Notice

This is just to point out that the time of the General Assembly has been changed to 2 PM, to allow folks who have to go somewhere early to come.  It is still on the first Saturday of the month, and still at Pritchard Park.

Ben Scales Fundraiser at Rosetta's Kitchen

Clare has a great write up and some more great photos of the event at this link.

Minutes for the 1/7/13 meeting of Occupy Asheville

 

Present: John, James, Bev, Kathryn, Lindsey

 

Discussion about the event at Rosetta's.  Lindsey will post on Facebook, contact Steve Norris to be the MC, ask Ben if he wants to play some music.  It will be vegetarian. We will use this opportunity to share about our intent to focus on foreclosure. 

 

Foreclosures:  We need to do research to find potential homeowners who would like assistance.  We need to develop relationship.  What we have to offer is the attention/power that can come from exposure/numbers.  For legal help, people would still need to go to Pisgah Legal.  James has been to the registrar of deeds and knows how to access information on people being threatened with foreclosure.  We decided to contact David Forbes to ask if he would do a story in Mtn X that might attract someone to us asking for assistance.  Lindsey knows an artist in Candler fighting eviction and Sonny knows someone in Madison Co.  Kathryn agreed to contact Sonny for details and Lindsey will contact the artist.  John will write a news release detailing our plans.  Next steps at the meeting on Monday the 21st.

 

Proposal:  Donate $100 to each BeLoved House and the Homeless Network.  Put this out to the community.  Decision on Jan. 21st.

 

Vision:  James has condensed the information into a page and a half and would like us to view it and discuss.

 

We will meet for the MLK rally at 11 am on Jan 21 at the church on MLK drive so we can walk together and wear identifying tags.

General Assembly notes Jan 5, 2013

Facilitator:  Kathryn
Notes:  Meggen

14 people present.  Welcomed 7 newcomers.  Great way to start out the new year!


Discussion:

Read General Agreements, made introductions, talked about what has brought us to Occupy and what we want to see happen.  Some things mentioned:  direct democracy, acting directly to effect change vs. “asking” government entities to do it, putting pressure on local politicians, working locally for socio-economic justice including dealing with local racism and segregation, supporting a new candidate for city council, forming a Saul Alinsky study group.  (Reading and discussing Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.)

Talked a bit about local Occupy victories--city buses now run on 6 of 8 holidays, as opposed to 0.  Petition from Seniors and Friends had hundreds of signatures.  Also, a lot of people have moved their money from banks to credit unions over the past year.  Further discussion of OA plans to work on helping local victims of unfair foreclosures.  So far, biggest hurdle is identifying potential families who would want our help.  More about this over the coming Monday meetings...

Announcements / Events:

Potluck dinner in honor of Ben Scales @ Rosetta’s on Sunday, Jan 20 at 5PM.  Rosetta will host, but Occupy will bring the food.  Ben was OA’s pro bono attorney for several of the arrestees last year.  Come down to say thanks and bring a dish to share!

MLK parade Monday Jan 21st.  We will meet, distribute OA badges to wear & walk in solidarity.  Details TBA. 

Public Safety meeting regarding Cecil Bothwell’s civil liberties resolution Monday Jan 28th at 3PM @ Asheville Fire Station (2nd floor.)  This resolution states that Asheville police will not comply with federal statutes regarding targeting and arrest of undocumented workers.  We need to pack the room to make it happen.

Occupy Asheville Weekly Meeting 12-17-12

There were four of us at this meeting, including a newcomer to town.  Finance committee reported that we got $100 back as a refund from bail bond.  The “We Pay” account on the website has some money in it, but John and Lindsey are not sure how to access these funds. 

We discussed the blog in two respects.  Everyone at this meeting felt that articles and notes about anything other than Occupy Asheville should not go on the blog, but should instead be posted to the Facebook group.  We also discussed the working groups listed in the side bar.  As far as we know, the Socialists group and the Social Justice Caucus are not meeting at this time.  The finance committee still exists, but does not have a set day and time for public meetings.  We also discussed the webpage, which is rather out of date.  Susan will ask Megan to update the webpage and fix the following:  Asheville City Council meetings are on the wrong dates in January; Meet-Talk-Act group, Socialist group, Social Justice group and Anarchist Film group is no longer meeting at all; there are meetings listed for the Occupy Asheville Monday meetings on 12-24-12 and 12-31-12 (we have already decided not to meet on those days); and the wrong time is listed for the General Assembly on 1-5-13.  The events on 1-20-13 and 1-21-13 are not on the calendar.

John talked about the Asheville Homeless Network and Susan updated us on the Veterans for Peace group. There was some discussion on working on gun control issues. John felt that Occupy Asheville and the Occupy movement could lead on this issue. The rest of us felt that we should support other local and national initiatives in this area.  We also briefly discussed foreclosure issues.  Recently, people in Occupy Asheville have said that they want to work on this issue, but we have not heard anything recently.  Susan and Lindsay said that they did not feel inspired to work on foreclosures. 

We also discussed the money that we have in Occupy Asheville and felt that we should give away some money.  We discussed giving some to BeLoved House or other groups helping the homeless in our area.  No decision was made on this, and we will discuss it further at the General Assembly in January. We felt a decision should be made by a larger group.

There are two events in January – a potluck/party/fundraiser at Rosetta’s Kitchen on 1-20-13 for Occupy Asheville and our lawyer and the MLK rally and march on 1-21-13.  Occupy Asheville will participate in the march.

No more Occupy Asheville meetings for December 2012.

Happy Holidays!!

Occupy Asheville Weekly Monday Meeting

This has been called the "Coordinating Council" meeting in the past.

There will be a meeting on 1-17-12 and that is the LAST ONE for the year.

There will be a General Assembly on 1-5-13 at 3 PM in Pritchard Park.  Everyone is welcome at both meetings.

Occupy Sandy Provides Relief for more than just a storm.

For some, Occupy Wall Street may have been merely a response to the economic recession that began in 2009. But for many of us it was about something larger, about upending entrenched systems that depend on inequality. This idea differentiates Occupy Sandy from most other relief efforts. Its organizers don’t just want to rebuild; they want to build better.

 

A little more than a year ago, activists came from across the country to protest the criminality and corruption of Wall Street by building an example of an alternative community. Now those same activists are building alternatives with local communities, not as models for what could be, but as the new reality.

 

The rest of the article here.

The Rain on Our Parade: A Letter to My Dismal Allies

When you’re a hammer everything looks like a nail, but that’s not a good reason to continue to pound down anything in the vicinity. Consider what needs to be raised up as well.  Consider our powers, our victories, our possibilities; ask yourself just what you’re contributing, what kind of story you’re telling, and what kind you want to be telling.

 

There is idealism somewhere under this pile of bile, the pernicious idealism that wants the world to be perfect and is disgruntled that it isn’t—and that it never will be. That’s why the perfect is the enemy of the good. Because, really, people, part of how we are going to thrive in this imperfect moment is through élan, esprit de corps, fierce hope, and generous hearts.

 

The rest of the article here.

Some good thinking about what Occupy is REALLY about.

"The distinction between charity and mutual aid was often met with sneers about the idealism of Occupy Wall Street. Yet the recent efforts of Occupy Sandy have demonstrated the practical and logistical value of mutual aid. While government agencies like FEMA have struggled to mobilize their bureaucratic machinery, and large charitable organizations like the Red Cross have gotten stalled in attempts to funnel money, clothes, and food from donors to victims, Occupy Sandy has been successful in large part because it offers itself as a network of and for people and communities.

The relief centers set up by Occupy Sandy have prioritized meeting people's needs directly rather than telling them what to do and how to get help. The organizer Catherine Yeager put it succinctly in an interview with Democracy Now outside a relief hub in the Rockaways: "FEMA down the street... is handing out pieces of paper that tell you to call a phone number to get help. Here, you come, and you get help immediately." This determination to address basic needs has been a concern of the Occupy movement from the very beginning, as anyone who ate the free meals provided by the kitchen in Zucotti Park encampment will know."

A link to the rest of the above excellent article here.

General Assembly 12.1.12

Some of the group pictured above.

Some photos of SantaCon.

General Assembly Notes 12.1.12

The first item on our agenda was a report back on the meeting at the MSD about Asheville’s water system by TJ.  The meeting was from the planning committee of MSD, and they discussed the merger with Asheville Water and MSD and passed a resolution to pass the planning report to the full MSD board.  There was no public comment at the meeting, although some elected officials were allowed to make comments.  TJ said it was basically a ‘dog and pony show’.  The meeting with the full MSD board will be on December 12, 2012 at 2 PM at the MSD building in Woodfin on the French Broad River.  There will be public comments allowed at this meeting.  TJ said that some organizers felt that the issue would go to a lawsuit. It was clear from this meeting that there are plans for further mergers after this one with Asheville water goes through.  There was no projection of further costs.  The watershed areas would remain under the Asheville government, but the reservoir and the buildings and structures would go to MSD.  The planning committee also said that they would be opposed to privatization of the water.

Next we had committee report backs.  Asheville Homeless Network (AHN) is working on stopping criminalization of the homeless (for example, panhandling) and other issues.  Homeward Bound places people in homes, and Beloved House shares their home with those without a home.  They are suggesting a Bill of Rights for the homeless (Rhode Island has this, so no laws against homeless there).  AHN does not think a separate Bill of Rights is needed.  AHN is also concerned about Code Purple.  AHN thinks the cut off frequency is too low (currently at 32 degrees) and want to see this changed.  AHN meets on Thursdays.  John said that about 14 people took part in the last Friday of the month Homeless March.  There are a number of organizations behind this march, so it is not strictly a AHN event.  This march happens on the last Friday of the month, and they meet at 2 PM at Pritchard Park. 

Veterans for Peace will hold a meeting this upcoming Thursday at 6:30 at the Phil Mechanic Studio and they still hold a vigil every Tuesday at 4:30 PM.

The next agenda item was a question on whether the Coordinating Council meeting is still called the Coordinating Council meeting and the issue of changing the structure of the Coordinating Council since number of working groups has gone down significantly.  We also had the agenda item of coming together around two or three issues for Occupy Asheville to work on.  That was when SantaCon showed up and we decided to adjourn the meeting.

Next Coordinating Council meeting is on December 10 and December 17 at 6:30 PM at First Congregational Church of Christ.  There is no meeting on December 3.  All are welcome to attend and participate.

Other upcoming events are a potluck/fundraiser/party for Ben Scales at Rosetta’s on January 20, 2013 and the Martin Luther King parade on January 21, 2013.  More details to come on those events.