{"id":12156,"date":"2019-06-20T12:26:11","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T19:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=12156"},"modified":"2019-06-20T12:26:13","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T19:26:13","slug":"upholding-the-shared-sidewalk-policy-dismisses-basic-needs-of-berkeleys-homeless-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2019\/06\/20\/upholding-the-shared-sidewalk-policy-dismisses-basic-needs-of-berkeleys-homeless-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Upholding the \u2018Shared Sidewalk\u2019 policy dismisses basic needs of Berkeley\u2019s homeless community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CITY ISSUES: Enforcing rules that limit individuals\u2019 ability to rest should not be a solution to crowded sidewalks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Illustration<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ALEXANDER HONG\/SENIOR STAFF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0EDITORIAL BOARD<\/a>\u00a0| STAFF (dailycal.org) JUNE 13, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city of Berkeley has repeatedly and appallingly failed its homeless community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city has banned RV parking on public streets from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. It has closed the Berkeley Emergency Storm Shelter during some of the city\u2019s coldest and rainiest months \u2014 and repeatedly failed to establish a permanent location for the shelter, despite having access to half a million dollars in funding. As of 2018, the city has left about 75 percent of its homeless population unsheltered each night, providing only 209 shelter beds for the approximately 1,000 people without housing. It has raided and evicted people from homeless encampments that provided a semblance of stability and security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now, Berkeley has taken its relationship with the homeless community to an even more ruthless and persecutory level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 5, the Berkeley City Council upheld its enforcement of the \u201cShared Sidewalk\u201d policy that was passed in October 2018. This anti-homeless policy limits the amount of space a person\u2019s possessions can take up on the sidewalk to 9 square feet. And the only hours that items are allowed to be in front of or within 3 feet of building entrances are from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. \u2014 effectively policing the hours a person can sleep or use a tent as shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ordinance makes life even more difficult for unhoused individuals, many of whom are already struggling. It criminalizes them for holding onto belongings that they might crucially depend on, such as blankets for nights when they\u2019re unsheltered. The city has yet to invest in building sufficient storage facilities for the homeless community, which would at the very least offer an alternative to those who might otherwise have no choice but to store belongings on the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the ordinance\u2019s policing of when individuals can set up their shelters for the night is unacceptable. People who are sleeping exposed already face incredibly difficult sleeping conditions, from extreme weather to acts of assault and violence. The Shared Sidewalk policy creates yet another fear \u2014 the threat of confrontation with law enforcement for creating shelters outside the given hours. No one should ever have to face legal limitations on their ability to sleep or rest. And yet, this policy does just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many years now, the city of Berkeley has left its homeless community without the crucial resources it needs \u2014 shelter, affordable housing and social support. But now the city is going beyond neglecting the homeless community. Policies like the Shared Sidewalk policy are actively working against some of Berkeley\u2019s most vulnerable community members, stripping them of their comforts and self-made shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the city of Berkeley is truly worried about belongings and beds blocking sidewalks, it should consider helping individuals get off the street and into affordable housing. Making the lives of unhoused individuals more difficult is not the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Editorial Board as written by the opinion editor.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CITY ISSUES: Enforcing rules that limit individuals\u2019 ability to rest should not be a solution to crowded sidewalks ALEXANDER HONG\/SENIOR STAFF BY\u00a0EDITORIAL BOARD\u00a0| STAFF (dailycal.org) JUNE 13, 2019 The city of Berkeley has repeatedly and appallingly failed its homeless community. The city has banned RV parking on public streets from… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12156"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12157,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12156\/revisions\/12157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}