What’s next for Occupy L.A.? Debate over medical marijuana dispensaries is back on the table. Is the locavore food movement bad for the environment and the economy? Entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte shares his song.
What's next for Occupy L.A.?
The deadline for Occupy Los Angeles to vacate the lawn in front of city hall has come and gone and, as of the time of this broadcast, their tent city is still standing.
The LAPD had imposed a deadline of midnight last night for the occupiers to clear out, but as the crowd swelled to an estimated 1,000 people, police chose not to clear the encampment.
Early this morning police arrested a few protesters who refused to leave the intersection of Main and First streets, but most occupiers obeyed the order to disperse and, according to KPCC’s Frank Stoltze, headed back to camp to get some sleep.
These latest displays of civil disobedience come just days after the city made an offer of alternate spaces for the protesters to occupy as well as additional housing for the homeless occupiers. The deal sparked controversy within – and without – the Occupy movement. Some occupiers felt that a small contingent had broken ranks and went behind the General Assembly’s back to negotiate with the city.
The deal was turned down and now a group of Occupy protesters, along with the National Lawyers Guild, have filed suit against the city to keep the police from tearing down the camp.
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But, will the police move in before Occupy gets its day in court? Where do the protests go from here? Will they relocate to another site, with the city’s blessing? And what do the police do now? What did they hope to accomplish by letting the deadline slide?
Guests:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC Reporter. He’s downtown at the Occupy Encampment
Ron McCarthy, Independent Consultant and Police Trainer; Former Assistant Commander for LAPD SWAT, Former Head of Training for International Association of Chiefs of Police
Mike Hillman, Retired Deputy Chief, LAPD, Former Asst Sheriff for Orange County Sheriff’s Department; Consultant with Kroll Security
Daniel Dominguez, activist with OccupyLA; freelance writer
Ms. PJ Davenport, activist with OccupyLA; freelance television and multi-media producer
Debate over medical marijuana dispensaries is back on the table
L.A. City Councilman José Huizar called on his colleagues last week to repeal the city’s ordinance allowing medical marijuana shops. The ordinance, passed in January 2010, mandates regulation and restrictions on the dispensaries, including how many can exist, the distance they can be from one another and from "sensitive use" areas such as libraries and churches, and safety measures such as money drop offs and security guards.
In his proposal last Wednesday, Councilman Huizar claimed the city has failed to enforce the numbers restriction, resulting in a proliferation of "pot shops" operating without a permit or without following regulations. He was supported by several community groups, who voiced their complaints about increasing shops in their neighborhoods.
But the councilman’s most potent reason for the ban points to a November District Court of Appeal decision which ruled that Long Beach's marijuana dispensary ordinance was invalid because federal law considers cannabis an illegal drug. Huizar maintains that since Long Beach's ordinance is very similar to LA's ordinance, the Long Beach ruling deems the Los Angeles ordinance unenforceable.
The California Supreme Court is currently weighing a challenge to that decision; meanwhile, it’s uncertain whether the council will approve the ban, which if passed could take effect in about two months.
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The decision to ban dispensaries outright would come as a major setback to proponents. The city council has never inclined towards prohibition -- will this motion affect their reconsideration of dispensaries? If the ordinance can’t be enforced, should the city shut down the pot shops? What will that mean to those who rely on marijuana for their medical needs?
Guests:
José Huizar, City Council Member, 14th District
Joe Elford, Chief Counsel, Americans for Safe Access Now
Is the locavore food movement bad for the environment and the economy?
Local food production has been promoted by many as a veritable panacea for a variety of ills that plague our economy and our environment. Carbon emissions from trucks traversing the country to bring food from the fields to your fridge contribute to global warming.
The burgeoning farmers markets in major urban areas are thought to be an economic boon to regions hard hit by unemployment and a rare opportunity for smaller farms to gain back a bit of market share from the huge industrial farms.
All of this has got to be good, right? Freakonomics blogger Steve Sexton doesn’t think so.
In his blog he argues that the current methods of food production are still better for the economy and the environment because they take advantage of the geography and resources of particular regions. This notion is called comparative advantage. Each region has certain resources that make it better suited to growing and producing food in the most efficient way. Sexton holds tight to this notion claiming that to produce all the food we eat locally would create a myriad of smaller growing environments that would require more land, more chemicals, more water and more energy than we are now using.
Tom Philpott writes for Mother Jones and runs a small farm and grassroots project in North Carolina. In his recent response to Sexton’s blog, Philpott takes on the blogger’s defense of the food status quo saying the doctrine of comparative advantage is a myth. Regions, he says, don’t rely on local resources. They get them from afar. Using California agriculture as a case in point, Philpott cites its reliance on imported water and government subsidies to survive. What are the pros and cons of the locavore movement?
Guest:
Steve Sexton, Freakonomics blogger who wrote "The Inefficiency of Local Food"
Tom Philpott, Food and Ag blogger, Mother Jones Magazine; also co-founder of Maverick Farms, a small organic farm in North Carolina.
Entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte shares his song
Harry Belafonte's childhood began in Harlem, where his neighbors were Duke Ellington and Langston Hughes. His mother regularly took him to see jazz greats at the Apollo Theater.
Following his parents’ divorce, he lived with his white grandmother in Jamaica, then endured a stint in a British boarding school.
This wide range of experiences, explains Belafonte, gave him a lifelong ease in moving between races and classes, from janitor to entertainer to activist.
While studying acting in New York he landed his first singing gig at the Roost, singing standards for $70 a week, which led to higher profile radio and club dates at previously segregated venues, such as the Riviera in Las Vegas.
With his multi-racial looks and Caribbean diction, Belafonte presented a reassuring presence to early fifties white audiences – “Black, but ... not too black,” he writes in his autobiography, My Song. From there, he went on to film, television, theater and musical success, continuing to break down barriers along the way.
His long, rich entertainment career is now in its seventh decade – but there is so much more to the song of Belafonte. A meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1956 led him to channel his energy and talents toward the struggle for social justice.
As a highly successful and beloved show business figure, he used his stature to benefit the Civil Rights movement, even serving as its liaison to the Kennedy Administration. His dedication to social causes has continued throughout his life and takes center stage in his new book.
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How did the racism and extreme poverty Belafonte faced as a child shape his future as an activist? What forces drove his talent and career?
Guest:
Harry Belafonte, entertainer, activist and author of a new memoir, "My Song" (Knopf)
Belafonte discusses his new memoir with Tim Robbins this evening at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, sponsored by Live Talks Los Angeles and KPCC. Reception at 6:30, discussion begins at 8:00. For ticket information, click here.