General Assembly Minutes – Oct. 22, 2011

General Assembly Minutes – October 22, 2011, 7:00pm CDT
Approximately 50 in attendance

Jenny – Greeting and Introduction

Volunteer Group Announcements:
Carlos w/ Occupy Wall Street Rapid Action Direst: There will be a study group at 4:30pm Sunday Oct. 23 with videos and discussions about the occupy movements in Greece.
Erick w/ Logistics: Volunteer sheets for “tent shifts” will go up tonight.
Vera w/ Logistics: We need a potential donor list from finance. Talk to Melissa at the news committee.
Shamus w/ Sustainability: We’ve become a model for occupation sustainability! Please keep recycling and composting and picking up after everyone.
V w/ Diversity: There will be a diversity group meeting after the GA.

Volunteer Group Proposals:  None

Individual Announcements:
Scott: Please be aware of crime in the park.
Scott: There is a marathon tomorrow at 7:30am at Sam Houston Park. We should flyer the marathon.
Mary: Diane has lost her netbook. There is a reward. Please contact a staff member.
Mary: Occupy Austin has donated land. We should ask for our own.
Erick: We are postponing the “tent shift” list until Monday.

Individual Proposals:
Benjamin: Clarify the “no drugs” rule to “no illicit drugs” – passed by consesus.

Opinions:
Erick: An anti-homeless bias needs to be addressed
Erick: I love all of you.
Evan C: We need to be wary of non-participant occupants. Save our resources (food, blankets) for the ones who work for us first.
Evan: The anti police brutality protest was awesome! “Thanks for being so cool, occupiers!”
Joe: “This land was made for you and me!” No beer in the park!
Joe: We got a new huge crockpot. We need food anf chef volunteers to use it!
JJ: Introducing as a new security volunteer
Mary: We need a private land donation.
Jeff: “Occupy private property is not a protest.”
Scott: We need security people tonight
JJ: Let the medics know if you’re on prescription meds.
Jamin: If you want something done, then make it happen.
Mary: There is a new allergies list at the first aid table.

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[the following proposals have been accepted during General Assembly. Please note: I’m creating this document Oct. 18th and moving backward, so it may be a while before all proposals are added. The goal is to have proposals listed in order of newest to oldest, so new props should be added to the top of the list]

• Joslin – proposal: Reach out to more established groups like public service and EMT, teachers, etc. -PASSED
• Flash Mob accepted as official OccHou action (details to be released at planning sessions and closer to the date) –PASSED
• Proposal for House of Corporate Horrors to be official Occupy Houston event -ACCEPTED

• Oct 18th- Lief – Proposal on creating proposal guidelines – passed – Evan is making a proposal form

• Oct 17th – Post to website: “Occupy Houston stands in solidarity with the protest by Houston United at the Federal Detention Facility. We condemn immigrant detention as an industry traded on Wall Street!”
• Oct 14th -concert on sunday (16th) night -Passed
• Oct. 13th – Jacob – I propose that we move all of our valuable equipment and goods to the park across the street, because it is available to us. Our goods are not the occupation. This means non-necessary items, things shared or donated that people don’t want confiscated by the police
• Oct. 13th – Artem – proposal to leave the decision to stay/get arrested up to people in the morning.
• Oct. 11th – Energy day Rally (Oct. 15th): Passed
• Oct. 11th – Solidarity with the Arab Spring: Passed
  • “Occupy Houston stands in solidarity with the spirit of Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring and democratic movements worldwide against oppression and injustice.”
• Oct. 11th –

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