After weeks of cooperation with the City of Bellingham, Occupy Bellingham was evicted from Maritime Heritage Park with only 24 hours' notice. We were prepared to leave the park exactly as we had found it. We worked most of the day and night prior to the eviction to remove as much equipment as possible. We were not allowed to repair the temporary impacts in the park due to what I believe to be the unreasonable time frame and the city's last-minute change of tactics in regard to its negotiations with the group.

If you think everything is fine in this country, then you are not paying attention.

Corporations exert too much influence over our government. From the military industrial complex to Citizens United, human rights have been sacrificed in the name of corporate profits. Mortgage bankers who falsified documents and bundled mortgages into risky investments have gotten away with millions in profit, while I sit in jail because the city was concerned about damage to some grass. Why is grass more important than free speech and economic justice?

The Occupy movement is one place where people who want a more just world for all people can have a voice. We are not going away.

Debbie Cantrell

Bellingham