Subject: [mvvplist] MV Council "averts" stand on war From: Lenny Siegel Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 17:13:04 -0800 To: Mountain View Voices for Peace Today's Mountain View Voice ran a generally accurate article about the Mountain View City Council's refusal, this Tuesday (March 18) to take a stand on the War on Iraq. It seemed to me, however, that many more than 60 people stood up to indicate their support for an anti-war resolution. *** Council averts war stance by Candice Shih Mountain View Voice March 21, 2003 One night after President Bush issued a 48-hour ultimatum for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq, the Mountain View City Council decided not to take a position on the looming war. Although about 60 people, mostly from the antiwar group Mountain View Voices for Peace, and Council member Matt Neely supported an anti-war resolution, the remaining council members present agreed that they should issue no opinion on Iraqi military action. Council member Mary Lou Zoglin was not present. Council member Greg Perry initiated the discussion. "It was my hope to not let this mutely go by," he said. Nonetheless, Perry concurred that he did not have the information needed to take a position on the war. He said that most of the people who voted for him in the recent election would want him to take a position, but he had to think for himself. Council member Rosemary Stasek agreed that she didn't have enough information. Appearing on the verge of tears, she tried to assure the audience at the council meeting that she did care about the situation and wants to visit Iraq, as she did Afghanistan. ... for the entire story, see http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2003_03_21.council.html *** At the meeting, Councilwoman Stasek said that her position on the war was public. Without explaining it, she referred us to a February 14, 2003 column in the San Francisco Chronicle. In that article, she said, "'Let's finish this one first before we start another one,' said Mountain View city councilwoman Rosemary Stasek. She wasn't talking about a highway interchange. She was talking about rebuilding war-torn Afghanistan." For the entire column, see http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/02/14/MN109003.DTL *** Lenny