After some lively debate, the Santa Barbara City Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday in favor of a resolution supporting 2020 A Year Without War.
Santa Barbara joins Lompoc and Carpinteria as cities with proclamations supporting this growing global community that is dedicated to ending war in the year 2020.
“In the spirit of ‘Thinking Globally, Acting Locally,’ I commend the local 2020 A Year Without War Committee and their efforts embarking on an ambitious and worthwhile endeavor and hope that many other governmental bodies both locally and around the world also step up and support this group’s goals,” Mayor Helene Schneider said.
The proclamation states: “Santa Barbara, California is a City of Peace and has chapters of many peace-oriented global and national organizations chartered in the city.”
Professor Joe White, founder of 2020AYWW, expressed appreciation to the City Council for their support.
“Having a proclamation of support from Santa Barbara is most appropriate given that 2020 A Year Without War has its roots at Santa Barbara City College, where we launched our social media website in 2012,” he said.
White is chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Santa Barbara City College.
2020AYWW hopes to obtain proclamations from Santa Barbara’s sister cities: Dingle (Ireland), Weihai (People’s Republic of China), Toba City (Japan), San Juan Metro Manila (Philippines), Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), Kotor (Montenegro) and Patras (Greece).
The organization will continue to obtain proclamations from all governments, churches, and peace groups around the world through 2020.
2020AYWW has more than 10,000 supporters in 125 countries. The nonprofit group is nonpartisan, nonreligious, nonpacifist, not anti-military and not a peace organization. The group is endorsed by many organizations, including the Santa Barbara City College Foundation, the National Veterans’ Association, and Beacon of Hope for Afghan Children’s Society.
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— Luella Engelhart is the public relations coordinator for 2020 A Year Without War.