The Berkeley City Council voted to place new restrictions on the sale of tobacco products near schools Tuesday night and moved forward with plans to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 years old. 

Several options to restrict tobacco sales near schools were debated at Tuesday night's meeting, but the council settled on a plan that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco and e-cigarette products within 600 feet of a school. In addition, no new tobacco licenses will be granted within the buffer zone. 

City tobacco program coordinator Tanya Bustamante told the Council the plan could affect as many as 26 tobacco retailers in Berkeley. 

The ordinance, Bustamante argued, would prevent access to the most appealing types of tobacco for young people: flavored tobacco, including menthol, and electronic nicotine products, commonly known as e-cigarettes. Ninety percent of adult smokers started before they were 18 years old, she said. 

Smoking is "fundamentally a pediatric disease," she said. 

Several tobacco retailers spoke in opposition to the plan at the meeting, saying it could cripple their struggling businesses and unfairly punish retailers who happened to be near a school. 

Council members were sympathetic to the potential economic impact on retailers, but decided some action needed to be taken to limit the availability of tobacco near schools. 

"If you're in a business that the end result is that it harms people's health, shortens people's lives, promotes disease, you ought to be thinking on a moral basis," Councilman Maxwell Anderson said. 

The new tobacco restrictions will take effect on Jan. 1, 2017.  

The council also moved forward with a plan to draft an ordinance that would raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products to 21 years old. 

If passed, Berkeley would join over 90 cities as well as the state of Hawaii nationwide and the city of Healdsburg in the Bay Area in raising the minimum age for tobacco purchases. Santa Clara County also recently passed a similar law, which will take effect next year.  

The council is seeking to curb the ease with which underage smokers acquire tobacco. City staff cited a 2005 survey that reports 31 percent of people who buy cigarettes for minors are between 18 and 20 years old. 

"With a minimum legal purchasing age for tobacco set at 21, legal purchasers would be less likely to be in the same social networks as high school students and therefore less likely to sell or give underage people cigarettes," city staff wrote in their report. 

Tobacco retailers who spoke at Tuesday's meeting in opposition to the restrictions near schools were in favor of raising the minimum age.  

"I think for a change the city is moving in the right direction to prevent youth from getting their hands on tobacco products," one gas station proprietor said of the minimum age proposal.

A motorcyclist was seriously injured in a collision in Berkeley on Tuesday evening, according to police. 

The collision between a motorcycle and another vehicle was reported at 7:36 p.m. at University Avenue and Acton Street, a few blocks south of the North Berkeley BART station, police said. 

The motorcyclist was taken to a hospital with injuries considered life-threatening. The other driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, according to police. 

It does not appear drugs or alcohol were a factor in the collision, police said. 

Westbound University Avenue was closed between Acton and Sacramento streets on Tuesday night as a result of the collision.

Plans to raise Berkeley's minimum wage to as high as $19 an hour by 2020 were put over Tuesday night until a special City Council meeting in November. 

After a lengthy public comment session at Tuesday's meeting where dozens of supporters advocated for low-wage workers and local business owners warned higher wages could put them out of business, Mayor Tom Bates reminded supporters that the city's minimum wage is already slated to rise next month and then again next year. 

Berkeley's minimum wage is currently $10 an hour and will rise to $11 per hour on Oct. 1 and then $12.53 per hour on Oct. 1, 2016. 

"I'm all in favor of raising the minimum wage, I think everyone here is, but we also have to realize we need businesses to stay in business to pay the wage," Bates said. 

But he said he would like a policy in place to keep up with other minimum wage hikes in the region, specifically San Francisco, where the minimum wage is slated to rise to $15 in 2018. Neighboring cities Emeryville, Oakland and Richmond have also recently passed substantial increases to their minimum wage. 

The plan proposed by the city's Commission on Labor would raise the city's minimum wage by $1.50 an hour over the next five years -- to $13 in 2016, $14.50 in 2017, $16 in 2018, $17.50 in 2019 and $19 in 2020. The minimum wage would then rise annually according to the rate of inflation. 

The city also sought to develop a new policy requiring employers to provide paid sick leave. The labor commission recommended that policy be passed as a separate ordinance, and the council asked labor commission officials to draft that ordinance in preparation for a special meeting on Nov. 10, when they will take up the wage issue again. 

Tuesday's meeting drew dozens of low-wage workers, union organizers and other supporters of a higher minimum wage, who rallied outside of the meeting and lined up into the hallway to speak to the council. 

Opponents of the hike were all business owners, largely of restaurants, but they were badly outnumbered by the passionate proponents of higher wages. 

Advocates argued that the rising costs of living in Berkeley, particularly for renters, necessitated much higher wages. After a representative of the California Restaurant Association asked the council to "hit the pause button" on the wage hikes, a proponent responded that low-wage workers "cannot hit the pause button" on their rents and lives. 

Travis Lyons, an emergency medical technician, said, "Not only do I make a minimum wage caring for the wounded, the elderly, the dying ... I see the effects of poverty every day in my job." 

"I'm tired of losing people," Lyons said. "I care more about my patients going under than I care about businesses going under." 

The opponents included Richard Villarreal, general manager of Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto, a Fourth Street restaurant run by West Coast restaurant chain McCormick & Schmick's. 

Villarreal said Spenger's is still reeling from the minimum wage hike last year to $10 per hour. 

"That impact has been deeply felt by us," he said. The proposed raises are "staggering to the mind. We will not survive. We will close our doors. I suspect many other businesses will do the same." 

Villarreal suggested the council adopt more gradual raises of 50 cents per year. 

Polly Armstrong, CEO of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, said in her second time speaking at the meeting that the voice of businesses were not heard by the council and local owners were not consulted in plans to raise wages. 

"It feels so good to say everyone should get a living wage, I believe that too," she said. "But somebody's got to run the business, somebody's got to pay the bills, take those people into account too."

Advisory: AVOID west bound University between Sacramento and Acton until further notice due to a serious injury collision.

The Berkeley Police Department is currently investigating a serious injury collision that occurred at University and Acton. BPD received several calls of the collision at approximately 7:36 p.m. reporting a motorcyclist down.  

The rider was transported to a local hospital by the Berkeley Fire Department with potentially life threatening injuries. The other driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with BPD. Preliminarily it does not appears drugs or alcohol are a factor.  

West bound University between Sacramento and Acton is currently closed. BPD Traffic Investigators are responding to the scene.  

We will provide updates when they become available.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson will speak in San Francisco and Berkeley today on new challenges in the fight against terrorism, including cybercrime and the growing use of social media by terror groups both at home and abroad. 

Johnson will address "Security Challenges Confronting the Homeland" at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club at noon today. He will speak on the need for cybersecurity and progress against cybercrime. 

Gloria Duffy, the club's president and CEO as well as a former deputy assistant secretary of state, will act as moderator. 

At 6 p.m., Johnson will speak on "Threats to the Homeland" at the University of California International House at UC Berkeley. He is expected to outline new threats ranging from cyberterrorism to the Islamic State to homegrown terrorist groups. 

Immigration activists plan to protest outside the Berkeley event against what they call the Department of Homeland Security's "racist mass deportation policies." 

The protest, led by the group By Any Means Necessary, will gather outside International House at 5 p.m., according to organizers.  

Protest organizers allege that more people have been deported under the Obama Administration than under any other presidential term, and are calling for an end to deportations and detentions of undocumented immigrants. 

Johnson previously served as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense, where he oversaw legal aspects of counterterrorism policies, led reforms in the military commissions system and co-authored a report that led to the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in 2010, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

One of seven Irish students who survived a balcony collapse in Berkeley talked on Friday about the physical progress he has made and called the fall a "life-changing" experience.

Niall Murray, 21, has been receiving treatment at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose from injuries he suffered when a fourth-floor balcony collapsed at the Library Gardens apartment complex at 2020 Kittredge St. in Berkeley during a party during the early morning of June 16. 

Murray spoke from a wheelchair during a news conference Friday outside the San Jose hospital's rehabilitation center, alongside his mother Helen and 24-year-old brother Ciaran. 

His left foot was in a cast and his forearms were wrapped in bandages. 

He said he felt "quite guilty and awful" that he and six other students survived and six other students did not. 

Murray remembered he heard a "big rumble" before the collapse, but doesn't remember landing on the ground. 

He has had flashbacks of being placed on a gurney by two paramedics soon after and waking up in the emergency room. 

Of the six people who died in the collapse, Murray said "someday I look forward to seeing you all again." 

As Murray talked about his rehabilitation he turned to members of the center's medical team that stood behind him and thanked them with a smile. 

He has experienced ups and downs on his road to recovery, which included seven to eight surgeries, but said he is progressing every day and week. 

Dr. James Crew, chair of the medical center's physical medicine and rehabilitation department, said Murray had multiple injuries to his right hand, where his index finger was nearly amputated. 

Doctors were able to salvage the finger and Murray is now working on regaining strength in the hand through specialized therapy, Crew said. 

A fracture to his left heel is keeping him in the wheelchair, according to Crew. 

Murray was discharged from the center about a week and a half ago and he has made "tremendous progress," Crew said. 

"His prognosis for walking obviously is quite good. He's already doing some standing," Crew said. 

Murray plans to return to Ireland some time next week and spend time with his own friends and family and those of the victims who did not survive the collapse. 

He is also planning on having a big Irish breakfast once he is back home. 

Once Murray is fully recovered, he is looking forward to swimming and going back to the gym. 

He is considering a career in medicine after the treatment he has received since the collapse. 

Murray thanked the paramedics and first responders on the night of the collapse and medical staff at the other Bay Area hospitals where he received care. 

He also thanked Consul General Philip Grant and staff at the Irish Consulate in addition to the Irish Immigration Pastoral Center, both in San Francisco.

Five years have passed since a Chilean man who lived in Berkeley was murdered as he walked on a Berkeley street.

On the anniversary of Adolfo Celedon's death, investigators are still looking for suspects and a $20,000 reward for information leading to the suspects' arrest remains in place, according to police. 

Celedon had moved to Berkeley to live with his fiancé. Celedon was murdered on his 35th birthday. 

The Consulate General of Chile of San Francisco released a statement Friday regarding the unsolved case, saying it "supports and encourages an expeditious investigation and prompt solution to this case by the appropriate authorities, so that the family of Adolfo can achieve the peace they deserve." 

On the morning of Sept. 12, 2010, at 3:41 a.m., Celedon and his fiancé were walking home after attending a party, near Adeline and Emerson streets, according to police. 

Two male suspects approached the couple and tried to rob them. One of the suspects shot at Celedon and Celedon's fiancé was punched in the face, police said. 

The suspects then fled in a dark-colored, older model SUV, according to police. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police department's Investigations Division - Homicide Detail at (510) 981-5741. 

Callers who wish to remain anonymous can call the Bay Area Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Don’t get me wrong, I love puppets, or more precisely marionettes. I’ve collected them for years, mostly at rummage sales, and now people even give them to me as gifts.

I have an awful lot of puppets hanging up in my front hall, though I’ve never gotten around to putting them in a show. That’s a shame, since I have a great cast of characters in search of an author: Charlie Chaplin, Lassie, the White Rabbit, Bill Clinton, a three-headed dragon and a couple of scary witches. Think what a great play these would make, if only I had time to write it.

But instead I spend my time (some would say waste it) doing pointless things like going to meetings of the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments board. On the other hand, it’s not an inappropriate pursuit for a lover of puppets, since it’s becoming increasingly apparent that this group which purports to be making independent decisions about what’s best for Berkeley is actually acting out scripts derived from the development industry or its clients on the City Council. 

What’s happened is called “regulatory capture”. The late lamented Planning Commissioner Patti Dacey used to say that on the first day of her administrative law class at Berkeley Law (then called Boalt) the professor told the class that every regulatory body which is supposed to monitor industry is eventually captured by those it’s supposed to be regulating.  

Think, for a current example, the California Public Utilities Commission and PG&E, now much in the news for backchannel email deals which are thought have engendered the lax inspection policies which caused the San Bruno explosion. Or, closer to home, Berkeley Planning Department’s revolving door, turning to allow its former Planning Director Mark Rhoades to become the paid advocate for developers of every stripe who want to do business here. 

And now consider Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustment Board, which has the power to grant developers variances from the zoning law.  

As I was collecting my own thoughts along these lines, I got a communication from U.C. physicist James McFadden, a citizen opponent of the 2211 Harold Way proposal, which nicely summed up the problem: 

“Having spent many an evening over the last 9 months at City Council, ZAB, LPC, and School Board meetings, I'm finally starting to recognize ‘industry capture’ of both staff and the council/board/committee members. Although many people are quick to assume that capture means corruption, they really are different things. 

“Capture is more of an aligning of economic world views, not necessarily to any monetary advantage, often just to make one's job easier or more pleasant in dealing with people on a day to day basis (perhaps like Stockholm syndrome). It entails adapting views that parallel industry's views which are clearly shaped by profit motive. 

“Captured individuals don't necessarily have an economic conflict of interest. They don't see their behavior as incorrect. They have forgotten that their role is to provide oversight and protection to the public on these public-private deals, and instead see their role as making sure the deal gets done. Their public meetings evolve into patronizing facades of democracy. 

“Captured staff and government officials suffer from wishful blindness rather than corruption per se. For the most part, capture is about creating a pleasant working environment with those in industry who they deal with on a daily basis. It is a slow and insidious process that strikes at the heart of human psychology which allows us to work in groups. The more time you spend with someone, the more likely you are to mirror their behavior—especially when the industry hires shills who continually flatter staff and boards/committees. When we-the-public show up and complain, we become the opponent to be ignored. 

“A telling sign of capture is an inability of staff to answer direct questions in a public forum - questions they should have answers for. This happened several times during the ZAB [Thursday] night. Staff instead must go outside and get the answers from industry—or just stonewall—or just present the industry talking points outside of public view. 

“Capture also manifests in the actions of the members of boards/councils/committees who are supposed to provide oversight, but instead seem more concerned with time and process. They often spend their time praising staff or justifying their poor performance, or worse yet praising the industry over which they are supposed to provide oversight. I was particularly struck by [ZAB Chair Prakash] Pinto's behavior at [Thursday] night’s ZAB. The meeting becomes a dance of false empowerment where getting through the meeting on time is more important than focusing on important issues or input from the public.” 

All you really have to know is that six of the nine members of Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustment Board are connected with the development industry to see how this works. It’s easy to guess how they’ll vote at the September 30 meeting where approval of the 2211 Harold Way project is scheduled to take place. 

Check out these links to see how they’ve made their living: 

Prakash Pinto (Chair), appointed by Councilmember Maio , principal in an architectural consulting firm. 

Denise Pinkston (Vice Chair), appointed by Mayor Bates, consultant to many real estate developments. 

Steven Donaldson, appointed by Councilmember Moore, consultant to the Downtown Berkeley Association and others. 

Savlan Hauser, appointed by Councilmember Droste , owner of development consulting firm, executive of the Jack London Business Improvement district. 

Richard Christiani, appointed by Councilmember Wengraf, architect of urban infill projects., 

George Williams, appointed by Councilmember Capitelli, retired from the San Francisco Planning Department, board member of the development advocacy group SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Renewal) 

Only Igor Tregub, appointed by Councilmember Arreguin, Shoshana O’Keefe, appointed by Councilmember Anderson, and Sophie Hahn, appointed by Councilmember Worthington, have no discernable connection to the building industry. 

The ZAB has been “studying” the Harold Way project, which is intended to deposit an eighteen-story luxury apartment development on the landmarked site of the Shattuck Hotel and the Shattuck Cinemas, in a peculiar set of bifurcated meetings tacked on before and after its usual monthly scheduled meetings. The study sessions were guaranteed to slip in under the radar of the average Berkeleyans who have jobs and families to worry about, since they started at six p.m., paused from seven until the regular matters were finished at nine or ten o’clock, and then re-started for an almost empty house until the wee hours of the morning. 

Last Thursday, in the rump portion of their official September meeting, commissioners let down their hair as the evening wore on. It was revealing to see them, one by one, starting to justify why they just might consider approving the project in question, based on their own experience in the building industry. It’s now abundantly apparent that unless there’s an earthquake in the meantime there will be the obvious five or six votes for approval. 

A couple of them even pooh-poohed the concerns expressed about the latest plan proffered by Rhoades: to restore the ten cinema screens which would be demolished by digging under the hotel, which was built on an unstable creek bed with a ceramic foundation in 1910. No geotechnical report to confirm the safety of such a scheme has been put forward, but these commissioners implied they trusted the city supervision to make it all work out. 

Other EIR questions were similarly discounted. Said Chair Pinto: “..it saddens me when people say no to the building just for issues about sewer or other sustainable issues because I know those can be mitigated.”  

Well, maybe, maybe not. In the city of Berkeley, whose name will be forever linked to the grievous failure to prevent tragedy at Library Gardens, this “trust me” attitude from a regulator is questionable. 

And this is where I started thinking about puppets. By now it’s widely known (or at least known to the 200 or so citizens who bother to know anything at all about what’s going on in Berkeley) that the mayor and his controlled council majority want this building to be built. And not only that, the mayor at least really really wants to make sure that L.A. financier Joseph Penner makes a really nice profit.  

This became even more abundantly clear when Denise Pinkston, the mayor’s appointee to the ZAB, devoted almost all of her time to arguing that the city council has made a special decision on “significant community benefits” which is supposed to apply to this project only. 

The City Council passed—not a resolution, not an ordinance—but what was widely reported to be an advisory recommendation about how the ZAB should evaluate SCBs in the case of each of the five buildings which may be granted variances to exceed the standard zoning height limit. Commissioners had been assuming that as per statute the final decision would be theirs. But on Thursday Pinkston claimed, with increasingly shrill persistence, that the council intended that for this project alone the SCBs should be limited to no more than $13.6 million. 

“I believe, and I have been told…” she said, that the recommendation for this specific building was mandatory, unlike the other four which were only advisory. Her fellow commissioners, to their credit, seemed to be dumbfounded by this contention, which came up at the end of a long evening.  

Until this theory surfaced, they’d been eagerly discussing divvying up what they’ve taken to calling “the pot”. The developers had opened the bidding with a cleverly calculated list of benefit items which (using creative accounting) added up to more than $20 million, though a major proportion of their proffered bonuses would be nothing more than mitigations of the substantial damage the project would cause, for example rebuilding the theaters after they destroyed them. 

When Pinkston started trying to radically downsize what was required, all the horsetrading came to a halt. If I’d been on the board at that point, I might have wanted to ask Ms. Pinkston exactly who “told” her that the mess o’ pottage from Rhoades, Penner et al. was supposed to be carved out from the recommended formula at this required limit. Could his initials have been T.B.? 

By this time it was after 11 o’clock, and the discussion quickly disintegrated into complete confusion. “I'm going to have to adjourn the meeting…I don't know where we are, actually. I think we have got a wide variety of opinions.” said Pinto. 

That’s an understatement. Myself, I can’t imagine how the commissioners will be ready to approve the project at the special meeting which has been announced (or at least rumored) for Wednesday, September 30. That is, unless they just allow themselves to be guided willy-nilly by whoever is pulling the strings above the stage. Which would, sadly, not be much of a surprise.  

Oh, well. Maybe I can turn the meeting story into a play for my puppets. 

---

---

By the way, note to Planning Department staff, copied from the ZAB web page: 

*September: Thursday 9/10 at 7:00 PM

Any month noted above with an asterisk (*) has only one meeting due to a City Holiday, Holiday Observance or City of Berkeley Reduced Service Day. 

So is there really a meeting on September 30? None is listed on the agenda page. Please advise. 

 

 

 

 

 

Berkeley Forum talk by Secretary of Homeland Security disrupted by protesters

Landlord orders Hollywood tower tenants to vacate

Ms. Fitzpatrick,

Thank you for calling this to our attention. The webpage has been updated to reflect the September 30 special meeting.

http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/zoningadjustmentsboard/

Sincerely,

Shannon Allen 

Shannon Allen, AICP Principal Planner, Land Use Planning Division Planning and Development Department, City of Berkeley 

(510) 981-7430 

From: Tree Fitzpatrick 

Sent: Sunday, September 13, 2015 10:36 PM 

To: Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) ; Amoroso, Alexander ; Manager, C ; City Clerk  

Subject: Is there a ZAB meeting on Sept 30th? 

I have cut and pasted, for your information, Ms. O'Malley's question about the confusing meeting schedule for public hearings lately. 

 

By the way, note to Planning Department staff, copied from the ZAB web page:  

*September: Thursday 9/10 at 7:00 PM 

Any month noted above with an asterisk (*) has only one meeting due to a City Holiday, Holiday Observance or City of Berkeley Reduced Service Day. 

So is there really a meeting on September 30? None is listed on the agenda page. Please advise. 

 

Sincerely, 

 

Tree Fitzpatrick, JD, MS

Pope Francis, Angela Merkel, and the Austrian government have shown real leadership in extending a warm welcome to refugees escaping conflict zones. Many ordinary Germans and Austrian Good Samaritan families have demonstrated enormous compassion for those seeking refuge. Thus far, the US. has admitted only 1,500 Syrian refugees. There is a real danger that economic refugees seeking a better life might join the exodos creating a stampede that is likely to overwhelm Western Nations generating compassion fatigue or outright hostility. What has largely been ignored is Saudi Arab’s deafening silence. They have a common religion, and enormous wealth which would allow easy access to absorb a million refugees. 

What can be done to slow down the exodus? 

Hundreds of women in Syria are calling for a cease-fire, international protection and evacuation of the wounded. At a minimum, a no-fly zone should be created in the south of Syria to halt the devastating impact of barrel-bombs. This could be enforced by U.S. Naval ships in the Mediterranean. The no-fly zone would create pressure on the Syrian regime to negotiate. “If they can’t use their aircraft, they will know they can’t survive, and that will bring them to the negotiating table,” said Reza Afshar, a former British diplomat. 

Under pressure from Putin, Assad has reluctantly agreed on power sharing. However unpalatable, the U.S. should accept Russia’s role in bringing about a cease fire which could lead to an end to hostilities.

The actions of Donald Trump become curiousor and curiouser much like Alice in Wonderland. In an act of desperation to shore up his lack of foreign policy experience Trump invited a motley crew of human rights violators to Trump Tower for a photo-op.

He held a press conference and waxed lyrical about his important guests unaware of their sordid pasts. His star guests were Indonesian government officials headed by Deputy Speaker of the House Fadli Zon. Zon was the right-hand man of the U.S.-trained Prabowo Subianto. Gen. Prabowo has been under investigation for extensive human rights abuses that took place in the 1990s when he was head of the country’s Special Forces. He was fired from the army in 1998 following revelations that he was responsible for the abduction and torture of activists which eventually led to the dismissal of US backed dictator, Suharto. Suharto was responsible for the death of as many as a million civilians. Prabowo was the son-in-law of Suharto. 

Another of the invitees from Indonesia was Setya Novanto, who has been mired in corruption for decades. 

The Grand Imam of the Indonesian mosque in New York City accused Trump of hypocrisy, racism and Islamophobia. I wonder what next the pope of pomposity has in store for his adoring public. I can hardly wait.

We have lost it again. Politics is a dirty game played by politicians before every election. Party politics and media turn the voter's mind away from real issues that impact real people. 

The real people who can become good leaders suffer because they don't have the financial support of wealthy donors. I find true democratic principles disappearing. Our elections are biased in favor of those who have money or access to media. Money power has taken over. 

The only protection ordinary people have against money and media is an education that will broaden our thinking power and enable us to find ways to prevail even against the lobbyists. 

Please help us firm up the shaky foundations of democracy at home before we create war zones in other nations so that we can establish democracy abroad.

Between now and next April, four members of the European Union (EU) will hold national elections that will go a long ways toward determining whether the 28-member organization will continue to follow an economic model that has generated vast wealth for a few, widespread misery for many, and growing income inequality. The choice is between an almost religious focus on the “sin” of debt and the “redemption” of austerity, as opposed to a re-calibration toward economic stimulus and social welfare. 

The backdrop for elections in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland is one of deep economic crisis originally ignited by the American financial collapse of 2007-08. That meltdown burst real estate bubbles all over Europe—particularly in Spain and Ireland—and economies from the Baltic to the Mediterranean went off the rails. Countries like Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal saw their GDPs plummet, their banks implode and their unemployment rates reach levels not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Debt levels went through the ceiling. 

The response of the EU to the crisis was a carbon copy of the so-called “Washington consensus” that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) applied to indebted Latin American countries during the 1990s: massive cutbacks in government spending, widespread layoffs and double digit tax raises on consumers. 

Instead of lower debt levels and jumpstarting economies, however, the IMF strictures for Latin America did exactly the opposite. Cutbacks, layoffs, and high taxes impoverished the majority, which in turn tanked economies and raised debt levels. The formula was a catastrophe that Latin America is still digging itself out from. 

But the strategy was very good for a narrow stratum, led by banks, speculators, and multinational corporations. U.S, British, German, Dutch and French banks helped inflate real estate bubbles by pouring low interest money into building binges. The banks certainly knew they were feeding a bubble—land prices in Spain and Ireland jumped 500 percent. 

However, as economist Joseph Stiglitz points out, the banks had a trick: their private debts would be paid for by the public. Taxpayers did pick up the tab, but only by borrowing money from the Troika—the IMF, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission—and accepting the same conditions that tanked Latin American in the 1990s. Needless to say, history was replicated on another continent. 

The upcoming elections will pit the policies of the Troika against anti-austerity movements in Portugal, Greece, Spain and Ireland. If these movements are to succeed, they will first have to confront the mythology that the current economic crisis springs from avaricious pensioners, entitled trade unionists, and free spending bureaucracies, rather than irresponsible speculation by banks and financiers. And they will have to do so in a political arena in which their opponents control virtually all of the mass media. 

Never have so few controlled so much that informs so many. 

The election terrain is enormously complex, and, while resistance to austerity gives these movements a common goal, the political geography is different in each country. Plus the Left essentially has to fight on two fronts: one, against the policies of the Troika, and two, against a rising tide of racist, xenophobic and increasingly violent right-wing movements that have opportunistically adopted anti-austerity rhetoric. The openly Nazi Golden Dawn in Greece and the fascist National Front in France may attack the policies of the EU, but their programs have nothing in common with organizations like Greece’s Syriza, Ireland’s Sinn Fein, Spain’s Podemos, or Portugal’s Left Bloc. 

Size counts in this coming battle. Because Greece makes up only 1.3 percent of the EU’s GDP, the Troika could force Greece to make a choice between, in the words of former Syriza economic minister Yanis Varoufakis, “suicide or execution”—suicide if Syriza accepted another round of austerity, execution of the country’s banks and financial structure if it did not. Because it is small, Greece’s death would scarcely cause a ripple in the EU. A similar situation exists for Ireland and Portugal. 

But not for Spain. Spain is the 14^th largest economy in the world and the fifth largest economy in the EU. Bankrupting it or driving it out of the Eurozone—the 19 countries that use the euro instead of a national currency—would cause more than a ripple, it could sink the entire enterprise. That is why the austerity measures the Troika impressed on Spain were severe, but not as onerous as those inflicted on Ireland, Portugal and Greece. 

Besides trying to ameliorate the worst aspects of the Troika program, the anti-austerity Left faces an existential question: should their indebted countries remain in the Eurozone, or should they call for withdrawal and a return to national currencies? 

The Eurozone has been a disaster for most its members, except Germany, and, to a certain extent, Austria and the Netherlands. While the currency is common, there is no shared responsibility for the results of economic unevenness. In the U.S., big economies like California help pay the way for Mississippi, under the assumption that a common interstate market is a good thing and why shouldn’t the wealthier states help the less fortunate? In the Eurozone, it is every man for himself, and if you’re in trouble, talk to the Troika loan sharks. 

Since the euro is controlled by the European Central Bank—read Germany—countries can’t manipulate their currencies to help get themselves out of trouble the way the U.S., China, Russia, India, Brazil, Great Britain, and others do. A currency union doesn’t work without a political union, and such a union is a bad idea when it puts countries like Germany and Greece on the same playing field. In the end, the big dogs dominate. 

While the issues throughout the Eurozone may be similar, each country is different. A short scorecard: 

Greece-Sept. 20 

Syriza, the leftwing party that won the last election, has split with 25 former Syriza deputies who formed the Popular Union Party and called for full resistance to the Troika’s demands. Despite retreating from his previous opposition to any new austerity, polls show Syriza’s former prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, is popular. The parties that formerly dominated Greece—the right-wing New Democracy and center-left PSAOK—have been badly discredited, and the centrist Potami Party doesn’t have a clear program, except none of the above. The Left should do well, but it will be divided. Division in the face of the Troika is perilous, but this battle is a long way from over, and there are creative ways to resist the Troika without taking it head on. A civil war within the Left, however, could be disastrous. 

Portugal-Oct. 4 

The country is currently dominated by the conservative Popular Party/Social Democratic Party coalition that holds 132 seats in the 230-seat assembly. But polls show the opposition is running neck and neck with the Socialists (74 seats), The Socialists put in the austerity program, but have since turned against it. The leftwing United Democratic Coalition (16 seats), an alliance of the Communist Party and the Greens, and the Left Bloc (8 seats), looks like they will pick up deputies. There is a strong possibility that the conservatives will fall, and that the center-left and left opposition will form a coalition government. The Left already controls 98 seats. It will need 116 to form a government. 

Spain, December, 2015 

The political situation in Spain is fluid. The rightwing ruling Popular Party is in trouble because of several major corruption scandals and its enthusiastic support for austerity. The Socialist Party has recently increased its popularity but it was the Socialists that instituted the austerity policies. Support for the leftwing anti-austerity Podemos Party appears to have stalled, but it has elected, or helped to elect, the mayors of Madrid, Barcelona, Cadiz and Zaragoza. Unlike Syriza, which is a coalition of left parties, Podemos is a grassroots organization that knows how to get the voters out. 

There is also the center-right Ciudadanos Party that did well in spring elections, but is anti-immigrant and anti-abortion, and whose economic program is at best opaque. Those things are not likely to translate into major electoral gains. Whatever happens, Spain is no longer a two party country, and the Left will play a key role in any coalition building to form a government. 

There is a wildcard in this election: the newly minted Citizens Security Law, which the Popular Party rammed through Parliament and is aimed at suppressing demonstrations, criticism of the government, and free speech. It is clearly aimed at shutting down Podemos. 

 

Ireland, April 2016 

“Volatile” is the only way one can describe the Irish Republic, where the polls shift from month to month. The economy is growing, but the Troika’s austerity regime is still raw. Over 100,000 mortgages are under water and since 2008, some 400,00—mostly young professionals—have fled to Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., inflicting a crippling brain drain on the island. 

The centrist coalition of Fine Gael and Labor currently rules, but that is likely to change after the election. Polls show Fine Gael at 28 percent, and Labor at 7 percent. At 21 percent, the leftwing, anti-austerity Sinn Fein Party is in the number two post, although its support has fallen off slightly since last year. However, the popularity of its leader, Gerry Adams, has been climbing. Lastly, there is a mix of independent parties, ranging from Greens to socialists, supported by 24 percent of the voters. Most are anti-austerity and potential coalition partners if the ruling parties fall. The conservative Fianna Fail Party is polling about 20 percent. 

In these upcoming elections, the Left will have to confront the enormous power of the Troika on the one hand, and on the other, deliver services and jobs. It will also have to clearly differentiate itself from the racism of the right on the immigration crisis and challenge the unwillingness of their own governments to find a humane solution to the problem. Since of the bulk of the refugees are generated by the irresponsible policies of countries like France, Britain, Italy and Germany in Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria, the Left must clearly link the foreign adventurism of their elites to the flood of people now seeking safety from the storms those elites help generate.  

None of this will be easy and disunity will make it harder. The Left elsewhere in the world cannot expect small countries like Greece, Portugal and Ireland to take on the power of international capital by themselves. Not since the rise of Nazism has there been such a pressing need for international solidarity. In a very real way, we are all Greeks, Spanish, Portuguese and Irish. These elections are as much about the U.S. as they are about the parties and movements that have decided to resist a species of capitalism that is particularly red of tooth and claw. 

 

---

Conn Hallinan can be read at dispatchesfromtheedgeblog.wordpress.com and middleempireseries.worldpress.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a part of human nature that people require sources of fulfillment. Most people in the U.S. are taught that we need to go to school, get a good career, own a house, marry a sweetheart and produce offspring…(modern day addendum; and then get divorced, then remarried.)  

And if we can't do those things, our lives seemingly get off track.  

Of course, there are other possible life paths. There are some who decide to live in a monastery, whether this is a Buddhist, Christian or some other order of religious practitioners. Others would like to go into politics. There are still others who wish to be a famous country music singer, a famous rapper, or a famous "real housewife." There are limitless possibilities, but the common thread is you want something and you go after it.  

When someone has a disability, whether this is physical, psychiatric, or other, it can halt an individual in his or her quest to be happy. In some instances of psychiatric illness, the onset of this illness could have been triggered partly through a lack of getting a perceived need fulfilled. This is not to say it is always this way.  

As I progress in life, I learn that I don't need all of the things I once thought I needed. I need to have the basics covered, such as housing, food, clothing, medical and psychiatric treatment, a peaceful environment, and transportation; I need to do something that interests me, and I need to be okay with myself. Beyond those things, I am in the zone of wants rather than needs.  

Many persons with psychiatric illnesses lack an adequate source of fulfillment because we often do not have great careers, great sex lives, piles of money, or enough of interest to do with our time. We may see others getting great things in life, and we may feel left out. Further, the medications we are often forced to take can block the experience of pleasure. This lack of "the good life" as well as the lack of enjoyment in general can lead to drug abuse, suicide, or noncompliance (in the mistaken, ill-fated hope that without medication, things would somehow be better).  

Many persons with mental illness are denied the emotional pleasure of liking ourselves adequately.  

Self-acceptance is key to getting well. If you can learn to like yourself regardless of what others think, what they say about you, and, regardless of having a disability, you have a much stronger chance of doing well despite having a life-changing diagnosis.  

Yet, once we are in recovery, we still need a reason to get out of bed every morning. Society will not hand this to us, and if it did, it wouldn't be truly ours and therefore would turn out to be a disservice in the long run, regardless of good intentions.  

In order to accomplish anything, a peaceful environment is a must. I encourage journaling. A weekend afternoon of journaling one's thoughts along with a legal refreshment of choice is an afternoon well spent. Figure out what you want, to begin with by temporarily throwing realism out the window. From there, you could decide what is achievable and what isn't. For some people, a large goal isn't needed or even wanted. You could live for the little things.  

There is nothing wrong with living for the now, if you can enjoy a few things. The journaling I described could be an end in itself. Or perhaps an afternoon of reading a book. It doesn’t cost very much to purchase a used novel at a thrift store, and this can furnish numerous hours of enjoyment.  

(This is not to say that all mentally ill people are unemployable and living in restriction and poverty. Many persons with mental illness do just as well as, or better than I. I am middle aged, medicated and unemployable, but many persons with mental illness are in a better situation.)  

Recovery from mental illness as the only goal is akin to wanting to lose a hundred pounds and then you can dance around and be happy like the person in the Weight Watchers television ad. Some source of fulfillment, and it doesn't have to necessarily involve making money, being famous, or having social status, might come before recovery and not after.

Golden Thread Productions, founded in 1996 by Torange Yeghiazarian of Oakland, has staged and produced many new and newly-landed plays from and about the Middle East--and what it means to be Middle Eastern or just to consider that crucial region.  

One of its key ongoing projects has been the ReOrient Theater Festival and Forum of short plays, forums, round tables (and a concert and a family show) exploring the Middle East, which has previously been staged in Berkeley as well as San Francisco. Beginning this week, ReOrient 2015 will go up onstage at Z Below, the old Traveling Jewish Theatre, below Z Space, formerly Theatre Artaud, 470 Florida Street, between 17th & 18th Streets, Bryant & Harrison, in the Mission/Potrero district of San Francisco, running plays in two series through October 4.  

From a play about an archaeologist's discovery of a perfume bottle in a war zone to Israeli and Lebanese soldiers during a ceasefire, from a Lebanese-American FBI agent interrogating a fallen dictator to a Palestinian-American scientist and his philosopher daughter putting on a play and taking an imaginary journey to his homeland; from life going on in a Baghdad neighborhood after a car bombing to a Palestinian family sharing an East Jerusalem apartment with an Israeli family ... ReOrient's plays have been selected from submissions from 15 countries and feature work and artists from Armenia, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, the United kingdom and the United States. Five World premieres, two US and two West Coast premieres will be staged. 

Series A--featuring 'Picking Up the Scent' by Yussef Al-Guindi, 'Turning Tricks' by Silva Semerciyan, 'The Bitterenders' by Hannah Khalid and 'Counting in Sha'ab' by Emma Goldman-Sherman--plays Thursdays & Saturdays at 8; Series B-'Lost Kingdom' by Hassan Abdulrazzak, 'Reaching Out' (conceived & directed by Torange Yeghiazarian, edited and co-directed by Erin Gilley, inspired by Golden Thread's internationally collaborative Project Alo? between artists in the US & Middle east communicating work through video clips on cellphones), 'Ceasefire' by Ken Kaissar, Songs of Our Children by Nahal Navidar and 'The House' by Tala Manassah--plays Fridays at 8, Sunday afternoons at 3. $22-$30.  

In addition to the plays will be the Forum on the final weekend--free to the public--featuring as keynote speaker Professor Sunaina Maira of UC Davis and other scholars and artists in panels and round tables co-produced by local and international groups. Plus a recital of Arab folksongs reimagined by Syrian-American soprano Saousan Jarjour and Zeytune Ensemble (Saturday, October 3 at 2 pm; $20) and the Fairytale Players performing 'Princess Tamar Rescues Nazar the Brave' and '21 days That Change the Year,' from Iranian and Armenian folktales (Sunday, October 4 at 2 pm; $20, children 12 & under, free), both shows at Z Space, 450 Florida Street. 

ASeries Pass for both series of plays is $40; an All-Access Pass for everything presented at reOrient 2015 is $60. goldenthread.org

"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! ... " When Michael Needham, playing King Lear in the Inferno Theatre/Actors Ensemble co-production in the old amphitheater Berkeley Shakes used perform in, up in Hinkel Park, blew onstage with his Fool (Jody Christian in an active, playful role, also cast as a forthright Cordelia) for the fabled Storm Scene, his imprecation could've been taken for a marker of the end of summer, another prediction of El Niño wetness this winter, in the last free performance on Labor Day of Shakespeare's stupendous tragedy ... 

A few days later, it's finally cooling off a little--and if summer for most people ends with Labor Day, free Shakespeare at Hinkel doesn't--TheatreFIRST opens Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Jon Tracy, this Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th at 4, through October 4.  

Inferno's Lear, directed by founder Guilio Perrone, was an ambitious show for small companies like Inferno and AE--cast of 16, many of them new to the companies and to Perrone's style of direction and staging. Last summer the companies cooperated on a shortened version of Heinrich von Kleist's difficult Penthesilea, the encounter before Troy of Achilles with the Queen of the Amazons, a wild tale of love and carnage. This time, with Lear--cut down to two hours fifteen minutes and deliberately staged as a kind of androgynous family romance (to use the Freudian term), woman playing five male roles, including a clear-voiced, sad-eyed Gloucester (Susannah Wood) and a vicious Cornwall (Vicki Victoria), plucking out Gloucester's eyes while a cackling Regan (Christina Shonkwiler) heaves the accordion--Inferno/AE essayed perhaps the most intense, ferocious masterpiece in the English language repertory.  

King Lear's difficult stuff to do for anyone. I think I've only seen two stage versions ever that were satisfying for the whole measure of the play--and one quite a surprise, turning out, on later investigation, to be an actor-driven achievement of ensemble playing. Other productions, including one at the Old Vic with a notable director (Jonathan Miller) and ensemble (Eric Porter as the King)--excepting (and this proved to be a drain on the rest) a poor, overacting Edgar--prove "bitty" ... this scene or even moment, that actor's performance are what stick in the memory or hold one rapt at some point during a long show. (The Old Vic performance, with plenty of memorable moments, was in many ways bogged down by the Storm Scene ... ) 

There were those moments peculiar to the Inferno/AE show--I've hinted at some already--that I won't forget. Like last year with Penthesilea, the searching--maybe not always successfully finding--intent of the dramaturgy was like a dark glow beneath, behind every tableau on the dirt killing floor of the amphitheater. And this production's Edgar--Scott Hartman--was sympathetic, adroit as he tiptoed out into the storm, pretending to be the mad, half-naked Tom O'Bedlam, a counterpoint to the truly mad King and his occupationally mad and playful Fool, all backed by flamenco-esque chords on the guitar. Tom O'Bedlam finishes his speech like Nebuchadnezzar on all fours, a beast in the field, flanked by Lear and the Fool in a kind of manic kids' game of leapfrog ... and they all dance, with drapery blowing in the wind.  

There were rushed lines, lines thrown away in the style of Shakespeare Festivalese ... And there was also Melissa Clason's defiant, not-quite-feral Goneril, the most willful and proud of the villains, daughter of the errant hero ...  

And the best scenes and moments began with the Storm Scene, after the intermission. 

Orson Welles said the biggest problem of staging Shakespeare in America was that Americans imagined a king to be a gentleman with a crown instead of a hat. There was sometimes this problem in carriage of some of the noble characters, a lack of gravity--and I've seen this a great deal in Shakespeare productions lately--but there was also the last-minute subbing-in that Benoit Monin did as Albany, with dignity and naturalness ...  

Trying to stage a masterpiece as down to earth that's been so often overproduced as high (falutin') tragedy--not just as some kind of off-balance, half-Everyman populist set piece of a king stuck in the mud with the homeless, becoming a man of the people, as some have struggled to make it--is a major task of revaluation, and Giulio Perrone has painted a canvas with provocative tableaux--Lear charging onstage into a chance encounter with Edgar and Gloucester, a fallen king wreathed in ivy--""They flattered me like a dog!" Or Edgar reading the letter that reveals the daughters' idyll with his evil brother Edmund ... Lear and Cordelia led away as prisoners: "We two alone will sing like birds in the cage"--and Lear's wail with the dead Cordelia under his arm ...  

Maybe most important of all, Giulio Perrone has found a cast he can work with on a bigger scale than he's been able to before, with his half-dozen years of Inferno, mostly staging shows he's written himself, showing other sides of classics (The Iliad) and popular fictions (Dracula). Those unmentioned so far are: Karina McLoughlin, Tenya Spillman, Adam Eldar, Karen Caronna, Soheil Alamkhel, Paul Davis, Nic Griffin (the musician) and David Andres Mejia. Behind the scenes were Jamie Greenblatt, Phred Swain-Sugarman, Stephen Golux, Andrej Diamantstein, Robert Gudmundson and Jerome Solberg. I'm looking forward to future shows

In Verdi’s time-line, Luisa Miller, which premiered at San Carlo in Naples in December 1849, is a fairly early opera, appearing in Verdi’s so-called “middle period.” MacBeth opened two years earlier; and La Battaglia di Lengnano, I Masnadieri, and Il Corsaro all opened prior to Luisa Miller. Yet much of Luisa Miller’s music foreshadows the great Verdi operas to come later. Even in its plot, Luisa Miller foreshadows Verdi’s lifelong interest in issues of paternal relations between a father and his offspring. Here, in Luisa Miller, the relationship of Luisa to Miller, her father, and his relationship to her, occupy the moral center of the opera.  

Based on the play Kabale und Liebe (Intrigue and Love) by the great German playwright Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), Verdi’s Luisa Miller features a splendid libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, who had earlier provided Donizetti with the libretto for Lucia di Lammermoor. Verdi himself would later collaborate again with Cammarano on the libretto for Il Trovatore. The story of Luisa Miller deals with class relations, power relations between generations, and a battle of good versus evil. Rodolfo, the disguised son of Count Walter, loves a simple bourgeois maid, Luisa Miller, who returns his love. At first, this match suits neither Luisa’s father, an old soldier, nor Rodolfo’s aristocratic father. Miller is afraid Rodolfo, known to him as Carlo, may simply be toying with Luisa, while Count Walter has other marriage plans for his son, whom he wishes to marry his widowed niece, Federica. Aware that their fathers disapprove of their love, Rodolfo and Luisa pledge to love one another forever.  

The role of Luisa Miller, first sung by soprano Marietta Gazzaniga, was famously associated in the late 20^th century with Katia Ricciarelli. I heard Ricciarelli sing the role of Luisa in San Francisco in 1974 with Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo; and I heard her again as Luisa in 1978 at the Met with José Carreras, and yet again at the Met in 1982 with Pavarotti. For the current San Francisco Opera production of Luisa Miller, Leah Crocetto sings Luisa. A winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Leah Crocetto possesses a full, luscious soprano voice and a disciplined technique. Yet somehow her singing fails to move me, at least not in any vocally or dramatically thrilling way. On the other hand, this production’s real star is tenor Michael Fabiano, who sings the role of Rodolfo with a muscular tone and intense passion. Fabiano’s Act II recitative which culminates in the bitter fulmination, “Tutto è menzogna, tradimento, inganno” (“Everything is falsehoods, betrayal, deceit”), was delivered in a full-throated outburst of despair; and the aria which follows, “Quando le sere, al placido” (“When in the stillness of evening”), one of the finest arias Verdi ever wrote, was sung with bitter poignancy. As the first singer to win both the Richard Tucker Award and the Beverly Sill Artist Award in the same year (2014), Michael Fabiano has quickly established himself as a leading tenor in the world of opera. 

Ukrainian baritone Vitaliy Bilyy sings the role of Miller, Luisa’s father. I found Bilyy’s performance puzzling. One minute he would sing so softly I could barely hear him, and the next minute he would burst out with power to spare. Dramatically, I could discern no reason for this inconsistency. Australian bass-baritone Daniel Sumegi sings the role of Count Walter, and he was eminently believable as an overbearing father whose maneuverings are always in his own interest though couched as if in the interests of his son, Rodolfo. When Count Walter schemes with Wurm, the villain of the piece, Verdi writes musical phrases that make it hard to distinguish which of these two deep voices is singing. This gives the impression of two schemers planting ideas in each other’s minds. Wurm is here ably sung by bass Andrea Silvestrelli. Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk sings the role of Federica, the woman Count Walter wants his son to marry. Semenchuk’s deep voice is almost that of a contralto; and Verdi wrote the role for a contralto. Finally, current Adler Fellow Jacqueline Piccolino sings the soprano role of Laura, one of Luisa’s closest friends. Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts Luisa Miller with his usual aplomb. 

The staging, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Francesca Zambello conceived this production, and one might say she totally misconceived it. The sets are by Michael Yeargan, and they are as irrelevant as can be. A single-bed seems to be the only prop, and for what reason it is there who can say? From a large beam hangs a painted panel, now a hunt scene, now a view of thunderclouds. Why these images are there who can say? The walls contain 32 panels, all of which move at one time or another, almost at random. On the panels are images of trees. At one absurd moment a panel depicting trees rose vertically while leaving a patch of blue sky below it, with the trees absurdly suspended above. Laurie Feldman handled the stage direction, such that there was. Luckily, however, one doesn’t go to the opera for stage-scenery. This Luisa Miller may be totally misconceived in its staging, but it is right on the mark musically. 

 

 

 

Marion Fay's unusual, participatory Theater Explorations & Music Appreciation adult education classes are beginning for the Fall next week, featuring trips to local performances, post-performance discussions--and professionals visiting classes (at the Northbrae Community Church in Berkeley) to discuss--and sometimes perform--their art. 

Theater Explorations features two classes, one 10 week session beginning on Monday, September 14, 1-3 pm, scheduled to see 4 plays for $90. A Thursday session, 1-3 pm, lasts 8 weeks, seeing 3 plays (with possible arrangements to see 4), for $80. Prices don't include group discount tickets for the shows, which include 'Amelie, a New Musical' at Berkeley Rep and 'The Monster Builder' at the Aurora. Registration is at the first class. (Please bring $36 in plain envelope to first class if attending 'Amelie' on September 27, 2 pm at Berkeley Rep.) 

Music Appreciation class meets Thursday mornings, 10 a. m. to noon, starting September 17, for 9 weeks, $85 tuition, not including discounted concert tickets. Guest appearances and special events will include a performance of Schubert's Octet in F; a presentation by Michael Morgan, music director-conductor of the Oakland Symphony and Festival Opera; and the performance of a new work by composer Gary Friedman--plus other professionals, including from the Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland Symphonies. 

No background in music is required for Music Appreciation classes.  

All classes at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley. For information, contact Marion Fay at marionf5@earthlink.net for Theater explorations; or marionfay@earthlink.net for Music Appreciation

Seeking Candidates for Education & Health Legislative Assistant

Summary: This position is responsible for education and health programs and projects, organizing special events and assisting with other initiatives and duties. This position also advises the Mayor and staff on health and education issues, collaborates with partner organizations and institutions on education and health initiatives and writes reports and other materials. This position reports to the Chief of Staff and Mayor. 

Major Responsibilities:

Manage current projects and develop, implement and manage new projects, including work plans and activity schedules 

Plan and manage special events and meetings 

Assist with collection of education and health data and analyses 

Represent the Mayor's office at internal and external meetings, conferences and other gatherings, and present project updates and analyses 

Collaborate with representatives of partner organizations and City staff Monitor and report on project progress to stakeholders 

Prepare project reports, research briefs and other relevant documents 

Perform other duties as needed 

Qualifications

Education: Minimum of bachelor's degree in education, public policy, psychology, sociology or related field, or comparable experience. 

Experience: At least three years of experience in project planning, implementation and management preferred. Experience working with public agencies, especially in education and/or health, is a plus. 

Skills: Excellent interpersonal and verbal and written communication skills are important. Also necessary is the ability to manage time and projects effectively with careful attention to detail and accuracy. The successful candidate should also be able to prioritize work effectively and adjust to multiple demands. We seek someone who is motivated and versatile, with the ability to work independently, take initiative, maintain confidentiality, participate as a supportive team member, complete assigned tasks and function effectively in diverse, multicultural settings. 

To Apply: Please send a cover letter and resume with references to the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Calvin Fong, cfong@cityofberkeley.info, 510-981-7104.

Wednesday, September 16, 23 and 30 starting at 12 noon
Sunday, September 27, starting at 11 am

Save Shattuck Cinemas takes you on a walking tour of the Shattuck Cinema Theaters and the proposed Harold Way project site. Starting in the Shattuck Cinemas lobby, it includes the individual theaters and a walk to the area where 2211 Harold Way will be built.

Please arrive a little early. Viewing the theaters, their artwork, and murals must be completed before the theaters open for movie goers at 12:30.

The tour lasts one hour, and includes stairs, inclines and walking at a moderate pace. Anyone needing special accommodation for accessibility and/or moderation of pace, should contact Save Shattuck Cinemas by email savingshattuck@gmail.com or call 510 325-1218 and a special tour will be arranged that covers the same area at a slower walking pace and/or includes elevators instead of stairs.

The Tour includes: 

 

 

• Designs, murals and artwork by Berkeley artist Ed Monroe, Dusty Dillion and his crew “Whatever Works” and Hinks architect Allen Simpson
• Reviewing proposed Harold Way project plans
• A walk through basement and surrounding impacted areas.