Does LA City Hall actually make sense?

Submitted by Illuminator on

We have no CLEAR demands. That’s gonna be a problem for the media, but EVEN WORSE:

We ARE sure we’re against National and International Corporate interests, but… um... LA City Hall?????

City Hall is local Government. This poor targeting is going to be a field day of mockery from the media. 

City Hall also happens to be situated directly across the street from a police station, who get their checks from , um… City Hall!!!

When you stand outside Goldman Sachs and ask the police “who are you defending?” That makes sense for the (assumed) cause. However, not the same effect when you are actually talking about their direct employers!!! Here’s a quality answer for the police, “I’m defending the people who are paying me overtime to be here right now."

So far, this is actually organized nothing like Occupy Wall Street, the same language cant apply to this target, nor the same demands.

Los Angeles is where the hands are on the levers of the media. If we get this wrong, it spells doom for the whole Occupy movement.

 

21 Comments

Booj WaZEE's picture

City Hall

Submitted by Booj WaZEE on

The problrms facing the U.S. today stem from two primary sources that have formed a relationship of convenience. Both GOVERNMENT and CORPORATE AMERICA working in conjunction with one another are responsible for the dire state of the U.S. and in many instances, world economies, and neither is doing anything to fix it.

City Hall and the surrounding Civic Center are strategic locations for many reasons, we are on the front doorstep of government, albeit city government, it is located in the heart of the city and it is within a few short blocks of an area downtown know as Banker's Hill where several large banks have either corporate headquarters or regional headquarter branches.

The issue was discussed at numerous meetings and voted on two meetings ago. It is a done deal and we are moving ahead according to plan. I would encourage anyone that is not happy with the decision to find alternative sights to stage a similar protest. You will realize that there are a myriad of factors to take under consideration and I think you will begin to understand why City Hall is the best place to take a stand.

As to the location being right across the street from downtown police headquarters, this is a PEACEFUL demonstration and nobody involved as any intention of breaking any laws.  We are a wide cross section of Americans of all ethnicities, ages, and diverse political leanings that have come together to demonstrate their abject displeasure with the way both Government and corporate America have formed an aliance that is destroying this country, the futures of it's citizens and the futures of their children. We are excersizing our rights to stage peaceful protest and we are adamant in our attempt to find REAL solutions. 

Booj WaZEE

City Hall is symbolic of the

Submitted by philippecrusoe on

City Hall is symbolic of the entire system.

And i'm not worried about the police across the street.  they'd watch us wherever we are.

By being right there in front of them exhibits our resepctful and peaceful protest!

Police pensions have been stolen from as much as Wall Street Pigs could get there hands on!

we are a diverse group and our public discourse in General Assembly is very cool!

Aristotle and Plato would be proud. And to present that democracy on the steps City Hall and across the the police station, I say Let's Go Get'em!!

 

-p!

Protest to represent LA!

Submitted by AllianceWithin on

Protesting in front of City Hall makes perfect sense, its symbolic that the people of the LA area are tired of the status quo and want not just "Change" but a peaceful Social Revolution. Maybe our courage this weekend will inspire others to protest in their cities just like NY has inspired us. We shouldnt base our model off of NY though. NY has its OWN culture, its own style and its own way of doing things. We arn't New York, nor should we pretend to be by making the same demands, we should be LA and make demands for the people of Los Angeles. Hopefully the rest of the nation will do so too and Americans can have America back. 

 

We don't need clear demands yet, that has to be worked out by us the people while we meet publically and there shouldnt be fear of the police as we are not doing anything illegal, our permit is the 1st Amendment!! Ofcourse that might not work out so well as LAPD has a bit of a reputation, but maybe we can expose their corruption to the general public too.

Just because we are based at

Submitted by paul.j on

Just because we are based at city hall, doesn't mean we are against it.  We, the people, are rising up, posting up in the cradle of our local power and showing that we have had enough of the status quo.  Folks working in that building belong to the 99%, our presence will make them think about their role in our government.

I think it's important for our chants/signs/messages to include messages of  outreach to government workers if we continue to occupy the area around the City Hall.  The unfortunate thing in DTLA is that there are virtually no large public spaces in the financial district(s) downtown.

Appearance is everything...

Submitted by Illuminator on

…  and this is going to appear like an affront to City Hall. That’s fine, if the occupy movement was about local level issues, but its not. Standing in front of Los Angeles City Hall and making demands on Wall Street, or Congress will only invite ridicule in the media, I promise. This means, when demands are finally made, they can only be demands that can be met by City Hall. Otherwise, you’re just standing in the wrong place and waiting for …?

 

The corporate owned media is

Submitted by GenErik89 on

The corporate owned media is going to spin this to whatever ends they see fit anyway. So why should we be concerned with what sort of mockery they might or might not have towards it? 

As far as location goes, banks privatetly own their property and can kick us out at their whim. City hall is a symbolic staging point for MANY demonstrations we can perform throughout downtown.

City hall is not the target. Its just the begining of a movment against the corrupt powers that have their hands deep in the pockets of the people writing the laws that have stolen our liberty from us.

 

 

Roman Stone's picture

We just need more people

Submitted by Roman Stone on

If its small enough to occupy the space across from city hall, it really doesn't matter where it happens. If there are enough people to swell beyond that space, all of downtown will grind to a halt. The police will be wherever we are.


Admittedly, the best thing to do would be to go to Wall St., but as part of the 99%, I can't fund that. I'm opressed while sitting here in my chair, so anywhere is good enough for me to demonstrate.

We're on a mission from God.

Booj WaZEE's picture

I hear NAY sayers but I have

Submitted by Booj WaZEE on

I hear NAY sayers but I have yet to hear anyone suggest a better alternative....."somewhere near UCLA" is NOT a location. There are quite a few factors to take into consideration and if you take the time to do so, you will NOT come up with a better, VIABLE alternative.

This was an issue that was discussed at previous meetings and voted on. It's a moot point at this time.  There is a large B of A directly across the street. 

We seriously need to concentrate on contributing to the effort instead of slowing the process down with issues that have already been discussed and voted on.

 

Booj WaZEE

Discussed and voted on by

Submitted by Illuminator on

Discussed and voted on by whom? There are 4000 likes on your Facebook page, and 1800 attending on your Facebook invite. What percentage voted? What percentage voted or even knows yet about the plans to crash the large scale permitted Police event scheduled at the same site and same location as the protest? I’m not accepting those votes and neither should anyone that has those “likers" and “attendees" best interests at heart.

I want this thing to work, and the best way for that to happen is to let the naysayers be your allies.

Thinking outside the previous box, but a friend brought this concept up, might as well run it by you:

Has anyone noticed that one of the greatest battles facing Occupy Wall Street is one of Los Angeles’ greatest assets? The Media.

Finding an appropriate location has been hard because the best place to fight Wall Street is New York, the best place to fight the Government is DC… However, the best place to fight the third head of the three headed beast, THE MEDIA, is Los Angeles.

I’d love to hear some discussion about how we can really use that to our advantage, be that occupying a media center, a studio, a high profile spot like Hollywood and Highland, even allowing the paparazzi to be our allies in this, some of their outlets are far reaching! Anything, there are so many cameras in this town its ridiculous, and there’s ALWAYS someone ready to roll. but why would they want to come roll at City Hall? We have to use this city to our advantage.

If we’re backing up Occupy Wall Street, let us work toward media coverage of the actions happening on the ground THERE.

 

 

Excellent point. LA needs to

Submitted by sticktotheplan on

Excellent point. LA needs to play to its strengths as a media capital. Copying what's going on in New York will come off as just that; a smaller reflection of the main stage, rather than a complementary and equally significant event.

Outside of the CNN building on Hollywood and Cahuenga wouldn't be a bad location; they best personify the flacid, anti-intellectual, "everybody with a D or R next to their name has a valid point" nature of mainstream news. It's also a tourist hub and a nightlife destination. Fox/The Grove isn't too far from there either. We could get far more visibility in dense, popular areas like these than in Pershing Square, where the protest could come off as arbitrary and tangential relative to the one in New York.

OWS is working right now because it IS in a perfect location for its purposes; the vast majority of the country is fed up with the entire political-financial system, and Wall Street is a raging personification of that system packed into a few dense blocks. They're not JUST protesting Wall Street, but that's their natural emphasis. If we show solidarity with OWS AND add our own emphasis to the equation (that the media aids and abets the criminals in business and government), then we could become just as formidable very fast.

Booj WaZEE's picture

You are spreading PURE

Submitted by Booj WaZEE on

You are spreading PURE PROPAGANDAS. There is absolutely NO plan to "crash the large scale permitted Police event scheduled at the same site and same location as the protest". City Hall is a very large property and can easily accomodate both events.  The fact that both events are scheduled for the same day is coincidental. There are events scheduled at City Hall ALL the time.

The location was voted on 2 GA meetings ago after prolonged discussion and it was discussed and voted on again last night. It's a done deal....LIVE WITH IT. If you don't agree then don't participate.

Furthermore, your idea of chasing the media is sophomoric and has also been discussed at great length at earlier GA meetings. We are NOT chasing media coverage. We are trying to provide a centralized location where people who are fed up with a broken system and the relationship of government and corporate America has brought this country to it's knees, can come together peacefully and discuss ways to correct the multitude of problems facing 99% of the population. We are trying to salvage our future and the future of our chilkdren before it is too late. If you just want to be on TV I suggest you try out for the next Dancing With The Stars.

Booj WaZEE

Please, then, make a public

Submitted by Illuminator on

Please, then, make a public announcement about exactly what is permitted to be taking place at that location when you are asking these, possible thousands of people to arrive. That’s all you have had to do to get rid of me from the beginning. Inform your protestors of what is at the location you are leading them to, its so freaking simple! SHARE YOUR INFORMATION! Anything else is suspect. You may as well also let them know of the agreed upon sleeping conditions in the same announcement, because the event is in two days and people gotta pack!

I’m telling people the truth you seem unwilling to make an announcement about, when we both know it would be better if the public knew so they can approach these folks with love rather than confusion. Categorizing that information as propaganda is 1% behavior, brother.

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