Veterans For Peace - Chapter 71, Sonoma County, California - Impeachment Resolution Passes
On December 4, our chapter's work with the Sonoma County Resolution to Impeach Coalition paid off when the Santa Rosa City Council passed our resolution petitioning Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush and Richard Cheney. The city joined ninety other cities and counties that have passed similar resolutions, including Sebastopol, in our county, Arcata, San Francisco, Berkeley, all in California, and others across the U.S.
Santa Rosa (population 150,000, county seat of Sonoma County--two counties north of San Francisco) is the largest city in California's coastal region north of San Francisco. Limbaugh listeners are present and vocal, but the majority of people in our area are in agreement with our positions on this war and this presidency. We have effectively become the mainstream. Nevertheless, most city councils here refuse to consider issues on the national stage, and the passing of this resolution surprised pretty much everyone. We think that if this could happen here, it could happen almost anywhere in the country.
How we did it: Three parts. First, we put our arguments together. In addition to the material on this site, see the urls referenced below. What seemed most persuasive was the argument that an office-holder's oath to defend the Constitution makes that obligation first before any other official duty.
Secondly, and most importantly, members of the coalition did a great deal of personal diplomacy with individual councilmembers. At first, we figured that one or two of the seven members would vote with us, but after the resolution was accepted as an agenda item, and we continued to speak with councilmembers, we noticed that a shift was beginning to take place.
Finally, on the night of the Council meeting, some forty to fifty members of the public, including three officers of our chapter, rose to give individual statements, and the coalition presented petitions signed by 2,000 residents of the city of Santa Rosa. The deliberation of the Council following that testimony was great feel-good theater, as one after another councilmember spoke of their growing awareness of their responsibility to their own consciences. The final vote was 5 to 1, with 1 abstention.
Naturally, the Council is taking considerable heat, personally and in the newspaper. Letters of support and approval would be welcome.
Write to: Mayor Bob Blanchard < bblanchard@srcity.org> or
City Council, 100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa CA 95404
http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/default.aspx?PageId=380
letters@pressdemocrat.org
reference:
1. newspaper reports
SR council to debate Bush impeachment | Santa Rosa Press Democrat
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20071204/NEWS/712040333
SR council call to impeachment--resolution passes | Santa Rosa Press Democrat
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20071206/NEWS/712060377
Councilman's tough decision to back impeachment | Santa Rosa Press Democrat
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20071209/OPINION/712090404/1043/OPINION01
2. arguments
* http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0704-23.htm
http://trumanlibrary.org/calendar/viewpapers.php?pid=2102
http://veteransforpeace.org/Impeachment_campaign.vp.html
3. other --
video/ documents submitted to City Council
http://www.pbtech.org/clients/santarosa_cc/santarosacc12042007.html
[video (approx. 2 hours): select item 14.1, Resolution/Initiation of Impeachment, near the bottom of the drop-down menu under the video window on left of the page -- also, clicking on the 14.1 header in the printed agenda on page right will download a pdf of prepared documents. ... note, the video doesn't work well on some browsers.]