2011-11-29 "Protesters disrupt University of California regents, but peaceful mood rules" by Laurel Rosenhall, Kim Minugh and Hudson Sangree from "Sacramento Bee" newspaper
[http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/29/4085704/protesters-disrupt-university.html]
Shouting protesters interrupted the University of California regents' meeting on Monday, but the mood was generally peaceful as students criticized officials' response to the use of police force and implored regents to back raising taxes on the wealthy to fund higher education.
Officials and members of the public were connected by teleconference from four UC campuses – in Davis, San Francisco, Merced and Los Angeles. After more than an hour and a half of public comment, regents began to move on with their agenda when they were interrupted by protesters in multiple locations.
Regents were discussing UC's 2012-13 budget request to the state when about a dozen protesters at UC Davis rose to their feet and, shouting in unison, declared the need for a "people's regents meeting." They moved from their chairs in the audience to the area in front of the dais, where they formed a circle and began their own discussion.
 There was no response by campus police – who were stationed outside the meeting room in very small numbers – and Chancellor Linda Katehi briefly joined the group in the circle.
Around the same time, protesters in San Francisco and Los Angeles also disrupted the meeting with loud chants. Unable to hear, regents eventually disconnected from the teleconference and relocated to other rooms on the campuses. UC officials invited media to listen as regents reconvened the meeting by telephone.
Many participants decried the use of police force – pepper spraying in Davis and the use of batons in Berkeley – and criticized the investigation that UC is planning for not being independent.

Also on Monday:
• The union representing UC Berkeley police wrote a letter saying the video showing officers jabbing protesters with batons on Nov. 9 is misleading because it doesn't show officers being hit, pushed and threatened. The letter criticizes UC officials, saying they asked police to enforce their policies and then refused to stand by officers when they did so.
• Gov. Jerry Brown wrote a letter to the head of the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, asking that the agency review its crowd management and civil disobedience guidelines.
"I am seriously concerned that the rules governing the use of force, in particular the use of pepper spray, are not well understood in the context of civil disobedience and various forms of public protest," Brown wrote in the letter to Paul Cappitelli.
• UC President Mark Yudof announced he has appointed former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso to chair the task force investigating the UC Davis police department's use of pepper spray. Reynoso is a professor emeritus at the UC Davis law school.
The big theme of the day was money – how UC could get more of it without asking students to pay higher tuition. The board approved an initial budget that asks the state for $2.78 billion in 2012-13, a 17 percent increase from the $2.37 billion it received this year.
Nathan Brostrom, UC's executive vice president, said regents would have to consider whether to raise tuition after seeing how much money is allotted to UC in Brown's January budget proposal.
Regents also approved several compensation items, including raises ranging from 6.4 percent to 21.9 percent for the head lawyers of six UC campuses. Steven Drown, chief counsel for UC Davis, received the largest raise, bringing his salary to $250,000.
Many students and union leaders who spoke pushed a five-point plan created by a union-backed group called Refund California. They asked regents to sign a pledge to support increasing income taxes on California's wealthiest, changing Proposition 13 to increase corporate property taxes, enacting a federal sales tax on large-scale financial transactions, reducing underwater mortgage debt, and reversing tuition increases, layoffs, and cuts to public education and other services.
"You said here today you're going to go and ask the state for more money, but you have no concrete proposal for where that money will come from or how it will get to UC," said Cheryl Deutsch, a UCLA grad student and leader of the United Auto Workers union that represents student employees. "The Refund California pledge offers concrete alternatives."
UC officials deflected the requests to sign onto the pledge but promised to work with students to petition the state for more money. Sherry Lansing, chair of the regents, asked students to organize a protest at the Capitol in January at which regents and students could march side by side.
Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, a Democrat who sits on the board by virtue of his office, suggested that UC representatives target their message to Republican lawmakers, who oppose tax increases.
"It is not enough to come to Sacramento and talk to those of us who agree," Pérez said.
Outside on the UC Davis quad, about 80 tents were set up with Tibetan prayer flags strung between lampposts. Teach-ins were being held on the sidewalk and under a tarp-covered geodesic dome.
Students and other Occupy protesters marched to the student financial aid office in Dutton Hall. They filled the lobby and a second-story mezzanine chanting, "No cuts, no fees, education must be free."
"The way we guarantee victory is stay here and don't leave," said Monica Smith, a lawyer with a group called By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN. "If the police try to drag us out, we win because the whole world will be watching."
About 200 students sat or stood and listened to Nathan Brown, assistant professor of English, lecture on the socialist dialectic, quoting from Karl Marx's "The Communist Manifesto." University officials stood back and observed the proceedings, and a bicycle officer rode up and listened. Protesters said they planned to stay all night.
But most people at UC Davis appeared to have ignored the protesters' call for everyone on campus to strike Monday. Students biked to class, packed into Starbucks and hit the gym.
Melanie Lopez showed up at a small protest outside the regents meeting because her professor asked the class to meet there. But the 22-year-old senior from Fremont debated leaving to study elsewhere. She said she shares concerns about rising tuition but doesn't believe skipping class was the answer.
"We're paying money to go to class," she said. "And I don't want to waste that money."

BRYAN PATRICK / bpatrick@sacbee.com
UC Davis students occupying Dutton Hall listen as Nathan Brown, an assistant professor of English, lectures from the stairs Monday about socialism and Marxism. Protesters there and elsewhere also interrupted the UC regents’ long-distance meeting.

BRYAN PATRICK / bpatrick@sacbee.com
UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi listens as a dozen protesters declare a need for a “people’s regents meeting” at UC Davis. Protesters in San Francisco and Los Angeles also interrupted the regents, who then relocated to other rooms on the campuses.

2011-11-29 "Hungry much? California faces severe food aid gap in time of need" by Hugh Biggar
[http://www.sfbg.com/2011/11/29/hungry-much]
This story was funded by a grant from the Sierra Health Foundation to do independent reporting on the topic of food access in California.
---
Here's something to chew on with your bagel and coffee—assuming you can afford that in these trying times. Roughly, 2.3 million Californians are receiving official help getting enough to eat, but nearly 3 million others who qualify are not.
In fact, California's low enrollment in the federal food stamp program, known officially as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or in California, CalFresh, is costing the state both socially and economically.
"There's a deepening crisis," Matthew Sharp, a senior advocate with the nonprofit California Food Policy Advocates, said. "California's high housing costs and extreme unemployment are two forces that have put pressure on households."
Despite increasing need, however, less than half of those eligible for Cal Fresh assistance receive it, placing California next to last nationally. In other states, about 75 percent of those eligible for federal food stamp help take part, and some states are well above that threshold. Oregon, for instance, reaches about 90 percent of those who qualify.
In California, though, just about 43 percent of those eligible take part.
Socially, this means, of course, that millions of people are not getting enough to eat, leading to a range of other issues including health problems and hungry children underperforming at school. (In California, about 17 percent of children live in poverty, including roughly 3 million who qualify for free or reduced price meals.)
Economically, low participation in CalFresh also leaves money on the table at time when businesses and California's tax bureau are badly in need of funds. While the money per day may seem small, $4.50 for individual or about the cost of that bagel and coffee, it can still go a long way. Weekly CalFresh assistance equals $31 for an individual, or $325 monthly for a family of four.
"Food stamps stimulate the economy in a variety of ways," explained Chris Wimer, associate director of the Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality.
For instance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture—the federal administrator of the food stamp program—has found that every $5 spent from food stamps generates about $9 in related economic activity.
Additionally, CFPA has found that boosting California's food stamp participation to the 75 percent level would generate about $131 million in sales tax revenue, including $27 million for non-general fund expenses.
But instead, low enrollment means California's loses out on about $5 billion annually or nearly $9 billion in related economic activity. On the county level, this includes losses as well. Los Angeles County is estimated to lose out on $1.3 billion in direct assistance and $2.4 billion in related activity; Alameda County, $106 million and $191 million; San Diego County, $354 million and $634 million.
At the same time, the level of need continues to increase due to a stalled economy and flat wages.
"Overall wages have dramatically declined, particularly in the services industries such as hotel workers," Sharp said from CFPA's Los Angeles office, noting that falling incomes have made Cal Fresh an increasingly common supplement to family's budgets.
In addition, the type of person in need of help has also shifted, and can include college students, those with jobs but not making enough to get by, and senior citizens.
"The variety of households taking part has increased astronomically," Sharp said. "This includes families that have never struggled with unemployment before and it has had a staggering effect on them."
Elizabeth Kneebone, a senior research associate at the Brookings Institution, also said the changing face of poverty now increasingly includes the suburbs as well as inner-city neighborhoods. In California, inland cities such as Riverside and Fresno have seen rapid spikes in suburban poverty, she said, sometimes double the levels in urban areas. (In a report published this month, Kneebone also determined that Fresno ranked fifth nationally for neighborhoods with extreme poverty.)
Despite this grim news, California is making some strides towards helping those in need.
In October, for example, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law several bills that eliminated obstacles to CalFresh enrollment. Assembly Bill 6, for example, ended California's unusual requirement that mandated that everyone 18 and over in a household receiving CalFresh be finger printed. New laws have also ended a rule requiring CalFresh participants to file quarterly reports. Instead, California will switch to simplified semi-annual, or roughly twice a year reporting, beginning in 2013.
But there are still challenges and threats ahead.
"The recession has erased a lot of the social gains made during the 1990s, so it will take a number of years to make that up," said Caroline Danielson of the Public Policy Institute of California in Oakland. She also points to a need for smarter policies such as placing jobs closer to communities and public transit.
There is also concern that the current deficit reduction talks at the federal level could also add to the burden on households, increasing their need for supplemental help.
"The [deficit reduction talks] could reduce support for low-income families," Stanford's Wimer said. While the food stamp program may not be target, he added, related services such as a women and child component known as WIC could be on the chopping block.
"We'll have to see how it plays out," added CFPA's Sharp. "But right now there is extreme pressure on households and they are struggling to find adequate resources. It is certainly not unreasonable to try to close that 50 percent [CalFresh] gap."

2011-11-28 "Protesters disrupt UC regents meeting in San Francisco" by Amy Crawford from "SF Examiner" newspaper
[http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/education/2011/11/protesters-disrupt-uc-regents-meeting-san-francisco#ixzz1f7naoUKH]
The revolution will be run according to parliamentary procedure.
Protesters who disrupted a meeting of the University of California regents at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus Monday took over the boardroom and held their own meeting, voting on motions including a resolution demanding the resignation of top officials.
“We are inviting the regents to participate in a people’s regents meeting,” said UC Berkeley graduate student Erica Ward, who facilitated the assembly of a few dozen students, faculty, parents and staff.
The regents, scattered between four campuses and a Florida hotel, held their meeting by conference call. A gathering originally scheduled for two weeks ago was canceled amid fears of violence.
On Monday, regents allowed 90 minutes of comment, during which people at the four campuses criticized officials’ connections to moneyed interests and bemoaned tuition increases and budget cuts, as well as the violent response by university police to recent protests at UC Davis and UC Berkeley.
When public comment ended, Mission Bay protesters drowned out the voices of regents. Then, after rearranging their chairs into a circle, the protesters held a meeting governed by Robert’s Rules of Order, introducing a series of resolutions and voting with a show of hands.
“We demand that UC President Mark Yudof, the president of the university, and Chancellors [Robert] Birgeneau [of UC Berkeley] and [Linda] Katehi [of UC Davis] vacate those positions immediately,” proposed a UC Berkeley student who identified himself as Dan.
The resolution passed, 26 to 0.
Most of the regents present at Mission Bay retreated into another room, but Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom joined the protesters. He expressed sympathy with their cause, but declined to sign when presented with a pledge to raise taxes on the rich.
“Every one of these things I am happy to orally commit to,” he said, while adding that he did not believe in signing pledges.
Meanwhile, the other regents continued their teleconference in another room, where they unanimously approved a 2012-13 budget including $6.5 billion in core operating expenditures, with $2.7 billion needed from the state. If Sacramento does not approve that request, tuition increases will be on the table.

2011-11-28 "UC Davis Chancellor Katehi’s past: Police repression in Greece, FBI spying in the US"

by Jack Hood [http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/11/kate-n28.html]:
The pepper spraying of peaceful student protesters at the University of California, Davis has become a focal point for national outrage over the police repression of demonstrations against social inequality.
The police action was ordered by UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, who was acting on behalf of the UC Regents and the Democratic Party-controlled political establishment in California, which is determined to enforce a new round of drastic tuition increases on students. Katehi has spent the past week and a half defending herself against demands for her resignation, while making half-hearted attempts to distance herself from the police violence.
However, Katehi’s claims of innocence in the matter are belied by her past. She has played a major role in developing repressive measures against students protesting austerity measures and is a prime example of the growing nexus between corporate CEOs, academic administrators and the police-intelligence apparatus.
Katehi’s has been involved with police crackdowns in her home country of Greece, is one of 20 administrators involved in a national FBI network aimed at monitoring “anti-U.S.” activities on college campuses, and has overseen an administration-run campus infiltration program.
At a rally of students last Monday, Katehi made a backhanded reference to the suppression of Greek students during an uprising against the military junta in 1973. “There is a plaque out there that speaks about 17 of November in 1973, and I was there. And I don’t want to forget that, so I hope I will have a better opportunity to work with you, to meet you, to get to know you,” Katehi announced.
Aside from its hypocrisy, this reference contains an implicit threat. Katehi, as part of a team of bankers, speculators, and administrators, has worked to bring police back onto Greek university campuses after a nearly 30-year ban on such activity.
Campuses in Greece became an important focus of opposition to the Greek junta in 1973. Throughout the year, students gathered at Athens Polytechnic under the banner of “Bread, Education, Freedom” to protest the forced conscription of any students deemed to be “subversive.” In February of that year, students began a campus occupation. In November, they launched a general strike, which was met with military force on the 17th of the month.
The ultra right-wing dictatorship, with the help of fascist armed thugs, massacred 24 students as they successfully ended the occupation. Several of those killed were run over by tanks.
The brutality contributed to mass opposition that eventually led to the dictatorship’s downfall the following year. In 1982, the Greek parliament passed the Academic Asylum Law, which required police to request permission from a prosecutor before entering a campus.
Recently, however, Chancellor Katehi served on a team of representatives from the European Bank, European Commission, and International Monetary Fund, along with educators and administrators from across the world, to call for an end to these restrictions.
The team, called the “International Committee On Higher Education in Greece,” issued a report earlier this year, which Katehi co-signed, that called for an increase in police presence on campus under the guise of ensuring a “safe” environment.
“University campuses are unsafe,” the report claims. “While the [Greek] Constitution permits the university leadership to protect campuses from elements inciting political instability, Rectors have shown themselves unwilling to exercise these rights and fulfill their responsibilities, and to take the decisions needed in order to guarantee the safety of the faculty, staff, and students. As a result, the university administration and teaching staff have not proven themselves good stewards of the facilities with which society has entrusted them.
“The politicizing of universities – and in particular, of students – represents participation in the political process that exceeds the bounds of logic. This contributes to the rapid deterioration of tertiary education [emphasis added].”
According to the panel, then, peaceful student protesters like the ones who were pepper-sprayed at UC Davis “exceed the bounds of logic” and are helping to bring about the “rapid deterioration” of higher education.
The language used by the committee is strikingly similar to that used by the UC Davis administration to justify the deployment of police against students. On the morning of the police violence, the administration sent a letter to students warning that police action was necessary so that students “could learn and work in a safe, secure environment without disruption.”
In August, Greece’s PASOK government, headed by George Papandreou, approved the repeal of the Academic Asylum Law. Until his resignation on November 11, Papandreou oversaw the imposition of austerity measures dictated by the International Monetary Fund and the European banks, including further attacks on public education.
On November 17, 2011, the 38th anniversary of the massacre at Athens Polytechnic, the new Greek government authorized police entry at a university in Thessaloniki. This was the first time since 1982 that police have been allowed on a university campus.
FBI involvement
In the United States, Chancellor Katehi has participated in a national network of college presidents that works with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to “promote discussion and outreach between research universities and the FBI.”
The network is called the “National Security Higher Education Advisory Board,” and it is responsible for disseminating information regarding any activity by students and faculty that may be considered subversive.
The FBI has confirmed Katehi’s active involvement in the program. “Because of the nature of the material they discuss,” explains UC Davis administrator Andy Fell in a story from the campus faculty newspaper, Dateline, “board members must hold ‘secret’ security clearances.”
In light of this evidence of collusion with the FBI, the true meaning of Katehi’s claim that she wants to “get to know” students becomes clear.
Katehi herself boasted upon her appointment, telling the California Aggie, the UC Davis newspaper, in October 2010: “My participation allows me to visit with like-minded chancellors and presidents of major research institutions, to explore and share best practices that ensure our researchers and our research remain safe and unimpeded.”
That the real target of such activities is the politicization of students is made clear by Katehi’s involvement with the “Student Activism Response Team”—a group of 33 administrators from a variety of student service centers whose responsibility it is to infiltrate peaceful student demonstrations and disseminate information to the UC Davis Police Department. The team, active since at least 2009, is still in existence today.
The results of a Freedom of Information Act filing released last year documents the actions of the infiltration team. One email from an administrator released through the FOIA request, titled “Student Activism Response Protocol” and dated August 18, 2010, explains that administrators were given the responsibility to “receive information from all Student Affairs staff regarding any anticipated student actions, not just those of registered student organizations,” “inform police and request standby support if appropriate” and “notify and maintain communication with news service.”
Katehi’s sordid past and present actions exemplify a political establishment, comprised of both the Democrats and Republicans, that is thoroughly hostile to the interests of students, and ruthlessly determined to enforce the dictates of the corporate and financial elite in the face of growing mass opposition.

2011-11-22 "Calistoga police association head calls off boycott" by Sean Scully from "Calistoga Weekly" newspaper
[http://napavalleyregister.com/calistogan/news/local/calistoga-police-association-head-calls-off-boycott/article_2d88277e-154d-11e1-92a3-001cc4c002e0.html]
The head of the Calistoga Police Officers Association canceled the organization’s month-old boycott of city businesses late Monday and asked the community for forgiveness.
“It was my mistake to request California law enforcement and firefighter associations to no longer do business here,”  President Mark Harden wrote in a letter to the editor [http://napavalleyregister.com/calistogan/news/opinion/police-officers-boycott-is-over/article_bd09df74-154c-11e1-bf2f-001cc4c002e0.html]. “I apologize to the business professionals and the residents of this fine community for this error, and will do all I can to spread the word that our association is rescinding that ill-timed request.”
Harden and the association declared the boycott in a  letter to the editor published in The Weekly Calistogan on Oct. 27 [http://napavalleyregister.com/calistogan/news/opinion/editorial/city-council-left-officers-no-choice/article_f6214b12-001b-11e1-9d25-001cc4c03286.html]. It was intended to call attention to the officers’ unhappiness with the negotiations between the association and the city over a new labor contract. Those negotiations broke down in October, leading the City Council to impose a new contract forcing officers to pay more for pension and health insurance coverage.
Harden’s original letter outlined the officers’ complaints, including the amount the city spends on the community pool and a contract with the Chamber of Commerce to promote tourism.
The letter concluded, however, by saying that the association had contacted the mailing list of the 65,000-member Peace Officers Research Association of California urging all law enforcement officers to avoid spending money with Calistoga merchants. It also said that the association members would limit their spending in town and were actively seeking jobs elsewhere.
“I think if you go back to that last paragraph, it detracted from the point we were trying to make,” Harden said in a somewhat sheepish interview Monday, his first public comments since he announced the boycott.
The reaction to his original letter was furious, with city officials and both local newspapers flooded with angry letters from the business community and others. Some writers vented anger at Harden personally, others resurrected the idea of abolishing the police department and contracting with the county Sheriff’s Office for protection, an idea that has been considered and rejected by the City Council at least twice over the years.
Harden said the original letter was seen and approved by the 14 members of the association. His decision to rescind the boycott this week, however, is one he made alone for the good of the association, he said.
An early test of the level of damage the boycott has done will be the public response to the annual Christmas Food Basket program, in which the CPOA collects food and money to donate to needy families. That program kicked off Monday.
The Calistoga Chamber of Commerce reacted with wary surprise to Harden’s change of heart.
“We are certainly not going to forget this situation in the short term, but we look forward to the CPOA’s demonstration of their reconciliatory outreach through their future words and actions,”  Executive Director Chris Canning said in a written statement [http://napavalleyregister.com/calistogan/news/opinion/chamber-hopes-to-move-forward/article_e8532e92-154c-11e1-86ab-001cc4c002e0.html].
City Manager Richard Spitler applauded the change.
“Obviously, the officers have to re-engage the community and the City Council members, and I think we as a city … have to allow for that to happen,” he said. “We have to leave the lines of communication open.”
He said rescinding the boycott now will allow time for emotions to settle before the association and the city have to go back to the bargaining table to hammer out a new contract. The old contract, imposed by the City Council, expires June 30 and a new round of negotiations will start in the spring.

2011-11-27 "10th Annual Black Friday Demonstration to Protest Desecration of Sacred Ohlone Shellmounds"

by Alex Darocy (alex (@ alexdarocy.com) [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/11/27/18701083.php]:
For the 10th straight year, community members gathered on Black Friday to protest the desecration of the sacred Ohlone shellmounds in Emeryville that were disturbed when the Bay Street Mall was constructed on top of them. The demonstration was on November 25 this year, and organizers of the event hoped to educate shoppers about the Ohlone burial sites, and that there were other shopping alternatives located nearby.
In 2000 the Bay Street Mall was built atop the largest and oldest Ohlone burial site in the Bay Area, amid protests. Before the desecration, the shellmounds at the location stood nearly as tall as the current structures. During construction, thousands of Ohlone ancestors were removed from the site, and hundreds were left in the ground and were eventually built on top of. The Victoria's Secret store on Bay Street sits atop burials that were not removed. Since the desecration, demonstrations at the site have been held every year on Black Friday.
 A short rally during this year's demonstration featured speeches by Ohlone and Native American activists as well as a representative of Occupy/Decolonize Oakland. Native American community members also sang songs, drummed, and played clap sticks. A list containing the names of alternative chain store locations was handed out to shoppers in addition to other printed materials.
 For information about shellmounds in the Bay Area, see:
http://ipocshellmoundwalk.intuitwebsites.com/shellmound.html

All photos by Alex Darocy

Prayer Circle, Shellmound Street

The Dead Mall

Warning: Bad Karma

You Support Genocide (w. Tim Killings of Laney College BSU, and BRLP showing solidarity)

Don't Buy These (protest for "Buy Nothing Day")

Solidarity from Occupy Oakland

2011-11-27 "Vallejo foreclosures spur surge in squatters" by Irma Widjojo from "Vallejo Times-Herald"
[http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_19420543]
Real estate agent Greg Roherer talks about a large picture window in a home that he is renovating which has been broken several times. Roherer's property is next door to home suspected of housing squatters. Apart from broken windows Roherer has found garbage dumped over his fence and electrical cords running into his home to steal electricity. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
As a real estate agent, Greg Rohrer bought the foreclosed house in the 300 block of Central Avenue in December to turn it into a rental property. Little did he know, the process was going to be more costly than he ever imagined.
Rohrer's property is next to a vacant home that has now been occupied by squatters.
He said he had found the people stealing electricity and power by running a hose and a cable onto his property. Rohrer also found garbage being dumped in his driveway and yard.
In all, it cost him thousands of dollars more than he expected. It cost him a little less than $2,000 alone to replace numerous broken windows. That doesn't include costs for cleaning up the garbage spewed around the property.
"I can't really say I know who did it," he said. "But this home is a nuisance."
Many neighborhood residents agree with Rohrer.
A mother of a 2-year-old boy said she has heard and seen many loud arguments in front of the vacant property.
"My son has started picking up bad words from them," she said.
The woman requested anonymity for fear of retribution.
The Central Avenue home is only one of 1,325 properties in Vallejo that were in some form of foreclosure as of last week, according to city of Vallejo Code Enforcement division numbers.
"It is a significant problem," Code Enforcement Manager Nimat Shakoor-Grantham said.
The division is responsible for ensuring that the exteriors of these vacant properties meet city code requirements, including being free of junk and overgrown weeds. The city cites owners of properties that fail to do so.
Shakoor-Grantham said she has noticed an increase in complaints about squatters since 2007 and 2008, the beginning of the real estate bust in Vallejo.
Shakoor-Grantham said, "99.9 percent of the time, if the property has been foreclosed, people abandon them."
However, Code Enforcement lacks the power to evict those who move in on abandoned property.
"Only the owners can evict the squatters," she added.
This has been proven difficult, especially if properties are owned by banks, as most are, Shakoor-Grantham said.
"Only once or twice since 2008 has a bank replied to us," Shakoor-Grantham said.
The Central Avenue home was foreclosed on in 2010, and is listed with the city of Vallejo to be owned by Fannie Mae. However, when contacted by the Times-Herald, a Fannie Mae representative said the home had been sold to a "servicer." No further explanation was given after further inquiries.
Code Enforcement has sent Fannie Mae a citation for more than $2,300 in penalties regarding the Central Avenue property, Shakoor-Grantham said. She said she has yet to receive any response from Fannie Mae.
The Vallejo Police Department has also received reports about squatters since the number of foreclosures increased.
"It was something that almost never occurred before, but because we have more vacant properties, it does occur occasionally now," Vallejo police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Bassett said.
However, the police are limited in what they can do when unable to interact with a property's owner.
"We have to determine who the owner is and they need to tell us that the people don't belong there," Bassett said. "It's extremely hard to reach the banks or owner."
With such difficulties in abating the squatting issue, many neighborhoods have taken a proactive stance by forming neighborhood watch groups.
Vallejo has 350 neighborhood watch groups, according to Fighting Back Partnership, which helps form them. Thatis significantly higher than just 10 groups in 2009.
These groups can sue property owners for quality-of-life issues and take them to small claims court, said Bob Sampayan of Fighting Back Partnership. Sampayan, recently elected to the Vallejo City Council, said he has helped neighborhood groups in six cases, five of which were successful.
The civil nuisance abatement process requires the residents of a neighborhood to record all issues caused by squatters, including psychological impacts. Each resident must pay $75 per person to file the paperwork. It takes as long as 30 days to get a court date after the filing date, and the judge has up to 90 days to respond after the hearing, Sampayan said.
"The process does work," he said. "Sadly, we don't have enough city employees to handle problems such as this. Hopefully in the future, we will. Until then, neighbors have to help neighbors."
Sampayan added that he understands the plight homeless people face, especially during winter.
"It's sad because there's a lot of homeless folk out there, and I understand why they (squat) especially in cold and rainy weather like this," he said. "But they are doing a long-term harm to the neighborhood."
Sampayan suggested residents go to a local branch of the bank, provided the owner of the property is a bank, and demand to be connected to the bank's asset protection department to discuss the property.
"Neighbors need to be more proactive," he said.
A resident in the area of the Central Avenue property is doing just that. She and a few other neighbors are forming a neighborhood watch group.
"I feel like the neighborhood watch program has done so much good for this community," the resident said. "We want to clean Vallejo up. It has so much potential, it just needs some love."
For more information about forming a neighborhood watch group, call Sampayan at (707)648-5230 during normal business hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.