Politics & Government

Occupy Protests Cost Palm Desert $88,786

The cost of a sit-in at Civic Center Park in Palm Desert and long El Paseo was $88,786, according to the city.

The $88,786 cost of monitoring the Occupy Coachella Valley protests won't have much of an impact on Palm Desert's budget, the city's mayor told Patch Thursday.

"Fortunately, our income looks like it is going to be pretty good this year," Mayor Robert Spiegel told Patch. "The money spent will not have that much of an impact."

But he called the series of events that led to the arrest of 10 protesters on Nov. 1 "too bad."

Find out what's happening in Palm Desertwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It’s too bad it had to be spent. I’m sorry that it happened. One of the things we try to do is keep our parks safe. That’s the reason we have the ordinances," Spiegel said.

The Occupy movement started in New York earlier this year and spread to cities across the country. Protesters spoke out against income inequality and corporate greed.

Find out what's happening in Palm Desertwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Jayel Aheram, who was arrested on Nov. 1 at Civic Center Park off San Pablo Avenue, told MyDesert.com that he feels the money could have been better spent.

“They could have given that money to charity rather than to harass us,” he told the website. “That's awful, it's awful."

City Manager John Wohlmuth said that most of the cost went to police overtime, and some of it went to code enforcement and public works.

"There was some legal cost in researching the first amendment in what accommodations do we need to make and what accommodations go too far," Wohlmuth told Patch.

He said the city is considering having the protesters pay some of the cost, if convicted, or perform some kind of community service.

"It’s going through the court system now," he said.

Wohlmuth added that the city has handed over the decision to file charges against the protesters over to the Palm Desert Police Department and the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

That decision will likely be made early next year.


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