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Meet the New "Boss" of Berkeley--
Sorry, Mayor Arreguin, but employees are making policy now
New Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin was interviewed on National Public Radio this morning saying that while the nation was moving to the right, Berkeley was "moving to the left", and that it was time for "bold action." But you wouldn't know it if you were unlucky enough to be shivering in a sleeping bag on the grass near City Hall at 5:30 am this morning.
About twenty-five city police and city staff evicted the protest group known as First They Came for the Homeless in the early darkness from their small grassy setting without notice or inventory receipts. The streets were completely blocked off on Center Street between Milvia and Martin Luther King. Bystanders attempting to help people with their belongings were threatened with arrest.
Sophie Hahn, inaugurated yesterday as the new representative for District 5, stood in front of City Hall during a press conference about the raid saying, "I'm talking to the people upstairs. I'm not happy at all."
The protesters have received conflicting messages regarding the protest's safety from middle of the night raids. New Mayor Jesse Arreguin had, along with several city councilmembers, explicitly requested that the raids stop during the Thanksgiving holiday. His inauguration yesterday invited speculation that the raids would end with former Mayor Bates' administration.
At the "closing party" for the Caffe Mediteraneum on Telegraph last night, Arreguin told Planet Editor Becky O'Malley that he'd reached an agreement with City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley to allow the campers to remain in place until a better location could be identified. But the City Manager stated today to Health and Human Welfare and Community Action Commissioner Dan McMullan that she was "just following policies that were set earlier." An aide to Mayor Arreguin confirmed that his understanding was that the raids were supposed to have stopped.
Two community members stopped by the group and dropped off large contributions of Seismic Coffee and supplies, saying "stay strong."
At1:30 this afternoon, the former campsite adjoining City Hall was completely closed off with plastic fencing.
