Co-ordinators’ Meeting minutes
14 November 2011, 9:00 am
60 Wall Street, Atrium
Announcement:
7 pm meeting at the Tree of Life re: expansion into other public areas. moving from Tree to triangle park near Blarney Stone.
Report backs:
PR: concern about people who aren’t on site or in meetings are trying to represent the group.
Alternative Currency: wants to move forward so it leads to more participation.
Security/Safety concern: Community Alliance is connected to the Nietas
more Kitchen (José): working on getting another kitchen set up in downtown Brooklyn. we’ve got a plumber, electrician & carpenter building out the site
Town Planning: organizational issues. enforcement of spaces (eg: flowerbeds, fire egresses) our only option right now is to pester people. they want to go to GA for consensus on generator. they are laying out cabling in the park. discussion is not whether we should have a generator, but abt cabling in a safe manner. implementation of tents: what groups in what order. we need a solidified process to prevent a free-for-all.
Library (Betsy): the library now has a schedule–it’s open from 10 am to 1am. We’re looking to initiate new programs and need contacts in Education & Empowerment as well as Inreach.
Working Space Affinity Group (Greg): The occupied office—workspace, support and services for OWS working groups @ 50 Broadway. To get access email occupiedoffice AT gmail DOT com
Pierre wants to meet with small business/entrepreneurs.
Food & Water (Eric): needs volunteers to get to Brooklyn and cook & come back to the park, at least 7 people. Details of kitchens, their facilities, accessible hours
Agenda
- Need for communication about the office
- Children living on site/drug use
- Expansion
CHILDREN/DRUGS/SECURITY
-big security concerns: children living in tents in known drug/gang areas. Security’s name change to Community Alliance. Nietas & history of organized crime. They now have a vote in spokescouncil. These syndicates give and give, embed themselves in organizations then comes the time for payback. Is this good for our movement? organized crime helped unions. They’re very involved, messaging for their own cause in prisons, in other cities. they can bring down a whole movement and destroy everything.
-lots of claims in that statement. ans what’s the validity. they have representation on spokes?
-they’ve become security for the park. we have gangs doing security for the park.
-lots of people are watching security, like civil defense. there’s enough people who won’t let that occur.
-what you’re saying is probably accurate. I wouldn’t support mafia/gangs but it’s moot because security has become community alliance and there’s been a shift. there’s much less involvement from those groups. you are accurate and we should be concerned.
-the point about children. there were social workers in the park and folks from churches for children and runaways in co-ordination with the medics on Sunday doing an assessment, especially on the West end of the park.
-what happens with the assessment?
-there will be reportbacks. they may be obligated to report their findings to the police, but it should not disrupt the park.
OFFICE SPACE
workspace affinity group works autonomously . UFT building space donated by anonymous donor. guidelines for space use on nycga.net for office-oriented groups that need secure office space. we’ve been piloting our program for the past week. today we open to offer to other WGs with demonstrated need. capacity is 48 people at a time due to fire code. we want to staff it with office oriented group leading to a co-operative group. contacts = George & Bianca.
a democratically run space in process. right now groups in the space are Media, Tech, Outreach, Info, PR, Finance & Movement Building.
Enter the process to be part of the collective. not an internet cafe it’s there for work & collaboration. 36 workstations, 3 meeting rooms, and a conference room. Not equipped for large meetings. In the evening we prioritize larger meetings.
-can we see it?
-we encourage buy in—this is a limited resource that needs orientation etc. get in touch, begin the process
-is more space coming?
-this is the space we have now. but permabank is negotiating, they’ll be donating piecemeal. this is the only OWS space. we’ve got a process for people to enter the space and for allocation. we’re doing our best.
EXPANSION
We’ve outgrown Liberty Park but can’t abandon it. in the spirit of Occupy Everywhere. it’s be a good morale booster. small meeting tonight at 7 pm @ Tree of Life
-is expansion a work group?/it’s an affinity group
-anyone with DA project should go to DA. I’ve heard lots of talk but no cohesive vision. we’ve outgrown our space. horizontal growth vs. vertical growth. LP= our billboard, our media brand. that’s what the world sees. We’re concerned about the message we’ve been spreading. Horizontal expansion, I agree would be a huge morale boost, we need that. logistical support? can you get consensus? can you move to a new spot? how many organizers will you take with you?
-LP as co-inhabited: the movement, people involved in political message and a whole bunch of other people with no involvement who think they’re being supportive by being there. I want to reinforce the integrity of the movement rather than trying to expand.
-what happened with Occupy Central Park, Brooklyn, Bronx, Occupy Your Block? is there any co-ordination going on between these efforts?
-those are autonomous actions. co-ordination will happen.
-inreach is about politicizing occupants
-we are inclusive everybody who wants to be in the movement is in the movement. we don’t have to give our time and energy to whoever’s in our space. we don’t have to give our resources to whoever stands around.
-I want to see public spaces occupied around the world. everything everywhere.
-something else needs to happen. the park is important regarding media etc. there’s symbolism but it’s lost some of its glitter. my concern—other occupations have split for ideological reasons. expansion could cause that to happen. worried about losing unity. divide and conquer. abandoning people who lack know-how. a lot of people have bad issues in the park.
Break out groups
End of meeting
