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Oakland, CA. Press Release, Rally: Support not Sweeps

June 18, 2021 by Jonathan Leave a Comment

Press Release, Rally: Support not Sweeps
Advisory of event next week, 6/22 @ 2 pm

Please see attached press release

Caltrans is about to displace more than 500 unhoused people from their property across California without providing adequate alternative housing options.

I’m writing on behalf of the 150 members of the Wood Street encampment in Oakland California, on Caltrans land facing displacement and closure by July 1st. Many of these residents are seniors, many have lived in Oakland their entire lives, many have disabilities, and all of them have nowhere else to go. Cob on Wood is in the next phase of planned clearing, and may soon face a similar fate.

The situation at Wood Street is not unique. Every other Bay Area encampment on Caltrans land has received similar notice. This will be an unprecedented displacement of unhoused California residents. This displacement will constitute little more than an inhumane shuffling of humans and shirking of responsibility by state agencies, Continuums of Care, and city governments. We have formed a statewide coalition of CalTrans land based encampments and liveaboard mariners living under the jurisdiction of affiliated agencies.

We are seeking media attention on this issue and the precarious fate of the hundreds of residents of these camps. We know that there are no simple solutions to this crisis, but mass evictions without the provision of adequate alternative housing is not an appropriate resolution. Every resident of these camps deserves to be respected and to live with dignity. Caltrans’ current plan frames these people as little more than inconvenient garbage to be bulldozed and sanitized.

To raise the voices of the impacted, we are holding a press conference on CalTrans District 4 Headquarters doorstep, at 111 Grand Ave, June 22nd @ 2 pm. Please show up to tell the story of the solutions driven by the unhoused, and help their demands be heard.

This situation is urgent. Everyone involved knows that these displacements are wrong, but Caltrans is proceeding at a speed that is too fast for residents and organizers to mobilize resistance or form a legal defense.

Wood St residents living on city owned land adjacent to CalTrans’ parcels between 18th and 20th have also been notified of displacement, despite ongoing support and negotiations with City officials for months ensuring that residents will be able to remain on site. The residents of the ‘bottoms’ at the Wood Street Commons (between 18th and 20th streets) have stated that “we do not wish for our community, which has taken years to build, to be dispersed by the city’s attempt at eviction on July 6-9, and that there is no compensation they could offer that can equal the loss of our unique experiment in creating a tiny home ecovillage with shared infrastructure that generates cooperative community by design, and that will eventually control the land we are living on through a resident controlled land trust.”

Please see the press release attached, as well as a flyer for the event.

Sincerely,

Xochitl Bernadette Moreno / Co-founder Essential Food and Medicine, Project Manager at Cob On Wood
Leah Van Winkle / Cob On Wood Core Organizer

Filed Under: #right2rest, #StopTheSweeps, Oakland, Press Releases

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On August 11th, Newsom's "Care" Act passed out of On August 11th, Newsom's "Care" Act passed out of the Appropriations Committee. The bill was amended on the 15th and will be scheduled for a floor vote any time between August 17th and 31st. https://conta.cc/3dz2NzQ
Part 12... Infractions and Due Process Rights Ant Part 12...
Infractions and Due Process Rights 
Anti-homeless laws and ordinances and their application have, in fact, created a loophole that allows for the circumvention of a homeless person’s right to due process under law. The process by which homeless people face repeated incarceration generally follows this scenario: A homeless man is sleeping on the sidewalk. A local ordinance makes it illegal to do so. The man gets a ticket and is later arrested for not paying the ticket. He spends a couple of days in jail, and is just as homeless now as he was before, only now he has a criminal record. This was the case for many of the individuals interviewed by RWHP. One man relayed the familiar scenario, “I was sleeping in a tent in a hidden spot near the freeway. They gave me a ticket for trespassing. I don’t have money to pay it. I’ve never been in jail before. I keep to myself, but now they’re going to make me a convict just for sleeping.”
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This morning @phillysheriff ‘s came and evicted our protest encampment to Save the UC Townhomes. When asked why they were doing it, Rochelle Bilal responded that she “felt compassion for the townhomes residents but was just doing my job”

Even if the tents are gone WE AINT GOIN NOWHERE‼️
Saturday AUGUST 27 — 9 am to 4pm Sunday AUGUST 2 Saturday AUGUST 27 — 9 am to 4pm
Sunday AUGUST 28 — 12:30pm to 4pm

Westminster Presbyterian Church
1300 N Street, Sacramento

https://wraphome.org/2022/08/02/sacramento-ca-advocates-community-summit-on-homelessness-august-27-28th/
California. (S)Care Court Hearing Tomorrow 8/3 Las California. (S)Care Court Hearing Tomorrow 8/3 Last Hearing before floor Vote
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Part 11 ... California’s “anti-Okie” laws of Part 11 ...
California’s “anti-Okie” laws of the 1930s and the South’s Jim Crow laws in effect from the late 1800s to the 1950s are examples of the kinds of local laws overturned in previous generations. Yet, modern “quality of life” legislation and enforcement targeting homeless people can be found in communities across the nation.
The City Council postponed their vote on the 41.18 The City Council postponed their vote on the 41.18 expansion to August 2nd. If passed, this motion will add approximately 1,900 additional sites–a 376% increase in exclusionary zones across the city. 41.18 would then cover at least 88 sq miles (that’s 20% of the entire city).

Services Not Sweeps is urging EVERYONE to come to City Hall at 9:00am on August 2 and tell City Council that 41.18 is BAD POLICY and should be repealed.

When we fight, we win. 
But this fight isn’t over.

The community flooded City Hall inside and out on Wednesday to protest the expansion of 41.18 but the fight is not over. It’s clear that President Nury Martinez and friends weren’t prepared for our numbers and realized they were unable to rally their (few but loud) 41.18 supporters. Council delayed the vote to Tuesday August 2nd in an attempt to erode our momentum and stifle our voices. 
 
We won’t let that happen. The fight now is to keep the pressure on and show up next week!! See you next Tuesday 9am. Bring a friend.
 
WHO: You and your friends!
WHERE: City Hall, 200 N Spring St 
WHEN: Tuesday August 2nd at 9:00am
HOW: Read more details on our toolkit.
AGENDA ITEM 14 https://lacity.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=102513
Part 10... In fact, however, enforcement is very m Part 10...
In fact, however, enforcement is very much impacted by both skin color and appearance. Local governments cannot legally discriminate against people strictly because they do not have housing. Federal protections prohibit local and state governments from removing people from their communities due to the color of their skin or economic/employment status.
Part 9... This nationwide pattern has escaped Civi Part 9... This nationwide pattern has escaped Civil Rights protections because on their face, these programs are not clearly discriminatory. Local laws are often drafted in such a way as to appear to apply equally to all people in a community.
Part 8... While certain communities highlight diff Part 8...
While certain communities highlight different controls at different times, often depending upon the outcome of local elections and legislative and court efforts, all have one primary common goal: to remove the presence and resulting impact of people without housing from local communities. As the Mayor of Las Vegas stated when she outlawed feeding people in city parks: “If we stop feeding them, they will leave.”
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16 Aug 1559579585251102720

On August 11th, Newsom's "Care" Act passed out of the Appropriations Committee. The bill was amended on the 15th and will be scheduled for a floor vote any time between August 17th and 31st. https://conta.cc/3JXM4SF
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