The New York Times reports Occupy L.A. to Be Evicted on Monday. That's tonight, just after midnight.
Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa announced on Friday that City Hall Park would be closed at 12:01 a.m. on Monday. Those who refuse to leave may face arrest.
The mayor has boasted-
“The movement has awakened the country’s conscience. It has given voice to those who have not been heard,” the mayor said. “I am proud of the fact that this has been a peaceful, nonviolent protest. It has been peaceful because we decided to do things differently in Los Angeles, not stare each other down across barricades and barbed wire.”
Now, it is
"Get out!"
The Christian Science Monitor has described it thus:
Arguably the most peaceful and orderly large Occupy Wall Street encampment – a nearly 500-tent occupation on two flanks of Los Angeles City Hall – is scheduled to be evicted at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
...It wasn't clear why Villaraigosa chose this moment to act.
Perhaps, like Mayors Quan & Bloomberg before him, it is because he "supposedly" deeply cares for the future of OWS. That's why his following words have no small hint of paternalism about them.
"The movement is at a crossroads," Mr. Villaraigosa said on Friday. "It is time for Occupy LA to move from holding a particular patch of park land to spreading the message of economic justice and signing more people up for the push to restore the balance to American society."
Thanks you for your concern Mr. Mayor, but you might've well as said, "You kids had your camping weekend, now it is time for you to go home & let us adults continue discussing how best to sell you out."
If O LA is evicted, the mayor will only succeed in moving people from the grass to the streets & freeways.
Washington Post photo from November 17, 2011.
O LA does not seem willing to just pack up all their tents & go home because the mayor says it is time (or will be in the dark of the night just after midnight).
The full text of OLA's response is here.
Para Todos Todo, Para Nosotros Nada: For Everyone, Everything, For Us, Nothing
As a collective, Occupy Los Angeles would like to express their rejection of the City of Los Angeles’ alleged proposal that we leave City Hall by November 28th, 2011, in exchange for an apparently now rescinded offer of a 10,000 square foot building, farmland and 100 SRO beds for the homeless.
(snip)
The City Council – in line with government in general – is an authority which is more accountable to developers and corporations than the public.
(snip)
We reject outright the City’s attempts to lure us out of City Hall and into negotiations by offering us nebulous, non-transparent and unconfirmed offers which fail to even begin to address our local grievances.
(snip)
The concerns that cause OLA to come into existence have neither gone away or been substantively addressed by the city.
OLA GRIEVANCES NOT ADDRESSED (abbreviated by diarist)
1. A moratorium on all foreclosures in LA.
2. Rehabilitation & housing for 18K+ homeless.
3. South Central Farm to be returned & all vacant/distressed land be open for the community use.
4. LA to be declared a sanctuary city for the undocumented.
5. Weapons not to be used on those exercising their First Amendment Rights.
6. Right to an open plaza on the South Side of City Hall for GAs.
7. LA to pressure the State to start a convention to remove corporate personhood & $ from politics at a national level.
8. LA to dialogue at State and Fed level on student debt & tuition hikes.
9. No cutbacks in city services
10. A world class transit system to restore the quality of life in LA.
South Central Farmers are in solidarity with OLA's “Counteroffer to the Mayor and LAPD” of November 24, 2011.
In standing in support of the South Central Farmers, Occupy Los Angeles stands with our occupation of the South Central Farm five years ago, our struggle for healthy food and community rights, and with Los Angelenos' long history of resistance to our city leaders' oppression of those among our friends and neighbors who are least advantaged.
The South Central Farmers stand in solidarity with your “Counteroffer to the Mayor and LAPD” of November 24, 2011, and we share your grievances. We, too, recognize that the current social system increasingly favors the 1%, and the 99% is paying for that with our heath, our education, our civic infrastructure, and our security.
OCCUPY LA has a PETITION to urge cessation of the planned eviction tonight. Please consider signing it.
Greetings,
I just signed the following petition addressed to: Mayor Villaraigosa.
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Stop the eviction of Occupy LA
Recent dialogue between Occupy LA and the city imploded because representatives of City Hall were bargaining in bad faith. The resolution that was passed by City Hall on 10/13/11 clearly states many of the reasons why Occupy LA continues to reside in the public park around city hall. The resolution can be found here: http://clkrep.lacity.org/.... The issues include, but are not limited to: mortgage fraud and government debt crisis; unemployment and underemployment; wealth inequality; health disparity; educational costs; and crumbling infrastructure. Not only are all Californians and Americans facing this crisis, but so are all humans who live under the same system of wealth and health for some, and poverty and illness for the rest of us. While the city decries that our encampment is “unsustainable,” Occupy LA charges that the unjust economic system is what brought about this occupy movement and it is that dysfunctional system that remains truly unsustainable.
Part of City Hall's resolution to support Occupy LA, illustrates why occupiers choose to live in public. The resolution states: “The Occupy demonstrations are a rapidly growing movement with the shared goal of urging U.S. citizens to peaceably assemble and occupy public space in order to create a shared dialogue by which to address the problems and generate solutions for economically distressed Americans.” This financial crisis did not happen overnight, and formulating solutions that address its local, national, and global scope may take years.
Occupy LA is in its infancy. It is not an organization; it is an occupation. This fact was never hidden from the city. Furthermore, Occupy LA was already occupying the lawn at 200 N Spring, when this resolution was passed. So with regard to ending our occupation of City Hall in exchange for some office space, we say no thanks. The gesture of offering office space and a farm was generous, but this does not address any of the problems outlined in their 10/13/11 resolution or in our grievances. And for point of clarification, the Mayor did NOT give Occupy LA sufficient time to even discuss this offer through our General Assembly before notifying Occupy LA he would evict and withdrawing his offer. Three days is not enough time to debate this critical issue and neither is a 72 hour notice to vacate.
It seems like a lifetime ago when Mayor Villaraigosa sent ponchos to us during the first rainy days of Occupy LA, but we have not forgotten his gesture of kindness. It was symbolic and needed support. We ask for the same support now and request that no force be used against us. We have witnessed the police violence against peaceful occupiers at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and in San Francisco and Oakland. The violence reflects badly on our entire state. As Californians, we do not want to see any more blood of the citizens on the hands of the police.
Occupy LA asks Mayor Villaraigosa and city council members to be patient with our process and not bend to the will of the corporations who want to see Occupy LA brutalized. Today, Occupy LA calls on Villaraigosa to do what is necessary to halt an impending threat of a raid, so that Occupy LA can get back to its essential work of creating solutions to a global crisis that will only worsen if we do not collectively act now.
Please sign this petition if you want Occupy LA to stay on the lawn surrounding City Hall.
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Sincerely,
[SIGN HERE]
After signing, if you wish, you're also invited to call the Mayor & Council Members to proffer your views on the proposed eviction.
.
Antonio Villaraigosa: mayor@lacity.org (213) 978-0600 or (213) 978-0721
District 1: Ed Reyes: councilmember.reyes@lacity.org (213)-473-7001
District 2: Paul Krekorian: councilmember.Krekorian@lacity.org (213)-473-7002
District 3: Dennis Zine: councilmember.zine@lacity.org (213)-473-7003
District 4: Tom LaBonge: councilmember.Labonge@lacity.org (213)-473-7004
District 5: Paul Koretz: paul.koretz@lacity.org (213)-473-7005
District 6: Tony Cardenas: councilmember.cardenas@lacity.org (213) -473-7006
District 7: Richard Alacorn: councilmember.alarcon@lacity.org (213)-473-7007
District 8: Bernard Parks: councilmember.parks@lacity.org (213)-473-7008
District 9: Jan Perry: Jan.Perry@lacity.org (213)-473-7009
District 10: Herb Wesson Jr.: councilmember.wesson@lacity.org (213)-473-7010
District 11: Bill Rosendahl: councilman.rosendahl@lacity.org (213)-473-7011
District 12: Mitchell Englander: councilmember.englander@lacity.org (213)-473-7012
District 13: Eric Garcetti: councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org (213)-473-7013
District 14: Jose Huizar: councilmember.huizar@lacity.org (213)-473-7014.
Recalling that the mayor was once a community organizer, when I read the part of the petition below-
Mayor Villaraigosa sent ponchos to us during the first rainy days of Occupy LA, but we have not forgotten his gesture of kindness. It was symbolic and needed support.
I could not help but feel their sentiment, just in part, mirrored other words from long ago.
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Do not do this thing Mr. Mayor. Do not follow in the footsteps of Mayors Quan & Bloomberg. Listen to the better angels of our nature. Call off the eviction.