This is going to get ugly.
Tension escalated between Occupy Oakland and city leaders Wednesday when protesters swarmed a news conference held by five council members who were calling for the immediate dismantling of the encampment outside City Hall.
Protesters shouted, "We are the 99 percent of Oakland!" and drowned out the council members who were standing at a podium but had no sound system.
Councilwoman Desley Brooks then started her own chant, which was repeated by the two dozen members of the clergy, business owners and other council members who had gathered to speak out against the camp. Their chant was "Occupy Oakland must go!"
Of the 8 member Oakland City Council, 5 attended yesterday's press conference calling for an immediate removal of the Occupy Oakland encampment. Its time for them to receive lots of emails and phone calls:
Pat Kernighan
District 2
(510) 238-7002
PKernighan@oaklandnet.com
Libby Schaaf
District 4
(510) 238-7004
lschaaf@oaklandnet.com
Ignacio De La Fuente
District 5
(510) 238-7005
idelafuente@oaklandnet.com
Desley Brooks
District 6
(510)238-7006
dbrooks@oaklandnet.com
Larry Reid
District 7
(510) 238-7007
lreid@oaklandnet.com
Of the other members, Nancy Nadel posted yesterday to a Facebook event stressing the importance of attending last night's General Assembly and asking to clarify the start time, which had been moved to 6 pm. I'm assuming she was in attendance. She had previously considered proposing a resolution to support the movement, to "unequivocally embrace the First Amendment," and "uphold the People's right to peaceful assembly." She withdrew it when it was clear she did not have the votes.
Jane Brunner joined in the general strike and has generally voiced support for the movement.
Rebecca Kaplan has kept a lower profile through this. She made a statement denouncing police violence, but has largely had her finger in the wind in supporting the movement.
Jane Brunner
District 1
(510) 238-7001
jbrunner@oaklandnet.com
Nancy Nadel
District 3
(510) 238-7003
nnadel@oaklandnet.com
Rebecca Kaplan
At Large
(510) 238 - 7008
atlarge@oaklandnet.com
As for Jean Quan, her latest statement is more triangulation, reiterating the call to disband the encampment, urging for public safety and a more restrained police response, and voicing "support" for the 99%:
We renew our call on Occupy Oakland to make a decision to leave immediately.
snip..
While I am pleased to see a consensus developing on the Council to remove the camp, I call on elected leaders who are clamoring for an immediate raid to put forward a plan that does not cause additional injury to people, property and our reputation, or result in another re-occupation. I urge them to join me, the City Administrator, Police Chief and community leaders in implementing a plan to remove the encampment.
We know that a tiny minority thinks it is a sound strategy to pit our Police against demonstrators. We call on everyone to reject provocation of violence.
snip..
This has been a test of leadership and a test of conscience. Oakland is a city of hope and opportunity. We are the 99%.
Jean Quan
Oakland Mayor
(510) 238-3141
Contact Form
officeofthemayor@oaklandnet.com
Deanna Santana
City Administrator
(510) 238-3301
cityadministrator@oaklandnet.com
Howard Jordan
Interim Chief of Police
ocop@oaklandnet.com
I would like to see a better dialogue between Occupy Oakland and city government, there are legitimate concerns and grievances on both sides. But after the violence and arrests that have transpired, that task is more difficult. I can understand why government officials are having a hard time restoring trust and engaging that dialogue, but I would like to see them follow the example of Nancy Nadel, and actually make those efforts in earnest.
Throwing up your hands and saying you tried, but you couldn't find a leader to work with amongst a leaderless movement? Sorry, that just rings hollow.
Update:
Video of Press Conference
I'm having a hard time embedding this video, but here's the link to the CBS news site:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/...
Press conference coverage starts at 0:51
Update X 2:
Found a couple of videos on Youtube for a less edited perspective...