Solidarity action S17 a.k.a September 17th, 2012 was an exciting day for Occupiers and corporate lobby receptionists across the country. This date marked the One year Anniversary of The Occupy Wall Street Movement and at Occupy Phoenix we partied like it was September 17th, 2012! The receptionists on the other hand, who very well could be secretly not against us, had the usual sterile tranquility of their high-rise lobbies broken by either chanting protesters, mean mugging cops or managers screaming “This is PRIVATE PROPERTY!” at some points, all three.

In the early morning hours of S17 word got out that on the national legislation battle front, civil rights groups everywhere won a small victory on the ongoing drama of the NDAA act. Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges,along with Noam Chomsky and five other plaintiffs,submitted challenges to Section 1021(b) (2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (indefinite detention) which U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest accepted and ruled that the law was unconstitutional. Mr. Hedges broke the news to a cheering crowd who were gathered at Zuccotti Park, the original home of the Occupy movement; it was a great happy birthday gift for everybody involved. Good job New York, as always. Here in Phoenix we had our own party planned at our favorite ballroom Cesar Chavez Plaza downtown.

As I jumped off of the light rail I realized, it’s a beautiful day for revolution. Then again revolution can make any day beautiful. As I approached Cesar Chavez Plaza I was greeted by many smiling faces of all ages. As I watched the crowd get bigger I noticed people had an excited wide-eyed expression on their faces, which seemed to say “This is the fun part, let’s do this”. I felt exactly the same way. In the next 30 minutes more members and organizers arrived. So did more signs, bullhorns and drums. There was even a huge 1% piñata to be smashed at the end of the march.

Around 3:45 an original OPHX member yelled “Everyone grab a sign; let’s take this sidewalk like it’s all we have left again!”. Referring to 9-months earlier when the police repeatedly smashed their camp and limited them to the very same sidewalk. The curb quickly filled with people holding signs and cheering. Organizers did a couple of T.V. interviews for major local networks. Did they air? I doubt it, do they ever? What was in the air was an amazing smelling smoke from a small wooden bowl held in the hands of a woman named Alti. She used this smoke to bless the crowd with positivity. When I asked her if she was affiliated with any group she replied simply “the 99%”.

As the 4 o’clock hour drew near everyone gathered up their gear, banners unfolded and a quick mic check from organizers commenced which was short and to the point, “This is our day, these are our streets! Let’s hit it!”. Hit it we did, as we all fell into as much of a line as that many people can fall into. Our chant leader with the bullhorn, we’ll just call him O, started doing his thing with the rhythmic cadence of a veteran emcee “This is what democracy looks like / This is what the people look like!”. As we all repeated his lines as loud as we could I had goosebumps. It feels good to yell with that many people again. I felt like I was in a therapy session that no drug pusher with a degree could ever give me.

We had many stops planned, but our first priority and always on our shortlist, was the downtown Maricopa County jail on N. 4th Ave. One of the many facilities run by the black-hearted, small-minded, criminal (who happens to also be the Sheriff of Maricopa County) Joe Arpaio. This facility has been the site of several protests just this past week, besides ours. The increase in activity here is due to the passing of Arizona’s private prison industry motivated SB 1070 “show me your papers” law, that went into effect on Sept 18th.

All the stops along our march were strategic and meaningful. We did not just go places and yell. Well, we did that too. Each stop had a key-note speaker explaining why we were there and sharing stories. We have been telling you, Occupy is smarter this year. The first speaker was Fernando Lopez, an Occupier that has recently returned from actions at the DNC where he was aboard the Undocubus which traveled state to state challenging anti-immigration laws. He spoke of encountering dozens of “Arpaio’s” across the country, intimidating and arresting members of Latin and black decent. He also spoke of the power of uniting communities and dissolving racial lines.

Fernando Lopez – The 99%

But we weren’t done with Sheriff Joe yet. Stop #2 was The Wells Fargo building at 100 W. Washington St. Not only does this building house Wells Fargo,one of the most discriminatory global banks ever, but also 2 floors are home to Arpaio’s “business” offices. I can only imagine the grimy deals going on in this place. A community organizer named Erica spoke here. Erica’s topics covered blatant abuse of inmates and an ever-increasing police state perpetrated by Sheriff Arpaio. She also called to mobilize local cop watches. Our emcee “O” also spoke here condemning Wells Fargo for predatory lending and their heavy investment in the for profit private prison corporation GEO, of which the bank owns 4 million shares. Wells Fargo and GEO also share the same lobbyists in the Washington D.C. firm, The Podesta Group.

Stop #3, and one of my personal favorites, was 201 E. Washington St. which is also known as The Bank of America–Collier Center. After marching up the giant stairs chanting “Boycott, Boycott B of A” OPHX reps and some of the anarchist quickly noticed the doors were not locked and took advantage by swinging the glass doors open and yelling “C’mon in”. Many protesters entered the lobby and let B of A know how we felt, loudly. OPHX representative Michael spoke here briefly about moving your money being the best way to hurt giant banking corporations. Our exit from here was a little quicker than the previous stops, due to a noticeable increase in police presence.

Video taken by Jay Slomin

At this point I noticed we had gained a few people as we marched through the streets. Some people in cars honked and gave us peace signs or raised fists. I did see one guy eating McDonald’s and angrily texting probably about a bunch of hippies blocking the street and he was going to miss the beginning of Jersey Shore. Sorry for the inconvenience sir, we are trying to change the world.

Stop #4 was APS at 400 N. 5th St. APS is one of the largest power companies in Arizona. This is where an original Occupier and Media Co-op representative, Kevin, took the mic. Kevin spoke of how APS owns dozens of coal plants in Arizona and New Mexico. Even though APS is based in the sunniest place on earth it does not stop APS from importing fossil fuels into our state at 20 times higher cost than the alternative of solar. They continue despite the proven cost effectiveness and a strong public support for solar energy. APS still refuses to adapt to modern ecological problems in the name of dirty coal profits. Kevin also took a moment to address that APS only recently left A.L.E.C. and how the Occupy movement can take a lot of credit for the recent hard blows A.L.E.C. has taken.

This was a great stop. Kevin’s speech was really good and it was a nice grassy courtyard where we could all sit down for a minute and socialize. We did not stay too long. Once we stopped you could not help but notice many cops circling us block by block on foot, bikes, motorcycles, SUV’s and creepy blacked out van’s. Whatever, we pay them no mind. Ominous army of our tax dollars “hard at work.” We’ve got some work of our own to do at stop #5 which is Arizona Center at 565 N. 3rd St. Arizona Center is a service industry based outdoor mall, where OPHX Rep. Michael told the very familiar story to most of us, of low wages and lack of dignity the service industry is plagued with.

Stop #5 also held another highlight of the day when a retired Navy veteran representing Vietnam Veterans Against Romney spoke for about 10 minutes about how the landscape of America would drastically change if Romney is elected. He also brought up Citizens United, the new “Corporations have the same rights as people law” and urged everyone to vote out as many Republicans as we could if we wanted to get the law overturned. I think his speech sunk in a lot for the younger members of the crowd who were hearing current perspective from someone a generation before their own. Especially with lines like “Mitt Romney will eliminate the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the F.C.C (Federal Communications Commission). He will try to make you think Capitalism will regulate itself. You and I know that the Great Depression cures us of that notion.”

Retired Navy Veteran representing Vietnam Veterans Against Romney- The 99%

Stop #6 was the Arizona Republic/ NBC Channel 12 studio at 200 E Van Buren St. This stop was one I took a personal interest in. Why would we stop at Channel 12 news? Many people feel Channel 12 practices “media blackouts” of news from different perspectives. As I type these words and you read them we are both participating in what the spirit of what this stop represents, the people’s media.

Liisa from Arizona Community Press did an amazing job of explaining the importance of independent voices and that it is one of Occupy’s successes that the people are taking back the media. ”With independent voices, it’s an opportunity to tell the stories that are not being represented in the main stream media” says Liisa. ”It’s a place where you do not have to buy advertising to make your voices heard.” I did notice a Channel 12 news guy filming us protest his station, but I have a strange feeling it wasn’t for the nightly broadcast. Someone who was filming truth with intent to distribute was OPHX Rep. Mickey who live streamed most of the day to our comrades who couldn’t make it out. You can check out his raw footage marked September 17 at OPHXMickey.

Liisa – Arizona Community Press The 99%

As one can see we had many special engagements throughout the day and each one was awesome and important but none like Stop #7 at Freeport-McMoRan on 333 N Central Ave. Here we were meeting up with friends. Freeport-McMoRan is an especially nasty global mining corporation who houses its giant headquarters in downtown Phoenix. In fact, the top twelve highest paid CEO’s in Arizona all work at Freeport. This corporation is one of the World’s heaviest polluters and they have a continuing history of workers dying in their mines. Two protesters were also shot by police last year at a Freeport protest in West Papua, where the company has decimated the country with pollution for years.

One could definitely see how deplorable acts like this could bring a lot of heat from not only OPHX, but the friends we were meeting here was none other than the local branch of I.W.W.(Industrial Workers of the World). I have definitely heard of them but wasn’t aware of the energy spike we were about to experience, as we rounded the corner to Freeport’s doorsteps it was definitely a “F-yeah!” moment. I.W.W. already had a thick picket line rolling. When I got up to the windows I saw the most cops I had seen all day packed inside the lobby looking real annoyed by us but this sidewalk was undeniably ours. The I.W.W. speaker here was fiery and on point. So much so that I didn’t catch his name or picture, I just listened. Here’s my footage from the sidewalk.

Stop #8 was our final “official” stop and one of the most informative in front of the ASU financial offices on 710 N Central Ave. We wanted to point out the crushing student debt most of us are facing and the horrible under funding of education in America. Air Force technician and ASU student, Nate, closed out this march with a stirring speech. ”We spend more money per prison inmate that we do per student in America. What does this do? It creates more prisoners!” shouts Nate. ”80% of prisoners are high school drop-outs because we didn’t invest in them.”

Nate also stressed the importance of voting no matter who you support, especially in this election where a corporate hostile takeover of the presidency is on the line. ”If more of the 99% voted, the 1% would be less of a problem” Nate proclaimed. ”When you don’t vote, your surrendering and letting other people decide your fate. Don’t let them, have your own voice.” Nate also commended the people’s voice on speaking up against the SOPA and PIPA, the recent internet censorship bills. ”This was a great example of people power, we killed those bills!” This was a very poignant way to close out the day with the biggest issue we are all currently facing, the 2012 election.

Nate – ASU student – The 99%

What do you do after a OWS anniversary celebration march? An after party of course. We all headed down to Civic Space Square to hang out and network. The 1% pinata got smashed here by some of the marchers kids. Some of the members bought boxes of burritos, which were handed out to unemployed occupiers first. This is how OPHX builds, networks and connects. This may end up being the most important stop of all. I definitely can not forget to thank The Haymarket Squares for performing here. If anyone wants to be involved with Occupy Phoenix come to any of our actions and talk to us.

A Little More Than A Year After First Appearing On The Local Scene, Occupy Phoenix Continues To Strive Toward Becoming The Common Front In The Battle For Change.

By Charlie Parke
Special for Modern Times Magazine

Dec. 29, 2012 — The Occupy movement began late last year by bringing people together who were frustrated by politicians and the corporations for whom they appear to work. Unlike many existing groups who are fighting for specific environmental, anti-war, animal rights or migrant rights, saw these issues as intrinsically linked.

Therefore, Occupy attacked a wide variety of issues which unfortunately resulted in corporate-owned media presenting the story that Occupy had no goals. Change is a long, slow battle and Occupy learned they needed to find allies and build a community to make change, and that people had to move from isolated battles to a common front.

The first step was to create a community calendar for progressive groups which appears on Occupyphx.org listing events for many different groups to help people know how to connect with groups around the valley. Those who had been creating art/text for flyers and distributing them moved to a zine. Through this publication, Occupy provided more detail about groups, protests and a print calendar. Outrage at the system needed a creative outlet and this increasingly became about support actions and support through spreading information to wider audiences.

The next step was to put on free public teach-ins with speakers from many of the groups in greater Phoenix area at Cesar Chavez Plaza, where Occupy Phoenix was meeting. The ACLU/Copwatch/and the National Lawyers Guild gave presentations on knowing your rights, how to document police interactions to protect your safety, and more. The Sierra Club, No More Deaths, Physicians for Single Payer Healthcare, No Loop 202, ASU Students for Liberty, the IWW and many others gave free public workshops about their campaigns and to increase discussion of the problems they saw and let people know about campaigns they were involved in. Progressive Democrats of America, the Libertarian and Green Party, Anarchists groups, Move to Amend (fighting to end Corporate Personhood) were among groups presenting their political ideas for open discussion to see what common ground could be achieved. As police pressure to leave Cesar Chavez Plaza increased, local businesses welcomed skillshares/speakers and documentaries often with the director or groups involved in the issue speaking with the showing. This became a base for encouraging people to find out about causes and get involved.

Over time, those working on the community calendar and the Occupy Together Zine moved into online indie media. A website, Arizona Community Press, was set up, http://www.azcommunitypress.org/, allowing many groups fighting for change to have a place to publish their viewpoints, with a community calendar featured on the site. Often, equal time is not given by media when regular folks decide to stand up to large corporations or politicians. In some cases, Arizona Community Press has been able to shine light on issues hiding within corporate media dead zones. Teach-ins have been a part of the community media with a chance to discuss video editing, article writing, press releases and how to become an independent journalist.

2012 ended with Occupy Phoenix using its network to stand up to Freeport McMoRan, a mining company which may be the No. 1 polluter of groundwater worldwide which is headquartered in Phoenix. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHZD4SiHIz8).

The IWW, the Sierra Club, Occupy, the East Timor Action Network and Rogue Green agreed to speak in Phoenix about Freeport’s paying the military to break up unions with violence in Asia, about its pollution of air and water locally and its membership in ALEC, a group which seems to include legislators and corporations coming together to make pro-business legislation including what the Sierra Club calls the “Polluter Protection Act” passed this year. The protest was followed by a concert at a local cafe to raise some money for activists to travel to South Bisbee to witness firsthand the effects of Freeport’s mining on an Arizona community. The next day, Occupy Phoenix and other activists traveled to Tucson with musicians to perform at a cafe where the group met with Occupy Tucson who have just put out the first print edition of their online newspaper, the Occupied Tucson Citizen http://occupiedtucsoncitizen.org/ (the group was given 400 copies to spread to Bisbee and Phoenix). The group stopped by Access Tucson, a community media center that provides free classes and access to the community to create videos and talk on the radio about the issues affecting them.

Later that evening, the group arrived in Bisbee to talk to residents, visit the town’s community radio station and to see firsthand an area of land where environmental contamination has led Freeport to begin to force homeowners to leave; some of whom may be experiencing medical difficulties from the exposure. Occupy Phoenix brought music, discussion and discussed the situation firsthand with with residents telling the story of Freeport offering money for residents to relocate (which residents say are lower than comparable properties) if residents sign a medical waiver that absolves Freeport of any health claims. Water samples in the area seem to indicate a degree of copper and lead in the water, one test showed lead http://www.azwater.com/ccr.html exceeding the EPA’s action level rules. The EPA rules state, “If the action level for lead is exceeded, the system must also inform the public about steps they should take to protect their health and may have to replace lead service lines under their control.” http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/lcr/index.cfm.

Occupy Phoenix views the Freeport event as an important step in building community and independent media around the state while raising awareness of Freeport’s actions.

http://piratepad.net/ophxonlinega

The purpose for the proposal is to allow individuals who live in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area the opportunity to participate online in the consensus process for Occupy Phoenix General Assemblies.

Proposal: We propose that the Occupy Phoenix General Assembly allow people who cannot physically attend GA the ability to participate in the consensus process electronically (and smoke signal if needed)…

To participate, an Occupier will need to register their livestream display name with someone at an onsite GA. They will need to re-register if they change their display name. They will also need to re-register their display name every month to continue to participate. Their display name does not HAVE to be their real name.

The registered livestream screen names will be kept in a publicly viewable online or physical spreadsheet that <blank> will have access to edit. The spreadsheet can be accessed here: <url>

Within livestream, chat will continue as normal. In addition, a moderator will take stack of people wishing to interact with the physical GA who make themselves known to the person at the GA monitoring the chat.

The person on stack is encouraged to call in via Skype (or other video calling program) so that they may express themself visibly and audibly. Alternatively they may call in for voice only. As a last option a person may read out loud the comments in chat.

* An attempt will be made to have a projector at GA to display the chat so that those onsite will be able to follow the chat/electronic converstations of those participating online.

Chat Expressions

^^^^ – twinkle fingers

~~~~ mid fingers

vvvv down fingers

<> point of process

If someone disapproves or blocks online, then leaves the online discussion, for whatever reason, that sentiment won’t be included in the final consensus tally. (it may be helpful to break this out into different reasons for leaving, but they may not be possible to discern at the time).

Facebook and Twitter: #OccupyPhoenix

Questions & Information contact: Firstfridayman@hotmail.com

1. Frequently Asked Questions

   Question	Answer
   Who are the 99%?	The top 1% in America control about 40% of the wealth, while the bottom 40% control about 1% of the wealth. The 99% is a metaphor for the overwhelming majority of Americans who are subject to the economic and political injustices implemented in a system controlled by the ultra-rich.
   Why are you here? What are you protesting?	The current political and economic system is unfair, unjust, and does not adequately serve the interests of the people. As such, we are committed to peacefully transforming it in ways that ensure the current injustices are remedied. We are also here to work together in a democratic fashion to discuss these problems and to exercise our right to free speech as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.
   How is Occupy Phoenix organized?	Decisions affecting the group as a whole are reached at General Assembly meetings. The General Assembly uses a process of “consensus decision-making”, a collaborative process that aims to ensure all voices are heard and to arrive at decisions in a more democratic fashion than traditional American government. We also have numerous working groups, where participants focus on particular areas of interest and strategy,   These groups work on foreclosure, bank divestment, education, community organizing and environmental as well as meeting to discuss legal, media and outreach functions
   How do I get involved?	There are no formal membership requirements, and there are many ways to contribute, including attending General Assemblies, participating in regularly scheduled pickets, and joining one or more of the working groups. We are always brainstorming new and creative ideas for peaceful, effective, and meaningful action toward our goals. Your voice is welcome, and necessary.

   
   

   May 10st, 2012 – May 15, 2012

   Thurs, May 10th 1:30pm 1134 N. Central AvenueMargaret T Hance Park  1134 N Central Ave 1134 N. Central AvenueDowntown Phoenix	Arizona Caravan for Family Unity - http://www.facebook.com/events/402604093104595/A caravan will meet with friends at Hance Park before marching to the main ICE office. The group will speak with the media before delivering a packet to Pat Vroom, ICE Chief Counsel for Arizona, making the case for prosecutors to reverse their previous decisions that risk separating these families and issue prosecutorial discretion to close their immigration removal proceedings. Several community and faith leaders will join us demanding an end to family separation and a full implementation of prosecutorial discretion to close immigration cases. Meet up in Hance Park at 1pm; walk to ICE building at 2035 N. Central Ave. at 1:30pm; Press conference at 2pm in front of the ICE building, then delivering requests to Pat Vroom’s office, the Chief Counsel for ICE in AZ.caravan will meet with friends at Hance Park before marching to the main ICE office. The group will speak with the media before delivering a packet to Pat Vroom, ICE Chief Counsel for Arizona, making the case for prosecutors to reverse their previous decisions that risk separating these families and issue prosecutorial discretion to close their immigration removal proceedings. Several community and faith leaders will join us demanding an end to family separation and a full implementation of prosecutorial discretion to close immigration cases. Meet up in Hance Park at 1pm; walk to ICE building at 2035 N. Central Ave. at 1:30pm; Press conference at 2pm in front of the ICE building, then delivering requests to Pat Vroom’s office, the Chief Counsel for ICE in AZ.meet with friends at Hance Park before marching to the main ICE office. The group will speak with the media before delivering a packet to Pat Vroom, ICE Chief Counsel for Arizona, making the case for prosecutors to reverse their previous decisions that risk separating these families and issue prosecutorial discretion to close their immigration removal proceedings. Several community and faith leaders will join us demanding an end to family separation and a full implementation of prosecutorial discretion to close immigration cases.
   Thurs, May 10th 6pm Fair Trade Café 1020 N. 1st Ave. Phoenix, AZ	Foreclosure Working Group http://www.facebook.com/occupyphoenix/events#!/events/196758323776587/Planning for Home Defense Classes, Protests to make Corporations pay their taxes and Finding and support people facing foreclosures
   Fri, May 11 6pm Cesar Chavez Plaza 201 W. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ	No More Deaths Teach-in http://www.facebook.com/occupyphoenix#!/events/282983801788893 The goals of No More Deaths 2004 were to provide water, food, and medical assistance to migrants walking through the Arizona desert; to monitor US operations on the border and work to change US policy to resolve the “war zone” crisis on the border; and to bring the plight of migrants to public attention. an organization whose mission is to end death and suffering on the U.S./Mexico border through civil initiative: the conviction that people of conscience must work openly and in community to uphold fundamental human rights.
   Fri, May 11 7pm Cesar Chavez Plaza 201 W. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ	The General Assembly http://www.facebook.com/occupyphoenix/events#!/events/350942038298621/?context=create a gathering of people committed to making decisions based upon a collective agreement or “consensus.. ”There is no single leader or governing body of the General Assembly – everyone’s voice is equal.
   Sat May 12th 9am – 6pm Tucson	Occupy Tucson Trip and signature gathering for Mohur Sarah Sidhwahttp://www.facebook.com/#!/events/377448642297968/
   Sun May 13th Noon 5445 E Calle San Angelo, Guadalupe AZ	Guadalupe Clean-Up, meet at Our Lady of Guadalupe Churchhttp://www.facebook.com/charlie.parke.9?ref=tn_tnmn#!/events/296728913744802/ Building community means getting involved at the most basic levels.
   Sun May 13th 2pm-8pm 1306 E Van Buren	Music of the Resistance with Ana Tijoux & more http://www.facebook.com/events/328735170524990/ some of this event may be in Spanish, meet and share in the struggle for migrant rights
   Sun May 13th 6pm Fair Trade Café 1020 N. 1st Ave. Phoenix, AZ	Community Organizing Book Club develop an “ideology”–a more systematic theory of social change for the American power structure. http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/651814391586355/?context=createdeveloping ideas on how to achieve lasting social change develop an “ideology”–a more systematic theory of social change for the American power structure. develop an “ideology”–a more systematic theory of social change for the American power structure. develop an “ideology”–a more systematic theory of social change for the American power structure.
   Mon May 14th 6pm Fair Trade Café 1020 N. 1st Ave. Phoenix, AZ	AZ Media Co-op meetinghttp://www.facebook.com/#!/events/350662624989336/ The cooperative movement has been fueled globally by ideas of economic democracy. Economic democracy is a socioeconomic philosophy that suggests an expansion of decision-making power from a small minority of corporate shareholders to a larger majority of public stakeholders. There are many different approaches to thinking about and building economic democracy.
   Tues May 15th 7pm Civic Space Park 424 N Central Ave, Downtown Phoenix	The General Assembly offsite (Civic Space Park) potluck celebration. http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/199341503519193/?notif_t=plan_user_joined a gathering of people committed to making decisions based upon a collective agreement or “consensus..”There is no single leader or governing body of the General Assembly – everyone’s voice is equal.
   Wed May 16th 5pm Tempe Beach Park 54 West Rio Salado Parkway	Occupy Tempe/ASU. We fight for student rights!  We fight for social and economic justice! In 2012 more history will be made as the amount of unpaid student debt climbs to $1 trillion dollars, with an additional $1 million dollars added to that number every 6 minutes.
   Thurs, May 17th 6pm Fair Trade Café 1020 N. 1st Ave. Phoenix, AZ	Foreclosure Working Group Planning for Home Defense Classes, Protests to make Corporations pay their taxes and Finding and support people facing foreclosures
   Fri, May 18 6pm Cesar Chavez Plaza 201 W. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ	Clean Energy: a worldwide revolutionhttp://www.facebook.com/#!/events/378095668903476/ The goals of No More Deaths 2004 were to provide water, food, and medical assistance to migrants walking through the Arizona desert; to monitor US operations on the border and work to change US policy to resolve the “war zone” crisis on the border; and to bring the plight of migrants to public attention. Do we see the outline of hope emerging from behind the smoke and mirrors of capitalist solutions to climate change. Sparking a Worldwide Energy Revolution require engaging the public at every turn, opening up community-based struggles for energy autonomy.The goals of No More Deaths 2004 were to provide water, food, and medical assistance to migrants walking through the Arizona desert; to monitor US operations on the border and work to change US policy to resolve the “war zone” crisis on the border; and to bring the plight of migrants to public attention.
   Fri, May 18 7pm Cesar Chavez Plaza 201 W. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ	The General Assembly: This is a gathering of people committed to making decisions based upon a collective agreement or “consensus.. ”There is no single leader or governing body of the General Assembly – everyone’s voice is equal.

We welcome all, who, in good faith, petition for a redress of grievances through non-violence.  We provide a forum for peaceful assembly of individuals to engage in participatory democracy.  We welcome dissent.

Any statement or declaration not released through the General Assembly and made public online at www.occupyphx.org should be considered independent of Occupy Phoenix.

We wish to clarify that Occupy Phoenix is not and never has been affiliated with any established political party, candidate or organization.  Our only affiliation is with the people.

The people who are working together to create this movement are its sole and mutual caretakers.  If you have chosen to devote resources to building this movement, especially your time and labor, then it is yours.

Any organization is welcome to support us with the knowledge that doing so will mean questioning your own institutional frameworks of work and hierarchy and integrating our principles into your modes of action.

SPEAK WITH US, NOT FOR US.

Occupy Phoenix values collective resources, dignity, integrity and autonomy above money.  We have not made endorsements.  All donations are accepted anonymously and are transparently allocated via consensus by the General Assembly.

We acknowledge the existence of professional activists who work to make our world a better place.  If you are representing, or being compensated by an independent source while participating in our process, please disclose your affiliation at the outset.  Those seeking to capitalize on this movement or undermine it by appropriating its message or symbols are not a part of Occupy Phoenix.

We stand in solidarity.  We are Occupy Phoenix.

* Occupy Phoenix stands in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and on 5/4/2012 moved to adopt this statement by consensus.

http://www.nycga.net/resources/statement-of-autonomy/

• Engaging in direct and transparent participatory democracy;
• Exercising personal and collective responsibility;
• Recognizing individuals’ inherent privilege and the influence it has on all interactions;
• Empowering one another against all forms of oppression;
• Redefining how labor is valued;
• The sanctity of individual privacy;
• The belief that education is human right; and
•  Making technologies, knowledge, and culture open to all to freely access, create, modify, and distribute. (amendment passed by consensus 2/9/2012)

We are daring to imagine a new socio-political and economic alternative that offers greater possibility of equality.  We are consolidating the other proposed principles of solidarity, after which demands will follow.

* Occupy Phoenix stands in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and on 5/4/2012 moved to adopt this statement by consensus.

http://www.nycga.net/resources/principles-of-solidarity/

2) move the default location for GA’s to Civic Space Park

3) define a quorum as at least 5 members attending GA for making decisions on proposals that have gone through the normal 24hour waiting period. Using the Boston method for proposals, a quorum will be defined as at least 10 members.

Charlie Notes

Hand Signal Review

Working Group Reportbacks:

Bank Divestment meetings Conspire 10pm planning to find school districts to work on divestment with

Foreclosure:  petition to create bank registry of foreclosed homes, have banks pay more for upkeep to end blight

had a Teach-in to learn more about the foreclosure process and homeowner rights

Legal – complaint against ALEC thru corp commission

Going to SRP May 7th 8:30pm

Occupy Alec:  AZ facebook group setup

Outreach:  Occupy Tucson coming up to Unite against the War on Women, going to Tucson possibly sat May 12th

Media:  Occupy providing livestream for unite against the War on Women, interviews

Proposals:

Move GA Tues May 1 to Civic Space Park 424 N Central Ave, downtown Phoenix.  Has tables/chairs to sit at.

Info:  park closes at 10pm

Friendly Amendment:  have a May Day celebration food/potluck                                       Accepted

Concensus

Purchase a battery pack for mobile hotspot (livestream) pack allows usb plug-in-keeps livestream going and charges phones for u-stream.  price $77 have by May 1st

Friendly Amendment: use a battery belt                                                                        Rejected

Concensus

Quorum for GA decisions moved to 3 people.  Observer note taker/Facilitator/Proposor

Friendly Amendment:  allow livestream to vote, register ahead of time to verify identity       Rejected

Friendly Amendment:   Quorum of 5 people, 10 needed for day of proposals using boston policy   Accepted

Friendly Amendment:   Percentage required of official members or those interested in GA    Rejected

Friendly Amendment:    Must have livestream present to document GA                                Rejected

Tabled for further discussion

On-site Proposal:   Cispa protest May 1st-Jun 30th of several organizations

Tabled for more information

Announcement:  Media Co-Op will be doing interviews

Showing of Koch Brothers Exposed May 5th 8pmish at Plaza

Bathless Bastards and other bands associated with Occupy at Aside (formerly Conspire) May 5th 4pm

Teach-in before GA May 11th  No More Deaths

Teach-in before GA May 18th  Alternative Energy

The claim is that if the ALEC members are charging the expenses of ALEC to the rate payers, they should not be according to case law.  Further, the regulations of the Corporation Commission require fair competition, non-discrimination among customers, energy efficiency and energy renewables.  Yet those are the very principles that ALEC lobbies against making it a conflict of interest for the regulated utilities to be members.

Occupy Phoenix is asking the Corporation Commission to do an investigation regarding the rates and conflict of interest issues.  Since some members of the Corporation are or have been members of ALEC, they have been asked to recuse themselves.

Link to formal complaint: COMPLAINT TO CORP COM RE SRP