After more than three hours of discussion on Tuesday night, members of the Occupy San Francisco general assembly declined to accept the city’s offer to relocate from Justin Herman Plaza to an empty lot near 16th and Mission streets.
The general assembly, attended by about 75 members, was called after Mohammed Nuru, interim director of the Department of Public Works, handed the group a “facility license agreement” earlier on Tuesday for the site at 1950 Mission St. The agreement, which is good until June 30, 2012, includes a list of 17 provisions, including no pets, no minors and no cooking.
Some members declined to relocate to the Mission District site because they did not like some of the provisions; others did not want to be told what to do by the city, and some objected because of hygiene issues associated with the proposed site.
“We are not going to take the crumbs the city is giving us,” said occupier Meagan Malony, adding that they done that for too long. “We want the five-course meal.”
Occupiers have already informed Nuru that they do not like the offer “as it stands,” and feel that more clarification is needed. It’s not clear what the city will do now, but some members speculate that a raid is imminent.
Also discussed at the meeting were plans to expand and allow other autonomous occupy groups to form, and sending a response to the city about why they do not like the offer to move.
Some suggested that the city should conduct a full environmental review at the site, as it is known to have rats, and study other health affects related to Mission Creek, which runs beneath the site.
The 36,000-square-foot lot, owned by the San Francisco Unified School District, has been vacant since 2002.
The former tenant, the Phoenix Continuation School, merged with Civic Center Secondary School because not enough students were enrolled to justify keeping it open, a school district spokeswoman said.
The school board is currently in discussions about what to do with the site. Some school board members have proposed handing it over to developers so they can build affordable housing and possibly house teachers. Those plans are still years away.
The site is special to the district because it is the only “surplus” site — a site that the state allows the school district to make money from — that is zoned for high-density housing.
We are being subjected to a police state where protesting is not being tolerated. These evictions exemplify the suppression of our civil liberties including the right to organize, one of the basis rights set forth by our founding fathers. Police brutality is running rampant under orders from Governors who have their pockets lined with Wall Street and Special Interest monies. Stand up and lend your voice with these free posters I was compelled to design on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/11/propaganda-for-occupy-movement.html