Berkeley city council: Opposition to TPP and TAFTA

On July 8th, Berkeley city government did not pass a resolution to formerly oppose the TPP and TAFTA, and to declare the city a TPP/TAFTA-Free Zone.  City council will re-address the issue on September 9th.

http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Clerk/City_Council/2014/07_Jul/Documents/2014-07-08_Item_34_Oppose_the_Trans-Pacific.aspx

Councilpersons Laurie Capitelli and Susan Wengraf chose to abstain from supporting the proposal.  By abstaining they did not signal any outright objection to discussing opposition to TPP/TAFTA; they were just not comfortable voting on the proposal as presented.  City councilperson Gordon Wozniak did vote against the proposal to oppose TPP/TAFTA.  The lack of detail in the proposal is what drew the 2 abstentions and 1 vote against.  As well, city council was absent of Mayor Bates and councilperson Darryl Moore.  With the vote against, the abstentions and the absentees not available to vote, the motion failed.  But there was an agreement that the motion could return.

The proposal did not explain the legal and economic strategies available to the city of Berkeley in the event that the TPP and TAFTA were to pass and become binding trade agreements.  The proposal did not even really explain what it meant to be a TPP/TAFTA free-zone.  The proposal mainly was an introduction to the concepts of TPP and TAFTA, and made an argument as to why the city government should oppose them.  But the proposal stopped short of actually explaining if it was 1. legally possible to be a TPP and TAFTA-free zone and 2. what the available strategies are for the city to take if it is possible.

On September 9th, the first meeting after returning from summer break, the TPP and TAFTA will go back on the agenda for open comment, and debate to draft a policy the city can vote on.  It may be necessary to break up the proposal into 2 actionable items.  The city can more easily pass a formal objection to the TPP and TAFTA, and demand that California's representation at Washington DC oppose the trade agreements in committees and in floor-votes.  The city can then spend time looking at what it means to make the city a TPP/TAFTA-free zone, and look at if it is even legally possible or even economically possible to have a city which exists outside a formal trade agreement.  It would not be too difficult for the city to pass a resolution that commits city government and its agencies to buying locally sources goods, ethically sources goods, and other restrictions.  The city can raise awareness about the trade agreements, and promote more ethical purchasing habits.  But there may not be very much the city can do to regulate the local economy to be TPP/TAFTA-free.