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In less than one minute, the nine aldermen present at
Tuesday night’s meeting of the Springfield City Council unanimously
passed a resolution expressing the council’s support of U.S. troops
worldwide and wished them a speedy return home. On Feb. 6, about a half-hour’s worth of debate
occurred before two-thirds of the City Council shot down an ordinance,
sponsored by Ward 2 Ald. Frank McNeil, that called for the withdrawal of
U.S. troops from Iraq — an idea that 60 percent of their constituents
favored in an advisory question last fall. The measure approved this week, sponsored by Ward 4
Ald. Chuck Redpath, served as a compromise to McNeil’s ordinance,
even though no Springfield citizen requested the action. Discussion on Tuesday was limited to McNeil’s
asking what impact the troop-support measure would have. “This is basically a resolution to show that
the City Council supports the troops in Iraq, period,” Redpath said.
“It’s not a resolution that’s being sent to Washington.
It’s a resolution to a show our citizens that we support our
troops.”
Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards requested that language be
added to express support for troops “wherever they may be.”
Redpath was one of three aldermen, along with McNeil
and Frank Kunz of Ward 3, who supported McNeil’s ordinance two weeks
ago. Several other aldermen, including Mark Mahoney of
Ward 6, Tom Selinger of Ward 9, and Bruce Strom of Ward 10, cast votes for
Redpath’s ordinance on Tuesday, although each expressed previously
that the war was not a matter in which the council should be involved.
Contact R.L. Nave at rnave@illinoistimes.com
This article appears in Mar 1-7, 2007.
