Oct 2003 - Dear PeaceAware,
It is time for Las Cruces City Council and Dona Ana County Commissioners to pass a Civil Liberties Resolution in our community. On October 9th, Grant County Commissioners unanimously passed their resolution against the U.S.A. PATRIOT act. They called for greater protection of citizens' civil liberties.
Grant County joined Rio Arriba county, the New Mexico Municipal League, and the cities of Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Socorro, Aztec, Farmington, Taos, Albuquerque --- which have all approved Civil Liberties resolutions in New Mexico.
The USA PATRIOT act expands government authority to put wiretaps in our homes, search our computers, induce libraries and bookstores to report on our reading choices, and carry out other acts of covert surveillance. According to Constitutional Scholars this act allows for secret searches and seizures, gives government access to our personal medical, financial, library, and education records, and allows for wiretap and email monitoring without judicial oversight.
In Las Cruces, PeaceAware has led a campaign to get our City Council and Commissioners to pass an act like Grant and Rio Arriba counties and seven cities in New Mexico. Without this resolution the government can continue to snoop and our constitutional freedoms and Bill of Rights are not protected in our local community.
Las Cruces could join 186 other cities who as of October 11, 2003 have passed civil liberties protection resolutions. Here is the current resolution:
Resolved: The Las Cruces City Council affirms its belief in the United states
Constitution and Bill of Rights and states that the people of Las Cruces are
protected by these mandates in peace time as in war time. For more see Summary
of Threats to Civil Liberties by U.S.A. PATRIOT act (Boje, 2003).
WHAT CAN WE DO:
We need a Town Hall Meeting and more signatures on petition drive - 23 Oct 2003 - Meeting with Mayor Mattiace - Mayor and head of ACLU agree to put on Las Cruces Town Hall meeting. Mayor says PeaceAware's 400 signatures not enough to put item on agenda of City Council' only petitions with 4,000 signatures are discussed in this sity. Press here for Press Release.
SUGGESTED NEW WORDING OF LAS CRUCES RESOLUTION (Date Oct 23 2003):
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO, TO UPHOLD THE HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES OF THE PEOPLE OF LAS CRUCES
WHEREAS, the City of Las Cruces fully supports the Constitution of the United States and its amendments, particularly the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment, and;
WHEREAS, the fundamental human rights and civil liberties guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Mexico are essential to the well-being of the citizens and community of Las Cruces, and;
WHEREAS, several laws and orders enacted at the state and Federal level, including several provisions of the U.S.A. PATRIOT act, threaten these fundamental rights and liberties.
NOW THEREFORE, THE LAS CRUCES CITY COUNCIL DOES HEREBY RESOLVE:
Section 1. The City of Las Cruces is committed to upholding the human rights of all persons in Las Cruces, including United States citizens and citizens of other nations, and the free exercise and enjoyment of any and all rights and privileges secured by the constitutions of the United States of America and the State of New Mexico.
Section 2. The City Council of the City of Las Cruces calls upon all City officials and employees to respect the human rights and civil liberties of all members of this community, including those who are citizens of other nations.
Click here to print your own version and collect signatures
Click here to sign your name to the Electronic Version of the Petition - On Line
On 8 March 2003, 8 PeaceAware people asked City Council to put this resolution on the City Agenda - We were denied.
On 17 Mar 2003, Forty-Two PeaceAware citizens of Las Cruces spoke before the City Council l Meeting to get our Peace & Civil Liberties Resolution on the Agenda (City Hall 200 N. Church Street) in the. "PUBLIC PRESENTATION section" of the meeting. 20 spoke at 1Pm and 22 more at 4:30 PM. We were denied a space on the City Agenda, for the City Council even to discuss the resolution.
During that session, our current MAYOR - William "Bill" Mattiace billm@las-cruces.org said "I support what you are doing. If I am elected Mayor, I will call for a special Town Hall meeting on this resolution." After the election, on NPR, Mayor Mattiace said in response to the reporter's question, "The PeaceAware movement has been in front of City Council twice with a Peace And Civil Liberties Resolutions, are you going to put it on the agenda?" Mayor-elect Mattiace replied, "Now is time focus on our troops." We urge you to contact Mayor Bill Mattiace and ask him to honor his promise made in open session of the 17March, 2003 meeting, recorded and on record.
On July 28, 2003, PeaceAware after several sessions in the Mayor's Office, left crest fallen, disappointed that the 400 additional signatures to petitions was not enough to get Mayor Mattiace to put the Civil Liberties Resolution on the City agenda. The 400 signors to the above petition were denied any voice at all in city governance. The Mayor has copies of our petition and our signatures. The Mayor and City Council are aware of the 133 additional Internet signors to the Civil Liberties petition http://peaceaware.com/documents/proposed_las_cruces_resolution.htm
What kind of city government will not even support the Bill of Rights and Constitution of the USA against the dire threat to Civil Liberties of its citizens? What kind of city government will not even discuss it on their agenda? What kind of promises are being made and not kept?
What can you do? - Ask questions on Oct 15 (Wed) Meet the Mayoral Candidates
- Ask them why the promised forum on the Civil Liberties Resolution by City
Council never happened; Last time around, the Mayor candidates promised a forum,
a town meeting. At 6:30 PM at the Unitarian church in Las Cruces on Wed Oct
15th, you can ask the Mayoral candidates why Grant County, why not here? Why
Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Socorro, Aztec, Farmington, Taos, Albuquerque and Why Not
Here?
Thank you,
David Boje,
Co-organizer, PeaceAware
March 2003- We are currently in dialog with the Las Cruces City Council. When they pass the resolutions, we move on to Mesilla and Dona Ann County. On 17 Mar - Mon URGENT 100 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED to Attend the City Council Meeting and speak for 1 to 3 minutes at either 1PM or 4:30PM to get our Peace & Civil Liberties Resolution on the City's Agenda - see details - We have 49 people signed up to speak. We only need 51 more. Email dboje@nmsu.edu to get onto the speakers list.
For Background info on USA Religious Leaders in Favor of
Peaceful Resolution to Iraqi Crisis (press
here).
RESOLUTION NO. 1 and 2 are to be Submitted by: David Boje, Ph.D. and the
following citizens of Las Cruces, New Mexico - please Add your Name. Our goal is
100 signors. To
sign on to resolution send email to dboje@nmsu.edu
with RESOLUTION LAS CRUCES in SUBJECT heading, or click on BLUE button. Please also put your
address and phone number and city of residence in the BODY of your email (will
only list name and city, as in list below).
If you have changes to propose, indicate those with ref. to paragraph # in your
email as well.
Clicking on the blue BUTTON will send an email from you to Dr. Boje. Thank You.
SIGNATORS to Date:
| We the undersigned petition the Mayor of the City of Las Cruces to place the Peace And Civil Liberties Resolutions onto the City Council agenda. Thank you. Contact person: Dr. David Boje PeaceAware co-organizer 532-1693 Click to go to new resolution wording. | |
|
NOTE: There are additional 250 signors to the new resolution. Below are signors -on-line to new resolution. 130. Ken J. Boyd, Las Cruces 131, Vanessa R. Casner, Las Cruces 132. Myrriam Torres, Las Cruces, NMSU 133. Joshua Rose, Las Cruces, NMSU 134. Randall Vallee, Las Cruces CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR NAME TO THE ELECTRONIC, ON LINE VERSION OF THE PETITION -Nov 10 2003. Goal is to get 4,226 signatures. Please help. Tell your frineds. |
PROPOSED WORDING OF THE LAS
CRUCES RESOLUTIONS (Will also be presented to City of Mesilla & Don Ana
County):
- Councillor District 1 - Jose V. Frietze
- josef@las-cruces.org
- Mayor - William "Bill" Mattiace
billm@las-cruces.org - Councillor District 3 - Dolores C. Archuleta
darchuleta@las-cruces.org - Councillor District 4 - Steven Trowbridge
stevet@las-cruces.org - Councillor District 5 - Wesley E. Strain
wstrain@las-cruces.org - Councillor District 6 - Ken Miyagishima
kmiyagishima@las-cruces.org
City Attorney "Fermin Rubio" FerminR@las-cruces.org- See Council District Map
- http://www.las-cruces.org/mayor_council.htm
Note: We have revised the Civil Liberties Resolution (See old version).
NEW VERSION:
We the undersigned, request that the Las Cruces City Council consider and pass the following resolution:
Resolved: The Las Cruces City Council affirms its belief in
the United states Constitution and Bill of Rights and states that the people
of Las Cruces are protected by these mandates in peace time as in war time.
Note: Articles 2 and 8 have been removed per request of a City Council member at the March 3rd meeting.
1. WHEREAS, the people of the United States have already suffered grievous
loss of life and well-being as a result of the terrorist attack on September
11, 2001; and
3. WHEREAS, the Bush administration has failed to present convincing evidence
that Iraq poses a military threat to the United States; and
4. WHEREAS, former United Nations weapons inspectors, other experts, and world
leaders have contested the Bush Administration's claim that indisputable evidence
exists of Iraq's present possession of nuclear weapons and immediate ability
to deploy such weapons; and
5. WHEREAS, a war to remove Saddam Hussein is the most credible scenario that
would cause Iraq to use any weapons of mass destruction that it might possess;
and
6. WHEREAS, the United States already is conducting military action, including
aerial bombardment of Iraqi territory, without basis in international law or
United Nations' resolutions; and
7. WHEREAS, a United States war against Iraq threatens to destabilize the entire
Middle East region, possibly resulting in regional war; and
9. WHEREAS, the Bush Administration has failed to build an international consensus
in support of United States military action, with European and Middle East allies,
Japan, Russia and China opposing unilateral United States military action; and
10. WHEREAS, war should not be undertaken unilaterally by the United States
or other parties; and
11. WHEREAS, past military conflict in the region resulted in widespread environmental
destruction, the effects of which have not yet been mitigated or understood;
and
12. WHEREAS, past military conflict in the region resulted in widespread damage
to the civilian infrastructure of Iraq and widespread suffering and death of
Iraqi civilians; and
13. WHEREAS, the United States has been the primary force behind twelve years
of non-military sanctions against Iraq that have resulted in the death of of
500,000 to 750,000 children under the age of five due to inadequate water,
food, and medicine, according to UNICEF and other international relief organizations,
and
14. WHEREAS, humane, international diplomatic efforts should be the preferred
means to resolve international conflicts; and
15. WHEREAS, war should be a last resort; and
16. WHEREAS, Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution requires
that Congress must debate and vote on whether to declare war on Iraq; and
17. WHEREAS, the government of Iraq has agreed to unconditional return of international
weapons inspectors to determine Iraq's compliance with the United Nations National
Security Council resolutions concerning the development of weapons of mass destruction
by Iraq; and
18. WHEREAS, the ultimate security of the United States is dependent on creating
the conditions of life for all nations, working together cooperatively, that
will eliminate poverty, injustice, inequality, environmental degradation and
other factors that breed war and terrorism; and
19. WHEREAS, the citizens of Las Cruces and its local elected officials have
the constitutional right to petition the national government on this matter
of grave concern to our community as part of the national and international
debate now underway; and
20. WHEREAS, there is a spirited debate on the possibility of war on Iraq and
there is a wide range of opinions in Las Cruces about the advisability and likely
consequences of war with Iraq; and
21. WHEREAS, the City Council cannot speak for all residents but has been asked
by hundreds of people to speak out on this momentous issue facing our nation;
and
22. WHEREAS, over a dozen members of the New Mexico State University faculty
and scores of Las Cruces citizens courageously spoke out against war on Iraq
at the (Oct 28) Teach-In, our New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman came out against
it (Oct 10), and with the collapse of civil liberties in the U.S.A. PATRIOT
Act (Acronym: "Uniting & Strengthening America Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act")
, and the fact that Santa Fe has passed a similar resolution (Oct 30), the City
Council of the City of Las Cruces would encourage citizens of Las Cruces
by its support.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City Council of the City of Las
Cruces:
23. HEREBY reaffirms the articles of the United Nations Charter,
the principles of international law, and the civil liberties protected by the
US Constitution, and prefers the peaceful resolution of disputes; and
24. HEREBY expresses our opposition to the United States' continued and threatened
violation of United Nations Charter and of international law by its unilateral,
preemptive military action against the nation of Iraq, and
25. HEREBY opposes continuing non-military sanctions, continuing
United States' military action against Iraq, and proposed escalated military
action by the United States against Iraq; and
26. HEREBY urges the Bush Administration and our representatives
in Congress to work with and through the United Nations to obtain compliance
by Iraq with United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning the development
by Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and to support fully the international
weapons inspectors in Iraq for that purpose; and
27. HEREBY urges the Bush Administration and our federal representatives to
actively support United Nations' diplomatic efforts to support and encourage
democracy and respect for human rights in Iraq and all nations.
28. HEREBY urges the Bush Administration to repeal the U.S.A. PATRIOT
Act as it violates four US Constitutional Amendments and does not embrace
the fundamental liberties protected under the New Mexico State Constitution.
29. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that no war against Iraq be undertaken at
any time by the United States without the agreement of the United Nations Security
Council under the United Nations Charter, and without a full debate and vote
in the United States Congress under Article 1, Section 8 of the United States
Constitution.
30. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that local law enforcement continue to
preserve and uphold residents’ freedom of speech, assembly, association, and
privacy, the right to counsel and due process in judicial proceedings, and protection
from unreasonable searches and seizures, even if requested to do otherwise and
infringe upon such rights by federal or state law enforcement agencies acting
under new powers created by the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act , or by Executive
Order;
31. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that upon passage, the Las Cruces City Clerk shall
deliver this Resolution to all federal and state law enforcement agencies, the
Governor’s office, and to the New Mexico federal legislative delegation.
ADOPTED 1st and 2nd RESOLUTIONS, PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of
___________ , by the following vote:
AYES: Council members:
NOES: Council members:
ABSENT: Council members:
DISQUALIFIED: Council members:
APPROVED: __________________________
Mayor ATTEST: __________________________
City Clerk _______________________________
RESOLUTION NO. ________
Old used before October 2003. After Oct 2003, use the
NewLCLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR NAME TO THE ELECTRONIC, ON LINE VERSION OF THE PETITION -Nov 10 2003. Goal is to get 4,226 signatures. Please help. Tell your frineds.