General Assembly Notes

-Report Backs
>Big Meeting
>Education Forum
>Space (need for serious approach)
>Food
>PR
> Infrastructure

-General Discussion/Ideas
>Soapbox & Literature (have available & on hand for new blood & curious. be outside more.)
>Organize action w/big-area educators; revel in the school-related energy
>Get people to vote!!!
>Amount & capacity of infrastructure

-Announcements
>Tryout will be taking an emergency hiatus, until otherwise not on hiatus
>We have our 1st logo!
>Our consistency is improving
>Meetings have been moved to Mondays at 3pm

Agenda: Report Backs
Office Space
Announcements
Evaluations

Report Backs:
Occupy Congress: D.c. action was successful. There were a lot of people from Occupy
Baltimore.
Sopa: Internet blackout was very successful. Over 4,500,000 people signed petitions from
Google alone. We won this round.
Youth Jail: Action has been very successful. There was a lot of media coverage on Monday
and a lot of people came out.

Office Space Proposal from Zak:

1. That Occupy Baltimore commit to selecting and obtaining a dedicated
indoor space for Occupy Baltimore to legally use exclusively.
2. That the space will be selected during a GA or (if assigned by GA)
working group meeting two weeks ahead of approval of this proposal,
flexible one to three days before or after that date.
3. All members of Occupy Baltimore will be enabled to submit and
present proposals for spaces, if said proposals have the following
confirmed details:

>1. Address
>2. Name/contact of owner/operator.
>3. Square foot size/configuration. Include a floor plan diagram, if available.
>4. Roughly representative photos of the space.
>5. Rent/cost, if any. Must be a confirmed offer with owner/operator, otherwise publicly-listed asking price is what must be considered. Ideas for negotiation/discounts/etc must be done and confirmed prior to the meeting.
>6. Estimated utilities. (The owner/operator should be able to quote this. If they do not provide this, then n/a is an acceptable submission.)
>7. Handicap accessibility.
>8. Nearby mass transit options, if any.
>9. Things that need to be fixed in order to inhabit, if any. If possible, provide cost estimates (cost estimates are not required but may be available from the owner/operator.)
>10. Any space stipulations. If this space is part of a friendly organization's building, then what are the hours we can access it? What are the limitations? Will they sign a lease, or is it a verbal agreement?

Note: None of these details have binding requirements that qualify or
disqualify the proposal. If, for example, a space is not accessible to
handicapped persons, the proposal can still be brought forward,
discussed and voted on. However, it is the responsibility of the
advocate to have that information fully available. If a space is
selected by GA with false information, then GA must later reach
consensus on allowing the candidate space to move forward. If
consensus cannot be achieved, then the next runner up is what we move
forward with.

4. When the spaces are being selected, people will have an up or down
vote on each specific proposal. The proposal with the highest amount
of support and least amount of opposition wins. For example, if space
A receives 31 yes votes and 11 no votes (+20 difference), then space B
with 25 yes votes and 4 no votes (+21 difference) ranks higher. This
will allow us to process an entire list of proposals in a democratic
manner, acknowledging individual desires and prioritize spaces if the
top or second selection cannot be secured for an unforeseen reason.
This method has precedent in being used to select our delegation to
the mayor's office.

5. This proposal does not bind Occupy Baltimore to specific uses of
the space (whether GAs, meetings, etc are held in the space.)

Call for consensus

Coordinating assembly for space search:
-Discussion of merits/demerits of different space ideas
> Paying rent
> Size/space uses
> Location
> Accessibility

-Dividing into sub working groups:

> Donated space search group?
> Neighborhood-level search groups?
> Proposal facilitation group? (ensuring that all space proposals have the information they need and get to the highest quality/chance for support as possible.)

Proposal discussed and passed with the addition of a "Null Option" for voting. This means that people will be allowed to vote for no office space if they do not like any of the choices.

Agenda: Reflections on eviction defence and introductio
Youth Jail
Thursday GA
Announcements
Evaluations

Reflections:
Lane: My most fervent hope is that we keep the excitement going. We should not rest on our laurels.

Donna: I'm excited about today. I've had a rough week. I've seen so much apathy. I stopped by for GA on Saturday. No one was here. There needs to be more organisation. I'm never gonna give up. My life is Occupy.

Melissa: I was gone for ten days and I've been out of the loop. Its hard to watch what is going on if you're outside of here. Whatever I can do I will do. I can't type and I don't have a car. There are a lot of people in Occupy Miami. This is a little, intimate group, and there's a lot of energy that comes from a really deep place. Its really beautiful to me. Today was a victory.

Joy: I'm really happy about today. I'm sorry I couldn't be here. We really pulled together and showed our focus. We should recognise what we did to get this done. Yes, we need more organisation.

Elizabeth: I don't know anything about the movement. This is my first GA

Michelle: I'm happy. This is a victory. Its important that we have small victories. We have shamed the sheriff and now he's afraid. Also, its possible that she may still be evicted according to the Baltimore Sun. Just because they didn't come today, doesn't it mean it can't happen tomorrow.

AD: I'm glad we've won today. The state of Baltimore is not very good. We need to fix that.

Tai: I liked today. I felt like we actually did something after a long time of not doing anything.

Chyno: I moved to NY a few weeks ago. I'm really invested in Occupy Wall Street. What I can say is that this Occupy is far more organised and cohesive than Wall Street. There is more unity even with something like this. I commend you all for this. I walked away feeling really empowered. I've lived in Baltimore whree people make shit happen a lot with just a little. People who never say things are saying things.

Athena: I understand people's frustrations. I've been there. We do need to be more organised. Today was great. I think there needs to be a call for people to show up tomorrow. At least there's a concern that they should show up tomorrow. I'm really happy.

Michael: I've been with Occupy for a while. Its a great movement. I like the organisation. The grand scheme of where this movement is going needs to be planned internally.

Ed: I think we do need to set aside some time to focus long range about where we're going... shooting ideas at each other and get thoughts going.

Youth Jail January 16th-20th
There will be an MLK parade on Monday, January 16th. There will be a rally at at an unknown location on the 16th. We stand for erecting school instead of Jails. There will also be teach ins.

Thursday GA:
Chyno's proposal to hold GA in Penn Station at 8:00 1/12/11 passed.

Satuday GA:
Proposal passed to empower Joy to select a location for OB.

Announcements:
Jobs for Justice is marching from a Baptist church to Occupy DC on March 14th. A logistics meeting is happening on Thursday.

Request for office space proposals. Proposals should include contact info, specs, pictures, and any other helpful information. It should include an open floor plan. Contact Zak with options.

Sorry this is so hard to read. I composed it in Microsoft Word and all the formatting was lost. It is much easier to read as a googledoc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fhzVJCal2E6W3HJ0bojcFD4iRSENQarvl2Qz...

GA Notes - Tuesday 1/3/12
Facilitators – Michael, Joy
1. House Rules
a. Don’t leave the front door or middle door unlocked
b. Ring the top two door bells
c. No smoking
d. Don’t move or rearrange anything without asking Lila first
e. Introduce yourself to Lila
f. Limit BGE expenditures
2. Agenda and time limits set
3. Reports Back
a. NYE Noise Demo: Showed solidarity with those in prison. People gave speeches in front of central booking. Protest against the PIC. This was a national actions. Baltimore turn-out was roughly 40-50 people.
b. Unite Here Protest in Philly: protested working conditions at the stadium during Phillies game. Labor Unions and Occupies from all over the North East were there. Things got a little rough when the Phillies lost and the inebriated fans came out. Many “Get a Job!”s (these were Labor Unions).
c. Outreach: been doing a lot of work with Occupy Our Homes. Three phone banking sessions and two canvasses over the weekend. The committee is being stretched pretty thin. Working closely with upcoming OOH actions.
d. Finance: OB has $8,434.05 in total. $5,000 in Fusion account, $3,041 on the WePay, and 386.64 in cash from on-site donations. Finance has reimbursed all GA approved expenditures to this point.
e. Occupy Our Homes: Upcoming events: Sunday Jan 8th at 2pm is a move-in day. Bring food, decorations, or just yourself. Lila’s eviction is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan 10th between 10am-12noon. Come at 9am to help support. There have already been a lot of commitments for these two days but much more needs to be done. Meeting tomorrow 1/4/12 at 6:30. Max Rameau will be addressing the working group.
i. Questions about Lila’s story, goals, etc.
1. Legal team has worked with Lila
2. Attempting to keep Lila in the house until her appeal date (after eviction)
3. Addressing racial tensions of gentrification
4. Proposals
a. Office Space Proposal – Zak : Obtain a (to be determined) office space for Occupy Baltimore. Cost would be raised and paid for up-front.
i. Working group (Zak and Shallon) have been tasked with finding a place that fits criteria previously established by GA. Looking at paid space vs. free space. There have been no concrete offers for a semi-permanent free space. Donating space costs the landlords money. There have been a lot of resounding no’s and a lot of offers for cheap space.
ii. Criteria: Accessible, climate controlled, Near public transit
iii. Projected costs: 6 month lease, $12-18,000.
iv. Clarifying Questions:
1. Q: Have we exhausted in-kind spaces? A:Working group is stretched thin has done as much as they can.
2. Q: What is range for monthly rent? A: 800-1500 /month for 880 sq. ft
3. Q: Does projected costs include all costs? A: this is high estimation of cost just to get in the door.
v. Stack/Comments:
1. This is too expensive.
2. We should be using evicted homes.
3. We should get into cheaper fixer uppers and work on them ourselves. Ammend the purview of the search to include fixer-upper spaces and cheaper non-commercial spaces.
4. Raising $18,000 is very hard. Does it really need to be able to fit the GA?
5. Not in favor of renting space. Let’s get out in public and make nuisance of ourselves. Public protest not private office.
vi. Consensus Test:
1. 6 For, 15 Against
2. Discussion
3. Result: TABLED
b. 5-day Schools not Jails Mini-Occupation Endorsement and Support – Erin: 5 part proposal: 1. OB endorsement of action, 2. hold GA’s on-site, 3. up to $2,300 in funds, 4. access to outreach contact list and support from committee, 5. use of Military Tents. Members of an OB affinity group are planning a five-day mini-occupation of the site of the future/proposed youth jail from 1/16/12 to 1/21/12. Groups involved: THE affinity group, Algebra project, Liberate Baltimore, Rev. Heber Brown, Lester Spence, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle. Line Item description of funds: $200/day for food, $400 for a propane heater, $900 for building a school house.
i. Clarifying Questions:
1. Q: Can we vote on each individually? A: Yes
2. Q: Have you asked your other official endorsers to help subsidize? A: No
3. Q: Are you planning on doing fund-raising? A: Not yet discussed.
4. Q: Are your planning meetings open? A: Yes; from now on they are.
5. Q: Will there be programming? A. Yes, activities and teach-ins every day.
6. Q: Are the dates set in stone? There are major conflicts. A: Yes they are set in stone.
7. Q: How worked out are these figures? A: not completely, probably on the high side. Obviously all unused money will be returned.
ii. Stack
1. We should use this to generate more funds and contacts. Branching out our networking.
2. Info on the jail: $106 Million, more beds than projected need, etc.
3. Can we just ask if there is opposition so we don’t all go through saying the same things?
4. Strong speech of support from Tim
5. We need strong working groups and we need to stress inclusion
6. Good food is necessary
7. Strong Concern: Is this action being done by Occupy or another group?
a. Lenghty discussion TABLED UNTIL PROPOSERS CAN CONSULT WITH ALLIES AND AFFINITY GROUP
iii. Consensus Test:
1. Endorsement of Action – PASSED
2. Holding GA’s on-site: PASSED, PENDING FURTHER GA APPROVAL
3. Up to $2,300 in funds: PASSED
4. Access to Outreach contact list: CONSENSUS NOT NEEDED, AUTOPASS
5. Use of Military Tents: PASSED
6. Additional part added through discussion: Occupy Baltimore is nominally doing this action. This now falls under a working group like Occupy our Homes or an Affinity Group like BHEARD. What is OB’s relationship to action? Just another endorser? Funder? Or is it us? DISCUSSION TABLED
c. Hold Occupy Baltimore GA in DC on January 17th – TABLED
5. Announcements:
a. Occupy the Courts, Move to Amend event January 20th to protest against Citizens United decision “Worst decision since Dred Scott”. A flyer will be sent out to those who sign list. Email it around.
b. Lila needs her first month rent and a security deposit for a new place after the eviction. She would like a loan or some help from Occupy Baltimore.
c. Dr. King day Jobs March Saturday Jan 14th. Planning meeting Wednesday at Workers United Hall 9 West Mulberry St.
d. Want veggies? Talk to Leo
e. If you give Rebecca your number she can text you the location of GA’s
f. Some people were on Cable Access show with Jamal Bryant from Empowerment Temple.
6. Evaluations
MEETING ADJOURNED

Occupy Franklin report back:
The action was a success. A proposal passed to reimburse supplies tRotalling $167.00.

People were reminded that GAs are now on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights only.

Spokes council report back:
The council is focusing on restructing. In particular, the council looking at other cities as guides for how to remodel. Next meeting is Thursday, December 29th at 6:00.

A workshop about C.T. Butler, Amy Rothstein, and the consensus model will be held on January 14th, 15th, and 16th. The workshop will be free.

Open discussion about GA:

Announcements:

Help requested for Occupy Baltimore's librarian. Individuals who are interested can go to "The People's" library through the Occupy Baltimore site or search for it on Google.

An Occupy Our Homes meeting is coming up on Wednesday, December 28th at 6:30.