FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Organization Takes Shape Against Vehicle-Dwelling Ban in Palo Alto

[James Lee]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Organization Takes Shape
Against Vehicle-Dwelling Ban in Palo Alto

James Lee

Peninsula Direct Action

650.207.7251

PALO ALTO (TONIGHT, 7:30 PM) - After almost eighty people turned out on Saturday afternoon to a community forum at the Unitarian Universalist church on 505 East Charleston to speak out against the city's proposed vehicle-dwelling ban, a small group of concerned citizens who were present at that meeting are inviting the public to attend an organizing meeting against the ban at the same location tonight.

While the ban is a blanket ban on sleeping in one's car that technically does not discriminate based on housing status, it has been widely criticized as a de facto ban targeting people who lack housing by outraged Palo Alto residents and housing rights activists.

Organizers will be meeting to discuss possible events and demonstrations that would bring to the forefront the stories of the people affected by this ban, as well as tactics on how to bring pressure to bear on City Council members in the short time available to the community before the ban is considered by the council.

Despite councilmember Larry Klein's assertion that such a ban exists Bay Area-wide, residents have pointed out that many cities, including Pacific, Fremont, Pleasanton, and neighboring Menlo Park, do not have such bans. Mountain View, which only bans vehicle dwelling in residential areas, is now considering making the ban citywide in response to Palo Alto.

"Essentially, Palo Alto is trying to foist its failure to address a growing problem onto other communities," said Jess Hansen of Occupy Redwood City, one of the groups represented at the Saturday meeting, "and false statements like Klein's don't leave residents assured about the council's willingness to truly address the matter."

As housing prices continue to rise unchecked and cities like Palo Alto and Redwood City pay lip service to creating truly affordable housing, the continued prosperity of big companies like Google and Facebook had led to massive gentrification pressures on the Peninsula that have essentially prevented a reasonable discussion on how to provide housing in a just manner that serves the needs of all members of the community, regardless of income level.

As one of the communities prospering from the Silicon Valley boom while neighboring East Palo Alto bears the brunt of the negative impacts of gentrification and the quality of life issues created by this new economic growth, Palo Alto is a veritable poster child for the growing income inequality in Silicon Valley and the shocking disparity between the haves and the have nots. As housing grows less affordable on the Peninsula and the income gap widens, more and more families are being pushed out into the street, where sleeping in cars is the safest and most dignified option available.

"Who or what exactly is harmed by a family who is down on their luck sleeping in a car?" said Hansen. "No one is harmed and nothing is put in jeopardy. This is a ban on what to some privileged people are eyesores, but to others are a necessary way of living."

Unfortunately, as the housing crisis accelerates on the Peninsula, most local governments, such as cities like Palo Alto and Redwood City, have done very little to address the need to keep people housed and provide housing for all income levels. Instead, the impetus has been to appease large real estate interests and fast-track the development of market-rate units, with the specious argument that an increase in available units would somehow drive down housing costs in an area that has largely been shielded within its own unique economic bubble. And in reactionary ordinances, like a vehicle-dwelling ban, are seen as the easiest short term solution to a chronic problem that requires a more systemic and pro-active approach.

The group meeting tonight, tentatively calling itself the Peninsula Housing Rights Coalition, is hoping to extend the high energy and drive of the nearly eighty people who turned out on Saturday to speak out against the ban, and invites the public to come help plan the community's response to a discriminatory ordinance.

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