Occupy Mosier is making history and garnering national attention as the smallest town in the entire US to hold an Occupy camp! Hundreds of supporters have visited the encampment and participated in the plethora of talks, workshops, and roundtable discussions. How is this possible in a small town of 430 people that lacks sidewalks or a city park to protest in?
The organizers of Occupy Mosier have a three-pronged approach that has gained the praise from activists across the country (including Occupy Wall Street!):
- Draw attention to rural communities that have been the hardest hit by the recession while their needs go ignored by politicians;
- Demonstrate rural Wasco County values through roundtable discussions and consensus-based general assemblies;
- Bold action.
Learn more about Occupy Mosier’s successes from their press releases below, or check out their media hits:
“Too Small To Fail: Occupy Mosier” by OccupyWallSt.org
“Occupy Movement Moves To Rural Northwest” by OPB
Watch the news segments on Occupy Mosier: http://www.youtube.com/user/occupythegorge
Stay updated: www.occupythegorge.org and Occupy Rural Oregon on Facebook!
Interested in holding a general assembly in your town? Want to learn how to use social media to do community outreach? Check out Resources for Small Town Occupations!
Smallest town with an Occupy camp is moving “Occupy” ideas into actions at the local level
Mosier, OR– Mosier, an eastern Oregon town of 430 people, is the smallest U.S. city with an active Occupy camp. With no multinational corporations for miles, this town in rural Wasco County may seem an unlikely place for an Occupy camp that has drawn hundreds of local visitors. Participants are using the Occupy Mosier camp to highlight the fact that rural communities have been hit especially hard by a recession borne from corporate power in politics. Occupy Mosier participants are working to turn their concerns and ideas into concrete actions and focused local campaigns to help the 99% in their community. In the first of many bold actions, Occupy Mosier will take on Walmart’s illegal expansion in Hood River and develop a law to protect Mosier citizens and the environment from corporate harm.
Occupy Mosier and Occupy the Gorge are directly addressing Walmart’s efforts to illegally expand in Hood River. Walmart has attempted to force the City to ignore the local zoning laws to allow for a 30,000 square foot expansion that nearly doubles the size of the store. Occupy the Gorge will hold the Walmart is Not Above the Law rally at Hood River City Hall on Saturday, November 12 at 3PM to call on the city to reject Walmart’s planned expansion.
“We are going to use the momentum we are generating around the Occupy camp to stop Walmart’s illegal expansion,” said Mosier resident and Occupy Mosier organizer Corie Lahr. “Walmart’s attempt to get around local law is exactly the type of corporate arrogance that has inspired the Occupy movement. While the immediate goal is to protect the community from Walmart’s expansion efforts, we see the Occupy movement as way to link this fight to the bigger picture effort of reigning-in corporate control over our political system and local communities.”
Today Occupy Mosier participants took the first step toward passing a law to fight corporate control on the local level. Participants have submitted a proposed ordinance to the City of Mosier’s Mayor and City Council that would adopt a Rights of Nature ordinance into law. Based on a model ordinance developed by the Center Environmental Legal Defense, the Rights of Nature ordinance has been adopted by many other communities as a tool for protecting their residents and the environment from corporation projects.
“There was consensus that we needed to put the ideas and values of the Occupy Movement into action,” said Mosier attorney Brent Foster who is urging the City of Mosier to adopt the ordinance. “If Occupy groups across the United States start taking coordinated steps to help their town stand up to corporate power, we could see the Occupy movement start evolving into its next stages.”
Jessica Campbell with the Rural Organizing Project, which is working with over 30 rural communities across Oregon who are organizing around the Occupy movement, says it is exciting to see Occupy Mosier addressing rural issues head-on. “The Occupy movement is about creating local economies and community infrastructure for the 99%. It’s exciting to see Occupy Mosier translating the energy behind the Occupy movement into campaigns to improve the lives of everyone in their community, especially the rural communities that are largely ignored by politicians.”
Occupy Mosier began Friday, November 4 and has hosted multiple speakers, workshops and movies on a range of issues from corporate control over U.S. politics, fighting plans to ship coal through the Columbia Gorge to China and addressing wage inequality. Saturday, Occupy Mosier traveled to The Dalles to close their accounts with Bank of America, joining the national “Break-Up with your Bank Day.” With over fifteen tents of full-time campers, the encampment will continue until November 11 where participants may decide to occupy another city in the Gorge.
Bo Vanderkloot lives across the Columbia River from Mosier in Bingen, WA. Vanderkloot is a single father motivated to join the Occupy Mosier camp because of his banks refusal to refinance his home loan following his divorce. “When the bank told me I was going to lose the home my son was born in, it was a real motivator to get involved,” says Vanderkloot. “I know I don’t agree with many of the National Tea Party’s positions, but I think some of my Tea Party neighbors would agree that kicking me and my son out of our house even though I make every mortgage payment isn’t right.”
One of Oregon’s smallest towns becomes the smallest U.S. town with an Occupy camp
Mosier, OR– There are no stoplights, the only gas station closed years ago and there is not a single multinational corporation within five miles. With a population of just 430, Mosier, Oregon will become the smallest U.S. town to have an active Occupy camp.
Participantsfrom Mosier and other small communities of the Columbia Gorge are working to highlight their vision for a family-friendly camp that includes music, movies and round-table discussions with the community. While the group has stressed its solidarity with Occupy camps in urban cities across the United States, Occupy Mosier is adopting tactics and strategies they say reflect reflects Wasco County’s rural community values.
“Rural communities have been hit harder than anyone by the policies the Occupy movement has formed to fight,” said Corie Lahr, Mosier resident. “If we do this right, we can attract a lot of rural people to the movement.”
Multiple speakers, workshops and movies are being planned in Mosier on a range of issues from reigning in corporate control over U.S. politics and shrinking an oversized military budget to supporting local credit unions, fighting plans to ship coal through the Columbia Gorge to China, and addressing wage inequality and related issues.
“People have asked us if we are getting a permit,” said Lahr. “We had to laugh because we don’t have sidewalks, let alone a city park where people could gather on city property for a protest. We are doing everything we can to communicate with the City of Mosier, public safety officials and the public about what we are planning and our goals.”
The group expects 15 or more tents to be set up with hundreds of people visiting the camp over the next week. The group has also invited local area Tea Party activists to the camp to share tea and round-table discussion about areas where the Tea Party and Occupy movements can agree.
“We think planning a 7-day camp and allowing for the possibility of another camp in a nearby town is a good way to spread awareness about the issues Wasco County cares about, such as Wall Street’s control of our economy and corporate power in our government.,” says ten-year Mosier resident Daniel Dancer.
Cara Shufelt, director of the Rural Organizing Project, is working with over 30 rural communities across Oregon who are involved organizing around the Occupy movement. ““Rural and small town Oregonians are indentifying with the message of the occupy movement. As far as we can tell, Oregon has more rural communities involved in Occupy actions than any other state. The Occupy Mosier camp is really unique,” said Shufelt. “We believe Mosier is the smallest U.S. town with an Occupy camp.”
Bo Vanderkloot lives across the Columbia River from Mosier in Bingen, WA. Vanderkloot is a single father motivated to join the Occupy Mosier camp because of his banks refusal to refinance his home loan following his divorce. “When the bank told me I was going to lose the home my son was born in, it was a real motivator to get involved,” says Vanderkloot. “I know I don’t agree with many of the National Tea Party’s positions, but I think some of my Tea Party neighbors would agree that kicking me and my son out of our house even though I make every mortgage payment isn’t right.”
As with other Occupy protests, the Occupy Mosier and Occupy the Gorge participants have a diversity of primary interests. Most participants share goals such as reducing corporations’ power over politics and communities, prioritizing spending on health care and education over runaway military spending, increasing environmental protections, and reforming national trade, monetary and financial policies to better support all people in our communities, regardless of race, class or gender.
While Mosier will serve as a base camp, activities are being planned throughout the Gorge from November 4 -11. Saturday, November 5 at 11AM, Occupy Mosier will travelto the “Break Up With Your Bank” event at the Dalles Bank of America where people will close their accounts in protest of policies that bankrupt and foreclose on local community members.