Public Comment

Who is the funniest candidate for Berkeley mayor? I'm a serious student of local politics, and I think we need a rematch because even I can't tell. 

If I had to make the call tonight, right after the standing-room-only show at the North Berkeley Senior Center hosted by the Gray Panthers on Wednesday, September 28, 2016, I might vote for Ben Gould, a clueless graduate of UC San Diego who thinks the citizens of Berkeley should be taxed more to pay for private housing specifically for University of California students even though...well, Ben, that's who's already paying for private University of California student housing, which we understand is hard to see from San Diego. Or from the Berkeley hills where you went out of your way to emphasize you grew up. It was a forgiving crowd at the North Berkeley Senior Center who seemed to appreciate that Ben was young enough to be kind of short-sighted in some charming but obvious respects. 

But Ben had some competition from what would be my second runner up, Bernt Wahl, who answered every question put before him by the elegant moderator, George Lippman, by emphasizing his status as an engineer who would solve problems "like an engineer" using a lot of "technology" like Uber and Lyft. I am not making that up. For the full comedic effect go to either or both Ben Gould's or Bernt Wahl's websites, where their own dubious prose is joyously unvetted by those proficient in media."I hope to pursue actionable legislation" is in the first paragraph of Bernt Wahl's June 2014 election website. Not making it up! 

But they had competition. Naomi Pete, a soft-spoken woman who seemed winded by having to participate at all, passed on more than one question claiming she just had no idea how to answer. Mike Lee alternated between being unintelligible to those of us in the back of the room and striking bellicose theatrical poses shouting repetitively into the microphone about marches and picket signs. Laurie Capitelli insisted that "house rules" were needed for commercial districts (?), while Jesse Arreguin claimed to have unilaterally saved Berkeley's landmarked downtown post office in front of dozens of grey-haired activists who actually did so. 

Local Commissioner George Lippman patiently and repeatedly clarified the questions from the Gray Panthers before bravely fielding buckets of questions from the audience, which lasted well 

over two hours with only one snarling disruption from a man who claiming everybody was being boring and exited while shouting about bathrooms but reminded us at the doorway that he loved us all, to resounding applause. 

There is some good news for those of you who cannot skate out of work during the day and missed the show. Most of the candidates do appreciate that we are situated in a housing crisis, even though the majority of them still think it can be addressed by peeling off one or two units in a luxury housing complex for the challenged group that has to live on slightly less than $100,000. That is what is considered affordable under the current equation. Not making it up! 

And more good news. Most of the mayoral contenders have heard of police accountability as an issue, and feel obliged to acknowledge its existence. Most of the candidates have heard the news that racial bias affects everyone thanks to well documented, researched, and replicated studies of not just police departments but also elementary school teachers, juries, and so forth. 

This represents a huge, undeniable change from previous decades of unwillingness to address the sheer idiocy of stopping and frisking a community's other-than-white people on the grounds that bias indicates that this is efficacious policy when in fact it is decidedly not. In the course of human events, this in and of itself is a marvelous turn. 

It is also good news that at least one mayoral candidate, Kriss Worthington, was relentlessly willing to compliment other candidates, notably Jesse Arreguin, when Arreguin's policy work in question was compatible with a progressive direction. This may sound boring, but it's miraculous to depressed observers of local candidates' behavior. Worthington was the only candidate with anything complimentary to say about others on the North Berkeley Senior Center stage, unless you count Mike Lee's willingness to compliment Mayor Tom Bates' heir apparent Laurie Capitelli's entirely theoretical support for ridiculous tiny houses, the obvious camel's nose under the tent for loosening developer restrictions and housing codes. 

These are troubled times. But comedy is there, rooted among the ordinary events of the day for your edification, nourishment, and pleasure. Show up! Fill out a question card. And above all, enjoy. These candidates certainly seem to think they are ready their close-up.