Civil Rights worker, Collette Connally, trying to sleep in front of Santa Cruz City Hall to protest the Sleeping Ban, dons sunglasses in the face of bright Kleig lights brought in to harass protesters at an expense of $100 a day. Photo by Becky Johnson

Judge denies dismissal of camping tickets from Peace Camp 2010

By Cathy Kelly - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Posted: 01/21/2011 07:40:37 PM PST

found online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_17163062

SANTA CRUZ - A judge refused Friday to dismiss misdemeanor unlawful lodging charges against six people involved in the Peace Camp 2010 demonstration, despite their attorney's claim that the state law banning sleeping outdoors is unconstitutional.

Peace Camp 2010 began July Fourth as a protest against a Santa Cruz law, which makes it an infraction to sleep outside from 11 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. It began on the county courthouse steps, moved to Santa Cruz City Hall and fizzled out on Oct. 2. Participants wracked up several citations for sleeping outside.

At the courthouse, after issuing warnings, deputies cited sleeping people using a state law that makes lodging outside a misdemeanor offense.

Attorney Ed Frey was arrested during the protest and is representing himself and five others - Gary Allen Johnson, Colette Marie Connolly, Elliott Matthew Anderson, Christopher Doyon and Arthur William Bischoff. A jury trial is set for Jan. 31.

Frey vowed to fight on after Friday's setback, and to appeal if defeated at trial.

About 20 supporters came to the hearing.

Frey argued that the U.S. and California constitutions give people the right to the basics of life, including the right to sleep and the right to be left alone as long as no one else's rights are being infringed upon. He further argued the language in the statute is too vague and that the campers had the right to sleep as a form of protest and that it should be protected as freedom of expression.

"We are not claiming we can sleep anywhere we want; just that we can sleep somewhere," he said outside court.

But prosecutor Sara Dabkowski filed a document opposing the motion to dismiss, stating the right to sleep was not a Constitutional right. And she stated that simply because a person performs an act as an expression or for a symbolic purpose, that does not make that act constitutionally protected.

After court, she said she had no personal opinion about the argument that sleeping is a basic right, but looked forward to presenting evidence at trial.

She said several other anti-lodging cases are working their way through the system.

Homeless advocates say there are about 2,000 homeless in the county and about 200 shelter beds, and that of the 30 homeless people who died in the county last year, four died as a result of exposure coupled with acute substance abuse.

"That is part of why we're doing this. It's very real," advocate Becky Johnson said.

Gary Johnson, 46, said he wracked up 21 lodging violations. Each carries a possible six months in jail and $1,000 fine.

Johnson said he has been in Santa Cruz about 20 years and homeless for about a year. He said he has worked in the computer software field, but has not been able to find work recently.

"How are they going to reform me? Put me in jail and tell me to quit sleeping?" he said.

After Peace Camp 2010, the Santa Cruz City Council voted to dismiss citations for camping if a homeless person was on a shelter wait list when the ticket was issued.

Peace Camp 2010 protesters march to Santa Cruz police station

Camping ban protesters marched Tuesday from Santa Cruz City Hall to the lobby of the Santa Cruz Police Department where they attempted to retrieve all their property that has been confiscated from their camping sites. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)


NOTE TO READER: After only three people had been processed, police pre-emptively shut down the office, ordering all those waiting in the lobby (and cooling off from record heat) out of doors. While police take blankets/property of homeless people 24/7, they only return it during a 1 hour time slot, two days a week leaving homeless people out in the cold without their survival gear. ---Becky Johnson, Ed.



FURTHER NOTE: The photo of the interior is a tribute to the (occasional) journalistic independence of Dan Coyro, the Sentinel photographer. Trisha Husome, records manager, came out from behind the thick glass enclosure in which the employees work. She told him and the rest of us that photographing and recording wee "not allowed" in the building (though police have a video camera monitoring the lobby).

Dan and Peacecamp2010 supporters, myself included, ignored Husome's repressive advisory. I'll be playing some audio of the protest which will be archived at http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb100826.mp3

Last year Husome actually refused to provide documents under the Public Records Act because I was openly making an audio of our interaction (because of past difficulties and to keep an objective record of what went down). See "SCPD Covering Up False Police Report From Councilmember Mike Rotkin?" at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/12/26/18468941.php

Not only were those homeless waiting for their property (and the public generally forced out of doors by four officers and a lieutenant ("lobby is closed"), but the police refused to give an explanation.

After Peacecampsters sat down (or lay down in the intense afternoon heat) to await the next 15 minute interval when the property officer would be "available", the police announced that the entire property room would be closed until next Thursday. When there would again be a narrow opening between 12:30 and 1:30 and another between 3:15 and 3:30. Unless the police again decide otherwise.

I did ask for the return of a table, two chairs, several "End the Sleeping Ban" signs, and the Peacecamp2010 teddy bear. I was told they couldn't help me because I had no "incident number". It did me no good to tell them the items weren't put in an incident report, as far as I knew. If anyone sees the downtown Officer Forbus, please advise him I'm trying to get my teddy bear released.
--Robert Norse

Camping ban protesters march to Santa Cruz police station
By J.M. BROWN
Posted: 08/25/2010 01:30:17 AM PDT

found online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_15886112



SANTA CRUZ --" A small group of demonstrators taking part in the protest against the city's overnight sleeping ban marched to the police department Tuesday in hopes of retrieving blankets, sleeping bags, signs and other items seized during recent arrests.

Participant Becky Johnson said at least two people were given paperwork to retrieve their property but wasn't sure whether any actually received it. Police confirmed some property was collected.

"We went there en masse and apparently overwhelmed their staff," Johnson said.

The police department allows people who have been arrested to pick up property during brief windows of time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Due to cutbacks, the department only permits property pickup between 12:30-1:30 p.m. and 3:15-3:30 p.m. on those days.

No arrests or problems were reported during Tuesday's event. Johnson said there were no immediate plans to have another march Thursday.

Police arrested four people and issued 12 tickets outside City Hall between Saturday and 5 p.m. Tuesday. Protesters, who began their seven-week demonstration at the county courthouse lawn, are opposed to the ban against sleeping outside from 11 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., a law they believe unfairly targets homeless people.

They have asked police to check whether local shelters are full before writing citations and have vowed to stay until the City Council overturns the ban. The city attorney routinely dismisses citations if shelters were full on the evening of the day they were written.

"After failing to get traction at the county building, then failing again at City Hall, apparently the protesters are trying to gain traction at the police department," police spokesman Zach Friend said. "It's safe to say it's unlikely they'll get any traction here."

Camping ban protesters marched Tuesday from Santa Cruz City Hall to the lobby of the Santa Cruz Police Department where they attempted to retrieve all their property that has been confiscated from their camping sites. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)

More tickets issued at Santa Cruz camping demonstration; protestor arrested for alleged stealing another man's bedroll

By Jennifer Squires

Posted: 08/14/2010 01:30:55 AM PDT

found online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_15776512

SANTA CRUZ -- Police ticketed three demonstrators camping on the City Hall lawn were ticketed early Friday and, later in the morning an argument between two protesters led to an arrest, Santa Cruz police reported.

Friday was the third day the Peace Camp 2010 protest has been held at the city complex.

The demonstration targets the city's camping ordinance, which prohibits sleeping outside between 11 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. It launched in front of the county courthouse on July Fourth and moved to City Hall early Wednesday.

An argument between two protesters around Friday morning merited drew police. One demonstrator claimed another demonstrator stole his bedroll the night before and a security guard told police he overheard the alleged thief threaten the bedroll owner with a knife, Vogel said.

David Hooser, 50, from Washington state, was arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace and theft, police said.

"It's a sad commentary when the participants of Peace Camp 2010 are the ones disturbing each other's peace," Vogel said.

Demonstrators are calling for the City Council to lift the so-called "sleeping ban" and exonerate everyone cited under the law since 1978. They say the tickets are unreasonable because there isn't enough shelter for the city's large homeless population.

City leaders and some homeless advocates have said the protest represents a small group of homeless and that those people are choosing not to take advantage of the city's many homeless services.

The numbers of campers at the protest has declined from nearly 60 at the courthouse to eight when police went to the demonstration around 2:40 a.m. Friday, Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Kevin Vogel said. He credited the reduction to police enforcement.

The camping tickets are less than $100, but if people rack up more than three city ordinance citations and fail to pay the fines, the violations become a misdemeanor.

Of the three people ticketed Friday, two listed the Homeless Services Center on Coral Street as their address. The third told police she was from Indiana but transient, Vogel said. He did not say how long she had been in the area.

As We See It: Snooze, you lose

Posted: 08/13/2010 01:30:26 AM PDT

EDITORIAL: SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL

found online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_15764951

It was a refreshing wake-up call to hear how Santa Cruz police handled the latest protest of the city's camping ban by homeless activists.

The time for warnings has passed, said Deputy Police Chief Kevin Vogel, and demonstrators who show up and sack out at City Hall will be cited.

The SCPD has years, if not decades, of trying to work with activists, who seemingly ignore the fact that Santa Cruz, city and county, provide far more homeless services than most other communities in the country.

The city's ban on sleeping in public places didn't materialize out of thin air. It was enacted with other regulations because residents long ago said enough was enough with having to wade through downtown crowds of panhandlers, drunks and small-time dope dealers, who give the legitimately homeless a bad name.

Santa Cruz's reaction to an incipient demonstration this week stood in stark contrast to what happened outside the county courthouse on Ocean Street for nearly six weeks. Activists, vagrants and homeless folks set up camp, seemingly thumbing their noses at law enforcement and county officials, who took weeks to begin cleaning up a situation that had become intolerable for many county employees trying to get to work and for visitors to the courthouse.

Finally, sheriff's deputies moved in, and the camp moved out. Some of the campers then tried to move their protest to Santa Cruz City Hall.

We agree with Santa Cruz City Councilman Don Lane, who has long worked to support shelter services for the homeless, that people sometimes fail to make the distinction between protesters and transients -- and those who by circumstance or health find themselves without shelter and need help.

We also hope protest supporters read Thursday's Sentinel report, which quoted Monica Martinez, executive director of the Homeless Services Center in Santa Cruz. Martinez noted that while there were no shelter beds available the day she was interviewed, only five people had signed up to be placed on a waiting list. Every Monday, she said, beds open for those who need shelter and that people who really want a bed will almost always get one relatively quickly.

If camping ban protesters need a place to sleep, the center is at 115 Coral St. in Santa Cruz's Harvey West area. The phone number is 316-5000.

ROBERT NORSE NOTES:

I responded to this misinformation-laced editorial with a challenge at

http://peacecamp2010.blogspot.com/2010/08/challenge-to-sentinel-editor-don-miller.html

I encourage those interested to read it and respond with their thoughts. Also to be ready on fairly short notice, to invite homeless friends to go down to the Homeless Services Center to find the missing beds that both Miller and Martinez claim are there.

I posted this challenge both on Miller's original Thursday blog and on the comment section of his Friday editorial.

Finally, I sent a copy of my challenge to his personal e-mail (dmiller@santacruzsentinel.com).

We'll see if he responds.

There's also an upcoming meeting of the Board of Directors at the Homeless Services Center which folks might be interested in attending, either this Thursday or next out there at 115 Coral St. at 5:30 PM. More news on this as I get it.

No Shelter--Why Won't the Homeless Services Center Put this Down on Paper?

by Robert Norse

Yesterday a delegation of us (Ed Frey, Linda Lemaster, Orbit, and me) visited the Homeless Service Center to get a simple signed statement that they had no shelter for anyone walking in later that night (August 5-6). Just a piece of paper with a sentence or two.

Daniel is the fellow responsible for giving out the fill-in form given to folks who have already been rousted, interrogated, searched, ID-checked, and ticketed. He provides a form that fills in their name, citation number, date, etc. clarifying that the "shelter was full on this date, so dismiss the ticket",

Daniel readily agreed that there was no walk-in shelter available that night. He further advised us that there hadn't been any since the Armory closed in April. And there wouldn't be until it opened again (if it did) in November.

But he refused put what we all knew was true in writing. Instead he suggested we talk to Nancy, the shelter person. Nor would he give a piece of paper to Orbit--who was ill--documenting that Orbit had tried to get shelter and been told there was none--even for that one night. That paper would have been useful to show the SCPD or deputies if they attempted to wake him, interrogate him, ticket him, or arrest him. .

Ed Frey called Nancy later that day. Up to know, as far as I know, his call hasn't been returned.

In order to encourage some candor and homeless service from the Homeless Services Center, I wrote the following e-mail to City Councilmember, former Mayor, and Chair of the Task Force to Examine the Camping Ordinance Katherine Beiers (pronounced "buyers"). Katherine is also a long-time member of the HSC Board of Directors. I spoke with Beiers directly at her home a few minutes ago and asked that she answer the e-mail below before she left town on Tuesday.

Katherine:

While I'm hoping you'll be able to respond to the prior two e-mails I sent you today, please indulge me and forward a brief response, to the shelter situation:

Is it true that no walk-in shelter exists, has existed, or will exist at the Homeless Services Center (such as the Paul Lee loft) for the average homeless person trying to find a legal place to sleep for the night between April 15 (when the Armory closed) and November 15 (when the Armory usually opens)?

Specifically, will there be any walk-in shelter in August available through the Homeless Services Center for either the homeless community generally or PeaceCamp2010 residents specifically (assuming they meet the usual requirements)?

Is there any problem in getting the HSC to write a letter attesting to what everyone already seems to know--that there is no available shelter on a walk-in basis (i.e. only through waiting lists, and for a very small number of people)?

Please forward me your best understanding. If you find out differently (or get more accurate confirmation) from, say Nancy, Daniel, Monica, and/or any of the other service providers, will you let s know?

Thanks for the help. Speed may be important if authorities and media are to be accurately advised of the real situation.

Robert Norse

Beiers can be e-mailed at
kbeiers@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us

Sheriffs Deputies pay visit to Peace Camp 2010 in wee hours -- No citations issued

Daytime protesters at Peace Camp 2010 continue to inform the public about the cruel and inhuman sleeping ban. Photo by Dan Coyro/SENTINEL Aug 3 2010

Deputies ask questions at Santa Cruz camping ban protest, no tickets given

By Jennifer Squires

Posted: 08/03/2010 01:30:36 AM PDT

found online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_15664255

SANTA CRUZ -- Sheriff's deputies stopped by the homeless camping demonstration in front of the county courthouse early Sunday, but didn't write any tickets.

What activists call Peace Camp 2010, a protest of the city's so-called sleeping ban, is entering its fifth week of largely undisturbed camping near the County Government Center at Ocean and Water streets. The event, however, has raised questions about which laws are applicable to the county-owned patch of grass in front of the courthouse and who should enforce them.

The contact with sheriff's deputies around 1 a.m. Sunday marked the first time law enforcement officers have approached campers in the middle of the night.

Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Campos confirmed deputies went to the demonstration, but said they just wanted to see how the camp operated late at night and get an approximate participant count.

"It's just a preliminary investigation of what's going on there," Campos said.

Demonstrators reported the incident as a "raid" and said the camp was "under siege" on its Twitter site. However, they also noted the five deputies were "very respectful and well-supervised," and that demonstrators were given a choice to answer questions and be photographed. Most opted not to be.

One camper who identified himself as Kawika said Monday morning that demonstrators were told sheriff's deputies would be stopping by the camp during the early morning hours, possibly around 3 a.m. Sunday.

"We already knew. We were awake," said Kawika, who said he has been in Santa Cruz about nine weeks. "... It was just a token little thing."

Photo: Kawika, who was a fixture at the County Building before Peace Camp 2010, has not been welcomed by the protesters. His campsite has since been relocated to a less conspicuous area, and Peace Camp 2010 protesters have regained the area, returning sanitation. --Dan Coyro/SENTINEL

Christopher Doyon, 45, also homeless, called it "strictly a video-and-warn kind of situation. It went about as smoothly as we could expect."

Peace Camp participants said they had been anticipating law enforcement officers would come to the camp, especially since an announcement by the county last week that confirmed the city's camping ordinance applies to the courthouse lawn even though the area is patrolled by sheriff's deputies, not city police.

The demonstration has drawn about 50 people each night. Doyon said the police presence has not affected participation and that morale is high.

"We're actually anxious for these tickets. ... This is what we came for, to challenge this law," Doyon said.

The demonstrators, who started camping at the foot of the county's justice building July Fourth, are demanding the City Council rescind its camping ban and forgive all prior camping citations.

So far, no citations have been issued, either by deputies or Santa Cruz police. Demonstrators have said they believe the county's announcement that the city law applies was a scare tactic and that nothing will be done.

But complaints about bad behavior, trash and other issues related to the protest have mounted in the past month. Campos declined to say if the Sheriff's Office intends to take action: "We're not prepared to talk about what we're doing, whether or not there's a plan."

Deputies Stage Midnight Roust at PeaceCamp2010; Warn of Tickets to Come

A camper makes ingenious use of a public space to erect a hammack for sleeping at Peace Camp 2010 on the courthouse steps in Santa Cruz, Ca.
Photo by Becky Johnson

by Robert Norse

Sunday Aug 1st, 2010 11:25 PM
Article found online at: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/01/18655143.php

Saturday night, Lt.Fred Plageman appeared at PeaceCamp2010 to warn sleepers that there'd be a squad of brownshirts roaming the area and "warning" folks to move on. Several days before, the Deputy County Counsel had written a letter to attorney, activist, and portapotty provider Ed Frey, warning him that the County building was within city limits and subject to the City's abusive 11 PM to 8:30 AM Sleeping Ban law. Homeless Services reportedly confirms there was zero walk-in emergency shelter available last night--and won't be until November. Nonetheless, about an hour later, Plageman's Posse returned in force.

I was sleeping in my vehicle when Plageman's and four other uniformed deputies began interrogating a Spanish-speaking sleeper about 20' from my car--parked directly in front of the Courthouse. I got out and began audio recording the midnight marauders--who were shining flashlights on each successive sleeper, requesting ID, taking photos, and giving the warning that "it's illegal to sleep in the city."

To give the late-night lawmen their due, they didn't seem too happy about their job. When some, advised by other activists that they didn't have to give info or show their photos, declined to do so, the deputies moved on (after some persistent questioning). They ignored the few women at the camp and didn't question those who were already awake and about.

"Curbhugger" Chris Doyon, dorm-daddy of the domain, reported that about 10 sleepers left after the initial warning from Plageman. I noticed another 10--mostly Spanish-speaking slumberseekers--leaving after the Plageman's Pack swept through the sleepers. Curbhugger reported that Plageman had assured him there'd be no tickets or arrests that night, and that there would be more warnings before any tickets were issued.

Attorney and Activist Ebullient Ed Frey, when awakened by the deputies, told them that they were engaged in illegal conduct, disturbing the peace of innocent people. Since even if and when tickets were issued, they would ultimately be dismissed by the courts. Commissioner Kim Baskett and Judge Ariadne Symons have publicly stated that they regularly dismiss charges when presented with a letter from the Homeless Services Center stating the shelters are full. But since the courts, the HSC, the deputies, and the police already know they're full and will be full until November, the act of issuing a tickets amounts to a form of premeditated harassment, according to Frey.

Curbhugger reported 45 stayed the night and predicted that many would continue to resist the threats in the belief that the Constitution guarantees the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Denying people the right to sleep at night if they are homeless--with the intention of running them out of town--is just such punishment in my view.

Pictures of the early morning August 1st sweep will ultimately be posted at photobucket and video links that can be found at http://www.peacecamp2010.blogspot.com.

I did a long show this morning on the Peace Camp 2010 predicament at http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb109801.mp3 (about half an hour into the audio file).

Peace Camp 2010 is asking for help. They want ready-to-eat food, blankets, computer access, and volunteers.

Put yourself on a phone tree to come down and witness or be in solidarity if they are again harassed by the deputies or police.

More info also at HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) at 831-423-4833.

Gus Ceballos: "Rid this town of the derelicts!!"

EDITORS NOTE: Not everyone loves Peace Camp 2010. This was posted on the website for City Council candidate, Gus Ceballos. Ceballos has apparently set his sights on ending the necessity defense. Good luck with that, Gus!!

found online at: http://gusceballos.com/homeless-sleep-at-county-courthouse-in-protest-of-ban/

Homeless sleep at County Courthouse in Protest of ban

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_15446448

The most eye popping part of this article is how easy it is for homeless people to circumvent the laws and regulations our city currently has in place. According to Ed Frey, all the homeless have to do is sweet talk a homeless advocate at a homeless shelter for a “no bed tonight” note and his ticket thrown out.

These people make a mockery of our law system.

This city needs to get serious about creating and enforcing laws that will rid this town of the derelict. We need to let the police do what they need to to protect our streets and not treat criminals (any homeless person that willfully breaks city/state/federal law is a criminal) with kid gloves like they are currently asked to do.

Peace Camp sleep-in a protest for freedom and justice

Sleeping protesters demonstrate against Santa Cruz' Sleeping Ban on the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse with Peace Camp 2010, on July 10th. Photo by Becky Johnson

Ed Frey: 'Peace Camp' sleep-in a protest for freedom and justice

-

Posted: 07/11/2010 01:30:59 AM PDT

found online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/ci_15489007

by Ed Frey

In response to your July 8 "Misguided Mission" editorial, I initiated the "Peace Camp 2010" night-time-only sleep-in 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. every night at the courthouse grounds because the Superior Court postponed Robert Facer's three-judge appeal hearing from June to September. I am Mr. Facer's lawyer, and have watched justice be delayed over and over, in this case and others.

More than a year ago, a Santa Cruz policeman, who testified that he had been sent forth in the night by his supervisor because of "complaints from the business owners," shook Mr. Facer awake in the middle of the night, told him to sign a promise to appear or be hauled off to jail, then, after the signature, told him to leave the area and take his belongings with him. He was innocent, because there were no shelter spaces available that night.

A few nights later the same thing happened, and once again, he was innocent. The trial judge found him guilty in both cases, though, because she disliked his attitude toward using publicly provided shelters. When he arrived in Santa Cruz a few years ago, he tried many times to obtain shelter space, but he faced one hurdle after another, and finally gave up trying. Instead, he slept in his own hand-hewn outrigger whenever he could, and on the two nights when he was cited, he was sleeping on the Santa Cruz main beach to guard the anchored craft from a repeat of the kind of vandalism it had recently suffered. In all other cases, the judge automatically dismisses the case if there was no shelter space.

But here's the funny part: Even when she dismisses a case, the system punishes the innocent sleeper: the peace officer breaches the peace by shaking the sleeper awake and threatening jail, depriving him of sleep and health sleep deprivation attacks one's health.

And that's not the end of the punishment: the accused must run three separate errands: to court, where the judge instructs him to obtain proof there was no shelter space; to the shelter center for the no-space affidavit; then, back to court for the official dismissal by the judge.

If the government respected the dignity of each individual, the Police Department would be instructed to merely telephone the Homeless Services Center each night to find out whether there were any shelter spaces available, and when the usual answer comes no spaces, set aside the impulse to please the business owners. Only then will we avoid the pre-judgment punishing of the innocent sleeper.

Our federal and state constitutions prohibit this unreasonable invasion of privacy, this cruel punishment, this perversion of the due process of law.

If we need further guidance, we can look to the first clause of the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world ..."

We set our protest at the courthouse, for one simple reason: That is the only place left where freedom, justice and peace in the world can start.

Ed Frey is the attorney for Robert Facer. More information: www.EdFreyIndependentForCongress.org

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR -- SENTINEL

The following letters to the editor were published on July 9, 2010 in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The letters can be found online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/letters/ci_15474508

Stop the loitering

Neither the homeless nor anyone else should be sleeping on public property, whether it is considered city, county, state or federal property. The property does not belong to a select few to do with as they please. Once officials let this go unchallenged, others will join this sleep-in and the numbers will soar. Oh, and by the way, sleeping or not, the group who hangs out on the levee are also too much. My husband and I used to walk there on a daily basis. We no longer do that. Once again, the sleepovers and loiterers seem to have more rights than the rest of us in Santa Cruz. This mess needs to come to an end.

Lillian Puccinelli, Santa Cruz

Homeless are people, too

As a kid growing up in New York, I remember seeing winos passed out on the sidewalks and people just hurrying by as if they weren't there. Now it's 2010 and we have homeless people. People still hurry by as if they weren't there. We label them lazy, drug addicts, mentally ill; they are no longer human beings in our eyes. We wish they would go away. Imagine waking up one day and finding you can no longer afford your comfy lifestyle. There is no place to go but the streets. And now that Santa Cruz has a camping ban, I recall the quote in the Bible by Luke: "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." We are all the sons and daughters of man. We should all be able to have a place to rest.

Martha Dolciamore, Soquel

Take humane approach

In the July 6 article, "Homeless, their advocates sleep at county courthouse to protest Santa Cruz's camping ban," Vice Mayor Ryan Coonerty is quoted as saying, "If they think it's unconstitutional, they should challenge it." Isn't that what they are doing? I hope Mr. Coonerty doesn't think an expensive lawsuit is the solution. The 2009 Santa Cruz Homeless Census and Survey report states, "It is hoped that the 2009 Santa Cruz County Homeless Census and Survey will help policy makers and service providers to develop effective programs to serve the county's homeless population." The complete report can be found at http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/PLN_pdf/homelesssurvey.pdf. The annual estimate of homeless people in our county is 4624; 55% had at least one mental-health issue; 34% had a physical and/or developmental disability; 31% had a chronic health condition; 73% had a disabling condition. The No. 1 reason for homelessness in our county was due to loss of a job. The report cites the majority of the people who were homeless at the time of the survey were living in Santa Cruz County when they became homeless.

Since the tickets are allowed to be dismissed anyway, wouldn't a more effective, humane and constitutional policy be to drive a homeless person to a shelter, if a bed is available, or just let him/her sleep?

Carla Sikan, Santa Cruz

Advocates off base

I agree 100 percent with the Sentinel's editorial regarding the sleeping-ban protesters. Such advocates do more damage than the poor homeless. My questions to such homeless advocates is why aren't you and the plethora of homeless legal representatives taking actions that could directly help the homeless rather than going for your own media glory? Actions such as petitioning for portable toilets in select areas that you will clean. Requesting more trash cans within and outside city limits that perhaps you will have to empty. The possibilities of real, productive, meaningful help for us all is unlimited if only such advocates would get out of the way.

Teren Ellison, Santa Cruz

6.36.010 Camping Prohibited Municipal Code

Chapter 6.36 CAMPING
Sections:
6.36.010    Camping prohibited.
6.36.020    Camping permitted.
6.36.030    Permit for camping in city parks.
6.36.040    Penalty – Single offense.
6.36.050    Penalty – Subsequent offense within forty-eight hours.
6.36.055    Citations issued when winter shelter armory is full.
6.36.060    Public nuisance declared.
6.36.010 CAMPING PROHIBITED.
No person shall camp anywhere in the city of Santa Cruz, whether on public or private property, except as hereinafter expressly permitted. “To camp” means to do any of the following:
(a)    Sleeping – 11 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. To sleep at any time between the hours of 11 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. in any of the following places:
(1)    Outdoors with or without bedding, tent, hammock or other similar protection or equipment;
(2)    In, on or under any structure not intended for human occupancy, whether with or without bedding, tent, hammock or other similar protection or equipment;
(3)    In, on or under any parked vehicle, including an automobile, bus, truck, camper, trailer or recreational vehicle.
(b)    Setting-up Bedding – 11 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. To establish or maintain outdoors or in, on or under any structure not intended for human occupancy, at any time between the hours of 11 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., a temporary or permanent place for sleeping, by setting up any bedding, sleeping bag, blanket, mattress, tent, hammock or other sleeping equipment in such a manner as to be immediately usable for sleeping purposes.
(c)    Setting-up Campsite – Anytime. To establish or maintain outdoors or in, on, or under any structure not intended for human occupancy, at any time during the day or night, a temporary or permanent place for cooking or sleeping, by setting up any bedding, sleeping bag, blanket, mattress, tent, hammock or other sleeping equipment or by setting up any cooking equipment, with the intent to remain in that location overnight.
(Ord. 99-01 § 1, 1999: Ord. 78-29, § 2, 1978).

Homeless Break The Law In Santa Cruz To Make A Point

KTVU.com

Posted: 10:04 pm PDT July 6, 2010Updated: 1:48 am PDT July 7, 2010

found online at: http://www.ktvu.com/news/24165050/detail.html

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- For the third night in a row, there are people breaking the law and camping out in front of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse. They are calling this a Peace Camp.

Protest organizer attorney Ed Frey said they are deliberately breaking the law. "It's in the city limits of the city of Santa Cruz, so it's definitely a violation of the city ordinance which is called the camping ban."

Santa Cruz's 40 year old camping ban makes it illegal for anyone to sleep out in the open in public places.

The demonstrators say they want the law scrapped or have the city create more shelters.

"I don't think it's right because you have to go somewhere. They have no where to sleep and they have to have somewhere to sleep," said Carolyn Delvecchio, who is homeless.

Frey organized the protest after a judge ruled a client of his violated the sleeping ban. He even brings a portable toilet and says they clean up the area before they leave at eight in the morning and don't interfere with courtroom operations.

"We assert the right to be free from cruel punishment under the California constitution and the Geneva convention. It is torture to deprive people of sleep," said Frey.

KTVU could not reach any city officials Tuesday night.

But the Santa Cruz Vice Mayor told the Sentinel newspaper: "If they think it's unconstitutional, they should challenge it. If they want to change the policy, they should have people run for city council. I don't think camping out is the most effective way to create the change they want."

"There's plenty of homeless places they can go. There's facilities that people will take them in," argued Ann Pfaff of Santa Cruz.

A census count listed some 200,000 homeless in Santa Cruz County but just 200 shelter beds available in the city of Santa Cruz.

One woman brought some potato salad for the campers. "There's so many people that need a place to sleep if there's a reasonable place for them to be seems to be reasonable to me," said Barbara Ginsberg of Santa Cruz.

A sheriff's department spokesman told KTVU while the campers are breaking the law, there have been no complaints and there is no need to do anything about it right now.

A similar demonstration three years ago lasted six days before police started confiscating belongings.

Copyright 2010 by KTVU.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Homeless, their advocates sleep at county courthouse to protest Santa Cruz's camping ban

NOTE TO READER: HUFF is soliciting blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, tarps, and food donations for our nightly event. Please come by, sign our petition, and lie down with us against the Sleeping Ban (MC 6.36.010 section a). If you would like to add your name to our list of endorsers, please e-mail : becky_johnson222@hotmail.com -- ed.

Above photo: Leigh, who has been at
Peace Camp 2010 every night
speaks to SENTINEL reporter, Kimberly White on July 5, 2010.

Homeless, their advocates sleep at county courthouse to protest Santa Cruz's camping ban

By Kimberly White

Posted: 07/06/2010 01:30:54 AM PDT

found online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_15446448

SANTA CRUZ -- A handful of homeless men and homeless rights advocates gathered in front of the Santa Cruz County courthouse Monday night, spreading out blankets and unfurling their sleeping bags in a willful violation of a city ordinance that prohibits camping within city limits.

Leigh, who declined to provide his last name, was preparing to sleep out on the courthouse steps for the second night. He said he has lived in Santa Cruz for 35 years and has been "houseless" for the last four or five years.

"I understand at some legal level why the ban was implemented," he said. "I also understand that it was implemented due to the city's intentional oversight in the creation of housing and jobs for people that actually live here. They're in violation of the state charter that requires them to build housing for people that actually work here, or at least plan for it."

He called the ban a "draconian measure" aimed at making it "harder for people that they do displace to stay here" and then criminalizing the resulting behavior.

"The problem is, for a lot of people here, there's no place to go," he said.

Organizers of the "Peace Camp" say they will continue camping on the courthouse steps every night from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. until the city either scraps what they call a "sleeping ban" or creates a safe shelter with additional capacity.

Santa Cruz Vice Mayor Ryan Coonerty said the city attorney automatically dismisses any citations handed out for illegal camping, provided there is proof that all available beds at the various shelters around the city are full.

"He'll dismiss it," agreed Ed Frey, a local attorney who helped organize the protest, "but he won't stop the police from waking people up, writing them a ticket, making them go to court twice, and go over to the homeless services shelter and get an affidavit to the effect that there were no beds available that night. And then the law, in its majesty, will grant you a not guilty verdict."

According to the 2009 Santa Cruz Homeless Census and Survey, about 2,260 people in the county are homeless.

Coonerty estimated that through a combination of city programs and a partnership with area churches, roughly 400 beds are available each night -- and the latest report that came out last month showed that the shelters averaged about 84 percent capacity total.

"I'm not even sure that any area churches are participating anymore in that program," said Becky Johnson, a member of advocacy group HUFF, or Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom, which is backing the protest. HUFF estimates that shelter space is available for only 8 percent of that population, or about 180.

She said the Interfaith Satellite Shelter Project is now redirecting their staffing and funding into the Paul Lee Loft, a new facility at the Homeless Services shelter.

Frey said about 10 of the about 30 people who arrived at the courthouse lawn Sunday night slept there overnight. Deputies eventually came by "and checked us out," he said, but ultimately left without issuing any citations.

Paul Tashiro, patrol supervisor for the Sheriff's Office, saw several people camped out on the platform in front of the courthouse Sunday night, but said no citations were issued because the protesters were peaceful and not creating any disturbances.

In fact, Tashiro said Monday afternoon -- before that evening's vigil began -- that he didn't even know what they were protesting.

"I don't know how much attention they brought to the homelessness issue in the middle of the night on a holiday weekend," he said when he learned that they are protesting the sleeping ban. He noted that if they are gone by 8 a.m. today, "they won't disrupt any services because the county doesn't even open until after 8 a.m."

Asked what the advocates hope to accomplish, Frey said they want to "put pressure on the city government and courts to do the right thing" and stop depriving the homeless of sleep. Instead of forcing the homeless to jump through so many hoops to get the fines dismissed, police should simply call the shelter themselves to confirm that it is full, he said.

"The solution is to follow the law ... which gives the homeless a right to privacy, a right to be left alone, a right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, a right to due process of the law, and a right to be free from torture," Frey said.

"If they think it's unconstitutional, they should challenge it," Coonerty said. "If they want to change the policy, they should have people run for City Council. ... I don't think camping out is the most effective way" to create the change they want.

Sleeping Ban Protest in Santa Cruz

Sleeping Ban Protest in Santa Cruz

Story by Azenith Smith
KION TV

(view article online to see video interview with Becky Johnson and Ryan Coonerty)

Posted: Jul 04, 2010 6:13 PM PDT Updated: Jul 04, 2010 10:54 PM PDT

Video Gallery

found online at: http://www.kionrightnow.com/global/story.asp?s=12754892

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Signs are posted all around town from the Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom. That stands for HUFF. They are a grassroots organization, and they are inviting the community tonight to bring their sleeping bags to protest a "sleeping ban."

"We sleep comfortably and safely in our beds," says Johnson. "We don't even consider it, but homeless people are denied that right by law."

Becky Johnson is camping overnight in the protest and says, she's willing to go to jail, if it brings attention to what she calls, a violation of human rights..

"Fifty-five homeless deaths last year, a new record for Santa Cruz county," says Johnson. "Denying people the chance to sleep at night, does impact their health."

She argues the city doesn't have adequate shelter space.

"Tonight we have shelter for six percent of our homeless population," says Johnson. "Police are writing 60 citations a month."

"We are happy with the law and will continue to enforce the law," says Santa Cruz Vice Mayor Ryan Coonerty.

The city has had the ban for the last 40 years for safety reasons.

"If we undid the law, it would undo public support for the many services we provide for homeless people to help them get out of poverty," says Coonerty.

He's frustrated with the timing of this event.

"We need all our law enforcement officials up and down the coast, dealing with fireworks and other illegal activities," says Coonerty.

The group plans to keep it peaceful and will camp out every night until the city suspends the ordinance or sets up a legal place to sleep at night.

The group held a similar event in 2007, where they camped out for six days. It ended after police started confiscating belongings.

The city says, the event shouldn't disrupt courthouse services.

The SENTINEL's Misguided Mission --editorial

NOTE TO READER: Tonight, July 8, 2010, there are exactly 46 shelter spaces (32 for men, 14 for women) available for temporary, emergency shelter for a homeless person walking in off the street. The estimate of 1500 homeless people, while fluctuating on a day to day basis, is generally agreed upon by the City, Service providers, and activists. A study which "proves" shelters are "only 84% full" misrepresents the reality of the situation. Only families in remission from drugs and alcohol can use the family shelter. Only working single adults with income can use the Page Smith Transitional housing program. Only battered women can use the battered womens' shelter. Others have difficult requirements such as the Jesus, Mary, and Joseph shelter, where clients are expected to maintain a vow of silence.

Claiming that there are "400 shelter beds" in the City of Santa Cruz is either due to gross neglect during the research phase for this editorial or it's meant to purposely mislead the public. And coming from the "newspaper of record" for Santa Cruz County, it is shameful. ---- Becky Johnson of HUFF

As We See It: Misguided mission

-

Posted: 07/08/2010 01:30:37 AM PDT

found at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/ci_15463624

Homeless advocates have set up camp at the County Government Center for four days now. They argue the so-called sleeping ban in the city of Santa Cruz, which outlaws camping in the city, in cars or under the stars, between 11 p.m. and 8:30 a.m., criminalizes homelessness and denies those on society's margins the most basic of human rights.

It's a tired argument we've heard before, especially in Santa Cruz, where city leaders are hardly down on the downtrodden.

It's a nice picture the activists paint, that those struggling to put a shelter over their heads should be able to pitch a tent in some out-of-the-way spot, spend the night and move along. But it's not reality.

There are problems inherent with homeless campers: the human waste left in the neighborhoods and parks, the trash.

That protesters have a portable toilet on hand and stress they are picking up litter seems a tacit admission that the complaints that invariably accompany homeless campers are valid. Are organizers planning to haul a toilet to every illegal camp site in the city?

The city of Santa Cruz, and this community as a whole, is as compassionate as any when it comes to dealing with the homeless.

There are hundreds of beds and numerous programs aimed at helping the homeless. City officials estimate that through city programs and a partnership with area churches, there are at least 400 beds available each night, and a recent report found the shelters averaged about 84 percent capacity.

The city attorney, meanwhile, will dismiss any citation handed out for illegal camping provided all available beds at the various shelters around the city were full at the time.

So what do the activists want? They say they will remain until the city scraps the sleeping ban or creates a safe and expanded shelter.

That's simply not going to happen.

Protests are by their very nature publicity grabs. We traffic in them and understand they can serve a valuable purpose -- to shine light on an underreported issue. It's just that this one seems especially poorly thought out.

Protesters wanted a showdown with city officials, but in setting up on county property, they chose one of the few spots around the city where the county Sheriff's Office holds jurisdiction. That means the roughly one dozen campers are actually not in violation at all, at least of a camping ordinance.

Activists might want to move this one along.