Public Comment
Religious Leaders Speak Out Against Berkeley’s Measure S
As religious leaders of diverse faith traditions, we stand united in opposition to the November 2012 ballot initiative in Berkeley, “Measure S,” making it illegal to sit on sidewalks in commercial areas.
Measure S violates deeply held religious convictions that call us to seek justice and compassion for all living beings. We must respect the humanity of our brothers and sisters and honor their dignity. Thus, we oppose the criminalization of homeless people.
Measure S will increase the persecution, ticketing and arresting of homeless people. If this inhumane law is passed, homeless people will be forcibly driven from one street corner to another by cruel threats and citations, when their urgent needs for shelter, housing, jobs and other resources go unmet.
This heartless clampdown on the rights of poor people comes during the worst economic recession in 80 years. This harsh approach to dealing with the extreme difficulties people face during this painful economic period is ill-timed and punitive. As religious leaders, we cannot condone this approach to “kicking someone when they are down.”
All the great religions of the world call on believers to seek justice and mercy. Measure S violates our spiritual call to seek justice for the poor and dispossessed.
Berkeley has an alarming shortage of shelter beds and permanent affordable housing, endless waiting lists for housing programs, and no in-patient detox programs for people struggling with addiction. This makes it difficult to justify punishing anyone who has failed to get off the streets.
Berkeley has no drop-in program for homeless youth during the day, a long waiting list for homeless youth case management, and an inexcusable shortage of shelter beds and housing for homeless young people. Rather than punishing youth who are homeless, we must create a real safety net for these vulnerable young people.
As religious leaders, we support the creation of desperately needed housing, shelter and supportive programs to help homeless people. Yet Measure S, if passed, will misuse taxpayer dollars, police resources, and the legal system in a futile effort to make sitting a criminal act. And it does so at a time when law enforcement is already stretched thin dealing with homicides, domestic violence and other truly urgent matters. We believe it is poor stewardship to divert police attention from these areas of need.
“No sitting” laws in San Francisco have already been found by researchers to be ineffective in meeting the goals of creating more civil sidewalks. Since Measure S will likely also prove to be ineffective, its passage is an appalling waste of tax dollars that could better be spent on real solutions to homelessness.
For all of these reasons, we strongly oppose Measure S. With the enormous needs of poor and homeless people in Berkeley, let us pursue the real solutions that have been found to work in solving the problems of homelessness: permanent affordable housing, adequate emergency shelter, jobs and jobs training, drug and alcohol treatment programs and case management support.
List of Signer/Endorsers of Clergy Letter Opposing Measure S*
Rev. Dr. Israel Alvaran
National Organizer for Economic Justice
General Board of Church and Society
The United Methodist Church
Dr. Hatem Bazian
Co-Founder, Zaytuna College
UC Berkeley Faculty, Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies
Rev. Dr. Dorsey O. Blake
Presiding Minister
The Church of the Fellowship of all People’s
Fr. Rigoberto Calocarivas, OFM, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Multicultural Institute
Rev. Alexandra Childs
United Church of Christ Traveling Minister of the Arts
Rev. Susan P. Conrad, MA, M.Div.
Chaplain and ACPE Associate Supervisor
Chaplaincy Services
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center
Rabbi David J. Cooper
Kehilla Community Synagogue
Rev. Mark C. Cordes
Trinity United Methodist Church
Rev. Kevin Craddock
Ebenezer Baptist Church
Patricia de Jong
Senior Minister, First Congregational Church of Berkeley
Denisha Delane
Founder, Faith in the Bay
Deacon, McGee Avenue Baptist Church
Father John Dineen, Pastor
St. Joseph the Worker Church
Rev. Gayle Dickson
United Church of Christ, Art Ambassadors
Chaplain Rachel Findley
The Rev. Mary Louise Hintz
Parish Deacon, All Soul’s Episcopal Church
Rev. Bill Hamilton-Holway
Rev. Barbara Hamilton-Holway
Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley
Sally Hindman, MA, M.Div.
Executive Director
Youth Spirit Artworks
Rev. Brian Hunter
Berkeley Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church
Pastor Sarah Isakson
Lutheran Church of the Cross
The Reverend Jeff R. Johnson
University Lutheran Chapel of Berkeley
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
Assistant Professor, Core Faculty
Starr King School for the Ministry
Bob Lassalle-Klein
Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Philosophy
Coordinator, Religious Studies
Holy Names University
The Rev. Theolinda Knight
Deacon, Episcopal Diocese of California
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Rabbi Michael Lerner
Spiritual Leader, Beyt Tikkun Synagogue Without Walls
Editor, Tikkun Magazine
Laura Magnani
Assistant Regional Director of the West Region
American Friends Service Committee
Father Aidan McAleenan
Pastor, St. Columba Catholic Church
Carl Magruder
Quaker Chaplain
Thomas Massaro, SJ
Dean and Professor of Moral Theology
Jesuit School of Theology-Berkeley of
Santa Clara University
Rev. Bob Matthews
United Church of Christ
Rev. Kenneth Melton
Pastor, South Berkeley Community Church
Terry Messman
Street Spirit, Editor
Rev. Ben Meyers
Minister, Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
Rev. Sarah Moldenhauer-Salazar
President, Pacific District Unitarian Universalists Association
Rev. Christy Newton, Ph.D.
Interim Senior Pastor, Northbrae Community Church
William O’Neill, SJ
Associate Professor of Social Ethics
Jesuit School of Theology
Graduate Theological Union
JC Orton
Director, Night on the Streets Catholic Worker
Rev. Ron Parker
Interim Pastor, Epworth United Methodist Church
Peace and Social Action Committee
Berkeley Friends Meeting (Quakers)
Riess Potterveld
President, Pacific School of Religion
Donald Rothberg
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Carolyn S. Scarr
Program Coordinator
Ecumenical Peace Institute/Clergy and Laity Concerned
Rev. Hozan Alan Senauke
Berkeley Zen Center
Rev. Michael A. Smith, Pastor
McGee Avenue Baptist Church
Dr. Laura Stivers
Director, Graduate Humanities Program
Dominican University of California
Author of Disrupting Homelessness-Alternative Christian Approaches
Rabbi Andrew Straus
Temple Sinai Oakland
Rev. Roland Stringfellow
Co-Pastor, First Congregational Church of Oakland
Director of Ministerial Outreach, Pacific School of Religion
Rev. Frederick Taylor, Pastor
Phillips Temple CME Church
Frances H. Townes
Founder, Berkeley Ecumenical Chaplaincy to the Homeless
Rhonda White-Warner, M.Div.
African American Faith Mental Health Anti-Stigma Campaign/Healthy Communities
Kelly Woods
Lead Pastor, Covenant Worship Center
Brian Young, Pastor
Berkeley Friends Church
*Persons listed are representing themselves as individuals, not necessarily the institutions with which they are affiliated