Post by Sandra on Dec 17, 2011 15:14:02 GMT -6
GA notes 12/14/11
By Shannon
Occupy Tulsa General Assembly 12/14/11, 7pm Solidarity Square (Centennial Green), Tulsa OK
Volunteers: facilitator Frank, stack Shane/Gabe, notes Shannon
This is one person’s best attempt to take notes. Video is available at Justin[dot]tv/TulsaSlick Please add or comment below.
Note on abbreviations: GA=General Assembly, OT=Occupy Tulsa, POI=point of information, DR=direct response
Report Backs
Reported that members had chained themselves to City Hall in response to OKC eviction and TPD’s “no tents” policy. They also wanted to draw attention to a number of issues, including the recent passage of NDAA through both houses. They reported that they clarified with the media that they acted as individuals, not representing OT, but that some statements were made, slipped. He apologized for representing the group. Also reported that the action drew a lot of press, which was “pretty positive”, apologized again and stated that he would cede to any consequences of the GA.
Follow up on tents – ordinance says that tents cannot be used for camping or sleeping, but information tents can be set up between the hours of 5am – 11pm.
Visions and Goals workgroup reported back on plan to work with Move to Amend on Occupy the Courts day, January 20th.
Media reported that the OT website owner had communicated that the website had been under attack from inside Tulsa, and that the forum was down. A new website is being deployed. It will include a place for a forum, places to organize. The current website owner can switch the name to the new site.
Announcements
The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence was read. A statement was made condemning unilateral decisions, a witch hunt engaged in by the GA. These actions were called reprehensible and tyrannical. Mention of groupthink; the body allows decisions to be made for them, not allowing individuals to think. Advocated for Bill of Rights for members. Stated that red tape stifles the spirit of the revolution and that the GA was not a governing body but a place to empower and support and that there was no need to ask for permission. Gave GA vote of no confidence. [in regard to a facebook infraction]
Saturday, December 17th, the State General Assembly will be at Kerr Park at 2:30pm. Car pools are encouraged.
Agenda
Incident with Dan
Proposal to approve Occupy the Courts as an event
Discuss City Hall chaining
Town Hall – Jan.12, District 1
Documents shared by Sandra
Treasury Committee
Spokescouncil
Carryover from last GA
CPA
MLK, Jr parade
Bethel vigil
Later additions
No GA next Saturday
Current Facebook issue
Occupy the Courts
v Brandy/Shannon: Proposal to follow Move to Amend, utilize resources of same organization
Plan: Occupy the Court, January 20th, spread literature
Eli: Suggestion to create a plan with all workgroups included before voting, vote next week.
DR: Let’s vote on intent. Get a plan in place soon.
Voting on intent: PASSES
More specifics next week.
Treasury Committee
v Cheri: posed question about what to do in regard to the lack of accessibility to our funds.
v Emily: proposed that a new Treasury committee be formed that is under the auspice of the GA.
Seconded: Samantha
Frank: Need new members, with currently active members, Cheri and Mike
Sandra: Suggest that the total should be an odd number
Frank: we will need a pool of candidates, have a ranked vote
Peggy: suggests that there be 5 altogether
v Frank: Amends that 3 people join Cheri and Mike, this groups decides which bank, etc. The ranking can be online, using the Schulze method.
John: What is current status?
DR: Cheri – No idea.
POI: Cheri – Mike asked for transparency since the beginning and felt blocked. Cheri and Mike would like to create procedures to support transparency. Mike will not continue without progress by the end of the year.
Emily: Have they been asked?
DR: No, Mike had asked, answer was “I’m getting to it.”
Cathy: Suggested to wait to dissolve until after a legal document was presented.
CJ: If statement was made verbally or in writing that the money was for OT, then that should be recognized.
Brandi: They don’t recognize us, so we should go beyond them.
Chris: Let’s move forward, put this behind us.
Sam: If we want to pursue legal, it will take time. We should do both, move forward and pursue remaining funds.
John: Agrees, do both. Notary to all 3 and legal fee in small claims court will be $15. We represent ourselves. We document with receipts.
Shannon: Let’s slow down, we owe it to the people who donated to pursue the remaining funds.
Frank: Today vs. next week is not a big deal. Amend proposal to add that we look into where the rest of the money is.
Eli: Let’s vote.
v REVIEW OF PROPOSAL: We will take names for new members of the Treasury Committee, 3 new members, plus Cheri and Mike. We vote next GA. Plus, we will explore legal actions to seize remaining funds.
Chris: If we disban current Treasury, is the claim less valid?
DR: Sam – It would follow the previous members of the Treasury Committee
Frank: Amend that this is the original Treasury Committee; removing three – Stephanie Lewis, Daniel Lee, and Brian Lewis; adding three to be elected next Wednesday.
PASSES
Proposal that we do not hold a GA this coming Saturday due to the Statewide GA in OKC.
v Can someone be available at the library in case someone shows up?
DR: Cheri volunteers.
PASSES
Incident with Dan
v CJ: We need to remove Daniel Lee (DL) as administrator of the Facebook page.
Charges:
DL tossed out admins after the letter of censure regarding Stephanie Lewis’ (SL) facebook infraction.
DL told multiple lies, including that he wasn’t there, that it didn’t take place
DL humiliated the occupation with this actions
Proposal: DL be removed for no less than 3 years
v POI: Tyler, announces actions of DL that he is being notified of on phone. These actions are making changes to the Occupy Tulsa work groups and have occurred very recently. Names of groups changed. Privacy setting changes.
v Samantha: DL doesn’t recognize the GA. He won’t be here, so there is no need to ban for 3 years. We need a new page and ask for supporters to find our new page.
v Frank: Reiterated that there were multiple lies by DL. There is nothing we can do. The energy of the page was the people. What we (the GA) will do will be what is happening with the movement in Tulsa. We should form a new page.
v Gabe: adds that DL posts violated the policy of posting grievances and inflammatory remarks multiple times.
v Cathy: Can we take the name OT?
v Frank: We can have “Official” page under GA control.
v Sandra: POP – We need to separate solutions from charges. Once we’re horizontal, we lay out which parts were violations, pass that, then discuss solutions.
v BrandiL We haven’t passed any rules about 3 years, so we have to stick by the facebook policy we did pass. If you ignore it (DL’s facebook page), it will go away. We should “unlike” and ignore.
v John: Yes, let’s not do the 3 year ban, maybe more like Ryan… you can come out, but not to utilize resources.
v Cheri: We can use screen shots to continue with policy. New page does not represent the Tulsa GA. We state that any likeness is coincidence and that ours is official.
v Eli: would like to replace CJs recommendation of a ban with the precedent set with Ryan.
DR: CJ – ok with that
v REVIEW OF PROPOSAL: Ask that SL and DL do not utilize our resources regarding these changes, as precedented by Ryan.
Eli: we should focus on current problem, which is facebook. Amends that they should not be allowed to speak for the OT GA. (there is a second)
PASSES, 2 stand asides, 1 block.
Block follow up: we should allow back if they want to participate in the process.
Amend: limited participation, but can allow back.
Block
¨ Herb: (Response to block) allow for redemption, show the change.
John: We should vote separate, we haven’t talked about Stephanie tonight.
Frank: I don’t think the action carries weight. Poor facebook admin is a very small infraction, anyone should be allowed to participate, as long as they can recognize the consensus process.
DR: CJ – It carries weight because it shows that we do not approve of their actions.
¨ DR: Emily: We can’t vote about no resource use when she has all of our resources.
Chris: We have process and it doesn’t include bans on resources. The principles of the movement do not support exclusion. They will soon be forgotten if they are not attended.
v Sandra: propose to table the issue
PASSES
Town Hall
v Frank: We need to be there with smart, local questions. Can we get a group together to discuss questions? We can do event literature outside, questions inside. Has a list of grievances based on conversation with teachers and students regarding TPS. Can we plan and make official OT event?
v Cathy: recommends forum on new page to listen to concerns.
v Brandi: Can we agree not to be disruptive?
Chris: a lot can be achieved by being human… mentioned video of lesbian couple
Sandra: there is a time and place for disruption
CJ: What if someone mic checks?
Frank: we silently block
v PROPOSAL: January 12th and other town halls, we attend as OT, ask questions respectfully, block anyone being disruptive.
v PASSES
Spokescouncil –
v We need a place to organize it.
Sandra: has a place online.
Tyler: what about meetup
Amanda: meetup link form Occupy Together.
Chris K: we.riseup.net is an option, is secure.
Brandi: Do we have a (physical) space?
Frank: Can we use facebook for now? Use new sites to organize. Spokescouncil will be closed. An official OT that is open.
Jeff: can we flash the old page with a link to the new page?
v PROPOSAL: We move to new a new facebook page and advertise on the old site.
v PASSES
City Hall chaining
v Brandi: we have been upset about unilateral actions, but City Hall was also unilateral. What we do is OT, you are OT. If consequence exists for some, it exists for all. The need for discretion is understandable for some actions. Maybe you could propose several different actions and only do one or don’t specify a date and time so that the GA could approve your actions.
DR: Sam – clarifies that there was a group of 15 discussing this last night and that the resulting consensus resulted in a pooling of money.
v Frank: not all unilateral actions are good for the group, there should be a process to make covert action easy.
v Masar: we should differentiate between event and action. DA doesn’t need GA proposal
v Shannon: clarifying question – Do GA and DA hold equal powers? Masar: (shook head no) Shannon: then how does it work?
v Chris: If we come to similar censure and they (members of DA) aren’t hostile, it would be good to show this kind of accountability.
v Cheri: We have no policy to use.
v Eli: I think the City Hall event was more positive than negative.
v Emily: When the DA workgroup decides, they don’t need a vote, correct?
v Daniel: If actions are not in contention, it is a go. If GA blocks later, DA will cease.
v Shannon: move to block the City Hall action.. the GA can help clarify messages that don’t currently exist with the action.
v Herb: the DA was reactionary
v Daniel: no harm was done, we just used the OT name without a vote
v Amanda: states that it is nonsense to talk of censure, moves to support
v Frank: there seems to be tension. Need to think about future, past process isn’t working.
v Samantha: there are no guidelines
v Eli: We can get a process.
v Sam: Propose to endorse or not endorse
DR: Jeff – what is the specific message?
Sam: NDAA, Declaration of Occupation, our tents and the OKC eviction
Brandy: Can we leave the park out of it?
Herb: When we practiced civil disobedience in the past, the choice was yours.
v PROPOSAL: Accept or decline current Direct Action at City Hall
PASSES, 1 decline, 2 stand asides
Discussion about taking shifts in chains, what to do with the stuff at the campsite, is anyone staying the night
Shift sheet prepared with phone numbers.
Prep for next GA (carryover includes)
Carryover from last GA (12/10/11)
CPA
MLK, Jr. parade
Bethel vigil
Documents shared by Sandra
By Shannon
Occupy Tulsa General Assembly 12/14/11, 7pm Solidarity Square (Centennial Green), Tulsa OK
Volunteers: facilitator Frank, stack Shane/Gabe, notes Shannon
This is one person’s best attempt to take notes. Video is available at Justin[dot]tv/TulsaSlick Please add or comment below.
Note on abbreviations: GA=General Assembly, OT=Occupy Tulsa, POI=point of information, DR=direct response
Report Backs
Reported that members had chained themselves to City Hall in response to OKC eviction and TPD’s “no tents” policy. They also wanted to draw attention to a number of issues, including the recent passage of NDAA through both houses. They reported that they clarified with the media that they acted as individuals, not representing OT, but that some statements were made, slipped. He apologized for representing the group. Also reported that the action drew a lot of press, which was “pretty positive”, apologized again and stated that he would cede to any consequences of the GA.
Follow up on tents – ordinance says that tents cannot be used for camping or sleeping, but information tents can be set up between the hours of 5am – 11pm.
Visions and Goals workgroup reported back on plan to work with Move to Amend on Occupy the Courts day, January 20th.
Media reported that the OT website owner had communicated that the website had been under attack from inside Tulsa, and that the forum was down. A new website is being deployed. It will include a place for a forum, places to organize. The current website owner can switch the name to the new site.
Announcements
The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence was read. A statement was made condemning unilateral decisions, a witch hunt engaged in by the GA. These actions were called reprehensible and tyrannical. Mention of groupthink; the body allows decisions to be made for them, not allowing individuals to think. Advocated for Bill of Rights for members. Stated that red tape stifles the spirit of the revolution and that the GA was not a governing body but a place to empower and support and that there was no need to ask for permission. Gave GA vote of no confidence. [in regard to a facebook infraction]
Saturday, December 17th, the State General Assembly will be at Kerr Park at 2:30pm. Car pools are encouraged.
Agenda
Incident with Dan
Proposal to approve Occupy the Courts as an event
Discuss City Hall chaining
Town Hall – Jan.12, District 1
Documents shared by Sandra
Treasury Committee
Spokescouncil
Carryover from last GA
CPA
MLK, Jr parade
Bethel vigil
Later additions
No GA next Saturday
Current Facebook issue
Occupy the Courts
v Brandy/Shannon: Proposal to follow Move to Amend, utilize resources of same organization
Plan: Occupy the Court, January 20th, spread literature
Eli: Suggestion to create a plan with all workgroups included before voting, vote next week.
DR: Let’s vote on intent. Get a plan in place soon.
Voting on intent: PASSES
More specifics next week.
Treasury Committee
v Cheri: posed question about what to do in regard to the lack of accessibility to our funds.
v Emily: proposed that a new Treasury committee be formed that is under the auspice of the GA.
Seconded: Samantha
Frank: Need new members, with currently active members, Cheri and Mike
Sandra: Suggest that the total should be an odd number
Frank: we will need a pool of candidates, have a ranked vote
Peggy: suggests that there be 5 altogether
v Frank: Amends that 3 people join Cheri and Mike, this groups decides which bank, etc. The ranking can be online, using the Schulze method.
John: What is current status?
DR: Cheri – No idea.
POI: Cheri – Mike asked for transparency since the beginning and felt blocked. Cheri and Mike would like to create procedures to support transparency. Mike will not continue without progress by the end of the year.
Emily: Have they been asked?
DR: No, Mike had asked, answer was “I’m getting to it.”
Cathy: Suggested to wait to dissolve until after a legal document was presented.
CJ: If statement was made verbally or in writing that the money was for OT, then that should be recognized.
Brandi: They don’t recognize us, so we should go beyond them.
Chris: Let’s move forward, put this behind us.
Sam: If we want to pursue legal, it will take time. We should do both, move forward and pursue remaining funds.
John: Agrees, do both. Notary to all 3 and legal fee in small claims court will be $15. We represent ourselves. We document with receipts.
Shannon: Let’s slow down, we owe it to the people who donated to pursue the remaining funds.
Frank: Today vs. next week is not a big deal. Amend proposal to add that we look into where the rest of the money is.
Eli: Let’s vote.
v REVIEW OF PROPOSAL: We will take names for new members of the Treasury Committee, 3 new members, plus Cheri and Mike. We vote next GA. Plus, we will explore legal actions to seize remaining funds.
Chris: If we disban current Treasury, is the claim less valid?
DR: Sam – It would follow the previous members of the Treasury Committee
Frank: Amend that this is the original Treasury Committee; removing three – Stephanie Lewis, Daniel Lee, and Brian Lewis; adding three to be elected next Wednesday.
PASSES
Proposal that we do not hold a GA this coming Saturday due to the Statewide GA in OKC.
v Can someone be available at the library in case someone shows up?
DR: Cheri volunteers.
PASSES
Incident with Dan
v CJ: We need to remove Daniel Lee (DL) as administrator of the Facebook page.
Charges:
DL tossed out admins after the letter of censure regarding Stephanie Lewis’ (SL) facebook infraction.
DL told multiple lies, including that he wasn’t there, that it didn’t take place
DL humiliated the occupation with this actions
Proposal: DL be removed for no less than 3 years
v POI: Tyler, announces actions of DL that he is being notified of on phone. These actions are making changes to the Occupy Tulsa work groups and have occurred very recently. Names of groups changed. Privacy setting changes.
v Samantha: DL doesn’t recognize the GA. He won’t be here, so there is no need to ban for 3 years. We need a new page and ask for supporters to find our new page.
v Frank: Reiterated that there were multiple lies by DL. There is nothing we can do. The energy of the page was the people. What we (the GA) will do will be what is happening with the movement in Tulsa. We should form a new page.
v Gabe: adds that DL posts violated the policy of posting grievances and inflammatory remarks multiple times.
v Cathy: Can we take the name OT?
v Frank: We can have “Official” page under GA control.
v Sandra: POP – We need to separate solutions from charges. Once we’re horizontal, we lay out which parts were violations, pass that, then discuss solutions.
v BrandiL We haven’t passed any rules about 3 years, so we have to stick by the facebook policy we did pass. If you ignore it (DL’s facebook page), it will go away. We should “unlike” and ignore.
v John: Yes, let’s not do the 3 year ban, maybe more like Ryan… you can come out, but not to utilize resources.
v Cheri: We can use screen shots to continue with policy. New page does not represent the Tulsa GA. We state that any likeness is coincidence and that ours is official.
v Eli: would like to replace CJs recommendation of a ban with the precedent set with Ryan.
DR: CJ – ok with that
v REVIEW OF PROPOSAL: Ask that SL and DL do not utilize our resources regarding these changes, as precedented by Ryan.
Eli: we should focus on current problem, which is facebook. Amends that they should not be allowed to speak for the OT GA. (there is a second)
PASSES, 2 stand asides, 1 block.
Block follow up: we should allow back if they want to participate in the process.
Amend: limited participation, but can allow back.
Block
¨ Herb: (Response to block) allow for redemption, show the change.
John: We should vote separate, we haven’t talked about Stephanie tonight.
Frank: I don’t think the action carries weight. Poor facebook admin is a very small infraction, anyone should be allowed to participate, as long as they can recognize the consensus process.
DR: CJ – It carries weight because it shows that we do not approve of their actions.
¨ DR: Emily: We can’t vote about no resource use when she has all of our resources.
Chris: We have process and it doesn’t include bans on resources. The principles of the movement do not support exclusion. They will soon be forgotten if they are not attended.
v Sandra: propose to table the issue
PASSES
Town Hall
v Frank: We need to be there with smart, local questions. Can we get a group together to discuss questions? We can do event literature outside, questions inside. Has a list of grievances based on conversation with teachers and students regarding TPS. Can we plan and make official OT event?
v Cathy: recommends forum on new page to listen to concerns.
v Brandi: Can we agree not to be disruptive?
Chris: a lot can be achieved by being human… mentioned video of lesbian couple
Sandra: there is a time and place for disruption
CJ: What if someone mic checks?
Frank: we silently block
v PROPOSAL: January 12th and other town halls, we attend as OT, ask questions respectfully, block anyone being disruptive.
v PASSES
Spokescouncil –
v We need a place to organize it.
Sandra: has a place online.
Tyler: what about meetup
Amanda: meetup link form Occupy Together.
Chris K: we.riseup.net is an option, is secure.
Brandi: Do we have a (physical) space?
Frank: Can we use facebook for now? Use new sites to organize. Spokescouncil will be closed. An official OT that is open.
Jeff: can we flash the old page with a link to the new page?
v PROPOSAL: We move to new a new facebook page and advertise on the old site.
v PASSES
City Hall chaining
v Brandi: we have been upset about unilateral actions, but City Hall was also unilateral. What we do is OT, you are OT. If consequence exists for some, it exists for all. The need for discretion is understandable for some actions. Maybe you could propose several different actions and only do one or don’t specify a date and time so that the GA could approve your actions.
DR: Sam – clarifies that there was a group of 15 discussing this last night and that the resulting consensus resulted in a pooling of money.
v Frank: not all unilateral actions are good for the group, there should be a process to make covert action easy.
v Masar: we should differentiate between event and action. DA doesn’t need GA proposal
v Shannon: clarifying question – Do GA and DA hold equal powers? Masar: (shook head no) Shannon: then how does it work?
v Chris: If we come to similar censure and they (members of DA) aren’t hostile, it would be good to show this kind of accountability.
v Cheri: We have no policy to use.
v Eli: I think the City Hall event was more positive than negative.
v Emily: When the DA workgroup decides, they don’t need a vote, correct?
v Daniel: If actions are not in contention, it is a go. If GA blocks later, DA will cease.
v Shannon: move to block the City Hall action.. the GA can help clarify messages that don’t currently exist with the action.
v Herb: the DA was reactionary
v Daniel: no harm was done, we just used the OT name without a vote
v Amanda: states that it is nonsense to talk of censure, moves to support
v Frank: there seems to be tension. Need to think about future, past process isn’t working.
v Samantha: there are no guidelines
v Eli: We can get a process.
v Sam: Propose to endorse or not endorse
DR: Jeff – what is the specific message?
Sam: NDAA, Declaration of Occupation, our tents and the OKC eviction
Brandy: Can we leave the park out of it?
Herb: When we practiced civil disobedience in the past, the choice was yours.
v PROPOSAL: Accept or decline current Direct Action at City Hall
PASSES, 1 decline, 2 stand asides
Discussion about taking shifts in chains, what to do with the stuff at the campsite, is anyone staying the night
Shift sheet prepared with phone numbers.
Prep for next GA (carryover includes)
Carryover from last GA (12/10/11)
CPA
MLK, Jr. parade
Bethel vigil
Documents shared by Sandra
