The Clipboard: Council takes stand against Patriot Act

From an article¹:

In a rare display, about 80 Bainbridge Island residents gave the City Council a standing ovation for unanimously supporting a resolution critical of the USA Patriot Act.

The vote Wednesday followed impassioned pleas from residents to send a message that the city will protect civil rights. The resolution states the city's willingness not to cooperate with federal government investigations in some cases.

"If the possibility of death at the hands of terrorists is the price we pay for liberty, then so be it," said Iver Macdougall, a South Beach-area resident. "Better that a few of us be victims of terror than that all of us forfeit our fundamental freedoms." (link)

Way to go, Bainbridge Island!!! Bainbridge Island is a small island community near Seattle. Lovely place. And obviously some great people there.

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Complete text of the article, Council takes stand against Patriot Act, by Steven Gardner

In a rare display, about 80 Bainbridge Island residents gave the City Council a standing ovation for unanimously supporting a resolution critical of the USA Patriot Act.

The vote Wednesday followed impassioned pleas from residents to send a message that the city will protect civil rights. The resolution states the city's willingness not to cooperate with federal government investigations in some cases.

"If the possibility of death at the hands of terrorists is the price we pay for liberty, then so be it," said Iver Macdougall, a South Beach-area resident. "Better that a few of us be victims of terror than that all of us forfeit our fundamental freedoms."

The Bainbridge resolution affirms city employees' rights to "withhold cooperation in federal investigations, interrogations or arrest procedures" that violate "individual's civil rights or civil liberties."

The Patriot Act, passed by Congress in October 2001 in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks, removed some checks on law enforcement work designed to find terrorists.

Critics, however, say many parts of the act invade privacy and give the government power to silence dissent.

Kat Gjovik, an island resident and activist, was one of the champions of the resolution and an organizer of a demonstration that appeared to sway any reticence on the council, if there was any to begin with.

In February, Gjovik was among a group of residents who tried to persuade the council to pass a peace resolution before the war in Iraq. The council chose to stay silent then, however, mostly because there appeared to be a divergence of opinion in the community and on the council.

This time, Gjovik and her group, the Bainbridge Island Bill of Rights Committee, presented a draft resolution and a petition bearing almost 900 signatures, about 4.5 percent of the island population.

As if to remove any doubts about island sentiment, resident supporters packed City Hall on Wednesday.

Tammy Lo Deets said she moved to the United States from Hong Kong because she feared her homeland would see rights removed as it again went under the control of China.

"The first chance I got, I pledged my allegiance to this country, the United States of America," she said. "Imagine my anxiety that the things I cherish most are being taken away bit by bit."

Other residents were equally impassioned, many mentioning Bainbridge's unique place in history as the first community to see Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps during World War II.

Bob Burkholder said the Patriot Act goes "too far, too fast" and that the community needed to say so "before it's too late."

Dane Spencer, a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said he wanted to be able to study sensitive issues, such as nuclear weaponry, "without being put on the list."

In the midst of the love-in, there was one dissenter. Bob Gedney said the council was stepping outside its bounds.

"What I question is whether this council has the experience to determine what is activism and what is terrorism," he said. "There are parts of the Patriot Act that will have to be revised, but there are parts that will have to be enforced."

The emotional peak, however, belonged to City Councilman Bill Knobloch.

Knobloch, a former Navy pilot who flew during Vietnam, spoke for those he called "the absent ones."

As he approached a moment in his prepared remarks addressing those "who have made the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect our civil liberties," Knobloch paused for several seconds to collect his emotions before finishing.

"The ultimate sacrifice that some of our military comrades have made to ensure that we can discuss and vote on subjects like this require me to honor their duty and service to country," he said. "Nothing else is acceptable."

Bainbridge is one of 116 communities and three states to pass similar resolutions. Vermont also passed a resolution Wednesday, Philadelphia approved one Thursday and New York City has one on its agenda.

On Wednesday, the Kitsap Regional Library Board of Trustees also passed a resolution critical of elements of the act "that infringe on the rights of library patrons."

Seattle, Bellingham and Vashon-Maury Island have already passed similar legislation.

reference=http://www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2003-05-30/local/162350.shtml