Council Takes Stance Against War

By Erica Williams
Lookout Staff

Feb. 12 -- With a 5 to 2 vote that capped a long night of passionate and spirited debate, the City Council early Wednesday morning joined a growing list of cities nationwide by approving a resolution opposing a unilateral U.S. war against Iraq.

Cast shortly before 1 a.m., the vote in a still nearly packed chamber culminated a hearing that began with an anti war rally outside City Hall attended by some 200 demonstrators and ended with more 40 speakers -- including a contingent from Samohi -- making their case against the war.

Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown, who sponsored the resolution, said that although war is a national issue, many of its impacts would be felt locally. The war, McKeown predicted, would have an effect on jobs and on the struggling tourism industry that helps drive the local economy.

Support on the Council for the resolution ranged from tepid to strong, but McKeown managed to garner votes from Council members Michael Feinstein, Herb Katz, Ken Genser and Mayor Richard Bloom.

The most emphatic support came from Katz, a veteran of the Korean War. He said that though he had vacillated before the meeting, there was no doubt in his mind how he would vote by the end of the night.

“I get it. I will support this motion,” he announced to loud applause, pointing to a strong turnout of local youth, many from an antiwar group at Santa Monica High School, that he said swayed his opinion.

Bloom, saying that though “this is not a country [Iraq] we would hold up as a stellar example of human rights,” he would nevertheless vote in favor of the resolution. He said the subject was a particularly emotional and difficult one with his children facing a far different future since 9-11 and the prospect of having to go to war.

O’Connor mounted the staunchest opposition calling the measure nothing more than “a feel-good resolution” fraught with many problems.

“We have our city business to deal with,” O’Connor added, saying that residents did not elect the Council for its expertise in foreign policy Pointing to the recent election campaign and a City survey of residents, she noted that the issue never came up as a local concern.

Holbrook also opposed the resolution. A veteran, he pointed to his family’s legacy of military service since World War I and said he would vote with O’Connor, not because he was a warmonger, but because, “I don’t feel I have the foresight to guess what we should do.”

The peace activists’ charge was led by Ron Kovic, a disabled Vietnam veteran and author of “Born on the Fourth of July,” which was made into a successful anti-war film.

Kovic, a Redondo Beach resident who moved to Santa Monica after the war, said he believed the country was at an important crossroads and crucial moment in American history.

“I promise you tonight that this vote, this decision that you will make tonight will be one of the most important decisions of your political life,” Kovic said to the Council. He noted that it was 13 years ago Tuesday night that Nelson Mandela was released from his Robin Island prison after 27 years of incarceration for his fight against apartheid.

Corey Prost, 17, a senior at Santa Monica High, said he was fundamentally opposed to war against Iraq.

“Not only will this war trample on the rights of the Iraqi people but also upon my own,” said Prost, who noted that he had sacrificed his interview at Harvard to be at the meeting Tuesday night. “But this sacrifice is small in comparison to the hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of lives that will be sacrificed in this war.”

Pointing to the packed chamber, Prost said that it was now the responsibility of the City of Santa Monica to represent its people and let the fed government know they are opposed to this war.

Daniel Ball, also a senior at Santa Monica High and a member of the water polo team, told the Council that if they did not oppose the war, “you will fundamentally be saying that it’s okay for you to send your children” to fight.

“It’s not humane,” he said. “It’s not human to want to kill your fellow human being.” Ball reminded the Council that he and his now underage colleagues were soon-to-be voters who were opposed to the war and violence in general.

O'Connor said the antiwar sentiment expressed by youth at the meeting was not representative and that many had responded to 9-11 by enlisting in the military.

McKeown responded with his only comment before the vote: "The best way to honor those in the military is by avoiding an unnecessary war."

With Wednesday morning’s vote, Santa Monica joined more than 70 other municipalities -- including Chicago, the nation’s third largest city -- that have passed similar resolutions. The Los Angeles City Council is scheduled to consider a resolution at its upcoming meeting.

In a separate action, the council adopted a resolution affirming Santa Monica's commitment to civil liberties and supporting City protection for Constitutional rights.

The unanimous vote came from testimony from a dozen speakers, all of whom also pushed for the anti-war resolution.