Denounce City Council's Toothless Sanctuary Law, then Join Freedom SleepOut #88

CAN'T DRIVE OFF THOSE FREEDOM SLEEPERS
Freedom Sleepers will be returning Tuesday afternoon and evening as the weather turns warmer with videocam capability at the ready to discourage and document abusive behavior and false statements by cops and rangers--who have freely stolen homeless gear and lied to protesters about their rights.

POLICE THIEVES STILL HOLD HOMELESS GEAR
Homeless survival gear has not been returned to Lawrence MacGregor or Dreamcatcher--a large tent in Lawrence's case; ID, a mobile carrying cart and many other items for Dreamcatcher.

PHONIES PROPOSE TOOTHLESS LAW WITH THEIR POLICE SHUTTING OUT THE LARGER COMMUNITY
Item #14 on the Afternoon Agenda is the 2nd and Final Reading of the Sanctuary Ordinance which "forbids" city employees (including police) from "requesting, disclosing, or maintaining" immigration status information or aiding in enforcement (with plenty of exceptions) as well as informing City Council (but not the community) AFTER but not BEFORE immigration raids occur. There are no penalties for those who violate the law and no right to sue the City if it acts contrary to this law.

The Council meeting will again be held in the City Council chambers instead of the larger Civic Auditorium--this time in mid-afternoon. This means a large crowd of people can be excluded, as happened last time with a heavy police presence and folks kept out in the cold while the Council presented its fluffy resolution and law as a figleaf to cover SCPD collusion with ICE/DHS abuses.

MEMORIAL PLANNED FOR APRIL 11TH FOR HYPOTHERMIA VICTIM AT FREEDOM SLEEPOUT #92
Keith McHenry notes "53 year-old Micheal Mear died of hypothermia on February 17, 2017. Medical staff reportedly told his sister his body temperature was only 70 degrees when a motorist found him unconscious on Potrero Street. He died soon after from cardiac arrest at Dominican Hospital."

Photos and commentary on Michael Randell Mear June 21,1963 - February 17, 2017 at https://www.facebook.com/keith.mchenry.fnb/media_set?set=a.10154959373258820.1073741880.691903819&type=3

"STARVE 'EM OUT OF SIGHT" BIGOTS ERECT CHAIN LINK FENCE AROUND DOWNTOWN POST OFFICE
"Protect my $140,000 condo downtown" may be the real motivation for Janet Fardette's petition to drive away Food Not Bombs from its Saturday and Sunday meals on the sidewalk near the main post office. While Fardette's on-line petition has only cleared 100 names, McHenry's counterpetition boasts of over 1000.

Freedom Sleeper activists, grateful for Food Not Bombs regular feedings at the Tuesday Freedom SleepOuts, encourage folks to stop by the SleepOut as well as the Saturday and Sunday meals outside the Post Office (4-6 PM) to sign letters to the Postmaster, emphasizing the importance of the Food Not Bombs meals and community gatherings.

To read more details on the Post Office's most recent uglification campaign erecting a "separation fence" as well as the festive community response, go to "Anti-Homeless Fence Decorating Party"at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/03/13/18797382.php

Berkeley and San Francisco have resisted profiteering attempts to privatize local post offices successfully erecting and sustaining homeless encampments in front of the threatened buildings. The protests sprang from First They Came for the Homeless [FTCFTH]--which evolved from the Occupy movement. Assembling and refusing to stay dispersed next to these buildings has been the tactic used. It's unclear whether Santa Cruz will adopt a similar strategy, but one Berkeley activist has declared himself ready to "hop on the next bus down" to support such a move. FTCFTH has now gone two months without a warning or bust after being threatened, harassed and/or attacked by police more than 15 times.

CITY CLAIMS TO WANT "COMMUNITY INPUT" IN SEARCH FOR NEW POLICE CHIEF
Go and make your concerns about the SCPD's collusion with ICE/DHS, its "shoot to kill" policy, its failure to hold individual officers or the chief responsible for human rights abuses by attending meetings: Wednesday, March 15th in the Police Department Community Room (155 Center St Santa Cruz) from 7:00-9:00pm. and Thursday, March 16th at the Beach Flats Community Center (1333 Leibrandt Ave. Santa Cruz) from 7:00-9:00pm. Both events will be bilingual.

You can also fill out a "Community Survey" on line.
English – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TM3VF99
Spanish – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B9SXTVW

In the past, only large numbers of people have gotten even a limited response from the police and their politician friends as happened February 14 when shouting activists disrupted a Council intent on gagging a speaker victimized by the ICE/DHS raids the day before.