G.A. Minutes 9-25-12
A small group tonight, mostly Occupiers. We get a report from the campers re: a visit from the DPD a few nights earlier. The non-campers are on edge as police harassment is a big pain in the neck. Fortunately the rumors are bigger than the actual story. Turns out it was 2 of the bicycle cops sneaking around when they thought everyone was sleeping. When they are confronted, they say they were looking for a skunk. Yeh, right. No one is stupid enough to go looking for a skunk. The bike cops quickly leave. Actually, we do have a skunk. She lives in the alley on the other side of the fence and noses around the camp late at night. She leaves us alone and we leave her alone.
The discussion turns to the subject of our supposed imminent eviction on Oct. 1st. The Occupiers who have been doing the legal research explain to the others why our encampment is legal and what must be done to legally evict us. We really don’t understand why the owner wants to evict us but realize, at this point in time at least, rich people are allowed to exercise their whims regardless of the consequences to the rest of us. At our last meeting with the owner, a police officer came by and told us if we didn’t leave on Oct. 1st we would all be arrested for trespassing. We know some officers have a tendency to make unsubstantiated threats but we have officially notified the DPD and other government people of the MN landlord/tenant statutes that support our right to be here. The owner and his representatives must follow the legal procedures to have us evicted. It appears they haven’t got much of a case but if they would follow these steps we would probably leave of our own accord as we know we can’t maintain the camp in winter. For some reason the owners’ representative has chosen harassment and bullying instead. It’s not working very well. We are attempting to secure safe housing for all the homeless campers and have had some success.
An Occupier announces she has a port-a-potty set up to be delivered to camp the next day. She asks for approval from the group and is rewarded with unanimous happy octopi.
One of the homeless campers has decided to return home to California. This is his first time in the north woods and he’s freezing already. He needs money for a bus ticket. We pass around the hat and come up with close to half of what he needs. We’ll keep working on it until we collect enough. He will do what he can do himself. We will miss him. He doesn’t tell much about himself but we can tell that he is highly educated and very intelligent. More than once he has given us special insight.
F.I.N.D. is sponsoring the movie “Pickaxe” on Thursday, October 4th, 7pm at the Zinema. Most of us are planning to go. We open a discussion about what movie Occupy should sponsor next. There are many ideas.
It’s getting late, some go home. There are musical instruments tonight. It’s been awhile since we’ve played music around the fire. An Occupier plays the banjo, a camper plays washtub bass, another Occupier on heating vent and plastic spoons. A woman with a beautiful voice sings. We’re gonna miss this place.