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Defying demands from pro-Palestine advocates for a ceasefire resolution, the Palo Alto City Council this week adopted a policy that explicitly precludes council members from taking positions relating to foreign policies in their official capacities.
The new policy, which the council approved unanimously, is the latest in a series of responses by the City Council to the ongoing community debate over the Israel-Hamas war. Since January, City Hall has become a forum for speakers advocating for or against a ceasefire resolution, with dozens of residents routinely attending meetings to argue for or against such a resolution.
Last week, the council responded to the large number of speakers by limiting the regular speaking period for items that are not on the agenda to 30 minutes (anyone who doesn’t get a chance to speak during this period can address the council at the end of the meeting). And last month, the council responded to a demonstration in which Palestinian flags were hoisted in front of the City Hall by placing locks on the flagpoles.
Mayor Greer Stone has consistently declined to pass a ceasefire resolution, arguing that opining on foreign events is well outside the council’s purview. But in a bid to find common ground between the two sides and address reports of rising Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, Stone and Council member Vicki Veenker worked with pro-Israel and pro-Palestine advocates to formulate a “statement of unity,” a four-paragraph resolution that affirms the city’s commitment to “fostering hate-free environments, and promoting understanding and empathy.”
With the May 20 vote, Stone’s position against opining on foreign policy became the council’s official stance. Crafted by Stone and Council member Pat Burt the states that the council shall “refrain from taking positions on matters related to foreign governments, or concerning to foreign policy of the U.S. or its relationship to other countries.”
The policy allows the council to support proclamations and resolutions relating to Palo Alto’s sister cities, provided that they focus on the types of cultural, educational or commercial collaborations that these partnerships were designed to foster. If a statement proves to be controversial, the entire council will have a chance to vote on it.
In proposing the new policy, Burt argued that council members are elected to deal with issues that directly impact the community.
“We as individuals have the prerogative, as citizens, to take positions on affairs outside what directly effects our community – on foreign policy and otherwise,” Burt said. “But it’s a reminder that we are elected by law to nonpartisan officers. Part of that is an implication that we are supposed to be focused on the affairs of the city and that’s what the voters elect us to concentrate on.”
Stone concurred and argued that council members are not selected to opine on foreign matters or geopolitical affairs.
“Our actions should really be limited to what impacts Palo Alto,” Stone said. “It’s not like we have a dearth of work in trying to benefit the lives of our residents.”
Palo Alto is far from the only Bay Area city that has been inundated with calls for a ceasefire resolution. Some cities, including Redwood City, have rejected such calls. Others, including San Francisco and East Palo Alto, have passed such resolutions.
Such uncritical nonsense.
The sad little Unity Statement passed by Council gives the impression that the terrible assault and kidnapping of Israelis equates with the massive killing and now starving of tens of thousands Palestinians in Gaza. It does not. It’s a false equivalency, given the disproportional horror by Israel on Gazans.
The City of Santa Monica just passed a strong resolution calling for a permanent cease fire. It also passed one condemning anti-semitism, Islamophobia and racism in all their forms. This effort was led by mostly local Jewish activists.
Our Council should have done the same.
This is an excellent move. The city council should not allow itself to be hijacked by activists of any side and be diverted from doing its job.
Thank you Mayor Stone and Members of the Council. The decision you have made will help our community to continue to strive for productive dialog on these matters. Any suggestion otherwise would be a position of bias and has no place in our local government.
Fantastic! Well done. The City of Palo Alto’s Mission is to run the city, not get involved in international affairs. Thank you to the City Council members Stone and Burt who initiated this common sense effort, and all others on the Council who supported it, so you can focus on the job you all were elected to do. Much appreciated.
Kudos to the Palo Alto City Council, for passing this resolution unanimously! Each member was elected based on an assessment of their ability to solve issues of local importance, such as how to counter Sacramento bills that override sensible local zoning regulations and allow builders to put up 17 story monstrosities. None were elected to opine in an official capacity on foreign relations, and they very sensibly and unanimously acknowledged this. To do otherwise is a nasty and completely unnecessary partisan distraction from real problems facing Palo Alto.
As for other cities, nobody should be surprised that the People’s Republic of Santa Monica stupidly waded into this morass. Not even the Berkeley City Council, which has been roiled with 3 months of vicious antisemitism (https://www.jns.org/activists-call-jews-zionist-pigs-at-berkeley-council-meeting/), was sufficiently foolish to take an official position.
Thank you Mayor Stone, Councilman Burt and the rest of the councilors for passing this resolution. Hopefully it will result in more time for you to focus on the issues pertaining to our city.
Excellent decision. The City Council needs to spend its time on local issues, not debating international issues that it has no authority over or special expertise in.
Smart move. Focus on the things you can impact. Foreign affairs is not the purview of a city council unless the city sees fit to send delegations oversees in order to stimulate commerce of peaceful cultural exchanges.
Wow! So council could condemn apartheid in South Africa and later vote to divest from Apartheid South Africa, and a couple years ago council could condemn Russia’s attack on the Ukraine, and back in October the Mayor had no trouble immediately condemning the Hamas attack on Israel but after 7 months of slaughter, starvation and near total destruction in Gaza, council tries to duck out of any moral responsibility for saying anything despite the fact that OUR taxes and OUR weapons are being used to commit this genocide. This genocide affects everyone in Palo Alto because American complicity makes us all less safe. The silence of our council is a clear statement that to them, Palestinian lives don’t matter as much as Israeli or Ukranian lives.
Noel should be talking with Anna Eshoo. These 7 council members have no role to play in this issue. Palo Alto has plenty of divisive issues of its own to focus own. Trying to make this a Palo Alto issue is non-productive.
Well done. City Council’s purview is city business. City Council has neither complete information about the complexity of Middle East issues nor jurisdictional power to take meaningful action this matter. International issues are the purview of the federal government. Glad to hear our Council is getting back to their job, City business. Thank you for your important volunteer service to our community, Palo Alto City Council.
I don’t think anyone believes the city council’s rationalization for avoiding the Gaza issue.
On the one hand there is growing evidence of a genocide in Gaza, enabled by the US government. Many young people are aghast as are many foreign countries
On the other hand, there is a powerful lobby which seeks to eliminate debate and opposition.
It is inconvenient to be stuck in the middle, but that’s democracy for you!
Thank heavens the council is no longer going to allow the platform of public comments to be used to add fuel to the fire of a divisive, controversial and incendiary issue. Souless social media algorithms have fostered a “habit of hate,” so much so that many have come to feel that state of mind is their right. It took real courage for the council to put some boundaries on that. Kudos to them.
Having watched the past two council meetings, there were many heartfelt statements (some with disturbing graphics) about suffering and discrimination, but then switched to the official demands of one side or the other in this catastrophe. Caring about the suffering, and taking sides are quite different. It is a loss for all of us that our local government was put in this position, but they were and they did the right thing.
Good job Mayor Stone. To the city council, thank you for not letting your working meetings be co-opted by this divisive issue.
What passionate folks on both side have in common is their inability to recognize the crimes against humanity that their side has committed and that these are not ok, when their side does them. Also, both sides need to commit to a 2-state solution built on peaceful co-existence and stop trying to take all the land for themselves. That needs to be part of the ceasefire, otherwise, its just more violence when Hamas spins back up.
Bravo Palo Alto leadership for leading with wisdom and character!
Norway, Spain and Ireland today announced they are recognizing Palestine as a State. That is not going well for them.
Palo Alto CC are doing the right thing not getting involved in international affairs.
The Palo Alto council’s decision to avoid foreign affairs is a smart move, allowing them to focus on local issues that directly impact our community. This ensures efficient governance and addresses the needs of Palo Alto residents without getting entangled in international conflicts.
Rare win for the Logan Act.
Thank you City Council – we are grateful you’re focusing on the Palo Alto and taking care of our business HERE. Thank you!
It’s refreshing to have our city council recognize that the hateful rhetoric and outrageous distorted claims embroiling towns across the country should not bully them to pass resolutions that will have no effect than to propagate lies and divide our community. Thank you Mayor Stone and the City Council for recognizing that your leadership and expertise should focus on the local issues that need to be addressed to make sure that Palo Alto is a great place to live.
Well done. Thank you!