Occupy Asheville General Assembly Minutes April 2013

Occupy Asheville General Assembly

April 6 2012

 Jonathan announced OA was starting and read General Agreements

Announcements

NVDA Training Working Group Will be doing a training for 350.org next Saturday  from 9-12 at the Quaker meeting house.  The training is for 350.org but others are welcome.  $10 suggested donation.

There will be a GA in Mid April check back for the exact date.

Proposal

To offer Kathryn $40 as reimbursement for the website for the last 6 months.  Sonny asked if we knew how long Kathryn had been paying for the website, and if she needed to be reimbursed for more than the past 6 months.  Jerry suggested that we offer the reimbursement but give Kathryn the opportunity to donate the cost if she wants.

There was consensus to this proposal.

Note: Krysia said that her son (who is actually in San Francisco) would be willing to manage the website.

Discussion

Jerry brought up a topic of currency and its connection to (or disconnection from) morality and spirituality.

Sonny encouraged everyone to pay attention to what is happening at the State legislature.  He noted several issues that will impact Asheville and expressed concern about how these issues might result in loss of funds for valuable city services.

Update on Civil Liberties Resolution Meeting

From Cecil Bothwell:

Due to three reasons, I'm bumping the Civil Liberties resolution another month.

Chief Anderson has expressed a wish to talk to me about it in the context of the Citizens/Police Advisory Committee first.
Councilmember Gordon Smith is out of town due to a death in his family.
And the agenda for Monday is jammed with other routine stuff.

So we'll do it April 29.

Civil Liberties resolution meeting 3/25/13

THIS HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK TO THE APRIL AGENDA, due to several factors per Cecil Bothwell.

Heads up to those interested:  this is next Monday, March 25.  The newest draft of the resolution is below.

Message from Cecil Bothwell:

I will bring the Civil Liberties resolution forward at the 3/25/13 meeting of the Public Safety Committee. It would be great if you or any of your friends, followers, legions, minions, multitudes, hangers-on or unindicted co-conspirators can join us.

3:30 p.m. Upstairs in the downtown Fire Department/Police Station.

-c

 CITY OF ASHEVILLE
CIVIL LIBERTIES RESOLUTION
 
WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville has long aspired to protect civil liberties and provide equal protection under the law to all persons in the city which includes a diverse population of many races, religions, national and ethnic origin, including immigrants, tourists and students—whose contributions to the community’s economy, culture and civic character are vast and important, and affirms its strong support for the fundamental constitutional rights of every person and recognizes that the preservation of civil liberties is essential to the well-being of a democratic society; and
 
WHEREAS:  The Chief of Police of the City of Asheville has implemented new community policing practices that seek to reframe and improve the relationship between law enforcement officers and the public; and

WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville opposes measures that single out individuals within our diverse population for legal scrutiny or enforcement activity based on race, skin color, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, religious or political opinion or activity,  immigration status; or homed or homeless status, and

WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville opposes any efforts to transfer federal immigration responsibility to state and local officials, since these proposals tax our already overburdened police department and damage relationships with immigrant communities; and
 
WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville believes that there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty but that Americans can be both safe and free; and
 
WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville wishes to play a leading role in the protection of civil liberties and to consistently promote tolerance and respect for all persons, and recognizes that a number of other jurisdictions in North Carolina and in the United States have enacted policies or laws to make clear their protection of the civil liberties of a diverse population.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF ASHEVILLE that:
 
Section 1.  The City of Asheville upholds the constitutional rights and civil liberties of any and all persons and it remains the policy of the City of Asheville to protect against discrimination on the basis of race, skin color, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability,  immigration status, religious or political opinion or activity, or homed or homeless status.
 
Section 2. City of Asheville officers and employees reject profiling of any group within our diverse population as a factor in selecting individuals, setting up check points or selecting areas of town to subject to investigatory activities.

Section 3.  City of Asheville officers shall not arrest persons or impound vehicles solely for failure to produce a driver's license in the course of motor vehicle stops in which the initiating infraction would not otherwise result in arrest, unless there is other evidence of criminal activity.

Section 4. The City of Asheville does not and will not maintain electronic, photographic or paper files on any person not under investigation for criminal activity.
 
Section 5.  City of Asheville officers and employees do not and shall not collect, maintain or disseminate information about the political, religious or social views, associations or activities of any individual, association, organization, corporation, business or partnership unless said information is directly related to an investigation of criminal conduct that is based on reasonable suspicion.
 
Section 6.  In the absence of interstate or international criminal or national security investigations, City of Asheville officers and employees shall refrain from participating in the enforcement of federal immigration laws or initiatives such as the Terrorism Information and Prevention System (TIPS), that encourage members of the general public to spy on their neighbors, colleagues and customers, or programs run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), that drive a wedge between the immigrant community and the local police who need to protect the welfare of all our residents; no department, agency, commission, officer or employee of the City of Asheville shall use City funds or resources to assist in the enforcement of Federal Immigration Law, or to gather, use or disseminate the immigration status information of individuals in the City of Asheville.

BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that the provisions of this Resolution are not intended to protect criminal activity on the part of any person but are intended to encourage trust in the Asheville Police Department and to encourage reporting of criminal activity to that department by all members of the community.
 
BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that the provisions of this Resolution shall be severable, and if any provision of this Resolution is declared unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the validity of the remainder shall not be affected.
 
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution shall be forwarded to all City of Asheville law enforcement agencies and to every department, agency, commission, officer and employee of the City and to our local, state and federal legislative delegations on behalf of the residents of the City of Asheville.
 

Bothwell's Civil Liberties Resolution

Cecil Bothwell, Asheville City Councilman, says the resolution he's proposing will be introduced to the Safety Committee meeting on March 25th at 3:30 pm, in the room above the downtown fire dept.  

He says it will help to have folks show up and speak in favor of it.  Alternately, your opinion can be read if you send letters to Cecil, Jan Davis, and Gordon Smith.  But, letters should be sent a little closer time to the meeting.


We are posting it here because Occupy Asheville is considering writing a letter of support for this resolution. Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts on this course of action.

++++++++++

CITY OF ASHEVILLE
CIVIL LIBERTIES RESOLUTION

WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville has long aspired to protect civil liberties and provide equal protection under the law to all persons in a city which includes a diverse population of many races, religions, and national and ethnic origins, including immigrants, tourists and students, whose contributions to the community’s economy, culture and civic character are vast and important, and affirms its strong support for the fundamental constitutional rights of every person and recognizes that the preservation of civil liberties is essential to the well-being of a democratic society; and

WHEREAS:  The Chief of Police of the City of Asheville has implemented new community policing practices that seek to reframe and improve the relationship between law enforcement officers and the public; and

WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville opposes measures that single out individuals within our diverse population for legal scrutiny or enforcement activity based on race, skin color, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, religious or political opinion or activity, or immigration status; and

WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville opposes any efforts to transfer federal immigration responsibility to state and local officials, since these proposals tax our already overburdened police department and damage relationships with immigrant communities; and

WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville believes that there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty but that Americans can be both safe and free; and

WHEREAS:  The City of Asheville wishes to play a leading role in the protection of civil liberties and to consistently promote tolerance and respect for all persons, and recognizes that a number of other jurisdictions in North Carolina and in the United States have enacted policies or laws to make clear their protection of the civil liberties of a diverse population.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF ASHEVILLE that:

Section 1.  The City of Asheville upholds the constitutional rights and civil liberties of any and all persons and it remains the policy of the City of Asheville to protect against discrimination on the basis of race, skin color, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, religious or political opinion or activity, or immigration status.

Section 2. City of Asheville officers and employees will reject profiling of any group within our diverse population as a factor in selecting individuals, setting up check points or selecting areas of town to subject to investigatory activities.

Section 3.  City of Asheville officers shall not arrest persons or impound vehicles solely for failure to produce a driver's license in the course of motor vehicle stops in which the initiating infraction would not otherwise result in arrest, unless there is other evidence of criminal activity.

Section 4. The City of Asheville does not and will not maintain electronic, photographic or paper files on any person not under investigation for criminal activity.

Section 5.  City of Asheville officers and employees do not and shall not collect, maintain or dissemintate information about the political, religious or social views, associations or activities of any individual, association, organization, corporation, business or partnership unless said information is directly related to an investigation of criminal conduct that is based on reasonable suspicion.

Section 6.  In the absence of interstate or international criminal investigations, City of Asheville officers and employees shall refrain from participating in the enforcement of federal immigration laws or initiatives such as the Terrorism Information and Prevention System (TIPS), that encourage members of the general public to spy on their neighbors, colleagues and customers, or programs run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), that drive a wedge between the immigrant community and the local police who need to protect the welfare of all our residents; no department, agency, commission, officer or employee of the City of Asheville shall use City funds or resources to assist in the enforcement of Federal Immigration Law, or to gather, use or disseminate the immigration status information of individuals in the City of Asheville.

BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that the provisions of this Resolution are not intended to protect criminal activity on the part of any person but are intended to encourage trust in the Asheville Police Department and to encourage reporting of criminal activity to that department by all members of the community.

BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that the provisions of this Resolution shall be severable, and if any provision of this Resolution is declared unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the validity of the remainder shall not be affected.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution shall be forwarded to all City of Asheville law enforcement agencies and to every department, agency, commission, officer and employee of the City and to our local, state and federal legislative delegations on behalf of the residents of the City of Asheville.

General Assembly Notes March 2 2013

General Assembly notes March 2, 2013

Jonathan facilitated, Meggen took notes

[Read Occupy Asheville General Agreements]

Reminder:  Meetings on Mondays are on hiatus until further notice
    (NVDAT is still meeting Tuesdays at 5PM at Battery Park Book Exchange)


Finance:
OA still has several hundred in the account--what should we do with it?
Suggestion to think this over and try to make a decision at April or May GA.
Possibilities:

•     divide among existing working groups
•     hold onto for legal defense
•     donate to charities (such as Beloved House)
•     AHN and VFP are good candidates since they are stand-alone organizations
•     VFP could hold onto it and keep it for legal defense
•     give more to Ben Scales

[Discussion about Tuesday’s protest at Buncombe County building re: energy rate hikes.  Consensus to make treasury funds available for arrestees who meet criteria.  Sorry these notes were not posted until after this event.]


Cecil Bothwell’s Civil Liberties Resolution
    Cecil has been getting feedback from various folks including Occupy members
    March 25th public safety meeting will be next public discussion
        -he is expecting support from Hunt and Pelly, maybe Smith
    He would like a letter of endorsement from Occupy Asheville and for OA folks to     submit public comments to City Council
    NVDAT will work on drafting a letter, and OA can do consensus process online     (post on blog, email chains, etc.)

    Question raised about the value of OA’s endorsement, especially given our small numbers these days
    Comment:  we should give Cecil our support if he’s asking for it

Consensus:  support NVDAT in drafting letter, put it on blog/email for discussion
    if not blocks/dissent after a reasonable amount of time, OA will endorse

About the upcoming Public Safety Meeting

There has been discussion of Cecil Bothwell's resolution concerning civil liberties at Occupy Asheville meetings on Monday evenings. Exact wording of the resolution has not been shared. Some members have promoted the idea of people coming to the Public Safety Meeting to support this, which was rumored to be introduced in the January meeting and again in the February meeting. This is not going to happen in the February meeting, and the latest word is that the resolution will be introduced in the March meeting of the Public Safety committee. However, I would check an make sure that this will actually happen, if you are interested in this issue.

Suspension of Monday evening meetings

At tonight's meeting, we decided to suspend Monday evenings meetings of Occupy Asheville. We will resume if there is a new project to work on, or if there is interest.

We will still hold monthly General Assembly at 2 PM at Pritchard Park on the first Saturday of the month.

Monday Meeting Notes Feb 4 2013

from Kathryn:

Present: John, James,Susan, Bev, Sonny, Richard and Kathryn (taking notes)

Richard brought a great deal of material which can be made available to others about the foreclosure situation in Buncombe County and the Metro area.  Although housing prices have held up in Asheville better than many other communities there was still at 12% decline in prices between first quarters of '09 and '12 in the four county region. In 2011 there were 1877 homeowners 90 days overdue and 2700 in foreclosure compared to 250 before the crash.  On 9/12 1.6% of prime loans were 90 days over and 2% were in foreclosure.  Although Asheville only has 2.3% of owner occupied subprime loans, 16% of this market is either in foreclosure or 90 days overdue.  Richard has spent time in the registrar of deeds office and found that looking for errors in the paperwork is tedious and not very rewarding.

 

Loan modification is done by the "servicer" of the loan, not the lender.  The programs for this have not been effective.  They can be contested by challenging filing inaccuracy.  Modifications are still available through 2013.  OnTrack can help with this.  However, sometimes it is not to the advantage of the servicer to modify (they get less interest, etc.) and it might be helpful to bring public attention to the situation.

 

Bev had talked with Bill Whelan at Pisgah Legal.  He or someone else from the organization would be willing to talk with us about what they know of the legal aspects.  Bev will get back with him and ask for someone to come speak with us. He did think it would be helpful to bring more public attention to the continuing difficulties ("tell the world of the injustice") and link people to resources.  However, there are mortgage relief scams everywhere and we must be careful not to get confused with them.

 

Kathryn agreed to rewrite John's letter to make it fit the criteria for possible publication as a letter to the editor.

 

Susan talked about the FOIA.  Each person has to do apply individually.  NVDA will discuss if they want to do it.  Sonny said that Naomi Wolf's book has information on how to do it.

February GA minutes

Occupy Asheville General Assembly

February 2, 2013

Jonathan Facilitated

John S. and Jonathan took notes

GA:  Jonathan, Susan, Beverly, John S., Kasha, James and, Sonny.  A few others joined as the meeting continued.

General agreements read by Jonathan. 

Vision statement handed out by James L.  Started at National Gathering in Phila.  James suggested that people look over statement and get back to him for revision and thoughts. James wants to create an Asheville part to the national vision.  Drone warfare may need to be placed in the document. Coleman has interest in this. Discussion ensued.  Kasha wishes to see good flow of information. We decided to read the paragraph starting “No change will be long-lasting…” and talk about it. Kasha read the beginning of vision statement.   Sonny brought up the problems of holding a Constitutional Convention which could erase those parts of Constitution which are good.  Kasha pointed out that the Right is so well organized that they could take over a constitutional convention.  Sonny also raised a question about whether it made sense to propose elimination of the Senate.  Several people talked about the work by Move to Amend to address the issue of ‘money as speech’ and ‘corporate personhood.’  It was suggested that OA could support Move to Amend in this effort, but also that these issues are not the only or primary issues that OA is focused on. James responded we need to trust people and the democratic process and that the Senate is not at all representational.  Jonathan suggested (as facilitator) that if James’s goal is to develop a document that all of OA could endorse that we might use this time simply to identify parts of the document about which there was general agreement and parts that either needed more conversation or needed to be revised/dropped.

 

Proposal to give $100  to Western North Carolina Alliance to help subsidize transportation costs to Washington, DC for the Feb 17^th “Forward on Climate” action.  WNCA is organizing a bus and this money would be to make help pay for some people’s seats on the bus.  (There are already cheaper seats available for students, but we’d like cheaper seats to be available to more people.)   Jim B is involved in organizing this bus. We are in agreement for $100.00

 

Jonathan noted that it is unclear what process we are working under.  (Several people at the GA mentioned items originating at the Coordinating Council (CC) and needing to go out to working groups (WGs) for approval.)  We have the historic Coordinating Council process where WGs, affinity groups, caucuses, etc bring proposals to the CC and then those proposals are discussed by the groups and brought back to the CC.  On the other hand at the Nov. GA those who were gathered there came to agreement that decisions could be made by two consecutive meetings of OA, that is something could be approved at the GA and then again at a weekly Occupy meeting,  or at two weekly Occupy meetings or what have you.  But as far as he knew this new process was never adopted.  Susan said that the CC wanted GA to make a decision about the money for the F17 action.  Jonathan clarified that under either process the GA had agreed to the disbursement of $100 to WNCA for the F17 Climate Action.

Kasha proposes working group for doing an event to keep Occupy visible and utilize some of the resources (financial and otherwise) to keep momentum going.  New group formed with Kasha point woman.  Jonathan, as facilitator, pointed out that anyone of us can form a new group, and that doing so does not require approval from the GA.  Kasha asked just for a show of support and several people gave up twinkles. 

 

John reported that Donny F. (who was involved in OA in Fall of 2011) raised starting a tent city at the Federal Bldg.  In a go round several people expressed concern that another tent city would be counterproductive.  Bill expressed a concern that 24 hr 365 day presence would be unsustainable and that the media would inevitably dwell on decreasing numbers. Jonathan stated that publicly NOT supporting an encampment does not make sense, and in fact would go against our general agreements.  We don’t get to say what others do or don’t do.  In fact, if the encampment turned out to be wildly successful we would probably all feel pretty silly if we had dismissed it.  However, to figure out how we might get involved with it and support it, we would need those interested in starting an encampment to be part of our conversation.  The reality is we have resources (financial) that are out of line with our current level of activity, and it might really make sense for us to support an encampment, but folks interesting in starting and encampment would need to come talk with us.  Susan said, at this time it doesn’t seem like something we could get involved with.  John stated that Occupy is a verb not a noun and that resurrection of a tent city could be a powerful tactic.  James L. suggests that at some point maybe it would make sense, but that we would need to deal with the homelessness issue.  Bev raised the concern that if the encampment is called Occupy Asheville, then it concerns us.  Kasha reported that from inter-occupy calls she has learned that “occupation” has been a powerful tactic as part of anti-foreclosure campaigns.  Jonathan suggested that John call Donny and inform him that at the GA there was some concern about whether or not another encampment would make sense, but felt like if Occupy Asheville was going to get involved with or support an encampment those wanting to start the encampment would need be in conversation with OA, we would welcome them to come to a GA or Occupy Weekly Meeting.

 

                Foreclosure issues.  Bev spoke to Pisgah Legal about issue. They feel should make sure we really understand the issue before putting out a general call for people with foreclosure issues to get in contact with us, we might be overwhelmed with contact from people we weren’t prepared to help.  He suggest that we should start a website that could be a clearing house for information about foreclosures and as a place for people to tell their stories.   James and Kasha reported that they’ve been participating in inter-occupy calls about foreclosure defense.  James got email advice from someone with inter-Occupy which he’ll share.  Kasha said that many people on the call reported that putting public pressure on banks before foreclosure proceedings begin is a successful tactic.  She said that folks haven’t been able to forestall foreclosure for years just by forcing banks to come forward with proper documentation.   She also said she’d gotten mixed information about legal assistance.  John reported that through Asheville Homeless Network, he made contact with someone facing foreclosure but that her case is really messy.  He commented on how hard it is to find a “clean case” that is a case that is not complicated with other issues.  He also talked with a women with a law firm that specializes in foreclousers.  He asked the group for their approval for him to contact her.  Kasha pointed out that the “CC” has already decided to make foreclosures a big focus on OA, but that it would be good to have the GA weigh in.  Jonathan said that he thought a lot of people facing foreclosures feel isolated and that it would be nice to bring people together in such away that they could build solidarity with each other.  He also mentioned that in the past Rich had had ideas of some kinds of direct support that we might be able to offer and that holding an event where we offered direct support might be a good way to build some initial relationships. Jonathan said that he felt OK about John calling the lawyer as a form of research or relationship building, but not to offer up OA resources in service of a particular law firm’s strategy (note I say this because we might end up having differing views about strategy and goals than what someone pursing a legal approach might have.) Sonny recommended that John go with another person from OA to talk to this lawyer; Bev agreed to be that other person.  John reminded us that he had written a press release and that we have not sent it out yet.  Jonathan (as facilitator) asked if we could agree as the GA that foreclousers should be a major focus of OA.  There was not complete consensus on this, but there were no stand asides or blocks.  There was also general agreement that John could contact this law firm for more information.

 

Other reports and Announcements:

Last month we held an event to appreciate Ben Scales.  We raised additional money there and it was great to see each other and celebrate.

February 15^th is the Anniversary of the historic mobilization against the War in Iraq.  The largest anti-war mobilization ever.

Jonathan had miss-reported that Rain Forest Action was doing a training about BoA and MTR at Sage Coffee House on Thur.  This is actually happening at Sage Café at Warren Wilson and is for the Warren Wilson community.  (Still ripe opportunities for making the connections between BoA’s mortgage policies and MTR.)

Minutes from Monday Jan 28th meeting

From Kathryn:

 

Present:  Weasel, Coleman, Sonny, Bev, James, Kasha, Jim Brown, Susan and Kathryn (taking notes and trying to facilitate)

 

Susan announced that Feb 16 in the 10th anniversary of the "day the world marched" against the war in Iraq. 

 

Jim announced that there will be a major march in Washington on Feb 17 to protest the Tar Sands project.  There will be buses going from Asheville and they will cost $80 for adults and $51 for students.  Susan recommended that we offer scholarships which led to a half hour conversation about whether to spend our money this way.  There were suggestions of figuring out how to use our money to support local projects instead.  Finally, there was agreement that 5 scholarships of $20 each will be offered to be disbursed by Susan and Jim if the next Monday evening meeting agrees.

 

Coleman announced that Ms. Zevon is coming to town tomorrow and will be filming interviews with Occupy folk at 3pm at City County Plaza and 4:30 at the Vance Monument along with the VFP Vigil.  Everyone is invited to participate.  If you know of other Occupiers who might be interested in being interviewed in other cities, please contact Coleman.

 

The suggested agenda for GA:  Feb 17 action in Washington; forming an Action Planning Group; reminding people of the foreclosure focus; discussing the vision.

 

Kathryn read the revised statement re: foreclosures.  Coleman suggested that we should link up with the NC Coalition against Corporate Power which has been working on this issue.  He also thought we should have a coordinated media campaign including announcements in churches, PSAs, etc.  Kasha suggested that we add a sentence recognizing the pain and humiliation of people experiencing foreclosure.  Bev has tried to contact a lawyer.  It was suggested that we look at the documents in the courthouse and see what lawyers have been working with the people who are being foreclosed on.  Kasha suggested that a working group be formed to address the foreclosure issue separate from the Monday night meetings as these meetings should be available to address other issues.  Sonny suggested that we prepare questions to ask prospective people to support and have criteria to choose whom to support.

 

Coleman shared that some Occupy groups have obtained FOIA documents indicating that there was undercover surveillance of Occupy last year and perhaps Occupy Asheville should request information about what was done here.

 

James reviewed his updated Vision statement and the group expressed their approval and appreciation.  He will bring it up again as part of the GA on Saturday.  Coleman recommended some revisions, particularly re: the impact of this nation on the Native Americans who were here originally.

 

Susan mentioned the Blog.  Kasha offered information on the NVC course she has been taking on-line and suggested that we should learn more about this way of communicating.