If you want to know why the city of Berkeley seems so dysfunctional these days (potholes, homeless encampments, deteriorating public buildings, etc. etc. etc.) you really should watch the last hour and a half of last week’s Berkeley City Council meeting. It lasted until about 12:15 a.m., so only the hard core civic watchdogs and crazies like me were still awake to watch it on Zoom.

Councilmember Wengraf dropped off at 11 p.m. She’s always been an early-to-bed gal—when we were both on the Landmark Preservation Commission around the turn of the millennium she’d go home about ten, even though the meetings often lasted to midnight.

Councilmember Davila’s obvious frustration with the way the mayor was running the meeting seemed to cause her to skip the last few minutes on camera, easier to do on Zoom without actually leaving the room.

I was pretty frustrated myself, but to my regret I watched the whole embarrassing boondoggle right through to the end.

What was it about? Well, it was what George H.W. Bush called “the vision thing”. -more-

I’m writing to support Steven Finacom’s recommendation that the Berkeley City Council NOT adopt a single “Vision” for the Civic Center, but, as he suggests, first hold a workshop to hear recommendations, thank those responsible, etc., and then move to the next stage which should include a general public review and comment, but especially, a review by the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the full Parks and Waterfront Commission. This pandemic time has not been a period when those of us interested in Berkeley’s civic development have followed or been able to attend city council meetings, but this issue of what happens at the civic heart of Berkeley seems important enough for the brakes to be put on while those most interested and responsible for the shape of Berkeley-to-come have a chance to digest the proposals more fully. Certainly Steven Finacom’s remarks about all the unused space in the Civic Center area, the shortage of public funds, and the importance to Berkeley’s future of planned civic development now should be taken into consideration given his architectural and land use expertise. I’m sure that if more Berkeley residents were aware of this rush to finalization of the Vision plan and its shortcomings, they would be as distressed as I am. Here’s the link to the Finacom article. -more-

SB1120,the measure to turn any single-family lot into four units -- with zero affordable housing -- is the top of the Scott Wiener/Yimby agenda.

On September 9, I “Zoomed” a conversation between state Sen. Scott Wiener and New York Times reporter Conor Dougherty. The exchange was sponsored by the World Affairs Council of San Francisco.

At one point, Dougherty referred to SB 1120, the measure authored by State Senate President Toni Atkins that had died at 11:57 pm on the last day of the Legislature’s session. Dougherty called it a “duplex” bill. Wiener corrected him: “It’s actually a fourplex bill.”

That pricked my interest, because I’d always seen SB 1120 referred to in the media as a duplex bill. Indeed, that’s how Sen. Atkins describes it herself. I decided to look at the text of the measure. When I did, I discovered that it says nothing about “duplexes” nor “fourplexes.” Instead, it refers to housing “units.”

More precisely, SB 1120 requires cities “to permit ministerially”—no public process, no CEQA review—two things: first, a housing development “containing 2 residential units within a single-family residential zone;” and second, the subdivision of a parcel into two equal parcels (an urban lot split) within a residential zone. In other words: where a single-family home now stands, SB 1120 would require a city to allow four new residences—two on each newly split parcel. Which means that Wiener’s claim—that it’s a fourplex bill—is also misleading. -more-

When the pandemic shutdown hit Berkeley, its first moves framed its values: a majority of the citizen commissions were shut down. There were a few exceptions, such as commissions tasked with marching developers bravely forward. But despite all events and groups, including the city council, meeting only virtually, certain commissions were unplugged claiming health concerns. It's something certain city leaders have dreamed of for years. Consider it the upside of the global pandemic; streamlining development by sidelining and sidestepping tedious, time-consuming traction with the public -- they're so out of the loop.

Development isn't all that's being streamlined. The Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA), the unaccountable, unelected property owners' lobby with a budget of public money floating at around 2.8 million, decided to create a program to arm its "hospitality ambassadors" with the "right to arrest", batons, handcuffs, and pepper spray. But that's not all, reassures DBA CEO John Caner. They have forms which, after using their pepper spray, have little boxes saying that the use was either "effective" or "ineffective." Who gets to decide whether the use was effective or ineffective? That's easy. The guy holding the pepper spray. Not the dead guy. That's how the Berkeley police do it, so what's not to love. -more-

If we are to believe our not very reliable media, some or even many of our fellow citizens, raised in what we once thought to be a civilized country, apparently are believers of incredible conspiracy theories such as Qanon. This is both puzzling and deeply disturbing.

How has this happened?

The relentless Republican defunding and denigration of public education and of teachers (who still understand the benefits of unions) has been all too successful, especially in economically-marginalized parts of the country. As state and federal support retracts, the costs of higher education are driven to absurd heights, making it almost impossible for students from middle- and low-income families to attend college without acquiring debts that will take decades to repay and limit their future employment choices.

TV, the opiate of the people, was designed, in the U.S., to breed consumers and serve capitalist profits. Besides addiction to mindless, or vicious, social media and dumb TV, addiction to drugs and unhealthful food are driven by the constant flow of false promises delivered by TV and now Internet commercials. Cellphone addiction distracts users from the real events that threaten and raises concern about electro-magnetic radiation and cancer, but such concerns are marginalized by all those who profit from these addictions, manufacturers, marketers, and even users themselves. And further money is to be made by promising solutions to them. -more-

The current Bylaws were drafted by a group headed by Carol Spooner after the 1999 crisis. At the time it was felt that all-elected Boards were the preferred governance structure.

However, it became evident that the way the current Bylaws implemented the elections resulted in dysfunctional Boards. National Board Directors are elected by the Local Board, which is akin to our Electoral College, and the National Board Officers are elected by the majority on the National Board, so they are twice removed from the members.

Here are some of the problems resulting from the chronic dysfunction of Pacifica’s National Board.

1. Pacifica has failed every audit since 2015.

2. Pacifica was just kicked out of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Before that, Pacifica’s Board had forfeited nearly $7 million dollars in CPB grants since 2013.

3. Pacifica has no money to pay a $3.2 million loan payment due April 2021.

4. Pacifica has no financial reserves and is close to financial collapse.

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Frustrated by peaceful demonstrators marching up and down the streets of Seattle, Attorney General William Barr threatened to bring charges against the mayor of Seattle for allowing a police-free protest zone. Infected by his close proximity to the Trump virus, Barr seems have lost all his objectivity. This once highly respected lawyer seems to be on a downward spiral of moral decay. His ascendancy in Trump’s inner circle has been quite remarkable. He is now the undisputed chief of the swamp discharged with the task of crowning his lard and master “king for life.” -more-

About a month ago Wayne Hsiung, mayoral candidate challenging Mayor Jesse Arreguin, knocked on my door. He presented himself well. I agreed with his issues positions. And he obviously believed he could or would win. I told Wayne I would vote for him, but I also gave him my opinion that he had little chance of unseating Jesse, who has the backing of the Democratic Party establishment. Perhaps Wayne took my assertion as a negative sign since neither he nor his team have asked me for money or to put up a lawn sign (maybe I told him my financial contributions are reserved for more important races, like ending the Republican control of the Senate which is of critical importance to our futures). But I've just recently decided to write to say why I'll vote for Wayne. -more-

We are familiar with the recent tragic decision, mainly engineered by the Republican Party, to reduce the supplement to unemployment insurance from $600 per week to $300. The supplement has not only provided more purchasing power to unemployed workers. Economists generally agree that the spending power of millions of workers has played a critical role in sustaining the economy, So the 50 percent reduction is certainly bad news. Even the $300 weekly check will be expiring soon. By depriving almost 30 million workers of millions of dollars to spend is deepening the economic decline,

Moreover, the new legislation, in addition, reduces the number of workers who would benefit by excluding from eligibility those whose weekly unemployment checks are less than $100. For example, in Colorado, 28,000 jobless workers cannot collect the supplement because the checks they receive are regarded as too small. Isn’t this incredible! Since unemployment benefits these workers receive is small, they should be receiving a large supplement rather than none at all.

For those of you who are interested in learning about the budget in each state google the following: “State Budget Cuts in the New Fiscal Year Are Unnecessarily Harmful”. Among the discouraging problems we learn about is the assault on affordable health care,`which is especially a problem for the poor. So far, at least 20 states have made deep cuts in health care programs. These cuts impact low income children, seniors and adults with disabilities. -more-

It didn't attract much attention, but over the last few days, Joe Biden has crafted an effective economic message. In a voter town hall in Scranton Pennsylvania, and in subsequent speeches, Biden crystallized his powerful argument.

Although a majority of voters are worried about the Coronavirus pandemic, there is also deep concern about the economy: jobs, everyday bills, and healthcare costs. Joe Biden is addressing this with a comprehensive plan (https://joebiden.com/build-back-better/#), while Donald Trump offers a set of bromides.

Until the last few weeks, when compared on a range of issues, voters saw Trump as better than Biden on only one issue: the economy. But recently, the gap has narrowed. The September 2nd, Quinnipiac poll ( https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3671) found Biden and Trump tied on the question "who would do a better job handling the economy."

Now Biden has found the perfect way to demonstrate to voters that Trump isn't the one they should trust to handle the economy: Biden is making it personal. "Guys like Trump who inherited everything and squandered what they inherited are the people that I’ve always had a problem with, not the people who are busting their neck... I really do view this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue." "Like a lot of you, I spent a lot of my life with guys like Donald Trump looking down on me. Looking down on the people who make a living with their hands. People who take care of our kids, clean our streets."

Biden's message is one of deep equality: "One of the lessons my mother taught me... it’s one that you probably were taught too... She said, 'Joey, remember nobody’s better than you, but everybody’s your equal...' You don’t measure people by the size of their bank accounts. I don’t respect people based on how big the house they live in is. I don’t look down my nose when people are busting their necks just making a limit, nor do any of you." Biden is identifying with working folks, the ones who have been left out of Trump's economy.

Based upon this perspective, Biden is directly attacking Trump's fixation on the stock market. "Trump says... everyone’s in the stock market. That’s why he cares about the stock market. What the hell is he talking about? People, I grew up in Scranton, Claymont, they don’t have money in stocks. Every penny we made was to pay the bills and take care of the families, putting clothes in the back, and a roof over our head." -more-

As a paranoid person, in many cases I can't trust my gut instinct, and I must rely on what may seem to be naivete.

If we are paranoid, we have a choice of either trusting most people, or not. And if not, then we are living in a shell of our own illusions. They may not seem like illusions at the time, yet when we come out of the shell, we realize that the thinking had been erroneous.

We are probably better off trusting, and on occasion being fooled, as opposed to never trusting and living in psychological isolation. Paranoia is an isolating thing. It makes us feel more separate from other people than we actually are. When we connect with people in a trusting, open and caring manner, it is very health-giving. If we can't do that, it is bad for our physical and mental health. -more-

There is one sure and immutable sign that the seasons have shifted from summer to fall: It's Pumpkin Month at Trader Joe's.

At the downtown Berkeley Joe's, the celebration gets underway even before you set foot in the store. Instead of a series of "socially distanced" shoe-prints painted on the parking lot floor, the path leading to the rear entrance is now adorned with seasonal slogans like "Fall in Line" and "Up and Autumn." But the best message comes in the form of a riddle: "What do you get when you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?" (Answer: "Pumpkin Pi.)

So what's on the menu for this year? Here's a quick survey. Pumpkin Empenadas! Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Mix! Pumpkin Waffles! Pumpkin Bagels! Mini Spicy Pumpkin Samosas! Pumpkin Spice Pretzels! Pumpkin Ginger Ice Cream Cones!

And, to wash it all down: "Pumpkin Pie Spiced Ginger Brew!

Elizabeth Warren Is Ready for a Fite

A couple of interesting political flubs surfaced in the mail this week. One was a fund-raising pitch from Warren Democrats that arrived in an envelope bearing the message: "We need you in this fite."

I eagerly read the contents, looking for an explanation for the use of the word "fite."

There was none. So I have to assume someone on Warren's team (maybe Warren herself?) is a big fan of FITE.TV—the "digital network for . . . combat sports such as: professional wrestling, mixed martial arts and boxing." Like they say: Politics is a contact sport. -more-

Trump has nominated Seventh Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg as justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate vetting process must include an exploration of her membership in the People of Praise, a charismatic Christian group with a highly authoritarian internal structure and known for the submissive role played by women, some of whom were called “handmaids.” Remember Margaret Atwood’s book The Handmaid’s Tale? Pope Francis has warned such groups against the temptation of “usurping individual freedom” of their members. -more-

Worth Noting:

Each day feels like a month so much is happening. It is taking longer and longer to sort through all the emails, websites and read the documents to do my best to not miss anything. Note also that I am attaching my working word docx. You might find it faster to scan a printed document.

Red Flag warning with the heat wave is now through Monday at 11 am

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/City_Manager/Press_Releases/2020/2020-09-25_Red_Flag_Warning_for_the_Berkeley_hills.aspx

Expect it to be extended – please do not BBQ or use power tools in your yard in the hills (a moment of distraction can spell disaster), be ready to evacuate. Narrow streets in the hills need to be clear for emergency vehicles. Park in your driveway by backing in with your vehicle facing the street ready for a quick evacuation.

Measure T1 Community Meetings are every Thursday in October from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Note that every Thursday evening except October 29^th T1 will conflict with at least one normally scheduled Board/Commission meeting that starts at 7 pm.

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/MeasureT1Events/

The City Council did pass in the dark of the night at 12:10 am to implement the Civic Center Plan. They just couldn’t decide which design they liked best in a presentation that started after 11 pm. This was, of course, after Mayor Arreguin stated to several members of the public that no action would be taken and I have one of those communications from the Mayor. -more-