).

SUDDEN POLICE INTEREST IN MAXWELL GREEN
Though Green spoke earlier that day at City Council and could have been served with a citation at that time, the city’s uniformed gunmen showed up at midnight in absurdly disproportionate force, frightening other sleepers there.

Green was charged with 184 (a) willfully obstructing an officer. He will be arraigned in Judge Denine Guy’s court on Mar 16th at 8:30 a.m. The “obstruction” incident allegedly happened over a month ago on 1/18 with the complaint and warrant suddenly issued on 2/15; right after a city council meeting when Green publicly denounced Councilmember Richelle Niroyan. Niroyan authored a failed RV nighttime ban, leading to a caustic exchange between the two of them that homeless-aphobic city staffers may still be trying to patch up behind the scenes.

Green is a mainstay of the Freedom Sleeper protest, who works and lives in Monterey, and regularly commutes to defend the rights of the Santa Cruz homeless here.

FOOD NOT BOMBS EVENTS
Food Not Bombs [FNB], which regularly feeds the Freedom SleepOut’s, is facing harassment from reactionary neighbors, who ban the organization’s street food and literature tables.

FNB will hold an Emergency Meeting 2 PM Friday 2-24 at India Joze 418 Front St.
They also urge folks to sign a petition to Mayor Cynthia Chase urging the City respect the right to share food: Sign it at https://www.change.org/p/cynthia-chase-support-the-right-of-food-not-bombs-to-share-free-food-info-and-ideas-in-public-spaces?

FNB co-founder Katzemjammer Keith McHenry also announced “Direct Action to Fight Fascism” Presentation at 612 Ocean St., Resource Center for Non-Violence 6:30 PM Free to all.

ANTI-VIOLENCE ADVOCATES DEMAND RELEASE OF D.A.’S REPORT
Homeless folks are another minority that faces police harassment and violence.

Activists pressing to end police violence are demanding the release of the police reports and the full D.A.’s investigation in the killing of Sean Arlt. In a quick closed-to-the-public press conference, Chief Kevin Vogel announced D.A. Jeff Rosell’s finding exonerating the killer–Officer Eric Bailey.

There has been no change in the SCPD’s “shoot to kill” policy, nor were details given of how close Arlt was to Bailey when Bailey shot him dead in October. The D.A.’s “investigation” has taken 4 months, and now Vogel’s SCPD announces it will “investigate” further. Meanwhile the witness accounts and the D.A.’s report remain under lock and key. The “Official Story” can be seen on line at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/02/16/18796574.php?show_comments=1#18796616

JOIN THE FREEDOM SLEEPERS
Bring lots of rain gear, blankets, and “protective” video equipment to the protest. Heavy rains may not deter police and ranger attacks on those sheltering themselves at City Hall. But documenting their behavior may awaken the community to the menace of local Trumpism against the poor.


TO COMMENT GO TO https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/02/20/18796677.php.

Rain at Midnight? Freedom SleepOut #85 Faces Wettest Winter : Indybay
www.indybay.org

 

Valentine’s Day for Freedom SleepOut #84

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 Date Tuesday February 14
Time 4:00 PM Tuesday – 10 AM Wednesday
Location Details Covering Up Warmly at City Hall 809 Center St or on the nearby steps, take your choice. The protest runs from Tuesday early afternoon to mid-morning Wednesday. Bring your sweetie to celebrate restoring civil rights for the rain-soaked renegades of Santa Cruz.
Event Type Protest
Organizer/Author Keith McHenry (story by Norse)
Email keith@foodnotbombs.net
Phone 575-770–3377

NO JUSTICE WITHOUT DEMANDS
Freedom Sleepers continue their relentless pursuit of decent respect for the survival needs of unhoused people outside. Both the Sleeping Ban’s 11 PM to 8:30 AM ban on the act of sleeping for the homeless and police practice enforcing this cruel ordinance are the weekly target of this year and a half long protest.

A WAKE UP CALL FOR THE CITY COUNCIL
In a sardonic blast at the City’s cruel anti-homeless law, activists have circulated a flyer suggesting that the City Council at its Tuesday afternoon meeting will be distributing methamphetamine to help homeless people follow the City’s MC 6.36.010a and stay awake all night. See http://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/sjm-meth-0210.jpg

Activists are expected to make mock demands for meth at the Oral Communications period. Usually around 5 PM, Mayor Chase has failed to specify when that period will be.

PROTESTS PLANNED ON BEACH FLAT STORMTROOPER RAIDS
Activists angered by local police collusion with a Monday 4:45AM raid in the Beach Flats with armored Vehicles and soldiers with machine guns escorted by Police Chief Vogel’s SCPD. Reportedly breaking down doors, detaining women and children and checking immigration papers the military style operation searched house to house, supposedly, for M-13 gang members”. Protesters plan a 2 PM march from the Town Clock to City Council meeting.

BOOS NOT BLESSINGS FOR AN OUTGOING POLICE CHIEF
Item #3 on the day’s City Council agenda is a special Service Celebration of Vogel’s 30 years on the SCPD. Vogel’s “accomplishments” included setting loose the armored BearCat vehicle on the community; refusing to release the video of the Sean Arlt slaying as well as the identity of the police officer who killed him.

Vogel has also presided over the 2012 theft and rerouting of SCPD-confiscated bikes from the Bike Church’s redistribution plan to a City Council connected business. He personally led the massing of more than 100 cops to disperse the Occupy encampment in San Lorenzo benchlands and later coral protesters marching to City Hall in early December 2011. All this was followed by the phony (and costly) prosecutions of the Santa Cruz Eleven for peaceful support of a Wells Fargo bank occupation at 75 River St.–chilling the income inequality protest across the city.

Though this is an officially agenda-ized action, it is likely the Mayor will try to stop any public comment.

PUTTING FOXES IN THE HOMELESS-HELPER HENHOUSE
Item #9 will ratify the appointments of anti-homeless politicians to the babble-bubble of the Homelessness Governance Ad-Hoc Committee–specifically Mayor Chase (who voted to keep the Sleeping Ban last year) and an assistant City Manager–from the gang that created the “homeless-as-criminals” Public Safety Task Force, pushed anti-homeless laws on Pacific Avenue, and has attacked the Freedom Sleeper protests and protesters.

CASH FOR THE CAMPER-CRUSHERS
Item #11 will hand $90,000 to First Alarm Security thugs to fund their stalk-and-scare raids in the City parking garages to run homeless people out into the cold and rain. The language in the proposal is surprisingly candid: to combat ” a large influx in the transient population in the last three to four months and the impacts associated with encampments.” Of course, there is no expansion of shelter, reining in of uniformed thieves seizing homeless property, and/or opening needed facilities like public bathrooms and wash stations.

Other items include appointing homeless-hostile hacks (Terrazas and Mathews) to the Library Board–where they helped extend the Sleeping Ban and other repressive measures to the downtown library.

GOOD NEWS IN BERKELEY
Meanwhile homeless activists in Berkeley are maintaining self-governing encampments like First they Came for the Homeless and recruiting the legal muscle to push back against psuedo-progressive politicians, who are violating the campaign pledges they made last year. See http://www.dailycal.org/2017/02/06/first-came-homeless-threatens-lawsuit-alleges-city-violated-constitutional-rights/ .

DILLYDALLYING FOR DOLLARS
Meanwhile as ACLU fund-raisers haul in heaps of money (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/01/30/the-aclu-says-it-got-24-million-in-donations-this-weekend-six-times-its-yearly-average/), local ACLU activists give lip service but no organizing time to protecting homeless survival gear and ending the local “poverty deportations” that happen every night to those outside.

While NAACP, SCCCCR, and the ACLU dither, Black Lives Matter will be protesting in Capitola next Saturday (https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/02/12/18796425.php ).

THE FIGHT GOES ON
Freedom Sleepers from last week (at SleepOut #83) reported successful resistance to Park and Ranger harassment of homeless people trying to illegally move them along. Uniformed heavies were met with video cameras and copies of the law, as well as “this is a protest” signs and solidarity among those trying to sleep.

There is likely to be food in the evening and coffee in the morning. And, for the first time in weeks, dry weather. All are invited.

Stormy Times for Freedom SleepOut #83

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Date Tuesday February 7 to Wednesday February 8

Time 4:00 PM – 9:00 AM
Location Details Under tents, tarps, umbrellas, in the eaves of buildings, and in cars along the sidewalks of Santa Cruz City Hall (Public Assembly being forbidden on the City Hall grounds after 10 PM)
Event Type Protest
Organizer/Author Keith McHenry (story by Norse)
Email keith [at] foodnotbombs.net
Phone 575-770–3377

BACK AGAIN FOR THE 83rd TIME!
A group of unhoused folks, joined by several housed supporters, will gather again Tuesday afternoon for another night of sleeping-under-the-eaves of City Council buildings and then, after being rousted by police in the wee hours, tenting-on-the-wet-sidewalks.

In spite of the broad outcry against Trump’s intensification of Obama’s anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant policies, there has been no call for the “sanctuary cities” proposal coming back to City Council this month to include our own refugees–the local homeless community.

Those without lodging face $200 citations, additional stay-away orders, and regular police harassment. Police are also targeting homeless Freedom Sleepers. One was told by police he would be cited if he joined their protest directly, so he watches from across the street.

MIXED CHARITY AND CRUELTY FROM CHURCHES
As rainstorms pound Santa Cruz, soggy folks outside report continued police harassment.  Trekking in to a weekly church meal Monday at the Calvary Episcopal Church, one outsider reported being ticketed and then driven out into the rain. Others voiced continued support for the on-going Freedom Sleepers weekly Tuesday night protest.

The once-a-week Calvary meal, while ample and filling, is policed by a guard who stops anyone from leaving the room with food. Those who aren’t in the very limited Association of Faith Communities program limited to 20 people are likely to be driven away from the outside of the church building where they may be huddling against the rain.

OAKLAND-BERKELEY PROTESTS, CRACKDOWNS CONTINUE
Berkeley’s relentlessly persistent encampment run by First They Came for the Homeless [FTCFTH] maintains its small community on the Berkeley-Oakland border next to the BART line on Martin Luther King Drive. “For three weeks, we’ve been left alone,” noted one activist there. That appears to be the longest ceasefire ever, considering the more than 15 raids and eviction notices the community has suffered. “All we want is a simple secure place to put down our tents and maintain some stability and dignity while we search for housing and employment. Most of us are disabled,” noted Brett Schnaper.

Interviews with Schnaper and Mike Zint can be heard at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170205.mp3 (Shnaper: 1 hour and 30 minutes into the audio file) (Zint: 3 hours and 13 minutes into the file)

Meanwhile Oakland authorities are actually providing portapotties and trash pick-up’s to another encampment several miles down the road. A six month period will run out at the end of March when the City claims it will have “housed” the 50+ residents there. Tents are crunched together, squeezed between concrete barriers to stop the encampment from growing.

Several blocks away, the “Promised Land” Village, set up by housed and homeless activists in a park under the freeway was demolished by City cops. Activists had set up wooden structures and began to provide medical and other services that the City was failing to provide. The Village, an outgrowth of the anti-Trump protests of mid-January survived 10 days before being crushed.

Meanwhile, other Obama-Trump-villes have taken root by the side of the road in Oakland, Berkeley, and other Bay Area cities. Support for the Santa Cruz encampments–where most homeless people live–remains a taboo subject here.

To make and read comments go to https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/02/06/18796226.php

 

Still Pushing On—Freedom Sleepers Back Again at City Hall Tuesday for 82nd Tuesday

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Date Tuesday January 31

Time 4:00 PM Tuesday –  9 AM Wednesday

Location Details On the sacred turf ot the City Hall courtyard itself as well as along the cement sidewalks of Center St. from Tuesday night to Wednesday mid-morning.

Event Type Protest

Organizer/Author Keith McHenry (story by Norse

Email keith [at] foodnotbombs.net

Phone 575-770–3377

 

DROP IN ON THE SHITTY COUNCIL
The new “people friendly” Councilmembers (Krohn and Brown) still decline to announce their office hours or meeting times. Niroyan, Terrazas, and Chase have responded–but only Chase has regular office hours (Monday 10-12:30 pm). The first two will meet “by appointment”; Chase suggests the same. It’s not clear if the real power in town, City Manager Martin Bernal, has “office hours” or will even agree to meet by appointment.

However Freedom Sleeper supporters may remember that Councilmembers and Manager alike do have offices that are–supposedly–accessible to the public that is a building near the City Council chambers.

The employees and officials have their own special bathroom(s), which may account for why they have felt so free in the past to lock the public bathrooms adjacent to City Council, even during early daytime hours when they are supposed to be open.

Some have suggested this is particularly likely on mornings when the Freedom Sleepers are awakening, tired, soggy, and groggy from midnight SCPD rousts, morning ranger harassment. and drenching rain, compliments of being driven from under the eaves of buildings.

ARM THE HOMELESS WITH VIDEO AND BEEF UP THEIR RESISTANCE WITH BLANKETS & TENTS
Interested supporters are invited to bring their video devices down to the Freedom SleepOut–Wednesday morning if you can’t make the overnight sleepout–to give power-amped park officials a wider You-Tube audience for their “you’re homeless and can’t be here” activities.   Homeless folks short of survival gear also appreciate donations.

TRASH PICK-UPS AND SERVICES FOR AN OAKLAND ENCAMPMENT
Citations, property confiscations, and move-alongs for the Santa Cruz homeless. While the Oakland City Council’s assistance to homeless encampments may be limited, it’s definite. They are still flying the fantasy that they’ll move even a small number into housing by the end of March, but as with most “plans to end homelessness”, most of the funding goes to the poverty pimps, consultants, talkers, and entrepreneurs.

Still even the limited start acknowledges that even the fearsome heroin-using population will serve by hook or crook. It’s better to acknowledge reality than to deny it. With all the Housing First! chatter of the last few years (indicating get housing before worrying about drug or alcohol use), perhaps it’s time for Encampments First!–in the absence of housing.

Though it’s the usual splashy in-your-face sensationalist “drug users” headlines, still there’s some interesting information at http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-s-aid-to-homeless-camps-reveals-extent-10891626.php?cmpid=gatehp And a lesson there for Santa Cruz–both economic and moral.

VOLUNTEERS WANTED TO EXAMINE PUBLIC RECORDS
After many months, the SCPD has finally agreed to cough up records that would clarify the breadth of class profiling, discrimination, and impact that cops have had on the poor outside. It would also make clear the extent of racial profiling–where and if that is happening. Poring over the citations requires a commitment of time and energy in the bowels of the police station. HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) is on the lookout for volunteers. Call 423-4833; come to the HUFF Wednesday 11 AM meeting at the Sub Rosa Cafe at 703 Pacific, or e-mail rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND COMMENTARY GO TO  https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/01/30/18796033.php.

On the sacred turf ot the City Hall courtyard itself as well as along the cement sidewalks of Center St. from Tuesday night to Wednesday mid-morning.

Rain-Drenched and Dismissed by Mainstream Protest, Freedom Sleep #81 Won’t Quit

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Date Tuesday January 24

Time 4:00 PM Tuesday – 9:00AM Wednesday
Location Details Expect light rain at City Hall where Freedom Sleepers will gather both under the eaves and later along the sidewalk after the likely midnight police raids driving them out to get drenched. Thousands of Women’s March protesters crowded the same area Sunday filled with righteous anti-Trump anger but visibly indifferent to City Council’s abuse of unhoused and unprotected women outside here. Denounce nationally. Ignore locally.
Event Type  Protest
Organizer/Author  Keith McHenry (story by Norse)
Email  keith [at] foodnotbombs.net
Phone  575-770–3377ANOTHER CONTENT-FREE COUNCIL CLUCK-A-THON
The 2:30 PM City Council agenda ignores homeless and housing issues as well as abusive police practices, local income equality, and discriminatory law creation and enforcement. Will bathrooms adjacent to the area likely to be locked early, facilitating staff smears of homeless folks as dirty and uncivilized in their toilet behavior? A safe bet.

Will Parks and Recreation boss Mauro Garcia’s department rope off large areas around the building to “ensure order” inside as was frequently the case last year? Perhaps not. Will the Freedom Sleepers again form their own community of mutual support, share food, and resist police harassment? Most likely. RECORDS STILL BEING WITHHELD
Cops withheld records documenting their enforcement of homeless-hostile laws criminalizing homeless survival behavior for over a year. On Monday, the City Clerk released arrest and citation records, but removed all mention of race of address. This editing makes it impossible to document the specific selective harassment and heavy impact leveled against the poor outside. In prior years, close examination of the records has shown hundreds of $200 tickets being given out for such “crimes” as being in a park after “closing” or sleeping after 11 PM outside or in a vehicle. REPORTS FROM ELSEWHERE
Local Santa Cruz RV activist Julie, whose facebook page Santa Cruz Fulltimers carries updated stories of RV struggles, has posted stories of crackdowns in other cities. Will activists there use Coastal Commission requirements to fight back as we have done with some success in Santa Cruz? Hope so.San Rafael City and County play ping pong with homeless vehicle dwellers: http://www.marinij.com/government-and-politics/20160905/san-rafael-vehicle-dwellers-fight-parking-ban

Santa Barbara bumbuster bureaucrats convene to remove poor-in-RV’s from town:
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/santa_barbara_oversized_vehicles_enforcement_rv_parking

STEPPED UP PROTESTS IN RAINY WEATHER
Last week Food Not Bombs soupstirrer Keith McHenry and weary copwatcher “Push Back” Pat Colby reported repeated “wake up and get out” rousts by rangers and cops at Freedom SleepOut #80.

Dreamcatcher, a long-time Freedom Sleeper, reported Monday night that police told him he could sleep anywhere but at City Hall if he’d abandon his protest. This, and more property confiscation, led him to announce his departure from the protest.

Lawrence “the Viper”, on the other hand, while also reporting police theft today, insisted he’d be back to pitch his tent at Freedom SleepOut #81. His signature tent, sleeping bag, and blankets are reportedly in lockup at police HQ, perhaps to test his stamina against driving rain and near-freezing temperatures.

71-year-old Sharee—who said she slept on cardboard last week, also reported being driven out from under the protective corridors of City hall last week.

WHISPERS OF MORE PROMIENT PROTEST ACTION
Though some are skeptical, others suggest the massive Trump-activated protests may swell the ranks of local anti-poverty activists. One activists has spoken of moving the Freedom Sleepers down to a more prominent post on Pacific Avenue. Others have suggested making use of the heated City Hall buildings, wastefully empty at night. “Vacant Buildings are the Crime”, noted one.

Meanwhile it’s still hot soup Tuesday night, police harassment Wednesday morning, comforting coffee at breakfast time—all under the friendly drizzle of irregular showers. Who could ask for anything more? Bring tarps, blankets, sleeping bags, video devices, and high spirits.

TOO FRAIL, SICK OR SLEEPY TO JOIN THE PROTEST? THERE ARE OTHER ALTERNATIVES.
For those not eager to trek to the edge of town to seek a 4 PM place in the 110 person Winter Shelter program, “Big Drum” Brent Adams has announced a one-night Warming Center at the Red Church on Tuesday night.