Deep Democracy Retreat and the Arcata Formula Retail Ordinance

This has been quite a month. I am going to miss this place--its loving atmosphere, beautiful gardens, sweet chickens, awesome workshops, and caring people.

This last weekend, I was fortunate to be a part of Duck's Deep Democracy Retreat (DDR). We spent 3 days getting ready--cleaning, cooking, setting up the spaces inside and out. It was a lot of fun, not to mention a nice break from ordinary tasks. The workshop itself was fantastic. All the reservations I held about trainings (mostly from TDEL) vanished with this training. They have their shit together here at the Duck House.
During the retreat, we sat in large circles, sometimes splitting off into smaller groups, where discussion was the primary tool for learning. It reminded me a lot of SIT. We talked about what democracy means and its possibilities, the history of corporations in the United States and how it has evolved, how corporate personhood and all it entails inhibits democracy, and what we as individuals, and more importantly, as united communities can do to restore democracy.


As far as my work with the Arcata Committee on Democracy and Corporations goes... I have continued my business outreach project, and tabling at the local co-ops, farmers markets, and community events.

As the ordinance is in the beginning stages, we are spending a lot of time educating the general public about our ideas and why we see the ordinance to be important, and, in return, we are asking the community for feedback and suggestions. Again, the ordinance is being designed to restrict formula chain stores in Arcata, CA. Mostly, the community is very receptive of the plan--in fact many are angry it is not already in place. This is Humboldt County!!