Occupy Santa Rosa to picket downtown mall Friday

<p>Occupy Santa Rosa will picket Santa Rosa's downtown mall on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that's traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year.</p><p>It's part of Occupy's anti-corporate message, members said Sunday. The “Buy Nothing Day” demonstration will be followed by a community festival at City Hall with music, crafts and a free gift exchange.</p><p>The encampment continued to shrink Sunday as some Occupiers folded their tents after a night of cold rain and police checks. Still, more than 30 tents remained and diehards vowed to stay until at least Nov. 30, when city permits expire.</p><p>During Occupy's daily meeting Sunday, members talked about “reoccupying” the area after next week's deadline.</p><p>“We're trying to figure out what our next step will be,” said Occupier Emily Hodges.</p><p>They also talked about controlling garbage at the encampment, changing security operations, setting up a bank account and developing a new communications policy.</p><p>Meanwhile, Occupy Santa Rosa is struggling to restore its website, which crashed over the weekend.</p><p>“We're working on it, but for the next day or two try to use Facebook as much as you can,” Occupier Amy Robinson told group members at Occupy's City Hall encampment.</p><p>Occupiers said they'll observe Thanksgiving at City Hall on Thursday.</p><p>“I plan to celebrate the blessings I've been shown,” said Hodges, who was waving an American flag as cars passed the encampment at First Street and Santa Rosa Ave. A lone Santa Rosa police officer observed the encampment Sunday and there were no reports of disturbances.</p><p>Friday's event will begin with a 10 a.m. rally at City Hall, followed by a march to the mall at Fourth and B streets. There will be a “flash mob” event at 1 p.m. at a location to be announced.</p><p>Santa Rosa's Occupy protest began Oct. 15 and turned into an encampment Oct. 29 when tents began sprouting around City Hall. The encampment grew to about 100 tents before the city intervened, setting up a permit system.</p><p>The city handed out 57 permits, but later suspended the program and ordered campers without permits to leave.</p><p>Meanwhile, Occupiers rejected the permit process, saying the city broke an agreement to accommodate more tents.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.</p>