PDA 2006 Election Video
» 56K modem
» broadband
Stop Funding War Video
» All formats
Members of Sonoma County’s Resolution to Impeach Coalition have been busy this summer, collecting signatures on petitions and lobbying the members of the City Councils of Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park for a resolution to impeach Bush and Cheney.
Progressive Democrats Sonoma County is a founding member of the Resolution to Impeach Coalition, and PDSonoma members have been active participants and organizers of the Sonoma County effort to move impeachment up from the grassroots.
Un-swayed by initial rebuffs to our requests for a spot on the agenda in order to present the signatures and petition in favor of passing the resolution to the two city councils, coalition members persevered in our lobbying efforts, meeting individually with some council members. Others refused to meet with us. And in each city, advocates participated in organized presentations during the "public comment" portion of council meetings, arguing that the voice of the people should be heard.
In Rohnert Park, petitioners first had to overcome a recent ban on comments from the public being placed on the agenda. With arguments which included comments from city council members in other cities who have already passed resolutions for impeachment and documentation showing that the practice of city councils petitioning Congress is rather routine, impeachment advocates Dawna Gallagher and Donna Norton were able to gain a place on the agenda of the October 9 Rohnert Park City Council meeting.
In Santa Rosa, impeachment advocates made our presentation during the time which is set aside for public comment: at the end of a very long city council meeting. Unrolling an impressive "scroll" which displayed petitions holding close to 2,000 signatures from Santa Rosa residents, advocates described our personal experiences gathering signatures. We relayed the aspirations of city residents who entrusted us to deliver their heartfelt request to the city council for the constitutionally mandated protection from the abuses of power of an out-of-control executive branch of government.
Santa Rosa City Council member Carol Dean heard the request loud and clear; when Mayor Blanchard queried council members on whether they had any ‘interest’ in placing this item on the Agenda, council member Dean stated, “2000 signatures deserve to be on the agenda.” With three additional affirmative votes for putting impeachment on the table coming from the first council members to indicate their approval—Veronica Jacobi and Susan Gorin and finally from Vice Mayor Lee Pierce—by the end of the night, we had a date to return to the city council to present our petition for a resolution to impeach. Presenters included Nick Xenelis, Donna Norton, Susan Baritell, Anna Givens, Ron Norton, Don Anderson, Dan Monte and Terra Freedman.
On Tuesday, November 6, the Santa Rosa City Council will listen and will vote on whether to pass our resolution to impeach Bush and Cheney.
We think our plans, coordinated with Peter Phillips of Project Censored and other local community activists, for an event on October 20 just MAY help them realize that their constituents want them to ‘Stand UP and Take Action’ to protect the Constitution, which our elected officials are sworn to uphold.
Except for the name of the city, the Rohnert Park Resolution is identical to the Santa Rosa Resolution; for the text, click here.
PDA Chapter News RSS Feed