Urge Mayors to Demand War $$$ Home Now!

The SPCT has voted to support this effort (thanks to everyone who replied yesterday in such a timely fashion).

If you have a moment, please copy this letter and send it to your mayor if you live in a somewhat large city (such as Hartford, West Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Waterbury, etc..). If you live in a smaller town, you can still send it to the mayor of your closest city or to the mayor of the city you work in. Please share this with friends and family to do the same!

Thanks everyone.

In Solidarity,

Todd

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Dear Mayor Segarra,

As Hartford’s Mayor, you well know how the reverberations of the economic crisis are being felt here and across the country. Layoffs and budget cuts to healthcare, education and other vital services have plunged cities across the nation into very difficult times.
Communities cannot afford the continuing diversion of monies to endless wars, militarism and death. Our nation is projected to spend more than $126 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, wars that the majority of Americans no longer support.
In many cities, crime and violence are on the rise; yet community leaders cannot appeal to gangs to stop violence in the streets while our country continues to be an ongoing purveyor of violence across the globe.


As the Mayor of Hartford, the first capital city to pass a City Council resolution to Bring Our War Dollars Home for the vital needs of our citizens, you are well positioned to lead other mayors toward a progressive vision of what our US cities could again become when resources return to them.
During the Conference of Mayors 73rd Annual Meeting, June 17-21 in Baltimore, a draft resolution will be submitted for review, Calling on Congress to Redirect Military Spending to Domestic Priorities. This resolution supports the speedy ending of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and calls on the U.S. Congress to redirect war dollars to meet vital human needs, promote job creation, rebuild our infrastructure, aid state and local governments, and develop a new economy based on renewable, sustainable energy. (The text of the resolution has been modified since it was first publicized and is included below.)


We urge you to sign on and register your support for: a foreign policy guided by diplomacy and a federal budget focused on rebuilding America. Can we add your name to this growing list of visionary mayor-leaders who have co-sponsored the Resolution?

Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles
Carolyn Peterson, Ithaca
Dave Norris, Charlottesville
David Coss, Santa Fe
John Duran, West Hollywood, CA
Gayle McLaughlin, Richmond, CA
Bob Kiss, Burlington, VT
R.T. Rybak, Minneapolis
Frank Ortis, Pembroke Pines, FL
Matthew Ryan, Binghamton
Paul Wiehl, Athens, OH
Brenda Lawrence, Southfield, Michigan
Joy Cooper, Hallandale Beach, FL
Joseph C. O'Brien, Worcester, MA
Paul Soglin, Madison, Wisconsin
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore
David L. Konick, Rock Mills, VA
Joanne Twomey, Biddeford, Maine