Olympia seeks end to nukes
City Council unanimously passes symbolic resolution

KATHERINE TAM
THE OLYMPIAN
02 February 2005, B1.

OLYMPIA -- Olympia now is the fifth city in the Northwest to officially
call for a worldwide end to nuclear weapons by 2020.

The move is symbolic and doesn't have an immediate effect for residents,
but City Council members and supporters said Tuesday it's a statement
that needs to be made especially in Olympia, the seat of state government.

"Now more than ever, it's important for local city councils and mayors
to stand up, say no to nuclear weapons. Nobody else is doing it," said
Councilman TJ Johnson, who last fall visited the International Peace
Park in Hiroshima, Japan, which was ground zero after an atomic bomb was
dropped during World War II. "If not us, who? If not now, when?"

The public hearing drew comments from 11 people, all in favor of the
resolution.

"To me, it's a no-brainer," resident Carrie Lybecker said. "It's like
saying we support motherhood and baseball. It's a value statement."

The City Council approved the resolution unanimously.

The movement originated well beyond Olympia in 1982, when the mayors of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki came before the United Nations asking cities
worldwide to abolish nuclear weapons. The Conference of Mayors for Peace
was born, said Marylou Berg, management assistant for Olympia.

Seattle, Portland, Ashland, Ore., Eugene, Ore., and now Olympia are
among 57 cities nationwide to pass such resolutions, according to the
Mayors for Peace Web site. The international NonProliferation Treaty
Conference convenes in May in New York and some mayors might attend.

A few speakers at Tuesday's Olympia council meeting called for making
the city a nuclear-free zone. The council took no action on the request.

Katherine Tam covers the city of Olympia for The Olympian. She can be
reached at 360-704-6869 or at kathetam@olympia.gannett.com.