General Assembly Process at Occupy Venice
El Gringo
version. I chopped it up a lil and you should too. This is to explain
to new peeps and remind us what the hell is going on.
ps. bold print doesn't show up on Google group but if you wanna see it
on email lmk.
General Assembly Process at Occupy Venice
Every General Assembly in every occupied city is slightly different
and evolving all the time, but for right now, here at Occupy Venice,
we tend to stick to the following format.
The General Assembles are
held at 7:00pm Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1354 1/2 Abbot Kinney Blvd on
the back patio garden behind the Ananda Boutique. We try to keep them
around two hours. Anyone can attend and everyone in attendance is
encouraged to participate. Minutes from the meeting are posted on our
website - occupyvenice.wordpress.com.
The people ‘chairing’ the
meeting are the Facilitators and their job is to co-manage the
meeting. They volunteer prior to the meeting and we use gender balance
for these positions. All Facilitators must be part of the Facilitation
Working Group and understand the meeting process.
* The Facilitators start every meeting by calling for a round of
INTRODUCTIONS. This should be a very brief introduction of your name
and something you would like to tell about why you’re with the Occupy
movement.
Hand Signals and Meeting Process (5min)
* After this, the Facilitators briefly explain the MEETING PROCESS and
HAND GESTURES used for individuals to communicate. Hand gestures are
used instead of voices because it doesn’t interrupt speech or produce
a cacophony of disordered noise. It works to keep the Assembly
ordered, and to allow speakers to be heard without being spoken over.
The hand gestures are explained before proposal every meeting.
Call Backs and Announcements (15min)
*After the hand gestures have been explained, working groups are asked
to do “Call backs”, and report on the status and currents actions of
that group. This keeps the GA informed of what’s going on in the
working groups and their progress. Then attendees are called upon to
make any ANNOUNCEMENTS. If you have an announcement you should “get on
Stack” and you will have a turn to speak. (Announcements can be
anything - unlike proposals, they are not decisions which should be
voted on by the Assembly, usually because of their low priority, and
because they do not directly affect the movement and the direction the
movement and its followers should take.)
Proposals (30min)
*What’s a Proposal? -- A proposal is an idea set before the General
Assembly which, if implemented, will affect everyone in the movement.
They are representative of the group, and are ideas which need the
official endorsement of the Occupy movement. Proposals shouldn’t be
vague, indistinct ideas, but properly fleshed out ideas, with a WHAT,
a HOW a WHY and a WHEN.
Proposals will not pass and become
Resolutions unless the Assembly agrees, as one, that they will pass.
If someone HARD BLOCKS a proposal, then the proposer has to answer
questions and concerns until the Assembly can come to some kind of
CONSENSUS. People may offer a counter-proposal, or friendly
amendments. Sometimes the assembly will break into smaller groups for
ten minutes to discuss a contentious proposal in greater detail. The
proposer must listen to all questions and concerns, and can amend his/
her proposal in front of the GA, before reaching consensus. Consensus
is measured through” Temperature Checks” - where the assembly is asked
to make their feelings known through hand gestures. In the event that
no consensus is reached, the proposal is either dropped or TABLED for
a later meeting, usually with the advice that the Proposal should be
taken and work shopped through a Working group or commitee, or those
with concerns should work alongside the person making the proposal to
find a solution which pleases everyone, before bringing it back to GA.
Individuals should bring their “fleshed out” proposal to the
facilitators before the meeting and be put on “Stack” to have it be
heard at the appropriate time.
1st. Working Group proposals will be heard (1-2 minutes)
2nd. Individual proposals (1 minute)
Stack
Stack is the “Queue” of people waiting to ask a question, voice a
concern, or to speak at any part of the GA. Stack ensures that
everyone gets to speak in an orderly fashion and that no one is
excluded.
Guest Speakers (30-45min)
* After proposals comes a GUEST SPEAKERS. Speakers usually talk for
about 15-20 minutes and have included Mike Feinstein (former Mayor of
Santa Monica), Louie Kenji (homeless activist), and Marcy Winograd
(veteran activist and US Congressional candidate). Hosting regional
activists is a good method for maintaining energy, focus, and
inspiration in the group.
Ideas and Discussion (till Kim kicks you out!)
* Ideas and Discussion is a time to bring up an idea or proposal that
is not “fleshed out” or you may need/want some friendly input
developing. This is a less formal time to talk and exchange ideas
without the constraints of the GA and also so proposals that are not
ready to be brought to a vote can be furthered.
El Gringo
hope to read it for consensus during the meeting, and then enter it
into "The Good Book of Occupy"
Please give feedback if you can, i love Lindsey's short version. I
think the proposal section here could be organized and be more
explanitory. It is the most complicated part of what we do.
After the hand gestures have been explained, working groups are asked
to do “Call backs”, and report on the status and currents actions of
that group. This keeps the GA informed of what’s going on in the
working groups and their progress. Then attendees are called upon to
make any ANNOUNCEMENTS. If you have an announcement you should “get on
Stack” and you will have a turn to speak. (Announcements can be
anything - unlike proposals, they are not decisions which should be
voted on by the Assembly, usually because of their low priority, and
because they do not directly affect the movement and the direction the
movement and its followers should take.)
Proposals (30min)
What’s a Proposal? -- A proposal is an idea set before the General
Assembly which, if implemented, will affect everyone in the movement.
They are representative of the group, and are ideas which need the
official endorsement of the Occupy movement. Proposals shouldn’t be
vague, indistinct ideas, but properly fleshed out ideas, with a WHAT,
a HOW a WHY and a WHEN.
Proposals will not pass and become
“Resolutions” unless the Assembly agrees, as one, that they will pass.
If someone HARD BLOCKS a proposal, then the proposer has to answer
questions and concerns until the Assembly can come to some kind of
CONSENSUS. People may offer a counter-proposal, or friendly
amendments. Sometimes the assembly will break into smaller groups for
ten minutes to discuss a contentious proposal in greater detail. The
proposer must listen to all questions and concerns, and can amend his/
her proposal in front of the GA, before reaching consensus. Consensus
is measured through” Temperature Checks” - where the assembly is asked
to make their feelings known through hand gestures. In the event that
no consensus is reached, the proposal is either dropped or “Tabled”
for a later meeting, usually with the advice that the Proposal should
be taken and work shopped through a Working group or committee, or
mike chamness
So that's pretty much our previous GA process narrative from a few months back that we handed out and posted on our website. Looks good.
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