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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - March 19, 2008 Public CommentsContinued March 19,2008 E-9 Authorized the City Manager to renew revised Memorandum of Understanding with People Assisting the Lodi Shelter and to retain the temporary building moved to the Lodi Animal Shelter. E-10 Adopted Resolution No. 2008-44 authorizing destruction of certain Citywide records in accordance with the Government Code and the City's Records Management Policy. F. COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS • Dave Hinchman spoke in opposition to redevelopment based on concerns regarding debt obligations, the lack of an official endorsement by the Lodi Unified School District, the need for additional public outreach meetings, Planning Commission and Budget Committee involvement, and the lack of City Council meetings on the subject matter. • Cynthia Neely spoke in opposition to the Iraq War and requested that the City Council support a resolution opposing the same based on concerns regarding the loss of life and economic costs. Ms. Neely also submitted several speaker cards in favor of her position of individuals who were in support of the resolution, but chose not to speak. • Ann Cerney spoke in opposition to the Iraq War and read the resolution opposing the same. • Eileen St. Yves spoke in favor of and encouraged citizen participation in the U.S. Census dress rehearsal for San Joaquin County. • Wayne Knauf spoke in opposition to redevelopment based on concerns regardingthe size of the project area. G. COMMENTS BY CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS • Council Member Johnson requested that staff compile a list of meetings, newsletters, and/or articles where redevelopment was discussed. • Mayor Pro Tempore Hansen requested that the City Council meeting be adjourned in memory of Jim Areida. He also reported on his attendance at the San Joaquin Council of Governments executive meeting and specifically discussed Proposition 113 funding, funding recommendation for vehicles, funding requests for the Lodi Unified School District, traffic corridor funding for the Stockton Port for approximately $17.5 million, Measure K funds making up the difference at $35 million, and the possible affect on other projects as a result. Mayor Mounce stated she received some citizen concerns regarding mistletoe in trees, thanked staff for addressing concerns regarding the Animal Shelter at the Shirtsleeve Session, and expressed concerns regarding redevelopment meeting attendance and public outreach. H. COMMENTS BY THE CITY MANAGER ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS • City Manager King stated redevelopment does not have a bond issuance obligation and the Council to date has not considered a related bond issuance. Mr. King also stated that a majority of municipalities do have redevelopment agencies, the school district has not officially endorsed redevelopment although there have been preliminary discussion regarding the same, and public meetings are an ongoing effort with a willingness to do the best job possible in reaching as many people as possible. PUBLIC HEARINGS I-1 Notice thereof having been published according to law, an affidavit of which publication is on file in the office of the City Clerk, Mayor Mounce called for the public hearing to consider resolution approving new rates for solid waste collection. City Manager King briefly introduced the subject matter of new rates for solid waste collection. 3 LODI RESOLUTION AGAINST THE IRAQ WAR WHEREAS, a group of Lodi citizens has called upon the City Council to advise the Federal Government on its policies in Iraq, WHEREAS, the Lodi City Counciljoins many Lodi citizens in lamenting the injury and loss of life suffered by United States troops as well as Iraqi non-combatants in the Iraq War; and WHEREAS. the members of the Lodi City Council acknowledge that they have no expertise, power, or authority to direct matters of international diplomatic and military policy, and WHEREAS, the members of the Lodi City Council are experts in and especially competent to speak about the problems and the needs of the cities of America. and WHEREAS, continued expenditures of the Federal Government on the Iraq War impact the available federal resources required to provide for the urgent needs of the most vulnerable portions of the American population, including the need to provide for the health, education, and homeland security of the citizens of the City of Lodi and of urban areas within the United States; and WHEREAS, in excess of $250 billion has been appropriated by Congress to fund military operations and reconstruction in Iraq, while in contrast, the decrease in Community Development Block Grant funds received by the City of Lodi severely lessens the ability of the City to revitalize its neighborhoods, promote homeownership opportunities, and provide critical services for the poor, seniors, children. the disabled, and most vulnerable members of our community, and WHEREAS, loss of funding for police officers and firefighters severely limits the city's ability to provide for first responders who are our first line of defense against terrorism as well as other disasters and threats to our security, and WHEREAS, the Lodi City Council expresses its complete support for the United States troops currently serving in Iraq, as well as those who have previously served, and their families; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Lodi City Council that . We salute the courage and commitment of the more than one million United States military personnel, including Lodi citizens who have served in the war and occupation in Iraq. These men and women of the United States military, including our own members of the California National Guard, our neighbors and friends, have suffered extraordinary danger and the loneliness of long separations from home and family on our behalfand the nation's. We now ask that these valiant warriors be returned home, safe and intact, to resume their lives, with our thanks for their sacrifices on our behalf and for the courage of their families who have waited and watched from home, and the Lodi City Council calls upon the United States government to establish clear and aggressive timelines for the full transfer of governmental decision-making and internal security to the legitimate government of Iraq and withdraw United States troops from the country. 2. We call upon the President and Congress to fully fund all federal health care, job training, educational, housing, and other programs aiding veterans and their families to ensure their well being and to express the clearly earned thanks of a grateful nation. 3. The Lodi City Council calls upon the citizens of Lodi to welcome returning veterans of the Iraq War and to promptly re-engage them in the life of the community. 4. The Lodi City Council respectfully urges the President and Congress to begin reversing the priorities established by this war by increasing the funding of Community Development Block Grant money, and allocating new money directly to our cities to provide for the hiring of more police officers and firefighters, our first responders and the key element in protecting our country from terrorism, disasters, and other threats to our security. Such allocations would represent money previously spent in Iraq which would now be spend in solving our domestic problems. 5 The Lodi City Council in gratitude to our heroic servicemen and women, pledges it will expeditiously and strongly consider a veteran's preference provision in its goods, services and construction policies, and furthermore, that the City Will review its policies and procedure to ensure that employees currently service in our military and their families will not suffer hardship when they are called to duty. 6 A copy of this Resolution will be send to the President of the United States and our California delegation to the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. WaN? Iraq theory little more than latest bogeyman rhetoric Prior to the Vietnam War, I recall various groups inspiring fear in Americans by alleging that the "domino theory" ofcommunismwas going to eat us all up ifwe did not go to Southeast Asia and stop the threat. So we went in to Vietnam blindly, and foryears our leaders lied to the American people. Remember the Pentagon Papers? We now know that the big bogeyman of commu- nism died a natural death in mast of the world and that our involvement in Vietnam had little relationship to the demise of communism. Now we have another theory and another bogeyman. The new theory is the "weapons ofmass destruction' theory. which a few of our leaders are using to promote our entrance into another pointless, politically motivat- ed war in Iraq. The bogeyman. of come. is one of the triumvirate of the Axis of Evil: Saddam Hussein. No one in the administration has thus far shown any evidence cf weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. According to unbiased news reports, weapons inspectors are hard pressed to find the evidence required to sup- port an invasion. In addition. no one Il a ver, VM let Itme a = Sw2'ciFhed MAWN15S �s„�st�c www w.�wq! ww«,.+oMyase�.�s in the administration denies that even if Iraq did have such weapons. the capabilities of such weapons only extend to a target 400 miles away from Iraq at most. The last time that I looked at a map, l noticed that the United States is quite a bit far- ther from Iraq than 400 miles. Thou- sands of miles is more like it. The latest admission by the tai Koreans that they intend to imple- ment a nuclear weapons program is clearly much more of a threat to the United States than Saddam Hussein. There is credible information that the North Koreans are quite close to developing nuclear weapons which could indeed reach the United States. Weapons experts say that the time line for the implement;ition of their program is not much more than a year away. If the true goal of the United States is to rid weapons of mass destruction from rogue dicta- tors, why are we following a policy of aggression against Iraq and one of diplomacywithNorth Korea? One answer could be that there are no oil reserves in North Korea. And it cannotbe denied that many in this administration are not only tied to big business but to big oil. If the United States were invaded by Iraq or anv other nation, very few of us would refuse to serve our coun - try in any way that we Could, fiowev- er, this administration should give the American people a reason other than "riddinglraq ofweapons of mass destruction before involving us in a war that will cause many casualties and cost billions of dollars. It will be awar easy to start but difficult to finish. In Washington, D.C., a large black piece ofgratute inscribed with thou- sands of names is a monument ofthe "domino theory." Who will he listed on the monument to the "weapons of mass destruction" theory? Informed Americans shoWd not be frightened h)- alarmist rhetoric and bogeymen. Cynthia N ee Fy Lodi YEAR LATER... ,,Dark. side to Iraq attack Bush cant give ,me good reason fOt startingwar Auwricans anduding the Bush administration) shouldtalce a deed breath,stepbadk, and examine the consequences ini- Mft a war with IIr�k The bright ,§*, Getting rid cf'Saddam Hus- sern� Maybe. The colic side: f� unprovoked attack oa awther nadon is rnorady inde- fe•tsihle. What gives the United Srates the right to unilaterally attack anycountry unless we IpWbeen attacked?Ls there any n-idence thar Iraq has oris Ruing to attack America? Is there any evidence thatIraqis stiihnaking biological, chemical and nuclear weapons?If there is, 1P 's show it to the American people When John F. Kennedy was president, he shcnved evi• dunce of tntss0e sites before he imLiated thesuccessful blockade W Caaba- It sshQuldbe noted that marry fopY leaders at tib ume tried to convince Kennedy to -attack instead. Thank God, seawnableness rather than rew tip prevailed. ■ re are other countries. ie., Bu.cHs "axis orevil" which have weapons of mass destruction. Does this give the U.S. the tight to unilweralty determine that those countries are enemies and that we can attack with impuni- ty? By the way, the U.S. has weapons of mass desmzcuon. t to attack us on that =hi hi-tU countries see this as U:1Merican aunce" which only adds.10 ds.tu thetrna 0 M unprcmked attack At destabilize nor only the Mideast, h u t will affect the world need Mel a UtrMyo rheea0IL wiwu stwports oto position. osi EuTipeari nations con do nn this Bush poUcy. All of the Arab nations ,u -e violently o fix)sed to an invasionAm we preparedro pursue inilstary action againstotherArabs? tbilNMVAvM –9HG1F"Crow IRAQ IFTC=tAl411:,M: AL1.E OVIVvvIX QXfir.ANl'A> CA5WC6P I Offmow ficnci%? WACAOM IF IfALSO � �T?IIilfiE _APIDIFITI1tE4lKs�s Jam"""' �HGTI�'I�GIILRk]S � �s J11N/Pi�.�ri 7✓� i17%f Yyi�f b ■ In Afghanistan we see only a microcosm of the type of political. instabgity that would omrr M Iraq — political [actions na one another, and our qa.to which "M�e we should support. How do we know that the leader that will em erge will nor he even worse than Sad- dam? Besides, no�''�atio JITh tio■ We have not f shed our in Af�istan. 11e spread Pur ' Y forces SAMPlies theMR05 °�j our efforts in the war on terror? After all, it was Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, not Iraq, who attackedAmerica N Can our economy support Ns eft'ort, especially in reh�etsmte it is prgdunuri and d sdtriLn 000il alone will be monumental — we rely heavily on oil from rhe Mideast. ■ It is easy to start a war, but quite difficult to and one Do we really want anotherViOnarn? ■WIn do we object to returning to inspections? - ■ If we have known for years that Saddam has these weapons, why ase we going to attackNOWT Is the rush to military action to buoyup Bush's failing support among many Americans because of the poor economy? Bush should considerthe fact that an ill-consideredwar arra all ofits consequences will damage his reputation far more than the le€€ ofapoor economy,his administration's assault ondW rights, and his fid 11 lead on such important issues as health rate and education ■ Why don't we let the Iraqis decide for themselves? What happened when we interfered in a civil war in Somalia where peo- ple were suffering under a ca r- rupt d e r ?Ou rhumanttartan efforts toward the Somalis were rewarded by disaster. The Scrna- lis rose up against us. Canwe really believe the majority of Iraqis will welcome a US. hwa- sion? ■ Bush's success has only been as a "wartimepresident." There- fore. one questions his motives in sendingRice,Cheney, and Powell to promote mass -media "fren- zy" priorto t -eSept 11 anniver- sary for the purpose of firing up support for an unsupportable wac F ftswas one of the motives forhis "timely" r eclia barrage by the add ni stm*i n+, to exploit the patriotism ofthe Americanpublic in thisnerner is anoutrage. ■ The final objection, and realty the primary objection, is to send- ing ouryoung men andwomen to aplacewherethe administm- tion alleges that there are biologi- cal, chemical and nuclear weapons. Are we really willing to send our young Americans to invade Iraq? It would sE enthat we are farmore vulnerable to ter- rorist attacks here. Inidatinga war with Iraq will lead to many American casualties. When the Bush administra- tion questions the patriotism o1 those of us who do not wish to start a global conflict. he might remember that several of the Narhawks" in his administra- tion (including hirrt)have neve, served a day on the front line it wartime. Where was their patri- Cti..sn d Luing V-te to am? cynd"Nmh Lod Resolution to End War in Iraq Names presented on Speaker Cards Karen Arnold Kathleen Cechini C. Cerney Reid Cerney Pam Clark Janice Dennis Lloyd Dennis Stan Ellsworth Betsy Fiske Levi Huffman Taj Khan Sharon Larson Delores Levy Cynthia Neely Bill Neumann Bonnie Neumann Nora Olsen Dr. Bob Olson Frank Pesco Deane Savage Marcia Savage Jane Thomas Ben Waddle Wendy Woodruff