[OccupySheffield] Notes from Occupy Sheffield General Assembly Friday 6th January 2012

[Chris]

Hi

The following GA notes have been added the the wiki:

- https://occupywiki.org.uk/wiki/Sheffield/20120106

All the best

Chris


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OCCUPY SHEFFIELD GENERAL  ASSEMBLY 


FRIDAY 6TH JANUARY 2012 


1 Discussion about the person previously excluded  from camp, who turned up 
at the meeting. Yesterdays decision was repeated and  the exclusion 
remains. 


2 Report back on the meeting with the Cathedral  management today at 3pm. 
Lack of supervision was brought up again with the  Cathedral expressing 
concerns about lack of people on camp yesterday at  10am. 

Further concerns were expressed about debris on  site particularly in view 
of the high winds over the last few days. 

In addition concerns were expressed about the  securing of tents again due 
to the high winds. 

We confirmed that these are all ongoing situations  which we continue to 
address. 

Discussion about the Dean's latest letter and the  threat of eviction 
action if the camp is not removed within the next seven  days. 

The meeting discussed the options available but  were not comfortable with 
an immediate response as this would not give a broad  enough range of 
Occupiers to provide input to our future strategy. 
It was agreed by consensus that the next seven  days of GA's would have as 
the first item of the agenda the future strategy of  the Occupy movement and 
the Church Street Camp. This will be referred to as  'Strategy Week'. There 
is to be a big call to all occupiers to attend as many of  the GA's as they 
are able in order to voice their opinion. 

It was agreed by consensus that we draft an  initial response to the 
Cathedral with an outline of our intentions. Nigel will  prepare a draft for the 
Sunday GA at the latest. 

It was agreed by consensus that for the Strategy  Week especially the 
minutes of previous the meeting would be recapped at the  start of the next 
meeting to maintain continuity. This will be the  responsibility of the 
facilitator, who will be appointed at the end of each  meeting for the following 
meeting. 



3 Finance. 
Funds are under pressure. We have just £90 in the  Credit Union account 
with a little more held by Andy and Lesley. Spending has  been on cleaning 
materials, food, gas and petrol. 

Any outstanding donations need to be handed to  Andy or Lesley as soon as 
possible. 

It was suggested that we need a way of people  donating online but we need 
a way of doing this without a high street bank  account. Andy will research 
this but would like others to explore this as  well. 

It may be possible to give out the account details  for the Credit Union 
for people to deposit directly but only if this can be done  completely 
securely. 

Joe suggested we should try and find a way for the  Credit Union to 
progress to a debit card facility. 

Mary indicated she is working with others on the  possibility of starting a 
new bank but that this was possibly a year away. 

There was a discussion about the potential of  exploring ethical bank 
accounts. The previous GA decision stands but may have to  be revisited to 
improve peoples ability to donate safely. 



4 Claire reported that there would be a 'Tea and  Empathy' event tomorrow, 
Saturday 7th between 12 noon and 2pm, at  which the camp will engage with 
the public offering tea, cakes and chat. People  are needed in the morning to 
tidy the Marquee and Christine will be doing a  video production around the 
event. 



5 Joe reported that discussions yesterday had  developed a camp 
reorganisation plan, to rationalise some of the underused tents  and to further address 
the unneeded materials currently on site. 



6 Sarah reported that Radio Sheffield have been in  contact to request an 
interview about the Citadel of Hope and a possible visit  to the Citadel. 
Andy Kershaw would like to visit Sunday PM for broadcast on the  Rony Robinson 
show on Monday. This was agreed to by consensus in principal but  Joe will 
contact the work crew at the Citadel to discuss the safety implications  of a 
visit. 

It was agreed by consensus that it would be good  for the GA to receive 
periodic updates on the progress of the Citadel works, to  keep everyone 
informed and to enable the work crew to advise us all what  additional crew are 
required at the Citadel for cleaning duties etc. 



7 National Conference Meeting 
Minutes of the meeting today are available from  Ronan and the next 
Conference Programming Meeting will be on Sunday at 5pm. 


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