Occupy L.A.: Get Off My Lawn!Edition
Occupy LA protest not working wonders for City Hall lawn
By Dakota Smith Staff Writer
Posted: 10/13/2011 06:26:14 PM PDT
Updated: 10/13/2011 07:18:21 PM PDT
The Occupy LA protest may be gathering strength at City Hall, but one thing is fading: the lawn.
The grass surrounding the 1928 government building has turned from verdant green to yellow-brown, trampled by tents, bare feet and the regular arrival of heavy disc jockey equipment.
If the lawn needs to be replaced, the bill to taxpayers will be at least $50,000, said Regina Adams, executive officer of the Department of Recreation and Parks.
"There might be some areas that can still be saved," Adams said. "But some areas may have to be totally replaced."
"The lawn can't get the water and sunlight it requires," she added. "The people are there 24 hours a day."
In three weeks, Occupy LA has transformed the 1.7-acre park into a surreal urban campground with nearly 300 tents. Makeshift laundry lines hang from the city's fig trees, trance music blares nightly from the steps of City Hall and protesters talk of creating a utopia.
Based on the Occupy Wall Street protest, which decries the banking industry and financial inequality, Los Angeles protesters have formed a mostly functioning government, anointing committees to oversee issues such as social media, actions and first aid.
Minutes of their nightly "general assembly" meetings held on the steps of City Hall are posted online, detailing passed resolutions, such as a decision on Wednesday to accept support from a bicycle group.
But within this mini-city striving to be a utopia, reality intrudes. The group's website warns that jewelry and equipment have been stolen out of tents. Cigarettes are casually thrown on the increasingly dry ground. And then there's the grass.
"We know it's a problem," said Gia Trimble, a media spokesperson for Occupy LA. "We want to fix the grass and get it back."
The group is already forming a grass committee to deal with the issue, Trimble said. The committee plans to solicit funds from local unions, some of which have thrown their support behind the Occupy LA movement.
City officials have been generally supportive of the protesters, with the City Council passing a resolution agreeing with their goals and their exercise of First Amendment rights. The Mayor's Office passed out rain ponchos.
"I am pleased to learn that the Occupy LA protesters are taking proactive steps to address potential damage to our City Hall park," said City Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents downtown. "And doing so in a way that respects our city and the taxpayers."
Less obvious is what to do about the nearly 400 sprinklers on the City Hall lawn that are now watering protesters' tents at midnight.
As of this week, the Los Angeles Police Department is no longer enforcing the city's strict ban on sleeping in public parks, so the sprinklers have become a problem. Previously, Occupy LA participants were forced to move their tents to the sidewalk by 10:30 p.m., but now they're fully encamped on the lawn.
As for why LAPD isn't enforcing the ban on sleeping in the park, Capt. William Murphy pointed to the confrontations and the mass arrests at the Occupy Wall Street event in New York.
"The bottom line is that many of the other cities had all sort of confrontations," Murphy said
.
"We've made it clear to them that this is a violation of the law," he added. "But it boils down to the letter of the law and the spirit of the law."
In fact, New York City officials today plan to start cracking down on Occupy Wall Streeters in Zuccotti Park, requiring them to leave so that the property's private owner can clean the area. The protesters see the cleaning as an excuse for evicting them.
According to Murphy, the Los Angeles protesters have no clear target date for leaving.
"First they said Dec. 31, and now they're telling us indefinitely," he said.
However long they stay, some Occupy LA protesters are promising that the lawn will be fixed before they depart.
"If this goes on `til December, or into the spring, we can just compost the lawn," said Randy Ritchie, a Malibu resident who runs a composting company. "You could just put down the compost and the rains will come."
Source: http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_19107350
This is I swear the oddest article I've read on the Occupy Protest. I need to do more research into Occupy L.A. in general, since I can't make it there in person.
By Dakota Smith Staff Writer
Posted: 10/13/2011 06:26:14 PM PDT
Updated: 10/13/2011 07:18:21 PM PDT
The Occupy LA protest may be gathering strength at City Hall, but one thing is fading: the lawn.
The grass surrounding the 1928 government building has turned from verdant green to yellow-brown, trampled by tents, bare feet and the regular arrival of heavy disc jockey equipment.
If the lawn needs to be replaced, the bill to taxpayers will be at least $50,000, said Regina Adams, executive officer of the Department of Recreation and Parks.
"There might be some areas that can still be saved," Adams said. "But some areas may have to be totally replaced."
"The lawn can't get the water and sunlight it requires," she added. "The people are there 24 hours a day."
In three weeks, Occupy LA has transformed the 1.7-acre park into a surreal urban campground with nearly 300 tents. Makeshift laundry lines hang from the city's fig trees, trance music blares nightly from the steps of City Hall and protesters talk of creating a utopia.
Based on the Occupy Wall Street protest, which decries the banking industry and financial inequality, Los Angeles protesters have formed a mostly functioning government, anointing committees to oversee issues such as social media, actions and first aid.
Minutes of their nightly "general assembly" meetings held on the steps of City Hall are posted online, detailing passed resolutions, such as a decision on Wednesday to accept support from a bicycle group.
But within this mini-city striving to be a utopia, reality intrudes. The group's website warns that jewelry and equipment have been stolen out of tents. Cigarettes are casually thrown on the increasingly dry ground. And then there's the grass.
"We know it's a problem," said Gia Trimble, a media spokesperson for Occupy LA. "We want to fix the grass and get it back."
The group is already forming a grass committee to deal with the issue, Trimble said. The committee plans to solicit funds from local unions, some of which have thrown their support behind the Occupy LA movement.
City officials have been generally supportive of the protesters, with the City Council passing a resolution agreeing with their goals and their exercise of First Amendment rights. The Mayor's Office passed out rain ponchos.
"I am pleased to learn that the Occupy LA protesters are taking proactive steps to address potential damage to our City Hall park," said City Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents downtown. "And doing so in a way that respects our city and the taxpayers."
Less obvious is what to do about the nearly 400 sprinklers on the City Hall lawn that are now watering protesters' tents at midnight.
As of this week, the Los Angeles Police Department is no longer enforcing the city's strict ban on sleeping in public parks, so the sprinklers have become a problem. Previously, Occupy LA participants were forced to move their tents to the sidewalk by 10:30 p.m., but now they're fully encamped on the lawn.
As for why LAPD isn't enforcing the ban on sleeping in the park, Capt. William Murphy pointed to the confrontations and the mass arrests at the Occupy Wall Street event in New York.
"The bottom line is that many of the other cities had all sort of confrontations," Murphy said
.
"We've made it clear to them that this is a violation of the law," he added. "But it boils down to the letter of the law and the spirit of the law."
In fact, New York City officials today plan to start cracking down on Occupy Wall Streeters in Zuccotti Park, requiring them to leave so that the property's private owner can clean the area. The protesters see the cleaning as an excuse for evicting them.
According to Murphy, the Los Angeles protesters have no clear target date for leaving.
"First they said Dec. 31, and now they're telling us indefinitely," he said.
However long they stay, some Occupy LA protesters are promising that the lawn will be fixed before they depart.
"If this goes on `til December, or into the spring, we can just compost the lawn," said Randy Ritchie, a Malibu resident who runs a composting company. "You could just put down the compost and the rains will come."
Source: http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_19107350
This is I swear the oddest article I've read on the Occupy Protest. I need to do more research into Occupy L.A. in general, since I can't make it there in person.