Posted on 08/04/2003 5:57:29 PM PDT by bicycle thug
While bird watchers and joggers passed by, the Arcata Police Department and homeless advocates were locked in a showdown adjacent to the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary on South I Street last week.
Activists made their stand at "Camp Aerial" - a plot of City property west of the Little Lakes Industry development site. Events were punctuated by the delivery and removal of a B & B porta-potty, and culminated in the arrest of homeless advocate and self-described "Free" Tad Robinson on Friday afternoon.
Monday, the activists set up a formal, if illegal, camping site with tents, an information table laden with literature and signs admonishing City officials for an alleged anti-homeless campaign. Robinson, who's been a regular contributor during City Council public comment periods, took his criticism outdoors and accused Arcata of trying to drive the homeless out of town. He also hit APD for what he said was selective enforcement of City ordinances.
Under the banner proclaiming "Right to Live," about a dozen activists of all ages performed sit- and sleep-ins at the site, interrupted by frequent visits from Park Ranger Bob Murphy, who announced violations of trespassing laws.
Councilmember Dave Meserve paid several visits to Camp Aerial throughout the week.
"I don't think it will go away by ignoring it," he said about the homeless issue. "What are the responsibilities of the City?" he asked about caring for the unhoused. "I think it's something we should discuss openly." Meserve said that the activists on South I were attempting to keep a clean camp, and said that he believed their claims that officers had dumped out bags of collected trash at the Marsh site in an effort to make the campers look messier than they were.
Arcata Police Chief Randy Mendosa bristled at Robinson's accusation of "unequal enforcement." He said Arcata's officers are some of the most compassionate members of the town's housed society, having regular interactions with homeless residents.
"The only thing the police are doing is enforcing the laws we were hired to enforce. What we're trying to do is to deal with this with as much compassion as we can. I mean, the jail's too full already," he said.
Camp Aerial
Robinson has camped at the site on-and-off for several months, but it became a politically charged piece of property last March after the City directed a Department of Corrections work crew from the High Rock Conservation Camp to remove trees and cut grasses down. Robinson and a group of supporters decried the "prison labor," claiming that the work was an attempt to drive the homeless out and staged two days of rain-soaked protests, including an overnight stay on the Arcata Plaza.
But the latest controversy was sparked by a deliberate plan to formally establish Camp Aerial as a campsite.
"The City has a lot of land," Robinson stated. Attempting to address public concerns about human waste near homeless campsites, McKinleyville resident Roger Herick applied for a special events permit through the City, rented a porta-potty from B & B Portable Toilets for $60 and had it delivered to the site on Wednesday.
Within 24 hours, Ranger Murphy had B& B remove the rented latrine.
Robinson and Herick said that they were unaware that they had to wait a required 30 days for approval before setting up a toilet. But, they said, organizations such as the Arcata Chamber of Commerce were allowed to slide on the 30-day stipulation in preparing for Plaza events.
Conflict and cost
Not so, said City Manager Dan Hauser. All organizations have to wait a month prior to approval.
Given all the problems the City is facing with state budgetary constraints beginning to impact Arcata's finances, why devote precious resources to forcing the homeless off of campsites?
"Anything that jeopardizes our insurance leaves the City wide open," Hauser said. As a member of the Redwood Empire Municipal Insurance Fund (REMIF), Arcata benefits from lower rates – potentially saving $2 million in general funds – by not taking chances. Allowing illegal camping on City property, even overlooking a porta-potty, would give tacit approval and expose Arcata to liability for any activity that occurred on the site, Hauser asserted. Should a camper become injured on the site, Arcata would be held responsible as well as be accountable for any crimes that might occur there.
"One of my jobs is what's called risk management and I have to evaluate what is the risk to the City for certain activities," he said. "There's a considerable risk," he said of the South I camp. "We don't know exactly what the soils are. It's all part of the Brownfield cleanup. They've had open fires. That creates another danger, were the fire spreading to other areas."
Brownout
On Thursday, Environmental Services Deputy Director Mark Andre began posting signs which announce soil contamination at the former mill site and warn of potential health dangers.
"The timing had a lot to do with this," Hauser said of the sign-posting and confrontation at the camp. "That's why the fence was put up on the other side of the road and why there will probably have to be a fence on this side of the road." On Friday, Public Works was preparing to post a cyclone fence similar to the one surrounding the Little Lake Industry site.
"Well it's not in the Marsh, and basically it's the closest realistic place," said Herick of the choice of campsites.
Mayor Bob Ornelas suggested that if Herick cared so much for the homeless, he should invite them to camp at his McKinleyville home. "I did invite them all to come up to my place," Herick said. "But they felt that they wanted to stick it out in Arcata... All they want is to at least start a dialogue for some change."
A Tad confrontational?
Herick sarcastically commented that what society really craved was a homeless petting zoo. "That way people could throw them some whiskey and crack and popcorn," he said. Herick said that the issue wasn't going away and would continue to be made public. "I can't see any alternative in these times with the national economy."
"It's not our intent to go out and hassle people," said Hauser. "We don't do that just for fun. We know Tad's been camping out since the last flurry of activity. Bottom line, as long as it was just him camping out, out of site, not creating a lot of mess, we'd let it go. But it's when it becomes this public spectacle where clearly his objective is publicity and confrontation. We have to react."
"It seems to me that he's trying to cause a confrontation with the police department," Chief Mendosa said of Robinson. "I've tried to explain to him that it's not about the police. Our job is to just enforce the current laws that are on the books. It's not our say."
On Friday afternoon, Sgt. Dave Brown, backed by a half-dozen APD and University Police Department officers, announced to activists that they were violating California Penal Code sections 602L and 647J - violations for unlawful lodging on closed property.
All except Robinson prepared to disperse. Robinson was arrested and transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. City workers moved in and dismantled the camp.
The City later issued a press release stating that the enforcement stemmed from concern for disruption of the toxin-laced soil and "damage to the area due to the human occupation (trash, human waste and structure building)." The statement claimed that human feces, dogs, fire rings and soil disruption were discovered during the camp cleanout.
Arcata's homeless: lied about, harassed and denied basic human rights
Then I click on "Media," then "Newspapers," and then The Arcada Eye.
Note:Humguide= Humbolt county guide.
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