Call for Pizza from Protest Central

X also reports the General Assembly is in full swing in San Lorenzo Park where a fifth night of occupation is coming up. More than 100 folks returned with signs in front of the courthouse at various points during the day--in spite of last night's outrageous "No Signs Allowed" edict by the Sheriff's Deputies.

As yet the city has not opened the Park's bathrooms at night nor has a portapotty been secured, so apparently, at this point sanitary facilities are still touch and go. There have been suggestions of a march on the Parks and Recreation Department to demand that the bathrooms open during the day there also be open at night, since people are using the public space there.

City Council is also meeting tomorrow. The agenda is posted at http://64.175.136.240/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=210&doctype=AGENDA .

The agenda has no items relevant to the uprising nationwide or in the city around Occupation Santa Cruz (big surprise) such as reinvesting in non-Wall St. related financial institutions, etc.

The segregated Oral Communications period is at 5 PM, a fact you wouldn't know from looking at the agenda summary, but which is buried in the agenda.

For those who want to come and urge the Council
(a) to instruct city police and Parks and Recreation to stop threatening demonstraters (as acting police chief Clark did on Friday night driving them away from Mission Plaza Park);
(b) op en bathroom facilities at night in San Lorenzo Park, and/or
(c) disinvest from the large banks and corrupt financial institutions,

5 PM tomorrow--Tuesday October 11th would be the time. The Council's regular sessions are only twice a month on 2nd and 4th Tuesdays. A forceful presence there would also be a media event.

In actual fact any of these issues could be put on real separate agenda items as an "emergency item" if a Council member brings it up and if 5 vote for it. Call the City Council hotline at 420-5020 and/or e-mail them at citycouncil [at] cityofsantacruz.com . Tedious as the OSC General Assembly has been at times, it still beats the City Council hands down for public participation, accountability, and accessibility.

City Council meets at City Hall at 809 Center St. across from the main public library. Currently City Hall grounds "close" at night--in a special anti-protest move taken last year to criminalize homeless protesters from PeaceCamp2010. Ironically they were protesting the City's anti-homeless and anti-protester Sleeping Ban and its use of PC 647e, the anti-lodging law being threatened for use now against OSC.

However if anywhere is the center of legislative "power", City Hall is. That's where the powerful City Manager makes his nest (a more powerful figure in Santa Cruz than Mayor Coonerty. Manager Bernal's salary is over $200,000 per year).

There is a large grassy area where people could bed down if they get sleepy. Though, like San Lorenzo Park, it is "closed" to the public that pays for it and is supposedly its "owner" at night under the direction of city bureaucrats. Taking back this place might be of interest to OSC.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel (which I call the Urinal) has focused on a "local purchasing" item coming up on the Tuesday agenda, which may be of some remote interest to those at the assembly: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_19074797?source%253Dmost_viewed.20F88DA3D7D369F5BB70F372987EAE1F.html .

http://news.yahoo.com/fact-checking-rich-occupy-wall-street-230000367.html is an interesting story on the 1%'s response. No one has yet picked up on another suggestion made on the periphery of the General Assembly--that folks research and disseminate public info about Santa Cruz's 1% and the impact of developers (like Ow and Swenson), the Seaside Company, the Downtown Association, and other local landlords on city policy.

Again: I wrote this article on the urging of Commander X, who suggested the more food available for the wet hungry protesters the better. If you can't come down to help, send a hot pizza in your place!