Meeting Time: April 09, 2024 at 9:00am PDT

Agenda Item

2. PUBLIC EXPRESSION

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    L Diamondstone 6 months ago

    Local governments across the nation have made a moral statement by calling on a permanent ceasefire given the humanitarian crisis and deplorable destruction of Gaza. These statements represent the majority of Americans who decry our taxpayer dollars supporting a war condemned by every government except ours. Its not much to ask of you.

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    Erika Romandia 6 months ago

    I support an immediate and permanent ceasefire resolution for Gaza and would like to see our local government holding true to their acclaimed equitable values. There is obvious support in the community, and many of us are appalled knowing that our tax dollars are aiding in criminal warfare. We have the opportunity to join many other neighboring cities that agree to make a stance on saying no more to this genocide. Turning a blind eye to this matter will not resolve anything. We have this opportunity today as a community to say no more to the horrific actions on Palestinians. The decision made here will greatly reflect the true colors of our local government.

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    Mindy Keegan 6 months ago

    I wholly support a ceasefire resolution for Gaza and the Palestinian people. Over 30,000 children have either lost their lives, limbs, or a loved one and are being starved if they are not being shelled/bombed to death. To sit with our mouths shut and hands held behind our backs while this genocide occurs is the same thing is being complacent. Please don’t choose complacency over action.

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    Caroline Radice 6 months ago

    I strongly support a ceasefire in Gaza and would like to see our local government voicing this opinion for us as a community. When I was learning about the Holocaust in grade school, I remember how we all were shocked that the people living in Germany during World War II didn't do something and let a genocide happen. I remember we talked in grade school about not letting something like that happen ever again. Well, our tax dollars support military aid contributing to what looks like a genocide. It is horrific and we should not be supporting this financially, and we should be voicing our strong opposition to the loss of life and suffering that is happening. I will be voting accordingly in the upcoming elections based on this issue.

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    Cecelia Sullivan 6 months ago

    I support a permanent and immediate ceasefire in Gaza. I’m a resident of Ukiah and am deeply upset at the continued loss of life and suffering in Gaza. With my tax dollars contributing to this tragedy and the U.S. slow response to stop this atrocity, I turn to my local government to help take a stand against allowing this to continue. A growing list of local governments passing resolutions helps elevate our voices. I urge the county to put this issue on the agenda and join the list of those who will go down in history as opposing wrongful government action. Thank you.

    Attachments: ceasefire-now.jpg
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    Basima Sisemore 6 months ago

    I am Palestinian American and I was born and raised in Willits. I feel so fortunate to call this area home, and to be a part of such a special community, and I am so grateful to be a part of a community that understands Palestine to be a local and global issue. What is taking place in Gaza impacts us here, in our small rural community, as people have deep ties and connections to the people and the region, and it is unconscionable to not speak out when the US government is using taxpayer money to provide Israel with weapons to decimate Gaza and to carry out a genocide against Palestinians. Because of the United States sweeping support of Israel, and our taxpayer dollars funding the mass killing of Palestinians, Palestine is a local issue. With that, we must demand: an immediate and permanent ceasefire; an end to the mass killing of Palestinians and recognition of their freedom, dignity, and right to self determination as a people; the divestment of US taxpayer dollars from militarism and reinvestment in justice and community needs in the United States and in our local communities; that international law be upheld; the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid (at the scale needed) to Gaza; and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian political prisoners.

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    Jeff Blankfort 6 months ago

    Jeff Blankfort Stmt to Mendo BOS 4.9.24

    Good morning! My name is Jeff Blankfort and I have been a resident of Mendocino County for 25 years and, like others here, I am calling on you to join cities and counties across the country plus the state of Hawaii that have passed resolutions calling for a cease fire in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, in other words, to stop the killing of the Palestinian people with US provided bombs and battlefield weaponry that is ongoing, both the war and the weaponry delivery to Israel, even as we all sit here today.

    20 years ago I was in Khan Unis, Gaza’s second largest city which was still formally occupied by Israel. Its air force had bombed and destroyed a square block the night before we arrived when there was no fighting going on and a medical facility there had been reduced to rubble.

    In Rafah, at the border, the air was constantly being pierced by the sound of Israeli sniper fire but neither the shooters nor their targets, if there were any, could be seen, but it kept the people on edge.

    One might say that the genocidal war and the Frankenstein monster that Israel has clearly become dates from what Palestinians have since labeled as the Nakba or catastrophe in 1948, arguably the first major war crime following the fall of the Nazis, during which 750 thousand Palestinians were driven from their homes, never to be allowed to return, despite holding on to their door keys, nor the 500 Palestinian villages that the army of the new state of Israel systematically destroyed.

    But what does that have to do with us, whether it was the city of Ukiah two weeks ago or the Board of Supervisors at the moment? That and similar questions were being asked during the Vietnam War and later the post-9/11 invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the latter estimated to have killed a million Iraqis and US troops are still there.

    None of the city’s business? None of the county’s business? Who, when our so-called representative in Congress, Jared Huffman, seems only responsive to his pro-war Jewish constituents---the cease fire advocates being of no concern, as public officials, how do you justify keeping silent when billions of dollars of our tax money is being sent to Israel to continue the killing and the whole world is watching and knows it?

    Let me assure you, as a student of history and a former history teacher, the war on Gaza is one of those rare issues, what may be called a “game changer” that demands a response from every citizen and even more from those, like you, who hold public office.
    Just don’t say you didn’t know!

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    Andy Wellspring 6 months ago

    I urge the Board of Supervisors to bring a resolution to your agenda that calls for a Ceasefire in Gaza and urges the Federal Government of the United States to require Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza freely. We have gathered hundreds of signatures of people around the county who support this Ceasefire, and as our local elected officials you can reach out to the CA representatives in Congress to show them the people of Mendocino County want to see our country do everything possible to end the suffering of civilians in this tragic situation. Thank you.

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    Chelsea Mills 6 months ago

    I strongly support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and I urge the BoS to as well.
    Please call for a permanent ceasefire.
    There is overwhelming evidence that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Aside from the financial aspect (us taxpayers funding this genocide) this has many local repercussions. I’d like to specifically focus on the psychological safety and mental health impacts within our community, especially for our Palestinian and Middle Eastern/Arab neighbors! There are no words to explain the pain a lot of us are feeling, watching helplessly as the people of Gaza are getting brutally murdered, injured and assaulted daily. Ive had conversations with many people about this, and the overwhelming majority have agreed that their mental health is suffering and that the ongoing genocide is the most significant cause. I feel that way as well. We as a county cannot stay silent. As the Board of Supervisors, it’s vital that the well-being of your constituents remains a priority. By calling for a permanent ceasefire you can stand in solidarity with us, show us your moral competency, and act on your responsibility to lift up our voices so we further build public support and intensify the pressure on our state and federal governments.
    Thank you for taking the time to listen to your constituents on this matter.
    Free Palestine.

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    Sara Carrillo 6 months ago

    I am a resident of Willits and I am writing to urge the Board of Supervisors to agendize and pass a ceasefire proclamation.

    Standing against genocide should not be controversial. We, at the municipal level, must continue to organize and voice our opposition to this humanitarian disaster to pressure Congress and the Biden administration to divest from this violence immediately and permanently. By passing this proclamation, we will reaffirm that Mendocino County is a safe and welcoming place where everyone, no matter their identity, can live; a place where democracy is alive and well and that represents the beliefs and values of its constituents.

    Though alone we are powerless, together we are strong. No one is free until we are all free.

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    Jo Beardsmore 6 months ago

    I urge the Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

    This is a way for people in Mendocino County to show that we will not turn a blind eye to what is happening. By joining with the municipalities and states that have already called for a ceasefire, we can help to build pressure on the U.S. Government to take meaningful action to bring about an end to the atrocities.

    The war crimes committed by the government and military of Israel (and by Hamas) are well documented. The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said last month that “starvation is used as a weapon of war. Israel is provoking famine". United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the IDF are hitting “civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and U.N. facilities – including shelters. No one is safe". He also said that "Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children”. Let that sink in. José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, described Israel’s siege of Gaza as a “war against humanity itself”. The result is that at least 32,000 people have been murdered.

    We must all do what we can to end this horror. Please add your voices, on behalf of Mendocino County, to those calling for a ceasefire.

    Respectfully,

    Jo Beardsmore

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    Robert Js 6 months ago

    I am writing today to express my support, as a Jewish American, for the Mendocino Board of Supervisors to adopt a Ceasefire resolution calling for the end of U.S. military and financial aid to Israel as it carries out a campaign of genocide and forced starvation in Gaza. Please join with many other cities, states, and countries from around the world in calling for a permanent ceasefire. Do not abide by genocide!

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    Bobby Kemp 6 months ago

    I support a ceasefire resolution

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    Ashley Sherf 6 months ago

    I support the city in filing a cease fire proclamation in regard to the war in Gaza. We need to take a stand against the genocide of the Palestinian people. Please use the power you have to take a stand against this war now.

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    Linda Helland 6 months ago

    Dear Board of Supervisors:
    Please agendize and pass a ceasefire proclamation to end the war on Gaza. You were elected to represent the people of Mendocino County. Polls show that over 67% of Americans support an immediate permanent ceasefire and end to US funding and arming of Israel's attempted genocide of Indigenous Palestinians. People in Mendocino County are even more strongly in support of peace, as evidenced by petition signatures, discussions with residents, call-in shows, and supportive honks and messages while vigilant for peace. This is absolutely a local issue, as over $1,168,000 from Mendocino County residents' federal taxes went to fund weapons for Israel to use on Palestinian civilians this year, and every year (not counting additional funding and weapons shipments). We residents are impacted by the genocide not simply by being forced to pay for it, while lacking critical services here at home; but because we are anguished by the suffering of people we care about in Palestine, Gaza, and Israel. Far from tangential to County services, this may be the most important decision you make or shirk. Nobody will remember if you got a gutter paved or a curb painted; your legacy will be whether you tried to end the racist genocide happening before your eyes, or you averted your eyes and pretended it wasn't your business while innocents suffered and died.

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    Katherine Flink 6 months ago

    I am writing to urge the board to agendize and pass a ceasefire proclamation. I do not want to see my tax dollars funding this. I am appalled that the US government still continues to furnish Israel with weapons that are being used to wipe out entire family lines and reduce neighborhoods to rubble. Please show the Palestinians in our community that we care about what is happening and will not stand idly by. Please use your power as our representatives to advocate to our state and federal governments that they use their power to stop this horrific siege and bombardment.

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    Alyson Sagala 6 months ago

    I am making public comment to urge the Mendocino Board of Supervisors to pass a ceasefire resolution calling to end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and allow unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza. More than 32,000 people have been murdered and 2 million are at risk of starvation. These deaths could have been prevented, and so many more continue to be at risk due to the weapons paid for with our tax money, supplied by our government. It is unconscionable that this genocide is happening and being allowed to continue. It is time our county join the 129 cities and municipalities across the US that are demanding a permanent ceasefire. Our cities and counties must continue to pressure federal and state leaders into ending the indiscriminate murder of innocent people. Ceasefire now, Free Palestine.

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    Jordan Uggla 6 months ago

    I am a Ukiah resident and I urge the board to pass the ceasefire resolution.

    We know that a non-binding resolution by Mendocino County won't stop this genocide.

    We also know that there are many Palestinian Americans living here in Mendocino County, and part of caring for all of our citizens is letting them know that we oppose all genocide. Letting them know that they are seen, and that their representatives value their lives and the lives of their family members in Palestine.

    Please show our Palestinian American neighbors that even if the Federal government refuses to call for an end to genocide, their local representatives stand with them in advocating for peace.

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    Inna Glenwood 6 months ago

    Please put a ceasefire resolution on your next agenda! As a resident of Willits, a Jewish woman, and most importantly as a human being, I am appalled every day that the federal government continues to assist Israel in slaughtering Palestinians in Gaza by sending military aid. Our local officials must not remain silent! Use your platform to push for a permanent ceasefire!

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    Nayo Sicard 6 months ago

    The ongoing genocide by the Israeli government against Palestinian people of Gaza cloaked as a war against Hamas has reached a horrifying point. They've killed tens of thousands of people since October 7th, 2023, reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble, carried out hundreds of attacks on hospitals and essential medical infrastructure, and destroyed schools, and places of worship. Eighty-five percent of Gaza's population — 1.9 million people — have been forced to flee their homes by now it may be more.
    There is no justification for the brutal assult on civilians, the grotesque abuse of power by an occupying army whose forces post on social media proudly of their unfathomable brutalities. International law does not support the targeting of civilians or the holding of civilian hostages. That was true when Hamas attacked Israeli civilians. We must apply that same standard to the Israeli military as it inflicts incomprehensible suffering on a captive population in Gaza.
    It is our motal duty to address this grevious miscarriage of justice and abuse of power against the innocent.
    When the unthinkable becomes acceptable, when we deny people their humanity we lose ours in the process as we become complicit to the genocide.
    Please join us and vote to support a call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza now before it is to late.