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https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/federal-court-cities-cannot-criminalize-homelessness/552232/
A federal court ruled on April 1, 2019 it will not review a decision that cities cannot arrest people for sleeping on public property unless they have provided adequate shelter. The case, Martin v. City of Boise, was before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling could still be taken up the U.S. Supreme Court.
An earlier post about Martin v. City of Boise: https://sffnb.org/2018/09/09/court-affirms-right-of-homeless-persons-to-not-be-punished-for-sleeping-in-public/
The article omits Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs, which also fought against food sharing bans.
San Francisco Food Not Bombs showed solidarity with Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs when it was resisting new laws criminalizing sharing free food. Here are some reminders:
https://sffnb.org/2014/11/14/san-francisco-fnb-stands-in-solidarity-with-fort-lauderdale/
https://sffnb.org/2018/08/27/federal-court-backs-activists-who-feed-homeless-in-fort-lauderdale/
Julian Mark from Mission Local reports that BART will be installing additional benches at the SW 16th/Mission BART Plaza:
“The former District 8 supervisor [BART Director Bevan Dufty] said he caught wind of some concerns that the [ping pong] table was installed instead of more benches, but he stressed that more benches will be coming soon, as fewer benches have — so far — replaced the number that had existed before the plaza was renovated. A ‘new style’ of benches are coming,’ he said.” (https://missionlocal.org/2018/12/ping-pong-table-appears-at-16th-street-bart-plaza-for-the-people/)
Contact information: BART Director Bevan Dufty–510-464-6095, bevan.dufty@bart.gov
Earlier coverage:
https://sffnb.org/2018/11/05/bart-downgrades-seating-at-16th-street-mission-plaza/
https://sffnb.org/2018/10/11/bart-board-addresses-16th-street-mission-street-bart-plaza/
https://sffnb.org/2018/10/08/bart-removes-benches-from-16th-street-mission-street-plaza/
Please read Yesica Prado’s San Francisco Public Press article, including excellent photos of SF Food Not Bombs volunteers sharing free vegetarian food: https://sfpublicpress.org/news/2018-12/state-law-cracks-down-on-free-public-meals
Earlier posts about AB-2178:
https://sffnb.org/2018/10/17/governor-brown-signs-controversial-law-on-charitable-food/
https://sffnb.org/2018/09/21/governor-brown-signs-ab-2178-into-law/
On November 3rd, BART installed three concrete seats at its southwest 16th Street/Mission Plaza replacing the six or more benches it removed during a construction project in September.
Earlier posts:
https://sffnb.org/2018/10/11/bart-board-addresses-16th-street-mission-street-bart-plaza/
https://sffnb.org/2018/10/08/bart-removes-benches-from-16th-street-mission-street-plaza/
SF Examiner’s Laura Waxmann photographed the new seats on November 3rd.
These newly installed seats are smaller and less comfortable than the proper metal benches with backs that BART removed in September. Here is a photo from the BART website (https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2018/news20180905) that shows the old benches.
The old benches were wonderful; nothing was wrong with them at all. Most importantly, the plaza had at least six of them compared to the three replacement seats.
Instead of improving public amenities, BART is moving backwards at the SW 16th Street/Mission Plaza, from the iron age to the stone age.
BART’s recent renovation of this plaza, including the cruel downgrading of seating, occurred without public notification or discussion. In fact, the only update about the benches came from BART Director Bevan Dufty’s private facebook account, viewable only to people logged into their facebook accounts.
Please contact the following people to try to get adequate and at least equivalent replacement seating at the SW 16th Street/Mission BART Plaza:
BART Director Bevan Dufty–510-464-6095, bevan.dufty@bart.gov
BART staffer Molly Burke, molly.burke@bart.gov
SF Supervisor Hillary Ronen–415-554-5144, Hillary.Ronen@sfgov.org
Katherine Hamilton of the East Bay Express covers Governor Brown’s recent signing of AB-2178, which requires groups like Food Not Bombs to register as limited service charitable feeding operations and to pay a fee to the local enforcement agency.
You can read the article here: https://www.eastbayexpress.com/WhatTheFork/archFives/2018/10/16/brown-signs-controversial-law-on-charitable-food
Earlier posts: https://sffnb.org/2018/09/21/governor-brown-signs-ab-2178-into-law/
From Hamilton’s article:
“Food Not Bombs will hold meetings at Omni Commons in Oakland on Nov. 10, 11, and 12 to discuss a statewide response to the new law.”
According to the SF Examiner (http://www.sfexaminer.com/bart-quadruple-power-washing-mission-street-stations/), the BART Board of Directors addressed the status of the 16th Street/Mission Street Plaza at today’s meeting.
Some consternation arose from the homeless community when BART removed benches at 16th Street station during cleaning efforts in September.
Dufty, however, delivered some more news Thursday directly addressing those concerns — the benches will return Nov. 1, he said.
“BART staff knows this is important to me and Supervisor Hillary Ronen,” Dufty wrote on Facebook. “My values would not allow the removal of seating areas from people who are vulnerable or just needing a place to sit.”
Once again, here is the contact information for the elected officials for the 16th Street/Mission Street Plaza:
BART Director Bevan Dufty–510-464-6095, bevan.dufty@bart.gov
SF Supervisor Hillary Ronen–415-554-5144, Hillary.Ronen@sfgov.org
In addition, the most relevant BART staff person is Molly Burke, molly.burke@bart.gov
Earlier coverage: https://sffnb.org/2018/10/08/bart-removes-benches-from-16th-street-mission-street-plaza/
Without public discussion or advanced notice, BART closed most of the southwest 16th Street/Mission Street Plaza from September 10, 2018 to September 20, 2018 for construction. The reported purposes of this project were to resurface and to deep clean the plaza. BART removed the approximately six benches from the plaza and has not reinstalled them, denying people places to sit in a public space.
San Francisco Food Not Bombs shares food in that plaza every Thursday at 6 PM. Please join us for a delicious, vegetarian (usually vegan) meal: https://sffnb.org/serving-schedule/.
The San Francisco Examiner covered the cruel removal of the benches: http://www.sfexaminer.com/16th-mission-bart-cleanup-results-loss-benches/.
According to elected BART Director Bevan Dufty, BART will install new benches by November 1, 2018. Dufty announced this time frame in a posting on his Facebook page, viewable only to people logged into their Facebook accounts. Why is an elected official disseminating information that should be universally available exclusively through a private website requiring log in access?
Will BART actually replace the benches? Was their removal part of the ongoing, cynical campaign by public agencies to force poor people from public spaces? Why did BART order the new benches too late for their immediate installation at the time of the reopening of the plaza?
Several years ago, the SFMTA permanently removed public seating from its plaza at the Castro Street Muni station. Likewise, the SF Recreation and Parks Department permanently closed the McCoppin Hub park in early 2017. Its status is unchanged since our last postings about that shameful fiasco: https://sffnb.org/2018/03/03/demonstration-gardens-relocate-to-still-closed-mccoppin-hub/ and https://sffnb.org/2017/11/24/mccoppin-hub-indefinitely-locked/.
Stay tuned. Please contact the following relevant elected officials to hold them accountable and to insure the replacement of the benches at the SW 16th Street/Mission Street BART Plaza:
BART Director Bevan Dufty–510-464-6095, bevan.dufty@bart.gov
SF Supervisor Hillary Ronen–415-554-5144, Hillary.Ronen@sfgov.org
Steve Martinot’s essay explains the recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, affirming the right of homeless people to sleep in public. Martinot brings the issue home to the Bay Area, specifically to Berkeley. You can read the essay here: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/02/the-constitution-and-homelessness/
Here is an earlier post about the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision: https://sffnb.org/2018/09/09/court-affirms-right-of-homeless-persons-to-not-be-punished-for-sleeping-in-public/
On September 18, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB-2178, making it the law in California.
We described AB-2178’s new restrictions on the ability of volunteer and non-profit community groups to share free food: https://sffnb.org/2018/09/14/call-governor-jerry-brown-to-veto-ab-2178-which-would-restrict-our-right-to-share-free-food/
From the text of AB-2178:
The bill would define that operation as an operation for food service to a consumer solely for providing charity, that is conducted by a nonprofit charitable organization, as defined, and whose food service is limited to any of specified functions. The bill would specify that the operation would not include a temporary food facility or a nonprofit charitable temporary food facility, as specified. The bill would prohibit the operation from providing food service unless it has registered with the local enforcement agency, with specified exceptions involving performance of a certain function or operation in conjunction with a food bank, and would require a limited service charitable feeding operation subject to registration, or a food bank, if applicable, to submit certain information to the agency.
In short, AB-2178 would require groups, like San Francisco Food Not Bombs, to register with the local enforcement agency in order to continue sharing free home-cooked meals with anyone who wants one as we have been doing without any incidents or problems for many years.
The California Legislature and Governor Brown have made our sharing of food a misdemeanor crime: “By creating a new crime and by imposing duties on local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.”
Food Not Bombs does not define itself as a “charitable organization.” We share food in order to fulfill a basic human need currently unmet by US society. In addition, as the name indicates, Food Not Bombs is a criticism and protest of the grossly misguided priorities of the political economy.
San Francisco Food Not Bombs 