Sidewalk ordinance, 3/13/07 Berkeley city council

Mayor Tom Bates has come out with a rather vaguely worded ordinance concerning restrictions on sidewalk sitting on the streets where people shop in Berkeley. The particular focus is on homeless people sitting on the sidewalks of Telegraph and Shattuck. This will be combined with a focus on providing services and mental health treatment but no more funding is linked to this specifically at this point. The Berkeley Homeless Union, myself with the BOSS Community Organizing Team and the Disabled People Outside Project at the request of Osha Neumann, lawyer for Community Defense Inc. have been getting the word out by flyer and by word of mouth to get people to show up for tomorrow city council meeting on Tuesday March 13th, 2007 and speak out about their concerns about this proposal to restrict sidewalk sitting. On two other previous occassions(as part of Measure O back in 1994-96 and then again in 1998) I successfully was able to organize resistance to previous attempts to ban sidewalk sitting in the shopping districts. I have talked to a number of the street youth and others on the street about this ordinance since Friday. It seems supporters of the ordinance have already been organizing to come and speak for the proposed ordinance which is on the city council agenda.