Kansas City Peace Planters Mobilize behind New Initiative Petitions

Press Release

Contact:

Ann Suellentrop, (913)271-7925

Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D. (816)753-2057

KC Peace Planters is pleased to announce that it has prepared two new petitions to place measures on the ballot, with the campaigns to gather signatures to run simultaneously.

While we did gather a sufficient number of signatures to place a previous measure on the ballot, the City Council declined to place it on the ballot and the judge at the Circuit Court was concerned about the involvement of federal agencies. Because our attorney advised us that the nature of federal litigation was such that we could get a measure on the ballot more quickly, cheaply, and surely by using all that we had learned in this process and running another initiative campaign, we decided that this was the better route.

The first petition is based on this premise: if the City’s financial involvement in the new plant turns out not to be enough to give city voters a say over the new plant, it is nevertheless still true that city voters have a say over the city’s financial involvement.

This is important because the bypassing of proper U.S. Congress appropriations procedures means the City is doing more than merely participating in building weapons of mass destruction. It is enabling a set-up that might not happen with more federal attention and accountability. Accordingly, the petition is entitled

“Removal of City financial involvement in production of nuclear weapons components.”

The summary of its provision are:

1. Kansas City won’t make any more contracts for nuclear weapons or finance production in the future.

2. Kansas City will divest itself of the municipal bonds for nuclear weapons to the extent allowed by law.

3. No local agency will own the plant (as the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority now does – and the contract does specify that the federal government has an option to buy).

4. If the court knocks down any provision, that provision can be cut off and the rest remain.

The second petition is based on the idea that the City shouldn’t get itself into the perverse position of being in financial trouble if the federal government decides against making more nuclear weapons components. This is a highly plausible scenario for several reasons – yet economic analysis shows that we could actually get more jobs for different alternative products. The need to convert would actually be good news even from a purely economic perspective.

“Safeguarding jobs with contingency plans for nuclear weapons facilities”

Summary:

1. The City will make detailed contingency plans for converting nuclear weapons plants in case they’re no longer utilized for that purpose.

2. Renewable energy production is an option to be considered.

3. The plans will be updated annually.

4. The plans will be available for public comment.

While these proposals are more modest than the previous one, they are also more legally bullet-proof. We have listened closely to the objections to our previous proposal, and carefully crafted proposals that address those concerns.

See “Resources” for the full legal language and a PDF of the Petition.