Occupation Day 12: Negotiations Stop, Rallies to Continue

Latest (8/20): Anti-foreclosure activists crowd mayor's office; Rybak hides, doesn't support foreclosure moratorium.  "Call 311," says an aide.

Talks broke down between Rosemary Williams and the companies preventing her from owning her home, organizers revealed Tuesday at 3138 Clinton Ave.  But plans were also announced about how the eviction resistance will continue.

The offer from GMAC and Aurora Loan Services - two of the plethora of companies in the picture (a hard-to-follow flowchart was handed out on Tuesday) - was for Williams to rent the home, reportedly at $850 a month, for a mere 12-month period with no option to buy and no guarantees against a future rent increase. Without the deed to the property that she says she's paid for "a million times over," Williams considers the deal unacceptable.  Cheri Honkala called it "really not an offer."  As such, although fears of a raid don't seem to be on people's minds, a 24-hour presence at the home is still being maintained.

In response to the stalled talks - which were, admittedly, an improvement over GMAC's previous position offering $5,000 to end the campaign - PPEHRC and the People's Bailout Coalition are now planning a "major protest" at a different politically advantageous site each week in an attempt to force the issue and keep supporters active.  First up: Mayor RT Rybak's office at 11am on Wednesday (meeting first at the Government Plaza LRT Station on 5th Street).  Beyond that, Honkala hinted at plans to take the fight to Pittsburgh for the upcoming G20 summit resistance (schedule/organizing bodies, latest organizing update), at which an economic justice march has been scheduled for Saturday, September 20 preceding other marches and actions the entire next week, and shortly thereafter to an action in Washington, DC.

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