Occupy campers hope Petaluma will extend permit

The last remnants of Occupy Santa Rosa's tent city must leave City Hall on Wednesday night, but Occupy protesters in Petaluma are hoping for different news as the city considers extending their camping permit, which expires Wednesday.

"We are expecting to be renewed," said Tim Nonn, 57, one of the Petaluma protesters. "I think they'll continue to do so on a two-week basis."

Petaluma officials were noncommittal on Monday, saying only that they would be looking at how well the demonstrators had complied with the terms of their previous permits, which have allowed a small overnight presence downtown in Penry Park for the past month.

At least some neighbors are hoping for a change of scenery. Heather Marie Thorson and her boyfriend painted an ocean scene on a large canvas, which they erected next to the protesters to block their bedroom view of the camp. The city ordered it taken down.

"It was just a screen so every morning when we woke up we didn't have to be &‘occupied,'" said Thorson, who lives across from the park and feels rules are being applied unfairly to benefit the protesters. "I just don't think it's necessary to sleep there."

Otherwise, though, Occupy Petaluma seems to be enjoying a more cordial connection with its host city than many Occupy movements.

Unlike Occupy protesters in Santa Rosa, the Petaluma group got a permit before starting its camp and has largely limited its presence to one large canopy and a storage tent. Police Chief Dan Fish said there have been few complaints.

While some Santa Rosa protesters got arrested picketing banks, Petaluma protesters have been in discussions with credit unions and banks.

Greg Morgan, regional president for Wells Fargo Bank, said he's been talking to Nonn, asking him to come up with concrete, realistic suggestions the bank could take to deal with foreclosures.

At its most recent meeting, the City Council endorsed the protesters' idea of a holiday foreclosure moratorium, asking banks to refrain from evictions during the holidays.

On Friday, Occupy Petaluma is holding a foreclosure prevention outreach training session on Friday at UCC Petaluma church.

Some at Occupy Petaluma see such success as validation of their approach.

"No one responds well to &‘in-your-face,'" said Rob Nasser, sweeping the camp Tuesday morning. "We're working with the city on the small things so that we can focus our energy on the more important issues."

Nonn said their collaborative approach developed organically. Petaluma is a small community where protesters' kids may go to school with those of police officers.

But Nonn, who lost a home to foreclosure after his job was outsourced, said the protesters may still resort to more abrasive tactics like blocking bank entrances.

"If the banks refuse to collaborate and dialog with us, then yes, direct action will be necessary," he said. "It's not something we are planning now because we are having more success with the collaborative approach."

Despite the differing tactics in Santa Rosa and Petaluma, some protesters choose both. One man, who quietly attended last week's Petaluma City Council meeting to support the foreclosure moratorium, was at Santa Rosa Plaza last Friday, unfurling signs and singing in a "flash mob" protest calling for a boycott of Black Friday.