Category Archives: Proposals

Proposal to shorten the discussion period for new proposals from one week to the time from one GA to the next tabled.

Proposal: Move the default location of the General Assemblies from Troy Davis/Woodruff Park to the AT&T Occupation for the duration of that occupation, except for the first Saturday of each month when it will be held in Troy Davis/Woodruff Park. Passed with stand asides.

Proposal: For days when no proposals are being presented, or there is time after proposals have been discussed, or in some cases when the topic is of immediate import, there will be a formal period set aside during the General Assembly for group discussion. The purpose is to raise issues of importance to Occupy Atlanta where they may be openly discussed; it may serve as part of the process of developing a proposal, or as an end in itself. The process of a speakout followed by breakout sessions and a report-back period is suggested but alternatives may be considered by the facilitators. Passed with stand-asides.

Proposal: Occupy Atlanta will adopt Restorative Circles as a conflict resolution process. This does not preclude other conflict resolution models being used in addition. Passed.

SUMMARY: Adopt a reference dictionary for clearer more concise communication.

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Wiktionary.org will be the standard dictionary for arbitrating the meaning of words within Occupy Atlanta unless an explicit definition has been formally adopted for a specific situation. Should any concern arise about malicious editing of a current Wiktionary definition then an acceptable previous definition from Wiktionary or -failing agreement upon that- the Dictionary.com definition will be used.

SUMMARY: Give people a change to consider and improve proposals without taking everyone’s time at GAs.

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Each proposal to be voted on by the General Assembly, GA, will be submitted to the Process Committee and made available on the Occupy Atlanta web site at least one week prior to the proposal being brought before the GA for a vote. Modifications to the proposal during this one week lead time shall be made available by the proposer in a timely manner -including updates on the web site and final submission to the Process Committee of the proposal as it will be presented to the GA by the time of the last Process Committee meeting before the GA at which the proposal will be presented. Should the Process Committee or members there of who are facilitating a GA at any time deem the proposal to have been substantially changed to the degree that it constitutes a new proposal the proposal may be subjected to a new week of lead time before the proposal my be voted on.

In situations where the Process Committee recognizes a pressing need for more rapid consideration of a proposal the Process Committee may add the proposal to the agenda for consideration by the GA -waiving the one week lead time. The Process Committee will maintain a list of proposals and the dates of GAs at which the proposals are scheduled to be presented and will make a good faith effort at making this list available for perusal.

Responsibility for posting of a proposal to the web site lies with the proposer and may be fulfilled by a third party on behalf of the proposer. The proposer also holds responsibility for getting on the stack to present the proposal.

Process for dissolving an active committee

For the purposes of this proposal, an active committee is one which has regularly scheduled and announced meetings (at least once every two weeks), posts minutes to the website, and does report-backs at the General Assembly at least once a week.

1) For the process of dissolving an active committee to go forward, the minutes of the committee meetings must show that those attempting to dissolve the committee have attended committee meetings and attempted to address the issues they are bringing forth as reasons for dissolving the committee. If no minutes are available, this requirement is waived but the committee members must be allowed to comment on the subject.

2) Those who have concerns with how the committee is operating must announce the establishment of a working group to address those concerns. The working group must be publicly announced as well as its meeting times, and it must meet at least twice. The working group meetings must have minutes, and the minutes must show that good-faith attempts were made to address the concerns being raised.

3) Only at that point can a proposal to dissolve an active committee be brought.

Diversity of tactics should include risk management as much as possible, planned civil disobedience, and informed consent. Risk management includes 1) being clear about the expected risk, with appropriate warnings about the unpredictability of police reaction, 2) taking the differing inherent levels of risk for different categories of people into consideration, including frequently targeted minorities, undocumented people, single parents, etc., and 3) clearly separating low-risk from high-risk activities in space and time. Clarity of expected risk includes knowledge of applicable laws. A color code for actions will be used: red for a high likelihood of arrest, yellow for moderate, and green for low.

“We do not bring police into our tactical or political discussions.

We do not snitch. This means we do not intentionally give information to the police, neither directly nor indirectly, that identifies any individuals who might be victimized as a result of political action.

In the event someone does snitch, we will immediately put into motion a system of accountability to address this person continuing to work within Occupy Atlanta.”