There’s an old adage among Cambridge political activists: anything can happen at a Cambridge City Council meeting — and usually does.

Last Monday’s gathering, it seems, proved no exception. On June 10, dozens of peace activists, civil libertarians, and like-minded types turned out to urge city councilors to pass a proposed resolution calling upon the City of Cambridge to protect residents from the far-reaching USA Patriot Act, the federal law enacted in the wake of September 11 (see "Cantabrigians Stand Up for Civil Rights," This Just In, May 31). But despite two hours of emotional testimony, the council delayed its scheduled vote on the issue. Evidently, the much-touted resolution is more controversial than its sponsors realized.

"I cannot say I’m totally surprised," said Vicki Steinitz, of Cambridge United for Justice with Peace, a grassroots group behind the anti–Patriot Act resolution, as people filed out of the council chambers Monday night. "But it is disappointing."

Steinitz, a short, sincere woman with a gray bob, convened with her colleagues at City Hall to introduce the resolution, thus capping a four-month-long petition drive that netted as many as 700 pro-resolution signatures from residents. Speaker after speaker — including figures like State Representative Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge) and ACLU director John Roberts, who lives in the city — decried the Patriot Act as an assault against "basic precepts of democracy" and "constitutional checks and balances." Many of them also testified that the legislation calls to mind their own "frightening" memories. Steinitz, for instance, related how her father suffered during the McCarthy era, when the leftist National Lawyer’s Guild, of which he was a member, landed on the FBI’s list of subversive organizations. "In the end," she said, "our nation regained its senses" — only to watch the "nightmare" return 50 years later. Nancy Ryan, an anti–Vietnam War protester in the early ’70s, shared how she’d seen a 60-page FBI dossier on, of all people, herself. "It was a frightening thing to see," she confided. Cambridge, she believes, must "take a stand" against the similarly repressive tactics laid out in the Patriot Act.

While the resolution enjoys overwhelming support, it has also drawn criticism. Arthur Cody, a bespectacled man with a shock of white hair, told councilors that, while civil liberties are well and good, "people against this act seem to forget that we are at war." He implored councilors not to approve the resolution, as it asks "this body ... to turn its back on the war on terrorism."

His sentiments resonated with some councilors — for now, anyway. City Councilor Marjorie Decker, a resolution co-sponsor, requested the vote’s delay so that resolution proponents could address the councilors’ concerns. According to Cathy Hoffman, who heads the Cambridge Peace Commission, which has helped write and push for the resolution, "one or two councilors" have doubts about "some of the language." More specifically, they question a section of the resolution that asks the "local and state police, the US Attorney’s office, and the FBI" to work openly for the repeal of the Patriot Act and its sections that violate civil liberties. Explains Hoffman, "We realize that this language is asking the police and the FBI to do political-lobbying work, which isn’t their function. That wasn’t our intent."

By the time Tuesday morning had rolled around, Hoffman and other proponents were already redrafting the section in question, which they plan to submit as an amendment to the council on June 17. Essentially, the amended sentence will ask only city councilors to lobby to get rid of the egregious act, Hoffman says. She then adds, "We just want the city council to take a political stand."

The Cambridge City Council will vote on the anti–Patriot Act resolution at its June 17 meeting in the second-floor chambers at Cambridge City Hall. Call City Hall to let the councilors know how you feel about the initiative at (617) 349-4280. For a complete list of councilors with contact numbers, visit www.ci.cambridge.ma.us and click on the "City Council" icon.