Minutes from 3.5.12. Thanks everyone.

MEETING
Attending: Rachel, John Poole, Neil, Loreen Theveny, Carolyn Epple, Allen, Linda Picton, Victoria Weaver, Attila Nagy, Dubui, Adrienne Lauby

March 15 Public Meeting at Library
The System Is Broken! What Will We Do About It?

- set up crew: John, Attila, Ant Buddy, Carolyn

- food:
BRAINSTRORM Al will bring some sandwiches, Victoria can donate bread, will drop it off on Wednesday. Bring the sandwich-making materials and let people make their own. Cheese, peanut butter and jelly, Canned ham- 5 pounds for 11 dollars at Food Max. Fruit. Soup? Really long subway sandwiches. Costco sushi platter (6-8 people) approx 10 bucks, Crèam cheese and cucumbers, Homemade mac and cheese, vegie loaf or vegie chopped liver, Good vegies saute, with tofu, bags of fresh apples, Big Lots- has water for around 3 bucks a flat. Attila will bring water if he can get water container with spouts.

PLAN: Mac and cheese with ladle (Alan), ham, vegies, Al’s sandwiches, fruit, drinks. All the details wil be handled by the sub-committee.
Sub-Committeee: Ant Buddy, Rachel and Carolyn

Transport Supplies, morning of the event: Ant Buddy, Adrienne, Attila

Attila: We want to give these strategies to the March 15 meeting, not to pick one. Eventually, we want to get it on the agenda.

Victoria will arrive 1:15-1:30 pm
MARCH 15 MEETING “The Sytem is Broken! What will we do about it?”

Possible strategy

Three pronged approach (Phrase all this as Suggestions and “how can we work together?”) :
1) Immediate improvement, meeting people, organizing
2) Force/pressure the city and county to repeal sleeping laws (Intentional civil disobedience sleeping) Mobilize clergy, people who are not already part of Occupy. Get on agenda of city and county.
3) Move public opinion to understand homeless and mental disability issues and pressure the city, publicize statistics from a reliable source. Testimonies..
Four) Help people who do set up homeless shelters to create community. At least, show up a couple times a week just to listen. Encourage those who know because they are in the system to show up to help people.

OUR DEMANDS: Government & Laws Out of the Way. The past flawed policy has gotten us to this place. Let people make simple shelters. Stop coming down on us for sleeping. Cut the eligibility requirements and bureaucratic hoops involved in for mental health assistance and CMSP. Make change to healthcare a systemic change.

DISCUSSION
Linda: The city council members have an attitude of entitlement. One (Mr. Hours, sp?) said post election that we need to attract the “quality people to Sonoma County. He meant incomes over 100,000 bucks a year.

John: It would be good to have a plan for what we want. Has been working on a shelter idea called, Mad Housers. madhousers.org/shelter.shtml

Testimonials about why the shelter system isn’t enough. People with mental and physical disabilities and gender issues have trouble in the shelters. There aren’t enough cots to go around.

Protest in front of HUD. Ask them to pressure the Feds for more money.
protest at the state building.
The former policy wouldn’t allow single occupancy housing, that is part of why we got to this place.
The system isn’t “needs” based it’s based on what is the money available.
The cost of living in Sonoma County makes affordible housing almost impossible.
Many people who have been “served” by the system know how to negotiate it. They can be experts and teachers for others.

Free Health care, free mental health care: These are systemic changes.

Linda says that the strategy of the 1% is to privatize. City parking is a business contract. Bank of America now has private security (Twenty-four hours?) out front.

Order of our Work: organizing, sleep outs (police come, press come), go to the county, go to the city,

Let’s try to get a large group of homeless people to show up for the City Council and County Supervisors meetings. Fill up the room and spill into the hall.

The campaign works best when you have a single focus (ie: Get Out of Our Way) and are relentless, and in the face of downtown business, city government, etc. Continue and continue.

Alan: This week, provide immediate services & think about how to get the clergy involved,

MEETING AGENDA
30 min for food
10 min for presentation
12 forty -1:20 small groups
1:20-2pm Large discussion

MAY 1 MARCH

We’d like to have information about this March at our March 15 meeting.
Dorothy Day Contingent: (The theme of the march is Economic Justice and Human Rights )

Brainstorm, wear sleeping bags over our shoulders, shopping carts, luggage cart, silver mylar emergency blankets, Shopping carts people use to go to grocery store, luggage carriers, plastic garbage bags as a shawl or cover, (Pride theme—proud to be disabled, proud to be poor, proud to be homeless)

DOROTHY DAY CHARTER
We have draft language and we agree to work on adopting this at another meeting.