While some might question the impact of a municipal resolution on a decades-long problem in geopolitics, both the petitioners and the City Council members who approved a recent resolution, calling for the United States to negotiate the worldwide elimination of all nuclear weapons, saw it as one of a series of vital first steps.

After several thousand citizen signatures and the passage of a similar resolution by the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners June 3, the Port Townsend City Council unanimously passed this resolution July 15.

Doug Milholland, who submitted the proposed resolution, was one of five citizen speakers that evening, all of whom used the public comment period of the meeting to express their support for the resolution.

“It’s not just about moving away from the constant waste of money that, if it’s ever put to use, may cost us all our lives,” Milholland told the council members that evening. “But it’s also about freeing up the science, technology and engineering necessary to move toward a more useful strategy as a country.”

Milholland advocated “a more sustainable model,” based on freeing up the scientists whom he asserted are being tied up in creating “weapons of mass destruction” by the U.S. military-industrial complex, whom he believes could instead make progress toward a “Green New Deal.”

Milholland hopes that Port Townsend’s resolution can serve as a “small but significant” step toward other communities adopting the same stance, a dream shared by fellow speaker Forest Shomer.

“This might seem like a small thing, but Port Townsend is a key city,” said Shomer, who noted the proximity of Naval Magazine Indian Island. “They can neither confirm nor deny nuclear weapons, and they’re sitting right across the water from us, so that makes it pretty personal.”

Milholland’s adult son, Daniel, praised his father for his antiwar activism, which has included peaceful protests in the public park across the street from Naval Magazine Indian Island.

Council member Michele Sandoval recalled being asked why she and her fellow council members had voted to approve a resolution designating Port Townsend a “welcoming city,” in the wake of other cities across America declaring themselves “sanctuary cities.”

“Leadership requires hope and optimism,” Sandoval said. “Our position requires aspirational leadership, and I’d rather hear aspirational resolutions than loathsome, mean-spirited tweets. This could mean something very big, or very small, to others, but we should always try to inspire what we want the world to be.”

Of Sandoval’s fellow council members, Amy Howard agreed that it was important she go on the record with her stance on this issue, while April Speser thanked Doug Milholland for educating them on this issue.