Clearly, Jean Quan and many Oakland supervisors want Occupy Oakland to decamp. They are trying to achieve that goal by threats of arrest and general intimidation. If Quan is serious about supporting the occupiers she should donate warehouse space, near the Plaza, for use as camping headquarters and as an organizing base. I know that the idea of taking over bank-owned, foreclosed, commercial space has been discussed as well as attempted. If Quan is a genuine supporter and, as she claims, the safety of all is paramount, why doesn’t she offer up a concrete alternative?
5757
It’s true that there is no popular mandate behind Occupy Oakland, although members and some supporters would like to think that there is. There is a much higher degree of support and sympathy here in Oakland than there probably is in a lot of other places, because we are suffering much more as a City and as a community in this so-called “recession” than a lot of other places. But that support doesn’t translate to a mandate to even the tacit support of vandalism and violence.
We would have to purchase a building outright I think, because nobody wants to go through a landlord or a mortgage bank. We have some funds, but it sounds like it’s in the tens and not the hundreds of thousands or millions necessary to buy a building large enough to serve our needs. I will just tell you honestly that the need is severe enough that a lot of people would like to force the issue.
I’ve often visited the camp at Frank Ogawa plaza, I’ve brought food and that type of thing, and recently taken part in some inspiring but occasionally disturbing general assemblies. From my observation, the camp was fairly clean and organized until Quan made it clear that she was going to raid. At this point, some people have left the camp for fear of personal security also. The threat of imminent state sponsored violence against members of Occupy Oakland is ensuring that there will be a higher percentage of those who want to resist that violence with their own violence when such confrontation takes place.
If the city were to donate a building to occupy then it would also have to donate building to any one claiming they were part of a political protest group. If occupy Oakland would like to be taken as a serious group they need to rent or purchase a building to run the organization out of instead of a encampment in a park that should be available for family picnics. If you want to play with the big boys and change laws or constitutional amendments its time to act like a grown up organization because most people see occupy encampments as glorified homeless camps that have no real goals or realistic ideals.
And by the way, the 99% of Oakland citizens who want you gone don’t want violence. You do.
Maybe because the city can’t “donate” property to an unlicensed, uncontrolled anarchist collective and she would be sued if she tried. You guys can’t even keep your camp clean.If you get a building,in six weeks it will be bedlam.
I think that’s a great idea. For what it’s worth, I just sent an email to the Mayor’s office suggesting it.
http://www.oaklandnet.com/contactmayor.asp
I agree with this. Unfortunately a lot of the troublemakers at the camp — and I’ll go ahead and just admit that I’m a troublemaker myself, although of the opposite kind trying to represent OWS and oppose these thugs — have already made the decision for us, and they are going to march and try to take a building today. I was handed a leaflet last night at the GA which made their plans fairly clear, although of course they still are not revealing their target. Any reasonable solution that Quan might offer — although she has so far refused to do so — would be shouted down by people who WANT a violent confrontation and who are not trying to prevent the damage to our downtown and the damage to our bodies and our psyches.