[pjw] INFO: Peace issues questionnaire for Council Candidates July 2020

[Peace and Justice Works]

PJW supporters

Below is the text of a questionnaire (pretty much identical to the one we 
sent out for the May primary) which we sent to the two candidates who are 
in a run-off for the seat vacated when Commissioner Nick Fish died earlier 
this year; the election is on August 11.

Neither candidate Loretta Smith nor Dan Ryan responded.

We encourage you to raise these questions at any candidates' forums or 
appearances between now and the election.

Peace and Justice Works is a 501-c-3 educational organization, and is not 
able to endorse any candidate.

We thank our allies at Veterans For Peace Chapter 72 for their support on 
this project.


Thanks
dan handelman
--Peace and Justice Works

         Peace and Justice Works / Veterans For Peace Chapter 72

    Peace issues questionnaire for council candidates, June/July 2020
                         (August 2020 election)

Dear candidates Smith and Ryan:

This questionnaire is being sent by community groups to candidates for 
Portland City Council. If you would like your answers included in 
printed/electronic publications which will be shared with the community, 
please submit your answers by email (pjw at pjw.info) or snail mail (PO Box 
42456/Portland, OR 97242) by 5 PM on Monday, July 13, 2020. Organizations 
involved include Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group and Veterans 
For Peace Chapter 72.*-1

Note that this is an entirely different questionnaire than the one sent to 
you by our other project group, Portland Copwatch.

Please limit answers to no more than 150 words. Answers longer than 150 words
will be cut off in the published results.

1) The city of Portland is suffering from a lack of funding for basic
        services. Just a fraction of the Pentagon's $700 Billion a year
        budget could provide housing, education, health care and
        infrastructure needs. In 2012, the City passed a war dollars home
        resolution calling for the money being spent on the military actions
        in Iraq and Afghanistan to be used instead for human needs.*-2 Given
        that the wars are still going on eight years later, do you plan to
        take further steps to redirect crucial tax dollars for local use?




2) Analysts call the US military the single largest entity which is not a
        country in terms of its carbon footprint. Given the connection between
        militarism and climate change, what steps will you take to meet
        Portland's climate goals in terms of influencing US military policies?
        Might that include limiting National Guard aircraft flights and
        recreational military flights like the Rose Festival Air Show and
        Fleet Week?




3) In November 2019, Council passed a resolution recommiting a policy
        from 2007 to oppose war with Iran.*-3 What effects do you think it has
        when cities pass resolutions against unnecessary wars?




and

4) Investing in companies tied to warfare does not produce good jobs. The
        City currently has a list of just 12 companies it is allowed to invest
        in.*-4 Some of these companies thrive from military contracts. In the
        interest of peace, describe how you feel about creating criteria
        limiting investments in other companies such as military contractors,
        and even ending investments in some of the 12 companies on the current
        list.







Thank you.

--members of Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group and
      Veterans For Peace Chapter 72

*1- Peace and Justice Works has been promoting nonviolent
       conflict resolution on local, national and international levels since
       1992.

       Veterans For Peace is an educational and humanitarian organization
       dedicated to the abolishment of war.

*2- http://www.pjw.info/wardollars_city_final.html

*3- https://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/Record/13358256

*4- https://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/Record/12538558