From folks camping in the Mayor's yard in Seattle to L.A.s disruptive group at the city council meeting to Nashville's continual advocate support for local camps to Florida's fight for homeless rights, folks have had enough of endless talk about how to "fix" the homeless "problem" and are tired of waiting for their city officials to get off their duffs and do something about this nightmare we call the economic crisis here in the U.S.
We're really growing tired of the talk, people. We've watched as the Obama administration has bailed out the big guys; we're now stamping our feet just like they did and we are demanding that those in power start listening to us.
I can assure you that folks are really fed up and they aren't going to take much more....
Homeless activists delay L.A. City Council meeting
An impatient group of protesters, there to oppose a city initiative that has deployed more officers to skid row, interrupts with shouting and heckling. The session eventually resumed.
 Activists and the homeless disrupt a council meeting Tuesday while marking the third anniversary of Police Chief William J. Bratton's Safer City Initiative, which they say has brought overly aggressive policing to skid row. The protest began when the council deferred public comments to continue a discussion on the city's budget deficit. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times / September 29, 2009) |
Activists for the homeless and indigent residents of skid row briefly shut down a Los Angeles City Council meeting Tuesday, shouting from the audience their frustration that the meeting was moving too slowly.
Council members had been discussing whether to continue the hiring of new police officers when a group organized by the Los Angeles Community Action Network began shouting "Public Comment Now" -- a reference that the council was taking more than 90 minutes to get to the public comment portion of the agenda.
The group came to City Hall to speak about their opposition to the Safer City Initiative, which has resulted in the deployment of dozens of officers to skid row. The shouting drowned out remarks by Council President Eric Garcetti, who warned group members that they would be removed by police if they continued to shout and heckle other speakers.
Council members awkwardly sat in their seats as the protesters held upside-down U.S. flags and chanted "Shame on You."
Behind the council chamber, a dozen officers gathered in the hallway but did not emerge. After roughly 10 minutes, the meeting resumed. At about noon, activists from the group began testifying on Safer City, saying that the program had resulted in the harassment of skid row residents and an exodus of the homeless out of the area.
