Meals Program Defies Court Injunction : Homeless: In liberal Arcata, Food Not Bombs, a group that has been accused of violating health laws, continues serving transients.

As the sun sets on a chilly evening, two women steer a bicycle and a makeshift cart onto the grassy plaza in the center of this small college town.

Their mission: Feed the homeless who gather in the plaza. Their problem: They have to break the law to do it in the public square.

Arcata may be a bastion of liberal activism on California’s rural North Coast, but even here tolerance for the homeless has its limits. For a majority of the City Council, the line has been crossed by the nightly handing out of food beneath the statue of President William McKinley.

Leaping from the cart, Robin Helga sets up the flag reading “Food Not Bombs” while Inma Thompson pulls out the night’s offering.

An eager group of a dozen or more homeless wanderers gather around the two women, students at nearby Humboldt State University. Both women wear face paint--not for disguise, they say, but because “life shouldn’t be so serious.”

In earlier Food Not Bombs rallies, female group members have paraded around the plaza topless--another effort, they said, to liven up the small town.

As soon as Thompson serves up the first bowl of potato soup, she is defying a court injunction and can be arrested. That she is not shows the town’s ambivalence about providing meals to the homeless.

Arcata is known for liberal-minded city leaders and a population that supports a multitude of environmental and socially conscious organizations.

Citing insurance problems, the city filed a lawsuit against the Food Not Bombs activists. City Council members later voted to enforce a court injunction, but have said no one will be arrested until after an April 13 court hearing.

At a recent council meeting, no one spoke in support of the get-tough position. Twenty people spoke against the injunction, many singing, saying prayers or shouting at council members.

“Not a single person has come in front of the council and spoken in favor of the injunction,” said Jason Kirkpatrick, a recently elected council member and onetime member of Food Not Bombs.

Kirkpatrick, the most liberal member of the council, was the only member not to vote for the injunction. Longtime Mayor Victor Schaub is in favor of the lawsuit.

“I don’t like being in this position,” Schaub said in an earlier interview. A supporter of many local causes, Schaub said he does not want to be seen as “wasting the taxpayer’s money” on litigation.

“But what are (Food Not Bombs members) saying?” Schaub asked. “That only the rich and middle-class are entitled to protection under our health codes? And the poor are not?”

That’s the crux of the problem for Schaub and many others. A Humboldt County health inspector told the city he witnessed several violations of state health laws at the plaza feedings.

If food is served on public property, various requirements and restrictions are imposed. The health inspector said he saw “expectorant” near open food containers, reused dirty dishes, uncovered food and a lack of hot water.

City officials said they fear that if someone were to get sick the city could be sued and its insurance carrier could refuse to cover the costs, since authorities knew of the illegal situation.

Outspoken local conservative Margaret Stafford has her own opinions about members of Food Not Bombs. “I think they are a group of anarchists,” she said. “They think they’re above the law.

“If they really wanted to feed the hungry, they’d go through the permitting process like everyone else does. Some of the Food Not Bombs members are terribly obnoxious, professional rabble-rousers.”

Jim Holder, another Food Not Bombs member who helps on the plaza, said the city is just hassling them for feeding an unwanted population. “I’m a food criminal,” he said of his nightly serving of food donated by local businesses and individuals.

“Look at these people,” Holder said, pointing to two of the first to line up for a meal. “Before yesterday, they hadn’t eaten in three days.”