Paddy’s to Host ‘Occupy’ Community Forum

As Occupy protests continue here in the Bay Area and across the globe, one of Union City’s most progressive businesses is calling for a peaceful and civil debate on the Occupy movement.

On Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 6 to 9 p.m., is hosting a community forum for residents to ponder the question: “What does the Occupy movement mean to you?”

While the venue maintains an open door for any organization to gather or hold community events, it’s business owner Paddy Iyer himself who’s bringing the topic into the local sphere of discourse.

“This is a defining moment for this generation,” Iyer said about the series of global protests. “This is the break-point for the generation. This is a chance for the government to fix the ills that are pervasive in the civic process.”

Wednesday’s event is not a protest, Iyer stressed.

“It’s for the community to come and express themselves, and share their stories and their thoughts on what the movement is all about and why they are taking part,” he said. “We expect people from all walks of life, all opinions to gather at this community spot.”

The series of Occupy demonstrations began in New York as Occupy Wall Street in September to demand social and economic equality and has since picked up momentum across the country and globe. The movement’s slogan, “We Are the 99 percent,” highlights the difference in wealth between the wealthiest 1 percent of the American population and average citizens.

Iyer said that several of his customers have been active participants in the Occupy Oakland protests, which became a focal point of the movement two weeks ago after an Iraq war veteran was injured by a tear gas canister during a standoff with police.

Among local residents who have participated in the protests are members of local community group Filipino Advocates for Justice who last week rallied in Oakland to stand in solidarity with the movement.

Though Iyer hasn’t participated in the protests, he’s used his blog to emphasize his support of the movement and share his views.

“The common man got hit the hardest by the collapse of the housing and finance markets. Yet it was the common man that bailed out the industries when they went begging to the federal government. And with due apologies for using a street expression, the common man has now got the shaft,” Iyer wrote in one of two posts last week.

“The common man has been sacrificed at the altar of corporate lobbying by the elected representatives, and this is the change that needs to be done,” Iyer wrote in another post. “The question that begs to be answered: are the elected representatives accountable to the people who voted them in, or are they accountable to the lobbyists who fund their elections. And there in lies the future of this great nation.”

Read more on Iyer’s blog at www.paddyscoffee.blogspot.com.

Paddy’s Coffee House’s public forum on the Occupy movement will be held Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 6 to 9 p.m.