Stop, Drop and Roll

20 August 2007 | Alameda City Council | John Knox White

Tuesday night, the Alameda City Council will be discussing three big issues, an appeal of the Planning Board’s decision not to allow the Valero Gas Station at the corner of Sherman and Central/Encinal to extend it’s operating hours, changes in the Alameda Municipal Code to the way that transportation issues are dealt with and clarifiying the role of the Transportation Commission (essentially bringing the process in line with the city’s other boards and commissions), and lastly (and likely the one with the biggest turnout), the Adoption of Resolution Supporting a Diplomatic Approach to Ending the Iraq War and Bringing Our Troops Home.

Luckily for most people, this is the first big item of the night.

I’m a big supporter of this item. Especially given the support for ending the war nationally, regionally and (ok, I’m assuming here) locally, I think it’s clear that the political leadership in Washington, DC have chosen to punt on this issue for the time being. (Republicans because it’s their war, Democrats out of fear of looking “weak” in next year’s elections).

As I’ve mentioned here before, there are certainly arguments for keeping national issues out of local politics, but there also comes a time, when the people who were recently elected to lead, need to start doing so. In my mind, this is one of them.

Interestingly, the staff report includes information on the California National Guard which gives contradictory information from the US Military leaders in Washington and California. The issue is the state of readiness of the Guard in the event of a large scale natural disaster in California (say, oh I don’t know, an earthquake or large fire).

Katrina and the Midwest tornadoes last year both showed us what happens when an overstretched national guard is called to the scene. In both instances, the response was slow and people died because of it.

In Sunday’s Chronicle, high-ranking military personnel were quoted as saying that they want “the surge” to remain in place for another year, in the hopes of maintaining some of the gains that have been seen in select areas of Iraq.

Odierno favors extending the surge as long as possible and then slowly reducing the size of the force. He said that approach “significantly reduces the risk” that U.S. and Iraqi forces would lose areas to militants after pulling out.

While I tend to agree that city councils need to be careful not to try and govern nationally, there are times when the voice of Americans will only be heard from the bottom up. Paralysis in Washington will have us sitting in Iraq without a plan of action for years to come, the council’s motion is but one, small cry to end this war now.

The US cannot afford the loss of life, the ongoing monetary expense, and for Californians, the lack of security and support that will follow the next “big one” if and when it happens.

If you can’t make it to the council, please take 2 minutes to let them know your thoughts on the issue: alamedacitycouncil@gmail.com.

More info on the state of our armed forces in Iraq, here.