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New: Coalition Unites to Stop Raids on Tents

Carol Denney
Tuesday November 22, 2016 - 05:36:00 PM

A coalition of commissions, homeless people, and concerned community members are demanding that the City of Berkeley stop the raids on tent communities which are continuing despite the lack of alternatives for people trying to survive on the street. 

The Homeless Commission passed a unanimous recommendation November 9, 2016, for a "moratorium on evictions of the existing tent community at Allston Way/Center Street until the City Council Ad-Hoc Committee identifies a permanent location that is either permanent housing, a sanctioned encampment site or a navigation center." 

The Community Health Commission passed a similar recommendation, stating " Shelter capacity was inadequate even before the destruction of the city's Storm Shelter by the recent fire at First Congregational Church" calling the city's current policy of raiding tent groups and arresting those who don't move quickly enough for the police at 5:00 am " both morally unacceptable and fiscally irresponsible." The Peace and Justice Commission was the first to demand a moratorium on tent city evictions in October. 

The group of homeless people on what some are calling the "Poor Tour" have been chased from south Berkeley near the Berkeley Food and Housing Project to the steps of City Hall and continue to be scattered by period raids. The coalition is calling on Mayor-elect Jesse Arreguin for immediate action today.