Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reportedly offered the occupiers a 10,000-square-foot office space, a patch of farmland to garden and housing for the homeless if the protesters vacated the City Hall lawn but the protesters rejected the offer.

Nov 29, 2011
WSJ

By ALLYSIA FINLEY

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa thought he could control City Hall occupiers through appeasement. Well, that tact hasn’t worked out any better for him than it has for other leaders in the history books, as evidenced by Monday’s mayhem.

The mayor, a Democrat and former labor organizer, had patronized the group for months, offering them ponchos when it rained and vigorously supporting their message of “economic justice and restoration of balance to American society.” The city council also passed a resolution endorsing the movement, and the police commander ordered officers not to step on any protesters’ toes. But as the occupation continued with no end in sight — and health conditions grew, shall we say, odious — the mayor sought to negotiate with the group’s ostensible leaders. He seemed certain that both the occupiers and city government shared the same aim to peacefully co-exist. He was mistaken.

Mr. Villaraigosa reportedly offered the occupiers a 10,000-square-foot office space, a patch of farmland to garden and housing for the homeless if the protesters vacated the City Hall lawn. The protesters rejected the offer and its core assumption that they could be bought off. At his wit’s end, the mayor ordered occupiers to move out by midnight last Sunday or . . . well, he wouldn’t give an ultimatum. His goal, after all, was to maintain a façade of bonhomie that contrasted with the violent demonstrations and crackdowns in other cities like Oakland, Calif., and New York.

The mayor’s overtures, however, merely emboldened the protesters. Just before midnight, hundreds of protesters crowded the streets around City Hall in revelry and defiance. The street party continued for several hours until police declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly and ordered everyone to clear out, at which point a few protesters wearing masks threw bamboo sticks and water bottles at officers. Most of the others returned to their campgrounds on the City Hall lawn.

The mayor has since refused to specify when or whether police will force the campers out, saying only that he “will allow campers ample time to remove their belongings peacefully and without disruption.” The protesters meanwhile regrouped Monday morning and filed suit against the city for engaging in “arbitrary and capricious action in violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments by first approving the Occupy presence for 56 days before suddenly revoking permission through the unilateral action of defendants.” As evidence, they cite the city council’s resolution of support and a statement from the mayor’s aide that the city would not enforce a law prohibiting overnight public encampments. Far from earning him good will, Mr. Villaraigosa’s policy of appeasement has lent the occupiers ammunition to attack him.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also tried appealing to the protesters’ supposed sensibilities by supporting their class warfare message. When Mr. Bloomberg finally resolved to clear out Zuccotti Park, occupiers sued the city for violating their First Amendment rights. Some rioted, and a large contingent picketed the mayor’s mansion on the Upper East Side.

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