As I turned the corner at the end of Ada Street on the morning of April 4,.I was startled by what I saw. Suddenly our North Berkeley neighborhood looked like Minnesota under six inches of snow.

There was a very odd story behind all this faux snow.

Up on Rose Street, the contents of a city garbage trunk had caught fire (some cast-off lithium-ion batteries, perhaps?) Propane tanks on the vehicle were in danger of exploding, putting nearby homes at risk. The Fire Department successfully used fire-suppressant foam to choke the flames but the foam continued to flow downhill, coating streets and gutters in three directions. Sadly, the foam also entered the storm-drains, contaminating Cordornices Creek and killing hundreds of fish in the restored stream.

Joe Biden is too old to run for president. That’s kind of a shame, since he missed his window in 2016 because of a personal tragedy, though I wouldn’t have voted for him then either. He does seem to be A Nice Guy.

It’s not just age, it’s attitude and competence and energy. Nancy Pelosi, who is as old as I am, is completely on her game for her current job, but I wouldn’t encourage her to launch a presidential campaign either.

Let’s not even talk about Bernie Sanders , okay? You can guess what I think.

However. The current brouhaha from people (okay, women) who accuse Joe Biden of crossing personal boundaries (no, this is not exactly about sex) is ridiculous.

I know this because I am even older than he is, by a few years, and I can remember how social styles in hugging behavior came and went during his and my lifetimes. 

In my childhood and early high school in the Midwest, no one did any recreational hugging. In my immediate family, WASPish in origin but somewhat Catholic in culture, there wasn’t even much family hugging, though we got along well with each other. 

When we moved to California in the late 50s we joined a more coastal culture, populated by some who’d previously lived in crowded East Coast cities and tended to stand closer together and talk louder and faster than people in the middle and southern parts of the country. But there was still not that much freelance hugging in those days. 

For a fifties teen, hugs and kisses were serious business. If you weren’t yet “going steady”, you would be soon if you indulged. Others didn’t do that stuff at all in polite society. 

That all changed in the 60s, most of which I spent in Ann Arbor. Lots of people both there and in California, where I visited often, got increasingly touchy-feely, holding hands in a circle at civil rights demonstrations while singing We Shall Overcome and so forth.  

Also in the 60s, some post-Vatican II Catholics, soon joined by other Christian denominations, revived the Kiss of Peace, a part of the Mass ritual going back to the early Christian Church. Cooler heads prevailed by 1969, when the title changed to “the sign of peace” and the expression became a warm handshake or occasionally a little, yes, hug. Doubtless Joe Biden, a Catholic, took part in all this personal contact. 

As many of us know, in the 1970s warm fuzzy stuff reached fever pitch. I think some of it was fueled by the growing acceptance of gay culture, which had traditionally included more European-style cheek pecking and enthusiastic embraces, especially in the entertainment industry. The rest of us learned how to do it, so that as 1980 approached it became conventional to give your friend, regardless of gender, a nice big hug to say hello or goodbye, maybe even the three-cheek bisou beloved of the French. 

This trend ended abruptly in the early 1980s with the advent of the AIDs era, particularly at the beginning when the transmission path was not well understood. People just stopped touching each other so much, at least on the self-aware coasts, because they were afraid of germs. 

By that time Joe Biden, who had lost his wife in 1972, was happily re-married and had been a senator for a decade. He was secure in both roles, so could be completely comfortable with an affable paternal persona in which pats on the back, little hugs and the occasional kiss were expected and appreciated. 

When things changed, he obviously never got the memo.  

The fact that he didn’t suggests that he’s a slow learner when it comes to cultural sensitivity, which alone might be a disqualifier for higher office. But also, not afraid of germs, a good thing. 

So the parade of self-righteous adherents of the politics of personal fulfillment who have belatedly denounced Joe Biden for violations of the 2019 definition of personal space which happened five, ten or fifteen years earlier is, I repeat, ridiculous. 

Equally annoying is the tsk-tsk from spectators who are offended when he says, now, that he didn’t mean anything by what he did back then. Intent counts, big-time. 

( That’s why, Daisy May, we are still in the dark about all that collusion/conspiracy Trumpery even after Mueller has supposedly reported on what happened. Intent’s the key to many crimes.) 

Me, I’m still happy when I encounter old friends to get and give a hug, all genders eligible. When my dear friend comes in from Paris I dutifully present my cheeks for three kisses. With Italians, I know to keep it to two, and no actual kisses, just cheek-to-cheek. In LA, air kisses are still in vogue. I’d rather no one would slap me heartily on the back as a greeting, but that’s just me. 

But kindergarten teachers no longer may hug their kids with skinned knees, a big loss. 

I’m happy to say that my granddaughters, now polished young women, are still good for a hearty hug for Grandma on occasion. Not only that, I’m pleased to squeeze my friends’ sweet-smelling grandbabies if they’re offered, and no one’s complained yet. 

I do notice that, among the few remaining elderly pols in my ever-shrinking age cohort, people are so glad to discover that old allies or even honorable opponents are still alive that big hugs and warm kisses are the norm. On election nights, if we win (or at least think we do), there are hugs all around regardless of age or gender, and even losers get sympathetic embraces from compañeros. 

Society is always developing new rules for acceptable behavior. I was brought up to think that a lady waits to be introduced to new acquaintances, but the savvy young extend their hands for shaking immediately and introduce themselves at least by first names, though last names wait for further intimacy. 

It would be most unfortunate if the justifiable outrage against sexual aggression exemplified by the MeToo furor were allowed to constrict the healthy spontaneous expression of real non-sexual personal affection among friends and allies. It’s a cold world out here these days, and we need all the love we can get (platonic of course). 

Contrarian that I am, I notice that the Biden dust-up has made me more inclined to display affection, friendship or just approbation physically. I still won’t vote for Joe, but he can rest his hands on my shoulders any time he’s in town… 

 

 

 

To: the City of Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission

On May 8th, 1978, Associate Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs T. H. Chenoweth signed a "Letter of Agreement" assuring People's Park's neighbors, users, and gardeners they would be participants in "all matters relating to the use, maintenance and development of the People's Park site and any tentative proposals for construction, public works, or other significant changes affecting the Park before the Chancellor's Office makes a decision on these matters."

The contrast between today and May 8th, 1978 is striking. The current chancellor, Carol Christ, simply announced her proposal to construct housing on People's Park without making any effort to include the neighbors, the city, the park users and gardeners, anyone. If you were fortunate enough to attend a meeting regarding the issue at all, the proposal's architectural drawing was propped up on an easel like a done deal. In May of 1978, on the other hand, notice regarding any changes to the park was agreed to by park users and the university. Both parties wanted peace, cooperation, and an end to conflict.

"There were some crises," says David Axelrod, who was the field coordinator for the 1997 class called "Urban Ecosystems", a university-approved native plant gardening project he launched with other gardeners in the east end of People's Park. He remembers the university taking down a water fountain built in the park as one example of a conflict the Letter of Agreement hoped would resolve. 

The "Urban Ecosystems" class was cutting edge in several ways. Recognizing the crucial ecological role of native plants was not widely appreciated, rarely part of educational curriculum, and most parks were designed with recreational rather than ecological goals in mind, leaving natural, native plants at war with maintenance crews assigned to destroy them. 

The east end's "Urban Ecosystems" group included neighbors and non-university students with an interest in participating in the native plant project which illustrated approximately 19 subsections of California's native plant communities. People's Park's tradition of user-development was not only welcomed by the university, it gave university credit for participation and assisted with maintenance issues such as the provision of water and trash pick-up. 

"Non-students were invited," states Axelrod, "right from the start. Independent study and group study. Also, we were putting on concerts. We would get the risers from Eshleman Hall, really rickety, and then an architecture student, I think it was Carol Holding, had the idea of building a stage. We built it in the early part of 1979. The kick-off was April 14th, 1979 - that was the first concert on the People's Park stage." 

The concerts offered another opportunity for conflict over amplification, hours, noise, etc., but the May 8th, 1978 "Letter of Agreement" had by then been strengthened by a "Letter of Understanding" signed by all parties on January 5th, 1979 which continued to affirm that the People's Park Project/Native Plant Forum be a clearinghouse for any People's Park-related disputes, which, with respect to amplification were finally superseded in 1987 by a court order. Axelrod believes it was issued by famed Judge Henry Ramsey, an order requiring the university to allow amplified concerts, parks being a quintessential location for protected first amendment activities. 

But perhaps the most important aspect of the official "Letter of Agreement" and the follow-up "Letter of Understanding" is this; 

"C. Appropriate Use 

People's Park is primarily reserved for educational, research and recreational purposes." 

Which follows this telling paragraph; 

"At such time as a broad-based People's Park student community neighborhood association can organize itself, People's Park Project/Native Plant Forum may request that the Chancellor's Office transfer the above functions to said association." 

The "Letter of Agreement", the "Letter of Understanding", and the "Coordinations for Use of the University Property Commonly Called 'People's Park'" clarify many things. But the main clarification is that the university, ten years into People's Park's history, had every intention of restoring the peace, involving the community and park users in any decisions regarding the park, and returning it to community control. 

These agreements are legal documents, as is Judge Ramsey's 1987 court order affirming the legality of amplified events in a public park. The letters state that the agreements between the park users and the university can only be cancelled in writing with a year's notice. The third document, an August 31st, 1979 "Coordinations for Use of the University Property Commonly Called 'People's Park'" letter from Associate Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Ted Chenoweth, offers his services to assist in any capacity after his retirement, saying "I expect to remain active as a member of the People's Park Council, especially when the interest of the neighbors around the Park are involved." The court order of 1987 is a permanent legal protection. 

Former Vice Chancellor Chenoweth is only one of many participants in these living agreements still active in People's Park gardening and art projects who are more than willing to help resolve any conflicts regarding the park's use. Especially in this, the People's Park's 50th anniversary year, the City of Berkeley and the university need to honor these original agreements which gave birth to many more over the course of People's Park's history. 

The City of Berkeley once created a commission as a forum for People's Park-related planning and discussion. And countless Bay Area organizations have expressed support for the park and its landmark status, conferred in 1984 about fifteen years into the park's history, when it was recognized as having important historical and cultural significance. 

This portion of a 1995 letter from the Berkeley Religious Coalition with the Homeless is an excellent example of the community's tireless willingness to assist with stewardship: 

"...the plan needs to be amended to exclude components changing People's Park from a community gathering place into a University athletic facility.  

The community consulted by the Use Committee overwhelmingly supported use of the space as a park rather than as an athletic field. We affirm the concerns of the Landmarks Commission and environmental groups that such changes would threaten the social and physical integrity of this important cultural and historic site.

The history of the Park demonstrates long-standing good will as well as dissension. We believe the Park could be a site that generates services and jobs for the homeless as well as being a comfortable and convenient open space for the whole community.  

Third, we believe the University should donate the land at People's Park to the City of Berkeley to be run by the community.  

Nearly 3 million dollars of taxpayer's money have been spent in the last five years alone in the University's ongoing battle with community residents over People's Park. We believe the City of Berkeley should have permanent control of the Park and that the City should create a board of stewards for the site that includes significant representation from Park users.  

With amendments in these three key areas we believe the Use Plan for People's Park will effectively work to make the Park a hospitable environment for all people.  

Sincerely, 

ENDORSER/SIGNERS: 

Dr. David Shields
Interim Director, Westminster House
Presbyterian Campus Ministries
University of California, Berkeley

Rev. Allan Bell
Episcopal Chaplain to the University of California-Berkeley

Dr. Dan Matt, Faculty Member
Center for Jewish Studies
Graduate Theological Union

Father Bill O'Donnell, Asst. Priest
St. Joseph the Worker Church

Sister Bernie Galvin, cdp
Director, Religious Witness with Homeless People

Trinity United Methodist Church
Social Concerns Committee
Berkeley Friends Meeting
Peace and Social Order Committee

Dr. David Biale, Director
Center for Jewish Studies
Graduate Theological Union

Alan Senauke
National Coordinator
Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Maylie Scott, Priest
Berkeley Zen Center

Rev. Lee Williamson
Peace with Justice Coordinator
California Nevada Conference
United Methodist Church

Sister Clare Ronzani, snd
Faculty Member, Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley

Ed Dunn, ofm
Justice and Peace Coordinator
Franciscan Friars-Santa Barbara Province

Michael Harank, Founder
Bethany House Catholic Worker

Dorothy Day House
Catholic Worker

Mel Weitsman
Abbot, Berkeley Zen Center

Terry Messman
Homeless Organizing Project of
the American Friends Service Committee

Rabbi Burt Jacobson
Kehilla Community Synagogue

Joanna Macy, Faculty Member
Starr King School for the Ministry

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
Social Action Committee

Jurgen Schwing, Member
First Congregational Church of Berkeley

Dr. Clare Fischer, Faculty Member
Starr King School for the Ministry

Dr. Bob Lassalle-Klein, Faculty Member
Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley

Dr. Fred Rosenbaum

Dr. Lynn Rhodes, Faculty Member
Pacific School of Religion

Pam Gilbert-Snyder
Social Ministry Chair
University Lutheran Chapel

Father Richard Chilson, Priest
Newman Center-Holy Spirit Chapel

Lonnie Vohs, Member
First Mennonite Church of San Francisco
San Francisco Theological Seminary, Staff

David Buer, ofm
Religious Witness with Homeless People
Steering Committee
Bay Area Church of Christ
Livermore

Rev. Pat deJong, Pastor
First Congregational Church of Berkeley

Rev. Dr. George Cummings
Pastor, Church by the Side of the Road
Faculty Member, American Baptist Seminary of the West

Susan Felix, Member
The Aquarian Minyan

Rebecca Parker, President
Starr King School for the Ministry

Rev. Richard Rollefson, Pastor
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

Dr. Jack Kornfield, Buddhist Teacher
Spirit Rock Center

Rev. Odette Lockwood-Stewart, Director
Wesley Foundation-Methodist Campus Ministry

Dr. Joseph Driskoll
Faculty Member, Pacific School of Religion
Asst. Dean, Disciples Seminary Foundation 

The City of Berkeley, as well as the university and the larger community, need to refresh a sense of appreciation for our historical landmark - not only to avoid conflict, but to help regenerate the possibilities for inclusion and cooperation illustrated by the early agreements, agreements which reflect restorative justice at its best. 

# # # 

Re: "I think you'll all be pleased to know that the Council decided to remove the festivals proposal from the cannabis ordinances considered at last night's meeting. We will discuss the festival concept at a future Council meeting, and I proposed referring the idea to the Cannabis and Parks/Waterfront Commissions for further deliberation and input... Sincerely, Rashi"

Dear Berkeley City Council,

I want to convey my thanks to Mayor Arreguin for removing the suggestion that Cesar Chavez Park be a "designated location for cannabis events" from the cannabis dispensaries legislation. But I remain concerned that anyone on the council thinks this matter should be the purview of the Cannabis Commission and the Parks and Waterfront Commissions alone.

The Parks and Waterfront Commission, the Community Health Commission, and the Youth Commission would be the more pertinent perspectives on an issue which has very little to do with cannabis and much more to do with the use, abuse, and privatization of public amenities such as parks, which serve a crucial public health and recreational function in a very crowded area, and should be protected from commercial promotions as well as secondhand smoke. 

Over and over I see that (1). public signage in commercial districts regarding smoking restrictions, (2.) the complaint system for non-compliance with smoking regulations in multi-unit housing currently before the Housing Advisory Commission (HAC), and the (3.) lack of education and enforcement have created a void into which the now combined tobacco and cannabis industry has not only entered, but into which cannabis/tobacco industry perspectives have been welcomed without the involvement of any public health voices. The HAC item's official designation actually used the phrase "smoking ban", a well-known effort by the tobacco industry to make public health-based smoking restrictions sound overly restrictive. One of the HAC commissioners implied that strengthening the complaint system would result in tenant evictions, another tobacco industry myth easily disproved nationwide, internationally, and also by the City of Berkeley's own experience with MUH smokefree regulation.

It took 50 years for comprehensive public health smoking regulations to be enacted in only half of the nation, and the decades it took even in California to raise taxes on tobacco left an unobstructed field for cannabis and the vape industry to become billionaire players in what should have been public health's purview. And this is no accident. Without up-to-date public health information, cannabis/tobacco industry propaganda lying in plain sight gets accepted and integrated without challenge.

Please. We have genuine expertise in the Bay Area available on these issues, if only you as council representatives and those whom you appoint to commissions would recognize the importance of public health's perspective, especially against the backdrop of the lure of easy cannabis money. The state of California has marijuana smoke listed on its Public Health website as a carcinogen (along with the references to the relevant studies) - not because of any prejudice, but because Prop. 65 mandates that all carcinogens be listed for the public's benefit. It is way past time for Berkeley's legislation to be informed by science, not cannabis/tobacco industry propaganda or the lure of a quick buck.

Introduction

Gratuitous cruelty? Why would gratuitous cruelty have a role to play in government? 

That is, besides forcing people into obedience. 

What might be the motivation for legally proclaiming that no person may sleep in their vehicle between the hours of 2 am and 5 am in the morning? 

It certainly wouldn’t be enforceable without the use of invasive force. But there it is, a testament to the thinking of Berkeley’s City Council. They passed it on March 26. It opens a door to the police to engage in invasive force – against peaceful, sleeping, unfortunate people. Is it to punish them for sleeping peacefully in the middle-of-the-night? 

To sleep in disobedience. The torturous logic of this must be clear to everybody – except the six councilmembers who voted for it twice. 

Questions

Why would elected government officials foster so unjust a condition? Who are they serving by writing it into the character of the city? Why would they choose the potentiality for torture (through sleep deprivation) over dialogue and due process? Why would they prefer it to listening to pleas for justice? In whose interest is it to impose gratuitous cruelty on people already suffering misfortune from impersonal economic forces? Why would they not seek to positively assist people who are doing their best to defend themselves against those forces? 

And who do we become, we who live in a city whose government officials can think in those torturous terms? How can we respond to that? 

What kind of structure must we now invent to allow us to replace forced obedience with humanity and due process? 

Sailboats

On March 26, the Berkeley City Council did not just enact one measure against the homeless. It enacted two, one right after the other. It spit in the face of the homeless twice. 

Both measures were designed to prevent – to actively prevent – the homeless from finding shelter for themselves. In the face of these two measures, whenever the City Council says it is in favor to housing the homeless, it lies. 

The first of these two measures was about sailboats. It was suddenly and surprisingly brought to the people’s attention (at the council session) that some unoccupied sailboats existed that could be lived in and were kept in the Marina. The council’s agenda item was to authorize the City Manager to destroy them all. 

These were 18 to 22 foot fiberglass sailboats (practically indestructible). They have bunks, and one or two can sleep in them. They keep the rain out. They have tables, places for a hot plate, so one can make coffee in the morning. They were there in the Marina, doing nothing, seized from owners who couldn’t pay their bill, or simply abandoned. 

Not all those boats might be serviceable. The hull might need some paint to dissuade barnacles -- but barnacles become a problem only when actually sailing. Some might leak, or be in disrepair. They should not be used. But those that are whole could be. 

Fiberglass is hardy stuff. It will take some doing to destroy them, to turn them into landfill. It would take nothing to let a person sleep there, to provide them with some tools so that they could fix the boat up, make it liveable and homey. A twenty-foot sloop would provide much better comfort than sleeping in a doorway on a sidewalk. 

Not everyone could manage to live on a boat. But none of the homeless were ever asked. Of the 1000 homeless people in Berkeley, some certainly would have jumped at the opportunity. It would have been a roof over their heads, and a chance to belong to a small community of others who had seized the same opportunity. Is that what the city is afraid of? 

Why had their existence not been mentioned, or broached positively, before this council meeting? Not to do so, to prefer destruction to shelter, is an act of gratuitous cruelty toward those who need that shelter. 

On March 26, twenty people spoke for using the boats, and said, “what an opportunity!” No one spoke against it, except the City Manager, who had proposed the destructive measure. She wanted a grant of over $100,000 to destroy the boats, and turn them into landfill. 

When the City Council voted to authorize the destruction of these boats, it was as if these elected officials were a child saying, “ha ha, you can’t have one.” No one said “wait, lets investigate.” No one said, “enough irrationality already!” 

Though these officials endlessly mouth their intention to house Berkeley’s unhoused people, they act directly against that. They actively destroy temporary shelter while the housing crisis remains unresolved. On the flip-side of gratuitous cruelty, we find abject hypocrisy. 

RV-dwellers

While the attitude toward the boats as hard to fathom, it comes nowhere near the irrationality of the RV-ban. The RV-dwellers already have a roof, and a place to make coffee. In considering its ban on them, the city clearly reveals its intention to oppose all attempts by the poor or the downtrodden or the unfortunate to become autonomous. It is the question of human autonomy that is raised by the sailboats and the RV-ban. 

When the RV issue sprang into public view, it was because some 50 or 60 RVs were parked in the Marina, as a living community of homeless people. They governed their own affairs, and sought to get those same services, such as water, showers, toilets, trash-removal, that ordinary neighborhoods also seek. But without addresses, that was sometimes dificult. That is the way with bureaucracy. 

Suddenly, there was a necessity to move them off the lot they had occupied opposite the Double Tree Hotel. They moved over to the “His Lordship” parking lot (the restaurant had closed), which was part of the same landfill mass as the rest of the Marina. And suddenly, again, there were rules against being there. Did they just spring from the publicity? The city refused to supersede those rules temporarily in the name of the homeless crisis, or simply in the name of justice. They chased the RVs out of that parking lot (which was then fenced off). And they refused to establish temporary parking space, though plenty was available. That was because, once the RVs had moved into neighborhoods, the city could start talking about complaints. 

It fit the pattern of prohibiting autonomy, the autonomy the RV-dwellers had gained for themselves through their vehicle investments. 

The ordinance the city then passed (on March 26), subsequent to its refusals, banned living on an RV for more than 3 months. After that, the people would have to leave town. And this was the ordinance that made sleeping in an RV between the hours of 2 am and 5 am illegal. 

There was an outcry against this (120 people spoke against it on March 26). So one councilmember suggested some exceptions (like being a student at UC – some are actually homeless). But those exceptions don’t cover all the RV-dwellers. They just make it look like the council cares, though its actions prove that it doesn’t (by outlawing sleep). 

Of course, the city would say, we don’t want people living permanently in boats in the Marina … or in RVs on the street. But no one said anything about permanence. They don’t want to live in RVs permanently. Ask them and they’ll tell you. 

Indeed, for the homeless, everything is temporary. Life is a constant search for meals, for bathrooms, for company, for a quiet spot, for a place to sleep where one is not open to attack. Every person buying a house sees that house as providing precisely those five things -- meals, bathrooms, a place to sleep safely, a place to have company, a quiet spot. In times of crisis, even the permanence of homes is threatened. 

Against the city’s phony reasons, we see the real one. It is that misanthropic theme that runs through City Council’s attitude toward people. It does not want them to shelter themselves from the elements. That would represent a level of autonomy that the city could not abide. It would be a level of community (thrown together in the “same boat”) that would question the city’s power. “We will not abide people who act in ways that diminish our control over them.” 

From sailboat destruction to bans on sleeping, we have seen the city also do tent confiscations (in violation of due process), fence off parking lots, invent resident complaints (concocted because most RVs park on warehouse and industrial blocks), refuse to provide sanitation facilities, arrest neighbors (who attempt to protect the homeless against police raids), refuse to listen to outraged people, refuse to involve the homeless in resolving their own situation. Is there nothing this city will not do to keep a thousand people in danger of death from exposure to the elements? 

The city even ignores the fact that RV presence on a street enhances security because it is a presence with eyes, and is thus a favor to neighbors. 

It calls its refusals "regulation" in the interest of the people of the city. "Regulation" is a threadbare euphemism for the cruelty of refusing shelter to city residents. It is a euphemism for the city’s refusal to play a role in bringing about dialogue and discussion between the RV-dwellers and the people of the neighborhoods they park near. In making the homeless condition worse, the government shows that common interest and mutual benefit will not be forthcoming. Government is ostensibly for the promulgation of mutual benefit and common interest. But this one acts consistently against that. Even portapotties are begrudged, so their absence will create hostilities between people. 

In the face of all this, homeless people have to figure out how to survive on their own. The abject hypocrisy occurs when the city holds that bit of autonomy against them. 

The scream

The misanthropic theme behind all this contains a silent scream that also threads itself through the night. It is the scream of a torture victim. There is no other word for it. Disobedience gives a green light to police assault (on sleeping people). To wake them up and give them a ticket is the first step toward jailing them if they don’t show up in court, or can’t pay the fine (leading to a bench warrant). The city ordinance is designed to make people suffer. That has to be said, baldly, and without temerity. The city is dedicated to making people suffer. 

On the other hand, to obey that law would mean subjecting oneself, at one’s own hand, to sleep deprivation. And sleep deprivation is a form of torture. Didn’t City Council see what it was writing, or what that meant? Or have they just become machinery? 

Well, suppose the police do not enforce it. It doesn’t matter. Now, every RV-dweller knows that the cops can come in the middle of the night. They live with that uncertainty, along with all the other uncertainties of homeless life. It imposes further stress. These RV-dwellers live with that psychological stress every night when they go to bed. That is what city harassment and derogation of all autonomy means. It is a form of slow subtle destruction of people. 

No one hears the scream of the victim. The cruelty happens slowly, and under the authority of law. People come to council to engage in “Public Comment” and plead with the City Council not to criminalize them nor to condemn them to becoming human landfill. When 150 people showed up at City Council to tell their stories, begging the city to recognize their humanity, those stories become the form the scream takes. Even the knowledge that they are reasoning with the unreasonable (the bureaucratic) becomes part of the scream. We may not hear the scream, but it nevertheless signifies that we too remain unrepresented – all of us, even the housed. 

Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! … Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! … Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!  

From Howl, by Allen Ginsberg 

 

Dear People, especially those who we have elected to represent our voices, our Democracy is in crisis and respectfully following the law is one of the essential methods we can use to get respect from all opinions on the subject. The entire country has patiently awaited the results of the Mueller Report, yet now the white house and its appointees are obstructing the release of the report to the American People. This is not a game of 2 teams fighting to get the ball, hide the truth, all of that, it is our country based on checks and balances needing to know all of the facts so that we can choose the best solutions to our problems. The truth is the only thing that can set us free. Release the Mueller Report now, our democracy depends on it.

On Saturday, March 30, thousands of people marched in the streets of Washington, calling on the US to halt its regime-change provocations against Venezuela. On Sunday, March 31, a much smaller crowd gathered before the Federal Building in Oakland to raise the same cry. 

More than a dozen speakers addressed the crowd, including members of a delegation that had recently returned from an inspection trip to Caracas. Some of the information they shared provided surprising insights into a situration that the Mainstream Media routinely misrepresents to promote Washington's Monroe-Doctrine-inspired Intervention Agenda. 

Responding to the frequent claim that Nicolas Maduro's election was "fraudulent," one of the speakers quoted former US president and international election watchdog Jimmy Carter, who declared: "Of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world." 

Venezuela has been a pioneer in electoral fingerprint technology and undertakes regular audits to guarantee transparency and eliminate voter fraud. In addition to touch-screen voting machines, every vote includes a paper ballot that must be certified as correct before voters drop their ballots in a box. Despite complaints of flaws and "coercion" in the 2018 ballot, in many ways, Venezuela's elections are more open and honest than the typical US election. (Remember: Two of the past three US presidents—George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump—were "elected" despite losing the popular vote.) 

For a detailed look at the history of Venezuelan elections, see "Consistent, Free, Fair: Venezuela's Election History Analyzed" and watch this video: 

 

Venezuela's self-declared "president" (and Mike-Pence Puppet) Juan Guaido, has repeatedly claimed that the May 2018 election that extended Maduro's term as president was "fraudulent." The New York Times, while alledging that Maduro had "stifled dissent" and "targeted his opponents," still managed to win 68% of the vote. The Times suggested that one of the reasons so many people voted for Maduro was because they feared the loss of government financial aid and food subsidies, if Maduro were replaced. 

And there is a plangent irony to Guaido's complaints that the 2018 election was "fradulent." After all, this was the same election that elevated Guaido to head the National Assembly. Lo Siento, Juan: You can't have it both ways. 

Power from the People 

One speaker who had been part of a US delegation to Caracas, described personally witnessing the misery caused by repeated power outages, especially for seniors living in the highrises that the Maduro government ordered built to house the country's elderly and poor citizens. 

When it comes to addressing the housing crisis, the Washington could take some inspiration from Caracas. Since 2016, the Maduro government's Great Housing Mission (first proposed by President Hugo Chavez) has constructed apartments for 2.5 million of its poorest citizens and plans to complete 5 million new homes by the end of 2025. 

Also effected by the blackout, according to the delegation member addressing the crowd, was the capital's free public subway system. "It's free because it turned out the cost of printing tickets was more expensive than actually moving the passengers." Now people have to rely on the free municipal buses. 

Affordable housing? Free public transportation? Food subsidies? These unreported achievements could explain why so many Venezuelans remain committed to supporting the Maduro government. 

Juan Guaido is fond of proclaiming that he will "get the lights back on" once he seizes control of the country. One of the speakers at the Oakland demo posed an interesting question: "Why can Guaido say this?" Could it be because he controls the switch? Could it be he knows full well who's responsible for cyber-hacking and bombing Venezuela's power grid? ( Footnote: One of the reasons the electricity system is in need of repairs is because US sanctions have blocked desperately needed replacement parts from entering the country.) 

Another speaker noted that, while the US media promotes Guaido agitations, it ignores larger pro-government rallies. Recently, the speaker noted, Guaido showed up at a neighborhood church to attend services on the same day Maduro held a large rally in Caracas. Angry parisioners reportedly chased him from the chapel. 

Who's the Real Hemispheric Threat? 

Another speaker mentioned that Venezuela has gone 200 years without a war. By contrast, over the past 244 years, the US has been at war for all but 21 of those years. In 2018, US combat troops were fighting "official" wars in seven countries while the US Special Operations Command was engaged in combat and "special missions" in 134 foreign countries. 

Over the past two centuries, the US has repeatedly intervened militarily and toppled governments across Latin America—in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Chile. As the KCET documentary "Harvest of Empire" notes: 

"By using foreign lands and labor to expand American business, financing the overthrow of democratically elected leaders, or training the leaders of oppressive military leaders, the US has contributed to the poverty and civil unrest that has fostered conflict and violence abroad." 

For a brief recap of Washington's historic role in destablizing Latin America, you can watch Harvest of Empire below: 

 

When a meditation practitioner, who is in some instances the same person as a mental health treatment practitioner, (but at work) behaves weirdly toward you, it is sometimes because they have problems, and not you. 

Therapy is its own system and is not the same as systems of meditation or mindfulness. However, there is a significant amount of overlap. Most therapists will probably tell you that they practice some form of mindfulness but will probably also tell you that they function from a place of "not strictly enlightened," or "not strictly Zen," depending on their individual practice and their view of themselves. 

Again, therapy is its own system. Many therapists don't practice Buddhism at all; some could be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or other. Yet, modern therapy shares a lot of concepts with parts of Buddhism. This is because the knowledge base in therapy must at least partly include characteristics of the healthy and unhealthy mind. The characteristics of the human mind don't differ depending on what tools are being used to study it. Buddhism is in large part a study of how the human mind works. And psychology is a study of the human mind, one that is a lot newer than Buddhism. 

In any group of people, (and a group exists because they or someone has decided people fit a category) there are going to be some individuals who are more conscious than others. There are some people within a group you could call "meditation practitioners" who behave bogusly, just as in any other group. 

I was at a Zen monastery in which a couple of the members who assisted seemed to single me out based on either a perceived disability or based on the observation that I am overweight and not extraordinarily well-dressed. A man tried to stop me from participating in the walking segment of the meditation because he believed I couldn't keep up. He put a hand to my shoulder, and this was not okay, nor was it very "enlightened." ** 

And, when a meditation practitioner is also a therapist, they are likely to assume that they are in a totally different and better spiritual place compared to recipients of their treatment. 

People should be openminded to the possibility that most mentally ill people are smart and aware people. Instead, most people go by a person's external appearance, or by their peers' comments. What does a smart person look like? How does a smart person behave? What about someone's appearance would make them look like a newspaper columnist and freelance author? What mannerisms would they have? How would they speak? 

Don't judge a book by its cover. My cover allows me to blend into environments in which I frequently live. Thus, someone might not notice me if I got in a line to receive food from a food bank. Someone said of me that I "blend in." And the person who said this asserted that it was "a compliment." 

Thus, Buddhist practitioners are subject to the same human errors as are treatment practitioners in the mental health treatment system. And, really, every human being is subject to some level of bogusness. There is never a way of escaping human error. And we will undoubtedly pass along the characteristics responsible for these errors to our successors, which are the artificial intelligences we are now creating. 

It is easy to be intellectually gifted, but it is hard to the point of impossible to change anyone else's mind. If you pit therapy against meditation, which one do you think wins? I have to say, neither, because both are hamstrung by the users. 

 

**Addendum to Zen monastery incident:  

Prior to the male assistant putting a hand of restraint on my shoulder, I'd meditated in a half lotus, something I wasn't limber enough to do. When we were asked to stand, I was in too much pain to immediately stand because of my legs being wrenched. This caused a disruption in their service. However, I still object to this treatment. I believe it was initiated by that individual and was without consent of one of the masters. I am including this note to be fair. However, my points concerning human flaws are still valid, and I believe most Zen students and masters would wholeheartedly agree.

Joe Biden must be biting his nails awaiting the next accusation of "inappropriate behavior" stemming from his arguably over-the-top "expressions of affection."  

In his defense, Biden says: "I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once—never—did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."  

It's agreed that we aren't talking about gross sexual assault here. Biden's misbehavior is more a bad case of male-entitlement where women enjoy the same level of diminished respect as small children and house pets. You don't need to ask a pet poodle for permission to scratch its ear or rub its belly: puppies are "affection targets." As are cute children? As are women?  

A guy like Joe doesn't see anything wrong in sidling up behind a woman and placing his hands on her shoulders. (George W. Bush famously did it to Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel.) But Joe would probably have second thoughts about making a similar move on Bill Clinton. Coif-sniffing and hair-kissing is just something "affable" guys do with "available" gals. Or so it once seemed.  

I think it's high time to further define what's permissible in the politics of physical encounters.  

First: No more overwrought political backslapping. No bear-hugs. No more patting the heads of the small children. No more squeezing of minors. (Confession: As a child, I hated visiting my grandparents because the visits always began with a smothering embrace from my overweight aunts.)  

Foremost: Let's put an end to the greatest form of politically sanctioned child abuse: baby-kissing. Offering up your children to be lip-smacked by a complete stranger—especially a slobbering, overweening politician—can be a traumatic act that risks lasting psychological damage. No more kissing babies!  

Fighting Words 

America's weaponized language has become so camouflaged by convention that the abiding undercurrents of threat and violence usually go unnoticed. But sometimes the message is so out-of-sorts with the messenger that you can't help but notice. Like when a thank-you note from Friends of the Earth includes the line: "You are adding precious fuel to the vital and ongoing fight." 

And, in this vein, an unsolicited bit of campaign advice for Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, et al. Stop waving your fists and making bellicose claims that you're ready to "fight" and "win." I think most voters simply want an honest and committed grassroots candidate who will "work hard" to achieve "progressive change." 

A Statue of Lamentations 

I think I may have an alternative to calls for removing statues commemorating Confederate hero Gen. Robert E. Lee. Leave the statues but change the quotations adorning them. 

Here are some actual quotes from Gen. Lee that might transform the monuments into touchstones of anti-war, anti-slavery sentiment: 

"It is well that war is so terrible—lest we should grow too fond of it." 

"What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world." 

"So, far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this that I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost by the war, and have suffered all that I have suffered, to have this object obtained." 

The website Son of the South offers additional thoughts from Gen. Lee. In one handwritten letter to Andrew Hunter, Lee argued that emancipation should become an official goal of the South and he proposed granting slaves freedom in exchange for joining the Confederate Army. Lee proposed that any slave who fought the Yankees should be paid "a bounty." They all would become "free men in the South after the war" and their families also would be granted their freedom—"even if the men did not survive the war." 

Caching in Your Chips 

Have you looked at a bag of Doritos lately? The bags' backsides now invite purchasers to "Follow us on Twitter" (Don't people have better things to do with their time?) and tempt would-be purchasers with a new promotional tag-line: "Snack Boldly." (Who knew it was so easy to be "bold"?) 

[Footnote: There's another two-word tagline that's filling the TV airwaves of late, courtesy of Mazda. Viewers are invited to "Feel Alive." Oddly, the TV ad associates "feeling alive" with riding in a car that's partly controlled by computer inputs.] 

But getting back to Doritos: Looking for a clue as to the link 'twixt crunching a chip and feeling like The Hulk, you might discover a new line at the bottom of the ingredients list. It reads: "Produced with Genetic Engineering." No other Frito-Lay chips seem to have that warning. So, if you want to feel "bold" (and maybe a wee bit nauseous), just skip the Sour Cream & Onion tater chips and go straight for the Doritos. 

Say No-to-NATO and Pass the Java 

A massive weeklong protest coinciding with NATO's 70^th anniversary recently raised a ruckus from March 30-April 4 in the nation's capitol. Events featured marches, panels, demos, artists, concerts, and nonviolent actions, all intended to amplify the message: "NATO is a waste of resources; NATO makes us more unsafe!" An email from one of the groups in the coalition planning the event proposed issuing a "WAKE UP CALL" by printing anti-NATO messages on paper cups used to hand out free coffee. "Wake up and smell the militarism" was a leading cup slogan—until someone in the planning team emailed the following: "If one wished to opt for a crude-but-honest reference to NATO's history, the stickers on the cups could read: 'Wake Up and Smell the Coffins.'" 

"Gunsplaining" the NRA's WMDs 

In most states, teenagers can't buy a beer or a handgun until they turn 21 but, at the age of 18, they can purchase military-style rifles like the AR-15 (aka the "weapon of choice for mass killings"). The "gunsplaining" activists of the NRA insist that rapid-fire weapons are Constitutionally requiried for the purpose of "personal self-defense" (an argument that does not quite square with participation in a "well-regulated militia"). 

But please to note: Kalishnikovs or Remington Bushmasters are not called "self-protection devices." They are semi-automatic/automatic, rapid-fire weapons that can kill at a distance of 1,600 feet. Why is there even a debate here? They are openly called assault rifles! Defend "assault rifles" and you are defending someone's right to use these weapons to "assault" others. 

When it comes to making money from mayhem, "assault" provides a useful euphemism for "murder," "attack," "massacre," "mass-killing," and "assassination." 

A CHP Alert Ends Happily—Except for Michael 

On March 28, my cell-phone emitted a loud bleep to announce a disturbing message from the California Highway Patrol: An "Endangered Missing Advisory" reported that a black Honda Civic was involved in a possible kidnapping involving a mother and her two-year-old child. Checking the CHP's online alert page, I discovered that one alert driver had already responded: "Black Honda with what looks like a child standing in back of the car seen entering hwy 4 eastbound from alhambra ave exit." To which the CHP replied: "Thank you for the information…. Have a great day." 

The CHP eventually reported: "This Endangered Missing Advisory has been deactivated. Both parties have been located." Everyone was safe. But the CHP's public response list contained some further, unexpected surprises. 

Scrolling down the list of Tweets, I found a kvetch from a driver named Michael who had written: "Thanks for the carpool ticket. Maybe you could have spent time looking instead!" To which, a Tweeter named Sondra replied: "Maybe next time you won't try to cheat the system!" 

But then things got even stranger. 

CHP Website: Hacked by Hookers? 

Among the emergency alert respondees were several individuals who posted links to their personal Twitter accounts. These included two young women who appeared in provocative poses. A click on the first of the links uncorked a pop-up page from one "Susan Gxxxx." [Full name redacted.] The left side of the page included a photo of Susan posing in just half of a two-piece bikini. Another, larger graphic (imposed on full display atop the CHP Alert page) was even more unexpected and astonishing. It was a close-up photo of Susan openly fondling her vagina. (I have a screenshot to prove it.) One more click and the CHP alert was replaced by the homepage for an "adult dating" site. 

Does the CHP know it's website is being used to promote adult hookups? In addition to looking out for disabled pickup trucks, it looks like the CHP may need to start keeping an eye out for computer-enabled pick-up tricks. 

Rest in Peace 

Still curious, a few days later, a follow-up visit to the CHP Alert page revealed a posting by a young woman named Nikki (posing with her tongue dangling provocatively down her chin). Nikki's messages included reactions to the recent murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle and included the following grim note from "Adrian Gxxxxxx": 

"I know Nipsey Hussle died today, but today my little cousin was also shot 5 times. A gun was put to his big brother and he tried to hit it out of the robbers hand then was shot after. Sounds just like him, he was a hell of a kid. Such a hero, Rest In Peace family, I love you." 

And Speaking of Heroes 

Pentagon whistleblower Chelsea Manning is back in prison for refusing to answer questions from a grand jury. She is allowed to receive letters: here's where to write: 

Chelsea Elizabeth Manning 

AO181426 

William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center 

2001 Mill Road, Alexandria, VAS 22314 

Note: Send letters on white paper only 

Use the USPS to send letters 

Do not send cards, packages, postcards, photocopies or cash 

Do not decorate the outside of the envelope 

Do not send books or magazines 

 

Currently, Philharmonia Baroque is performing Handel’s 1638 oratorio Saul throughout the Bay Area. I attended the Saturday, April 6 performance at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church. In addition to a Sunday matinee, April 7 at the same local venue, Saul will be given Friday, April 12 at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre and on Saturday, April 13 at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto.  

Set to a libretto by Charles Jennens, who would later provide Handel with the libretto for The Messiah, Handel’s Saul tells the story of the first king of the united monarchy of Israel and Judah, c. 1050 BCE. Saul may be king, but he worries that the popularity of young David, who has just slain the giant Philistine Goliath, may pose a threat to Saul’s kingship. Becoming ever more fixated on David as a threat, Saul, who at first presents David to the Israelite people as their savior and offers his own eldest daughter, Merab, to be David’s bride, quickly becomes so unhinged at the popularity David receives from the Israelites, that he hurls his javelin at David in the first of several unsuccessful attempts by Saul to have David killed. Things go swiftly downhill from there. It is a sordid tale, indeed.  

To complicate matters, Saul’s son, Jonathan, establishes a passionate friendship with young David, one that has more than a tinge of a homoerotic affair. When Saul then seeks to enlist Jonathan in a plot to kill David, this puts enormous stress on Jonathan. In a further complication, Saul’s eldest daughter, Merab, who is announced as David’s bride-to-be, snobbishly rejects David as being too low-born to become her future husband. Meanwhile, Merab’s younger sister, Michal, develops a crush on David and secretly hopes to become his bride. This, in a nutshell, is the plot of this sordid story. Fortunately, it is told in splendid music by George Friederick Handel. 

For this presentation of the oratorio Saul, Philharmonia Baroque’s Music Director Nicholas McGegan assembled a splendid cast. Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen was billed in pre-performance hype as the superstar lead in the role of David. However, in spite of how well Cohen sang in this role, I’m not at all convinced that he should have been given top billing. At least equally as great, it seems to me, was bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch as Saul. In navigating the all-too-quick emotional changes Saul goes through, Daniel Okulitch was vocally robust and dramatically convincing 

In the role of David, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen had it relatively easy. His character is a good-guy throughout. Only once did David indulge in some of the same paroxysms of rage that brought about the downfall of Saul; and this was when, informed by a messenger of the death of Saul in battle against the Amalekites, David arrogantly orders the messenger to be killed.  

As I said at the outset, it’s a sordid tale, full of Hebrews fighting non-Hebrews and Hebrews fighting among themselves. However, it’s a tale that aught to pose questions, among other things, about the origins of the current Israeli war against the Palestinians. In short, this sordid tale goes way back in history and yet continues in ever more aggravated fashion into the present day. 

In the role of Merab, soprano Yulia Van Doren was sweet-voiced, even when dismissing the low-born David as her future-husband. Throughout, Van Doren sang with great clarity of tone. Later, her character had second thoughts and began to hold David in greater respect. As Michel, soprano Sherezade Panthaki, was outstanding. Her command of elaborate coloratura passages is almost beyond belief. Yet Panthaki can also be softly sweet-voiced when the libretto calls for it. Tenor Aaron Sheehan was excellent as Jonathan, a role that calls for a balance between allegiance to a father (Saul) and allegiance to a beloved friend (David). In several small roles, tenor Jonathan Smucker ably handled the roles of Abner, the Witch of Endo, and the Amalekite messenger. Likewise, bass-baritone Christian Pursell was in fine voice as Doeg and the ghost of the prophet Samuel.  

Orchestrally, this was for Handel a huge instrumental enterprise. Three trombones, a harp, a solo organ, and a “carillon” provided by a keyboard glockenspiel, were all part of Handel’s orchestration. Not to mention two huge kettledrums used in the instrumental “symphonies” that accompany scene breaks as well as music such as the famous funeral march, during which a solo flute, played here beautifully by Janet See, mourns the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. Likewise, there are ample opportunities for the organ to take the lead, played here by Jory Vinikour, most notably, in the Act II symphony that closes Scene 5. Jory Vinikour also doubled on glockenspiel. Bass-baritone Christian Pursell was excellent in the roles of Doeg and the ancient prophet Samuel, singing forcefully in each of his roles. Throughout this oratorio, conductor Nicholas McGegan kept things moving at a brisk pace. Though Handel’s Saul runs a bit long, McGegan’s sense of pace made it run smoothly.  

 

a

The Tallis Scholars, long recognized as the world’s leading exponents of Renaissance sacred music, offered on Thursday evening, April 4, a program of music inspired by the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. Peter Phillips, the group’s founder and director, announced from the stage that this was the nineteenth time The Tallis Scholars were performing in Berkeley’s First Congregational Church, the first having been in 1989. Hearing The Tallis Scholars perform sacred works by Renaissance composers who had close associations with the Sistine Chapel was a rare treat. The a capella polyphony of the ten Tallis Scholars vocalists was transcendent. one might even say, trance-inducing. 

Peter Philips designed the program by featuring five individual movements from diverse sacred works by Giovani Pierluigi da Palestrina (Italy, 1525-1594).. Interspersed among the Palestrina pieces were works by such composers as Cristobal de Morales (Spain, 1500-1553), Costanzo Festa (Italy, 1495-1545), Elzea Genet Carpentras (France, c. 1470-1548), Gregorio Allegri (Italy, c. 1582-1652), Alexander Campkin (England, b. 1984), and Josquin des Prez (Flanders, c. 1450-1521).  

As the program opened with the Kyrie Eleison from Palestrina’s Missa Assumpta est Maria, I was momentarily taken aback by the sheer volume of sound produced by the vocalists. Two microphones suspended from the ceiling hung down in the shallow space between the stage and the audience, and the music seemed at first to be over-miked. Moreover, high sopranos and strong tenors tended to overwhelm the mid-range voices. Yet somehow I quickly became used to the volume, and as the program developed, I began to hear the altos and basses whose lower voices added much to the varying colors of the music. The Regina caeli of Morales was beautifully sung, as was the Gloria from Palestrina’s Missa Ecce ego Johannes. I especially enjoyed the Quam pulchra es from Costanzo Festa, performed by a reduced grouping of three women and one man, the latter a soft-voiced tenor. Then came what was for me a highlight of the concert, Lamentations by Elzea Genet Carpentras, based on the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah. This work, sung by five men and one woman, featured gorgeous melismas, the musical equivalent of Jeremiah’s weeping and wailing. The Credo from Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli closed out the first half of the concert 

The program’s second half opened with yet another highlight, Gregorio Allegri’s famed Miserere, a work so closely associated with the Sistine Chapel that its score was never allowed outside the walls of the Vatican. However, as a result of centuries of alterations and improvised embellishments by singers, the work itself was handed down in less than authentic fidelity to the original score. Nonetheless, it is a strikingly beautiful work, one featuring divided choirs plus a soloist. For this performance, Peter Philips had the second choir, made up of four women and one man, sing from the foyer at the back of the hall, while the first choir sang from the stage. The soloist, a tenor, sang from stage-right. The dominant feature of this Miserere consists of a single soprano voice repeatedly soaring high above the other voices in verse after verse. The effect here was truly transcendent. 

In the work that followed, a Sanctus & Benedictus from Palestrina’s Missa Confitebor tibi domine, all ten vocalists of The Tallis Scholars brought out the varying colors of the music. Next came the sole contemporary work, the lovely Miserere est from English composer Alexander Campkin. This work, a loving tribute to Allegri’s Miserere, also features divided choirs and a soaring soprano voice. However, it begins with a low, grumbling sound from the basses, recalling to my ear the sacred music of the Orthodox Church, Greek or Russian. This fine work closed with contrasting high and low notes on the two syllables of the Latin word tuan.  

Josquin des Prez has often been called Renaissance music’s super-star. This Flemish composer was much sought-after throughout Europe, and his stay in Rome is memorialized in the name “JOSQUINJ” he carved with a knife in the woodwork of the chorus stalls of the Sistine Chapel. For this concert, Josquin was represented by Inter natos mulierum, a paen to John the Baptist. The printed part of the program closed with the Agnus Dei from Palestrina’s Missa Brevis. To enthusiastic applause, The Tallis Scholars performed an encore of a ten-part Crucifixus from Antonio Locris. Whether you are religious or not, this program of Renaissance polyphony sung by The Tallis Scholars was nothing short of heavenly.

Worth Noting:

City Council is on Spring Recess until April 22.

Wednesday the Police Review Commission starts with review of Lexipol Policies (policing policies) at 5:30 pm followed by the regular meeting at 7 pm.

Thursday the Community Environmental Advisory Commission (CEAC) agenda looks very interesting.

General information including the Land Use Calendar, tentative schedule of City Council work sessions, boards and commissions delinquent in posting meeting minutes and links to BUSD and regional meetings are posted at the bottom after the summary of next week’s meetings. 

 

Sunday, April 7, 201 

Ben Bartlett District 3 and Mayor Jesse Arreguin Coffee Chat, 3:30 – 5 pm, at 2517 Sacramento St, MoJoe, 

350 Bay Area Action Legislative Committee, 1 – 3 pm, at 2530 San Pablo, Sierra Club Bay Chapter Office, limit 30 (small room) – use link to sign-up 

https://350bayarea.org/event/350-bay-area-action-legislative-committee-meeting 

Monday, April 8, 2019 

Agenda and Rules Committee, Monday, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm, at 2180 Milvia, 6^th Floor Redwood Conf Room, Agenda: Planning for April 23 City Council regular meeting, Consent10. Paving/Grading contract, 18. Good Government Ombudsman, 19. Zero Emission Bills AB 40, AB 1418, 26. Referral Reform Affordable Housing Mitigation Fee, Action: ZAB appeal 1722 Walnut, 29. Missing Middle Housing Report Referral, 30. Volunteer initiative Adopt a Spot, 31. Standby Officier Policy, 32. Short Term Referral Process, 33 a.&b. Fossil Free Berkeley, 34. Mosquito Abatement, 35. Air Quality Monitoring, 36. Paid Family Leave, 37. Construction Workforce Policy, U1 Funds 2001 Ashby, 39. Creation Vehicle Dwellers Governance Body, 40. Resolution Public Bank, 41. Protected Milvia Bikeway Pilot Project University – Allston, 42. Referral Amnesty Program Legalizing Unpermitted Dwelling Units, Information: 43. Ethical Climate Audit Status Report. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/Agenda_Committee__2019_Index.aspx 

Peace and Justice Commission, 7 pm at 2180 Milvia, 1^st Floor Cypress Room, Agenda: 10. 50 year commemoration Peoples Park, 11. Sanctuary Contracting Ordinance, 12. US withdrawal from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Peace_and_Justice_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

Tax the Rich Rally, with music by Occupella, 5 – 6 pm at the Top of Solano in front of the Closed Oaks Theater, Rain Cancels 

Tuesday, April 9, 2019 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board - IRA/AGA/Registration Committee, 7 – 11 pm, at 2001 Center St, Law Library, 2^nd Floor, Agenda: 4. Regulation Streamling project, 5. Tenant Protection Ordinance enforcement, 6. Tenant Opportunity to Purchase legislation 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/rent/ 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission – Subcommittee on Bird Safe Berkeley, 6:30 pm at 2000 University, Au Coquelet, Agenda: Draft Proposed Resolution http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Community_Environmental_Advisory_Commission/ 

Wednesday, April 10, 2019 

Homeless Commission, 7 – 9 pm at 2180 Milvia, 1^st Floor Cypress Room, Agenda: 7. Homeless Youth, Youth Works, First Source, 8. Crime by homeless persons and impact on other homeless and community, 9. Inclusionary Housing over Housing Trust Fund monies for new developments, 10. Housing subsidy discrimination, 11. Input to Council on encampments, peer driven models, expanded shelter access 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Homeless_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

Parks and Waterfront Commission, 7 – 9 pm at 2800 Park St, Frances Albrier Community Center, Agenda: 7. Reports, T1, 4^th July funding, 8. Special events, 9. Cazadero Camp, 10. Pickleball, 11. Annual Fee Increases, 12. Parking Changes 14. Cannabis special events 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Parks_and_Waterfront_Commission.aspx 

Police Review Commission, at 2939 Ellis, South Berkeley Senior Center 

5:30 pm – Lexipol Policies Subcommittee 

7 – 10 pm – Regular Meeting, Agenda: 8.a. “clear and convincing” standard, 9. a. Mental Health Emergencies – questions to ask BPD and Mental Health Staff, b. Appreciation certificate, c. Consider revising Lexipol Subcommittee 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Police_Review_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

Thursday, April 11, 2019 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission, 7 – 9 pm at 1901 Russell St, Tarea Hall Pittman South Branch Library, Agenda: IX. 2. Bird Safety Draft Policy, 3. Cigarette Butt Receptacles, 4. Bee City Initiative, 5. Green Stormwater Infrastructure, 6. Community Reporting of Pollutants, 7. Natural Gas Letter 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Community_Environmental_Advisory_Commission/ 

Public Works Commission, 7 – 10 pm at 1326 Allston Way, Willow Room, City of Berkeley Corporation Yard, No agenda posted, check before going 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Public_Works_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

Friday, April 12 2019 

City Reduced Service Day 

Saturday, April 13, 2019 

San Pablo Park Playground and Tennis Court Renovations Community Meeting, 10 am– 12 pm at 2800 Park St, Frances Albrier Community Center 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Parks_Rec_Waterfront/San%20Pablo%20Park%20Playground%20and%20Tennis%20Court%20Renovations%20Community%20Meeting%204-13-19.pd 

Transition Berkeley Open Meeting, 4 – 5:30 pm, at 1901 Russell, Terea Hall Pittman, South Branch Berkeley Public Library, Agenda: 8^th Anniversary, nonprofit status, Transition Berkeley activities and projects. 

https://mailchi.mp/d4943ef8d249/transition-berkeley-digest-4519?e=6456837fb3 

Sunday, April 14, 2019 

Egg Dyeing and Water Games – Ages 3-12, 12 – 1:30 pm, at King Pool, 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventMain.aspx?calendarEventID=15749 

___________ 

 

LAND USE 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

1722 Walnut – rescheduled – 4-23-2019 

1050 Parker – Parker – Medical Office Building - 4-30-2019 no longer listed on calendar 

2700 Tenth – Pardee Parking Lot - 4-30-2017 

1444 Fifth St – 4 single family dwellings - 5-14-2019 

Notice of Decision (NOD) With End of Appeal Period 

1991 Marin (add new ADU) – 4-8-2019 

3084 Claremont Ave (outdoor seating) – 4-10-2019 

3212 Adeline (add service distilled spirits) – 4-17-2019 

2518 Durant (add service distilled spirits) – 4-17-2019 

Remanded to ZAB or LPC With 90-Day Deadline 

1155-73 Hearst (develop 2 parcels) – ZAB 5-19-2019 

 

WORKSHOPS 

May 7 – Proposed FY 2020-FY 2021 Budget, Zero Waste Rate Review, Bond Disclosure Training 

June 18 – Transfer station feasibility Study, Green Stormwater Infrastructure, Arts and Culture Plan 

Sept 17 – Vision Zero Action Plan, UC Berkeley Student Housing Plan, Adeline Corridor Plan 

Oct 22 – Berkeley’s 2020 Vision Update, Census 2020 Update 

Unscheduled – Cannabis Health Considerations 

 

Unscheduled PRESENTATIONS 

May 1 and 3 @ Budget Committee – Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront CIP Update, Public Works CIP Update 

May 28 – tentative EBMUD presentation 

________________________ 

 

To Check For Regional Meetings with Berkeley Council Appointees go to 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Committee_and_Regional_Body_Appointees.aspx 

 

To check for Berkeley Unified School District Board Meetings go to 

https://www.berkeleyschools.net/schoolboard/board-meeting-information/ 

 

_____________________ 

 

Boards and Commission Delinquent in Publishing Meeting Minutes within two weeks of meeting. (page 35 Commissioner’s Manual – Secretary Responsibility) 

 

Board of Library Trustees, meeting March 6, no minutes posted on March 22 

https://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/about/board-library-trustees 

 

Children, Youth and Recreation Commission - no minutes posted for 2019 in table, minutes for prior meeting only available with agendas upcoming meeting.  

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Children_Youth_and_Recreation_Commission/ 

Commission on Disability, March 6 minutes not available to the public on March 29, note with agenda March minutes will not be available until May meeting packet 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Commission_on_Disability_Homepage.aspx 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission - meeting March 14 - no minutes March 29  

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Community_Environmental_Advisory_Commission/ 

Community Health Commission, meeting February 28, no minutes posted March 22, this commission is doing better with March 28 meeting minutes available when checked April 5. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Community_Health_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

Parks and Waterfront Commission, meeting 3-13-2019, no minutes on March 29  

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Parks_and_Waterfront_Commission.aspx 

Peace and Justice Commission, meeting March 4, no minutes on March 29 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Peace_and_Justice_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

Commission on Labor, meeting March 20, no minutes on April 5 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Commission_on_Labor_Homepage.aspx 

Commission on the Status of Women, meeting March 20, no minutes on April 5 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Commission_on_the_Status_of_Women_Homepage.aspx 

Loan Administration Board, meeting March 18, no minutes on April 5 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Loan_Admin_Board.aspx 

Transportation Commission, meeting March 21, no minutes posted April 5 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Transportation_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

Youth Commission, meeting listed as occurring March 11, however, no accessible agenda, no minutes, no cancellation notice 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Youth_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

 

 

 

This meeting list is also posted on the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition website. 

http://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html and in the Berkeley Daily Planet under activist’s calendar http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com 

 

When notices of meetings are found that are posted after Friday 5:00 pm they are added to the website schedule https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html and preceded by LATE ENTRY