General Assembly
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Drew- facilitating; Mary Ellen- minutes

New member in attendance.

Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF) Saturday anti-war pickets
Chris B contacted Diane-Lopez Hughes concerning the weekly, anti-war Saturday pickets at the Federal Courthouse. They meet at noon & picket for an hour. If we would like to come & give our support, they request our respect for their practice of positive (non-confrontational) signage.

Diane-Lopez Hughes teach-in on local Homeless issues
The teach-in will occur in March or the beginning of April. Drew has also made a contact with Paulette Robbins, an experienced person in this field, who is also available for a homeless teach-in.

Occupy the Media teach-in
Greg Bishop will do this teach-in on Friday, April 6th.

NDAA, this Friday
No one present at the GA had organized an action for this date.

February 10th Food-Raiser
Site details will be available for Thursday GA. Appeal for this food drive will be sent to Sangamon Co. Republicans, Democrats, AFSME, SEIU, & others. Chris B will do press release.

Occupy Chicago
Jim attended a one-day workshop with the Occupy Chicago labor group, a cooperative group with labor & occupy members. They have had good results working together on issues such as keeping Chicago libraries open. Co-option has not been an issue with them, it is an open and inclusive environment. As Jim stated, labor is looking for allies, & occupy needs allies.

Free-Speech TV
Angel stated that she left 3 messages inquiring to tv station/Comcast with no response. She is also interested in environmental issues, such as proposing the adoption of an environmental resolution by city council. She will contact the local Sierra Club on these issues.

Illinois Unemployment extension ends February 29th
Jim is keeping track of this bill. We may need to picket on this issue, again. The charges concerning the chalking for the original picket have been dismissed. AJ will apply for a FOIA Request on the details of the dismissal.

Advocacy for the Homeless:
Drew is continuing his daily advocacy for a Springfield homeless man in order to try to get his needs met & get him off the street. This entails accompanying him to many agencies, waiting for the various agencies responses; in the mean-time, keeping a daily presence, providing daily meals, & trying to ensure that he will hang-in there at the shelter until his needs can be met. A hat was passed around to collect funds towards this cause.

General Assembly
01/27/2012

Homeless (Joe) Project:

On Friday we came into contact with a homeless person in need of help. He was taken to Senator Durbin’s office, but little to no help was given there. We have been with him since, making sure he gets into the shelter, gets food, etc. The Social Security office was able to help line Joe up with some assistance. His sister in Danville was contacted and his family has been looking for him. Once he is set up with back payments from SSA he should be able to move to Danville and into an apartment and gain self-sufficiency.

AJ has asked to use a projector for the upcoming Teach-in on “Growing Local Economy”

Linda shared with us editable sample letters to the editor. These are now posted on the forums.

Discussion of the Food Drive we want to have. There was some discussion of having this be a Soup Kitchen or a Breadline. Chris Woo stated that this would be using the homeless as pawns and is not at all acceptable. Something like a food drive or helping at local breadlines would be better. Need an activity which contrasts the Republican Fundraiser that day which is $100 a plate. Discussed possibly doing an action against NDAA at the same time to show we oppose things the Democrats do as well. JJ Mentioned possibly Recycled Records as a location to use. Chris Woo mentioned possibly the Salvation Army parking lot which sits empty most of the time, Drew will call about this. Mary Ellen shared some information about food pantries and how they get food and found that it is better to give directly to individual food pantries.

Angel discussed trying to bring Free Speech TV to Springfield. Mentioned possibly asking WAND to do it and that they might be able to use a “Sub-channel” to host it. Drew mentioned possibly using a petition. Chris Woo offered that a petition would be good if it included things like non-subscribers who would get cable if this was to be included, etc. – if you show them they can make money off if it this is what speaks to them. Angel will try to get into contact with WAND/Comcast.

Jim – Central Illinois Trades and Labor Union sending a letter to the City Council, State Legislature, etc. asking them to take a stand against Citizens United vs. F.E.C. decision. Talk of trying to build coalitions with some of these groups for this action. Will revisit.

Joe F. suggestion April 10th for a Spring Occupation (Anniversary of the city of Springfield).

JJ and Drew met with legal council re: chalk arrests. Will be asking for a dismissal of all charges. The police reports have some clerical errors that should be advantageous.

Sample resolution for city council to draft re: the overturning of Citizen’s United vs. the F.E.C. – Will workgroup to forums.

Drew made contact with Dick Durbin’s office to attempt to get assistance for a homeless person the group cam into contact with on the plaza. They were unable to provide more than googled phone numbers for local shelters, etc.

AJ informed us that working groups for Occupy The Midwest are being formed and that he would post information re: this on the Facebook group.

Discussion of the group becoming some type of PAC. Decided that such discussion should be made known to OSI members ahead of time before a GA which can have larger attendance for such a large decision. Also discussed finding an “expert” of some sort to help with this decision.

Reminder of the upcoming teach-in on Friday.

Chris B. facilitating
Mary Ellen taking minutes

2 new folks    Angel, Vance
Hand signals explained

*  Review of today’s- action in solidarity with D.C. Occupy Congress:
The OSI street theatre was a parody of a popular internet meme. A good turn-out of 20 OSI supporters, in spite of the blustery, wintery outdoor setting. (A repeat performance will occur for the purpose of video-taping). Two members from Occupy Carbondale took to the roads to join us in solidarity of our OSI action. Occupy Congress picketing concluded the action.

*  Next action is Friday, Jan. 20that noon, in solidarity with Occupy the Courts, picketing at
the Federal Building. Accompanying this, is yet another street performance, the courtship of Corporate Personhood & Lady Liberty. Chris B is sending the press release.

*  Cilla, who is active with the Spfld Area Disabilities group,  met with Stephen Black of the Citizens for Safe Transportation, in regards to lack of needed & necessary bus lines with Spfld Mass Transit. In the past, Stephen has forged with other groups regarding mass transit, & were successful in getting night transit added to Spfld bus lines.

Bottom line, there is discrimination in our mass transit system, some areas get bus service & others don’t. The poor, minorities & persons with disabilities are not getting the transit services they need.  In particular, they discussed the issue of the lack of bus services to the west side, where entry level jobs such as Cingular & Wells Fargo are located.  The Spfld Mass Transit board is not run by the city, it is ran by Sangamon County. Chris B agreed that OSI, wanting to do more community outreach, should be behind this issue. Drew said that improving our mass transit system is an environmental issue, as well.

If interested, a workgroup will meet on Jan 30th, 6:30 at INCIL, 5th floor of the Myers Bldg, downtown. A forum topic will be created by Cilla for more information.

*  Chris B mentioned that other Occupy’s have officially endorsed the St. Louis Summit. OSI consensed to approve an endorsement for the St. Louis Summit.

*  OSI attended tonight’s City Council Meeting. Drew addressed the council & inquired if the members received the info on the chalk incident. Members stated they had received the info but could not do anything preceding the court case.

Drew needs any & all materials, including blogs, photo’s, articles, & documents related to this incident to be forwarded to him. A forum topic will be created for this issue.

*  Angel presented the idea of requesting that Comcast cable provide the Free Speech TV channel for our viewing area. Since TV media is corrupt, even public broadcasting is sponsored by the Koch brothers, this channel would be a good way to educate our community & get more people in Spfld involved with the Occupy movement. Linda agreed, in that we need more avenues to reach people. Chris B & Bill don’t like supporting the monopoly of Comcast or cable TV. However, Bill said that we could take advantage of the existing local Public Access station to further community education & awareness. Drew suggested that this issue should be further researched & planned, then presented to the GA.

*  Bruce passed out a sample Occupy letter to the editor for our reference, provided by a co-Occupier in Evansville, Indiana.

*  Chris B spoke with Jim regarding the $100 a plate, Sang. Co Republican fundraiser with Ted Nugent at the Prairie Capitol Convention Center. Jim suggested we run a free soup kitchen adjancent to the Center, to feed our poor & homeless citizens on the “outside”. Other groups have spoken with Jim in supporting us on this action. Further details will be researched.

*  The next Knit-In will be held Jan 21, Sat @ noon, Andiamo’s, downtown.

*  Chris B said spring semester @ UIS is underway, he is again able to create OSI buttons. He requested $10 from tonight’s GA “magic hat” donations. $10 = 100 buttons. Members approved donating $10.  Mary Mac is creating stickers & requested $10 towards sticker costs. Members approved donating $10.

*  Cilla volunteered to be Info-Lady at OSI events with wheelchair signage & a lap desk for brochures, flyers & other info. The issue of leafleting downtown was also revisited. We cannot solicit people with approaching them & passing out flyers, but it is acceptable for people to approach us & then give them flyers.

Joe – Occupy Congress skit was discussed. explained.

MLK March on Monday. Lara- get in touch w/ womens groups. family services. support for parents.

Mentioned 2 teach-ins on feminism possibly, meet w/ more groups and find out what they feel is lacking in our community.

City Council tuesday @ 5:30 presenting our view on the chalking incident

Local Republicans (County) are having a fundraiser where they will invite Ted Nugent to speak. Jim will write a letter to the editor on the idiocy of this, but no other actions are planned. A caution from AJ regarding how many actions we are starting to pile up. We should pick our battles wisely and keep grounded on out particular goals, namely outreach.

Occupy Peoria shared information with us on a possible action for Feb. 29^th. “ShutDownTheCorporations.org” Will be work grouped for an action on that date.

Discussion of trying to get together more with other Central Illinois Occupy Groups (BLONO, Peoria). And trying to travel to them to do so, as they have done this for us.

Previously we had approved the group trying to get a printer to do our own printing of materials. An offer from an anonymous patron has come in to purchase the printer as a loan, which OSI would pay back via donation and fundraising. Research on which printers look best will be done, and a plan will be presented to the group for final approval of purchase, but it was approved to move forward with this.

Collection was taken by members and given to our Treasurer, the take was $27.

Discussion about more direct outreach was had. Need to do more to reach the public, not just yell at legislators and “preach to the choir.” If the movement is not grown then what are we doing? Talked about having more literature and a pamphlet table at events that we do have. Making it more clear to the public that is in attendance what we are about and how to follow/join us. Should have possibly a sign-in sheet for our events for those who want to be on our mailing lists, etc. Should also attend events of other groups in the area and build relationships.

Discussion of remembering to use the forums for planning, etc. Facebook for promotion.

Discussed that stickers we are making should have our web address on them.

AJ talked about “Occupy The Midwest” conference that is coming in March. If anyone wants to do a presentation there they should let him know. G8 & NATO will be discussed there. Chris B. and JJ will be performing there.

Feb 3^rd Nationwide protest against NDAA2012. Workgrouped to forum.

Rae can no longer head up volunteering for Breadline and is passing all contacts and information on to Rachael.

It was brought up that someone is going around time drawing anarchy symbols in chalk and writing things such as “F&%^ you” and “Arrest me.” This seems to be an obvious defamation attempt against our group which has been in the media for chalk and known to use it. It was decided that we would do nothing and that if it were brought up by the press, etc. we can truthfully say that we claim the chalking that we do, and we do not claim that chalk as it is not ours.

Advised that Drew talked to Jason Neville from the SJR and told him we are having action on the 17^th and 20^th, as well as information about our Teach-ins.

Talked about legal issues regarding the city ordinance violations for chalking on the sidewalk. Attorney Terrence Harders has offered to represent JJ and Drew pro bono. JJ has also been talking to the ACLU in Chicago.

Woo advised that a report has been sent to the City Council members regarding the chalking violations, as well as the police reports we obtained via FOIA request. We will ask the City Council for its position on this matter, now that they are fully informed, at the next public forum meeting. Should all go to next Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Should also go on Feb. 2^nd to the hearing for JJ and Drew. Will start forum thread including all docs for legal defense, etc.

Topic discussed of AFSCME voting no on same-sex insurance coverage. Explained that this was only procedural due to the faulty accounting of the city’s actuary, and that once a corrected bill was introduced all were in favor.

Discussed finding a new meeting place on the grounds that AFSCME would be endorsing a political candidate, and that OSI does not support any one political candidate. Worried about the public image and/or perception issues of it. Group seems split on the idea, many feel it could be an issue, many think that a meeting place is a meeting place regardless. No decisions made, but did discuss that when we started using the facility it was decidedly temporary, and that could we find a meeting space that is accessible, etc. we could discuss moving then.

Rachael discussed her networking with other Occupy movements in Illinois. That several of us are active in Occupy Illinois and Occupy Midwest, as well as Inter-Occupy which is a national group.

GA Minutes: 1/7/12 – Chris B Facilitating and Taking Minutes

-Mary M Passed around a paper for people to volunteer to help watch children during GAs. People were asked to provide their name and an amount of time that they would be willing to help. Let us know if you would be willing to help with child care at GAs.

-Occupy the Congress Action discussed

–>Date and time of action set for Noon on 1/17/12 at the Old State Capitol Plaza.

–>Work group formed for planning. Will meet on Monday (1/9/12) at 6pm at Mary Ellen’s house.

-Occupy the Courts Action discussed

–>Date and time of action is set for noon on 1/20/12 in front of the Federal Court in Springfield.

–>News Conference, Theater, and Outreach/Petitions for other local groups discussed.

Minutes 1/5/12

MaryEllen Facilitating. Chris Woo on Minutes.

Introduction of new members.

Hand signals.

Discussed the possibility of starting a local NLG chapter with Judy H.

Discussed requirements to get City Buses our to the far westside. Learned it would require these newly incorporated areas of town to sign on to the tax district for city buses.

Group updated that document was completed and sent to city council re: Chalk incident.

Occupy Congress: Discussed plans for Jan 17th. Film vs. love. Locations, etc. All moved to workgroup.

Occupy The Courts: Discussed plans for Jan 20th. The idea of two times we had before was decided by the group to not be a good idea, and now we are reduced to NOON only. Other ideas on action for that day have been workgrouped.

Updates given on Occupy Illinois conference calls.

Updated given on Occupy Midwest conference calls and communications. Discussed presenters, etc.

Discussed a ‘Homeless Teach-in’ which we will be having in Mid-Feb. Discussed that we could/should have many different ones, as the issue of homelessness is very multi-faceted and we could by no means cover all aspects with one teach-in.

Discussed ideas for May Day. Possibly a march. Discussed participation in the local Haymarket Festival. Also the possibility of a Revolutionary Art Show at this festival.

Discussion of a “field trip” to Chicago, Haymarket Square, etc.

Book Club: First book was voted to be “Rules For Radicals.” The second book will be by Starhawk.

Move to start posting our General Assembly meetings in the Illinois Times.

Discussed purchase of an “OSI Printer” and other ideas of how to do things for ourselves rather than using business to accomplish things.

Minutes Jan 3, 2012

Recorded by: Cilla S.

One new person attended.

Occupy Knit-in at Memorial Cafeteria met résistance with the management. They declared that “awareness raising” was not permitted on premises. The group plans to have knit-ins in other public places at least once a week. There was discussion about the Mall and library as possible sites. There was also discussion about working with the homeless at the library.

Two National Days Of Action

• 1/17 Occupy Congress – Drew will organize some political theater at the Capitol. He gave us all a homework assignment: See forums for information.
• 1/20 Occupy the Courts – Times for the rally are from Noon to 1PM and 4:30 – 5:30 PM. Bring signs. The Occupy the Courts website has media packets, buttons, etc.

Mike proposed a questionnaire about childcare needs. Include the number of children and their ages. Also would people want/need childcare for events or just GAs? Chris said he would get a questionnaire to put on the BB, discussion group and fan page.

Eyes are already looking to Haymarket festival May 1st. Contact Drew if you want to help in its planning, which will start after the January 20th event. This is a yearly event with it’s own coordinators and will be backed by OSI, but is not an OSI action.

Occupy Conference call – Anthony, Rachael, and Woo will be on the Wednesday call. If you have anything, let them know.

Occupy Midwest Regional Conference in St. Louis March 15-18, at the St. Louis Arch.

• We need to form a workgroup for the topics we are interested in.
• There was a show of hands for people interested in going, nearly everyone raised their hand.
• OWS and Firedog Lake have agreed to fund part of the cost.

Drew said we should have a work group around actions for the G8 Summit

OSI Book Club. A few people volunteered to check on locations to hold the book club. Thursday we will announce what book we are reading. Next Tuesday we should have the location selected.

Mary McSurley made Occupy Stickers she would like to make available for people for a $1.00 Donation. The group gave her an “OK” to make smaller Occupy the Court Flyers.

12/29/2011 Minutes

Summary of our participation in the Postal Service Hearing:
Our involvement was good. People knew who we were.
Discussion of respecting events others put on as their event, not as an OSI event, and therefore no People’s Mic, etc. It was pointed out, though, that they did ask us to go. The stickers we handed out were from the AFL-CIO, though, so this was already inclusive of more than just OSI. A point was made that we should take these things on a case-by-case basis. Determine if we are in need of an alliance with those operating a venue. The Facebook invite we used that invited over 1000 members of the community to this meeting was a good idea, and reflected well on our group. We should consider having things like a prepared People’s Mic ready, “just incase” when participating in such events. SJR comments section related to this event do not represent the tone of that event, and members should feel free to represent it properly if they feel the need to do so. Mentioned this would be “feeding of trolls” but that it also could lead to better understanding for others reading it.

Cilla and Mike ran into a lady named Judy Harter, who was a 60′s radical in San Diego. They talked about many things, but the legal situation over the Chalk Incident came up, and Judy advised that her lawyer husband, Terrence, would represent J.J. and Drew pro bono.

Received an update on the situation of a homeless person who we have been helping out (helping to obtain a state ID, etc.).

Reminder about Occupy The Courts in Jan. 20th. Took a vote that we will have two separate meeting times that day for those who can make it. The times are 12:00p and 4:30p. Will meet at the Federal Courthouse at 6th and Monroe to picket. Discussed trying to involve other groups and inform the public of this event.

Knit-in reminder, Friday at 1pm at Memorial Hospital Cafeteria. Will be making ski masks for the homeless, with surplus going to winter occupying groups.

Discussion of a petition to pressure city council to allow for insurance coverage for same sex couples.

Discussion of a petition to city council to drop the charges on the ordinance violations two members recieved for chalking in water-soluble chalk in the sidewalk. Will attempt to get direct e-mails of council and Mayor to send to.

Chris Woo is working on a document to present to city council re: the chalk incident.

AJ brought up his idea of having a convention here in Springfield for the Midwest Occupy groups. This idea has been being worked on for some time now, and we have 4 confirmed presenters. However, we have learned that another group has already made a huge push for such a convention, so are now in contact with them and working to bring our resources and presenters into their event. Work group will be on the forum for this. Jim D. mentioned we may want to contact the supportive unions in the STL area where the event will be held, we may be able to work out arrangements for a place to sleep, etc.

Drew proposed trying to run a corporation or a “pig” as a candidate for unopposed political races in Illinois. Work grouped to forum as an interesting idea with some possibility.

Talk of having an event on primary election night. Something that shows the public the way the status quo operated in politics.

Mary M. is having a party at her farm, discussed arranging carpooling.

Jim D. puts forth that we should keep track of doing the Occupy Illinois conf. calls. Chris Woo advised that Anthony is doing that, has asked him to help, and that others could join in as well. Discussed the group having items presented to those people as things to bring up during the call.

Saturday GA will still happen, will be at Gallina’s at 1:30 as per usual.