Oh snap! We’re gonna kick it off with hors d’ouvres and beverages, fundraiser-style. Will there be beer? Yes! Will there be wine? Yes!! Will there be non-alcoholic beverages? Yes!!!

And what are we asking from you? Your attendance, your good cheer, and your open wallet — because let’s face it, this is a fundraiser!

Let’s get down to discuss local politics, play party games, and raise money for the incredible Oakland Justice Coalition so that the OJC can pay for canvassers, window signs, and all the good stuff that makes for a winning grassroots political campaign.

We’re looking to put three ballot initiatives to the vote in November, and we need contributions to support our efforts. Those initiatives are for strong renters protections, a citizen-controlled police comission with real power, and finally, a higher minimum wage and workers’ scheduling rights.

See you there, social justice warriors!

Meaty Menu:
Chorizo black bean dip
Carnitas sliders with cilantro lime slaw, salsa verde and chipotle mayo
Coronation chicken sliders with chutney carrot slaw, coronation sauce and coriander mayo
Bulgogi sliders with daikon and jicama slaw, sweet and spicy sauce and ginger citrus mayo
For vegetarians:
Tomato and baby bell pepper tartlets with taleggio
Fingerling potato tartlet
Sundried tomato pesto palmiers with goat cheese spread
For Vegans:
Mediterranean Lentil Spread and tomato coulis on sourdough crostini
Hummus and baba ganoush with veggies and pita wedges

Agenda:

1 Recap/debrief/analysis of the April 5^th City Council decision: Moratorium
2.  Actionable next steps during 90 days
a Review of 12 points
b.  What efforts are underway now?
c.  What needs to happen?
d  How do we support each other?
3.  Immediate housing issues on the table
a Impact Fees
b. Renters’ Upgrade ballot initiative, now called the “Protect Oakland Renters” Initiative
c  Others?
4 Next steps

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland.  On every last Sunday we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over four years! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally . Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.

At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.

General Assembly Standard Agenda

1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
3. Announcements
4. (Optional) Discussion Topic

Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.

Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area

San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv

Presidential Candidates Forum hosted by the Alameda County chapter of the Peace and Freedom Party.
Confirmed speakers:
Gloria La Riva (Party for Socialism and Liberation) http://www.votepsl.org/
Monica Moorehead (Workers World Party) https://www.facebook.com/mooreheadlilly2016/ and http://www.workers.org/wwp/
Lynn Kahn http://www.vote4lynn2016.com/
Jill Stein* (Green Party) or her representative http://www.jill2016.com/
John Parker (Workers World Party), Peace and Freedom Party candidate for U.S. Senate https://www.facebook.com/parkerforsenate/
—–
*The Secretary of State has refused to place Jill Stein on our primary ballot

The Community Democracy Project is your connection to direct democracy in Oakland! Convened out of Occupy Oakland in Fall 2011, we’re gathering steam on a campaign to bring the people back in touch with the city’s resources through participatory budgeting.

Picture this: Across Oakland, Neighborhood Assemblies are regularly
held in every community. People come together to tackle the important issues of their neighborhoods and of the city. At these assemblies, people don’t just have discussions–they learn from one another, from city staff, and they make fundamental decisions about how the city should run. They decide the city budget.

Democratic, community budgeting is a powerful step toward building strong communities, real democracy, and economic justice–and it’s being done all over the world.

The budget of the City Oakland totals more than $1 billion per year. Although part of the budget must be used for specific purposes, still over half of the budget–over $500 billion per year–consists of general purpose funds paid by the taxes, fees, and fines of the people of Oakland. The Mayor and the City Council decide the city budget, with minimal input from the community.

Working together, we will not only get a seat at the table–we will REBUILD the table itself. Participatory democracy is real democracy–join us to say: Local People, Local Resources, Local Power!

Liberated Lens is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, and organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.

Join us for our weekly meeting and a workshop!

We usually meet in our editing suite (2nd floor in the ballroom, to the left of the stage) and then work on projects. It’s open to all!

Celebrate a Step towards Economic Justice

Winning this in Berkeley strengthens the fight of working families throughout the bay.
Join Berkeley for Working Families as they turn in 150% of the required signatures to put an initiative on the November Berkeley ballot that will:
– Raise Berkeley’s minimum wage to $15 by October 2017
– Raise it further each year by 3% + inflation till it gets in sync with Berkeley’s official “Living Wage” – currently $16.37
– Bring sick leave up to the standards set by Oakland, Emeryville and SF
There is a deepening crisis in Berkeley and the Bay Area. Housing costs are skyrocketing and wages are just too low. Families work and work and still can’t make ends meet. Most new jobs are paying the lowest possible wages. The standards are just too low.

Working families need relief now.

“Dear President Obama,” narrated by actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, is a new film that reveals the true costs of Obama’s energy policy.  Since 2008 under Obama’s watch, the drilling and fracking industries have boomed.  As a result, today more than 20 million people live within a mile of an oil or gas well.  Pro-drillers argued that this new “black gold” rush would create energy independence for the United States.  Meanwhile, development of new renewable energy sources has stalled, and new threats are being posted to our water, environment and health.

Three years in the making, “Dear President Obama” documents the contamination of our environment, shares victims’ stories, exposes the false promises of an economic boom, and focuses on clean-energy solutions.  This important film calls upon the president to change course away from fracking and toward a renewable energy future.  Here in the Bay Area there are two screenings in Berkeley and San Francisco (as part of the Green Film Fest).  The Berkeley screening is free.  The film (running time 105 minutes) is followed by a panel discussion at both screenings.

SF PANEL DISCUSSION WITH: Jon Bowermaster, director/producer, “Dear President Obama“; Kassie Siegel, Senior Counsel, Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity; Mark Schlosberg, National Organizing Director, Food & Water Watch; hosted by Greg Dalton, Climate One.

BERKELEY PANEL DISCUSSION WITH:  Jon Bowermaster, director/producer, “Dear President Obama”; Kassie Siegel, Center for Biological Diversity; Ella Teevan, Food & Water Watch; Kristy Drutman, UC Berkeley Student, Students Against Fracking campaign; hosted by UC Berkeley Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC).

Monday, April 18, 6 pm

FREE

Berkeley Copwatch meets weekly.

Also check out their “mass copwatching” events.

THIS ITEM SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE CITY COUNCIL’S AGENDA.

Come to the April 19 meeting of the Oakland City Council to tell them not to hire Environmental Science Associates (ESA) to review evidence about the dangers of shipping coal through Oakland’s bulk terminal.  ESA is not the right choice to evaluate evidence about the health and safety dangers of coal.  No Coal in Oakland will be proposing a better alternative.

ESA is notorious in the Bay Area for writing the Environmental Impact Review that gave the green light to Valero’s crude oil-by-rail project, which is now being contested in Benicia. Many critics, from environmental and community groups to the California’s attorney general, have called that review inadequate because it fails to fully report the many negative impacts the crude-by-rail project would cause. In addition, activists question ESA’s commitment to a fair review of the health and safety dangers of coal, pointing to the fact that the team they propose to do the review doesn’t include a single public health expert. No Coal in Oakland says the city should hire public health experts–not a consulting firm with a vested interest in maintaining a good relationship the fossil-fuel industry — to evaluate evidence about the dangers of coal.

The No Coal in Oakland campaign has been gathering huge support, including a growing grassroots movement of residents, Mayor Libby Schaaf, many local clergy and and labor leaders, newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle, and State Senator Loni Hancock, who has introduced four bills in the California legislature restricting coal exports from the state. A recent poll by the Sierra Club showed that 76 percent of Oakland voters oppose exporting coal from Oakland. Thanks to all this support, opponents of coal exports persuaded the city council to pass a moratorium on issuing any permits for the Oakland Bulk and Oversize Terminal until this question is resolved. And the council has signaled its intention to enact an outright ban on coal exports.

The focus of the campaign is an agreement the city signed with Phil Tagami’s California Capital and Investment Group to build and operate the terminal at the former Oakland Army Base. Tagami said he had no intention to export coal through the terminal. There was never any environmental analysis of the impacts of shipping coal or other fossil fuels through Oakland. Now he says the city has no right to control what commodities go out through the terminal and threatens to sue the city if it tries to block coal exports.

But the agreement specifies that the city can pass regulations to protect the health and safety of the community and workers if there is substantial evidence that not doing so would be dangerous. The No Coal in Oakland campaign and other groups have assembled extensive evidence from health and legal experts — more than enough evidence to justify banning coal on health and safety grounds. But the city wants to make sure it has solid justification as it faces a likely lawsuit.

The move to hire Environmental Science Associates stems from the city’s need to assemble strong evidence for banning coal. But hiring a consultant with a record of supporting fossil fuel developers against environmental concerns is not the way to go. No Coal in Oakland has an alternative proposal for reviewing evidence that will do a better job of providing the legal justification the city needs to act.

The city council was set to approve a contract with ESA on February 16, but before the council meeting, Mayor Libby Schaaf convinced the council members to postpone the contract vote “so that we may further evaluate other, potentially more effective options,” to bar coal shipments through Oakland. “I remain strongly opposed to the transport of coal and crude oil through our city,” Schaaf wrote in a press release that day.

Now a proposed contract with ESA is again on the table for the April 19 city council meeting. Strong public pressure is needed to tell the council to reject the contract with ESA and make sure the investigation of evidence is valid and unbiased. Come help push the No Coal In Oakland campaign over the finish line.

Please sign up to speak or waive time at
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CityClerk/s/SpeakerCard/SpeakerCard/OAK032373

For Item, enter “coal” or “11.”

Check back for updates at NoCoalinOakland.org or email nocoalinoakland (at) gmail (dot) com

FIERCE GREEN FIRE: The Battle for a Living Planet is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement – grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change.

Directed and written by Mark Kitchell, director of Berkeley in the Sixties, and narrated by Robert Redford, Ashley Judd, Van Jones, Isabel Allende and Meryl Streep.

Mark Kitchell will be present for Q7A after the film.

doors open at 6:30pm, film starts at 7pm

Homes Not Jails is a consensus-based collective of squatters and squat supporters who believe housing is a human right. Our goal is to open as much vacant housing as possible and to keep it open as long as possible. HNJ is a place to organize mutual aid among squatters and squat supporters and housing rights advocates in the bay. We actively fight to make our space inclusive and safe for everybody and combat oppression in all forms.

Monthly APTP meeting, held on every 3rd Wednesday of the month.

The Anti Police-Terror Project is a project of the ONYX ORGANIZING COMMITTEE that in coalition with other organizations like The Alan Blueford Center For Justice, Idriss Stelley Foundation, Community Ready Corps and Workers World is working to develop a replicable and sustainable model to end police terrorism in this country.

We are led by the most impacted communities but are a multi-racial, mutil-generational coalition.

Hunger Strike starts Thursday!! Our demands are for Mayor Lee to fire Chief Suhr or step down as Mayor of SF.!! pic.twitter.com/S7DFetupxq

— Equipto (@EQUIPTO) April 16, 2016

 Eat at Cafe Eritrea D’Afrique.
Just stop in for lunch or dinner and tell them you are eating for the Coalition for Police Accountability. 20% of your bill total will go to the CPA.

This Eritrean cafe focuses on bold flavors in traditional stews, vegetable platters & honey wine.
  Phone:     (510) 547-4520
  Hours: 10:00 AM to 11:00 pm
Menu: www.urbanspoon.com

If you can’t make it, you can make a donation at www.coalitionforpoliceaccountability

This funding will be used to print petitions for our Oakland Police Commission ballot measure, flyers, and order more tee shirts, among other needs we have.

Let’s make this a HUUUGE success – we intend to make this a regular feature, with new restaurants each time.