Supporters of Gilroy’s Occupy movement have staged a third meeting for 12:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at Miller Park on 7851 Carmel St.
While their second gathering garnered a modest turnout of two dozen people (compared with nearly 70 participants who showed up for the first locally staged Occupy event on Nov. 18), Occupy organizers are focused on keeping the momentum in swing as they establish voting rules and methods of communication.
According to Tomas Hernandez, the 17-year-old Christopher High School senior who helped facilitate Occupy Gilroy along with Dom Payne – a member of the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees – Garlic City occupiers will have a picnic lunch Dec. 3 at Miller Park, discuss future meetings and work on signage for upcoming rallies.
On Monday, Hernandez said attendees will possibly conduct a second march; this time to Chase Bank, located at 1177 First Street in Gilroy.
For continued updates and discussion, visit the Occupy Gilroy Facebook page.
About the Occupy movement
The recent gatherings in Gilroy are among hundreds branching from the original movement on Wall Street, which began Sept. 17 in Manhattan.
There are no definitive leaders or official set of demands – rather, unrest over a gamut of grievances such as corporate greed, economic inequality and the influence of corporate lobbyists on government.
Supporters camp out on public property, tout signs and stage organized assemblies, or “occupations,” where participants engage in large group discussions and express their views through hand signals.
In Gilroy meetings, these signals explained prior to the assembly and cover expressions such as “agreement,” “disagreement,” “direct response” and “point of process.”
Gilroy Occupiers have not set up any permanent camps.
The cause has spread nationwide to more than 200 cities including Hollister, which held its own protest Oct. 13.
