January 30, 2003
County Takes Up the Slack
Going where the Portland City Council feared to tread, in a session that was short and painless, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners this morning adopted an antiwar resolution by a 4-1 vote.
Moral and budgetary implications alike moved Diane Linn, Maria Rojo de Steffey, Serena Cruz, and Lisa Naito to support the resolution.
Lonnie Roberts, the lone dissenting vote, appeared mainly concerned with the futility of the Board expressing an opinion on the matter. Confusingly, he also expressed concern that there were more pressing matters facing Multnomah County, failing to see the connections between a massively-funded war machine (on the one hand) and woefully-underfunded social services (on the other hand).
Much was made of that sheer financial and human cost of the looming war with Iraq, arguments which were clearly made within the shadow of this week's failure of Measure 28 -- an event which has brought into stark relief the social services provided at the county level, and the concerns about being able to fund such services in the midst of a $50-200 billion military campaign abroad.
Serena Cruz artfully demonstrated why Portlanders made a horrible mistake in electing Randy Leonard to the City Council instead of her, as she patiently explained some of the reasons why it was proper for the County to weigh in on such an issue.
For one thing, she said, the area's Congressional delegation -- who opposed the broad authority granted by Congress to the President -- had asked their constituents to support them. For another, the County will not be acting alone, but in concert with local governments across the United States which, when taken together, represent 13 million Americans.
In some ways, the County's actions don't carry the same psychological impact as would have a resolution passed by the City of Portland. But in the absence of conscientious action by the Portland City Council, we can at least hold onto today's one piece of good news in an otherwise abysmal two weeks.
Comments (3)
Elaine on 30 Jan 2003
Not as big a victory as many had hoped, but a victory nonetheless. I hope it gets some broad local publicity to make the small city council minds take a good look in the mirror.
The One True b!X on 31 Jan 2003
Today's Oregonian coverage of the County's vote. Also KATU, KOIN, and KGW all have versions of an AP story.
The One True b!X on 31 Jan 2003
OPB, however, like the Oregonian, has original reporting on the vote.