Peacefully, and With Jazz Hands: Occupy Seattle and City Council

Today, City Council heard public statements regarding a resolution proposed by Occupy supporter Nick Licata, which addresses the concerns of the Occupy Wall Street/Occupy Seattle movement. Many from the Occupy camp came to deliver educated, well-researched testimony. It was nice to see, and was met with a big reward: the unanimous passage of a new, pro-Occupy resolution that would encourage the City of Seattle to re-examine its banking practices and its efforts toward economic justice.

Nick Licata received a lot of support from speakers, who used their General Assembly "jazz hands" gesture to show their agreement, and thanked him personally for stepping up in support of the occupation and what, at its core, it has been asking for--a conversation about the broken economy, and how it could conceivably be dealt with on a real, tangible level. Licata's resolution, several noted, has moved Occupy Seattle from a movement of demonstration to an instrument of change.

Some of the testemony was predictably off-course (like notes about the war, police in Portland, the weekend's events at Town Hall, and difficulty in getting a permit), but for the most part, the commentary was insightful and intelligent. Councilmember O'Brien even echoed that the testimony was more salient and "meaningful" than usual.

In addition to individuals and Occupy protesters, local powerhouses like Working Washington also came out to support parts of the resolution, such as the City's considerations of pulling money out of big banks.

Councilmember Bruce Harrell raised questions about language that was omitted from the edition of the resolution that was passed--which included the word "solution" in one critical point, though no real answer seemed to come of his query.

Licata himself spoke about wealth inequality, the burdens of seniors, the plight of minorities, and Medicaid and Medicare. He personally thanked the Occupy protest for creating nightly dialogues about these critical problems.

"Our city can't change everything, but as a City...we can build a momentum toward solutions." Licata affirmed. He also spoke to the need for the Federal Government's attention, and the need to pass regressive taxes to fix the system. He was also a big advocate for pulling money out of big banks.

"It's the banking industry, to a large degree. (Chase) exemplifies what is wrong with the economy...that's something that the Occupy Movement is getting across to the press."

Licata then outlined the actions that he had proposed in the resolution, which include re-examining where the City banks, promoting responsible banking to stabilize the housing market. The City is also going to look at, Licata told the crowds, foreclosures and lending inequities, and the City's own tax breaks and exemptions.

"Why are we blindly going ahead and giving these (exemptions) year after year? If they don't work, get rid of them." Licata said.

Licata also implored the Occupy movement to align themselves with legislators, rather than raging against them.

"This is just a first step. And I think that working together, I think we can fix our broken economy and fix our broken social contract."