Santa Cruz homeless camp debate extended
Federal judge delays closure over new park condition declarations
SANTA CRUZ >> A federal judge has extended a temporary freeze, for a third week, on the planned closure of the San Lorenzo Park homeless encampment. The delay came Tuesday, as the City of Santa Cruz requested and was granted additional time from U.S. District Court Judge Susan van Keulen to submit new witness reports aiming to bolster its intentions to shutter the camp. Van Keulen moved the restraining order, set to expire Wednesday, out to Jan. 20. Deputy City Attorney Catherine Bronson, in requesting time to provide additional evidence, said she could show a “dangerous and unsustainable situation” at the park. The city and several department heads are the subjects of a civil rights lawsuit filed Dec. 30 in San Jose at the Northern District Court of California. Van Keulen is in the process of deciding on whether or not to convert the restraining order into a long-term preliminary injunction against the city or dissolve the block entirely. According to a city preview of its filings, the court will expect to hear new evidence from Parks & Recreation Director Tony Elliot related to one of his employees being punched in the mouth and of having a Parks and Recreation vehicle taillight smashed while at the park Jan. 5.
Elliot’s updated declaration also is expected to include observations from a Jan. 11 site visit at the park, where reportedly there were large amounts of trash especially concentrated near the lawn bowling green, significant grounds and tree damage, trash and debris floating in the duck pond, verbal harassment of city employees and a lack of mask-wearing and social distancing by those living in the park.
The plaintiffs in the case are Santa Cruz homelessness advocacy groups Santa Cruz Homeless Union and Food Not Bombs and several homeless individuals seeking the court’s help in
restraining the park’s closure after city officials announced their emergencyorder park closure plans Dec. 17. Plaintiff’s attorney Anthony Prince said Tuesday that the city has a vested interest in protecting the public, a group that he said also includes homeless people, from both crime and community spread of COVID-19 infection.
Prince suggested that police officers identify when someone is breaking the law, investigate it, cite them and arrest them, if necessary.
“The park is accessible to people and who’s to say who actually committed these offenses,” Prince said in response to the new city filings. “It’s very easy to simply say that, ‘oh, there’s homeless in the park and someone got assaulted, so therefore it’s a homeless
person.’ It’s just profiling, homeless profiling.”
City resident Eric Grodberg was separately expected to update an earlier declaration on his observations at the encampment, where he reportedly witnessed a growing number of tents, alleged bicycle “chop shop” activity and lack of mask-wearing and social distancing.
“For example, if Defendants could firmly establish a lack of mask-wearing and social distancing at San Lorenzo Park, then that would strongly undercut Plaintiffs’ argument that San Lorenzo Park is being used as a safe site to protect unsheltered individuals from COVID-19,” Bronson wrote for the city.