Only U.S. Mayor: Gabino Aguirre attends Mayors for Peace conference
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: May 19, 2004
Santa Paula Mayor Gabino Aguirre found himself in a unique position at a very unique gathering: in April, Aguirre was the only mayor from the United States among a delegation of international city leaders at a United Nations summit on the nuclear weapons.
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula Times
Santa Paula Mayor Gabino Aguirre found himself in a unique position at a very unique gathering: in April, Aguirre was the only mayor from the United States among a delegation of international city leaders at a United Nations summit on the nuclear weapons.
Aguirre, at his own expense, traveled to the UN’s New York headquarters as part of the Mayors for Peace delegation and spent three days discussing the reduction of nuclear weapons.
Aguirre said he was not representing the City of Santa Paula as a delegation member but rather his own personal views on war and the use of nuclear weapons.
A Vietnam veteran and high school principal, Aguirre has long been involved in the peace movement.
Mayors for Peace was founded in 1982 when the mayor of Hiroshima – the first of two Japanese cities attacked by the United States with a atomic bombs during World War II – suggested that city leaders work together to abolish nuclear weapons.
Now, over 500 cities around the world have mayors who are members of the organization.
Aguirre spoke of the trip at a recent council meeting and noted that “The only United States mayor that was there was from Santa Paula. . .”
The Japanese delegation included not only mayors but also survivors of the Hiroshima bombing, who are suffering from radiation poisoning. “With the sickness you do indeed age faster,” noted Aguirre.
The Mayors for Peace delegation met with the Ambassadors of China, Japan and Mexico, among others.
The highlight of the conference was members of the delegation addressed the United Nations, noting their concerns and activity in banning nuclear weapons.
“It was an incredible trip,” said Aguirre. “Although we deal with local issues here in Santa Paula, we’re part of a larger web,” especially since Santa Paula is in close proximity to major military installations and Los Angeles, the nation’s second largest city.
“When I was asked why a mayor from such a small town - such an out of the way place - would be so concerned with nuclear weapons,” Gabino explained Santa Paula’s location makes it high risk, “and we would have no defense. As long as nuclear weapons are in existence,” the world is defenseless.
The 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima (Aug. 6) and Nagasaki (Aug. 9) is looming, he noted.
Aguirre told the council that he will probably have a presentation on the trip and it was a “very exciting and very humbling experience for me.”
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