THANK GOODNESS Baltimore voters had the wisdom to trim the bloated City Council. The 19-member body clearly doesn't have enough to do.

In recent weeks, it has held public hearings on the difference between the 911 and 311 telephone numbers. It has also pondered a resolution to figure out "how the negative images of Baltimore, as portrayed in 'real-crime' fiction, TV dramas and movies, can be counteracted."

These hearings, though, were mere warm-up acts.

On Nov. 20, the council will weigh in on matters of war and peace. It will hold a public hearing on a resolution "opposing the United States' continued and threatened violation of the United Nations Charter and of international law by unilateral, pre-emptive military action against the nation of Iraq." Hot diggity dog!

The passage of the resolution seems certain; nine members have joined Councilman Kwame Osayaba Abayomi as co-sponsors. The question is: Will Washington listen?

Interestingly, this doesn't seem to matter to antiwar activists who support the resolution. The main thing, according to A. Robert Kaufman, is that the hearing will be carried live on the city's cable channel and then repeated four times on subsequent days.

"Our voice will be heard in Baltimore," enthused the veteran protester.

During the Cold War years, the City Council often got embroiled in international politics. It designated Baltimore a nuclear free zone and took other "progressive" stands. It even sponsored a taxpayer-financed commission that questioned U.S. military spending. Doing agitprop -- agitation and propaganda -- proved to be easier than taking care of the city's awesome problems.

That's why it's such a relief that Question P passed and the hot-air council's size will be reduced. The 2004 elections cannot come soon enough.