But Bob Ornelas, the third member of the Green majority, says the new council is reluctant to roust the Drainbows in the plaza because there is no alternative for them no other place to go, and for some, no other place to score a free meal. Not Bombs food handlers were charged with contempt for violating a restraining order prohibiting the meal giveaway to plaza Drainbows. But Ornelas and the other Greens now have ordered the city to drop the contempt charges. The best way out of the Food Not Bombs problem and the Drainbow ordeal, Ornelas says, is mediation, and in that spirit, Greens Hanan and Kirkpatrick have been talking with some dozen food servers with Food Not Bombs, trying to persuade them to feed the Drainbows in some location other than the plaza. The problem, Hanan says, is the usual one in negotiating with anarchists.
Nobody seems to be in charge.
That, and that anarchists hold a low opinion in general of the permitting process. Negotiations have been further complicated by the new Taco Bell that opened Dec. 8 and that has been under constant assault by vandals ever since. Not Bombs now gives away vegan burritos outside Taco Bell's entrance. Kirkpatrick may turn out to be the answer. A self-described anarchist himself who adheres to a punk dress code, including pierced tongue, Kirkpatrick may have better luck dealing with his anarchist brethren.