The PCMC Steering Committee consists of one representative from each of the active Member Organizations.  Four Administrative Officers are elected from these representatives, and the Steering Committee has formed an Issues Committee and an Actions Committee to carry on the work of the Coalition. If you want to be a part of a  committee or have other talents or ideas to share, please contact George Riley .

Current officers are:

PCMC Chair   --  Celia Bosworth   (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers)
Vice Chair      --   Karen Araujo      (Monterey Bay Central Labor Council)
Secretary       --   Deanne Gwinn   (Salinas Action League)
Treasurer       --   Sylvia Shih         (Monterey Peace and Justice Center) 

Issues Committee Chair  --  George Riley (Greens)
Actions Committee Chair --  Karen Araujo (Monterey Bay Central Labor Council)

PCMC administration [resource page]

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Statement of Purpose

To bring Monterey County organizations together to promote
non-violent solutions to world crises and to understand
the causes and consequences of wars, and to promote
long-range policies for a peaceful world.

To maintain public visibility through vigils, demonstrations,
advertisements, articles, letters, and media coverage.

To provide educational outreach by disseminating information
to the community, individuals, and organizations.

To communicate our point of view to the President, Congress,
United Nations, state and local representatives.

To conduct all actions in a non-violent manner.

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History of the Peace Coalition of Monterey County
by Joyce Vandevere

When drumbeats of war were sounding in advance of the 1991 Gulf War, local peace groups responded with ‘teach-ins,” vigils and letter-writing to stop the war from happening.  A great community walk for peace with a gathering at Custom House Plaza in honor of Martin Luther King’s birthday in January of 1991 was hardly over when the war began, and the organizations that had been working together to avoid that war decided to formalize their relationship and become the Peace Coalition of Monterey County (PCMC). 

Highlights of its first two years were vigils “for a lasting peace,” networking meetings in Monterey and Salinas, sponsoring a panel on the environmental consequences of the Gulf War, a workshop on draft and military counseling, an anti-war performance of the San Francisco Mime Troupe in Carmel Valley.  In 1993 PCMC agreed to discontinue meeting regularly, but to continue mutual support and networking.

Veterans for Peace and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom reconvened PCMC in May 1999 in response to the war in Kosovo/a, a war that the Coalition actively protested.  Continuing to meet monthly, PCMC was successful in persuading 8 of the 11 cities in Monterey County and the Supervisors to pass resolutions asking the State of California to pass legislation for the licensing and registration of handguns. They also played an important role in eliminating the presence of a huge tank in each year’s Monterey Fourth of July Parade.

After a year’s pause in meeting, PCMC was reactivated in October of 2001 in response to the “War on Terror” and the bombing of Afghanistan and is actively providing community education about alternatives to war, sponsoring ads, peace vigils and PEACE JUBILEE 2002. Some of the founding organizations no longer exist, but others have joined.