The Arizona Daily Star’s banner headline on Sunday was “Luxury for students”.  The article by Carli Broseau focused on a run-down (no pun intended) of the development that is in full swing or being planned in and around downtown Tucson and The University of Arizona.

For a few years now, UA officials have been predicting a stampede of future college students coming to Tucson. This rosy forecast has caused developers, restaurateurs, bar owners, and local politicians to salivate like Pavlov’s dogs at the mere thought of 1000s of frolicking students flooding downtown and 4th Ave., armed with Daddy’s credit cards. Regardless of political party, the Mayor and City Council members– eager to see downtown revitalization before their next elections– have vigorously promoted student housing as a panacea for what ails downtown.

Historically, The Tucson Progressive has been highly skeptical of this purported cure-all for Tucson’s sluggish economy– particularly in light of the high rental vacancy rate and the UA’s ever-increasing tuition. I have questioned the wisdom of knocking down historic homes and destroying our city’s character to speculatively build mini-dorms for future students. Republican and Democratic city officials alike told me not to worry; if we build it, they will come.

Brosseau’s article about speculative maxi-dorm development has moved me from skeptical to being scared. She details the astonishing amount of maxi-dorm development being planned or constructed in and around downtown; 2092 student housing “beds” — in three large developments– are under construction, with another three projects (consisting of 342 beds) poised to start soon. Just a year ago, the Arizona Daily Star reported that the new influx of students may result in an additional 1200 students living downtown. The District on 5th alone– that collection of ugly, giant boxes on 6th St, just off of 4th Ave– offers 756 “beds”. (Seriously, couldn’t they have hired an architect with some sensitivity to the historic character of the neighborhoods nearby?)

You’ll note the use of the term “beds” and not rooms or apartments. I foolishly thought that when UA officials and politicians talked about privately funded student housing development downtown they meant apartments– that could be rented by students or others wanting to live where the action is. But no. The District and other maxi-dorm developments are dormitories– not apartments. From the Star…

Student housing is different from traditional apartment living.

Students rent by the bed, not the unit, [I wonder what the square footage is?] and complexes have far more common space for amenities than would pencil out financially for an apartment complex.

The rooms typically are furnished, and each bed generally is paired with its own bathroom and shared space. Amenities like pools, fitness centers and study spaces are expected – the most valued extra, a 2009 University of Arizona market study found, is tanning beds.

After that study concluded that 2,000 to 5,000 more beds were needed, local developers and national powerhouses have rushed to put together deals. They’re motivated by typically higher profits than traditional apartment complexes, long-term population growth and student enrollment projections and the modern streetcar, now under construction, that will link the UA to downtown. [Emphasis added.]

In other words, if the students decide not to rent the bedroom/bath units in these complexes or if students don’t come here in the predicted droves, these buildings could have lots of empty bedrooms. No adult in their right mind would rent a bedroom downtown for the price of an apartment or small house elsewhere in the city ($350-1027/month). In fact, about 20 inches into Brosseau’s story, she quotes a 2009 UA market study that says close to half of the UA’s students don’t rent units in large complexes like the maxi-dorms. Imagine that.

To make the situation even more disturbing, Brosseau says that the UA is now “backing away from earlier enrollment projections of a 12.5 percent increase over the next five years.” Uh, oh.

Is downtown going to be dotted with hulking, empty dormitories… or worse… more dirt lots waiting for development?

Post script: I don’t mean to dis Broseau’s well-crafted and informative article, but wasn’t there any real news to print on the front page with a four-column, full-color photo and 80 point headline?

Is it time to finally say, “I’m mad as hell and not going to take this anymore?”

The Arizona Legislature (and other Republican-led Legislatures around the country) are attacking the citizens with anti-work bills and anti-student bills.

Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich and Congressional Republicans are attacking women, immigrants, gays and Lesbians, unions, teachers, college students, the poor, reproductive health, public education, healthcare… the list goes on. They want to take away basic rights that we have taken for granted– like the minimum wage and collective bargaining.

FIVE people have donated 25%– $14 million– to super pacs to elect more Republicans– particularly a Republican President.

Are you tired of government against the people and for the corporations?

If you are “mad as hell”, then join Occupy Tucson, PDA Tucson, and others for a demonstration against corporate rule.

Tucsonans– and others around the world– will be demonstrating against corporate control of our lives, big-money politics, and specifically against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)– the folks who gave us SB1070 and the anti-worker legislation in Wisconsin, Ohio, Arizona, and elsewhere.

Tomorrow, Feb. 29, come to the downtown public library at 4 p.m. for the demonstration. Bring your signs, noise-makers, and friends. Here’s more information from Occupy Wall Street…

This Wednesday, Occupiers in New York, Oakland, Mexico City, and over 80 other cities [including Tucson] will take part in a coordinated National Day of Action to Shut Down the Corporations. Occupations have been preparing a variety of decentralized actions in response to Occupy Portland’s call to target the American Legislative Exchange Council:

We specifically call on people to target corporations that are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The biggest corporations in America, like ExxonMobil, Bank of America, BP, Monsanto, Pfizer, and Wal-Mart use ALEC to buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves only the interests of corporations and not people. They then duplicate and spread this corporate legislation in Washington, D.C. and in state legislatures across the country. The anti-labor legislation in Wisconsin and the racist bill SB 1070 in Arizona are two recent and destructive examples of what corporations use ALEC to do.

See here for more about why we protest corporate power and how ALEC seeks to erode our democracy, undermine workers rights and attack unions, destroy our environment, obstruct efforts to address climate change, undermine public education, pursue destructive agricultural practices and fuel the prison industrial complex. You can also RSVP for the Occupy Wall St/NYC Facebook event. For national coverage, follow @F29PDX on Twitter.

Simultaneously, European trade unions have declared Feb. 29th a European Day of Action against austerity, following massive demonstrations against budget cuts in Greece, Spain, Belgium, and elsewhere. Decentralized actions in all 27 European Union nations and beyond will be “sending a clear message to the EU leaders: this imposed austerity is going to plunge Europe into a recession!”

The effects of the financial, economic and social crisis have reached unbearable levels in several countries. Faced with the extreme seriousness of the situation, European leaders are making the race for austerity their priority response. The crisis serves as a ready-made pretext to attack the European social model, justify cuts in wages and public services, weaken social protection, make the labour market hyperflexible, and attack trade union rights.

Thus, at a time when the European summit has to adopt a treaty plunging Europe into recession and job insecurity for the long haul, the European trade unions are saying “enough is enough” and putting employment, recovery, social justice and solidarity at the forefront of the discussions.

If you are not “mad as hell,” check out the ALEC Exposed website here.

Labor union members and Jobs with Justice labor supporters will be demonstrating downtown today against the anti-union legislation currently sailing through the Arizona Legislature.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC, a corporatist group that writes business friendly legislation for Republican legislatures like ours) and the right-wing Goldwater Institute schooled Governor Jan Brewer and her minions in the Arizona Legislature in union-busting last fall in Phoenix. The fruits of their “labor” are a series of anti-worker bills currently being fast-tracked in the Arizona Legislature. These proposed laws mirror those in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana. They were passed in Wisconsin and Indiana by their Legislatures, but Ohio voters weighed in and squashed the legislation there. (Remember Wisconsin? The backlash caused weeks of nationwide protest and a recall election for several state lawmakers and Governor Scott Walker.)

The result of coaching by ALEC, the Goldwater Institute, and Walker is a suite of anti-worker bills which would harm teachers, police, firefighters, and other unionized workers in Arizona. All Democratic Party legislators are opposed to this legislation.  (Watch State Senator Dave Schapira on the Ed Schultz Show, here.) Locally, Congressman Raul Grijalva and Councilwoman Regina Romero have made public statements against the anti-worker bills. In addition, local MoveOn.org activists have created an online petition, which you can sign here.

Below is information about today’s demonstration. Also, don’t forget you can call or e-mail your legislators and tell them to OPPOSE anti-worker legislation. Ohioans stopped these bad bills; Arizonans can too.

Jobs with Justice urges you to come out in solidarity with unions under attack by the
Arizona Ultra-right legislature.

Rally in Support of AZ Working Families!

STOP THE ATTACKS ON PUBLIC WORKERS!

Friday, Feb. 3rd
4:00 pm (or when you get off work)

State Building,
400 W Congress
Downtown Tucson

Join union members and their families from the Pima Area Labor Federation (PALF), AFSCME 449, CWA Local 7000 and many community supporters to stand up to the attacks on union members and their families. The following harmful bills will directly harm our community:

SB1484, Paycheck deductions employee authorization

SB1485, Unions; public employees; prohibitions

SB1486, Public Employees; activities, unions; compensation

SB1487, Government employees; union dues; withholding

These terrible bills are moving fast. They have already passed out of committee and will be most likely debated in the full AZ Senate next week. We need to pull together and find solutions that work for the real issues Arizonans are facing. Join our rally to let the Arizona Legislature that attacking public workers is wrong!

To Take Action NOW by following the Arizona AFL-CIO link here.

Ready for a serious shot of retail therapy?

The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show starts today– January 28, 2012. The Gem Show is clearly one of the best reasons to live in Tucson. The Gem Show is actually several shows taking place over the course of the next few weeks. Some of the shows are wholesale and others are retail, and different shows start and stop on different days. There are so many shows spread around Tucson that the organizers will even shuttle you around. Check the official Gem Show guide (here)for links to individual shows.

Two of my favorite places to go are the African Art Village and the hotels along Interstate 10. (The Holidome show is also very good, but you need a business licence to get in.) Below are a couple of videos that I shot at the 2011 Gem Show.

More on the Gem Show…

African Art Village and More at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

Throughout the day yesterday, Occupy Tucson posted calls to action on its  facebook page alerting supporters to a possible eviction that evening.

For a little more than two months, Occupy Tucson has maintained a continuous encampment downtown– first at Armory Park and then at Veinte de Agosto Park, after their first eviction by the Tucson Police Department (TPD). The Occupiers have never wavered in their demands for free speech and in their fight for the 99% and against the corporate takeover of the US.

Despite being one of the smaller Occupations in the US, Tucson Occupiers have suffered more police harassment than other Occupations. To the credit of the police and the Occupiers, there have been no violent clashes, but the Tucson Occupiers have received a disproportionate number of citations. Occupy Tucson citations are second only to Occupy Wall Street (1,359), according to the Occupy Tucson legal team, quoting data from St. Pete for Peace, an independent group that has verified (with two reliable sources) 5,425 Occupy arrests nationwide. Tucson has had 455 arrests according to St. Pete for Peace, but TPD has reported more than 700 arrests.

Occupy Tucson disappeared from downtown last night. Homeless but undaunted, what will be the next steps for Occupy Tucson?

UPDATE: Occupy Tucson will hold a noon meeting today (December 22, 2011) in Presidio Park in downtown Tucson to discuss next steps.

UPDATE 2: MoveOn.org sent out a message that there will be an Occupy Tucson General Assembly in Armory Park tonight (December 22, 2011) at 6 p.m.

Here is an eye-witness account of the eviction by Alex Maldonado, Veteran for Peace and Tucson Occupier.

On Wednesday evening [Dec. 21, 2011] at 7 p.m., during Occupy Tucson’s General Assembly, Tucson Police Department (TPD) Chief Villasenor interrupted the GA to announce that TPD would close Veinte de Agosto Park at 10:30pm tonight and wanted all occupiers out of the park.

A few minutes later, two TPD cruisers shut down Broadway and Church, followed by over a dozen TPD vehicles that encircled the encampment.

Flood lights were then set-up to give light to the entire park as occupiers began a second bug-out since the start of the occupation on October 15th.

Vehicles appeared, helping occupiers pack and move every item from the encampment to a safe location elsewhere.

The Veterans For Peace flag which has been flying over the encampment since the beginning of the occupation was lowered from the flagpole, yet a second time, but was promised to fly over the next encampment by the Veterans For Peace, who lowered the flag.

The TPD presence grew again at 10pm, when more TPD vehicles arrived with lights flashing. TPD cruisers, SUV’s, motorcycles and one pick-up truck had the park surrounded. Occupiers were finishing the bug-out and were, yet again, picking any and all trash from the park, leaving it better than when the occupation found it.

At one point, the occupiers stormed back into the park as TPD watched helplessly, and took some group photos with the statue of Pancho Villa in the background. Just as fast as the group rushed in, the group returned back to the “safe zone” which was the sidewalk.

Melissa Tibbals-Gribbin made a stand of her own, as she marched back into the park, stood atop a rock formation and held her hand in the air until TPD circled her, handcuffed her and took her into custody.

Occupiers then decided to sleep on the sidewalk but only after TPD imposed “a sleeping bag and covers only” policy for those few brave souls.

Five hours since the first two TPD cruisers shut down Broadway and Church, TPD finally left with only a small token crew to watch over the park for the remainder of the night.

Even though the occupiers were evicted yet again, spirits were high and a GA was already being planned for the next day. Occupy Tucson may be homeless tonight but tomorrow always brings hope for the movement and a new location to be determined.

Joan Zatorski Puca was arrested by Tucson Police on Friday, November 25, 2011. Above is the video of the arrest. Her powerful statement below details her rational for submitting to arrest at Occupy Tucson.

This statement below, is read in the video by Joan’s husband Dr. Christopher Puca as she is being dragged into a TPD cruiser.

Friday, Nov. 25, 2011

After much personal introspection, I came to the decision today that this evening I will place myself in position to be arrested at Pancho Villa Park downtown (Veinte de Agosto Park) and jailed in relation to my involvement in the OCCUPY MOVEMENT in Tucson.

I’ve been carefully studying and meditating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s most erudite essay, his “Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)” this past week. I am convinced that it is essential for deliberate, immediate attention be refocused on the issues of economic injustice which initially galvanized the OCCUPY MOVEMENT world-wide (as opposed to issues related to local city curfew, park ordinances, or even this issue of First Amendment Rights).

I have come to this conclusion not as a leader of any movement or group but as a singular individual desperately concerned about the profound suffering presently experienced by millions of human beings across every economic and social class, generation, gender, sexual orientation, political persuasion, religious or spiritual belief.

In good conscience, I simply cannot let Mary DeCamp (recent Mayoral candidate, Tucson Peace Activist) be the lone Tucsonan willing to enter jail (as she did in the wee hours of November 25th) as a means of drawing attention to our country’s blatant issues regarding economic injustice.

As an educated white woman, legally disabled by illness, a civil servant with almost 20 years of service to children who were living at or below the poverty line, a mother, grandmother, spouse, avowed Christian, registered and consistently-participating voter, American citizen by birthright, granddaughter of immigrants, who has never been arrested, much less walked into a jail, I believe I am the most “common” example of the “common person” impacted by the devastatingly serious economic issues that thousands upon thousands of people are demanding be addressed.

I am you… we are all one and we are suffering. Only by uniting with one another can our most egregious issues be solved.

Look in my eyes and see the reflection of your own face, your own pain… Look again and see, as well, the possibility for redemption, for resolution, for renewal of all that is good within the soul of America.

In closing, I ask you to surround me with your personal prayers this evening. That I may stay committed to my decision to display non-violent behavior, speech, and attitude in the face of (what may be) a physically and medically challenging experience for me tonight (and beyond).

Joan Zatorski Puca
Tucson, Arizona

For weeks, Tucson Police and Occupy Tucson supporters played an orderly cat and mouse game.

At 10:30 p.m. every night, the police came to the park, rousted Occupiers out of their tents, gave them curfew violation citations, and left, allowing Occupiers to sleep in the park. To date more than 600 curfew citations have been issued. Some Occupiers have as many as 30 citations, each with a maximum sentence of $1000 + 6 months in jail.

Now the game has changed. Since a stay was lifted earlier this week, police have the option of arresting people with three or more citations and taking them to jail for  “interfering with judicial process,” the fine is $2500 + six months in jail. The other change is police tactics is that they are not coming to the park like clockwork at 10:30 p.m. They warned the Occupiers earlier this week that they could come at any time to make arrests or they may not come at all.

On Thanksgiving, police arrested former Green Party Mayoral Candidate Mary DeCamp, who has 30 citations, for refusing to sign and agree to the paper arrest and citation. On Friday night, two more Occupiers–  Joan Zatorski Puca and Matthew Pence– were carted off to jail at 1 a.m. also for refusing the same reason.

Here is an account by  Alex Maldonado, an Occupation peacekeeper and member of  Veterans  For Peace…

Tonight, at approximately 1am, two more from Occupy Tucson were taken into custody, after seven TPD vehicles arrived at Veinte de Agosto Park for the nightly citations for staying in the park after hours.

Joan Zatorski Puca sat passive and silent as TPD took her into custody for refusing her citation.  TPD then proceeded to carry her limp body without handcuffs into a police cruiser.

A statement was read as Joan remained passive and silent with two TPD officers on each side of her.

“… who has never been arrested, much less walked into a jail…”

“… I ask you to surround me with your personal prayers this evening.  That I may stay committed to my decision to display non-violent behavior, speech, and attitude in the face of (what may be) a physically and medically challenging experience for me tonight (and beyond).

Matthew Pence was also taken into custody after refusing his citation.

Matthew was escorted to another police cruiser, and handcuffed and physically searched.

Matthew, who was also passive, was then seated into the vehicle and led away.

Occupiers and supporters waved and yelled words of encouragement to both as they were led away.

Occupy Tucson has been evicted from Armory Park and the main library by the Tucson Police Department late last night. Rousting people out of their tents to ticket them is bad enough, but making them pack up their tents, kitchen, and belongings in the dead of night– after most of them have probably gone to sleep? What kind of an oppressive/passive aggressive city government to we have? What a cowardly action– making them move after dark when no one can see what the police are doing.

Who’s decision was this? The public deserves to know.

Below is a report from Alex Maldonado, one of the peacekeepers. The Occupation has moved to Veinte de Agosto Park (AKA Pancho Villa Park). You may remember that this was the original location.

Thursday night at approximately 11pm, the Tucson Police Department surrounded the perimeter of Armory Park with 80 officers and forced Occupy Tucson to vacate the park.

In two hours, Occupy Tucson had bugged-out and cleaned the park of any trash on the grounds.
The Tucson community showed up and helped during the bug-out process. Some who had only been following the movement on the internet, showed up and aided in the move.

There were no injuries to report on the occupiers. Some TPD officers were even sympathetic to the forced action against the occupiers as they could not help during the move but could only watch.

The Pima County Library Park was also vacated by the occupiers after TPD forced an evacuation of that park.

Currently, there are approximately 40 tents at the new base camp with approximately 60 occupiers holding their ground after what can only be termed as a successful and well organized bug-out from Armory Park.

Occupy Tucson has found its second wind.

I can’t help but think this eviction has something to do with the call to action made on Occupy Tucson’s facebook page yesterday afternoon. The Occupiers asked supporters to call or e-mail El Tour de Tucson organizers requesting that they make a deal with the Occupiers to co-exist at Armory Park on the race day (Nov. 19). When I sent a mail to Perimeter Bicycling Association of America, Inc. (the group that organizes El Tour), I received a very long, somewhat gruff response. Occupy Tucson has more than 6,500 followers on facebook, and when they have put out calls to action in the past, there has been a deluge.

Friday Call to Action: Occupy Tucson is asking supporters to come to Veinte de Agosto Park today (Friday) at 5:30 p.m. to demonstrate your support. Our first amendment freedom is at stake. From their facebook page:

This is a call to ALL, show your solidarity with OCCUPY TUCSON and come down to Viente De Agosto at 5:30 pm tonight (Friday) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyones 1st Amendment Right is at stake , the Mayor, council memeber and TPD needs to see all of you there, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT TUCSON !!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: Local MoveOn.org activists are calling for Tucsonans to show their support for the Occupiers and come to Veinte de Agosto Park on Saturday, Nov. 5 at noon to issue their own citations against corporate robber barons. Here’s the link.

From MoveOn…

Our friends at Occupy Tucson are being issued citations for standing up and speaking out for the 99% of us who don’t have corporate lobbyists.

As many of you have by now heard, the City of Tucson evicted Occupy Tucson from Armory Park and Library Park last night. While this action was regrettable, the movement itself has not been discouraged. The Occupiers have relocated the base camp to Viente de Agosto Park and remains a strong, peaceful and committed community. Let’s continue to stand up for them, as they are standing up for us, the 99% who don’t have lobbyists and corporate legal departments to speak for us!

Thanks to all who have signed this petition in support of Occupy Tucson! We have collected nearly 4,000 signatures in support of the Occupiers, which will be delivered to the City Council at their next official meeting. [Nov. 9 is the next Mayor and Council meeting. ] Let’s show that the people of Tucson support freedom of speech and freedom to peacefully assemble! Meanwhile, the 1% who control over 42% of this naton’s wealth are not being held to account.

On Saturday, November 5th, MoveOn members and our progressive allies in Tucson will gather at Veinte de Agosto Park in Downtown Tucson to issue citations of our own – for crimes against the American public – to three of the biggest corporate banks on Wall Street: Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Chase Bank.

RSVP: http://civic.moveon.org/event/makewallstpayaction/123019

At noon, we will gather at Veinte de Agosto Park at Congress and Church to show solidarity with our friends at Occupy Tucson. After Occupy’s noon general assembly, we (and any Occupiers who wish to join us) will march through Tucson’s financial district to present our tickets to the banks and kick off a “Move Your Money” campaign in Tucson.

Please note that the start of the rally has moved from Armory Park to Veinte de Agosto Park at Church and Congress, which is the new Occupy Tucson base camp. We will gather between noon and 12:30 and march from there to Chase, Wells Fargo & Bank of America for a peaceful sidewalk rally.

UPDATE 2: Here’s a link to images from the TPD raid of Armory Park.

UPDATE 3: Check out the video of the TPD sweep from the Tucson Sentinel.

Occupy Tucson began on Oct. 15 at Armory Park– after a shift from Pancho Villa Park to accommodate Tucson Meet Yourself. Now the demonstration is taking place at 3 locations downtown– Armory Park, Pancho Villa, and the main library.

Tucson Police continue to give campers curfew citations nightly at all three locations– despite the restraining order issued by a federal judge in Tennessee who has prevented the state of Tennessee from issuing curfew citations against Occupy Nashville protesters on grounds that the tickets violated their first amendment rights to freedom of speech.

For more on the arrests and the new Occupy locations, click here.

For a collection of Occupy Tucson videos, click here.

For moving Occupy Tucson testimony from the 2 City Council meetings were no action was taken, check out these links. Particularly moving is the homeless man at the beginning of part 2 of the October 25 meeting.

October 18, 2011 Tucson Mayor and Council Meeting

October 25, 2011 Tucson Mayor and Council Meeting

This is the fifth in a series of personal accounts from the Occupation of Tucson. In this letter, Green Party Mayoral Candidate Mary DeCamp talks about life in the Occupy Tucson camp, her first court date, and the local media (who recently realized that she is running for mayor).

Nov. 1: Notes from the Occupation
by Mary DeCamp

Good morning media folks & friends,
Here’s another update from Camp DeCamp along de campaign trail….

Yesterday was busy.  I started with a 6:30 a.m. in-studio interview at KGUN-9 television station way out on Rosewood.  Luckily, a friend allowed me to intrude early and take a hot shower so I wouldn’t uphold the Flea-Party image that my right-wing friends have tagged all the Occupiers with.  I guess it didn’t matter a whole lot, because from what I saw, much of the video coverage was of generic shopping scenes instead of the candidate’s visage.  The atmosphere there was chilly, perhaps because my good friend & psychologist Dr. Victor Shamas had engaged in a long and heated email exchange with station producer F. Carr over the negative and misleading slant reporter Steve Nunez put on the foreclosure press conference I gave on October 4, 2011 in front of City Hall.  I called Jon Justice, KGUN’s upstairs neighbor and host of the morning talk radio program on “104.1 The Truth,” to see if I could stop in for a visit with them, but Jon refused to take my phone call and the phone screener said Jon wanted nothing more to do with me.  I was surprised, because the day before Jon had graciously shared with me a caricature one of his followers did of me that I thought was pretty flattering.

Running hot and cold in Tucson is par for the course these days.  Daytime temperatures rise while nighttime temperatures dip.  It gives me a whole new appreciation for my homesteading ancestors who crossed the plains in covered wagons and ended up living in sod houses on the windswept prairies.  We’ve got it pretty comfortable when that comparative perspective is applied.

My ancestors would be amazed at all the changes.  I could dash from the eastside back downtown in my car, arriving at City Court for my second appearance in response to the ongoing citations for Occupying Armory Park after the 10:30 p.m. curfew.  After clearing the metal detector and being scanned for weapons, I had time to take a telephone call from Pacifica Radio and talk with them about why a mayoral candidate would be willing to do more than just talk about supporting the Occupy movement.  Evidently it is unusual for politicos to walk their talk by sleeping on the ground along with others who sacrifice their comfort to stand for all our rights, and the folks at Pacifica wanted to hear more about Occupy Tucson, Code Pink, and the Green Party.

The phone call didn’t take long, and I was seated in Judge Shetter’s courtroom along with my friends, to hear whether or not the State would allow the prosecutor’s motion to apply zoning restrictions to our cases. Zoning restrictions mean that the defendants cannot return to the scene of the crime. Usually these restrictions are applied for crimes of moral misconduct like theft and/or prostitution, or if others are injured as in the case of fighting or domestic abuse – those convicted are unwelcome to return to the physical location and make more mischief.  Think what that says about how the City views the Occupiers.  And consider the implications if adopted.  By lumping us together with thieves, prostitutes, and violent offenders, we are banned from returning to Armory Park.  (The first time this plan was forwarded, it was to cover ANY time, the second time, it covered just the hours the curfew was in effect.)  But, if we cannot return, the number of tents steadily decreases and the media can contend that support is waning.  It is a sure way to break the back of the movement.  Pretty slick, huh?  Both judges Chrenshaw and Shetter denied the motion.

The Occupiers will have another court date on November 17 to determine the outcome.  Today, Judge Bernal told the prosecutor to bundle the motions for zoning restriction and present them all together in front of Judge Rojas at 9:00 a.m. on November 7 for a determination then.

After the court date yesterday, I scooted on over to my old stomping grounds, the University.  I had the wonderful opportunity to return to the classroom and meet with a bunch of fresh-faced and intelligent young aspiring journalists at the invitation of Professor Mark Evans.  What a delight!  For once, I was given more than just 2 minutes to lay out my plan for the City.  I swear, I have had longer interviews for waitress positions than what has been afforded me on the campaign trail to plead my case to be the next Mayor of the 33rd largest city in the USA.  Yikes!  What does that say about our media and democracy?  The students were interested, engaged, and had great questions.  I couldn’t believe how quickly the time slid past.

At noon, I met with my all-volunteer campaign team to refile paperwork to qualify for City Matching Funds.  We filed Oct. 26, but the City Clerk’s office disqualified 24 of the 301 donor forms.  So we beat feet, got even MORE of those $10 donations from city-dwellers who are over 18 and American citizens, and went back to petition once more.  The staff in the City Clerk’s office is so wonderful!  It is always a delight and a pleasure to visit there and interact with such pleasant and professional city workers.

<The afternoon was free of further commitments, so I could devote time to maintaining the base camp.  I could do litter patrol, some emotional support for our needy campers, and some office work on the computers in the Armory Senior Center.  Yep, I qualified for the membership offered to those over 50 years old and so I took them up on the deal.  My platform is based on recreating that sort of community spirit in all 131 registered neighborhood associations.  Direct exposure with their operation just strengthens my commitment to plant such seeds in other neighborhood communities.

Supper last night was fantastic – grilled chicken, burgers, and veggie burgers accompanied with a side salad and snacks.  I heard our kitchen got a gold-star rating from the health department, but haven't verified that rumor.

The general assembly offered good information about what all the work groups were up to.  We're still working with other groups that have filed for permits to use Armory Park for their upcoming events, so nothing to report there yet.

Sleep came quickly, and was only briefly interrupted when the Tucson Police stopped by to issue our nightly citations.  Throughout the night, I was roused by occasional horns honking as people drove by and hollered at us to "get a job."  But, all in all, it is amazing how easy it is for the body to adapt to new demands.  Sleeping on the ground isn't bad.  Being surrounded by the stately trees, feeling the fresh air, and knowing that I'm performing my patriotic duty allow me to rest easily these days.

Thanks for your continued interest in the Camp DeCamp Campaign.  Only one more week to go!

Tell your friends, family, and neighbors to vote – hopefully for me, but even if not for me for SOMEONE to lead this City.  I'm hoping if I don't get elected that whoever DOES get elected will adopt all my good ideas.  We all share common ground and want the best for the future.

Thanks, fellows,
Mary DeCamp
www.DeCampForMayor.org

Previous articles in this series:
Oct. 23: Green Tea
Oct. 25: Of Permits and Police
Oct. 26: Tucson Mayor and Council Meeting
Oct. 30: Jon Justice, violence, and illegal sleeping