Santa Cruz Threatens to Evict Food Not Bombs

by | Jun 23, 2022

January 10, 2022

In the latest of a series of restrictions on people giving out free meals, the city government of Santa Cruz is targeting the group Food Not Bombs for eviction on Tuesday

KEITH McHENRY, [email protected], @keith_mchenry

McHenry is co-founder of the Food Not Bombs movement. He has a regular segment on the radio program “Flashpoints” on KPFA, “Foodfight: the Life and Death Battle Against Hunger and Houslessness,” and will be the first featured guest on Monday afternoon.   He just wrote the post: “Santa Cruz Threatens to Evict Food Not Bombs“: “It is 3:30 pm on Friday, January 7, 2022, when I finally get a call from Larry Imwalle, the Santa Cruz City Homelessness Response Manager. He never returned my calls about moving people to higher ground before the Benchlands flood or after my desperate efforts to get two families into housing. He is paid $150,000 a year to ‘manage the homeless.’

“I was buying two more sets of Industrial Steel Shelving at Home Depot to place in our new shipping container. We are rushing to remove our back stock of rice, lentils and other dry goods from India Joze’s Restaurant before he closes down to make way for a luxury apartment complex to be built in its place.”

McHenry was told that “the city will require that Food Not Bombs vacate Lot 27 by Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 2:00 PM.”

McHenry writes: “Larry tells me, as can be read in his email, that, ‘The Pure Water Soquel Construction Project will be working in this area and requires use of Lot 27 and the surrounding area to accomplish the project and stage equipment.’ I suggested he have the project manager call me so we can make this work and pointed out that there is another parking lot next to Wheelworks that is always vacant.

“As soon as Larry and I hang up I start getting calls from our volunteers at Lot 27. The police have arrived and are handing out papers saying we have to leave by Tuesday. This is not the first late Friday afternoon eviction from Lot 27 during our 664 days of sharing meals with the community during the pandemic. …”

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