Facilitator: Antonio

Stack: Liz

Minutes: Kurt

Greeter: Jeremy

Reportbacks:

• Kurt – We are replacing our library with a different one. The old one is falling apart. Also, the Occupation Nation affinity group will be taking a mobile library with them when they start their cross country march in June. We will be coordinating with many occupations all over the country. Also, I talked to Occupy Charlotte today. They are very excited about our upcoming Statement of Independence that is being proposed today. They want to bring it to the Statewide GA.
• Jeremy – Last night we had the 99+1 event planning. Lots of people are doing many different things, contacting the media, our legal observers etc. Many people are doing outreach right now. Sign making will be this weekend after TRAC. We need a bunch of signs. Our final meeting is next Tuesday at 8pm at the Volcano Lounge. occuweather report: heavy rain is coming tonight, secure your stuff. I also went to OCH’s campsite as they took it down today and they want to continue to work with us. They might be staying with us for Occupy the Courts. On the 20th, they will arive at the Raleigh district court at 10:30am.
• Jes – All of the people sleeping in the Human needs tent have actual tents now. Nobody needs to sleep there. We have another tent donated that will be set up tomorrow. We set up a welcome table today with flyers and info. Margaret’s court date was continued to the 14th of February.
• Tayloe – Occupy the Capitol has been changed to January 17th.
• Antonio – I made a new contact email for the group. I’m posting them on the appropriate working group forums. Since I did that, the person in charge of the old email wanted to know why we set up a new one. Since we never saw the old emails, it seemed to be unused. She gave me the password from the old email. It has 1221 emails in it. Some of them have been autoreply contacts, but of those 1221, 900 were unopened. She said she used MOffice and that it would look unopened even though they are opened. I feel uncomfortable about this. The occupation has never seen any of these emails until now. I think there is a hierarchy problem now b/c she is speaking to these emails without addressing the group,. I think it causes a major coordination problem because the appropriate groups aren’t being notified. I also find it as major trust issue I have changed the password, pending a proposal that I’m announcing today. She’s had it for three months and we’ve seen zero of those emails.

Facilitator: Angela   Co-Facilitator: Chris   Stack: Derek   Minutes: Antonio

Process

Working Group Report Backs:

Coordination – Internal (Antonio) – Have started getting emails to the 411OccupyRaleigh@gmail.com email. I place the contacts on the forums and I encourage people to take the initiative and follow up with the people who contact us.

TRAC – Tayloe – Productive meeting today that was livestreamed for the first time. Next meeting is Sunday 1-15-12 at 2:00pm. The venue for the meeting may change so keep an eye on the TRAC thread on the forums for details.

Coordination – External – Jim – We are still organizing for a state wide GA. Will be bringing a proposal soon to see if OR wants to use language that officially has OR inviting people to the state wide GA.

Reap2Sew – Mike + Jim – Formally known as OREO, this group is trying to get people friendly to the movement more directly involved with OR and bring back in those who were with us before but have stopped participating for whatever reason. Meeting is Sunday 1-8-12 at 2:00pm at Cameron Village Library. This effort is not in competition with OR but rather an effort to support OR.

Announcement of Upcoming Proposals:

Derek – The Statement of Independence that was going to be proposed this GA is tabled until Tuesday 1-10-12. The statement was then read for reference:

We appreciate, respect and encourage endorsements from individuals and organizations. We invite them. However, just because an individual or organization endorses our movement, does not mean that they in any way have a leadership role in deciding the future direction of this movement. We will not be co-opted by hierarchical organizations, no matter how wonderful their cause may be.

There are many people, organizations and media outlets within both the Democratic and Republican parties who are trying to label us as the Democrat’s version of the Tea Party. In our opinion, not only is this incorrect, but in labeling us this way, you are, whether you realize it or not, undermining the very essence of this movement with your obsolete divide and conquer groupthink propaganda. Just as the mainstream media and both political parties aided and abetted the co-option of the Tea Party by the Republican Party, there is an attempt being made to do the same to us within the Democratic Party.

We the People, We the 99%, are not the pawns of either wing of the two-party oligarchy.

We emphatically reject the attempted leadership of any political party, organization or individual. If there are elected officials or organizations who endorse our movement, we welcome them.

However, they must do so knowing this: Your voice will be just as loud as any other voice. We are led by no one. You cannot co-opt We The People.

Respect Us.

Folks from a commune in Statesville called 12 Tribes approached the GA. GA paused to greet and welcome them.

Since no proposals time was allotted for Soap Boxing:

Antonio – Encourages working groups to pick specific times to meet so its easier for people to attend and plan for. Encourages the working groups to start a sticky thread at the top of their working group forum section that lists all its members. Told a story about an encounter with a friend last night. Antonio told friend some in Occupy are concerned that the energy spent on maintaining the occupation is detracting from our efforts in the occupy movement. Friend was baffled at the idea that energy spent to maintain an occupation could somehow be detrimental to the occupation movement. Antonio explained that he felt that we on the inside of occupation are often very focused on the other sorts if things we do like direct actions.  But those outside the movement actually see the task of occupation itself, having a camp and such, as being the primary symbol and method of protest. He thought we should not discount how powerful a symbol its become.

12 Tribes Commune was invited to visit OR.

Announcements:

Occupy Chapel-Hill is breaking down their tents and encampment on 1-10-12. They have the following events scheduled that day. Location 179 E. Franklin Street, Chapel-Hill.

3:00pm – break down tents

4:30pm – news conference

6:00pm – General Assembly and a party afterwards

Garth from Walkupy was just arrested.

Flyers for the 99+1 day celebration are ready. Next planning meeting is Tuesday 1-9-12 at 8:00pm at Morning Times.

Monday 1-9-12, 7:30pm – Chapel-Hill Town Council is meeting. Occupy Chapel-Hill encourages others to come to voice concern about the commissions finding that there was no wrong doing in the SWAT action against those in Chapel-Hill who occupied the vacant Chrysler building.

Please bring candles to the GA on 1-17-12 for MLK vigil after GA.

1-20-12 – Occupy the courtrooms in regards to the 2 year anniversary of Citizens United.

1-21-12 – 4:30pm – Meeting at Capitol steps

1-22-12 – Actions start at 1pm – Rally and teach in. March. Party at Volcano Lounge. Please help distribute flyers.

Tayloe – wishes to start a discussion about Co-Housing Communities like Shadowlake in VA. Involves sharing food production, activities, cooking, etc. Buy a big piece of land and build small energy efficient houses.

Occupy the courts is focused on the 20th because courts are open while most OR actions are on the 21st and 22nd.

Sarah from Walkupy also arrested.

Crabtree Valley Mall 6 in court 1-12-12 in the morning. Please some to show support in solidarity.

1-10-12 – Court for Kat, Clinton, and Margaret in room 2C between 9:30-10:00am. Please come to show support and solidarity.

Start2012-01-01 18:30 America/New_York End2012-01-01 19:30 America/New_York LocationNC State Capitol DescriptionGA Minutes for January 1, 2012

Welcome

• Facilitator: Clark
• Minutes taker: Rachel
• Transcribed by: Rachel

Reportbacks

TRAC

Tayloe: TRAC (The Raleigh Action Collective) met today at 3:00. We discussed Tuesday’s action that begins at the Capitol at 12:30. We’re meeting tomorrow night at the camp at 5:00 to flyer Moore Square, the Salvation Army, Food Lion, and so on. We discussed a possible foreclosure direct action that can happen any day at this point. A married couple with 4 kids have had a mortgage since 1994. They have the money for the mortgage and Wells Fargo will not accept it and are evicting them. We may help prevent the eviction and then also rally in front of Wells Fargo because we know they have refused other people’s money for their mortgages, too. We also discussed a January 20 legislative action. The minutes from the meeting will be available on the forums.

Paul: Will you post more information on the forums about the foreclosure action?

Tayloe: I’d only post “There is a direct action, meet at the camp at this time.” I’ll set up a telephone tree too.

Dyck: How do people sign up in the phone tree?

Tayloe: Message “Derek C” in the forums. He is setting it up.

Live Stream

Phoebe: Regarding the livestream, we never got the equipment we need to do it. (Someone asked me about it today.)

Proposals

Dyck: This proposal is called “Statement of Unity.” This is posted on the forums but I also brought copies here. The purpose of this is that it’s another tool for us to feel like we are a unified organism. We support each other, even if we don’t agree with each other. It’s been on the forums for weeks in several different layers. It’s trying to get at, “Why are people here?” My reason is that I am suffering for people like that couple with children who are being kicked out of their homes.

Phoebe: Proposals should be concise and geared toward action.

Dyck: This is a statement of unity.

Rachel: The statement of autonomy was neither concise nor geared toward action.

Dyck: Everybody needs to be able to read these five items and find that one or more holds true for their reason for occupying, without lying.

Traci: When someone walks up and asks why we are Occupying, we can hand them this and say, “Here are some of the reasons.”

Tayloe: Has this been announced at a GA?

Dyck: About six weeks ago, but it needed more work first.

Traci: Does this need to be a proposal or can it be something more of a teach-in?

Dyck: What I’m concerned about is that the media interviews people and gets such an incomplete idea of what we’re about. I’m driven to find something they can bite their teeth into and say, “Yes! This is what I’m about!”

Paul: It can be a part of our welcoming table at the camp.

Clark: Let’s take a stack for concerns.

Phoebe: In reading it, I don’t like the negative linguistics that disempower the people (“feeling weak, sick, ill, abused, dishonored”) because I don’t feel that way. I also don’t think this goes against our core beliefs so I wouldn’t block it, but I don’t think GA should consent to this right now. But, I’m happy to hash it out and discuss it.

Tayloe: My concern is that there are a lot of people without internet access. We now have hard copies we can share with them. Because of that, and because enough people aren’t completely up to speed, I suggest we table the proposal tonight and continue the discussion and re-propose it once everyone feels comfortable with the document.

Dyck: I’m willing to give up on it. For all those I spoke with face-to-face and on the forums, I’m not willing to extend it. If people want to kill it it’ll just be my own purpose.

Phoebe: I don’t want you to drop it; I just think it needs a little more work. You’ve put so much energy into it and I want something fruitful to come of it.

Clark: Taking my facilitator hat off—I get you’ve been working hard on it, but the proposal for extending it would require no future work except coming to one more GA. I just think people haven’t seen it yet.

Dyck: The GA is always a small, different group of people, so this is a never-ending process. We’ll never please everyone.

Phoebe: Even though there’s negative wording, I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Thomas: I support what he’s doing. Those of us who have held signs and stayed at the Capitol have been looking for something exactly like this. It may need some tweaking, but if we can do that, it’s a great thing.

Paul: I really think it’s good outreach.

Rachel: I think what Tayloe is saying is that the people at the camp haven’t even had a chance to look at the proposal and give their reasons for Occupying. He doesn’t want them to hash out the language or quibble over details; he just wants to give them a chance to add their reasons.

Dyck: Okay, that is fine then.

Traci: We can also print that in the Occupy Raleigh Times.

Dyck: True, but I want the endorsement first. Everyone needs something to grab onto. We need unity.

Jonathan: But not everything applies to all people.

Rachel: As long as one applies to you, the rest may not.

Phoebe: Friendly amendment—allow us to take these papers to the camp tonight to show it to those people there, then come back and propose it tomorrow night so they can come too.

Clark: Can we all agree to that? (Lots of twinkle fingers.) Okay, consensus.

Announcements

Mike: You’re starting to see the OREO stuff (Occupy Raleigh Education and Outreach). I just want to invite you and everyone to come to that. To me it’s about giving people an opportunity to contribute and connect. It’s next Sunday at 2:00pm at the Cameron Village Library. The idea is that Jim and I were doing similar things, so we had a meeting of the minds and decided to work together. We had 7,000 people “like” us on Facebook and we want to bring more people in.

Jeremy: On January 3 at 8:00pm, I will hold a meeting at Morning Times to plan the 100th Day Celebration Rally. It’ll be cold that day so come to the meeting, warm up. We’ll plan the rally for January 22. Also, tomorrow night I’ll be playing a set at The Pour House at 8:30pm.

Rachel: Tonight at 9:00pm, there is a Diversity meeting at the camp.

Phoebe: Don’t forget about the rewriting of the constitution in July.

Tayloe: Walkupy released their statement. They want GAs to propose it by January 12 and ratify it by January 24, at which point they will make any necessary changes to their document. It’s in regards to the March 21-25 march on all state capitols. StormieQuirk has it on the forums. There may be a link or two on Facebook; I’ll try to track it down and get it front page center. The bottom line is, we will demand the end of corporate personhood and the return of democracy to the citizens of this country. We should seriously consider Occupying the Capitol because it can involve quite a few people.

GA adjourned.

CategoryGeneralAssembly CategoryMinutes CategoryGeneralAssemblyMinutes

Start2011-12-30 18:30 America/New_YorkEnd2011-12-30 19:30 America/New_YorkLocationNC State CapitolDescriptionGA Minutes for December 30, 2011

Welcome

• Facilitators: Charles
• Stack taker: Chris
• Minutes taker: Rachel
• Transcribed by: Rachel

No new people.

Reportbacks

Occupy Cherry Hill

Kurt: Cherry Hill is a small town in NJ. I drove by their Occupation twice. They have 2 tents, 4 people, and the biggest banner I’ve ever seen in my life. They were picketing in the afternoon AND at about 11:30 at night.

Diversity

Charles: I have contacted some musicians for the Black History Month Fair. One is a traditional African drums. The other is a husband-wife Southern gospel team.

Proposals

Shawn reading for Shaun: Proposal to ban Robert. We had a deescalation meeting with him a few nights ago. We had several members of the occupation come forth ahead of time with grievances. Those were:

1. Panhandling in the name of Occupy Raleigh on Hillsborough St. for “donations.”2. Panhandling at the occupation from visitors, guests, and weekenders.3a. Sexual harassment both in the form of asking those guests, visitors, and weekenders to sleep in his tent3b. AND a failure to maintain personal space and appropriate touching.4. Theft $180 from camp from local on-site donation.

As such, we discussed appropriate process and applying it. We discussed that if he paid us back the $180 and some form of apology to those sexually harassed and Occupy Raleigh, we would begin the 48 hour probationary period. We did keep in mind that both Occupy Chapel Hill and Occupy PA have both asked him to leave due to theft.

HOWEVER.

Robert denies any guilt in stealing 180 dollars from the camp, even though we have witnesses who say otherwise. As such, the 180 dollars will not be recovered and therefore we cannot do a 48 hour probationary period. In light of this, deescalation temporarily banned him until Friday’s GA could discuss further action. In the meantime, we know who donated the $180 dollars and will be double checking with them to make sure Robert is the offender in question.

This further action is to ban him permanently at the GA on 12/30.

Robert: I will pay back the $180.

Jes: Does that mean you’re saying you did it?

Robert: Yes, I did. I will pay back the $180 I was accused for. I will take a 48-hour probation.

Chris: You just said “accused.” Are you going back on admitting guilt?

Robert: Yes.

Jes: Robert, did you take $180?

Robert: Yes.

Chris: Will you change that answer?

Robert: No.

Clark: Can you tell us why you did it?

Robert: I needed the money.

Chris: You get everything you need at the camp.

Robert: I needed cigarettes and stuff. I do apologize to everyone here.

Vincent: I have two questions. 1. Do you have a time frame for bringing the money back?

Robert: By January 3 or 4.

Vincent: 2. Are you an addict? There’s not much you need that isn’t at the camp. Did you get high?

Robert: I used it for alcohol.

Clark: Do you have any comments about the other items on the list?

Robert: I plead guilty to all of them.

Tayloe: Have you stolen anything else?

Jes: While people were cleaning out your tent, Robert, they found the lantern that’s been missing for the last two weeks. Why was it there?

Robert: I’m being completely honest, I did not take the lantern.

Phoebe: What about the Occupy Raleigh sign?

Robert: I have no means of knowing where that is.

Charles: I’m pretty sure a random drunk guy took it.

Shawn: Only a quarter of the concern is the money.

Tayloe: Since there were witnesses to the theft, are any of them here? I want to know whether the money was donated to Occupy Raleigh or the North Carolina Occupy Movement Resource Center (the camp).

Charles: Most of the time people don’t clarify.

Jes: It’d have gone to me and I’d have bought stuff for the camp site.

Phoebe: Robert, did you have anything to do with the pizzas sent to us tonight?

Robert: No.

Jes: Where will you get the $180 to pay us back?

Robert: From next month’s disability check.

Vincent: Last night you told us you had to go to New Bern to get the check.

Robert: My father lives there. I’ll have him put the money in my account. I can use my card to get it out.

Clark: I want to say that it was good of you to admit it, Robert.

Margaret: I want you to speak to harassing women.

Robert: I apologize for that and won’t do it again.

Tayloe: When we met last Monday at the camp and talked about de-escalation, we all agreed that apologies would not be accepted for physical violence and theft. Has that changed?

Clark: I think in the past where we forgave someone for theft.

Tayloe: But what about as of last Monday? We decided theft and violence were unforgivable crimes.

Jes: In light of our last de-escalation meeting, we kind of talked about how theft can be amended, which is in a forthcoming proposal.

Angela: The real question to me is there’s a fundamental lack of trust; trust has been broken.

Robert: I understand that.

Angela: The question we have to ask ourselves is, are we really okay with trusting it will be fixed? Policy only goes so far. The real question is, can we repair this?

Robert: Yes.

Charles: My issue is, if this happens again, what is the policy with a repeat offender?

Jes: Zero tolerance.

Rachel: When was that decided?

Jes: I don’t remember, either Monday or Wednesday.

Clark: I think our policy is still up in the air. I think we should do what is best here and worry about the rest later.

Angela: I agree.

Margaret: Can I ask Robert what we can do to prevent this from happening again?

Robert: Put me on a three-week probation.

Angela: Robert, what do you need to have happen in your life so this doesn’t repeat itself?

Margaret: That’s a different question. I want to know what Occupy Raleigh can do to protect the donors.

Robert: Keep me away from all the women and donors.

Margaret: Do you think it’s easy for people to do this?

Jes: To be fair, we do have precedents where an individual stole from us before–same fashion, smaller amount. We gave that person a chance to amend the situation; they’re still around, they contribute, they’re awesome. To be consistent, it’s a good guideline. Also, I’m not going to police Robert. Personal responsibility.

Angela: That’s why I put it back on you, Robert. Is this group important enough to you to be willing to change your behavior?

Robert: Yes.

Phoebe: If you were kicked out of the other Occupations for the same thing, what makes this group different?

Robert: To see if I can improve myself.

Phoebe: But how? This has been a consistent thing. How does it change just because we’re Occupy Raleigh.

Robert: Because I said I won’t do it again.

Jes: But how do we know that?

Robert: Keep me away from women and donors.

Phoebe: Who is Bradley Manning?

Tayloe: The Wiki Leaks guy.

Phoebe: I’m asking Robert. What are the core values of the Occupation movement?

Robert: This is a tough one.

Phoebe: The people here know what the movement is about. I’ve asked other people these questions to see if they’re there for the movement, or if they’re there for our resources.

Paul: What makes you want to Occupy?

Robert: Because I haven’t done it.

Charles: What’s your personal motivation for joining the movement?

Robert: Learning about stuff that’s discussed.

Phoebe: The core values involve nonviolence, sobriety in the camps, protesting economic corruption, as I’ve experienced the core values.

Angela: Robert, do you understand why you’re being asked?

Robert: Because I’ve done something wrong and I have to be punished.

Angela: No, why you’re being asked about the movement. It’s not worth investing in changing your personal behavior if it’s not for something you believe in. You need to ask yourself why I’m really here. And it’s not for a place to sleep–that’s not what we do here.

Robert: I have nowhere else to go.

Jes: There are shelters.

Robert: I’ve tried.

Angela: Is that your primary reason?

Robert: Yes.

Angela: Thank you for the honest answer.

Margaret: My understanding is that Occupy is about people being fed up with others (1%) stealing money.

Clark: That’s not the same.

Angela: I want to stop for a minute because this is important. I want Robert to have a chance to say he understands the implications of us making a decision for him to leave. It’s important for him to be on-board with this. I want Robert to think about, if you’ve admitted you’re just here because you need a place to stay. If you need our help to find a place to stay, we can work to help connect you with community resources. We don’t need to have you at the camp in order for us to do that. Is that all you need?

Robert: No.

Angela: What else is it that brings you here?

Robert: I have no family. I was neglected.

Angela: Are you here for the community, to have people around?

Robert: Yes I am.

Angela: When you’re in a community, people have to trust you. In order to be part of this community, you cannot break that trust.

Robert: I understand that.

Angela: Do we all think that the sense of community is a reason for him to stay?

Russ: There may be others at the camp who are here for a place to stay.

Charles: Yes, but this is just about Robert for now.

Jes: So you’re saying if we let them stay, we can’t use that against Robert?

Russ: No, I mean we need to talk to them too.

Vincent: Are you on any medicine, Robert?

Jes: You don’t have to answer that.

Angela: I realize I’m out of process, but is there any information about your health and your ability to process information or disability or any other private information you feel comfortable sharing that will help us understand how you think? Is anything affecting your ability to make good decisions?

Robert: Yes. I have a tendency to forget things I am told. I have ADD. I also have bipolar and brain damage. I never really tell anybody. I have a problem with myself. I can’t comprehend certain things very well. When I was born, my umbilical cord was wrapped around me.

Angela: That makes a difference, thank you for telling us. That doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have a responsibility, but that helps us.

Robert: Like I admitted to taking money, I am dead serious, I will pay that back January 3 or 4.

Charles: Let’s take a stack for concerns. We’re off-topic of the actual proposal. The proposal is to fully ban him.

Jes: As much as it would be cool if we could help everyone with all of their various issues, the Occupation is not a shelter, a soup kitchen, etc. If some of us are social workers, we’re not acting in that capacity at the Occupation. So while any cognitive differences might be a factor in people’s behavior, we can’t take it upon ourselves to police, correct, and counsel those. First, it’s practicing illegally. Secondly, we have to ask if we want to consistently deal with the problems of those who are unable to police themselves. I need to keep that in mind and you should too.

Clark: I feel like we should consider all the possible options. One option is, complete ban until the money is repaid and maybe a GA to discuss the issue where Robert can come back and say more about what the movement is about. Learn about the movement if you want to be a part of it. Then there’s the separate issue of banning from the camp.

Kurt: Any GA proposal can be overturned with a future GA proposal.

Clark: I think it would be good if it was put into the proposal though, it would give a window of hope.

Phoebe: I’d like to say something but not in front of Robert. Can we ask him to leave for a few minutes? If not, okay.

Robert: That’s okay.

Phoebe: The idea that I had was that we leave the option open to overturn this GA decision, and to say “yes we still want the money back, but no, we don’t want you involved in the movement any more.” The day he returns the money, we can tell him we do want to consider his involvement, to see if he is serious.

Charles: Shawn, are you willing to accept that friendly amendment?

Phoebe: We can tell him he is welcome at GA, but not at the camp, permanently. When he comes back with the money, he can stay.

Margaret: He can read the minutes online. Secrecy is bad.

Phoebe: I withdraw it.

Clark: I move we ban him until he repays the money, then discuss at GA again what happens with him.

Chris: What about the sexual harassment?

Charles: Some women won’t come back because of him. Sexual harassment was one of the issues with Tank, though, and we let him stay. We should give Robert the issue as well. I like Clark’s amendment. Are we willing to accept it?

Kurt: POI: The wording of the proposal is to ban Robert from the camp, not from Occupy or GAs.

Phoebe: So he isn’t automatically allowed back at the camp when he repays the money, and we’ll decide later.

Clark: Yes. Personally, I think we should also ban him from our Direct Actions.

Jes: It’s a public space, though. And, we can see if he shows up and does them.

Phoebe: POI: Asking him to leave or shaming him out is the next step if you don’t want him at an action.

Charles: Friendly amendment accepted. Let’s call the question. Stand-asides? Charles (don’t feel comfortable with him at all). Angela. Thomas (I’m not there enough to make the decision). Blocks? None. Consensus? Yes.

Phoebe: Robert, we just consented that you are banned from the camp area. You can come to the GAs and Direct Actions. You are banned from the camp. When you return the money, we’ll hold another meeting like this to decide if you can come back to the camp.

Robert: I understand.

Tayloe: I’d like to know how we can stay in touch with you. We’ll be working on getting you some support and help.

Robert: I have no phone.

Tayloe: So how can we get in touch? Do you use email?

Robert: I have Facebook.

Tayloe: Okay. Angela, will you be the point-person on that?

Angela: Okay.

Tayloe: Robert, make sure Angela gets your Facebook information.

Clark: Needless to say, don’t steal more stuff.

Shawn: And don’t steal to get the money to repay us.

Robert: Do y’all want me to leave?

Paul: You’re banned from the camp, not the GA. You can stay.

Margaret: We should address these repeating problems.

Charles: We are in a future proposal.

Clark: This is not a whole other proposal. I just want to say that the discussion of our process is ongoing. There’s a thread about it in the Upcoming Proposals forums. I’d like to hear more opinions about it. We’re not addressing it tonight, but…

Announcements

Kevin: Not long ago, Walkupy came through. Yesterday they had an action at the Greensboro Civil Rights Museum. They had a press conference and released a document. You all should read it. We should give the statement at the State House at the end of March. A working group should propose this.

Phoebe: I’ll be leaving in a few days, the 1,2, or 3rd, going back to NY. Everyone stay in contact with me. I’ll give anyone who wants it my phone number or email. I want everyone, later this summer, to be involved in the July 4 Philadelphia Washington Square Park action to draw up a new Constitution for the U.S.

Kurt: For it to be official, don’t we need one more state to petition?

Phoebe: I don’t know. I’m not concerned with that. We didn’t have permission from the British originally. Also, this is not an Occupation of Washington Square; camping is not a constitutional right, so we’ll have to find food and lodging separately.

Kurt: Around the country, many courts have decided a tent is free speech, in the last month.

Kurt: I have several announcements. 1. After this GA is a coordination meeting. 2. Expansion and Tactics is meeting right after that. 3. Wilmington no longer has a camp site. I don’t know the official status of Charlotte, but they are abandoning the camp site. Currently, Chapel Hill is a fake occupation (Clarification: This was said in regards to the fact that the campsite isn’t being used anymore, and was not intended to mean that OCH is “fake” or that they don’t do anything, just that the campsite wasn’t being used. It was referring to a physical occupation.); they are taking the camps down January 10. Raleigh and Asheville are the only remaining camp sites. We should be proud, but it’s sad. Winston-Salem isn’t doing well, but they’re awesome, like we were when we were stubborn on the sidewalk. Winston-Salem has continually done direct actions. They could use our help. I have an idea but anything y’all can do, do it. People were arrested there yesterday. Walkupy has another petition related to Winston-Salem. I’ll put it on the forums. Tomorrow Winston-Salem is having an action. If you want to go, talk to me or Jes; we have contact info for Walkupy.

Tayloe: Why did Charlotte break up?

Kurt: There were 4 people arrested for flag burning and charged with arson. Last announcement, the donors for the January lease for our camp site met (Rachel, Jes, Kurt met, and other donors are Vince, Josh, one other person, and maybe Antonio). We have $345 of the $400. The rest is promised. Rob, the land-owner, will wait until January 5 for us to re-sign. I will sign the next lease and give him the cash. The reason I wanted to sign the lease is so it’s clear to everyone that this land is for Occupy Raleigh, not me; anything that happens there is for the group to decide, not me. I only asked that De-escalation come up with behavioral guidelines; I want no part in that meeting.

Tayloe: Try to talk Rob into $300 into $400.

Kurt: I’ll try.

Charles: A man stopped by earlier who said he wanted to do a large donation for the camp; he’ll be there around 7:30, possibly now.

Phoebe: I know we posted now “no cash donations,” but if he has cash tonight, we should take it.

Jes: I accepted $20 today anyway.

Kurt: Anyway, the land will be Occupy Raleigh, not the blah blah blah Resource Center.

Rachel: Taking minutes really keeps me from participating in the GA. If anyone can help with it, please please please.

Charles: Saturday at 9:00pm is Dead Poets Society. Every Sunday at 9:00pm is a Diversity Meeting. I still need help with HKOJ on February 17.

GA adjourned.

CategoryGeneralAssembly CategoryMinutes CategoryGeneralAssemblyMinutes

Start2011-12-29 18:30 America/New_York End2011-12-29 20:30 America/New_York LocationNC State Capitol DescriptionGA Minutes for December 29, 2011

Welcome

• Facilitators: Derek, Tank
• Stack taker: Tank
• Minutes taker: Rachel
• Transcribed by: Rachel

No new people, skipped process.

Reportbacks

TRAC

Tayloe: We will gather as many homeless and mentally ill people as we can for the Health and Human Services Committee meeting at the Legislature on 1-3-12. TRAC will meet at 3:00pm on January 1, 2012 to plan for this. We will bring letters and envelopes for people to sign. When we canvas, we can have people sign them who want to come but can’t or won’t. Also at the camp there is paper to write a short statement about how you feel about the lack of mental health care in North Carolina.

Tank: I can give them to the homeless shelters.

Tayloe: Yes, we’ll be doing that. I’ll probably have them ready by Saturday. Let me add, Rohima (a psychiatrist) will be leading a discussion about mental health treatment and homelessness.

Angela: I would like to be involved with that.

De-escalation

Derek: Last night we had a very open de-escalation working group meeting. It was very healthy. On the downside, we are enforcing a 48-hour ban on Robert because of stealing.

Shaun: The ban is for several reasons. 1. Panhandling in the name of Occupy Raleigh. 2. Panhandling at Occupy Raleigh. 3. Stealing $180 from Occupy Raleigh. 4. Sexual harassment and personal space issues. We had a long conversation with him about those things. He would not admit to stealing the $180, though we have witnesses. So, we instated the ban. We also talked about process, how to handle these things in the future, being consistent and transparent.

Tayloe: Robert was also kicked out of Occupations in Pennsylvania and Chapel Hill for theft.

Shaun: In a little bit I’ll announce a proposal that came out of de-escalation.

Russ: When is the next de-escalation meeting?

Derek: We haven’t set a date for that yet.

Shaun: We haven’t had too many issues.

Russ: Are there regular meetings?

Angela: Not as consistently as other groups, but yes, we do meet. It’s just been a while. We had them for a while, but with all the arrests on the sidewalk, we got irregular.

Angela: Are these procedures and changes publicly available?

Shaun: They’re on the forums now and will be announced here later this evening. That de-escalation meeting was painful but it was really good.

Proposals

None.

Announcements

Susie: I have an activist step-son and I am trying to get him down here. If anyone sees him here, he would be a great addition. Please let’s encourage him. His name is Shawn and his nickname is Wingnut. His Facebook name is Shawn “Wingnut” Watkins. Send him a friend request.

Shaun: I’m announcing two proposals for tomorrow.

1. De-escalation process:

“In order to ask someone to leave camp, the following has to happen:

1. Deescalation announces a deescalation meeting in general terms. 2. Meeting to discuss said person and have those air grievances who are willing. 3. Discussion of proper repayment, apology, or action suitable for current issues. 4. Discussion of appropriate length probationary period or temporary ban, up to 48 hours. 5. Meeting with said person to discuss grievances camp has discussed. 6. Deescalation offers said person a chance to speak to discuss current issues, offer solutions, etc. 7. Upon reception of admittance and solutions, a 48 probationary period begins. 7a. In case of theft, 48 hour probationary period does not begin until reception of lost goods or cash. Unless reception of goods or cash takes place, person is temporarily banned. 8. After 48 hours are up, reevaluate and examine situation.”

2. Banning Robert:

“So there’s this occupier named Robert. We had a deescalation meeting with him last night. We had several members of the occupation come forth ahead of time with grievances. Those were:

1. Panhandling in the name of Occupy Raleigh on Hillsborough St. for “donations.” 2. Panhandling at the occupation from visitors, guests, and weekenders. 3a. Sexual harassment both in the form of asking the those guests, visitors, and weekenders to sleep in his tent 3b. AND a failure to maintain personal space and appropriate touching. 4. Theft $180 from camp from local on-site donation.

As such, we discussed appropriate process and applying it. We discussed that if he paid us back the $180 and some form of apology to those sexually harassed and Occupy Raleigh, we would begin the 48 hour probationary period. We did keep in mind that both Occupy Chapel Hill and Occupy PA have both asked him to leave due to theft.

HOWEVER.

Robert denies any guilt in stealing 180 dollars from the camp, even though we have witnesses who say otherwise. As such, the 180 dollars will not be recovered and therefore we cannot do a 48 hour probationary period. In light of this, deescalation temporarily banned him until Friday’s GA could discuss further action. In the meantime, we know who donated the $180 dollars and will be double checking with them to make sure Robert is the offender in question.

This further action is to ban him permanently, with advance notice to GA now, announced at GA tonight on 12/29, and will be brought to GA on Friday, 12/30.”

Shaun: Good news! I talked to DJ Psylo. He’s thinking about DJing an Occupy Raleigh rave night free for Occupiers.

Derek: I have a few announcements. 1. Tomorrow around 5:30pm there will be a meeting at the Triangle for the donors who are covering the January lease for the Triangle’s land. 2. There is a coordination meeting at 7:30pm tomorrow at Morning Times. 3. There is an expansion and tactics meeting tomorrow at 9:00pm at the Triangle.

Charles: I have a few announcements. 1. Facilities Management will be at the Expansion and Tactics meeting tomorrow. Please come. 2. Saturday night is Dead Poets Society. 3. Diversity meets every Sunday at 9:00pm. 4. I’m still looking for people willing to make a banner and march in the HKOJ march.

Tayloe: POI: If you want to save money, I have some blank white paper at home fit for a banner.

Charles: 5. Please help me with the Black History Month Fair. February is busy with the HKOJ march, the Black History Month Fair, and the state-wide GA. 6. We’re planning a state-wide GA from February 16-18. 7. We’re still planning a Pride Festival (LGBT) for June. We’re working with the LGBT center, too. PLEASE HELP ME WITH THESE THINGS AND COME TO THESE MEETINGS. 8. There is still mulch behind the encampment. Tomorrow I’ll bring up ideas for the mulch. Tayloe will discuss the fire pit, too.

Tayloe: POI: We can make a simple banner and join the large march on March 15, Ides of Love (LGBT community).

Tank: Let’s turn your Lexus into a float.

Shawn: Occupy Wilmington is invited to the MLK parade and speak after it; they invited us (this is in Wilmington). We should caravan there. Occupy Wilmington also has camp space for us.

Charles: Some of us already want to go and we have room.

Shaun: There is a TRAC meeting on 1-7-12 (4:00pm).

Angela: Derek, forward me Beth’s contact information to get her involved in flyering. Also, I’m working on—at Kurt and Derek’s recommendation—assessing and itemizing the value of the social services we have provided to Occupy. If anyone has estimates on amount of meals and other things we might want to quantify, please feel free to contact me. This includes the number of people we’ve served, the number of meals, itemized food costs, number of blankets.

Tayloe: Does this include donations?

Derek: Occupy Vancouver did an awesome, smart thing. People were complaining that Occupy is a drain on resources, so Occupy Vancouver itemized all the services they provided to Vancouver acting as a homeless shelter, kitchen, health care service, etc. They put a price tag on it and showed people how much money they were saving them. Kurt and I thought Angela would be awesome for this.

Angela: So let’s do what we can to quantify. Please let me know what you know. Also, I have one last announcement. It was cool to show up tonight and see people holding signs. I love the energy. And, thank you to Tank—I think he’s being very mature and is doing a great job handling the feedback he’s gotten so far. I’m proud of him.

Derek: There’s a direct action planned for New Year’s Eve. We’ll meet at the Triangle at 4:30pm. We need to cancel that night’s GA.

Tayloe: Today I did 5 loads of Occupy laundry.

Shaun: I want to make sure everyone knows this—Bank of America has just changed over to a new service. You can dispute your foreclosure. There’s important new information about Bank of America admissions. Marcella just posted this on our forums in the Antiforeclosures su-forum.

Tayloe: There’s an Occupy Foreclosures North Carolina website that will be open soon. Margaret and Molly have volunteered to represent Occupy Raleigh with state-wide telephone conferences that also includes lawyers.

Shaun: I’m making a list of resources we can use in North Carolina. Occupy Supply has a weekly conference call with 60 other Occupations. I invite y’all to look into InterOccupy—also a conference call. They directly work with Occupy Congress (which is January 17 and I am going). Network, connect, whatever.

GA adjourned.

CategoryGeneralAssembly CategoryMinutes CategoryGeneralAssemblyMinutes