Cracking Down on the Homeless--a Debate Between Mayor Rotkin & Activist-Attorney Frey

Attorney Ed Frey and other homeless and housed civil rights advocates are in going into their 5th night of a Peace Camp outside the County Courthouse at 701 Ocean St. tonight (July 8th).

See "Nighttime Protest of Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban Continues at County Courthouse" at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/07/18652973.php

Rotkin and Vice-Mayor Coonerty support the City's MC 6.36--the Camping Ordinance, and specifically MC 6.36.010a--the Sleeping Ban. This law bans all outdoors and vehicular sleeping in City limits.

Rotkin and Coonerty claim that existing shelter, police, and court practices adequately protect the homeless and respect their civil liberties. Frey, an attorney defending a homeless elder Robert "Blindbear Facer", does not.

Shelter provider experts Linda Lemaster and Paul Brindel recently testified in the Injunction Trial of Anna Richardson and Miguel de Leon shelter space was largely if not entirely unavailable throughout the summer for hundreds of homeless people.

Prior debates between Rotkin and other homeless advocates on homeless issues can be found at
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb060226.mp3 http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb060716.mp3
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb060924.mp3
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb090201.mp3
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb090215.mp3
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb099212.mp3
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb091004.mp3
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb091213.mp3
http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb100117.mp3

(Go to http://www.huffsantacruz.org/brb-descriptions.html and locate the exact show date (YY/MM/DD) to locate exactly where in the show the Rotkin segments can be found)

Vice-Mayor (and likely Mayor in 2011) Ryan Coonerty has refused to debate the Sleeping Ban issue with Ed Frey. Frey has asked the Sentinel to publish his challenge in an editorial, which Sentinel editor Miller as so far declined to do.

A new ordinance drastically increasing penalties for survival sleeping citations goes before the Rotkin-Coonerty Council on July 13 (see http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/06/19/18651270.php) either at the usually early 2 PM or the 7 PM session. Item #28 can be found at http://64.175.136.240/sirepub/cache/2/bfqsgx45ordzju45qlblhzze/232069807082010095117458.PDF .

Call in at 831-427-3772 or 831-469-3119 or e-mail in your questions to rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com