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At around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, a weary council passed a motion 7-2 which effectively reversed the council’s vote to tell the Marines they are “unwelcome intruders.” They refused, however, to issue an apology to the Marines. 

The intent of the new council item, sponsored by Mayor Tom Bates and councilmembers Max Anderson, Linda Maio and Darryl Moore, was to “publicly differentiate between the city’s documented opposition to the unjust and illegal war in Iraq and our respect and support for those serving in the armed forces.” 

The item goes on to affirm “the recruiter’s right to locate in our city and the right of others to protest or support their presence” and reiterates “respect and support” for people in the armed forces, underscoring: “We strongly oppose the war and the continued recruitment of our young people into this war.” 

Councilmembers Betty Olds and Gordon Wozniak opposed the measure, principally because it did not include an apology to the military for what they said was offensive language contained in the Jan. 29 council item. 

Two weeks ago, the council approved two items relative to the Marine Recruiting Center. One accorded the anti-war organization Code Pink a parking space and sound permit from noon to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays. 

The other had three parts: One took aim at the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” rules, asking the city attorney to research whether the recruiting center must adhere to Berkeley’s anti-discrimination laws; the second and most controversial section asked the city manager to write the Marines, telling them they are “unwelcome intruders;” and the third part supports protesters’ efforts to impede recruitment. 

The vote Tuesday night cancels the Jan. 29 council direction to the city manager to write to the Marines, telling them they are unwelcome.  

“With the issuance of this statement, there is no need to send the letter to the Marine Corps that the City Council approved on January 29,” Tuesday’s council-approved item says. 

Much of the council discussion at the meeting Tuesday was an attempt to publicly clear up distortions of the Jan. 29 council action, which Anderson said were intentional right-wing mischaracterizations.  

The council addressed the issue of the parking space given to Code Pink as a street-event permit Wednesdays, noon-to-4 p.m. for six months. 

Reversing the opinion he had expressed by his vote Jan. 29 in favor of the parking space, Councilmember Laurie Capitelli told the council: “It is inappropriate for government to grant privileges to one group.” 

Bates, however, said such a space is available to other groups requesting such a permit.  

Councilmember Dona Spring pointed to a berth at the Marina, which was once given free to the Sea Scouts (revoked because of their affiliation with the Bay Scouts’ discrimination against gays and atheists), reminding the council that they accord privileges to various groups every day. 

Bates also addressed the question of separating opposition to the war from opposition to the military. 

“The recruiting is the problem for us because we don’t support the war,” he said. “When you’re recruiting, you’re taking our young people into a war that we don’t think is proper.” 

Berkeley even supports the troops financially by paying the difference in salary between the military and the city salaries and giving full benefits to employees in the military, Bates said. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington introduced the question of issuing an apology for the Jan. 29 council item’s “inflammatory and outrageous language.”  

“I believe we owe an apology for having made a mistake,” he said.  

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak agreed. “We insulted the Marines,” he said, adding, “Individuals have the right to choose whether they volunteer for the Marines.” 

Wozniak went on to take aim at his council colleagues: “We’re embarrassed,” he said, “To err is human, but to really screw up takes the Berkeley City Council.” 

Olds agreed that an apology was in order, noting that her constituents disagreed with the council. The right thing to do is to put pressure on congress to end the war, she said. 

“Insulting the Marines won’t stop the war,” she said. 

Anderson, an ex-Marine, said he was firmly opposed to issuing an apology. “I don’t think we owe anyone an apology. We told truth to power and power reacted,” he said. “They organized a hateful letter-writing campaign. They cursed us on the phone. The right-wing bloggers and talk-show hosts that fed this frenzy knew quite well that as a city we don’t have the authority to evict the Marine Corps from their offices. We never called for their eviction. We asked them to leave voluntarily.” 

Councilmember Dona Spring said the problem had been hyped by the right-wing media and no apology was warranted. 

The call for an apology did not muster the five votes it needed to pass: only Capitelli, Olds, Worthington and Wozniak supported it.