One more time Oakland becomes the center of the Occupy movement

These were the numbers on November 14: #OWS was 56,829 on Twitter, #OccupyWallStreet was 6704, and #OccupyOakland was 42,443. The overlap was

The week before November 14, 2011 the average number of OccupyOakland Twitter messages had been 8405. So what happened to propel OccupyOakland up to 42K messages?

The mayor declared the occupation must stop. The occupiers must leave and the park must be cleared. No more tents and other equipment for living together in large numbers in a public park. So, she ordered the police to clear the park the morning of the 14th. The occupiers stayed until they were forcibly removed with some arrested. Priests were taken away in cuffs for praying while holding hands. Others were just chased away by the police.

The result, according to the Twitter account, was that all the tents were slashed, and taken down. The 'rubble' added up to 36 tons, it was reported. And the park was emptied. Then after 6:00 pm they returned. Their general assembly met. And they 'plotted' their future occupation.

So the park was cleared. In addition, two of the mayor's staff resigned. The deputy mayor resigned. The mayor's legal advisor resigned and was interviewed by Rachel Maddow. He said the mayor did not understand the scope of the movement, and that the occupy movement could not be stopped.

The claimed dollar amounts of the cost of clearing the park are surely not to be taken too seriously. However, the claim is that the cost will approximately equal the amount of money the city is saving by closing 5 schools. Whatever the final numbers it was an expensive day putting hundreds of police officers to work clearing the people and other personnel clearing the 'debris.'

The local CBS affiliate conducted a poll of citizens of Oakland. They reported that 82% opposed the way the mayor was handling the situation and only 12% supported her.

It is not hard to imagine how this inspired 40K Twitter messages. This was the mayor's second attempt to clear the park. The first brought so much criticism that she relented. But her 'relent' did not last very long because she was doing it again.

This was what the mayor had to say

But I think now the consensus of the city is that people were tired of the impact of the encampment on downtown and on the rest of the city, and hope that people will be peaceful tonight and that we could work together on issues that unite us and not divide us. [Kernan]

Apparently, she has been talking to people other than the 82% who opposed the way she handled the situation.

A recall petition has been started. If the 82% is 'real' the mayor may not be mayor very long.

One interpretation is that the problem is 'occupy.' It would be okay to demonstrate, to march as long as you stay on the sidewalk, etc. But occupying is something mayors have a very hard time with. All over the country mayors find occupation a challenge to their authority that they cannot abide. And they have the resources all people in charge have -- guns.

Oakland has now had two 15 minutes of fame in the occupy movement.

However, no sooner had Oakland reached its 15 minutes when Mayor Bloomberg moved in reassert New York City's priority as chief opponent of occupation.

So, how would we know if it is 'occupy' that is the challenge mayors cannot abide? They say things that are all plausible [Velsin and Deprez], and that all ring hollow when you look at mayors and occupiers working together in other cities.

How do you know you are winning? When mayors are threatened by thinking that squatter's rights [sometimes called free speech] may become ownership and thus have to toss you out to very negative reaction from the 'audience' then you know you are winning.

© G. R. Boynton, November 20, 2011

Kerrnan, Holly (November 14, 2011) Oakland police remove occupy encampment; mayor Quan speaks, Kalw news

Velshin, Alison and Esme E. Deprez (November 15, 2011) New York poice evict Wall Street protesters, Bloomberg.