Mike Ferner
Encyclopedia
Mike Ferner is a former Toledo, Ohio
city council
member, Vietnam era veteran, author, and peace activist. He is a member of the POCLAD
collective. Toledo had the most active campaign in the country for municipal public power in the late 1980s and early '90s. In 1989 Ferner was elected as an independent to the city council and proposed the creation of a small municipal utility to compete with Toledo Edison
. He ran for mayor in 1993 with this as a major campaign plank, but lost by 672 out of 92,740 votes cast.
In March 2006 Ferner, along with fellow activists Pete Perry
, Malachy Kilbride
, and David Barrows, interrupted the US House Appropriations Committee that was in the process of voting on $67,000,000,000 in military funding for the US war and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ferner was arrested on June 30, 2006 at the Jesse Brown Veterans' Administration Medical Center. (Ferner was at the center because he was participating in Voices For Creative Nonviolence
's 320-mile "Walk for Justice" from Springfield, Illinois to North Chicago, Illinois.) According to Ferner's recounting of the incident, the arresting officer stated that wearing a "Veterans for Peace" T-shirt while drinking coffee at the center comprised protesting, and Ferner was required to leave the premises. Ferner refused, and was subsequently arrested. Ferner was charged with criminal trespass and with weapons possession (a Swiss Army pocketknife).
In 2006 he published "Inside the Red Zone: A Veteran For Peace Reports from Iraq," recounting his trips to Iraq, just prior to the U.S. invasion and a year later.
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
member, Vietnam era veteran, author, and peace activist. He is a member of the POCLAD
POCLAD
The Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy is an activist collective of a dozen-or-so members, who research the history of corporations in the United States. They are some of the main circulators of the notion that corporate personhood--which gives corporations some of the same legal rights...
collective. Toledo had the most active campaign in the country for municipal public power in the late 1980s and early '90s. In 1989 Ferner was elected as an independent to the city council and proposed the creation of a small municipal utility to compete with Toledo Edison
FirstEnergy
FirstEnergy Corp. , is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, as well as energy management and other energy-related services...
. He ran for mayor in 1993 with this as a major campaign plank, but lost by 672 out of 92,740 votes cast.
In March 2006 Ferner, along with fellow activists Pete Perry
Pete Perry
Peter Perry was born in Washington, DC on October 31, 1969. He is a peace and social justice activist who has been affiliated with the DC Anti-War Network and the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance ....
, Malachy Kilbride
Malachy Kilbride
Malachy Kilbride is an Irish-American Social Justice and Peace Activist who primarily works with Washington Peace Center in Washington DC where he also serves as a member of the board. He was born in New York City and spent part of his childhood in Dublin, Ireland...
, and David Barrows, interrupted the US House Appropriations Committee that was in the process of voting on $67,000,000,000 in military funding for the US war and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ferner was arrested on June 30, 2006 at the Jesse Brown Veterans' Administration Medical Center. (Ferner was at the center because he was participating in Voices For Creative Nonviolence
Voices For Creative Nonviolence
Voices for Creative Nonviolence is an American anti-war group that advocates nonviolent direct action to stop war. As of 2006 they are organizing a series of actions in Washington, D.C. that they call The Winter of Our Discontent...
's 320-mile "Walk for Justice" from Springfield, Illinois to North Chicago, Illinois.) According to Ferner's recounting of the incident, the arresting officer stated that wearing a "Veterans for Peace" T-shirt while drinking coffee at the center comprised protesting, and Ferner was required to leave the premises. Ferner refused, and was subsequently arrested. Ferner was charged with criminal trespass and with weapons possession (a Swiss Army pocketknife).
In 2006 he published "Inside the Red Zone: A Veteran For Peace Reports from Iraq," recounting his trips to Iraq, just prior to the U.S. invasion and a year later.