December 17th - Occupy Medford in the Library

Announcements/Open Forum

Mark: We have purchased a megaphone for just under $60.00.
Mark: Will the Chrismas Caroling be shown in the Tribune?

Ben: We sent out a press release with an edited video to local media, we’re hoping it will but aren’t sure.

Ben: I would like to repeat our caroling flash mob in the upcoming week.

Alec: Know your law session by NSWA is January 16^th or 18^th.

Ivand: Alen Bates is not for the single payer system and in fact has tried to keep it in the insurance companies hands. However, after a recent meeting he had a question for the Vermont Singlepayer speakers present which revealed he is for whoever speaks with him the most. This means if we contact him enough in solidarity with the single payer system  he may join our side.

Medford 6:

Deb: January 5^th is the potluck at Rosco’s BBQ for the Medford 6 arrested in Greg Walden’s Medford Offices. Greg Walden has not given any response to these events.

Ivand: Hearing dates set for the 29^th, the Rothschilds will be out of town for that day. Scheduled hearing is 10:00 AM. The court clerk hasn’t received anything from the police. The city of Medford is having a changeover to a new computer system which has resulted in a back log of charges being filed.

Jeremiah: Should we do a letter to the police campaign for the Medford 6 or would that bring more attention to the case and allow it to be a priority.

Deb: I think we need to continue to pester Walden because he is not listening. He is ignoring the people’s call to responsibility.

Susan: I’m a dear friend of Joyce Segers and she is making a real run against Walden this year so I would urge you to support her.

Deb: The Medford 6 have a pool of attorneys who have agreed to take the case pro bono so there is no worry about costs in that regard. These lawyers will continue to help with civil disobedience cases around the area.

Website:

Ivand: I think we need to get the website back on our side. It’s getting stale and needs more article updates.

Ben/Nick: We have been busy this week and will be sure to update the calendar and post new articles for everyone’s educational pleasure.

Nick: I will host a lesson on the website in 3 weeks, January 7^th. I will get a projector from Ivand.

Statement of Intent:

Mark: I was very impressed with the speech given at the New Day Breakfast @ the Talent Community Center by Ben and John. It showed how much the people look at Occupy as an umbrella organization for change. I think we need to get a statement of intent on the website to clear up for new comers exactly what we are.

Alec: I’m on community outreach, so I ask: How did the Occupy movement start? It started because people were fed up with checking a ballot every 2-4 years or calling their senators to no avail so they took to the streets. So, we have to be able to define our movement, we must keep it new just like it is. We can’t repeat the same styles of influencing politics that have failed for years. I repeat we must make a statement of intent.

Justin: I’m new here and would like to say that a message and a structure would be good for a new person. However, you have to be careful with the language and you can’t stick with the old language. We need to keep the language as fresh as this idea.

Deb: This is an all inclusive movement and whatever we decide to use as a meme must be inclusive of the many ideas represented by this movement.

Ivand: On the idea of something written which we can all fall under. I’ve been to a couple of GA’s in Ashland and watched a film with CPJ about how the planet is destroying itself. There is a brain trust idea which is going around and Ashland’s Occupy is involved. One of the things I’ve realized is that Occupy Medford and Occupy Ashland are two totally different organizations. The people who attend are very different. What I mean by this is we must make a meme which reflects Medford’s attendees.

Mark: What got people’s attention? It was the act of the people in NYC performing civil disobedience which struck a chord among the nation. I like the idea of putting our energy behind the foreclosures. It’s happening all across the country. We need to come up with an idea such as the OWS action of occupying a foreclosed home. A way to catalyze the city around a common event.

15 Minute Group Session:

Alec: My group decided that foreclosures are possibly the most important thing we can focus on. Foreclosures are twice the national average in our area. We also realized that the 60’s movement has a lot to teach us, a leaderless movement can’t be stopped by taking out the head…because there is not head. Also we realized the 1% is like the caveman who has a dog which helps him hunt. When times get hard, the caveman eats the dog to survive. We are the dog and the 1% are the caveman, they’re done having pets. Also, we must educate the younger generation of activists. We’ve spoken of films, plays, and speeches  held at a festival of sorts to educate the masses.

Deb: Ideas from my group include a march to increase visibility and media coverage. We also support the foreclosure events ideas. I just had a friend who lost her home and its hitting home with the country. We also talked about the encampment.

Gary: There’s an excellent group locally, Good Grief America, and we need to get close to them. They have a lot of resources we should be taking advantage of. After missing a month of meetings I’m surprised we aren’t closer to the GGA people. Also, we need to do events to get this meeting room packed. Showing movies would be an excellent way to articulate our ideas.

Mark: We need to get the word out about advertising the meetings. We need to do things like keeping an add in the Tribune at all times. We also talked about action ideas such as occupying a foreclosed home. We can create momentum by including a lot of other activist groups, this is possible because occupying a foreclosed home affects a lot of issues: homelessness, foreclosures, bank corruption, etc.

Lady: We also talked about how we need to narrow our focus to 5 or 6 main topics of dialogue. (Gives examples)

Ivand: We need to identify the properties in distress across the city in order to pull this off. We have all the information we need, we just need to visit the homes and the neighbors to see how we might pull this off.

Ben/Jeremiah: It would seem after talking to some of the people in Good Grief America that they aren’t quite for direct action, but we’d like to get ahold of them and have a dialogue about doing this sort of direct action.

Alec: When people are offered the cash for keys agreement they usually take it. From their perspective they’re going to have to move out. So when they’re offered this money to use to move into another place they jump on it. This is one of the reasons Occupy is trying to get homeless families in to homes, what do they have to lose?

Foreclosure Ideas:

Need to look at the OWS Foreclosure Occupations to get ideas. Need up front legal advice. Entering the home with a family would be difficult because the family might feel at risk. After taking a temperature check on the 3 different variations discussed, occupying a home with just Occupiers would likely be easier and more galvanizing for Occupy Medford.

Committees:

Mark: I say that when a committee meeting happens a spokesperson should come out of each meeting with at least one statement of intent for the week which that committee will accomplish by the next meeting.

Deb: I think it’s important that we keep the committees small. It keeps them efficient.

Ben (PROPOSAL): I propose a consistent meeting time each week for the committees.

Mark: I feel the upcoming event should provide the focus for the committees that week. I also feel like people should choose one committee to join.

Proposals:

VOTE ON PROPOSAL: Committee Meetings are Wednesday at 6PM - PASSED

VOTE ON PROPOSAL: Foreclosure Occupation Set Up By Mid-February – PASSED

VOTE ON PROPOSAL: Date of next flash mob: Thursday – PASSED

VOTE ON PROPOSAL: Location of Next Flash Mob: LocationX @ 6:00 PM. – PASSED