Page One

Editor: 

Its hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the latest reinvention of Berkeley politics, the Nimby Party (aptly nicknamed the "Berkeley Party").  

For these visionaries, our city, once known for championing noble truths (the Free Speech Movement) and international justice (the anti-apartheid fight) will now carry the banner of defense of the status quo. Yes, in this world of finite resources, swelling populations, and increasing disparities of wealth and opportunity, by all means, let's not only put a fence around our city and keep out all those undesirable extra people, let's go one step further and put up fences around all the neighborhoods, the better to keep out those annoying "outsiders" from other parts of the city who want to start businesses, build housing, use the parks, and otherwise abuse the sensibilities of our new arbiters of truth, "neighborhood activists." That's surely a philosophical base that will end the bickering in our city government. 

Tom McHenry 

Berkeley