Arrests at Santa Rosa City Council meeting show homeless activists’ frustration

The arrest of six protesters who disrupted the Santa Rosa City Council meeting Tuesday reflects the frustration homeless activists feel about the city's recent efforts to clear out campsites, and its refusal to sanction a homeless encampment.

Such demands are not new, but have intensified following the eviction of about 70 people from an encampment behind the Dollar Tree store in Roseland, and notices for people to remove their belongings from the nearby Joe Rodota trail, where many homeless moved when evicted.

Those follow earlier evictions of people camping on a hill along Farmers Lane and huddled under Highway 101 overpasses, both of which have been denounced by homeless advocates.

“We're here in a nonviolent protest with a demand,” Merlin Davis said from the floor of the City Council chambers not long before his arrest Tuesday evening. “A demand that the City Council stop punishing the poor. A demand that they let people practice self-governance.”

Tuesday's disruption of the City Council meeting was the latest in a series of escalations by Davis and others as they address the council on homeless issues.

Davis in particular has been making his contempt for the council clear. He often shouts or claps loudly in support of views he shares. When he was being thrown out by Mayor Chris Coursey for disrupting a previous meeting, Davis, 38, left the chambers with both middle fingers extended high.

In many ways, last week's council meeting offered a glimpse of the escalation to come. During public comments, Davis mocked the city's police for supporting county requests to remove people it considered trespassing on property owned by the Community Development Commission.

“Over the last week, city police have bravely rushed to defend empty, unused fields that have been sitting vacant for years and empty parking lots with weeds growing in them that no one parks in,” Davis said.

Later that meeting, Davis and a handful of others refused to leave the podium on the chamber floor. Six to eight people gathered in the area between city staff, including the city manager and city attorney, and the council members.

When this week's meeting got underway, the microphone and projector were gone from the podium, and the floor of the chambers was deemed for staff and visitors only. Ropes kept the public out and bore signs reading “Visitor pass seating.”

The two podiums at the top of the chambers remained open for the public, though some grumbled about the loss of the use of the overhead projector. A closed session item the council discussed earlier Tuesday was titled “Threat to Public Services or Facilities. Consultation with Santa Rosa Police and risk management representatives.”

Coursey declined to disclose what was discussed at that part of the meeting, but called it unfortunate the access changes needed to be made.

“We would prefer not to have to restrict access to areas of the council chambers, but we feel like we're in a time and in a culture where this is something that we need to do,” Coursey said.

Santa Rosa Police Chief Hank Schreeder said security at City Hall has been discussed for years, including during the Occupy movement, when protesters caused staff to close offices, and in 2013 when protesters marched on City Hall after 13-year-old Andy Lopez was killed by a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy.

The actions by the protesters last week renewed discussions about council security, Schreeder said.

Protesters seemed to time their action Tuesday with the arrival of an influx of participants from the May Day march that had started in Roseland.

Davis crossed the barrier to hand out printed information to the council. Coursey told him the area was off limits, but Davis ignored him.

Coursey adjourned the meeting and the council filed out as protesters holding green signs with pictures of tents on them occupied the chamber floor.

The demonstration escalated over the next 30 minutes, with more police officers taking positions near the protesters as they read lists of demands. Officers calmly ordered the chamber cleared and said the meeting would not resume until that happened. Protesters refused and locked arms.

“Once we realized that their intention was to get arrested, we called in more officers,” Lt. Rick Kohut said, estimating there were about 20 at the height of the incident.

The protesters struggled to remain linked as officers wrestled to separate their arms and cuff them. One went limp and refused to move and was taken out on a gurney, Kohut said.

“The arrest process, when people are resisting, is never pretty,” Kohut said. “I think officers did a good job with the circumstances they were faced with.”

One of the protesters who didn't get arrested, Steve Dunnrite, agreed. He said police were “polite but forceful” and he couldn't fault them.

A protester from the march, Alma Shaw, said she was taken aback by the police tactics. She didn't see the need for police to forcibly remove people and was disappointed she missed a chance to address the council.

“I would say that was excessive use of force,” Shaw said.

Arrested during the protest were Davis, of Santa Rosa; Jacob Beckman, 43, of Petaluma; Courtney Cox, 23, of Santa Rosa; Adrian Shrader, 23, of Rohnert Park; Anita Lafollette, 71, of Santa Rosa; and June Ellen Brashares, 53, of Sebastopol.

They were charged with willfully disturbing a public meeting, a misdemeanor.

Davis and Cox were also charged with resisting arrest. All were cleared by paramedics before being booked into Sonoma County Jail, Kohut said.

Coursey said it was ironic the protesters were holding up a meeting with an item that actually will make it easier to build affordable housing and homeless shelters in the city.

“I think it's unfortunate that it came to that,” Coursey said of the arrests. “It didn't have to. They had made their point.”

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 707-521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @srcitybeat.