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Raising Issues at CoonertyLand: Sleeping Ban Protest/Tabling Sunday July 8 2 PM

by Robert Norse
The Human Rights Organization, Housing Now! in Santa Cruz, Humanity for Homeless, and HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) will be tabling, trolling, and taking names in preparation for an Injunction allowing homeless people to sleep legally somewhere in Santa Cruz--as is currently the case by court order in Los Angeles, by settlement in San Diego, and by legislation in Richmond.
Sweep Away the Sleeping Ban: Sign Up Sunday in front of Coonerty's Bookshop
Sunday July 08 2:00 PM until siestatime
1520 Pacific Ave. in front of the Bookshop Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz's MC 6.36.010a makes it illegal to fall asleep in your vehicle or on any public property 11 PM - 8:30 AM.

1500-2000 people are homeless each night with space for only 40 of them in the City's walk-in emergency shelter program.

About 50 citations (fine of $90+ each) are given out each month.

Homeless property and survival gear is regularly destroyed in Chief Ranger Wallace's raids. A Fresno federal judge banned this behavior, but Santa Cruz's campercrushers have ignored the decision.

We will be tabling for homeless plaintiffs, soliciting funds, and seeking supporters. Last Sunday the protest successfully increased our list of plaintiffs to more than half a dozen.

We will also be asking attorney, Vice Mayor and constitutional teacher Ryan Coonerty--whose family owns the Bookshop Santa Cruz and who works there part-time, to explain how it is that "liberal" Santa Cruz refuses to do what conservative Los Angeles and San Diego have already done--stop harassing, citing,and arresting the homeless for sleeping.

Disabled homeless marijuana activist Craig Canada will go to trial on four sleeping tickets this Friday (July 6th) at 2:30 PM in Dept. 1, facing fines of $300 or more.

The courts continue to refuse to allow us access to Sleeping Ban records.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/30/18431926.php

Vice-Mayor Ryan Coonerty supports the Sleeping Ban. He has declined to review the federal court's Jones decision in Los Angelesin spite of repeated requests. He has also declined to reveal the City Attorney's secret memo on the issue.

Come and help us put together a similar lawsuit in Santa Cruz. And let patrons of the Bookshop Santa Cruz know that a Vice-Mayor works at the Bookshop and a former Mayor now a Supervisor--Neal Coonerty--owns the Bookstore and was (and is) a prime supporter of the City's anti-homeless Sleeping Ban law.
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by was
http://www.santacruzlive.com/blogs/video/2007/07/06/video-update-illegal-camping-in-the-pogonip-davenport-memorial-lions-bowl/

HEre is a clip in the sentinel 'news' blog that shows that ranger clearing the homeless people out of Pogonip, so that they have to go downtown where it is illegal to loiter around, and most streets that aren't adjacent to single family houses don't allow parking between 12-6am.

I have never seen a homeless person in Pogonip where I go jogging. They're hard to find.
I don't see any of the day-glo 3-day notices that Ranger Wallace claims he posts to inform illegal campers to remove their camping equipment in the video. The "fire" which is seen in the video could have been from months or even years ago.

If Santa Cruz really wanted to reduce fire danger in the Pogonip, they would open a LEGAL campground and, as happened at the Coral Street Open Air Shelter, hundreds of illegal campers would strike their camps in the hills and come down to camp where its legal.

Duh!!
by Tim Rumford
The video put out by Sentinel shows nothing that proves fire other then in a pit. But it does show Wallace ripping off the top of a tent which looked like part of emotional rage, as I saw no purpose in it. Had the video continued rolling, we would have watched the entire camp destroyed. People need a legal place to Sleep or this will never end no matter how many lives Wallace and his crew ruin. People will do ANYTHING to survive , and sleeping is part of survival. Destroying their property only makes them more desperate and does not cut down on the population or bring them out of the hills. My guess would be they go further up the hills where the fire danger is much higher, the brush thicker--further from Wallace and his thugs.

But yes, a legal camp would bring them out, not this thug mentality.
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