Shame, OccupyDenver, shame
Aseries of ridiculous and offensive weekly protests over Denver’s homeless camping ban has been ongoing for several months now, proving the bullying nature of the dying Occupy Denver movement.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not a blind supporter of the camping ban, which was intended to get people to not sleep on the city’s streets. It pushed too many homeless people into the shadows or away from downtown Denver’s many services. The city also hasn’t come through with promises made in 2012 when the ban was approved— such as providing adequate shelter space for women and children or building a 24-hour rest and resource center.
Nevertheless, weekly demonstrations in front of a civic leader’s home, aswell as a local business, are noway to affect change.
In the vexing homeless conundrum that has stymied many cities, plenty of areas exist for activism. But protesters are choosing to harass and intimidate instead of finding solutions.
Every Friday afternoon, they march outside the Tattered Cover Book Store in Lower Downtown because its owner hasn’t denounced the camping ban.
The owner hasn’t actually pledged support for the ban but hasn’t come out against it either, said Janet Matzen, who is leading the protest.
Matzen led regular demonstrations in front of Snooze restaurant and The Palm Restaurant until both owners publicly withdrew support for the camping ban.
JoyceMeskis, who owns the Tattered Cover, said she supports the First Amendment right to picket but calls the weekly protests misguided.
The store has always refused to take public positions on anything other than censorship. It isn’t about to weigh in on the camping ban, she said.
The other protest occurs every Sunday in front of the Park Hill home of Tami Door, CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership.
Door was an outspoken proponent for the camping ban and also is the co-chair of the mayor’s homeless commission.
The Downtown Denver Business Improvement District has contributed more than $1 million to the St. Francis Center’s homeless outreach.
Yet, every Sunday sinceNovember, a group of placard-waving protesters gathers in front of Door’s home to march and chant things like “Shame, Tami, shame.”
The protest is constitutionally legal but morally reprehensible.
Door may have lobbied for the camping ban, but that isn’t the reason for the picket, Matzen said.
Door and Matzen had an argument in an elevator after a commission meeting. Door was angryMatzen came to her home to deliver a mock award called the “golden turd award” when only her son was home. The group videotaped the incident and posted it on YouTube.
“She was mad that we went to her house and said we were harassing her son and how scared he was,” Matzen said. “I said, ‘Tami, your son has a door. There are kids who don’t have a door.’ She went nuts on me. That is why we decided to go to her house. She is a bully.”
Door isn’t one of the nine council members who voted “yes” on the camping ban, nor is she in the mayor’s Cabinet.
Even homeless advocates are mystified by the weekly protests.
“This isn’t an approach that any reasonable person would take,” said Bette Iacino of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. “The entire homeless community wouldn’t condone this type of behavior. If only we could just channel that energy into something positive.”