Posted on 08/20/2012 2:23:36 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
TAMPA They've painted their posters and planned their marches.
Now the question is, where are the 15,000 protesters expected to come and shake their fists at the Republican National Convention next week going to stay?
....City rules prohibit just crashing on the sidewalk, and Hillsborough sheriff's deputies have asked local residents and sanitation workers to look out for signs that protesters are illegally squatting in vacant homes.
....... Urban camping:...
Closest to the action is Romneyville, a hive of mostly pink tents set up behind the Army Navy Surplus Market on N Tampa Street. Bruce Wright, who runs the site under the flag of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, said he expects the 30-person camp to grow to up to 300 people when the convention arrives.
It'll be a convenient place to get to, but there's a trade-off.
Right now there's just one place to shower, behind a blue plastic tarp against the wall of the store. There's a makeshift kitchen against a fence, with a coffeemaker plugged into a long extension cord. The Romneyville tenants gather around it for meetings, sitting in plastic chairs wedged in the dirt and mulch.
When it rains, it floods. And then the mosquitoes come. And then, the heat.
...There's one portable toilet, though Wright plans to have more brought in for the convention.
A few miles away is the Occupy Tampa site, at the Voice of Freedom Park in West Tampa, owned by strip club proprietor Joe Redner.
......While some protesters say they're still negotiating with local churches about sleeping arrangements, none of the churches in or around downtown Tampa that were contacted by the Tampa Bay Times said they planned to host protesters.....
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/rnc-officials-media-starting-to-arrive/1246676
.........”Commuters can get RNC traffic info
To help commuters, the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority has created a “Commuter Solutions” website RNC-Traffic.com with links to transportation information related to the convention.
The site has maps of available parking, planned road closures, transit detours and current traffic conditions. Want to carpool? Use the authority’s free online ride-matching tool at tampabay rideshare.org.
While main convention activities will be in downtown Tampa and downtown St. Petersburg, officials say commuters throughout the bay area could be affected by unplanned detours and road closures. Along with the website, the authority will post updates through Facebook and Twitter.
The site is designed to be viewable on any mobile device and also provides links to Florida’s statewide 511 system, where users can find regional traffic alerts, and mytbi.com, which provides information on interstate construction projects.
Delegates can enroll in ‘Newt University’
Former House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich isn’t getting a role on the stage at the RNC, but the convention said over the weekend that he will conduct workshops to support and expound on the messages of the convention.”................
IOW, communists.
And just to our south....
August 19, 2012: Venezuelan state governor: Cuba inefficient at mang. ports, food dist. ["bleeding them dry"]
VENEZUELA - Hugo Chávezs government has granted Cuba key concessions in Venezuelas food distribution system by making the island its purchasing agent abroad as well as its seaport manager activities that represent a fabulous business for the Castro brothers while generating more scarcity and huge losses for Venezuela.
......."The Chávez administration has also granted concessions to Cuban enterprises to acquire products abroad, a situation that lends itself to corruption.
[The Cubans] control everything that comes in and goes out......
....They are bleeding the country dry,.....
Newt Universuty! I’d love to go to one of his sessions.
Too bad he’s not getting any role in the convention. That strikes me as a bit spiteful.
15,000 people with nothing better to do than go to Tampa and make a nuisance of themselves.
Sounds like fine accomodations seeing that if they ever get thier wish this will be the norm for them, only they dont know it yet. lemmings, liberalism and mental illness it’s a match
When I go to work, I park in a lot next to these morons. This morning I drove by at about 6:00 AM and treated them to some nice loud Bluegrass music.
What’s the latest on the West Tampa site? When I was in Tampa two weeks again, local press reported that Redner would boot out the protesters before the convention.
Supposedly they have been evicted and they are gone. I don’t have any reason to be anywhere near their West Tampa site so I never saw it. When they were at Curtis Hixon Park, I saw them every day because the park is maybe 400 yards from where I work. I was sure glad to see the scumbags gone.
Oddly enough, Redner did everyone a favor by giving the bums a place to go.
Tampa’s an interesting place at the moment. There are swarms of young men, mostly in their 30’s, clean cut and neatly dressed in civilian clothes all over the city. Every federal agency is involved. I see them all day long inspecting things. They walk along the railroad tracks, wander in and around every building, just checking things out. Everything on the street that was formerly bolted down has been removed. All the paper boxes and trash cans disappeared. The cast iron grates protecting the roots of the trees in the sidewalks have either been welded together or replaced by some rubberized material. I think they’re trying to remove or secure everything that can be used as a weapon. I think it’s all futile because many of the streets are brick cobblestone and they are easily removed, so there’s an endless supply of things to throw.
There are even going to be gun boats stationed at Davis Island.
It’s going to be a bumpy ride the next two weeks and I’ll have to hold on tight.
Communication? WTF?
First it was food and housing. They got that. Health, education, yup, after they added that to the list, the got that, too. Now they want free cell phones? I thought they got them, too.
What's next. Right to nail and hair extensions?
As far as I am concerned, your God-given right to communication is your mouth! I'm ok with charity helping those that are truely mute.
That "communication" is listed is interesting (free cell phones and service? right...). Cuba controls food, housing, health and education (all "free").
Cuban street musicians.
Thanks for the report! It sure is going to be interesting! Think I will stay on my side of the bridges, in Pinellas!
The RNC should be renting extra Port-a-Lets for these “camps”, maybe a generator or two.
The Pubbies should ^want^ these nut-bags at the convention spouting their insatiable desire for communism.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.