Councilmember Jesse Arreguin and his aide Anthony Sanchez deliver signed petitions to the Berkeley City Clerk.
Tom Hunt
Councilmember Jesse Arreguin and his aide Anthony Sanchez deliver signed petitions to the Berkeley City Clerk.

Extra

Flash: Green Downtown Initiative Petitions Submitted, Likely to Qualify for November Ballot (Updated)

By Becky O'Malley
Tuesday May 20, 2014 - 06:42:00 PM

Proponents of the Green Downtown and Public Commons Initiative submitted close to 4,000 signatures to the Berkeley City Clerk at 4 pm today in order to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

The supporting committee’s official legal title is “Yes on Berkeley’s Green Downtown and Public Commons Initiative, Supported by Councilmember Jesse Arreguin.” State law now requires that the name of elected officials who are proponents of measures must be included in the title.

According to mathematician Tom Hunt, who wrote a spreadsheet program to verify authenticity of the signatures, a total of 3928 signatures were collected by circulators, 3102 of which were valid, non-duplicates according to his calculations.

Ordinarily the City Clerk examines a sample of about 500 of the submitted signatures to determine whether at least 10% more than the necessary number to qualify for the ballot have been collected.

Based on the vote in the last election, 2648 signatures are required to qualify, so the clerk tomorrow will be trying to verify that at least 2913 signatures ( 2648 + 10%) are valid.

The 3102 signatures submitted by proponents add up to the minimum plus 17%, so it’s very likely that the petitions will pass muster to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

The signature gathering process was unusually short, only three weeks.

According to Zoning Commissioner Sophie Hahn, one of those who worked on the text of the initiative, there was a huge outpouring of support from the community, with more than 60 unpaid volunteers making possible a very quick signature gathering process, with a bit of help from 10-15 paid circulators.

In the last 3 days alone more than 1000 signatures came in.

“Signatures came easily compared to many initiatives”, Hahn said. “It was very heartening to go out in the community and understand where the community is on the issues—not the spin.”

She said that those who signed expressed a desire to maintain Berkeley’s urban core as a place of public and civic activity—they want all the features of a green downtown, as expressed in Measure R’s “Green Pathway” but never adopted by would-be developers because they are optional.

According to Hahn, she’s seen lots of support in Berkeley recently for measures which address the income gap, as exemplified by the campaign for a minimum wage which is also the subject of a proposed initiative. The Green Downtown Initiative’s provisions requiring builders to offer prevailing wage to construction, security and maintenance workers for new developments have been popular with signers.

She said that everything in the measure reflects decades of community input, and that Councilmember Arreguin, who represents the Downtown area, has been participating in this discussion for at least 10 years. She believes that the public is now asking for everything which was promised in Measure R but was never delivered. -more-


Updated: Man Found Dead in Berkeley Hills Identified

By Dan McMenamin (BCN)
Monday May 19, 2014 - 10:29:00 AM

A man whose body was found near Grizzly Peak on University of California at Berkeley property Sunday afternoon has been identified by the Alameda County coroner's bureau as 22-year-old Concord resident Lorenzo Baltazar-Trujillo. -more-


New: Help get the Berkeley Civic Center Zoning Overlay on the Ballot Today! (Public Comment)

By Jesse Arreguin
Monday May 19, 2014 - 08:49:00 AM

Save the Downtown Post Office! Final call for signatures!

Save our post office and historic Civic Center. Come to the Post Office steps, 2000 Allston Way, Berkeley, and add your name.

Signatures needed from registered Berkeley voters--anytime between 4 and 6:30 today, Monday, May 19th.

If you haven’t yet signed the petition to get our Zoning Overlay initiative on the Berkeley ballot, we need your signature!

Not a rally to come to, or a meeting, just your name on the dotted line. If you’re registered to vote in Berkeley, please stop by 2000 Allston Way Monday evening from 4 to 6:30 PM; we’ll be there with petitions. Takes only a few seconds to sign. Help us Halt the Heist! -more-



Page One

New: Body Found by Hiker Near Grizzly Peak on UC Berkeley Campus

By Hannah Albarazi (BCN)
Sunday May 18, 2014 - 10:49:00 PM

A hiker came across a body in the woods near Grizzly Peak on University of California at Berkeley property this afternoon, a police lieutenant said. -more-



Press Release: Berkeley High Crew Qualifies for National Championship Competition

Friday May 16, 2014 - 04:49:00 PM

Women’s Pair Team Earns Medal at Regional Championships

Berkeley High Crew women’s pair boat won the bronze medal at the USRowing Southwest Junior Championship Regatta. All medal winning squads earn a berth to compete at the USRowing Youth Nationals. The National Championship is scheduled to take place June 13-15 at Lake Natoma, California. -more-



Public Comment

New: Berkeley City Council: A Cliffhanger on the Minimum Wage

By Harry Brill
Wednesday May 21, 2014 - 02:57:00 PM

Tuesday's (May 20) Berkeley City Council session were disappointing but at least, so far, not a disaster. Only hours before the meeting, a small delegation met with Mayor Tom Bates who assured the delegation that he would support a minimal wage proposal that would peak by 2021 to $15 an hour, which afterward would rise each year according to the rate of inflation. He even said that we should feel free to circulate his progressive document. -more-


Update: The Minimum Wage Campaign In Berkeley

By Jack Kurzweil
Friday May 16, 2014 - 11:59:00 AM

Dear Berkeley Wellstone Club Members and Friends,

This is an update on the efforts to have the Berkeley City Council pass an adequate ordinance increasing the Minimum Wage in Berkeley. As many of you know, a “compromise resolution” was introduced at the May 1 City Council Hearing. A bare bones outline of that compromise is attached. That resolution would have Berkeley’s minimum wage catch up to the standard of Berkeley’s “living wage - required of all contractors who do business with the city” after approximately 5 years. That resolution was also characterized as opening the door discussions with other East Bay cities to establish a regional minimum wage.

That compromise was withdrawn at the May 6 City Council meeting by its Council supporters and, in a very heated and confused meeting, a barely token minimum wage increase was passed. That token increase is due for a second reading at the Tuesday, May 20th Council meeting.
Needless to say, advocates of a progressive minimum wage ordinance in Berkeley are not pleased.

Crime & Punishment

By Tejinder Uberoi
Friday May 16, 2014 - 04:37:00 PM

The recent batched ‘execution’ of Clayton Lockett shines a much needed spotlight on capital punishment and mass incarceration. Far too many people are languishing in prisons for relatively minor offenses. Our archaic criminal ‘justice’ system is in urgent need of major reforms. According to the Bureau of Prisons the federal prison population has grown a staggering 800 percent since 1980. 90% of prisoners have committed non-violent, minor offenses. The April 2011 report from the Pew Center reports the recidism rate ranges between 40% to 60% for these ‘Correctional Facilities’. -more-


Suppressing the Vote in Berkeley

By Sheila Goldmacher
Friday May 16, 2014 - 12:25:00 PM

I am writing today because I am deeply disturbed at what I can only interpret as a way of suppressing my vote. I am an elder, 80 years of age, have voted in every election since I was eligible to vote. -more-


No Tears for Working People at the Berkeley City Council

By Harry Brill
Friday May 16, 2014 - 12:16:00 PM

A group of organizers has decided to create a minimum wage initiative that will provide a livable wage for workers in Berkeley who are currently working for poverty wages. The group, called the Berkeley Citizens for a Fair Minimum Wage, delivered this morning a notice to the Berkeley City Clerk. This action will begin our petition campaign for a ballot initiative establishing a new Berkeley Minimum Wage at $15 an hour along with an annual cost of living adjustment and paid sick leave.

We are responding to the Berkeley City Council's approval of a very diluted minimum wage ordinance that essentially ignores the plight of poor workers.

It is very surprising to many that the majority on the Berkeley City Council lack empathy for poor workers and their families. But this is the reality. It is true that the City Council has often been progressive on foreign policy issues, but this generally has no impact on Berkeley residents and workers. It has also often been progressive on many social issues, which certainly does matter. However, although its foreign policy stance and its support on social issues is commendable, it has also created an illusion about the Council.

On bread and butter issues, the Council is conservative. It appreciably favors business, including big business, over the welfare of working people. To take just one example, it opposed higher minimum wages for larger and highly profitable businesses. -more-


Elections Are Around the Corner

By Romila Khanna
Friday May 16, 2014 - 01:33:00 PM

When the mind decides to push selfishly for something which benefits us but harms other people our own heart's cries are ignored. Such insensitive talk and action are especially prominent now that elections are around the corner. Politicians with well-funded access to media speak in a way which raises anxiety levels to the maximum. They create a sense of panic so that people will believe them to be true helpers. -more-


Too Little

By Ted Rudow III,MA
Friday May 16, 2014 - 01:30:00 PM

Thousands of fast-food workers in the United States and around the world are staging a one-day strike today to demand a livable wage. A recent report found fast-food CEOs make 1,200 times as much money as the average fast-food worker, a disparity that maximizes short-term profit while harming worker security and the overall economy. -more-


Editorial

Berkeley Citizens React to Council's Inaction on Minimum Wage

By Becky O'Malley
Friday May 16, 2014 - 11:46:00 AM

Berkeley’s do-nothing city council has sparked citizens to launch yet another petition drive, another attempt to do by initiative what never seems to get done in the course of Berkeley’s interminable and unproductive council meetings. Just in the last couple of months we’ve seen voters’ petitions circulated to correct loophole-riddled zoning in two areas, both in West Berkeley and Downtown, and yet another pair of measures would enact a tax on excess rents in order to fund affordable housing. Now a different group of backers have announced an initiative drive to give Berkeley the kind of modest minimum wage ordinance already in effect in other cities including San Francisco and San Jose.

None of this should be necessary.

Both Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Laurie Capitelli have recently inveighed online against the concept of governing by initiative, but they brought it on themselves by not doing their job when they had the chance. -more-


Columns

THE PUBLIC EYE: Elizabeth Warren: Saving the Democrats

By Bob Burnett
Friday May 16, 2014 - 11:55:00 AM

Reading Senator Elizabeth Warren’s new book, A Fighting Chance, I thought about the parallels between her career and that of Barack Obama. Both are brilliant lawyers with inspiring personal stories. Both entered national politics running for the senate and gave well-received speeches at the Democratic National convention. But Obama represents a continuation of Clinton-era “third way” policies. Warren offers a strident new populism. -more-


SENIOR POWER: …FOF and the bee’s knees

By Helen Rippier Wheeler, pen136@dslextreme.com
Friday May 16, 2014 - 12:15:00 PM

Two of every 100 Americans have artificial hips or knees. 4.7 million Americans have artificial knees. They may have had arthroplasty. I’m one of them. -more-


ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Variations in Mental Capacity and Insight

By Jack Bragen
Friday May 16, 2014 - 11:53:00 AM

In terms of the amount of insight a human being has, there may be peaks and valleys. When someone lacks insight, they will probably be ignorant of that fact. When insight returns or to begin with appears, its owner could marvel at past foolishness and may be frustrated about it. -more-


Odd Bodkins: Two Monkeys (Cartoon)

By Dan O'Neill
Friday May 16, 2014 - 01:43:00 PM

Odd Bodkins: Man Eating Spaghetti (Cartoon)

By Dan O'Neill
Friday May 16, 2014 - 01:37:00 PM

Arts & Events

THEATER REVIEW:“MUTT” at Impact Theatre—laughs, topic, and a great cast make it worth it

By John A McMullen II
Friday May 16, 2014 - 12:53:00 PM
Patricia Austin, Matt Lai, Michelle Tagarow, Lawrence Radecker

Sometimes a mediocre play jumps to life when you assemble an extraordinary cast with a primo director. -more-


Impact Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Aurora and African American Shakespeare garner Critics Circle Awards

By John A. McMullen II
Friday May 16, 2014 - 12:27:00 PM
Sherri Young and L. Peter Callender of African-American Shakespeare

On May 5, at the California Ballroom in Oakland CA, the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle held its 38th annual Awards Gala. -more-


THEATER REVIEWS: Golden Thread's 'The Fifth String' & Inferno Theatre's Diasporas Festivalistrict

By Ken Bullock
Thursday May 15, 2014 - 01:54:00 PM

—Golden Thread staged 'The Fifth String,' another of their Islam 101 miniature extravaganzas at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, in the venerable century-old Masonic Building in Moorish revival style, kitty-corner to the Oakland Main Library, and now headed to a run this weekend at Brava! Theater in San Francisco's Mission District ... -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Berkeley Citizens React to Council's Inaction on Minimum Wage 05-16-2014

Cartoons

Odd Bodkins: Two Monkeys (Cartoon) By Dan O'Neill 05-16-2014

Odd Bodkins: Man Eating Spaghetti (Cartoon) By Dan O'Neill 05-16-2014

Public Comment

New: Berkeley City Council: A Cliffhanger on the Minimum Wage By Harry Brill 05-21-2014

Update: The Minimum Wage Campaign In Berkeley By Jack Kurzweil 05-16-2014

Crime & Punishment By Tejinder Uberoi 05-16-2014

Suppressing the Vote in Berkeley By Sheila Goldmacher 05-16-2014

No Tears for Working People at the Berkeley City Council By Harry Brill 05-16-2014

Elections Are Around the Corner By Romila Khanna 05-16-2014

Too Little By Ted Rudow III,MA 05-16-2014

News

Flash: Green Downtown Initiative Petitions Submitted, Likely to Qualify for November Ballot (Updated) By Becky O'Malley 05-20-2014

Updated: Man Found Dead in Berkeley Hills Identified By Dan McMenamin (BCN) 05-19-2014

New: Help get the Berkeley Civic Center Zoning Overlay on the Ballot Today! (Public Comment) By Jesse Arreguin 05-19-2014

New: Body Found by Hiker Near Grizzly Peak on UC Berkeley Campus By Hannah Albarazi (BCN) 05-18-2014

Press Release: Berkeley High Crew Qualifies for National Championship Competition 05-16-2014

Columns

THE PUBLIC EYE: Elizabeth Warren: Saving the Democrats By Bob Burnett 05-16-2014

SENIOR POWER: …FOF and the bee’s knees By Helen Rippier Wheeler, pen136@dslextreme.com 05-16-2014

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Variations in Mental Capacity and Insight By Jack Bragen 05-16-2014

Arts & Events

THEATER REVIEW:“MUTT” at Impact Theatre—laughs, topic, and a great cast make it worth it By John A McMullen II 05-16-2014

Impact Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Aurora and African American Shakespeare garner Critics Circle Awards By John A. McMullen II 05-16-2014

THEATER REVIEWS: Golden Thread's 'The Fifth String' & Inferno Theatre's Diasporas Festivalistrict By Ken Bullock 05-15-2014