Live Report of Hearing Against LA City Councilman Joe Buscaino, Joanne Rallo, George Palaziol, and Frank Nolan

Yesterday, Marisol Medina reported live on Breaking News Reporter the partial outcome of the hearing against Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, Saving San Pedro founders Joanne Rallo and George Palaziol and group member Frank Nolan.

A cease-and-desist letter was issued on April 5th, 2016 to members of this group, demanding they stop defamatory statements against local homeless people. The letter was filed by lawyer Frank Grant. Source: Joe Buscaino, Saving San Pedro: 'Cease and Desist' by Kevin Walker

I didn't know much about Joanne Rallo, but a quick Google search turned up this:

"Joanne Rallo, the newly minted columnist for the nativist San Pedro Today, has gone on her own mission – confiscating homeless shopping carts and dumping the contents in trash containers."

Source: Do Not Feed the Pigeons (or the Homeless) by James Preston Allen

Wow.

And these groups seem to believe that those who are helping the homeless are conducting "social experiments" that will fail.

Gee, I'd like to see an actor dress up as a homeless person, push their belongings around in a shopping cart, and document the harassment they receive at the hands of these groups and law enforcement.

Then, wouldn't it be great to film the reaction of these Saving San Pedro members when the actor reveals their true identity (as a rich person who lives in an LA mansion)?

I wonder how Joanne Rallo would feel if someone took her shopping cart full of whatever and dumped it in the garbage? Including her purse with all of her I.D.

If you are shocked, you aren't alone.

In the 53-page must-read University of Berkeley's Policy Advocacy Clinic report titled California's New Vagrancy Laws The Growing Enactment and Enforcement of Anti-Homeless Laws in the Golden State I highlight a few notable findings:

On page 5: "The state has one of the nation's highest rates of  poor renters (defined as people who spend at least 50 percent of their monthly income on housing) ... In LA alone, only 22 percent of homeless people had a shelter bed in 2013 (and it's worse now) ... over 3/4 of homeless people have no choice but to rest and sleep in public."

On page 16: "... state-level arrest stats for California Penal Code violations provide just the tip of the iceberg of enforcement activities directed at homeless people. Most anti-homeless laws are municipal codes, but data about their enforcement is not compiled or reported across the state."

On page 18: "San Francisco issued more citations for standing, sitting, and resting between Oct 2006 and March 2014 than for ANY other type of prohibited activity ... Thus, a significant proportion of policing targets people without homes who are engaged in necessary, life-sustaining activities."

On page 29: "Many municipal codes have yet to be challenged, perhaps because the people these laws target are among the least likely members of society to use legal assistance. As cities enact and enforce vague anti-homeless laws, they may be increasingly vulnerable to constitutional challenges."

On page 30: "An analysis of cost studies of homeless interventions conducted between 2004 and 2009 in major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, found that U.S. jurisdictions spend an average of $87 per day to incarcerate someone in county jail, but ONLY $28 per day – less than a third of that figure – to offer shelter."

So, you have to wonder what the motivation is for these groups. I am beginning to believe they are trying to incite homeless people to commit suicide. Because what I am seeing is the selective or discriminatory enforcement of codes that are written vaguely enough to criminalize the life-sustaining activities of those who simply have no home. ~ RoseWrites

On page 34 is an appendix which reveals a sad truth: Los Angeles has a whopping 23 restrictions and 19 laws in place that effectively criminalize the homeless. Specifically: 11 restrictions on standing, sitting and resting; 3 restrictions on sleeping, camping and lodging; 7 restrictions on begging and panhandling; and 2 restrictions on food sharing.

Lastly, I decided I should post some proof of the bullying, harassment, and more that I found on the two Facebook group pages. Note: Click to enlarge any images on my blog.

This first screenshot shows some of the insulting comments made by members of the Saving San Pedro Facebook group under their post of Marisol Medina's video footage.

Publicly posted on Saving San Pedro Facebook Group Page

This next one is interesting. Notice George Palaziol no longer illegally uses the trademarked image of Popeye as his avatar. Click to enlarge:

Publicly posted on Saving San Pedro Facebook Group Page

And a continuation of this conversation . .

Publicly posted on Saving San Pedro Facebook Group Page

Harassment and bullying of Marisol Medina . .

Publicly posted on Saving San Pedro Facebook Group Page

Examples of George Palaziol's maturity level . .

Publicly posted on Saving San Pedro Facebook Group Page

Of course, this group also takes a few shots at me . .

Publicly posted on Saving San Pedro Facebook Group Page

OMG, according to Elaine Jenkins, feeding homeless people is worth complaining about:

Publicly posted on Saving San Pedro Facebook Group Page

I only spent a few seconds on George Palaziol's Saving San Pedros Homeless Enablers Facebook and captured these two posts:

Publicly posted on Saving San Pedro Homeless Enablers Facebook Group Page

Oh and George Palaziol demonstrates (once again) his maturity level. Gee, kids at school would be reprimanded for this kind of behaviour. Sure hope he doesn't have children of his own.

Publicly posted on Saving San Pedro Homeless Enablers Facebook Group Page

I wonder what a judge would think of these Facebook groups, don't you?

Stay tuned, soon I will be launching another Change.org petition. And this one is guaranteed to knock your socks off. 

Be sure to follow Marisol Medina at Breaking News Reporter, Welcome Home: A Tiny House, Huge Purpose and Tiny Homes for the Homeless Fundraiser for much more.

Interested in what we are doing? Visit MYTHPLA.org and find out about all the wonderful ways Elvis Summers and his team are helping the homeless.

We are just getting started!

An Open Letter to Officer Deon Joseph

Dear Officer Joseph,

You are probably aware of my efforts to help the homeless in Los Angeles already. It's been drawn to my attention that a couple of Facebook groups (run by George Palaziol) have been trying to defame or discredit me.

And I briefly glossed over the Saving San Pedro and Saving San Pedro Homeless Enablers groups. I was saddened by what I saw and I wrote about it in my blog post A Quick Look at Saving San Pedro, a Facebook Group W/ George Palaziol.

I defended your statements in that post.

But today, I was shocked to read the following post of yours which I assume is in response to the cease-and-desist letter issued to Councilman Joe Buscaino and founders of the Saving San Pedro Facebook group. Click to enlarge image:

Screenshot of public post in Saving San Pedro Facebook Group April 16th, 2016

You see, my best friend is a police officer in Toronto, Canada. She's in a special forces division now. I went to school with her; I sincerely do understand the enormous pressures of your job.

And we also realize that laws have not caught up with what is direly needed to protect the most vulnerable people in society.

Yes, we hold police officers to a higher moral standard. I feel the rest of the members of these Facebook groups and members of Los Angeles City Council are beyond reasoning with – but I'm hoping you are not.

Notably, your avatar on these posts (which I enlarged, below at right) shows you in uniform:

It's widely known that police in New York were called out for "showing how compassionate they were by taking photos of homeless people and publicly shaming them online."

"This was not only condoned by the department, it was sanctioned and encouraged by high-ranking NYPD officials." Source: Disgusting: NYPD Ordered to Publicly Shame the Homeless by Taking Photos and Posting Online

Needless to say, it appears this is your focus as well. And I want to draw your attention to Legal Issues in Photographing People:

"Misappropriation of a Person's Identity: This tort involves the unauthorized use of another's name or likeness from which the user derives a benefit."

That benefit may be political or financial.

"Misappropriation of identity is generally available to persons who are not famous and have no well-known public image."

As you know, the cease-and-desist letter only cited that the Saving San Pedro Facebook group is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the 14th amendment, and photographing minors.

But you need to be aware that the 20 members of this group (who accompanied you along Skid Row), taking photographs to post publicly, probably should have "obtained a proper model release" (which could include paying homeless people for use of their identities).

That is, if they agreed to be photographed in the first place. 

Yeah, not hard to figure out what is going on there.

You state: "You cannot take pictures where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy."

Officer Joseph, the homeless have no privacy because they have no homes.

How good do you look without proper sleep after a few nights? Like a zombie, right? We ALL do.

What if you spent days or weeks without enough food or water and slept on the streets. Then, (since I find you so attractive), I offer you food if you will come back to my place "for a good time"?

How are people supposed to survive when they've been stripped of everything but a trash can worth of belongings?

What I really can't fathom is why you aren't actively trying to get the five jails reopened that LAPD Chief Charlie Beck admitted "were currently closed due to civilian staffing issues but within 36 months, he and mayor Garcetti would re-open"?

Isn't three years too long? And why aren't you concerned that legislation that reduced certain felonies to misdemeanors put thousands out on the streets instead of prison?

The homeless are being fed to the lions.

These homeless souls need your protection and I'm disheartened that you are encouraging more shaming of those who have been beaten down the most in our society.

Why aren't you, as a police officer, taking up these causes instead?

In my last petition update, I cited the fact that LA taxpayers paid more than $100 million to settle lawsuits against officers accused of civil rights violations, wrongful deaths, and other intradepartmental misconduct. Source: We Pay A Shocking Amount For Police Misconduct, And Cops Want Us Just To Accept It. We Shouldn't.

As stated in Nick Wing's article: 

"That is enough money for Los Angeles to match the entire amount it pays each year to cope with homelessness."

Society at large will no longer accept the focus of your policing strategy.

Come on, the mayor just announced that "... a full six months ahead of schedule. We're making targeted investments in our police force – my budget expands overtime for our officers by $10 million dollars ..." 

You won already, officer Joseph, you got your overtime pay – and six months in advance too.

Instead of confiscating and destroying the only possession of the homeless; needlessly shaming them for having to live in the streets and do whatever it takes to survive – why not 'serve and protect' them?

Finding loopholes in the current laws in California is not policing. It isn't upholding the spirit of the law, the Constitution, or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Rose

For those of you who want to help defend human rights, please sign and share our petition: Curren Price: Reverse Your Order to Confiscate and Destroy "Tiny Homes" for LA's Homeless

We ONLY Have Until April 11th, 2016: HUD Wants to Criminalize Tiny Homes or RVs as Primary Residences

Every person on the planet who is underpaid or barely making ends meet (for whatever reason) needs to act now.

Today, I just found out from my friend Sue Hecht that HUD (the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development) is trying to make living in a Tiny House or RV (recreational vehicle) ILLEGAL!

Yeah.

And, we only have DAYS to protest this.

So, I acted immediately and put together this step-by-step pictorial guide (so you can quickly and easily do the same). TIP: Click to enlarge any images I've posted.

First, click on regulations.gov and click on the docket (shown circled in red below) FR-5877-P-01 Manufactured Home Procedural and Enforcement Regulations: Revision of Exemption for Recreational Vehicles (closing on April 11, 2016):

Next, click on the "Comment Now!" button at the bottom left hand corner (circled in red):

Fill in your comment and your information. Note: There is an option (further along) to post your comment publicly as an "anonymous" person. Here is what the form looks like:

Note: You can upload a file. I uploaded a comment I left on an L.A. Times article. Also, keep in mind that when you preview your info, you can edit it by pressing the back button on your keyboard. Below is the comment I left with the file I uploaded (click to enlarge):

Make sure you also sign and share our petition (you don't have to donate). By doing so, 26 people in a position of power will be prompted to act on this egregious and inhumane treatment of those who are living at or below the poverty level (which is about half the population of the United States):

Stop Exploiting Homeless People: Now Petitioning the FPPC

We can do this!

Optional: I also signed up for email alerts for this docket (there's a prompt in the right margin that will remind you). You need to confirm your email address by following a link (in an email you'll receive) that "confirms your registration" And eventually, you should see this prompt:

I'll be in touch, 

Rose