Author: Patty Jones

UPDATES inside

Police confiscated a large amount of personal property when they swept through the civic Center Plaza early friday morning, and many people have expressed concern over how or if they would be able to get any of it back.

As posted by Matthew Hall, a rough list of items confiscated from OccupySD

• 4 big pop up tents
• 7 big trash cans full of miscellaneous stuff (ie. skateboards, blankets, clothing, sleeping bags, tents, tarps)
• 15 chairs
• 1 shabby chic yellow nightstand
• 8 tables
• variety of cardboard signs
• 7 bikes
• 30 backpacks/carts/roller suitcases
• 9 boxes labeled games, dvds/books, toys, helmets, lunch boxes, blankets
• 1 bucket labeled OC and mace remedy and prevention, containing vinegar and imodium AD
• 3 coolers
• 4-5 cameras
• 10 plastic crates full of stuff
• Also: 16 individual lots of property impounded from specific arrestees (backpacks, purses, tents, etc.)

SOURCE: SDPD

1:54 am, Calls coming in to Frank that arrests are being made at the plaza and at the solidarity site…

At San Diego City College today more than a hundred students staged a walkout in solidarity with Occupy San Diego. After holding a rally at Curren Plaza where many students spoke to an enthusiastic crowd, about 150 protesters marched from the campus, down B Street, chanting and addressing pedestrians and onlookers, to the Civic Center Plaza to join the Occupy Movement protesters.

The coalition “A Better San Diego“, comprised of community, faith, labor, LGBT rights, immigrant rights, environmental and social justice organizations (view a partial list), have been working to build an economic vision for our city that focuses on jobs, quality of life, equality, prosperity and fairness for more San Diegans. This coalition has been organizing a forum where selected candidates running for San Diego Mayor will address issues that concern workers, students, retirees… actually, the 99%!

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 – 6:30 p.m.

Ocean Beach Recreation Center
4726 Santa Monica Ave., Ocean Beach 92107

6:30 pm

• Call to order
• Introductions
• Agenda modifications and approval

6:35 pm

Item #001 – Action Item
Ocean Park Villas – #6-08-100-A1 (1984 Abbott St – Corner of Abbott and Saratoga)

2:56pm

News from Frank:

Occupy San Diego intends to continue Occupation of Civic Center Plaza!

About 500 people are rallying right now at the San Diego Civic Center Plaza and the general agreement is that they will stay put.

In a letter published at the Voice of San Diego yesterday, candidate Loch David Crane has announced that he has withdrawn from the San Diego mayoral race. He states that despite physical problems that made it difficult for him to campaign he gave it his best effort because no one else spoke out to defend legal medical marijuana patients. I applaud him for taking a stance and wish him the best with his endeavors and hope his physical condition improves.

However, in his letter to Voice of San Diego he misguidedly attacks the labor council…

4:50 pm

Frank reports that about 200 protesters and lots of police are still in the Civic Center Plaza, and right now the protesters are discussing what comes next for the encampment.

There is one tent and a food table still standing in the plaza and police have agreed to leave them in place as a symbol of the Occupy Movement. HOWEVER, they will not be allowed to have sleeping bags or to sleep in the plaza.

Anyone having additional information is encouraged to comment!

6:40 pm

Frank reports that police are allowing protesters to sleep in the plaza, TONIGHT ONLY.

Frank has been downtown all day with OccupySD. He just called to let me know (and to let you know) that it appears that arrests may be imminent in the Civic Center Concourse.

From what he can ascertain, there is to be a large dance event in the concourse on Saturday that is scheduled to go from 3pm to midnight. The police want the plaza cleared so the plaza can be cleaned for this event (sounds familiar… I think something similar happened in Seattle and is now an issue in New York). Some protesters are willing to remove their tents for the event, but don’t want to leave the encampment.

UPDATES INSIDE

Originally posted Oct. 7, 2011

It’s been a long, short week, if that makes any sense at all… I haven’t slept much in the last few days, the wheels in my head have been spinning constantly, a mantra in the near reaches of my conscious thoughts, we, are, the 99%…

After 4 hours of sleep last night, an early morning meeting with the Better San Diego Coalition about the upcoming Mayoral Debate (more on that in the next few days) and tending to family matters most of the afternoon I grabbed a couple of chicken burritos from our neighborhood mexican grill and hopped on the trolley to downtown hoping to meet up with Frank and a multitude of friends, old and new, in the Civic Center to begin the Occupation of San Diego.

Ordinance would fine banks $1000 a day for failure to maintain foreclosed properties.

The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and the Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) have released a brief outlining the costs of foreclosed properties on neighborhoods and cities. Some of the points they raise:

• Foreclosures harm the value of all homes within a neighborhood.
  Homes left vacant and untended during and after a foreclosure can become nuisance properties, deterring potential homebuyers and lowering home values in the neighborhood. Homes in foreclosure experience an average 22% loss in value, and homes within 1/8 of a mile of a foreclosure also decline in value.

Downtown San Diego – By 12:30 this afternoon more than two hundred people gathered to leaflet and rally in support of Southern California Grocery Workers who are prepared to strike after voting overwhelmingly against the latest offer from Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons, that would have a devastating effect on their health care.

More photos and video inside…