COUNTYWIDE : San Francisco Faces Rebuke by Cities

The Orange County division of the League of California Cities will vote this week on a resolution aimed at punishing San Francisco for declaring itself a sanctuary for conscientious objectors during the Persian Gulf War.

The resolution, which the division membership will consider at its meeting Thursday, would recommend that the statewide League of California Cities change the site of its October conference, now scheduled to be held in San Francisco. It would also call on the league to not plan any future conferences in the city.

The measure, introduced by the La Habra City Council, was unanimously approved March 14 by a subcommittee of the league’s Orange County division. The city councils of Buena Park and Cypress have since adopted similar resolutions.

Huntington Beach City Councilman Earle Robitaille, urging his colleagues last week to lend their support to the resolution, referred to San Francisco as “Baghdad by the Bay.”

Noting reports that some conventions have been canceled in the northern city because of the stand taken by the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors, Robitaille said, “They’ve already cost themselves $20 million in lost convention revenues . . . and I think we ought to cost them $20 million more.” Huntington Beach’s council was split, 3 to 3, on the proposal, but the full seven-member council is expected to reconsider the resolution at its meeting tonight.

Each Orange County city will have one vote at the league division meeting.

San Francisco officials criticized the proposed sanction as an affront to free-speech rights and the democratic process of dissent and debate.

“The whole issue of sanctuary has been taken out of context and blown out of proportion,” said Art Silverman, press secretary for San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos. “San Francisco has always been a patriotic city as well as being a historical center for peaceful dissent. And we pride ourselves on both of those traditions.”

The league, which represents most cities in the state, has not yet taken an official position on the proposal. Its governing board is tentatively scheduled to discuss the issue at meetings planned April 23 and 24.

A spokeswoman for the league headquarters in Sacramento, however, said Friday that the proposed resolution contradicts the spirit of the association’s respect for the diversity of the cities it represents.

“Part of what the league is and what we represent is cities’ interest to be unique and different, and not to impose views on other cities,” said Debbie Thornton, a communications staff assistant for the league office.

Thornton added that, regardless of whether Orange County’s proposed resolution is successful, it may be logistically impossible to reschedule the October conference. About 3,500 city officials are expected to attend this year’s conference, which was planned more than six years in advance, she said. “We have locations booked through the year 2000,” she said.