Public Comment

LT. WATADA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for covering Lt. Watada story. Lt. Watada’s courage and honesty are what I believe in. He gives me hope. I need true heroes. Lt. Watada and Congresswoman Barbara Lee both speak for me. I know my dad, who was a World War II vet, would agree. 

A. May Kandarian 

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DENISE BROWN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I feel very fortunate to have known Denise Brown and am deeply saddened by her passing. For the many people in her extended community this is a terrible loss. 

On a more personal note, Ms. Brown was my daughter’s after school theater arts teacher throughout her years at Le Conte Elementary and her classroom teacher in fourth grade. More recently, as my daughter began her first year at Berkeley High I felt confident that Ms. Brown would be there for her if she ever needed to talk to someone she knew and trusted. 

Denise was a remarkable leader whose strength and magnetism quickly brought the community together to help achieve the highest goals she had for the students she tirelessly served. She was wise and caring and always took the time to inquire about how things were going, offering her assistance whenever necessary. 

Thank you, Denise, for all of the support and energy you gave to the many people whose paths were fortunate to have crossed your own. I will miss you and I will always treasure the time I had in your beautiful presence. 

Suzanna Aguayo 

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FIRE STATIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For the health and safety of the citizens of Berkeley, the city needs to allocate sufficient funds to keep all the Berkeley fire stations operating full time at all times. Rotating closures endanger the health and safety of Berkeley citizens. The mayor and city council need to allocate the funds to keep our fire stations open and fully staffed. 

Edith Hillinger 

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TELEGRAPH AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Does any sane person out there actually think turning two lanes of Telegraph Avenue over to AC Transit for bus only traffic is a good idea? Regardless of what the studies and impact reports to be commissioned have to say, this is what will happen: 

1. A few more people will ride the bus. 

2. Just as many people will say the hell with Berkeley and go to El Cerrito, Oakland and Emeryville for shopping and entertainment. Of course that migration is nothing new. But it will accelerate. 

3. The vast majority who drive will simply choke up the remaining two single lanes of Telegraph, as well as Shattuck, MLK and Sacramento. Not to mention all the side streets on southside. 

So what is really to be gained? 

Frank Greenspan 

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CAMPAIGN SPENDING STORY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have to take issue with the tone of the article written by Judith Scherr titled “Election Report Highlights City’s Big Spenders” in the Feb. 6-8 edition. The article opens with a summary of election contributions to George Beier’s campaign for the Berkeley City Council last November. The article lists “some of the big spenders donating to the Beier campaign ... include a number of developers who signed up for $250 a pop...” I cannot see how a $250 contribution can be considered as “big spending.” The article then points out that each vote Beier received cost $57.57. With this logic each “big spender” was accountable for less than five votes each in Beier’s losing effort. The remainder of the article summarized the contributions received by the candidates in other districts but the term “big spender” was not used again. However you spin it, it is still spin. 

By the way I very much enjoy the articles written by Joe Eaton, Ron Sullivan and Matt Cantor. 

Art Kapoor 

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HARRIET TUBMAN TERRACE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to describe that there is no evacuation procedure or structure for those who cannot access the stairs at Harriet Tubman Terrace. On Monday, Feb. 5, there was a small fire in one of the apartments. The fire personnel tried to get all of the tenants on that floor out of their apartments and into the elevators but before that could happen the elevators locked down and could not be used. 

The fire was quickly contained. We here in the building know that there is no evacuation procedure in place for those tenannts who cannot access the stairs at Harriet Tubman Terrace. Our HUD representative thinks disabled tenants should find other subsidized housing. It’s too expensive to build evacuation structures. Either that, or the management should move them to the first two floors of the building. Not a bad idea but it will never happen. I hope that a major fire never happens. 

Name withheld 

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STATE OF RAPTURE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Walking home this afternoon after the exhilarating Wednesday Noon Concert at Hertz Hall, I was in a state of rapture, having just heard a brilliant young pianist, Jared Redmond, in a truly dynamic recital. Call it an exaggeration, if you wish, but I wonder if there’s been a finer performance in any of the world’s great concert halls than today’s superb program. A large, enthusiastic crowd gathered at the stage door to congratulate this virtuoso, who, I’m convinced , is destined to become an internationally famous performer. Reflecting on other memorable programs I had enjoyed in just the past week, I thought how very, very fortunate I am to live within walking distance of UC. Topping off the list of programs was the stimulating conversation between Professor Robert Hass and the artist Bernardo Botero, which launched the exhibit of the haunting paintings of the torture victims at Abu Ghraib. A few days later a young Iraq poet read her verses at the Thursday Noon Poetry Program in the Morrison Room at Doe Library. That same evening, Robert Pinsky , a U.S. Poet Laureate, spoke in Wheeler Hall. At Zellerbach Hall we were treated to flamenco music by guitarist Paco de Lucia. The list goes on and on (i.e., a talk by Robert Reich at Wheeler Hall on Feb. 21). It seems to me I meet myself coming and going to campus to take in all these events. My energy level is running low! Once again, I can only say how grateful I am to the University of California for enriching my life with the wealth of cultural events if offers our community. 

Dorothy Snodgrass 

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DECISION MAKING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your Feb. 6 editorial “Wozniak’s Vote: A Conflict of Interest” got me thinking about the difference between the legal and scientific approach to decision making. In a court case the juror evaluates information that is presented by the attorneys. It is the attorneys’ responsibility to make sure that all the relevant information is presented. You are supposed to know nothing about the case when it starts, and you are explicitly admonished against gathering information on your own. The judge is supposed to make sure that the information that is presented in court is relevant. You are not presumed to be competent to make this determination yourself, although amazingly you are supposedly competent to evaluate the information that is presented to you. At least this is how it has looked to me from my limited jury experiences. 

This passive approach is not what is used in the sciences. The scientist is free to gather information, and determine relevancy. Furthermore, you are expected to hypothesize and form opinions. You are expected to test those hypotheses and opinions, and change them if new information warrants the change. 

The editorial suggests that it is a conflict of interest and unethical for Wozniak to have an opinion on Wright’s garage before the issue is brought to council. From the scientist’s perspective it is irresponsible, and even unethical, not to take an active role in gathering information. A council member is not a juror. I think the city attorney’s ruling on the Landmarks Preservation Commission was a disaster, and I suggest that it would be even worse if applied to the City Council. It would certainly make campaigns interesting if the successful candidates were not allowed to vote on any issues on which they had previously expressed an opinion. 

Disclaimer: I am a scientist and Wozniak’s appointee to the environmental advisory commission. 

Robert Clear 

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KITCHEN DEMOCRACY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In your previous edition you attacked our community website www.KitchenDemocracy.org, and tried to frighten our members. You wrote: 

“Several e-mail writers objected vigorously to K-D’s practice of requiring would-be voters to disclose personal information before being allowed to join, and others complained that they’d tried to enroll but their comments never appeared on the site as promised. These complaints weren’t intended for publication in the Planet, so we won’t reprint them here...” 

You also stated: “I’m signed up as a member of K-D’s voting group myself, having long since abandoned any claims to privacy.” 

First, I repeat facts which are on our website, and were easily available to you as you prepared your editorial: 

1) KD is an Internet Forum for civic discourse. Among other things, we tally opinions. We collect name, address and e-mail to prevent vote fraud. 

2) We zealously protect our members’ privacy. Our privacy policy, which can be accessed from a link on every page of our website, clearly states that we do not share contact information. We publish names next to comments only when the writer gives us permission. 

3) To further prevent vote fraud, users need to click on the link we e-mail them in order to verify their comment. A small percentage of members need help doing that, and we have published every comment of every person who asked for that help. 

4) We publish every verified comment which does not contain personal attacks or obscenities: more than 99 percent of verified comments are published as is. For the remaining 1 percent, we contact every author and invite them to revise the offending language. More than half of them do. 

My question for you is this: If your e-mail writers’ complaints weren’t intended for publication, why do you publish them? Why, without any proof, do you write that voting on KD compromises our members’ privacy and that KD does not publish voter comments? Why are you afraid of an all-volunteer organization whose only goal is to help people engage in civic dialog? 

You’ve done a disservice to me and all the other KD volunteers who have tirelessly produced KD as a free public service for almost a year purely out of our dedication to open, civic dialog. You’ve done a disservice to our 1,200 Berkeley members who, despite intimidating reports about privacy on the web, love to be able to learn about Berkeley issues and participate in City Hall deliberations from their own home on their own schedule. 

But most of all, you’ve done a disservice to every Berkeley resident who loves this town as a symbol of what she loves best about America: a place where every person has the right to express her opinion without fear of intimidation or attack. You, as editor of the town newspaper, abrogated your responsibility to protect that tradition when you attacked Kitchen Democracy and tried to frighten its members. You’ve done a disservice to the City of Berkeley. 

Robert Vogel 

Kitchen Democracy 

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CELL PHONE TOWERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A letter to my friends in the LeConte Neighborhood: 

First let me say that if nothing else had come out of our efforts to prevent this awful intrusion of our corner of town, I felt that this struggle had brought us closer as a neighborhood, and for that I was grateful. However, something did come out of it. Actually, we achieved a lot. 

It certainly is no small feat when a group of individuals, relatively unknowledgeable about law, and certainly not backed by truckloads of money (as is the case with our adversaries), pool their talents and resources to fight and win a battle that at first seems daunting. We did just that, and we should all be very proud of our accomplishments. 

Verizon and Nextel have millions if not billions of dollars backing them; and Patrick Kennedy, too, is certainly not strapped for cash. Yet none of this mattered for one simple reason—our sheer determination. We did not back down. Each and every individual involved showed an amount of courage that made me proud to live in this neighborhood. 

Personally, I don’t put much stock in politics. I look at our collective history as a species and see a legacy of power leading to corruption. I believe in the individual, and his/her potential to change his/herself, eventually influencing others through their actions. Now, and much thanks to you all, I can add another impetus for change to my list—the community. Although global and certainly statewide politics seem in an utter state of dismay, at least now I know that there is the possibility for change on a local level and I am truly inspired by this, so thank you all. 

Chris Restivo  

P.S.: Should Kennedy and his cronies appeal this decision, there is no doubt in my mind we will once again triumph. 

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ROUNDABOUTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Feb. 3 that Berkeley intends to resolve the problem intersection in Berkeley at I-80 and Gilman Street by installing a roundabout there. This will only make that intersection much worse, as drivers slow to figure out how to navigate this misplaced island and what they’re supposed to do.  

Berkeley Public Works officials have a sick infatuation with roundabouts, recently installing them at small residential intersections in large numbers. This has created a potentially grave hazard for bicyclists. These circles are so wide that they force traffic into the sidewalks as they swing wide around the traffic circles, without stopping. Berkeley officials from Mayor Bates and City Manager Kamlarz on down have been totally unresponsive to letters about this! 

Roundabouts are designed to facilitate traffic flow where five or more busy streets come together—and they work very well all over Boston, D.C. and other major cities. The roundabout at Marin Circle is a good example of thoughtful placement of this device. The many new ones at small, residential four-way intersections, create confusion for drivers and hazards for pedestrians and bicyclists. More important, they do nothing to enhance the safety of pedestrians, cyclists or cars. 

Berkeley City Councilmember Linda Maio has championed these things all over town, with a heavy concentration in her district. Maio has been unresponsive to many memos objecting to these things. At one of her few public meetings (two weeks before the election), she denied having seen letters expressing these objections, and has since avoided responding to e-mails, phone calls and attempts at personal discussion. 

At her meeting, when a speaker expressed that there may be some unseemly financial arrangements behind this proliferation of expensive and unnecessary construction projects, Maio was very quick to defend them saying, “Oh no, there could not possibly be any kickback scheme behind these things.” Maio used the word, “kickback” in the conversation without prompting from anyone else. Hmm? Perhaps an investigation is in order. Why have so many of these out-of-place impediments been constructed in the past three years? Which construction company (or companies) are awarded these contracts? And what is their relationship to Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Maio? 

As for I-80 and Gilman Street: Replace the stop signs on the two frontage roads with a “smart” traffic signal that can read the traffic volume, and adjust the flow accordingly. A roundabout, without a signal, will only cause worse backups onto the southbound I-80 freeway and eastward on Gilman Street. Perhaps the City of Berkeley can fix this mess, without awarding yet another lucrative and totally unnecessary construction project. 

H. Scott Prosterman 

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THE MARTINSVILLE SEVEN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In light of Black History Month, please allow me to share with your readers the story of the largest mass execution for rape in United States history. It is the story of the Martinsville Seven. 

In 1949, in Martinsville Virginia, seven black men were arrested for the rape of a 32-year-old married white woman. Within 30 hours of this rape, all seven men had signed written confessions. Within 11 days, all seven were tried, convicted and sentenced to death by all white juries. Two of these men were tried at the same time. The youngest was only 17 years old at the time of arrest and the oldest 37, with a wife and five beautiful children. 

Two years later, in Feb. of 1951, within a 72-hour period, eight black men were executed in Richmond, Virginia, seven of them for the rape of one white woman. They were the Martinsville Seven. The day before the youngest one died, he said “God knows I didn’t touch that woman and I’ll see ya’ll on the other side.” 

The Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Russia and China sent telegrams to the White House where President Harry Truman refused to grant clemency. Around the world, they became known as the Martinsville Seven, the largest mass execution for rape in U.S. history. 

No white man in Virginia has ever been executed for rape. Finally, in 1977, the Supreme Court ruled that rape could not be punishable by death. The Martinsville Seven case was instrumental in helping change the rape laws that govern this great nation. 

One last thing: Every person I’ve ever interviewed in Martinsville, young and old alike, said that the victim was having an affair with one of the Seven. The true story of the Seven has never been told. 

And for the record, three of the these men were Hairstons, relatives of mine, and I was born and raised in Martinsville. Thanks for listening. 

Pamela A. Hairston 

Washington, D.C. 

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MIDDLE EAST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

One wonders whether Dan Spitzer (Letters, Jan. 30) is intentionally misleading, or merely ignorant, in his flawed attempt to debunk Joseph Lifschutz’s Jan. 23 column. 

For one thing, to use the opinions by the likes of Dennis Ross or Kenneth Stein as “substantiation” is mildly amusing. And to suggest that the “...14 members of the Carter Center’s board who resigned...” is a serious matter without pointing out that it is an advisory board of over 200 members comprised mainly of people who have made donations to the center is intellectually dishonest. 

Spitzer also repeats the tired party line that “...it has been the Palestinian leaders...who have been the primary obstacles...as Dennis Roth (!) has frequently noted...” If Spitzer actually knew what the 2000 Camp David talks called for I doubt that even he would make such a claim. In fact, many leading Israelis have already debunked that claim (See Israeli academic Tanya Reinhart’s seriously documented analysis, for example). 

What is urgently needed is a comprehensive proposal for a solution to this long-standing problem. The only remotely reasonable and workable proposal visible so far was the Geneva Initiative, produced with the help of none other than Jimmy Carter (it was rejected out-of-hand by Sharon while the Palestinians dithered)!  

Rather than continuing to gradually squeeze out the Palestinians, Israel should be the one to make such a proposal. It is urgent because, as David Grossman says, “If you hesitate, we’ll soon be longing for the days when Palestinian terrorism was an amateur affair.” (www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/784034.html) 

Finally, Carter’s use of the term “apartheid” to describe Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian (spare me the Palestinian treatment of women, etc. red herrings) was apt and accurate (many call it worse) and is recognized as such by the vast majority of impartial and intellectually honest leaders in the world, starting from the top: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. 

In the long run, those who continue encouraging and blindly supporting aggressive hard line Israeli military tactics are the ones who are working for the destruction of Israel. 

S.L. Rennacker 

Ft. Jones, CA 

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TRADER JOE’S PROJECT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Friday, Feb. 2, I filed an appeal on behalf of Neighbors for a Livable Berkeley Way of the Zoning Adjustments Board’s decision to grant permits to Hudson McDonald for their massive mixed-use project at the corner of University and Martin Luther King Jr. Way.  

Why did we appeal an affordable housing project anchored by a popular supermarket? 

• It is a bad affordable housing project that fails to conform to the letter and spirit of state law. 

• It is 20,000 square feet and 25 units larger than the Zoning Ordinance allows and state law requires. 

• It ignores our Zoning Ordinance development standards for building height and setbacks. 

• Its size and design elements cause significant detriment to the surrounding neighborhood.  

• Its retail tenant will cause traffic and parking chaos in an already congested area, impacts far beyond those foreseen by a deeply flawed transportation study. 

• It sets a dangerous precedent for the city by granting density bonus units reserved by state law for affordable housing to subsidize a commercial use, here for Trader Joe’s parking lot, in the next project for any commercial use an applicant may propose and the ZAB determines that the city needs or wants. 

The appeal is available (with and without attachments) on the PlanBerkeley website: www.planberkeley.org/1885ua_files/1885ProjHmPage.html. 

We recognize that many of you are tired of hearing about this project and simply want to move on, however the project as it stands is so detrimental and blatantly illegal we believe as a neighborhood that we must pursue all legal means to preserve the livability of our city and neighborhood. What can you do to promptly correct the problems with this project and its approval process? 

Add your name on a letter (e-mail to swollmer@pcmagic.net) supporting our appeal to the Berkeley City Council requesting an open and fair hearing on the project, and subsequent to the hearing exercise its right and duty to minimize the project’s detriment to the citizens of Berkeley and the neighbors of the project. 

Stephen Wollmer