Forum Post: Update on the 99% Declaration and the National General Assembly

My name is Michael Pollok and I am one of the co-facilitators of the 99% Declaration Wokring Group which can be found here http://www.facebook.com/www.the99declaration.org until we get our new webpage up and running. We are awaiting a decision from the producers at MSNBC about a proposal to put the original drafters of the 99% Declaration on air with Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig. Please call and write to the producers at MSNBC and ask that they have the 99% Declaration on with Professor Lessig. We don't care who they have on the other side of the issue. 12-2. Visit to Philadelphia to meet with members of the #OWS Philly GA. We would like to discuss with you the possibility of having the 876 delegates stay in people's homes for the week of 7-2 to 7-6 or approaching one of the colleges with unused dorm space in the summer to give us a deal on accomodation for the delegates. We would also like to talk with you about any concerns you may have. Is there a time when we can come meet with you before 11am or in the evening? 12-2 Meetings with venue site owners for the July convention, hotels, vendors. 12-2 Meeting with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter's senior staff to discuss the July 2012 convention and address any conerns they have. 12-5 First commercial starts to air nationally on Current TV at 8pm and 11pm during Keith Olbermann's show. Watch Keith's show that entire week to see our ad which you may preview here:http://youtu.be/PnNazuRXoEc December 2011. Ongoing work on the new webpage which will allow people to register as a candidate for delegate and post a personal candidate profile, allow people to register to vote for the March 2012 election of delegates and allow people to sign up for their local election committee or a substantive subject committee to work on one or more of the grievances. December 2011 to March 2012. Ongoing fund raising efforts to pay for the election of delegates and venue in Philadelphia. A note about our group's purpose: First you should know that I was invited to work with the NYCGA Demands Working Group the week of 11-13 and to come and attend a meeting at 60 Wall Street the same day the mayor ordered the park cleared. Since I am a criminal defense attorney and volunteer for #OWS protestors, I could not come to the meeting because I was busy trying to get people out of custody.Our group is purely a facilitation group designed for two functions:1. Organize and hold a national election of 876 delegates to the National General Assembly. It is intended that each GA should put forward one man and one woman in each Congressional District as a candidate but the election must be open to all Americans to be a true democratic election. Voting will take place online and at polling places in each of the 435 voting districts (plus six delegates will be elected to represent DC, Puerto Rico and the American protectorates).2. Provide a venue space in Philadelphia the week of 7-4-12 for the purpose of allowing the delegates to meet, debate and ratify a petition for redress of grievances. It is expected that between the election in March 2012 and the meeting in July 2012, that most of the petition will be hammered out and written by the delegates who will meet online through our webpage and conference calling. The final petition, when signed by the elected delegates, will have the full force and effect of a legal document as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. This legal document will then be served upon Congress, the Supreme Court and the President as if they were being served with a law suit. Please note that the 21 grievances in the 99% Declaration (www.the99declaration.org) are merely suggestions or starting points for the delegates to consider when drafting their own petition. The content of the petition will be completely left up to the elected delegates and our role is simply to organize a transparent election and provide the venue space in Philadelphia. That's it. We have no other agenda. we are not trying to co-opt or ditcate to anyone. Going forwward, once people have signed up for committees on the new web page, we will start a concerted effort to get the word out about the election in each of the 435 voting districts and supplemental voting districts of DC, Puerto Rico and US protectorates. Depending on how much money we can raise, we would like to run local radio spots and ads to let people know about the March election so they know to vote. You can help now by starting to look for locations to serve as polling places in your congressional district. The location must we easily accessible and the owner must consent to sign a "hold harmless agreement" should anyone get injured in some way when voting. We really can't afford to get sued. The owner of the potential polling place would also have to agree to remain open for one full weekend in March from Saturday at 8am to Sunday at midnight. We will staff the sites 24 hours a day if possible with volunteers. That is what we are working on right now.