Posted on 04/30/2003 7:35:43 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
CITY OF ITHACA OFFICIALS HAVE RECEIVED A RESPONSE FROM THE F-B-I REGARDING THE RESOLUTION PASSED IN FEBRUARY STATING COMMON COUNCIL'S OPPOSITION TO THE U-S-A PATRIOT ACT.
IN A LETTER DATED MARCH 25TH, 2003...SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE KEITH DeVINCENTIS FROM THE F-B-I OFFICE IN ALBANY STATES THAT THE PATRIOT ACT DOES NOT ALLOW THE BUREAU TO OBTAIN PERMISSION FOR SEARCH WARRANTS OR WIRETAPS WITHOUT FIRST OBTAINING A COURT ORDER. DeVINCENTIS SAYS THOSE COURT ORDERS CAN BE ISSUED BY A FEDERAL JUDGE "ONLY AFTER A JUDGE FINDS THAT THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUE MEETS OR SURPASSES LONG-ESTABLISHED CONSTITUTIONAL STANDARDS."
5TH WARD ALDERMAN DAN COGAN SAYS HE WAS "AMUSED" BY THE PASSAGE IN THE LETTER STATING THAT THE EMPLOYEES OF THE F-B-I VALUE CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTIES AS MUCH AS THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA DO, BUT SAYS HE WAS GLAD THE F-B-I TOOK THE TIME TO RESPOND.
COGAN, WHO AUTHORED THE COMMON COUNCIL RESOLUTION, SAYS IT WAS BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF THE PATRIOT ACT DONE BY THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS DEFENSE COMMITTEE.
DeVINCENTIS WAS UNAVAILABLE FOR COMMENT WHEN THE NEWSROOM CONTACTED HIS OFFICE.
THE CITY RESOLUTION REQUESTS LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AT VARIOUS LEVELS INCLUDING THE F-B-I TO REPORT TO COMMON COUNCIL MONTHLY TO DISCLOSE ANY ACTIONS TAKEN UNDER THE PATRIOT ACT. DeVINCENTIS POINTED OUT THAT THIS VIOLATED THE SUPREMACY CLAUSE OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND COULD, IN FACT, VIOLATE THE PRIVACY OF THE VERY INDIVIDUALS ITHACA CLAIMS TO VALUE THE RIGHTS OF.
COGAN SAYS THE LETTER FROM DeVINCENTIS REPRESENTS THE FIRST CORRESPONDENCE OF ANY KIND RECEIVED FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES REGARDING THE REQUEST MADE IN THE RESOLUTION.
The FBI is apparently responding to a resolution passed by Ithaca several months ago requiring that:
that "to the greatest extent legally possible, no City of Ithaca employee or department, or employee of any City agency, shall be required to cooperate with investigations, interrogations, surveillance, or arrest procedures, public or clandestine, that are judged to be in violation of individuals' civil rights or civil liberties as specified in the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution." **** The resolution goes on to state that law officials on the federal, state and local levels must "report publicly each month to the City of Ithaca Common Council and the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission on the extent and manner in which they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act and new Executive Orders."
As I said back then:
Reasonable people can disagree over the Patriot Act, but this, like those "no war with Iraq" resolutions that some left wing cities are passing are, in my opinion, completely inappropriate wastes of taxpayer time and money.
Furthermore, under what authority are these people demanding that federal and state law enforcement officials report to them? And further demanding that their own employees refuse to cooperate with the law?
Finally, where were these idiots when Clinton was violating civil liberties all over the place?
Tuesday, October 23 2001 Contributed By: Kylie Spooner Local Candidates
Dan is running for Common Council in Ithaca's 5th Ward, which encompasses the Fall Creek neighborhood as well as the Cornell Heights neighborhood north of Cornell. Dan is running on the Green, Democratic, and Working Families lines.
I was on the Board of Directors of Ithaca HOURS for two years, serving as Teasurer and, most recently, as President. I'm still involved as chairperson of the circulation committee. I've been working with the Citizens' Planning Alliance for the past 4 years, for which I am currently the Treasurer. I am a past member of the GreenStar Council and currently sit on the GreenStar Finance Committee. I am a member of the Ithaca League of Stiltwalkers, a group that performs political theater and makes people smile.
Within the ward, there are concerns about increasing traffic, lack of bike lanes, dilapidated properties, and poor communication between the Department of Public Works and city residents. In the city as a whole, there are concerns about the large expenditures for lawsuits and cost overruns on projects and the focus on development in the Southwest at the expense of downtown. People want to maintain the livability and quality of life in Ithaca while preventing high property tax rates from going higher.
I work as an engineer for Taitem Engineering, a small engineering firm downtown that does work in energy conservation, indoor air quality, and HVAC design. I have a masters degree in environmental engineering from Cornell and a bachelors in civil engineering from UC Berkeley. I have worked as a computer programmer and a waste management specialist.
I would like to foster more communication between residents and City Hall. We need to do a better job of managing our limited resources and we need to pay more attention to the downtown. The livability and pedestrian-friendly nature of our city is one of our greatest assets, and is one that we need to emphasize and build on. It's long past time that the bike plan was implemented. We need to focus on encouraging the development of more high-tech businesses downtown, businesses that will bring more people downtown and will provide good jobs and will bring dollars flowing into the local economy rather than out.
It's like Sister City of Evil, Santa Cruz, passing the Nuclear Free Zone resolution. As if, say, Kim Jong Il had best heed that their city said his nukes can't explode there. I always thought that was supremely silly, and came from watching too many cartoons.
(Look, BLL! I did it! Thanks!)
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