Update September 27 – I emailed the World Can’t Wait folks and they said that the permit negotiations seem to be going smoothly now. Thanks everybody for writing!
Please take a couple minutes this morning to send an email and make a phone call to Gavin Newsome, our sometimes-liberal SF Mayor, and tell him to “grant World Can’t Wait their Oct 5 Justin Herman Plaza protest permit.” (I have a letter you can cut and paste below)
It’s already a little hokey to need to get a permit to have a protest, but it can be a good thing too, in that portopotties and other civic arrangements can be made when everyone knows what’s going on that day.
But not granting the permits, or waiting till the last minute to grant the permits, adds an air of uncertainty around the whole thing that hurts the process. I’d like to think that Gavin Newsome isn’t blocking the permits on purpose. But at the very least, there is some incompetence going on. And it’s really bad timing for it. And it can’t be tolerated.
So email Gavin at gavin.newsom@sfgov.org AND call him at 415-554-6141
and for that matter, Fax him at 415-554-6160
thanks!
Here’s the letter I wrote – so you can just cut and paste it:
Dear Gavin,
Please grant World Can’t Wait its protest permit for the October 5 Justin Herman Plaza event.
I hope this is just an oversight or something, and there aren’t seriously people in your administration that are knowingly blocking these permits.
Thanks for your time,
Lisa Rein
address here

OCT 5 PERMIT EMERGENCY
EMERGENCY NOTICE: OCT 5 permits being stalled – call
Greetings!
WCW has applied for permits to rally at Justin
Herman Plaza at noon, OCT 5 to march on Market
Street to a main rally with prominent speakers at
4PM in Union Square, and then to march back to
Justin Herman Plaza for the all-night vigil.
The San Francisco Police Department has denied the
march permit. The SF Recreation and Parks Department
is responsible for permits at the sites and has not
yet granted them.
Everyone who knows how important the October 5
demonstrations will be needs to call and email THIS
MORNING to let SF City officials know you support
the plans to rally, march and vigil on October 5.
Demand that all the permits be immediately granted
for the sites and routes applied for!
Please contact Mayor Newsom to urge him to take
urgent, immediate action to grant all requested
permits for World Can