Month: October 2013

This is the second in a series of articles on a tent city for Tacoma. The first can be found by clicking here. Based on my past experiences in tent cities, a Tacoma Tent City could well be organized and governed as follows:

Camp Organization

1. The responsibility of electing leadership and establishing permanent rules within the camp shall fall upon the residents of the camp at the time by a consensus vote (consensus as determined by the camp as a whole).
2. The responsibility of enforcing rules, resolving disputes, establishing temporary rules, and coordinating ongoing and day-to-day operations of the camp shall fall upon an executive committee (EC), comprised of five primary members and two alternates. These executive committee members shall be elected once a month and shall not serve a term of more than two consecutive months.

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——CHANGING THE WORLD: STARTING LOCAL——

For several months, Occupy Tacoma (OT) activists and various homeless advocates have been gathering data, seeking out resources, identifying potential allies, and assembling relevant legal documents—all for the sake of launching a vital project to meet the needs of many local homeless people.

Now, a FIRST PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING has been scheduled for Monday evening, June 10, at the First United Methodist Church (clickable link), 621 Tacoma Avenue South, to kick off the Tent City Tacoma project.

• Please Come: Church leaders, civil organizations, public health and law enforcement representatives, staff from city departments, and ALL OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS are invited to attend.
• Meeting Program:
  • Refreshments: The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. with refreshments.
  • Presentation: An OT member, formerly a homeless person himself, will share a PowerPoint presentation describing how he and other homeless advocates and activists have participated in the organization and running of successful Tent Cities.

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