At a Grand Rapids City Commission meeting two weeks ago, local antiwar activists asked the City Commission to consider passing a resolution opposing the Iraq War based on the cost of the war. That argument, addressed both in terms of financial costs and human costs, with nearly $276 billion spent nationally and nearly $152.8 million diverted to pay for the war locally, as well as the deaths of 34,511 to 100,000 Iraqi civilians and 2,390 US soldiers, seemed to resonate with the Commission with several indicating that they would support such a resolution according to the Grand Rapids Press. Based on the Press' article, Commissioners Rosalynn Bliss, Elias Lumpkin, and James White are quoted saying that they might support “a rapid and orderly” withdrawal of US troops while Mayor George Heartwell was quoted saying that “the nation is wearying of the war” and that there is no plan for “establishing democracy” or leaving the country.
The argument presented to the Commission also highlighted the fact that a copy of the resolution would be sent to Grand Rapids’ congressional representative, Republican Vern Ehlers, who has been a steadfast supporter of the war since the fall of 2002. Many of those speaking in favor of the resolution described how Representative Ehlers has been unresponsive when they have attempted to lobby him individually and that they believed a City Commission resolution would help persuade him to take a stand against the war. For his part, Representative Ehlers was quoted in the Grand Rapids Press stating that he would not be swayed by a resolution and said that he is “not going to tell the City Commission what to do, and I expect it is not going to tell me what to do unless it involves city business.” In light of Ehlers statements, the campaign is encouraging people to question Representative Vern Ehlers at his annual town hall meeting that will be held next Saturday, May 6 from 9:00am to 10:00am at the Ford Museum. The campaign is also inviting City Commissioners to the town hall meeting so that they can hear what Ehlers has to say.
Additionally, the campaign is asking that people email the City Commission to encourage them to introduce a resolution. While three Commissioners and the Mayor favor the resolution, Schmidt has stated that he opposes “sending any other message than support for our troops” and Tormala has stated that he does not believe the costs of the war reduced the city’s money. The Commissioners can be reached at the following email addresses:
- Comm. Tormala - rtormala@ci.grand-rapids.mi.us
- Comm. Schmidt - rschmidt@ci.grand-rapids.mi.us
- Comm. Jendrasiak - jjendras@ci.grand-rapids.mi.us
- Mayor Heartwell - mayor@ci.grand-rapids.mi.us
- Comm. Lumpkins - elumpkins@ci.grand-rapids.mi.us
- Comm. Bliss - rbliss@ci.grand-rapids.mi.us
- Comm. White - jwhite@ci.grand-rapids.mi.us
