For an all-too-brief and shining moment Friday noon, Sproul Plaza reverberated with the rhetorical fireworks that made Berkeley synonymous with radical ideas during the 1960's. 

Two firebrands of the Free Speech Movement (FSM) ignited a crowd of thousands in outbursts of cheers and applause, and a defeated but unbowed presidential candidate urged his listeners to join the political fray, both as activists and as candidates. 

In commemoration of one of the most celebrated moments of four decades earlier, the speakers addressed the audience from atop a police car—albeit on a wooden platform reached by a ramp. 

And though the firebrands were grayer, heavier and more stooped than in those September days of 1964 and some needed a hand to traverse the ramp, on ce atop the UC Police cruiser they demonstrated that they’d lost none of their spirit. 

While Howard Dean was the celebrity du jour, delivering a hearty stump speech on behalf of one-time opponent John Kerry, it was FSM vets Bettina Aptheker and state Ass emblymember Jackie Goldberg who delivered the fire to the crowd of 3,000 students and snowy-tressed baby boomers who had gathered in Sproul Plaza to celebrate the movement’s 40th anniversary. 

After Berkeley and a subsequent women’s studies teaching job a t San Jose State, Aptheker enrolled at UC Santa Cruz for additional graduate studies, staying to teach in and eventually chair the Women’s Studies Program. 

Her voice resonant with passion, her knees pumping with the rhythm of her words, Aptheker hailed t he memory of “the vibrant, effervescent, singing students of this campus. 

“This was my generation,” she said, baby boomers whose youth had been shaped by knowledge of the Holocaust and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

“To see you today moves me t o tears,” she said, eliciting the first of several rousing ovations. 

In passing remarks to a reporter a few minutes earlier, Michael Rossman, an FSM vet and one of the key organizers of Friday’s gathering, had echoed her feelings. 

“All of us have been crying at some point today,” he sighed. 

Aptheker came by her radicalism naturally as a red diaper daughter of Communist Party members—her father was internationally known journalist and African American studies expert Herbert Aptheker, a white protégé of W.E.B. DuBois. 

Comparing the United States of 1964 and 2004, Aptheker found “periods of great social movements and government repression.” 

“This is the most significant election in American since 1860,” she said. “Vote,” she implored. “Register and vote. Let your voices be heard.” 

“She was my first Communist,” Goldberg said of Aptheker, at the start of an equally rousing, and fervently applauded address.  

“The most important lesson my parents gave me when I started at Berkeley was ‘Don’t sign anything!’” Goldberg recalled. 

The shadow of the McCarthy era was haunting America in 1964, when “radical” was synonymous with “subversive” and “un-American” and a signature on a petition could earn a file-creating, life-destroying label. 

But Goldberg signed. A nd more. 

Her politics, awakened by her involvement in the FSM, would eventually earn her “a couple of arrests and convictions” and a rejection when she later applied for a teacher’s job with the Los Angeles school system, which wouldn’t hire anyone withi n five years of an arrest. 

She applied for a job in Compton, an economically-depressed African American city in Los Angeles County. She would go on to teach for two decades, win election to the Los Angeles County Board of Education—where, after eight yea rs, she was finally able to end the rule that had barred her from a job. 

She later became a deputy to L.A. County Supervisor Dorothy Molina. Twice elected to the Los Angeles City Council in ‘93 and ‘97, she won a seat in the State Assembly four years ago. Her legislative record and her rhetoric from atop the police car match the values she’d espoused in Berkeley from atop another police car. 

She denounced the forces of reaction for creating a cynical mythology in which students lapsed into political ina ction, convinced “that you’re apathetic, that you can’t measure up to us. Hogwash!” she declared, leaning in toward her audience. “You are light years ahead of us!” 

Denouncing the tuition-raising mindset that holds that “we can’t afford to tax anybody an other dollar” to support education, sending college tuition ever-upward, she offered “a simple formula: ‘Tax the rich! They have all the money!’” 

Howard Dean opened his own stump speech with an homage. “Arnold, you better watch out, because Jackie Goldbe rg’s comin’ ta getcha!” 

While Dean’s call to political arms offered no surprises, the speech by UC Chancellor Robert Birgeneau did. 

No one missed the obvious irony of a Berkeley chancellor speaking from atop a police car in Sproul Plaza, but what evoked a few headshakes of surprise was his revelation that he too had been part of the same civil rights movement whose recruiting tables sparked the confrontation that led to emergence of the FSM. 

After introductory remarks by ASUC President Misha Leybovich, Birgeneau recounted the events after his graduation from Yale in 1964—where he’d done volunteer work in inner-city New Haven. 

Birgeneau and his spouse headed to the deep South as a volunteer in the civil rights movement, where they shared a dwelling wit h two FSM leaders. 

“I had only been out of Canada for two years, and it was an extraordinarily valuable experience,” he said. 

Birgeneau’s address did draw resounding boos with the mention of the former Secretary of State who was the architect of Preside nt Richard Nixon’s Southeast Asian war strategy.  

“I had dinner last week with Henry Kissinger and a senior official from Vietnam,” he said. The Vietnamese official “said we would not have had peace and unity in Vietnam if not for” the antiwar movement in the United States. 

The most poignant moment came when a frail Julia Vinograd, Berkeley’s well-known Telegraph Avenue street poet, was assisted onto the podium to read her poem about another iconic movement moment, “The Sproul Hall Sit In.” .

One long-standing bone of contention that the City Council might be able to resolve Tuesday is new zoning rules for University Avenue. After five months of debate, the Planning Commission reached a compromise last July that aims to decrease the scale of new buildings on the avenue. 

The council will take up the issue Tuesday at a jam packed session. Also on the agenda are the increasingly divisive issue of retooling the city’s creek ordinance and a plan to reduce the cost of unused vacation time. 

Both Livable Berkeley, a pro-development organization that wanted to see taller buildings on University and neighboring streets, and Plan Berkeley, a neighborhood group which had raised concerns that buildings on University had grown too tall and bulky, have recommended that the council approve the compromise. 

However, Kristin Leimkuhler of Plan Berkeley said her group would ask the council to reconsider allowing residential-only buildings on the avenue as called for under the plan. Because buildings without any ground floor retail would have more apartment units, she feared they could grow to five-stories under a state law that gives bonus space for including affordable housing. 

Since the Planning Commission finalized the new zoning rules, Governor Schwarzenegger expanded bonus space in such buildings from 25 percent to 35 percent. 

Unused Vacation Pay 

After paying city workers nearly $1.5 million last year for unused vacation days, Berkeley City Manager Phil Kamlarz is proposing that city hall go on vacation Christmas week and hoping that city workers follow suit. 

The voluntary time-off program is directly tied to the city’s structural budget deficit, which has grown to $7.5 million for the coming year. 

Under the union agreement, city employees may accumulate and carry over up to 320 hours, or about eight weeks, of unused vacation time. The city must pay employees for vacation time earned over that limit. Last year the city failed to budget for one-third of the nearly $1.5 million it spent “buying back” unused vacation days. 

Under Kamlarz’ plan, non-essential services would be closed on Friday, Nov. 12 and the four work days between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Employees would have the option of reporting to work for pay, using their vacation time or taking leave without pay. 

Police, fire and garbage collection and the library would all run at full strength. 

Kamlarz said he wanted the city to test the program this year to determine if the program could work. The council next year could be asked to impose mandatory days off to save money, he said. 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak said ultimately the city should make sure future labor deals don’t allow workers to cash in excess vacation days. 

“I worked for UC and it was use it or lose it,” Wozniak said.  

Creeks 

On Tuesday the council is scheduled to decide the venue for revising the city’s embattled creek ordinance.  

Two weeks ago, under heavy pressure from over 400 homeowners, the council amended the law, assuring property owners’ right to rebuild after a disaster. The question remained whether to send the ordinance to the planning commission for revisions or create a special task force. 

Councilmember Wozniak sent a e-mail warning to homeowners, “If you do not make yourself heard now, the same people, who put in the original ban of rebuilding ‘by-right’ in a disaster, could end up rewriting the ordinance.” 

Phillip Price, a creekside resident, said in a responding e-mail, “The original Creek Ordinance did not ‘contain a ban on rebuilding by right in a disaster,’ nor was such ban the intent of its writers, again as Wozniak claims.” 

Juliet Lamont, a member of Friends of Five Creeks, broadcast her own e-mail accusing Wozniak and others of spreading myths about the ordinance “to foment anger and more hysteria.” 

The 1989 law, designed primarily to restrict the construction of new culverts that push creeks underground and are prone to collapse, forbids new construction of roofed buildings within 30 feet of the centerline of a creek or culvert. 

Creek advocates want the law strengthened so other types of construction like parking lots are also banned and they want to extend the 30-foot rule in areas where creek beds are wider. Opponents have called for the law to be suspended or at least applied only to public property. 

A planning department recommendation will not be released until Tuesday. City Manager Phil Kamlarz said one option might be to create a “hybrid” commission with members from commissions on planning, public works and parks and recreation. He added that any revision to the law will cost several hundred thousand dollars, much of it for consultants to measure the widths of the city’s creeks. 

Since the city doesn’t have the money budgeted to pay for the process, Councilmember Dona Spring, a creek advocate, said she wouldn’t be surprised if the council chose to let the ordinance stand until the city’s finances improved.  

“We’re in a budget cutting mode,” she said. “Right now, there isn’t much we can do.” 

›

Why would the Berkeley City Council ask voters to disregard long-standing city tradition and move mayoral elections to coincide with the vote for president? 

It depends on who you ask. 

For supporters of Measure I on the November ballot, the switch is simply a good government reform. 

More Berkeley residents vote in presidential elections and more voters means better democracy, reasoned Councilmember Kriss Worthington, the measure’s author. 

But Worthington’s colleague on the council, Betty Olds, sees a different rationale. 

“This is all because the mayor only wants to run for two more years,” she said.  

To align mayoral elections with presidential races, the measure dictates that the winner of the 2006 election receive only a two-year term, setting up the next mayoral contest in 2008. 

That year Assemblymember Loni Hancock, the wife of Mayor Tom Bates, will lose her seat to the state’s term limit law. Olds speculated that the couple wanted to retire together and then back City Councilmember Linda Maio for mayor. 

“I know [Maio] wants to run,” Olds said. “That’s one of the reasons they want to pass public financing of elections because otherwise she would have had problems.” 

Former Mayor Shirley Dean, who agreed with Olds’ synopsis, predicted the measure would essentially guarantee a Bates victory in 2006 if he chooses to run. 

“I don’t think anyone would run for a two-year term,” she said. “Who has the resources to raise money for just two years?” 

Bates is still raising money to pay back his campaign debt from his victory over Dean in 2002. 

A further disincentive to anyone challenging Bates in 2006 is that if city voters pass a separate measure to finance elections with city money, the 2006 election could be the last one to require candidates to raise private funds. 

The campaign finance reform measure gives the City Council discretion on when it implements public financing. 

Sam Ferguson, head of the public financing campaign, said Bates told him that if voters approved realigning the mayoral election, he would be hesitant to start public financing in 2006. 

“He said funding two mayoral elections in two years would be too expensive,” Ferguson said. 

Bates did not return a phone call for this story. 

Last January, Councilwoman Maio, with Bates and Councilmember Dona Spring at her side, told the city’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission that she had been interested in running for mayor, but without campaign finance reform, she would need to take a second mortgage on her house or possibly dip into her retirement savings. 

Maio isn’t the only potential candidate for mayor who could benefit from an election in 2008. Like Maio, the other two councilmembers most widely speculated as possible mayoral candidates, Gordon Wozniak and Worthington, are up for reelection in 2006. By setting the next election for mayor in 2008, none of them would risk losing their council seat if they lost a bid for mayor. 

Asked if the ballot measure he sponsored might work to his own political advantage, Worthington, one of the more left-leaning members of the council, replied that “progressive candidates do better when there’s a higher turnout.” As for the timing of the measure, he said he had proposed similar reforms before he won a seat on the city council. 

Councilmembers Wozniak and Miriam Hawley said they assumed there was a political component to the measure, but weren’t as forthcoming as Olds.  

“It’s a good government reform,” said Wozniak. “Are there other reasons for it? I think there are, but I don’t want to discuss it.” 

There is some precedent for changing the dates of Berkeley elections for both improved participation and political gain. In June of 1982 voters passed a progressive-sponsored charter amendment to move elections from April of odd-numbered years to Election Day of even-numbered years. In November 1982 the change netted progressives three out of the four open seats on the council after they were swept in the previous election, said the measure’s author Marty Schiffenbauer. 

Recent election returns leave little doubt that more voters in Berkeley come to the polls when the presidency is at stake. In 2000, 54,684 of Berkeley’s 72,299 registered voters cast a ballot, while two years later with approximately 2,000 fewer registered voters only 40,142 cast a vote for mayor. 

Worthington argued that if the mayoral and presidential elections were aligned, more Berkeley voters would take the time to study the mayor’s race. 

But Barbara Gilbert, who is running for the City Council in District 5, said her experience has been that local issues get lost in the heat of the presidential race. 

“People are totally distracted by Bush and Kerry,” she said. “This isn’t the opportune time to be talking about Berkeley.”›

Thanks to the city of Berkeley’s loose interpretation of one of its laws, along with support from the community and Elmwood commercial district, the Nabolom cooperative bakery says it will likely stay open after initially announcing that it was on track to go out of business by January.  

The bakery co-op, which has had financial problems for years, announced at a community meeting last month that if they could not figure out how to generate more money they would have to shut down because they are two months late on their $3,886 rent and $33,000 in debt—$22,000 of which is on high interest personal credit cards. 

“When we initially called the meeting, it was doubtful to me that we could go until December,” said Jim Burr, the co-op member in charge of the bakery’s finances. “I cannot say Nabolom has no problems, but we will be open through 2005.” 

In the last week or so, several UC Berkeley housing cooperatives approached the bakery about starting a wholesale accounts. According to Burr, one wholesale account will allow them to start paying off the debt.  

During the community meeting the co-op received thousands of dollars in promissory notes from customers. The notes are cash advances that the bakery has promised to pay back over time in baked goods. The initial contribution of $5,500 helped them pay off one month’s rent, and according to Burr, the contributions have continued to pour in.  

One of the hurdles the bakery faced was the need to expand services, which would force them to change their use permit from a take-out to a quick-service restaurant. In the Elmwood district, there is a quota system that sets guidelines for how many of each kind of business can operate. According to a report by the city’s planning department, the quota for quick service is full. 

The quota system was devised to insure diversity and to prevent restaurants, which are usually the most lucrative businesses, from taking over. Jeremy’s clothing store farther down on College Avenue faced the same problem when it tried to expand. A divided Zoning Adjustment Board narrowly approved the request.  

Burr, however, believes that the city will probably look favorably on their expansion and not prevent them from securing a change in their use permit. 

“Nabolom is a wonderful resource for the community,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who is a neighbor. “It’s an excellent example of a small locally owned business. The city should do everything we are allowed to do to keep their excellent bakery available.” 

According to Andy Katz, the chair of the Zoning Adjustment Board, which would hear Nabolom’s request for a change, the city has some leeway in interpreting the law. 

“At all times the [Zoning Adjustments Board] should keep the best interests of the neighborhood and the business district in mind,” even if that means exceeding a quota, said Katz 

Both Worthington and Dave Fogerty, from the Economic Development Department, said Nabolom’s case should be less controversial than Jeremy’s because the clothing store wanted to take over a space that occupied a quota spot reserved for arts and crafts, while Nabolom will stay within the food category. Both said Nabolom, which has been open for 28 years, is well-respected in the neighborhood, a point taken into consideration by the city. 

Jon Moriarty, the president of the Elmwood Merchants’ Association, said he does not have a problem with Nabolom’s exceeding the quota. He thinks the system needs to be reinterpreted anyway.  

“I think it should be restaurants and everybody else,” he said, instead of classifying each type of restaurant and each type of business. 

“Nobody up here would say a word,” he added. “Everybody wants them to stay, they have been around longer than most of us.”  

Burr said the financial situation has forced the seven current co-op members to develop a smarter business model. In the past, he said, members hired friends and then were too shy to confront each other when problems developed. 

“I think that Nabolom, due to the loose structure, has been more tolerant of people with eccentricities than other work places,” said Burr, who confessed that they’ve taken on people with substance abuse problems or people that did not have much baking experience. 

“People would tolerate and tolerate and tolerate until things had reached a point where they couldn’t deal with each other any more,” said Burr. 

“They just didn’t really get their act together,” said one patron who asked not to be named. “It was this hippy-dippy sort of unorganized thing. The good news is they are open to new things.” 

The same customer added that he’s been going there since 1982 and respects their effort to make the business as egalitarian as possible. 

“It would be really awful if that place was not there,” he said.

Berkeley Unified School District has received a Golden Carrot—a top national award for food service—from the Washington, D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). 

The awards go to food service facilities that offer innovative programs that help improve child health and reduce obesity. Berkeley’s Grand Prize comes with $1,000 in cash for BUSD Nutrition Services Director Karen Candito, as well as a $2,500 donation to the BUSD food program. 

Berkeley was one of four districts to win out of 60 nominated. The three others were in East Hampton, New York, Fairfax, Virginia, and Los Angeles.  

This is the first year of the award, which will be given annually. 

“Berkeley Unified really impressed us,” said PCRM director of nutrition, Amy Joy Lanou. “Karen Candito and her staff have done an extraordinary job of providing Berkeley’s students with healthy, diverse menus and teaching kids about the importance of good nutrition.” 

Among other things, Lanou cited BUSD’s vegetarian lunch, organic gardens, farm-to-school programs, and a policy banning fried foods, sugary desserts, and sodas as factors in the district’s receipt of the award. 

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially through good nutrition.

Facing the loss of a truck company if they don’t accept a reduction in salary, Berkeley firefighters have agreed to come to the negotiating table. 

City brass and union leadership are scheduled to hold their first formal talks Tuesday—six months after the City Council first sought concessions from the firefighters. 

Eliminating the truck company is expected to save $300,000 in overtime expenses and would cover the savings the City Council had hoped to achieve by compelling the firefighters to return nearly three percent of their scheduled salary increase this year. All other city unions have either negotiated or been forced into a similar one-time salary reduction to help the city close a $10 million deficit. 

If no deal is in sight by Oct. 19, City Manager Phil Kamlarz said the city will have to close one of its two ladder truck company during evening hours starting Nov. 8. The city council is scheduled to meet in closed session Tuesday to discuss the matter. 

Union representative Gil Dong indicated that the firefighters were now willing to surrender $300,000 in projected increases in return for a one-year contract extension with a six percent raise in 2006. The proposal would match the salary increase scheduled for police officers that year and would schedule both unions’ contracts to expire in 2007. 

Long-term contracts approved for city workers several years ago are seen as one of the sources of the city’s structural budget deficit, estimated at $7.5 million for the coming year. 

Dong said that firefighters were reluctant to accept a salary reduction after city leaders warned them not to expect any raises in the near future. 

“The feeling has been why give up a raise this year if we’re not going to get one in 2006,” he said. 

Firefighters have stronger leverage with the city than other unions because their contract lacks a clause allowing the city to force them to take a pay cut.  

The union’s willingness to bargain with the city breaks its vow not to enter formal negotiations until every other city union had agreed to a reduction in their scheduled raises. The lone holdout, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Engineers Local 1245 is still contesting the city’s move unilaterally to cut their scheduled raise.

Voters in Alameda and Contra Costa counties will be asked to consider a wide array of ballot measures in the Nov. 2 election. Two of these (AA and BB) are regional measures to be voted on by residents across both counties. One measure (CC) is a regional measure to be voted on only by residents in the East Bay Regional Park District Zone 1 (generally the western areas of Alameda and Contra Costa counties). One measure (J) will be voted on by residents of Contra Costa County. Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Oakland, and Richmond residents will all be voting on individual measures for their cities. The Berkeley ballot measures were detailed in the last issue of the Daily Planet. 

REGIONAL MEASURES  

(Alameda and Contra Costa counties) 

Measure AA — BART Bond Measure 

Would levy a real property tax to finance a $980 million bond to pay for disaster upgrading on the BART system, including strengthening and seismic upgrading in case of earthquakes. The term of the bond would not exceed 35 years. The rate of this tax is estimated to range between $4.85 to $12.79 per $100,000 in assessed valuation for the 35 year life of the bond. 

Measure BB — AC Transit Parcel Tax 

Would increase the AC Transit parcel tax in Transit District 1 in order to subsidize the operation and maintenance of bus service in this area. Transit District 1 includes Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Hayward, Oakland, Piedmont, Richmond, San Leandro, San Pablo, and the nearby unincorporated areas. The special parcel tax would be $48 on each parcel of taxable land. The parcel tax would expire in 10 years. 

Measure CC — East Bay Regional Park District Zone 1 Parcel Tax 

Would create a residential parcel tax to fund public access, wildlife protection, public safety, and environmental maintenance of East Bay Regional Park District lands in western Alameda and western Contra Costa Counties. Only parks within the Parks District Zone 1 will be funded from this tax, and only residents of Parks District Zone 1 will be eligible to vote on this parcel tax. The parks in Zone 1 include Alameda Point, Anthony Chabot, Crown Beach, Eastshore State Park, Huckleberry, Kennedy Grove, Lake Chabot, Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline, Miller/Knox, Pt. Isabel, Pt. Pinole, Redwood, Roberts, Temescal, Tilden, Tilden Nature Area, Wildcat Canyon, Leona, Brooks Island, Claremont Canyon, Sibley, and Alvarado. The parcel tax would be $12 per year for a single-family residential parcel, $8.28 per year for each unit within a multi-family unit. The parcel tax would expire in 15 years. 

ALAMEDA COUNTY  

MEASURES 

Measure A — Albany Unified School District Bond Measure 

Would authorize the issuance of $13 million in bonds to support various school improvements in the Albany Unified School District. The bond money would be used to complete school modernization improvements at Marin and Ocean View schools, repair and upgrade Cougar Field and other playing fields, and provide matching funds for various state school funding. Would raise Albany’s ad valorem property tax between $25 and $51 per $100,000 on assessed valuation. The bonds would last no more than 25 years. 

Measure G — City of Albany Paramedic/ Ambulance Special Tax 

Would change the way non-residential properties are assessed under the Paramedic Advanced Life Support Tax passed by Albany voters in 2000. Under Measure N in 2000, Albany voters taxed every commercial or industrial property in the city at the equivalent of two residential units, regardless of the actual size of that commercial or industrial property. Measure G would change that assessment so that every 1,200 feet of commercial and industrial property would be assessed under the Paramedic Advanced Life Support Tax at the same rate as one residential unit.  

Measure T — City of Emeryville Pixar Headquarters Expansion 

Would ratify amendments to the Emeryville General Plan and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. The amendments are necessary to complete the city’s proposed agreement with Pixar concerning the expansion of Pixar headquarters in the city. Among other things, the amendments would change the land use designation of certain properties connected with the Pixar expansion, would eliminate the extension of Emery Street between 45th Street and park Avenue, and would relocate the route of bicycle and pedestrian path presently designated for that area. 

Measure U — City of Emeryville Pixar Development Agreement 

Would ratify the agreement between the City of Emeryville and Pixar concerning the expansion of Pixar headquarters in the city. The Amended Development agreement would authorize the construction of three new Pixar buildings in addition to the existing headquarters building. It would also authorize the construction of a six-story garage. It would turn over to Pixar the section of Emery Street between 45th Street and Park Avenue. In exchange, Pixar would be required to pay the city a $1.5 million capital improvement and services fee. 

Measure Y — City of Oakland Parking Lot and Parcel Tax 

Would create a parcel tax and a commercial parking surcharge in order to fund fire services, paramedic services, violence prevention measures, and the hiring of new police officers. Would impose an 8.5 percent surcharge on every rented parking space in commercial parking lots. Would add an $88 per year parcel tax for single-family residential parcels, as well as a $60.12 per year per unit parcel tax for multi-unit residential parcels. Would also impose a parcel tax on all developed non-residential parcels. The parcel tax and the parking surcharge would expire in 10 years. Proceeds from the two taxes would go to hiring 63 new police officers. $4 million would go to fire and paramedic services, and at least 40 percent would go to violence preventive social services, including youth outreach counselors, after-school and in-school programs for at-risk students, domestic violence and child abuse counselors, and employment training for formerly-incarcerated individuals. 

Measure Z — City of Oakland Marijuana Law Enforcement 

Would set marijuana law enforcement as Oakland’s lowest law enforcement priority. Would require the City of Oakland to lobby for the legalization of marijuana use. Would license, tax, and regulate marijuana sale in Oakland when and if California allows such activity. Would create a city commission to regulate such activity when and if California allows such activity. 

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY  

MEASURES 

Measure J — Contra Costa County Sales Tax 

Would continue the present 0.5 percent transit tax on transactions and retail sales in Contra Costa County for 25 more years—from 2009 through 2034. The present transit tax (passed by Contra Costa County voters in 1988 as Measure C) is scheduled to end in April of 2009. The money from the tax would go exclusively for projects listed in the Contra Costa Transportation Authority’s Transportation Expenditure Plan, including extending and improving the BART system, adding a fourth bore to the Caldecott Tunnel, improving Highways 24, 80, 680, and 4, maintaining and improving local streets and roads, subsidizing ferry service, and improving transit for seniors and disabled persons. 

Measure K — City of El Cerrito Utility Users Tax 

Would ratify the existing City of El Cerrito eight percent utility users tax. The tax is collected on gas, electric, cable, and telephone bills. The tax is used to supplement the city’s general fund, and costs residents an average of $12 per month. The tax was adopted by El Cerrito City Council in 1991 without voter approval, but recently the California Supreme Court rulings has ruled that such general tax increases should be submitted to the voters. This vote asks El Cerrito residents to agree to continuing the utility tax in the future, as well as ratify the collection of the tax since 1991. 

Measure Q — City of Richmond Transaction Use Tax 

Would authorize a .5 percent retail sales and use tax in the City of Richmond for the city’s general fund. Would raise Richmond’s sales tax from the current 8.25 percent to 8.75 percent. The money raised would have no restrictions. 

Measure R - City of Richmond Charter Amendment 

Would reduce the number of Richmond City Councilmembers from nine to seven, effective for the November 2008 elections. In the November 2008 elections that would reduce the number of councilmembers elected that year from five to three. 

?

MEASURE B 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Jennifer Havens writes that she supports BSEP, but opposes Measure B because it would supposedly eliminate BSEP’s elected site committees and Planning and Oversight Committee (Daily Planet, Sept. 28-30) . 

Measure B does neither! She is misinformed! 

Measure B would supplement BSEP for two years until the voters consider BSEP’s reauthorization in 2006. Under Measure B, all aspects of BSEP would continue untouched. This includes the elected site committees (we are both members) and the Planning and Oversight Committee (which we co-chair). In fact, Measure B (Section 5.C.) explicitly requires a planning and oversight committee. 

Measure B is limited and highly specific. Most funds (68 percent) are restricted to reducing class sizes to specified levels. The dollar amounts were based on precise calculations of the additional costs required to reach these targets.  

Existing BSEP funds are also predominantly for reducing class sizes. Unfortunately, given the grossly insufficient funding coming from Sacramento, these funds are no longer sufficient to reach BSEP targets. 

The remainder of Measure B supplements other BSEP supported programs: school libraries (16 percent) and the school music program (seven percent). The remaining nine percent is for additional teacher training, program evaluation, and parent outreach. 

Under the current system for financing public education, almost all dollars available to a school district come from the state. When the state doesn’t provide adequate funding, only two options are available: (1) accept inadequate education for our kids; or (2) raise funds locally. Option 1 is not acceptable! It is for that reason that Measure B is necessary and why our community must act to support Berkeley’s schools. 

Don’t be misled by incorrect information. Please vote yes on Measure B. 

Dan Lindheim  

Susan Henderson 

Co-Chairs BSEP Planning and Oversight Committee 

• 

FIREFIGHTERS FOR M 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley Firefighters Association Local 1227 is requesting support for Measure M (Emergency Medical Services Tax) on Nov. 2, 2004. Measure M will provide funding to put a paramedic on every engine at every fire station and keep our fire department fully funded and staff. 

Berkeley is the only city in Alameda County that does not staff a paramedic on their fire engines. A yes vote on Measure M will provide the tools, equipment, and training to allow Berkeley Fire Paramedics to be available even if all of our ambulances are committed to other calls. 

Measure M will cost the average homeowner a modest $79 per year or less than 23 cents per day to keep the fire department fully funded and staffed with paramedics at every fire station. 

Berkeley Fire Department responds to approximately 8,000 medical calls per year. We need to keep all fire companies in service. Support your firefighters by giving them the tools, equipment, and training to keep Berkeley safe. Yes on Measure M! 

Gil Dong 

BFFA Local 1227 

MEASURES J AND K 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks to support from the City of Berkeley, over 2,000 low income Berkeley residents were able to visit Habitot Children’s Museum for free last year.  

The passage of both Measures J and K is absolutely essential to sustaining this non-profit museum’s Family Outreach Program which ensures that all Berkeley families, regardless of income, have access to Habitot’s rich learning environment for young children, year-round parenting education programs, and early childhood classes in literacy, science and art. Habitot helps prepare young children for kindergarten and fosters curiosity, learning and creativity.  

Without passage of Measures J and K, Habitot will lose funding for free field trips for Berkeley’s Head Start and low-income preschools, scholarships for children’s classes, subsidies for family memberships for needy Berkeley families, free admission days, invitations to home health nurses to bring clients, and admission passes for families through Berkeley agencies like A Better Way Foster Care, Through the Looking Glass, Smyth Fernwald (UC-Berkeley), BOSS Harrison House, McKinley House, and the Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center.  

Please vote for Measures J and K!  

Gina Moreland  

Founder and Director  

Habitot Children’s Museum  

• 

ANOTHER LOOK AT B 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your voters guide to Berkeley ballot measures was pretty worthless when it came to Measure B. Saying it taxes homeowners at 9.7 cents per square foot is useless information. 

Better you should have pointed out that the average Berkeley home is 1,900 square ft and thus Measure B is a $184 tax on homeowners. You should have also pointed out that homeowners already pay an average of $200 in school taxes.  

Thus measure B doubles homeowner school taxes. That is information voters can use. 

Frank Greenspan 

• 

CULVERTS CONTROVERSY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The two commentaries that accompanied mine (Daily Planet, Oct. 5) asserted that there was never an intent to prevent the rebuilding of creekside homes after a disaster. Why, then, did the ordinance specifically set up bureaucratic obstacles to suchrebuilding, when it was the right of all other homeowners? 

While the City Council has resolved this problem, there are many aspects of the ordinance that need updating, This should be done by the Planning Commission in cooperation with Public Works, not by a special task force. This is not the time, fiscally or politically, to engage in endless meetings and discussions about rip-rapping, crib-walling, and the other esoterica of creekism, and the “utopian vision” that many of its adherents propose. The city needs to deal quickly and efficiently, in-house, with the huge 

impending problem of crumbling culverts.  

Jerry Landis 

• 

TENANT RECOMMENDATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It’s truly amazing that my vote, and the votes of Councilmembers Shirek, Olds, and Wozniak last Tuesday on the question of increasing relocation benefits to tenants has been cast as a vote “against tenants’ rights.” The question being considered was simple—whether to increase the amount of relocation payments to tenants when the landlord is going out of business. The entire council was in favor of upping the amount to reflect increases in the cost of living to low-income seniors and disabled persons. The entire council, that is. 

What my colleagues and I asked was that the rent board reconsider the second part of its recommendation—to extend these benefits to everyone over the age of 62, regardless of their income. We’d like to see some thought given to tailoring the recommendation to ensure the benefits are available to those who may truly need it, either because of their difficulties in relocating (e.g., a single mom with children, or someone with health problems) or because they lack the resources to pay their own relocation expenses. But one hysterical council member, whose out-of-control, politically-motivated remarks were echoed in last week’s Planet, chose not only to call our vote anti-tenant rights, but to suggest canceling the next council meeting until he’s assured of a majority who will vote with him. That’s not rational discussion. It’s not rational reporting. It’s political grandstanding that has nothing to do with the needs of tenants. 

Mim Hawley 

Councilmember, District 5 

• 

SOUTH BERKELEY POLICE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Berkeley police officers who work in beats 12 and 13 have a difficult assignment. We all live in Berkeley and we have every right to expect our police to be civil at all times. But gee, there’s a catch to that idea...how do we respond to violent crime? If you live in Berkeley, South Berkeley is far and away the most likely place for you to get shot. The crime statistics from this area don’t compare very favorably with other parts of the city. It’s easy to pick apart statistics to tell a story, but spending time in beat 12 means that you are 50 times more likely to experience an aggravated assault. The statistics are similar for many violent crimes. 

And in case you might be thinking that someone is looking to find crime in these neighborhoods by assigning more police, the answer is a flat no. Staffing in our city is assigned very strictly according to an area’s population. In Berkeley, to appease unrealistic notions of fairness, we ignore very strong factual evidence that crime happens more in some areas. 

Asking the police to not do their job is ridiculous. But we do have the problem of those pesky statistics. How about we ask the folks in the North Berkeley to do their share and start fighting the man! Forget about all that talk and put your feet on the street! Enough armchair activism and ideology, make a difference and scrap it out with those darn coppers! That should straighten out the statistical problems with pepper spray usage in Berkeley. 

I live in South Berkeley. It’s full of great people. We have the diversity that a lot of progressive people talk about but never experience. We’re very passionate about the good that we find in our neighborhoods. 

“The Pepper Spray Triangle.” Thanks so much for the label, Ms. Denney. I am certain the many fine residents of South Berkeley appreciate your comments about our fair little patch of the flats. Dang- I have that Dr. Pepper song stuck in my head now. 

Kevin Combs 

• 

MEASURE O 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If the voters pass Measure O, who benefits? I am a little confused because the formula as it is written implies that my rent could go up to a maximum of 7 percent each year. That is a hefty increase compared to the 1.5 percent increases I have received over the past ten years. What would be the result if the formula had been applied over that time? I would like the Rent Stabilization Board to give us data that would allow us to make an informed decision when we vote. Here this measure seems flawed because it accounts for rents in the future. Was there any renters invited to this discussion?  

The argument for the passing of Measure O has no renters’ endorsement. It is understandable that property owners may find the measure streamlining $15,000 to $20,000 out of the city’s budget. However, the city shouldn’t complain because that money should have been made from the property owners collecting rents. Understandably Measure O will certainly benefit owners who are dependent on a rental market income. But streamlining twenty grand out or the budget is a pittance compared to the entire Berkeley taxed populace.  

So, my confusion is how does this benefit renters?  

What am I missing? 

T Dea Robertson-Gutierrez 

• 

MEASURE B UNDEMOCRATIC 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Measure B, the new tax measure by Berkeley School District is another $8.4 million tax, on top of the $13 million extra we are taxed each year to run the schools, and on top of the $275 million we have been paying since 1992 for new construction. The school district already gets a lot of money from us, but despite all this money, it is regularly in chronic financial crisis. More money to the schools needs strong safeguards.  

Measure B is being touted as the child of BSEP, but Measure B has none of the much needed safeguards which citizens wrote into BSEP. Measure B eliminates: elected school committees, elected district committees, parents and teachers helping to decide how to spend the money, elected oversight, and guaranteed fair share to each school.  

And, worst of all, any money is first used for overhead, not for the benefit of students and not to support teachers. 

Measure B’s citizen oversight is appointed. This means, the Superintendent and school board can continue doing what they have been doing, which is to remove all critics from the citizens oversight committees. The board dissolved the Food Committee, and got rid of all critics on the Maintenance Committee. And the school district is being sued for not doing necessary audits as required for Measure BB which we passed in 2000. 

Measure B is undemocratic. It has no checks and balances. There’s no guarantee that the money will actually benefit the kids.  

Vote No on Measure B.  

Ron Rice 

• 

CAPITELLI AN D RENT COSTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have two strong impressions regarding Laurie Capitelli: (1) He is a nice guy. (2) His views are detrimental to the well-being of Berkeley tenants. 

He’d make a fine neighbor, but I have reservations about his becoming a city councilmember. 

For years, Mr. Capitelli has advocated what he considers a grand housing compromise. Rent control would stop being a program that benefited all tenants. Instead, it would be means- tested so as to cover only the poor. In exchange, landlords would pay a tax on their rents to finance housing subsidies for the poor. The result would be a disaster for tenants. 

Rent control would for the most part come to an end. New renters with incomes above Mr. Capitelli’s poverty line would be exposed to steep rent increases during their tenancies. Renters with incomes below that line would experience magnified difficulty in finding apartments—landlords would generally choose to avoid regulation by renting to those less badly off. 

Mr. Capitelli’s subsidies would help some of the needy. But to a substantial degree the money would come out of the pockets of moderate income tenants. Landlords would keep most of the additional rents they’d collect from these tenants due to the absence of rent control; a portion would be transferred to the subsidy program via the new tax. 

Mr. Capitelli’s proposed trade-off just makes no sense. All rent control does is prevent gouging. There is no rational basis for confining it to renters living on the edge of destitution. Moderate income renters, too, should be shielded from unstable housing costs. 

Rent control need not be sacrificed in order to assist the most vulnerable. We should both establish more generous policies to address the housing needs of the indigent and preserve rent control that protects every tenant. 

Randy Silverman 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Why, I kept asking myself, did the crowds on TV respond to President Bush in such an enthusiastic manner compared to the ones listening to Senator Kerry? Now I know the answer. The audiences listening to President Bush are screened and Kerry supporters are threatened with arrest if they don’t leave. Something is very wrong here. 

Anne Smith 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Have U.S. voters forgotten how, with African-American Condoleezza Rice standing beside him before a public audience in Brazil, Bush stupidly asked the president of Brazil, “Do you have black people here like we have?”! Isn’t “President” Bush dangerously ignorant? 

How could he believe the Iraqis would welcome our second visit, and our troops not need body armor? On his daddy’s watch a little more than a decade earlier, the U.S., with bulldozers (making surrender impossible), buried alive uncounted numbers of Iraqis fleeing across the desert from Kuwait City to Baghdad. Those dead had family members, who know what the U.S. did, and who won’t forget. Following that earlier barbarity with more than a decade of intermittent bombing and sanctions that “wasted” millions of innocent Iraqi children and other civilians, vengeful “President” Dubya Bush unilaterally decided to “preemptively” and cowardly despoil already weakened Iraq—because, supposedly, they “tried to kill my daddy”—but didn’t. Daddy went to Kuwait as an ordinary citizen, for a medal from Kuwaitis, one of whose diplomats had, by a lying sob-sister act performed by his own daughter, tricked our Congress to do their fighting! 

Thinking people should never vote for such an unfeeling mental cipher as George W. Bush. 

Judith Segard Hunt 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

His long pauses before speaking, and long pauses between each clump of four-word phrases; his eyes darting right and left, as if listening to unheard voices; his sudden break in mid-sentence from incoherent rambling to terse, definitive answers. A growing number of observers speculate that Bush used a tiny, radio earpiece during the debate, from which an operative was feeding him the “correct” answers to the questions. The squarish lump protruding from the back of his jacket, the way he mispronounced words as  

if hearing them wrong, and his rapid eyeblink rate are further indications. 

Is the man who acts as our commander-in-chief actually an audio-telepromptered puppet? Not only would the use of this technology violate the detailed rules of the debate, but it would show him to be even worse than incompetent. The newsmedia should investigate this immediately. Readers can start at isbushwired.com/2004/10/voice-in-bushs-ear. 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is clear to even the dullest of intellects that George W. Bush is a liar, fraud, and a WAR CRIMINAL! 

No WMD’s in Iraq? Then why are US Troops torturing and killing off the people of Iraq by the thousands? Americans are not the good guys in Iraq! 

I strongly urge the representatives of the American people to make a stand against the War Criminals in the White House and to take immediate action to bring all appropriate charges for war crimes against the Bush administration, a.s.a.p. 

It was George W. Bush that terrorized the world with his line by saying “you are with us or against us” before he invaded Iraq, to torture and kill thousands of innocents! 

Tens of millions of us from around the world hit the streets to protest against the war crimes of the Bush administration, and refused to be a part of the mass murder taking place in Iraq. 

Dear Senators, you must make it clear, publicly, that you are not a part of this madness any further! 

Let history show that this body of representatives (the Senate) refused to cooperate with the war criminals in the White House and bring them to justice for their crimes against humanity. Show us that Americans’ representatives do not support the war criminals in the White House.  

Bring the troops home now, and return all stolen resources (oil) back to the people of Iraq with the sincerest of apologies to the world at large.  

Then offer reparations to all that faced property damage from the American bombs dropping in the midst of their communities. There can be no replacement for all of those that lost family members.  

Nothing can ever clean the stain of the Bush administration from the heart and soul of the American people, and there’s no point in allowing this madman to pursue his current path of mass murder now or ever again in Iraq.  

The Bush administration has shamed the American people for decades to come for the lies and deceit taking place that are being used to wage a war against the innocent people of Iraq. 

We will not ever forget! 

Lynda Carson 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bush No More! – By Tim Simpson 

Look at the way that Bush ruled us,  

four years of turmoil, problems, and fuss. 

He thinks he is helping, when all he does is hurt.  

To me it feels like he’s stomping the American dream in the dirt. 

He believes that he can rule,  

And so he tries to gain our trust, 

But just you watch, and wait and see, 

Once more he’ll leave us in the dust. 

All he wants is money, power, and fame. 

Bush seems to think that ruling a country is just a childhood game. 

It’s time for someone new, and nice, to come along and rule, 

John F Kerry is our man, may he win this presidential dual. 

To you John F Kerry, we all wish you the best of luck, 

Because if Bushy wins again, 

That would surely suck. 

We need to have a president that isn’t so insane. 

One that cares for America’s people, 

Not personal financial gain. 

And after this last stanza, I shall say no more, 

But hope with all my heart and soul that Bush is shown the door. 

?

Editors, Daily Planet:  

As usual, Mr. Bush showed that he does not see reality. He cannot accept that he ever makes errors because he seems to have a “faith-based” sense of politics. He has clever coaches who have developed ways of stating things which grab the innocent but appall the knowledgeable. A Clear Skies initiative which deregulates polluting industries and is really a Dirty Skies Program. A leave-no-tree-uncut forest policy. No funding for school programs which sound good, but can do nothing. Too many of Bushes policies are based on the principles of select groups; tax refunds for the rich who fund his party, attitudes about sexual orientation, women’s right to choose, sex education that satisfies right-leaning religious groups. He says he does not want an activist Supreme Court then expresses preferences for justices who are right wing activists. 

Kerry has questionable directions on some issues, but his decisions are based on facts, truth, reality. He is not in bed with Halliburton! Or the 700 Club. We need that honesty for a refreshing change and for direction which benefits the nation and the world. 

David Dresser 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

It is incomprehensible that Bush can still try to defend the Iraq war in light of all of the evidence we now have. There were no weapons of mass destruction, no plans to develop WMD, and no proof that Iraq tried to purchase uranium as Bush claimed. 

The Bush campaign is all about fear. They would have you believe that it is unpatriotic to question the president’s methods. But Americans cannot fall into the same trap the president is in—where it becomes easier to follow the path you are on, rather than learning from new facts and evidence — even if that path leads to failure. 

Amy McGonagle 

Oakland 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Kerry just crushed Bush in the debate tonight. Kerry coherently and convincingly responded to every single one of the questions posed. Bush avoided clearly answering pointed questions and filled the evening with predictable and rehearsed comments. Kerry offers integrity and values at the same time as offering vision and intelligent leadership. What more could we ask for? 

George Bush is out of touch with reality concerning every issue of importance to the American people: the situation in Iraq, the economy, the environment, healthcare, constitutional rights. George Bush can’t fix the problems that he’s created, because he is either unable or unwilling to acknowledge that there are problems! We need honest, responsible, and competent new leadership. We can’t afford another four years of George Bush! 

Mariana Campbell 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

There can be no mistake about it - John Kerry has won two out of two debates about as decisively as any debate can be won. Senator Kerry had the president on the run, and he kept him there. And the president could not hide . . . . 

I’ll say one thing about this “George”: He would never have admitted it if he had chopped down the cherry tree. His dishonesty ought to earn him a pink slip in about twenty-five days. 

Drew Steckler 

Oakland 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Senator Kerry again showed his eloquence in tonight’s debate. He demonstrated great respect for personal beliefs yet made it clear that as a president he would have to do what was best for the nation as a whole, not just for special interest groups. 

Bush made several errors, even though he couldn’t directly answer the question posed to him about what three errors he has made during his term in the White House. The most obvious other than the tired Iraq war debate and the budget mess were Canadian drugs and embryonic stem cell research. First the Canadians will be seething when they hear that Bush is worried that the drugs we might get from them (sold to them by our companies) may not be safe. Now what is that supposed to mean? Secondly, when speaking about embryonic stem cell research Bush stated “Embryonic stem cell research destroys a life. I am the first president to fund embryonic stem cell research.” So, is he telling us that he is giving the go-ahead to destroy! y lives? 

Seems like Bush is not sure what he is saying! I’m voting for Kerry! 

Lauren MacDonell 

Grass Valley 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Boy, Kerry came across as presidential for the second time, in the second debate. Bush is just an angry and petulant child who is not used to challenges to his record. 

Fire the Bullshitter and the Cheater! 

David Eberwein 

San Leandro 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

After watching George W. Bush in these past two debates, it is extremely clear that President Bush is completely out of touch with, not only the U.S., but the rest of the world. 

However, the most troubling issue that I have with this current president is that he, and his staff, has consistently lied to the American people and the people of the world. I, as well as many others, not only expect, but demand, better from a president of the United States of America 

Thaddeus Campbell 

San Jose 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Tonight we again got to see the Democratic contender look far more presidential than George Bush, and actually level with the American people, in contrast to George Bush. While Kerry missed several opportunities to score on Bush (on Bush’s abysmal environmental record, for example), Kerry had clarity, vision and truth on his side. Are we better off as a country than we were four years ago? No way. Time for a change. 

Luke Cole 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The so called experts on TV after the debate want to re-debate the debate. They want to tell Americans are incapable of intelligent and analytical answers like that of John Kerry. They want to tell us simplistic replies of George Bush are better. I wonder why the media belittles the intelligence of Americans? 

If waging war on Iraq is justified not because of WMD or terrorism but because Saddam was a tyrant why didn’t Bush march into Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Sudan? Or is Bush going into all these places for the same reason he went into Iraq? 

Wolde-loul Kassa 

San Jose 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

After the second debate tonight between George Bush and John Kerry, it has now become crystal clear to me that this flip-flop/wishy-washy quality that John Kerry has been tagged with by the Republican Party just doesn’t wash. President Bush decided to initiate a war. Somehow, we’re suppose to think that this means that Bush is tough, NOT wishy-washy, and that therefore Kerry MUST BE weak and wishy-washy because he wouldn’t have done EXACTLY what Bush did. Does this decision make Bush a strong leader or an overly aggressive bully who made a rash decision? Having made the choice to go to war, it affords Bush the luxury of being able to show up in front of America and state rather patriotically, “see? I’m a strong leader” and talk about things like “defending America no matter what our allies have to say about it.” It pulls at people’s heart strings. It even makes me tear up to hear talk like that. But as I sat there watching the debate tonight, I thought to myself, “Could Bush have made the choice to have NOT gone to war in Iraq? Would he have had the courage and intelligence to make what appears to me now to be an even more difficult decision... to actually avoid going to war and instead to take another more diplomatic route?” Clearly that would have been a difficult decision for Bush to settle on. It would have meant sudden death for his re-election as President in 2004. Had Bush not invaded Iraq, what on earth would his campaign focus on as his strengths? The economy? Healthcare? The environment? I realized tonight that the only reason that anyone thinks John Kerry might be wishy-washy, a flip-flopper, weak on terror, etc. etc. etc. is because, yes, he’s campaigning against an aggressive bully. In this context, ANYONE would look weak in comparison. Sure, Kerry misspoke about “having voted for the 87 billion dollars before voting against it.” He admitted that tonight. But he stated clearly tonight that he wanted to give the president the authority he needed to do what was necessary, but that when the president brought forth the 87 billion supplemental, he didn’t like the way the money was to be allocated and that the president did not use the authority he had been given correctly in rushing to war. The fact of the matter is that John Kerry, as a young man, chose to fight in a war for our country. By God. It makes no difference whether or not he actually deserved his purple hearts. Bush chose to stay home. I would have probably done the same. Clearly, Kerry is the “tough” one between the three of us. He just has the unfortunate task of trying to figure out how to campaign against a man that acts tougher than he does. 

Michael Brayton 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The only reason that anyone could imagine that Bush won the second debate is if they compared his performance to the first debate. Yes, he was somewhat less nervous and childish the second time around. But Kerry had new data and new arguments, repeating old ones only when he had to respond to Bush’s recycling of his old lies. A person I was watching the debates with turned to me and said “You know, I think Kerry might be a great president, not just a good one”. That’s an idea that’s starting to occur to a lot of us 

Teed Rockwell 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

President Bush has left a heap of mess in Iraq and he has consistently demonstrated his incapacitation at handling the fallouts of his “colossal error of judgment” on the necessity of Iraqi war. A fellow country man (Kerry) believes and has convinced us through the lopsided debates that he can save Bush’s face and indeed that of the rest of America in this rushed war of war (not war of peace). Kerry must be given the broom to sweep the mess clean. 

Kachi Adindu 

Holy Ghost Juniorate 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Three debates: two presidential and one vice presidential. At this point I am almost intrigued with the incumbents’ super-human ability to completely ignore or shamelessly deflect issues of gravest concern raised during the course of these televised interactions. In what area of domestic or international activity can people who are voting for Bush show, with facts and figures, that progress has been achieved? Is fear (the subliminal mantra of the Bush campaign) so strong that it eradicates all reason? It’s a mystery to me! 

Jeannine White 

Sausalito 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

George Bush said that if Kerry were elected he would be afraid that we would have terrorist in Iraq. Has he been breathing happy air? Who’s killing our troops and beheading innocent civilians?... Oh let me guess; those our just “some folks.” This president is more than delusional, he needs to stop memorizing what someone else tells him to say and start paying attention. More newspaper and news watching and less John Wayne movie of the week would be great. More Christine Amanpour and less O’Reilly. 

Tracy Haus 

Round Rock, Texas  

Editors, Daily Planet:  

When Charles Gibson asked both candidates how they intended to cut the national deficit in half over the next four years, only Senator Kerry gave his plan, (a well thought through plan to resolve the problem). Bush did not give any plan whatsoever, but Bush did try to degrade Senator Kerry. 

When one constituent advised he felt his civil rights are watered down by the Patriot Act, Bush responded that the individual shouldn’t feel that way because Bush didn’t feel that way. Bush refuses to hear anything can be better so he will not work to “better” anything. This shows Bush is weak in caring for the American people if they don’t agree with him. Bush has proven he is incapable of respecting & representing a nation that has more than one point of view. Kerry will lead this country by respecting all of the people. 

This country cannot handle another four years of Bush. What Bush defines as “leadership” has been toxic to the world. 

Renee Durante 

Sunnyvale 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

This is my opinion only; I don’t pretend to speak for others. But I believe that the qualities John Kerry has shown the public, including his controversial but honorable actions and testimony regarding the Vietnam war, are the qualities that a true leader must have: the courage to speak out against a wrong, the willingness to admit mistakes and miscalculations, the intelligence to process information, the ability to meet and work with people of differing social, religious, and national values and maintain credibility as an honest and flexible leader who can change course if the welfare of the American people will be better served. What I don’t want in a leader is a swaggering, bullying, inflexible, ideologically-driven person who is incapable of bringing people together to work for a common good. I don’t want a person who believes that favoring big industry and business concerns is better for our country and the world than working diligently to promote environmental treaties and regulations here and throughout the world. I believe George W. Bush and his gang should be fired, and I’m encouraged by the reactions to the debates that this will happen, and John F. Kerry and John Edwards will be elected. If this happens, we’ll begin to see our torn and stressed country heal, and we can look forward to a new era with confidence and trust. 

Jo-Ann Work 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Kerry pulled in front of Bush again in the second debate. Kerry was solid, compelling, articulate, direct and most of all presidential. Bush was anxious, repetitive, vengeful, desperate, out of touch and shrill. Bush blinked a lot during much of the debate, an obvious sign of discomfort. Kerry’s gaze, on the other hand, was steady and direct exhibiting his leadership qualities. Bush looked afraid, like a deer in the headlights. Unless his friends at Diebold intervene on his behalf he will likely lose this election. 

It’s disheartening to any reasonably intelligent person to listen to the pundits telling us what we know to be untrue, that Bush held his own during the second debate. In what way did he hold his own? Perhaps when he referred to the Internet as internist or how about when he called Senator Kerry, Senator Kennedy? Or most importantly when he insisted (again and again!) that we did the right thing by invading Iraq because Saddam could have sold WMD’s to terrorists? Anyone who has looked at a headline in the last 24 hours could tell Mr Bush that we now have INCONTROVERTIBLE proof that there are no WMD’s in Iraq, now or when we first invaded. Bush is so out of touch its frightening to witness and what is even more frightening is how the media takes the president’s side every time. If the corporate sponsored press had been doing it’s job in the lead up to the war we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in now and thousands of innocent lives wouldn’t have been lost. 

In this sober time in our country’s history we as citizens have the opportunity to defend our democracy on November 2nd by giving President Bush his walking papers which he so justly deserves. 

Mary Naples 

Sausalito 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

John Kerry offered real solutions to real problems. He told America the truth, and offered a plan for a fresh start on the economy, Iraq, and the war on terror. 

George Bush failed to make his case to the American people. 

He showed that he is out of touch with reality in Iraq. 

He offered no plan for jobs and no plan for cutting the cost of health care. 

He refused to level with the American people. 

Husain Ghoul 

Cerritos 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

After watching both presidential debates, I can say this: George W. Bush is far less presidential than John Kerry... The president’s manner and way of thinking will continue to affect our stature in the world, regardless of politics. 

As for this president’s political judgment, the results speak for themselves: a morass in Iraq and an impending economic disaster with deficits as far as the eye can see, and no plan for improvement. When are we going to acknowledge that increasing deficit spending is a coward’s tax increase—taxing future generations to avoid political pain today? 

War, denial of reality, economic irresponsibility, impetuousness.... I am appalled for our country that the election is even close. 

Denise Rushing 

Upper Lake 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

After watching the second debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry, I came away with a feeling of great respect for John Kerry. While George W. Bush worked the crowd like a bad used car salesman, trying to manipulate the public into buying his flip-flop liberal name-calling agenda like a bad lemon, we saw John Kerry in stark contrast, discussing issues such as Global Warming, Iraq, Medicare, and the Bush tax plan—which has made rich people in the U.S. 92 billion dollars richer while putting the U.S. government more in debt—in an articulate and direct way that was both informative and uplifting to see. There is no doubt in my mind, and in many Americans’ minds, that we are lucky to have John Kerry running, and we as Americans need to elect this man President for the sake of America, and the world. 

To not come away with this conclusion after the debate points to a lack of sincere critical thinking on the part of Americans. After the debate, I watched pundits like George Will and others talk about how well George W. Bush did in the debate, and that the debate was a “draw.” Will’s argument touched on no issues, but basically focused on the aspect that Bush was being more aggressive. 

This is about as Orwellian of an interpretation as one could get. It’s both laughable and scary that the press can put someone on such as George Will, who is a supposedly a respected intellectual in our society, and he espouses a view that most 9th graders would see as both political and pathetic. The American people need to wake up. We cannot continue on a course of seeking revenge for 9/11, but rather we need to follow a path that both protects our country, and develops understanding and cooperation with other countries, and serves all Americans—not just the rich. We have an obligation to elect someone who will represent these values, because that is what Democracy is about. John Kerry is our best hope for restoring Democracy to America, and respect for America abroad. 

And the press should take note, we don’t need idiotic pundits like George Will to interpret the debate for us. Let the American people decide who won the debate, and who is the better choice for President. Pundits are manipulative. For any critically thinking individual, it was plain to see from this debate and the one before it, that John Kerry would make a much better president that George W. Bush. It was like night and day. 

Lawrence Kobernus 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

After Bush’s 2000 election the Cheney-Wolfowitz neocon network were bent on implementing the Project for the New American Century mission to transform America into a planetary empire by force of arms. Their policy report “Rebuilding Americas Defenses,” defined regime change in Iraq as the tactical lynch pin. The report struck a prescient note when it observed that “the process of transformation is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event-like a new Pearl Harbor.” It’s now clear from all the intelligence reports that prior to 9/11 the Bush administration chose indifference to the ubiquitous warnings of imminent Al-Qaeda terrorist attack—they knew! 

After 9/11, It’s clear the Bush administration cooked intelligence, and then engaged in active deception of the Congress, the American people and the international community that Saddam had nuclear/chemical weapons, was responsible for the terrorist attacks of 9/11, was an eminent threat to! America and the security of the world. Bush-Cheney knew all along that Saddam did not pose an immediate threat to us or to anyone else! 

Bush-Cheney can’t be trusted, can’t be depended on, they haven’t earned our vote and don’t deserve it. Stop the lie factory on Nov. 2 and vote for Kerry-Edwards to make America stronger-safer at home and in the world. Four more years of Bush-Cheney and the complicit Republican congress incompetence and deception will bankrupt our country, put our troops in endless wars, robs us of our liberties, and increase terrorism at home and throughout the world. 

William Rack 

Austin, Texas 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

We should vote for John Kerry because of following reasons: 

John Kerry offered real solutions to real problems. He told America the truth, and offered a plan for a fresh start on the economy, Iraq, and the war on terror. 

George Bush failed to make his case to the American people. 

He showed that he is out of touch with reality in Iraq. 

He offered no plan for jobs and no plan for cutting the cost of health care. 

He refused to level with the American people. 

Subhash Patadia 

San Jose 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I thought John Kerry once again showed he has what it takes to stand up for what he believes in under fire. To counter the lies with truth in a strong (not blustery) way. He truly has people in mind, whereas I believe George Bush has been bought by the corporations and totally lied about the environment. If we want air to breathe, water to drink and land and animals who are in jeopardy of extinction WE NEED JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT! 

Sheila Ganz 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

It disturbs me to see that the press says “President Bush won the second debate.” After the debate ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN all had Kerry winning from 60 percent to 70 percent. 

I saw a president that was getting challenged and interrupting the moderator several times. I saw a president that did not have his facts clearly in his mind, stuttered and looked down at the floor. I saw a president that shouted out “What about Tony Blair?” Are the American people unaware that many people in England did not support the war, or Tony Blair. 

I feel that it is your duty as the voice of all the people, that you should expose the truth to Americans. We have lost the world’s respect because of George W. Bush’s policies on the environment, international treaties not signed. the Geneva Convention trampled on, the invasion of a country under false pretenses of WMD, the list goes on and on. 

I believe that you must expose the right wing agenda of domination at any cost. 

It is my belief that the Constitution of the United States was created for all men, women and children to find their own religious beliefs. It does not specify that Christian fundamentalism is the only way. 

I believe that all Americans have a right, an obligation to follow whatever religion or spiritual “path,” Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, or the Jewish faith, but that each of us must acknowledge the right of our neighbor to follow their own religious way. 

How can President Bush be so exclusive in his religious perspective and expect to bring the whole world to follow. Each religion, each person must be shown respect or our democracy will fail. 

Mark Ehrmann 

Sebastopol 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

During the debate last night Senator Kerry displayed a far better grasp of foreign policy and security issues than did President Bush. Asked why he took us to war with Iraq, the president responded, “The enemy attacked us.” He still seems to confuse Al Qaeda with Hussein. When Kerry pointed out that Osama Bin Laden uses our invasion of Iraq to get recruits, Bush responded that “Osama Bin Laden doesn’t get to decide”. He totally missed the point that more Al Qaeda recruits means more American and Iraqi dead and wounded. He just doesn’t understand war. As Kerry stated, the president’s plan is “more of the same”.  

Nuclear proliferation was another area in which the John Kerry showed the president’s failed leadership. North Korea became a nuclear power on George W. Bush’s watch. Also, Kerry charged that Bush seems to value tax cuts for the wealthy more than containing Russia’s nuclear material from terrorists. Kerry promised to do the job in 4 years. Unbelievably, Bush responded with “How are we going to pay for all of these promises?”, proving Kerry’s point.  

During this debate on foreign policy, John Kerry showed that he is the candidate who understands the realities of war, nuclear proliferation and homeland security. He showed that under his leadership we would be safer, stronger and without the huge debt burden caused by Bush’s rush to war without our allies while cutting taxes for the super-wealthy.  

Patricia Francis-Lyon  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Tonight I watched my first presidential debate. This is not to say that I had never seen a presidential debate before, but for the first time ever, on Nov. 2, I will be casting a vote for our next president. This debate was the first one I watched with the intent of studying the important issues of the election, listening to the words of Senator John Kerry and President George W. Bush, and being able to learn about the different platforms represented this year. After an hour and a half of this so-called “debate” I left my television screen feeling disappointed. How can you expect young people to vote? I am a great proponent of voting. I feel that we have fought long and hard to acquire the vote for everyone ˆ men and women of every color, race and ethnicity. We have come a long way and are lucky to live in a society where everyone has the opportunity to make their voice heard and has the right to express their opinion. People always complain about voter apathy, especially among young voters. But here I ask: How can you expect us to be motivated with the selection provided to us? Walking away from the presidential debates, I cannot help but feel that the presidential candidates are not engaged in a battle over policies, but rather a battle of rhetoric. Every few minutes Kerry referenced his service in Vietnam ˆ we got the point. Bush repeatedly stated that he thinks being president is “tough” ˆ it does not inspire much confidence. The key phrase of the question remains. What is each candidate planning to do?  

Essentially, Bush and Kerry are saying the same things. They spent the debate pointing fingers and blaming each other for mistakes in the past. Neither candidate presented a concrete plan for the future. I do not want to vote for a president who makes general statements with the goal of pleasing everyone so that he can garner votes. I want passion, direction, and conviction. If no candidate can be passionate about his ideals, how can we be expected to be passionate about either candidate? Perhaps I’m naïve. Perhaps I’m idealistic. But in the world we live in, with genocide being perpetrated under our nose in Sudan, with suicide bombers killing civilians in the Middle East, with terrorists slaughtering children in Russia, with high unemployment, low funding for education, nuclear proliferation and global warming, is it not my right and my duty to be passionate about the ways I want to change the world? 

In order to mobilize young voters, both Bush and Kerry will have to take a stand and proclaim their plans for America’s future. We are faced with the challenge of choosing a president capable of leading our nation in the right direction. I call it a challenge because I feel that the two candidates are all talk, with nothing to say. And so I challenge them. I challenge President Bush and Senator Kerry: Stop talking and start saying something! When you start saying something, when you actually let your voice be heard over the drowning noise of political slogans, then we will be inspired. Set the example and we too will allow our voices to be heard. 

Noga Firstenberg 

UC Berkeley, Senior 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Well, the presidential debate tonight was quite entertaining, but I think John Kerry definitely was the winner. He proved to be a strong debater, yet I wish he defended President Bush’s erroneous claims. For the first time, Kerry stated that the Iraq war was a “mistake”. He made a great analogy that the way Bush responded to the war would be like if when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, we would respond to attack Mexico. That is exactly what Bush did with attacking Iraq, and I’m glad that John Kerry highlighted it tonight. According to an ABC Poll, John Kerry led Bush by double digits in who the audience thought won the debate. Hopefully this will show up in the polls. If Americans were even to read the front page of a paper, or watch a newscast (besides Fox News), they would get smacked in the face of the failure of this war. Beheadings and large deaths have been on the cover almost daily now. While Bush’s argument relied on repeating over and over that John Kerry is inconsistent, or that if Kerry does not support the war (which he does), he does not support the troops. While Kerry may not be the best candidate, let us wait to criticize him after we get this current disaster out of the White House. Please be informed and vote for John Kerry on November 2. I would too if I could vote. 

Rio Bauce 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I thought the first debate good. I spoke with Hawaii resident Ed Siedensticker by ‘phone from Tokyo before the debate; that National Book Prize winner had written a snippet for a Japanese-language newspaper noting that many Americans weren’t too fond of Bush’s foreign policy, either. Before going to Seoul yesterday I thought about the “back door draft” issue brought up by candidate John Kerry. My former submariner friend David Sangster was kept from being a “twenty year man” so the government could save a few dollars by not paying him retirement. I oppose reinstitution of the draft—it’s one thing to have a volunteer die in a conflict which could be only indirectly related to the national interest, and quite another for a conscript to die in the same situation. Rep. Neil Abercrombie has co-sponsored legislation to reinstate the draft. In 1808, Prussia instituted a system of forced conscription without distinction of class or right of exemption. Dissenters were put in mental colonies. Between 1825 and 1855, under Czar Nicholas, male Jews of the Ukraine and Lithuania, between the ages of 12 and 25, could be pressed into military service at any time and would remain under arms for a period of 25 years! Abercrombie is right to be concerned, but he is overreacting. Candidate Bush said in the debate that, if reelected, there would be no draft in the next four years. Abercrombie introduced legislation in 1991, the Reservists and Guardsmen’s Home Protection Act, that would have paid a differential up to a maximum of $40,000 to those drafted through the backdoor. The economy is picking up and over 1,000 military personnel have been killed in Iraq. Harvard University will host more employment recruiters on their campus before next June’s commencement—125—than at any time since the collapse of the dot.coms. I am pleased to learn that Harvard Law will now allow the military to recruit, too—something that has not happened in recent years because of the perceived discrimination against gays in the military. If Britney Spears made a movie a la Goldie Hawn, voluntary enlistment would jump. Allowing more twenty-year enlistments would ease reenlistment blues, too. I am wary of Bush’s promise not to reinstate the draft (”he kept us out of war”; “read my lips”). I hope to get my absentee ballot from Hawaii soon. 

Richard Thompson 

Visiting Professor, Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Kerry won Thursday night’s foreign policy debate. America saw John Kerry as our next President Thursday evening. Kerry showed strength, conviction and steady command of the facts.  

Kerry left no doubt he can lead the fight to hunt and kill the terrorists. Kerry offered hope for a fresh start in Iraq so we can finish the job. 

Alex Kaplinsky 

Palo Alto 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to give my reactions to the Sept. 30 debate between Bush and Kerry. I feel strongly that Kerry showed his ability to lead this nation and be our next president. He clearly beat Bush throughout the debate and proved to have much stronger arguments. He also provided a vision of hope for the future in Iraq. Bush failed to point out that he has made mistakes and offer solutions to those mistakes. All in all, it seems very clear that John Kerry should be our next president. 

Aaron Calander 

Berkeley 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Kerry raised some important questions in the debates that I hope undecided voters will think about. Why did we invade a country that had never attacked us and was not even close to the top of the list in terms of ability to produce nuclear weapons? If the president agreed that nuclear proliferation is the single greatest threat to our nation, why did we not have a workable plan for securing the supposed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as we invaded? When does “steadfast” become “stubborn” and then degenerate into simply “stupid?” We need a president who can think on his feet - a president who can not only set a goal but is sufficiently grounded in reality to develop a realistic plan for achieving it. 

Serena Clayton 

Oakland 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Lately, I’ve become more and more concerned about the number of eligible voters who aren’t voting. In the 2000 presidential election, only 51 percent of the eligible voters voted! Why didn’t they vote? I tried to find out. There seems to be an unlimited number of reasons that people say they don’t vote. Most fall into two categories. The first relates to effort: inconvenient, not enough time, too complicated, etc. The second relates to futility: my vote won’t make any difference, I don’t like any of the candidates, all the politicians are the same, they never do what they promise, etc. The list is overwhelming, and the reasons are ones we can all relate to.  

Rather then, let’s look at it from a different point of view: Why everyone should want to vote. Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. It’s what makes a “government by the people and for the people” possible! We invest a lot of effort and resources in fostering and encouraging democracy around the world. Why are so many here at home not participating in the democracy our ancestors fought so hard to institute and protect, and that we are fighting so hard to protect today? We should all want to vote, because we are so very fortunate that we can vote! 

Cliff Swartz 

Napa 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Watching the entire debate tonight, obviously, John Edwards performed much stronger and convinceful. He understood fully the issues facing to the country and has resolutions that are constructive and doable. 

Karl Huang 

Albany 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m thrilled that Edwards stunned Cheney into silence: regarding Halliburton, regarding his voting record, regarding gay marriage...it was beautiful! No one was surprised that Bush could barely put a sentence together, but Cheney is intelligent. Even intelligence doesn’t help when the Bush/Cheney team has done so badly for America and American values. Yippee! America is waking up! 

Allyson Klein 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The vice presidential debate was extremely informative and displayed the candidates for what they truly are; a sincere, passionate and hopeful senator from North Carolina, and a hateful fear-mongering bully. Cheney spoke about his plans for the war, health care, social security, and education but has made no significant progress in these areas in the last four years. It is just as Edwards pointed out: a long record does not mean you have made smart decisions. It is time that the American people stand united and hold this administration accountable for the atrocities of the past four years both at home and abroad. Edwards’ performance tonight was one of hopeful promise for a better tomorrow. I am emphatically in favor the Kerry/Edwards ticket and will not be frightened nor bullied into voting for the current administration. 

Tamara Tal 

Chapel Hill 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In my opinion, Kerry and Edwards will do better for 98 percent of individual Americans. Bush and Cheney will do better for the top tier of Americans, say the top two percent. Kerry and Edwards will deliver more strength, more clarity and more focus in the overall war on terror and specifically in Iraq, returning America to peace time faster than Bush and Cheney. The Bush administration will invest in the software and hardware of war. Millions and millions of more Americans will continue to suffer without health care under another Bush administration. Bush and Cheney are bad for Americans. 

Under a new Kerry administration, all Americans will have access to the same health care plan available now to U.S. Senators. Small business owners will enjoy greater relief for providing health care benefits to employees while Kerry and Edwards reduce the U.S. deficit by 50 percent AIDs will continue to annihilate Africans in Africa and African Americans in the U.S. at unacceptable rates. Kerry and Edwards will usher in billions more in research and treatment dollars during their upcoming administration. Kerry and Edwards will make Americans think about the moral implications of the genocide happening now in Sudan. Kerry and Edwards are better for Americans. 

With Bush, Halliburton will continue to earn millions in profits from trade with Iran, which is condoned via legislative loopholes and by the former CEO, Dick Cheney. Kerry and Edwards will put the interests of individual Americans in front of the interests of corporate conglomerates. Kerry and Edwards will fight to keep America strong, investing in creativity and innovation for the future while battling to brings jobs to Americans instead of incentivizing corporations to outsource to countries not far from Iraq. Under another Bush administration, the rights of individuals will be curtailed by Bush’s federal influence over states and individuals living in them. Bush and Cheney are bad for Americans. 

In my opinion, Bush and Cheney are taking America down a Darwinian path of survival of the fittest both domestically and globally. And they seem intent on proving that America belongs at the top of the global food chain while those with the most gold at home deserve even more tax relief than those with less. Where will this path lead us? Kerry and Bush will do more for Americans. Kerry and Edwards will do better for Americans. Cast your vote for Kerry and Edwards even if your normally vote republican . . . your life, your husband’s life, your wife’s life, your son’s life, your daughter’s life, your friend’s life . . . all of our lives may very well depend on it. 

Garth Bradley 

Benicia 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Dick Cheney is totally out of touch with reality in Iraq and totally out of touch with the struggles of the middle class. This is nothing new to a man with a lifetime record of protecting the powerful and well connected. He came across as smug, arrogant, mean and defensive -- but his trademark distortions and scare tactics didn’t work. John Edwards refused to let him play the politics of fear and forced Dick Cheney to confront his administration’s record of failure. 

Naomi Quilala 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While the vice president was much better tonight than the president at the prior debate, Cheney is totally out of touch with reality in Iraq. At one point he claimed that he did not connect Al Qaeda with Iraq - however, a year earlier on another TV program, he did just that. 

Cheney came across as smug, arrogant, mean and defensive. In the horrible event that the vice president has to take over the office of president, I pray that Cheney is not that person. 

Laura Owen 

Foster City 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Tonight’s debate further highlighted the Bush administration’s isolation from reality. 

Cheney’s snarling performance illustrated the “smallness” of a small but vocal minority in this country. This minority (1) pontificates about military valor and sacrifice as long as others do the dying, (2) excoriates government except when it offers them a job or a no bid contract for their company, and (3) dismisses evidence of their mistakes by repeating lies previously found out. 

In times of peace and prosperity we can ignore these cranks. Hence it didn’t matter that the sitting Senator from Wyoming voted against Head Start and Meals on Wheels for seniors. We can make him a caricature and laugh about it. 

But now that same sitting senator is running the White House and the laughter has stopped. Our troops are dying without proper equipment or allies, our children are plunging into poverty and our country is fracturing due to cultural wars started by an administration that has nothing of substance to offer America. 

John Edwards not only articulated America’s actual problems tonight, he offered real solutions. It’s time to send the cranks home and put the real grownups in charge. 

Catherine Daly 

El Cerrito 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In tonight’s debate, Dick Cheney lied. He lied when he said he never said there was a connection between Iraq and Al-Qaeda, and we expect your news organizations to make this clear to the American people. He said there was a connection when he was on Meet the Press and during many campaign stops and speeches. He lied about Kerry votes on taxes, voting Medicare premiums, and malpractice reform. 

John Edwards won this debate hands down. He was forthright, strong, clear, and above all, honest. One cannot win a debate based on evasions and lies, and that’s what we saw from Dick Cheney tonight. He is an embarrassment to our nation. 

Now that Bush and Cheney have divided America and made a mess of Iraq, we need the kind of resolute, honest leadership that only John Kerry and John Edwards can offer. It’s time for the all-liar ticket (Bush/Cheney) to be voted out of office. 

Rose MacDowell 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Democrats are two for two. Tonight, in Cleveland, John Edwards showed real strength and conviction -- he was in command of the facts and in control of the debate and a powerful advocate for John Kerry. The American people saw John Edwards as somebody who is ready, if necessary, to be president of the United States. 

Dick Cheney is totally out of touch with reality in Iraq and totally out of touch with the struggles of the middle class. This is nothing new to a man with a lifetime record of protecting the powerful and well connected. He came across as smug, arrogant, mean and defensive -- but his trademark distortions and scare tactics didn’t work. John Edwards refused to let him play the politics of fear and forced Dick Cheney to confront his administration’s record of failure. 

Americans are tired of growls and scowls from our leaders, and John Edwards and John Kerry offer America hope and optimism. 

I’m voting for John Kerry and John Edwards! 

Joan Borame 

El Cerrito 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When I was a boy, my parents watched Channel 7 News, an ABC affiliate in Detroit, every evening at 6 o’clock. Through the years, the Eyewitness News Team felt almost like members of our family. The ABC nightly news followed the local edition. As I grew up, and started my own family, ABC remained a constant fixture in my home. But this evening, after watching the Vice Presidential Debates, my lifelong devotion to ABC has come to an end. 

This election year has highlighted, more than ever before, the persuasive impact the media has over public opinion. I specifically avoid FOX network because of their shameless and obvious political slant. I’ve remained loyal to ABC because I believed they had more integrity than the other networks. But when ABC aired the results of a “scientific” Poll that declared the Vice President the winner of the debate, when they knew the participants of that poll were significantly weighted with Republican voters, my faith in the impartiality of ABC has been destroyed forever. Shame on you ABC. 

T.J. Parsell 

Sag Harbor 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The vice presidential debate on Tuesday presented a vivid contrast between the negative, fearful, divisive style of the Bush/Cheney administration vs. the buoyant, caring, practical and hopeful style of the Kerry/Edwards team. 

Vice President Cheney’s main argument seemed to be “watch out, there might be a nuclear attack in our cities so we have to keep President Bush in office so that he can continue waging war to keep us safe.” Whenever Senator Edwards mentioned that America troops are bearing 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the costs, VP Cheney retorted that many Iraqis are also dying. The Iraqis could well ask the question are they better off with a Bush administration or under the sadistic dictator Saddam Hussein, who at least kept the sewers working, the hospitals open and the lights on. 

Senator Edwards also pointed out that there are Al Queda cells in 90 countries and yet we are not invading them. Iran and North Korea possess nuclear capability or weapons, and we are not attacking them. I believe that there needs to be a more fine-grained strategy to combating fundamentalism and terror than trying to force people to embrace democracy at the barrel of a gun and using 1950’s tactics to suppress dissenting views and debate here at home, as well as in Iraq. John Kerry and John Edwards are the team to lead us forward to a better future. 

Marianna Grossman Keller 

Palo Alto 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It was clear to me that the Republican candidates can no longer sustain their calm behind all the lies that they have been telling us. There is a huge gap between what Bush and Cheney are saying and what is happening in reality in the world. 

This last debate only reaffirms that. 

Edwards had a though contender tonight but even against all Cheney’s arrogance, Edward proved that he’s better fit to lead this country. 

Celso Alberti 

Alameda 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Edwards clearly won the debate. 

Jason Bauer 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I watched the vice presidential debate and I was inspired by what Senator John Edwards from North Carolina said. I think that Senator Edwards was smart because he thought of what Vice President Dick Cheney might say and planned to diffuse Cheney’s attacks. 

President Bush got a lot of suburban moms to vote for him in the 2000 election because he presented his speeches in a way that they could relate to. John Edwards’ answers in the debate appeal to all sorts of people from kids to grandparents. 

They talked about the war in Iraq. John Edwards talked about jobs, health care, education and taxes that penalize companies for outsourcing jobs. Senator Edwards said that gays should have the right to be in relationships but that the federal government shouldn’t interfere. 

I think that Gwen Ifill did a great job of being a moderator and was equally positive to the debaters She also asked excellent questions. 

I think that both men should have shown more respect by calling her “Ms. Ifill” instead of “Gwen.” I was astonished that Dick Cheney, in his closing two minutes did not thank Senator Edwards after Senator Edwards had thanked him. Cheney was also very attacking when he said that Senator Edwards didn’t come to some meetings when Cheney said “F--- Y-” to another senator on the Senate floor. 

Sophie Keller, age 11 

Palo Alto 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I strongly believe that all public servants must be held to the highest standards. Senator Edwards impressed me greatly tonight with his strong tone on the Iraq mess and his passion about our domestic problems that have gotten much worse under this administration. I was equally upset with Mr. Cheney for his continued dishonesty and outright lying to all Americans. Republican or Democrat, we deserve the truth from this administration, something which Cheney and Bush refuse to do, even as Rumsfeld came clean yesterday. The current administration has mystery arithmetic techniques, everyone else, including the U.S. government knows we have spent close to $200 Billion dollars in Iraq and we spend over $250 Million more every single day! Yet Cheney kept knocking that number down by subtracting from the 200 billion what others may have spent. This does not change what the U.S.A. has already spent! He did the same thing with the number of voters he claims have signed up in Afghanistan. 

Senator Edwards showed all Americans how they will fix the terrible mess our country is now in due to the corporate control the Bush Administration has so freely given. From health care, pollution, job losses, to massive tax giveaways, another four years of the looting of our country by the New Century’s Robber Barrons and America will be bankrupt and a toxic waste dump. Never in American history has more money been spent in such a short time, even during WWII! Bush claimed he was a fiscal conservative, he sure fooled everyone. Giving tax cuts at a time of war is unheard of in most of American history, yet Cheney said “it was their due,”most of the tax cuts go to the top one percent of Americans and almost none of the tax cuts are on earned income. They are unearned income like dividends, estate taxes, etc. This money does not trickle down and create jobs. Here is the proof, the richest companies that now pay little or no tax, or even better that pay nothing and get billions in tax payer subsidies (40 percent more companies pay nothing under Bush) these companies have done less investing in equipment and hiring than the companies that got nothing from Bush. The job losses are continuing, the numbers Bush gives are only who is actually on unemployment right now, not who has run out of benefits or who has given up looking for a job, or who has taken a minimum wage job when they were making double or triple that before. That is not progress, that is a downward spiral. All Bush knows is crony handouts that will wipe America out. These people care nothing for America, or Americans, they care for their money and their ultra rich friends like the Grinch. 

The Democrats are not perfect, but never in history has any administration been so dishonest and so arrogant to the people that they are supposed to serve. Considering that my health insurance for my wife and I just went up $2,400 a year and I am on disability, we have to sell our house, oh yeah, our property tax doubled in the last three years, just to cover the grossly under funded No child.... Our company could not get a $50,000 SBA even after 11 years in business with growing profits every year and a house to back up the loan, yet Bush gives billions away to companies that don’t even need it. We had to let 21 people go after an electrical fire and an Insurance company that stalled 8 months on paying our claims. America is in big, big trouble, and close to half of you have your blinders on. You worry about medals that are 30 years old, but don’t care about lies last week or beheadings yesterday. You worry about long sentences but not about prisoners being tortured or held for two years without a lawyer or a phone call. You worry about how someone dresses but not about the biggest deficit in history and the biggest job loss since the great depression. America has become addicted to the fear mongering and has let the terrorist attack put them under total control of leaders with no morals, no care for human life (we don’t do body counts) and no respect for the world community, which we can never escape unless we go to Mars like Bush wants to. Well I am staying here on Earth and I will elect John Kerry and John Edwards and president and vice president of the U.S.A., if you want Bush and Cheney then move with them to Mars. 

Cary Brief 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Edwards clearly won this debate. Cheney looked exhausted and tired and unable to answer some very damning charges. 

Mike Lewis 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Edwards was obviously superior, despite the lies and misrepresentations of Dick Cheney 

Thomas Werth 

San Jose 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It becomes clearer and clearer as we get closer to the election that Cheney and bush and this administration have used any excuse for their agenda in this game of Risk that they are playing. We must put an end to this very dangerous game they are playing at human expense. 

Get out the vote to turn this around. 

Frayda Garfinkle 

Oakland 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

After the vice presidential debate I got the felling that Cheney, like the president, was defensive and evasive with the answers. 

Mr. Edwards did a great job, he’s ready to lead us fixing this mess in Iraq and here at home. 

With all the vice presidents, Mr. Cheney, political experience, it was a shame he wasted three answers to the senator’s responses, for him not to even take advantage of the time, he choice to avoid the opportunity to share with the American people his thoughts. That was disrespectful to the American people and was not a polished politician like he claims to be. 

Carlos and Sharon Soto-Aguilar 

Pittsburg 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Despite Dick Cheney’s dubious debate claims, Sen. John Edwards (D- N.C.) missed just seven votes out of 1,307 in his first four years in office, During his first five years in the Senate, Edwards voted 1,551 times out of 1,626 roll-call votes, or 95.4 percent. Compared to George Bush’s combined vacation days and campaigning on the road days, John Edwards has been available and on the job. 

In his first eight months in office before 9/11, George W. Bush was on vacation, according to the Washington Post, 42 percent of the time. President Bush has spent all or part of 166 days during his presidency at his Crawford, Texas, ranch or en route. Add the time spent at or en route to the presidential retreat of Camp David and at the Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Bush has taken 250 days off as of August 2003. That’s 27 percent of his presidency spent on vacation. - Yahoo News 

And that’s before you add to that his increased vacation days and! on the road campaigning this year. 

As of December 1999, President Bill Clinton had spent only 152 days on holiday during his two terms. Jimmy Carter took 79 days off. 

As far as never meeting John Edwards, besides somehow missing Edwards 95 percent of the time when he voted 1,551 times in five years, John Edwards escorted Elizabeth Dole when she was sworn in as North Carolina’s other senator on Jan. 8, 2003, by Vice President Dick Cheney. 

“As per Senate tradition, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., escorted her.” “Dole took the Senate oath administered by Vice President Dick Cheney, the Senate president.” “Her husband, former Senate majority leader and GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole, also was by her side.” - 1/8/03 Gannet News Service 

As well as Cheney’s own words on Feb. 1, 2001, while sitting next to John Edwards: “Thank you. Thank you very much. Congressman Watts, Senator Edwards, friends from across America and distinguished visitors to our country from all over the world, Lynne and I are honored to be with you all this morning.” He also shared the “Meet the Press” set with John Edwards before. 

I’m also glad that Cheney urged people to FactCheck.org where He and Bush are held to the truth. 

“Cheney wrongly implied that FactCheck had defended his tenure as CEO of Halliburton Co., and the vice president even got our name wrong. He overstated matters when he said Edwards voted “for the war” and “to commit the troops, to send them to war.” He exaggerated the number of times Kerry has voted to raise taxes, and puffed up the number of small business owners who would see a tax increase under Kerry’s proposals.” - 10/6/04 FactCheck.org 

“Edwards was talking about Cheney’s responsibility for earlier Halliburton troubles. And in fact, Edwards was mostly right.” 

“The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Aug. 3 that Halliburton will pay $7.5 million to settle a matter that dates back to 1998, when Cheney was CEO.” - 10/6/04 FactCheck.org 

“Cheney made a puffed-up claim that “900,000 small businesses will be hit” should Kerry and Edwards raise taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 a year, as they promise to do. As we’ve explained before, 900,000 is an inflated figure that results from counting every high-income individual who reports even $1 of business income as a “small business owner.” Even Cheney and his wife Lynne would qualify as a “small business owner” under that definition because Mrs. Cheney reports income as a “consultant” from fees she collects as a corporate board member, even though she had no employees and the business income is only 3.5 percent of the total income reported on their 2003 tax returns.” - 10/6/04 FactCheck.org 

Jim Boales 

San Jose 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Five days after President George Bush gloated that John Kerry “forgot Poland,” Dick Cheney and John Edwards met for the first and only vice-presidential debate of 2004. 

That same day, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski discussed reducing Polish forces in Iraq beginning next January, with a complete pullout by the end of 2005. 

Meanwhile, as Cheney continued to insist, in Tuesday’s debate, on the existence, preceding the war, of a clear and present Iraqi threat to our national security, chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer prepared a final report, presented Wednesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee, concluding that Iraq did not have rumored stockpiles of banned weapons, and that Hussein “did not vigorously pursue” WMD programs after the inspectors left. 

Even as Cheney defended his claims of disputed connections between al-Qaeda and Hussein on Tuesday, news of a new CIA report revealed “no conclusive evidence” of such a connection. 

While the debates this fall were supposed to be between George Bush and John Kerry, and between Dick Cheney and John Edwards, they’re increasingly turning into debates between George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the reality we see reported in the news every day. 

Christopher Roy 

Seattle 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The polls have found widely ranging after-debate results. CBS found that undecided voters put challenger Senator John Edwards ahead of Vice President Dick Cheney by a wide margin (41 percent to 28 percent). ABC declared Mr. Cheney the winner by a 42 percent to 35 percent margin. In both polls, the remaining people believed that the two men were tied. 

The vice president would have done far worse in the debate if he had been required to stick to the facts. Continuing a pattern of misleading statements, dishonesty and deception, which has characterized the Bush administration from the outset, continued through Tuesday’s debate. The vice president faced the American people, looked into the camera and said that he had never claimed a connection between Iraq and the attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001. Even knowing that he had given interviews on Sunday morning television shows saying exactly that and knowing that the tapes would be replayed after the debate, the vice president told the American people he never said what he had said over and over again. 

The vice president did not respond to the charge that Halliburton has received special treatment by being awarded no-bid contracts, which they still have even after they were fined for acts of over-billing and fraud. His comment that it would take more than a few minutes to explain his position was not reassuring. Yes, he has a lot of explaining to do, but that’s not a good thing. 

When Mr. Cheney was on the campaign trail, outside the Cincinnati venue, he questioned the patriotism of John Kerry. Inside the hall of Case Western Reserve University, he told the American people that it is one thing to talk tough in the context of a campaign but it is quite another thing to stand up and fight when necessary. When Mr. Cheney was a young man he took five draft deferments. They were legal then, and maybe he wasn’t a coward, but he was no war hero, and when his country called he did not stand up and fight for it. It is one thing to be ready to die for your country, and it is quite another to send young men to their death when the vice president was not willing to make the same sacrifice. 

James G. Lion, Jr. 

Sonoma 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Edwards proved himself able to be “a heartbeat away” from the presidential seat in last night’s vice presidential debate. 

Cheney blatantly lied to the American people on public television last night when he said he never insinuated that there were connections between Iraq and 9/11. He must think the American people are stupid! Cheney’s voting record is a microcosm of the Bush administration’s policies... Cheney voted against Meals on Wheels...(a self serving administration) Who could have voted against the Martin Luther King holiday other than a bigot...which Bush seems to have surrounded himself with. I’m ready to vote Kerry and Edwards into the oval office, as leaders of this country, to clean up the mess Bush & Cheney have gotten us into. I’m holding Bush & Cheney personally responsible for the American deaths during the Iraq war. I highly suggest we imprison both of them for war crimes and manslaughter of Americans. They have done nothing but spread hate around this country ..and divided this country from the rest of the world. 

Renee Durante 

Sunnyvale 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Edwards soundly beat Dick Cheney in Cleveland last night. 

John Edwards refused to let Cheney play the politics of fear and forced him to confront his administration’s record of failure. 

The American people saw John Edwards as somebody who is ready, if necessary, to be president of the United States 

Subhash Patadia 

San Jose 

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South Berkeley needs and wants a strong, active, thoughtful and experienced voice advocating for us to get affordable housing, transportation, public safety, and economic development improvements. I will continue to be an activist, focused on practical effective work. My City Council office will take leadership in advocating for the needs of individuals and groups in our district and our city. 

My eight years of service on the Planning Commission reinforced my belief that a city can adopt policies that help the little people, and even a city as small as Berkeley can counteract some of the callous corporate mentality masquerading as national policy. 

My 11 years of service on the League of Conservation Voters underscores my love of nature and the importance of environmental issues. I reject the notion that unions and environmentalists must oppose each other, because I am both an environmentalist and a trade unionist. I know the importance of fighting for living wage jobs and protecting the environment. I have for 12 years been an active volunteer, right here in Berkeley, creating a successful school-to-work program to get young people in well-paying career opportunities. 

My professional work as registered nurse led me to become involved in working to address the health disparities that people of color and low income residents face right here in South and West Berkeley. As a co-founder of a neighborhood association I understand the importance of the nuts and bolts of issues that effect day-to-day life. I will go to neighborhood meeting, respond to calls from neighbors promptly, and ensure real public input on new development. I will help low income neighbors fight crime by providing funds to help organize neighborhood watch groups, and support alternatives for our youth, which reflects a lifelong commitment to address the underlying issues that drive crime in our community. 

I have always felt passionately about the importance of helping senior citizens live life fully and enjoy their retirement after many long years of contributing to the betterment of our society. Especially in Berkeley many of our seniors have contributed their full-time jobs and also volunteered thousands of hours to community service. I see seniors facing reduced services on a local, state and national level. As a City Councilmember I will rededicate myself to protecting Berkeley’s excellent services for seniors and resisting shortsighted proposals to reduce senior services.  

Our disabled residents face an enormous struggle just to survive. Today they face a battle for transportation to get to their vital doctor’s appointments and basic services. I will work with disabled community advocacy groups to make paratransit and/or some other service help them get where they need to go in a timely way. 

While I strongly support keeping Berkeley in the forefront of providing services, I also understand the need for fiscal responsibility and I will closely scrutinize budgets and tax proposals in order to minimize increases to homeowners. We must address the imbalance where millionaires get tax cuts and commercial real estate uses Prop. 13 to evade taxes while homeowners pay more. 

Most of my activism in the past 20 years has been right here in Berkeley. I joined others and fought long and hard for a full-service supermarket in our community. The result was the present successful Berkeley Bowl. I also understand the importance of being involved at the county, state and national levels. I serve on the California Consumer Health Council. My activities on numerous state and national issues include a wide range of human rights, disabled, senior, consumer and peace and social justice causes. Like many Berkeley residents I have trekked to Sacramento to lobby for affordable housing, healthcare and education legislation and funding. 

I am pleased to be endorsed by the Alameda County Democratic Party, Green Party, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, Berkeley Citizen’s Action, East Bay Lesbian Gay Democratic Club, SEIU, Wellstone Democratic Club, AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, Mayor Tom Bates, Peralta Trustee Darryl Moore, City Council Members Linda Maio, Dona Spring, and Kriss Worthington. 

My many years of community service in a wide range of groups, my love of Berkeley, my graduate training in public health and city planning, and my appreciation of our diversity have well prepared me for extending that service to the City Council. 

I appreciate the complexities of trying to balance the many competing interests. I understand the need for calm, persistent, but respectful manner of advocacy on the part of elected officials. I believe I can provide the strong, active, reasonable, thoughtful and experienced voice that South Berkeley needs. 

—Max Anderson 

District 3 City Council candidate

South Berkeley needs care and attention. We don’t need grand ideological schemes; we need real problem solving, community building and a responsive City Council. These are the reasons why I have the support of District 3 neighborhood leaders, school advocates, local businesses, and civic arts directors. I have lived in the heart of South Berkeley for 23 years, meeting my husband here, raising two sons, and buying a fixer-upper.  

I recognize this community is at a crossroads. South Berkeley needs vital business districts, effective youth services, well-managed social services, and neighborhood-based crime prevention strategies. Far too often, decisions made in City Hall exacerbate problems that interfere with the health of this community.  

An example: Despite the recommendation of the city manager to transfer underperforming homeless services provided at the Drop-In Center on Adeline Street to the Housing and Mental Health Departments, the City Council caved in to clients’ pressure based solely on anecdotal evidence. There was no discussion of the many complaints from merchants and residents, nor consideration of the impact on a struggling commercial district where there is public drug/alcohol use and violence.  

Why is it that across town in North Berkeley, the standard appears to be different? There, a professionally managed residential recovery program does not create nuisances or complaints. A complete assessment of the cost of the Drop-In program should include lost sales tax and the loss of the residents’ rights to a safe neighborhood. My opponent, Max Anderson, is an uncritical supporter of the Drop-In Center; his wife is a board member. The center has failed to comply with the conditions of their use permit to the detriment of the neighborhood and the clients. Recently, Mayor Bates publicly warned the center they had two strikes against them and they better get their act together.  

South Berkeley has a history of being saddled with every social service unwanted elsewhere in the city. Earlier this year a medical cannabis club looking to relocate chose an office building in a well-known drug hot spot. The activists first used deception to gain their lease, and then disregarded considerable crime statistics, the concerns of residents, and the fact that there is another cannabis dispensary a few blocks away. I coordinated nearby schools, neighborhood groups, and affected business interests to reconsider this location. This was accomplished in an open, transparent process; ultimately, some members of the cannabis collective apologized for the leadership’s lack of understanding toward residents’ concerns about the proposed relocation.  

As chair of the Russell, Oregon and California neighborhood group, I helped create a network of community groups, the South Berkeley Crime Prevention Council, representing more than 1,000 households, working to strengthen community based policing. The city has adopted our initial plan.  

We have also collaborated with the Community Action Team and neighborhood liquor store owners, encouraging the sale of healthy foods and reducing the emphasis on alcohol sales. We are excited about the potential of the Ashby Arts District. As a councilmember I will coordinate resources for the revitalization of the business districts, encouraging a pedestrian friendly and cultural vibrant commercial area.  

The recent murder of yet another young man underscores the importance of effective youth services, so youth are better equipped to avoid the attractions and pitfalls of a prevalent drug culture. I believe it is our responsibility to instill educational values, social responsibility and provide meaningful opportunities. Current expenditures for youth services are already significant, at least 11 million annually; the city has not completed their intended assessment to understand whom we serve and how effective those services are. I am concerned that without evaluation we will continue to fail to serve the most at risk youth.  

I am a passionate and informed advocate for youth. For six years I assisted parents in problem solving as PTA parent advocate. Over a four-year period, my initiatives led to changes to Berkeley High School safety and attendance policies, as well as the adoption of violence and bullying prevention curricula district wide. Kids can’t learn when they are being harassed. Understanding the benefits of arts education and importance of literacy, I served on the school district Music Committee and organized Family Literacy Nights.  

South Berkeley is home to fixed income seniors, low and middle-income families many of whom are facing economic challenges. Families are being squeezed out by ever increasing taxes, fees and assessments, while health care costs climb, and folks have less discretionary spending. The city must practice fiscal discipline, learn to live within its means and not expect homeowners to shoulder the burden. It is simply hard to believe that Berkeley is committed to economic diversity pretending all homeowners can easily pay more.  

I believe that when the neighborhood speaks out, there is a good reason to listen. I will be an energetic, dedicated, practical representative ensuring our voices are understood. 

—Laura Menard 

District 3 City Council candidate 

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Voters throughout the Bay Area received their ballot pamphlets last week—many finding that they seemed heavier than usual. It wasn’t just their imagination. 

No fewer than a dozen East Bay cities have placed one or more tax measures on the ballot. School districts from Livermore to Albany have bond or parcel tax measures. BART, AC Transit, and the East Bay Regional Park District all have tax measures.  

In Berkeley, this all adds up to eight local or regional tax measures—including funding for city fire, police, and health services, libraries, and schools. All of this is in addition to the long list of state propositions. 

What is going on here?  

Virtually every city and local government in California is in fiscal crisis. San Diego, until recently the poster child for perfect bond ratings, is now teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. San Francisco, a county and city in one, faced a deficit of $352 million this year. In Berkeley, we have cut over $14 million from our $115 million general fund in the last three years. Next year, we have another $7.5 million deficit. 

The reasons for this financial crisis are many, but much of the problem can be traced to poor choices made in Washington and Sacramento. As federal and state governments cut taxes, cut programs, and cut funding, they simply passed the burden of providing essential services to the cities—which are also struggling to make ends meet. 

In a study released earlier this year, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities found that Bush Administration policies have cost California $21 billion over the past four years. They wrote in their report that, “this has forced state and local governments to make much larger spending cuts and tax increases than otherwise would have been necessary.”  

In Berkeley, we have first hand examples of this trickle down phenomenon. Several months ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development quietly changed its formula for funding Section 8 housing. Overnight, Berkeley was required to come up with over $150,000 or turn families out of their houses.  

The State has been no better. Twice last year, Berkeley had to re-open its budget to make additional cuts to cover State reductions. This year, we lost nearly $2 million when the State shifted a portion of our property tax revenue to state coffers.  

All of this trickling down adds up to tough choices. This year Berkeley has eliminated 100 employee positions, our employees agreed to return some of their pay, and every city department has taken reductions.  

Now we are faced with more severe cuts next year. Services for our vulnerable populations—seniors, youth, low-income families and individuals—will likely be reduced again. Essential services—such as police and fire—face significant cuts for the first time in decades. If we want to continue to be a safe, livable, healthy community, we must find ways to pay for the programs and services we need.  

This leaves local officials throughout the state with the unenviable task of going to the voters with a stark choice—tax increases or reductions in the services communities have come to depend on. In the end, we joined cities from Fremont to Pinole to Piedmont to San Ramon in placing new taxes before the voters.  

Hopefully, when the voters pick up their unusually heavy ballot pamphlets this year, they will think about how much of that extra weight trickled down from the State and federal government and how much they’ve saved in state and federal tax cuts. Knowing that, voters can make an informed decision about the kind of community in which they want to live and what it costs to get there. 

Tom Bates is the mayor of Berkeley. Previously, he served as the member of the State Assembly representing East Bay cities for 20 years. 

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I am writing to ask for your vote in support for Measure B, “Protecting Quality Education in Berkeley’s Public Schools.” Measure B would bring $8.3 million of critically needed funds into the schools for each of the next two years, reversing the most dev astating impacts of recent budget cuts.  

When I was re-elected to the Berkeley School Board two years ago, along with Nancy Riddle and Terry Doran, our School District was in severe fiscal and organizational crisis. Berkeley High School was without a pr incipal and the campus environment was poor for teaching and learning. All of those elected in 2002, as well as the two serving trustees, Joaquin Rivera and John Selawsky pledged to correct these serious deficits. 

Two years later I am pleased to tell you that we have achieved these goals. Working together, with our superintendent, we now have a budget that is balanced and an organization that is more accountable, frugal and effective. Berkeley High School has a new building, a strong principal and a rene wed sense of pride. In fact, BUSD is now viewed as one of the stronger school districts in the county.  

In Berkeley, we have high expectations for our schools: to provide support for students that need it; ensure that every student has the opportunity to reach their personal best; to address achievement gaps. I know that each school director and our superintendent wants to meet these expectations, but as we strive to do so, we must confront the real facts about our financial circumstances. In order to br i ng our budget into balance we have had to increase class size, eliminate teaching positions, reduce library hours, and dilute our music programs. These actions have affected teaching and learning. That is why the School Board voted unanimously, to place M easure B on the November ballot. Measure B would reverse the worst impacts of these cuts: those that affect the classroom.  

I realize we are asking a generous community to give again, but it seems to me that these are times that call for sacrifice in pur suit of worthy goals. In my judgment, Measure B is a valid request for additional funds that will be properly spent to provide essential educational programs in our schools. Measure B will raise $8.3 million for each of the next two years which will b e us ed to reduce class size, keep school libraries open and staffed, restore music programs, and train teachers in curriculum and instruction. I hope that you will vote for Measure B and continue Berkeley’s proud tradition of investing in our schools. To learn more, please visit the Measure B website: www.yesonb.net.  

Shirley Issel is school director for the Berkeley Unified School District.l

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Measure “L” on Berkeley’s November ballot asks for 16 percent increase in the Library Tax. The total tax for an average homeowner would be about $300 a year if Measure L passes. This would increase every year afterwards by five per cent, effectively doubling over the next 13 years without any further vote of the people. 

The proponents have a mantra: “We all love the library, don’t we?”. As if that should be the end of the discussion. 

But should it? We all love our kids too. That d oes not stop us from asking questions when we think they’re doing something wrong. 

The question here is why, given the unprecedented generosity of Berkeley property owners, can’t the library live within its means? Despite all the talk about state cutback s and the economic slowdown, the library’s revenues keep going up far faster than inflation, just over 45 percent in five years: 

Year Revenues Increase from Prior Year 

1999: $8,495,000 

2000: $8,752,000 +3.03 percent 

2001: $9,197,000 +5.08 percent 

2002: $9,719,000 +5.68 percent 

2003: $10,532,000 +8.37 percent 

2004: $12,353,000 +17.29 percent 

Total percent increase 1999-2004: +45.41 percent 

What’s going on here? We all know the population of Berkeley is stable or falling. We also know that many libra ry functions have been automated, and that this should save on staffing costs. 

The answer is two-fold. First is a lack of basic controls over spending procedures within the library. Second is a wage and benefit package that is far, far more generous than in the private sector. 

Cost Controls 

In June of this year the City Auditor issued a detailed—and scathing—report. It included findings that it was “not uncommon for purchases to be made without a requisition or purchase order” (p. 6), that “voucher for ms are being inappropriately used” (p. 2), that “63 percent of purchase orders did not include a purchase order amount” (p. 8), that “there is almost no documentation” that multiple bids were being solicited as required (p. 8), and that “approximately hal f of the Library’s 149 budgeted cost centers are not submitting library material orders that have been reviewed and approved by a supervisor” (p. 12). The Auditor’s concluded that these failures “can lead to overspending”. Indeed. 

Then there are the wage/benefit packages. In flusher times, the city’s unions negotiated guaranteed annual wage increases of five percent (far more than cost of living), and a package of benefits including free YMCA memberships, full health care and pension guarantees: all fund ed 100 percent by the city. The mayor’s own Citizens Budget Review Commission finds that this fact alone has resulted in a “structural deficit” that will continue even with tax increases. 

What all this means is the city generally and the library in parti cular must answer hard questions before asking Berkeley homeowners to further increase tax bills which are already the highest in the state. 

We all love our kids. But when they overspend their allowance, we don’t reward them with an increase.  

It’s call ed “tough love.” 

Dean Metzger 

President, Claremont Elmwood  

Neighborhood Association  

David M. Wilson,  

Steering Committee, Berkeleyans Against Soaring Taxes 

When young psychiatrist Neal Blumenfeld read that students had staged a protest at Sproul Plaza, he drove his Triumph TR-3 sports car as close as he could get to the campus, then walked over for a first-hand look. 

Within days of that 1964 protest he’d been ousted from his part-time consultancy with the Berkeley Police Department and had established himself as what Free Speech Movement leaders described as “the movement shrink.” 

His activism’s never wavered in the years since, and most recently he’s been in the news as the leader of the movement to landmark and preserve the Sisterna Tract Historic District in West Berkeley. 

Blumenfeld earned his M.D. from San Francisco State in 1956, and completed his psychiatric studies five years later. Interested in the emerging field of community mental health, he signed on with Berkeley Mental Health a year later. 

“I did education and consultation, and when I heard that the Berkeley Police Department wanted someone for five hours a week, I volunteered,” he said. 

Berkeley Police were known in psychiatric circles for working with mental health professionals. 

“What they mainly wanted was for me to evaluate police officer candidates. I was already dubious, because I thought the best way to do it was to have a long probationary period, but they weren’t interested,” Blumenfeld said. 

A social democrat—“my mother told me I should go back to the U.S.S.R.”—Blumenfeld had been part of Friends of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and had walked picket lines with the Congress of Racial Equality in San Francisco. 

“On my way to the campus that day, I was not expecting anything serious, but when I got there I found that the students were absolutely riveting.” 

Then he learned that UC administrators had called out a massive police presence from jurisdictions across the Bay Area. 

“They were hiding behind the buildings, so I asked where the Berkeley Police Department was,” he said. “I found them massed behind Sproul Hall, all decked out in their war paint. I could see that they were really tense.” 

Blumenfeld sought out one of the field commanders. “I said ‘I know you’re angry, but I’ve been listening to the students and you really ought to send someone over to listen.’” 

Berkeley had a good reputation for reasonable treatment of civil rights demonstrations, and Blumenfeld thought that if they really paid attention to what the students were saying, they’d realize how reasonable their concerns were. 

“The lieutenant just took me by the arm and said, ‘Doc, you’d better get out of here.’” 

But the more Blumenfeld listened, the more involved he became. No longer an observer, he was now a participant, meeting with FSM leaders and talking strategy. 

None of which went unnoticed by the BPD. 

“Capt. Jewel Ross was a good officer, an old-time Irish policeman, and he called me into his office, closed the door, and said, ‘Doctor, don’t you know that the communists are preparing to take over this country?’” Blumenfeld recalled. 

Soon after, he learned that his services were no longer need by the BPD. 

Blumenfeld wrote for FSM broadsides and participated in key meetings as the movement was making a segue into the anti-Vietnam war cause. 

“Jerry Rubin”—later a defendant in the “Chicago Seven” trial—“was asking me if it was too early to organize an anti-war movement,” Blumenfeld said. “I said yes. Fortunately, he didn’t listen to me.” 

That year’s Vietnam Day in Berkeley brought out a throng of 10,000. 

Blumenfeld would be there for the People’s Park protests, and he worked closely with members of the Black Panther Party. 

Like so many others caught up in the events of 40 years ago, Blumenfeld has remained deeply committed to the values embodied in the movement. 

In later years he would become involved in Central American issues, including trips to Nicaragua and Cuba through Global Exchange. 

His fight to preserve the Sisterna Tract is simply the latest episode in a decades’ old commitment. ?

Down at the end of Berkeley’s new Arts District on Addison Street, the East Bay Media Center has compiled a wide-ranging lineup of new talent for this weekend’s 11th Annual Berkeley Video and Film Festival.  

From small beginnings at Berkeley High in 1990, BVFF has morphed into a mini-Sundance, with 62 films in a dozen categories to be screened over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  

Although the festival has always maintained a little local flavor (included in this year’s schedule is Jennifer Ann Blaylock’s “Bowling,” a ‘shopumentary’ about the Berkeley Bowl), Festival director Mel Vapour, who along with Paul Kealoha Blake has run the EBMC for a quarter century, is quick to point out the breadth of entries. 

“We received over 200 entries from all over, from Canada to Brazil,” says Vapour. “Not only are we the biggest independent festival in Northern California, but the world is getting to know us.”  

Vapour is particularly proud to premier the Robert Greenwald Group’s “Unconstitutional: the War on our Civil Rights,” which was produced by Nonny De La Pena. “Unconstitutional” is an indictment of the USA PATRIOT Act, and makes its Bay Area premier on Saturday night. 

As always, BVFF is heavy on documentary work, but there’s a lot more. Here’s a brief overview of some of the festival’s highlights: 

On Friday night, the festival opens with Samm Style’s “Black August” (9:00 p.m.), a short trailer for the George Jackson-related film slated for next year, but the young Oakland filmmaker packs the tension and drama of San Quentin, 1971 into just three short minutes. Next, Mary Fridley and Fred Newman’s “Nothing Really Happens (Memories of Aging Strippers)” (Friday, 9:10 p.m.) is an introspective look at a lost New York: the co-owner of a Bronx candy store who, through her writing tells the tale of the Gun Hill Road neighborhood and its denizens.  

Friday wraps up in Stoners’ Paradise with Clifford Roth’s irreverent “The Stoned Channel” (10:40 p.m.). Roth takes a sideswipe at drug-testing, network television and the Reagan-era “Just Say No” policies in this hemp-fueled spoof.  

Saturday’s bill is rich with documentary winners. Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer’s “Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea” is an interesting, disturbing and humorous look at the environmental disaster in the Imperial Valley, and the curious folks and fauna who still insist on living there. 

“Howard Hughes: The Real Aviator” (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.) chronicles Hughes’ ascent into the American imagination, setting distance and speed records in the air, romancing Hollywood beauties, before retreating into his final days in a Las Vegas hotel. “The Real Aviator” puts Hughes in the best light, before the freak show began and the tabloids told the lurid tale.  

“Unconstitutional: The War on our Civil Liberties” (8:00 p.m., Saturday) is a powerful critique of the Bush Administration’s ‘war on terror.’ Filtered through the experience of every day Americans, from immigrant grocers to champion athletes to ordinary librarians, “Unconstitutional” is timed for the November election. 

Much lighter fare is “My Friend Friedrich,” a fictional romp through New York City with Friedrich Nietzche and a Columbia graduate student. Directed and produced by Andrew Hasse, a graduate of both the East Bay Media Center’s summer camp and NYU film school, “Friedrich” is a romantic comedy with several funny scenes in 22 minutes 

Sunday’s “There’s Something About W” (7:30 p.m. Sunday) is a companion piece to “Unconstitutional” (get a two-day ticket and check out both), though more centered on the broader broken promises of the Bush Administration, including the “No Child Left Behind” Act. 

The excellent “Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege” shows the ongoing conflict between indigenous culture and science atop Hawaii’s most sacred peak. “Daughters of Everest,” made by El Cerrito’s own Sapana Sakya, chronicles the ascent of the famous mountain—for the first time, by an all-female, all-Tibetan team.  

“Mad Twin” (Sunday, 9:45 p.m.) is a goofy look at the consequences of a nose job on a fictional high-school pep squad, while “IPO” heckles the greed and insanity of the dot-com boom-and-bust through the story of a start-up that offers genetically processed babies-on-demand. 

The BVFF offers all these pieces, and more, for $8 a day ($5 for students). So put down thy NetFlix and get thee to Wheeler Hall, and check out the next generation of movie-makers. You won’t get stadium seating or super-sized sodas, but you won’t be disappointed, either.  

m

We don’t hear much about the Anti-Trust Acts these days, and not too much about labor unions and their political action committees. 

But these two forces can play an important role in this post 9/11 era, as they played important roles at the end of the 19th Century and in the Great Depression.  

22. To Enforce Anti-Trust and Anti-Corruption Laws 

Mass movements of steel and railroad workers throughout the U.S. demanded the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890 to stop large corporations from making deals to cut wages and speed up production even if it meant cutting safety standards and the quality of products. It was upheld in Standard Oil v. U.S., 221 U.S. 1(1911). By 1914, unions demanded the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. § 12). The Anti-Trust Division of the Department of Justice was established to enforce these laws. 

In the Great Depression, after the stock market crash, Congress established the Securities and Exchange Commission to oversee actions by corporations. 

After 9/11, more and more pundits began to comment on the total inactivity of the Anti-Trust Division in the face of mergers of huge corporations, from computers to grocery outlets to TV and radio stations. This led to hundreds attending hearings of the Federal Communications Commission in 2004. 

Labor unions, activists, and good government NGOs were on the path of action to enforce basic U.S. laws against corporate misconduct. 

Report 22.1 

DOD Awarded Iraq Reconstruction Contracts Without Competitive Bidding (Larry Margasak, “Report Links Iraq Deals to Bush Donations,” USA Today, Oct. 30, 2003.) 

Report 22.2 

Contracts in Iraq Awarded to Anti-Labor Monopolies (“The Corporate Invasion of Iraq: Profile of U.S. Corporations Awarded Contracts in U.S./British-Occupied Iraq,” U.S. Labor Against the War, June 6, 2003.) 

Report 22.3 

Congress Members Complain about Contracts to Political Contributors (“Letter from Henry Waxman, California State Representative, to the Honorable Joshua Bolten, Director, Office of Management and Budget,” Sept. 30, 2003.) 

Report 22.4 

Whistleblowers on DynCorp Corruption Win in Two Courts (Kelly Patricia O’Meara, “DynCorp Disgrace,” Insight on the News, Aug. 19, 2003.) 

Report 22.5  

Corporate Armies Wage War in Iraq, Afghanistan (Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, “The Rising Corporate Military Monster,” Common Dreams.org, April 23, 2004.) 

23. To Protect the Rights of Workers and Unions 

U.S. workers won passage of the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment & Balanced Growth Act in 1978. It requires the President to report to Congress at budget time on the unemployment rate and to propose a plan to bring it down to three percent for adults and four percent for minors. Bush failed to make such a report in 2004. 

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (AFL-CIO) is one of the most militant unions, with strong ties to unions around the globe. President Bush after 9/11, got a Taft-Hartley injunction against the union. That did not stop the ILWU, which won most of their demands. Labor is calling for a million worker march on Washington on Oct. 17 demanding: universal health care, a national living wage, guaranteed pensions, repeal of the USA Patriot Act. www.millionworkermarch.org  

Report 23.1 

Bush Uses Taft-Hartley Act Against Militant Union (Doug Frechin, “Bush Declares War on West Coast Port Workers,” Justice, Issue 31, Sept.- Oct. 2002.) 

Report 23.2 

Immigration Service Raids Wal-Mart Janitorial Staff (Steven Greenhouse, “Cleaner At Wal-Mart Tells Of Few Breaks And Low Pay,” New York Times, Oct. 25, 2003.) 

Report 23.3 

Bush Failed To File Required Report Under Humphrey-Hawkins Act (M. Harvey Brenner, “Estimating the Effects of Economic Change on National Health and Social Well-Being,” prepared for Joint Economic Committee, Subcommittee on Economic Goals and Intergovernmental Policy, 98th Cong. 2nd Session, at p.53 [J. Rpt. 98-198, Serial No. J-98-17.], U.S. G.P.O, June 4, 1984.) 

Report 23.4 

U.S. Government Not Protecting Union Rights of Workers in “New” Iraq (“US Occupation Forces Raid Iraqi Union Headquarters,” Iraqi Federation of Workers’ Trade Unions, Dec. 11, 2003.) 

Report 23.5  

Oklahoma Workers Hunger Strike in Taiwan (Press Release, “Ponca Tribe and PACE Union Hold Protest March Condemning Environmental Pollution and Employee Lockout," Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire Service, Aug. 25, 2003.) 

To be continued... 

Berkeley resident Ann Fagan Ginger is a lawyer, teacher, activist, author and executive director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, a Berkeley-based center for human rights and peace law. 

Contents excerpted from Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11, edited by Ann Fagan Ginger (© 2004 Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute; Prometheus Books 2005) Readers can go to mcli.org for a complete listing of reports and sources, with web links. 

m

When I told friends I was flying back East with my two and a half year old nephew, Bryce, they looked at me like I was crazy.  

“Are you nuts?” Rose asked.  

“Better to travel with an alligator than a two year old,” advised Ruthie. “When the air conditioning kicks in, the alligator goes into hibernation.” 

No amount of explaining seemed to dissuade the skeptics. I bragged that Bryce had already flown to and from Philadelphia once before to visit his paternal grandparents, and that he had been to Japan three times for extended stays with his maternal grandparents. 

“He has more stamps on his passport than I do,” I boasted. “He was once handed over the customs desk in Tokyo and traded for a video camera. His parents flew to Bangkok. Bryce left in the arms of his Ji-ji and Ba-ba. He never looked back.” 

My explanations were met with deaf ears. Everyone said I was asking for trouble. After awhile I began to think they might be right.  

But my brother and sister-in-law are optimists. Every day for months they talked to Bryce about going to New Jersey with Aunt Suzy until he was waking up in the morning and yelling, “Is today the day I go to Jersey?” 

My brother answered, “No, not yet, but when you go, can I come too?” Bryce replied, “No way. I’m going to Granny and Pop Pop’s without you.”  

When our flight was called at SFO, Bryce shouted. “That’s us.” He barreled down the aisle and found his seat like a seasoned traveler. He snapped his seat belt in place and said, “What’s to eat?”  

By the time Bryce had finished the fish crackers and teddy bear cookies his mother had packed for him, our plane was speeding along the runway. It was when we were over San Francisco that he turned to me and asked, “Where’s Daddy?” 

Big crocodile tears formed in his eyes and I knew I was in trouble. “Where’s Daddy?” I repeated, stalling for time.  

Bryce nodded affirmatively.  

“Why he’s… he’s… he’s not here,” I stuttered.  

“Yes he is,” said Bryce. “Let’s find him.”  

Together we walked up and down the aisle fifty or sixty times. Bryce kept looking for his daddy while I sweated bullets and wondered how we were going to make it through the next four hours. Finally, after the flight attendants told us to sit down, and after bumping into the man in seat 3A for the hundredth time, Bryce fell asleep. I didn’t get a wink of shuteye, but Bryce snoozed all the way to Philadelphia.  

Our visit to New Jersey was magical. Granny and Pop Pop were the embodiment of doting grandparents and Bryce was only too happy to comply with their expectations that he was one of the greatest grandchildren of all time. After four days we headed back to Philadelphia International Airport, where all hell broke loose. 

At the check-in desk I learned that our flight had left two hours earlier. Apparently, I had been sent emails informing me of the change in the schedule. I had thought it was spam and erased the messages without reading them. I hadn’t confirmed the flight before the 90-minute drive to the airport, naively thinking that if the trip East had gone as planned, the return flight would do the same.  

There were no other US Air flights leaving that night for the Bay Area. We had to take a motel room and wait until morning. My nephew gutted out this unexpected change like a pro. My parents and I didn’t do as well, although liberal quantities of cheap red wine eased the pain. The return flight home was easy. Bryce slept the entire way. I had a headache. 

I once read an article that advised that one should visit Paris only with someone they love. I’d like to amend that statement by suggesting that if one has to go to New Jersey, one should go only with someone they adore. I’ve done it, and it’s fun.t

TUESDAY, OCT. 12 

FILM 

Experimental Works from Bay Area Schools at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Karen Eng, editor, discusses “Secrets and Confidences: The Complicated Truth About Women’s Friendships” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Mark Satin describes “The Radical Middle: A New Politics of Our Time” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

The Whole Note Poetry Series, with Paradise at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Branford Marsalis Quartet at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Peter Barshay & Marcos Silva at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Jazz House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Roberta Gambarini at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 13 

FILM 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “Leave Her to Heaven” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Political Art in California” with Peter Selz at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

George Lakoff discusses his new book, “Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate – The Essential Guide for Progressives” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Cafe Poetry at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Berkeley Poetry Slam at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryplough.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jerry Kuderna, piano concert at noon at 2324 Shattuck Ave. Free. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Jules Broussard, Ned Boynton and Bing Nathan at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Nuba with Dror Sinai at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Flowtilla at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Kaki King, guitar, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Improvised Composition Experiment open jam session at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $5. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Mel Martin & The Tenor Conclave at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, OCT. 14 

EXHIBTION OPENINGS 

“Threshold: Byron Kim” Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Transparent Story” Reception for Midori Harima, recipient of the 2004 Kala Board Prize, at 6 p.m. at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. Exhibition runs to Nov. 27. Gallery hours are Tues.-Fri. noon to 5:30 p.m., Sat. noon to 4:30 p.m. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

FILM 

Documentary Voices: “A Narmada Diary” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Hysteria” a film by Antero Alli at 9 p.m. at Endocrine Company Warehouse, 278 Fourth St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. www.verticalpool.com/hysteria. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Parenti on “Superpatriotism” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Han Ong reads from his novel “The Disinherited” at 5 p.m. at IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St. http://ieas.berkeley.edu 

Joy Hakim introduces “The Story of Science” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Sayre Van Young introduces “London’s War: A Traveler’s Guide to World War II” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

“Reclaiming Zimbabwe: The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation” with Prof. Horace Campbell, Syracuse Univ., at 6 p.m. at Alekebulan Bookstore, 1757 Alcatraz, Oakland. 595-7918. 

End-Dependence Collective “Our Voices are End-Dependent” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Joe Donohoe and Lenore Weiss at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Get the Lead Out Benefit concert for Melissa Crabtree at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

ThaMuseMeant, Baby Gramps, Wavy Gravy at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Brian Kane at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Peter Brotzmann, Michael Wertmueller, and Marino Pliakas at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $8-$15 sliding scale. www.thejazzhouse.com 

David Sanchez Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $16-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, OCT. 15 

CHILDREN 

Mo Willems introduces “Knuffle Bunny” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Objects and Representations of Balinese Religion and Culture” opens at the GTU, Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. and runs through Jan. 15. 649-2541. www.gtu.edu/library 

FILM 

Berkeley Video & Film Festival Awards and premieres at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $6-$8. 843-3699. www.berkeley- 

videofilmfest.org 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “Archangel” at 7:30 p.m. and “The Road to Glory” at 9:20 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

THEATER 

Acme Players Ensemble, “Ghost in the Machine” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., call for Sun. times., through Nov. 7, at APE Space, 2525 Eighth St. Suggested donation $5-$20. 332-1931. 

Aurora Theatre Company, “The Persians” runs through Oct. 17. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

“Aya de León is Running for President” at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Tickets are $8-$10. 273-2473. www.ayadeleon.com 

Berkeley Rep, “The Secret in the Wings” at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. until Oct. 17. Tickets are $10-$55. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Magical Acts Ritual Theater, “Heretics, Harlots and Heroes,” at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun at 2 p.m. through Oct. 23. Tickets are $16-$26. 883-0600. www.belladonna.ws 

Shakespeare in the Yard, “Notes From William, III” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m. at Sister Thea Memorial Theater, 920 Peralta St. West Oakland, through Oct. 17. Tickets are $5-$20. 208-5651 

TheatreFirst “Joe Egg” at 8 p.m. at Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Through Oct. 17. Tickets are $22. 436-5085. 

Un-Scripted Theater Company, “Fear,” a full-length improvised horror story, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. through Oct. 30. Tickets are $7-$12. 869-5384. www.un-scripted.com 

Woman’s Will, “Lord of the Flies” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m., at Eighth Street Studios, 2525 Eighth St., through Oct. 24. Free, donations encouraged. 420-0813. www.womanswill.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

M. Steven Shackley, editor, “The Early Ethnography of the Kumeyaay” at 4 p.m. at at Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, UC Campus, Bancroft at College. 643-7648.  

Justin Frank, clinical professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, George Washington Univ., looks at “Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President” at 12:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Maxina Ventura at 7:30 p.m. at the Fellowship Café, Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Soli Deo Gloria “Spiritual Journeys” a concert of American music featuring spiritual, gospel and classical sacred works at 7:30 p.m. at Zion Lutheran, 5201 Park Blvd., Piedmont. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-982-7341. www.sdgloria.org 

“Disaster Series–The Continuation” by Joe Goode, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse. Tickets are $8-$14. http://theater.berkeley.edu 

Wayne Wallace Quintet, a concert of Afro-Cuban music at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

Dick Hindman Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

The Cosmosamatics, featuring Sonny Simmons and Michael Marcus at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $8-$15. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Palenque at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Salsa dance lesson with Wendy Ellen Cochran at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

David Mallet at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

DJ & Brook, jazz trio, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Jello Biafra, Daphne Gottleib, Meliza Banales, in a punk rock and spoken word benefit for Jesse Townley, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Plan 9, The Deep Eynde, S.M.D. at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Great Teacher at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Stiletta, Top Brown, Chow Nasty, Secret Synthi at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Beatropolis at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SATURDAY, OCT. 16 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Princess Moxie Puppet Show at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $3-$4. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Mary Spivey, “Watercolors” Reception at 5:30 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. at Ashby. Exhibition runs through Oct. 31. 604-1473. 

Worth Ryder Art Gallery First Year Graduate Exhibition Reception at noon at Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 642-2582. 

“Landscape” local landscape painters. Reception at 7 p.m. at Fourth Street Studio. 527-0600. 

FILM 

Berkeley Video & Film Festival Sat. and Sun. from 1 p.m. to midnight at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $5-$8. 843-3699. www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “Twilight of the Ice Nymphs” at 7 p.m. and “Cowards Bend the Knee” at 8:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

THEATER 

Central Works, “A Step Away” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Through Nov. 21. Tickets are $8-$20. 558-1381. 

“Aya de León is Running for President” at 8 p.m. at Jahva House, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $7. 273-2473. www.ayadeleon.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Thea Bellos talks about the photographs in “¡Cuba Viva!” and the Bush Administration restrictions at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

Gish Jen introduces her new novel “The Love Wife” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“Literature and Love” with Diana Paxson at California Writers Club, at 10 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland. No charge. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

“Exploring Inner and Outer Landscapes,” a slide show and lecture by Stephen Altschuler, featuring his nature photography of the Point Reyes National Seashore, at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Psychic Institute, 2018 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trinity Chamber Concert with Amy Brodo, Paul Rhodes baroque cello and gamba, Katherine Heater, harpsichord, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www.TrinityChamberConcerts.com 

Chava Albertstein at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$38.642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Barry and Alice Oliver, folk, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Tour at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $16-$18. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

SoVoSó at 8 p.m. at the Jazzchool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

West African HighLife Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson with Comfort Mensah at 9 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Wayward Monks, jam rock jazz, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $6-$15. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Michael Zilber Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

J-Soul at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

86 The Band, Bermuda Triangle Service, Wensler Willgain at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Poor Bailey, Three Hours Old, Fine by Me, Fat Kid Running at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Animosity, Reflux, Botox Aftermath, The Clones, The Vice at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 17 

FILM 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “Seventh Heaven” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Yossi and Jaeger” about two male soldiers in the Israeli army who fall in love, at 2 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Donation $5. 848-0237. www.brjcc.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Threshold: Byron Kim” Guided tour at 2 p.m. and panel discussion at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Poetry Flash with Julia B. Levine and Sarah Maclay at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

International Women’s Writing Guild readings at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Gary Paul Nabhan explains “Why Some Like it Hot: Foods, Genes and Cultural Diversity” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Spice of Life Festival with the Berkeley High School Jazz Combo at 11 a.m., Maria Marquez at noon, Wil Blades Organ Trio at 1:30 p.m. Misturada at 3 p.m. and Jazzschool Big Band at 4:30 p.m. at Cedar and Shattuck.  

Organ Recital with David R. Hunsberger playing ten chorale preludes by J.S. Bach at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Donations accepted.  

Live Oak Concert John Lutterman performs and discusses J. S. Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Arts Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Ancient European Folk Songs performed by Lily Storm, Tim Rayborn, Shira Kammen at 7:30 p.m. at Parish Hall, St. Alban's Church, 1501 Washington St., Albany. Tickets are $12-$15.  

Brentano String Quartet at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $38. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Music, Dance and Ritual of Kerala, India at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$42. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Imagining a Map of the World” solo dance performance by Evangel King at 11 a.m. at 1374 Francisco St. Donation $7-$15. 841-9441. 

“Disaster Series–The Continuation” by Joe Goode at 2 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse. Tickets are $8-$14. http://theater.berkeley.edu 

Archiglas Acapella Choral Ensemble from St. Petersberg Russia at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan. Tickets are $12-$20 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

California Friends of French Lousiana Music at 2 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5-$8. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Austin Lounge Lizards at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Acoustic Ace of Spades at 1 p.m. at MamaBuzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph Ave. 289-2272. 

Americana Unplugged: The Squirrelly String Band at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Blame it on the Sex, Music Box Serial Killer at 8 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com?

We have a few civic olive trees in Berkeley—the ones in concrete planters on lower Sproul Plaza and a few on the borders of the parks strip along Hearst between MLK and Sacramento come to mind. Those are all fairly young. There are older ones around, mostly privately owned.  

Age matters in an olive, because as they age they get more interesting, especially around their trunks. Next time you’re around a producing olive grove, take a look at the tree’s bases. They get marvelously lumpy and gnarled, while retaining a smooth gray bark that looks like a match for a Greek promontory. They make great natural bonsai—in fact, people do bonsai them, just for that appearance of having survived great character-building vicissitudes. Young ones look gangly, but need only time, no special treatment. 

If you were watching the Olympics, you saw lots of olive foliage, those distinctive gray-green narrow leaves; the winners of competitions were crowned with olive wreaths, in homage to Athena. Athens was names after the goddess when, in response to Poseidon’s gift of a horse, she gave the founding citizens the first olive tree. (I’ve always wondered if they got to keep the horse, too.) 

It was a capital offense to cut down an olive tree in parts of ancient Greece, and I suppose the powers-that-prune here ought to be grateful that Elliot Cohen didn’t consult the original Solon when he drew up his proposed tree ordinance. A real return to the roots of Western democracy might have some interesting results, and I don’t mean just naked athletes.  

Olives are officially Olea europaea, the European oil tree. I like eating olives, but it’s clear from the specific epithet what people find most important about this tree. Olive oil is tasty and distinctive, but also versatile because it has so many variations. There are delicate Spanish cookies made with olive oil and a bit of cinnamon; there are also olive oils whose strong flavor needs garlic and lemon for company. The oil was used for lamps as well as food, and to treat skin and wounds and prevent sunburn. You’d think it would just promote sizzling, but it seems to have worked for those athletes. A marathon would test more than one’s muscular endurance, run under a Mediterranean sun.  

Oh—hair pomade too. And royalty used to have their heads anointed with olive oil, not Crisco. We do indeed live in degenerate times.  

The tree itself is tough. Its only problem here is drainage, and planting it a bit above grade works well enough against that. It’s drought-tolerant, and seems reasonably resistant to city dirt and smog, and very resistant to diseases. Its one drawback is that the pollen, like that of most plants with such inconspicuous flowers, is windborne and allergenic. (I don’t care; I have a youngster in my backyard anyway. It was supposed to become a bonsai but I let it grow up instead.)  

It’s probably one more symptom of an insane society that there’s a hormone spray that prevents olives from fruiting, and that people use this on city trees because the dropped olives are “messy.” 

I have friends in San Francisco whose problem in that regard was solved for a few years by another friend, who drove over with a stepladder and harvested their street trees. He found he could cure them just fine in big plastic jugs, layered with salt. He kept the jugs on an out-of-the-way shelf, tilted so he could drain off the brine, and it took a month or less to get perfectly nice black olives. There are plenty of more elaborate methods, too, involving water, lye, brine, or olive oil, and cured olives can be marinated in all manner of interesting herbs and spices. 

Olive trees are fun to prune, too. They take to a weeping habit, if you remember to let the weeping twigs “bounce”—that is, if you keep the upper and cut off the lower bit, so the flow of the branch is open, reaching out, not cramped. They look great if you cut off only the twigs that cross and tangle with each other under the canopy, and leave an open, airy umbrella. 

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TUESDAY, OCT. 12 

Morning Bird Walk: Wildcat Canyon meet at 7 a.m. at Alvarado Staging Area, Tilden Park. Call for directions or to reserve binoculars. 525-2233.  

Afternoon Bird Walk from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline. Call for directions. 525-2233. 

“Berkeley Candidates 2004” A video from the League of Women Voters at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Candidates for the Berkekey School Board will speak and answer questions at the Rosa Parks School, 930 Allston Way. Starts promptly at 7 p.m. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters. 843-8824. http://lwvbae.org 

“Bush Science Policy” A forum on the Bush Administration’s uses and abuses of science in policymaking at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10, available from 642-9988. http://journalism.berkeley.edu 

“Fluids & Faulting: Water & Earthquakes in California” with Mark Zoback, Professor of Geophysics, Stanford University at 5:30 p.m. in 10 Evans Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Water Resources Center Archives. 642-2666. 

Blood Drive from noon to 4 p.m.at UCB Hillel, 2736 Bancroft Way. 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. 

“Caring for Others, Caring for Yourself” a six-week program on the spiritual dimension of caregiving on alternate Tues. at 7 p.m. in Berkeley. Suggested donation $75 for whole session. 845-1963. www.spcare.org 

“Introduction to Judaism” Explore Jewish spirituality and ethics with David Cooper at 7:30 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Financial Planning Workshop: College Planning 101 with Jarrett Topel, Certified Financial Planner at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. Free. 526-7512.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 13 

Presidential Debates Meet betterbadnews.tv at 5:30 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. The debates will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a presentation of Better Bad News.tv Sponsored by Berkeley Arts Festival. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Measure A Public Hearing for Alameda County Health Care Services, with Supervisor Keith Carson, at 6:30 p.m at Stovall Recreation Center, 1728 Alcatraz Ave., at King St. 272-6695. 

Voter Education Workshop Discuss the issues, get the information you need to vote, register to vote in the upcoming election at 6 p.m. at the South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. 981-6299. 

“Baffled by the Ballot?” A discussion of state and local measures at the National Women’s Political Caucus General Meeting at 6 p.m. at Rockridge Library Community Room, 5366 College Ave.  

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Palestinian and Israeli Doctors Speak Out on the health effects of the occupation on civilians at 7 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale. Benefit for Middle East Children’s Alliance and International Solidarity Movement. 548-0542. www.mecafrpeace.org 

“A Modern Rabbi in Search of Historical Jesus” with Rabbi Harry Manhoff at 11:30 a.m. at Berkeley Richmond JCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5, registration at 11 a.m. 848-0237. 

“Vanishing Prayer” A documentary on the Dineh resistance in Arizona, plus “The Zapatista’s Mayan Uprising” at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $3-$5, no one turned away. Sponsored by the International Council for Humanity. 419-1405.  

Lesbians and Cancer Video Night “My Left Breast” at 6:30 p.m. at Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave. Space is limited, please RSVP to 420-7900, ext. 111. 

Basic Balkan Singing Workshop on four Wed. evenings at 7:30 p.m. at Lake Merritt Church, 1330 Lakeshore Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $75 for the series. Registration required. 444-0323. www.kitka.org 

“Corsets to Crampons: Pioneers of Mont Blanc” The film of six women who made the climbing/skiing trip in 1808, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Gardening for Wildlife Learn how to turn any small garden space into a refuge for birds, frogs, insects, and other wildlife using California native plants. Class meets Weds. from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m at the Self Reliant House on the Merritt College campus. Cost is $41. 434-3840. ecomerritt@sbcglobal.net 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze market, just west of the I-80 overpass. 548-9840. 

Prose Writers’ Workshop An ongoing group focused on issues of craft, at 7 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 524-3034. georgeporter@earthlink.net 

Poetry Writing Workshop, led by Alison Seevak, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, Edith Stone Room, 1247 Marin Ave. Registration required. 526-3700, ext. 20. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil  

THURSDAY, OCT. 14 

“Lights on After School” Nonprofit organizations, parks and recreational centers, church and school-based programs in Berkeley will be open to the public from 3:30 to 7 p.m. to showcase after school programs. To locate a participating site, call 525-5272 or see  www.afterschoolalliance.org 

Berkeley Marina Volunteer Training from 9 a.m. to noon, at the Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Ave. Topics cover each of the local estuarine environments. 981-6720. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/marina 

“Strictly Speaking” Paul Krugman will speak on the bust of the boom economy, the recent run of corporate scandals and the administration’s fiscal policies at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $18-$30. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Candidates for the Berkekey School Board will speak and answer questions at Longfellow School, Derby at Sacramento St. Starts promptly at 7 p.m. Sponsored by the Berkeley PTSA Council and the League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville. 843-8824. http://lwvbae.org 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers meets at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave.,Kensington. We will preview the McCloud River outing scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 22-24. 547-8629. 

“Political and Religious Dissent in a Dumbed-Down Society” with Prof. Frank Haiman, Northwestern Univ. at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

“Science and the Future of the California Coast” with Anthony Michaels, director of the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, at 11:30 a.m. at The Claremont, 41 Tunnel Road. Cost is $35. 213- 821-2478. www.usc.edu/events 

Foods of the Americas An exhibit of the abundance of the fall harvest from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Oct. 27 at the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

East Bay Jewish Folk Chorus at 7:30 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. To arrange an audition email Mail@achibenshalom.com 

“In Exchange for a Homeland” with poet Yosefa Raz at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

“Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible” a film of a talk by Bob Avakian of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA at ACT 1&2 Theater, 2128 Center St. Tickets are $10. 848-1196. 

East Bay Mac User Group meets from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Expression Center for New Media, 6601 Shellmound St. http://ebmug.org 

Tibetan Buddhist Approach to Death and Dying with Venerable Tsokni Rinpoche III at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Shambhala Meditation Center, 2288 Fulton St. Sponsored by Northern California Shambhala & Pundarika Foundation http://norcal.shambhala.org  

FRIDAY, OCT. 15 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Betty Olds, Berkeley City Council on “Berkeley.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

Amy Goodman, host of “Democracy Now” at 6:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Sponsored by the ACLU Berkeley Chapter. rsaclu@earthlink.net 

Hills Emergy Forum Annual Meeting with representatives from Berkeley, Oakland, El Cerrito, EBMUD, UC Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley Lab at 10 a.m. in the California Room, 4th floor, Double Tree Hotel, Berkeley Marina. www.lbl.gov/ehs/hef/ 

“Making Sustainable Forestry Work: Trees, Land, People and Business” with Paul Harlan, Vice President of The Collins Companies, a leader in sustainable forestry, at 4 p.m. at Booth Auditorium, Boalt Hall. UC Campus. www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ 

forestry/lecture.html 

“Jerusalem Women Speak: Three Women, Three Faiths, One Shared Vision” at 7 p.m. at 2060 Valley Life Science Building, UC Campus. Sponsored by Partners for Peace, Cal Muslim Students Assoc., Students for Justice in Palestine-UCB. 644-3650. 

SWOP’s Sexy Circus to celebrate the rebirth of the prostitutes rights movement at 7 p.m. at Third and Jones warehouse on the RR tracks. 877-776-2004. www.swop-usa.org 

Bad Subjects Book Release Celebration at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

Tibetan Buddhist Approach to Transforming Stress with Tsokni Rinpoche III at 7:30 p.m. Berkeley Shambhala Meditation Center, 2288 Fulton St. http://norcal.shambhala.org  

SATURDAY, OCT. 16 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour of Dharma Publishing and Scharffenberger Chocolate Makers at 10 a.m. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

Walking Tour of Historic Oakland Churches and Temples Meet at 10 a.m. at the front of the First Prebyterian Church at 2619 Broadway. For reservations call 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Sproul Conference Room, 1st Floor, 2727 College Ave. www.berkeleycna.com 

Dance for the Swing States with Country Joe McDonald and Kevin Griffin’s Rough Draft from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Thousand Oaks School, 840 Colusa. All proceeds go to A.C.T. Suggested donation $25. 

Albany YMCA Garage Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Proceeds will be used to help support Albany YMCA Youth and Adult Financial Assistance programs. 921 Kains Ave. 525-1130. 

“Side By Side: A Journey With Depression” with Brian Wetzel at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 707-829-1872. www.frontporchspirit.com  

Plant Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1045 Leneve Place, El Cerrito. Sponsored by the Berkeley Garden Club. 843-9457. 

Creating Your Own Garden Paradise at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Constructing the School Garden A workshop for teachers to learn how to build school garden beds using recycled or low cost products, and how to incorporate students into the process. Cost is $25. Pre-registration required. Held in Berkeley, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 231-9430. www.thewatershedproject.org 

Toddler Nature Walk for 2-3 year olds and their grown-up friends from 2 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Foods of the Andes: Potato Festival” Learn how potatoes are traditionally prepared, with children’s activities and Bolivian music from noon to 1:30 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $10-$23. Registration required. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Light Search and Rescue from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 997 Cedar St. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Los Días de los Muertos Workshop Shrine and Altar Making at the Richmond Art Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 2540 Barrett Ave., at 25th St., Richmond. Cost is $30-$35. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

Gadabout Film Festival of independent filmmakers at 7 p.m. at AK Press Warehouse, 674 23rd St., Oakland. 208-1700. www.akpress.org 

“Healing Through Buddhist Art” with Arnaud Maitland at 3 p.m. at Dharma Publishing, 2910 San Pablo Ave. donation $10. 548-5407. 

Dharma Publishing Open House and demonstration of sacred art craft from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2901 San Pablo Ave. 548-5407. 

“What’s Going On? California and the Vietnam Era” a symposium with representatives from the arts, media, academia, politics and veteran services, Sat. and Sun. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $25, $45 for both days. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Build Green, a free seminar covering building materials and practices that promote sustainability, from 9 to 11 a.m. at Truitt and White, 1817 Second St. Registration required. 649-2674. 

Benefit Yard Sale for Shotgun Players from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2139 Curtis St. off of University. 841-6500. 

Mahea Uchiyama Center Auction Fundraiser and Tahitian dance performance to raise funds to bring master teachers and performers from Tahiti for the upcoming concert season. At 8 p.m. at 729 Heinz Ave. Cost is $15. www.mahea.com 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 17 

Bike Tour of Historic Oakland A leisurely paced 5.5 mile bike tour sponsored by the Oakland Museum of California. Meet at 10 a.m. at the 10th St. entrance of the museum. For reservations call 238-3514. www.museumca.org 

Early Morning Bird Walk We’ll look for birds making their way south and learn why and how they migrate at 8 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Dinosaur Day We’ll learn about them through puzzles, bingo and making tracks from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Mayan and Aztec Medicinal Plants Tour with Horticulturalist Eric Schulz from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical garen, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $8-$12. Registration required. 643-2755. http:// 

botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Kensington Library Book Sale from noon to 4 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave., in the parking lot behind the library. 

Benefit for MoveOn.org with silent art auction, speakers, and Film screening of “Unprecedented: the 2000 Election” at 5 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Cost is $25. 843-2787. www.studiorasa.org 

Berkeley Cybersalon “There’s Something About W” at 6 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $10. 

Train to End Stroke Movie Marathon Videos and films about people and animals overcoming various challenges at 3 p.m. at Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. Tickets are $7 at the door. All profits will benefit the American Stroke Association. 301-6822. 

Los Días de los Muertos Art and Traditions, and Procession Masks at the Richmond Art Center from 1 to 4:30 p.m. 2540 Barrett Ave., at 25th St., Richmond. Cost is $30-$35. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

“Spiritual Citizenship and the Healing of America” with Barbara Hamilton Holway at 9:30 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302.  

Healing Friction Community Circle A free workshop for political engagement from 3 to 6 p.m. at 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Come share your voice, some food, and a way through and out of hopelessness. 866-236-0346. www.healingfriction.org  

Tibetan Buddhism with Abbe Blum on “Buddhist Tools for Well-being” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Tues. Oct. 12, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

City Council meets Tues., Oct. 12, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Oct. 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Paul Church, 981-6342. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/disability 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Oct. 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. at 2940 Benvenue Ave. Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Oct. 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Oct. 13, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. Cliff Marchetti. 644-6376 ext. 224. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/waterfront 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., Oct. 14, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Marianne Graham, 981-5416. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/earlychildhoodeducation  

Community Health Commission meets Thurs, Oct. 14, at 6:45 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/health 

Two-by-Two Meeting of City and School officials to dicuss common concerns, Thurs., Oct. 14, at 8:30 a.m., in the Redwood Room, 6th floor, 2180 Milvia St. 981-7000. 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Oct. 14, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/westberkeley  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Oct. 14, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  

Before a single vote has been counted in Berkeley, clear winners have emerged in the race to raise money for city council elections, according to campaign contribution and expense reports released Tuesday. 

In District 5 Laurie Capitelli has raised $25,048, more than double the amount raised by his nearest rival Jesse Townley.  

In District 6 incumbent Betty Olds has taken in $14,000 compared to $1,150 for her lone opponent, Norine Smith. In District 2 Darryl Moore has raised $4,992 while his opponent, Sharon Kidd, chose not to raise money.  

And in District 3 Max Anderson has netted $8,870, nearly quadruple the take of fellow-challenger Laura Menard and roughly five times more than incumbent Maudelle Shirek. 

Three city ballot measures that would raise taxes are flush with cash, thanks primarily to the contribution of the Service Employees International Union Local 535. The largest city union representing non-uniformed employees has dished out $18,000 in total funds for tax measures to increase funding for libraries, youth services and the city’s general fund. 

Winning the fundraising wars in Berkeley has almost always assured victory. In 2002, the most well-heeled candidates won every single race, including mayor, city council, school board and rent board. Deep campaign war chests mean not only that a candidate has money to burn, but usually indicates that they have the support of the city’s political establishment. 

To diminish the pull of contributors, Berkeley forbids contributions from businesses and allows individuals to contribute no more than $250 to individual candidates.  

That is still too much for some residents, who have sponsored a ballot measure to finance all campaigns with city money. So far backers of Measure H have garnered $32,129 in contributions, including the largest single contribution of the current filing period—$12,000 from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund. 

Several opponents of the city’s current campaign finance system, like Councilmember Kriss Worthington, argue that money from developers, their family members and business partners have skewed city council votes on proposed buildings. 

“Developers who have major projects coming up for a vote give major amounts of money to buy access,” he said. 

This year Capitelli, a partner at Red Oak Realty, has taken in by far the most money from developers. Among his contributors, he counts prominent names like Ali Kashani, the head of Memar Properties; Chris Hudson and Evan McDonald, formerly of Panoramic Interests and now of Hudson & McDonald; David Teece, Hudson and McDonald’s chief financier; Robert Ellsworth, of Ruegg & Ellsworth; Avi Nevo of Aldar Investments; John and Michael Drew, who own extensive amounts of land in West Berkeley; Igal Sarfaty, owner of the UC Theater; Peter Tunney, the manager of Golden Gate Fields where a big commercial development is planned; and John DeClerq, developer of Library Gardens. 

In all, donors that could be directly tied to development contributed $3,600 of the $12,183 Capitelli received from July 1 through Sept. 30. Outside of developers, Capitelli also received numerous contributions from fellow real estate brokers. Capitelli, however, noted that he had a varied list of contributors that also included residents more cautious of new development including Landmarks Preservation Commissioner Carrie Olson and Planning Commissioner Gene Poschman. 

“The amount I’ve raised is indicative of the breadth of support I’ve gotten,” Capitelli said. 

One name who didn’t appear on Capitelli’s list of contributors or anyone else’s was Patrick Kennedy, the head of Panoramic Interests and the city’s most prolific housing developer. Capitelli said he declined a contribution from Kennedy, who did not return a telephone call for this story. 

While Capitelli was able to mine his contacts in real estate and development circles, his rivals struggled to keep pace. District 5 candidate Barbara Gilbert has raised $9,699—nearly one-third of which she loaned to herself. 

“It’s very hard for a populist candidate,” she said. “My donors are regular people.” 

Jesse Townley, a Green Party member and punk rock singer, has raised $11,942, thanks in part to a series of benefit concerts he sponsored. 

In District 3, Anderson’s money lead comes in part from the support of the city’s progressive establishment. He received contributions from, among others, School Board member Terry Doran, former planning commission members Zelda Bronstein, Rob Wrenn and John Curl and former mayoral candidate Don Jelinek. 

Community Activist Laura Menard trailed with $2,325, mostly from members of neighborhood groups, and Councilmember Shirek, who only started her write-in campaign in earnest two weeks ago, raised $1,751. Nearly a third of Shirek’s contributions—$600 in total—has come from councilmembers Gordon Wozniak, Miriam Hawley and Margaret Breland. 

The committee to support tax measures J and K (increases to the utility tax and the property transfer tax) has raised $15,910, two-thirds of which has come from union contributions, including a $9,000 donation from SEIU Local 535. Assemblymember Loni Hancock contributed $1,000 to the campaign form her campaign fund. 

SEIU Local 535 has also given $9,000 to support the library tax. As of Sept. 30, the backers of the tax increase have raised $30,491. Half of that amount has come from the group Friends of the Berkeley Public Library and a second library advocacy organization, Keep Libraries Alive, raised $3,118. 

Of the citizen-initiated ballot initiatives, only the backers of a plan to decriminalize prostitution raised money during the recent filing period. Thanks in part to a $550 contribution from George Zimmer, the owner of Mens’ Wearhouse, the group, Californians for Civil Liberties, has raised $3,033 for the campaign. Opponents, led by Brad Smith, an aide to Councilmember Linda Maio, have raised $400 to fight the measure. 

While the city council fundraising battles are lopsided, candidates for school board are running nearly neck and neck. 

The two most prominent challengers for the two open seats, Karen Hemphill, the city clerk of Emeryville, and Kalima Rose, a social policy analyst for Oakland-based Policy Link, have raised $6,789 and $6,427. Incumbents John Selawsky and Joaquin Rivera have raised $4,435 and $9,244. Rivera has loaned his campaign $4,000. The fifth candidate, Merrilie Mitchell, has not raised money. 

At the same point two years ago the three candidates ultimately elected to the school board each had raised at least $6,000 more than their competitors. 

Candidates must file a record of their contributions and expenditures again on Oct. 21—the last filing date before the November election.?

When Michael Shaub moved into his home in North Berkeley last year, he didn’t know his pricey new address would cost him the chance to vote in Berkeley on Election Day. 

Shaub, much to his chagrin, is one of 485 Berkeley voters to receive notice from the Registrar of Voters this week that if they wanted to vote in the upcoming election they have little choice other than filling out an absentee ballot and mailing it in. 

“It’s disappointing,” he said. “There’s a certain comfort in going to the polling station and knowing your vote is going to be counted.” 

Shaub and other affected voters all live in three enclaves criss-crossed by a half-dozen regional and municipal electoral districts. 

The problem, said Alameda County Registrar of Voters Bradley Clark, is that “when all these jurisdictions like AC Transit and BART draw their boundary lines they don’t talk to each other and we end up with these weird little precincts.” 

State law requires that a precinct have 250 registered voters to qualify for a polling station, Clark said. The three Berkeley precincts in question, he added, could not be consolidated into neighboring ones because the neighboring precincts were in different electoral districts and had different candidates on the ballot. To avoid confusion polling stations must all provide identical ballots, he said. 

“This is so common for us, we don’t give it a second thought,” said Clark. Previously most of the absentee voting precincts were in sparsely populated regions of the county, primarily the eastern hills, but as more jurisdictions have sprouted up, nearly every city has affected areas. 

But the policy was disturbing news to Carrie Olson, Shaub’s mother-in-law, and the Chief Operating Officer of MoveOn.org. 

“To have a further impediment to voting come up right in our own backyard is troubling,” said Olson. She feared that like her son-in-law, many voters’ first impulse would be to disregard the envelope marked “Absentee Ballot” because they believed they had an assigned polling station. 

“I think there will be a lot of people who won’t know they can’t vote until Election Day when it might be too late,” she said. 

Shaub who lives on Ada Street, just west of Sacramento Street, finds himself in a several block electoral pocket carved out by district boundaries for the City Council and the Peralta Community College District.  

Since redistricting in 1990, City Council District 5 extends west of Sacramento Street to include Shaub’s home and several blocks from Ada Street to the Albany border and from Sacramento Street west to Acton Street. But Peralta sets its district border on Sacramento Street, leaving Shaub and the other residents of District 5 just west of Sacramento in an electoral no man’s land every four years when both seats are contested. 

“That’s terrible,” said District 5 Councilmember Miriam Hawley, who said none of her constituents had complained to her about not having a polling station. She said her office would remind residents that they needed to vote via absentee ballot. 

Another precinct without a polling station is bounded by Sacramento to the east, Acton to the west, University Avenue to the north and Allston Way to the south. Again in that case, the conflict is between boundaries drawn by Peralta and the City Council.  

Peralta changed its district boundaries in 2000, but neither Susan Duncan, the Peralta trustee, who represents residents north of Sacramento, nor District spokesperson Jeff Hyman knew if Peralta had previously used a boundary other than Sacramento Street. Darryl Moore, the other Peralta trustee representing Berkeley, was unavailable for comment. 

The third affected precinct is two square blocks bounded by Shattuck to the east, Martin Luther King Jr. Way to the west, Dwight Way to the north and Blake Street to the south. Those two blocks were moved in 2001 from City Council District 3 to District 4. The City Council border now conflicts with districts drawn for the BART Board of Directors, which divides two districts at Dwight. 

Although some Berkeley voters won’t have a polling station, the city will have 85 stations in November—five more than for the election last March, Clark said. But as the ranks of absentee voters continues to rise—190,000 voters have registered to vote by mail this year, compared to 9,000 just four years ago—the county might reduce the number of stations in future elections, he added. 

On Election Day, voters deprived of a polling station can vote in person at the registrar of voters office in Oakland or vote in any neighboring polling station by filling out a ballot. Every race the voter is eligible to vote on would be counted, Clark said. 

In recent years voters like Shaub could have voted in person before Election Day at City Hall, but that option isn’t available this year. Clark said Secretary of State Kevin Shelley didn’t certify the county’s system in time to set up early voting booths. 



City housing officials have launched an investigation into the Gaia Building’s electric apartment heaters following a complaint from tenant Thomas Miller. 

Berkeley Supervising Housing Inspector Carlos Romo said that while building specs submitted for the structure at 2140 Allston Way called for 1500 watt heaters in the building’s one-bedroom units, the heater in Miller’s apartment is a Cadet Model C101 1200, rated by Cadet Manufacturing at a thousand watts. 

“We will be trying to identify if the owner, by going with something less, was trying to cut corners,” Romo said. 

The more powerful heaters were specified by the energy consultant hired to evaluate heating needs for the building, which was built by Berkeley developer Patrick Kennedy with loans backed by a public agency, the Association of Bay Area Governments. 

“The consultant told us that there is some margin for error in the figure, so the owner could conceivably go with something smaller,” Romo said. 

“This was the first I’ve heard about it,” Kennedy said Thursday afternoon. “We’ve never had any complaints about heat before, and most tenants say they never use their heaters because the building is so tight. 

“Most units have two or three heaters, but Mr. Miller is apparently in one of the smaller units.” 

Miller’s is a one-bedroom apartment in a building with 91 one- and two-bedroom units. There is a visible gap between the upper edge and the frame of his southernmost bedroom window even when latched. 

According to the state Uniform Building Code, dwellings must, at a minimum, have heating systems that enable residents to maintain a constant temperature of 70 degrees at a point three feet above the floor, regardless of outside temperatures. 

That section has been incorporated as Subsection 701.1 of Section 19.40.040 of the city Uniform Housing Code. 

Miller said he first worried about the heat in his third floor apartment during the cold days of March, shortly after he had moved in. 

“I had to open up the (gas) oven and turn it on to get enough heat,” he said, a tactic Romo urged him not to use during a recent visit to his apartment.  

Miller’s apartment is one of the so-called inclusionary units, apartments reserved for low-income residents, that enabled Kennedy to trump the city’s five-story limit for downtown buildings. By building another floor reserved for cultural uses, he was able to create the equivalent of an eight-story building a half-block from the UC Berkeley campus. 

“Are you aware that the tenant is actually under the care of the Berkeley Mental Health Department?” asked Kennedy when called about the heating probe. 

Miller had already freely admitted that he has had three heart attacks, suffers from Hepatitis C and is undergoing treatment for medically managed schizophrenia. It was those conditions which qualified him as a Section VIII disability tenant. 

His move into the building was facilitated by Berkeley’s BOSS program. 

Like all Gaia tenants, Miller had to sign an authorization allowing Kennedy’s Panoramic Management to tap directly into his bank account for his monthly rent. 

Miller said he is also concerned because his apartment lacks window screens, a feature also missing from the Fine Arts Building and several other Kennedy Buildings visited recently by a Daily Planet reporter. 

“At this point we have to be in communication with the building officials and decide how to proceed,” Romo said. “It could require additional checking with the owner.” 

Romo said he would also be inspecting the heating units in other apartments in the building.›

Confronted by too many unresolved questions, the Richmond City Council Tuesday delayed a vote on the sale of Point Molate until they can get more answers. 

The two would-be buyers of the former naval refueling station made their pitches to the council Tuesday: the oil giant ChevronTexaco, which wants the land as a security buffer, and a Berkeley developer who wants it for a casino resort complex. 

“I am prepared to sign tonight,” said Dennis Triplitt, regional real estate projects manager for the oil company. “Ours is a bona fide solid offer that offers great value to the community.” 

ChevronTexaco is offering $5 million within ten days of signing for a city job training and creation program, a $50 million purchase payment when the property is transferred and $1 million a year for 25 years for maintenance of public improvements on the site. 

While the proposal would allow for light industrial and commercial development of part of the site—including the landmarked Winehaven building—Triplitt acknowledged that the project wouldn’t create as many jobs as the casino proposal. 

To compensate, the oil company is offering the city a long-term lease on 25 acres across from the Point Richmond Technical Center adjacent to the I-580 onramp on Castro Street. 

The now-vacant site, which once housed a Chevron warehouse, would be made available “to help the city realize their economic development plans,” said ChevronTexaco spokesperson Dean O’Hair. Terms would be negotiated whenever the city meets with the company to work out details of the Point Molate agreement. 

No meeting has yet been scheduled, O’Hair said Wednesday afternoon. 

ChevronTexaco’s original offer also included city-owned land at Point San Pablo at the tip of the Richmond peninsula. After city officials refused to consider the sale of that parcel, the oil company excluded it from their bid but didn’t change the purchase price. “In essence, we’ve increased the price for Point Molate,” Triplitt said. 

Berkeley developer James D. Levine, whose Upstream Point Molate LLC has teamed with gambling giant Harrah’s Entertainment and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, ridiculed the ChevronTexaco offer. Levine referred to the city’s contentious dealings over the years with the refinery as a caution against accepting the firm’s current proposal. 

“You’re trying to find a partner, and the fundamental basis of any partnership is trust. But Chevron has misled you, Chevron has duped you, and now they want to be your partner,” he said. 

Levine declared that, unlike the oil company’s proposal, the casino, hotel, upscale retail and entertainment complex he plans will offer Richmond “jobs and opportunities not seen since World War II.” 

Because Chevron’s offer “has no sustainable economic development plan, it does not meet the fundamental purpose for reuse” for a former military base, he said. Calling Chevron’s promises “pie in the sky,” he said, “We don’t think that’s what the city needs.” 

While some Richmond residents have questioned the wisdom of bringing casinos into cities, Levine said, “there will be urban gaming in California. The only question is where and how much of it? 

“With this project you can set the model. There will be fewer urban gaming projects if you get this up to Sacramento.” 

He did not explain what he meant by this comment. 

Levine said his project would create a retail base that would help the deeply indebted city balance its books, and he promised that “once the casino is up and running,” the project would establish a million-dollar-a-year “community-based foundation to award 50 grants a year to community organizations in Richmond.” 

Norman LaForce, legal affairs director for the Bay Area Sierra Club, said Levine had offered a similar million-dollar-a-year environmental trust fund if the Sierra Club and other organizations agreed to endorse his proposal. 

“We refused to sign off, and now that’s gone,” he said, warning the council that once the land transfers to tribal reservation status, the city loses all control over environmental impacts at the site. 

Two clear endorsements came during public testimony, a ringing approval of the casino plan from the politically powerful Richmond Local 188 of the International Association of Firefighters and a hearty thumbs up to the ChevronTexaco offer from the Council of Industries. 

Most of the other speakers questioned both offers, and interim City Manager Phil Batchelor said too many questions remained unanswered about both proposals. 

While city staff and consultant attorney John Knox had spent months hammering out details of the Upstream proposal, Batchelor said the ChevronTexaco offer had just been received and there had been no time to iron out potential wrinkles. 

Questions about the oil company offer included: 

• While Upstream offered the city complete indemnity from pre-existing problems with the site, the ChevronTexaco offer didn’t. 

• What would happen if the federal government spent too long in releasing the 51 acres of the site still under their control? 

• Would their offer still stand if the city wasn’t able to comply with all of the company’s requests? 

• How long was the offer to remain open? 

Questions for Upstream included: 

• What would the developer do if they couldn’t receive authorization for a casino, the likelihood of which the city had been informed was somewhere between 5 percent and 50 percent? 

• What would happen if Harrah’s backed out? 

• Would the city lose its indemnification? 

“We should put this over until we get the answers so we can clearly know what we’ll be voting on,” said Mayor Irma Anderson. The rest of the council agreed, and the proposals were tabled until such time as city staff could bring back concrete answers to the questions they’d raised. 

One other item scheduled for action was pulled off the agenda, a proposed council censure of one of their members, Tom Butt, for his outspoken e-mail criticism of the city attorney staff members and of lunchtime spending habits of the city Human Resources director. 

The motion was withdrawn in part because city ordinances neither define nor provide for censure of councilmembers. 

The Upstream proposal is one of three casino plans being floated for Richmond. One would site a major casino at Hilltop Mall and another would build a similar gambling palace in unincorporated North Richmond. 

Of the three proposals, plans for the Sugar Bowl Casino in North Richmond are the farthest advanced. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has already conducted hearings on Scotts Valley Band of Pomo tribespeople’s proposed reservation on the site along Richmond Parkway. 

No such hearings have yet been held for the other two sites. 

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Despite dire warnings from firefighters, the City Council Tuesday voted 6-2 Tuesday to shut down one of its two truck companies during evening hours unless the firefighters’ union agrees to a salary giveback. 

Also, as part of the vote which one councilmember derided as a “political ploy,” the council agreed to restore the truck company next July if voters passed a tax measure on the November ballot. 

Should negotiations between the city and the union stalemate, the truck company would be grounded from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. beginning Nov. 8. 

The firefighters are the only city union which has refused to surrender a portion of their scheduled salary increases to help the city balance a $10 million deficit for the current fiscal year. 

Closing the truck company would save the city $300,000—proportionately equivalent to the hit taken by other unions—by reducing overtime expenditures needed to staff it. 

From the reaction of about a dozen firefighters in attendance Tuesday, a salary deal appears unlikely. 

“I’m holding steadfast based on principal,” said Christy Warren, a city firefighter. “They’ve never negotiated with us in good faith. We’ve always been blindsided by them and now they’re using the community’s safety as a bargaining chip.” 

She warned that cutting the truck company put city residents at risk and would lower morale in the fire department. “We’re in crisis mode already,” she said. “If you cut a truck you don’t understand what you’re going to do to us.” 

Relations between the firefighters and the city have been tense since the firefighters signed a contract in 2000 only to watch as other unions won bigger raises. Their contract, which the city extended in 2002 to address union concerns, however, is unique in that it lacks a clause allowing the city to compel the union to accept a salary giveback. 

Most of the councilmembers remained resolute that the firefighters should follow the lead of other unions and accept a giveback. 

“Please, please, be part of the solution,” Councilmember Dona Spring told the firefighters. “We can’t do it without your help.” 

Councilmember Miriam Hawley said, “By not going along with everybody else, I think the firefighters have lost a lot of credibility. I’ve heard a few people saying ‘I don’t know if I want to support the firefighters, they don’t seem like responsible people.’” 

Councilmember Betty Olds took exception to Hawley’s comments. 

“Now I know this is political,” Old said. “It seems we brought this back up so we can beat on the fire department and get a few more votes for this tax.” 

Olds questioned why the council would wait until one month before the election to dedicate funds in fiscal year 2006 from the proposed Paramedic Tax to save the truck company. If the measure fails, the council, facing a $7.5 million deficit, plans to eliminate the truck company entirely next year to save $1.3 million. 

On Wednesday, now assured the proceeds would go to the fire department, the firefighters’ union voted to back the paramedic tax. 

Olds, who was joined in dissent by Councilmember Kriss Worthington, also feared that cutting the company would reduce service to her district, which is almost entirely in the fire-prone Berkeley hills. 

Truck companies are equipped with aerial ladders and life-saving equipment like “the jaws of life” that allow fire fighters to undertake rescue missions and get on top of fires to provide ventilation. The company slated for reduction is at Station 4 on Cedar and Henry streets.  

Firefighters at the council meeting challenged a report from David Orth, acting fire chief, that the city only received about 10 to 12 calls a year requiring both truck companies to be dispatched and that truck companies from Oakland could be respond to a South Berkeley fire within ten minutes. 

In the past month, firefighters’ union chief Mark Mestrovich said the city had two fires that required both trucks including a four-alarm fire last week in which a third truck from Oakland took 20 minutes. He added that often the trucks are dispatched simultaneously to different calls, leaving the city vulnerable if it had only one truck. 

After slashing several top administrative posts over the last several years, including a lieutenant, an assistant fire chief, and three fire inspectors, losing the truck company would be the first hit to response services since 1981. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz tried to reassure the council that compared to other cities, Berkeley remained well-staffed. A city report released last week showed that Berkeley has fewer residents per fire station than Oakland, Hayward or Fremont.

In a bit of political theater that could reverberate in the District 3 City Council race, Councilmember Maudelle Shirek infuriated several progressives Tuesday by casting the deciding vote against a proposal to strengthen the rights of tenants facing evictions. 

Her vote left the council deadlocked in a tie, effectively killing the proposal. But Shirek then agreed to a proposal from the four councilmembers in support of the plan to reconsider it next week when Councilmember Margaret Breland, a likely supporter, is scheduled to be in attendance. 

“Who could have imagined that Maudelle would vote against tenants’ rights?” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington after the meeting. “If [Breland] doesn’t come next week, we should cancel the council meeting.” 

Worthington is one of the more left-leaning members of the council who have withdrawn their long-standing support for Shirek, in favor of challenger Max Anderson. 

At issue Tuesday was a proposal from the rent board to increase the payment landlords must make to low income tenants when they choose to exit the rental housing business. The ordinance would have also expanded the law to include senior citizens and disabled tenants. 

When the state passed the Ellis Act in 1986, Berkeley required landlords who took their units off the market to pay all tenants $4,500 to offset the increase in rent, moving costs and other fees the displaced tenants were likely to face. A 1992 court case forced the city to apply the rule only to low-income tenants as defined by guidelines set by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

The Ellis Act is designed to protect tenants from landlords eager to empty rent controlled apartments either to sell the units or to rent them out again later at a market rent. Since 1986 was passed 271 units in Berkeley have been taken off the market under the law. 

The rent board proposed setting the new rate at $7,000. Rent Board Commissioner Paul Hogarth told the council that other cities have increased allotments as prices have risen and extended the benefit to the elderly and the disabled. 

While most of the plan’s opponents on the council agreed an increase was in order, they wanted to send the item back to the rent board to consider establishing a sliding scale of payments based on the tenants’ financial circumstances and raising the age threshold to qualify as a senior citizen. 

When the time came to vote, Shirek passed, and then after Councilmembers Gordon Wozniak, Hawley and Olds—all of whom have endorsed her candidacy in District 3—voted “no”, Shirek sided with them deadlocking the council in a four-to-four tie.  

Seleznow Named Permanent Head of Parks 

The council voted unanimously to appoint Marc Seleznow as Director of the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department. Seleznow assumed the duties of director last year when the former department head, Lisa Caronna was named Deputy City Manager. 

Pedestrian Safety Plan On Hold  

The council referred the Transportation Commission’s plan for improving pedestrian safety on University Avenue to city staff for review. The plan calls for building sidewalk bulb-outs, extending the width of the sidewalk where possible, upgrading traffic signals, installing reflective crosswalks, and requiring disabled accessible bus stops. Councilmember Dona Spring, who had hoped the council would adopt the recommendation, said the city had allowed developers to move bus stops to less accessible locations and narrow sidewalks so two wheelchair riders couldn’t safely pass one another.o

The Howard Automobile Building, one of Berkeley’s last remaining Art Deco/Moderne buildings, may be pulled from the tax rolls and reincarnated as a tax-exempt Institute of Buddhist Studies. 

Plans for the project, which included a two-story addition to part of the historic structure, surfaced during Monday night’s meeting of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). 

The 1930 structure, designed by Frederic Reimers, was built at 2140 Durant Ave. for Charles Howard, a former cavalry trooper turned bicycle mechanic who had become the nation’s largest Buick dealer in San Francisco. 

Howard’s lasting legacy wouldn’t come through his automotive empire. His wealth enabled him to become a leading player in the “sport of kings,” most notably as the owner of America’s most famous racehorse, Seabiscuit. 

The Berkeley dealership was a classic work of Art Deco, and remained a dealership for many years, most recently under the ownership of another sports legend, Reggie Jackson. 

The building had been vacant in recent years until its sale last year to the Buddhist Churches of America, a Shin Buddhist sect founded in 1899 to serve the Japanese-American community. It was restored in 2002. 

Headquartered in San Francisco, the church has branches across the country. Bay Area branches are found in Berkeley (2121 Channing Way), Alameda, Union City, Mill Valley, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Francisco, San Jose and San Mateo. 

The new institute, affiliated with the Graduate Theological Union, will offer classes and programs in Buddhism and will include a bookstore. 

Emeryville architect Sady S. Hayashida’s design preserves the existing exterior, while adding new details to the interior and two additional floors to the southern half of the building which would contains 14 apartments and 18 dormitory-style units for graduate students and visiting scholars. 

Plans also call for creation of an underground parking level below the existing lot on Durant, giving the facility a total of 40 slots. 

Hayashida’s expansion plans mimic the red and tan colors and features of the original structure. 

“It seems to me this is being very fast tracked,” said commissioner Carrie Olson. “It looks like it’s going to ZAB (the Zoning Adjustments Board) in November, so we’ll have only one meeting before they adopt a negative declaration,” a document that marks the first stage in construction approval. 

“Why aren’t we having an additional study?” asked her colleague Lesley Emmington Jones. 

According to a Sept. 28 chronology provided by the architect, the initial proposal was presented to Mayor Tom Bates on June 17, 2003, and then to city Senior Planner Greg Powell two months later. 

The proposal was presented to the Downtown Berkeley Association on Dec. 9, and to the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) on Jan. 8. 

On Feb. 5, BAHA Chair Susan Chase wrote Hayashida that “BAHA looks forward to the approval and completion of your architectural additions to the Howard Showroom.” 

Application for a Use Permit was filed on March 5, followed by meetings with various city departments. 

City staff deemed the application complete in May, five months before it reached the LPC, reflecting a complaint of several commissioners who hoped to be consulted earlier in the process. 

“There are only two other Moderne buildings in Berkeley, the UC Press Building, which is slated for demolition” and a home on Hearst Avenue, said Olson. “Any addition to one of our proudest buildings has to be perfect before I approve it.” 

Former commissioner Burton Edwards said he was concerned about the mass and detail of the proposal, which he said “is not yet a sympathetic addition.” 

In another matter, commissioners also looked at the latest revision of developer Gary Feiner’s plans to convert two Victorian cottages into duplexes in the recently landmarked Sisterna Tract Historic District. 

Neighbors who live and work near the two structures at 2104 and 2108 Sixth St. had objected to both the size and design of Feiner’s proposals, declaring them out of character with the neighborhood. 

After several revisions, the plans presented to commissioners Monday seemed closer to what neighbors want, with one of the critics, Curt Manning, declaring himself largely satisfied. 

Neal Blumenfeld, a psychiatrist who owns the restored Victorian next door to 2108, said he still isn’t satisfied, and Jano Bogg, another neighbor, agreed. 

Blumenfeld and his spouse, therapist Lise Blumenfeld, presented sketches by Oakland architect Charles Coburn, who specializes in restorations. 

The drawings drew favorable comments from several commissioners, who considered some of the details more in keeping with the character of the neighborhood than those offered by Feiner architect Timothy Rempel. 

Commissioners agreed that the latest version was much better than the first proposal, and scheduled a commission subcommittee with Feiner, Rempel and neighbors to iron out the final details on Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. in Rempel’s office, 2213 Fifth St. 

That was good news for Feiner. “Financially, I’m at my limit. I have spent enormous amounts of money” on revisions and legal fees, he said. “I’m not even sure I can go ahead.” h

If ballot measures are the true measure of citizen voter participation, and citizen voter participation is the true measure of democracy, then the Nov. 2 election would seem to confirm the City of Berkeley as the democratic (small “d”) capital of the East Bay.  

With 12 municipal ballot measures, Berkeley will have only one less by itself than all of the cities in Contra Costa County put together. Of the 21 municipal ballot measures in Alameda County, more than half of them will take place in Berkeley, and of the 34 municipal ballot measures in Alameda and Contra Costa counties combined, 35 percent of them will take place in Berkeley. 

Four of the Berkeley ballot measures are tax increase measures designed to address Berkeley’s continuing budget problems. And these figures do not include Measure B, the ballot measure sponsored by the Berkeley Unified School District. Unless otherwise noted, all of the measures need only a majority vote to pass. For good or ill, here they all are: 

Measure B — Berkeley Unified School District Measure For School Financing 

Would levy a two-year special tax of 9.7 cents per square foot for residential buildings, 14.7 cents per square foot for commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings, and $50 per parcel for unimproved lots. Sixty-eight percent of the money would go towards reducing class sizes and expanding course offerings, 16 percent would go toward school libraries, seven percent would go towards music programs, seven percent would go towards teacher training and evaluation, and two percent would go towards parent outreach and translation services. A citizen’s oversight committee would monitor the use of the funds. Two-thirds majority approval needed to pass. 

Measure H — City of Berkeley Charter Amendment For Public Financing of Elections 

Would authorize public financing of elections for mayor, City Council, school board, and auditor candidates who voluntarily agree to spending limits. Such public financing would only go into effect when the City Council figures out where to get the projected minimum of half a million dollars in annual funds to pay for it. 

Measure I — City of Berkeley Charter Amendment To Change Year of Mayoral Elections 

Berkeley mayors are presently elected in the four year election cycle opposite the presidential elections (the recent presidential election years are 2000 and 2004; the recent Berkeley mayor election years are 2002 and 2006). Measure I would conform the Berkeley mayoral elections so that they take place the same year as the presidential elections. To accomplish this, the term for the mayor election in 2006 would only be for two years, with the term extended back to four years from 2008 on. 

Measure J — City of Berkeley Utility Users Tax 

Would increase the utility tax rate from 7.5 percent to nine percent for a four-year period from 2005 through 2008. The tax increase would expire automatically in 2008. For a Berkeley resident with a combined monthly utility bill (gas, electricity, cable, house telephone, and cellphone) of $300, Measure J would mean an increased utility tax of $4.50 per month (from $22.50 to $27.00). The tax money would be added to the general revenue of the city, with no special restrictions on how it could be appropriated by the City Council. 

Measure K — City of Berkeley Youth Services Special Tax 

Would increase the current 1.5 percent property transfer tax exclusively for the purpose of supporting certain youth services and youth safety programs in the city. If passed, 0.5 percent would be added to the transfer of all property worth between $600,000 and a million dollars, bringing the total transfer tax to two percent (that means a total transfer tax of $12,000 for property worth $600,000). One percent would be added to the transfer of all property worth over a million dollars, bringing the total transfer tax to 2.5 percent (that means a total transfer tax of approximately $25,000 for property worth slightly over one million dollars). The text of the proposed tax gives a broad list of “youth services and youth safety programs” but does not specifically define the term “youth.” The tax increase would automatically expire at the end of 2010, at which point the transfer tax would return to 1.5 percent. Two-thirds majority approval needed to pass. 

Measure L — City of Berkeley Library Special Tax 

Would increase the library parcel tax on improvements from 13 cents per square foot to 15 cents per square foot for residential real property and 20 centers per square foot to 23 cents per square foot for commercial, industrial, and institutional real property. It would also make adjustments to the inflation rate upon which the library tax is also based.  

The formula is complicated, but for 2005-06, the city attorney’s analysis estimates that passage of this measure would mean no more than a $41.47 per year library tax increase on a 1,900 square foot home (from $250 to $290) and no more than a $330 increase on a 10,000 square foot commercial building (from $2,000 per year to $2,330 per year). Because the base tax rises with the inflation rate, the tax amount would also rise in later years. The tax money would go for public library services. Two-thirds majority approval needed to pass. 

Measure M — City of Berkeley Paramedic Special Tax 

Would increase the existing paramedic services special tax rate from 2.5 cents per square foot to four cents per square foot on all improvements to real property. It would also make adjustments to the inflation rate upon which the paramedic services tax is based. The city attorney’s analysis estimates passage of this measure would mean no more than a $29 per year paramedic services tax increase on a 1900 square foot building ($50 to $79) and no more than a $154 per year increase on a 10,000 square foot building ($263 to $416). Because the base tax rises with the inflation rate, the tax amount would also rise in later years. The tax money would go for paramedic services. Two-thirds majority approval needed to pass. 

Measure N — City of Berkeley Appropriation Limit Approval (also called the Gann Override) 

The California Constitution requires that even after voters approve special taxes by a two-thirds majority vote, the city must return to the voters every four years to ask continuing permission to spend that money. Measure N is not a new tax or a tax increase, but merely asks permission of City of Berkeley voters to continue to spend tax money from certain previously-passed special taxes. In this case, it is for the Parks Maintenance Tax, the Library Relief Tax, the Emergency Medical Services Tax, and the Emergency Services for Severely Disabled Persons Tax. If this measure fails, the previously-approved tax money would be returned to the taxpayers. 

Measure O — City of Berkeley Rent Stabilization Base Rent Ceilings 

Would change the manner in which legal rent increases are calculated under the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Presently, the Rent Stabilization Board makes its annual rent increase calculations by preparing a cost study and taking in public testimony. Measure O would change that to an automatic process, where the legal rent increase each year would be calculated based on the increase in the prior year’s Consumer Price Index in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area. The ordinance would also cap that possible rent increase at seven percent, and would ensure that the annual adjustment would not be used to lower rents. 

Measure P — City of Berkeley Rent Stabilization And Eviction Ordinance Adjustments 

This measure makes nine separate adjustments to Berkeley’s rent control and eviction law, far too many to explain in the present summary. The only thing most of these adjustments have in common is that they have something to do with residential renting in Berkeley. 

The adjustments include placing certain Section 8 units under Rent Stabilization Board regulation, exempting low-income units rented by non-profit housing corporations from Rent Stabilization Board regulation, exempting transitional housing from most provisions of the Rent Ordinance, allowing information in the Rent Board files to be used for enforcement of other city ordinances, eliminating most criminal penalties for landlord violation of the Rent Ordinance, and eliminating a landlord’s ability to evict a tenant merely because the tenant replaces a roommate.  

Measure Q — City of Berkeley Prostitution Enforcement 

Would make enforcement of the prostitution laws the lowest priority in Berkeley and would instruct the city government to support efforts toward the repeal of state prostitution laws. 

Measure R — City of Berkeley Medical Marijuana Dispensary Permits 

Would make it mandatory for the city to issue permits to organizations qualifying as medical marijuana dispensaries regardless of zoning, would establish a Peer Review Committee in order to certify new medical marijuana dispensaries, would raise the amount of growing and processed marijuana that could legally be in the possession of medical marijuana users and cannabis clubs in Berkeley. 

Measure S — City of Berkeley Tree Board 

Would create a new “Public Tree Act” ordinance for Berkeley which would, among other things, generally prohibit the alteration, topping, or removal of non-hazardous public trees. Would require the city to annually plant the same number of public trees as were planted in 2003. Would establish city tree contractors’ licensing requirements. Would create a City Tree Board and hire a two-member staff to oversee the new tree ordinance. 

As reported in Tuesday’s Fire Log in the Planet, revelers at Willard Park last Saturday afternoon were ordered to vacate by Berkeley police. As they cleared the park, they looked up at the sky to see: not a bird, not a plane, but a MedEvac helicopter touching-down on the park’s grassy knoll. 

Little did they know that on the rarest of occasions the popular park at Hillegass Avenue and Derby Street doubles as helicopter pad for Alta Bates Hospital just a few short blocks away. 

On Saturday the emergency involved an Alta Bates patient diagnosed with an abdominal aneurysm who needed emergency surgery at Stanford Medical Center. 

“An aneurysm is like a delicate balloon that could rupture at any time,” said Acting Fire Chief David Orth, explaining that a bumpy ride in an ambulance could have been life threatening for the patient. 

“Even traveling to Children’s Hospital was probably too far,” he added. Unlike Alta Bates, Children’s Hospital has a helicopter pad. 

Orth said the fire department dispatches a helicopter about once a month though he couldn’t remember the last time Alta Bates requested one. 

Typically, he said, the fire department dispatches a helicopter in response to an accident. 

The decision to use Willard Park as a helicopter pad Saturday was made jointly between the fire department and the hospital, Orth said. The park is one of several open spaces in the city designated as makeshift helicopter pads. The list includes, among other locations, the Berkeley High School football field, Tilden Park and a section of the Berkeley Marina. 

Alta Bates spokeswoman Carolyn Kemp said it was the first time in her 23 years at the hospital she could recall Alta Bates using the park as a landing zone.  

She said the air-transfer was necessary because Stanford was the only hospital in the area with a surgeon on call qualified to perform the surgery. 

She did not have an update on the patient’s medical condition following the surgery.?

Board Approves After School Fees  

The Berkeley School Board this week unanimously approved fees for the district’s middle school after school programs after board member concerns about the effect of the fees were alleviated. 

Students will now be charged based on a sliding scale for the program, with fees ranging from $75 to $25 per month. Families with more than one child in the after-school program will be given discounts for each additional child. 

Parents who cannot pay the fees will be able to make other arrangements with the school site coordinator, according to the staff report on the issue. 

The after school program includes academics, homework tutors, enrichment classes, and recreation. Competitive and non-competitive team sports are provided. 

The superintendent’s office said that the fees were necessary because the federal reimbursement for the programs is not adequate to meet the costs. 

At its Sept. 22 meeting, the board postponed voting on the fees after Student Director Lily Dorman-Colby expressed concerns that some students would be turned away from the program because of inability to pay the fees. 

But Superintendent Michele Lawrence has assured the board that lack of payment will not bar any students. 

Board President John Selawsky, who said he also had previous concerns, now calls the implementation of the fees a good thing. 

“If we didn’t charge anything, it would limit the programs,” Selawsky said. “People who can afford to pay will pay, and I’m confident that with the fees, we’ll be able to serve more kids and be fair at the same time.” 

Selawsky noted that parents are already paying fees for their children to participate in similar after school programs at the district’s elementary schools. 

BFT Endorsement 

The Berkeley Federation of Teachers has endorsed challengers Kalima Rose and Karen Hemphill in their drive to attempt to unseat two incumbent BUSD School Board members. 

The endorsement followed a candidates’ forum held this week at the Berkeley Adult School. BFT President Barry Fike said that the two challengers won the union’s endorsement by “a decisive majority.” 

He said that BFT’s Election Committee had decided not to reveal the exact vote count for each candidate received from the approximately one hundred union members attending the endorsement meeting. BFT represents some 700 BUSD teachers. 

Rose and Hemphill are challenging School Board incumbents John Selawsky and Joaquin Rivera in the Nov. 2 election. 

Fike said one reason Rose and Hemphill won the endorsement was because they “addressed the accountability issue head-on, both board accountability and accountability district-wide. That’s one of our concerns.” 

He also speculated there may have been some frustration with Selawsky and Rivera by union rank and file members because of the present teachers’ contract impasse. BFT-board talks have been ongoing since March of 2003. The old teachers’ contract expired in June of last year. 

—

The Free Speech Movement’s (FSM) 40th anniversary commemoration ends Sunday with gatherings for the veterans of the movement in Strawberry Canyon and a similar get-together for SLATE activists in Stiles Hall. 

But before the curtain drops, there’s plenty left to see and do, starting today (Friday) with a noon rally around a police car in Sproul Plaza—where another rally around a cop car 40 years ago helped define the movement. 

Recent news from another campus shows that the battle waged in Berkeley is far from over. Just a week ago a federal judge in Texas struck down an attempt to limit free speech on the Texas Tech campus to a single tiny gazebo for a university with a student body of 28,000 and quashed a campus speech code that banned insults and ridicule. 

Friday’s rally in Sproul plaza targets one of the latest and most far-reaching challenges to the rights FSM members fought for so ardently four decades ago, the PATRIOT Act.  

FSM veteran Bettina Aptheker and ASUC President Misha Leybovich will serve as emcees, and participants include former Presidential candidate Howard Dean, singer Terry Garthwaite, state Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg, Sanjeev Bery of the Northern California ACLU, noted defense attorney Tony Serra, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, street poet Julia Vinograd and Rosha Jones and Hiraa Khan of the Berkeley ACLU chapter. 

From 6:15 to 9:15 p.m. in the Redwood Gardens Community Room, 2951 Derby St., satirists Paul Krassner, Scoop Nisker, Kris Welch and Ishmael Reed will provide their ongoing commentary during the broadcast of the third Bush/Kerry debate, followed by a rock dance-concert featuring Clan Dyken. 

In a parallel event, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh of the New York Times will appear in the Pauley Ballroom in the Student Union at 7:45 p.m. The talk is jointly sponsored by the Graduate School of Journalism 

Meanwhile, from 7 to 11 p.m. in 142 Dwinelle, the public is invited to the Sixties Film Festival, featuring Berkeley in the Sixties and Freedom on My Mind . 

Saturday’s events include 10 panel discussions on contemporary civil liberties issues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union. 

One of the day’s most entertaining events is scheduled from 2 to 5:30 p.m. in Alumni House, featuring satire performances and a panel discussion featuring Bruce Barthol, Stoney Burke, Karen Ripley, Bernard Gilbert, Aundre the WonderWoman and Paul Krassner, who was the youngest artist to perform at Carnegie Hall and the creator and editor of The Realist, perhaps the most outrageous publication of the Sixties. 

The Sixties Film Festival continues from 1-5 p.m. in 142 Dwinelle, featuring Eyes on the Prize V, WeatherUnderground, Yippie and Free@30. 

An informal socializing session for FSM veterans and students is scheduled for 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, followed by a folk music hootenanny until 11 p.m. in the student union’s Pauley Ballroom featuring Rachel Garlin, Barbara Dane, Ronnie Gilbert and others. Offering will include FSM carols.  

Sunday, the final day of the celebration, is reserved for the veterans. 

Members of SLATE, a student alliance that tilled the soil from which the FSM movement would sprout, will hold a 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. reunion in Stiles Hall, and for 12 hours beginning at 10 a.m., FSM stalwarts will gather in the Strawberry Canyon Recreational Facility. 

For a complete listing of events, see the FSM website at www.straw.com/fsm-a.›

The United States House of Representatives voted 402 to 2 this week to defeat a bill to reinstate the military draft. The Republican Party insists that this vote ought to end any speculation that the President has any plans to start up the draft again. 

“The reason we are doing this”—the “we” being the Republicans, the “this” being the bringing to the House floor a bill for the sole purpose of swatting it down—“is to expose the hoax of the year, which has been needlessly scaring young people,” explained House Armed Services Committee chair Duncan Hunter. The “hoax” Mr. Hunter was referring to was the allegation by Democrats that Mr. Bush—if he is still president—has secret plans to bring back the draft once the November elections are over. 

“We will not have a draft so long as I’m the President of the United States,” said Mr. Bush himself, on Monday, in Iowa. 

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld backed that assertion up in a radio interview by adding, “We do not need a draft. …We are having no trouble at all attracting and retaining people that we need to serve in the Armed Forces.” 

Let us leave aside the question of Mr. Bush’s believability on such assertions and concentrate, instead, on Mr. Rumsfeld’s statement, applying some logic and common sense to what facts we have on hand. 

Let us leave also aside the question of whether or not the United States military is having “no trouble at all” attracting new recruits. We could spend several days investigating troop strengths and military deployments and perceived global threats and recruitment quotas, but in the end, almost all of us would be hopelessly muddled under a blanket of indecipherable facts and statistics. Instead, let’s just deal with the present facts in hand.  

Since overextending itself and bogging down in Iraq, the U.S. military has been retaining its troop strength—to some degree—by what is called the “stop loss” policy. Soldiers sign up for a certain term—say, two years—and at the end of that term, they expect to receive honorable discharges to return to civilian life. But what we know is that in a large number of instances—who knows how large?—troops are being told that the military cannot honor the ending date of those signup contracts, and the soldiers are being retained in the military, against their will, past their discharge dates. 

Further, there is an ongoing investigation of charges that U.S. military personnel stationed in certain stateside bases—and nearing the end of their tours of duty—are receiving official military forms on which they are asked to state their re-enlistment intentions. Some soldiers have complained that they were told by their military superiors that if they failed to agree to re-enlist, they would be shipped to Iraq immediately to serve out the rest of their terms, but if they re-enlisted, they would “probably” be able to serve the next two years away from the war zone. In other words, if the charges are true, the troops are being threatened to sign away their rights and freedom. 

In this way, Mr. Rumsfeld may be entirely correct when he says that “we are having no trouble at all … retaining people that we need to serve in the Armed Forces.” This would be the same as a bank robber saying that he “had no trouble making a withdrawal from the Wells Fargo branch.” True, but, put the pistol down, friend, and see if it still works out quite so easily. 

I’ve never been in combat, and veterans may want to correct me if I’m in error, but from everything I’ve read and believe, morale is a significant factor in any war-making machine. All things being equal, a soldier who wants to fight—or believes that it’s her or his duty to fight—will be a better soldier than one who is fairly pissed off about being on the battlefield. And so, in the longrun, the military’s “stop loss” policies could lead to some significant problems. 

Let us now return to the beginning of Mr. Rumsfeld’s statement, and advance a question: If we’re having no trouble bringing enough needed new troops into the military—as the Defense Secretary says—why is the military forcing soldiers to stay in the military past their contracted terms, thus leaving us with a battlefield potentially sprinkled with demoralized and disgruntled fighters? 

Which brings us back to a simple if/or/then equation. 

If Iraqi security forces are able to replace United States soldiers in significant numbers within, say, the next six months to a year—or if hostilities in Iraq significantly diminish in that same period—then the nation’s present one-and-a-half-million member active duty military force may be enough to meet the nation’s existing defense and international policy needs. 

But if the war goes on at its present pace—or escalates—or spreads to other areas of the region—and Iraqi security forces aren’t up to the task to fill in the gaps—then that leaves the next presidential administration—either Bush or Kerry—with some difficult choices, among which are: 

1. Bombing Iraq back into the stone age, thus eliminating most existing enemies (along with a good many friends); or 

2. Unilateral U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq; or 

3. Leaving U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq, as is, while cutting back the United States’ military readiness throughout the world, including on the American homeland; or 

4. Supplementing our military ranks with soldiers from our European allies; or 

5. Supplementing our military ranks with paid mercenaries from other countries; or 

6. A resumption of the military draft 

You can have fun around the dinner table or at work discussing these options at length with family, friends, and co-workers, but given the present realities, and considering the prevailing options, the resumption of the draft does not appear to be such a wild, far-fetched idea or a “hoax to scare our young people” as our good Republican friends might have us believe. It looks like a real possibility. 

e

Everyone who lived through the McCarthy Cold War period in the U.S. knows that an FBI on the prowl for “communists” soon goes after “fellow travelers” and anyone on a list of “subversive organizations.” Many intelligent, politically-active writers, actors, and scholars left the U.S. to avoid blacklisting and possible criminal charges because of their beliefs and activities. 

Without fanfare, these Americans sought “political asylum” abroad. Their experiences lead people today to be concerned about how the U.S. Government is treating applications for political asylum today. 

20. To Deal Promptly and Fairly with Political Asylum Petitions 

Throughout U.S. history, people from many nations have sought asylum in the U.S. from persecution in their native lands. Some were refugees from starvation—Irish farmers the U.K. starved off their land in the 1800s. Some were refugees from fascism—Jews and communists fleeing Hitler in the 1930s. The problem is world wide. U.N. treaties and programs directly address the need for political asylum from repressive regimes. 

Islamic/Muslim/Middle Eastern communities in the U.S. are taking up the cases of people arrested and detained while awaiting action on their heart-felt applications for political asylum.  

It is much easier for the government to get an administrative law judge to order a person deported to a country where he fears political persecution than it is for a prosecutor to get a federal judge and jury to convict someone charged with rape or murder. 

In several communities, Middle Eastern organizations are beginning to meet with Irish organizations and with Haitian and Colombian groups to make common cause to protect the rights of everyone seeking political asylum in the U.S. 

Actions of government agents in dealing with applicants for political asylum belong in the required reports by the U.S. Government to the three U.N. human rights committees administering the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention Against Torture, and the Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Complaints about the behavior of Immigration and Customs agents and others in the system can be made to the Office of Inspector General in the appropriate agency. Changes in political asylum law can be proposed to members of Congress. 

And concerned people can constantly remind the media, and other government officials, that this is, very largely, a nation of immigrants who came to these shores to seek asylum from political persecution and discrimination in getting jobs and promotions and in business dealings. 

Report 20.1 

“Operation Liberty Shield” Detains Asylum Seekers (“Operation Liberty Shield Turns Liberty on its Head,” Human Rights First, March 18, 2003.) 

Report 20.2 

INS Detained Palestinian Muslim After He Filed an Asylum Petition (Karen de Sá, “Caught in the Aftermath: Hard Life of a September 11 Detainee,” The Mercury News, Aug. 12, 2002.) 

Report 20.3 

U.S. Denied Asylum to a Palestinian Family, Deported Them to Jordan (James Irby, “Palestinian Family Loses Deportation Battle,” ABC13 Eyewitness News, March 28, 2003.) 

Report 20.4 

US Detains Irish Immigrant Seeking Asylum (“No Time for Love,” Boulder Weekly, June 16, 2003.) 

21. To Protect the Family, Especially Children 

In 1787, the new U.S. Constitution proclaimed the U.S. was established to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity ... .” That is the only mention of children; “family” and “women” are not mentioned. 

To “insure domestic tranquility” and to “promote the general welfare” are used to support the Government’s duty to children. Concerned parents, teachers, government officials, and activists see many paths to action to protect the family, especially children, after 9/11. 

All of these paths call on busy, effective people to join their parent/teacher associations, to attend meetings of the school board to express opinions on school policies, to tell members of state legislatures, Congress members, and presidential candidates that a commitment to children, and families, means funding programs that uphold the First Amendment and promote the general welfare for all residents of the U.S. 

Report 21.1 

U.S. Mistreating Unaccompanied Minors Entering U.S. (“First National Survey of Children in Immigration Detention Exposes Mistreatment, Lengthy Detentions, Legal Barriers,” Amnesty International, June 18, 2003.) 

Report 21.2 

Bush Cuts Housing Vouchers (Lynda Carson, “Bush’s Cuts Cause Crisis in Section 8 Housing Program,” Street Spirit, June 2004, page 4.) 

Report 21.3 

U.S. Judge Sentenced African American Teenager for Website (Merlin Chowkwanyun, “A Strange and Tragic Legal Journey: The Case of Sherman Austin,” Counterpunch, Oct. 11-13, 2003.) 

Report 21.4 

Teacher Called Secret Service to Interrogate Students (Marcelo Rodriguez, “Secret Service Interrogation of 2 Students Sparks Furor,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 2003.) 

Report 21.5 

U.S. Limited Sex Education Funding to Abstinence-Only (“ACLU Hails Federal Court’s Decision to Halt Taxpayer Financing of Religion in Abstinence-Only Progams,” ACLU of Louisiana, July 25, 2002.) 

To be continued... 

Berkeley resident Ann Fagan Ginger is a lawyer, teacher, activist and the author of 24 books. She won a civil liberties case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1959. She is the founder and executive director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, a Berkeley-based center for human rights and peace law. 

Contents excerpted from Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11, edited by Ann Fagan Ginger (© 2004 Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute; Prometheus Books 2005) 

Readers can go to mcli.org for a complete listing of reports and sources, with web links. 



Wanted: Bank Robbers  

Berkeley Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying two men who robbed Berkeley banks in the waning days of September, said police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

The first suspect, the bare-headed gentleman with the corn rows, threatened a teller at the 1095 University Ave. Wells Fargo branch and escaped with cash. A man in his mid-twenties, he stands about 6 feet tall and weighs approximately 185.  

The second suspect, wearing the baseball cap and the Nike T-shirt, entered the 2333 Shattuck Ave. branch of the Union Bank of California, made a threat and departed with cash. He is about 5’11” tall and witnesses estimated his age at between 35 and 40. (See photos at right.) 

Anyone with information is requested to call the Berkeley Police Robbery Detail, anonymously or otherwise, at 981-5742 or police@ci.berkeley.ca.us. 

Nasty Patient Busted 

A juvenile patient at Herrick Hospital was arrested Monday on charges of assault with a deadly weapon after he kicked a nurse, breaking her glasses. 

Chinese Food Robbery 

Berkeley police are seeking two teenagers who staged a strongarm robbery of a driver delivering Chinese food to a home in the 1500 block of Russell Street about 8 p.m. Monday, said Officer Okies. 

The juvenile bandits fled with the food, presumably to destroy the evidence by applied dentistry and digestion. 

Charged for Ambulatory Nudity 

Responding to calls of a “lanky naked man” perambulating along Oxford Street near Berryman Path at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Berkeley Police arrived to find a 37-year-old man who was, indeed, letting it all hang out. 

Reluctant to surrender himself to the tender ministrations of Berkeley’s finest, the garbless gent resisted, earning himself a charge to resisting a police officer in addition to the indecent exposure rap he’d already accumulated. 

Purse Snatched 

A young man in his mid-20s grabbed the purse of a woman walking along Neilson Street near San Lorenzo Avenue at 9:21 p.m. Tuesday. 

The robber leapt into a nearby vehicle and sped away. 

?

Berkeley firefighters faced a frantic afternoon Thursday. 

The first action began at 2:29 p.m., when they were summoned to rescue a worker trapped on the roof of a small building at 136 Alvarado Rd. A quick trip down the ladder and the worker was back on terra firma. 

Then, at 2:52 p.m., engines rushed off to suppress what turned out to be a minor kitchen fire at 1208 Oregon St. 

Five minutes later, they were summoned to the intersection of Delaware Street and Acton Way, where a hapless pedestrian had tumbled into an eight-foot-deep Pacific Gas & Electric trench. 

The gentleman was rescued and suffered no lasting injuries from his tumble, said Acting Fire Chief David Orth. 

Finally, at 3:34 p.m., they rushed to the Shattuck Hotel, after callers reported thick smoke rising from the building. 

The source was quickly determined to be the grill in the kitchen of an Indian restaurant where the chef was preparing a large batch of tandoori chicken, minus the traditional clay oven. 

“The sauce contains a lot of sugar, and that’s what caused the smoke,” Orth said. “I have to say, it smelled pretty good.”›

BERKELEY POLICE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The anecdotal observations regarding one officer’s rude treatment of a citizen are scandalous considering the larger picture of a police department now secure from even the most ineffectual scolding (a “sustained complaint”) from the Police Review Commission by the institution of a secret tribunal which reverses any decision against them (Daily Planet’s Caloca coverage). 

The officer in question is the same officer who, in response to my public records request in 2000, was revealed as the officer who used pepper spray more often than any other officer in the department, and used it only on black males, a story highlighted in Paul Rauber’s own “Sticks and Stones” column. 

The lesson here is that anecdotal evidence is just that, a piece of the story. I’m glad that Officer Marangoni is getting along well with some of the residents inside what was known briefly as “the pepper spray triangle.” But we all should be appalled that Berkeley’s Police Review Commission, established by charter more than 30 years ago, has been nullified. 

The police department has no excuse for rudeness, but also no excuse for the secrecy in which it insists on conducting its reversals of Police Review decisions while simultaneously requesting cooperation from the citizens of Berkeley. 

Carol Denney MSL 

• 

FEE INCREASE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Non-profit organizations like the Cal Sailing Club (CSC) would be unfairly affected by the city’s proposed fee increase. I am a new member of CSC and I am very happy that the rate is so affordable, especially for young people like me who barely have enough money to get by. More people, especially low-income, at-risk youth should have the opportunity to afford sailing instruction at the CSC. Would it be impossible for the City of Berkeley to exempt CSC from the higher fees? 

Kingman Lim 

• 

CAL SAILING CLUB 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

As a Cal Sailing Club member-instructor, my 14’ Lido was the scene of my acquaintance with Mario Savio. Savio and his girlfriend had come down to the dock for a free sailing lesson. 

The non-profit cooperative is the only very low-cost sailing school on the only municipally owned-and-operated marina, on the largest estuary on the west coast, the San Francisco Bay. 

Market rent will kill the non-profit coop and end its mission of teaching the ancient art of sailing and providing bay access to one hundred thousand people. Formally a UC student activity, C.S.C. spun off from university aegis in the late seventies, along with the Daily Cal and other student activities. As Jane Morson pointed out, C.S.C. gets no tax dollars nor university support. 

Coop members sail and instruct on a fleet of Lidos, Lasers, 22’ Ensigns, and windsurfers the skills of navigation, sea rescue, racing, and boat repair. For many of the over one-hundred thousand who have sailed with C.S.C., the club has been the only access to this ancient sport and to the west Coast’s largest estuary. 

Lynn Sherrell 

• 

BEST PAPER IN TOWN 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

For some time I’ve been wanting to let you know what a fine job you are doing in covering the local news. No other paper even comes close. I have watched with interest as the Daily Planet went from a flimsy throwaway to the best newspaper in town. Keep up the good work. 

Christine Man 

• 

BETTY OLDS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Bansner is all wrong! (Letters, Oct. 1-4, 2004.) There is no one in this town who knows District 6 and Berkeley better than Betty Olds. Betty has more than thirty years of community service, including years of teaching at Willard Jr. High, leading Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, serving on the Zoning Adjustments Board, the Rent Stabilization Board and the City Council. She is also a founding member of Save the Bay, and an active member of Citizens for the Eastshore State Park. It is because of Betty’s knowledge and sensitivity to the issues that are important to District 6—the environment, housing, transportation, fiscal accountability and infrastructure repair, that she has earned the endorsements of The Sierra Club, The National Woman’s Political Caucus, The Alameda County Democratic Club, The Berkeley Firefighters Association and The Berkeley Democratic Club. If, as Eva Bansner states, Norine Smith’s major qualification for City Council is that she walks...it is no wonder that she has no endorsements from any organizations. 

Vonnie Gurgin 

• 

PUBLIC ART 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A reassessment of the city’s policy on placement of public art is way overdue. The artistic merit of such pieces should be evaluated without consideration of the artist’s ideology, by a qualified team with no ties to icky political hacks. Longtime Berkeley residents will recall the lovely fountains on the Shattuck median that were removed for BART construction and never replaced. We can’t be Barcelona or Chicago, but we can do better. 

Richard Riffer 

• 

WILLARD SCHOOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to take issue with Mark Shapiro’s letter which appeared in a recent issue. He takes Willard and presumably the school district to task for the construction that is making a physical shambles of the school. The re-modeling is a very positive move for Willard. Ironically, Shapiro is correct in assailing the school. Local families are staying away from Willard in droves and enrollment has plummeted. The school’s problems are internal.  

Lawrence Doyle 

• 

FREE SPEECH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read Mark Johnson’s letter and Becky’s editorial response (Oct. 5-7) on the state of free speech in Berkeley and the country 40 years after the 1964 Free Speech Movement. It is clear to me that my politics are much closer to Becky’s than to Mr. Johnson’s, yet I found strong points in both statements. 

Becky’s pointing out the dangers of banning “hate speech” (offensive name-calling) on college campuses reminded me of an excellent book by relentless First Amendment advocate, Nat Hentoff. Published in 1992, his Free Speech For Me But Not For Thee gave instances of students being suspended from a college for writing or speaking racial epithets, surely, Hentoff pointed out, an instance of total lack of due process of law—there not even being a law, but an administrative policy on “hate speech” hastily instituted and enforced in a way that could actually endanger a student’s future. 

On the other hand, I believe we cannot discount Mark Johnson’s statement that some right-wing speakers have been prevented even from speaking in Berkeley. The cases of Horowitz and Malkin might have been, as Becky writes, cases of “heckling” which did not prevent them from speaking. However, two other (earlier) examples Johnson names were Netanyahu and Kirkpatrick, both prevented from speaking. As I remember reports of those incidents (I did not witness them) Kirkpatrick was shouted down and left the platform without speaking; Netanyahu and the people who came to hear him were intimidated by large crowds outside the hall, causing Netanyahu to cancel and leave the area. Not proud moments in Berkeley history.  

These two examples of prevention of free speech, by invited speakers, were protested as such by veterans of the 1964 Free Speech action, in letters to the East Bay Express. These letters—by folks with strong left-wing credentials—called these incidents violations of the rights they had fought for. Like their actions decades before, these letters took some courage. 

I was here in 1964. I was not part of the Free Speech demonstrations. But I remember my exhilaration at seeing how protesters came together from both ends of the political spectrum and many points in between. Then I knew that we had finally clawed our way out of the hell of the McCarthyite ‘50s and were acting in the spirit of the Voltaire quotation I used to hear quoted a lot when I was a child—how did it go? Something like, “I hate your opinion, but I will defend with my life your right to express it.” 

Dorothy Bryant 

• 

FIRE COMPANY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The front page article “Council Mulls Fate of Fire Company” (Daily Planet, Oct. 5-7) mentioned that the Berkeley Fire Department requires a second ladder truck company only 10 to 12 times a year. That hardly seems to justify the cost of maintaining the truck company. But that activity accounts for only a small part of a truck company’s daily activity. Ladder trucks are part of the fire department’s emergency medical service, responding as the closest available unit when other companies are out of service—a situation where seconds could mean lives. The trucks also respond to incidents along the freeway to provide rescue and extraction of victims, another situation where a short response time is essential. These incidents are in addition to the “ordinary” fire incidents that the trucks handle. When you add up all the essential incidents that a second truck company handles, it’s clear that the annual cost should not be measured only by one statistic, but rather by the public safety. 

Gary Allen 

• 

TREES IN BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There is common confusion about trees in Berkeley. Before the arrival of Europeans, in the flatlands of Berkeley, there were hardly any trees. Berkeley was grasslands with the occasional coast live oak. The proliferation of trees in Berkeley is due to human intervention. And, if humans stopped vigorously planting and watering trees, Berkeley would revert to a grassland environment. This is the reason the city’s recommended street tree list contains few trees native to Berkeley.  

The wonderful oak is not a good street tree. Coast live oak’s branches and roots like to grow low and broad. On a street, this would run right into cars and traffic and pavement. The city spends a quarter of a million dollars each year repaving sidewalks broken by tree roots. And during repaving, trees have to be root pruned, which shortens their life. Since it is important to provide access for everyone, the city’s recommended street trees list selects trees which don’t present this problem. Redwoods have a similar problem. At the intersection of Shattuck and Adeline is a beautiful triangle of redwood trees. But, if one looks closely, one can see that Shattuck Avenue next to the triangle is bumpy and rippled by the redwoods’ roots. 

The city does plant natives where there is space, such as in parks. There will be natives in the new bicycle and pedestrian boulevard extension from University to Delaware along the Santa Fe right of way. Work on this bicycle and pedestrian boulevard should begin this winter. 

Yolanda Huang 

Member, Tree Sub-Committee/Parks and Recreation Commission. 

• 

MIDDLE EAST VIOLENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Friends of Deir Ibzi’a, an organization dedicated to helping provide education and hence a future for children in Palestine, condemns the brutal Israeli invasion of northern Gaza. This atrocity has so far killed more than 75 Palestinians, including 31 civilians, of whom 19 were children under 17, according to B’tselem, an Israeli human rights organization.  

We especially mourn the fact that this violence makes even more elusive the goal of a peaceful future for both the children of Palestine and the children of Israel.  

We call upon Ariel Sharon to immediately cease this unconscionable attack and demand that Israel honor international law and human rights obligations. Until that happens, we further demand that the U.S. stop all military and economic aid to Israel.  

For more information on Friends of Deir Ibzia, please go to www.deiribzia.org.  

Wendy Kaufmyn  



The debate’s about to start and I’m stuck in traffic, cursing, pounding the wheel, and trying very hard not to get into an accident. Damn the drivers clogging the road. They should be home watching, or at least pulling over to let those of us through who do want to watch, like they would for an ambulance or a fire truck. I’m racing to a global emergency. 

The debate begins. My fury is mounting. I’m listening to the radio, but hearing isn’t enough. I have to see it. The fate of the world may hang on the fleeting expression, the way a hand fiddles with a pen, or moves unconsciously to the face. I want to be part of that intimate crowd of millions watching this event. I must be mad. 

I’ve agreed to watch at my daughter’s house despite qualms that granddaughter Luna June, eighteen months old love-of-my- life but too young to be interested in politics, will interfere with my concentration. I’ve received assurances that the TV will be warmed up and ready to go so I won’t miss a moment, but as I pull into the driveway it’s as I feared. There’s Rachel with Luna June in her arms, walking around outside, casual as can be. I slam to a stop, radio blaring, unwilling to get out of the car until the TV is on. Rachel goes inside, then appears at the door, gesturing for me to come in. I set a stool a foot from the screen and crank up the volume. I endeavor to turn myself into a resonating membrane registering every nuance of this event. Granddaughter and neighbor’s baby are running around, prattling away. Parents are soothing, feeding, negotiating the possession of toys, reading ABC books. The noises of the world are intruding.  

And I’m crawling into the TV set. Into a zone of endless red white and blue. All other colors - pink, chartreuse, the color purple for god’s sake, Van Gogh’s yellow, the poop brown of babies diapers, moss green, peach, orange – are banished. Bush’s tie is blue; Kerry’s red. How did they choose which color to wear? What if they’d worn the same color? Did they have spies in each other’s camp? Did they negotiate tie color in their 32-page agreement?  

Who cares about the color of the ties? Somebody I am sure has given it considerable thought. This event is not about rationality or reality. It’s about packaging, branding, projecting an image. Strength! Resolve! It’s about engineering a bond between leader and led. Substance may be the least important ingredient in the pie. The world doomed by the wrong tie color – it’s not out of the question. 

No, of course what they are saying is important. I listen carefully. Does Kerry think the war in Iraq is a mistake or not? I can’t figure it out. Jim Lehrer reminds him that in a moment of magnificent lucidity, as another war raged a young Kerry asked “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” 

“Are Americans now dying in Iraq for a mistake?” Jim asks. Kerry’s “No,” is out before Jim’s lips have stopped moving. He’s like a man who’s seen a ghost, a man who hopes that “No” will exorcise the demon of his past righteousness. “Yes,” he could have said. “Yes,” he should have said. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” I want him to say. But it will never happen. Not in this red white and blue world. 

Kerry is not dumb. He scores points. Bush is clearly the global village idiot. He has those moments of My-Pet-Goat blankness in which he stares at some indefinite point in space, hoping that an answer will swim into view. Finally he retrieves from the fog a pre-programmed tape. I imagine his handlers sighing. He’s stupid, but he’s cunning. He pounces when Kerry let’s fall a smidgen of unspeakable truth. Kerry says “Osama bin Laden uses the invasion of Iraq in order to go out to people and say that America has declared war on Islam.” Bush with gimlet eyes, swoops, comes up with Kerry carcass in his mouth: “My opponent just said something amazing. He said Osama bin Laden uses the invasion of Iraq as an excuse to spread hatred for America. Osama bin Laden isn’t going to determine how we defend ourselves. Osama bin Laden doesn’t get to decide. The American people decide.” It’s all over I think. Kerry’s dead in the water. He’s ready for the glue pot. 

Jim asks the candidates’ position on the whole concept of preemptive war. Kerry could have said that no internationally recognized doctrine of preemption justifies the invasion of Iraq. But intentional law is for wimps. For girlie men. So instead he says “the president always has the right, and always has had the right, for preemptive strike. That was a great doctrine throughout the Cold War.” But then he adds a qualification: “You have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you’re doing what you’re doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.” 

Big mistake. America doesn’t have to prove anything to the world. We’re number 1. 

Bush is on him: “I’m not exactly sure what you mean, passes the global test,” he responds. “My attitude is you take preemptive action in order to protect the American people, that you act in order to make this country secure.” I imagine the high fives in the Bush camp, the plans already begun for campaign commercials skewering Kerry with his “global test.” 

The talking heads say Kerry won. The instant polls give him the edge. I hope they’re right. The Bush team is betting that wanton idiocy will trump intelligence, cunning will trump wit, ruthlessness will overcome scruples, and unreason will overwhelm reason. Despite the odds, I’m going to bet against them.  

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These are responses to questions posed to City Council candidates by readers of the Berkeley Daily Planet. Questions can be sent to opinion@berkeleydailyplanet.com. 

1. For District 3: Do you favor closing Derby Street for a baseball field? 

I do not support the closure of Derby Street. Residents are already burdened with many public agencies and facilities in a small area; their concerns about scale and impact are compelling. I prefer the fiscally responsible choice of developing a multi-use field (with attention to the drainage problem, the field is often a bog in winter). A multi-use field will benefit neighborhood kids as well as boys /girls teams including rugby, soccer, softball, lacrosse etc. It is easy to understand the desirability of the Derby location for the BHS baseball team, but I have seen Berkeley teens playing team sports get to the variety of available fields without too much trouble. With the addition of a fence the San Pablo field constitutes a regulation hardball field. Possible locations for a second field for BHS team use should be identified allowing the San Pablo field to be properly maintained. 

2. For all districts: Do you favor enlarging the path around the marina to a width of 12 feet, plus four feet of shoulder, and the removal of 98 mature trees in order to accommodate more bikers? 

I walk the Marina several times a week, and for years my family has ridden bikes out to the pier. I do not see the need for such grand development.  

There is good bicycle access throughout the area now, so why spend millions of dollars on development, which doesn’t improve much? Walking the path  

along the sea wall you will see folks sitting in their cars protected from the elements. They come there to enjoy the peace and beauty of the bay, often picnicking, listening to music, reading, visiting with loved ones. These are the folks who don’t have a bay view from their homes and the parking strip offers them this delight. By moving the parking strip, we kill mature trees, spend a lot of money and take away this free pleasure for many residents. 

—Laura Menard 

District 3 City Council candidate 

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As the time for the big debate grew near, Democratic partisans acknowledged that it would be an “all or nothing” event for John Kerry. He was behind in most polls and his followers needed a victory to boost their sagging spirits. The angular Senator from Illinois did not disappoint his supporters. With his back against the wall, Kerry did what he had to do—clearly won the debate. 

Many recent polls indicated that the majority of Americans weren’t happy with Bush, but remained unsure about Kerry as a replacement. Based upon this information it was clear that going into the first debate—the only one where the primary focus would be on foreign policy and homeland security—John Kerry had two challenges: The first was to come across as someone who is presidential and credible as an alternative to Bush. The second was to convince viewers that under Bush’s leadership we are not winning the war on terror and therefore a change of leadership is required. Kerry succeeded on both counts. 

In the initial Presidential debate in 2000, viewers were surprised that Al Gore looked uncomfortable while George W. Bush appeared relaxed. In this first 2004 debate the opposite was true; this time it was Bush who appeared agitated and Kerry who came across as composed. The President relentlessly pushed his basic “talking points”; for example, that Kerry is a “flip-flopper,” while Bush is resolute. The problem was that George W. didn’t appear resolute. The candid shots taken of each candidate listening while the other responded to questions, caught Bush in several unflattering poses including exasperation and bewilderment—the infamous “deer caught in the headlights” look. 

For those viewers who questioned Kerry’s experience in foreign affairs, the candidate subtly reminded them that he has served for 20 years on the Senate foreign relations committee and during that time has met with many foreign leaders and written a book on nuclear proliferation. 

Before the event, pundits criticized the format, noting that it was not actually a debate, but rather, a joint press conference. However, moderator Jim Lehrer manage to overcome the limitations of the format and the result was, in fact, one of the best of all the presidential debates. 

Kerry scored early with his assertion that President Bush made “a colossal error of judgment” in abandoning the hunt for Al Qaeda and invading Iraq. President Bush responded with his basic talking points—“Iraq is a central part of the war on terror” and resolute leadership is needed—and got off his best line of the evening when he accused Kerry of “a “pre-Sept. 10 mentality.” But Kerry parried effectively, criticizing Bush for not following wise advise about Iraq, including that of his father. 

Commentators always search for a fatal mistake in these debates. There were two gaffes. The first came during an exchange on homeland security. Kerry listed a number of specific actions that he would take including additional funding for “first responders,” and inspection of chemical plants; he accused the President of favoring a tax cut for the wealthy over an investment in homeland security. In response, Bush snapped, “I don’t think that we want to get to how he’s going to pay for all these promises,” thereby implying that he did indeed favor tax cuts for the wealthy over additional homeland security measures. 

The second gaffe came during a discussion on preemptive military action. Bush seemed to imply that he invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein had been behind the attacks of 9/11. Kerry pounced on this; “The president just said [something] extraordinarily revealing … in answer to your question about …sending people into Iraq he just said, the enemy attacked us. Saddam Hussein didn’t attack us. Osama bin Laden attacked us.” 

Ninety minutes is a long time to participate in a debate and Bush’s energy seemed to diminish towards the end. As a result he wilted, becoming defensive and continually retreating to his talking points, regardless of their relevance. Kerry grew stronger and scored with several memorable comments. Asked about whether the war in Iraq was worth the cost in American lives, Kerry harkened back to his Vietnam experience and remarked, “It is vital for us not to confuse the war – ever – with the warriors.” By the time the conversation turned to North Korea and nuclear proliferation, Kerry was clearly in command, while time and again Bush scrambled to defend his positions. 

Kerry closed the debate with “I believe the future belongs to freedom, not to fear.” Bush responded with fear, “If America shows uncertainly or weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy.” The President went on, “We’ve climbed the mighty mountain. I see the valley below, and it’s a valley of peace.” For many viewers this was painfully reminiscent of President Nixon’s words about the war in Vietnam, “I see the light at the end of the tunnel.” 

Most Democratic partisans will conclude that Kerry exceeded their expectations and clearly won the debate. The challenger has more work to do but has turned an important corner. 

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ANTI-SELAWSKY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If John Selawsky and the school board want to raise taxes, the least they could do is tell the truth. Their claim that Measure B will give 68 percent of its money to small class sizes is false. What they don’t tell you, what is not included in the campaign advertising, is that the school district takes the first cut for itself. This is 10 to 20 percent off the top before any school programs are funded. Read the measure, it’s the section titled “Administrative Costs.’ The school district could take up to $2.4 million to spend however it wants, including raises for administrators. So, it’s not 68 percent for class size reduction from the total tax, it’s 68 percent from what’s left after the school district takes its cut. 

The school district administration should not be seeking higher taxes to pay itself. Berkeley already pays the highest property taxes for schools. Extra taxes should go directly to teachers and students. Extra taxes should go directly to school programs. For this reason, I oppose Measure B. 

School officials who are in charge of educating our children should start by setting a good example. Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

Stephanie Corcos 

Berkeleyans for Responsible School Funding 

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PRO-SELAWSKY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Here is a riddle for you: What is the difference between Berkeley and Oakland? 

“That’s a no-brainer. The answer is John Selawsky.” What kind of answer is that? 

Just think about it for a minute. Before John got elected to the Berkeley School Board, we were in big trouble and the state was about to take over our district. John stepped up to the plate. He worked really hard and we avoided receivership. 

Oakland was faced with the same economic challenges. They didn’t survive. Now the State of California runs the Oakland Unified School District and five of their schools have closed. 

Please let’s show John our appreciation and elect him again. There are other wonderful people running against him but John has already proved his worth. Who I should vote for is no riddle to me. Thanks, John. 

Jane Stillwater 

• 

MEASURE B 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was appalled at Jennifer Havens’ ignorance of the incredible citizen input in developing and drafting Measure B and for you, the editors, for printing such a blatantly uninformed rant (Letters, Daily Planet, Sept. 28-30). As a P&O representative, I can assure readers that many individuals give up hundreds of hours to serve our schools. The district itself arranged two magnificent and informative community evenings to enlist opinions and to deliberate those of most interest to the community at large as represented by the many citizens who showed up. It was democracy in action at its best. I encourage Ms. Havens to get informed and get involved. Measure B asks a small sacrifice in return for invaluable services for our children! 

Tedi Crawford 

Cragmont, BSEP Committee 

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NEED AN EXPLANATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

At a recent District 5 candidates’ forum, three things were apparent about City Council candidate Laurie Capitelli. Two of these I already knew, but one was a revelation.  

First, Capitelli is an intelligent and thoughtful man who knows the city well. Second, he has a long-standing interest in repealing city rent control—and he remains dead serious about this.  

The revelation is that Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Linda Maio are supporting Capitelli’s election. Why have these two nominal “progressives” endorsed a council candidate who might well deliver a crucial vote against rent control?  

I think Bates and Maio owe their own supporters—or former supporters—an explanation. 

Marcia Lau 

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RENT CONTROL 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

In his Oct. 1 letter encouraging District 5 residents to vote against Laurie Capitelli due to his alleged opposition to rent control, Rent Board Vice Chair Paul Hogarth claimed, “Nobody benefits if housing is made less affordable except for the real estate industry,” implying that rent control makes housing more affordable. Unfortunately, its effects are not so simple. 

Rent control as currently implemented in Berkeley (which is as strict as California law allows) makes housing more affordable only for tenants of rent-controlled units. By giving those people a strong disincentive to move, it reduces the supply of rentals on the market, driving up demand and thus rents for available units. These higher rents benefit developers of new housing (which is exempt from rent control) and landlords with high turnover and/or exempt rental units, at the expense of apartment hunters and landlords of rent-controlled units with low turnover. 

Berkeley voters who benefit from controlled rents so greatly outnumber those who suffer the consequences that any attempt at repeal would be political suicide. Why make a candidate’s position on such a settled matter a high priority when casting your vote? Both Capitelli and his opponent Jesse Townley appear to share this pragmatic view: There’s no mention of rent control on either campaign’s website. 

Robert Lauriston 

• 

MORE ON RENT CONTROL 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Paul Hogarth needs to do his homework. Contrary to Hogarth’s letter, Laurie Capitelli has not called for “the repeal of rent control.” The fact is that many reasonable housing advocates, including Capitelli, were concerned about the impact of the passage of the state’s Costa Hawkins law that changed Berkeley rent control to allow landlords to raise rents to market rates whenever a tenant moves out. Their concerns have proved accurate: Over 70 percent of Berkeley’s apartments have been decontrolled at least once since the state law passed.  

Capitelli believes that the purpose of rent control was to maintain a pool of affordable housing stock. If Costa Hawkins undermines this worthy goal, we need to know and we need to address it. Berkeley voters have adjusted our rent laws a number of times in the face of changing realities. Seeking to strengthen the effectiveness and intent of those laws is the sign of leadership, not opposition. 

I have been a tenant activist for over 20 years, representing tenants in eviction cases, actions before the rent board and helping to draft many of the board regulations and modifications. I worked for five years as a counselor for the Berkeley Tenant Action Project. He has frequently provided expert support for me and other tenant advocates in tenant cases before the rent board and in eviction cases. I have known Laurie Capitelli for almost 30 years. During that time, I know he has always and unequivocally supported the goal of rent protections in this community: maintaining an affordable and well-maintained housing stock.  

Mike Grunwald 

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MEASURES J, K, L 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I am supporting J, K and L this November. I am grateful to live in Berkeley with its exceptional city services. I have known many city workers over the years, and while I am sure there are some here, like anywhere, who are “just collecting a paycheck,” I have been moved and impressed at the level of dedication of many of them, and the importance of the work they do—especially for our youth and our collective safety. Please join me in supporting J, K, and L.  

David Stark 

General Director, Stiles Hall 

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WENGRAF RESPONDS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Eva Bansner’s letter “Betty or Norine” (Letters, Daily Planet, Oct. 1-4) is full of misinformation. I was never “instrumental in preventing any expansion on the site (at 1301 Oxford St.) by the Chinese Christian Church.” In fact, I supported both the Zoning Adjustments Board and the Landmarks Commission’s approval of a permit for the Chinese Church to expand. They never had the finances to go ahead with the proposal, the property was blighted and neglected, and the banks of the creek were badly eroded for decades. Bansner, who did not live in the neighborhood at the time, really has no first hand knowledge of the serious issues the neighborhood faced as a result of the abandonment of the property during these years. 

Eva misconstrues my interest in preservation as obstruction of development. Prior to the efforts of the Chinese Church to expand, I fought to save the original historic Byrne house located on the church property. After two serious arsons in the early eighties, the neighbors tried, with support from Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, to preserve the Italianate structure from demolition. We did not succeed, and the land sat uncared for and used as a homeless encampment (and open toilet) for many years.  

Bansner is correct that Betty Olds did vote in favor of the Congregation Beth El project, as did all the other council members and the Mayor in an unusual unanimous vote after many years of ultimately successful negotiations with the neighbors. I predict that the current owners of this property will be much better stewards of the land and Cordornices Creek than the previous owners, who were irresponsible and negligent in their understanding of both the importance of the creek as well as the historical and architectural value of the structure that was built on this land. 

As a member of the Planning Commission very familiar with the Downtown Plan, I can unequivocally state that Betty Olds has never “gone along with many development plans for certain developers that violate our adopted policies.” 

I am surprised that Eva Bansner, an urban planner by profession, is so rabidly against any change to the urban landscape. If I shared her values, I would move to a rural setting and find peace and comfort in the natural and pastoral environment, rather than live in one of the densest cities of California and feel bitter all the time.  

Susan Wengraf 

• 

MAUDELLE SHIREK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Maudelle Shirek has been my council representative since she was first elected. During that time she has never once responded to my calls for information or help. In fact, I don't know of even one person who ever did get a response. 

Nancy Ward 

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CHENEY’S IGNORANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

First, how in the world could Cheney have never heard about the growing rates of HIV among African-American women? It felt like his way of saying “I don’t pay attention to that part of the American population.” Rest assured that if rich, middle-aged white men were being infected at the same rate, it would be at the top of his agenda. 

Nicole Sanchez 

• 

BUSH’S TOENAIL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Responding to John Kerry’s critique of the war in Iraq during their first debate, President Bush repeated an assertion he’s made countless times: “The world is better off without Saddam Hussein.” 

This line always reminds me of an old joke: A man walks into a doctor’s office and complains about an ingrown toenail. Examining the toenail, the doctor declares, “I can fix that.” The doctor then quickly pulls a pistol from his jacket pocket and shoots the man’s foot off. As his patient screams in pain, the doctor says, “I know it hurts, but aren’t you better off without that ingrown toenail?” 

If Bush was the patient, I wonder if he’d reply, “I guess so.” 

Marty Schiffenbauer

District 6 starts at the northern side of Hearst Avenue and the eastern edge of Oxford Street and runs north to Cedar Street. It jogs up Cedar to Spruce Street and then continues along the eastern edge of Spruce all the way up to Tilden Park. District 6 has a diverse population that includes students, professors, homeowners and tenants.  

I moved to California with my husband Walter, an architect who trained with Frank Lloyd Wright and settled in Berkeley more than 50 years ago. I raised three children who all went to Berkeley public schools. I was a teacher at Willard Junior High School and spent many years as a troop leader for Girl Scouts and assisted with many Boy Scouts activities. I joined the Sierra Club in 1958 and led and co-led many trips around the world for them. I got my first taste of community service when I served on the Zoning Adjustments Board. After six years, I served on the Rent Stabilization Board. Eight years later, I decided to run for City Council. I have been on the City Council since 1992  

Because part of the terrain of District 6 is steep and is situated adjacent to the heavily wooded areas of Tilden Park, I am very concerned about fire safety. One of the most vulnerable areas to a wildfire, we have heavy vegetation and densely developed steep lots, making fires difficult to fight. That is why I am committed to building a new, state of the art fire house on the ridge at Shasta and Grizzly which will be jointly staffed by both Berkeley firefighters and East Bay Regional Parks Fire Department on high hazard fire days. Fire danger is also what drives my dedication to the clearing and maintenance of our pathways, so that in the event of an emergency our residents have an alternate route out of the hills. 

The views of the bay from the hills need to be protected, not just for us, but also for generations to come. Recognizing this, I am working on new legislation that will limit the ability of neighbors to block each other’s views. 

I am very proud of my record on the environment. I am a founding member of Save the Bay and have been endorsed by the Sierra Club. I have worked hard to retrofit our parks with safeplay equipment, protect the Rose Garden from deer, and preserve the open space at the waterfront.  

I think that I have done a good job and have gotten results for my constituents. I am a “hands on” person. If there is a drainage problem, I personally go out into the field and look at it. If there are neighbor complaints, I speak to each neighbor. My office is very responsive and we always return calls or e-mails promptly. I am honest and hardworking and everyone knows exactly where I stand.  

My goals for the next four years include the following: 

The City of Berkeley needs to concentrate energy on economic development in our downtown and along commercial corridors. We have an Arts District, a main library and downtown businesses that we need to support with additional parking. The city needs to increase its commercial tax revenues, and encouraging independently owned businesses should be a priority. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to buy something you need, like underwear, in the downtown instead of having to drive to Emeryville or Walnut Creek? 

I support the construction of new housing close to major transit corridors because they provide much needed housing, and as a result, rents have been reduced. However, I do no support bad architecture that is insensitive to the adjacent neighbors. I believe we can work harder to find solutions to the tensions and conflicts between developers and neighbors. 

The city also needs to tighten its spending and be fiscally accountable. We pay very high taxes and we deserve to know that our money is being spent wisely. 

Berkeley is a wonderful city of terrific people. I believe I can continue to represent my constituents at City Hall and make many improvements during these challenging years ahead. 

—Betty Olds 

District 6 City Council incumbent

Why vote for me? I promise to fight against high property taxes and for the improvement of city services. I oppose all the city tax measures as many of us are living on fixed incomes and we’re already paying one of the highest property tax rates in the state, enough already. However, I do endorse Measure B because this time it will be spent in the classroom. 

I bring to the table 35 years experience as a software consultant, 20-plus years at the headquarters of Wells Fargo Bank, Charles Schwab, Levi-Strauss and BofA and 12 years at the County of Alameda. I am the retired president of Software Consultants Inc. and Berkeley Language School Inc. 

How do I differ from the four-term incumbent? A few examples: 

The incumbent voted for all the exorbitant union benefits and pensions that are sinking our city budget. I did not seek or receive the union endorsements because I am in opposition to this excess. I have never crossed a picket line and am very pro-union, but these benefits are way over the top. Retiring after 30 years with 100 percent of salary is way beyond any normal compensation. Ordinary folks usually receive somewhere between 10 and 25 pct of income in retirement if they are lucky.  

Oversized development: I will appoint neighborhood friendly persons to the boards and commissions that approve or determine building heights, widths and density. Now persons receive a 500-square-foot building addition permit that balloons into 2,000 square feet, stealing sunlight, views and air from their neighbors. When these neighbors petition for reduced expansion they are usually denied by our current boards. Her appointees have voted for massive building density on University and Shattuck avenues that has the same effect on their neighbors. We need to stop issuing more four- and five-story apartment house permits until the current ones are at least half full. We currently have a glut of vacancies. There are 900 more units in the pipeline in addition to the 495 recently constructed. The numerous empty ground floor commercial spaces are a blight on our city. 

Hill one-house lots are bought by speculators and two or three McMansions are built where before one would have been. As in downtown the culture and texture of our city is being changed unalterably. I am opposed to oversized developments whatever the source; university, religious institution, speculators, staff, or developers. I am first and foremost a neighborhood preservationist.  

Berkeley Marina/Bay Trail Extension: The incumbent voted for a plan that will cut down 98 trees and tear up the benign, serene four- to eight-foot shoreline path circumscribing the marina. The trail replacing it will be 16 feet wide—12 feet of concrete with a four-foot border. The experience of quiet, blue sky, birds scurrying in the tide, trees, etc will be lost on a wide aggressive trail. An alternative plan is to proceed straight down University Avenue to the pier from Seabreeze Market thus saving two to three million dollars.  

I, along with the majority of the Waterfront Commission, turned down this destructive plan but staff went to the City Council and garnered approval. Staff makes these presentations so palliative unless the councilperson digs into the documents a ‘yes’ seems the reasonable action. One convincing argument was four replacement trees for every tree cut down. Another, the trees are dying or have a disease. Twenty-two of the 98 are diseased or dying. First the replacement trees will be twigs or saplings and not the 40-foot mature trees lining the shoreline paths now. Second, only 10 of the 22 are dying.The others are not terminal just a disease like us with a cold or the flu. They will still live on for 20 or more years. 

The incumbent also voted for the cellular tower at 1600 Shattuck Ave. These do not belong in residential neighborhoods. 

The incumbent opposes Measure S. I support it. Measure S applies only to public trees. Now the city employs outside contractors to cut down too many healthy vibrant trees.  

The City Councilmembers’ responsibility is to evaluate with a critical eye all city staff recommendations. Preparation material must be conscientiously studied well in advance. Staff recommendations must be evaluated thoroughly not just rubber stamped. We can’t just let them go into effect without considering the cost and the long term benefit to the city. I will apply clear cost-benefit analysis to all fiscal expenditures. 

In addition city council meetings should be held 46 times a year instead of the current 33. Current meetings that run until midnight or 1 a.m. are not conducive to logical thinking and defeat citizen participation and democratic monitoring.  

—Norine Smith  

District 6 City Council candidate  

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I’m running for City Council with the number one priority of improving the lives of District 2 residents. My experience, energy, and enthusiasm prepare me to be a strong and effective voice for District 2.  

For the past four years I have served the Berkeley community as the representative to the Peralta Community College District. When I ran for office, I made a commitment to carry out the promise of building a permanent home for Vista Community College. With wonderful support from the Berkeley, Albany, and Emeryville communities, we are realizing that promise.  

As a council candidate, I look forward to building an enthusiastic and organized constituency to address these basic issues: 

Fiscal Responsibility: My 18 years as a municipal budget analyst, along with a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, make me ideally suited to tackle the substantial fiscal challenges of our city. I will work toward a more transparent budget process that encourages greater input from Berkeley residents and businesses. Berkeley taxpayers have been incredibly generous in supporting city programs, and we need our council representatives to provide tough oversight to ensure that the city’s fiscal dilemmas don’t result in excessive taxes especially on those with fixed and low incomes. I will evaluate city programs to ensure they are reaching their target populations and to avoid duplication of effort. I am committed to fiscal responsibility, including making sure UCB pays its fair share! While property owners are required to pay taxes for the city’s storm drain system and streetlights, as well as other city services, the university contributes little or nothing toward these essential infrastructure needs. 

Safety: Southwest Berkeley residents deserve to live in neighborhoods free of crime, drug dealers, and prostitution. I am proposing that the City Council form a Public Safety Committee to address the critical issues around public safety in our district and throughout the city. If elected; I will be the first to volunteer to serve on such a committee. Public safety should always be our top priority. We need to enhance community policing, especially along San Pablo, Sacramento, and lower University. I look forward to working with neighborhood groups to support their efforts as the eyes and ears of our community. 

Youth Services: I will work to build a youth center in either South or West Berkeley to provide needed opportunities for our youth. This center could offer tutoring, computer and job skills, classes on nutrition, and serve as a resource link to city, county, and state programs.  

Economic Development: I will encourage businesses along San Pablo, Sacramento, and University that enhance the quality of life for communities in South and West Berkeley. In District 2 we need fewer liquor stores and more bookstores, grocery stores, and cafes. We also need to maintain commercial space for our artisans and crafts people. 

Affordable Housing: In order to maintain diversity and to make sure the librarians, schoolteachers, and clerks who work in our city can afford to live here, we need to provide affordable housing. In particular, I will encourage the development of affordable housing with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate the needs of families. I also believe that the development of affordable condominiums would produce “pride of ownership” and promote stable communities.  

Measure Q: If passed, Measure Q would make prostitution the lowest priority for the Berkeley Police Department. It would have a particularly negative impact on Southwest Berkeley, opening the floodgates for pimps and street prostitutes from around the East Bay to descend on San Pablo, Sacramento and University. Measure Q would do nothing to decrease the crime, violence, drugs, alcohol, and sexually transmitted diseases that are associated with pimps and street prostitutes. This simplistic measure would only make it easier for pimps to exploit and abuse women. I am proud to be fighting to defeat this misguided measure, and I encourage all registered voters in Berkeley to join me in voting no on Measure Q. 

My campaign is endorsed by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, Supervisor Keith Carson, Mayor Tom Bates, Pastor Marvis Peoples, the Sierra Club, Green Party of Alameda County, SEIU (all locals), Alameda County Democratic Central Committee and Central Labor Council, Local One, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, Berkeley Citizens Action, Berkeley Democratic Club, League of Conservation Voters, John George Democratic Club, East Bay Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club, Black Elected Officials of the East Bay, and Councilmembers Maio, Breland, Spring, Hawley, Worthington, and Wozniak. 

Together we can activate and organize the immense untapped human resources of District 2. Together we can work as a forward-looking, inclusive, and open community to enhance the quality of life throughout our district and city. I greatly appreciate your support and vote on Nov. 2. 

—Darryl Moore 

District 2 City Council candidate 

For some Berkeley residents, football season at the University is about as welcome as a visit from the Republican National Convention. They’re regular autumn gripes about home game day noise, crowds, and traffic or the philosophical meaninglessness of college sports. 

Other permanent residents are enthusiastic Cal fans, some don’t care one way or the other, and many probably don’t notice at all. It’s sometimes surprising how routine life goes on in Berkeley, even when thirty or fifty or seventy thousand people are crowded into Memorial Stadium on the east edge of town. 

But whatever your feelings, if you’ve never been, why not go at least once to a Cal home game? Besides being part of a great experience of local pageantry and tradition, this year you’ll also see excellent college football. 

Cal has been ranked as high as #7 in the college football polls, and is scoring well over 40 points per game. Even if Cal loses this Saturday—a possibility since they’re playing #1 ranked USC on the road in Los Angele s—the Bears should still be a hot ticket for the rest of the season. 

There are three available home games left, UCLA on October 16, Arizona State on October 30, and Oregon on November 6 (plus the Big Game, against Stanford, which is in Berkeley on November 20, but already sold out). 

If you decide to go, and if you can get tickets, here are some pointers for those not familiar with Cal home games. 

Start off with the tickets. They’re available at CalBears.com or at the Athletic Ticket Office (Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) at 2223 Fulton St., where Kittredge dead ends. Buy soon, because good seats have been selling out (I was told on Wednesday there were only about 10,000 tickets left for the UCLA game). 

For good views of the game, buy high. Avoid t ickets below about row 30, unless there’s absolutely no alternative. And hold onto your tickets; they’re not refundable, or replaceable. 

Where to sit? Cal students concentrate in a huge mass on the east side of the Stadium. They’re antic and fun to watch, but you probably don’t want to be crowded amongst—or right next to—them. 

The majority of season-ticket-holding alumni face the students from the west, across the stadium and below the press box. Single game attendees concentrate in the end zones and co rners, where they are still good views and good company. 

Visiting fans tend to congregate in the southeast, below the shoulder of Panoramic Hill. The north and south end zones (now called the Goldzone and Bluezone, respectively) are general admission and “family” sections, typically Cal fans, with a scattering of foes. 

If you want maximum sun, head for the northeast or the Goldzone; for the most shade, as the afternoon goes on, the southwest, closest to International House, is best. My own favorite sect ions, where I held season tickets for many years, are in the northeast of the Stadium, north of the students and below Charter Hill. 

There you’ll find an eclectic array of Cal fans, including faculty and staff, and a few visitors and you’ll see a differe nt side of the University. For years I sat behind an otherwise distinguished professor, a man calm and cultured as a Boston Brahmin in academic settings, who regularly fumed and shouted expletives at both coaches and referees. 

Fans range in age from babe s-in-arms to octogenarians. There are lots of families, couples, and groups of friends, but a single fan won’t feel out of place. 

And Cal games are wonderfully egalitarian events. Everyone sits on the same benches and stands in the same restroom lines, m illionaire alumnus and penniless grad student alike. 

It’s as it should be at a public university, and one hopes that doesn’t change much, even if and when stadium improvements take place. Insert “luxury boxes” and other trendy alterations and Memorial wo uldn’t be Memorial. 

If your section of the stands isn’t a sellout you can easily spread out on the benches and shift around instead of being fixed in a chair. It’s not unknown to see people stretching out to take a nap during a sunny game. 

But don’t sle ep too long. Cal home football can be pretty memorable. Memorial had seen nail-biting come-from-behind victories, hard-fought ties that seemed like wins, the longest game in college football history (and one of the most exciting), as well as, alas, more i nstances of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory than Cal fans care to admit. 

All that excitement, and you’ll probably need refreshment during the game. The public drinking fountains at Memorial are lamentably few and far between. Concession stand li nes can be long and beverage prices exorbitant. Bring your own (non-alcoholic) beverage, in small, unopened, plastic bottles. 

When you’re looking for an entrance gate, remember that the more college-age fans in your line, the more rigorous the individual inspections seem to be, and the slower the entry. 

If you’re a Berkeley resident you can walk to the game and already have a time advantage over those out-of-town fans desperately looking for street parking in front of your house. 

Plan to arrive at least half an hour before kick-off, perhaps even earlier (and remember that the kickoff time can change without much notice, if a game is suddenly scheduled for television). I’m told that this season the crowds are so large that the entry wait is much longer than usual. You must get to your seat early to soak up the ambiance and watch the Cal Band pre-game show. 

The Cal Band is a sharp, skillful, delightfully entertaining, all student-run corps that performs intricate maneuvers and good music. 

The Band performs three times at every home game, before kickoff, at half-time, and after the game. Be there for the first two shows; it’s also fun to stay a while afterwards, particularly if the Bears triumph and the Band serenades the stands with “Palms of Victory,” only played after a win. 

In addition to the Band, half-time events frequently feature student rooting section card stunts (first used at a Big Game). They often finish with a free form throwing of thousands of cards, which is probably Berkeley’s larges t and most spectacular annual amateur performance art event. 

If you want to see the actual card stunt words and images clearly, make sure you sit in the western half of the Stadium. 

There’s usually plenty of organized cheering, although most non-student fans only participate in the “Go! Bears!” chants that reverberate across the Stadium. And at the Arizona State game this year you can look forward to the introduction on the field of distinguished academics as well as athletes. This is Berkeley, after al l. 

Extra Tips (Sidebar) 

• While in academics “Berkeley” often prevails, in athletics, the institution is “Cal” or “California.” You’ll be watching the “California Golden Bears,” not the “Berkeley Bears.” 

• Wear blue and gold or yellow, or white. If you can’t or won’t, neutral colors are fine. For some reason—maybe it’s Berkeley’s environmental ethic—Cal games also seem to attract a number of fans who wear brown or green, which is OK except if one of the Oregon schools is the opponent. And a die-hard fe w show up in tie-dye or black, Berkeley being Berkeley. 

• DON’T wear red, even a red hat, scarf, or shoes, to any Cal home games. It’s not respectful—red is arch-enemy Stanford’s color at any time of year—and it’s quite likely even mild-mannered Cal fans will heckle you. 

• If it rained the day or night before the game, pack a hand towel to wipe any leftover moisture off the seat. And, by the way, those metal seats can be hard; seat backs can be rented at the Stadium ($5) or fold up your towel or bring a small cushion. 

• Like most event venues these days, Cal severely restricts what you can bring to the Stadium. Check the “security” section of the website CalBears.com for details, and carefully read the little printed handout that comes with your ticket s. 

• Remember, “no cans, glass bottles, alcohol, weapons, coolers” or chains and handcuffs (sorry, Raiders fans), and no bags bigger than 12 x 13 x 6. Prohibited items, including hard and obviously throwable fruit, can be ruthlessly confiscated at the e ntrances, so think of bringing grapes, not grapefruit. 

• Bringing binoculars is a plus, not only to watch the play but everything else from the card stunts to the sunsets—spectacular from the stadium rim—to the seagulls that congregate on the dome of Int ernational House next door and fly up in excitement when the Victory Cannon on Charter Hill fires to signal a Cal score. 

• Remember to bring both hat and sun block. Don’t come loaded down with clothing, but the standard Bay Area advice of “wear layers” h olds true for Cal football games. On a sunny day, the concrete bowl of Memorial can get quite warm, even hot. Conversely, if it’s stormy or overcast, if the fog threatens to roll in, or if it’s a late afternoon game that will end after dark, it can get ch illy. 

• If you’re not a football expert, the stadium announcements—not to mention congenial surrounding fans—will keep you generally informed on game highlights, but some also like to bring a small portable radio and listen to the KGO (AM 81) broadcast as well. 

?

“That’s enough!” A voice rings out from the back of the Lissiter Auditorium at Mills College, angrily moving forward through the house. The audience, just seated, was waiting for the play (TheatreFIRST’s Joe Egg) to begin, finding itself suddenly to be the play, for the moment. 

Yet still they are passive onlookers while Bri (played by Simon Vance) launches into them, orders hands on heads, eyes forward, singles out gigglers, talkers. Bri’s a schoolteacher in front of his class, letting them have it: “I’ve got all the time in the world . . . You’re the losers, not me!” 

The show starts with a bang (and Bri jokes around with a gesture he’ll repeat, “shooting” at the audience with his hands as pistols). This kind of “demolishing theatre’s fourth wall” (as Director Clive Chafer puts it in his notes) is a legacy of British Music Hall, translated to the “legit stage” (with a little Bertolt Brecht, modified, thrown in) during the ‘60s by directors like Joan Littlewood (and Bri’s facing down the audience as if they were his pupils reminds one a little of Victor Spinetti’s Drill Sergeant in Oh What a Lovely War). 

Chafer also points out that much that was “groundbreaking” and “shocking” in theater of the ‘60s, or the world itself back then, “has since become unremarkable.” This is a point that comes home with a vengeance by the end of the play, because exactly those modes of performing—and coping with difficult issues—that may seem a bit dated (if nonetheless engaging) gain in pathos and irony as the story is told.  

And much of it is told directly to us, confidentially—or acted out with a high-spirited gallows humor. But not on a bare stage like stand-up—in an abrupt shift from the institutional hazing of the classroom, we see Bri in his sitting-room at home, just back from school, like a kid himself, playfully trying to pull his wife Sheila (Cynthia Chadwick) to the bedroom, startling her, tickling her, then telling whimsically, joking all the while, of his day when she demurs at love because “Joe will be home” any moment. 

“Joe” is Josephine (played by Miranda Swain), Bri and Sheila’s “spastic” daughter (though called “spastic” or “mongoloid” in the dialogue, it seems she’s a victim of cerebral palsy). She enters in a wheelchair, splayed arm, upturned eyes, mute except for inarticulate whimpers. Her parents deluge her with affection—and humor, answering for her as well. Later they act out her birth and the discovery of her disability, Bri playing the GP, the specialists, the vicar. Later, Sheila “confides” in us that she goes along with Bri in the humor and play-acting: He’s in despair, she’s not. (He believes in “his own kind of god—a manic-depressive Rugby scrummer”). But Bri’s also got Sheila to join a community theater group—real play-acting—while she encourages him to paint. Bri’s reacted with jealous jokes about his old school chum re-met who’s sponsored Sheila in the acting club. 

A thorny second act has the old chum Freddy (Howard Dillon), in blazer and sporting an ascot, with wife Pam (Jessica Powell), in a knit beige dress and hat, over on a holiday visit. Freddy’s a socialist who took over his father’s factory: “I don’t want to appear authoritarian or fascist . . . was I shouting? . . . I tend to raise my voice when I’m helping people . . . all right, I don’t care: I am my brother’s keeper!” 

The message comes out that Bri and Sheila should institutionalize Joe in a boarding school. Pam, who confides to the audience she has problems looking at “old women with skin diseases . . . old men spitting,” has privately referred to Joe as a “weirdie”, but they melt when they actually see her. Bri’s chatty mother Grace (Wanda McCaddon) drops in and further stirs the pot. (Bri teases her: “Did you see Jesus?” in the Christmas decor downtown? “If I did, I didn’t notice—drag religion into anything, won’t they? I think it’s a time for children!”) But there’s a sudden crisis, and unforeseen reactions and emotional outpourings spill out. 

Described this way, it would seem Joe Egg ’s a wedding of post-Goon Show absurdist humor, so popular in PBS reruns, to a socially conscious domestic drama—caricatures of the middle class seen in a jaundiced eye. And there’s more than a bit of that deceptively strung through the play. But Nichols (and the uniformly fine TheatreFIRST cast under Chafer’s direction) are after something more difficult, maybe Chekhovian. These characters express their isolation from each other and themselves—not to mention social disaffection—through their self-contradictory assertions, hopes, confessions. 

“Joe Egg”—like our “Joe Blow,” a sort of sad-sack Everyman—is the constant refrain: “And there I was standing there, just like Joe Egg.” It’s not just Josephine who’s something of a cypher to the others and the world. (Miranda Swain shows us that isolation, and a brief glimpse of Bri’s mother’s mantra: “Wouldn’t she be lovely if she was running about?”—something carried much further, and more strangely, in Sam Fuller’s 1965 film The Naked Kiss—another reminder of the physical, gestural stagecraft of this production of what seems a wholly verbal play.) 

The tart dialogue and brisk pace bring out an impressive range in the cast. Howard Dillon and Jessica Powell particularly, Wanda McCaddon as well, walk a fine line between characterization and farce, with great success. And the interplay between the two leads—husband and wife in life as well as on stage—is fascinating; glances and gestures that go far beyond words counterpoint the dialogue every moment.  

Simon Vance’s characterization of Bri hits all the registers without seeming to try. Something of a younger brother to Jimmy Porter of Look Back in Anger (and Peter Nichols is John Osborne’s close contemporary), he’s less obviously hostile, more ambiguous, but every bit as self-deluding in his easy-going cynicism—and as irresponsible. Vance portrays his pathetic, happy isolation beautifully. His solo abilities, shown in TheatreFIRST’s production of David Hare’s one-man Via Dolorosa about the playwright’s visit to Palestine and Israel, staged about a year and a half ago, come to fruition here in a character who’s onstage alone among others. And the infectious lower-middle class absurdist wit that’s his armor, his weapon against reality, cuts both ways. 

Joe Egg takes the mickey out of the aloof, post-adolescent pose celebrated in pop culture since the late ‘50s and present in every revival of youth culture since, an unwitting parody of Hip and Cool that makes Joe Eggs of everyone. 

?

FRIDAY, OCT. 8 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre Company, “The Persians” at the Aurora Theatre through Oct. 17. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep, “The Secret in the Wings” at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. through Oct. 17. Tickets are $10-$55. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare Theater, “All’s Well That Ends Well” Tues.-Fri. at 7:30 p.m., Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m. at the Bruns Memorial Amphitheater, through Oct. 10. Tickets are $13-$32. 548-9666.  

Shotgun Players “Dog Act” Thurs. - Sun. at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. through Oct. 10. Pass the hat donation after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

TheatreFirst “Joe Egg” at 8 p.m. at Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Through Oct. 17. Tickets are $22. 436-5085. 

“U.S. Provisional Authority” A musical set in the year 2014, at 8 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist, 2362 Bancroft Way, enter on Dana St. Cost is $5-$8.  

Woman’s Will, “Lord of the Flies” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m., at Eighth Street Studios, 2525 Eighth St., through Oct. 24. 420-0813. www.womanswill.org 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Search and Restore” with works by Clayton Bain, Carolyn Gareis, Vannie Keightley, Naomi Policoff and Dorothy Porter. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. www.accigallery.com 

Iwao Akiyama, Woodblock Prints Reception at 6 p.m. at Schurman Fine Art Gallery. Exhibit runs to Oct. 31. Gallery hours are Wed.-Sat. 2-6 p.m., Sun. 11a.m.-3 p.m. 1659 San Pablo Ave. 524-0623.  

FILM 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “Tales from the Gimli Hospital” at 7 p.m. and “West of Zanzibar” at 9:20 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

David G. Howell discusses “The Winemaker’s Dance: Exploring Terroir in the Napa Valley” at noon at UC Berkeley Extension, Room 202, 1995 University Ave. Free, but reservations suggested. 643-8465. 

Carol Brightman dissects Bush’s America in “Total Insecurity: The Myth of American Omnipotence” at 12:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Disaster Series–The Continuation” by Joe Goode Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse. Tickets are $8-$14. http://theater.berkeley.edu 

University Symphony performs symphonic dances from “West Side Story” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $7-$10. 642-9988.  

Pinceladas Spanish dance and opera with Grupo Andanza at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan. Tickets are $28-$30. 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Balé Folclórico de Bahia at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$42 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Del Corazón al Son with Edgardo Cambón and Silvestre Martínez at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Inspector Double Negative, Street Scholars at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dick Hindman Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Caren Armstrong, contemporary folk originals, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50-$16.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Global Funk Council at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Hybrid Kid, The Feed at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Joelle Leandre and India Cooke at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $10-$15. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Steve Poltz at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $12. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com  

Scott Amendola Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Mariospeedwagon & Lemon Juju at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Eleven Eyes at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Skindivers at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

S.T.F.U., Disclose, Voetsek, John the Baker & The Malnourished at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

John Scofield Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, OCT. 9 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Asheba at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $3-$4. 849-2568.  

THEATER 

“Talking with Angels” A one-woman show with Shelley Mitchell at 8 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Cost is $20. 843-2787. www.studiorasa.org 

FILM 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “Cowards Bend the Knee” at 7 p.m. and “The Face Behind the Mask” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Saturday Afternoon Poetry with local poets Jackie Graves, Tigress Osborn, Joyce E. Young at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Library, Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 981-6280. 

Paul Krassner introduces the world of psychedelica in “Magic Mushrooms and Other Highs: From Toad Slime to Ecstasy” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Great Books for High School Students, with Rick Ayers and Amy Crawford from 3 to 5 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Esther Kaplan examines “With God on Their Side: How Christian Fundamentalists Trample Science, Policy and Democracy in George W. Bush’s White House” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Gamelan Sekar Jaya Music and Dance of Bali 25th Anniversary Celebration at 2 p.m. at a privately owned amphitheater in the East Bay hills. Suggested donation $50. For eservations call 237-6849. www.gsj.org 

Alexander String Quartet at 10 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 415-392-2545. 

Philharmonia Baroque, “The Art of the Violin” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant. Tickets are $28-$62. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

Trinity Chamber Concert with thollem mcdonas, solo piano works, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www.TrinityChamberConcerts.com 

Djialy Kunda Kouyate, Senegalese dance and music ensemble, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Paula West at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $22. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Asheba Family Vibe Band at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568.  

Larry Stefl Jazz Group at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Angel Magik at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $20. 548-1159.  

Borderwars, Painfactor at 8 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886.  

Monkey, Shitouttaluck at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Anton Mizerak & Natalie Gougeon at 7 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Cost is $5-$10. 528-8844.  

Lost Weekend, western swing, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

John Pisano Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Paige, singer-songwriter, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Akimbo, Hot Cross, Zann, Takaru, Paper Lanterns at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 10 

CHILDREN 

Mary Ellen Hill, “We Are the Stars that Sing: The Story of the Universe” at 3 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054.  

FILM 

Claire Burch: “The History of the Tele Times” at 1 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “The Saddest Music in the World” at 5:30 p.m. and “La Ronde” at 7:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Frances Payne Alder and Judy Grahn at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Tribute to Marilyn Buck at 5 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Thais Mazur introduces “Warrior Mothers: Stories to Awaken the Flames of the Heart” at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. 883-0600.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sarah Cahill, piano and Chris- 

topher Froh, percussion, perform works by Bay Area composers, at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $10. 665-9496. www.berkeleysrtsfestival.com 

Live Oak Concert Cellist John Lutterman performs and discusses J. S. Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Arts Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Philharmonia Baroque, “The Art of the Violin” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant. Tickets are $28-$62. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

Rudolf Buchbinder, piano, at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $46. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Organ Recital, music of Bach and Mozart, at 6:10 p.m.at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. 845-0888. 

Acme Observatory at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations encouraged. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Beeda Weeda, Rajah & Audio Liquid Alchemy at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886.  

Bill Staines, folk, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ludicra, Yeti, Asunder at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Wild Mango at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Daniel Pearl Memorial Concert at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5. 525-5054.  

MONDAY, OCT. 11 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

David Mas Masumoto reads from “Letters to the Valley: A Harvest of Memories” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express featuring Dahled at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

John Schott’s Dream Kitchen Trio, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com  

Saaz Afghan Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

What We Live with Larry Ochs, Lisle Ellis, and Don Robinson at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, OCT. 12 

FILM 

Experimental Works from Bay Area Schools at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Karen Eng, editor, discusses “Secrets and Confidences: The Complicated Truth About Women’s Friendships” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Mark Satin describes “The Radical Middle: A New Politics of Our Time” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

The Whole Note Poetry Series, with Paradise at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Branford Marsalis Quartet at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Peter Barshay & Marcos Silva at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Jazz House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Roberta Gambarini at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 13 

FILM 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “Leave Her to Heaven” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Political Art in California” with Peter Selz at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

George Lakoff discusses his new book, “Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate – The Essential Guide for Progressives” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Cafe Poetry at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Berkeley Poetry Slam at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryplough.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jules Broussard, Ned Boynton and Bing Nathan at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Nuba with Dror Sinai at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Flowtilla at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Kaki King, guitar, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Improvised Composition Experiment open jam session at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $5. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Mel Martin & The Tenor Conclave at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, OCT. 14 

EXHIBTION OPENINGS 

“Threshold: Byron Kim” Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Transparent Story” Reception for Midori Harima, recipient of the 2004 Kala Board Prize, at 6 p.m. at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. Exhibition runs to Nov. 27. Gallery hours are Tues.-Fri. noon to 5:30 p.m., Sat. noon to 4:30 p.m. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

FILM 

Documentary Voices: “A Narmada Diary” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Hysteria” a film by Antero Alli at 9 p.m. at Endocrine Company Warehouse, 278 Fourth St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. www.verticalpool.com/hysteria. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Parenti on “Superpatriotism” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Han Ong reads from his novel “The Disinherited” at 5 p.m. at IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St. http://ieas.berkeley.edu 

Joy Hakim introduces “The Story of Science” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Sayre Van Young introduces “London’s War: A Traveler’s Guide to World War II” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

“Reclaiming Zimbabwe: The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation” with Prof. Horace Campbell, Syracuse Univ., at 6 p.m. at Alekebulan Bookstore, 1757 Alcatraz, Oakland. 595-7918. 

End-Dependence Collective “Our Voices are End-Dependent” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Joe Donohoe and Lenore Weiss at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Get the Lead Out Benefit concert for Melissa Crabtree at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

ThaMuseMeant, Baby Gramps, Wavy Gravy at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Brian Kane at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Peter Brotzmann, Michael Wertmueller, and Marino Pliakas at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Cost is $8-$15 sliding scale. www.thejazzhouse.com 

David Sanchez Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $16-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com

Yet another casino is being floated for the East Bay, this one near the Oakland airport.  

The Lower Lake Rancheria Koi Nation, a federally recognized tribal subgroup of the Pomos, has won the preliminary endorsement of Mayor Jerry Brown thanks to the offer of $11 million a year to cover needed police and fire services and as compensation for tax revenues that would otherwise be lost. 

Earlier plans for another Oakland casino floated three months ago by the Alturas Rancheria Pomo Band, which offered the city a $40 million a year payback, have thus far failed to materialize. 

“We will be building a first class casino, spa and hotel,” said tribal chair Daniel Beltran. The chosen location is a lot at the corner of Pardee Drive and Swann Way just outside the airport boundary. 

The Kois are offering $10.7 million in annual payments to the City of Oakland to compensate for needed police, fire and traffic services and to fund youth programs to reduce crime and violence, he said. 

Beltran said the project would create 4,400 direct and indirect jobs and generate a billion dollars in economic activity each year. 

The tribe is partnering East Bay Gaming, a limited liability corporation created by Alan Ginsburg, founder of North American Sports Management and a host of affiliated gambling companies. He is the same Florida magnate who is developing the Sugar Bowl Casino in North Richmond in partnership with the Scott’s Valley Pomo band. 

The Kois share something else in common with the Scott’s Valley band and with the Guidiville Pomos who have been recruited for the Point Molate Casino. All three are represented by Spencer-Roberts & Associates 

A lobbying firm based in suburban Sacramento, it was co-founded by Stuart K. Spencer, who ran the presidential campaigns of Republicans Nelson Rockefeller, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. 

It was Spencer, a longtime friend of Dick Cheney, who induced a reluctant Reagan to take on George H. W. Bush as his running mate. 

While Spencer remains involved in the firm, the ownership has been transferred to his daughter, Karen. 

Also, backers have pulled the plug on Proposition 68, which would enable card room and race track owners to open full-scale casinos unless tribal casinos agreed to pay 25 percent of their gambling winnings to the state. 

The measure remains on the ballot, but advertising and other campaigning will end.  

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to support a case by four Bay Area card room owners that would have barred the state from giving Native American tribes the exclusive right to own and operate casinos in the state. 

The court let stand a ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which rejected the card room owners’ claim that allowing full-scale casinos only to Native Americans constitutes a form of racial discrimination. 

The court ruled that ethnic discrimination wasn’t a factor because the tribes have special rights because they are treated as sovereign nations under federal law. 

Some towns fade with unfulfilled dreams. Luckily, Benicia is not one of them. While no longer California’s state capital, the original capital building, now a State Historic Park, provides a rare look back into Benicia and California’s history. While no longer a major military outpost, Benicia’s contribution to 19th century military history is well exhibited at the Historical Museum at the Camel Barns. And, while no longer an international port, Benicia’s former industrial section now houses a thriving arts and crafts community. 

Add to this a charming waterfront community along the Carquinez Strait; an Old Town Main Street packed with antique stores, specialty shops and inviting restaurants; and lovely city parks, and you’ll find Benicia an ideal spot for a getaway adventure. 

Robert Semple and Thomas Larkin founded the town of Benicia in 1847, on five acres sold to them by General Vallejo for $100. Vallejo stipulated that they name the town after his wife, Francisca Maria Felipa Benicia de Vallejo. Benicia’s role in California history seems to be in inverse proportion to its small size: California’s first incorporated city, third state capital, a stop on the Pony Express’ overland route to San Francisco, a way station for miners during California’s Gold Rush, and home to a huge federal arsenal from the Civil War through to the Korean War. 

Location, location, location! Integral to Benicia’s history and present day appeal is its setting along the Carquinez Strait. Cooling breezes off the water temper the heat of the valley. Your eyes are drawn by the expansive strait and by scenic views of the shoreline and bluffs beyond. Benicia utilizes its assets to the fullest. There are many paths along the shoreline from the marina and west toward the state recreation area, with many opportunities for stops at peaceful benches and small neighborhood parks. You can walk out to the well utilized public fishing pier or east toward the marina, wandering among docked pleasure craft and well-maintained and landscaped residences. 

So—history, shopping, great eats, and scenic outdoor recreation—probably more than can be appreciated in just one visit. 

A good place to start is at the Historic Downtown District, on First Street. The Chamber of Commerce and Benicia Main Street have free brochures of things to do, including historic walking tours, which point out significant buildings of Victorian and California architecture, each identified by an attractive, numbered curbside marker. 

At the foot of First Street stands the nicely restored Southern Pacific Train Depot, the official entrance to the city and the center of Benicia’s once thriving international commerce trade. Up the street, the Union Hotel once housed Ulysses S. Grant and Tecumseh Sherman. Today it operates a well-known restaurant and bar. Further along, the brightly painted, 1879 City Hotel entices you in with classic antiques. 

The handsome, classically designed building at 115 West G St. is California’s only surviving pre-Sacramento capital. Built over a three-month period from materials salvaged from ships abandoned in the San Francisco Bay, it is a fine example of mid-19th century craftsmanship. Carefully restored with period furnishings and artifacts, this State Historic Park offers a look back at early legislative matters of state while its small size reminds us that California in 1853 was not the state it is today. The Senate and Assembly Rooms are fully equipped with original desks and all the accouterments necessary for a gentleman of that period: inkwell, candle, formal hat, walking stick, newspaper and spittoon. It’s easy to imagine debates taking place and bills being passed within these rooms.  

At St. Paul’s Church, you can see the nautical influence of the Norwegian shipbuilders who worked on the building, especially in the ceiling, which resembles an inverted ship’s hull.  

At the top of First St. is the Benicia City Park. With its mature shade trees, expansive green lawns, picnic facilities and Playground of Dreams, this park is an ideal setting to rest your feet, burn off energy or get married in the Victorian gazebo. 

Along the length of First Street you’ll pass many interesting shops specializing in antiques, collectibles, and present-day arts and crafts, all inviting you to come in and look around. Coffee houses, cafes and restaurants offer pretty much anything you feel like eating. One place you can’t go wrong is the First Street Café, an Old Town landmark. The offerings are contemporary and fresh and the baking is not to be missed, so be sure to leave room to sample a berry crisp or fresh fruit pie. 

To get a complete picture of Benicia’s role in California history, it’s important to leave First Street and drive over to the present day Industrial Park where Benicia’s military history is displayed. The Benicia Arsenal was the first in California, established in 1851. Many of the original buildings serve as current businesses; large warehouse spaces house glassblowers, potters and painters, worth a return visit in December for the arsenal open studios. 

With two-foot thick sandstone walls and an American Seth Thomas clock, the clocktower still appears formidable. Long thin slots for rifle fire attest to its ability to protect the arsenal that was stored within. Close by, surrounded by lawns and mature trees, stands the 20-room Commandant’s Mansion. Though closed to the public, it’s still easy to imagine important military decisions being made in the library over cigars and brandy while Benicia’s elite wined and dined. 

Camels in Benicia? In a United States Army experiment, camels were to be used to transport military supplies. The beginning of the Civil War ended that idea and the camels were sent back to Benicia. Today, the camels are gone but the historical museum at the camel barns remains as testament to Benicia’s role. Built in 1853, of handcrafted sandstone walls, a tin roof and a redwood ceiling, the top floor of this original ammunition warehouse is now home to a varied, eclectic collection. 

For a small town, Benicia had its hand in many pots: the Transcontinental Railroad, the Pony Express, the Gold Rush, and the Civil War. All are represented in exhibits and photographs at this charming museum whose spirit exceeds its physical space. 

There’s no better way to end the day than with a late afternoon walk at the Benicia State Recreation Area. Covering 720 acres of undeveloped shoreline, this park offers roads and trails for walkers and bicyclists, benches for nature observers, picnic facilities and popular fishing spots. The marshland, grassy hillsides and rocky beaches are ideal spots for viewing resident and migrating shorebirds. A shaded picnic table overlooking marshland rich in native grasses, reeds and cattails in a tapestry of autumn colors, with the waters of the strait before your eyes, provides one more reason to plan a return visit to Benicia. Not even close to a fading violet—still glowing strong.  

]

We have been deluged with calls and letters from proponents of various measures which will confront voters on the November ballot, at a time when most voters, including us, are preoccupied with the job of getting rid of George Bush. As I am writing this, I’ve been interrupted, at home, by a call from an old acquaintance who wants me to endorse Measure B.  

Proponents of ballot measures fall into various camps. First, there are the direct beneficiaries, those whose pay will come out of the proceeds. Berkeley measures J and K, increases to the utility tax and the property transfer tax, have received two thirds of their financial support so far from unions representing city workers such as Service Employees International Union Local 535. Then there are the indirect beneficiaries, for example some parents of children in the Berkeley Public Schools, who are working on behalf of Measure B, and users of medical marijuana, who support Measure R. Finally, there are the public-spirited citizens whose support of ballot measures is based on their perception, right or wrong, of what’s good for the city, without any personal benefit to themselves, like the supporters of Measure S, which aims to protect Berkeley’s publicly owned trees. Of course, there are also altruistic supporters of most ballot measures in addition to the interested parties.  

Here at the Planet, we haven’t finally decided how we’re going to vote on these measures ourselves, let alone deciding which ones we support or oppose strongly enough to share our recommendations with our readers. Here’s the big ethical problem which confronts us as voters when it comes to funding measures: Is it fair (or wise) to vote against taxes just because you think the current money is not being well-spent? 

The reason Berkeley has a record number of funding measures on our ballot is that our leaders have figured out a cute dodge to put a human face on tax increases. We’re not voting for raising taxes to support the general fund, we’re voting for libraries, paramedics and youth services. Measure N reauthorizes a group of similar special taxes, including one for the parks department. But the hook in this attractive bait (who’s against youth?) is that such schemes simply take the designated service out of the general fund allocations, thus freeing up more money to be spent elsewhere, perhaps unwisely.  

Consider the plight of the citizen who believes, for example, that the Economic Development Department has been responsible for dumb moves like axing the popular local Edy’s Ice Cream Parlor in favor of the soon-departed Eddie Bauer chain store. Where does she or he go to express this opinion? Elected officials? Forget it. Previous Mayor Dean was behind the Eddie Bauer debacle. Current Mayor Bates, theoretically supported by a different faction, has been involved with packing the Planning, Landmarks and Zoning Commissions with development hacks who want similar mistakes in West Berkeley and elsewhere. The temptation to vote to curtail this kind of institutionalized stupidity by cutting off funding is strong. And those who see through the “special tax” dodge are inclined just to vote no on everything, since the Economic Development Department will never come up as a direct vote.  

And yet, and yet, the city does need to have enough money to provide critical public services, and times are tough. But are public employees doing what the public really needs, or simply collecting ample paychecks and generous pensions? Citizens who interact with city employees on a regular basis have opinions on this topic, and they seem to be increasingly negative. Just try building a deck, for example. Several hundred public-spirited citizens serve on city commissions at any given point in time, where they have the opportunity to observe up close what’s not working. They write letters to the Planet about what they experience, and these letters are not enthusiastic. (That’s undoubtedly why city bureaucrats issue regular reports recommending abolition of commissions.)  

Some parents who volunteer in the public schools are shocked at the way funds are used, and they’re also not coy about expressing their opinions: witness recent controversies about landscaping at Willard Middle School. Other parents may think that everything’s not perfect, but the schools still need the money.  

If you don’t think that the city should donate Derby Street to BUSD to build a ball field for varsity athletes, should you vote against funding measures, and if so, for city or school district? It’s confusing. 

That’s why Measure S is attractive. Many citizens have tangled with city staff over what appears to be cavalier treatment of trees in public spaces. (Some years ago, bad pruning of Berkeley street trees was actually the subject of a photo essay in Pacific Horticulture Magazine.) Instead of urging voters to reject Measure N (which includes re-upping the parks tax) Measure S supporters have put together a carefully crafted measure which aims to solve the problem instead of throwing out the baby with the bath water. It’s moderate in scope, not nearly as comprehensive as the heritage tree ordinances in similar cities like Santa Cruz and Palo Alto, but strong enough to send a message to the city-paid custodians of our arboreal treasures that they should be doing a better job with their public funds. And of course, anyone who approves of how our public trees have been treated can vote against it. 

Would that all decisions were so simple. Most of the time, all we voters can do is vote candidates and tax measures up or down. Voting against taxes is strong medicine, which should be reserved for the direst cases.  

It’s no secret that many owners of single family homes, especially in the flats, feel massively dissed by Berkeley’s planning department, which seems to them to have been loading the dice in favor of big developers of fancy apartment complexes which end up, yes, in their backyards. But is voting no on J and K the right solution? Some recently formed organizations want to convince voters that this is indeed the remedy, and they’ve expressed this opinion in these pages and elsewhere. A few city council candidates (okay, maybe two or three so far) have come out against city planners’ mindless advocacy of excessive density. If more candidates had the courage to follow their example and take positions on controversial topics (and to keep their campaign promises), Berkeleyans would be less tempted to vote no on the taxes which might actually be needed to support essential city services.  

—

Wow. Last time we checked, we had more than 9,000 words of letters in the queue, at a point where we would usually expect to have about 2,000, and that doesn’t include letters from out of town, which we don’t usually print. And it doesn’t include long commentary pieces. We have amazing readers, and they keep those letters coming. Most, though not all, are writing about the upcoming election these days. We’ll try to find room by adding extra opinion inches over and above what the advertising volume would normally permit.  

We’re particularly proud of the Berkeley City Council candidates. The statements we’ve gotten from them have been thoughtful, coherent, articulate and individual. For the most part, they’ve resisted the temptation to rely on platitudes instead of ideas. They’ve supplied almost exactly the 800 words they’re entitled to, instead of just issuing short sound bites. Eight hundred words is about the length of a 10-minute speech, whereas candidates’ nights usually limit speakers to five minutes at best and are poorly attended. So voters know a lot more than usual about these candidates. If you missed the first installment, District 5, we have back issues at our office. 

Propositions and ballot measures are a challenge. We’ve opted to run long informative explanations of what they are, instead of just doing endorsements, which even at the best papers are often arrived at by a somewhat casual process. We are running opinions from proponents and critics as space allows. Some have also opted to take out ads for their cause, which is fine with us.  

The presidential contest is a special case. Enthusiastic Kerry-Edwards supporters have deluged the press, including us, with letters saying that their guys won the debates so far. We haven’t gotten any local letters—not even one—expressing the contrary conclusion. So we are opting to put most of these letters only on our website, on the theory that scarce print space is best saved for controversial topics. We do reserve the right to print any letter which seems unusually interesting or clever to us. But thanks, all of you, for sharing your opinions with us.  

And in the further interest of saving space for readers’ opinions, we’ll keep this short today. Clearly, Berkeley Daily Planet readers don’t really need us to tell them what to think.  

y

FRIDAY, OCT. 8 

Presidential Debates Meet betterbadnews.tv at 5:30 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. The debates will run from 6 to 7:30 pm and will be followed by the premiere presentation of Better Bad News.tv Sponsored by Berkeley Arts Festival. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com  

“Resisting Government Secrecy in a Time of Terrorism” Investigative reporter and New Yorker writer Seymour Hersh in discussion with KQED talk show host Michael Krasny, at 7:45 p.m. in the Paulley Ballroom, UC Campus. Free tickets on day of event, starting at 5:30 p.m. at Pauley Ballroom. http://journalism.berkeley.edu 

Candidates for the Peralta Community College District, Districts 2 and 4, will speak and answer questions at Vista College Annex, 2075 Allston Way. Starts promptly at 5:30 p.m. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville. 843-8824. http://lwvbae.org 

Paul Krassner on the second Presidential debate at 6 p.m. in the Redwood Gardens Community Room, 2951 Derby St. Part of the 40th Anniv. of the Free Speech Movement. www.fsm-a.org 

Sustainable Seafood: Your Role in Saving World Fisheries from noon to 6 p.m. at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Store, 10367 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 526-1155.  

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Fran Packard of the League of Women Voters on “Ballot Issues for November 2.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925.  

Womansong Circle: Sending Light, Sending Song and get out the vote letter writing at 6:45 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way at Dana. Bring light snacks to share. Suggested donation $10-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. www.betsyrosemusic.org 

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

SATURDAY, OCT. 9 

Shellmound Run in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day. From Berkeley Shellmound to Civic Center Park. Registration at 7:30 a.m. at University Ave. and 4th St. 595-5520. 

Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow and Indian Market Native American foods, arts and crafts with intertribal dancing from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Civic Center Park. 595-5520. 

Indigenous People Films Screenings of the documentaries “Shellmound” and “The Rules of the Game” at 4, 5:30 and 7 p.m. at Florence Schwimley Little Theater, 1920 Allston Way. Donation $5-10 requested. 508-9069. 

Richmond Shoreline Festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with bird and plant walks, kite-flying and children’s activities, BBQ and live music. 461-4665. www.eastshorepark.org 

Berkeley City Council Candidate Forum from 2 to 4 p.m. at 2239 MLK in Berkeley High School 'G' building, southwest side facing Bancroft. Sponsored by local transportation and environmental groups, including BEST, Carfree Cities, EcoCity Builders and BFBC. 486-1528. 

Albany City Council Candidates Forum from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Avenue, near Solano. Sponsored by the Albany Chamber of Commerce. 

“All Satire, All The Time” with Paul Krassner and other satirists at 2 p.m. at the Alumni House , UC Campus. www.fsm-a.org 

Free Energy Audit for Berkeley Residents on Oct. 9 and 10 offered by California Youth Energy Services. To sign up for a visit, call 428-2357. www.risingsunenergy.org  

Kids Garden Club How our garden attracts birds. We will also go birding and make a bird feeder. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. For ages 7-12. Cost is $3-$5, registration required. 525-2233. 

Autumn Arachnids A slide show, followed by exploration for orb weavers, jumping spiders, wolf spiders and more at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Junior Rangers of Tilden meets Sat. mornings at Tilden Nature Center. For more information call 525-2233. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour “Downtown Berkeley as a Possible Eco-City Center” led by Richard Register. At 10 a.m. Cost is $8-$10. For information call 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. For reservations call 238-3234. 

Gardening Basics: Soil Preparation, Planting and Mulching at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

San Pablo Creek Restoration Workday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the El Sobrante Library. Join us as we extend the native plant garden toward the creek. Refreshments, tools, and gloves provided. Sponsored by San Pablo Watershed Neighbors Education and Restoration Society. 231-9566. 

Best Buddies Fundraiser with lemonade stand to raise funds to fight pediatric cancer, through Sun. at McKevitt Volvo, 2700 Shattuck Ave. Additional funds will be raised for each test drive. 848-2206. 

Bureau of Humane Law Enforcement, an evening of karaoke, food and wine to benefit the protection of animals. At 6 p.m. at Paws and Claws, 2023 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 925-487-4419. info@eastbayanimaladvocates.org 

Know Your Rights A free citizen training in observing police and asserting your rights. From 11a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Innovative Independent Films, Hot Political Discussion A benefit for the Jesse Townley Campaign at 8 p.m. at The Ivy Room, 858 San Pablo Ave., Albany. Donation $5-$15. 524-9220. 

“Sacred Prostitutes Perform” an exorcism of shame performance to benefit the Berkeley ballot initiative for sex workers’ rights at 8 p.m. at Loop Gallery, 6436 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Donations encouraged. 590-0040. debbiemoore@xplicitplayers.com 

Moment’s Notice a monthly salon for improvised music, dance and theater at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 8th St. 415-831-5592. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 10 

Autumn Insects We’ll look for insects under logs, in the grass and on trees and learn how they adapt to different habitats, at 10 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Early Peoples’ Ways We’ll search for the plants the Miwok ate, and make some native tea. Bring your good luck charm for games based on native traditions. from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

After Summer, What is Left Behind Seeds, cones and other plant parts dry up and fade away in autumn. We’ll look for them and see what is left after a season of growth and change. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

Natural and Cultural History of the Ohlone Peoples Please join us at noon at the Ohlone Greenway, at the intersection of Neilson St. and the Greenway for the dedication of an interpretive exhibit featuring the natural and cultural history of the Ohlone Peoples. karllinn@lmi.net  

California Indian Food and Culture Learn how the Ohlone Indians make acorn soup, soap root brushes and berry cider, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5-$15. Registration required. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Sunday Greens: Sex, Drugs & Rock n’ Roll, The Bottom Line is $$$ Join us for a discussion about Measure H: Public Financing of Local Elections, Measure Q: the Angel’s Initiative, the Oakland & Berkeley Cannabis Initiatives and other local measures on the ballot in Alameda County, and meet musician, activist and progressive candidate for Berkeley City Council, Jesse Townley. From 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. 

Candidates for the Albany School Board will speak and answer questions in the Albany High School multi-purpose room, 603 Key Route Blvd. Starts promptly at 2:30 p.m. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville. 843-8824. http://lwvbae.org 

Candidates for the Albany City Council will speak and answer questions in the Albany High School multi-purpose room, 603 Key Route Blvd. Starts promptly at 4 p.m. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville. 843-8824.  

“Zionism, The Democrats & Kerry” with Lenni Brenner and Ralph Schoneman, at 7:30 p.m. at Fellowship of Humanities, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. Benefit for Voices for the Middle East & North Africa. 415-867-0628. 

“Truth in Reporting on Iraq” with Dahr Jamal at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. 528-5403.  

“Early Twentieth-Century British Women Travelers to Greece” A lecture by Prof. Martha Klironomos at 3 p.m. at 370 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus.  

Los Días de los Muertos Altar Making at 1 p.m. at the Painting Studio, Richmond Art Studio, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. Cost is $30-$35. 620-6770. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre White Elephant Sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot adjacent to the theater at 951 Pomona Ave. at Moeser Lane, El Cerrito. To arrange drop-offs call 533-0698. To arrange rental space call 524-8559. 

Kol Sippur: A Celebration of Jewish Storytelling from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $5-$25. Registration required. 848-0237. 

Iron Chef Cook-off benefit for the Berkeley Historical Society, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Spengers, 1919 Fourth St. 845-7771. 

Ahoy There! Pancake Breakfast aboard the Red Oak Victory Ship moored in Pt. Richmond. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1500 Dornan Drive, through the Ferry point Tunnel to the end. Cost is $6.  

Folk Art Society Art Sale featuring artists with disabilities from noon to 5:30 p.m. at the National Institute of Art and Disabilities, 551 23rd St. Richmond. 620-0290. www.niadart.org 

Hands-On Bike Maintenance Class Learn how to perform basic repairs on your own bike from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $85 members, $100 non-members, registration required. 527-4140. 

Small Press Distribution 35th Anniversary Celebration at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church. Tickets are $35. 524-1668, ext. 340. www.spfbooks.org 

Hunger Project global relief program with Lynne S. Twist, author of “The Soul of Money,” at 9:45 a.m. St. John’s Episcopal Church, at 1707 Gouldin Rd., off Thornhill Road, Oakland. 339-2200. 

“Moral Responsibility: Evolutionary and Genetic Aspects” with Gunther Stent, Prof. of Molecular and Cell Biology, UCB, at 9:30 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302.  

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “Dream Yoga: Dream Awareness and Compassion Practice” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, OCT. 11 

Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $2-$5. Sponsored by Students for Nader and the International Socialist Organization. 642-9988. 

“The Human Person: Beyond the Nature-Culture Divide” with Niels Heinrik Gregersen of Aarhus Univ., Copenhagen, at 7:10 p.m. at the GTU Dinner Board Room, 2400 Ridge Rd. 649-2560 www.gtu.edu/studentgroups/trees 

Kerry/Edwards Fundraiser with an auction and music, 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Ethnic Arts, 1314 10th St., at Gilman. Minimum donation $25.  

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60 years and over meets Mondays at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Join at any time. 524-9122. 

“Reading Yiddish Texts” a reading and discussion group, on Mon. eves at 7:15 p.m. through Dec. 13. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $110. To register call 845-6420. 

“The Golden Age of Spain” exploring the culture and poetry, Mon. at 7 p.m. through Nov. 11, at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $45. To register call 845-6420. 

Copwatch Class from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at 2022 Blake St., near Shattuck. Free and open to the public. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, OCT. 12 

Morning Bird Walk: Willdcat Canyon meet at 7 a.m. at Alvarado Staging Area, Tilden Park. Call for directions or to reserve binoculars. 525-2233.  

Afternoon Bird Walk from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline. For directions and meeting place call 525-2233. 

“Berkeley Candidates 2004” A video from the League of Women Voters at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Candidates for the Berkekey School Board will speak and answer questions at the Rosa Parks School, 930 Allston Way Starts promptly at 7 p.m. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters. 843-8824. http://lwvbae.org 

“Bush Science Policy” A forum on the Bush Administration’s uses and abuses of science in policymaking at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10, available from 642-9988. http://journalism.berkeley.edu 

“Fluids & Faulting: Water & Earthquakes in California” with Mark Zoback, Professor of Geophysics, Stanford University at 5:30 p.m. in 10 Evans Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Water Resources Center Archives. 642-2666. 

Blood Drive from noon to 4 p.m.at UCB Hillel, 2736 Bancroft Way. 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. 

“Caring for Others, Caring for Yourself” a six-week program on the spiritual dimension of caregiving on alternate Tues. at 7 p.m. in Berkeley. Suggested donation $75 for whole session. 845-1963. www.spcare.org 

“Introduction to Judaism” Explore Jewish spirituality and ethics with David Cooper at 7:30 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Financial Planning Workshop: College Planning 101 with Jarrett Topel, Certified Financial Planner at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. Free. 526-7512.  

Family Story Time at the Kensington Branch Library, Tues. evenings at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Acting and Storytelling Classes for Seniors offered by Stagebridge, at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Classes are held at 10 a.m. Tues.-Fri. For more information call 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 13 

Presidential Debates Meet betterbadnews.tv at 5:30 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. The debates will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a presentation of Better Bad News.tv Sponsored by Berkeley Arts Festival. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Measure A Public Hearing for Alameda County Health Care Services, with Supervisor Keith Carson, at 6:30 p.m at Stovall Recreation Center, 1728 Alcatraz Ave., at King St. 272-6695. 

“Baffled by the Ballot?” A discussion of state and local measures at the national Women’s Political Caucus General Meeting at 6 p.m. at Rockridge Library Community Room, 5366 College Ave.  

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Palestinian and Israeli Doctors Speak Out on the health effects of the occupation on civilians at 7 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale. Benefit for Middle East Children’s Alliance and International Solidarity Movement. 548-0542. www.mecafrpeace.org 

“A Modern Rabbi in Search of Historical Jesus” with Rabbi Harry Manhoff at 11:30 a.m. at Berkeley Richmond JCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5, registration at 11 a.m. 848-0237. 

“Vanishing Prayer” A documentary on the Dineh resistance in Arizona, plus “The Zapatista’s Mayan Uprising” at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $3-$5, no one turned away. Sponsored by the International Council for Humanity. 419-1405.  

Lesbians and Cancer Video Night “My Left Breast” at 6:30 p.m. at Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave. Space is limited, please RSVP to 420-7900, ext. 111. 

Basic Balkan Singing Workshop on four Wed. evenings at 7:30 p.m. at Lake Merritt Church, 1330 Lakeshore Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $75 for the series. Registration required. 444-0323. www.kitka.org 

“Corsets to Crampons: Pioneers of Mont Blanc” The film of six women who made the climbing/skiing trip in 1808, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Gardening for Wildlife Learn how to turn any small garden space into a refuge for birds, frogs, insects, and other wildlife using California native plants. Reduce waste and avoid the use of pesticides that affect water quality and harm beneficial insects and other wildlife. Class meets Weds. from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m at the Self Reliant House on the Merritt College campus. Cost is $41. 434-3840. ecomerritt@sbcglobal.net 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday, rain or shine, at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen and a hat. 548-9840. 

Prose Writers’ Workshop An ongoing group focused on issues of craft, at 7 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 524-3034. georgeporter@earthlink.net 

Poetry Writing Workshop, led by Alison Seevak, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, Edith Stone Room, 1247 Marin Ave. Registration required. 526-3700, ext. 20. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil  

™

Editors, Daily Planet: 

During the debate last night Senator Kerry displayed a far better grasp of foreign policy and security issues than did President Bush. Asked why he took us to war with Iraq, the president responded, “The enemy attacked us.” He still seems to confuse Al Qaeda with Hussein. When Kerry pointed out that Osama Bin Laden uses our invasion of Iraq to get recruits, Bush responded that “Osama Bin Laden doesn’t get to decide”. He totally missed the point that more Al Qaeda recruits means more American and Iraqi dead and wounded. He just doesn’t understand war. As Kerry stated, the president’s plan is “more of the same”.  

Nuclear proliferation was another area in which the John Kerry showed the president’s failed leadership. North Korea became a nuclear power on George W. Bush’s watch. Also, Kerry charged that Bush seems to value tax cuts for the wealthy more than containing Russia’s nuclear material from terrorists. Kerry promised to do the job in 4 years. Unbelievably, Bush responded with “How are we going to pay for all of these promises?”, proving Kerry’s point.  

During this debate on foreign policy, John Kerry showed that he is the candidate who understands the realities of war, nuclear proliferation and homeland security. He showed that under his leadership we would be safer, stronger and without the huge debt burden caused by Bush’s rush to war without our allies while cutting taxes for the super-wealthy.  

Patricia Francis-Lyon  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Tonight I watched my first presidential debate. This is not to say that I had never seen a presidential debate before, but for the first time ever, on Nov. 2, I will be casting a vote for our next president. This debate was the first one I watched with the intent of studying the important issues of the election, listening to the words of Senator John Kerry and President George W. Bush, and being able to learn about the different platforms represented this year. After an hour and a half of this so-called “debate” I left my television screen feeling disappointed. How can you expect young people to vote? I am a great proponent of voting. I feel that we have fought long and hard to acquire the vote for everyone ˆ men and women of every color, race and ethnicity. We have come a long way and are lucky to live in a society where everyone has the opportunity to make their voice heard and has the right to express their opinion. People always complain about voter apathy, especially among young voters. But here I ask: How can you expect us to be motivated with the selection provided to us? Walking away from the presidential debates, I cannot help but feel that the presidential candidates are not engaged in a battle over policies, but rather a battle of rhetoric. Every few minutes Kerry referenced his service in Vietnam ˆ we got the point. Bush repeatedly stated that he thinks being president is “tough” ˆ it does not inspire much confidence. The key phrase of the question remains. What is each candidate planning to do?  

Essentially, Bush and Kerry are saying the same things. They spent the debate pointing fingers and blaming each other for mistakes in the past. Neither candidate presented a concrete plan for the future. I do not want to vote for a president who makes general statements with the goal of pleasing everyone so that he can garner votes. I want passion, direction, and conviction. If no candidate can be passionate about his ideals, how can we be expected to be passionate about either candidate? Perhaps I’m naïve. Perhaps I’m idealistic. But in the world we live in, with genocide being perpetrated under our nose in Sudan, with suicide bombers killing civilians in the Middle East, with terrorists slaughtering children in Russia, with high unemployment, low funding for education, nuclear proliferation and global warming, is it not my right and my duty to be passionate about the ways I want to change the world? 

In order to mobilize young voters, both Bush and Kerry will have to take a stand and proclaim their plans for America’s future. We are faced with the challenge of choosing a president capable of leading our nation in the right direction. I call it a challenge because I feel that the two candidates are all talk, with nothing to say. And so I challenge them. I challenge President Bush and Senator Kerry: Stop talking and start saying something! When you start saying something, when you actually let your voice be heard over the drowning noise of political slogans, then we will be inspired. Set the example and we too will allow our voices to be heard. 

Noga Firstenberg 

UC Berkeley, Senior 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Well, the presidential debate tonight was quite entertaining, but I think John Kerry definitely was the winner. He proved to be a strong debater, yet I wish he defended President Bush’s erroneous claims. For the first time, Kerry stated that the Iraq war was a “mistake”. He made a great analogy that the way Bush responded to the war would be like if when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, we would respond to attack Mexico. That is exactly what Bush did with attacking Iraq, and I’m glad that John Kerry highlighted it tonight. According to an ABC Poll, John Kerry led Bush by double digits in who the audience thought won the debate. Hopefully this will show up in the polls. If Americans were even to read the front page of a paper, or watch a newscast (besides Fox News), they would get smacked in the face of the failure of this war. Beheadings and large deaths have been on the cover almost daily now. While Bush’s argument relied on repeating over and over that John Kerry is inconsistent, or that if Kerry does not support the war (which he does), he does not support the troops. While Kerry may not be the best candidate, let us wait to criticize him after we get this current disaster out of the White House. Please be informed and vote for John Kerry on November 2. I would too if I could vote. 

Rio Bauce 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I thought the first debate good. I spoke with Hawaii resident Ed Siedensticker by ‘phone from Tokyo before the debate; that National Book Prize winner had written a snippet for a Japanese-language newspaper noting that many Americans weren’t too fond of Bush’s foreign policy, either. Before going to Seoul yesterday I thought about the “back door draft” issue brought up by candidate John Kerry. My former submariner friend David Sangster was kept from being a “twenty year man” so the government could save a few dollars by not paying him retirement. I oppose reinstitution of the draft—it’s one thing to have a volunteer die in a conflict which could be only indirectly related to the national interest, and quite another for a conscript to die in the same situation. Rep. Neil Abercrombie has co-sponsored legislation to reinstate the draft. In 1808, Prussia instituted a system of forced conscription without distinction of class or right of exemption. Dissenters were put in mental colonies. Between 1825 and 1855, under Czar Nicholas, male Jews of the Ukraine and Lithuania, between the ages of 12 and 25, could be pressed into military service at any time and would remain under arms for a period of 25 years! Abercrombie is right to be concerned, but he is overreacting. Candidate Bush said in the debate that, if reelected, there would be no draft in the next four years. Abercrombie introduced legislation in 1991, the Reservists and Guardsmen’s Home Protection Act, that would have paid a differential up to a maximum of $40,000 to those drafted through the backdoor. The economy is picking up and over 1,000 military personnel have been killed in Iraq. Harvard University will host more employment recruiters on their campus before next June’s commencement—125—than at any time since the collapse of the dot.coms. I am pleased to learn that Harvard Law will now allow the military to recruit, too—something that has not happened in recent years because of the perceived discrimination against gays in the military. If Britney Spears made a movie a la Goldie Hawn, voluntary enlistment would jump. Allowing more twenty-year enlistments would ease reenlistment blues, too. I am wary of Bush’s promise not to reinstate the draft (”he kept us out of war”; “read my lips”). I hope to get my absentee ballot from Hawaii soon. 

Richard Thompson 

Visiting Professor, Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Kerry won Thursday night’s foreign policy debate. America saw John Kerry as our next President Thursday evening. Kerry showed strength, conviction and steady command of the facts.  

Kerry left no doubt he can lead the fight to hunt and kill the terrorists. Kerry offered hope for a fresh start in Iraq so we can finish the job. 

Alex Kaplinsky 

Palo Alto 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to give my reactions to the Sept. 30 debate between Bush and Kerry. I feel strongly that Kerry showed his ability to lead this nation and be our next president. He clearly beat Bush throughout the debate and proved to have much stronger arguments. He also provided a vision of hope for the future in Iraq. Bush failed to point out that he has made mistakes and offer solutions to those mistakes. All in all, it seems very clear that John Kerry should be our next president. 

Aaron Calander 

Berkeley 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Kerry raised some important questions in the debates that I hope undecided voters will think about. Why did we invade a country that had never attacked us and was not even close to the top of the list in terms of ability to produce nuclear weapons? If the president agreed that nuclear proliferation is the single greatest threat to our nation, why did we not have a workable plan for securing the supposed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as we invaded? When does “steadfast” become “stubborn” and then degenerate into simply “stupid?” We need a president who can think on his feet - a president who can not only set a goal but is sufficiently grounded in reality to develop a realistic plan for achieving it. 

Serena Clayton 

Oakland 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Lately, I’ve become more and more concerned about the number of eligible voters who aren’t voting. In the 2000 presidential election, only 51 percent of the eligible voters voted! Why didn’t they vote? I tried to find out. There seems to be an unlimited number of reasons that people say they don’t vote. Most fall into two categories. The first relates to effort: inconvenient, not enough time, too complicated, etc. The second relates to futility: my vote won’t make any difference, I don’t like any of the candidates, all the politicians are the same, they never do what they promise, etc. The list is overwhelming, and the reasons are ones we can all relate to.  

Rather then, let’s look at it from a different point of view: Why everyone should want to vote. Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. It’s what makes a “government by the people and for the people” possible! We invest a lot of effort and resources in fostering and encouraging democracy around the world. Why are so many here at home not participating in the democracy our ancestors fought so hard to institute and protect, and that we are fighting so hard to protect today? We should all want to vote, because we are so very fortunate that we can vote! 

Cliff Swartz 

Napa 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Watching the entire debate tonight, obviously, John Edwards performed much stronger and convinceful. He understood fully the issues facing to the country and has resolutions that are constructive and doable. 

Karl Huang 

Albany 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m thrilled that Edwards stunned Cheney into silence: regarding Halliburton, regarding his voting record, regarding gay marriage...it was beautiful! No one was surprised that Bush could barely put a sentence together, but Cheney is intelligent. Even intelligence doesn’t help when the Bush/Cheney team has done so badly for America and American values. Yippee! America is waking up! 

Allyson Klein 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The vice presidential debate was extremely informative and displayed the candidates for what they truly are; a sincere, passionate and hopeful senator from North Carolina, and a hateful fear-mongering bully. Cheney spoke about his plans for the war, health care, social security, and education but has made no significant progress in these areas in the last four years. It is just as Edwards pointed out: a long record does not mean you have made smart decisions. It is time that the American people stand united and hold this administration accountable for the atrocities of the past four years both at home and abroad. Edwards’ performance tonight was one of hopeful promise for a better tomorrow. I am emphatically in favor the Kerry/Edwards ticket and will not be frightened nor bullied into voting for the current administration. 

Tamara Tal 

Chapel Hill 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In my opinion, Kerry and Edwards will do better for 98 percent of individual Americans. Bush and Cheney will do better for the top tier of Americans, say the top two percent. Kerry and Edwards will deliver more strength, more clarity and more focus in the overall war on terror and specifically in Iraq, returning America to peace time faster than Bush and Cheney. The Bush administration will invest in the software and hardware of war. Millions and millions of more Americans will continue to suffer without health care under another Bush administration. Bush and Cheney are bad for Americans. 

Under a new Kerry administration, all Americans will have access to the same health care plan available now to U.S. Senators. Small business owners will enjoy greater relief for providing health care benefits to employees while Kerry and Edwards reduce the U.S. deficit by 50 percent AIDs will continue to annihilate Africans in Africa and African Americans in the U.S. at unacceptable rates. Kerry and Edwards will usher in billions more in research and treatment dollars during their upcoming administration. Kerry and Edwards will make Americans think about the moral implications of the genocide happening now in Sudan. Kerry and Edwards are better for Americans. 

With Bush, Halliburton will continue to earn millions in profits from trade with Iran, which is condoned via legislative loopholes and by the former CEO, Dick Cheney. Kerry and Edwards will put the interests of individual Americans in front of the interests of corporate conglomerates. Kerry and Edwards will fight to keep America strong, investing in creativity and innovation for the future while battling to brings jobs to Americans instead of incentivizing corporations to outsource to countries not far from Iraq. Under another Bush administration, the rights of individuals will be curtailed by Bush’s federal influence over states and individuals living in them. Bush and Cheney are bad for Americans. 

In my opinion, Bush and Cheney are taking America down a Darwinian path of survival of the fittest both domestically and globally. And they seem intent on proving that America belongs at the top of the global food chain while those with the most gold at home deserve even more tax relief than those with less. Where will this path lead us? Kerry and Bush will do more for Americans. Kerry and Edwards will do better for Americans. Cast your vote for Kerry and Edwards even if your normally vote republican . . . your life, your husband’s life, your wife’s life, your son’s life, your daughter’s life, your friend’s life . . . all of our lives may very well depend on it. 

Garth Bradley 

Benicia 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Dick Cheney is totally out of touch with reality in Iraq and totally out of touch with the struggles of the middle class. This is nothing new to a man with a lifetime record of protecting the powerful and well connected. He came across as smug, arrogant, mean and defensive -- but his trademark distortions and scare tactics didn’t work. John Edwards refused to let him play the politics of fear and forced Dick Cheney to confront his administration’s record of failure. 

Naomi Quilala 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While the vice president was much better tonight than the president at the prior debate, Cheney is totally out of touch with reality in Iraq. At one point he claimed that he did not connect Al Qaeda with Iraq - however, a year earlier on another TV program, he did just that. 

Cheney came across as smug, arrogant, mean and defensive. In the horrible event that the vice president has to take over the office of president, I pray that Cheney is not that person. 

Laura Owen 

Foster City 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Tonight’s debate further highlighted the Bush administration’s isolation from reality. 

Cheney’s snarling performance illustrated the “smallness” of a small but vocal minority in this country. This minority (1) pontificates about military valor and sacrifice as long as others do the dying, (2) excoriates government except when it offers them a job or a no bid contract for their company, and (3) dismisses evidence of their mistakes by repeating lies previously found out. 

In times of peace and prosperity we can ignore these cranks. Hence it didn’t matter that the sitting Senator from Wyoming voted against Head Start and Meals on Wheels for seniors. We can make him a caricature and laugh about it. 

But now that same sitting senator is running the White House and the laughter has stopped. Our troops are dying without proper equipment or allies, our children are plunging into poverty and our country is fracturing due to cultural wars started by an administration that has nothing of substance to offer America. 

John Edwards not only articulated America’s actual problems tonight, he offered real solutions. It’s time to send the cranks home and put the real grownups in charge. 

Catherine Daly 

El Cerrito 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In tonight’s debate, Dick Cheney lied. He lied when he said he never said there was a connection between Iraq and Al-Qaeda, and we expect your news organizations to make this clear to the American people. He said there was a connection when he was on Meet the Press and during many campaign stops and speeches. He lied about Kerry votes on taxes, voting Medicare premiums, and malpractice reform. 

John Edwards won this debate hands down. He was forthright, strong, clear, and above all, honest. One cannot win a debate based on evasions and lies, and that’s what we saw from Dick Cheney tonight. He is an embarrassment to our nation. 

Now that Bush and Cheney have divided America and made a mess of Iraq, we need the kind of resolute, honest leadership that only John Kerry and John Edwards can offer. It’s time for the all-liar ticket (Bush/Cheney) to be voted out of office. 

Rose MacDowell 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Democrats are two for two. Tonight, in Cleveland, John Edwards showed real strength and conviction -- he was in command of the facts and in control of the debate and a powerful advocate for John Kerry. The American people saw John Edwards as somebody who is ready, if necessary, to be president of the United States. 

Dick Cheney is totally out of touch with reality in Iraq and totally out of touch with the struggles of the middle class. This is nothing new to a man with a lifetime record of protecting the powerful and well connected. He came across as smug, arrogant, mean and defensive -- but his trademark distortions and scare tactics didn’t work. John Edwards refused to let him play the politics of fear and forced Dick Cheney to confront his administration’s record of failure. 

Americans are tired of growls and scowls from our leaders, and John Edwards and John Kerry offer America hope and optimism. 

I’m voting for John Kerry and John Edwards! 

Joan Borame 

El Cerrito 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When I was a boy, my parents watched Channel 7 News, an ABC affiliate in Detroit, every evening at 6 o’clock. Through the years, the Eyewitness News Team felt almost like members of our family. The ABC nightly news followed the local edition. As I grew up, and started my own family, ABC remained a constant fixture in my home. But this evening, after watching the Vice Presidential Debates, my lifelong devotion to ABC has come to an end. 

This election year has highlighted, more than ever before, the persuasive impact the media has over public opinion. I specifically avoid FOX network because of their shameless and obvious political slant. I’ve remained loyal to ABC because I believed they had more integrity than the other networks. But when ABC aired the results of a “scientific” Poll that declared the Vice President the winner of the debate, when they knew the participants of that poll were significantly weighted with Republican voters, my faith in the impartiality of ABC has been destroyed forever. Shame on you ABC. 

T.J. Parsell 

Sag Harbor 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The vice presidential debate on Tuesday presented a vivid contrast between the negative, fearful, divisive style of the Bush/Cheney administration vs. the buoyant, caring, practical and hopeful style of the Kerry/Edwards team. 

Vice President Cheney’s main argument seemed to be “watch out, there might be a nuclear attack in our cities so we have to keep President Bush in office so that he can continue waging war to keep us safe.” Whenever Senator Edwards mentioned that America troops are bearing 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the costs, VP Cheney retorted that many Iraqis are also dying. The Iraqis could well ask the question are they better off with a Bush administration or under the sadistic dictator Saddam Hussein, who at least kept the sewers working, the hospitals open and the lights on. 

Senator Edwards also pointed out that there are Al Queda cells in 90 countries and yet we are not invading them. Iran and North Korea possess nuclear capability or weapons, and we are not attacking them. I believe that there needs to be a more fine-grained strategy to combating fundamentalism and terror than trying to force people to embrace democracy at the barrel of a gun and using 1950’s tactics to suppress dissenting views and debate here at home, as well as in Iraq. John Kerry and John Edwards are the team to lead us forward to a better future. 

Marianna Grossman Keller 

Palo Alto 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It was clear to me that the Republican candidates can no longer sustain their calm behind all the lies that they have been telling us. There is a huge gap between what Bush and Cheney are saying and what is happening in reality in the world. 

This last debate only reaffirms that. 

Edwards had a though contender tonight but even against all Cheney’s arrogance, Edward proved that he’s better fit to lead this country. 

Celso Alberti 

Alameda 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Edwards clearly won the debate. 

Jason Bauer 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I watched the vice presidential debate and I was inspired by what Senator John Edwards from North Carolina said. I think that Senator Edwards was smart because he thought of what Vice President Dick Cheney might say and planned to diffuse Cheney’s attacks. 

President Bush got a lot of suburban moms to vote for him in the 2000 election because he presented his speeches in a way that they could relate to. John Edwards’ answers in the debate appeal to all sorts of people from kids to grandparents. 

They talked about the war in Iraq. John Edwards talked about jobs, health care, education and taxes that penalize companies for outsourcing jobs. Senator Edwards said that gays should have the right to be in relationships but that the federal government shouldn’t interfere. 

I think that Gwen Ifill did a great job of being a moderator and was equally positive to the debaters She also asked excellent questions. 

I think that both men should have shown more respect by calling her “Ms. Ifill” instead of “Gwen.” I was astonished that Dick Cheney, in his closing two minutes did not thank Senator Edwards after Senator Edwards had thanked him. Cheney was also very attacking when he said that Senator Edwards didn’t come to some meetings when Cheney said “F--- Y-” to another senator on the Senate floor. 

Sophie Keller, age 11 

Palo Alto 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I strongly believe that all public servants must be held to the highest standards. Senator Edwards impressed me greatly tonight with his strong tone on the Iraq mess and his passion about our domestic problems that have gotten much worse under this administration. I was equally upset with Mr. Cheney for his continued dishonesty and outright lying to all Americans. Republican or Democrat, we deserve the truth from this administration, something which Cheney and Bush refuse to do, even as Rumsfeld came clean yesterday. The current administration has mystery arithmetic techniques, everyone else, including the U.S. government knows we have spent close to $200 Billion dollars in Iraq and we spend over $250 Million more every single day! Yet Cheney kept knocking that number down by subtracting from the 200 billion what others may have spent. This does not change what the U.S.A. has already spent! He did the same thing with the number of voters he claims have signed up in Afghanistan. 

Senator Edwards showed all Americans how they will fix the terrible mess our country is now in due to the corporate control the Bush Administration has so freely given. From health care, pollution, job losses, to massive tax giveaways, another four years of the looting of our country by the New Century’s Robber Barrons and America will be bankrupt and a toxic waste dump. Never in American history has more money been spent in such a short time, even during WWII! Bush claimed he was a fiscal conservative, he sure fooled everyone. Giving tax cuts at a time of war is unheard of in most of American history, yet Cheney said “it was their due,”most of the tax cuts go to the top one percent of Americans and almost none of the tax cuts are on earned income. They are unearned income like dividends, estate taxes, etc. This money does not trickle down and create jobs. Here is the proof, the richest companies that now pay little or no tax, or even better that pay nothing and get billions in tax payer subsidies (40 percent more companies pay nothing under Bush) these companies have done less investing in equipment and hiring than the companies that got nothing from Bush. The job losses are continuing, the numbers Bush gives are only who is actually on unemployment right now, not who has run out of benefits or who has given up looking for a job, or who has taken a minimum wage job when they were making double or triple that before. That is not progress, that is a downward spiral. All Bush knows is crony handouts that will wipe America out. These people care nothing for America, or Americans, they care for their money and their ultra rich friends like the Grinch. 

The Democrats are not perfect, but never in history has any administration been so dishonest and so arrogant to the people that they are supposed to serve. Considering that my health insurance for my wife and I just went up $2,400 a year and I am on disability, we have to sell our house, oh yeah, our property tax doubled in the last three years, just to cover the grossly under funded No child.... Our company could not get a $50,000 SBA even after 11 years in business with growing profits every year and a house to back up the loan, yet Bush gives billions away to companies that don’t even need it. We had to let 21 people go after an electrical fire and an Insurance company that stalled 8 months on paying our claims. America is in big, big trouble, and close to half of you have your blinders on. You worry about medals that are 30 years old, but don’t care about lies last week or beheadings yesterday. You worry about long sentences but not about prisoners being tortured or held for two years without a lawyer or a phone call. You worry about how someone dresses but not about the biggest deficit in history and the biggest job loss since the great depression. America has become addicted to the fear mongering and has let the terrorist attack put them under total control of leaders with no morals, no care for human life (we don’t do body counts) and no respect for the world community, which we can never escape unless we go to Mars like Bush wants to. Well I am staying here on Earth and I will elect John Kerry and John Edwards and president and vice president of the U.S.A., if you want Bush and Cheney then move with them to Mars. 

Cary Brief 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Edwards clearly won this debate. Cheney looked exhausted and tired and unable to answer some very damning charges. 

Mike Lewis 

San Francisco 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Edwards was obviously superior, despite the lies and misrepresentations of Dick Cheney 

Thomas Werth 

San Jose 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It becomes clearer and clearer as we get closer to the election that Cheney and bush and this administration have used any excuse for their agenda in this game of Risk that they are playing. We must put an end to this very dangerous game they are playing at human expense. 

Get out the vote to turn this around. 

Frayda Garfinkle 

Oakland 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

After the vice presidential debate I got the felling that Cheney, like the president, was defensive and evasive with the answers. 

Mr. Edwards did a great job, he’s ready to lead us fixing this mess in Iraq and here at home. 

With all the vice presidents, Mr. Cheney, political experience, it was a shame he wasted three answers to the senator’s responses, for him not to even take advantage of the time, he choice to avoid the opportunity to share with the American people his thoughts. That was disrespectful to the American people and was not a polished politician like he claims to be. 

Carlos and Sharon Soto-Aguilar 

Pittsburg 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Despite Dick Cheney’s dubious debate claims, Sen. John Edwards (D- N.C.) missed just seven votes out of 1,307 in his first four years in office, During his first five years in the Senate, Edwards voted 1,551 times out of 1,626 roll-call votes, or 95.4 percent. Compared to George Bush’s combined vacation days and campaigning on the road days, John Edwards has been available and on the job. 

In his first eight months in office before 9/11, George W. Bush was on vacation, according to the Washington Post, 42 percent of the time. President Bush has spent all or part of 166 days during his presidency at his Crawford, Texas, ranch or en route. Add the time spent at or en route to the presidential retreat of Camp David and at the Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Bush has taken 250 days off as of August 2003. That’s 27 percent of his presidency spent on vacation. - Yahoo News 

And that’s before you add to that his increased vacation days and! on the road campaigning this year. 

As of December 1999, President Bill Clinton had spent only 152 days on holiday during his two terms. Jimmy Carter took 79 days off. 

As far as never meeting John Edwards, besides somehow missing Edwards 95 percent of the time when he voted 1,551 times in five years, John Edwards escorted Elizabeth Dole when she was sworn in as North Carolina’s other senator on Jan. 8, 2003, by Vice President Dick Cheney. 

“As per Senate tradition, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., escorted her.” “Dole took the Senate oath administered by Vice President Dick Cheney, the Senate president.” “Her husband, former Senate majority leader and GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole, also was by her side.” - 1/8/03 Gannet News Service 

As well as Cheney’s own words on Feb. 1, 2001, while sitting next to John Edwards: “Thank you. Thank you very much. Congressman Watts, Senator Edwards, friends from across America and distinguished visitors to our country from all over the world, Lynne and I are honored to be with you all this morning.” He also shared the “Meet the Press” set with John Edwards before. 

I’m also glad that Cheney urged people to FactCheck.org where He and Bush are held to the truth. 

“Cheney wrongly implied that FactCheck had defended his tenure as CEO of Halliburton Co., and the vice president even got our name wrong. He overstated matters when he said Edwards voted “for the war” and “to commit the troops, to send them to war.” He exaggerated the number of times Kerry has voted to raise taxes, and puffed up the number of small business owners who would see a tax increase under Kerry’s proposals.” - 10/6/04 FactCheck.org 

“Edwards was talking about Cheney’s responsibility for earlier Halliburton troubles. And in fact, Edwards was mostly right.” 

“The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Aug. 3 that Halliburton will pay $7.5 million to settle a matter that dates back to 1998, when Cheney was CEO.” - 10/6/04 FactCheck.org 

“Cheney made a puffed-up claim that “900,000 small businesses will be hit” should Kerry and Edwards raise taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 a year, as they promise to do. As we’ve explained before, 900,000 is an inflated figure that results from counting every high-income individual who reports even $1 of business income as a “small business owner.” Even Cheney and his wife Lynne would qualify as a “small business owner” under that definition because Mrs. Cheney reports income as a “consultant” from fees she collects as a corporate board member, even though she had no employees and the business income is only 3.5 percent of the total income reported on their 2003 tax returns.” - 10/6/04 FactCheck.org 

Jim Boales 

San Jose 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Five days after President George Bush gloated that John Kerry “forgot Poland,” Dick Cheney and John Edwards met for the first and only vice-presidential debate of 2004. 

That same day, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski discussed reducing Polish forces in Iraq beginning next January, with a complete pullout by the end of 2005. 

Meanwhile, as Cheney continued to insist, in Tuesday’s debate, on the existence, preceding the war, of a clear and present Iraqi threat to our national security, chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer prepared a final report, presented Wednesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee, concluding that Iraq did not have rumored stockpiles of banned weapons, and that Hussein “did not vigorously pursue” WMD programs after the inspectors left. 

Even as Cheney defended his claims of disputed connections between al-Qaeda and Hussein on Tuesday, news of a new CIA report revealed “no conclusive evidence” of such a connection. 

While the debates this fall were supposed to be between George Bush and John Kerry, and between Dick Cheney and John Edwards, they’re increasingly turning into debates between George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the reality we see reported in the news every day. 

Christopher Roy 

Seattle 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The polls have found widely ranging after-debate results. CBS found that undecided voters put challenger Senator John Edwards ahead of Vice President Dick Cheney by a wide margin (41 percent to 28 percent). ABC declared Mr. Cheney the winner by a 42 percent to 35 percent margin. In both polls, the remaining people believed that the two men were tied. 

The vice president would have done far worse in the debate if he had been required to stick to the facts. Continuing a pattern of misleading statements, dishonesty and deception, which has characterized the Bush administration from the outset, continued through Tuesday’s debate. The vice president faced the American people, looked into the camera and said that he had never claimed a connection between Iraq and the attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001. Even knowing that he had given interviews on Sunday morning television shows saying exactly that and knowing that the tapes would be replayed after the debate, the vice president told the American people he never said what he had said over and over again. 

The vice president did not respond to the charge that Halliburton has received special treatment by being awarded no-bid contracts, which they still have even after they were fined for acts of over-billing and fraud. His comment that it would take more than a few minutes to explain his position was not reassuring. Yes, he has a lot of explaining to do, but that’s not a good thing. 

When Mr. Cheney was on the campaign trail, outside the Cincinnati venue, he questioned the patriotism of John Kerry. Inside the hall of Case Western Reserve University, he told the American people that it is one thing to talk tough in the context of a campaign but it is quite another thing to stand up and fight when necessary. When Mr. Cheney was a young man he took five draft deferments. They were legal then, and maybe he wasn’t a coward, but he was no war hero, and when his country called he did not stand up and fight for it. It is one thing to be ready to die for your country, and it is quite another to send young men to their death when the vice president was not willing to make the same sacrifice. 

James G. Lion, Jr. 

Sonoma 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Edwards proved himself able to be “a heartbeat away” from the presidential seat in last night’s vice presidential debate. 

Cheney blatantly lied to the American people on public television last night when he said he never insinuated that there were connections between Iraq and 9/11. He must think the American people are stupid! Cheney’s voting record is a microcosm of the Bush administration’s policies... Cheney voted against Meals on Wheels...(a self serving administration) Who could have voted against the Martin Luther King holiday other than a bigot...which Bush seems to have surrounded himself with. I’m ready to vote Kerry and Edwards into the oval office, as leaders of this country, to clean up the mess Bush & Cheney have gotten us into. I’m holding Bush & Cheney personally responsible for the American deaths during the Iraq war. I highly suggest we imprison both of them for war crimes and manslaughter of Americans. They have done nothing but spread hate around this country ..and divided this country from the rest of the world. 

Renee Durante 

Sunnyvale 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Edwards soundly beat Dick Cheney in Cleveland last night. 

John Edwards refused to let Cheney play the politics of fear and forced him to confront his administration’s record of failure. 

The American people saw John Edwards as somebody who is ready, if necessary, to be president of the United States 

Subhash Patadia 

San Jose