City of Fresno evict the Homeless tent city group again.. on the day of a Homeless Forum

[annm4peace]

Why are Federal and State officials letting the City of Fresno abuse their power and miss use funds to help the Homeless ?


http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/28/18636453.php

By Mike Rhodes

This morning the Fresno Police Department evicted about 100 homeless people who were living on a vacant lot in downtown Fresno. The video below shows the homeless holding hands on the perimeter of the property saying they won’t move. FPD chief Jerry Dyer is then seen approaching the group and convincing them to pack up and move. Dyer tells them they can move to another vacant lot and that they (the police) will not stop them. When asked if they will be evicted from that encampment sometime in the future, Dyer says they will deal with that on another day.

Most of the homeless then packed up their belongings and moved to a vacant lot about 1 block north of the Ventura and F street encampment. Even as the homeless were moving to the new encampment, a bulldozer could be seen on the corner of Mono and F streets, within sight of the new encampment.





Homeless residents held a prayer service early in the morning in hopes that they could stop the eviction.




Residents at Ventura and F street broke down their tents and moved to another vacant lot in downtown Fresno.


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Report on Wednesday, when the City threatened the Homeless.. and also the corruption of those who hold the purse strings and abuse the money that is suppose to help the Homeless

The City of Fresno is attempting to evict the homeless from an encampment in downtown Fresno. The 4:28 minute video (below) is an interview with Christina Skaf Hathaway, staff attorney with Central California Legal Services, who is helping the homeless.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/26/18636326.php

The City of Fresno is on the attack again. They are willing to spend endless amounts of money to chase the homeless from one vacant lot to another. Why won’t they use some of their resources to provide a safe and legal campground where the homeless can live?

Assistant City Attorney Douglas Sloan said it is typical for the city to ask property owners “do you want trespassing laws enforced?” If the property owner agrees to “request” the eviction of the homeless, then they are not charged clean up and other fees. Sloan told the Williams brothers that they would work something out, since they were now cooperating. Attorneys for the homeless question whether the Williams brothers actually own the property where the homeless are living.

One of the owners of a portion of the lot where the homeless are living is Tom Richards. Richards is a developer in Fresno and owner of the Penstar group. He was also the chairperson of the City’s Committee to End Homelessness. This is the group that wrote the Fresno Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness. A City of Fresno official told me today that Richards has given the city the “go ahead” to evict the homelessness from his property.

Another tactic of the city attorneys today was to argue that the homeless had no right to due process in this case. They argued that the homeless were simply trespassing and were not entitled to defend themselves in court. The CCLS attorneys strenuously objected. Judge Corona said he was inclined to err on the side of due process, but did not make a ruling today.

Corona set a hearing for 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 27 in Department 97A, Judge Adolfo Corona, at the Fresno County Civil Courthouse at 2317 Tuolumne Street, Fresno.

For an earlier story about the city’s attempt to evict the homeless from this property, see: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/06/18634551.php

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this eviction was executed when there was to be a Forum on the Homeless.
Why did the Chief of Police exectute the eviction on that same day???


Title: Homelessness in Fresno
START DATE: Thursday January 28
TIME: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Location Details:
St Paul Newman Center, 1572 E Barstow Ave
Event Type: Speaker
Homelessness in Fresno: The art, the experience, the solution. This event will be held at the St Paul Newman Center, 1572 E Barstow Ave. The schedule:

6:30 "Hotel Fresno" and "Homeless Dog", films by Teresa Flores and Dixie Salazar
6:45 Discussion about the causes and the experience of homelessness with three members of
Fresno's Homeless Community
7:10 The Kincaid Center: Mike Rhodes
7:25 The City's Program for the Homeless: Greg Barfield
7:40 Intermission
7:50-8:45 Written questions


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If this upsets you or you think it is wrong. Please contact Fresno Officials

Mayor, City of Fresno - Ashley Swearengin
Office of the Mayor
2600 Fresno Street
Fresno, CA 93721

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-Mail: [e-mail]

*****
Chief Jerry Dyer
Fresno Police Headquarters:
2323 Mariposa Mall
Fresno, CA 93721
Phone [phone]
FAX [phone]
**************************************

Maybe the Attorney General of CA can help:
Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, Jr.


For questions regarding the Department of Justice contact:
Public Inquiry Unit

Voice: [phone] or (Toll-free in California) [phone] Fax: [phone]

http://ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php

[annm4peace]

1. if you do contact any of these officials, please post what they tell you

I'm hoping that we can shame these officials into doing the right thing and helping the homeless..
and to find out what is happening to the million of dollars.

[MNmom]

2. Are homeless people just supposed to disappear into thin air?

I don't understand some city officials' attitudes.

[ThomCat]

4. They don't care where homeless people go, so long as it is

somewhere else.

And they don't care how much of a hardship it is for homeless people to constantly be harassed and pushed around until they finally find a place to go and a way to get there.

People are not important to them, unless you own property and have money. :(

[Coleen Rowley]

3. Thanks Ann

We saw a lot of homeless people sleeping in the street in Washington DC at the same time as Obama was giving his "State of the Union" Speech.