Speaking before the Fresno City Council on June 19, Al Williams who is a homeless man in the Roeding Park area, said "you are trying to put people into a concentration camp…I'd rather be in jail than a concentration camp." Williams was referring to the city's plan to force all homeless people into a 30,000 square-foot lot that has no shade and is fenced in on all sides.
Cynthia Greene, who lives in a homeless encampment on G and California street, said she would not be forced "into that concentration camp. They don't have any shade, it is all fenced in, and full of goat head thorns." Williams and Greene spoke up for their rights as the City Council debated a new city ordinance that would ban camping (without a permit) in the City of Fresno. The ordinance is targeting the thousands of homeless people (the latest estimate is that there are over 8,000 homeless people) in this community. If passed, this ordinance would add to other ordinances directed at the homeless, including one passed last year that makes it a crime to push a shopping cart, and an earlier ordinance that makes it illegal to panhandle.
Becky Johnson, a homeless advocate in Santa Cruz, California, said the 9th Circuit Court ruled in 2006 that citing people for sleeping or sheltering themselves at night in a situation in which insufficient shelter exists, constitutes 'cruel and inhuman punishment' and is forbidden constitutionally. She said "those cited under Fresno's new law might turn right around and sue the City for damages."
The ordinance was recommended by a homeless task force headed by the Rev. Larry Arce. There are no homeless people on the "Homeless Task Force. The stated goal is the establishment of a plot of land where the homeless can camp. This is a part of Fresno Mayor Alan Autry's initiative to set up a "free zone" where homeless people can go.This camp would have portable toilets, trash bins, running water, and a trailer from the County of Fresno that will provide social services.
Big Sue
PHOTO/MIKE RHODES
Big Sue, a homeless woman, said she thought the city is trying to push them as far south as they can. Last month, City Council member Jerry Duncan called in to a local right wing talk show indicating the goal was to move homeless people so they are not so visible in the downtown. At a June 19 City Council meeting, Duncan complained about people who give the homeless food and clothing. He appeared to be seriously considering an ordinance that would ban people from feeding and clothing the homeless.
Can the City of Fresno successfully manage homeless people by forcing them onto a small plot of land in the industrial section of the city and passing increasingly repressive ordinances against them? Cynthia Greene said, "If this ordinance is passed it will be challenged. It was challenged in Los Angeles and they had to back down." The homeless in Fresno will use whatever tools they have to stop this cruel and inhumane treatment, stop the unconstitutional criminalization of poverty, and fight against their confinement in the proposed concentration camp. Cynthia Green said "homelessness is created by the government, not by the people. It is created by corporations, business both large and small." As hard as life is on the street, Cynthia said she would not go to what she describes as a "concentration camp" being set up by the City of Fresno.
For the complete version of this article, see:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/20/18428838.php
For a list of articles about the struggle for civil liberties for Fresno homeless people, see:
http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home/homelessness.htm
