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Occupy Charlotte participants plan to hold a news conference Tuesday to speak out against what they call a "DNC Fever" among local officials.
Michael Zytkow, a member of Occupy Charlotte, said the group wants to put a spotlight on activities tied to planning for the Democratic National Convention that they feel are not in the best interest of residents.
For example, he pointed to City Council members giving the city manager the ability to approve DNC contracts, including up to $25 million of new police equipment, without the expenditures going before the council. The group also questions new ordinances on demonstrations.
He said Occupy members think the rules will affect what uptown residents can do during the convention and also affects the homeless.
Zytkow said the group also plans to criticize the $447,000 tab police said they incurred while covering the Occupy Charlotte movement, along with some suggestions that members of the movement used a storm drain as a bathroom. Zytkow previously told the Observer that since Occupy Charlotte was a nonviolent movement, he questioned whether officers needed to patrol the demonstrators as much as they did.
The press event is set for noon Tuesday at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center uptown.
A march also will be held Saturday afternoon. April Bethea
