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Shirek Will Face Opposition For District 3 Council Seat

By MATTHEW ARTZ
Friday June 18, 2004

Maudelle Shirek, the 93-year-old matriarch of Berkeley’s left, will face stiff competition from a former protégé this November when she seeks a tenth term on the City Council. 

Max Anderson, the outgoing chairperson of the Rent Stabilization Board and Shirek’s former appointee to the Planning Commission, told the Daily Planet he will challenge Shirek in Berkeley’s Third Council District. 

Anderson’s candidacy reveals mounting frustrations with Shirek among Berkeley progressives, many of whom revere her for her work in the civil rights movement and battling housing discrimination in Berkeley.  

In recent years, however, progressives have watched as Shirek’s attention span has appeared to waiver at council meetings and her voting record has closely mirrored those of more moderate councilmembers. 

While Shirek has faced competition in past elections, no candidate with Anderson’s pedigree has dared to challenge her. 

“It’s not an easy thing to do,” Anderson said. “I’ve always deferred to Maudelle’s leadership in the community.” 

Anderson said he had waited eight years for the chance to succeed Shirek, who has served on the council since 1984, but with Shirek intent on standing for re-election, he decided his time was now. “I thought things weren’t getting better in the district and I could step up and hopefully offer more energetic representation,” he said. 

Aware that challenging a Berkeley icon will require a deft political touch, Anderson, a registered nurse who moved to Berkeley 19 years ago, said he wouldn’t criticize Shirek during the campaign. 

“I’m not running against Maudelle, I’m running for the seat,” he said. 

Shirek’s office declined to comment for this story. 

Some progressives have been urging Anderson to run for months. Earlier this year, they held informal meetings at the public library to gauge his interest in becoming a candidate. 

Councilmember Dona Spring, one of Anderson’s biggest supporters, said the time had come for Shirek to step down. 

“Maudelle deserves a lot of kudos for her legacy, but now is the time to make a change,” Spring said. “She’s been much more of a moderate vote the past couple of years.” 

The famed progressive/moderate divide on the council has blurred in recent years. Spring and Kriss Worthington, the two most progressive members of the council, have at times found themselves with little support among their colleagues. 

But the progressive mantle could end up a burden for Anderson. Some neighborhood groups have been skeptical of progressive politicians who they fault for dumping unwanted city services into their neighborhoods and failing to take a tough stance on crime. 

Although candidates for the November election cannot formally declare until July 13, Anderson is one of several who have filed non-binding statements of intent to run or have taken out papers in lieu of filing. Joining him in District Three is Jeffrey Benefiel. 

In District Two, also expected to be a competitive race, only Peralta Community College District Trustee Darryl Moore has filed a statement of intent. Mel Martynn, an aide to District 2 Councilmember Margaret Breland, said Wednesday that Breland had not decided whether or not to run for re-election.  

Councilmember Betty Olds is the only candidate to file a statement of intent to run in District 6. 

In District 5, where Councilmember Miriam Hawley is not running for re-election, Jesse Townley (a punk rock singer and secretary of punk venue 924 Gilman), as well as Hawley’s preferred successor, Zoning Adjustment Board commissioner Laurie Capitelli, have both filed letters of intent.  

Both incumbent school board members, John Selawsky and Joaquin Rivera, intend to run for re-election. Karen Hemphill, a parent at Washington Elementary School and the Emeryville town clerk, and Merrilie Mitchell have filed letters of intent to challenge them. Mitchell, however, said she doesn’t plan to formally enter the race. 

Candidates have until Aug. 9 to file nomination papers. 

 

 

 

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