SF Occupy camp now a homeless haven OCCUPY SF

Occupy protesters removing their belongings in front of the Federal Reserve building in San Francisco, Calif., as the department of public works cleans their area on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. Occupy protesters removing their belongings in front of the Federal Reserve building in San Francisco, Calif., as the department of public works cleans their area on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close SF Occupy camp now a homeless haven 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Last fall, the sprawl of tents and tables in front of the Federal Reserve building on San Francisco's Market Street was filled with the idealistic fire of the newly flowered Occupy protest movement, and everyone passing by got a flyer, a wave or a discussion on the politics of inequality.

Not so today.

The Occupy camp on Market near Drumm Street has devolved into a down-and-outer homeless encampment, and now even some Occupy activists are saying it's time for a change.

"We're moving, and we're going to let this camp collapse under its own weight," said camper Michael Clift, an Occupy organizer in San Francisco since the movement's beginning a year ago. "You've got your activists, and you've got your slack-tivists, and we need to get focused."

He gazed around at the tents, sleeping bags and shopping carts spread out along the sidewalk, taking up most of a block-long stretch a few feet north of a chain-link fence in front of the Federal Reserve building. In the center was a huge cardboard sign bearing Occupy statements and slogans, and a plastic table with Occupy leaflets.

Nearby, several campers were smoking pot, others were drinking wine or beer, some were eating donated food.

"I want every homeless person in San Francisco to be able to participate in Occupy, but we have to think about how we do this," said Clift, 45. "You can't have your out-of-work cousin crashing in your office all day, and unfortunately we didn't learn those lessons until late last year."

Keeping a clearer delineation between those who are protesting and those who are simply camping would make it easier for the public to digest Occupy's message, he said.

"In our movement, you have the bong and backrub crowd, and you have the handshake and information crowd," Clift said. "We can co-exist, but now we see that we can only co-exist best after work hours.

"We're going to work on that in a new way."

Of the 20 to 30 people at the camp, about four are from the hard-core Occupy group, say several participants, police and street cleaners who regularly check on it. The rest drifted into the camp, and for many of them, it's not so much a protest center as it is a nicely situated homeless settlement.

The area is cleaned by city workers every day around lunchtime, requiring occupants to tear down their gear and move it around the corner while trash gets tossed into trucks and hoses wash down the concrete. About an hour later, the whole camp is reassembled.

City Hall and police tolerate the current encampment, much smaller than the previous one at Justin Herman Plaza, as an expression of free speech - which means the camp doesn't necessarily fall under laws prohibiting sitting and lying on the sidewalk, city officials say. City outreach counselors regularly visit the site, offering services.

"The mayor wants to make sure that as long as they are compliant with the law, they can exercise their First Amendment rights," said Christine Falvey, spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Lee.

Long an issue

The homeless have long been a hot-button issue for Occupy. While they represent the poorest of the country's have-nots, their increasing presence at last year's tent cities turned them more into camps than protest incubators. This at least partially soured much of the mainstream population on the movement.

The challenge for street activists now, they say, is to set up a new Occupy presence in San Francisco while adequately addressing the plight of homeless people.

"It's a real dichotomy," said 66-year-old Mike Zonta, a retired paralegal who comes to the camp every weekday to hand out Occupy literature at lunchtime. "It's really become kind of just a homeless camp, and on one hand that's not good for Occupy, image-wise. But on the other hand, having our presence here gives homeless people a sense of belonging to a better cause, to something meaningful."

He said "maybe every 50th person takes one of my handouts these days" as they pass by the camp.

Most of the campers, such as 38-year-old Jackie Tehuma, don't spend time at the literature table and did not participate in recent Occupy protests.

"I'm not really here about some Occupy movement thing - I'm here because it's safer than the last place I had sleeping outside, and I appreciate that," said Tehuma, who has a tent at the camp. "I lost my job last winter as a salesperson, and I'm only here until my husband can save enough money for us to get inside somewhere again."

Neighborhood impact

Any reduction of the camp would be welcomed by people with adjacent businesses, several of whom declined to give their names for fear of retribution. The Federal Reserve erected its chain-link fence soon after the camp was set up in October 2011 and workers began encountering feces and urine in the doorways of the building. Tourists and office workers often hurry past the tents.

"If they're trying to make a point, it's not working very well," said computer consultant Charles Drum, 44, as he strolled past on a lunch break. "When Occupy started out, you could see what it was about. But this? It's just typical San Francisco homeless guys.

"I mean, c'mon guys, let's move on."

Supply consultant Donnell Moorer, 29, was a few paces behind Drum. "They're not a pain in the neck, and they have rights like everybody else," he said. "I haven't seen any of them get violent."

Changing tactics

Some who have carried on the Occupy message in San Francisco, such as Occupy Bernal, have focused instead on more tightly organized actions such as picketing foreclosure auctions and the homes of bank executives. Buck Bagot, a Bernal organizer, said the group's actions have prevented six evictions and 300 auctions.

Clift said that sort of direction is now seen as more productive than the tent-and-sign tactic that originally got the movement so much attention.

"Last year was about attraction and awareness," he said. "This year is about management and mobility."