Troop Withdrawal Referendum Archive

Published Thursday, January 12, 2006 by Justin Mitchell | E-mail this post

Oshkosh: There has been a great deal of internet and newsprint media and discussion on the Troop Withdrawal Referendum. The referendum recently failed to meet the required 4 votes in the Oshkosh common council. The ABV has assembled an archive of the past few month's activities. Just a note that there may be more to this issue in the comming weeks, such as pursuing the county board, gaining signatures to go the different route of citizen initiative referendum, or others.

Background

As early as July, a group of Oshkosh citizens held public meetings to discuss avenues for bringing a referendum to the April ballot stating: “Should the United States begin an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, beginning with the National Guard and Reserves?” The group was led by a coalition of the Winnebago Peace & Justice Center and the Lake Winnebago Green Party. The Oshkosh referendum drive was part of a statewide initiative led by the Wisconsin Green Party and the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice.

The group initially decided to go the route of collecting the required number of signatures to automatically place the refendum on the ballot (about 2800 signatures in 60 days). Once this was decided, council members Paul Esslinger and Bryan Bain discussed this direct legislation avenue with city attorney Warren Kraft. Both then reported to the group that according to Kraft, the signatures did not matter and would not force the question on the ballot.

Shortly after this information came to light, council member Paul Esslinger announced that he would pursue placing the question on the April ballot through a council led initiative, in which the council uses their legal power to place a referendum question on a ballot. In order for this to pass, four council members needed to approve the measure.

The group collecting signatures then decided to continue their efforts, with the idea that every signature would add support for Esslinger's proposal. They ended with approximately 1745 signatures of Oshkosh residents requesting that this question be placed on the April ballot.

On January 10, the council voted down the referendum question by a 6-1 vote. The consistant reason offered by the council members was a lack of signatures, even though the proposal was not contingent on signatures and was instead a council-led initiative. Only council member Paul Esslinger voted in favor of the proposal.

Below - An archive of the Referendum:

2005 - Vermont Network on Iraq War Resolutions

2005 - WNPJ: Wisconsin State Referendum to Bring the Troops Home

5/25/05 - Greens Launch Effort for Referendum on Troop Withdrawal

5/28/05 - Capital Times Endorses Referendum Efforts

6/10/05 - Northwestern: Green Party: Vote on troop withdrawal

7/18/05 - Iraq War Referendum Organizational Meeting Announcement

7/19/05 - Northwestern: Ballot question toothless way to sway opinions

7/19/05 - Palmeri: What National Referendum

7/20/05 - WPJC Blog: Jeff Peterson's Message to Anti-Warriors

7/20/05 - LWGP: Bringing the Troops Home

7/22/05 - Referendum: Next Meeting On August 3

7/25/05 - OshBlog: Referendum Public Meeting Minutes (scroll down)

7/25/05 - Palmeri: Referendum-Esslinger May Sponsor

8/30/05 - Bain: 5th Tuesday Forum Iraq War Discussion

8/31/05 - WNPJ: Oshkosh Launches Referendum Efforts

9/1/05 - Palmeri's Media Rants: Journalism of Conscience Hits Home

9/1/05 - Northwestern: Green Party starts signature drive

9/6/05 - Lindsey Kronenwetter: Anti-war movement evident in Oshkosh (scroll down)

10/10/05 - X-Off Files: Referendum on Iraq war would spark debate

10/10/05 - Babblemur: Oshkosh War Referendum in Overdrive

10/12/05 - Palmeri: Referendum gives citizens a voice in military actions

10/19/05 - WPR: Organization Seeking Signatures foR Troop Withdrawal

11/9/05 - WI Green Party: Press Conference on Referendum and Vogeler Campaign

11/28/05 - AP: Communities trying for referendums on troops withdrawal

12/1/05 - Northwestern: Anti-war sentiment gets louder

12/10/05 - ABV: Referendum information submitted to Oshkosh Common Council

12/9/05 - Northwestern: War referendum backers file signatures with city

12/11/05 - Eye on Oshosh: Petition Signatures Turned in for Referendum

12/11/05 - Northwestern: Council should give petitioners their due process

12/13/05 - Esslinger will have Referendum Placed on January Meeting Agenda

12/13/05 - Bain Blog: Should the Council Approve the Referendum?

12/14/05 - WI Green Party: Milwaukee, Madison and 12 other communities likely to vote on Bringing the Troops Home

12/14/05 - E-Pluribus-Unum: Peaceniks miss an opportunity

12/14/05 - E-Pluribus-Unum: The proper place for war debate

12/14/05 - Northwestern: Council to decide on Iraq referendum next month

12/15/05 - Babblemur: Online Debates on the Oshkosh War Referendum

12/28/05 - E-Pluribus-Unum: Top local political stories of 2005 (#4)

1/6/06 - Radio Commentary Interview With Paul Esslinger on Iraq Referendum

1/8/06 - Northwestern: Council will consider referendum (Tuesday)

1/10/06 - Palmeri: Narrow Technicality Wins, or, Death Goes On

1/10/06 - E-Puribus-Unum: Sliding down the slippery slope ...

1/10/06 - ABV: Best and Worst of 2005

1/10/06 - OshBlog: War Referendum

1/11/06 - Northwestern: Council rejects Iraq referendum

1/11/06 - Eye on Oshkosh: Council rejects troop withdrawal referendum, 6-1

note - I believe there was discussion on this topic on the Everyday Editor blog. If anyone has this available, or any other media clips that I missed, please submit it in comments or email to abvtimes@yahoo.com.

3 Responses to “Troop Withdrawal Referendum Archive”

tony palmeri on 8:16 PM

Great archive. Six morally challenged people on the Oshkosh Common Council cannot take away all the great education that has taken place on thie issue.
Anonymous on 8:24 PM

Another unfair statement by Mr. Palmeri. Insults do not help your cause. They only let people see how you really are.
Anonymous on 7:02 AM

Thank you Tony.

Anonymous said "they only let people see how you really are". Clever statement from an anonymous poltroon that is too afraid to equate such a ignorant statement with an identity.