Arcata Eye -Feature Stories – Week of October 20, 2003
The third go-round of a resolution to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney came at the Wednesday, Oct. 15 City Council meeting. After a contentious hearing in the Aug. 20 council meeting and an independent Town Hall meeting on Sept. 2, the resolution - and, rumor had it, an alternative - reemerged on the Council’s agenda for more scrutiny. By the end of the over three-hour discussion, a seemingly impossible feat had been accomplished: unanimity among the City Council on an item using the word "impeachment."
The resolution, written by Veterans for Peace (VFP) Chapter 56, was sponsored by Councilmember Dave Meserve. It alleges that Bush and Cheney are guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors in lying to the American people to justify waging war in Iraq and calls for their immediate impeachment.
At the Aug. 20 Council meeting, Councilmembers Elizabeth Conner and Michael Machi opted not to endorse the resolution on the basis of incomplete community representation. Councilmember Stewart also objected to the form of the resolution, arguing that a letter would be more appropriate. Meserve and VFP privately funded a Town Hall meeting in response, in an attempt to gather a fuller representation of community opinions. Both meetings garnered overwhelmingly positive and vocal public support, though some alleged that the atmosphere was not welcoming to those opposed to the resolution, thus limiting these opinions being voiced. ..
...With the resolution finally laid to rest, the council turned to the letter and found themselves, surprisingly, more or less in agreement. Meserve clarified that his intention was not to change the upcoming presidential election, but to start a conversation. Stewart added that directing the letter to the Judiciary Committee Chair further defined this intent. With this clarification, Conner declared herself willing to support the letter.
Ornelas referred to the letter as "activism lite," saying that it was nowhere near strong enough for him. "I’m fed up with it, folks," he said, demanding impeachment and jail sentences for a number of people in the current administration. His promise, "I’m not going to shut up," was greeted with sustained applause and enthusiastic cheers from the audience.
Meserve was obviously in sympathy with Ornelas’ feelings, describing the letter as very difficult for him because of the amount of compromise it involved.
Several minor changes in the letter’s wording, including using only the specific term "Arcata residents" and distinctly acknowledging those in opposition to the impeachment investigation, mollified Machi, and a unanimous vote to approve the letter passed the City Council.
Diamond expressed her satisfaction that the council had successfully addressed her concerns. "They clearly dealt with the resolution," she later explained. "People who spoke [in the public comment period] clearly had come to respond to the resolution, but council introduced alternates clearly and so people were able to modify and discuss those." She described her advice as "based on a conservative reading of the Brown Act," which governs public access to and involvement in meetings.
Special delivery
Meserve, who was flying to a conference on the Patriot Act in Washington, D.C. early Thursday morning, quickly pulled together copies of the approved letter with Mayor Ornelas’ signature and triumphantly carried them to the nation’s capital to hand deliver. Copies of the letter are going to Representative Mike Thompson, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and members of the Committee on the Judiciary.
Meserve’s trip is not being paid for by the City.
Though still a firm believer in the allegations of the more strongly worded resolution, Meserve declared himself pleased with the letter. "From the point of view of consensus building, the fact that we were able to get unanimous support for the letter sends a stronger message," he noted. "Consensus leaves a better feeling among all the citizens of Arcata."
