Earlier this month the Corvallis City Council passed a resolution in support of H.R. 808, to establish a U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence. A July 14 letter to the editor headline suggested this was a demand, but it was a request made in May after a year of gathering petition signatures to request the council endorse the legislation. At that time, it was up to the council to decide whether or not to take up the issue.

I believe the City Council saw the potential relevance of being a community that cultivates peace and nonviolence, and its benefits.

With that said, I do think the article covering the July 7 council meeting and the editorial on July 10 in this paper lacked a great deal of relevant information concerning the proposed bill and the resolution supporting it. The resolution is easily found in the archives of the July 7 meeting of City Council, available at www.ci.corvallis.or.us. A Google search for Dept. of Peace Resolution, Corvallis, OR will also work. You can find the text of H.R. 808 at www.thomas.gov or at www.thepeacealliance

.org.

At that meeting, Veterans for Peace was not the only group speaking in favor of this resolution. There were representatives from the local Alternatives to War group, the Linn-Benton Department of Peace group, an Amnesty International writers' group, and individuals from peace action groups of local churches present.

The Department of Peace bill certainly has an international aspect, but two-thirds of this bill is focused on reducing and preventing violence in our own communities. Community Peace Block Grants, similar to Community Development Grants, would be available to communities in the U.S. to become proactive in conflict-resolution, peer-mediation and peace education curriculums that will ultimately save taxpayers dollars on police intervention, incarceration costs, social services, health care and insurance costs. We all share and absorb these costs which have risen dramatically while we simply react to violence around us.

At the July 7 City Council meeting, I gave two examples of how a grant from the Office of Technology for Peace might assist Corvallis' quest for sustainability in the field of transportation and energy. There are other ways we might benefit from peace initiative grants. The downtown drop-in center could benefit from grant funds, and neighborhood associations created centering on food security gardens. Mediation tools and the school resource officer lost in recent budget cuts might be restored.

Peacekeeping is quite properly the business of our City Council. Much of their duties actually are peace-keeping done so that other endeavors can thrive. In the Corvallis fiscal year 08-09 budget, 15 percent of operating revenues come from state and federal grants, given for specific purposes. Since Corvallis does use some federal money, is it not appropriate to request money for programs that are successful in creating a culture of peace?

Corvallis, although a very peaceful place, is not immune to violence. We have domestic violence, rape, child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, school violence, and gun and racial incidents here. The city Web site indicates that the number of incidents of aggravated assault and weapons law offenses went up dramatically between 2005 and 2006. The number of weapons offenses actually doubled!!

Isn't it time for us to look at ourselves and prioritize a small investment in successful community-based programs that are known to prevent and reduce violence? Making peace a national priority and giving every U.S. community the tools and funds for peace-making initiatives just makes sense. We cannot do that without a national commitment combined with local action.

Valerie White of Corvallis is the author of the resolution in support of a federal bureau of peace.