Feb 14, 2008

Lawmakers won't back down

Legislators are moving ahead with plans to pull funding from Berkeley

By Kristin Bender / MediaNews

The Berkeley City Council's decision early Wednesday to retract a statement calling U.S. Marine Corps recruiters "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" has not stopped lawmakers from moving forward with plans to pull millions of tax dollars earmarked for school lunches, ferry service and more.

The Berkeley City Council voted 7-2 to clarify one of its Jan. 29 motions with new language that recognizes "the recruiters' right to locate in our city and the right of others to protest or support their presence."

The new statement - written by Mayor Tom Bates and council members Max Anderson, Linda Maio and Darryl Moore - said the council opposes "the recruitment of our young people into this war," yet emphasizes that "we deeply respect and support the men and women in our armed forces."

Council members Betty Olds and Gordon Wozniak cast the opposing votes at 1 a.m. Wednesday after a 24-hour protest outside of Old City Hall that drew an estimated 2,000 people from both pro-and anti-military groups.

But a separate motion to formally apologize to the Marines - and the 25,000 people who wrote to city leaders expressing their anger and disgust over the council's anti-military stance - failed.

The lack of an apology further angered Republicans lawmakers in both Washington and Sacramento who last week introduced legislation to pull millions of tax dollars headed to Berkeley for such things as school lunches and police communications equipment.

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, R-S.C., introduced the Semper Fi Act on Feb. 6 to rescind more than $2 million earmarked for Berkeley in the fiscal year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill. The bill would transfer the money to the Marine Corps.

In a statement Wednesday, DeMint said he had no intention to pull the legislation.

"It's a national embarrassment that these officials refuse to apologize to our troops and their families and continue to support actions against military recruitment," DeMint said. "It's time for Berkeley to realize that actions have consequences."

Still, the act has stalled in the Senate, DeMint said. On Tuesday night, Republicans asked to pass the act by unanimous consent after no Republican member opposed its passage, but DeMint said Democrats have placed an anonymous hold on the bill. The bill is co-sponsored by 10 senators.

The council's vote also did little to appease pro-military supporters.

"I'm not shocked, surprised or amazed. The Berkeley City Council only changed public relations strategy and not public policy," said Melanie Morgan, head of Move America Forward, the largest pro-military group in the country. "(The council) got caught. They got the light shined on their crazy, kooky policy and now the rest of the country is as embarrassed by them as we are here in the Bay Area."

The group today is "countering Berkeley's shameful conduct," by sending 3 tons of candy, cookies, hot cocoa mix, coffee and beef jerky to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, she said.

The Marine Corps opened its recruiting center at 64 Shattuck Ave. in downtown Berkeley in late 2006 and a spokeswoman said they have no plans to leave. The council's actions are purely symbolic; the city cannot force the office to relocate.

Meanwhile, the council's action continues to reverberate in California and beyond.

U.S. Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., has introduced a companion bill to the Semper Fi Act in the House of Representatives; that bill has 71 co-sponsors.

And Republican Assemblyman Guy Houston of San Ramon said Wednesday that he is not dropping plans to push forward with a bill to punish Berkeley's stance against Marine recruiting by withholding $3.3 million in state funds from the city.

"You've embarrassed the country, you've embarrassed the city of Berkeley," Houston said.