Residents press Portsmouth to join ICAN/cities appeal supporting UN treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons

Several residents at the non-agenda public-comment period asked Portsmouth City Council to register the city in support of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to join the ICAN Cities appeal.

Tom Miano, who said he lives in Portsmouth, described the treaty and argued cities can influence national policy. "A city can vote to support...the UN treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons by passing the ICAN Cities appeal," he told council, adding that cities can pressure national governments and that mayors could join Mayors for Peace.

Faye Bailey and Julia Dorsey Loomis, members of local abolition campaigns, emphasized that the Hampton Roads region contains naval and shipbuilding facilities and that local leaders should act to support reduction and elimination efforts. Bailey cited numbers for global arsenals and U.S. nuclear modernization costs and asked the mayor to put the appeal on the council agenda and bring it to a vote.

Council members did not take immediate action at the meeting; speakers requested the mayor and council place the ICAN Cities appeal on a future agenda and vote.

Why it matters: Speakers argued that port and naval infrastructure near Portsmouth make it appropriate for municipal leaders to express support for a global treaty, and they asked for an official city appeal that could be added to council business for a vote.