By: Danielle Vaticano
“No right is absolute and with every right comes responsibilities. The First Amendment gives every New Yorker the right to speak out – but it does not give anyone the right to sleep in a park or otherwise take it over to the exclusion of others – nor does it permit anyone in our society to live outside the law. There is no ambiguity in the law here – the First Amendment protects speech – it does not protect the use of tents and sleeping bags to take over a public space.”
-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City, New York
Mayor Bloomberg’s sentiment certainly runs true for the frustrated bystanders and victims of the ‘Occupy [Insert Major Metropolitan Area HERE]’ movement that has swept across the country over the last two months. Political rhetoric and undefined goals aside, the movement has seen an unprecedented growth in unruly crowds physically camped out in publicly funded parks and plazas, hindering patronage for local businesses and discouraging commerce for the very communities for which they are ‘fighting’ to protect.
In addition to the occupation of Zuccotti Park in New York City, the occupation of Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland has been at the forefront of national headlines. Facing serious political and public backlash for her mismanagement of the ‘Occupy Oakland’ movement, Oakland Mayor, Jean Quan, has repeatedly failed to adequately address the needs of the community, all in order to protect the perceived rights of the protestors.
With the establishment of Community Benefit Districts (CBDs) in 2009, the Oakland business community has made great strides in establishing economic stability throughout the city, only to see many of these efforts brought to the brink of failure due to the current protests. A great example of these efforts on behalf of the CBDs is the success of the Lake Merritt Uptown/Downtown Association (LMUDA). Aside from providing funds for beautification projects throughout the community and marketing campaigns encouraging local patronage, LMUDA supports an Ambassador program providing hundreds of private security and maintenance jobs for the community.
“We, as Americans, support the right of peaceful protest and freedom of speech, but the lack of an on‐point “Oakland is business friendly” message is nationally embarrassing and counterproductive to all of the various efforts in this community to create a business friendly environment, business revenues and jobs in Oakland,” stated a letter directed to Mayor Quan from the Board of Directors of the LMUDA. “Frankly, the City Council and the current administration have been naïve in their handling of this latest protest and we are calling on them to make decisions that will help bring jobs and businesses to Oakland instead of driving them away.”
In response to public unrest over the encampment, Mayor Quan finally ordered the dissembling of the Frank Ogawa Plaza camp on November 14th, a mere 3 weeks after police raided the camp for the first time in October. Utilizing an already resource strapped police force, the Oakland Police Department peacefully disbanded the protesters and prepared the park to be cleaned and returned to working order.
While the recent police efforts have disbanded the ‘Occupy Oakland’ protestors, organizers for the group have vowed to keep waging war on the city’s resources, “That goes without saying. They’re not going to be able to keep this clear,” said Lauren Smith, 29, of Concord, an Oakland native who has been supporting the movement (Los Angeles Times, 11/14/11).
Even as the city struggles to provide the manpower needed to contain the protests, it is becoming increasingly apparent that additional security will be needed to preserve the peace and protection of local businesses, as mentioned by Oakland Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan, “There will be a “strong police presence in the plaza 24/7” to ensure that no tents, sleeping bags or other signs of lodging re-emerge… the city will “likely” hire private security to help due to the Police Department’s short staffing,” (Los Angeles Times, 11/14/11).
As frustrations mount against the movement and resources to sustain it become increasingly depleted, only time will tell if the ‘Occupy’ movement will have a lasting impact on a national scale.
*This post does not necessarily represent the position of CALSAGA and/or its members.
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