Time to listen to the actual 99 percent
John Chiv/For the
Times-Standard
Posted: 02/15/2012 02:27:11 AM PST
Occupy Eureka, despite
at least three My Words from different people, and at least 100 people or so
who have attempted to peacefully communicate with you, the tactics you are
using to get your message are disrespectful and deceitful, and you are manipulating
the Brown Act and the generosity of an open community.
Less than a handful of protesters are there most
of the time, so having a couple hundred show up at counter protests or having
more than five people at peak hours waving signs, is not speaking for the 99
percent.
I have put my personal feelings aside and have
attempted to get to know your group.
Ordinances take time. This has gone on far too
long, and public officials need to do more than pacify and meet with Occupy
Eureka.
Some protesters are a threat to public health
and safety. It is a waste of time to arrest and try and prosecute them. As an
EPD dispatcher informed me, “People have a right to protest and cannot be
arrested for that. Even those that are a public nuisance get out in five
hours.” There is no room in the jail for non-violent offenders. So does someone
need to get assaulted or raped before public officials will stop being
politically correct and send them a serious message?
I am unable to attend Board of Supervisors and
City Council meetings because of work.
Despite several people pointing out the tactics
of Occupy Eureka, despite my efforts to amicably talk to the two main
organizers, certain people have held us hostage for months. They have a right
to protest. What they don't have a right to do is trash public and private
property. In addition to what they have done to the courthouse property, they
trash nearby private property and office complexes. Many of them block people
like me from walking to the courthouse. Walking near the courthouse is a
problem; the noise day and night is not conducive to area businesses. I walk, I
don't have a choice to avoid these people; some of whom have taken to verbally
harassing me, particularly after I approached one guy who I watched for months
go up and harass and approach women and be sexually lewd.
If any other citizen was smoking pot and was
drunk and loitering, they would be prosecuted. Many of these people hang around
Old Town, and now they have a new spot. There are domestic disputes caused by
some of these people. The police have been out here, often daily, and this is a
waste of their time. When they are dealing with Occupy Eureka, how is this
affecting response to more serious crimes?
With all the men in the area and all the law
enforcement, why is this guy still here day after day harassing women? He is
not mentally ill. I told him because I have seen him be sane when he isn't
playing for the crowd. His fellow protesters were silent.
Now they have moved from the courthouse steps to
congregating around the traffic light on 5th and depending on who is
protesting, it is difficult for people to walk through. I am frustrated with
the kid glove treatment these protesters are getting. And to any of the
officials and people that sympathize with them, you don't have to deal with
them. You feel so strongly about their plight, take one of them home with you,
live with them for a week or a month and then get back to me.
They lost their right to protest when they
decided to disrespect the rest of us.
These are not all the protesters, but the people
causing the problems use Occupy Eureka as an excuse. If Occupy Eureka wants
presence 24-7, they need to stop blocking access, have someone there to monitor
their crew, stop the harassment and sexual harassment of women and they need to
keep the noise down.
It's time to listen to the actual 99 percent.