Bellefonte Borough votes down resolution calling for Gaza cease-fire after weeks of debate

Bellefonte Borough Council on Tuesday voted down a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, following weeks of debate and pleas from community members.

The resolution was nixed in a 6-2 vote, with councilwoman Johanna Sedgwick absent from the meeting. Council members Deborah Cleeton and Shawna McKean were the two “yes” votes on the draft resolution that stated the Bellefonte Borough Council “supports and joins others in calling on our Congress Members to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire; the unrestricted entry and safe distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza; the restoration of water, electricity, as well as the supply and access of medical supplies to Gaza; and the respect for international law.”

While some council members argued it isn’t Bellefonte Borough Council’s place to pass such a resolution, McKean disagreed.

“I’m a humanitarian — that’s my job and my personal belief — and I think that we are voted in to represent the people in the community, and there are people in this community sitting in the audience speaking,” McKean said. “You’re either representing the people or you’re following your own beliefs and voting against something that I believe to be morally correct.”

Across the country, cities and towns have passed resolutions calling for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas. State College Borough became the first in Pennsylvania to pass a cease-fire resolution in December following weeks of deliberation and dozens of people speaking out both in support of and in opposition to the resolution.

In Bellefonte, the cease-fire resolution has been contentiously discussed since July, when a crowd of advocates spoke at that council meeting to try to convince the board to include the resolution on the agenda for an upcoming meeting.

After about 45 minutes of public comment during that meeting, the council voted in August to limit who can speak at council meetings, and gave council the option to shut down or defer public comments if it determines they are “unusually long, the atmosphere has become unruly, or the comments become repetitive.”

That resolution, however, was deemed null and void because of the way in which it was passed, borough Manager Ralph Stewart said Tuesday.

In total there were 18 speakers during Tuesday’s hourlong public comment session — 15 of which urged the council to pass the resolution, two advised the council to vote against it and one speaker was unsure about his feelings.

All of the speakers in favor of the resolution were met with applause by supporters when they pleaded their cases to the council.

Many of the speakers, such as borough resident and People’s Defense Front-Northern Appalachia member Megan Irwin, referenced Bellefonte Borough’s important role in the abolitionist movement, as well as the recognition that veterans and active service members get from borough.

“I am proud to be a community member of Historic Bellefonte, which earned that title for its role in fighting to end slavery, desegregating our schools before every other town in Pennsylvania and for borough residents that have served in the military overseas,” Irwin said. “For these reasons, I urge the council to continue this tradition of making history by giving its full support to a cease-fire resolution in Gaza.”

Others, like borough resident Claudia Wilson, used statistics to paint images of what the people in Gaza are going through.

“An ungodly, humanitarian disaster has been unfolding in Gaza every minute and every day since last year,” Wilson said. “In 2023, over 33,000 Palestinians had been killed — 70% of which were women and children — and as we know, that number continues to rise. Ninety-three percent of the Palestinian population suffered from crisis levels of hunger and malnutrition and rates of infectious disease such as meningitis, scabies, lice, chicken pox and hepatitis are soaring.”

Others, such as former council member Joe Beigle and borough resident Tom Dann, were opposed to the resolution, with Dann saying that the council members were elected to “take care of the town, not to influence or determine foreign policy.”

Despite the awful things going on in Gaza, Dann said the focus of the council should be on the borough itself and how it can make life better for its residents.

Prior to voting on the resolution, council members Randy Brachbill, Barbara Dann and Rita Purnell spoke and agreed with Beigle and Dann, announcing their intentions to vote “no.”

“A borough resident and attorney gave me some really good advice once, telling me that my job as a borough council member is to be attentive to the needs of the residents of the town. We need safe streets, clean water, streetlights, refuse pickup and a working sewer system,” Purnell said. “I’m sure I missed a few other important things, but the point is that this resolution doesn’t fall under any of these categories.”

Despite supporting the cease-fire resolution and commending the speakers for trying to make a difference, council member Joanne Tosti-Vasey also voted in opposition.

“Since the majority of the council disapproves of this motion, I will vote no with the majority so that in the future we can reconsider this issue,” Tosti-Vasey said.

The next Bellefonte Borough Council work session will take place at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 16, followed by a business meeting at 7:30 p.m.

This story was originally published September 4, 2024 at 3:30 PM.