Occupy Cleveland has no intention of giving up its tent village on Public Square, but it has succumbed to the corporate trappings of a real office. The group moved into rented space in the City Club building about two weeks ago and plans to throw a public office-warming party as soon as security issues are worked out.
“We are very proud to be in the City Club — the citadel of free speech,” says Occupy’s Leatrice Tolls. “It behooves us to have a permanent base of operations indoors.” Besides, the incessant holiday music at Public Square was proving to be a detriment to effective meetings. “It’s the same four songs over and over,” she says.
For now, the office serves as a warm spot for volunteers to discuss their various causes. Occupy Cleveland is paying the rent out of its pool of donations, which Tolls says is considerable. The group is also penning a request for additional funds from the granddaddy of the movement: Occupy Wall Street, which apparently is doing gangbuster business.
Whether or not Occupy Cleveland gets an extra $20 grand from New York, it plans to keep its focus on foreclosures. “A big tooth in our pitchfork is the foreclosure issue here in Cleveland,” Tolls says. A last-minute Occupy campout last month successfully delayed one West Side foreclosure, but the group would like to spend more on programs to help homeowners avert foreclosure well in advance of the sheriff’s arrival.
Other vestiges of Corporations Gone Wrong on the agenda are environmental issues like fracking for natural gas, and maybe Walmart. “We don’t like Walmart too much,” says Tolls. “There may be some things we focus on with them.”
This article appears in Dec 28, 2011 – Jan 3, 2012.
Walmart sucks. Rainman and his brother were right but had the wrong mart.
Now Sears and K-mart are going down. That’s fine because they used the same bull-shit tactics of beating up the manufacturer to go exploit people who liked being abused by money power. If you can not give us the lowest price, then you better cut your labor costs. There went our manufacturing jobs and there went our soul. The lawyers, MBA’s and CEO’s and shareholders sold us out of jobs which we created. Let’s get them back. They are ours.
Cleveland and the City Club are the light.
Kenny, you are a fool if you believe that union tripe about people caring about anything other than price.
Why should I make myself poorer to buy a more expensive product? I should have the choice to buy the product I want at the price I am willing to pay. If the ‘Marts are “bullying” for lower prices, as you say, than that is great because it is what their customers seek. If the price the ‘marts seek is too low, those factories are under no obligation to sell their goods to the marts. If they cant sell them to any willing buyers, they can make other goods or put their skills to more productive uses. Nobody is forced to produce or sell goods – it takes two willing parties at a minimum.
I am afraid my fifth grade social studies teacher taught more about specialization of labor then you have been exposed to. If you attended public schools, it is likely that unionized economics may have skipped that part of your education, since unions don’t have strong ties to rational economics.
Sorry Bomble,
Along with a number of people I know, I did none of my Holiday shopping at Walmart, roll-backs be damned.
There is more than just a dollar amount implied in the cost of doing biz with Walmart, and your over simplification of the economic effects of Walmart is laughable.
I do not shop at Walmart, and I am neither poorer, nor less fulfilled in life. It is a choice I made, because there are more important things to me than a $3.00 toaster
Anyone who is truly “happy” paying Walmart prices should be equally happy earning Walmart wages and benefits.
I am really starting to enjoy myself on this clevescene site now. I like that people like bomble express themselves and feel free to argue. It may surprise Bomble and many others that I am an old guy with tons of sales and business experience and have enjoyed doing business with some of the best manufacturers in the country. I saw the wall-mart mentality force jobs out of the area because no one could compete manufacturing the products where they originated. In the food industy wall-mart forced good prepared food companies to lower their quality and their relationships with their long time employees. Not only am I experienced, but I am also a Veteran and a highly educated old man. I have seen the unions take too much ground and then I have seen the owners of corporations exploit the workers. I was on the ground floor of production line packaging and coding and printing equipment and have installed and serviced some of the most sophisticated equipment on the production lines. But enough about me, Bomble, what do you do and what have you done?
The quote about the pitchfork wasn’t mine.. good one though..
Occupy 2012 Everyone!!! Please come out and support Occupy Cleveland.. learn about the Occupy movement and rock out at the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern.. Jan 14th .. from 7-1 doors at 6:30 ..
$10 more if you can.. less if you can’t .. everything from Punk to Hip Hop , Grateful Dead jams to old skool protest ballads .. Rock and Roll to Goth rock If youre NOT outraged by the current state of affairs we are living in .. YOU ARE not paying attention.. this movement is yours.. Join us .. come and claim it!