Features

VOTE! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A large margin is needed to “Nix the First Six” Nov. 8. 

The evidence is overwhelming that the 2004 election was stolen by the Republicans, in part via manipulation of electronic voting data. The Nov. 8 special election, with its Republican agenda for California, is a prime target for more of the same. So, we not only need a majority of votes to defeat the Governator’s destructive power-grab, we need a large enough margin to make it impossible to fraudulently tip the election. 

Remember: Make sure to vote, and make sure your friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers, etc. vote to “nix the first six” on Nov. 8. 

Diane Shavelson 

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WAG THE DOG 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

One, among many positive things, that may result from the Scooter Libby indictment is that Bush wont dare to start another war ... hopefully. But then think about it, he’s in such deep doo-doo that it may be his only way to refocus our attention away from his corrupt administration I remember that movie Wag the Dog, in which Karl Rove types are brought in to stave off a White House scandal and the solution is to go to war. Bush’s track record on phony war is 100 percent; flushed with success he may try again.  

Robert Blau  

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SOUTH BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

More than any other issue it has been the inability to deal seriously with crime than has kept progressives at the sidelines of American politics. Hence it is depressing but not unexpected that Kriss Worthington’s response to soaring crime in his district is to change the map index to mask the crime rate. Serious leadership would require deploying police to penalize and then sell the infamous drug house under the penal code as a locus of criminal conspiracy, petition the university to end People’s Park as a vector of South Berkeley’s woe, and reclaim Telegraph Avenue as a thriving and safe commercial hub for the university community. South Berkeley deserves better leadership.  

David Baggins 

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APOLOGISTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I lived on Oregon Street in 1989 one block from the Moore family. There was a lot of trouble in the neighborhood ... drugs, burglary, prostitution, intimidation and violence. The Moore household was one locus of problems then. 

Sixteen years have passed, 16 years of neighborhood efforts to make a peaceful and civilized life and yet the problems remain. 

I remember feeling abandoned by the city as I was compelled to enclose my yard, install security lights, and constantly be on the watch. My porch was set on fire, my house broken into and I was assailed at knifepoint. My neighbors—African American, Hispanic, Pakastani and white—had similar problems.  

It is not a question of race but a question of civility. The first right one has is the simple right to live without fear. The government’s first role, as an extension of the collective will, is to provide basic peace and safety.  

It is astounding how impotent the City of Berkeley and its agencies have been. Perhaps they fear those like Osha Neumann, apologists for uncivilized behavior—because their apologies are wrapped in politically correct language. Or perhaps Berkeley, still blinded by “progressive” ideology, is unable to simply say: “People are responsible for their own actions. If one cannot behave in a civilized manner then one can’t live here.”  

The suit against the Moores is a suit on behalf of all of us. It is filed against disorder, threat and violence—filed on behalf of civility, thoughtfulness and peace. I wish Paul Rauber, Laura Menard and all other brave citizens the best of luck. 

John Koenigshofer 

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ENOUGH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have been following the case of Lenora Moore with great interest. Charges of racial intolerance, racial discrimination, gentrification and class bias have flown fast and furious. Enough is enough. The issue here has absolutely nothing to do with race, class or gentrification.  

Our homes are our sanctuary for our families. Regardless of race or class, we have the right to the safe and peaceful enjoyment of our homes. Remember the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Paul Rauber and others near Mrs. Moore have had that right repeatedly violated for too long.  

For better or worse, Mrs. Moore is the magnet that continues to attract those who have no respect for community. Nobody, regardless of race or class, wants the byproducts of drug dealing which often include: endless streams of traffic; increased property crimes; vandalism and graffiti; litter; dangerous pit bulls roaming the streets; young thugs hanging out on the street drinking 40-ouncers; and blight. I know. I live in the North Oakland-South Berkeley border area. Drug dealing is the number one concern. One drug house can wreak havoc for a whole neighborhood and keep residents in constant fear.  

Recently, a drug house just down the street from me was shut down by the Berkeley Swat Team. Since then, we have witnessed a dramatic difference in our neighborhood. I do agree with Daily Planet Executive Editor that the Berkeley and Oakland Police Departments must be more aggressive in addressing crime in the North Oakland-South Berkeley border area with more frequent patrols. The City of Berkeley and Oakland must also play a stronger role in proactively dealing with issues of blight. Residents also need to step up and play an active role in community policing. I applaud Paul Rauber and others for stepping up and trying to reclaim their homes as a sanctuary. Forcing Mrs. Moore to move through a small claims nuisance suit won’t eliminate crime in the South Berkeley area, but it is certainly a step in the right direction and will dramatically improve the lives of those living near her. Apologists for Mrs. Moore are misguided. They should try living next to a drug house.  

Jeffrey G. Jensen 

Oakland 

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B.S. ARTISTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I wholeheartedly agree with every word of Paul Rauber’s commentary (“South Berkeley’s Crime Enablers,” Oct. 28) and sympathize with the horrible ordeal he and his family have been subjected to. And I think the overwhelming majority of Berkeley citizens agree with me when I say: We are sick to death of these useless B.S. artists who have nothing better to do than to muddle the issue by playing the same old useless “race card” that we’ve already heard a thousand times before, that has nothing to do with the real issue of trying to deal with these violent maniacs—of whatever race—who are in the process of ruining our neighborhoods.  

Ace Backwords 

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BLOATED WORK FORCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Michael Marchant’s defense of city workers (Oct. 28) is informative and reasonable, but misses an essential point. No one would deprive competent, productive workers of a reasonable income, retirement, or health care. But Berkeley is burdened with workers who are flakey at best and obstructionist at worst, spreading the workload as thin as possible in order to pad their departments with ever more friends and relatives. If the least productive 25 percent of the work force were laid off, the rest could run the city efficiently. That is why our work force is more bloated and costly than that of any other city in the East Bay. 

Jerry Landis 

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REMEMBERING ROSA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Usually I enjoy reading J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s columns, but I was very disappointed in his Oct. 28 effort on Rosa Parks. 

I don’t know the sources of Allen-Taylor’s information, but interviews with Mrs. Parks and others who were in Montgomery at the time contradict his premises that the Dec. 1 1955 event was staged, and that the consequent boycott was not spontaneous. 

It is true that Mrs. Parks and her husband had been actively involved in the NAACP. It is also true that prior to Mrs. Parks, other African-Americans with less admirable qualities had been arrested for refusing to give up their seats. But there was no plan for Rosa Parks to resist that particular day. The situation arose, and Mrs. Parks simply took a moral stand against something she knew was not right. 

Likewise, there was no pre-planning of the bus boycott which followed Mrs. Parks’ arrest. In fact, it started as a one-day reaction, and the success of that one day inspired what turned into a year-long boycott. 

It is also true that many heroes accomplished great deeds before Rosa Parks existed, and many more will rise to the occasion in the future. But we must not diminish the impact this courageous woman had on our country and abroad. Oppressed people around the world have been and can be inspired by Mrs. Parks’ act of resistance. She deserves every bit of respect and recognition she has earned. 

I have found some of Allen-Taylor’s data questionable in the past, but now I know for sure to take his column with a grain of salt. 

Mary Hill  

Richmond 

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CALCULATED STRATEGY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks to J. Douglas Allen-Taylor for his excellent “Rosa Parks is Not the Beginning of the Story” (Oct. 28). It is vital to point out that Rosa Parks was not just the little lady on the bus who was too tired to give up her seat to a white man, but an actor in a carefully planned and calculated strategy to fight racial injustice. Allen-Taylor rightly insists that many people took part in many courageous acts over a period of many years, building carefully the movement that most honors 20th-century America. I first learned of Septima Clark in the 1980s, when I read Ready From Within, an as-told-to autobiography, written by Berkeley author/educator Cynthia Brown, condensed from many hours of interview tapes with Septima Clark, and approved by Clark. It’s still worth reading, if you can find it: short, unpretentious, straightforward, focussed, and smart, as Ms. Clark and all the people she credits had to be. Stories like hers remind us that to reform society we need more than passion; we need sustained, thoughtful planning; cooperation with folks we may often disagree with or even dislike; open minds ready to learn from whatever source; and the ability to stick it out for the long haul, without caring about who gets the credit. 

I’m grateful to Allen-Taylor for reminding us of what true heroism is.  

Dorothy Bryant 

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DRAWING CONCLUSIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It really depends on which Norman LaForce you choose to believe. The one who makes statements in public and on record, or the one that denies them. 

In the Aug. 17 2004 edition of the Daily Planet the report goes “The Sierra Club’s Norman LaForce floated the organization’s own plans for the race track site, contrasting Magna’s proposal (which was for 600,000 square feet) with the (Sierra) club’s proposal for a much smaller 325,000-square-foot hotel and shopping area—which would include ballfields at the base of Gilman Street.” 

Norman is on record as one of the most forceful opponents of off-leash dog parks and in his response refers to the already heavily overused Point Isabel. However dogwalkers and artists at the Albany Landfill attempted to have meaningful discussions with LaForce and the State Park Planners and were rebuffed at every turn. Norman did at one point tell me privately that he “could save the art” as long as Albany Let It Be would abandon their commitment to protecting 20 years of responsible off-leash access at the Albany Waterfront. 

This visceral dislike of dogs and the people who love them is partly what prompted Norman and Mayor Tom Bates to have a meeting with Jean Siri, our exemplary area representative on the board of East Bay Regional Park District, and suggest that perhaps she was getting a little old for the job and perhaps a younger man, LaForce, might be better in the post. This led to Jean’s public comment, reported in the media, that Berkeley’s mayor was both ageist and sexist. 

Most politicians fearing the loss of Sierra Club votes are pretty much held to LaForce’s way or no way. He has said to more than one listener that wildlife values trump human needs. LaForce is a lawyer who defends the insurance industry against claims by little humans like you and me.  

Draw your own conclusions.  

Jill Posener 

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MISSION STATEMENTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Berkeley taxpayers and Berkeley Public Library management, employees and patrons need to be aware of these statements: 

Berkeley Public Library Mission Statement 

• The Berkeley Public Library supports the individual’s right to know by providing free access to information. 

• The Central Library and four neighborhood Branch Libraries are committed to developing collections, resources, and services that meet the cultural, informational, recreational, and educational needs of Berkeley’s diverse, multi-cultural community.  

• The Library supports independent learning, personal growth, and the individual’s need for information.  

• Helpful and expert staff welcome the opportunity to provide quality library services and programs.  

• The Berkeley Public Library—an institution shaped by Berkeley’s traditions, characteristics, and environment—belongs to the entire community.  

—Adopted by the Board of Library Trustees December 1987 

The Board of Library Trustees Mission Statement 

Charged with management and control of the Berkeley Public Library under Section 30 of the Charter. Formulates major policies and long-range plans for the Library. Four members are appointed by the Council for a term of four years. The fifth member is a Councilmember, also appointed by the Council, whose term expires on December 1 of the year their term expires.  

City of Berkeley Mission Statement 

As City of Berkeley employees, our mission is to provide quality service to our diverse community; promote an accessible, safe, healthy, environmentally sound and culturally rich city; initiate innovative solutions; embrace respectful, democratic participation; respond quickly and effectively to neighborhood and commercial concerns and do so in a fiscally sound manner. 

These statements are hollow at the Berkeley Public Library when teen services are reduced at the branch libraries; award-winning and long-running programs are cut; RFID is installed without a public hearing; and from what I hear at public meetings, an environment that is rife with distrust, retaliations, and unsafe work practices.  

Jack Corviday 

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BERKELEY HONDA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m going to make a prediction: The next person who asks Berkeley Honda for her car repair records will be unable to obtain them because the printer will be broken. Nor will she be able to receive her records via fax, directly from the computer, because the printers are “too old” to accommodate that function. Management will be sorry for the inconvenience, but perhaps the customer can try again next week? 

That is what’s been happening for the last several weeks to customers who want to pull their records from Berkeley Honda in order to establish a relationship with another car repair shop. The printer is always broken. And yet their printer has no difficulty spitting out work orders and bills. 

Now I’ll make another prediction: As soon as Berkeley Honda reads this letter, their printer will become fully functional again. Anyone want to make a little bet on that? 

Judy Shelton 

Berkeley Honda Labor and Community Coalition 

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PROPOSITION 73 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In California, small-minded men, Republicans and anti-abortionists, have commandeered the initiative process, much like Gov. Schwarzenegger has, to bring us Proposition 73. Prop. 73 is an abomination, a farcical exploitation, concocted by an immoral minority of religious extremists who are trying to force parental notification and their anti-abortion viewpoint on the majority of Californians.  

Republicans, hardcore conservatives and religious right-wingers would like nothing better than to have you to sit at home on your duffs Nov. 8. Low voter turnout favors their abuse of power and misuse of the election process. 

Prop. 73 is a stealth, anti-abortion propaganda tool. Follow the money; look who’s sponsoring it. Anti-abortionists of all stripes and colors, fundamentalists, religious right-wingers, evangelicals. What does that tell you? 

Vote no on 73. Say No to Schwarzenegger and send a message to religious zealots and ultraconservatives alike. And after the election ask the governor why he wasted $50 million dollars of taxpayer monies on a special election.  

Ron Lowe 

Nevada City 

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THE TWO Rs 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Rumsfeld and Rice are in charge of representing our country to the world. This duo, a septuagenarian career insider and a young super-achieving ingénue, perform impossible tasks with the nimbleness of acrobats and the dexterity of jugglers. Each can hold firm to incompatible positions as if balanced on more than two feet in order to shift when the rationale supporting their stance disappears.  

Rumsfeld, following orders, invaded Iraq with “shock and awe” but with insufficient personnel, handles a quagmire as a mere “long, hard slog” and now extols Iraq’s burgeoning democracy, a window dressing necessary to deflect attention from pointless and horrendous slaughter. He tells China to halt its military expansion and at the same time he encourages development of his own “bunker busters.”  

Rice doesn’t hesitate to tell other nations what to do—China must free market its currency; Syria must punish the assassins of Lebanon’s former prime minister; Iraq and Afghanistan must separate church from state and guarantee universal suffrage. She tells the Senate that the effort to rebuild Iraq ought to be infused with the same spirit that rebuilt Germany and Japan despite the fact that invading Iraq was a war of choice and lasted less than two months while World War II was forced upon us and lasted four years. She interrupts her diplomatic efforts to polish her image using gender and skin color, like make-up, to identify with three martyred girls in Birmingham half a century ago and with death and misery in New Orleans initiated by Hurricane Katrina.  

The two Rs do nothing to restore the admiration our country once enjoyed because the country they represent has rejected the ideals that merited admiration. It is not the country we want. 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

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