Updates on wall Street Occupiers from one end of the country to the other. Oakland Occupiers have been ordered to vacate Frank Ogawa Plaza outside City Hall.
Via the Oakland City website, 1 page PDF, the "Notice to Vacate Frank Ogawa Plaza" has been posted, dated October 20, 2011:
The City of Oakland is committed to facilitating peaceful forms of expression and free speech rights, and protecting personal safety and property.
From the outset of the demonstration on October 10, the City of Oakland has maintained its commitment to facilitating the peaceful expression of First Amendment rights, balanced with the City’s equal commitment to protecting and maintaining public safety, public health, and crowd control. While demonstrators have a right to peaceful expression, the City has a responsibility to ensure a public health and safety plan during such events.
During the past 10 days, City officials have provided written documentation—handed out in person and posted on the City’s web site—outlining specific public health, safety, and crowd control issues to be addressed by demonstrators.
We believe that after 10 days, the City can no longer uphold public health and safety. In recent days, camp conditions and occupants’ behavior have significantly deteriorated, and it is no longer manageable to maintain a public health and safety plan. These conditions, which have not been sufficiently addressed, include:
• Fire hazards: cooking with open flame, improper storage and disposal of propane tanks, storage of grease, inadequate fire extinguishers, density of tents and flammable materials, smoking in tents, piles of hay and wood
• Safety hazards: increasing frequency of violence, assaults, threats and intimidation
• Denial of access: to emergency personnel to treat injured persons and to police to patrol the Plaza
• Sanitation hazards: public urination and defecation, litter, improper food preparation and storage practices
• Health hazards: existing rodent problem has been exacerbated and is endangering public health.
County vector control is unable to implement measures to control the rat population under current conditions
• Physical damage: graffiti, vandalism and other damage to Plaza infrastructure and the historic tree
• Disruption of the Plaza for public use: some events for groups who have complied with City
regulations have been reprogrammed or relocated
As a result of these serious conditions, the Administration has determined that facilitating this expression of speech is no longer viable, nor in the interest of public health and safety. Peaceful daytime assembly will continue to be allowed between 6 am and 10 pm daily. No tents or overnight camping permitted.
Oakland is doing what New York was too corrupt to do after Zuccotti Park owners were threatened by elected officials after requesting help, again, to evacuate their privately owned Park for maintenance, cleanup and repairs.More here, with video, on how out of control Occupiers in Oakland have been, violence, threats, etc...
Across the country in New York, hundreds of angry Manhattan residents attended a Community Board meeting last night to complain of issues stemming from the NY Occupiers and hygiene, garbage, noise and respectfulness, not to mention the defecating on doordteps and in doorways of retail shops!.
Via The Politico:
“They are defecating on our doorsteps,” said Catherine Hughes, who lives one block from Zuccotti Park, according to the New York Post. “A lot of people are very frustrated. A lot of people are concerned about the safety of our kids.”
Particularly annoying, suggested several community members at the meeting, was the repetitive drumming late into the night.
“The occupiers are not our neighbors, our neighbors do not beat on drums when they’re sleeping, our neighbors do not verbally attack on the way to work… Our neighbors do not break into buildings or defecate on our street,” another speaker said, according to FOX 5 news.
[...]
The meeting resulted in a resolution with three major points, including calls for limiting the use of drums and air horns to two hours a day, during the midday; making arrangements for bathrooms to eliminate urination and defecation in the doorways of retail shops and residential buildings; and the removal of police barricades that block access to homes and building.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is warning the New York Occupiers of a crackdown (will believe it when I see it), via another The Politico piece:
Bloomberg — who described the demonstrators as mostly peaceful and said they “generally” obey the law — warned that the city is going to start enforcing laws requiring demonstrators to acquire permits for marches and large gatherings.
“We will start enforcing that more,” Bloomberg told listeners, according to the NY Post.
Bloomberg did not further elaborate on what type of enforcement will come into play or when the process will begin. He said, however, that the takeover of Zuccotti Park will have to be resolved eventually in order to restore the space to everyone and not just those supporting Occupy Wall Street.
So, from Bloomberg's own statement, Occupiers have been violating the permit laws and his office has not previously been enforcing those very same laws.
Isn't there a law about defecating and/or urinating in public?
Why yes, there is!!!
§153.09 Throwing or dropping offensive matter into streets, public places, rivers and other places prohibited.
No person shall throw or put any blood, swill, brine, offensive animal matter, noxious liquid, dead animals, offal, putrid or stinking vegetable or animal matter or other filthy matter of any kind, and no person shall allow any such matter to run or fall into any street, public place, sewer, receiving basin or river, any standing or running water or into any other waters of the City as defined in §145.01.
I am so glad Obama incited this class war movement and that he and Democrats have embraced them so lovingly and blessed them.
Related Occupier antics from WuA
Video- Wall Street Occupier Epic Meltdown
Denver Cracks Down On Occupiers Like New York Was Too Corrupt To Do
Zuccotti Park Owners Threatened By Elected Officials Into Postponing Cleanup Of Occupied Park
Contact Info For Bloomberg: Occupiers Plan To Fight Cleanup and Zuccotti Park Rules
Occupier Wants College Tuition Paid: Embedded Notice To NYPD About Cleanup
What Has Obama Done? Occupier Urges Violence In Occupy LA Protest
Occupy Threat Center Finds Significant Increase In Violent Rhetoric, Boston Cracks Down On Occupiers
Occupier Defecates On Police Car
Pushback Against Occupiers: 'We Are 53% Group
1%'ers to Occupiers: 'I Paid For Everything I Own'
Dems Embrace The Occupiers As They Spiral Out Of Control
TEXT- 'Time To Kill' Email Sent To NY Assembly Members: 'It's time to tax the millionaires!'
Obama's Class Warfare Rhetoric Led To The Death Threats Against The Wealthy?
Occupy Wall Street Vs Tea Party Protests: Biggest Difference, Tea Party Protesters Don't Break The Law
(Cartoon by Glenn McCoy via Townhall)
Minor grammatical changes made to this post.