Community Corner

Hey, Occupy Martinez, Why Don't You?

Is there some reason we're the Contra Costa city no one wants to occupy?

Frankly, I’m a little offended.

Walnut Creek got to host the county’s version of Occupy Wall Street this week.

So what, Martinez isn’t good enough to occupy? We’re not “Wall Street” enough? Hey, we’ve got lots of banks in this town. We even have a Bank of America, which is going to start charging its customers for using debit cards next year. We have Wells Fargo, and Chase, and Citibank. They all got bailouts. They all have Wall Street connections.

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Heck, we even have county offices. Surely we could find some connection between Wall Street skullduggery and county government?

At any rate, I don’t see why Walnut Creek gets all the Occupy Wall Street glory. Sure, they have a Nordstrom. Big deal. We have a Walmart. Walnut Creek has a Tiffany’s. We have a Good Stuff Guitar Shop. It’s far more awesome for my money.

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I think, as cities go, Martinez would be a natural place for the Occupy Wall Street events. We have vendors who are used to setting up on Main Street, classic cars that used to parking on the street, we could even get the snow blowers to show up early and give us that “streets of New York” feel.

The Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Martinez are always seeking new ways of marketing the city. This seems like a natural. We could be the Occupied county seat. The media would flock here, cover the ongoing demonstrations, vendors and classic car owners would be thrilled with the turnout, local merchants could stay open late (but apparently not serve wine without a license) and cater to the outraged 99 percent, who would no doubt need a bite to eat, perhaps some antiques or boutique items, maybe even some guitar strings. Stores could even offer a 99 (per)cent sale. 

It just feels like Martinez is once again getting snubbed for its ritzier neighbor down the freeway. And perhaps that should be our cause. Maybe we should take to the streets and protest the fact that Walnut Creek gets all the glory. Maybe we could even occupy Walnut Creek. . . oh, wait. Now we’re back to where we started.

Never mind.

Have a safe and relaxing weekend.  


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