2/21/2007 2:05:00 PM City Council adopts peace resolution
Laurie Medlicott listens as Catharine Robinson explains why she was voting for a resolution calling for an end to the war in Iraq. – Photo by Barney Burke
A large crowd of peace supporters applauded the Port Townsend City Council after adopting a resolution calling for an end to the war in Iraq Feb. 20.
The vote was 5-2 with Geoff Masci and Laurie Medlicott dissenting.
Twenty people addressed the council, and all but two spoke in favor of the resolution.
"You are elected to run the city," said Walter McQuillen, who with his sister Terry McCulloch, objected to city government spending time to oppose actions of the U.S. government.
Bob DeWeese recalled how past councils had taken stands on all kinds of issues. "Port Townsend's always been involved in the things that concern us morally and financially," he said.
Mayor Mark Welch said that while he initially had some reservations about whether the peace petition, received in January, would become a "distraction" from pressing city business. But the effects of the war on Port Townsend, he said, are "absolutely profound." According to Welch, the cost of the interest on the federal debt caused by the war amounts to $2,000 per person. For Port Townsend, that amounts to three times the city's general fund budget, he said.
Masci said that while the speakers were "very, very compelling," he did not share some of the speakers' conclusions and felt that city government is simply the wrong venue for a national issue.
Medlicott is the only councilor who did not weigh in on the debate, which, including public comment, took just under 90 minutes.
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