OccupySacto.org

Dave is facilitating, Matt is on stack, Morgan is on minutes

Committee/Working Group Report Backs
Outreach Committee, Amy - About 14 different groups are coming to the Monsanto protest, March 16-17. Strategy Forum coming up March 3rd at 10am at the Labor Council.
Finance Committee, Matt - About $900 in bank account. Thinking about switching from PayPal to WePay. Might get a PO Box for getting official mail, etc.

Old Business
Clear Cutting Protest Support - Unprecedented us of herbicides are destroying ecosystems including the Sacramento River Watershed. Forests are the first line of defense for biodiversity, changes in climate, and our water. Protest at the Board of Forestry, trying to hold these governmental agencies accountable. Sierra Pacific Industries controls a lot of what happens at the board.
"It is hereby proposed by the Sacramento working group for Workers, Health and the Environment, that clearcutting becomes a target of the Occupation and that an unwavering demand be made to Governor Brown and all political leaders in California, that clearcutting by stopped in California.
It is proposed that people of the Earth gather at the Board of Forestry in Sacramento on April 4th 2012, at 11am, as part of the International Earth Month campaign and that all peaceful manners of expression take place.
It is further proposed that forest activists and occupations do what is necessary to protect our children's future."
Passed with a consensus of all 12 votes.

Finance Bylaws - Tabling motion for now, re-tweaking bylaw changes to bring to next GA as amendments. Possibly no changes.

Roberts Ten Action - Tabling until he is present.

New Business
Regarding March 3rd GA - Amy proposes changing GA on the 3rd to a different date due to Strategy Forum Should we skip it that day or move it to Friday? Is this an emergency? Yes. Should we skip that GA? Unanimous yes with 13 votes.

Announcements
- Lisa on Foreclosure - Wednesday in the park, Feb 29th 10:30am, Bay Area Moratorium marching to Attorney General's office and county recorder's office, then to an undisclosed bank. Then back to the park with free pizza, and teach-in on foreclosure.
- Movie premier for Israel Versus Israel including filmmaker, Thursday March 1st at 7pm, at Unitarian Universalist society. Posted on Sac Peace website.
- Brown administration is proposing to privatize services for people on Medicare. Western Service Workers Association.
- Ralphie - LCLA Cesar Chavez March is next Saturday March 31st, from South side park. Need any available help to march security, keeping folks off the roads, etc. Feel free to come to organizing meetings at SEIU at 13th & S. Shutting down the Neo-Nazis at the Capitol on Monday the 27th at 11am, at 10th & L St. Benefit concert on Wednesday at 7:30pm at 25th & R St, 60s anti-war activists part of the weather underground talking about old activism Occupy, NDAA.

More info on Israel Vs Israel can be found at SacPeace.org ....

Occupy Sacramento General Assembly on February 25th, Saturday passed this motion.
Passed 12-0

Feb. 18, 2012

PROPOSAL TO DEMAND AN END TO CLEARCUTTING IN CALIFORNIA

Whereas forests are the lungs of the earth and our first line of defense against climate change. Forests absorb carbon pollution and release fresh air.
Deforestation is the second leading cause of green house gas emissions on the planet after the burning of fossil fuels;

Whereas California's forests provide 80% of the water supply – they are the source of our water, essential to all life, our livelihoods and economy;

Whereas forests are an incredible source of natural wealth from biodiversity of plants and animals – they are nature's pharmacy;

Whereas forests are sacred;

Whereas Clearcutting is a destructive, 19th century practice that is destroying California's forests and all they sustain. Clearcutting is a form of forest liquidation that:

removes all trees from a 20-40 acre areas in a checkerboard fashion across an entire watershed,
deep rips the soil to stop the regrowth of native vegetation
replants only commercial trees and uses massive herbicides to make sure that only these industrial tree crops grow back;

Whereas the impacts of this extreme form of forestry are devastating to our air, water, wildlife, climate and the well being of our children;

Whereas clearcutting concentrates wealth:

-Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI), owned by a single family, the Red Emmerson family, is the largest clearcutter in California and is in the process of clearcutting over a million acres,
-The Emmerson family and SPI own 1.9 million acres of California forests in the Sierra Nevada, Cascades and Coastal Redwoods,
-Through clearcutting, Emmerson has amassed a fortune worth $2.5 billion. As number 50th on Forbes list of wealthiest individuals in the US, Red Emmerson is clearly a member of the 1%;

Whereas clearcutting destroys biodiversity and pollutes our water, air and communities with toxic chemicals:

-all surviving wildlife is forced out of clearcut areas;
-500,000 pounds PER YEAR of deadly herbicides sprayed after clearcutting kills vegetation and soil health, further adding to biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions;
-indigenous vegetation harmed by clearcutting includes the vital oak, all the firs, maples, manzanita and countless varieties of plants, shrubs and trees;

Whereas clearcutting destroys jobs and is unsustainable:

-much of the lumber produced from clearcutting the Pacific Northwest is exported to other countries,
-other timber harvest methods such as selective timber harvesting in which a number of people are employed in the choosing, marking, and cutting of individual trees are viable alternatives to clearcutting,
-healthy, natural forests sustain thousands of jobs in the toursism, recreation, hunting, and fishing industries;

Whereas the California Department of Forestry and Fire (CALFIRE) is responsible for approving the clearcut logging plans and is the lead agency in a CEQA equivalent process that should inlcude input from the State Department of Fish and Game and other state agencies,
It is hereby proposed by the Sacramento working group for Workers, Health and the Environment, that clearcutting becomes a target of the Occupation and that an unwavering demand be made to Governor Brown and all political leaders in California, that clearcutting be stopped in California.

It is further proposed that peoples of the Earth gather at the Board of Forestry in Sacramento on April 4th, 2012, as part of the International Earth Month campaign and that all manners of peaceful expression take place.

It is further proposed that forest activists and occupations do what is necessary to protect our children's future.



CONTACT: Juliette Beck, Juliettegaia@yahoo.com, (530) 902-8407, Mauro at Mauro@signaloflove.org

...and the video of the GA is now up too:

http://www.livestream.com/occupysacto/video?clipId=flv_2f67a489-8cb9-474c-9e0b-aaddf4501f4e