The City of Petaluma just passed an It Won’t Happen Here resolution – the only city to do so – as a result of active engagement by Petaluma residents. The City of Sonoma may get a resolution with good wording for the same reason. Undocumented immigrants have gotten some wording they wanted (though flawed) from other cities – because they showed up to demand it, despite the risks. But other threatened groups – religious minorities, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and others – are missing from the wording of resolutions passed by Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Windsor and Healdsburg. When only one or two people show up to press for action, sadly, your elected representatives don’t find much reason to act.

If you want your cities and your county to agree to refuse to cooperate with the Trump administration in violating your civil liberties, we ask that you do one or both of these things: write to your city council members and your supervisor and let them know you want to see It Won’t Happen Here wording in a resolution and/or come to a meeting to organize a serious presence at a city council meeting or a Board of Supervisors meeting.

Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 22nd, 7:00 p.m. at the Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County, 467 Sebastopol Ave. (not Sebastopol Rd.), SR. If you can’t make the meeting, but want to be involved, just let us know and we’ll keep you in the loop.

And don’t rely on the Press Democrat to keep you informed. Reporting – which claims the resolutions passed so far are “similar” – is inaccurate. For instance, Petaluma’s resolution bears no resemblance to Santa Rosa’s.

Below is the wording you want to ask for and be sure to mention that 149 organizations, faith communities and businesses have endorsed the statement, as well as approximately 4,000 individuals.

We hope to see you at a meeting soon!

IT WON’T HAPPEN HERE SONOMA COUNTY

WHEREAS, to safeguard the equal and inalienable rights and inherent dignity of all people that is the foundation of the relationship between a government and the people;

AND whereas, we recognize that the rights and dignity of all people are under threat;

WE, the undersigned organizations, call upon all Sonoma County governing authorities and law enforcement agencies to pledge in writing to protect all of the County’s community members;

FURTHERMORE, we call upon these authorities and agencies to proclaim publicly that they will refuse to cooperate with any demands from the federal government to institute detentions, deportations, registries, conversion therapies, imprisonment or any other acts that target or discriminate based on immigration status, race, ethnicity, religion, country of origin, ability, political affiliation, economic status, age, gender-identity or sexual orientation;

FURTHERMORE, we, the undersigned organizations, in obedience to our consciences, pledge to protect all community members and will support our local governments as they move to resist these undemocratic and un-American practices in order to reaffirm their commitment to inclusivity, respect and dignity.