Occupy Petaluma Activists Say Greed, Corruption is the Undoing of America

More than a 100 people gathered near the downtown Bank of America Saturday to voice a litany of concerns from growing inequality to corporate financing of political campaigns to the high rate of foreclosures, kicking off the Occupy Petaluma movement organizers have pledged will continue for months.

The mood of the event was part political rally, part community potluck, with attendees waving signs from all four corners of the intersection of East Washington and Petaluma Boulevard, as dozens of cars honked in support.

Up the hill at Penry Park, participants set up lounge chairs, blankets and carpets, while a woman handed out cake and cookies. Nearby musicians strummed their guitars and a group was participating in a consensus workshop, teaching attendees hand signals that would be used to voice support, opposition or just plain confusion during meetings.

And although the issues varied greatly, the common denominator was anger at a system attendees said only benefits the select few while wreaking havoc on average people.

“The elite have undermined the working class in a way that leaves the Main Street with no voice,” said Larry Potts, a Petaluma musician and songwriter who had penned a song about the danger of derivatives titled “Snakeoil,” which compares Wall Street brokers to charlatans peddling false promises.  “What they’ve done is publicize the risk and privatize the profits.”

Listen to Potts' song by clicking on the video montage on the right

Mary Michellucci is a nurse who works for St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco and lives in Petaluma who said she came out to voice her frustration at the onslaught of cuts that have affected her industry. 

"I'm angry at the corporate greed and how it feeds into every aspect of our lives, including healthcare," she said. "Our corporation is making $921 million a year and all they can talk about it down sizing, economizing and layoffs...They are cutting important services like mental health and sex education, and just pushing people out the door."

Some of the attendees said they had personally been affected by the recession, like Robert Talbot, a 59-year-old Petaluma resident who received his teaching credential three years ago, but has been unable to find a job. Instead, he’s been subsisting on part-time jobs like tutoring and says his finances have been “pretty dismal.”

“I’m here today because I’m really annoyed at what happened in Oakland,” Talbot said, referring to the tear gas and foam bullets Oakland police used to disperse people who were camping out near Oakland City Hall.

In contrast to the violence at Occupy Oakland, the Petaluma “occupation” was relaxed and friendly, with only the occasional police car cruising by. One of the concerns city officials had was the delay in the group’s applying for a permit, which was finally granted on Friday. The permit includes permission to sleep in the park and is good through November 8, and which point organizers plan to petition the city for an extension.

“It's kind of a sore point for some because they don’t feel like they need a permit to exercise the First Amendment rights,” said Joe Maisel, a 40-year-old software engineer who helped plan the occupation. “But we also realize this is a small city, so we don’t want to cause any disturbances. In fact, we have a very good ongoing dialogue with the city.”

That includes succeeding in getting the park sprinklers turned off (they were timed to go off at 4am every morning), getting donations of food and drink from local businesses and free Wi-fi from several neighbors. The occupiers are still figuring out concrete goals, but have said they are here to stay...well, at least for several months, anyway.

Do you support the Occupy movement? Should the participants of Occupy Petaluma be allowed to camp out indefinitely? Why or why not? Have pictures of the event? Go ahead and upload them to the story by logging in, then clicking on any photo in the article, then clicking "Manage photos."