OccupySacto.org

OccupySacramento General Assembly Minutes – DAY 58

Friday, December 2, 2024 5:35 p.m. PST
Location: Cesar Chavez Plaza

Facilitator: Tiffany
Stack Taker: Sean Laney
Time Keeper: April
Minutes: Michele

OS = OccupySacramento
F = Facilitator
P = Proposer
R = Reporter (for report back from committee or working group)
PoP = Point of Process
PoI = Point of Information
CQ = Clarifying Question

1. Facilitation
1.1 Welcome
1.2 Introductions
1.3 Explanation of Hand Signals
1.4 Introduction of Agenda - report backs, old business, new business, announcements, chant, adjournment, soapbox

2. Report Backs

2.1 Brother Carter – March Committee
We have fliers for the foreclosure rally and march on Tuesday, December 6. We will go to the Department of Justice, up K Street mall and to the banks. We will be leaving on time at 12 p.m., so please be here at Cesar Chavez Plaza by 11:30 a.m. Tell other people and pass out fliers. It is very important that people attend.

PoI: Be here at 11 a.m. to make signs and for a pre-rally.
PoI: It is really important to have a lot of people participate because Media has been working hard to get press here and it would look bad to have a small turn-out.
CQ: Is a flyer posted on social media?
PI: Yes.

2.2 Amy – Urban Outreach
We are getting a lot of support through outside organizations – money, mailing lists. We are working really hard – this is one of the best things we’ve done so far.

2.3 Tiffany – Nonviolent Communication Committee
There is a teach-in every Saturday at 3 pm. Please join us. If you are interested in what you learn, please consider joining our committee.

2.4 Tiffany - Facilitation Working Group
There will be a teach-in Sunday at 3 p.m.

2.5 Sean Laney – Education
The fundraising with t-shirts has hit a snag. The price quoted was profitless, so we are going back to charging $10 per shirt. We will have an established procedure for accounting for the shirts and sales. We are also looking for other people to make the shirts at a better price.

PoI: I have some resources for sweatshop-free maker.
R: Great. I’ll meet with you.
CQ: Are there any workshops or teach-ins?
R: Mark Bradley had surgery – we should have paused the schedule to let people know. We need more teach-ins, but sporadic attendance has been a problem.
PoI: I have an idea for a teach-in.
R: Great. We need teachers to come forward and be pro-active.
PoI: It would be good to have an orientation teach-in for newcomers.
R: Great idea – I’ll talk to you about it.
PoI: I will do a court-watching teach-in next week.
R: The coordinating working group (soon to be a committee) is working on this, too.

2.6 Sean Laney – Public Affairs
We are starting to get lots of media requests – it’s going well.

2.7 April
We got word the homeless are being evicted – Media was out there. It could be at 10 a.m. tomorrow. If anyone wants to go out in support, that would be great. Also, we are coordinating the Information Table to be open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Please sign up for shifts if you would like to.

2.8 Cesar – Media
There is a major action going on December 12. OccupyOakland is shutting down ports on a national day of action.
PoI: There is a lot of talk on social media about a Sacramento shutdown.
R: It is up to us to decide whether to show support there or to work to shut down the port here.
Brother Carter: Every time we do something with Oakland, it seems to separate us.
R: That is us, though.
Brother Carter: We should focus on here.
R: Just letting you know what’s going on in other cities.
PoI: On the Facebook page, there is a good idea to demonstrate at our port, not do a shutdown.
R: I’m in contact with SEIU and ILWU . They’ve asked for Occupy support in the future.
Brother Carter: The problem with us shutting down the port is that the workers are part of the 99%. It can be dangerous if the Union objects and wants to pull support from us – they are the people who are going to supply us with the things we need through the winter.
PoI: It is important when there is a call for something like this to be in touch with the Unions and have a mutual understanding.
PoI (Skittles): I was approached by a police officer last night and told I could be arrested because I had two blankets on top of me instead of one.

3. Old Business

3.1 Proposal from Cat of Safe Ground introduced last night, Thursday, December 1, 2024 and approved as emergency motion for tonight’s Agenda. In attendance, Cathleen Williams, attorney for Safe Ground, Jennie, an elder from Safe Ground, and Mark Marin, lawyer, activist, and Board Member of Safe Ground. The evictions described at last night’s GA will probably occur over the weekend. We are part of OS because we have a Safe Ground Working Group.

MOTION:
That OccupySacramento (OS) provide support, including the following:
A resolution in support of the Safe Ground movement and against the camping ordinance arrests.
Coordinated action (TBD) with OS in support of homeless campers in the event arrests occur. Ideas for action have included (a) a public guided tour of the camping areas; (b) a joint march in support of the safe ground movement; (c) assistance with social media.
.
PoI: There are plenty of houses – the police could hand out housing vouchers instead of evictions.
CQ: When and where?
P: At the very least, we want a phone tree, so when the evictions start, we can call people. It is not far – at the end of N. 10th and the levee.
Jennie: We are trying to get tents there to internet with us. We told all the media there today that this is a worldwide issue. We’re stepping up to the plate and they’re not. All are welcome to our camp.
CQ: How was Safe Ground set up – by activists?
PoI: Will provide the information after GA.

Temp check – all agree.
Vote – 31 for, 0 against.

MOTION PASSED.

P: The Safe Ground phone number is 862-8745. Anyone who wants to be on the public tour tomorrow, there will be someone here at 11 a.m. at the park to give people directions.

4. New Business

4.1 Urban Outreach Working Group:

REQUEST TO HAVE THE FOLLOWING EMERGENCY MOTION PUT ON AGENDA FOR TONIGHT’S GA: That OccupySacramento supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights day of action on Second Saturday, December 10, 2011, to include teach-ins, tabling, speakers, a march to the jail and a march to Second Saturday, which will include reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and connecting it to Occupy. In order to facilitate the Second Saturday march, the GA should be held earlier on Saturday, December 10, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. Schedule: noon to 2 p.m. – Human Rights Fair, with tabling, teach-ins and speakers. 2 p.m. – march to jail and reading of Declaration. 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. – continued tabling, etc. 4 p.m. – GA. 6:30 p.m. – Second Saturday march.

P: It would outreach to the broader community. The proposal came from the Urban Outreach Committee as part of an effort to have major events every other Saturday or twice a month. Emergency because of short lead time before the event – need to publicize it immediately. Cindy Sheehan will be speaking at the march.

Temp check – all agree on agendizing as emergency.
Vote – 22 for, 1 against.

Ricky (against): There is not enough time to give adequate notice to people that the GA is being moved.
PoI: The event is December 10, not tomorrow.
Ricky: Changes from against to agree.

Vote – 23 for, 0 against.

PROPOSAL TO AGENDIZE MOTION AS EMERGENCY IS PASSED.

Temp check on the Motion – consensus.
Vote – 26 for, 0 against.

MOTION PASSED.

4.2 Adam from Unity Working Group

PROPOSAL: To agendize motion for 72 hours from now that we vote for two representatives from OS and spread through other Occupies to vote for representatives to work through social media together.

PoI: This is being worked on. There is going to be a meeting with a lot of Occupies across the country.
CQ: Don’t understand the motion.
P: Use a democratic process to vote for the representatives to work together.
PoI: They are doing a thing like this in Philadelphia on July 4.
P: This would be more structured.
Anne: It looks like we’re creating a bureaucracy.
P: Look at our members here – the number of people is going down.
F: Remember this is just a discussion about whether to put this Motion on the Agenda.
PoI: What he is talking about is already in effect. Talk to Urban Outreach. This is wasting people’s time.
F: Brother Carter invites you to coordinate with him. Do you want to withdraw your Motion and do that?
P: That’s up to the GA.

Temp check regarding P withdrawing the motion – consensus on withdrawal.

P: WITHDRAWS THE MOTION.

F: We are really glad this person who has been so involved with us online came and made this proposal and we invite him to make further proposals.
PoI: We need to coordinate things more.
PoI (Sean Laney): This is what we’re trying to put together at the Coordinating Working Group (soon to be a Committee) in a meeting in a half hour. This is just a good idea that slipped in before we could get this coordinated.
CQ from several who want to make motions. Sean Laney hands out forms.
PoI: Do we have to wait for a committee to be formed to make a motion? Why can’t we bring it up in GA ourselves?
F: We are interested in meeting the needs for coordination, as well as for inclusion. Like in OWS, the GA ends up just endorsing big decisions, so it does not have to micromanage small items in such a large group.
PoI: I talked to a woman from New York who said if you want to do something yourself, you don’t need GA approval.
F: That’s an ongoing process. Let’s talk about it after GA.

5. Announcements
.
5.1 Brett: I created an action Facebook page called OccupyCrosswalks and would like to get many people doing actions at busy intersections – we have the right to walk across the streets holding signs. I want to hand out fliers.
PoI: Talk to Brother Carter.
Brett: I talked to him last night.
5.2 Scott: Sunday is the California Marathon and we need volunteers to help with traffic.

5.3 Darrell, Chair of Finance Committee – Report Back
We have a couple of hundred dollars in each of our accounts – we got some donations. We had an offer to store our supplies at Mark Marin’s office on 10th – we are working out the details. We had an offer from SEIU – we will have more money coming in. I won’t be here this weekend. I’m taking training from SEIU – important to keep their support.

5.4 Rusty: Has ideas about how to run the government.

5.5 Paula: Reminder of Safe Ground information.
PoI: We appreciate your passion and your participation.
Paula: We appreciate you.

5.5 Bob: Woodland voted on Tuesday night to start OccupyWoodland. We mentored them through the Urban Outreach Group. We will try to continue to offer support and guidance and coordinate with them.

5.6 Josh: Is here from Occupy San Francisco and Occupy Oakland. Will talk about it on soapbox.

5.7 There are flyers about protest against AIPAC on Sunday.

6 Adjournment – 6:45 p.m.

Michele, AWESOME job on the minutes!!!