OccupySacto.org

OccupySacramento General Assembly Minutes – DAY 60

Saturday, December 4, 2024 5:45 p.m. PST
Location: Cesar Chavez Plaza

Facilitator: Tiffany
Stack Taker: Sean Laney
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 Faygo – Food
We don’t have the truck for food service. What was not perishable has been stored. What was perishable was distributed.

CQ: Why wasn’t it done here?
R: We tried to make sure food was distributed before it spoiled. Darrell is talking about getting a trailer and food cart.
PoI: I live off 13th & E and my driveway is at your disposal.
R: Thank you!
CQ: Can the cart be called “The People’s Roach Coach?”
R: How about “The People’s Feeding Trough?” April and I went and canvassed local businesses. We want to get vinyl window stickers – we are the 99% - so businesses can show they’re supporting us.
CQ: When will we be able to do the food cart?
R: We’re hoping one will be donated. We don’t have an exact date or time.
PoI (Sean Laney): I know someone who might have some used carts we can repair.
R: Even one that can store imperishables would be good, so at least I could serve sandwiches. Anyone with ideas, please talk to me.
PoI: We’ve missed you!!
PoI: I know how to weld and would help build a cart.
PoI: I can check out stickers.

2.2 Tiffany - Nonviolent Communication Committee
People expressed an interest in attending the regular Saturday 3:00 teach-in this week, despite the large Human Rights event that will be here that day, so I will go ahead and hold the teach-in this Saturday at 3 p.m.

2.3 Tiffany – Facilitation Working Group
The facilitation teach-ins are Sunday at 3 p.m. and we would love to have you join us. We have some people who are interested in facilitating and we need more.

2.4 Sean Thompson – Direct Action Working Group
There are five major events coming up.
Tuesday, December 6 – Occupy Foreclosures march. Flyers are on the table. Hopefully someone will post details tonight.
PoI: The march is to banks at noon – be here at 11 a.m. for sign-making.
Wednesday, December 7 – First Amendment Day. Flyers are out for that, too. Be prepared to be here at night. There will be a big event – we’ll post details on Facebook.
Saturday, December 10 – Universal Declaration of Human Rights event at the park. Many events scheduled.
Monday, December 12 – Shut Down the Ports Day. Legal says it is not the best choice for us to do here because December 13 is the court date for those still facing charges and we would like everyone to join and support us. Will post more on Facebook.

2.5 John – Safe Ground Working Group
We want to create a petition to get something on the ballot next year to repeal or amend the anti-camping ordinance. Mark Marin is helping us start drafting it. We will need OS support.

2.6 Sean Laney – Education Committee
Message to Livestream: We’ve got t-shirts. (Holds up beautifully designed shirt to camera). Buy them. They are $15. If you want a bigger size than XL, we can special order it for you at only $2 more.
I’m planning a teach-in for getting up to speed. It takes hours to read everything involved with Occupy – what we stand for, what we don’t, what other Occupies are doing (like Occupy SF took down police barriers and turned them into musical instruments). We’ve also talked about an Esperanto class.
Would like a temp check re scheduling. Friday would be good for the up-to-speed teach-in if we stopped having Friday GAs – it’s getting cold and teach-ins are getting thin.

2.7 Chris – Media
Media is not working as an official OS group. We are at a step-up step-back point. We’ve got things set up and now other people need to step up. Ricky, April, and I will still be here – information booth, streaming, and we’ll train people on media functions. But we’ve been working nonstop for 60 days and it’s not fair – we need to step back and we need other people to step up.

CQ: I’d like to volunteer, but how can people do it if they don’t have their own equipment?
R: OS has to figure something out. We’ve been putting our own equipment out and people have been pretty disrespectful of that. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to keep providing our own equipment. OWS is assembling a team of street journalists and compiling a database of contact information – that could provide some help.
PoI: I have a smartphone and I can help.
GA: Yay! Be prepared to be voluntold!
Sean Laney (to Livestream): We’ve had a lot of problems with people’s stuff being borrowed and not returned or stolen. We’re fundraising and we need a lot of support. Ricky and I have been spending our own money like drunken sailors. If those of you watching could please help us with a $20 donation or anything you can afford to keep Livestream going, we would really appreciate it.

2.8 April
Anyone who has information on how things work at the Capitol, please let me know. I’m trying to organize something.

3. Old Business – None.

4. New Business – None.

5. Announcements

5.1 Kirk with Tent Ops (announcing from inside his tent): We have a new operation. With no truck, there has only been an information table in the park. If everybody can come down here and bring a tent, it makes a visual impact. Dome tents are the symbol of the movement.
PoI: We’re working on stencils for tents. We want to make the tents symbols. The more decorated they are, the better they serve the argument that they are protected speech, and some of them are looking pretty good already.
Kirk: Plus, once it starts raining, it will be good to do GA from tents for symbolism and weather.

5.2 Sean Laney: We are looking for graphic artists to work on meme spreading.
PoI: John Pike images are a good example.
Sean: It will be part of fundraising. We will make buttons – they will be only a couple of dollars and we can sell a lot, like at festivals. We can get money to get us a camera for OS that we can protect.
PoI: For images, think pillows.
PoI: We had pillows arrested.
Sean: We have some t-shirt ideas. We want clever ideas that will make people think.

6. Chant: The people united will never be divided! (louder) The people united will never be divided!! (louder) The people united will never be divided!!!
Adjournment – 6:20 p.m. Next GA is tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.