My new gig

I am no longer in front of the courthouse with the Occupy Eureka sign flying. In the almost 9 months we have been there I have learned much. What I have learned most is that fighting a corrupt system takes more than most people can summon. I was glad that Sarah and Hans were there at the end of this phase as they were there at the beginning with me. So many others have fallen away.

I have moved to the next phase, solutions. For a long time I have been engaged like many in Occupy trying to educate the public about the reasons things suck. If you didn't already know that things sucked you are completely clueless or part of the cause or both. I have taken that as far as I can and now need to move on to fixing the problems. With the things I have learned and the comrades I have come to know we are engaging in the next step. First on the agenda is Walmart and their community destroying form of capitalism.


On WalMart's Opening Day, Residents Announce Intention to File "Eureka Fair Wage Initiative"


Contact: James Decker (707) 442-7465


Eureka, CA: Members of Occupy Eureka and Peoples' Action for Rights and Community, along with other concerned residents, are announcing today their intention to file the Eureka Fair Wage Initiative.


"WalMart has come to our community, against the will of the voters, to drive down wages and benefits for working people," says Veteran for Peace, Don Swall. With this initiative the voters will have a chance to say "NO." NO to outside corporations putting downward pressure on local wages. NO to the closing of locally owned businesses. NO to the blight that WalMart and other Big Box retailers bring to small towns across America.


The Eureka Fair Wage Initiative will require employers to pay a minimum of $12 an hour to all of their workers, with an exception for smaller businesses. The initiative is a simple, straightforward proposal to keep stingy companies from killing jobs in the community that pay a decent wage. It will keep more of those dollars here in Eureka California, rather then flying our money to Bentonville Arkansas.


Eureka residents said "NO" to WalMart at the ballot box before, but through secretive deals and backroom negotiations the City government and WalMart have undermined the will of the people. This leaves working class people no choice but to take matters out of the hands of politicians, more concerned with personal enrichment then the enrichment of the community, and take to the initiative process. The Initiative planning group invites persons interested in signature gathering or making other types of contributions to call (707) 442-7465.


We left behind the folks that had nowhere else to be and it took the police about 4 hours to come down and hit them with an order to vacate in 72 hours. This shows what a bunch of cowards run this county as well as anything we did. It is too early to write an assessment of what we did and the Monday morning quarterbacks will be lining up to tell us what we did wrong soon enough. All I can say for now is that I will continue the battle in a new form.