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OTHERWISE OCCUPIED The crowds in Santa Rosa outnumbered crowds in Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Here to Stay
Occupy Santa Rosa draws 2,750; many vow to remain BY LEILANI CLARK
O
n Oct. 15, thousands of people gathered at Santa Rosa City Hall and marched downtown in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street in New York City. Calling themselves the 99%, demonstrators held signs
castigating widespread unemployment, cuts to education and healthcare, big-bank bailouts and political power of corporations. Among the day’s speakers offering solutions was Ben Boyce, a labor rights and social justice advocate from Sonoma.
“Number one: we need a moratorium on foreclosures; number two: an end to the Bush tax cuts; number three: establish a financial transaction tax to pay for the social services, the teachers, nurses, firefighters that protect us, that are the backbone of the middle class; number four: we need to have a national jobs program,” Boyce said, cheers
Leilani Clark
NORTH BAY BOH E MI A N | OCTO BE R 1 9 – 25, 20 1 1 | BO H E M I AN.COM
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erupting after each point. With an estimated 2,750 people, Occupy Santa Rosa ranked sixth on a New York Times list of attendance figures for similar events around the country on Oct. 15—below only New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Scott, a carpenter in his mid30s who did not give his last name and whose frustration with threats of foreclosure inspired his presence at city hall, echoed a familiar sentiment. “I’ve been through the bank system with my house,” he said. “A lot of my friends have, too. It’s all a scam. If people get together, move their accounts, go more local, corporations will do something different.” City council members Gary Wysocky and Susan Gorin attended the Saturday rally, lending support. “It’s really important,” Gorin said, “that we direct our energies in correctly identifying that we want to see some serious fixes in our banking system and economic system.” Wysocky joined the rally, he said, “so the next generation can have a shot at an American dream—because they don’t have it right now. They don’t have it. The income disparity keeps getting bigger and bigger.” As in New York, protesters at Santa Rosa City Hall have pledged to stay. According to Frank Anderson, a 19-year-old business student at SRJC and one of the event’s organizers, 62 people stayed overnight after Saturday’s march and rally. “We want to build more community and find solutions to issues that are happening right now,” he explained. “We’re not just holding up signs. We are talking about what needs to be changed and how to change it.” On Sunday morning, fortified by oatmeal and vegetables prepared by Food Not Bombs, the sleep-deprived but motivated protesters held a general assembly, a discussion regularly interrupted by supportive horns and shouts from the street.