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This Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council is scheduled to vote on a bill to more strictly enforce pre-existing city ordinances which criminalize the City of Berkeley’s homeless population, including prohibiting the placement of personal objects within three feet of a tree planter and prohibiting people from sitting against buildings. Vice President Quinn strongly opposes any effort to criminalize homelessness and thus strongly opposes this bill. 

In 2012, the ASUC Senate overwhelmingly voted to denounce Measure S , which the City Council placed on the November 2012 ballot and similarly would have criminalized the homeless population of Berkeley by making it a crime to sit down on a commercial district sidewalk between 7am and 10pm, calling the measure “deeply misguided” among other things. Similarly, the item on Tuesday’s agenda is deeply misguided and would serve no purpose except to criminalize people who are homeless. For that reason, Vice President Quinn strongly opposes this measure, as well as any future measure that criminalizes homelessness. Vice President Quinn calls on the Berkeley City Council to vote down this language on Tuesday. Rather than attacking one of the most vulnerable populations, the Berkeley City Council should increase funding for affordable housing and other services which benefit Berkeley’s homeless population. 

In Response to the City Council’s latest attempt to criminalize the city’s homeless population, Vice President Quinn has been working with community leaders throughout Berkeley to mobilize students and other community members to oppose the city’s proposal. In addition to mobilizing students and other community members to speak at Tuesday’s meeting, there will be a march and rally beforehand .