On Dec. 17, police officers asked members of the grassroots group Occupy Lompoc to vacate Liberty Park at the corner of H Street and Ocean Avenue in response to a complaint from the public. The protesters left without incident and moved to a vacant lot nearby. Liberty Park was a project undertaken by the recently disbanded Lompoc Housing and Community Development Corporation, and now belongs to a new owner. Occupy Lompoc spokesperson Robert Cuthbert said the organization will reach out to the current property owner to come to an agreement. Members are also thinking about “seeking legal council to see if an easement was created by the many years of public use,” Cuthbert said in an e-mail to the media.
This article appears in Dec 22-29, 2011.