Public Comment

Religious Leaders Speak Out Against Berkeley’s Measure S

By Sally Hindman and 52 Signers
Friday October 19, 2012 - 04:03:00 PM

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