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City Elections April 7

City Elections April 7 image
Parent Issue
Agenda, April 1986
Month
April
Year
1986
Copyright
Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)
Rights Held By
Agenda Publications
OCR Text

On Monday, April 7, Ann Arbor voters will have the opportunity to express their disapproval of UnitedStates policy in Central America by voting "YES" on Proposal A, the Initiative for Peace in Central America.

The proposal calls for the city "...to adopt an ordinance requiring: (1) the City Clerk to convey to the federal government a statement by the people of Ann Arbor expressing the desire that our tax dollars be spent on peaceful not military purposes in Central America, supporting the right of self determination; and (2) the City to establish a Central America Sister City Task Force to facilitate educational, cultural, and peaceful exchanges."

The heart of Proposal A is the creation of a seven member Central American Sister City Task Force. Appointed for one year by the Mayor with the approval of Council, the Task Force will be charged with the responsibility ofestablishing "...a sister city relationship with a city or cities within the countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua."

The goal of the Task Force will be "...to foster communication and peaceful relations with the people of Central America."

According to the proposed ordinance, the Sister City Task Force will be disbanded after one year of work, having set in place one or more Sister City relationships.

Proposal A was brought to the ballot by the Coalition for Peace in Central America, which successfully collected around 6,000 signatures in the fall and early winter of 1985. The Coalition includes religious, citizen, material aid, lobbying, and educational groups in Ann Arbor that work on Central American issues.Some of the organizations that have endorsed and worked in this Coalition include Churchwomen United, Friends Meeting, Guild House-Campus Ministry, HAP-NICA, Interfaith Council for Peace, Latin American Solidarity Committee, Nicaragua Medical Aid Project, and SANE.

The Coalition for Peace in Central America started when two long time Ann Arbor residents, Benita Kaimowitz and LeRoy Cappaert, called together a group of people dedicated to working on Central American issues.

"There comes a point when U.S. foreign policy is so morally objectionable, so out of line with what is really needed and appropriate," siad Gregory Fox, a member of Latin American Solidarity Committee, and one of the people who helped build the Coalition, "that the citizesn must take the lead and point the way our government should eb going. To do any less is not to meet our responsibilities as citizens of a democracy."

Agenda strongly urges a "YES" vote on Proposal A. Much of this first edition of Agenda is devoted to the crucial areas of Central and South America. We hope to make it easier for you to make an informed decision when it comes time to pull the voting lever. Further, we invited the Coalition for Peace in Central America to make a statement on behalf of Proposal A (see below).