This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 9, 2011 - Facing down the possibility that their encampment at Kiener Plaza could be dispersed, members of Occupy St. Louis met Thursday with Mayor Francis Slay's staff. But after two hours of discussion, the two sides failed to reach any solution acceptable to them both.
For weeks, Occupy STL protesters have camped in the downtown St. Louis park. Citing complaints, Slay wrote on his blog last week that that the Parks Department had "prepared a list of ordinances and regulations, which it believes Occupy is in current violation."
Jeff Rainford, Slay's chief of staff, told the Beacon last week that "we're in the planning stages of how we're going to enforce the law." That, he said, means ending the overnight camping.
Members of the Occupy STL movement disputed Slay's complaints and drafted its own list of complaints against the mayor.
The two sides met Tuesday afternoon at the Edward Jones Dome. The mayor's representatives included Rainford, special assistant Mary Ellen Ponder and Eddie Roth, who serves as the city's chief performance office.
Several dozen protesters, including some with currency taped to their mouths as protest against corporate influence in politics, also attended.
While the conversation between the two sides was generally civil -- Ponder, for example, suggested creating a "Speaker's Corner" that the protesters could use at all hours -- Rainford and Roth repeated their view that the protests violate city ordinances.
Occupiers see ending the encampment as an infringement of their freedom of speech and compromising their ability to stage a visible protest against economic equality.
Rainford said police would act to remove the protesters "sooner rather than later," adding that protestors would receive 24 hours notice before such action occurs.
"It just depends on where we end up," Rainford said. "If we're making progress, we've got some ideas but we need time for them to percolate, then we're going to give them a chance to percolate."
Some protesters came to the meeting with currency tapped to their mouths. "Money is not speech" was written on the tape.
Despite the disagreements between the sides, Thomas Stratman, a Dogtown resident who's been a chaplain work at the protest site, said the mayor's office has been "bending over backward" working with the movement.
"Personal opinion, I think it's been handled very well," Stratman said. "But you can come down to Occupy and I can introduce you to people across the full spectrum."
Steven Trey Lott, an engineering student, said the entire situation is "difficult for everyone" and the "whole thing is not clear all the time."
"I would like to see this ... set precedents for any other 'Occupy' going on," said Lott. "The point is we as people just want to learn how to take control of our government again. So maybe what I would love to see is this turns into the first 'Occupy,' that we can all work together and maybe come up with a solution that just hasn't been done before."
Jason Rosenbaum, a freelance journalist in St. Louis, covers state and local government and politics.
