Although a handful of advocates and homeless people shouted as the PalCo marsh was forcibly vacated by the Eureka Police Department on Monday, and the Vagabus, bedecked with signs of protest, made a surprise return appearance after eking its way as far south as Garberville, the only protester to actually be arrested was 73-year-old Hollie Klingel.
Klingel, who volunteers part-time at the Area 1 Agency on Aging, arrived before the police on the morning of May 2.
“I came because I have to,” she told the Journal, leaning against a car with a cane in her hands. “I am prepared to be arrested.”
She also sent a letter to the Journal’s office that morning, which said in part that she had prepared her grandchildren, for whom she helps care, for this eventuality.
The arrest itself was rather anti-climactic, according to Klingel. She was sitting on the concrete beams that blocked the parking lot off from traffic when some officers strung yellow “do not cross” tape in front of her, leaving Klingel inside the barrier. When they asked her to move, she refused. Several officers tried to convince her to leave the area, but she dug in her heels. Finally, they brought her over to the booking area and filled out her arrest paperwork.
“I was so silly,” she told us the day after her arrest. “I was apologizing to them for causing an inconvenience, but I felt like after I said, ‘no.’ I had to stand my ground, you understand?”
She added that the officers were largely respectful, with the only discomfort coming when her hands were handcuffed behind her back on the ride to the jail.
“They did ask me if I was going to do anything dramatic like throw myself on the ground,”
she said, “I said ‘No, I’m too old and stiff for that.’”
So, after a brief stay in the county jail’s lobby, watching re-runs on the television, Klingel walked over to the A1AA’s office and got a ride back down to the mall with a fellow volunteer.
This was the first time in her life Klingel had been arrested, but she said it was worth it. Although she wouldn’t go into details, she said that homelessness and mental illness has had a profound effect on her family, and she didn’t approve of the evictions.
“I needed to do something, and this was something I could do. I grew up here and I am outraged that they are spending the amount of money they are spending on this trail by the bay, which will be underwater in three years,” she said, referencing global warming. “My feeling is they are using the grant money for the trail as an excuse to move people out of there, but there’s no place for them to go.”
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This article appears in Crackpot.
This city lies so often about the homeless and what they are able to do for them. The money they have said does not exist to help them was used to evict them, and more will be spent in police actions of arresting them, cleaning up the trash and court costs when they are again sued.
She tried to pawn herself off as a reporter.
Bullshit!! Holly has long suffered from cranial rectal inversion. If she would put half as much energy in addressing her own family’s problems, perhaps she would accomplish something!
First and foremost the City of Eureka should have never let anyone camp on city property. Secondly, The City is NOT a social services agency. That is not their role in the community. Lastly by doing so, they put themselves and the taxpayers in a potentially litigious situation. I have no problem with meal sites or rescue missions. I do have problems with tiny little houses. Why?? 60 tons of garbage and 1000 needles were taken out of the marsh and that was for a 6 month period (they moved north of the mall in November). This is not a new experience. Repeatedly they live like dogs and repeatedly it’s cleaned up. I have a problem with their blatant disregard for the law and for their fellow citizens. I have seen that “shot yourself in the foot” attitude when I worked at the Welfare office years ago. They repeatedly make bad choices and then expect someone to pick up the pieces, clean up after them and help them. They will tell you a sweet story of how hard they worked to become self sufficient and all the barriers they have experienced. They dont mention the drug and alcohol abuse or the bad behavior they exhibited. The minute you cant help them their attitude and behavior changes to aggressive. I want to know where the money came from to buy 60 tons of stuff enough heroin to fill 1000 needles not mentioning other illicit drugs. If they had money enough to buy 60 tons of stuff and drugs, why were they not using that to improve themselves. I also have a problem with helping any of them if they have not been assessed for drug/alcohol/mental health issues with treatment required along with job services required. The County just gave Betty Chinn (nice lady) $270,000 to house and feed the homeless for a year, with no expectation of the participants getting treatment or job placement assistance. Big mistake. I think it was Betty Chinn said “open your heart”.. I say yes but “Open your brain at the same time”. Dont be foolish. Help those that are willing to work on changing their situation. As for the lady in the article. I am sure she is seen as a leader in the homeless population. Being a grandmother has nothing to do with anything really, just put in for drama. Taking a stand is pretty self destructive and a waste of time, but looks good to the other homeless. I have compassion for the homeless, just not enabling them to live in a manner that costs the community resources, time, money and is self destructive. Why? Because that is money that could be spent for something to help the whole community. Live the life you want, just dont expect the rest of us to pay for it. Now something I have not seen in the papers anywhere. You hear about the advocates for the homeless all the time. What about the rest of the population who are opposed to helping the homeless. You never hear that side and there are a lot of these folks.
The advice from the implementation plan the City and County approved: “The forced dispersal of people from encampment settings is not an appropriate solution or strategy, accomplishes nothing toward the goal of linking people to permanent housing opportunities, and can make it more difficult to provide such lasting solutions to the people who have been sleeping and living in the encampment.”
Thank you Hollie for your strong, peaceful attempt to be a witness to the day’s events.
Good job Hollie, thank you. We needed this story!