Countywide : Cities Soften Rebuke of San Francisco

City representatives from throughout the county this week backed away from a proposal that sought to punish San Francisco for having declared itself a sanctuary for conscientious objectors during the Persian Gulf War.

Members of the Orange County chapter of the League of California Cities rejected a resolution that would have called on the statewide league to move the site of its October conference, which is schedule to be held in San Francisco.

The measure--rejected by a 17-11 vote, with Stanton abstaining--also sought to ban any future League of California Cities conferences from being held in the city.

Instead, a majority of the chapter’s 29 members--one from each city--adopted a weaker resolution stating that the league’s Orange County chapter “abhors” the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors’ decision in January to shield conscientious objectors within the city limits from arrest or prosecution by city or county officials.

The Orange County chapter’s resolution also expresses support for President Bush, Congress and U.S. troops who served during the Gulf War.

But all references to sanctions against San Francisco--which originally included a statewide call to boycott the city--were deleted from the final version.

The diluted resolution will be considered by the statewide League of California Cities board of directors at its April 26-27 meetings.

“A number of (voting members) felt that the original resolution was perhaps an overreaction, and that maybe we’d be better off stating our objections this way,” said William Hodge, executive director of the league’s Orange County chapter.

The chapter’s initial call for sanctions was spearheaded by La Habra Councilman James Flora, who introduced the measure last month. Flora was joined by a handful of other city officials from around the county in a postwar crusade against San Francisco, which one proponent of sanctions referred to as “Baghdad by the Bay.”