Stand Against Sit Lie

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 4, 2010

CONTACT: Andy Blue 415-533-4694, andyblue415@gmail.com

SIT/LIE PROPONENTS HAVE WEEK OF SETBACKS

SF PLANNING COMMISSION FINDS ORDINANCE CONFLICTS WITH CITY POLICIES

HAIGHT STREET PATROL OFFICER OPPOSES LAW: SAYS IT WILL BE INEFFECTIVE

BBC WORLD SERVICE HOLDS ON-AIR DEBATE

San Francisco mayor, Gavin Newsom, and Police Chief George Gascón suffered significant setbacks over the past week in their efforts to push for the passage of a Sit/Lie ordinance that would make it a crime to sit or lie on any sidewalk in San Francisco.

On Thursday, the San Francisco Planning Commission, made up of a majority of Newsom’s own appointees, voted to not make an endorsement of the ordinance. The commission’s comprehensive report revealed that the Sit/Lie ordinance conflicted with scores of policies in the city’s general plan.

Also last week, an SFPD patrol officer from the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood — where proponents claim the police need the sit/lie law to address aggressive behavior — said that he opposed the law claiming it would be ineffective, a distraction from more serious problems, and would even potentially endanger officers by shifting personnel away from other areas of the city where they were more needed.

“When the mayor’s own hand-picked commission appointees and the Police Chief’s own officers on the Haight say they oppose this law, it has become evident that the Sit-Lie ordinance is counter to San Francisco values,” said Nate Miller a life-long SF resident and organizer for the Stand Against Sit Lie campaign.

According to a report issued by the Planning Commission, the Sit/Lie ordinance conflicts with policies in the city’s General Plan that seek to incorporate city sidewalks into the city’s “Open Space System.”

“Overall, policies in the general plan say that sidewalks are not just for movement; sidewalks are places to gather,” Planning Department Legislative Analyst AnMarie Rodgers told commissioners according to the San Francisco Examiner.

For a story published at SFengage.org, a reporter from SF Public Press interviewed a random sampling of people who work and live in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Not one of the people she spoke with said he/she supported the ordinance including an SFPD patrol officer who patrolled the Haight.

Today, BBC World Service, the world’s most widely broadcast news program, hosted an on-air debate on Sit/Lie between Andy Blue of the Stand Against Sit Lie campaign and Ted Lowenberg of the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association.

In the debate Blue challenges the notion that the police need a sit/lie ordinance in order to address problems behaviors on city sidewalks that are already illegal.  He says opponents of the ordinance believe that the San Francisco community is safer when neighbors, friends, and families are using the sidewalks together and participating in the city’s world-renowned and vibrant street culture.

###

_________________________________________________________________________________________

SIDEWALKS ARE FOR PEOPLE!
www.StandAgainstSitLie.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2010

CONTACT: Andy Blue 415-533-4694, andyblue415 att gmail dott com

MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND SAN FRANCISCANS PROTEST SIT/LIE ORDINANCE
Nearly One Hundred Creative Events Staged on Sidewalks Citywide

On Saturday, March 27, more than one thousand San Franciscans responded to a proposed “Sit/Lie” ordinance by staging creative protests on the sidewalks in neighborhoods across the city. As part of “SIDEWALKS ARE FOR PEOPLE”, participants held nearly 100 planned and spontaneous events, doing their favorite activities on the cityʼs sidewalks in protest to a proposed ordinance that would make it a criminal offense to sit on any sidewalk in San Francisco.

Events included tea and coffee parties, brunches, art projects, barbeques, pirate radio broadcasts, beanbag tosses, yoga, karaoke, even a hot tub party. “Today was an extraordinary celebration of San Franciscoʼs public space, its vibrant and diverse culture, and its tradition of tolerance and compassion,” said Andy Blue one of the organizers of the event. “The creative participation by people from all neighborhoods, and all walks of life, was truly inspiring.”

The “Sit/Lie” ordinance was introduced on March 1st by Mayor Gavin Newsom to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and supported by the cityʼs recently appointed police chief, George Gascón. The mayor says he also intends to put the ordinance on the ballot for voters to weigh-in on in November. A broad coalition of community organizations, activists, and concerned San Franciscans has unified in vocal opposition saying the law would merely criminalize the innocent behavior of sitting, rather than address issues of aggressive behaviors as its proponents claim.

“Making it a crime to sit on the sidewalk will not make us safer, it will only turn more of us into criminals,” said co-organizer Nate Miller, whose breakfast on the sidewalk, complete with carpet and rocking chairs, drew some 40 neighbors, friends and many more curious pedestrians in the cityʼs Richmond neighborhood.

The event was conceived, announced and produced in about 2 weeks in swift response to the introduction of the proposed ordinance. The organizers said the mobilization of so many people across the city, in such a short time, clearly countered notions in some media reports and push polls, that suggested the ordinance was popular with the majority of San Franciscans.

“It sounds like it’s something pretty antithetical to the spirit of San Francisco,” 52-year-old public artist Colette Crutcher, told an San Francisco Chronicle reporter in front of the Bernal Heights Library. “I don’t think there is any need for such a law. I think all it will do is encourage the police to stop people they don’t like.”

Organizers say the events were so successful and fun, that they will hold monthly ʻsit-outsʼ the last Saturday of the month, at least until the ordinance is defeated at the Board of Supervisors and on the November ballot. ###

_____________________________________________________

SIDEWALKS ARE FOR PEOPLE
www.StandAgainstSitLie.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 25, 2010
CONTACT: Andy Blue, 415-533-4694, AndyBlue415@gmail.com

MEDIA ADVISORY

SIDEWALKS ARE FOR PEOPLE!
All-Day / Citywide Event on Saturday, March 27 in San Francisco

As the SF Board of Supervisors prepares to vote on a law that would make it illegal to sit or lie on any sidewalk in the city, people from all walks of life — who believe this law would not represent our city’s values- – will respond by participating in a creative, decentralized celebration of the city’s public space, art and culture, and tradition of compassion.

VISUALS: Activities on the sidewalk: parties, yoga, signs, children chalk drawing. Brass marching band, lots more!

WHEN: Saturday, March 27, all day (See highlighted events for times.)

WHERE: Dozens of events planned at multiple locations throughout the city.  Culminating gathering at 4PM at Market/Castro Commons with Brass Liberation Orchestra, banners, signs, speakers (Contact Andy 533-4694)

Laughter Against the Machine: Kamau Bell and other SF comedians perform while lying on the sidewalk!  10-11AM, 9th and Irving St.  Contact: Nato Green 415-595-3867

Speaker’s and Sketcher’s Corner: A multi-generational gathering of art (elaborate sidewalks chalk drawings) and ideas in front of the Bernal Heights Library.  11am-2pm  Cortland/Andover St.  Contact: Amy 415-515-0792

Sit and Spin: Great mixed crowd of Richmond neighbors playing records and making coffee. Clement Street and 5th Ave. Noon – 2:00. Contact Nate Miller 415-810-2436

Tea Time: A well-dressed affair hosted by writer and Haight/Ashbury resident, Rebecca Solnit,  2:30- 3:30 pm. On the sidewalk parallel to Haight Street at the edge of Buena Vista Park. Contact: Rebecca 722-7283

WHAT: SIDEWALKS ARE FOR PEOPLE is a decentralized, citywide celebration of San Francisco’s public space, its vibrant and diverse culture, and its tradition of tolerance and compassion.  People across the city, will be doing what they love on sidewalks (without obstructing them!): barbecues, chalk drawing, chess, yoga, reading, knitting, jump rope, playing music, painting, tea/coffee parties, sunbathing, meditating, DJing, hanging out, tai chi, dancing, anything they like!
1200+ “attending” RSVPs on Facebook invite!  http://tinyurl.com/No-on-SitLie-Event

WHY: The Board of Supervisors will soon be voting on a law that would make it illegal to sit or lie on the sidewalk anywhere in San Francisco.  We think it’s a really bad idea to criminalize the act of sitting in public space. We think public spaces are safer when people are encouraged to use them to meet with neighbors, friends, family and others.

We like how our sidewalks reflect the diverse, vibrant culture of our city. We believe in freedom of expression, the right to peaceably assemble, and the pursuit of happiness on our sidewalks!

We acknowledge and empathize with legitimate fears or frustrations that people encounter in this city as they share public space with others, but we believe there are better solutions than criminalizing innocent behavior. For starters check out, “A Very Different Approach to the Sit-Lie Law” by Gabriel Haaland.  http://tinyurl.com/alternative2SitLie

###