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Mayor Coonerty Dismissed Call for Homeless Shelter During LBAM Spraying
In spite of a City Council lawsuit, and various public statements, City Council members approached by homeless activists--Mayor Ryan Coonerty and Councilmember Tony Madrigal, have refused to commit themselves to providing emergency shelter for homeless people if and when LBAM spraying resumes. The word "homeless" apparently didn't enter into the after-midnight proposal by Councilmember Madrigal at the last Council meeting to establish a Task Force on the issue.
From: Becky Johnson [mailto:becky_johnson222 [at] hotmail.com]
Sent: Thu 1/3/2008 8:12 AM
To: Ryan Coonerty
Cc: huffsantacruz [at] yahoogroups.com
Subject: [BULK] LBAM spraying protection for Homeless people
To: Mayor Ryan Coonerty and the Santa Cruz City Council
re: LBAM spraying protection for homeless people
Jan 3 2007
Dear Mayor Ryan Coonerty,
I understand that aerial spraying for the Light Brown Apple Moth will begin again in February, unless city efforts to stop it are successful.
I am opposed to this spraying. I did not appreciate being sprayed on November 8th with my son as we drove to get pizza at Tony and Albas. However, I have a house and a car to disappear into as the planes pass overhead. Homeless people are more exposed than anyone.
State recommendations that homeless people seek shelter in parking garages and under bridges cannot be done here due to your City laws. It is imperative that you pass a waiver of the tresspass laws for these areas. Better yet, you need to open INDOOR shelter for the unhoused on those nights to minimize their involuntary exposure.
To do less is to fail in your responsibility to keep the people of Santa Cruz safe.
We at HUFF are appalled that no such measures were taken last fall, despite our lobbying and bringing the issue to the attention of City Council.
Leaving them out of doors and in harm's way without taking mitigative measures shows a true lack of concern for their well-being.
I hesitate to write you, as the last time I wrote you on a similar topic, you arranged for my banishment from Bookshop Santa Cruz citing plumbing damage to the restroom which I was not involved in causing and would not ever have harmed no matter what your position is on homeless issues.
You have violated my right to redress government grievances by choosing to respond to my criticism with a vindictive punishment. This is an abuse of power. One I believe you are obligated to remedy.
---Becky Johnson of HUFF
Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom
309 Cedar St. PMB 14B Santa Cruz, Ca. 95060
423-HUFF
or my home phone at 479-9391
----- Original Message -----
From: Ryan Coonerty
To: Becky Johnson
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 10:01 AM
Subject: RE: [BULK] LBAM spraying protection for Homeless people
Becky,
Thanks for writing. The City too is concerned about the spray. We are in litigation with the State as we speak to seek a judgment before the new round on the adequacy of their environmental findings.
Through the interfaith shelter program the city will do its best to provide shelter for as many homeless people as possible on those nights as we do every other night.
As to the Bookshop issue, our decisions stand.
All the best,
Ryan
Ryan Coonerty
Mayor
City of Santa Cruz
Fw: [BULK] LBAM spraying protection for Homeless people
From: Becky Johnson (becky_johnson222 [at] hotmail.com)
Sent: Fri 1/04/08 7:53 PM
To: Robert Norse (rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com)
My response to Ryan.
----- Original Message -----
From: Becky Johnson
To: Ryan Coonerty
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 7:50 PM
Subject: Re: [BULK] LBAM spraying protection for Homeless people
I support the litigation. However, if the City is unsuccessful in blocking the next round of spraying, be aware that only a fraction of homeless people will be able to be sheltered in the ISSP. "...As we do every other night" does not cut it on a night where every citizen is advised to take shelter indoors due to a forseen and anticipated government mandated action.
Leaving the poor and homeless out in the cold is bad enough. Leaving them out while a pesticide is rained on them when mitigative measures could easily have been worked out in advance, is dereliction of duty.
-- Becky
For more posturing and pronouncing from City Council "activists" on the LBAM check out "Waiting for Tony Madrigal" at
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/07/18458659.php
Call Mayor Coonerty at 423-8939 (City Council office phones are not taking messages during vacation).
Sent: Thu 1/3/2008 8:12 AM
To: Ryan Coonerty
Cc: huffsantacruz [at] yahoogroups.com
Subject: [BULK] LBAM spraying protection for Homeless people
To: Mayor Ryan Coonerty and the Santa Cruz City Council
re: LBAM spraying protection for homeless people
Jan 3 2007
Dear Mayor Ryan Coonerty,
I understand that aerial spraying for the Light Brown Apple Moth will begin again in February, unless city efforts to stop it are successful.
I am opposed to this spraying. I did not appreciate being sprayed on November 8th with my son as we drove to get pizza at Tony and Albas. However, I have a house and a car to disappear into as the planes pass overhead. Homeless people are more exposed than anyone.
State recommendations that homeless people seek shelter in parking garages and under bridges cannot be done here due to your City laws. It is imperative that you pass a waiver of the tresspass laws for these areas. Better yet, you need to open INDOOR shelter for the unhoused on those nights to minimize their involuntary exposure.
To do less is to fail in your responsibility to keep the people of Santa Cruz safe.
We at HUFF are appalled that no such measures were taken last fall, despite our lobbying and bringing the issue to the attention of City Council.
Leaving them out of doors and in harm's way without taking mitigative measures shows a true lack of concern for their well-being.
I hesitate to write you, as the last time I wrote you on a similar topic, you arranged for my banishment from Bookshop Santa Cruz citing plumbing damage to the restroom which I was not involved in causing and would not ever have harmed no matter what your position is on homeless issues.
You have violated my right to redress government grievances by choosing to respond to my criticism with a vindictive punishment. This is an abuse of power. One I believe you are obligated to remedy.
---Becky Johnson of HUFF
Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom
309 Cedar St. PMB 14B Santa Cruz, Ca. 95060
423-HUFF
or my home phone at 479-9391
----- Original Message -----
From: Ryan Coonerty
To: Becky Johnson
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 10:01 AM
Subject: RE: [BULK] LBAM spraying protection for Homeless people
Becky,
Thanks for writing. The City too is concerned about the spray. We are in litigation with the State as we speak to seek a judgment before the new round on the adequacy of their environmental findings.
Through the interfaith shelter program the city will do its best to provide shelter for as many homeless people as possible on those nights as we do every other night.
As to the Bookshop issue, our decisions stand.
All the best,
Ryan
Ryan Coonerty
Mayor
City of Santa Cruz
Fw: [BULK] LBAM spraying protection for Homeless people
From: Becky Johnson (becky_johnson222 [at] hotmail.com)
Sent: Fri 1/04/08 7:53 PM
To: Robert Norse (rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com)
My response to Ryan.
----- Original Message -----
From: Becky Johnson
To: Ryan Coonerty
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 7:50 PM
Subject: Re: [BULK] LBAM spraying protection for Homeless people
I support the litigation. However, if the City is unsuccessful in blocking the next round of spraying, be aware that only a fraction of homeless people will be able to be sheltered in the ISSP. "...As we do every other night" does not cut it on a night where every citizen is advised to take shelter indoors due to a forseen and anticipated government mandated action.
Leaving the poor and homeless out in the cold is bad enough. Leaving them out while a pesticide is rained on them when mitigative measures could easily have been worked out in advance, is dereliction of duty.
-- Becky
For more posturing and pronouncing from City Council "activists" on the LBAM check out "Waiting for Tony Madrigal" at
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/07/18458659.php
Call Mayor Coonerty at 423-8939 (City Council office phones are not taking messages during vacation).
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
This fight by citizen and environmental activists alike in Santa Cruz is a noble cause that the rest of the U.S. environmental movement should take note of and be inspired by.
In terms of the aerial spraying, I suggest that activists seriously pursue
hiring a private lab to collect air samples of the chemicals or biologicals being sprayed on the population. The samples collected may be far more diverse and lethal than what the State is claiming or leading you on to believe.
Given the fact that the Pentagon recently announced that they were
about to resume open-air testing operations over U.S. populations after a 35-year international moratorium should raise a red flag for both citizens in Santa Cruz and the United States.
In terms of the aerial spraying, I suggest that activists seriously pursue
hiring a private lab to collect air samples of the chemicals or biologicals being sprayed on the population. The samples collected may be far more diverse and lethal than what the State is claiming or leading you on to believe.
Given the fact that the Pentagon recently announced that they were
about to resume open-air testing operations over U.S. populations after a 35-year international moratorium should raise a red flag for both citizens in Santa Cruz and the United States.
I was told at the last CASS meeting I attended that Santa Cruz City Council Member Tony Madrigal was advised by the person he contacted at CDFA that SF, Marin and Santa Clara Counties might be sprayed next, possibly sometime in March/April or later. This is in addition to continuing to spray Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties in March/April. There already has been an official meeting in the Berkeley area to advise local govt officials of this possibility also, but Tony was unable to confirm this info from the person he talked to. The CDFA has not confirmed any of this except to Tony Madrigal.
On Jan 5, 2008, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that the CDFA was waiting for an international group of scientists to review the situation before continuing with the spraying:
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/story.php?sid=64642&storySection=Top+Stories
It is possible that the areas to be sprayed may have as little as three weeks official advance notice before they are sprayed. So plan ahead. If you plug into the Santa Cruz and/or Monterey groups now, and get some idea of what is going on, you may be a little closer to being able to do a "Plug and Play" strategy on short notice in your own community if the spraying happens there. There are lots of documents available on the below web sites that provide a jumping off point for you to take action in your own community, if needed.
If you want to get involved, I invite you to come to the Dr Rapp discussion at the Rio Theater In Santa Cruz on Thursday, Jan 10, 2008, from 7-9PM. The Rio Theater is located at 1205 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
If you are a doctor, call 831-335-3779 and they can either reserve you a seat and/or send you the info on the afternoon discussions that will be happening in Capitola, CA on Jan 10 and Jan 11 with Dr Rapp where she will give you the full scoop on what to look for when patients come to see you complaining of symptoms after the next spraying, if it happens. Doctors are required by law to report suspected pesticide illnesses within 24 hours. The Official Santa Cruz County Health Advisory on the spraying does appear to let doctors out of the possible double bind concerning having to prove a cause during possible future testimony in that it does not specify a known mechanism, so it apparently does not require that you demonstrate a cause. You just need to note and report a suspected illness. Dr. Rapp will likely be able to proved better answers to questions about that issue as well.
If you can't travel regularly to Santa Cruz for meetings, at least get on some of the discussion lists
stopoverheadspraying [at] yahoogroups.com
http://forum.stopthespray.org
and visit
http://www.lbamspray.com
http://www.1hope.org
http://www.rense.com/
Thanks for reading.
On Jan 5, 2008, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that the CDFA was waiting for an international group of scientists to review the situation before continuing with the spraying:
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/story.php?sid=64642&storySection=Top+Stories
It is possible that the areas to be sprayed may have as little as three weeks official advance notice before they are sprayed. So plan ahead. If you plug into the Santa Cruz and/or Monterey groups now, and get some idea of what is going on, you may be a little closer to being able to do a "Plug and Play" strategy on short notice in your own community if the spraying happens there. There are lots of documents available on the below web sites that provide a jumping off point for you to take action in your own community, if needed.
If you want to get involved, I invite you to come to the Dr Rapp discussion at the Rio Theater In Santa Cruz on Thursday, Jan 10, 2008, from 7-9PM. The Rio Theater is located at 1205 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
If you are a doctor, call 831-335-3779 and they can either reserve you a seat and/or send you the info on the afternoon discussions that will be happening in Capitola, CA on Jan 10 and Jan 11 with Dr Rapp where she will give you the full scoop on what to look for when patients come to see you complaining of symptoms after the next spraying, if it happens. Doctors are required by law to report suspected pesticide illnesses within 24 hours. The Official Santa Cruz County Health Advisory on the spraying does appear to let doctors out of the possible double bind concerning having to prove a cause during possible future testimony in that it does not specify a known mechanism, so it apparently does not require that you demonstrate a cause. You just need to note and report a suspected illness. Dr. Rapp will likely be able to proved better answers to questions about that issue as well.
If you can't travel regularly to Santa Cruz for meetings, at least get on some of the discussion lists
stopoverheadspraying [at] yahoogroups.com
http://forum.stopthespray.org
and visit
http://www.lbamspray.com
http://www.1hope.org
http://www.rense.com/
Thanks for reading.
For more information:
http://www.pagesincolor.com
Thanks to concerned local residents, there are now very good sources of online information for learning more about LBAM spraying and the efforts to prevent it. Please leave racist Rense OFF Your lists.
Rense = Bigger Border Fence
at rense.com/
Ron Paul -- special feature section
Paul Warns Against Illegals Getting Social Security
Dealing With Illegals
How One Angry American Dealt With Illegal Mexicans
CA School Targets Illegal Mexican Students
Illegal Immigrants Packing Up And Leaving AZ
Rense = Bigger Border Fence
at rense.com/
Ron Paul -- special feature section
Paul Warns Against Illegals Getting Social Security
Dealing With Illegals
How One Angry American Dealt With Illegal Mexicans
CA School Targets Illegal Mexican Students
Illegal Immigrants Packing Up And Leaving AZ
For more information:
http://indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/07/18...
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