Mayor Will 'Wholeheartedly' Back Anti-Circumcision Bill, Civility Agreement

Mayor will "wholeheartedly" support proposals related to the banning of and the promotion of community-meeting civility, he told Santa Monica Patch Monday night. He added that he placed the items on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.

The California State Legislature is currently considering AB 768, which would block local governments from passing laws prohibiting male circumcision and instead leave the power up to the state. The bill, written by Assemblymembers Mike Gatto and Fiona Ma, comes in the wake of a circumcision proposal that in Santa Monica earlier this year, and a related effort that is currently being considered in San Francisco.

"Giving the state the sole jurisdiction to determine regulations over circumcision is quite reasonable and logical, in my view," Bloom told Santa Monica Patch. "I the Santa Monica attempt to ban circumcision here, and I want to do everything I can to defeat the measure that is pending in San Francisco. Allowing state preemption would accomplish this goal."

A second circumcision-related bill is being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives. HR 2400, authored by Congressman Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks, would leave it to the federal government to decide whether to ban male circumcision.

In addition to the anti-circumcision legislation, Bloom and Mayor Pro Tempore Gleam Davis are also being asked to direct city staff to create a civility agreement in the wake of the Jan. 8 shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona.

The agreement would apply to community meetings in Santa Monica and be modeled after the Civility Accord established by the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Jan. 19. That measure contains the following requisites:

• "Respect the right of all Americans to hold different opinions;

• "Avoid rhetoric intended to humiliate, de-legitimatize or question the patriotism of those whose opinions are different from ours;

• "Strive to understand differing perspectives;

• "Choose words carefully;

• "Speak truthfully without accusation, and avoid distortion;

• "Speak out against violence, prejudice, and incivility in all of their forms, whenever and wherever they occur."

"The civility agreement concept was brought to my attention by Councilmember [Pam] O'Connor," said Bloom, who chairs the Westside Cities Council of Governments and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, in addition to the Santa Monica City Council. He is also a member of the California Coastal Commission and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

"It is no secret that civility is breaking down in many state legislatures, including our own, and at the federal level," said Bloom, who for being vacated by Julia Brownley. "I've noticed varying degrees of civility in public process and think it is a good idea to be talking about the kinds of behavior that show mutual respect for each other, whether we are elected and appointed officials in dialogue amongst ourselves and our staff or back and forth across the dais with members of the public.

"It is not always easy to maintain our composure in the public process," he continued. "By adopting consensus rules about our behavior, I hope we will improve what has always been a high level of discourse in Santa Monica and create a model that can be adopted elsewhere."

The council meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at .

This article was updated at 8:09 p.m.