Berkeley and the Marines-Truth!

Berkeley, California, Asked a Marine Recruiting Station to Leave the City-Truth! But Reversed!

Summary of the eRumor:
The forwarded email says that the city council of Berkeley, California voted 8 to 1 to tell the United States Marines that their down recruiting station is not welcome in the city and that if they choose to say they will be "uninvited and unwelcome guests." The eRumor also includes a letter from a businessman who said that because of the city council's decision he's going to stop doing business with anyone in Berkeley.

The Truth:
On January 29, 2008, the Berkeley city council did vote 8 to 1 to tell the Marines that their recruiting station in the downtown district "was not welcome." In a letter intended for the Marines they also told recruiters that if they elected to stay it would be as "uninvited and unwelcome guests."

On February 12, 2008, the city council took back the letter and issued a new statement that said the council recognized the recruiters' right to be located in Berkeley but also recognized the right of others to protest or support their presence. The city council also said it opposes the recruitment of young people into the Iraq war.

The recruiting office had been operating for about a year but toward the end of 2007 a group calling itself Code Pink began regular protests against the presence of the Marines.

In a separate vote 8 to 1 vote at the January 29 meeting, the Berkeley city council gave support to Code Pink by granting the protest group a designated parking space in front of the recruiting office from noon to 4:00pm every Wednesday for six months. The city council also gave Code Pink a free sound permit during those hours. Mayor Tom Bates was quoted as saying "I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don't belong here, they shouldn't have come here, and they should leave." The February 12 meeting left the Code Pink permits remain in place.

In response in February, 2008, legislation was introduced in both houses of congress called the Semper Fi Act of 2008 that would rescind more than $2 million in federal funds for Berkeley. Mayor Bates objected saying that the federal earmarks were for schools, water ferries, and police communications and should not be in jeopardy because of the city council's actions. At the same time Bates issued an apology to the families of any service personnel serving in Iraq and said "We want them to come home and be safe at home."

The letter from businessman Brian Dennard of Meridian Development Group is authentic. In it he chastises the Berkeley City Council for its decision and declares that his company is no longer going to do business with anyone in Berkeley. Dennard said he never intended for the letter to become so widely distributed. He had sent it to a few of his contacts and it got circulated from person to person and mushroomed. He said that he spends much of his day answering phone calls and emails asking if he really wrote the letter and that the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

Updated 2/11/08

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

BERKELEY, Calif. Local officials in this liberal city say it's time for the U.S. Marines to move out.

The City Council has voted to tell the Marines their downtown recruiting station is not welcome and
if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests.'

The measure passed this week by a vote of 8-1.

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Now check this out, here is a letter a businessman wrote to the Mayor of Berkeley. Is this a great country or what?

....................and this is the kind of response it takes from Americans to stand up against the tide of apathy and self serving idiots. http://www.anewtone.com/

I pasted the story in below, but you can see the site story for yourself.

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Dear Mayor Bates,

In that you and your city have chosen to gravely insult the brave men and women, who have indeed bought you that right with their blood, I am informing you that my company will no longer do business with any of our current suppliers located in the Berkeley, California metro area.

In that my company is in international resort real estate development, and do business with and am associated with, developers and investors worldwide, I am informing all of my contacts, associates and patrons that we will no longer do any business of any sort with anyone living in the Berkeley area.

In that we/MDG Resorts are currently building a state of the art mega-yacht marina, all of the suppliers of Marina equipment, all owners of Yachts, all suppliers of Yacht materials & supplies, all yacht brokers and all tangential yacht business purveyors will likewise be informed that we will not do any business whatsoever with anyone from the Berkeley area.

Likewise all suppliers of building materials, both interior and exterior, currently associated with any of our several resort developments (Brisamar 300+ villas and 200+ condos: Porto Hussong, 500+ condos, 180 slip mega-yacht marina) both of which I might add have international recognition by virtue of glowing reports in Robb Report, Wall Street Journal, Yacht World, Forbes.

I will likewise inform all of our investors, most of whom are very wealthy yacht owners, casino owners, high net worth international businessmen, of our decision to essentially boycott all products and providers located in, or associated with in any way whatsoever, Berkeley, Ca.

Trust me when I say that having been in the real estate development business for over 35 years, our list of contacts and associates is long and very, very impressive. We, and I personally, are going to recomend that they ALL along with us boycott your city, its purveyors, suppliers, and businesses and CHARITIES of every kind.

You have every right to choose to take the obnoxious anti-military stance you have taken, and as stated, that right was bought for you with the blood of better men than you.

I too have every right to do all that I can to insure that your city suffers consequences arising from that obnoxious, sickening stance.

Cordially,

Brian G Dennard