[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-08/news/30376348_1_oakland-activists-empty-buildings-oakland-metropolitan-chamber]
Now that their general strike is over, Occupy Oakland activists are looking for a new initiative to keep the momentum rolling - and their gaze is turning toward taking over foreclosed or abandoned buildings.
The subject came up in earnest in group meetings over the past couple of days, and conversations have narrowed down not to whether Occupy activists should take over empty buildings, but when and how.
"It's a very important front for the Occupy movement all over this country, and if any one city can set a precedent for taking over foreclosed buildings, the idea will then quickly spread," said Adrian Dyer, an Occupy organizer. "The key is to improve what we occupy, to do it right, to set a good example."
'It will not be tolerated' -
City officials are predictably unenthusiastic. The one takeover so far of an empty building left a bad taste.
That takeover came late Wednesday after tens of thousands of people had staged a largely peaceful general strike, shutting down the Port of Oakland. As many as 100 black-clad protesters took over a vacant building at 16th Street and Broadway, and when police moved in, the activists heaved rocks and other missiles. Police responded with tear gas, and more than 100 people were arrested.
Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana had a blunt statement about the proposed occupation of buildings: "It will not be tolerated."
Business groups were confounded that campers would sanction such an activity.
"It's lawlessness," said Joe Haraburda, president of the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. "How about if you were a building owner and somebody took over your property? What gives them the right to do that?"
Occupy activists largely disavowed the violence of Wednesday's takeover, saying it undercut the movement's central message of denouncing corporate greed and economic inequity. They also disavowed a riot that broke out the week before but said it was largely a result of police overreaction.
Attracting support -
The challenge in seizing foreclosed buildings is how to do it in a way that attracts support, many in the 165-tent Occupy Oakland camp at Frank Ogawa Plaza agreed in meetings and interviews Monday. That means appealing to everyone from the homeless Occupy campers to the soccer moms who show up for marches.
"One idea is to contact the people who were foreclosed upon and enlist them in the effort," said Kevin Seal, an Occupy organizer. "We want to have a plan before we do anything."
Oakland has been one of the hardest-hit California cities in the foreclosure crisis of recent years. Several real estate websites list hundreds of foreclosed properties for sale in the city.
There are plenty of examples portraying the success or failure of seizing buildings to be found in other movements.
Previous actions -
In the 1980s and early '90s, a campaign to take over foreclosed houses in Oakland resulted in confrontations between police and homeless activists who chained themselves inside homes, but arrests were made peacefully. Since 1992 in San Francisco, the group Homes Not Jails has taken over more than 100 vacant buildings, usually quietly, to use as squatters' shelters.
Paul Boden, organizing director for the Western Regional Advocacy Project poverty relief group and a veteran of building takeovers, said he is willing to help Occupy activists if they want it. But he thinks they've already got a good deliberation process in place.
"One of the great things about Occupy is they are creating things as they go along, and I would not want to advise them on what to do," Boden said. "The talking heads and politicians can't stand it because they can't control it."
Occupy Oakland resident Lucas Enos smokes a cigarette in the 165-tent downtown encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza.
Credit: Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle
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