{"id":2201,"date":"2015-11-24T17:31:50","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T17:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/?p=2201"},"modified":"2015-11-24T17:31:50","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T17:31:50","slug":"berkeley-battles-while-santa-cruz-shivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/berkeley-battles-while-santa-cruz-shivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley Battles While Santa Cruz Shivers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOTE BY NORSE:\u00a0\u00a0 The Berkeley City Council passed its 1st reading of its latest merchant-generated anti-homeless laws early Wednesday<\/span><\/span> morning over extensive opposition testimony.\u00a0 The law faces a second and final reading at another City Council meeting. The majority reportedly also claimed the new “cram your possessions into 2′ X 2′ during the daytime on the public sidewalks or face a heavy fine” and other “homeless get gone” laws won’t\u00a0 go into effect until storage spaces and accessible bathrooms are created.
\n\u00a0 Santa Cruz has its own attack on RV residents coming up on November 24th as well as some reassuring noises from staff that they may be looking for Warming Center spaces as well as RV parking spaces for some lucky homeless folks.\u00a0 To follow my thoughts on this, go to “Freedom SleepOut #20: City Council Chatters While Folks Freeze ” at https:\/\/www.indybay.org\/newsitems\/2015\/11\/23\/18780245.php<\/a> .\u00a0\u00a0 Singer\/writer Other-abled activist Daniel McMullan and Singer\/satirist Carol Denney comment at length on the situation at http:\/\/www.radiolibre.org\/brb\/brb151122<\/span><\/a>.mp3<\/span><\/a> and (in a day or two) <\/span>http:\/\/www.radiolibre.org\/brb\/brb1<\/span><\/a>51<\/span><\/a>26<\/span><\/a>.mp3<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 The full audio and video of the November 17 Berkeley City Council meeting can be found at http:\/\/berkeley.granicus.com\/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=0d7d811d-8e59-11e5-8170-f04da2064c47–much<\/a> of it filled with passionate and moving testimony to the deaf ears of the Council majority.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We’re likely to see something similar tonight<\/span><\/span> in Santa Cruz (also archived at http:\/\/scsire.cityofsantacruz.com\/sirepub\/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=685&doctype=AGENDA<\/a> .\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While politicos posture and preen outside, homeless folks will be setting up their safe sleeping zone (in the rain and cold) outside as Freedom Sleep #20 assembles.<\/p>\n

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November 18, 2015 11:45 ambyFrances Dinkelspiellu<\/a><\/div>\n
\"At ear
\nAt 10:30 pm on Tuesday<\/span><\/span>, dozens of people were still lined up to address council about proposed street behavior\u00a0laws. The meeting had begun at 7 p.m. Testimony went on until around midnight and council adjourned at 12:40 a.m. Wednesday<\/span><\/span>. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Berkeley City Council passed a series of measures <\/a>early Wednesday<\/span><\/span> morning to address issues raised by the behavior of some members of the homeless population, including a new rule that will limit the amount of space on which people can spread their stuff on the sidewalk.
\nUnder the new law \u2014 which won\u2019t go into effect immediately \u2014 people on sidewalks or plazas will have to confine their belongings to a 2-by-2-foot area between\u00a07 a.m. and\u00a010 p.m.<\/span><\/span> This does not include cushions or dogs.
\nTo make this work, council pledged to provide convenient and secure storage bins\u00a0in which homeless people can store their possessions. The new rules will kick in only after the city installs the bins. Berkeley has not yet determined where they might go and how many there will be, although there will be 50 to 100 to start.<\/p>\n

\"HomelessHomeless advocates slept\u00a0in sleeping bags overnight on Monday Nov. 16 in front of old City Hall to protest proposed measures which they say will make life more difficult for the homeless, in Berkeley.\u00a0Photo, taken early in the morning on Tuesday Nov. 17, by David Yee<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The new laws also ban urinating and defecating in public and lying in planters or on their rims. People with shopping carts will only be allowed to leave them in one place for an hour at a time, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m, among other regulations. The new laws are estimated to cost about $300,000 a year to implement. Council has not yet indicated from where the money\u00a0will come.
\nTo minimize the chance that homeless people will get a citation they can\u2019t pay, and then see their fines escalate substantially, the council, on a suggestion made by Councilman Kriss Worthington, voted for\u00a0the citations to be infractions, not misdemeanors. The city will also make sure there are bathrooms downtown that are open 24 hours a day, an option not currently available, according to many who testified Tuesday night. The city\u00a0will also strive to provide public showers.<\/p>\n

Read more coverage of homelessness in Berkeley<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Council members Linda Maio, Lori Droste and Laurie Capitelli, as well as Mayor Tom Bates, co-sponsored the new laws.
\nCouncil voted 6-3 to adopt the regulations around 12:30 a.m.<\/span><\/span> Wednesday<\/span><\/span> after listening to four hours of testimony by dozens of citizens. The three dissenting votes came from Worthington, Max Anderson and Jesse Arregu\u00edn.
\nIn the video below, Carol Denney, a veteran activist of social justice movements, demonstrates what the 4-foot-square space people will be allowed to occupy on sidewalks would look like.
\nCouncil also voted 7-0, with Anderson abstaining, for a \u201cProtect Our Parks\u201d measure initially directed at Ohlone Park<\/a>. Councilwoman Maio put forward some new laws in response to neighbors\u2019 complaints that the park<\/a> \u2013 which has long been\u00a0a retreat for the homeless \u2013 had attracted a new type of occupant, often referred to as \u201ccampers,\u201d or \u201ctravelers.\u201d These people appear to use drugs openly, leave trash, needles, empty alcohol bottles, bedding, condoms and human feces in the park. They can also be contentious, according to information provided by Maio. The new laws will improve signage and lighting, allow the Health Department to cordon off unsanitary areas for cleaning, and permit police to drive through the park at night to enforce rules and ordinances. The city will also explore installing more portable toilets. A neighborhood group, The Friends of Ohlone Park, will look at the feasibility of building permanent bathroom, among other issues.<\/p>\n

Passionate testimony<\/h3>\n

The early morning votes came after people had lined up for hours to talk. Others had been holding vigil outside City Hall since early Monday<\/span><\/span>. Some speakers talked about how the city needed to establish some common norms for public behavior. Others said the new laws would criminalize the homeless and threaten Berkeley\u2019s chance of getting federal funds to help the homeless and build more housing. They decried the city\u2019s push to harm people who are already helpless, stating that the approach was not the Berkeley way.
\nOlivia de Bree, a nurse practitioner, and a member of Friends of the Adeline Corridor, talked about how the new laws would disproportionately affect homeless who are African-American. She said a recent study showed that 49% of the homeless in Berkeley are black. Many of them are afflicted with diabetes, other health conditions and mental illness and are doing all they can to cope and stay alive, she said. Housing costs are rising, making it ever difficult to remain in Berkeley. Imposing these new laws will only make their lives harder, she said.
\n\u201cBerkeley is engaging in an effort to deter black people from living and working in the city,\u201d said de Bree.
\nHer colleague, Katrina Killian, agreed: \u201cIt\u2019s clear there is a hidden agenda here; these are undesirables that the council is supporting the removal of.\u201d
\nOthers called the council\u2019s proposed laws \u201cmean-spirited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HomelessHomeless advocates held a rally outside city council chambers Tuesday<\/span><\/span> night to call attention to proposed laws they said would criminalize the homeless. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But there was also a different narrative presented at the meeting. A number of people who live near Ohlone Park said that for years they had been living peacefully with their homeless neighbors. They made them sandwiches, allowed them to use their showers, and knew them by sight.
\nBut the composition of the group living in Ohlone Park has changed, they said. The \u201cnew\u201d homeless are so aggressive that their children are afraid to play in the park, a number of people said. Many are wary\u00a0of even walking downtown with their kids. One man said that people are coming into his backyard to defecate.
\nBill Williams, the father of two young children, said his family has been physically and verbally threatened by some homeless. He said that the proposed measures were a \u201cworkable first step,\u201d that would establish \u201ccommon civility in Berkeley.\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think these measures criminalize the homeless, said Williams. \u201cI think we are trying to set a standard of behavior for people in Berkeley.\u201d
\nAt times the lengthy meeting became unruly, both because of people shouting out from the audience or from Bates and Worthington fighting at the dais. One woman stood at the back of the room and hurled insults throughout\u00a0the four-hour comment period, directed at the councilmembers, particularly Bates. At one point, another woman across the room joined her. The shouting and catcalls got so loud at times that it was difficult to hear those testifying or to hear the council\u2019s discussion.
\nBates and Worthington had frequent clashes as well (See video below.)<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong>
\nOp-ed: Support the recommendations of the Homeless Task Force<\/a> (11.17.15)
\nCouncil battle brews over street behaviour, homelessness<\/a> (11.17.15)
\nOp-ed: Striking a balance for the homeless in Berkeley<\/a>\u00a0(11.16.15)
\nOp-ed: Let\u2019s share responsibility for welcoming sidewalks<\/a>\u00a0(11.16.15)
\nOhlone Park neighbors brainstorm about homeless influx<\/a>\u00a0(10.26.15)
\nOhlone Park concerns prompt meeting Saturday<\/a>\u00a0(10.23.15)
\nIKEA donates \u2018makeover\u2019 to shelter for homeless families<\/a>\u00a0(08.27.15)
\nBerkeley council postpones street behavior proposal<\/a>\u00a0(07.01.15)
\nBerkeley open to proposals to end homelessness, but questions how to pay for them<\/a> (06.24.15)
\nOp-ed: Religious leaders support compassionate services, housing for the homeless<\/a>\u00a0(06.22.15)
\nBerkeley authorities respond to fire near Ashby, I-80<\/a>\u00a0(05.22.15)
\nBerkeley launches donation boxes for homeless people<\/a>\u00a0(05.08.15)
\nBerkeley council votes to curb impacts of homelessness<\/a>\u00a0(03.18.15)
\nBerkeley to grapple again with homeless on sidewalks<\/a>\u00a0(03.16.15)
\nStreamlined housing crisis center slated for Berkeley<\/a>\u00a0(10.01.14)
\nHomeless move to railroad tracks after Gilman \u2018clean-up\u2019<\/a>\u00a0(07.30.14)
\nRodents, trash prompt city clean-up of homeless camp on Gilman; residents \u2018scattered\u2019<\/a>\u00a0(07.18.14)
\nCity of Berkeley gives Gilman Street homeless a reprieve<\/a>\u00a0(07.10.14)
\nCaltrans fence forces homeless to find new camp<\/a>\u00a0(04.10.14)
\nBerkeley considers \u2018visionary\u2019 homeless housing project<\/a>\u00a0(09.11.13)
\nNew talks on homelessness in Berkeley start Thursday<\/span><\/span><\/a> (08.14.13)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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  NOTE BY NORSE:\u00a0\u00a0 The Berkeley City Council passed its 1st reading of its latest merchant-generated anti-homeless laws early Wednesday morning over extensive opposition testimony.\u00a0 The law faces a second and final reading at another City Council meeting. The majority … 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":[18],"tags":[4,14,107],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2202,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201\/revisions\/2202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}