By KATY HILLENMEYER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT of Santa Rosa CA
Sebastopol, a city known for its left-leaning activism, joined the debate over the Iraq war and domestic spying Thursday, calling for a congressional inquiry to explore grounds for impeaching President Bush.
The five-member City Council unanimously passed a resolution criticizing Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for their handling of national security issues.
The council also accused the administration of "gross incompetence" in its response to Hurricane Katrina.
Bush's poll ratings are at near-record lows, but impeachment is far-fetched in an election year with the president's fellow Republicans controlling Congress, most analysts agree.
And even if Democrats take control of the House in mid-term elections this fall, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco said they will not seek to impeach Bush.
Still, Sebastopol residents who backed the measure at Thursday's meeting hope it will affect the political landscape.
"One resolution is not pointless," said Sebastopol resident Mike Sandler, Web master of the Internet site rumsfeldinvaders.com. "The leaders in D.C. are not leading, so we have to lead. It's true for climate change, and it's true for holding the president accountable."
The council, which has a Green Party majority, held a forum on the impeachment proposal at the Masonic Center to allow for a large crowd.
Instead, only 39 residents turned out, but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in passion.
"Even though there's only a handful of us here, it was only a handful of people who created the Declaration of Independence that started all of this," Councilman Larry Robinson said after a dozen people spoke out against Bush's policies. No one spoke in the president's defense.
But warrantless wiretapping, questionable claims about weapons of mass destruction, treatment of detainees and other matters that outraged many in Sebastopol aren't likely to bring Bush down, political observers said.
"It does add to this tide of concern," said Scott Gartner, a political scientist at UC Davis. "(But) I find it hard to imagine in a post-9/11 world that you're going to impeach a president essentially on national security grounds. Nine-eleven is his trump card."
Only two presidents - Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 - have been impeached by the House. Neither was removed from office, which requires conviction in a trial before the Senate.
Nevertheless, in Sebastopol, a town where Bush garnered 18 percent of the 2004 presidential vote against 78 percent for Democrat John Kerry, residents vented their frustrations Thursday.
They applauded city leaders for joining boards in Arcata, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and the Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee in calling for impeachment proceedings.
An anti-war trio from the Raging Grannies, punctuated by toots on Mimi Wright's kazoo, sang "we are tired of being lied to" to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Others, like Ruth Kisich, simply spoke from a podium, thanking the council for a chance to spout off.
"These people could not stay in power unless Congress let them stay there," Kisich said, suggesting the housecleaning needs to go far beyond Bush.
"We have to think beyond these figures and start thinking about what we're going to do as a people of this country to get Congress to do their job."
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