Zac Fabian, a recent UVA graduate, created OccupyCville.org on October 2, the same day that many Occupy Wall Street protestors assembled on the Brooklyn Bridge were arrested. The website, which began as an effort to amass news concerning larger organizing efforts, is now a community bulletin board for a Charlottesville-based organizing effort that Fabian says is slowly building shared ideals on city-specific issues.
"We haven’t come to a consensus. But there are a variety of issues," said Fabian. "What’s different about this movement is the idea that there isn’t one thing that we’re all upset about. What motivates us to action is different. And that’s why I think this is so special."
On Wednesday night, Fabian attended a recent OccupyCville assembly that maintained a steady crowd of 60 people, and saw an estimated 100 or so through the course of the evening. (A C-VILLE reader wrote that the crowd "ranged from small kids brought by parents to seniors.") Other organizers include local residents Bailee Hampton and Brandon Collins, both musicians and, the latter, a City Council candidate.
"Our issues range from corporate greed to the poverty rate in Charlottesville," said Fabian, who added that he learned about interest in a local Occupy effort while doing his own reading about the movement.
"I started the website with hopes that, if I took that domain name, I would be able to be a part of that," said Fabian.
The group called an assembly for this evening at 6:30pm at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion after a plan to rally in Lee Park on Saturday encountered an obstacle: the annual Charlottesville Chocolate Festival.
"We don’t want to interfere in any way with the community," said Fabian. "The chocolate fest has happened last five years, and proceeds go to support the homeless. We don’t want to interfere with that." He said more details would be posted to OccupyCville.org following tonight’s assembly.