Announcing its opposition to a war in Iraq, City Council voted 4 to 1 last night to declare Charlottesville a "City for Peace."
"Cities for Peace" is a national coalition of locally-elected officials and concerned citizens banding together with hopes of influencing the federal government's decision to go to war.
The movement has been promoted locally by the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice, which introduced an initial proposal at a Council meeting last month.
Mayor Maurice Cox and Council members Kevin Lynch, Blake Caravati and Meredith Richards voted in favor of the revised resolution. Council member Rob Schilling was the lone dissenting vote, though equal numbers of citizens at the meeting spoke out for and against the proposal.
One audience member expressed his concern that Council was not "representing its constituents with an autocratic edict."
Another in attendance warned that Council had not "appropriately obtained its authority" by debating an issue that was not part of local elections.
Throughout the evening there was discussion from both citizens and board members about the place of local government in an international issue.
"Elected bodies should not go beyond the scope of their charter," one citizen speaker said.
Members of Council, however, said they felt it was important for a local entity to weigh-in on national issues.
"The benefit is that, in time of national crisis, it is important that all those who believe in a different resolution
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