Longtime homeless activist, perennial city council candidate, and political class clown “Protest” Bob Hansen died of a sudden heart attack Monday, March 12, at the age of 76 at his home outside Santa Paula.
In the 1980s, Hansen, who then lived in a camper van with his wife, Nancy McCradie, burst onto the local political landscape as a loud, insistent, outrageous, courageous, theatrical, sweet, funny, and messy voice for homeless rights. He was part of a cadre of local activists who did not seek to speak for the homeless; they actually were homeless. They were demanding not so much assistance as their civil rights. As such, Hansen and his wife helped successfully challenge the law barring people without fixed addresses from voting.
Hansen, who relished the controlled explosion of a public protest, participated in a demonstration that blocked Highway 101 for half an hour. He frequently showed up in front of the City Council, demanding City Hall provide public restrooms for people on the streets. He advocated for the creation of day centers, complained of police harassment, sought ceremonial moments of silence, and was quick to quote John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.”