Stories
The Seville Statement Newsletter
Mayor DiLieto and the Peace Commission
Plans for
a general human theory
Facing the internal culture of war
Student Conferences at Wesleyan
Shell mobiles
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The Seville Statement on Violence
The New Haven City Peace Commission was launched on the basis of an extensive city-wide mobilization for the Peoples Peace Appeal beginning in 1986. I worked closely with Tom Holahan of the Board of Aldermen and Al Marder of the New Haven Peace Council on that mobilization, and then on the establishment of the Commission.
To establish the Commission, we went through Mayor Ben Dilieto, which is a story in itself.
One of the first projects, on which I worked closely with Tom Holahan, was to put a question on the ballot in the November 1989 elections, asking voters if they wanted to cut the military budget and use the money for social programs. We put together and distributed a beautiful brochure with quotations from community leaders.
Ballot referendum committee of Peace Commission: left to right, Sam Vine, Sally Joughin, myself and Tom Holahan. Not shown is Joelle Fishman who was also an active member.
According to the New Haven Register story of November 8, we got an 83% positive vote, 7,357 in favor and 1,459 opposed.
Then in 1990, I worked with the Peace Commission to formally propose a platform plank for the political parties for peace and economic conversion. With our old friend Congressman Bruce Morrison running for governor on the Democratic ticket we hoped to get his help to put it in the platform. But the results were disappointing and it didn't go anywhere.
Tom and I wrote about this and other work of the Commission in an article for the short-lived Bulletin of Municipal Foreign Policy. I also put together a packet about the Commission's work which was circulated to US Peace Councils around the country in an attempt to get other Commissions started.
I worked with the Commission until going to UNESCO in 1992, and a decade later after moving into New Haven from Branford in 2013, I joined the Commission and worked in it as a regular member. That is described in another page.
Although no longer on the Commission since moving to France in 2013, I am in touch by facebook with current members Joelle Fishman, Aaron Goode and Erica Holahan, Tom's daughter.
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Stages
1986-1992
Fall of Soviet Empire
1992-1997
UNESCO Culture of Peace Programme