Occupy Chapel Hill General Assembly Minutes
Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 @3:30 p.m.
Facilitators: Peter, Michal
Notes: Steve
The following is a summary of the lengthy (2.5 hours) General Assembly
1. Visioning: “What aspects of an Occupy camp in Chapel Hill do you most value?”
– Shared space for face-to-face community
– Visual beacon, reminding and inviting Chapel Hill to the occupation
– Trademark tents act as a branding for Occupy
2. Identify current issues
– Many non-participants who are intoxicated, belligerent, and/or dangerous
– Security and safety of Occupiers
– If someone got hurt, it would hurt the Occupy movement
– Little participation among GA participants
– Winter is coming
– Ugliness of camp at present does not help the movement
3. Brainstorming solutions
– Require participation among people at the camp (how to enforce?)
– ‘Outlaw’ being intoxicated or taking drugs on the site
– Move Occupy camp to foreclosed homes and/or abandoned buildings
– Adopt OWS “Good Neighbor Policy” (no drugs/no physical or verbal abuse/clean up after yourself)
– Disband camp, but continue to have GAs at the Post Office
– Remove only the food tent
– Establish onsite social services for the homeless
– Occupy a couch for non-intoxicated campers with no other housing options (would need volunteers to sign up to offer a couch)
4. Identify most viable solutions
– All were in favor of adopting the OWS “Good Neighbor Policy” (with modifications to adapt to OCH)
– Most were in favor of removing the food tent
– Most wanted to maintain some level of daytime presence, but remove support for a night-time presence
Announcements:
1. (Harry) Steve, Amanda, Miriam, Ron, and Harry met with Minister Robert Campbell and Mr. Nate Davis, both members of the Orange County Chapter of the NC NAACP, to discuss how OCH and the NAACP can work together to ready the Plaza for MLK Day on Jan. 16. The meeting was positive and productive. Updates forthcoming in the next few weeks.
2. (Peggy) Reminder of Bill of Rights Day: Thursday, Dec. 15 at noon in Peace and Justice Plaza. All are invited! http://occupychapelhill.org/ai1ec_event/bill-of-rights-day
3. (Peggy and Harry) The Orange County Chapter of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) have made $100 available for two $50 scholarships for two OCH occupiers to travel to DC on Wed., Jan. 11, 2012 to participate in the National Day of Action Against Guantanamo. A WILPF member will pick up both occupiers and drive them to Durham where a chartered bus will drive folks to the rally. Two general requirements for scholarships are that applicants be “young” and “in need.” Send names to Harry or Miriam.
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