L.A. Times Columnist Steve Lopez: Put Occupy L.A. on the road

[ellisonz]

John Fritzlen, 67, a former Peace Corps volunteer and retired teacher, has been photographing Occupy L.A.'s encampment since it started in early October. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times / November 29, 2011)

Moving protesters from City Hall to different sites around the region by bus could bring new energy, attention and focus to the movement.

By Steve Lopez
November 30, 2011

I found several used buses for sale on Craigslist on Tuesday, at prices as low as $900, and here's my advice to Occupy L.A.: Buy one.

If the tents at City Hall haven't already been removed by the time you read this, they soon will be. And Occupy L.A. can either fizzle, or it can come up with a second act.

From the beginning, the national Occupy movement has tapped into public anger over the corrupting power of money in politics and the economic disparity in a system rigged to benefit the few at the expense of the many. I've been a little cranky about the lack of creativity and initiative at Occupy L.A., but I've never discounted how important the movement has been in raising those issues.

So my vote would be for a second act that takes the occupation on the road.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1130-lopez-occupyabus-20111129,0,3312411.column

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Lopez

:hide:

[msongs]

1. bitches about OWS not doing things HE doesn't do himself. media 1%er nt

[frazzled]

2. Oh, so now the 99% is confined to the .001% living in tents?

Look, a newspaper columnist is not a part of the 1%, unless you want to redefine the movement to say the 99% includes only those who agree with you 100% of the time. In that case, you're going to have a very small coterie.

This movement is supposed to be about EVERYONE with respect to economic issues—about income inequality and corporate and financial malfeasance. Everyone is allowed to have an opinion.

The elitism you display in your response is hardly a good badge for such a movement to wear. I think the George-Bush style "my way or the highway" pronouncements are not terribly effective.

[ellisonz]

4. It'll be interesting to see if you get a response...

:thumbsup:

[ellisonz]

8. *crickets*

[ellisonz]

3. ^^^^^

Serial drive-by poster.

And you're wrong:

Steve Lopez: Is Occupy Los Angeles making a difference?
October 11, 2011 | 9:33 am

If Monday night was any indication, it’s hard to get much sleep at the Occupy Los Angeles encampment outside City Hall.

Well past midnight, 100 or more campers were still holding a spirited conversation about a skirmish in Boston, where dozens of their compatriots were arrested late Monday night by police in riot gear.

Steve Lopez Talk Back Various speakers expressed concern for their own safety and pleaded for local demonstrators to remain nonviolent.

As I dozed off in my tent, pitched under L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office, I heard a drumbeat echo off downtown buildings as occupiers circled the block chanting “Solidarity with Boston, End Police Brutality.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/10/occupy-los-angeles-talk-back.html

Lopez has written more trenchant columns than just about anybody else in the state of California these days.

[ellisonz]

5. Kick.

[ellisonz]

6. Steve Lopez: L.A. officials should stop congratulating themselves

Photo: L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck address the media on the ouster of Occupy L.A. protesters from the park surrounding City Hall. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

November 30, 2011 | 11:45 am

Was that a news conference just now by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck or a love-in?

My goodness, I thought I was listening to a football coach and general manager congratulate themselves and the team after a Super Bowl victory, not the aftermath of an eviction from the City Hall park.

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OK, things went relatively well last night, no question about it. But this wasn't Patton at the Battle of the Bulge, and the protesters were cooperative and nonviolent for the most part. A pat on the back may be in order here, and sure, that was a clever move to use City Hall as a Trojan horse, with battalions of officers suddenly emerging to overwhelm demonstrators before things could get out of hand.

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Speaking of whom, the potentially dangerous confrontation last night wouldn't have been necessary if Villaraigosa had laid down the law from the beginning instead of rolling out a red carpet for demonstrators two months ago and all but hosting a barbecue to welcome them to the neighborhood. Was it a surprise to him that the grass would die, or that sanitation issues might arise, that the largely unaddressed homeless problem would spill over onto the lawn, or that it's never good policy to enforce some laws and ordinances but not others?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/steve-lopez-la-officials-should-stop-congratulating-themselves.html

[ellisonz]

7. Occupy L.A.: 30 tons of debris left behind at City Hall tent city

November 30, 2011 | 4:32 pm

Sanitation officials said Wednesday that they expect to haul away 30 tons of debris from the Occupy L.A. encampment –- everything from clothing to heaps of garbage to oddball curiosities left behind by the protesters who lived at the City Hall tent city for two months.

Andrea Alarcon, president of the city Public Works board, said workers already have removed 25 tons of belongings from the City Hall park, all of it heading straight to a landfill.

Sanitation crews also have vacuumed up about 3,000 gallons of water that had washed into a catch basin in recent days and are testing it for hazardous materials, she said.

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A steady flow of people stopped by the park Wednesday to take photos and video and watch workers in white hazmat suits rake trash into neat piles.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/occupy-la-30-tons-of-debris-left-behind-at-city-hall-tent-city.html