Vice-Mayor Lane Joins HSC Executive Director in Stonewalling on Homeless Shelter Questions

AN E-MAIL TO VICE-MAYOR DON LANE FORWARDING MY CRITICISMS OF A SENTINEL STORY PRAISING MARTINEZ

I e-mailed Don Lane a critical review of a puffpiece Sentinel story praising Martinez's new policies of collusion with homeless-hostile groups.
The Sentinel story can be found at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_16896094?IADID=Search-www.santacruzsentinel.com-www.santacruzsentinel.com

My comments, sent out in an e-mail to the HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedon) e-mail list and to Lane and others as well as posting the comments on the Sentinel's comment page:

"The Homeless Services Center came from the Homeless Community Resource Center, which sprang from A Free Meal which evolved from Calamity's Cupboard way back in 1989. The objective of the Downtown Association and the Wormhoudt City Council was to get homeless protest against the sleeping ban, police violence, and attacks on food servers out of sight.

It's the same objective today only the ambitious Martinez management now panders to the local NIMBY bigots to encourage funding.

A secondary motive, given the repetitive sound of Martinez's speeches and her stonewalling on important questions about program accessibility, seems to be possible political advancement. I'm told by someone who's attended her recent appearances that she sounds like a City Council candidate repeating a pat speech whereever she goes. See "Homeless Services Center Colludes With Police and City Attorney" at the Santa Cruz Indymedia site for more details.

The Martinez regime seems to be introducing slave labor and a colonizing of the public spaces around the Homeless Services Center to make them "forbidden zones" for homeless members of the public. As other posters have noted, this impacts disabled people rather severely.

It also turns the whole HSC into a cosmetic enterprise to placate those (like some posters here) who want to see the homeless run out of Santa Cruz (classic definition of NIMBY---Not-In-My-Backyard).

The article makes no mention of the fact that there's no shelter for 90% of the homeless each night (1500-2000 homeless in
Santa Cruz; 180 beds in winter, 60 in the summer).

Nor the increasing number of people who are becoming jobless and homeless.

Instead of attacking the banksters, generals, and political hacks at the top, it's nice to create and go after scapegoats at the bottom. Attack the powerless. Make them shovel trash. Deny them food if they hang around. Close the center during the day and then blame those who linger on the sidewalks because it bothers the businesses.

Want legal and police cover? Pull out the Drug War card. No need for any constitutional restraints any more. We're at war. On Drugs. In Afghanistan.

On our own poor.

This is a contemptible surrender by Martinez. An attempt to dress up the token homeless allowed to remain “on good behavior” in a job-scarce economy with less and less housing. It's being done to please Take Back Santa Cruz style bigots who delight in destroying homeless survival gear when they find it in their "clean-up's" and define homeless survival camping as "crime".

Nice work, Monica. Great coverage, J.M. Brown. At least this tells us clearly once and for all where Vice-Mayor Don Lane stands. The great champion of the poor who helped making sleeping outside three times a misdemeanor and made it illegal to sit on a public bench for more than an hour."



LANE'S RESPONSE

From: dlane [at] cityofsantacruz.com
To: rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:24:52 -0800
Subject: RE: Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center Joins "Trollbuster" Team

Robert-
Here is one comment I received in response to your email below:

"Another fine example of why Robert has been such an effective advocate over these many years.
If he could organize half as well as he can imitate 8 year-old children and Fox News commentators with his name-calling, he might have actually accomplished something for the people he purports to advocate for."


MY SECOND E-MAIL TO LANE--A PUBLIC RECORDS ACT REQUEST--SEEKING THE INFORMATION HE AND MARTINEZ ARE HOLDING BACK

From: Robert Norse [mailto:rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 9:29 AM
To: Don Lane
Cc: Katherine Beiers; Steve Pleich; Monica Martinez; Sally (HSC) Williams; lioness [at] got.net; Martin Bernal; Beggerbacker Becky Johnson; J.M. Brown
Subject: Public Records Act Request Regarding Homeless Services Center Policies, as far as the City is Informed


Hi, Don.

I'm still waiting for some informative response to the five questions I asked the City's official shelter provider executive director Monica Martinez. I also asked you at City Council--and previously---for some answers regarding current policies at the city-funded Homeless Services Center [HSC]. As a former Board member and long-time Council member, I believe you do have access to this information. You declined to provide it to me, and further stated you would refuse to ask the HSC these relatively simple questions. Since you decline to help me informally, I am forced to make a formal request, which will take up staff time. If at some point, you decide to be more cooperative, please contact me by phone.

Please provide access to all records relating to the following questions:

1. The policy of the Homeless Services Center regarding its shelter policies. Can anyone who wants to sign up on the HSC waiting list for a shelter bed? Are there specific requirements or prohibitions? Is this
still the case now that the Armory is open?

2. Do you gave a person signing any receipt or other indication that they have signed up for the bed?

3. Is there any requirement that a person "check in" to stay on the sign-up list and if so how frequently?

4. Is there someone by phone at the HSC available each night to advise someone calling in whether the shelter is full? What is the number to call?

5. Is the HSC refusing to provide a letter acknowledging that it was full on a night was cited under MC 6.36 for sleeping or camping if the person cited wasn't on the HSC waiting list on the date of the citation?

Please provide any records including any correspondence with the Homeless Services Center; financial interactions, grants, contributions; , Such information should include the nightly number of homeless people housed by this facility including the Paul Lee Loft, the Winter Armory Shelter, the Page Smith Community House, the River St. Shelter, the Rebele Family Shelter and any other relevant shelter providers, information about their capacity, whether such facilities were full, not available, or under repair on any particular night,

Please make available any documents as described below involving correspondence between members of the city council and/or staff regarding relevant HSC policies, This would include all city departments having anything to do with homeless shelter, including but not limited to the SCPD, City Attorney's Office, City Manager's Office,

Under rights granted me by the California Public Records Act (CPRA), I am requesting to view all public notices, regulations, ordinances, laws, guidelines, and discussions by elected Santa Cruz officials and City staff about and descriptions of any such records. Any documents from the Homeless Services Center made available to the City Council, of course, also fall under this heading.

If you determine that any or all or the information qualifies for an exemption from disclosure, I ask you to note whether, as is normally the case under the Act, the exemption is discretionary, and if so whether it is necessary in this case to exercise your discretion to withhold the information.

In case you decide that any of the information is exempt, please explain how the interest in not disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing it.

If you determine that some but not all of the information is exempt from disclosure and that you intend to withhold it, I ask that you redact it for the time being and make the rest available as requested.

If these documents are available in an electronic format such as Portable Document Format (PDF), MS Word Document (DOC), Rich Text Format (RTF) or plain electronic text (TXT), then I ask that they be provided to me in one of those forms, preferably as PDF.

I would like to view any relevant documents to determine which ones I will want to copy.

Thank you for your assistance.

If you have any questions, feel free too contact me at 831-423-4833.

Merry Xmas.

Robert Norse


LANE'S RESPONSE TO MY PUBLIC RECORDS ACT REQUEST

From: dlane [at] cityofsantacruz.com
To: rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com
CC: shaberman [at] cityofsantacruz.com
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:37:33 -0800
Subject: RE: Public Records Act Request Regarding Homeless Services Center Policies, as far as the City is Informed

Hi Robert,

If you have a request from the City for CITY documents, I believe you should contact the City Clerk's office... though I suspect you are more knowledgeable than I am on this particular process.

Nice try on the HSC questions...but since HSC is not a city government entity, it is not under any obligation to respond to your Public Records Act request.

As you know, I am not a spokesperson for the Homeless Services Center organization and not able to provide you with the information you requested from HSC. It is up to Executive Director to respond to requests for information in the context of administering the operations of the organization. I serve on the HSC board as a volunteer and am selected to that position by the HSC board. There is no relationship between my city position and my service on the HSC Board.

Personally speaking, I support Monica refusing to be bullied by childish name-calling and intimidation.

I have to wonder if you ever ask yourself why you do so much name-calling and undertake so much bullying and belittling behavior. Perhaps you might consider ending this kind of behavior in order to improve your relationship with those you would like to influence.

Don


CITY MANAGER DELAYS PUBLIC RECORDS ACT RESPONSE UNTIL JANUARY

From: mbernal [at] cityofsantacruz.com
To: rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com
CC: tgraves [at] cityofsantacruz.com; dlane [at] cityofsantacruz.com
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:00:57 -0800
Subject: RE: Public Records Act Request Regarding Homeless Services Center Policies, as far as the City is Informed

Robert,

FYI, the City is currently in a two week furlough. Your request will be processed when City Hall opens in January.

Martin