The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Todd Dorman column [The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa]
By Todd Dorman, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa | |
Source: | McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The city says it's enforcing an ordinance. From a news release:
The City's notice stated that "the placement, accumulation, use, and storage on the premises of all personal property, including but not limited to wood pallets, firewood, fire pits, tents, furniture, clothing, food, temporary or permanent structures, signs, displays, and any and all other articles, constitutes a violation of the laws of the
City staff members have met and contacted the Occupy Cedar Rapids group several times since
Occupy
"The space is greenway," Wilson told me today. "Greenway property can be used for, among other things, for meetings like this. It's not subject to the zoning ordinances of
"
"There's no organization. Anybody can talk. I could go out there and talk. Anybody who wants to," Wilson said.
So what happens if the city moves in and removes campers' property? "If they do, we're asking for damages," Wilson said.
"What we did was ask the group to work with us regarding their use of that property," Fowler said. "Eventually, they hired a lawyer who informed me they were not interested in requesting that use. So at this point we are requesting that all the personal property on the site be removed because they have no authority or approval to place the items on the property."
Wilson said one obstacle to getting a permit is a requirement for liability insurance. Fowler said if Occupy had applied, the insurance requirement could have been discussed.
Wilson said there have been no complaints about the camp, while pointing out that post-flood buyouts have cleared nearly the entire area surrounding it. But Fowler said the city has received four complaints about the camp.
"This is exactly what they want," Seger said, referring to the city's high-profile eviction action.
I stopped out at the Occupy Cedar Rapids camp this afternoon. There are a few tents, a Porta-Potty, pallets and other assorted wood, presumably for fires.
The folks I talked with are angry, at city government, the media and corporations that they say influence both. They believe the city has misused flood recovery dollars and that they've been repeatedly misled and ignored. If Occupy Cedar Rapids was sparked by the national
I don't see local issues the way they do. But then again I wasn't flooded out and didn't watch my neighborhood disappear and didn't endure the frustrations they've surely endured. And standing in that cold, empty flood zone, unreasonableness seems less unreasonable.
"What the hell is going on around here?" said
I understand there's an ordinance, and laws are laws, but I don't see much harm in leaving these folks alone. Complaints or no complaints, this small camp isn't really doing any real or much aesthetic damage. (I was told that until recently, a collapsed garage was on the lot.) And like Seger says, if the city had left it alone, I have a feeling the weather would have eventually cleared the camp.
I think the city should at least wait to see what the court says before clearing the camp. That's where a dispute such as this between citizens and their government should be addressed. If the city wins, clear out. But if Occupy's argument prevails, let 'em stay. The camp has been there for three weeks. What's a few more days to have a fair hearing?
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