| ‘Healthy Plaza Initiative’
presents opportunities, incites critics
By Charles Douglas
HUMBOLDT SENTINEL
|  Officers
of the Humboldt State University Police Department could
impose their own set of laws on the streets of Arcata,
if backers of a renewed effort to sanitize the Plaza
have their way.
At a study session called by the Arcata City Council
last Monday to address concerns with the daytime use
of the park, HSU President Rollin Richmond distributed
a letter from a grouping of educators and business owners
calling for an end to “intimidation and panhandling”
on the public square.
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“I’m concerned for the University and its future
and particularly for the safety of students,” he said.
“We are prepared to share some of the responsibility
towards policing in the City of Arcata.”
To address this perceived peril to the thousands of students
who frequent downtown Arcata, Richmond proposed to provide
UPD personnel to pair up with Arcata Police Department officers
in providing a more consistently visible police presence on
the Plaza. When asked by the Humboldt Sentinel how his officers
would handle the enforcement of Arcata Municipal Code sections
which differ from his Campus Code of Regulations, Richmond
characterized the issue as “a significant problem”
and stated his intention to push for changes in local laws.
“I would ask the Council to try as much as possible
to bring the regulations that govern the University and the
City into some concordance,” he said.
Councilmember Harmony Groves suggested UPD officers become
trained on the municipal code, although APD Captain Tom Chapman
expressed notable concerns.
“The municipal code charges the Arcata Police Department
with enforcement, it doesn’t give the authority to anyone
else,” APD Captain Tom Chapman said.
Homeless activist Tad Robinson agreed, although he characterized
the majority portion of Arcata’s budget spent on law
enforcement as “a police state by default” and
called for the general public to insist on standards in their
everyday lives.
“[The police] are very selectively enforcing laws and
its designed to punish poor people,” he said.
Lamenting the lack of a Berkeley-style ‘People’s
Park’ on the North Coast, Pastor Robert Vaughn characterized
the Plaza as the “commons green” and spoke against
societal divisions.
“Welcome to Arcata, President Richmond, welcome to
what used to be called town hall meetings,” he said.
“To me [the Plaza] is a place to celebrate the best
of life for the community as a whole.”
Businesswoman Nancy Reichardt testified to a “psychic”
impact on her from undesirable people on the Plaza, calling
for a redress of issues surrounding drugs and the disabled.
“I’m getting really worn out with the situation
there,” she said. “I wanted to slam people against
the wall.”
Reichardt echoed the sentiments of Northern Humboldt High
School Boardmember Kathy Marshall, who made accusations of
being tripped, spit on and otherwise treated rudely in broad
daylight by some transients.
“I feel more threatened on the Plaza in the day as
at night,” she said. “If I were a stranger riding
through town, I would keep driving right out of town.”
Marshall suggested some of the problems relocated to the
Plaza once a previous City Council imposed a prohibition on
alcohol on City parks such as Vinum Park.
Another Plaza businesswoman, Marcia Tauber said she supported
the idea of a full-time park ranger for the Plaza being hired
on in next year’s budget while also insisting on a vandal-proof
public toilet, an idea also promoted by Bike Library Program
Director Bill Burton, who has quietly opened up his organizations’
facilities to the public for the last three months.
“It’s going to take money, not just from our
City Council, if HSU wants it to change,” he said.
Burton has previously called upon HSU to provide funds to
compensate his program for the use of library bikes by hundreds
of students, which he claims diverts automobile traffic and
associated costs off of campus.
HSU Associated Students President Nicole Alvarado, elected
in one of the lowest voter turnouts in living memory, is among
the signatories of the letter. The elected members of the
AS Council have yet to take any position on the matter, nor
has a public student forum been held at any time this academic
year on the issue of their safety. Alvarado offered a further
suggestion of moving student activities off of the UC Quad
or elsewhere on campus to the Plaza.
“You can just go off on your creativity on all the
fun things we can do,” she said.
None of the campus clubs contacted for this story have received
any notification of this plot from Alvarado.
The ‘light side’ of the town square
While preoccupied with the “dark side” of the
Plaza situation, attendees also noted a number of potential
positive developments designed to attract people to their
park, including family days, picnics, juggling and other social
and recreational activities.
Councilmember Paul Pitino noted that of the 17 flower plots
on the Plaza, 10 remain unclaimed and are only minimally maintained
by City staff. Victoria Bennington of Bi-coastal Media called
for more support of local organizations and businesses who
participate in the Plaza planter adoption program, including
identifying signage such as that found in the California Department
of Transportation’s ‘Adopt A Highway’ program.
“We should recognize those businesses who adopt the
Plaza,” she said.
Arcata Park Superintendent Dan Diemer earlier said that signage
was a possibility, although not one he was eager to cheer
on.
“We do not encourage advertising for businesses,”
he said.
Charles Douglas is the Editor-in-Chief of the Humboldt
Sentinel, and can be reached at www.charlesdouglas.net.
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