2011-11-30 "The Occupy Education Protests Are Working"
[http://www.occupyed.org/2011/11/30/the-occupy-education-protests-are-working/]
[occupyeducationca@gmail.com]
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The protests are working. Mass strikes, rallies, and encampments on college campuses in California and beyond in the past weeks have put the defense of public education at the center of the national spotlight and have already forced the authorities to make numerous concessions. Here are some of the most important developments:

1) The White House has been forced by the protests to respond. The New York Times reports [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/education/duncan-calls-for-urgency-in-lowering-college-costs.html?_r=2&hpw]: “As Occupy movement protests helped push spiraling college costs into the national spotlight, Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged higher-education officials Tuesday to ‘think more creatively — and with much greater urgency’ about ways to contain costs and reduce student debt.”

2) The proposal to raise UC tuition up to 81% was dropped (for now) by UC President Marc Yudof [http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/09/local/la-me-uc-20111109], in response to the growing education movement. Yudof is now calling for $412 million more state funding for higher education. Various prominent politicians, such as Kevin De Leon and Gavin Newsom, are also now saying they support funding education through taxing the rich and corporations.

3) The outcry against the police violence inflicted on students at UC Davis and UC Berkeley, has forced the authorities and police onto the defensive. Both Governor Jerry Brown and UC President Marc Yudof have launched investigations and attempted to distance themselves from the police brutality [http://www.dailycal.org/2011/11/28/campus-academic-senate-passes-resolutions-criticizing-administrations-response-to-occupy-cal/]. Numerous faculty associations have condemned the administrators and police.

We’ve got the 1% on the run, but the struggle is far from over. California schools are facing $1.4 billions in “trigger cuts” this December [http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19358800]. Promises and rhetoric from the politicians are useless unless concrete actions are taken to reverse the cuts and fee hikes, de-segregate public education, and ensure the prohibition of further police violence.
That is why it is crucial to keep mobilizing until all our demands are met. To win, the movement must expand from undergrad and graduate students to all public education workers, teachers, staff, and their unions. We must build an alliance between higher education and K-12. We must champion the specific demands and struggles of immigrants and communities of color.
And we must build momentum towards our most effective and powerful tactic: a statewide strike of all sectors of public education that lasts until our demands are met.  A crucial organizing tool in this direction is the Open Letter to Defend CA Public Education [http://www.change.org/petitions/open-letter-defend-ca-public-education]. Please sign and distribute this widely and get involved now with organizing for the Wave of Action in the Spring.

2011-11-30 "Homeless families in S.F. seek public housing; Supporters demand the city open up vacant public housing units to them" by Jill Tucker from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-30/news/30461486_1_homeless-families-overnight-shelters-jennifer-friedenbach]
Nearly 2,200 of San Francisco's public school students are homeless, enough to fill five or six elementary schools or an entire high school.
That's nearly 400 more homeless schoolchildren than a year ago.
The spike reflects an alarming increase in families across the city sleeping in cars, shelters, cramped single-occupancy hotel rooms or a series of couches or floors. Some are occasionally on the streets.
As of late last week, 267 families - a record number - were on the waiting list for one of 59 rooms in San Francisco's three city-funded shelters that allow families to stay for months at a time. That's triple the number of previous years.
On Tuesday, several of those homeless families gathered on the steps of City Hall to demand a meeting with Mayor Ed Lee. They want him to consider opening up vacant public housing units to meet the demand.
"From our perspective, we are facing a crisis of homelessness of families in San Francisco," said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness.
As things stand, those 267 families will have to wait for the rooms for at least seven months, and even then they would get to stay just three to six months, said Elizabeth Ancker, assistant program director for Compass Connecting Point, which helps manage shelter placement.

Overnight shelters -
As a last resort for families, overnight shelters are filling up nightly, Ancker said.
Yet there are hundreds of vacant public housing units that could be opened up, Friedenbach said Tuesday on the steps of City Hall.
"Those units are sitting empty while families are suffering," she said.
City officials downplayed the situation, noting that none of the families on the shelter wait list are out on the streets.
The Bethel African Methodist Church, for example, opens up gymnasium floor space for up to 50 families during the winter. About 30 families are currently taking advantage of that, said Trent Rhorer, director of the city's Human Services Agency.
"Seeing an increased need for economic support and shelter among families who are currently residing in housing is certainly troubling," Rhorer said. "But I wouldn't call it an emergency or crisis situation that would demand opening a new shelter.
"If we had hundreds of families sleeping on the street and exposed to the elements, yeah, that's a crisis."

Showing the strain -
Celia Colon, 24, a single mother, has been homeless for a year and is thankful she never had to sleep on the street. She and her two daughters, ages 5 years and 10 months, instead bounced from one overnight shelter to another in Oakland and San Francisco
Last week, they finally landed a room at the city's Compass Family Shelter.
Still, the wear and tear on her daughter Sofia Ayala, a kindergartner on scholarship at Holy Family Day Home, is evident.
She struggles with attention issues and occasionally screams in class. Sofia and her mom get therapy and other support to address the stress caused by their situation, said Colon.
"Sometimes (Sofia) says, 'Don't buy me toys, buy me a house,' " the young mother said.
Colon, who became homeless late last year to escape domestic violence and multiple burglaries at her Bayview apartment, said she hopes to get into public housing before her time runs out in the shelter.
Friedenbach said she has been trying to meet with the mayor for six weeks, just for a 30-minute conversation to discuss options for the homeless families, but she has been rebuffed.
With a dozen or so homeless families behind her, she knocked on Lee's City Hall door on Tuesday to demand a meeting.
Joaquin Torres, the mayor's director of Neighborhood Services, stepped outside Room 200, said the mayor was out, and offered to meet with the families instead - an offer they rejected.
Torres declined to set up a meeting with the mayor, but said if they met with him, he could pass their concerns and their request on to Lee.
After 15 minutes, Friedenbach and the families vowed to return, perhaps with tents.

An invisible problem -
For too long, Friedenbach said, family homelessness has been an invisible problem exacerbated by an inability to accurately count how many there are. A recent city homeless count identified 95 families, well shy of reality.
The school district's count is one of the most accurate, although it doesn't include children like Sofia who are in subsidized private schools or who aren't in school yet.
All told, the homeless families comprise more than 5,000 parents and children, Friedenbach said.
"It's certainly not getting better," she said. "We could actually populate a small town with the number of homeless families in San Francisco."

2011-11-30 "Local volunteers help keep hungry fed" by Rich Freedman from "Vallejo Times-Herald" newspaper
[http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_19438610]
Barbara Reyes has little, if any, connection to Vallejo. Yet one Sunday early evening a month, she travels from Walnut Creek and joins a handful of other volunteers to serve the homeless and hungry as part of the Sparrow Project at First Baptist Church.
"It's not that I'm rolling in dough financially. I'm taking money out of retirement to make mortgage payments," Reyes said. "I just want to give some of my time back. It's very rewarding."
When it comes to assisting the needy, volunteers are what keeps the wheels churning, be it the Sparrow Project, the Christian Help Center, Salvation Army or Florence Douglas Senior Center -- all of which are recipients of this year's Times-Herald Community Christmas Card.
"Without volunteers the place would not run as good as it does," said Pastor Mike Brown, overseeing the Sparrow Project.
On this Sunday, Northgate Christian Fellowship in Benicia was responsible for the food.
Most of the volunteers during the week and three other Sundays at First Baptist are from churches, said Brown, although others in the community also put in time.
Some young people help serve food from the fourth grade through high school and beyond, Brown said. Some people serve for community service credit. And, every so often, someone who had relied on free meals to survive gets their life straightened out and comes back to help serve.
"We do get a handful of volunteers that come in from the streets that this ministry has changed," Brown said.
As for Sundays, the 5 p.m. supper rarely sees fewer than 80 and has welcomed as many as 170, said Terry Abreu, in charge this past week of whipping up spaghetti.
"If you run out of what you were serving, you just keep looking around the pantry to see what else they got," Abreu said. "You can always find more something to put together and be creative."
Usually, Northgate's Hale and Colleen Burckin prepare jumbalaya for the masses. Unavailable this Sunday, Abreu happily took the reins.
"I do it for the love of God's people," said Abreu, a retired high school teacher. "I'm just someone lending my God-given talent to someone who doesn't have the ability or the resources. Some of these people have lost their job, some lost their home, some of them just lost their way.
"It makes you feel good that you made it easier on them to get through the day."
John Hurst has volunteered monthly for five years, only missing a few Sundays.
It's about serving God, he said, "and I feel like I'm making a difference, I guess. It's always on my calendar."
Hurst brings his daughter, Emily, 13, along to help.
"I think it's important for her and for me," he said. "It gives us perspective. Sometimes we feel put out by whatever, like we can't have a new XBox or we want a new iPhone instead of a cell phone. And then you see people out there hurting, who don't have their next meal.."
"I get to make food and then you get to see people get excited about eating," said Emily Hurst. "It gives you a good outlook on life. It makes me feel better about helping."
Layne Manion-Dodge has served for nearly three years, recalling the first time being "a little anxious. How are you going to be received? Are they gong to be angry or receptive?"
Even after losing her job a few years ago, Manion-Dodge said serving the homeless keeps her focused.
"It can be much worse," she said.
Gracie's barbecue has donated more than 6,000 pounds of chicken for the meals, confirmed restaurant owner Ken Ingersoll.
"There are people in the community against the church giving away food," Ingersoll said. "But churches have been doing this for thousands of years. Even if you don't like the people who show up to eat, I don't think starving them out is the answer."
The tough part, all interviewed agreed, is when kids come in with a parent or two for a free meal.
"It's heartbreaking," Manion-Dodge said. "These kids don't deserve to be here."

2011-11-30 "Census: more Vallejo kids are in poverty; City has highest in Solano County" by Lanz Christian Bañes from "Vallejo Times-Herald" newspaper
[http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_19438611]
About one in five school-age children in Vallejo are impoverished, according to new data released Tuesday.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in the geographic area covered by the Vallejo City Unified School District, about 3,811 children between the ages of 5 and 7 were reportedly poor in 2010.
About 60 percent of the district's students qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program, according to October 2010 figures from the state department of education.
At 19 percent, Vallejo has the highest percentage of school-age children living in poverty in Solano County.
Though the area encompassed by the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District also has about 3,800 school-aged children living in poverty, the area covered by the district is larger than Vallejo's and includes about 10,000 more people.
That means the Fairfield-Suisun district has about 15 percent of its school-age children living in poverty, according to the Census.
In the last decade, the numbers and percentage of impoverished school-age Vallejo children has been steadily rising. In 2000, about 3,000, or 12 percent, of school-age children were living in poverty in Vallejo.
Children within the Benicia Unified School District boundaries were the least likely in the county to be in poverty, with about 8 percent, or 400 children ages 5 to 17, in poverty.

By the numbers -
School-age children 5 to 7 years old living in poverty in 2010
* Vallejo: 3,811, 19 percent of total school-age population
* Fairfield-Suisun: 3,800, 15 percent
* Dixon: 559, 12 percent
* Vacaville: 1,636, 12 percent
* Travis: 392, 8 percent
* Benicia: 399, 8 percent
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

2011-11-30 "Reviving Community at Occupy Eureka, Nov 30 - Dec 3" from "Occupy Eureka"
This is a call out for you to participate in the resurrection of Occupy Eureka! Pass it on!
WEDNESDAY TO SATURDAY (Nov 30 - Dec 3)
Three days of community action in front of the courthouse, transforming the spot into a vibrant space of dialogue, food sharing, protest, workshops, music, and people power.
Beginning at 1:00pm on Wednesday, November 30th, and for three days and nights, we will be building our numbers, reviving our spirits, and learning together in rebellion. As we empower ourselves in the local Occupy Wall Street movement, we move toward taking control of our own lives and creating self-determined communities. The defenders of the 1% have tried to wipe out Occupy Eureka, even to the point of taking our canopies and our signs. But there is power in numbers, and we're calling for a LARGE PEOPLE PRESENCE in the name of dignity, civil rights, community cooperation, and a livable future. Beginning at 1pm on Wednesday (Nov 30th) join us to re-create the Scott Olsen Social Center. That will kick off three days, and we need you!
The Scott Olsen Social Center was established at Occupy Eureka, in strength, persistence and solidarity, after the second big police raid on November 14th. We're bringing the Center back. Please bring reading materials, information, and literature from whatever struggles or activities you are connected with. Outside of the Social Center, feel free to set up your own table with literature, fliers, displays, and use the space to share information, art, or anything.

PLANNED ACTIVITIES
We could have a community 'debate' about the Occupy movement and what it means.
* Every night, there will be dinner and discussion about 6:00pm and a General Assembly to follow, 7:00pm.
* Every night, from 10:00pm to 1:00am, there will be a Candlelight Vigil for Dignity
* Every night, LATE, there will be movies and games.
Wednesday (Nov 30th, anniversary of shutting down 1999 WTO meetings):
* 1:00pm Re-Building the Scott Olsen Action Center
* 6:00pm Dinner & Discussion (General Assembly, 7:00pm)
* 10:00pm – 1:00am Nightly Candlelight Vigil for Dignity
* 2:00am Projected Movies! (with Hot Coffee, Hot Tea & Hot Chocolate)
* Games and music all night, until daylight
Thursday (Dec 1st):
* Sunrise Ceremony
* Potluck Breakfast
* 1:00pm Poster and Banner-Making , Chalk Art on the Concrete!
* Lunch
* 6:00pm Dinner & Discussion (General Assembly, 7:00pm)
* 10:00pm – 1:00am Nightly Candlelight Vigil for Dignity
* 2:00pm Movies, Music, Games, and of course, Hot Beverages
On Thursday and Friday, there are opportunities for Workshops. Some workshops offered so far are first aid (dealing with an emergency situation in a crowd), principles of non-violence, copwatch basics, and direct action organizing & legal strategizing. This space is open for whatever workshop or presentation you might want to share.
* We are going to play Live Pieces Chess in front of the courthouse steps!
* There is equipment for a dance party one of those nights!

FOOD & MUSIC: THE CORE OF ANY MOVEMENT
* Street musicians, bands, DJ's, and ALL musicians encouraged to come and play!
* Amplified music welcome from 5pm to 10pm. All other music welcome 24/7.
* We need people to bring chairs, tables, and food. We need volunteer cooks for lunches and dinners and everyone to potluck when you can!
* Bring your own cup, spork, and bowl.

OTHER NEEDS
* Candles
* Sidewalk chalk
* WARM CLOTHES and BLANKETS. It gets cold out there, but WE WILL OCCUPY!
* Documentaries or entertaining movies for nighttime projections
* Markers, paints, banner material, paint brushes, cardboard
* Hot Beverages
 Can you imagine the whole front of the courthouse like a huge community bazaar, with chairs, tables, info, music, and INSPIRED PEOPLE?!  We have imagined it. Please show up for a concentrated effort and community revival from Wednesday to Saturday.
In Solidarity and Persistence,
With big Hope,
Occupy Eureka

Occupy Eureka is a non-violent space.
 We ask that people keep Occupy Eureka a welcoming place, free of sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, etc. We also ask that participants refrain from behavior or use of substances that could compromise the action.

2011-11-29 "Protesters disrupt University of California regents, but peaceful mood rules" by Laurel Rosenhall, Kim Minugh and Hudson Sangree from "Sacramento Bee" newspaper
[http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/29/4085704/protesters-disrupt-university.html]
Shouting protesters interrupted the University of California regents' meeting on Monday, but the mood was generally peaceful as students criticized officials' response to the use of police force and implored regents to back raising taxes on the wealthy to fund higher education.
Officials and members of the public were connected by teleconference from four UC campuses – in Davis, San Francisco, Merced and Los Angeles. After more than an hour and a half of public comment, regents began to move on with their agenda when they were interrupted by protesters in multiple locations.
Regents were discussing UC's 2012-13 budget request to the state when about a dozen protesters at UC Davis rose to their feet and, shouting in unison, declared the need for a "people's regents meeting." They moved from their chairs in the audience to the area in front of the dais, where they formed a circle and began their own discussion.
 There was no response by campus police – who were stationed outside the meeting room in very small numbers – and Chancellor Linda Katehi briefly joined the group in the circle.
Around the same time, protesters in San Francisco and Los Angeles also disrupted the meeting with loud chants. Unable to hear, regents eventually disconnected from the teleconference and relocated to other rooms on the campuses. UC officials invited media to listen as regents reconvened the meeting by telephone.
Many participants decried the use of police force – pepper spraying in Davis and the use of batons in Berkeley – and criticized the investigation that UC is planning for not being independent.

Also on Monday:
• The union representing UC Berkeley police wrote a letter saying the video showing officers jabbing protesters with batons on Nov. 9 is misleading because it doesn't show officers being hit, pushed and threatened. The letter criticizes UC officials, saying they asked police to enforce their policies and then refused to stand by officers when they did so.
• Gov. Jerry Brown wrote a letter to the head of the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, asking that the agency review its crowd management and civil disobedience guidelines.
"I am seriously concerned that the rules governing the use of force, in particular the use of pepper spray, are not well understood in the context of civil disobedience and various forms of public protest," Brown wrote in the letter to Paul Cappitelli.
• UC President Mark Yudof announced he has appointed former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso to chair the task force investigating the UC Davis police department's use of pepper spray. Reynoso is a professor emeritus at the UC Davis law school.
The big theme of the day was money – how UC could get more of it without asking students to pay higher tuition. The board approved an initial budget that asks the state for $2.78 billion in 2012-13, a 17 percent increase from the $2.37 billion it received this year.
Nathan Brostrom, UC's executive vice president, said regents would have to consider whether to raise tuition after seeing how much money is allotted to UC in Brown's January budget proposal.
Regents also approved several compensation items, including raises ranging from 6.4 percent to 21.9 percent for the head lawyers of six UC campuses. Steven Drown, chief counsel for UC Davis, received the largest raise, bringing his salary to $250,000.
Many students and union leaders who spoke pushed a five-point plan created by a union-backed group called Refund California. They asked regents to sign a pledge to support increasing income taxes on California's wealthiest, changing Proposition 13 to increase corporate property taxes, enacting a federal sales tax on large-scale financial transactions, reducing underwater mortgage debt, and reversing tuition increases, layoffs, and cuts to public education and other services.
"You said here today you're going to go and ask the state for more money, but you have no concrete proposal for where that money will come from or how it will get to UC," said Cheryl Deutsch, a UCLA grad student and leader of the United Auto Workers union that represents student employees. "The Refund California pledge offers concrete alternatives."
UC officials deflected the requests to sign onto the pledge but promised to work with students to petition the state for more money. Sherry Lansing, chair of the regents, asked students to organize a protest at the Capitol in January at which regents and students could march side by side.
Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, a Democrat who sits on the board by virtue of his office, suggested that UC representatives target their message to Republican lawmakers, who oppose tax increases.
"It is not enough to come to Sacramento and talk to those of us who agree," Pérez said.
Outside on the UC Davis quad, about 80 tents were set up with Tibetan prayer flags strung between lampposts. Teach-ins were being held on the sidewalk and under a tarp-covered geodesic dome.
Students and other Occupy protesters marched to the student financial aid office in Dutton Hall. They filled the lobby and a second-story mezzanine chanting, "No cuts, no fees, education must be free."
"The way we guarantee victory is stay here and don't leave," said Monica Smith, a lawyer with a group called By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN. "If the police try to drag us out, we win because the whole world will be watching."
About 200 students sat or stood and listened to Nathan Brown, assistant professor of English, lecture on the socialist dialectic, quoting from Karl Marx's "The Communist Manifesto." University officials stood back and observed the proceedings, and a bicycle officer rode up and listened. Protesters said they planned to stay all night.
But most people at UC Davis appeared to have ignored the protesters' call for everyone on campus to strike Monday. Students biked to class, packed into Starbucks and hit the gym.
Melanie Lopez showed up at a small protest outside the regents meeting because her professor asked the class to meet there. But the 22-year-old senior from Fremont debated leaving to study elsewhere. She said she shares concerns about rising tuition but doesn't believe skipping class was the answer.
"We're paying money to go to class," she said. "And I don't want to waste that money."

BRYAN PATRICK / bpatrick@sacbee.com
UC Davis students occupying Dutton Hall listen as Nathan Brown, an assistant professor of English, lectures from the stairs Monday about socialism and Marxism. Protesters there and elsewhere also interrupted the UC regents’ long-distance meeting.

BRYAN PATRICK / bpatrick@sacbee.com
UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi listens as a dozen protesters declare a need for a “people’s regents meeting” at UC Davis. Protesters in San Francisco and Los Angeles also interrupted the regents, who then relocated to other rooms on the campuses.

2011-11-28 "Protesters disrupt UC regents meeting in San Francisco" by Amy Crawford from "SF Examiner" newspaper
[http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/education/2011/11/protesters-disrupt-uc-regents-meeting-san-francisco#ixzz1f7naoUKH]
The revolution will be run according to parliamentary procedure.
Protesters who disrupted a meeting of the University of California regents at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus Monday took over the boardroom and held their own meeting, voting on motions including a resolution demanding the resignation of top officials.
“We are inviting the regents to participate in a people’s regents meeting,” said UC Berkeley graduate student Erica Ward, who facilitated the assembly of a few dozen students, faculty, parents and staff.
The regents, scattered between four campuses and a Florida hotel, held their meeting by conference call. A gathering originally scheduled for two weeks ago was canceled amid fears of violence.
On Monday, regents allowed 90 minutes of comment, during which people at the four campuses criticized officials’ connections to moneyed interests and bemoaned tuition increases and budget cuts, as well as the violent response by university police to recent protests at UC Davis and UC Berkeley.
When public comment ended, Mission Bay protesters drowned out the voices of regents. Then, after rearranging their chairs into a circle, the protesters held a meeting governed by Robert’s Rules of Order, introducing a series of resolutions and voting with a show of hands.
“We demand that UC President Mark Yudof, the president of the university, and Chancellors [Robert] Birgeneau [of UC Berkeley] and [Linda] Katehi [of UC Davis] vacate those positions immediately,” proposed a UC Berkeley student who identified himself as Dan.
The resolution passed, 26 to 0.
Most of the regents present at Mission Bay retreated into another room, but Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom joined the protesters. He expressed sympathy with their cause, but declined to sign when presented with a pledge to raise taxes on the rich.
“Every one of these things I am happy to orally commit to,” he said, while adding that he did not believe in signing pledges.
Meanwhile, the other regents continued their teleconference in another room, where they unanimously approved a 2012-13 budget including $6.5 billion in core operating expenditures, with $2.7 billion needed from the state. If Sacramento does not approve that request, tuition increases will be on the table.

2011-11-22 "Calistoga police association head calls off boycott" by Sean Scully from "Calistoga Weekly" newspaper
[http://napavalleyregister.com/calistogan/news/local/calistoga-police-association-head-calls-off-boycott/article_2d88277e-154d-11e1-92a3-001cc4c002e0.html]
The head of the Calistoga Police Officers Association canceled the organization’s month-old boycott of city businesses late Monday and asked the community for forgiveness.
“It was my mistake to request California law enforcement and firefighter associations to no longer do business here,”  President Mark Harden wrote in a letter to the editor [http://napavalleyregister.com/calistogan/news/opinion/police-officers-boycott-is-over/article_bd09df74-154c-11e1-bf2f-001cc4c002e0.html]. “I apologize to the business professionals and the residents of this fine community for this error, and will do all I can to spread the word that our association is rescinding that ill-timed request.”
Harden and the association declared the boycott in a  letter to the editor published in The Weekly Calistogan on Oct. 27 [http://napavalleyregister.com/calistogan/news/opinion/editorial/city-council-left-officers-no-choice/article_f6214b12-001b-11e1-9d25-001cc4c03286.html]. It was intended to call attention to the officers’ unhappiness with the negotiations between the association and the city over a new labor contract. Those negotiations broke down in October, leading the City Council to impose a new contract forcing officers to pay more for pension and health insurance coverage.
Harden’s original letter outlined the officers’ complaints, including the amount the city spends on the community pool and a contract with the Chamber of Commerce to promote tourism.
The letter concluded, however, by saying that the association had contacted the mailing list of the 65,000-member Peace Officers Research Association of California urging all law enforcement officers to avoid spending money with Calistoga merchants. It also said that the association members would limit their spending in town and were actively seeking jobs elsewhere.
“I think if you go back to that last paragraph, it detracted from the point we were trying to make,” Harden said in a somewhat sheepish interview Monday, his first public comments since he announced the boycott.
The reaction to his original letter was furious, with city officials and both local newspapers flooded with angry letters from the business community and others. Some writers vented anger at Harden personally, others resurrected the idea of abolishing the police department and contracting with the county Sheriff’s Office for protection, an idea that has been considered and rejected by the City Council at least twice over the years.
Harden said the original letter was seen and approved by the 14 members of the association. His decision to rescind the boycott this week, however, is one he made alone for the good of the association, he said.
An early test of the level of damage the boycott has done will be the public response to the annual Christmas Food Basket program, in which the CPOA collects food and money to donate to needy families. That program kicked off Monday.
The Calistoga Chamber of Commerce reacted with wary surprise to Harden’s change of heart.
“We are certainly not going to forget this situation in the short term, but we look forward to the CPOA’s demonstration of their reconciliatory outreach through their future words and actions,”  Executive Director Chris Canning said in a written statement [http://napavalleyregister.com/calistogan/news/opinion/chamber-hopes-to-move-forward/article_e8532e92-154c-11e1-86ab-001cc4c002e0.html].
City Manager Richard Spitler applauded the change.
“Obviously, the officers have to re-engage the community and the City Council members, and I think we as a city … have to allow for that to happen,” he said. “We have to leave the lines of communication open.”
He said rescinding the boycott now will allow time for emotions to settle before the association and the city have to go back to the bargaining table to hammer out a new contract. The old contract, imposed by the City Council, expires June 30 and a new round of negotiations will start in the spring.

2011-11-27 "Vallejo foreclosures spur surge in squatters" by Irma Widjojo from "Vallejo Times-Herald"
[http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_19420543]
Real estate agent Greg Roherer talks about a large picture window in a home that he is renovating which has been broken several times. Roherer's property is next door to home suspected of housing squatters. Apart from broken windows Roherer has found garbage dumped over his fence and electrical cords running into his home to steal electricity. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
As a real estate agent, Greg Rohrer bought the foreclosed house in the 300 block of Central Avenue in December to turn it into a rental property. Little did he know, the process was going to be more costly than he ever imagined.
Rohrer's property is next to a vacant home that has now been occupied by squatters.
He said he had found the people stealing electricity and power by running a hose and a cable onto his property. Rohrer also found garbage being dumped in his driveway and yard.
In all, it cost him thousands of dollars more than he expected. It cost him a little less than $2,000 alone to replace numerous broken windows. That doesn't include costs for cleaning up the garbage spewed around the property.
"I can't really say I know who did it," he said. "But this home is a nuisance."
Many neighborhood residents agree with Rohrer.
A mother of a 2-year-old boy said she has heard and seen many loud arguments in front of the vacant property.
"My son has started picking up bad words from them," she said.
The woman requested anonymity for fear of retribution.
The Central Avenue home is only one of 1,325 properties in Vallejo that were in some form of foreclosure as of last week, according to city of Vallejo Code Enforcement division numbers.
"It is a significant problem," Code Enforcement Manager Nimat Shakoor-Grantham said.
The division is responsible for ensuring that the exteriors of these vacant properties meet city code requirements, including being free of junk and overgrown weeds. The city cites owners of properties that fail to do so.
Shakoor-Grantham said she has noticed an increase in complaints about squatters since 2007 and 2008, the beginning of the real estate bust in Vallejo.
Shakoor-Grantham said, "99.9 percent of the time, if the property has been foreclosed, people abandon them."
However, Code Enforcement lacks the power to evict those who move in on abandoned property.
"Only the owners can evict the squatters," she added.
This has been proven difficult, especially if properties are owned by banks, as most are, Shakoor-Grantham said.
"Only once or twice since 2008 has a bank replied to us," Shakoor-Grantham said.
The Central Avenue home was foreclosed on in 2010, and is listed with the city of Vallejo to be owned by Fannie Mae. However, when contacted by the Times-Herald, a Fannie Mae representative said the home had been sold to a "servicer." No further explanation was given after further inquiries.
Code Enforcement has sent Fannie Mae a citation for more than $2,300 in penalties regarding the Central Avenue property, Shakoor-Grantham said. She said she has yet to receive any response from Fannie Mae.
The Vallejo Police Department has also received reports about squatters since the number of foreclosures increased.
"It was something that almost never occurred before, but because we have more vacant properties, it does occur occasionally now," Vallejo police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Bassett said.
However, the police are limited in what they can do when unable to interact with a property's owner.
"We have to determine who the owner is and they need to tell us that the people don't belong there," Bassett said. "It's extremely hard to reach the banks or owner."
With such difficulties in abating the squatting issue, many neighborhoods have taken a proactive stance by forming neighborhood watch groups.
Vallejo has 350 neighborhood watch groups, according to Fighting Back Partnership, which helps form them. Thatis significantly higher than just 10 groups in 2009.
These groups can sue property owners for quality-of-life issues and take them to small claims court, said Bob Sampayan of Fighting Back Partnership. Sampayan, recently elected to the Vallejo City Council, said he has helped neighborhood groups in six cases, five of which were successful.
The civil nuisance abatement process requires the residents of a neighborhood to record all issues caused by squatters, including psychological impacts. Each resident must pay $75 per person to file the paperwork. It takes as long as 30 days to get a court date after the filing date, and the judge has up to 90 days to respond after the hearing, Sampayan said.
"The process does work," he said. "Sadly, we don't have enough city employees to handle problems such as this. Hopefully in the future, we will. Until then, neighbors have to help neighbors."
Sampayan added that he understands the plight homeless people face, especially during winter.
"It's sad because there's a lot of homeless folk out there, and I understand why they (squat) especially in cold and rainy weather like this," he said. "But they are doing a long-term harm to the neighborhood."
Sampayan suggested residents go to a local branch of the bank, provided the owner of the property is a bank, and demand to be connected to the bank's asset protection department to discuss the property.
"Neighbors need to be more proactive," he said.
A resident in the area of the Central Avenue property is doing just that. She and a few other neighbors are forming a neighborhood watch group.
"I feel like the neighborhood watch program has done so much good for this community," the resident said. "We want to clean Vallejo up. It has so much potential, it just needs some love."
For more information about forming a neighborhood watch group, call Sampayan at (707)648-5230 during normal business hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

2011-11-27 "Vallejo seniors combat hunger with community help" by Jessica A. York from "Vallejo Times-Herald"
[http://www.timesheraldonline.com/rss/ci_19420539]
* Soup for Seniors
Canned/dry soup -- drop-off at Area Agency on Aging, 575 Sacramento St. in Vallejo, or at Vallejo Together meetings, Thursday nights 6 to 8 p.m., 1017 Tennessee St.
---
They came in quietly in twos or threes to find a smiling welcome and a free bag of canned soup and crackers.
The first Soup for Seniors giveaway at the Area Agency on Aging was launched Nov. 16, with little fanfare, but volunteers gave away almost 360 containers of soup in the event's first hour.
"There's a lot of seniors that need extra help with food, and not just in the winter," event organizer Maria Guevara, of Vallejo Together, said at the giveaway. "But in the winter, they get sick and it's cold ..."
California statistically has the most seniors in the country, and Vallejo has the most and poorest seniors in the county, said Florence Douglas Senior Center Executive Director Vicky Conrad. And resources for seniors are only getting thinner, as federal, state and city funding for seniors is cut, even as the U.S. government is expanding its definition of poverty, Area Agency on Aging Direct Services Supervisor Anne Payne said.
The new federal calculation method shifts millions of seniors below the poverty line by incorporating out-of-pocket medical costs in their expenses.
An estimated 20 percent of Solano County seniors do not receive enough income to meet basic needs without assistance, according to the Solano County Status Report on Seniors 2008.
Today's poor economy worsens the problem, Payne said. "There's more poverty, people are losing their homes, losing their retirement -- some of it's just heartbreaking. We want people to remain
Advertisement
independent as long as possible," Payne said. "We're working with a (senior) woman who's living in her car, because her time has run out at the shelter."
The Area Agency on Aging, which serves seniors regardless of income level, is joining forces with Vallejo Together to chip away at local seniors' hunger issues by offering the donated soup once a month. The giveaways are scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon on the third Wednesday of each month, and will be dependent on public donations, Guevara said.
For the November event, 360 containers of soup were collected through the joint efforts of Vallejo Together, Hand Maids of the Lord, Emmanuel Apostolic and St. Basil The Great.
"It's good -- it's helpful to us," senior citizen Clarita Alberto said, peering into a plastic bag handed to her at the soup giveaway.
Her friend Cora Baulino nodded in agreement, saying she liked the soup provided.
 Guevara said holding the soup giveaway at nonprofit agency's 575 Sacramento St. office is a great opportunity to connect seniors with services of which they might not have been aware.
Guevara called the Area Agency on Aging a "treasure trove of information." Payne said the new partnership has been nothing but beneficial to the Agency, as well. When seniors come for the soup, they may not need the nonprofit organization's referral, educational and case management services, but they will become aware of its availability for later on, Payne said.
The Area Agency on Aging serves both Solano and Napa counties, but is housed in Vallejo and is most utilized by Vallejo residents, Payne said.
Most senior clients are likely more familiar with the many direct-service organizations that the agency helps fund, like Meals on Wheels Solano County -- for which the Area Agency on Aging provides 65 percent of its annual funding
It also distributes funding to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano County and other programs.
For more information on senior services, visit the Area Agency on Aging at 575 Sacramento St., call (707) 644-6612, or go online at www.aaans.org.

Occupy Ozcat!!!

Vallejo now has 3 different Occupy movements... "Occupy Vallejo", "Occupy for Liberty", and now "Occupy Ozcat 89.5fm KZCT":

2011-11-26 "Top o' the morning" from "Vallejo Times-Herald"

2011-11-25 "Occupy SF plans to hold feast on bocce ball courts" by Vivian Ho from "San Francisco Chronicle" newspaper
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-25/bay-area/30443453_1_harvest-feast-protesters-camp-organizers]
While Occupy protesters in San Francisco didn't plan a Thanksgiving celebration, camp organizers are working to put together a Harvest Feast today.
The feast will most likely be held on the bocce ball courts that run down the middle of the camp on Justin Herman Plaza, said Nate Paluga, who gives tours of the camp.
About 100 protesters remain at the camp, and Glide Memorial Church members set aside about 400 meals to feed the protesters after the group's annual dinner at its location on Ellis Street, which fed an estimated 4,000.
Glide members packed up the serving station at about 2 p.m., cleaning up the tables under a canopy next to the camp's large white kitchen tent. Members of the camp helped themselves to the leftovers, as others meandered about, going in and out of tents.
The encampment on Justin Herman Plaza is the last camp left for Occupy SF after police raided and dismantled the camps in front of the Federal Reserve Bank on Market Street and One Market Street. Protesters braced themselves for a raid at the Justin Herman camp last week after the city's public health officials declared the site a public health nuisance.
So far, police have not raided the camp. Paluga said the protesters hope that the police, as well as the mayor and other city officials, will join their Harvest Feast.

Occupy San Francisco protesters are served a turkey dinner provided by Glide Memorial Church at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011.
Credit: Jeff Chiu

2011-11-23 "Santa Rosa Occupy campers without permits evicted" by Will Kane from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-23/bay-area/30436228_1_tents-campers-santa-rosa]
Occupy protesters in Santa Rosa who didn't have city permits for their campsites near City Hall were evicted by police Tuesday morning in a peaceful raid, officers said.
Police moved in before dawn and ordered campers without permits to pack up their belongings and move out. About 100 Occupy campers have been sleeping on the west side of City Hall since mid-October, and 100 or so homeless people have been sleeping on the east side.
Police evicted 26 tents whose occupants did not have permits, Lt. Craig Schwartz said. People in another 18 tents who did have permits were allowed to stay. Protesters with permits are required to display them on the outside of their tents.
Police began warning campers five days ago that if they didn't have a permit they would have to leave. Those without permits were given 40 minutes Tuesday to clear out or face arrest, Schwartz said.
"It went very, very smoothly," Schwartz said. "We got completely voluntary compliance with no arrests."
Campers with permits were allowed to return after the raid on the condition they arrange their tent sites in a manner approved by the Fire Department.
"They want to make sure there is enough space between the tents for us to get in if we need to," Schwartz said.
The city stopped issuing new permits for the Occupy camp Nov. 15. Existing permits expire next Wednesday.

2011-11-23 "As police watch, Occupy Oakland leaves lot" by Matthai Kuruvila, Justin Berton and Kevin Fagan from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-23/bay-area/30436161_1_tents-protesters-move-new-phase]
While a phalanx of police in riot gear watched silently from across the street late Tuesday night, about 200 Occupy Oakland protesters cleared out a camp they'd maintained all day on a lot in West Oakland, but that wasn't the end of it.
It took about an hour to tear down the 25 tents and move them, some chairs and a food station to the sidewalk. Once that was accomplished at about 9:30 p.m. the police left. About half of the protest crowd also left, but then at about 10:15 p.m., the remaining 50 or so went back onto the lot to mill around, set up at least one tent and begin chanting slogans.
"We will not be defeated!" one man yelled through a bullhorn. Several members of the group said they intended to leave soon and plan their next move today, but others said they were considering staying on the lot.
"We thought the owner wanted us here, but I think maybe she didn't know what she was getting into and changed her mind," Occupy activist Leo Ritz-Barr said as he cut a huge "Occupy Oakland" banner off the fence surrounding the lot at 18th and Linden streets. "We'll find another action.
"The encampments aren't the most important part of our work, and we can find other ways to fight for people to stay in their homes. If anything, this shows how hard it is to help them," he said.
Police gave the group a warning to clear the lot at about 8:30 p.m., protesters said via Twitter.
 Earlier Tuesday, the woman who owns the lot said the group had moved in without her permission and that she wanted them out.
"I have asked them to leave," said Gloria Cobb, who owns the lot. "They won't leave. I can't afford to stop work and physically go down there."
Activists had said late Monday that Cobb gave them permission to set up their tents, but Cobb denied that.
"No, it is not the case," said Cobb, the sister of longtime activist and Oakland Post Publisher Paul Cobb.
About 25 tents and a food station had gone up since late Monday, when Occupy Oakland's general assembly voted to take up residence on the grassy patch of land, which is surrounded by a chain-link fence.
Police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said Gloria Cobb contacted the department Tuesday and was in the process of signing a form to allow officers to enter the property.
Watson said the intention was to give the Occupiers, who had already numbered around 50 by mid-afternoon, a chance to leave. If they declined, officers would arrest them on suspicion of illegally entering private property, she said.

New phase -
Caitlin Manning, an organizer, said the move onto foreclosed property was a new phase in Occupy activists' protests against economic inequality.
"This is the first attempt to take over property that belongs to the 1 percent - the banks - and give it back to the people," Manning said.
Records show that Cobb was served a default notice in August and has until Dec. 11 to right the loan before the property returns to the lender, Wells Fargo bank. The parcel includes a residential building, but neighbors said the lot has gone unused since at least 1980.
Manning said the protesters had picked the location because they'd been told Cobb approved of their message. She expressed surprise when she learned of the owner's request for them to leave.
"That's a complete change in tune," Manning said.
Residents on the street offered varying degrees of interest in their new neighbors.
Jahmal Elliott, who lives across the street, said it was good to see the empty space being used. "As long as they don't bother me, I'm not trippin,' " Elliott said.
Melvin Welch, who lives next to the encampment, said no one had told him the tents were going in, despite protesters' statements that they had met with neighbors ahead of time.
Welch said he was still trying to make sense of the sudden flood of people and media onto his front porch.
Throughout the day, campers and supporters strolled onto the vacant lot, bringing tents, wooden pallets and food.
Thaddeus Guidry, 24, manned an opening to the lot through a tear in the chain-link fence, allowing in supporters and denying access to the media.

'It's going to go on' -
Told that Cobb did not want them squatting on her property, Guidry said he hoped she would visit them and was confident she'd want them to stay.
"Gloria is going to get on board," Guidry said. "If she doesn't, we're still going to do this movement. It's going to go on."
The camp went up less than a day after about 100 protesters were moved out of the last long-standing Occupy Oakland camp, in Snow Park near Lake Merritt. Demonstrators at the new site said they intended to camp for the foreseeable future.
"The community supports us," said Julion Lewis-Tatman.
Some in the neighborhood, however, were upset.
"They're just moving from spot to spot, and they're not accomplishing much," said Bobby Wilkerson, 61, a bus driver who has lived in the neighborhood his whole life. "They're messing with the people they're trying to help. They're not camping in front of corporations."

Occupy Oakland protesters set up an encampment on a vacant lot in West Oakland before they left late in the evening. Photo: Sarah Rice / Special to The Chronicle

Thaddeus Guidry serves as the site's gatekeeper, manning an opening in the fence and allowing supporters onto the lot.

Melvin Keley holds the Occupy Oakland sign at the group's new camp at 18th and Linden Streets. A small group of about 30 Occupy Oakland protesters set up camp at a vacant lot at the corner of 18th and Linden Streets in Oakland, Calif., on Monday night, November 21, 2011. They expect more to join them. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

Note from Northbay Uprising:

The above photograph was originally published in the newspaper edition showing Melvin Keley facing down the "phalanx of police in riot gear" alongside other liberated Oak-folk, but this is entirely censored in the online edition as per the new editorial narrative directive to not show the Occupy movement as "under-dogs or martyrs" (as the public tends to sympathize with them)...

2011-11-23 "Top 5 FOX myths to debunk this Thanksgiving" from "MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION" [http://pol.moveon.org]
Americans are talking about the economy—a lot. They're talking about Occupy Wall Street and the Super Committee, about an economy that only works for the 1% and about unemployment.
But thanks to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, lots of talk about the economy means lots of misinformation about the economy.

MYTH #1: The congressional Super Committee failed because both sides refuse to compromise.
REALITY: The Super Committee failed because Republicans' number one, non-negotiable priority is to protect millionaires and billionaires from paying even one more penny in taxes. [1] Democrats repeatedly offered to make deep spending cuts—far deeper than most progressives would like—in exchange for raising taxes on the wealthy and closing corporate loopholes, only to be refused again and again. [2] So even though the vast majority of Americans say they want to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits, and raise taxes on the rich and corporations, [3] that won't happen until Republicans put aside their extremist stance.

MYTH #2: Nobody knows what Occupy Wall Street is about.
REALITY: Occupy Wall Street may not have a formal list of demands, but anyone who's been paying attention understands the core problems that occupiers are protesting—that corporations have far too much power in our political system, that Wall Street banks crashed our economy but were never held accountable, and that the richest 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans—156 million people—combined. [4]

MYTH #3: Occupiers should stop protesting and just get a job.
REALITY: As anybody who's looked for a job in the last few years knows, there just aren't jobs out there. That's a big part of why occupiers are protesting. In September, there were four times as many unemployed people as job openings. [5] And for those who are lucky enough to find a job, median wages today are lower than they were a decade ago. [6]

MYTH #4: Occupy Wall Street is intent on provoking violence, especially against banks and the police.
REALITY: Occupations across the country have committed themselves to nonviolent protest, in the greatest traditions of protest movements. Some of their protests have been met with acts of police violence—tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets [7]—but in many cases, protesters have reminded police that the police officers are part of the 99%, too. [8] And in the few cases when people have shown up at Occupy demonstrations and committed acts of vandalism, other protesters have even repaired their acts of vandalism. [9]

MYTH #5: The biggest crisis facing our country is out of control government spending.
REALITY: The two biggest drivers of our deficit—by far—are the economic crash and the Bush tax cuts. [10] We have millions of people out of work, corporations hoarding cash, and factories sitting idle. If we put all those people back to work—rebuilding infrastructure, educating our children, and researching new technologies—it'll shrink the deficit and make our economy stronger for the long haul. And we can easily afford it if we make sure the rich—who are taking home a larger percentage of income than any time since 1917 [11]—pay their fair share.

Sources:

1. "No, 'both sides' aren't equally to blame for supercommittee failure," The Washington Post, November 21, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268071&id=33208-4263750-Za0YQkx&t=4

2. "Wonkbook: In supercommittee, Dems moved right and Republicans moved righter," The Washington Post, November 22, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268072&id=33208-4263750-Za0YQkx&t=5

3. "CNN Poll: What The Super Committee Produced Is...Exactly What We Don't Want," Talking Points Memo, November 21, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268073&id=33208-4263750-Za0YQkx&t=6

"Medicare, Social Security & The Deficit," National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, September 2011
http://www.ncpssm.org/pdf/poll.pdf

4. "Michael Moore says 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined," Politifact Wisconsin, March 10, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268074&id=33208-4263750-Za0YQkx&t=7

5. "Fact: 4 job seekers per opening in U.S.," CNN, September 12, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268075&id=33208-4263750-Za0YQkx&t=8

6. "Median household income," Wikipedia, Accessed November 22, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268076&id=33208-4263750-Za0YQkx&t=9

7. "Occupy movement: police reaction in pictures," The Guardian, November 21, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268077&id=33208-4263750-Za0YQkx&t=10

8. "Occupy Demonstrators Mark Two Months of Protests," NPR, November 17, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268078&id=33208-4263750-Za0YQkx&t=11

9. "Occupy Oakland protesters assist in cleanup efforts," News 10 ABC, November 3, 2011
http://www.news10.net/news/article/161383/2/Occupy-Oakland-protesters-assist-in-cleanup-efforts-

10. "Economic Downturn and Bush Policies Continue to Drive Large Projected Deficits," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, May 10, 2011
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3490

11. "Income Inequality Is At An All-Time High: STUDY," The Huffington Post, September 14, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268079&id=33208-4263750-Za0YQkx&t=12

2011-11-21 "Police confront Occupy protesters in S.F., Oakland; S.F., Oakland step up enforcement, clear offshoot sites" by Will Kane, Erin Allday, Heather Knight and Casey Newton from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-21/news/30427524_1_protesters-police-officers-new-camp]
San Francisco and Oakland authorities moved to take greater control of the Occupy protests Sunday, raiding an offshoot of the San Francisco encampment and clearing a new camp in a vacant lot in Oakland.
In San Francisco, protesters at Justin Herman Plaza responded by temporarily shutting down Market Street on Sunday evening, rallying raucously and listening to speeches by progressive politicians pledging their support.
The Oakland response was quieter, as protesters at the last remaining camp at Snow Park said they would probably leave rather than dig in if police began a rumored raid.
"I'm not going to do anyone any good in jail," shrugged Randy Peppers, 31, who was already packed to leave Snow Park if police arrived.
The day's events began unfolding at 1 a.m. Sunday when San Francisco police officers evicted demonstrators from their encampment outside the Federal Reserve Bank at 101 Market St.
Six protesters were arrested for interfering with the effort, and Department of Public Works crews removed about a dozen tents, said Officer Albie Esparza.

'Zero tolerance' -
"There's zero tolerance for that site - we're not going to have anyone establish any camps there, period," he said.
The larger encampment at Justin Herman Plaza remained in place Sunday night. At about 4:40 p.m., a group of more than 100 protesters marched from there to the Federal Reserve to protest the early-morning raid and what some described as rough treatment by the police officers, including pushing protesters to the ground even though they weren't resisting arrest.
"It was very confusing," said Ethan Mackey, a San Francisco resident who was camping outside the Federal Reserve but avoided arrest Sunday. "It seemed like half the cops were saying, 'I really don't want to be here doing this.' And the other half of the cops were loving slamming nerds."
Once the protesters reached the Federal Reserve on Sunday, they began dismantling the metal barriers around the building and throwing them into the street. The protest moved from the sidewalk into the middle of Market Street, and more than two dozen police in riot gear quickly arrived to stop traffic beginning at Drumm Street.
For the next several hours, protesters sang songs and chanted "Whose streets? Our streets!" Several elected officials addressed the crowd, including San Francisco Supervisors Eric Mar and David Campos and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco.
"You are extremely brave and courageous," Mar told the crowd. "No matter what they use against us ... we will fight back, and we will support you at the Board of Supervisors."
Most of those from the encampment at 101 Market quickly reassembled at Justin Herman Plaza after the raid. They vowed to continue protesting.
Prince Jerrick Falling-Darling, who moved from the cleared camp to Justin Herman after the raid, said the Justin Herman campers would be more resistant to police efforts to disrupt it than his group had been.
"This group is a lot rowdier than ours," he said. "This one isn't going down without a fight."
Oakland's largest camp, at Frank Ogawa Plaza, was raided in the predawn hours last Monday, and protesters on Saturday night defied city orders by tearing down a chain-link fence and setting up a new camp in a vacant lot next to the Fox Theater in the Uptown neighborhood.

Quiet eviction -
At 8 a.m. Sunday, dozens of police officers in riot gear lined up outside the new encampment and told protesters to clear out. Demonstrators complied, scrambling to haul their possessions to sidewalks as the officers inched forward.
There were no arrests or injuries, police said, in contrast to previous demonstrations that had turned into violent clashes between protesters and officers.
Mayor Jean Quan's office said last Thursday that no new encampments would be allowed. She reiterated that pledge after the police action Sunday.
"Oakland ... supports upholding free speech and peaceful forms of expression, but the cost of the encampments is growing and putting a strain on our already fragile resources," Quan said in a statement.
Michael Phillips, 53, has lived near the Uptown lot for the past month. Formerly homeless, he said he supports the Occupy movement but understood why the police took action.
"I understand people are tired of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, but you got to respect that people live here too," he said Sunday.
About 100 protesters gathered for a general assembly meeting at Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland's City Hall on Sunday evening - a smaller turnout than normal - and discussed a plan to attempt to shut down the port Dec. 12. There was very little discussion of establishing another encampment.
Some Oakland protesters seemed disillusioned. Cyd Chrystos, 55, of Oakland said she's seen the tone of the movement change over the last week since the original camp was shut down.
"It's like 'Days of our Lives,' the hippie version," she said at Frank Ogawa Plaza, referring to protest organizers arguing with each other and lacking a focus. "This week was just extremely virulent."
But others said the movement has legs.
"It's like a whack-a-mole," said James Armstrong, 42, a Snow Park camper who came to Oakland from Redding. "We'll just pop up somewhere else."

A protester signals others to return to Frank Ogawa Plaza.
Credit: Jason Henry / Special to The Chronicle

2011-11-19 "Occupy Oakland Calls for TOTAL WEST COAST PORT SHUTDOWN ON 12/12" by OccupyWallSt
In Oakland: the West Coast Port Shutdown Coordinating Committee will meet on General Assembly days at 5pm before the GA to organize the local shutdown, and to network with other occupations.
---
Proposal for a Coordinated West Coast Port Shutdown, Passed With Unanimous Consensus by vote of the Occupy Oakland General Assembly 11/18/2012:
In response to coordinated attacks on the occupations and attacks on workers across the nation:
Occupy Oakland calls for the blockade and disruption of the economic apparatus of the 1% with a coordinated shutdown of ports on the entire West Coast on December 12th. The 1% has disrupted the lives of longshoremen and port truckers and the workers who create their wealth, just as coordinated nationwide police attacks have turned our cities into battlegrounds in an effort to disrupt our Occupy movement.
We call on each West Coast occupation to organize a mass mobilization to shut down its local port. Our eyes are on the continued union-busting and attacks on organized labor, in particular the rupture of Longshoremen jurisdiction in Longview Washington by the EGT. Already, Occupy Los Angeles has passed a resolution to carry out a port action on the Port Of Los Angeles on December 12th, to shut down SSA terminals, which are owned by Goldman Sachs.
Occupy Oakland expands this call to the entire West Coast, and calls for continuing solidarity with the Longshoremen in Longview Washington in their ongoing struggle against the EGT. The EGT is an international grain exporter led by Bunge LTD, a company constituted of 1% bankers whose practices have ruined the lives of the working class all over the world, from Argentina to the West Coast of the US. During the November 2nd General Strike, tens of thousands shutdown the Port Of Oakland as a warning shot to EGT to stop its attacks on Longview. Since the EGT has disregarded this message, and continues to attack the Longshoremen at Longview, we will now shut down ports along the entire West Coast.
Participating occupations are asked to ensure that during the port shutdowns the local arbitrator rules in favor of longshoremen not crossing community picket lines in order to avoid recriminations against them. Should there be any retaliation against any workers as a result of their honoring pickets or supporting our port actions, additional solidarity actions should be prepared. In the event of police repression of any of the mobilizations, shutdown actions may be extended to multiple days.
In Solidarity and Struggle,
Occupy Oakland


Proposal on 'Action Agreements'
We Occupy Oakland believe in agreements that allow for a diversity of participants from the 99% needed to build a strategic mass movement that is radically inclusive and capable of standing up to and overthrowing the rule of the 1% and to advance an agenda of national and global political, economic and social systems and processes that meet human and ecological needs and not corporate greed;
We make agreements about how we take action together at our General Assemblies, beyond which individuals and groups are autonomous. We are not addressing here any philosophical or political requirements or judgements about the validity of some tactics over others, just minimal agreements to create a basis of trust to work together and participate in as diverse communities, to know what to expect from each other and consent to our involvement in and support of our actions.
Therefore, be it resolved that:
Occupy Oakland action participants agree not to engage in physical assaults against other people, except as one chooses in the case of self-defense or the defense of Occupy Oakland action participants or innocent bystanders from physical threats and assaults; and
Occupy Oakland participants agree not to engage in destruction or damage of physical property; and
Occupy Oakland shall not deem measures taken to access, enter, maintain and/or physically secure vacant buildings, empty lots or other spaces such as public parks, so as to engage in or make habitable an occupation of such buildings, lots or public spaces, as property destruction or damage; and
While Occupy Oakland recognizes that some individuals or groups may nevertheless engage in activities that are not in accordance with the above definition, those who do so will be acting autonomously and not in the name of Occupy Oakland.

Power to the People!

2011-11-20 "UC Davis Faculty Association Demands The Resignation of UC Davis Chancellor For Pepper Spraying Students Defending Occupy UC Davis; UCD peppered by 'Net outrage" from "Sacramento Bee" newspaper
[http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/20/v-print/4067841/ucd-peppered-by-net-outrage.html]
UC Davis officials found themselves under a barrage of Internet-driven outrage Saturday, after campus police officers pepper-sprayed protesters at an Occupy UC Davis encampment Friday.
Saturday evening, after holding a news conference to address intense nationwide media interest, UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi walked through a blocks-long gantlet of students, who stood silently as she passed to a waiting SUV. Katehi had stayed inside the building for more than two hours after the conference.
Earlier, the crowd of protesters, which grew to 300 or more, had waved signs and chanted "Resignation, Resignation" and "Take Responsibility." There were no police officers in sight and protesters dispersed shortly after the chancellor departed.
The board of the Davis Faculty Association, among others, has called for her resignation.
Katehi found herself in the line of fire after numerous videos of Friday's pepper-spraying went viral on the Internet.
The videos show police spraying a red mist along a line of passively resisting students who had linked arms as they sat on the ground. The police had ordered them to take down tents they had set up on the campus quad as part of a protest in sympathy with Occupy Wall Street and against UC fee hikes, among other things.
Ten protesters were arrested, including nine students, while about 200 people watched, many shooting video on cameras or cellphones that ended up on various websites. The crowd chanted "Shame on you" and other phrases as those arrested were carried off.
As public and media interest in the pepper-spraying grew Saturday, Katehi, who was supportive of the officers in a statement Friday, issued a statement expressing her "sadness for the events this past Friday" and vowing to have a task force review police actions in the protest.
Protesters and campus officials said they took calls from CNN News and "Good Morning America," as well as a host of local news outlets, leading campus officials to call a Saturday afternoon teleconference to brief the media.
At the conference, Katehi said the review would be by an outside body and that she refused to resign in the face of criticism.
"I don't think it's appropriate for me to resign at this moment," she said.
Katehi, campus Chief of Police Annette Spicuzza and Fred Wood, assistant chancellor for student affairs, attended the news conference. Katehi made a long statement and then the three took a few questions before concluding.
Katehi reiterated that under UC Davis policy, students "cannot set up equipment and set up an encampment and stay overnight," and said that "the intent was not to disperse the rally, the intent was to disperse the tents."
She also said she plans to address the campus Monday.
The campus protests are allied with the loosely organized Occupy Wall Street movement that challenges the current American economic structure, particularly income disparity. Earlier, students had occupied the Mrak Hall administration building but left Wednesday when requested.
Thursday, a group of students set up tents in the quad. Friday morning, they received notice from Katehi that they were required to remove the tents by 3 p.m.
Spicuzza said Friday that about 35 officers from UC Davis and other UC campuses as well as the city of Davis responded to the protest about 4 p.m., wearing protective gear.
Spicuzza said officers were forced to use pepper spray when students surrounded them. They used a sweeping motion on the group, per procedure, to avoid injury, she said.
"There was no way out of that circle," Spicuzza said Friday. "They were cutting the officers off from their support. It's a very volatile situation."
Videos of the incident drew strong reaction, and a national conversation on the incident was quickly joined. Some commenters were outraged by what they saw as needless violence, while others supported the police action.
Davis resident Bob Blaine, 25, was at Friday's scene and also outside the news conference Saturday. Speaking of the rapidly spreading videos, he said officials "just lit a huge fire in Davis."
Various postings on sacbee.com had more than 1,500 comments combined by Saturday evening. An online account at The Huffington Post website had more than 30,000 comments.
Many viewers took particular exception to Spicuzza's statement that police were forced to use pepper spray, saying the videos clearly show that officers were in no danger.
"The idea that they were surrounded or threatened is absurd," said Bob O'Connor, who contacted The Bee. "They were using pepper spray because they wanted the kids off the sidewalk."
"They moved in on us in full armor and didn't make any attempt to engage in dialogue," said Bernie Goldsmith, an attorney who was among the protesters Friday.
Lynne Wilson, a Seattle attorney who has written on the subject, said some court decisions have faulted police for using pepper on nonviolent protesters.
"When protesters are just passively resisting, pepper spray is not usually an option," she said.
However, officer safety is a major issue.
"Surrounding police officers is probably not a good idea," she said.
In one video, an officer, with students milling in the background holding cameras, methodically sprays the faces of students seated passively on the ground.
There may be more to it than that, suggested John McGinness, a former Sacramento County sheriff.
When students were told to leave, they had that option, he said.
"When you see the ultimate use of force, it's not pretty," he said. But pepper spray causes less harm to protesters and officers than other methods, McGinness said.
Occupy protests have been met with police force in several instances in California.
A veteran at an Occupy Oakland protest ended up with a cracked skull after police there advanced on an encampment last month.
Student protesters at the University of California, Berkeley, were jabbed by police with batons Nov. 9. Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau first sided strongly with the police, but later released a statement calling video of the Nov. 9 incident "disturbing" and instructing the school's police review board to investigate the use of batons.
Despite the arrests and spray, protesters do not seem deterred. Feelings were running high among those who gathered Saturday night outside Katehi's teleconference.
"It was a pretty powerful moment," said senior Kevin Dunn, 21, from Dana Point, of Katehi's walk through the silent protesters. "This showed the world our peaceful protest and our resolve."
Many expressed their concern about Friday's incident.
"It was really sad," said Javier De Leon, a 27-year-old junior from Orange County. "I was scared that it could happen at UC Davis, which is known as a forward and progressive school."
Some of the protesters involved on Friday told The Bee they plan to return to the campus Monday.
"The significant part was that we were able to nonviolently nudge them (police) off the quad," said Chris Wong, a senior and an Occupy activist on campus and with Occupy Davis, a separate movement in the city of Davis.
He expects Monday to bring more students and more police to the quad.
"It's going to be very tense," he predicted.

2011-11-20 "Mellower Occupy movement grows in the suburbs" by Kevin Fagan from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-20/news/30424076_1_tent-city-protests-camping]
Gerri Field stood with hundreds of protesters in front of Tiffany's in Walnut Creek this week, railing against economic injustice at the top of her lungs and drawing approving honks from passing cars with her sign, "Heal America, Tax Wall Street."
For two sunny midday hours, the crowd did its best to "occupy" the busiest intersection in town, Mount Diablo Boulevard and North Main Street, singing "This Land Is Your Land" and denouncing corporate greed and the ultrarich 1 percent.
Then it was time for lunch. Time to put the signs away.
No thrown bottles at police. No tear gas or cops in sight. And certainly no tents.
"Camping? My idea of camping is a room in the Hyatt," said Field, a 50-year-old schoolteacher. "That's not what my protest is about."
In the suburbs, the Occupy movement has a whole different flavor.
And there is, unbeknownst to many, a lot of occupying being done beyond big city borders. At least 30 Occupy movements exist from Santa Cruz north through Alameda and Concord to Vacaville, Napa and Santa Rosa.
The message is the same as in the big cities. But most of those movements, with a few notable exceptions such as Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa, don't involve tents, and even there the method is mellower - more upscale, less rageful, cleaner.

Different vibes-
Unlike the Occupy camps in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, homeless people and clashes with police have not dominated the imagery.
"A tent city in a place like this would alienate too many people," psychologist Jane Vinson, 77, said at the Thursday demonstration in Walnut Creek, which drew about 300 people and was purposefully situated near a Bank of America branch.
"Our culture does include Neiman Marcus as well as the Apple store, and a tent city would just attract angry people who would muddy our message."
In other words, anarchists who like to toss rocks and the chronically homeless are welcome only if they want to pitch in without mess or conflict.
That stands in contrast to what has happened in the bigger cities.

Hostility -
Before it was cleared by police last week, the Occupy Oakland camp in front of City Hall had become dominated by street people, anarchists and rough travelers. And most advocated hostile resistance to any move by authorities.
Twice over the past month, anarchists sparked near-riot situations after throwing bottles and rocks at Oakland police, whose tear-gassing response has been criticized by some as excessive.
UC Berkeley's Occupy movement, dominated by students, is more intellectual. But its nonviolent adherents were attacked this month by baton-wielding police when they joined arms to prevent police from removing a tent city. A second encampment was cleared calmly last week, but several protesters have pledged to re-establish it in defiance of university dictates.
There is little such thumbing of the nose in the suburbs.

Within the system -
In places such as San Ramon, Novato and Fairfield, organizers have staged regular noisy, visible demonstrations that feature the same cries of wealth inequity and governmental indifference to the middle class. But when these protesters hoist their banners, there are few with multiple face piercings or blond dreadlocks over Rainbow Nation-style tatters.
Eddie Bauer khakis are about as edgy as these folks get, with the exception of the occasional costume.
"It's a different fit here in the burbs," said Ellis Goldberg, a marketer who spent part of Thursday at a major Dublin intersection with 50 other Occupiers. He wore a pig costume with big-bank names emblazoned on it. "In San Francisco, it's easy to find places to set up a camp and to protest, but out here, we are more spread out.
"We have to find shopping places and traffic centers to get our message out, and it helps to have some humor to get attention."
Like many of his colleagues, he said he has great sympathy for homeless people, whom he sees as even harder-hit victims of economic turmoil. But the suburbs don't have homeless residents in city-style numbers, and most agree that if a tent camp were to spring up, it would attract the few that are there. The fear is that, as in the cities, a long-term homeless camp in the heart of any bedroom community would draw official ire and fuzz up the central point of what the movement is trying to communicate.
To some extent, that has happened in Santa Rosa.
Like most Occupy camps, the North Bay city's started in mid-October. Initially, it consisted of hundreds of working- or middle-class protesters in tents outside City Hall.
 Soon, however, the longtime homeless people who'd primarily been bedding down along Santa Rosa Creek saw an opportunity. They were welcomed at first, but two months later, the goodwill is kaput.
About 100 Occupy campers have been sleeping on the west side of City Hall, and 100 or so homeless people have been sleeping on the east side. They usually talk only when donated food shows up.
"We don't even know those guys," said Dan Murray, 55, an unemployed construction worker who slept in the streets before moving to City Hall. "They don't give a damn about us.
"We call our side 'East L.A.,' and their side 'Hollywood.' I like a little of what they're saying, but I really just want a place to sleep."

Homeless -



Santa Rosa's Occupiers say they feel badly for the homeless, but they have to keep on message. And there is no stomach to wrangle nastily with anyone.
They chat with police, even when officers were handing out eviction notices last week. The city worked amiably with protesters until this month when they started to require two-week camping permits. Most Occupiers declined, saying they didn't want to be controlled by governmental red tape.
 But even now, the two sides still talk. "We want to work with the city when we can, not against it, because the real culprits are the banks," said Natalie Corwin, 22. By Saturday, the tents had dwindled to a handful, and more were being pulled down voluntarily - except on the east side, where homeless people drew about 40 tent permits and intended to stay.
"For me, it's never been about camping," said 31-year-old landscaper Lev Woolf, who took his tent down but still stays much of each night at the camp. "That's just a tactic. I'm more about the message. If we don't keep it in the public eye with tents, we'll do it another way.
"You don't have to fight to get your point across."

Occupy Walnut Creek protesters rally outside Tiffany's at the intersection of Mount Diablo Boulevard and North Main Street. Credit: Photos by Michael Macor / The Chronicle

2011-11-19 "Occupy: Robert Schultze's portraits of protest; Photographer captures images, stories of Occupy demonstrators" by Sara Hayden from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-19/entertainment/30421302_1_family-portrait-tablet-computer-frames]
Growing up, Robert Schultze didn't always imagine he'd become a photographer. His father wanted him to pursue medicine, but Schultze dreamed of writing, acting and archaeology. To this day, he still thinks dinosaurs are cool, but he has since given up aspirations of being Indiana Jones in favor of taking photographs in the Bay Area.
 The 24-year-old, who is from a Wisconsin town of fewer than 1,000 people, has attracted quite a crowd these past few weeks. Some of them have been spectators, but more than 250 are people from the Occupy movement who have agreed to pose for him in a series of black-and-white portraits. Some use their picket signs, guitars or dogs as props, but many stand solo.
These images are part of his "Occupy California: Portraits of the 99%" online project. Schultze's goal is to capture as many portraits of Occupy movement participants as possible. He usually shoots about 40 to 60 subjects per day.
"Everybody has a story," says Schultze, who moved to San Francisco in 2008. "I like learning about someone visually. You can talk to people, too, but you learn cues from them from the body language."
Schultze has been to the San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Santa Rosa and San Jose Occupy sites. Every time he moves, he contacts the camp's media people for approval to set up a mini photo studio, lugs hundreds of pounds of equipment to the site, tracks down potential subjects to get releases signed, and shoots.
Sometimes the project can be a tough sell. Most who were photographed requested anonymity. People were especially aloof at Occupy Oakland. After half a day of being unable to persuade anyone to talk to him, Schultze changed his game by letting the photos he had already taken speak for themselves.
Once they saw all the portraits loaded on his tablet computer, people felt comfortable that his shoots were more formal than what most photographers had attempted. Most of the photos, taken against a simple backdrop, are featured on his blog or the Occupy websites, but they've also been cropping up on the participants' personal profiles.

Making deep connections -
Once people agree to work with him, Schultze shoots five to six frames for each person. The stint is short, but the connection is deep. In those frames, the model looks directly at him and Schultze tries to visually frame his or her whole story. Maxina Ventura, an Occupy Berkeley demonstrator, wanted to have a family portrait taken alongside her three children.
"It brings it to the point of looking at what and who people are seeing," Ventura said. "We are a family out here, not homeless, but we want to have a voice here. ... It's about exposing this disparity."
After Schultze has edited the best takes, he publishes them on his social media sites, and the next day, the cycle starts again. An editorial photographer by trade, Schultze has never done a project like this on such a large scale.
"This project just came to me really organically and quickly," he says, so he's had to be creative in finding the means to make it happen. Schultze intends for the portraits to be used however the participants need.
 Schultze asks for payment only if someone chooses to publish the photos, so he can fund his journey to other Occupy sites. He originally got started by using IndieGoGo, a website that lets people generate funds from donors to pursue their passions. Friends and family have also given him money to buy BART tickets and cover other travel costs. So far, he's raised about $300, which will help him go to San Diego next month.
Occupy California has become Schultze's day job for the time being, though he doesn't necessarily take sides over the issues represented by the movement. "I don't think I could do as good a job if I was biased," he says.

Accommodating individuals -
Once, Schultze invited a boy sitting next to the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco to his mobile photo studio to get his picture taken, but the boy said he couldn't move because of a cardiac problem he had experienced the night before, a side effect of cancer. At the end of the day, Schultze went to bring the backdrop to him, but the boy was gone.
The experience "really did make me want to do (this project), just in a different way than working with people who are healthy or fine or enthusiastic, because most of them have been," Schultze says. "But to see someone weaker - physically - to be there also for this, that kind of stood out to me."

"Occupy California: Portraits of the 99%" by Robert Schultze
[www.robertschultze.net] [somephotographer.com]
Photographer Robert Schultze, who shoots 40 to 60 subjects a day, took these portraits of Occupy demonstrators. "This project just came to me really organically and quickly," he says.
A portrait of an Occupy protester at 200 E Santa Clara St, San Jose, California on 10/16/11

A portrait of an Occupy protester at 101 Market St in San Francisco CA on 10/08/11

A portrait of an Occupy protester at 100 Santa Rosa Ave in Santa Rosa CA on 10/15/11
 

Other participants from various Occupy gatherings:

  

 

2011-11-19 "Occupy Oakland seizes vacant lot for encampment; Occupy activists seize vacant lot to set up tents" by Erin Allday and Rachel Gordon from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-20/news/30424004_1_tents-encampment-demonstrators]
Rebellious Occupy Oakland demonstrators cut through a chain-link fence and tore down no-trespassing signs in a vacant Uptown neighborhood lot Saturday night, setting up a new encampment in bold defiance of Mayor Jean Quan.
"They obviously don't want us at the plaza downtown. We might as well make this space useful," said Chris Skantz, 23.
The dirt-covered lot at 19th Street and Telegraph Avenue, next to the refurbished Fox Theater, is five blocks north of Frank Ogawa Plaza, where Occupy Oakland demonstrators were ousted in a predawn police raid Monday.
The evicted demonstrators announced two days later that they planned to resettle in the Uptown area, an emerging neighborhood of trendy lofts, restaurants and bars, after business leaders urged city officials to shut down the camp at Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of City Hall. Quan's office said Thursday that no new encampments would be tolerated.

Protesters get past officers -
Police set up a perimeter around the new site Saturday, but hundreds of demonstrators, who had just concluded a march through downtown and the Lake Merritt neighborhoods, got past officers with ease and without confrontation. During the march, they shouted criticism at banks, one of the objects of their larger protest against economic injustice.
 They cut through the fencing with wire cutters and tore it down completely before quickly setting up a dozen tents on the property, which is owned by the Oakland Redevelopment Agency. Several hours later, as rain fell, the number of tents had grown to about 30. Volunteers at a makeshift kitchen served drinking water and vegetarian curry over rice.

Festive mood -
The mood was festive. Protesters danced to music blaring from a sound truck. Police said late Saturday night that no one had been arrested.
It was unclear how Oakland officials would respond as the night wore on.
"They're certainly able to protest, but they will not be able to camp there," said Darolyn Davis, a spokeswoman for the Quan administration.
She did not say whether police would be ordered to dismantle the encampment. Occupy Oakland representatives also were elusive in announcing their plans. But one said the lot probably wouldn't be occupied more than a night or two.
Sherbeam Wright, a nearby resident, was not happy that the demonstrators showed up.
"I supported Occupy Oakland. At this point I don't know what they stand for anymore," she said.

S.F. moves in on tents -
Earlier in the day in San Francisco, city officials moved in on two Occupy SF encampments set up near the waterfront.
Public works crews arrived at the compound at Justin Herman Plaza a little after noon to remove dozens of tents set up illegally on a narrow patch of muddy grass along the Embarcadero. They allowed the larger encampment in the public plaza's interior to stay intact - for now.
Authorities also persuaded protesters to voluntarily take down more than 20 tents in front of the Federal Reserve Bank at 101 Market St. in the Financial District. But some larger tented structures serving as information and reception centers for the local Occupy movement stayed put after a small group of nonviolent resisters stood in front of them with linked arms, keeping city workers at bay.
"We don't want to use force," said San Francisco Public Works chief Mohammed Nuru, the city's point person on the Occupy SF encampments.
People at the Justin Herman compound were more cooperative as several participants quickly shook off their tarps, packed up their tents and moved to other locations within the encampment. But about three dozen public works employees wearing blue disposable jumpsuits, gloves and protective masks over their noses and mouths removed tents when people didn't move fast enough.
City officials said the belongings would be stored rather than thrown away if people wanted to retrieve them later. The crews carrying large garbage bags also picked up accumulated trash and wooden pallets that filled up four pickup trucks.
Police were present but remained in the background.

Conditions set forth -
The crackdown, which Occupy SF representatives were warned of in advance, came after the San Francisco Department of Public Health declared the encampment a public health nuisance on Thursday, paving the way for it to be cleared out. Public works officials also issued a set of 11 conditions that they said must be met if demonstrators had a chance of staying.
Among them: There can be no more than 100 small tents, spaced at least 2 feet apart, and they will not be permitted on the plaza's two bocce ball courts or grassy areas; pathways must be kept clear; health and fire inspectors, as well as animal-control officers, must have full access; and other health and safety standards must be met.
"There are still major areas of noncompliance," Nuru said Saturday as he stood on the edge of the encampment surveying the scene.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who has taken a cautious approach in dealing with the Occupy camps, said he hopes to avoid violent skirmishes between police and protesters, like those experienced in Oakland and other cities.
"I'm trying to think a little long term here of how everyone can get to a point where everyone has some degree of satisfaction out of what we do," he said.
The Occupy SF communications team issued a statement describing the conditions set by the city as unachievable.
"We believe that these demands are merely a strategic harassment aimed at silencing the voice of the movement," the statement said.

Occupy Oakland demonstrators tear down the chain-link fence around a vacant lot at Telegraph Avenue and 19th Street. Credit: Photos by Michael Macor / The Chronicle