Protesters asking the Rancho Mirage City Council for a tax on banks to help fund homeless shelters. They also want the city to step in and urge local courts and law enforcement agencies to suspend eviction procedures for families here in the valley.

 

They've demonstrated for months, protesting against corporate greed.

 

They marched down El Paseo and closed their accounts at Bank of America.

 

Then they occupied Palm Desert Civic Center Park, many arrested when they refused to leave.

 

Now after nearly 6 months of relative silence they're raising their voices yet again.

 

"So i'm here to be awake to be aware not to be asleep to say something, to speak up because I feel that many of us have been asleep for a very long time and it's time for us to be aware of what's going on in our political system and to be aware of what's going on in these big corporations who really don't care about who we are," said protester Debra Savitt 

 

This time it's a foreclosure crisis motion they're after. Asking Rancho Mirage City Council to help stop illegal foreclosures and wrongful evictions.

 

"We're here because we want to restore funding for the homeless shelters in the valley that the county has taken away," said protester Lew Stewart. 

 

Occupy Coachella Valley also asking the city to support a tax on banks to fund homeless shelters after Riverside County was forced to cut back funding, leaving it to individual cities to make up the difference.

 

"We're all concerned about the homeless situation in our valley and the city of Rancho Mirage provides about 103,000 dollars a year to Roy's center in North Palm Springs so Rancho Mirage is certainly doing our share and we would hope to continue doing our share in teh future," said Rancho Mirage Councilman Richard Kite.

 

Protesters saying banks should pay the price for leaving so many homeless in the Coachella Valley.

 

The City of Rancho Mirage can't enforce a tax on banks, still protesters hoping pressure from cities like Rancho Mirage will spur a national movement. City leaders saying its simply out of their hands.

 

--Adrianna Weingold

aweingold@kmir6.com