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Thursday, May 24, 2012
Occupy Sacramento protesters want exception to city camping law
by Melissa Corker, published on October 11, 2011 at 10:42 PM
Storyline: Politics
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After 35 arrests in six days for violating a city camping ordinance, a group of Occupy Sacramento protesters marched to City Hall Tuesday to ask City Council members for an exception to the law so they can have 24-hour access to Cesar Chavez Plaza for peaceable demonstration.
“This is a fundamental constitutional issue,” said Sacramento resident David Whitfield, speaking on behalf of Occupy Sacramento. “Individuals are exercising their First Amendment rights, and no legislative body can abridge those rights.”
Demonstrators representing a wide range of ages and walks of life have gathered for more than six days in Cesar Chavez Plaza at Ninth and L streets to participate in the Occupy Sacramento movement.
The movement, which includes public protests, marches and organized demonstrations, began as a “show of solidarity” with similar protest movements that have cropped up across the nation in recent weeks, said Sara Beth Brooks, one of Occupy Sacramento’s coordinators
The effort calls for demonstrators to “occupy” a public space continuously during the protests – but, by doing that, Sacramento demonstrators have run afoul of a city ordinance prohibiting overnight camping in public parks.
The ordinance was enacted to keep public streets and parks “clean, sanitary and accessible” to residents and the public at large, according to the city code.
Brooks said that participants in Occupy Sacramento are not camping, however – they are exercising their First Amendment right to “peaceably assemble.”
And they will continue to exercise their right, Brooks said, “indefinitely.”
“There is no set end to the statement we are making,” Brooks said. “We are committed to seeing this through and having our voices heard.”
More than 300 people attended the council meeting Tuesday. Fifteen people spoke during public comment at the meeting to describe the nature of the occupation demonstration and to ask for an exception to the law.
According to the city code, the city manager may issue a temporary permit to allow camping on public property in connection with a special event. The code does not specify a maximum length of time for the exception to be valid.
According to police spokesman Andrew Pettit, interactions between police officers and the demonstrators over the past week have been “peaceful,” and the demonstrators have been “very cooperative.”
“The purpose of this (occupation) has been educational awareness,” said Ari Rashid, one of the coordinators of the Occupy Sacramento movement. “We want to discuss the issues that plague our society and our nation.”
Rashid and other speakers told council members that the extended demonstration has been carried out peacefully and largely without incident.
“We are not a public nuisance,” Rashid said, “and we are nothing less than peaceable. We want to keep the occupation going in Cesar Chavez park.”
Brooks said in an email Tuesday that 20 protesters were arrested Thursday, one on Friday and 14 Saturday.
All were arrested for unlawful assembly, Brooks said.
“This is the first time in my 24 years of life that I’ve experienced direct democracy,” Rashid told council members. “These (protests) are happening because people feel like they aren’t being heard. I’m here tonight to be heard.”
Councilman Steve Cohn told audience members that he had visited with demonstrators at Cesar Chavez Plaza on Monday evening, and he noted that the group was “definitely peaceful.”
The City Council could not take action on the request for an ordinance exemption at Tuesday’s meeting because it was not an item on the agenda. If the council took any action without proper public notice, it would be a violation of the Brown Act.
Eileen Teichert, Sacramento’s city attorney, confirmed that the city manager has authority to grant an exception to the camping ordinance, however, it would still be an action requiring public notice.
The Brown Act requires that the public is notified at least 72 hours in advance of council meetings which matters will be on the agenda for that meeting.
Cohn asked city staff to add an item to the next council meeting agenda to discuss changing the current policy on camping as an exception for this demonstration.
“Demonstrations are happening in Seattle, Portland, San Diego and Washington, D.C.,” Cohn said. “I feel like this city ought to be able to figure out how to make this work, too.”
Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.
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I don't see them winning over many people with this kind of behavior. I wonder if these guys fell the same way Occupy L.A. who have said "Violence will be Necessary to Achieve Our Goals"
http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/10/11/occupy-l-a-speaker-violence-will-be-necessary-to-achieve-our-goals/
If this were the tea party saying this it would be the headline of every story about them, but these are the darlings of the media so that won't happen.
http://occupysac.com/?p=292
But the request for overnight camping in the park seems to be a distraction from the the Occupy movements stated goals. If you are mad at Wall Street, why waste your energy fighting City of Sacramento camping ordinances.
If you believe in your message, then where you happen to sleep each night seems rather trival.
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/10/10/political-party-paying-occupy-wall-street-protesters/
These are the very groups that are a part of the 1% as the occupy movement would say. These groups behind the Tea Party do not have the public interest in mind when they go on campaign to derail government and any corporate regulations.
They claim they are not "camping", but they have tents and sleeping bags laid out in the park. It's an eye-sore.
I wish I have done more but I have at least engaged, talked, and listened with many of the protesters; there are some amazing people from all kinds of backgrounds, ages, and different life stories to share there. They all want a system that does not preserve the mass injustices of today. And many are realistic, they aren't all the cooky people that make it on the sensational media.
I recommend actually making an effort and talking and understanding some of the people there, listening to what some of them have to say, with respect, possibly offering some ideas of your own as well. They have created a physical space where peaceful discussion can and actually does occur.
While atrocious crimes have certainly been committed by some white-collar thieves from Wall Street, and I hold deeply the belief that a man with a briefcase can be far more dangerous than one with a gun, this protest is misguided.
If it's fair to judge a person's motivations from a 60-second YouTube interview, then many of the protestors want jobs and better pay. However, they will not find it protesting in front of Wall Street or Chavez Park.
Unemployment is a structural problem facing every nation on Earth. No country is immune from the reality of this hardship.
I support their determination to make things right. I support the effort of labor to be organized, but Wall Street no more owes anyone a job, a car loan, a new house or a pay raise than the protestors owe Wall Street their paychecks.
Instead, let's push our representatives in D.C. toward accountability, become informed about basic business practices, civil law and politics, and work to turn the best we've got — an admittedly flawed system — into the best we can get. These government union sponsored protestors are willingly being used.