Extra

Pasted below is the letter sent by me today to Mayor Arreguin, the City Manager, the Deputy City Manager, members of the Berkeley City Council, and other staff. I hope that it will lead to change in the oppressively dysfunctional Berkeley Parks Department. Last Sunday it felt as I was a lone victim, but in recent days numerous neighbors and others have expressed their dismay about the action of the Parks Department, and I have learned that serious problems have been rife for years. The current Parks Department needs to be plowed-under. Healthy new growth is needed for the citizens of this community.  

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Dear All, 

Since the plants across from my home were destroyed by order of the Berkeley Parks department exactly a week ago (Sunday, April 18, 2020), I’ve had serendipitous conversations with people who walk in the neighborhood as well as others in Berkeley. On the occasions where I have needed to be out continuing to work during the lockdown because of the requirement to refill my green bin every week in order to slowly get rid of the huge pile of debris left from the destruction of the plants, people previously unknown to me have stopped to ask “why did you do this?” and I have told them that the City required it and insisted that the work be finished within 14 days of notice from the Parks department, on threat of fines of $2,500 per day and a lien against my home. Those passersby have expressed shock, dismay, and commiseration.  

In discussing this extremely distressing matter, it has come to my attention that my experience is only a tiny corner of the bizarre values in evidence in operation of the City of Berkeley Parks department. My fear is that calling this to the attention of others in the City government and bureaucracy may not result in quick improvements, as bureaucratic incompetence is notoriously difficult to uproot. The people who perpetrate these kinds of behaviors and values have established protected and well-paid positions within organizations and have powerful people who enforce their incompetence and bad behavior. Nonetheless, I am contacting you and asking that you explore and intervene to move toward a Parks department that might serve the needs of Berkeley’s citizens and might enhance rather than degrade our quality of life. 

The instance that was done against me was the aforementioned demand that I cut back to the level that would destroy all the green shrubs (rosemary, lavender, manzanita, and a Mexican yellow flower) that were planted in the City property next to my home decades ago by a previous next-door neighbor, at her own expense—she was interested in landscaping and committed to neighborhood beautification. She succeeded in beautifying the neighborhood, and the plants thrived for decades. Suddenly in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown came the order from the Berkeley Parks department to cut all shrubs back to no higher than 2 feet, thus requiring that all green parts be destroyed. The fact that this draconian order came at such a time underscores the poor judgment dominating the Parks department.  

Destruction of the plants does not enhance the neighborhood and does not increase safety. The crosswalks were open (as shown by the City’s own photographs). I have lived here for decades. There has never in that time been an accident involving a pedestrian, although people use the crosswalks (and many jay-walk). I have driven around that corner pretty much daily for decades and have never experienced difficulty seeing where I was going or who or what was in front of me. What might make sense would be to enforce the two stop signs at the corner. But that would be done by another part of the City government and has nothing to do with green plants. 

I’m told by others that the Parks department has made a major project throughout the City of demanding that Berkeley citizens destroy plants growing in some of the traffic circles constructed in intersections. The Parks department apparently claims that the existence of these plants constitutes a hazard of some sort. They do not. The structures were constructed by the City in order to make it impossible to speed through the intersections. Cars slow down (some even stop at stop signs) and proceed around the structures more slowly. Having beautiful green plants and flowers does not create a hazard.  

In talking with others, it has become clear that there is department-wide profound dysfunction throughout the Berkeley City Parks department. The swimming program has involved lax management and incompetence. (I can give more detail from people who have, upon hearing about my problem, volunteered information about bureaucratic dysfunction that is long-standing. As is common in these kinds of situations, people tend to do what they find increases their job security and access to well-paid pensions rather than go against the grain of the people at the top).  

I will be happy to talk further with anyone in Berkeley’s elected government or professional civil service who would be willing to look into this severe problem and make changes. Given how entrenched the current Parks department personnel appear to be, I suspect this will not be an easy job. I doubt the people who come up with perversities such as systematic Parks programs for destroying any efforts by Berkeley residents to improve and beautify their city will be responsive to efforts to modify their current practices and values. 

In summary: It is truly perverted that the PARKS department focuses on forcing citizens of Berkeley to spend our own money destroying beautiful green plants. It is beyond nutty. A friend mentioned, as noted, that the Parks department has also been demanding that people destroy plants in some of the round structures at intersections. We need to plow-under the current Parks department, and we need a new effort to address real problems in our neighborhood. Safety at the intersection at Ward & Acton is not improved by destruction of beautiful shrubs. Safety would be improved, though, by enforcement of the stop signs, which are regularly violated.  

Sincerely yours,