Dallas council wary of Iraq vote
Posted on 03/03/2003 3:28:21 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Dallas council wary of Iraq vote
Dallas isn't likely to consider any anti-war resolution, members say
03/03/2003
Despite lobbying by leaders of the anti-war movement, members of the Dallas City Council say it's unlikely they will consider any resolution that opposes a war in Iraq.
"It's inappropriate for us to venture into national issues," Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said. "We're not privy to inside information about whether or not we have a need to go."
For several weeks, anti-war activists have urged the council to consider a peace resolution, but council member Mark Housewright was met with heavy resistance when he tried to bring an anti-war resolution before the council.
"I was concerned about and sympathetic with those who felt that the nation was moving too quickly to invade Iraq," Mr. Housewright said. "At one point I approached my colleagues with the suggestion. It was clear that there was no support for it."
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"If they got it before the council," he said, "I would introduce a resolution that supports the president and the effort in Iraq."
A number of large cities across the nation have passed anti-war resolutions, but Austin is the only large city in Texas to have done so. The Houston City Council on Wednesday rejected two anti-war resolutions.
It takes the signatures of five Dallas council members to get an item on the agenda. Mr. Housewright said he wanted at least eight supporting votes before putting an anti-war resolution out for debate.
He said he doesn't like the prospect of dueling resolutions on the war.
"All it would do would be to open up a forum for both sides to unload," Mr. Housewright said.
A survey found that 10 council members - including Ms. Miller - would be against an anti-war resolution.
Mr. Housewright and council members Maxine Thornton-Reese and Leo Chaney Jr. said they would be supportive of an anti-war resolution, but none of them will sponsor it.
Council member John Loza said he was undecided, and council member Ed Oakley declined to answer the question.
According to Cities for Peace, a coalition of city and county officials and citizens working to get local governments to pass resolutions against the possibility of war, 125 cities throughout the country have approved anti-war resolutions.
"It's a strong statement, and the symbolic value is very powerful," said Karen Dolan, a coordinator for Cities for Peace. "Even if a city rejects a resolution, it still helps to raise the level of debate in the community."
The area has seen some debate on both sides of the issue in recent weeks.
On Feb. 13, a group of North Texans who support President Bush's stance toward Iraq held a rally in Bedford. Organizers have said the crowd numbered several thousand.
Among them was Ralph Goin of Frisco, who said city leaders have no business making resolutions on war.
"The city councils, I don't care what city it is, this is not an issue for them," said Mr. Goin, 66. "They have nothing to do with foreign policy. This is a federal issue."
Still, Dallas opponents of a strike against Iraq say they will continue to pressure the council to consider a resolution.
They said their methods will include packing the City Council chamber, flooding council offices with telephone calls and even taking council aides to lunch.
"We're going to give our council members a sip of courage," said Randeep Walia, a member of the Dallas Coalition Against the War.
But even council members sympathetic with the peace movement say a debate on the conflict with Iraq is unlikely.
"It's too late," said council member Don Hill. "We've got men and women on the field."
Most council members said they opposed war resolutions about Iraq because the debate should be confined to the national domain.
"We have no business considering that kind of a resolution," said council member Sandy Greyson.
Said council member Veletta Forsythe Lill: "We would expose ourselves to being lobbied by every national group out there."
Activist Marvin Crenshaw said the council does consider national and international resolutions when pressured. Over the years, the council has debated resolutions that condemned apartheid in South Africa and encouraged reparations for the nation's descendents of slaves.
But with Mr. Housewright unwilling to sponsor a peace resolution, activists will need another friend on the council.
So far, there are no volunteers.
"I would probably be supportive of something like that," Mr. Chaney said. "But who is going to carry it for them?"
Staff writer Lesley Téllez contributed to this report.
E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com
Council member Alan Walne said he has a response in the unlikely event an anti-war resolution is scheduled."If they got it before the council," he said, "I would introduce a resolution that supports the president and the effort in Iraq."
A number of large cities across the nation have passed anti-war resolutions, but Austin is the only large city in Texas to have done so. The Houston City Council on Wednesday rejected two anti-war resolutions.
According to Cities for Peace, a coalition of city and county officials and citizens working to get local governments to pass resolutions against the possibility of war, 125 cities throughout the country have approved anti-war resolutions.
< snip >
"We're going to give our council members a sip of courage," said Randeep Walia, a member of the Dallas Coalition Against the War.
I expect it's a dead issue if this article is correct ...
I would certainly be interested to know who is behind this Cities for Peace group. I wonder who is financially supporting them? I would bet it is a Socialist group ...Well, I went to their website and see they are ASKING for money, donations. But I didn't see anything that lists WHO their major contributors are. I did send two of them e-mails to see if they would give me that information. I bet they don't give me it though.
Here is the Cities for Peace website, btw.
Any ideas? Anyone ??? ...
California passed
I was pleasantly surprised to find she's on track on this issue. But this 'RAT will likely find herself looking for another job when Mary Poss, her like GOP opponent, defeats her over the Dallas restaurant smoking ban Laura Miller pushed through.
That law just went into effect last Saturday, btw ...
wow ! that thread has almost 300 replies now ...
Middle Easterners Streaming Into Texas: Study Say Most Live In Houston
The HoustonChronicle.com ^ | 2002 | Edward Hegstrom Middle Easterners streaming to Texas
Texas has one of the nation's fastest-growing Middle Eastern populations, and most of the state's immigrants live in Houston, according to a study based on census data.
Researchers at the Center for Immigration Studies say Texas' Middle Eastern population more than doubled in the last decade, to just over 100,000, including more than 52,000 in Greater Houston.
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