General Assembly, November 23, 2011

November 24th, 2011 · · General Assembly 13 comments

A sunny day for a human chain at the lighthouse, one month ago on October 23, 2011

Inspirational Minute:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Ran to Get Superglue and rubber-bands to fix him.

News:

Occupy In Billings lets themselves be known

Occupy Seattle and others having Black Friday boycott/ Occupy of
Wal-Mart stores etc.

Tri/cities, Washington says Hello!

Occupy Oakland took over a foreclosed home and fought off a police
attempt to remove them from the property in question.

Urgent Announcements:

Move the G.A. – turned into a Propsal / Agenda Item

Working Groups:

Camps: No
Inreach: No
Tactics: Occupy Black Friday Action – going to Capitola Mall to
protest Black Friday on night of 24th 11 PM Meet at Wells Fargo on
41st Av. // Also Monday 28th, UCSC action on campus. Carpools hopeful
from Occupy Santa Cruz to show solidarity.
Process: No
Facilitator Training: 11 AM Sundays
Media: Hope to focus on positive stories, not on negative/ false
stories. Working online and with community to reach more people about
Occupy Santa Cruz. // Also suggested that some working groups meet in
public spaces to have them noticed. // Also reminder of the Monday
28th action @ UCSC – more info available at info desk.
Legal: The City has filed to bring the case back Here – date of Jan.
3rd given.
Medical: Need more items but are in the process of taking current
stock. Items not currently needed = vinegar, alcohol and head wrap
bandages. Recently donated blood pressure monitor is missing. There is
a need for trained medical staff to help and for someone to watch some
of the medical equipment.
Treasury: There was a total of $28.00 in personal donations today. The
S.E.I.U. Union donated $100.00 towards the payment of the porta
-potties.
Location: Talk to Casey or Joe
Speakers: No
Music: Friday Night Dance / Music Event planned.
Inter-Communications: Records organized.
Food: Meal of night donated by two GA members and the Zen Center. See
tent for Thanksgiving events around the camp.
Sanitation: The farthest porta – potty down at camp has to move back
because the truck can not access it there.
City / Occupy Liaison Group: See letter from previous night’s General
Assembly.

Agenda:

Proposal:

Thanksgiving Meal

Thanksgiving Meal / Plate Funds of $150.00 requested 3:30-4:00 PM Meal time?

Stack:
1) Isn’t that kind of high? Usually it is around $5 a plate per
person.
2) There is a a high probability of donations of cooked food being
brought by anyhow. Wasted food could be an issue but we do need
plates.
3) Maybe $50 instead of $150. If we get plastic reusable plates we
should go to Costco.
4) Some plates are corn-based (bamboo etc) and can be thrown away.
5) $150.00 is not a lot of money when you consider how much $$ and
effort goes into feeding a lot of people. Just a few people can spend
that much for a traditional meal.
6) What is the minimum?

Vote: No Consensus

Proposal:

Move General Assembly meeting location

Moving the General Assembly away from the Roadside to the Camp-side/
Side Steps of Courthouse everyday to promote unity and have less noise
pollution.

Stack:
1) I agree we need unity, but I am concerned about disruptions coming
from the camp hurting the General Assembly.
2) Every Unsuccessful protest has been held out of sight. The General
Assembly on the Roadside is great advertising/ community relations -
they can see us here. I do not see a lot of direct action from some of
the campers.
3) I would be in favor of doing them every-other day just to see how
it goes.
4) Move the Sunday Camp-Side/ Side Steps meeting at 2:00 back over
here and maybe pick a different two/one day(s) to have the G.A. over
on the Camp-Side.
5) I don’t think disruptions from the campers is a good reason not to
go over there. I am involved in Social Psychology and I think that
sometimes the traditional methods of involvement inherently leave
people out who do not operate that way. We are all doing good things.
We should move over there.
6) We should have them over there – but only three a week. We do need
more open communication.
7) This divide is really getting to me – Not Homeless vs. Homeless -
At the G.A., not at the G.A. but at Camp
8 ) I have been out here something like 30 out of the 50 days we have
been out here. Visibility doesn’t matter. We need to do more actions
if we want that. The people are divided.
9) We can not force anyone to come and participate. We let everyone
know when the G.A.’s are.
10) The We / They thing -we are “them.” There is no divide.
11) Some of the folks at camp need to work on coming to the meetings.
We are going to have to figure out if we are here to serve the
homeless, or are we here to be a camp in solidarity with Occupy Wall
Street? I may block this. We need to do bigger things. Not to say that
the function is bad but we need to figure out what our core goal is.
12) G.A. is in the same place every night, and everyone here knows
where to come to be part of the process. There is a divide and we need
to recognize it and assimilate it into our problem solving, not
pretend it is not there to be nice. I have not had kids yet and -
since everyone already knows How to be heard here, they can come to
the G.A. like adults. (We are not the enemy)
13) I’d like to talk about disenfranchisement. Now, the older I get,
the less patience I have for certain behaviors. I almost feel like it
would be good to have the meal after people participate in the G.A. -
I see so many just taking food and leaving right away.
More Time Voted

14) Use the example of the Church. Man became Godlike. Why not try it
for a while and see if it works? We can always revisit this issue at a
later date.
15) We need to help. Them is Us.
16) We are all getting fucked. It does not matter to what degree. If
you don’t think like this then you are stupid.
17) You can lead a horse to water but you can not make it drink.
18 ) Inreach should be the key to increased participation here, not a
move. I will block a move.
19) I have been a homeless woman and currently have homeless friends.
I am not trying to disenfranchise anyone but Santa Cruz already has a
number of wonderful programs to help the homeless. This is a county
that actually has a few good programs. I have heard that some of the
homeless feel like they are doing us a favor by camping here.
20) I wonder if we can look into how some of the other Occupy Camps
are dealing with this problem?
21) Takes a poll how many here have been homeless? (Many people had)
How many have been homeless for a year, 10 years? (Less, still a few
hands) Those who have been homeless have experience in being homeless.
Those who think this is a bad idea are a bad idea.
22) I am an outsider and I have been hanging out here today. I was not
aware that there was a divide until now. I am a Native American and I
have participated in other protest actions. I think that the fact you
guys have a teepee shows that you have a spiritual bent and they are
less likely to attack spiritual protests.
23) I may be homeless soon. I would like though to go even further on
the food idea and say you cannot eat unless you are known to
participate in the process here. We have had a lot of different people
stop by and never come back who are also part of the 99%, maybe
because of the hostile environment put created by some of the homeless
who are not part of #OWS but are only here for food.
24) I have been in the camp since day one. I did a smudging on the
teepee to make it a safe place for people. The people in camp and here
do know what is going on, so it is best not to judge others.

Vote: Block x4!

Modify to 2-3 days?
No. I will do four days.

Block explained for anyone confused
Blocks:
I believe the people driving by see us here and support us during our
G.A.’s I also have a right to feel comfortable here and I have been
part of this process. If we cater to anyone it should be the elderly -
and it is easiest for them to come here.

I was there this Sunday and the spot over there does have many
disruptions to the G.A. People have been repeatedly invited to the
G.A. and we do have an “inreach” group which is already dedicated to
this purpose.

No more wanted to speak, Proposal TABLED for later discussion

End Announcements

Moving of potty

Next Thursday on Ocean and Water in Santa Cruz, MoveOn.org will be
doing an action – See Mike for details

Friday 25th: RAVE Against the Machine! Electronic Music event planned
2-10, Hopefully to involve G.A.?

Camp: Anyone going to see James Durbin? Items needed for a camper =
propane, 11 1/2 Mens Shoes and Unscented Febreeze

Monday 28th: UCSC doing an action, possible carpools from Occupy Santa
Cruz?

Boycott Black Friday Action as mentioned at Capitola Mall on night of
24th

I did a march in SF last week and riot police came in and beat people.
We need more old people involved because police seem less likely to
want to beat and old person.

There is a New Donation Tent! (Was it donated, I wonder? :) )

Free School will be giving classes in Yoga and other subjects. More
info coming.

Friday 25th: Homeless Services Center is having an Orthopedic surgeon
come w/ a show fitting as well. Time unknown.
Also food event at Christian Life Center on Otis and Mission St.

Sheriff “concerns” list… :P

Metal drill and press needed for domes see info tent