Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
16159 Clear Creek Road NW 
Poulsbo, WA   98370
E-mail: info@gzcenter.org

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action is a 3.8 acre piece of land in Kitsap county which shares 330 feet of fence with Trident nuclear submarine base. Ground Zero was purchased in December of 1977 by a collective of people using money donated by many of you and was incorporated as a land trust. Since then, Ground Zero has carried on a program of nonviolent action and reflection including discussion evenings, weekend retreats, leafleting of the base workers, and civil disobedience actions.

Nonviolent Campaign Against Trident In 1988, Jim and Shelley Douglass wrote in their book, Dear Gandhi, What Now?, "The nonviolent campaign against Trident began with the resignation of Lockheed missile designer Robert Aldridge, who worked on the re-entry vehicle for Trident missiles. Bob's work led him to the knowledge that the United States was building systems capable of a disarming first strike, and his conscience called him to resign. His resignation and the analysis he shared with us inspired the January 1975 formation of Pacific Life Community, a small intentional community committed to resisting the coming of Trident to the Pacific Northwest. Believing that our culture's reliance upon violence is a central root of the arms race and other forms of injustice, Pacific Life Community committed itself to "seek the truth of a nonviolent way of life," both personally and politically. Personally we tried to confront our racism, sexism, consumerism - all the isms that allowed us to violate others. Politically, we chose to experiment with nonviolent actions resisting Trident, a system that seemed to epitomize all the violence of our society. In 1975, the homeport for Trident was under construction at Bangor on the Hood Canal in Washington State. Pacific Life Community began to raise the issue of Trident and first strike through community education and direct action; within three years a broader community of concern had formed, including several groups much larger than Pacific Life Community."
 
They continue, "By 1978 and 1979 the talks, marches, rallies, and civil disobedience actions had in fact raised awareness of the lethal potential of the Trident system. People on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border were concerned enough to journey to the base itself, three to four thousand strong, and to risk arrest by the hundreds. At the same time, some of us who had originally founded the campaign became aware that our nonviolent actions were experienced by those in the Kitsap County community as a form of violence. We were in fact closing the minds we most wanted to open because our actions were seen as a form of condemnation without any openness to listening."
 
"Kitsap County, a rural county on a peninsula fifteen miles from Seattle, has a proud tradition of cooperation with the Navy, and a strong economic dependence upon the military. Most of those who hold jobs in the county are dependent upon the military for paychecks. When we marched down Clear Creek Road to the Trident base, those people felt condemned, and their hostility to us grew."
 
"In response to this concern, nine people came together to form Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, Ground Zero, a piece of land sharing 330 feet of barbed-wire fence with the Trident base, gave us the opportunity to have a continuous nonviolent presence in the county, and to form friendships with those whose work we resisted. We made the down payment on the Ground Zero property in 1977, committing ourselves to a long-term presence in this Navy-dominated area. We wanted to experiment with Gandhi's idea that the enemy has a piece of the truth, and with the religious teaching of love for the enemy. We wanted to learn to walk the fine line between hating the sin and loving the sinner, recognizing that we, too, were complicit in violence and thus also sinners."
 
Ground Zero has gone through stages of growth and changes in community. 1982 was a watershed year for GZ because the first Trident submarine, the USS Ohio, arrived and then was deployed from Bangor. The Peace Blockade and the Tracks Campaign were developed in an effort to stop the ever escalating arms race through education and direct action. The organizing continues today.
 
Presently our community is led by two dozen persons who are committed to the nonviolent resistance to Trident. We meet in community once a month. Many of us live and work in Kitsap County, have deep roots here and participate in the life of the greater community. We endeavor to network with and support the work of peace and justice groups in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia as well as in other cities in the U.S. and Canada. Structure for Ground Zero Center for Non-violent Action.

On December 8, 2002 we adopted the following guidelines for our community:
Governance: Ground Zero Center for Non-violent Action (hereinafter “Ground Zero”) will be governed by a Stewardship Council, which will be the legal body responsible for making decisions for Ground Zero. The Stewardship Council will define policy, oversee all programs, assets and finances, and designate committees to carry out the policies and functions of the organization.
Decision-making: Decisions of the Stewardship Council and committees will be by consensus and in accord with the Mission Statement, which reads: "Founded in 1977, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action offers the opportunity to explore the meaning and practice of nonviolence from a perspective of deep spiritual reflection, providing a means for witnessing to and resisting all nuclear weapons, especially Trident. We seek to go to the root of violence and injustice in our world and experience the transforming power of love through nonviolent direct action."
Selections: The Stewardship Council will be selected at an annual meeting of the membership of Ground Zero to be scheduled and located by the Stewardship Council and announced to the general membership at least two months in advance (suggested to be an early August weekend gathering at the Ground Zero house).
Stewardship Council composition: The Stewardship Council will include the following positions:
Chair -- responsible for convening the Stewardship Council and overseeing the work of the organization
Secretary -- responsible for keeping a written record of Stewardship Council decisions
Treasurer -- responsible for overseeing the finances of the organization
A representative from each committee constituted by the Stewardship Council
Three members at large
Quorum: A quorum will be more than half the current members of the Stewardship Council. All Council and committee meetings will be open to all members of Ground Zero.
Definition of Member: A member is any person who agrees to act in accord with the Ground Zero ethic of non-violence and has made a contribution to Ground Zero of time or money.

Stewardship Council 2004

The 2003 General Membership Meeting was held on Saturday, October 11, 2003 at Ground Zero. We saw much work done, a successful meeting, and we had a great time singing with Tom Rawson and Raven.

This was the first GZ Annual Meeting under the new Stewardship Council format. The work party reclaimed the office, bedroom, and kitchen, and washed the entire west side of the house. Glen was interviewed for an article in the Port Townsend community paper.

During the meeting the past year's activities were reviewed, new plans were set for the coming year, and the Stewardship Council was elected for the coming year, as follows:

Chair, Dave Hall
Secretary, Mary Hanson
Treasurer, Anne Hall
Events and Direct Action Committee (individual events each have a chair)
Newsletter, Brian Watson
House and Grounds, Betsy Collins
Leafletting, Joy Goldstein
Media/Legal, Glen Milner
Email and Website, Dave Hall and Sue Ablao
Fundraising (chair open)
At Large, Jackie Hudson, Cathy Palzkill, Raven

Contact any SC member at info@gzcenter.org