PBNB ALERT - Witnesses Needed for Camp Paradise Eviction in Santa Cruz

PBNB Readers;
This seemed to be an urgent item. For those of you who might be so inclined to participate in this eviction, i felt compelled to get this information out. The next Peoples Bark News Berkeley issue will be coming out early Monday evening. i have also included a day of action against the Gap
(Saturday, Dec. 1) at the end of this urgent bulletin.

no peace without justice,

john vance, editor/coordinator
A First Amendment Center
Peoples Bark News Berkeley
Berkeley, Ca
http://www.freezepeach.cjb.net



From: "Becky Johnson" Becky_Johnson [at] sbcglobal.net>
FROM: FRIENDS OF CAMP PARADISE

STORMCLOUDS OVER CAMP PARADISE
Residents expect Camp's removal 7AM Friday morning

November 29, 2001
by Becky Johnson


Santa Cruz, Ca. -- As torrential rains pour down on Camp Paradise, the green light to bust it is shining. The City Council, under Emily Reilly's leadership has called for the removal without another location determined "as soon as possible." The Courts have ruled under Commissioner Irwin Joseph's November 26th ruling that camping is "not a necessity." And the National Guard Armory is now open with an extra 75 shelter spaces providing the council with the excuse that shelter is available.

Larry Templeton, co-counder of Camp Paradise, after conferring with SCPD officers at the camp earlier today, believes they will come tommorrow at 7 AM to remove the camp. "We ain't going to stop 'em," he told Friends of Camp Paradise neighbor, Carl Wilson. "We want as many supporters as possible to come down and witness the police removal of the camp." Larry is considering setting up the camp again somewhere else and inviting all the homeless campers in the City to join him.

Nevermind that few will be able to use those armory spaces. Those with animals, active contagious respiratory diseases, weakend immune systems, unaccompanied minors or in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction and warned by their counselors to stay away from people who are using. Add to that list, families with children who are afraid of CPS child seizures. Couples who want to sleep together at night and those who have jobs during the day that don't allow them to make the 3PM - 3:30PM daily sign-up out at 115 Coral St. And now, with all the anti-terrorism requirements, those seeking shelter in the armory must have current state-certified ID. Many homeless people have lost everything they have so many times, that few can qualify for the spaces, and Camp Paradise residents are not exception. "That's just about everyone in the camp," said Kay Phillips who was convicted on November 26th for illegally setting up a campsite.

Homeless Resource Officer Eric Seily visited Camp Paradise earlier today and gave everyone there a big yellow sheet with large WARNING letters informing them they are violating Municipal 6.36. He promised to be back tommorrow to remove anything that had not been removed yet. Seily has made these warnings before and nothing came of it. But no one believes he is talking idly now. Vice-Mayor Emily Reilly, like a demented Martha Stewart, has expressed impatience that police have not yet removed the camp. Newly elected Mayor Christopher Krohn's first act as mayor may be the removal of Camp Paradise.

DIRECTIONS TO CAMP PARADISE: Take Ocean St. to the Denny's Restaurant near Hwy 17 and Hwy 1. Turn on Felker St. and take to the end. Walk up the levee, taking the first right onto a dirt path which goes under the Hwy 1 Bridge over the San Lorenzo River. Follow the path about 300 yds. upriver from the bridge to the bridge over the goldfish pond.

COME DOWN AND BE A WITNESS TO THE POGROM OF HOMELESS PEOPLE!!

For more information: Call Carl Wilson at 425-4787
Call HUFF at (831) 423-HUFF for a recorded message of the latest information
Call Mayor Christopher Krohn at (831) 420-5020 ext 3 and urge him to prevent the removal of the camp until another site is available for them to go to. By e-mail citycouncil [at] ci.santa-cruz.ca.us Attn: Krohn and Reilly
Call Vice-Mayor Emily Reilly and ask her why she is unrelenting to homeless people 420-5020 ext. 7
To contact Becky Johnson e-mail at becky_johnson [at] sbcglobal.net
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From: "chalice" <chalice [at] wco.com>
Subject: ***International Day of Action Against the Gap***
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 12:45:41 -0800
PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE

Save the Redwoods-Boycott the Gap Campaign
415-731-7924 http://www.gapsucks.org
Mary Bull - 415-509-1188 (cell), Mark Hilovsky
415-793-6187 (cell)
-Mary Pjerrou, Redwood Coast Watersheds Alliance 707-877-3405

To: All media Date: 11/29/01

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST THE GAP
Over 150 actions world-wide
200-ft clothesline denounces Fisher logging, Gap sweatshops at SF Protest Union of Concerned Santas leads parade & song-fest for global justice & a sustainable planet

December 1, 2001, 12 Noon, Powell & Geary,
Union Square, SF

With Gap Inc posting a $179 million loss this quarter, the last thing the flailing retail giant needs is an international boycott breathing down its neck, but the three-year-old campaign is stronger than ever and growing, asserts Campaign Coordinator, Mary Bull, “When we kicked off the Gap Boycott on November 27, 1998, there were protests in 44 cities across the US—for this year’s anniversary event, people have signed up to do over 150 actions across the US, Canada, and the UK. Our network is now nearly 1500 strong, including activists in Japan, France, Switzerland, and even Brazil, where there are no Gap stores (the activists leaflet tourists at the airport!).
And we’re just one of many groups determined to stop the extremely exploitative practices of Gap Inc and the Fisher family who controls it.”

“The pressure is definitely mounting on the Fishers and the Gap to change their policies in the forest, where they are destroying the last of the redwood ecosystem on 235,000 acres, and in the factory, where they use sweatshop labor to produce their goods,” stated Mark Hilovsky, a general contractor and forest activist, “Not only has the Gap been losing money for two years, they also just lost their motion to dismiss the class-action lawsuit filed against them and other retailers in January 1999 on behalf of sweatshop workers in Saipan. On top of that, the Fishers are currently the target of an environmental sign-on letter denouncing the phony green-label certification that they bought last fall for their redwood logging operations.”

“The Fishers' Mendocino Redwood Company ("MRC") has filed 60 new logging plans in 2001, totaling over 10,000 acres of logging. This represents a 150% increase in the total area of logging over the previous owner, Louisiana Pacific. About 80% of MRC logging plans contain clear cutting and toxic herbicide use,” stated Mary Pjerrou, President of the Redwood Coast Watersheds Alliance, a public interest group in Mendocino County.

Linda Perkins of the Albion River Watershed Protection Association said, “Recent MRC logging plans specifically target the last few patches of old growth habitat in Greenwood and Elk Creeks, where the endangered coho salmon and marbled murrelet face imminent extinction. In the battered Navarro River, which pours a ten mile mud plume out in the Pacific Ocean during winter rains, MRC recently filed over 1,000 acres of new logging. In the Albion River—where MRC is taking a huge portion (about 20%) of its annual cut—MRC has flatly refused to implement the recommendations of the National Marine Fisheries Service for protection of coho salmon, and has committed many other violations, including incorrect stream classifications, operating without valid permits, and destruction of spotted owl habitat.”

“The legal violations of the Fishers' logging company have become truly outrageous," said Pjerrou, whose non-profit group won two lawsuits against four MRC logging plans in early 2000. “MRC has filed over 100 new logging plans that ignore the judges' rulings. These rulings gave MRC very clear direction on how to conduct valid cumulative impacts assessment, including disclosure of their long term forest management plans and northern spotted owl surveys. Instead of obeying the law, MRC recently filed a legal brief attacking the judges' power to enforce their rulings. One judge accused MRC of legal 'gamesmanship' for filing frivolous and evasive motions aimed at exhausting the resources of public interest groups. When are we going to get even minimal compliance with the law from this so called
'green label' logging company?" Pjerrou asked.

Regarding the December 1 protests, Bull stated, “Given world events, we want to help shoppers connect the dots between consumerism and terrorism. Our message is, For lasting security, help end the global injustice and planetary destruction that cause misery, famine, resentment, terrorism, and war by becoming Consumers of Conscience. Its our manic and indiscriminate consumerism that fuels corporate exploitation, from sweatshops to deforestation. Don't underestimate the POWER of your shopping DOLLAR to change unjust corporate policies. For redwoods and workers, boycott Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy.”