Occupy Portland will be joining dozens of Occupations from around Oregon to rally in Salem for the opening of the 2012 legislative session. This session will last for 35 days, with a focus on finding $3.6 Billion in budget cuts.

Throughout the day there will be workshops, opportunities to coordinate & advocate for our causes and a GA to discuss further actions for this session.

Bring your signs, ideas, affinity groups and creative energy to help expose ALEC-initiated bills, fight austerity for the working class and help take back control of our government!

Occupiers will gather at the St. Francis office (1131 SE Oak St, Portland) at 8am, buses will be available to take people at 9am. The rally in Salem begins at 10am.

Email OccupyFeb1@gmail.com for questions, to book a spot on the buses or to offer space in your ride. For more information go to: http://tinyurl.com/OccupyFeb1

Occupy Portland will be there advocating against corporate personhood, for community rights, environmental justice and education reform among other causes. The bat signal has already made an appearance.

Press Release

Event Press Contact:
Imre Ilyes
imre.k.ilyes@gmail.com
971-678-3015

Occupy the Legislature: Occupy Portland goes to Salem

Caravan and protest planned in response to the austerity budget and the inability of our state representatives to create meaningful change.

Portland, OR – The Occupy Portland General Assembly endorsed this event on January 8, 2012.

Occupy Portland along with Occupations from across the State of Oregon are planning to converge in Salem for the opening of the 2012 Oregon Legislative Session on February 1, 2012.  The coalition of occupation movements will work together to expose corporate influence, protest the austerity budget and advocate for initiatives favorable to the 99% of Oregonians. Individuals and affinity groups are encouraged to engage in peaceful creative projects to advance the goals of the Occupy movement.

The coalition of occupations will conduct an Oregon General Assembly to determine the priorities of our legislative agenda. Our organizing efforts are aimed at educating, empowering and supporting affinity groups and individuals in carrying out their protests.

It is the necessary time to protest. Austerity measures threaten our economy with budget cuts to schools, hospitals, parks, and social services. ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) reforms waste valuable resources on increased incarceration. Corporations are legally people and people are their useless commodities. Citizens’ votes are for sale thanks to corporate propaganda. Citizens’ voices are silenced through media imbalance, their communities bankrupt, polluted and out of work thanks to Wall Street speculators and the greed of the wealthiest 1%. Our current, historic wealth inequality and poverty levels are not happening simultaneously purely out of coincidence. They are intrinsically linked.

We shall renew our calls for an Amendment to the Oregon Constitution to specify that its rights are for people, not corporations. We shall call for corporate tax reform, as the program of tax breaks has unfairly shifted the burden to working Oregonians and clearly not served to promote job growth.

More information about the event can be found at http://tinyurl.com/OccupyFeb1

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Saturday, January 28th, 2012 from 11AM to 4PM
The Alternative Medical Choices Clinic 4867 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

 Portland Occupy Health has organized an Occupy Health Fair to empower the community to reclaim their health.  This unique event is meant to create dialog between Healthcare Organizations and Communities, provide information on alternatives to the current profit-driven insurance model of care, and educate on broad-spectrum health. 

We are bringing awareness to the community about solutions to the current broken model of healthcare and educate them on solutions available to them currently.   Many uninsured and underinsured do not know that there are alternatives to a costly trip to the ER or waiting until you are seriously ill to seek help.  Moreover, there is a need to educate the community on ways to stay well and keep not only their body healthy but the surrounding community. 

A Message From Portland Cop Watch -

Friends
We sent out information about this upcoming public forum on police accountability in a longer email a while back. It is particularly important for the Citizen Review Committee (CRC) to hear from members of the  community who have concerns about (a) incidents they have endured or witnessed at the hands of the Portland police and/or (b) how the civilian oversight system in Portland works (still police investigating other police after all these years).

While the CRC is the tiny sliver of what we might call a police review board in this city, the 5-week struggle to get City Council to expand CRC’s powers in November and December proved that the powers that be still don’t understand how to build trust in the oversight system. The CRC had asked for and supported several changes that were not made, BUT now have the ability to recommend policy changes directly to the Bureau, rather than being filtered through the professional staff at the “Independent” Police Review Division, where CRC is housed.

SO– We strongly encourage you all, especially those involved with Occupy Portland who tried telling their stories to City Council but were gavelled down by the Mayor, to turn out next Thursday, the 26th, at the East Portland Community Center to go on record with CRC with your concerns. It would probably be helpful even if you are relating a personal story of misconduct to articulate how you think things could be made better… no police horses or pepper spray at protests? Investigations into misconduct done by independent civilians, not police Internal Affairs? You decide.

Quick note in case this matters to anyone: We’ve discouraged the use of this particular meeting space in the past because it is across the street from the Police Bureau’s East Precinct. The CRC has not formally invited (nor had, to our knowledge) police present at any of their previous commuinity forums (fora??), so if you see police cars and uniforms, you should know that’s why.

Also, for historical reference, Sunday Janaury 29 will mark 2 years since Aaron Campbell was shot in the back and killed by Officer Ron Frashour.

Spread the word.
–dan handelman
portland copwatch

CITIZEN REVIEW COMMITTEE
Community Oversight of Portland Police Bureau
Jamie Troy, Chair
Message: 503-823-0926  Fax: 503-823-3530  TTD: 503-823-6868
E-mail: crc@portlandoregon.gov
www.portlandoregon.gov/auditor/ipr

Jan. 26th, 6-8PM: Community Public Forum on Police Accountability

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

For Immediate Release January 17, 2012

The Citizen Review Committee (CRC), a nine-member volunteer committee appointed by the Portland City Council to monitor and advise the City Auditor’s Independent Police Review (IPR) division, hear appeals of police complaints and gather community concerns about police services in Portland, Oregon.

The CRC members are hosting a community forum to present information about their work to provide community oversight of the police and hear community input about police services. The forum will be facilitated and the notes from the forum will be posted to the IPR/CRC website.  Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact 503-823-0926 or crc@portlandoregon.gov .

The IPR/CRC website is http://www.portlandoregon.gov/auditor/ipr .

WHAT:  Community Public Forum on Police Accountability

WHEN:  Thursday, January 26, 2012 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

WHERE:  East Portland Community Center 740 SE 106th Ave, Portland 97216

This space is not being used for any one individual’s mayoral campaign and never will be. Occupy Portland does not and will not endorse any political parties or candidates. We continue to encourage people to take nonviolent direct action beyond voting and the electoral system.