Last night amidst an outpouring of applause, the city council of Santa Barbara, California voted unanimously to pass a resolution "urging cessation of combat operations in Iraq and the return of U.S. troops" within a year.

Councilmembers insisted that "the war in Iraq has begun to directly effect the governance of the City of Santa Barbara, causing yearly attacks on Section 8 funding, making it harder to recruit police officers, delaying Army Corps of Engineers funding that could alleviate the threat of flooding of Mission Creek, promoting the national neglect of the mortgage crisis which could undermine Santa Barbara’s prosperity."

Commenters on the BlogaBarbara site have been viciously fighting over whether  this resolution is a waste of time and if it unnecessarily distracts from important local issues (i.e. gangs in SB).  

What do you all think?  Weigh in with your comments.   Is this resolution important because, as one commenter points out, "the cost of this war is having an impact on all of us and on our local budgets," or is it a "slap in the face to the victims of local violence"?