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# Council votes down peace
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/council-votes-down-peace/
- Published: 2007-04-28T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:39:14.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Government & Politics, Pier, #archive-import

CITY HALL All they were saying was give peace a chance, but some members of the City Council just weren’t hearing it.

Veterans for Peace, which sponsors the Arlington West Memorial near the Santa Monica Pier, earlier this month sent a letter to the City Council asking members to endorse their tour for peace, which will hit several cities on the west coast this summer to promote the memorial and other peace initiatives. The group was not asking for any financial support.

The request fell to the wayside Tuesday night when supporters on the Council could not muster enough votes to pass it. Councilmember Bobby Shriver was not present because of a death in the family and Mayor Pro Tem Herb Katz left the meeting early, leaving only five members on the dais. Four votes were needed to approve the endorsement.

Mayor Richard Bloom abstained and Councilmember Pam O’Connor voted against the endorsement, both citing concerns about how the endorsement would be used and whether or not vouching for the tour was under the Council’s purview. They also felt that the endorsement could open the flood gates for other non-profits to inundate the Council with requests, which could take attention away from more pressing issues directly affecting residents.

The 3-1 vote, with Councilmembers Kevin McKeown, Bob Holbrook and Ken Genser in support, followed a decision by Mayor Bloom last month to not consider a request by peace activist Jerry Rubin for the Council to support the impeachment of President Bush. This has lead some people to wonder what has happened to the Council that in the past voiced opposition to the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act, apartheid and nuclear weapon stockpiling.

“I understand that some people might feel these issues are of great interest to citizens of Santa Monica and I’m quite certain they are, but the real question is whether or not they are matters the City Council should be addressing,” said Bloom, who as mayor has the responsibility of guiding the meetings and setting the agendas.

“I have my own strong feelings about the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians,” Bloom added,“but it is essential that we focus our limited time on very important local issues. We have very complex issues here …There is a balance that needs to be reached.”

Members of Veterans for Peace, who have received endorsements from over 100 groups, but not one city, were surprised to learn that the Council did not endorse their tour. The Council has been very supportive of their efforts with Arlington West, allowing them every Sunday to set up hundreds of small white crosses in the sand, each one representing soldiers who have lost their lives in the war on terror, said Greg Foisie, a volunteer with Veterans for Peace.

“We’ve had the support of the Council in terms of their willingness to allow Veterans for Peace to exercise our first amendment right and we are very thankful for that sup-

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 28, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042807.pdf?ref=smdp.com)