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Indybay Feature
End Santa Cruz City Manager Martin Bernal’s Cruel War On Those Without Housing
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Date:
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Time:
12:00 PM
-
12:00 PM
Event Type:
Protest
Organizer/Author:
Keith McHenry
Email:
Phone:
575-770-3377
Location Details:
Santa Cruz City Hall
809 Center Street, Santa Cruz, California 95060
END SANTA CRUZ CITY MANAGER MARTIN BERNAL’S CRUEL WAR ON THOSE WITHOUT HOUSING
Join us Tuesday, May 23rd at Santa Cruz City Hall 809 Center Street,Santa Cruz, California 95060 - Dinner at 4:00 PM Sleep-out all night.
END THE BAN ON SLEEPING OUTSIDE FROM 11PM TO 8:30AM
Call City Manager Martin Bernal at 831-420-5010 or email him at mbernal [at] cityofsantacruz.com
Santa Cruz Manager, Martín Bernal made a number of policy changes that are having a tragic impact on those without housing. Park rangers arrived to City Hall this morning and ordered those standing outside to leave claiming it was even illegal to be on the sidewalk. The desperation expressed by those being forced out to neighboring sidewalks is heartbreaking. It is difficult to understand how Bernal could be so cruel.
Bernal never brought up plans for his stepped up campaign against the homeless at the May 9th City Council meeting where the Homelessness Coordinating Committee Santa Cruz City Council Subcommittee issued it’s Final Report and Recommendations. Several City Councilors report Bernal did not talk with them about his plans. Bernal posted signs on May 12th claiming it is illegal to be at City Hall from 6:00 PM to 7:00 AM Monday through Friday and has closed all of the City Hall grounds on Saturday and Sunday. The signs also claim to ban personal property on sidewalks, walls or pathways, bicycles or sitting, lying on sidewalks, walls, pathways or courtyard areas. Signs limiting the homeless from existing are being enforced at a number of other city buildings and parks in Santa Cruz.
Library staff have also reported that City Manager Bernal will be removing the benches outside the library and stationing two or more police officers at City Hall. Bernal also lobbied union leaders representing city employees to express fear of the homeless and back him on his campaign. Bernal appears to have circulated a couple of isolated and exaggerated stories of homeless violence giving the impression this was a crisis threatening all city employees working at or near City Hall. This seems to be the exact same strategy used to justify the fence around the downtown Post Office.
The Freedom Sleepers campaign inspired an attempt by Councilpersons Don Lane and Micah Posner to seek a change in the camping ban in March 2016 to make it legal to sleep outside, ending the law that made it a crime to sleep outside or in a vehicle from 11:00 PM to 8:30 AM. Their proposed change failed to gain enough votes. In response to pressure from the Freedom Sleepers the council did create a Homelessness Coordinating Committee whose report was introduced at the May 9, 2017 City Council meeting. No discussion of City Manager Bernal’s new campaign to drive the homeless from Santa Cruz was mentioned by any city officials during the meeting. Local unhoused people started their own nightly protest at City Hall the night after the Winter Shelter closed. They are referred to as the Survival Sleepers.
An anti-homeless fence was installed around the Santa Cruz Post Office’s exterior on March 9, 2017. People sought shelter under the awnings at the post office when the emergency shelter was closed.
These are just a few of the recent efforts by City Manager Bernal to torment those without housing hoping to make it so uncomfortable that they leave.
“Eighty-four percent of homeless survey respondents reported they were living in Santa Cruz County at the time they most recently became homeless, an increase from 72% in 2013. Of those, over half (60%) had lived in Santa Cruz County for 10 years or more. Five percent had lived in Santa Cruz County for less than one year.” Source: Applied Survey Research. (2015). Santa Cruz County Homeless Survey. Watsonville, CA.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL THE FREEDOM SLEEPERS AT 831-515-8234
###
Santa Cruz’s response to downtown homelessness: Closing city hall to public on nights and weekends
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/social-affairs/20170516/santa-cruzs-response-to-downtown-homelessness-closing-city-hall-to-public-on-nights-and-weekends
Join us Tuesday, May 23rd at Santa Cruz City Hall 809 Center Street,Santa Cruz, California 95060 - Dinner at 4:00 PM Sleep-out all night.
END THE BAN ON SLEEPING OUTSIDE FROM 11PM TO 8:30AM
Call City Manager Martin Bernal at 831-420-5010 or email him at mbernal [at] cityofsantacruz.com
Santa Cruz Manager, Martín Bernal made a number of policy changes that are having a tragic impact on those without housing. Park rangers arrived to City Hall this morning and ordered those standing outside to leave claiming it was even illegal to be on the sidewalk. The desperation expressed by those being forced out to neighboring sidewalks is heartbreaking. It is difficult to understand how Bernal could be so cruel.
Bernal never brought up plans for his stepped up campaign against the homeless at the May 9th City Council meeting where the Homelessness Coordinating Committee Santa Cruz City Council Subcommittee issued it’s Final Report and Recommendations. Several City Councilors report Bernal did not talk with them about his plans. Bernal posted signs on May 12th claiming it is illegal to be at City Hall from 6:00 PM to 7:00 AM Monday through Friday and has closed all of the City Hall grounds on Saturday and Sunday. The signs also claim to ban personal property on sidewalks, walls or pathways, bicycles or sitting, lying on sidewalks, walls, pathways or courtyard areas. Signs limiting the homeless from existing are being enforced at a number of other city buildings and parks in Santa Cruz.
Library staff have also reported that City Manager Bernal will be removing the benches outside the library and stationing two or more police officers at City Hall. Bernal also lobbied union leaders representing city employees to express fear of the homeless and back him on his campaign. Bernal appears to have circulated a couple of isolated and exaggerated stories of homeless violence giving the impression this was a crisis threatening all city employees working at or near City Hall. This seems to be the exact same strategy used to justify the fence around the downtown Post Office.
The Freedom Sleepers campaign inspired an attempt by Councilpersons Don Lane and Micah Posner to seek a change in the camping ban in March 2016 to make it legal to sleep outside, ending the law that made it a crime to sleep outside or in a vehicle from 11:00 PM to 8:30 AM. Their proposed change failed to gain enough votes. In response to pressure from the Freedom Sleepers the council did create a Homelessness Coordinating Committee whose report was introduced at the May 9, 2017 City Council meeting. No discussion of City Manager Bernal’s new campaign to drive the homeless from Santa Cruz was mentioned by any city officials during the meeting. Local unhoused people started their own nightly protest at City Hall the night after the Winter Shelter closed. They are referred to as the Survival Sleepers.
An anti-homeless fence was installed around the Santa Cruz Post Office’s exterior on March 9, 2017. People sought shelter under the awnings at the post office when the emergency shelter was closed.
These are just a few of the recent efforts by City Manager Bernal to torment those without housing hoping to make it so uncomfortable that they leave.
“Eighty-four percent of homeless survey respondents reported they were living in Santa Cruz County at the time they most recently became homeless, an increase from 72% in 2013. Of those, over half (60%) had lived in Santa Cruz County for 10 years or more. Five percent had lived in Santa Cruz County for less than one year.” Source: Applied Survey Research. (2015). Santa Cruz County Homeless Survey. Watsonville, CA.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL THE FREEDOM SLEEPERS AT 831-515-8234
###
Santa Cruz’s response to downtown homelessness: Closing city hall to public on nights and weekends
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/social-affairs/20170516/santa-cruzs-response-to-downtown-homelessness-closing-city-hall-to-public-on-nights-and-weekends
Added to the calendar on Mon, May 22, 2017 11:31AM
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[image: the faces, genders, and functions in the universal 'corporate structure' change, but the "Fucker" is eternal.]
Blaming anything related to government/homeless 'relations' here, or anywhere, on a single individual, is stupid and shows a complete lack of analysis. It also insults the intelligence of any reader's who might be able to assist in any way other than 'follower', pawn. Just like the 'pawn' the blamer makes of the only-lonely government individual targeted for blame.
Even IF Bernal's job was at the homelessness-related policy 'chain' he STILL wouldn't be the ONLY person creating OR SETTING 'policy', public, OR 'tacit'. Santa Cruz (as a corporation) doesn't want you here.
Just sayin'.
Blaming anything related to government/homeless 'relations' here, or anywhere, on a single individual, is stupid and shows a complete lack of analysis. It also insults the intelligence of any reader's who might be able to assist in any way other than 'follower', pawn. Just like the 'pawn' the blamer makes of the only-lonely government individual targeted for blame.
Even IF Bernal's job was at the homelessness-related policy 'chain' he STILL wouldn't be the ONLY person creating OR SETTING 'policy', public, OR 'tacit'. Santa Cruz (as a corporation) doesn't want you here.
Just sayin'.
Some one talking about TBSC hate and fear mongering in an email to city hall!
For more information:
http://scsire.cityofsantacruz.com/sirepub/...
Link to TBSC email does not work.
Upload It.
Upload It.
Trying to upload a pdf.
Link suddenly stopped working.
Link suddenly stopped working.
How is this email hate-mongering? It raises some valid questions about charities and whether what they do just perpetuate the problem.
Well I agree on one thing... No parole releases to the HSC. ESPECIALLY Out-of-Area releases... which I believe is required to receive state and/or federal funding. At least one homeless shelter in the US closed rather than accept out-of-area parolees, and I STRONGLY SUGGEST HSC disappear from the 'pages of time', and VACATE property that could otherwise usefully serve the massive number of travelers passing through the area, unemployed homeless people who want to work, and even (gasp!) creating jobs on-site such as a recycle center.
The people currently in charge of that shithole have NO INTEREST in doing anything of the sort. They're too busy figuring out how to get "social worker welfare checks" from the state and feds instead of creating USEFUL SERVICES for the homeless and travelers. AAMOF the scumbags running the HSC are the same pieces of human feces who eliminated all the services as soon as the funds ran out to pay for THEIR housing.
Parolee releases their main source of funding now. and if it went away the motherfucking HSC shithole will shut down and that would be of GREAT BENEFIT considering everyone's kidding themselves into thinking the HSC actually has ANYTHING to do with servicing more than a MICROSCOPIC PORTION of the homeless around here, and as I've mentioned before the portion they've chosen to 'service' is EXACTLY the portion the city, the shitrag of a newspaper, and businesses use to PERCEPTION MANAGE the residents into believing homeless people are fuck ups.
Those parole release come to the HSC ands what happens is:
A> There seems to be a 'wait' before the parolee is 'intaken;' leaving them bouncing around the streets looking and acting like ... Like people who just got out of prison.
If you think releasing combat soldiers on the street without 'counseling' creates REALLY REALLY FUBAR situations for them. The same is true for people just released from ANOTHER KIND OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION, prison releases. They learned some REALLY REALLY FUCKED UP 'tricks' in prison, and they 'play' them on non-convict houseless people. Maybe Pat Colby would like to share some crash space with them. I don't.
They DO NOT HAVE the cooperative skills of civilians. They Strongarm, SCAM, and THIEVE FROM other homeless people to survive (as if there aren't enough junkies, crackheads, and speedfreaks already here thieving from the homeless). AAMOF I can visualize spending my senior years in prison for sticking one of them the first time one's stupid enough to try strong-arming me a little too 'strongly'.
B> Many don't stay at the HSC for long. They 'fall out' and it sometimes takes months before the parole officers catch up with them, if they ever do, all the while they continue to strongarm, scam and thieve from homeless people.
In writing this I don't intend to imply that the parolees shouldn't be released.I'm saying unless the HSC becomes a parolee release facility with adequate safeguards for the community, INCLUDING THE EXISTING HOMELESS COMMUNITY, it simply adds more, VERY REAL fuel to the 'fire' of the people who perception manage the image of the "Homeless". The HSC IS NOT CAPABLE, as it is, of dealing with ex-cons. And THAT'S a FACT.
Fuck your so-called shelter. It ISN'T a shelter. It's a consolidated services center serving a microscopic, and often unwanted by homeless people as well, segment of a VERY DIVERSE population of poor people. Institutionalized people.
The people currently in charge of that shithole have NO INTEREST in doing anything of the sort. They're too busy figuring out how to get "social worker welfare checks" from the state and feds instead of creating USEFUL SERVICES for the homeless and travelers. AAMOF the scumbags running the HSC are the same pieces of human feces who eliminated all the services as soon as the funds ran out to pay for THEIR housing.
Parolee releases their main source of funding now. and if it went away the motherfucking HSC shithole will shut down and that would be of GREAT BENEFIT considering everyone's kidding themselves into thinking the HSC actually has ANYTHING to do with servicing more than a MICROSCOPIC PORTION of the homeless around here, and as I've mentioned before the portion they've chosen to 'service' is EXACTLY the portion the city, the shitrag of a newspaper, and businesses use to PERCEPTION MANAGE the residents into believing homeless people are fuck ups.
Those parole release come to the HSC ands what happens is:
A> There seems to be a 'wait' before the parolee is 'intaken;' leaving them bouncing around the streets looking and acting like ... Like people who just got out of prison.
If you think releasing combat soldiers on the street without 'counseling' creates REALLY REALLY FUBAR situations for them. The same is true for people just released from ANOTHER KIND OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION, prison releases. They learned some REALLY REALLY FUCKED UP 'tricks' in prison, and they 'play' them on non-convict houseless people. Maybe Pat Colby would like to share some crash space with them. I don't.
They DO NOT HAVE the cooperative skills of civilians. They Strongarm, SCAM, and THIEVE FROM other homeless people to survive (as if there aren't enough junkies, crackheads, and speedfreaks already here thieving from the homeless). AAMOF I can visualize spending my senior years in prison for sticking one of them the first time one's stupid enough to try strong-arming me a little too 'strongly'.
B> Many don't stay at the HSC for long. They 'fall out' and it sometimes takes months before the parole officers catch up with them, if they ever do, all the while they continue to strongarm, scam and thieve from homeless people.
In writing this I don't intend to imply that the parolees shouldn't be released.I'm saying unless the HSC becomes a parolee release facility with adequate safeguards for the community, INCLUDING THE EXISTING HOMELESS COMMUNITY, it simply adds more, VERY REAL fuel to the 'fire' of the people who perception manage the image of the "Homeless". The HSC IS NOT CAPABLE, as it is, of dealing with ex-cons. And THAT'S a FACT.
Fuck your so-called shelter. It ISN'T a shelter. It's a consolidated services center serving a microscopic, and often unwanted by homeless people as well, segment of a VERY DIVERSE population of poor people. Institutionalized people.
The homeless service center has become a for profit business. It doesn't serve homeless people and should be forced to close, but then they and county would lose all the profits they are making off the state from placing released paroles. The county get about $100 plus a day and pays the HSC $40 a day to house them so where does the profit go. Into whose pocket should be the question. Check out the old senile article and get the public records! Then you will see the money making racket that is happening inclusion between county and HSC.
The HSC is no longer a homeless services facility. It is a profit making venture creating jobs for poverty pimps while turning a profit for the County Probation Department. The HSC also defrauds the public by soliciting donations which never go towards the promised services. The City and County knowingly payout taxpayer dollars to the HSC although they know this mostly goes towards fraud. Consider that Encompass has a lot of pull in local government and Santa Cruz Mayor Cynthia Chase is a poverty pimp. The HSC must have other powerful protectors in local government (since even Take Back Santa Cruz leaning officials protect the HSC racket).
See my brother's comment above. No. I would NOT stay at the Helpless Lack of Services as it now is. Nor would I before as it was under other corrupt management. Most of the elder unhoused folks I know through my time serving them at the Sunrise at the Circle Church also stated they never go near it if they could avoid it. Mostly it is the most vulnerable disabled ppl that are stuck at that terrible place because of necessity not desire!
Just about all the homeless folks I meet tell me terrible stories of scary nature of the HSC with all the realignment paroles. Extremely scary. Governor Brown intended for the money allocated to the prison realignment to go towards building real facilities meant only for realignment folks, NOT the takeover of homeless centers to push out needy ppl in favor of pocketing profits for poverty pimps in the county, the city, Encompass, HSC, and the County Probation Department like Mayor Cynthia Chase and Julia Feldman on the Encompass Board of Directors, the domestic partner of Thomas Cunniff who I allege is the sexual pervert cyberstalking me. It's interesting how all the local politicians and poverty pimps are all hooked up and entwined around the money trough.
Just about all the homeless folks I meet tell me terrible stories of scary nature of the HSC with all the realignment paroles. Extremely scary. Governor Brown intended for the money allocated to the prison realignment to go towards building real facilities meant only for realignment folks, NOT the takeover of homeless centers to push out needy ppl in favor of pocketing profits for poverty pimps in the county, the city, Encompass, HSC, and the County Probation Department like Mayor Cynthia Chase and Julia Feldman on the Encompass Board of Directors, the domestic partner of Thomas Cunniff who I allege is the sexual pervert cyberstalking me. It's interesting how all the local politicians and poverty pimps are all hooked up and entwined around the money trough.
"...the services they supposedly offer, at extravagant cost, are not adequate or even designed for the task of helping people rebuild their lives. Instead they exist to maintain and preserve 'clients' in a state of poverty..."
I want to note the foundation which fronted the targeted housing program "180/180" was previously executive director of the Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency... the corporatist county agency foisted off on the citizens of Santa Cruz in the wake of the Loma Prieta earthquake that for all intents and purposes, and undoubtedly by plan and policy, created the joblessness and homelessness one see in the county today. The majority of boards of director of 160/180, and what's now left of the HSC also sit on MHCan's board and suck almost every last cent of ANY money that could be used to help FUNCTIONAL yet houseless citizens.
From a google cache of an old infoshop PDF: Do you know a poverty pimp?
"As other critics of our current "aid" sys-tems have stated: "Under the American system of inter-linked public and private social services the poor get helped but not in any effective way; the big bucks go for overhead. As always, a lot of anti-poverty money is going to people who are not poor. There are whole classes of people who live off the services provided to the poor. Most well-funded, charitable agencies that exist have a prime function of managing the poor; they do not question the inequalities which define our society nor do they serve to fundamentally change the lives of the poor they take 'care' of." Often even the services they supposedly offer, at extravagant cost, are not adequate or even designed for the task of helping people rebuild their lives. Instead they exist to maintain and preserve 'clients' in a state of poverty while providing a guarantee of employment, social respect-ability, and status for generations of college educated do-gooders."
I want to note the foundation which fronted the targeted housing program "180/180" was previously executive director of the Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency... the corporatist county agency foisted off on the citizens of Santa Cruz in the wake of the Loma Prieta earthquake that for all intents and purposes, and undoubtedly by plan and policy, created the joblessness and homelessness one see in the county today. The majority of boards of director of 160/180, and what's now left of the HSC also sit on MHCan's board and suck almost every last cent of ANY money that could be used to help FUNCTIONAL yet houseless citizens.
From a google cache of an old infoshop PDF: Do you know a poverty pimp?
"As other critics of our current "aid" sys-tems have stated: "Under the American system of inter-linked public and private social services the poor get helped but not in any effective way; the big bucks go for overhead. As always, a lot of anti-poverty money is going to people who are not poor. There are whole classes of people who live off the services provided to the poor. Most well-funded, charitable agencies that exist have a prime function of managing the poor; they do not question the inequalities which define our society nor do they serve to fundamentally change the lives of the poor they take 'care' of." Often even the services they supposedly offer, at extravagant cost, are not adequate or even designed for the task of helping people rebuild their lives. Instead they exist to maintain and preserve 'clients' in a state of poverty while providing a guarantee of employment, social respect-ability, and status for generations of college educated do-gooders."
For more information:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/sear...
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