Berkeley City Council-- What to do??

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Berkeley gives Marines the boot

City Council says recruiting station not welcome; military mum for now

By Doug Oakley, STAFF WRITER

Article Created: 01/31/2008 02:42:43 AM PST

 

 

Click photo to enlargeAnti-war protestors outside the Marine recruiting office on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley...1

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That's the message from the Berkeley City Council, which voted 6-3, with Gordon Wozniak, Betty Olds and Kriss Worthington dissenting, to tell the Marines that its Shattuck Avenue recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

 

It also voted 7-2, with Wozniak and Olds dissenting, to explore enforcing its law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against the Marines and to encourage the women's peace group Code Pink to protest in front of the station.

 

 

 

In a separate item, the council voted 8-1 to give Code Pink a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from noon to 4 p.m.

 

Councilman Gordon Wozniak opposed both items.

 

The Marines have been in Berkeley for a little more than a year, having moved from Alameda in December 2006. For about the past four months, Code Pink has been protesting in front of the station.

 

"I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don't belong here, they shouldn't have come here, and they should leave," Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said after votes were cast.

 

A Marines representative did not respond to requests for comment.The resolution telling the Marines they are unwelcome and directing the city attorney to explore issues of sexual orientation

 

 

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discrimination was brought to the council by the city's Peace and Justice commission.

The recommendation to give Code Pink a parking space for protesting and a free sound permit was brought by council members Linda Maio and Max Anderson.

 

Code Pink on Wednesday started circulating petitions to put a measure on the November ballot in Berkeley that would make it more difficult to open military recruiting offices near homes, parks, schools, churches libraries or health clinics. The group needs 5,000 signatures to make the ballot.

 

Even though the council items passed, not everyone is happy with the work of Code Pink. Some employees and owners of businesses near the Marines office have had enough of the group and its protests.

 

"My husband's business is right upstairs, and this (protesting) is bordering on harassment," Dori Schmidt told the council. "I hope this stops."

 

An employee of a nearby business who asked not to be identified said Wednesday the elderly Code Pink protesters are aggressive, take up parking spaces, block the sidewalk with their yoga moves, smoke in the doorways, and are noisy.

 

"Most of the people around here think they're a joke," the woman said.

 

Wozniak said he was opposed to giving Code Pink a parking space because it favors free speech rights of one group over another.

 

"There's a line between protesting and harassing, and that concerns me," Wozniak said. "It looks like we are showing favoritism. We have to respect the other side, and not abuse their rights. This is not good policy."

 

Fran Rachel, 90, a Code Pink protester who spoke at the council meeting, said the group's request for a parking space and noise permit was especially important because the Marines are recruiting soldiers who may die in an unjust war.

 

"This is very serious," Rachel said. "This isn't a game; it's mass murder. There's a sickness of silence of people not speaking out against the war. We have to do this."

 

Anderson, a former Marine who said he was "drummed out" of the corps when he took a stand against the Vietnam War, said he'd love to see the Marines high-tail it out of town.

 

"We are confronted with an organization that can spend billions of dollars on propaganda," Anderson said. "This is not Okinawa here; we're involved in a naked act of aggression. If we can provide a space for ordinary people to express themselves against this kind of barbarity, then we should be doing it."

 

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_8127493

 

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I don't know how many of you have seen this recently, but it seems the City Council doesn't stand too strong on the issue..

 

(CNN) -- The Berkeley City Council voted early Wednesday to rescind a previous vote that said Marine recruiters are "not welcome in this city," but held tight to its anti-war stance.

 

 

Military supporters and anti-war demonstrators began gathering in Berkeley early Tuesday.

 

1 of 2 more photos The vote came after more than three hours of animated citizen input and council debate. More than 100 speakers took turns at the podium. Each speaker was given up to a minute to comment.

 

In a 7-to-2 vote, the council said it would no longer send a letter to the local Marine Corps Recruiting Station and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway saying recruiters aren't welcome in Berkeley.

 

Instead, the city is now simply stating it's opposed to the war and the billions spent on it. However, "we recognize the recruiter's right to locate in our city and the right of others to protest or support their presence," the council said.

 

The council also said it supports and respects the men and women of the armed forces.

 

Ahead of the vote, passions ran high on both sides of the debate as pro-military demonstrators squared off with anti-war protesters. Berkeley police reported four arrests before the meeting began, all misdemeanors. Police said there were minor scuffles between the anti-war and pro-military camps.

 

An American flag was set aflame outside the City Council chambers, damaging a pair of bicycles, police said.

 

Inside, members of the anti-war group Code Pink lined up at the podium to speak. Their salmon-colored signs read, "Berkeley says No to War" and "City Council - We have your back."

 

But others scolded the City Council. "City Council -- shame on you," said one sign, and "Don't surrender to terrorists," read a T-shirt worn by a Vietnam veteran.

 

Debbie Lee, whose son Marc was the first Navy SEAL to die in the Iraq war, demanded an apology from the council.

 

"My son gave up his life for you," Lee told the council as she clutched his framed picture.

 

"I'm appalled at what you did," she said, referring to the council's vote on Marine recruiters.

 

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"It's despicable what you said about our military," said another military mom, Debbie Parrish. Her son, Victor, currently serves in Iraq.

 

"It's very, very sad. Shame on you."

 

But Jean Stewart called the council's stand "courageous and gutsy," saying the war was "immoral." And Judy Christopher said, "We need to stop the war. We need to stop recruitment."

 

In the measure passed by the council on January 29, Marine recruiters were called "uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

 

It went on to say the council applauds residents and organizations that "volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley."

 

Protesters with Code Pink have been camped outside the Marine recruiting office on Shattuck Avenue for the last four months, singing peace songs and chanting slogans for an end to the Iraq war. See photos of Code Pink protesters outside Marine office

 

 

Republican lawmakers in Washington fired back last week, threatening to recall more than $2 million of federal funding to the city as well as money designated for the University of California-Berkeley, the campus that became a bastion of liberalism during the Vietnam War.

 

The Marine Corps has said it has no plans to move its office, which is located about a block from the college campus.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/13/berkeley.marines/

 

[evmori]

So do these Cod Pinkers wanna join the Marines or are they protesting just to protest?

[Joni4TA]

Ed,

 

At 90 years old I am surprised these Code Pink folks can do anything except fart dust! The fact that they are setting bicycles on fire and smoking (smoking? I thought CA just outlawed smoking in public places, and even in your own car????) and hanging out in doorways of local businesses like hoodrats is amazing to me!

 

Something tells me they are trying to relive their youth by bringing the Iraq war into a Vietnam frame of mind.