Oak Park Village Board Passes Broad Peace Resolution

Oak Park, IL  February 10, 2003.  Tonight the Village Board of Oak Park passed a resolution opposing the United States plan to launch a preemptive war against Iraq during a special meeting called specifically for that purpose.  By a vote of four to two the Village Trustees voted to pass a resolution stating, we oppose this initiation of preemptive war as an instrument of public policy for the United States, since it is inconsistent with our values as a people who honor peace .

During the Trustee s public discussion prior to casting their votes, they clearly identified Iraq as the subject of the resolution.  But the resolution itself was broadened by several of the Trustees in the days leading up to the vote, and in the language used in the final version it does not limit itself to Iraq, speaking broadly instead against the use of preemptive war as an instrument of public policy and stating that unless there is a compelling and immediate threat, the initiation of war is unwarranted.

The Trustees also stated in their resolution that we concur with the leaders of many faith traditions in the United States who have declared this war to be unjust and urged the President and Congress to pursue a policy aimed at reducing conflict, finding common ground, and respecting the human rights, political rights, and legal rights of peoples around the world.

The Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice (OPCTJ), a group of citizens from Oak Park and the surrounding near-west suburbs of Chicago who have gathered in response to the United States mobilization for war, began working with the Village Board in early January on the concept of a resolution.  OPCTJ members say they drew inspiration from similar work in Chicago where on January 16th a resolution opposing war on Iraq passed in the Chicago City Council by a vote of 46  1. 

In working to persuade Village Trustees to support the resolution OPCTJ gathered testimony and support from four past Village Presidents and several former Trustees including several who served on the 1991 Village Board that passed a resolution opposing U.S. involvement in the first Gulf War.  OPCTJ members also circulated petitions that gathered over three thousand signatures from Oak Park residents in support of a resolution.  After the successful vote OPCTJ member Angela Larson said, I want all the people who signed those petitions to know that they gained a real victory tonight.  We could not have done it without their support.

The Oak Park Village Board becomes the seventy fifth local legislative body in the U.S. to pass a resolution opposing war against Iraq.

For more information, contact Kevin McDermott at 708.386.4843.

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Kevin McDermott
kevinmcd (at) anubis.com