Tuesday night, a citizens group presented the City Council with a petition to support a resolution encouraging the federal government to seek nuclear disarmament in the United States and the other eight nations that have nuclear weapons. The proposal split the Council, which rejected it down by one vote.
The resolution was signed by 500 residents, of whom about a dozen spoke in support for a variety of reasons, while a few residents spoke against mostly saying they did not think the issue was something that a local government could impact.
The debate amongst the Councilors did not revolve around the content of the resolution, but rather about whether it was appropriate for the City Council to be taking up on their agenda.
Originally, the resolution was proposed by a City Councilor, but City Council President Mark Sideris said he did not think it was appropriate discussion because it was not specifically City related, and the Council has many other issues to deal with.
The Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment used the method outlined in Watertown’s City Charter to place an item on the Council’s agenda by citizen petition. They had to collect 150 signatures, but they submitted 500.
Councilor Tony Palomba, who is a member of the Watertown Citizens group that submitted the petition, read a statement outlining arguments for supporting the petition.
“When I vote for Police and Fire budgets, I’m voting to protect Watertown residents. When I support the work of our Health Department, its trainings, alerts, vaccine programs and more, I’m voting to protect Watertown citizens,” Palomba said. “When I support the City’s Biosafety Committee and its efforts to regulate and monitor life science research, I’m protecting Watertown citizens. When I vote tonight in favor of this resolution, I’m voting to protect residents of Watertown.”
Maintaining the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal costs $87 billion, Palomba said, and he said that is money that could be spent in other ways, some of which would directly impact Watertown.
“How federal funds reach cities and towns is both direct and indirect, but the common denominator is that funding affects our residents, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively,” Palomba said. “Our schools receive direct federal support. The reconstruction of Mt. Auburn Street is being paid by the federal government. While federal funds for cities and towns may be administered by state edge agencies. The origin of the funds is the federal government.”
City Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli said he does not support any petitions that he considers symbolic and on issues that are out of the Council’s control.
“Since I was first elected 18 years ago, I’ve maintained a position to not vote for symbolic legislation that is outside the jurisdiction of the Watertown City Council,” Piccirilli said. “I fully support the concept of nuclear disarmament, and as I told the members of the group that I met with a few weeks ago, I would happily sign a letter or petition to our members of Congress, what I don’t support is this Council issuing a resolution on policy on matters of foreign affairs or National Defense which are not under the jurisdiction of this Council.”
Councilor John Gannon noted that there was a nuclear reactor in Watertown at the U.S. Army Arsenal, and he added that he was born during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when “we dodged a bullet,” (a nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union). In recent years, nuclear weapons have come back into the discussion, Gannon said.
“What’s pushing it for me is the now casual use, or reference, of first-use nuclear weapons. We’re hearing it from the leader of Russia. We’re hearing it from the leader of our own country. That casual threat, that scares the crap out of me and that’s something I feel I have to do as my own conscience,” Gannon said. “Can we Watertown bring down the forces of the nuclear armament movement worldwide? Maybe we can have influence. But I feel as one voter, one councilor on this petition that I can make a difference.”
Councilor Caroline Bays struggled with how to vote on the resolution, saying that she has said that the Council usually deals with local issues, and things that it can control, but she added that her first job out of college was working for SANE (National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy).
“So, I understand what you’re requesting us to do is to send this on to our federal legislators, who do have more control than we do,” Bays said “I’m just not sure how effective this is as something to do. Having said that, I’m still struggling, and I probably won’t know until it comes out of my mouth how I’m going to vote on this.”
Ultimately she supported the petition.
Councilor Theo Offei said when he was running for office he said he promised to focus on issues where the Council has direct power. He was concerned that the Council would spend too much time voting on symbolic issues, but he said he believes this issue is an important one for Watertown.
“After a lot of thought, I’ve decided that there are moments when symbolism does matter, when the moral weight of an issue is just too great,” Offei said “Robert Kennedy said, each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lots, the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. I see this resolution as one of those ripples. I’m supporting this tonight because I think it is the right thing to do for the future of our community.”
Sideris said he believed in what the resolution says, but he also is concerned about the Council spending too much time on issues on issues on which it cannot make a difference.
“I just want to close by again, thanking everyone for bringing this resolution forward. And as I stated earlier, I don’t think there’s anyone sitting at the table that does not agree that we should be continuing the fight for nuclear disarmament,” Sideris said. “I’m going to follow up on Vice President Piccirilli’s comments, and I’m concerned that we would be by supporting this petition, that we’re setting a precedent, that we’re going to take up everything at this City Council.”
He cited an example of another citizens’ petition last year, calling for the end of the Winter Parking Ban, as one which the Council could take action to directly help residents. Hundreds signed that petition and the Council Chambers were filled beyond capacity with people wanting to weigh in.
“We listened and took some action that we could take here in Watertown, and it’s a good thing we still have a parking ban because we have a lot of snow, but we gave some relief to the residents,” Sideris said.
In the end, the City Council voted 5-4 against supporting the citizens’ petition, with Palomba, Bays, Gannon, and Offei voting “yes”; and Piccirilli, Lisa Feltner, Nicole Gardner, Emily Izzo, and Sideris voting “no.”