Below is the response I prepared for and read to a recent Council meeting before voting against a resolution regarding a petition drive on the Bill of Rights:

I am going to vote against this bill for a number of reasons, none of which have any relation to the content of the petition.

First, the resolution is congratulating a group of petitioners who gathered about 3000 signatures on a petition statewide.  In the last presidential election,there were over 136,000 votes cast in Greene County alone.  So the petitioners gathered barely 2.5% of the county-wide vote and far, far under 1% of the state vote.

Secondly, last April I stood in front of this room, raised my hand, and swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States.  I did not swear to uphold just parts of it nor did I get to say that I would uphold the Constitution except for the part about how old elected officials had to be.  I swore to uphold it in its entirety.

This ceremonial resolution is forcing Council into a position of supporting and proclaiming just isolated portions of the Constitution, as the petition addressed only the first two amendments. 

Finally, this resolution is interjecting a local city council into a national debate.  I have no problem with any one of us Council members exercising our rights of free speech to support whatever causes we choose. Had someone presented me with an opportunity to sign the petition as an individual citizen, I probably would have.  However, to ask us as the governing body of this city to support this cause means we are being asked to commit the city to a particular position, one that has not been publicly discussed. Further, research indicates this is the first resolution to come before Council that does not deal with a specifically local issue.

I would hope that, if this proclamation passes, that the sponsors will be back in two weeks with a proclamation to support a couple of other amendments, including an important one, the 21^st.  This amendment is the one that repealed prohibition.  I particularly respect this decision because it shows that government, when it gets caught up in an emotional issue, can produce bad legislation that needs to be repealed.  Council Bill 2010-070 is likewise bad local legislation and I cannot support it.