GA Minutes, 2/7/12, LFPL
GA Tuesday 2/7/2012
Facilitator: Cymone
Notes: Robin
Stack: Quizz
Lots of discussion before GA started regarding consensus, camp, donations.
Cymone: Opening Statement & hand signals.
Mandy Stop Foreclosures WG: Want Occupy’s endorsement for an action we’re doing. We’ll do it on our own not as Occupy if consensus is not reached.
We’re going to Occupy Chase Bank to get the community to pay attention to what Chase is doing. Caution tape around the bank, Mic check in the bank to say our message which is that Chase is involved in illegal foreclosures. We want media attention and want to have people speak about their experience. I propose that OL talk about it but hopefully endorse it so that hopefully we can say that OL supports it.
David: When’s the date? Jesse: Saturday 2/25/2012
Curtis: What did Obama’s new proposal do to help you? Mandy: We’re doing research, but it won’t change what Chase has already done.
Quizz: IT’s great that you’ve provided a good outline and that you’ve made it clear what the action is going to be and points of contact for people to speak, What time of day will it be?
Mandy: 1pm , the branch is open til 2. We’ll get there at 1, do a mic check and then the bank will close and we can stay as long as we want.
Christine: What part of this legal and what part of this is civil disobedience? What’s legal as far as wrapping caution tape on their property?
Mikal: wrapping the tape is not illegal, it doesn’t damage. Mic check is legal. If they ask you to leave and you stay, you’re tresspassing.
Mandy: Part of this is still open, we don’t necessarily have to break any laws to do this.
David: could we go over this at Saturday’s GA
Karl: Is there a script?
Mandy: Monday at 6 we’ll be meeting, writing script, and writing press release.
Jesse: I’d like to vote on this today if we can b/c we want to start publicizing this. At the mic check, if they ask us to leave it’s up to everyone to decide if they want to leave or stay and get arrested.
Curtis: if they ask you to leave can’t you just walk out on the sidewalk.
Lark: Which bank?
Mandy: Bardstown Rd. & Baxter.
Cymone: Proposal to endorse the action against chase bank, all in favor, none opposed, we will endorse the action against Chase bank on 2/25/2012
Lark: Our Occupy Mitch McConnell went over very well. (Showed CJ story about us) The big lakcing in that was the tv media just ignored us, Sam got it on video, he’s going to put it on youtube. If anyone has suggestions on the next action, help us get media attention. Shut Down the Corporations ALEC American Legislative Exchange Counsel, two big ones are Humana and UPS. If you have ideas let me know. It’s not til Feb 29th Leap into Action.
Every 2nd Sunday LPAC Veterans for Peace does Peace vigil, this Sunday 12th at 4pm. I’d like to put it on FB.
Karl: Just wanted to make a comment regarding the action with Mitch McConnell, I wasn’t in the best of form, when I tried to speak I think it fell short. I understand the purpose was to highlight the NDAA, Nobody knows about NDAA and everyone knows about Mitch McConnell, if we aren’t smart enough to connect to what he’s done to us locally, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.
Curtis: I think you’re underestimating what you just said. My whole family had no idea what the NDAA was. They’d never heard of it, until I explained it to them.
Jesse: the point it to raise awareness, so what you did is what we want, you explained it to them.
Karl: I think it’s great it raise awareness.
Lark: We went along with a national act. We were putting him on notice. I don’t think he’s going to change his mind b/c we are out there protesting, but we did put him on notice.
Cymone: Do we want to continue
Quizz: Thursday is the meeting, so that would be the place to continue the conversation
Facilitation WG: Cymone: There was debate about using the space. I was thinking that I could be someone who could be in the office. I have experience. I could take some time and volunteer to do office work.
Karl: I talked with Pam earlier today and as far as I know she’s at the KY alliance board meeting right now. I mentioned to her that one of the things we’d talked about was the ability to volunteer someone to do some office work. David’s mentioned that he’s willing to go several days a week. The KY alliance has one intern, and there isn’t a lot of work to do. But if we could line that up, and say MWF 10-2 we could have someone to answer phones for you. Would that exonerate us from having to make a financial contribution for utilities. Pam wants to go down and use the space too.
David: I’d be willing to do 12-6 4 days a week or more, I could stay late or come earlier. Whatever I can do to help, I”m committed to do.
Jesse: We don’t have a concrete proposal, so I’m going to make one. We are willing to allocate up to $100/month the money but we are also going to ask if we can trade services. Someone from Occupy would staff an office 3 days a week, 12-6.
Cymone: continue?
Consensus: Yes
David: 12-6 3 or 4 nights per week would work for me. After this past weekend when we got what we needed for electricity, I became a believer that we can get what we need when we ask for it.
Curtis: Mine is similar to Jesse’s, I’d like to send around a ballot, to vote on who is going in here and who is not, and how much money is going in here and how much is not? I’ve seen some funny ass shit go on, I”ve seen it happen.
Quizz: we agree we need to get into the details of management, but we need to move on with stack.
Karl: Jesse I appreciate the proposal, the only thing I would mention would be that I think it would be better to come back with a yes for $50/month and services traded. I don’t think they need 30-50 hours of continuous occupation each week. I would ask what is their schedule? And so if we can alternate a couple or three people, so that way you can do your work, and answer the phone, and we need to put that in our proposal. Pam would like to be in there, and David would be another person b/c he is committed to being there damn near every day.
Quizz: this is a great start for a memorandum of agreement. Everyone will know this is what we’ve agreed to. You have to have forms of accountability such as consequences. We need to track who has been banned. Who has keys: If someone signed you in or out, we have to log when the keys are used and by who. What work groups are going to use the space. So that everyone knows what is going on. A memorandum agreement is a way to go that sets boundaries very clearly.
David: I thought he didn’t want the keys passed, and didn’t want copies made. So I thought he wanted two people to be responsible for the keys.
Mikal: Maybe we should talk to David Lott again? That never happened? We’re spinning our wheels.
Jesse: we never finished this discussion to go talk to David Lott.
Mikal: Can we vote yes or no and work out the details? I would suggest we agree we want to be in the space, but not until we negotiate the details with David Lott.
Quizz: Thank you Mikal, I”m in agreement. Pam may come back with some info from the KY Alliance meeting. They keep food and things down there and we don’t need people in there that are going to disrespect the space.
Karl: In the spirit of what Mikal said, could we get a vote on a proposal? We’ve not ironed out all the details and we won’t til we give David Lott an answer. As it stands, we want to make it work. Let’s get an affirmative voice.
Cymone: temp check can we get a vote
Jesse: We will seek the use of the Braden center and will allocate up to $100/month and will ask to offer volunteer work to offset costs if possible.
Vote: yes, one stand aside, resolution passed.
George: I’ve brought 10 copies of the resolution, I want to propose that this be presented to the city counsel as part of a Lark-inspired action as far as participation of people. Other cities have passed resolutions like this. I’ve got a petition also, I’d like to read the title of the resolution. (A resolution opposing the US supreme court’s interpretation of the constitution in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission…..)
My proposal is that we, in an appropriate manner present this to the metro counsel.
Mikal: What would happen if they said no.
George: we’re no worse off
Mikal: Had the group thought about an action
George: My idea was to approach the them and rep and get them together to co-sponsor this. If not, we might have an action to support this.
Lark: so have they been approached?
George: no, not yet.
David: My 5 weeks since I spoke to metro counsel is up so I can present again if you’d like me to talk about this.
Karl: The Right has attacked the unions, why put them on the same playing field?
George: The way to keep it non partisan is to go with both sides.
Karl: I keep hearing people talking about amendments and I want to know what crack people are smoking, we haven’t been able to pass an amendment in 80 years.
George: we could talk about this privately for the next 2 hours.
Quizz: you’ve put it out there, that is a positive motion forward for us to build upon. This is good for us as an awareness and outreach document.
Lark: We can work out a time table and when we come back we can have more fleshed out ideas.
George: I”d like a week, I’d like to ask my proposal be pushed to next week.
Curtis: Didn’t we approve this already?
George: we did approve an amendment earlier, this is a resolution going to metro counsel.
Quizz: Point of Process! We have stack going on. POI I have this idea that there is an archetypal battle building up. This is how I dream up these street actions and things. If anybody takes this info and can muse on it. I’d love to see rock ‘em sock ‘em robots going out to teach about NDAA in the neighborhoods. If anyone wants to take that and roll with it.
Cymone: Let’s vote on this ?
Consensus: let’s vote
Cymone: Do we pass the proposal that George present this resolution to the city counsel?
Vote: Yes, no stand asides or blocks, Proposal is passed.
Quizz: Education work group meeting; We talked about what programming we can do long term. Bike work shop, composting/gardening. It would be going through Brycc House programming. What I did hardline is that we have conflict in the camp with security and food issues. I’ve gone in to work with them on these issues. We are trying to have daily action at camp, to see where we can grow together. We are incubating ideas.
Mikal: I need some clarification.
Quizz: seeking money to sponsor Brycc House activities, to host the Occupy camp.
MIkal: So that would be BH activities that Occupy members would be invited to. It’s your organization doing that workshop, regardless of who you invite.
Quizz: in the process of getting donations of food. I got approval for us to have fiscal agency over certain actions, through our organization. Our org. is working to build function and sustainability. I’d like to further offer that we are willing to sponsor activities that are funded by other agencies that can be presented to the community and Occupy.
Mikal: I have an issue if an org asks for money not for the org, but for Occupy. I wanted to make sure it’s being requested not in the name of Occupy.
Quizz: that’s not happening.
Mikal: that’s the clarification I wanted.
Cymone: you can come sunday or talk to Quizz after the meeting. Media work group?
Jesse:we don’t have any updates.
David: UU Friends of Occupy, on 2/14 they want to have a dinner for Occupy at 5:30 with GA at 7pm there. They would like to invite us to dinner and then they would attend our GA in the sanctuary. I’d like to get the word out.
Lark: GA will be at the church that night? Yes
Cymone: can we vote on having our GA at UU next week on the 14th, no stand aside or block, proposal passed. Dinner at 5:30.
George: I suggested we do friends of UU
Lark: I spoke to the pastor, she idd a great sermon about Occupy, I linked to it.
David: you should have been there this past sunday, it brought me to tears.
Robin: update on financial situation. Bank account up, paid porta kleen, created excel to track donations, and expenditures.
Cymone: Other work groups?
Cymone: Proposal regarding Education (charter schools)
Jesse: it appears some may be using the Occupy name as if we support positions we’ve never discussed or endorsed, I’d like to put it on the record that we do not take any stance on things that we’ve not come to consensus on.
Mandy: I wanted to bring a proposal perhaps on Saturday’s GA that we have to have consensus on actions
Mikal: We did talk about this in the past, but it got misconstrued, and we should probably revisit it.
Cymone: can we table this til Saturday.
Quizz: I feel strongly about this esp. when it goes to city counsel.
Robin: we need consensus before it goes anywhere.
Curtis; I know about Yarmuth and that was an accident. It turned out to be alright.
Karl: a new work group has been formed. It has it’s first meeting. We’re looking at having a meeting every 2 weeks, it is open. Consensus building work group.
Meeting ended due to library closing
