NIGHT FOUR: Peace Camp 2010

by Becky Johnson

July 8, 2010

from: Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom

831 423-HUFF

Santa Cruz, Ca. -- They began arriving as the sun faded, some on bikes. Some carrying bedrolls. Most had backpacks. Prime sleeping areas next to the front doors promised a dry night with the protecting eaves, and thus, those spots were taken quickly. "What do you think the chances are that the cops will bust us tonight?" one man asked nervously, as he looked around for security cameras. "Zero," said Leigh, without any hesitation. "Unless the Deputies need to conduct a mutual aid service's call, there's no chance that they're going to cite us tonight."

Organizer, ED FREY, who had chosen the location, discovered very quickly that with the courthouse smack dab in the middle of the City of Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz police had no authority to enforce their own law. And the Santa Cruz County Deputies have no corresponding laws criminalizing sleeping, covering with blankets, or even camping in that particular location---all of which would be illegal in any other part of the City.

HUFF has demanded the City suspend ticketing under the Sleeping and Blanket Bans or, barring that, set up a clean, safe, well-lighted place with plumbing facilities where it is legal to sleep in the City. For the moment at least, they have found the latter. While the Council has dug in to defend the Sleeping Ban, there is no doubt that Peace Camp 2010 has already accomplished one of its goals.

" So I guess we won, " mused FREY. Tuesday night, 21 souls slept openly and safely together. Tonight there were thirty. Five twenty-somethings wandered in past midnight. Two who arrived begged for a blanket, fearing having to spend the night without one. With cops seizing possessions regularly as "trash" there are never enough blankets to go around.

In news media reports, Vice -Mayor RYAN COONERTY has issued statements about how the City supports the bans which are needed "for safety reasons." Mayor MIKE ROTKIN defends the bans by claiming that the impressive sounding amount of money the council has spent on homeless services somehow justifies, as a matter of policy, waking up homeless people in the wee hours of the morning, detaining them, running warrant checks on them, and even sometimes, as Lt Steve Clark once did to ANTHONY PATANJO, seize the only blanket they have at 3 AM as "evidence" of sleeping, and then leave them shivering in the cold with a $97 ticket. If City Attorney JOHN BARISONE has his way, next year their will be jury trials for sleeping and keeping warm with a blanket and sentences of up to one year in jail for convictions.

"I've been atop many a bridge lately, " one man confided to me in low tones, "considering suicide. But this gives me hope." Supporter and Endorser, SARAH RINGLER came by with a large platter of Japanese fish pancakes and a bottle of soy sauce to go with. One by one each person took a single pancake and joyfully consumed the still warm food. None took seconds. There would not be enough for firsts for everyone as it was.

ED FREY is appealing the twin convictions for sleeping near the beach by ROBERT"BLINDBEAR" FACER, but the hearing has inexplicably been postponed until late September. "Homeless people can't wait until September to sleep, " declared ED who recently relocated to a residence inside the City in order to establish residency. A new race for City Council begins in early August.

At 11: 52PM the sprinklers switched on and, in seconds, two sleeping bodies quickly became soaked. Others rushed to pull their belongings out of the sudden downpour, but despite their quick reaction, both men shivered and groaned with everything they owned and the clothes they were wearing suddenly soaked.

As each new person arrives, there is cheer, relief, and for some, a look of redemption on their faces as they realize that they will be allowed to bed down, and sleep. The porto-pottie shines like a beacon of humanity, and those exiting it have a look of immense relief. Nervous neighbors grumble about "mountains of trash" and "poop and pee everywhere" but there really is none now. And when the Sheriff's deputies drive by and flash their lights, one gets this distinct feeling that they are there to PROTECT the sleepers from harm. Is this a change we can believe in?

DONATIONS NEEDED: flashlight, blankets, food of any kind, water bottles.

ED FREY can be contacted at his office in Soquel, Ca. at 831 479-8911

Confessions of a Song Criminal

by Becky Johnson

April 19, 2010

Santa Cruz, Ca. -- In my post-conviction haze, a few things are starting to gel. If I can be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for singing two and a half songs between 2:30PM and 3:30PM on a busy downtown sidewalk, anyone can. In a flurry of post-conviction ecstasy blasted by those who want to drive homeless people out of sight/out of town, I am shrilly declared as some sort of attention-seeker and told that this case is only about me and my ego.



But this time, it's not about me. It's about all of our civil rights. It's about our personal freedom. It's about the "Broken Windows" Theory. And it's about that homeless guy with a backpack and a bedroll that can be told he can't be there simply because a citizen has complained. Well if he can't be there, then none of us can be there either. If you can't sing the blues, you probably can't say them either.

Officer Lauren Schonfield testified on the stand that she "could hear the noise from Cooper St." She knew it to be "Norse's group." But somehow that recollection never made it into her police report. There she simply states "I had walked by Norse's group five minutes earlier." When asked to testify which song she heard us singing, she said "I do not recall." This is what passes for "content'neutral" in Jeff Almquist's court.

Under "Broken Windows" the police survey the neighborhood and determine who belongs and who doesn't belong. Then the officer targets those who "don't belong" with a myriad of petty citations, some real, and some made up on the spot. The Santa Cruz Police Department openly claims that they have fashioned their policies around this disputed and Constitutionally-questionable theory.

HERE are the lyrics which members of my group, HUFF, had just been singing and of which Officer Schonfield is well aware:


SUNG TO THE TUNE OF "DOWNTOWN" music by Petula Clark lyrics by Robert Norse

8. Where are the songs on the sidewalk today?...the best have gone away— from Downtown A single complaint will have the cops out to send the singers on their way—Downtown Sing a song of protest just outside the local bookshop Music with a message means a steep fine---makes the poor stop Singing their tale. So stop singing your doubt, you'll see bigots on phones All calling cops out To come downtown— muz-zel-ing those they fear Downtown—don't want your kind SO near, Downtown---watch uniforms smother our dreams
9. They don't give their names, but the cops tell the singers—"You!--Be on your way!" Downtown “We've had a complaint, so you must stop your singing at this spot today.” Downtown Everyone around you may appreciate the groovin' One heckler 's veto gives the cops excuse to get you movin' In spite of the law The police don't give a damn, which Constitution they're shredding It's all quite a sham. When you're downtown—shame on the fear that rules Downtown—bad laws from frightened fools Downtown— Sing Out and Recover Your Dreams Downtown—Grinding Us Down;. Downtown—Silencing Sounds. Downtown.

The pendulum has swung too far to the right. The City Council is engaging in an orgy of civil rights violations which include banning sitting on the sidewalk, lying down, holding signs, drawing with chalk on the sidewalk, gathering together peaceably in groups, and now has taken a stand against singing. And in their own designated "free speech" zone too! It is time to turn that pendulum back.

Repeal CYNTHIA MATHEWS "move-along" law as the oppressive and unconstitutional fiasco it is. Repeal RYAN COONERTY's parking lot/garage "trespass" law as Scroogian in its inception. Repeal DON LANE's anti-smokers law which was built on junk science and is unenforcable. And before we do anything else, repeal that God-damned, infernal abomination also known as the SLEEPING BAN before our collective souls get any blacker.

photos: courtesy of Santa Cruz SENTINEL all photos by Shmuel Thayer April 16, 2010 in Dept 5 before Judge Jeff Almquist.