To friends and allies,
At its meeting last Tuesday, Northfield City Council voted down a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza that was brought forth by Councilors Davin Sokup and George Zuccolotto. The final vote Councilors Sokup and Zuccolotto voting in favor / Mayor Pownell and Councilor Ness voting against / Councilors Peterson-White and Homes voting present / Councilor Reister was absent.
A video of the Public Comments and the Council discussion can be found here. The Council discussion begins at about 29:00.
There is an article online at the Northfield News. And at the end of this email is the "Letter to the Editor" I submitted to the Northfield News.
I will keep this petition open as a source of information of upcoming events and as an entrance to future campaigns. If you want to be on the core group for future campaigns, please email me at jdhartley1@aol.com
I thank you all for signing this petition and for showing up.
Meanwhile a genocide continues in Gaza.
In solidarity,
Jenny Hartley
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To the Editor:
Northfield — home to the CAC, TORCH, Healthfinders, HCI etc — is a values-driven community. Northfield, with its Land Acknowledgment statement, understands harm done to indigenous communities.
Unfortunately, those values were not foremost for City Council last week. Citing an agreement among Council members that they would only take action on items that directly impact the business operations of Northfield, Northfield City Council voted down a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza that was brought forth by Councilors Sokup and Zuccolotto. Citizens testified at this and the two previous meetings with poignant and compelling testimonies about the need for such a resolution
Councilor Sokup shared that what is happening in Gaza has “crossed a red line” for him; Councilor Zuccolotto asked Council to vote from their hearts rather than their head. However, for other Council members, it seems that there is “no red line” or that process is more important than people. Expressing sympathy, they abstained or voted no.
Over 100 other cities in the US have passed a ceasefire resolution [i], including our neighbors in Hastings. I was hoping that Northfield would be added to this list but it will not be. My deepest thanks to Councilors Sokup and Zuccolotto for bringing this forward.
Meanwhile, a genocide continues in Gaza.
Respectfully,
Jenny Hartley
Northfield, MN
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