Comments on: Meeting With Portland Police Chief Reese, Nov. 4th

By: PJ

PJ — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:50:51 +0000

Thank you for putting words in my mouth that aren’t there. Your claim that it is just an issue of education makes plain how little you understand about the situation. Not all people are benevolent by nature. One of the particular tweekers I was referring to happens to be an RN, not someone I’d call uneducated. You need to get over the fact that not all people want to do good. These people I’m referring to are there to take advantage of free resources and to use the encampment as a base and hideout. I agree, homeless people need to be included and are a part of the 99%, however, there should be a participation stipulation to staying in the camp. I’m not claiming that EVERY person there is “street trash”, I’m saying the vast majority of people I saw there were not there to participate. I applaud and support the occupy movement, that’s why I donated resources I really can’t spare. I’m just sick and tired of going to bank protest/actions a few blocks from the encampment just to have only two to five people show. GET ON IT, GET ORGANIZED, DEAL WITH THE RIFF RAFF AND PARTICIPATE!

By: PJ

PJ — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:40:52 +0000

No John, you’re clearly not listening. There was no march, we were protesting outside the Hilton where the CEO of JP Morgan Chase was having a meeting. That’s not a “random symbol.” As far as the tweekers and street families, you are clearly speaking as someone who isn’t and has not dealt with them. They are not there to participate, only to get high and mooch off free services. By all means feel free to go down in person and pry the needle from their vein and put them to work for the movement.

By: Zella

Zella — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:44:07 +0000

Response to PJ. Some of your concerns are reasonable and shared by others at the camp; participation, as well as drugs, sanitation and safety are issues that the camp is working on addressing. However to me it seems that you are more basically claiming that the people that live at Occupy are nothing more than street trash and don’t deserve support or shelter. For someone who claims to have been homeless in the past, that view is rather unusual. I agree that changes need to be made, but kicking the homeless out of a public space in order to be more “legitimate” seems a little too like the exact sort of behavior we are protesting for my comfort.

By: psychohistorian

psychohistorian — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 04:04:47 +0000

Thanks for the posting so those of us not resident have some clue of what is going on other than our periodic attempts to participate and be supportive.

Real democracy is hard and we haven’t been practicing it like we should have been.

By: john a

john a — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:38:26 +0000

tweakers and street families are part of the 99%. Unfortunately they may not be very politically aware. You can take a stab at educating them, or you can just just discard them on the way to the next pointless march around some random symbol.

By: PJ

PJ — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:16:29 +0000

He is correct in the fact you are losing the support of the public due to the prevalence of non-participatory riff raff in the camp. When Occupy Portland started I was donating time and money I did not have to spare, along with some of my personal disaster supplies. I cut off all of that a few weeks ago once it became clear that the Occupy Portland encampment had become nothing more than a complete disaster. Drum circles piss people off and ruin the legitimacy of a movement. Letting just anyone stay without contributing ruins legitimacy. Pointlessly blocking Main St that the 99% use to get to work shot all the public support right in the foot. I talked to people around the city about that particular action and it ruined support city wide. It now seems the encampment is doing everything possible to drive away support and ruin any further actions. While we were only two blocks away protesting the arrival of JPMC CEO Jamie Dimon I visited the camp to find it completely full of people sitting around bickering about trite social bs and getting drunk and high. As far as I have observed the camp is now detrimental to the cause and should imho be shut down. It has become nothing more than a shield and hangout spot for tweekers and street families, some of which I recognize from my time being homeless. Occupation was just the first step, now you have to actually participate and put your dwindling freedoms on the line to accomplish something.

By: ImarchedWednesday

ImarchedWednesday — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:56:16 +0000

I marched on Wednesday and continued across the Hawthorne Bridge. That march was one of the best experiences of my life and it is disappointing that this march has also become a particularly alienating issue with some members of Portland (police, co-workers, media establishment). Thank you so much for meeting with the Police and making a sincere attempt at communication. I hope we can find a solution which makes their jobs easier and makes them more accepting of Occupy while also protecting and building on the space that we are creating in Portland society. We must continue to energize and motive people across social boundaries while also making a strong and principled stand against economic and state violence. It is inevitable that we will alienate some people but we will lose if we alienate large segments of the population. We are fighting for the 99%, and the 99% include the police and people who identify as being ‘democrats, moderates, independents, republicans, christian, or conservative’.

By: sartori

sartori — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 21:42:16 +0000

Dear occupiers,

thanks for the transcript of the meeting and the evident transparency. please post the missing GA minutes so that those of us who are vested in this movement can keep abreast of decisions and the culture. just some wisdom to ponder- please be careful with the urge to document your perceptions and interpretations as fact.perceptions and projections are of course human nature and we all do it. however, when presenting documents as transcripts of conversations, there is a danger these perceptions will be taken as fact by your readers. an example is noted below, there are several more peppered throughout the transcript. perhaps in the future,a more effective approach (when confronted with your own interpretation) is to ask..do you interpret the uncertainty surrounding the nature of the organic events as an aggressive approach? you may be surprised by the answer provided. always, always, always seek to understand…

“It was clear by this conversation that fear and uncertainty surrounding the nature of organic events is interpreted by the police as an aggressive approach.”

there is so much to think about on both sides (ppb and op), this important conversation must continue.

peace and blessings to you,
thanks for posting this

By: Pansypie

Pansypie — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 21:17:41 +0000

Oh crap! Now I don’t know how many versions of the same letter you got and don’t have the time before I gotta go to work to look into it. Don’t mean to “spam” up your space.

Peace.

Miss Pansypie

By: Pansypie

Pansypie — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 21:14:36 +0000

As my comment awaits moderation, I want to request that neither of these posts be posted for the general public to see, but rather only taken in by those closely involved in OP committees. I feel I have sent off my first comment prematurely, and as I do not want to quash, nor disparage this movement in any way, I make this request, but want also to offer an explanation. As I have now read the police chief’s memo about wearing Class C uniforms, I feel the same way about his words and actions as I felt about OP’s; missing the mark of what is important by a mile! Chief Reese’s comments do not reflect the flexibility and understanding of what OP is all about, like I perceived in the notes taken by Arahia. I do not agree with his decision to wear this type of uniform, and he will receive a letter letting him know that I feel this attire is not appropriate for everyday peace keeping, nor organized marches of a non-violent movement. Not to mention it’s going to be dang uncomfortable, such gear incites fear and animosity that can lead to violence.

Thanks for listening guys, my final wish is that my comments today be taken in the same vein as this…My friends tell me the truth, even when they know it’s going to hurt me, and I love them for it!