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Below are the Condensed notes for the Occupy Portland General Assembly for October 14, 2011. Full notes will be available within the next 24 hours. PDF and Text version can be found here and discussion can be had in the new forums.
15 October 2011
I. Committee announcements available in the full dictated notes.
II. NEW PROPOSAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
A. Woman proposed the need for checks and balances on the safety committee. Woman was concerned about people are already abusing their power under the guise of “Safety and Peacekeeping.”
B. John proposed that a committee form in order to bring a statement of solidarity to the GA.
III. PROPOSALS
A. James’ proposal was to endorse the “Student Loan Justice of Portland” march. He asked for a statement of solidarity and for people in the movement to join the march. The march is on 17 October 2011 at Noon on SW 5th and Salmon at the bankruptcy court.
:::: See Full Notes for Clarifying Questions ::::
The GA came to 100% agreement with 1 person standing aside.
B. Donal proposed a simplification of the proposal submission process. He went through our current process and then outlined what he would like see changed.
1. He wanted more access to facilitators and to have them easily identified.
2. To get the proposition on the agenda the same night, he proposed that the person bringing the proposal have 7 people backing the proposal who would be present at the GA and then get a 33% approval from the GA to be put on the current agenda.
3. Emergency proposals would need a 50% approval from the GA to get on the current agenda.
4. “The new proposal process will be publicized and the language will be simple” (Donal).
:::: See Full Notes for Clarifying Questions ::::
After temperature check, there was not enough support to continue discussion of this proposal tonight.
C. Cresh brought a 3 part proposal regarding solidarity with R2D2 (Right 2 Dream 2):
1. March on 18 October 2011 from the elk statue to the R2D2 camp (W 4th and Burnside).
2. A statement of solidarity on the OP website with R2D2.
3. Have OP draft an open letter to the city calling for the repeal of any ordinances that criminalizes people that don’t have houses. (Note takers’ addition: Clarifying questions did not clarify whether or not R2D2 would be involved in this process)
:::: See Full Notes for Clarifying Questions ::::
One amendment raised was tabled by the GA and recommended that it be brought back as a separate proposal.
The proposal passed with 1 objection.
D. Illona brought a proposal of Guidelines for Community Safety and Wellbeing:
1. Zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol for all of our communal areas; zero tolerance for violence, verbal abuse and personal property destruction.
i. Step 1: Individual engagement to ask someone to please leave if they are intoxicated/violent
ii. Step 2: If the person does not leave, seek a small group (not a mob) to huddle together and respectfully ask the person to leave.
iii. Step 3: If person still does not leave, a safety member trained in deescalation should be called and supported by the small group.
iv. Step 4: If the person will absolutely not leave, the last step is to escort the person to the edge of the park and watch them until they leave. The person is escorted out of the camp by two people gently holding their shoulders and elbows from the back and leading them out of the camp.
2. The other part of this proposal is to have signage created and posted showing the guidelines at the entrance, safety and wellbeing areas. The signage was to the effect of, “By entering this space you agree to abide by the community guidelines.”
:::: See Full Notes for Clarifying Questions ::::
One evolution agreed upon by the GA was to specifically change the language from zero tolerance on drug/alcohol to zero tolerance on violent behavior.
This proposal was not agreed upon in full by the GA. It was tabled and asked to be brought back. There is a discussion group 16 October 2011 at Terry Shrunk Park at 10:00AM.
The GA closed with general announcements. Please see the full notes for all those announcements.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for these summaries–it really helps out folks who are really busy but who are trying to keep up with what’s happening with Occupy in our fair city…
You are most welcome. We are doing our best to provide pertinent information, full transparency and engage the online community. Thank you for being involved!