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Press Release: Give Input on "Significant Community Benefit" Packages for Downtown Buildings Over 75 Feet

from Matthai Chakko, City of Berkeley
Friday March 02, 2018 - 03:18:00 PM

Use the City of Berkeley's online forum to help Council decide whether to establish a more specific process and more precise standards for evaluating "significant community benefit" packages for downtown buildings exceeding 75 feet. 

The proposal Council is considering on March 13 would also rescind Resolution No. 67,172, which, in 2015, established a process and standards for evaluating "significant community benefit" packages for downtown buildings over 75 feet.Community 

View and give input on this Berkeley Considers topic, which was selected by the Council Agenda Committee. Learn more by reading Item 28 on the March 13, 2018 agenda

Registered users on Berkeley Considers - found at www.cityofberkeley.info/considers - can post their comments online with or without their name. Anyone can view registered comments. The goal of the forum is to broaden civic discourse in a constructive and civil manner. 

On Berkeley Considers, each person on Council-focused topics will be allowed one comment, a feature enforced through registration and through the platform operator's analysis of 25 different fraud detection data points, such as IP addresses, browser identity and similarity between email addresses. 

The forum will also be moderated so that comments comply with our guidelines for civility, which prohibits elements such as hate speech, personal attacks or obscene materials. 

In the process, the intention is to create a more informed community and provide Council with a broader array of voices. 

The platform is operated by Peak Democracy, which has used its software and services to broaden civic discourse around the country and Canada. 

When registering, you will be asked for your name and home address. This confidential information is used only by Peak Democracy to identify statements from residents in and near Berkeley - so that users know which statements are from local residents. They will keep your information confidential, they do not accept advertising, and they will not share contact information, as noted in the company's Privacy Policy

Of course, community members can, at any time, mail the full council through one email address: council@cityofberkeley.info

Online forums are not social science, nor scientific polling. But, as with public comment, it is intended to provide the Council with additional data to help in its decision making process. 

Look at the question before you. Consider what others are saying. Let the City Council know what you would like them to consider for Berkeley.