Tuesday December 20, 2011 5:30 PM the City of Oakland City Council has proposed to ban future Port of Oakland shutdowns. Pack the Meeting.
On November 20, 2011 the City of Oakland was served a Notice to Correct or Cure its violation of the California law, the Ralph M. Brown Open Meeting Act [“Brown Act”] . There was a substantial violation in that proper written notice was not provided to a regular meeting of the City Council of Oakland on November 9, 2011 at Lake Merritt where five members of the City Council took unlawful action to evict Occupy Oakland protesters from Oscar Grant Plaza.
According to the Oakland Tribune “Occupy Oakland protesters hijacked a news conference at Lake Merritt.”
According to the article a quorum of the Oakland City Council conducted an un-noticed meeting of the City Council to take action.
“At one point, the business leaders and council members, who along with Reid included Libby Schaaf, Desley Brooks, Patricia Kernighan and Ignacio De La Fuente, shouted back: “Occupy Oakland must go!“”
According to this same article Oakland Mayor Quan then authorized this unlawful “Occupy Oakland must go!” action.
“She also said she was pleased that the council majority had come to a consensus over the fate of the camp. After ordering a hands-off approach to the camp for the past two weeks, the mayor issued a statement Wednesday that urges the Occupy Oakland camp to “make a decision to leave immediately.””
The Brown Act establishes the basic requirements for open meetings and notice of meetings of the City Council and Mayor (§54952(b)). Agendas for meetings and hearings before the Oakland council must be posted in a location that is freely accessible to members of the public 72 hours prior to a regular meeting. However, where other acts lack specific procedures, the requirements of the Brown Act provide the minimum requirements for notice and hearing (§54950 et seq.).
The corrective action necessary to redress the illegality and provide the
public the awareness and opportunity to comment of which it was deprived,
1) to re-notice the meeting pursuant to the requirements of the Ralph M. Brown
Act at least 72 hours prior to the meeting,
2) in order to afford the public an opportunity for meaningful and informed
public participation including posting on the website the Agenda and relevant
press release subject to public comment,
3) an opportunity for the public to comment on all items properly included on the posted agenda.
The relief sought from violations of the First Amendment is for the City Council and Mayor to cease and desist their use of unlawful police force in a civil conspiracy with the Oakland City Council and the Mayor so as to preclude The People from exercising the right to assemble in public places for lawful protest.
S-16 Subject: Port of Oakland Shut-Downs (11-0206)
This item was placed on this agenda by the December 13, 2011 Rules and Legislation Committee.
This item requires an Urgency Finding ( 2/3 majority vote) pursuant to Section 2.20.080 E(2) of the Sunshine Ordinance, prior to hearing the item.
http://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=1664457&GUID=BCA1E65E-49C9-43BB-93CA-A62A8B762036
The Resolution if Adopted would “Adopt A Resolution Opposing Any Purposeful Upcoming Or Future Port Of Oakland Shut-Downs, Directing The City Administrator And Urging The Mayor To Use Whatever Lawful Tools We Have, Including Enforcement Of All State Laws And Local Municipal Code Regulations And Requirements, To Prevent Future Shut Downs Or Disruptions Of Any Port Operations”
Please demand the City of Oakland Cease and Desist from evicting protestors and blocking their lawful exercise of their First Amendment Rights
thanks for posting this!