Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required.
Title
Recognizing Occupy Madison's contribution to the City of Madison.
Body
WHEREAS, since late October of last year, Occupy Madison has resided at the former Don Miller car dealership on E. Washington Avenue; and
WHEREAS, from the start, City officials took a positive approach to the occupation, inspecting the site to ensure the health and safety of participants without restricting Occupy's ability to deliver its political message; and
WHEREAS, positive relations between City officials and Occupy Madison - something notably missing in other cities - enabled Occupy Madison to expand its mission; and
WHEREAS, while keeping attention on the issues of economic inequality and control of our political system by the 1%, Occupy Madison has also welcomed a significant number of formerly homeless persons into its encampment; and
WHEREAS, Occupy Madison has developed a creative response to the growing poverty and homelessness caused by the economic crisis; and
WHEREAS, at Occupy Madison, formerly homeless persons run the encampment, have developed a code of conduct and have been able to deal with personal conflicts without the use of force or the need for frequent calls to Madison police; and
WHEREAS, at Occupy Madison, the City of Madison is fortunate to have a core group of formerly homeless persons who have taken up positions of leadership and have developed the skills needed to govern their community; and
WHEREAS, these Occupy Madison residents want more than to be passive recipients of charity or government services and prefer to take responsibility for themselves and for their community, while giving something back to the wider Madison community; and
WHEREAS, thanks to the creative and flexible working relationship they have enjoyed with the city, Occupy Madison has grown into a valuable resource that may provide a model for how our city can respond to poverty and homelessness in a time of severe budget cuts; and
WHEREAS, in a time of budget and service cuts, Madison has been able to increase the help it provides to our city's poorest residents, and all for the cost of a 15-amp electrical service and an unused parking lot;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Madison thanks the Occupy Madison movement and the current Occupy Madison residents for their efforts to address important community needs during this recession and recognizes their potential to be an important resource for this city;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Madison reaffirms its commitment that Housing is a Human Right and will increase its efforts to implement that resolution;
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the City of Madison thanks the residents of Occupy Madison for showing us a successful model of self-organizing and welcomes them to the ongoing community efforts to address poverty and homelessness.