Lots to share with you this week. First of all, it's been a long, hard road for Elvis Summers and his team. Yesterday, he shared with us the fantastic news that the City of LA will return the Tiny Homes they illegally confiscated. The city has also offered to go through their unused lots and find some small ones that they can lease to Elvis. But this battle hasn't been easy. I want to share with you some key facts to keep in mind going forward: Over the weekend, a friend shared with me an article by Kevin Walker of Random Length News titled Joe Buscaino, Saving San Pedro: Cease and Desist: http://www.randomlengthsnews.com/joe-buscaino-saving-san-pedro The gist: "On April 5th, District 15 Councilman Joe Buscaino and founders of the Facebook group, Saving San Pedro, were dealt a cease-and-desist letter, requesting a halt to 'defamatory statements' against local homeless people." Upon visiting this Facebook group, I was stunned to see a post by public figure officer Deon Joseph. He mentions twice that this is a "scare tactic". Yeah. He stated: "I hear someone sent you all a letter to stop taking pics of the squalor you see. No one can tell you not to film or photograph anything in a public place. It is a scare tactic. But not one based on the law. You have a right to film anything in a public space. Streets, parks, bridges, sidewalks are public spaces. Forms open to the public, unless there is an agreement not to, are also ok. You cannot take pics where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. Like in someone's home or tent (without their permission), hotel rooms or bathrooms public or private, locker room etc... Taking pics in those areas open you up to lawsuits. Please consult an attorney. I'm sure they will tell you the same thing. As I said. It's a scare tactic." Hmmm, is THIS policing? Seems more like what the Paparazzi does for a living. I wrote an open letter to officer Joseph (and tagged him on Google Plus) but have yet to hear back from him: http://roserightswrongs.blogspot.ca/2016/04/an-open-letter-to-officer-deon-joseph.html Wanting to understand this on a deeper level, I read this 10-page report by Lindsay Walter in The Circuit, Berkeley Law Scholarship Repository, titled: Judicial Limits in Addressing Homelessness: Desertrain v. City of Los Angeles: http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=clrcircuit Key points: 1) Legalized discrimination against homeless people often arises under laws that are facially neutral but discriminatory in their effect and enforcement. 2) City municipal codes tend to adopt neutral language to prohibit people from doing activities that only those without shelter must do in public. Part of her conclusion: "The lack of permanent shelter leaves over 610,000 people across the United States vulnerable to legally sanctioned police harassment and criminalization for merely their public presence." "Without the ability to make homelessness per se illegal, municipalities are left with limited and expensive policy options to not only reduce the visibility of homeless people but also to address the root causes of homelessness." I was suddenly reminded of mayor Garcetti's 2016 State of the City Address. On page 24 he stated: "Over the next four years, the City of Los Angeles will provide education and job training to an additional 1,500 former gang members, thanks to the leadership of City Attorney Feuer. And over the next two years, we will be hiring 5,000 new city employees — targeting recruitment in communities with the most need, including ex-offenders." Source: http://www.lamayor.org/sites/g/files/wph446/f/landing_pages/files/2016%20State%20of%20the%20City%20Address.pdf What in heavens is going on?? What about the middle class that is living pay cheque-to-pay cheque? Those who NEVER were involved in crime but are barely making ends meet?! How come he didn't address the five (yes, FIVE) jails that were closed? LAPD Chief Charlie Beck admitted on Februrary 4th, 2016 they were currently closed "due to civilian staffing issues" but would re-open within three years. Yeah, three years! Holy cow, this means that thousands of offenders were put back out on the streets instead of in prison! Source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/02/04/lapd-chief-beck-hears-from-san-pedro-residents-fed-up-with-rising-crime It's no wonder violent crime is up. And you cannot blame homeless people (who are 13 times more likely to be victimized). The homeless are being fed to the lions. The problem I am trying to illustrate is that from the top down, there is a perception problem. It begins with politicians and trickles down to law enforcement and then society at large. All of this needs to change drastically – which is what Elvis Summers and his team are doing. The Tiny Homes movement is proving that housing the homeless works. Not exploiting them, shaming them, and criminalizing them. In a March 29th, 2016 Harvard Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review post by Alice Wang titled The Continuing Criminalization of Homelessness in Los Angeles: http://harvardcrcl.org/the-continuing-criminalization-of-homelessness-in-los-angeles Wang noted the following: "Several instances in which Los Angeles police allegedly acted illegally: the police took and destroyed a plaintiff’s tent without a notice and warrant; the police arrested two plaintiffs for possession of a stolen shopping cart even though they insisted the shopping carts in question were not theirs; and the police seized the medications and other personal property of one of the wrongfully arrested plaintiffs without giving him a receipt for the property. The lawsuit contends that the City violated the Fourth, Fifth, Fourteenth Amendments, and other federal and state statutes in these instances." She concluded: "The City needs to stop the criminalization of homelessness and start respecting the dignity of its homeless residents." And added, "Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Cedillo recently complained that the city was being constantly sued over its treatment of the homeless and [is] constantly losing." And a post by Sara Rankin titled The Crime of Homelessness & Guest Blog by UC Berkeley's Policy Advocacy Clinic: http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legislation_law/2015/03/the-crime-of-homelessness-guest-blog-by-uc-berkeleys-policy-advocacy-clinic.html hit home the following points: "After examining municipal codes for 58 California cities and categorizing relevant code sections based on restricted activity, we analyzed the number of anti-homeless laws in each city. These laws are more commonly referred to as “quality-of-life” laws. We rejected this misnomer because these laws do not enhance the lives of housed or homeless people." She added, "More shockingly, cities are increasing the pace of enactment of such laws." Rankin explained: "As native Californians, we were disheartened to discover how little progress our communities had made in terms of recognizing the basic human rights of all people ... The pervasiveness of these laws across our state indicated that some of the more infamous parts of our American history—laden with laws criminalizing people for no reason other than being “undesirable” in the eyes of their community—lived on." She concluded: "...we, as a community, have the obligation to ensure that people are not criminalized for their mere existence; and we, as policymakers, elected officials, educators, lawyers, students, neighbors, and members of shared geographic space, are the root from which change must emanate." And Rankin cautioned: "... passing a Right to Rest Bill in California will not be enough. Enforcement patterns indicate that harassment and criminalization are the primary tools police agencies have to remove “unwanted” people from the streets. These practices reflect political agendas that respond to public sentiment, suggesting a larger cultural shift needs to happen." The larger cultural shift needs to happen with all of us. We need to shut down those who shame the homeless or those who help them. Some of you may not know this but "Obama did little for the homeless until late in his presidency when his Justice Department declared that the camping bans were a violation of the constitution and the Department of Housing and Urban Development told cities that they could face cuts in funding if they continued to criminalize the homeless." Source: http://sparechangenews.net/2016/04/homes-not-jails-santa-cruz-city-council-votes-to-continue-the-sleeping-ban And "ensuring the right to housing" will be a main focus at U.N. Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in October 2016. Cities in California could get "special attention" for violating the human rights of its residents wrote Leilani Farha. Keith McHenry also made mention of a GOOD ROLE MODEL: Portland, Oregon’s Mayor Charlie Hales. Between 9 pm and 7 am, people can place sleeping bags on the sidewalk and some other limited areas, covered by a tarp. This mayor is also considering the purchase of as many as 200 disaster-relief pods. Hales' chief of stafff, Josh Alpert, added: "Nobody should have to sleep outside, but until we have enough indoor beds for people, our goal and responsibility is to ensure that people have a safe place to sleep and basic human needs met." And did you know that on April 16th, 2016 Leslie Evans of the Southwest LAPD Community Police Advisory Board https://medium.com/@TinyhouseLA/opposition-mounts-over-city-seizure-of-tiny-homes-for-the-homeless-6c98d06b7d5f#.xm3yinc0g brought home the point that Garcetti's plan for the homeless will take 10 years to implement. And "to even get on the drawing board" it first must pass "multiple ballots with a two-thirds majority". Voting may not even be scheduled until next spring (2017). Evans final point: "The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is asking for $120 billion, 65 times more than the supposedly unreachable budget to tackle homeless housing ... maybe the MTA project should be scaled back a little — one or two 64ths? — to help solve a genuine humanitarian crisis." I have concerns about what the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is trying to legislate. For details, see my blog post We ONLY Have Until April 11th, 2016: HUD Wants to Criminalize Tiny Homes or RVs as Primary Residences: http://roserightswrongs.blogspot.ca/2016/04/we-only-have-until-april-11th-2016.html A total of 5,422 comments were received and the current stage of the process is at the "Proposed Rule" point. You can watch with me for the "Final Rule" here: https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;dct=FR+PR+N+O+SR;rpp=10;po=0;D=HUD-2016-0013 History has taught me that relabeling usually means something will be included or excluded by some ordinance or law in the future. Remember Tiny Homes were acceptable and legal at first, but later relabeled "bulk trash" later on. I think we need to be mindful of how brainwashed society (including law enforcement) have become to our homeless population. I even see this played out on games like "Plants vs. Zombies" for example. We ALL look like zombies when we are sleep deprived. And while you and are safely tucking ourselves into a warm bed at night, the homeless have to keep one eye open for criminals and one eye open for law enforcement and THEN try to sleep. When day breaks, they need to become invisible, lest people like those in groups run by Joe Buscaino et al. are humiliated online publicly (without their permission or knowledge). How it is that Facebook allows these groups to continue will probably be the basis of my next petition. Bottom line: I'm thrilled with Elvis Summers' announcement but I don't think we should drop our guard just yet. We need to document and expose any wrongdoing (by anyone in society). No one is above the law (including the City of LA and law enforcement). We are all united in this cause for the long run! Take good care, Rose