Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Conference of Mayors 76th Annual in Miami










































Update on mayors campaign re Iran and the Mayors Conference in Miami

A group of us went to the US Mayors Conference in Miami this weekend to introduce a resolution calling for diplomacy with Iran. We had been successful in getting Mayor Kiss from Burlington, VT, who is on the International Committee of the conference, to introduce the resolution and through a great grassroots campaign, we got 32 cosponsors from all over the country!

The resolution was approved by the International Committee but unfortunately, when it got to the floor for a vote, several mayors voiced support but others voiced opposition. The group was worried about a divisive dispute like the one that occurred last year around a resolution on Iraq (which squeaked through by one vote!) and voted to table the resolution until next year.

While we are disappointed, we did use the time in Miami to get many new mayors on board, and we have since talked to Mayor Kiss, who agrees with us that we should continue the campaign. Our new goal is to get 100 mayors on board, and then take a group of mayors to Washington DC in September to present the resolution to Congress and the White House. We are talking to Cities for Peace about working with us to raise funds for the Washington DC part of the campaign.

We have an updated version of the resolution below that we should put on the website (we’ve removed references to the US Conference of Mayors), and a new, impressive list of the cosponsors (see below). We should continue to encourage our members and other organizations to join us in getting 100 mayors to sign on.

Thanks for all the help. We welcome all suggestions about how to make this campaign as effective as possible.

Medea

P.S. You might have heard that Liz Hourican and I got arrested at the conference. Sadly, that is true. We were pre-registered as press for Global Exchange, got our credentials and were participating in the conference when hotel security groups and police surrounded us and told us to leave. It seems they remembered us from the last time we were in Miami speaking out against terrorist Posada Carrilles and were worried that we might embarrass the conference host—Miami’s Mayor Manny Diaz. When we objected to leaving, they arrested us. I was charged with trespassing; Liz was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. After 8 hours in a cramped, smelly, dirty jail cell with 25 prostitutes, our friends posted $3,500 bail for us and we were released. We have to return to Miami to appear in court next month.

We also had a police motorcycle escort—sometime 4 strong!--following our pick-up truck around Miami. The truck has a “controversial sign” on it saying “Money for Cities, Not War.” Every few minutes we would take out our bullhorn and shout to them, “We are not terrorists. Stop following us.” Working for peace is indeed a hazardous occupation these days!

National Mayors’ Resolution for Diplomacy with Iran

1. WHEREAS, the President and members of his Administration have alleged that Iran poses an imminent threat to the United States, U.S. troops in the Middle East and U.S. allies; and

2. WHEREAS, these allegations are similar to the lead-up to the Iraq War and U.S. occupation, with the selective use of information and unsubstantiated accusations about Iran's nuclear program and its supply of weapons to Iraqi forces as centerpieces of a case to the American people for aggression against Iran; and

3. WHEREAS, Iran has not threatened to attack the United States, and no compelling evidence has been presented to document that Iran poses a real and imminent threat to the security and safety of the United States that would justify an unprovoked unilateral pre-emptive military attack; and

4. WHEREAS, we support the people of Iran who are struggling for freedom and democracy, and nothing herein should be misconstrued as support for the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but it should be understood that a unilateral, pre-emptive U.S. military attack on Iran could well prove counterproductive to the cause of promoting freedom and democracy there; and

5. WHEREAS, a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), representing the consensus view all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, concluded that Iran froze its nuclear weapons program in 2003, and an earlier NIE concluded that Iran’s involvement in Iraq “is not likely to be a major driver of violence” there; and

6. WHEREAS, an attack on Iran is likely to cause untold thousands of American and Iranian casualties, lead to major economic dislocations, and threaten even greater destabilization in the Middle East; and

7. WHEREAS, a pre-emptive U.S. military attack on Iran would violate international law and our commitments under the U.N. Charter and further isolate the U.S. from the rest of the world; and

8. WHEREAS, an attack on Iran is likely to inflame hatred for the U.S. in the Middle East and elsewhere, inspire terrorism, and lessen the security of Americans; and

9. WHEREAS, the Iraq war and occupation has already cost the lives of over 4,000 American soldiers, the maiming and wounding of over 38,000 American soldiers, the death and maiming of over one million Iraqi civilians; and

10. WHEREAS, the Iraq War and occupation has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $500 billion, depriving our cities of much-need funds for services and infrastructure; and

11. WHEREAS, except at our peril, we cannot ignore the history of U.S. government misinformation used to inspire U.S. aggression in Vietnam and again in Iraq, as embodied in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and more recently in the what we know now as false claims of weapons of mass destruction; and

12. WHEREAS, any conflict with Iran is likely to incur far greater costs and divert more precious national resources away from critical human needs,

13. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the undersigned mayors, hereby urge the Bush Administration to pursue diplomatic engagement with Iran on nuclear issues and ending the violence in Iraq; and

14. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we, the undersigned mayors, urge Congress to prohibit the use of funds to carry out any military action against Iran without explicit Congressional authorization; and

15. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that suitable copies of the resolution be forwarded to President George W. Bush and all members of Congress.


Sponsors:

The Honorable Bob Kiss
Mayor of Burlington, VT

The Honorable Ron Dellums
Oakland, CA

The Honorable Bill Baarsma
Mayor of Tacoma, WA

The Honorable Mary Clare Higgins
Mayor of Northhampton

The Honorable Joy Cooper
Mayor of Hallandale Beach, FL

The Honorable Marty Blum
Mayor of Santa Barbara, CA

The Honorable Dan Coody
Mayor of Fayetteville, AR

The Honorable Kevin Foy
Mayor of Chapel Hill, NC

The Honorable Gayle McLaughlin
Mayor of Richmond, CA

The Honorable Kitty Piercy
Mayor of Eugene, OR

The Honorable Elaine Walker
Mayor of Bowling Green

The Honorable Jeff Prang
Mayor of West Hollywood, CA

The Honorable Rhine McLin
Mayor of Dayton, OH

The Honorable Jennifer Hosterman
Mayor of Pleasanton, CA

The Honorable Laurel Lunt Prussing
Mayor of Urbana, IL

The Honorable Anthony B Santos
Mayor of San Leandro, CA

The Honorable J. Christian Bollwage
Mayor of Elizabeth, NJ

The Honorable Scott J. Brook
Mayor of Coral Springs, FL

The Honorable Bruce R. Williams
Mayor of Takoma Park, MD

The Honorable William D. ‘Bill’ Euille
Mayor of Alexandria, VA

The Honorable R.T. Rybak
Mayor of Minneapolis, MN

The Honorable Dave Norris
Mayor of Charlottesville, VA

The Honorable James M. Baker
Mayor of Wilmington, DE

The Honorable Carolyn K. Peterson
Mayor of Ithaca, NY

The Honorable Craig Covey
Mayor of Ferndale, MI

The Honorable E. Denise Simmons
Mayor of Cambridge, MA

The Honorable N. Dale Thompson
Mayor of Condon, OR

The Honorable Sue Greenwald
Mayor of Davis, CA

The Honorable Tom Potter
Mayor of Portland, OR

The Honorable David Coss
Mayor of Santa Fe, NM

The Honorable Lois Frankel
Mayor of West Palm Beach, FL



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1 comment:

caterliz said...

Goodyear Mayor refused to sign on
to this resolution!
We should be able to have several Arizona mayors co-sponsor this important?
we just need some ambitious peacemakerstak it up!

June 24, 2008 at 8:44 PM

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