We can all agree there is a need for more housing, but SB 9 and 10, currently on track for final State approval, brings major problems instead of real solutions to our housing problems. BSB ( and 10 will build a future filled with market rate speculation achieved through a State-driven “one-size fits all” future policy direction applied to every city in California from tiny Angels Camp to gigantic Los Angeles. Neither addresses our real need, affordable housing.

SB 9 supporters say single-family zoning must be eliminated because opponents are “racists” who want to continue past “red lining” practices. We can’t change the awful things that have occurred in the past, but what we can do is to ensure that today discrimination issues are correctly being addressed and vigorously support such efforts in regard to both homeowners and renters. We also well understand that up-coming State mandated measures regarding Accessory Dwelling Units that allow one ADU and a Jr-ADU on each single-family parcel, will already eliminate single-family zoning as we know it. However, SB 9 goes much further by allowing lot splits in single-family zones even after full ADU development, so that together, each lot split could have 4 to 6 units where only one formerly existed. Worse yet, SB 9 provides that approvals for such development can be done “ministerially” by a city worker, without any notice to neighbors or public hearing.

SB 10 allows 10 - 14 units on each parcel with a single-family home, again through a “ministerial” process. It also allows bypassing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review and local voter initiatives, such as our 1986 Measure L which calls for a vote of the people when public open space is to be developed for other than recreational purposes. 

Berkeley is only 8 - 9 square miles big and it’s already developed as one of the most dense cities in the Bay Area, Our eastern border is a Wildfire Urban Interface Zone and land along our western border has been found to be sinking and will be impacted by Sea Level Rise projections. We are bisected by the Alquist-Priolo (Hayward Fault) Earthquake Zone (said to be the most dangerous fault line in the U.S) with hillsides studded by USGS designated landslide areas. We have old, failing infrastructure – water, sewer, and power lines - that must be upgraded to support new development which under SB 9 and 10 will be at the expense of the taxpayers, not the developers. And we have 44 miles of streets, mostly in the hills, that are so narrow (26 feet wide or less) that cannot accommodate emergency vehicles and resident evacuation.  

SB 9 says there are exemptions to increased development if the parcel is located in a high-fire severity zone “unless the site has adopted fire hazard mitigation measures required by existing building standards,” but there are questions as what this means. Some analysts say it doesn’t mean anything because every building built anywhere has to meet building standards, and it says nothing about how residents can flee an approaching wildfire. CalFire maps show only Fire Zone 3 is a “high-fire risk” zone, yet narrow streets exist in Fire Zone 2 too. A recent UC Berkeley study, Urban Density Effect on Wildfire Evacuation, using 1991 firestorm conditions applied to the Berkeley Hills, indicated that residents have only two hours to evacuate. Our former Fire Chief said that under certain conditions Berkeley could burn down from ridge to shore in just one hour. Just days ago, we were officially advised that all hillside residents leave the city when there are weather conditions such as high winds, high temperatures and low humidity. That’s just the kind of weather we can anticipate in the next few months! What more proof is needed that increasing the number of people in these known dangerous areas defies common sense? Lives are at risk. 

Cities all over California and the League of California Cities are protesting SB 9 and 10. Thirty-six communities in Southern California, with majorities of Black and Latino residents, are proclaiming their opposition because they have worked hard and long to become neighbors, homeowners and renters together, in a single-family neighborhood. A newly released poll by Obama campaign pollster David Binder shows 71% opposed to SB 9 and 75% opposed to SB 10. A poll by Berkeley Neighborhoods Council of Berkeley residents gives similar results for SB 9 with 76.5% opposed citywide, and every single Council District indicating more than a 2.3s majority opposed. 

For those who dismiss such concerns in the belief that building more housing will result in affordability, please think again. The cost of building is tied to land and construction costs. The new units proposed under these bills will not pencil out so that less than market rate can occur. If you think that the number of new units (the old supply and demand theory) will drive down the price, take a look at New York City, the most dense of US cities where rents and ownership have never ever gone down.  

Our own City Council refused to oppose SB 9 as written We are now down to the wire and this is the time for us to join the statewide effort to defeat SB 9 and 10 The State Legislature is in recess until August 16. Please immediately write your representatives, State Senate and Assembly and the Governor and let them know of your opposition. Then, let’s all get together and work on getting some affordable housing in our cities. It’s all up to us now and we can do it, if we stand united and work to defeat SB 9 and 20!  

 

 

 

I’m back from “unmasked” land where even though the drought is spreading into the north Midwest, the grass is still green and the crops look healthy in the fields. The air was a different story as the Canadian fires covered Minnesota in a blanket of heavy smoke with the air quality index passing 150 into the very unhealthy zone. And yes, it was a lovely wedding. 

There is so much more to cover than wondering which side of the miracle I will land, coming through a large gathering of the vaccinated and endless partying with no one turning up COVID positive or coming up COVID positive as a breakthrough infection with absolutely no symptoms. The answer came today, COVID negative. 

While rumors are still swirling that COVID started in a Chinese lab, it might be of interest that this week’s SF Chronicle “Earthweek: a diary of a planet” reports that coronavirus antibodies were found in wild free-range deer. The USDA study and published summary “Questions and Answers: Results of Study on SARS-CoV-2 in White-Tailed Deer.” carry special meaning for me after reading Spillover by David Quammen and The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis (two books I highly recommend). https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/one_health/downloads/qa-covid-white-tailed-deer-study.pdf 

As for COVID the day I flew to Minnesota I had to change planes in Dallas where the daily tally of new cases was pushing 12,000. The airport was packed, social distancing was a fantasy, at least 50% had no mask or wore their mask as a chin diaper, there were no quiet corners and I found myself surrounded by people who were coughing. When asked about my trip, I answered with, “If Texas wants to secede, let them go” If you decide to fly anywhere, expect delays and the delta variant to be floating nearby. 

It is terrific that we reached 50% of the US as fully vaccinated. That leaves the unvaccinated somewhere around 160,000,000 including children under 12 and my sister’s brother-in-law, Tom. 

Tom cozied up to me after the wedding. When I asked about his vaccine status, he threw out the “I don’t want to put anything extra into my body.” I’ve known Tom for nearly 60 years so I took the liberty of telling him not being vaccinated was just stupid, followed with he was watching too much Fox and didn’t he know that the vaccine makes you magnetic (I’m still waiting) and you’ll be injected with a chip (we are already tracked everywhere). I couldn’t remember the other conspiracies that fill the media so I stopped there. 

The justification of declining vaccination as something extra isn’t a belief limited to the uneducated. It is also soaked up by the highly educated like Tom who has a string of advanced degrees to follow his name. A momentary conversation or reason doesn’t shake these beliefs. They also apply to the toxic stuff we quite willingly put into our mouths and pass into our bodies. 

I heard more talking points from my airplane neighbor Gene during the 3 ½ hour Minnesota Phoenix leg of the journey home. Gene said he did get vaccinated, but as might be expected in a lengthy conversation between an Arizona owner of a business that manufactures diesel engine parts and this Berkeley activist, we were on different sides of nearly every issue. He declared climate change was just weather and invoked the mantra of individual choices. I did achieve agreement that individual actions do have public ramifications by using the example of drunk driving. 

Then I happened to ask Gene what he liked to read and recommended The Fifth Risk and Premonition by Michael Lewis. Gene hadn’t read Lewis’s last two books yet, but listens to his podcasts and declared Lewis as his favorite author. Lewis is for me like art: the more art I see the more artists and artworks I love. The more books I read, the longer my list of favorite authors grows. Michael Lewis is on that favorites list. 

Today we could see the IPCC’s landmark report. Here is a peek from Simon Lewis, professor of global change science at University College London: 

“What we need to keep in mind is that we all live in places that have built up over decades and centuries to cope well with a given climate. The really, really scary thing about the climate crisis is that every single achievement of every human society on Earth occurred under a climate that no longer exists…The pressure is on for world leaders to agree on both detailed and achievable plans to cut emissions now, and plans to adapt to climate impacts, when they meet in Glasgow in November.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/08/worlds-climate-scientists-to-issue-stark-warning-over-global-heating-threat 

On to Berkeley city meetings and how not to get things done. 

Did I miss something while I was out of town for five days? Mendocino is running out of water. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/07/california-drought-water-mendocino-tourism The Oroville Dam is shut down, because the water levels are too low to drive the six-turbine Edward Hyatt Power Plant, the Bay Area is in exceptional drought and the entire area is not under mandatory water rationing. The July 28^th Water and Drought community meeting was more of the usual with little new insight, no rationing requirements and only modest actions. 

As for Council, 3 ½ years and still nothing? Item 28 on the July 27^, 2021 City Council agenda, Objective Standards Recommendations for Density, Design and Shadows from the Joint Subcommittee for the Implementation of State Housing Laws (JSISHL) was punted again, this time to September 14^, 2021. 

It was January 23, 2018 when the Mayor Arreguin’s resolution to create the JSISHL subcommittee was passed. The subcommittee of council appointees convened from April 17, 2018 to July 22, 2020. Attention to the environment and climate in developing standards failed as only one member, Thomas Lord, supported this as a priority. With no real agreement reached on objective standards, the July 22, 2020 report landed back on the council agenda March 23, 2021. Arreguin responded that night with: 

“…I do feel that this needs a lot more development, so I would like to bring forward some additional research and ideas that my office has been working on before we send something to the Planning Commission, so my recommendation was that we move item 17 to the consent calendar for the purposes of sending it to the Agenda and Rules Committee while I’m working on trying to bring forward a proposal. I think that the subcommittee’s recommendations were a good start, but were incomplete…” 

Arreguin’s ideas never materialized at least not publicly. July 27, 2021 ended with the usual, hire a consultant to deliver the desired results, especially when the appointed subcommittee didn’t do the job for you. With this like so much else under Mayor Arreguin’s tenure, one has to wonder if it will ever get done and who profits in the meantime. The table is the staff projected timeline. 

Next Steps for Objective Density, Design and Shadow Standards Recommendations
Timeframe	General Task
Summer 2021	Refer to City Manager to move three recommendations forward
Fall 2021	Staff to analyze recommendations in advance of commission meetings
Winter 2021	Planning Commission and Design Review Committee provide input
Spring 2022	Staff develop zoning language
Summer 2022	Planning Commission and Council hold public hearings and adopt standards

 

On August 4, 2021 at the Commission on Disability, the July fire false alarm at the Amistad House was brought forward through public comment. Elevators in multi-floor buildings are programmed everywhere to shut down when a fire alarm is activated leaving anyone who is disabled and unable to navigate stairs stuck waiting until help arrives to carry them out. There needs to be a better solution. Those who were wheelchair and assistive device dependent thought they were trapped in a burning building until news of the false alarm reached them. 

The new Best Western on the corner of Sacramento and University planned two hotel rooms on the ground floor, but put one of the rooms for a disabled person on the 2^nd floor and the other on the 3^rd floor. While I brought up the foolishness of this planning, ZAB declined to request a change which was perfectly possible. I have long advocated unsuccessfully for disabled units on the ground floor of buildings instead of vacant commercial. While any able-bodied person can suffer from a disabling accident or develop a disabling disease, it is long past time to change planning thinking on place making for the disabled living and visiting the Berkeley community. 

This is long already and ends with one more request: PLEASE go to the Activist’s Calendar and sign up for the Wildfire Workshop and watch the videos. 

Reading recommendations: I have two more besides The Fifth Risk and Premonition. If you are looking for a novel to buoy you through travel delays and hours in transit, Stacy Abrams, the politician, the founder of Fair Fight Action, writes novels in her spare time. While Justice Sleeps (e-book available thru the Berkeley library) is just the kind of fantastical story that is perfect for mindless diversion on a travel day fraught with delays. 

The more important read is: Anne Applebaum’s Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism published in 2020. Applebaum writes of people she knows, colleagues, who are embracing authoritarianism. This book couldn’t be more prescient as news of Tucker Carlson’s week in Hungary and admiration for Viktor Orban fills the air waves. The entirety of Carlson’s visit encircles rejection of America’s racial diversity and multicultural democracy.

Worth Noting:

The Wildfire Evacuation Workshop is offered three times by the Berkeley Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Services:

Do you know your evacuation zone? https://community.zonehaven.com/

Have you signed up for AC Alerts? https://member.everbridge.net/453003085612570/new

Do you know what kind of mask to wear to evacuate? Answer in the videos

Register in advance for one of the online workshops below

August 10, 6pm-730pm, Online via zoom

August 18, 6pm-730pm, Online via zoom

August 26, 6pm-730pm, Online via zoom

Prior to the Wildfire Evacuation Workshop visit the City of Berkeley Wildfire Readiness website: https://www.cityofberkeley.info/wildfire/, watch the five videos (total time 1 hour 20 minutes) and download and fill out your step-by-step fire plan (tool 9 pages).



Despite City Council being on summer recess, there is a Council Public Safety Committee meeting scheduled for Monday, August 9 at 10:30 am.



Public parking as we know it is going away with the construction of housing on the Ashby and North Berkeley BART station parking lots. To learn more the BART Berkeley – El Cerrito Corridor Access Plan Outreach team will be at the farmer’s market on Tuesday 2-5 pm and flea market on Saturday 9 am – 12 pm and/or go online https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/



The Pier-Ferry Workshop #2 is Tuesday evening via zoom at 6:30 pm



The Berkeley Neighborhoods Council meets Saturday morning at 10 am via zoom. The agenda will be posted later in the week.



Sunday, August 8, 2021 - No City meetings or events found



Monday, August 9, 2021 

City Council Public Safety Committee at 10:30 am, 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89775766534 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 897 7576 6534 

AGENDA: 1. Taplin, Co-Sponsors Hahn, Bartlett – Ghost Gun Precursor Parts Ordinance 

Referral to the City Manager to develop an ordinance to prohibit any person other than a licensed manufacturer or importer from selling, transferring, purchasing, transporting, receiving or manufacturing and unfinished firearm frame or receiver that has not been imprinted with a serial number. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Public_Safety.aspx 

 

Tuesday, August 10, 2021 

Wildfire Evacuation Workshop at 6 - 7:30 pm 

Register in advance: August 10, 6pm-730pm, Online via zoom 

Watch the videos, read and complete your fire plan 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/wildfire/ 

 

BART Berkeley – El Cerrito Corridor Access Plan Outreach & Materials at 2 – 5 pm 

Location: South Berkeley Farmers Market – Adeline at 63rd 

AGENDA: In-person engagement for information and public participation 

https://www.bart.gov/about/planning/station-access/berkeley-elcerrito-corridor-plan/outreach 

Participate Online: https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/ 

 

Pier-Ferry Planning Study Community Workshop #2 at 6:30 – 8:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/99422879717 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 994 2287 9717 

AGENDA: 1. Project team will present conceptual alternatives and facilitate group discussions on the shape of the pier, the siting of the ferry terminal, land-side parking/mobility considerations and community recreation needs. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/parks/pier/ 

email comments to: BMASP@cityofberkeley.info 

 

Wednesday, August 11, 2021 

Parks and Waterfront Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/96974512296 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 969 7451 2296 

AGENDA: 9. Presentation: I-80 Ashby Interchange Project and Aquatic Park, 10. City’s Adopt a Spot Program, 11. Workplan 2021, 12. Update Bayer Development. 

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

 

Thursday, August 12, 2021 - No City meetings or events found 

 

Friday, August 13, 2021 - Reduced Service Day 

 

Saturday, August 14, 2021 

Berkeley Neighborhoods Council, 10 am – 12 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/91683343244?pwd=cHcrK0VqUGxFYW52QVdicGFnMG9Xdz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 916 8334 3244 Passcode 259633 

AGENDA: Check website for agenda later in the week 

https://berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/ 

 

Willard Clubhouse Community Meeting at 10 – 11:30 am 

Location: Willard Park 2729 Hillegass @ Derby (this is not listed as a virtual meeting) 

Agenda: Gather Feedback and discuss the conceptual design of the future new Willard Clubhouse. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventMain.aspx?calendarEventID=17454 

 

BART Berkeley – El Cerrito Corridor Access Plan Outreach & Materials at 9 am - 12 pm 

Location: Berkeley Flea Market - Ashby BART Station parking lot, Martin Luther King Jr Way @ Ashby 

AGENDA: In-person engagement for information and public participation 

https://www.bart.gov/about/planning/station-access/berkeley-elcerrito-corridor-plan/outreach 

Participate Online: https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/ 

 

Sunday, August 15, 2021 - No City meetings or events found 

____________________ 

 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

2943 Pine (construct a 2^nd story) 9/28/2021 

1205 Peralta (conversion of garage) 10/12/2021 

Notice of Decision (NOD) and Use Permits with End of Appeal Period 

2010 Addison 8-16-21 

1311 Carleton 8-10-2021 

1630 Derby 8-17-21 

1025 Heinz 8-10-2021 

1207 Tenth St 8-12-2021 

1427-29 Tenth 8-17-21 

34 Tunnel 8-17-2021 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications_in_Appeal_Period.aspx 

LINK to Current Zoning Applications https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications.aspx 

___________________ 

WORKSESSIONS 

September 21 – 1. Housing Element (RHNA) 

October 19 – 1. Update Zero Waste Rates and Priorities, 2. Berkeley Police Department Hiring Practices (referred by Public Safety Committee), 3. Crime Report 

December 7 – 1. Review and Update on City’s COVID-19 Response, 2. WETA/Ferry Service at the Marina, 3. Presentation by Bay Restoration Authority 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

If you have a meeting you would like included in the summary of meetings, please send a notice to kellyhammargren@gmail.com by noon on the Friday of the preceding week. 

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 

If you or someone you know wishes to receive the weekly summary as soon as it is completed, email kellyhammargren@gmail.com to be added to the early email list. If you wish to stop receiving the Weekly Summary of City Meetings please forward the weekly summary you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com 

Worth Noting: 

The Wildfire Evacuation Workshop is offered three times by the Berkeley Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Services:  

Do you know your evacuation zone? https://community.zonehaven.com/ 

Have you signed up for AC Alerts? https://member.everbridge.net/453003085612570/new 

Do you know what kind of mask to wear to evacuate? Answer in the videos 

Register in advance for one of the online workshops below 

August 10, 6pm-730pm, Online via zoom 

August 18, 6pm-730pm, Online via zoom 

August 26, 6pm-730pm, Online via zoom 

Prior to the Wildfire Evacuation Workshop visit the City of Berkeley Wildfire Readiness website: https://www.cityofberkeley.info/wildfire/, watch the five videos (total time 1 hour 20 minutes) and download and fill out your step-by-step fire plan (tool 9 pages). 

Despite City Council being on summer recess, there is a Council Public Safety Committee meeting scheduled for Monday, August 9 at 10:30 am. 

Public parking as we know it is going away with the construction of housing on the Ashby and North Berkeley BART station parking lots. To learn more the BART Berkeley – El Cerrito Corridor Access Plan Outreach team will be at the farmer’s market on Tuesday 2-5 pm and flea market on Saturday 9 am – 12 pm and/or go online https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/ 

The Pier-Ferry Workshop #2 is Tuesday evening via zoom at 6:30 pm 

The Berkeley Neighborhoods Council meets Saturday morning at 10 am via zoom. The agenda will be posted later in the week. 

hSunday, August 8, 2021 - No City meetings or events found 

Monday, August 9, 2021 

City Council Public Safety Committee at 10:30 am, 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89775766534 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 897 7576 6534 

AGENDA: 1. Taplin, Co-Sponsors Hahn, Bartlett – Ghost Gun Precursor Parts Ordinance 

Referral to the City Manager to develop an ordinance to prohibit any person other than a licensed manufacturer or importer from selling, transferring, purchasing, transporting, receiving or manufacturing and unfinished firearm frame or receiver that has not been imprinted with a serial number. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Public_Safety.aspx 

hTuesday, August 10, 2021 

Wildfire Evacuation Workshop at 6 - 7:30 pm 

Register in advance: August 10, 6pm-730pm, Online via zoom 

Watch the videos, read and complete your fire plan 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/wildfire/ 

BART Berkeley – El Cerrito Corridor Access Plan Outreach & Materials at 2 – 5 pm 

Location: South Berkeley Farmers Market – Adeline at 63rd 

AGENDA: In-person engagement for information and public participation 

https://www.bart.gov/about/planning/station-access/berkeley-elcerrito-corridor-plan/outreach 

Participate Online: https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/ 

Pier-Ferry Planning Study Community Workshop #2 at 6:30 – 8:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/99422879717 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 994 2287 9717 

AGENDA: 1. Project team will present conceptual alternatives and facilitate group discussions on the shape of the pier, the siting of the ferry terminal, land-side parking/mobility considerations and community recreation needs. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/parks/pier/ 

email comments to: BMASP@cityofberkeley.info 

 

Wednesday, August 11, 2021 

Parks and Waterfront Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/96974512296 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 969 7451 2296 

AGENDA: 9. Presentation: I-80 Ashby Interchange Project and Aquatic Park, 10. City’s Adopt a Spot Program, 11. Workplan 2021, 12. Update Bayer Development. 

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

 

Thursday, August 12, 2021 - No City meetings or events found 

 

Friday, August 13, 2021 - Reduced Service Day 

 

Saturday, August 14, 2021 

Berkeley Neighborhoods Council, 10 am – 12 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/91683343244?pwd=cHcrK0VqUGxFYW52QVdicGFnMG9Xdz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 916 8334 3244 Passcode 259633 

AGENDA: Check website for agenda later in the week 

https://berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/ 

 

Willard Clubhouse Community Meeting at 10 – 11:30 am 

Location: Willard Park 2729 Hillegass @ Derby (this is not listed as a virtual meeting) 

Agenda: Gather Feedback and discuss the conceptual design of the future new Willard Clubhouse. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventMain.aspx?calendarEventID=17454 

 

BART Berkeley – El Cerrito Corridor Access Plan Outreach & Materials at 9 am - 12 pm 

Location: Berkeley Flea Market - Ashby BART Station parking lot, Martin Luther King Jr Way @ Ashby 

AGENDA: In-person engagement for information and public participation 

https://www.bart.gov/about/planning/station-access/berkeley-elcerrito-corridor-plan/outreach 

Participate Online: https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/ 

 

Sunday, August 15, 2021 - No City meetings or events found 

____________________ 

 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

2943 Pine (construct a 2^nd story) 9/28/2021 

1205 Peralta (conversion of garage) 10/12/2021 

Notice of Decision (NOD) and Use Permits with End of Appeal Period 

2010 Addison 8-16-21 

1311 Carleton 8-10-2021 

1630 Derby 8-17-21 

1025 Heinz 8-10-2021 

1207 Tenth St 8-12-2021 

1427-29 Tenth 8-17-21 

34 Tunnel 8-17-2021 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications_in_Appeal_Period.aspx 

 

LINK to Current Zoning Applications https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications.aspx 

___________________ 

WORKSESSIONS 

September 21 – 1. Housing Element (RHNA) 

October 19 – 1. Update Zero Waste Rates and Priorities, 2. Berkeley Police Department Hiring Practices (referred by Public Safety Committee), 3. Crime Report 

December 7 – 1. Review and Update on City’s COVID-19 Response, 2. WETA/Ferry Service at the Marina, 3. Presentation by Bay Restoration Authority 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

 

If you have a meeting you would like included in the summary of meetings, please send a notice to kellyhammargren@gmail.com by noon on the Friday of the preceding week. 

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 

If you or someone you know wishes to receive the weekly summary as soon as it is completed, email kellyhammargren@gmail.com to be added to the early email list. If you wish to stop receiving the Weekly Summary of City Meetings please forward the weekly summary you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com

4,000 World Scientists Say: "Whoa!"

One of the biggest headlines of the year was buried on the bottom of page B9 in the Sunday Chronicle. Steve Newman's Earthwieek: Diary of a Changing World began with a report that an unprecedented global assembly of 14,000 scientists had signed an international appeal (published in the journal BioScience) shaming world leaders for failing to address "climate change and the deepening climate emergency."

The scientists called for the immediate elimination of all fossil fuels, massive reductions in chemical pollution, restoration of ecosystems, a transition to "plant-based diets," and reduction of swelling human populations. Noting that climate change is accelerating faster than the worst predictions, the scientists insisted that schools must begin teaching children about how human society must evolve to survive ongoing planetary extinctions.

As Greenland Melts, Florida Floods 

In late January, with record floods, hurricanes, and wildfires ravaging the planet's northern continents, Chinese scientists issued a prediction that Shanghai could be rendered uninhabitable by rising waters before the end of the century and a total of 630 million people could be driven from their homes worldwide. Even with lowered carbon emissions, scientists warned, rising waters would displace190 million people by 2022. 

A headline in Climate News drove home the danger: "Extreme Ice Melt in Greenland in One Day Was Enough to Cover Florida in Two Inches of Water." In 2019, the article reported, Greenland "shed roughly 532 billion tons of ice into the sea" causing the world's ocean's to rise "permanently by 1.5 millimeters." 

Can't Say We Weren't Warned 

While cataloging my collection of hundreds of copies of the Berkeley Barb, I came across a front-page story from May 14, 1976 with the headline: "How Changing Weather Can Destroy Us…." The article cited a CIA report warning that global climate changes were expected to trigger famines and starvation worldwide, triggering a political and economic crisis "almost beyond comprehension." The CIA report relied largely on the work of Dr. Reid A. Bryson, a climatologist who had issued similar warnings in a Saturday Review article that appeared in 1967 — 54 years ago. 

Leaked UN Report Warns "The Worst Is Yet to Come" 

 

Hot Ammo! Can Climate Change Put an End to War? 

While wars are heating up in various US-declared "trouble-spots" around the world, rising temperatures are leading to rising concerns that tons of US ammunition — bombs, bullets, grenades, etc., stored in more than 800 US military bases inside more than 70 foreign countries — could start exploding from the heat. In 2019, Scientific American warned that "intense heat can weaken a munition's structural integrity, cause the thermal expansion of explosive chemicals and damage protective shields." As a result, "heat-related detonations are 60% more likely in ammunition depots between late April and mid-September." The stakes are highest in literal "hot spots" like the triple-digits Middle East, where "nitroglycerin becomes so sensitive when it absorbs moisture that even a slight shake can set it off." 

This is not a theoretical discussion. In June 2018, Scientific American reports, a heat-event caused an arms depot in Iraq to explode. In 2019, two arms depot detonations killed or wounded dozens. In 2020 (as temps topped 113° Fahrenheit), at least six munitions sites went up in flames in Iraq, alone. 

Earth Island V. Coke in Epic Bottle Battle 

I was pleased to read that my compatriots at Berkeley's own Earth Island Institute have hit the Coca-Cola megacorps with a lawsuit over Coke's false claims that it is addressing its massive role in pumping tons of unrecycled plastic waste into landfills or pollutant-spewing incinerators. 

Once upon a time (before Coke became available in easily recylcable aluminum cans), all Coke bottles were made from rugged glass that could be endlessly recycled, washed and refilled. It used to be you could look at the bottom of an empty Coke bottle and read where it had originated—from any one of 1,450 US cities to exotic foreign locations. The bottles were like coins that had been in global circulation—with "mint marks" showing bottles that had originated in Mexico, Israel, China, France, Great Britain, Spain, etc. 

Today, most plastic Coke bottles are not recycled and many wind up in the 20-million-metric-ton morass of plastic waste that accumulates in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—which covers a span of ocean four times the size of California. 

Coca-Cola's official response to the lawsuit was not inspiring. A spokesperson lamely claimed the company has "promised" to collect "a bottle or can for every one we produce in recycle"—by 2030." 

Trump Is Still Gouging US Taxpayers 

According to recently released Secret Service statements, the US Treasury has been charged—and has paid—$14,658 in fees to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago retreat for 37 days of room rental for the Secret Service agents assigned to protect The Biggest Loser. It's a perfect scam for the Grifter-in-Chief: Trump profits by requiring taxpayers to pay for the privilege of protecting him. As of June, the Secret Service has paid out $86,000 in Mar-a-Lago lodging expenses. 

Here's a future scenario: Trump buys a prison, puts his name on it, upgrades it with golden toilets, and bills the tax-payers for the cost of serving his term in the slammer. 

The Top 25 Corporate Trumpophiles 

It's not just a majority of Republicans who favor Trump's bluster and flustered sense of electoral reality. Public Citizen has produced a list that reveals which US companies have put up money to support voter suppression legislation at the state level. Some of the familiar names on the list (in top-down levels of donation from 2015-2020) are: AT&T, Altria/Philip Morris, Comcast, Walmart, State Farm, Pfizer, Anheuser-Busch, Verison, and General Motors. Here's a link to the complete list. The top state receiving this corporate loot? Georgia, which was flooded with $10,807,095 that went to 81 local politicians who devoted their time to drafting no fewer than 26 "voter suppression bills." 

GM Is No Gem When It Comes to Defending Democracy 

MoveOn notes that "in the aftermath of the white supremacist attack on the US Capitol, General Motors was part of a wave of companies that suspended donations to 'election objectors,' pledging to pause their political contributions and reevaluate their standards." MoveOn also goes on to note that, despite its public pledges, "GM has donated tens of thousands of dollars to re-elect lawmakers who voted to overturn the election, making them one of the top corporate donors to insurrectionists." Among the Always-Trumpers on the GM dole: Senator Ron Johnson who has staunchly insisted that the January 6 mayhem was “by and large a peaceful protest.” Johnson, of course, also voted to void the 2020 election results, absolve Trump for his key role in fueling the insurrection, and tried to block a bipartisan investigation of the attack. 

Want to tell GM to GFd? Sign here: General Motors must stop funding insurrectionists. We cannot reward those who attack democracy and free elections. 

Dirty Dollars Is Back Online 

Not to be outdone, the Sierra Club has also been monitoring the cash/politics interface and has released a Dirty Dollars database—the first-time-ever compilation of fossil fuel donations accepted by every member of the California legislature as well as the governor and both major political parties. While corporate gifting is not expected to pick up until the approach of the next election, the Club was miffed to discover that Gov. Gav has pocketed $32,400 from the California Building Industry Association, a pro-carbon group that opposes plans to replace home gas appliances with clean, electric alternatives. 

Publishers Clearing House Strikes Again 

Those fat, provocative envelopes from PCH continue to arrive in my mailbox—and the hype continues to hop from come-on to bonus. The latest announcement promises a "Triple Upgrade to $15,000 a Week for Life." And the ever-changing "prize award date" has now been moved up to August 31^st. 

The moving prize date is one of the reasons I've been suspicious about the PCH's seemingly endless campaign to keep customers addicted to constantly expanding promises of great, unearned wealth. So I was surprised when some Google-sleuthing turned up evidence that real people have reportedly won real cash awards from PCH. 

Case in point: In February of this year, a PCH Surprise Squad showed up in Burbank to offer resident Tyson Martin his choice of a Ford Bronco Sport Outer Banks van or a check for $43,393. Closer to home, a list of a half-dozen names purportedly representing Bay Area winners, actually showed a photo of two Berkeley residents who received a $10,000 PCH prize—back in August of 2018. 

According to PCH itself: "We give away prizes every day with prize amounts ranging from $1.00 Amazon gift cards up to $20,000.00 cash. Major prizes of at least $10,000.00 are awarded nearly every month. PCH SuperPrizes ranging from $1 million to $10 million are awarded at least three times per year." 

PCH and the US Deputy Sheriff's Association 

One of the recent deluge of Publishers Clearing House solicitations was thinner-than-usual and contained little more than a response form and a mail-back envelope. But this wasn't the usual return envelope and the response form was not from PCH. Instead, the envelope contained a solicitation from the US Deputy Sheriff's Association, a private law enforcement lobbying organization headquartered in Merrifield, Virginia. According to the mailer, the USDSA exists to "support lifesaving equipment and officer training in survival and combat tactics." 

It seems fair to assume that the USDSA was granted access to PCH's extensive mailing list in exchange for some form of payment. A ready-to-sign supporters' postcard included the complaint that law enforcement personnel "are constantly under siege. Not just from criminals, but also from the news media and others who seem to criticize everything you do." An enclosed flier referenced "anti-police riots [that] have resulted in fatal shootings of our police at staggering rates!" 

(Note: Despite the USDSA's characterization of a nation-wide "War on Police," there appear to be little-to-no instances of police being gunned down in urban shoot-outs with armed "anti-police protesters." The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reports 264 police officers killed "in the line of duty" in 2020—while that's a troubling 96% increase over 2019, it isn't attributable to "anti-police protesters." Over the last decade, the NLEOMF database attributes just one officer's death to a "terrorist attack.") 

A few days later, a separate envelope arrived in the mail, sent directly from the USDSA. In a fund-raising cover letter, USDSA Executive Director David Hinners bemoans "budget cuts [that] have been forcing thousands of police officers to face riots, hardened criminals—and ANTIFA terrorists—without the proper equipment to protect themselves." 

The packet contained seven enclosures including a postcard, a poll, a fund-raising pitch, and a petition to California Governor Newsom. The petition to Newsom contained a "Whereas" that read: "with so much of law enforcement training being watered-down largely due to the 'politically-correct' movement… many in law enforcement are not getting the cutting edge active shooter response training they need." 

Citing "the Radical Anti-cop and Defund the Police Movement Sweeping the Country," the rise of cop-killer "Ambushes," and "Politicians Releasing Thousands of Criminals During the COVID Pandemic," the mailer called for donations to purchase "basic essential equipment"—i.e., body armor, ballistic helmets, and $850 bullet-proof vests—for cash-strapped officers in Texas and Mississippi. 

When Movie Reviews Refuse to Play Nice 

Aside from being a Supreme Court Judge, few appointed positions promise as much clout and independence as that of the film critic. Herewith, a few snippets from some recent reviews. 

Mick LaSalle, Chronicle, on "Swan Song": 

"Swan Song" is the movie equivalent of a bad hair day…. The film is kindly and well-intended, but it's also sentimental and lifeless. "Swan Song: is a rare movie without a single good scene. 

Kelly Vance, East Bay Express, on "Annette": 

Assuming an "avant-garde" stance presumes the artists possess the talent and inspiration to present the material "straight" in the first place. Such is not the case here…. To sum up Annette: Long and drawn out. Skimpy plot. Irritatingly pretentious. Poverty of language. Completely humorless. Opaque, dismal melodies. 

Yasser Medina, Cinemaficionados, "Jungle Cruise": 

Despite the obvious chemistry between Johnson and Blunt, along the way its jungle adventure becomes dull and gets lost like a canoe on the river as it follows the map of Disney's well-known formulas to the letter. 

Bill Watters, Nerdbot, "F9: The Fast Saga": 

It's one thing to create a film that is mindless fun, but it's another to have your lead actor emoting like it's an earthy drama while the dumbest action sequences to be seen since Travolta landed a helicopter on a plane's wing in Face/Off. 

Blake Howard, Dark Horizons, "Space Jam": 

"Space Jam: A New Legacy" is a deplorable act of IP coercion and grave robbery that is as boring as it is vindictive. 

America has always been very selective in our outrage. We reward Saudi Arabia’s appalling treatment of women with lucrative defense contracts which allow them to commit unspeakable atrocities, slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians in neighboring Yemen.

We tolerate Egypt’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators rewarding the autocrat, President Sisi $billions each year. We trade freely with communist Vietnam because they are a source of cheap labor. We send $billions to Israel ignoring their brutal occupation, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid policies. We scream “bloody murder” in response to the crackdown of protesters in Cuba but remain silent on crackdowns in Colombia and Honduras. We continue the failed Trump Cuba policies of maximum pressure causing wide-spread starvation amid the devastating Covid pandemic. The Biden admiration has even continued the Trump policy of halting remittances sent by Cuban-Americans. Tens of thousands of Cubans depend on these remittances to survive. The US policy is an abomination and violates the basic tenets of all religions. The poor suffer while those in power continue their life of privilege.  

It is astounding that we so critical of Cuba ignoring the history of this belligerent relationship. When the United States intervened in Cuba in 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Cuba was forced to sign the Platt Amendment granting the US neocolonial rights. Cuba was forced to grant Guantánamo Bay in perpetuity in return for receiving full sovereign rights. The fiery Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, demanded the return of Guantánamo Bay which fanned the flames of the anti-Castro movement. Following 9/11, Guantánamo Bay prison has been used to torture and house prisoners away from the peering eyes of Americans. The prisoners have never been charged with a crime and medieval torture methods have been used to extract confessions in complete violation of the Geneva Conventions. Pandering to the anti-Castro sentiments, the Biden administration imposed new sanctions on Cuba’s defense minister and Interior Ministry, with President Biden warning, “This is just the beginning.” Oh. America will you ever give up bullying smaller nations to bend to your will”? In sharp contrast Mexico became the good benevolent nation sending ships with food and medical supplies, including syringes, oxygen tanks and masks. 

Most Cuban Americans are concentrated in South Florida, and so they become a really pivotal constituency in elections. Conservative Democrats in the House and in the Senate are urging Biden to maintain the anti-Cuba rhetoric, despite his campaign promises, for fear of losing even more ground in Florida in the 2022 midterm elections. So, President Biden do not claim you are a practicing Catholic if you choose political expediency over the basic rights of the Cuban people.

My definition of a 'delusion': A belief that is unusual, that others don't share, and that interferes with functioning in the world in a manner considered competent. Note: Delusions can be contagious when held by a person who has the power and/or position to convince others.  

I begin this week's edition with important points to make. People who have never been diagnosed with any kind of mental illness are subject to delusional thinking. Some are stuck in a delusional belief and cling determinedly to it. The absence of a diagnosis, and/or the ability to be taken as 'normal' and function 'normally' are no guarantees of accurate thought. "How could this be?" --you might ask. This is because there is no inherent mechanism in the undiagnosed person's mind that makes human thinking accurate. Most people depend on other people and the mass media to give them their beliefs. Those who rely on only themselves are potentially in a danger zone. For the 'intellectual' it is a combination of the speech and actions of others, the news media, and independent observations and thought. 

For those of us with a mental illness diagnosis, one that includes 'delusions,' we have strayed too far off course and have been unable to sync our thinking with the accepted "normal" enough to be able to function in society. Medication makes us more receptive to our surroundings and to the things that other people are telling us. 

Medication has done more things for me than it has taken away. I am able to have a large portion of my thinking accurate to the extent that I can function in life as a competent adult. On the other hand, medication interferes with lot of life abilities that I probably would have had without it. Medication, especially antipsychotics, also affect the available energy level for the worse. Being on antipsychotics might mimic having Parkinson's. But I don't know enough about Parkinson's to say that for certain. 

But I don't have a choice, because whenever I've gone off medication, I've relapsed. The recovery time following these relapses, to get back to a good level of function, has been about five years following each relapse. Therefore, it is not viable for me to go off medication. And it is not worth trying. 

Yet, medication does only so much to alleviate delusions. I continue to get delusional thinking. And when I have delusions running, I make every effort to track them. Part of my mind is able to recognize delusions even though I am not able to eradicate them fully. Then, I'm left with the need to get things done in order to have my life continue to work. Delusions sometimes stand in the way of this. 

In some instances, I'm looking at two contrasting pictures. There is the picture painted by the delusions, and there is the picture I am expected to believe. If I'm in a situation where I can do so, I will choose a course of action that fulfills both pictures. 

If I have a delusion, or a belief that I question, I will try to speak about it either to someone whom I know well, or to a mental health professional. This allows my mind not to be isolated and allows things to open up. This is very therapeutic. 

Additionally, mindfulness helps in the struggle against delusions because it causes a reduction in the amount that I cling to a belief or a thought. When someone is psychotic, often they are emotionally attached to their delusional beliefs. When you can take this attachment out of the picture, it becomes easier on an emotional level to let go of the beliefs. The tendency for psychotic people is they don't want to let go of their delusions because their minds are hooked on them with an emotional charge. Mindfulness addresses this. If I am 'okay' whether or not a thought is correct, I am in more of a position to release a delusion. 

In some instances, I function on gut level instinct. While this is not always correct, sometimes it is a better guide than thoughts. 

A mental health 'expert' of some kind espoused the belief that you should do the exact opposite of what your impulses are telling you to do. This, to me, is grossly inaccurate. Some of the time your impulses are right on. Other times, they are off. You have to go by the sum total of what you think and what others are advising. There is no exact rule of what you should do and when. You take your best guess/estimate of the correct course of action and see what you get. That's life. 

 

Jack Bragen sells books on lulu.com in the U.S., and they are currently available on Amazon in the United Kingdom and other regions.  

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: For Those with Delusional Problems: How to Successfully Function while Delusions are Running 

 

Jack Bragen 

 

 

My definition of a 'delusion': A belief that is unusual, that others don't share, and that interferes with functioning in the world in a manner considered competent. Note: Delusions can be contagious when held by a person who has the power and/or position to convince others.  

 

I begin this week's edition with important points to make. People who have never been diagnosed with any kind of mental illness are subject to delusional thinking. Some are stuck in a delusional belief and cling determinedly to it. The absence of a diagnosis, and/or the ability to be taken as 'normal' and function 'normally' are no guarantees of accurate thought. "How could this be?" --you might ask. This is because there is no inherent mechanism in the undiagnosed person's mind that makes human thinking accurate. Most people depend on other people and the mass media to give them their beliefs. Those who rely on only themselves are potentially in a danger zone. For the 'intellectual' it is a combination of the speech and actions of others, the news media, and independent observations and thought. 

For those of us with a mental illness diagnosis, one that includes 'delusions,' we have strayed too far off course and have been unable to sync our thinking with the accepted "normal" enough to be able to function in society. Medication makes us more receptive to our surroundings and to the things that other people are telling us. 

Medication has done more things for me than it has taken away. I am able to have a large portion of my thinking accurate to the extent that I can function in life as a competent adult. On the other hand, medication interferes with lot of life abilities that I probably would have had without it. Medication, especially antipsychotics, also affect the available energy level for the worse. Being on antipsychotics might mimic having Parkinson's. But I don't know enough about Parkinson's to say that for certain. 

But I don't have a choice, because whenever I've gone off medication, I've relapsed. The recovery time following these relapses, to get back to a good level of function, has been about five years following each relapse. Therefore, it is not viable for me to go off medication. And it is not worth trying. 

Yet, medication does only so much to alleviate delusions. I continue to get delusional thinking. And when I have delusions running, I make every effort to track them. Part of my mind is able to recognize delusions even though I am not able to eradicate them fully. Then, I'm left with the need to get things done in order to have my life continue to work. Delusions sometimes stand in the way of this. 

In some instances, I'm looking at two contrasting pictures. There is the picture painted by the delusions, and there is the picture I am expected to believe. If I'm in a situation where I can do so, I will choose a course of action that fulfills both pictures. 

If I have a delusion, or a belief that I question, I will try to speak about it either to someone whom I know well, or to a mental health professional. This allows my mind not to be isolated and allows things to open up. This is very therapeutic. 

Additionally, mindfulness helps in the struggle against delusions because it causes a reduction in the amount that I cling to a belief or a thought. When someone is psychotic, often they are emotionally attached to their delusional beliefs. When you can take this attachment out of the picture, it becomes easier on an emotional level to let go of the beliefs. The tendency for psychotic people is they don't want to let go of their delusions because their minds are hooked on them with an emotional charge. Mindfulness addresses this. If I am 'okay' whether or not a thought is correct, I am in more of a position to release a delusion. 

In some instances, I function on gut level instinct. While this is not always correct, sometimes it is a better guide than thoughts. 

A mental health 'expert' of some kind espoused the belief that you should do the exact opposite of what your impulses are telling you to do. This, to me, is grossly inaccurate. Some of the time your impulses are right on. Other times, they are off. You have to go by the sum total of what you think and what others are advising. There is no exact rule of what you should do and when. You take your best guess/estimate of the correct course of action and see what you get. That's life. 

---

Jack Bragen sells books on lulu.com in the U.S., and they are currently available on Amazon in the United Kingdom and other regions.

The Republicans with the help of right-wing media are prolonging the pandemic for political reasons. Consider that 17 of the 18 states that voted for Trump have the lowest vaccination rates. Georgia is the exception. And the surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are primarily in Republican-controlled states, where vaccination rates are well below the national average. This is the consequence of these red states slow-walking their responses to the pandemic including refusing to ban mandatory vaccinations or masking. I can only conclude that to them, an overwhelmed heath care system and needless deaths are acceptable collateral damage. 

It is also telling that no Republican in the House and Senate voted for the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package. Some of these same Republicans realized the liability of voting against vaccinations, money in their constituents' pockets, putting constituents into jobs, and children back to school, then tried to take credit for the legislation. 

Republicans benefit if the pandemic ends too quickly. Trump botched the pandemic response while President Joe Biden generally gets high marks for his handling of the pandemic. By slowing Biden’s movement toward herd immunity and the end of the pandemic, Republicans hope to tarnish Biden’s accomplishment. As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell put it back in May 2021, “One-hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration.”  

I suspect that Trump with help from his enablers — aided by “the Big Lie” — hopes to rise like the Phoenix from the chaos he created to take control of our country. If that happens, say goodbye to the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution and say hello to a Trump autocracy.

Fresh off a huge victory against UCB in court, Mayor Jesse Arreguin signed onto a one-sided deal with UC that shortchanges the City on money, ties the hands of smarter mayors in the future, and all but guarantees that the City will be embroiled in yet more litigation in years to come. The magnitude of Arreguin’s colossal debacle is leaking out thanks to recent public disclosures of the settlement agreement itself. To understand how bad a deal it is, you need to understand two things: (1) the money at stake and (2) the legal restrictions Arreguin agreed to, which make the money settlement all but unenforceable. Once you do, you will really wonder what is going on.

Taxes, Taxes: We Ain’t Going to Pay No Bleeding Taxes

Back when UCB was purely an educational institution, not a money-making juggernaut, the City had little to no leverage under the state constitution to require UC to contribute money towards reimbursing the City for the cost of making infrastructure improvements (sidewalks, streetlights, sewers, etc.) and providing basic services such as fire, EMS, ambulance, and police. As a result, the mayors of years past went hat in hand to ask the Chancellor to pay the City a so-called “impact fee,” which was entirely voluntary. As might be predicted, these conversations did not go well for the City. Mayor Tom Bates eventually reached a deal that resulted in an impact fee payout that is now worth $1.8 million/year. By 2021, the difference between what UCB pays the City and UC’s consumption of city services and dollars for infrastructure exceeds $20 million/year.[1] 

Fast forward to today, when UCB makes money hand over fist in a myriad of ways that are not tied to its educational mission. These money-making ventures include operating public parking garages, renting out its venues for concerts and other public events, leasing space to private businesses, catering parties, licensing technology and patents, operating childcare centers and marketing businesses, selling merchandise, and on and on. Many of these income-producing ventures, such as paid parking lots, are subject to local taxes despite UC’s status as a state university. See, e.g., BMC Ch. 7.48 (public parking tax). This point was made clear in 2019 when the California Supreme Court ruled that UC owed San Francisco parking taxes for its public parking lots. City and County of San Francisco v. Regents of University of California (2019) 7 Cal. 5th 536. This 2019 decision essentially slammed the proverbial door on UC’s arguments that it could avoid paying local taxes on its money-making ventures.[2] 

These unpaid taxes and fees represent real money for the City, but for some reason the City has not been pressing the tenants and UC to pay up. For example, UCB recently began renting three floors of its new Berkeley Way West building to commercial tenants[3] such as Microsoft, which rents 27,000 square feet. These tenants are obligated to pay taxes and fees to the City. Berkeleyside recently estimated that the uncollected payments on properties UCB leases to commercial tenants could be as much as $1million/year.[4] Likewise, UCB has been collecting City parking taxes for years at its public parking lots, but it has never paid over those monies (which are the City’s own funds) to the City.[5] 

In their recent settlement deal, both the City and UCB acknowledge that UCB and its commercial lessees are obligated to pay local taxes (see Settlement Agreement (SA) Para. 4.8 and 4.9). Rather than insist that UCB turn over taxes collected on the City’s behalf from third parties such as commuters who park in UC lots or pay the City its outstanding tax bill and its tax obligations going forward, the City gave UCB a truly sweet deal. In exchange for UCB’s unenforceable (see below) promises, the City agreed (a) to allow UCB to keep all the City parking tax funds it has collected over the years from parkers at its public parking lots (which conservatively is in the millions of dollars); (b) allow UCB to continue to keep the City tax collections on its public parking lots until such time as the City begins to collect the tax from its own City lots and BART lots; and (c) bar the City from collecting any “assessments” (read taxes and business license fees, which are proof of tax payments) that it is not already paying[6]! Wait, What???!!! 

That’s right, UCB, which from all accounts is quite literally Berkeley’s biggest municipal tax cheat, just cut a deal to hold onto millions of City tax dollars that it collected from commuters AND avoid paying municipal taxes in the future! How does that make sense? Does the Mayor plan to offer this deal to everyone in Berkeley? If so, we predict a stampede to City Hall. 

Setting aside the sheer stupidity of that move, does the City Council not realize that it has just opened the City up to an equal protection challenge by other taxpayers? Because Jesse Arreguin’s administration has effectively allowed UC to avoid all local taxes (and pay over money it collected from other to pay taxes), it is only a matter of time before a clever local business owner (or plaintiff’s attorney) seizes the ripe opportunity to sue the City for a constitutional equal protection violation. (Perhaps an employee in the Finance Department will make a whistleblower complaint for a future payday.) The US Constitution—that pesky document—requires that taxes be applied equitably to all who are similarly situated. A city cannot enforce tax laws on similarly situated businesses in a discriminatory manner. Put simply, courts tend to frown upon local leaders randomly deciding not to enforce taxes on their friends (i.e., Chancellor Carol Christ). If they do, it is called an equal protection violation (or worse under the criminal code). 

 

Our Money, Our Decision 

While it is true that the Settlement Agreement provided that UCB would pay an increased (voluntary) impact fee to the City—from $1.8 million/year to just over $4 million/year—that increased fee came with significant strings and is all but unenforceable.[7] Unlike tax payments, which go into the City’s general funds and can be used to pay whatever the budget provides, the Settlement Agreement restricts where the City can spend UCB’s impact fee money. It requires that $2.8 million of the roughly $4 million be spent every year on fire and other city services (SA 3.4.1), and most of the remainder goes towards infrastructure improvements in areas around the campus where UC owns significant property. Notably it provides that in 2022, part of the annual impact fee payment must be spent on “wildfire risk management and fuel reduction on UC owned property,” (SA 3.6.2). UCB’s planned enrollment surge likely will necessitate a new City fire station, but the agreement provides that none of UCB’s impact fee monies can be allocated “to the development of a new fire station.” SA 3.7. 

The Agreement also provides that UCB will have active and direct oversight on how “its funds” are expended. For example, the City must present proposed infrastructure projects to the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor in non-public meetings before expending the “infrastructure” funds. (SA 3.7.) If UCB does not like how the City spends its funds, it can stop paying. (SA 3.7 and 3.8.) (This unilateral control by UC poses a problem under Berkeley’s Charter, particularly as the City is effectively foregoing the collection of business taxes and license fees in favor of collecting an impact fee.) The agreement also illegally abrogates the City Council and Mayor’s duty to control expenditures of monies collected and then taken from the General Fund. 

Promises, Promises  

This point brings us to the BIGGEST problem with the Mayor’s UC settlement: Enforceability. The City gave up all of its power in the Settlement Agreement for UC’s unenforceable promise to pay. As they say, the devil is in the details. The City’s agreement to dismiss its existing lawsuits and not file a suit against UC in the future are fully enforceable against the City; but UC’s promises to pay and to cooperate over issues of mutual interest are not. 

Promises to pay are not equivalent to a cash payment. A settlement agreement ending litigation (as this agreement did) should, if negotiated properly, contain strong “incentives” to ensure that the promised payment is made in the future. Generally, lawyers write these “incentives” to resemble the proverbial Pandora’s box, so that if the promised payment is not made, all Hell will break loose. For instance, where, as here, a court case has been settled, the agreement will generally allow the party that does not get its money to restart the case and dissolve all agreements it may have made not to bring any other suit. It also typically will require the non-paying party pay a LARGE PENALTY if they bust the agreement through non-payment of the settlement amount and then lose the underlying lawsuit. 

So did Jesse get these guarantees? In a word, No. This UC settlement is remarkable because it does not contain a Pandora’s Box of horribles that will unleash if UC fails to pay. Instead, it is a wholly one-sided settlement agreement in UC’s favor that effectively puts the City on the sidelines—bound and gagged—hoping that UCB pays it something, but powerless to object if it does not. Yes, that is right, the City gave up all its leverage to enforce the annual payment the mayor supposedly extracted from UCB. UC gets to decide every year whether it will pay the $4.1 million, and the City has no meaningful leverage whatsoever if it does not. (Crossing your fingers, Mr. Mayor, does not count as an enforcement strategy.) 

The key fact is timing. The City will have performed its end of the bargain (giving up its lawsuits) before UC has to deliver on its bargain (promise to pay). The City’s proverbial big stick was its power to challenge UCB’s ambitious expansion plans and cause its projects to fall under the court’s supervision instead of UCB’s exclusive control. By agreeing to dismiss its lawsuits against UCB and not file a lawsuit against UCB’s latest plans without an effective provision to permit suit later if UC does not deliver, the City has delivered its part of the bargain without ensuring that UCB performs its part of the bargain or has a strong incentive to do so. 

Under Paragraph 7.3, if the City decides to terminate, the City will lose the $4.1 million/year forever AND is legally barred from restarting the dismissed lawsuits or filing new lawsuits objecting to the new LRDP or any project within its scope AND cannot seek “any compensation or damages related to enrollment increases at the University.” The first part of this penalty—foregoing the impact fee payment—is the poison pill that other commentators have referred to.[8] It means that the risk is all on the City if it wages war with UC over UCB’s failure to live up to any part of its deal. 

The second part of that restriction—the permanent all-encompassing ban on most future lawsuits—is the thing that has us shaking our heads. Why in the world would the mayor agree to that restriction as it removes all incentive for UCB to live up to the bargain that it struck? Put simply by way of example, if in 2023, UCB stops paying the City the $4.1 million annual impact fee and never pays it again, the ship will have sailed on the City’s ability to challenge UC’s expansion plans because the litigation was already dismissed and the Mayor promised not to file any more litigation as to certain future projects. Further, UC wrote in so many conditions to its impact fee payment, that the City will never practically be able to sue UC to enforce payment. Thus, if UC increases undergraduate enrollment to 90,000 students and builds a 30-story tower on Clark Kerr campus and paves the rest over for student parking, the City can do nothing (!!). How in the world could the City Council agree to that? 

Again, we are left scratching our heads. We understand why UC wants the City effectively neutered; we just don’t understand why Mayor Arregiun agreed to be neutered and to neuter all future mayors (but see below as to one possible explanation). 

 

Secrets & Lies 

 

We believe that Jesse Arreguin decided to handle the Settlement Agreement approval process in closed session with just the city council present. While there is precedent (and possible legal justification) for holding a discussion of a settlement of a specific pending lawsuit in closed session, there is no precedent for holding a closed session to discuss matters far outside the narrow scope of a single lawsuit, as happened here. 

As noted above, the Council’s secret vote to accept the Settlement Agreement terms ventured far outside the narrow lawsuit challenging UCB’s environmental impact report on the Upper Hearst project under CEQA. It also addressed the enforcement of the City’s municipal tax code and allowed UCB to keep the accumulated millions in City funds that UCB collected over the years from its public parking lots by way of City parking taxes paid by parkers. The Council also agreed to conditions on UCB’s future pay-over of collected City parking taxes in a way that is directly at odds with the City’s municipal tax code. That is a big no-no, to use a legal term of art. The City Council does not have the power to do either of these things, much less do so in closed session where there is no lawsuit involving taxes pending.[9] 

Another irregular aspect of the whole situation is that the Settlement Agreement was not announced on the City website and still has not yet been posted there despite the fact that the City has already executed the agreement. The announcement of the settlement, which appeared on Jesse Arreguin’s personal campaign website, jessearreguin.com, featured a campaign-like ad, complete with a video in which Chancellor Christ lauds the mayor personally. Presumably this slick public (partial) reveal was the work of the outside public relations firm recently hired at taxpayer expense to work for the Mayor’s Office. (Interesting fact: Immediately after announcing the existence of the UCB settlement agreement, Arreguin asked the City Council to approve increasing their contract amount by about 300%.) 

Nevertheless, the lack of information from the City proper and the degree of disinformation put forward by the Mayor is startling. For example, he apparently told Berkeleyside that UCB agreed to pay its parking taxes going forward but neglected to mention that it would only do so if certain conditions are met and was being allowed to keep all of the City’s funds collected from parkers in prior years.[10] He also touted payments he claimed UCB would be making towards certain of his pet projects —for example, public toilets in the Telegraph area—but neglected to mention that UCB was controlling where UCB’s money was spent and that the City had no way to enforce these payments. 

 

Recall or Cuffs: What are the options now? 

 

If you are wondering whether this settlement deal is legal, you are not alone. How can a democratically elected mayor agree with a large tax cheat (UC) that it can keep millions in City Funds and dictate how the City can apply its voluntary impact fees (paid in lieu of general taxes)? Likewise, how can one mayor bind the hands of all future mayors on the circumstances under which taxes can be assessed UC that are at odds with the City’s tax ordinances or sign away the right to challenge UC over a development project that UC has not yet proposed? We seriously doubt any of this will pass constitutional muster. It also just plain smells bad. Ratified in a closed City Council session and leaked to the public weeks later, the agreement has already spawned one lawsuit and we predict more to come. 

One very credible take on this whole situation—heard from several sources—is that the Mayor agreed to look the other way at UC’s illegal behavior such as not paying taxes and not abiding by CEQA in exchange for some really great press. The “bribe” in this case would be all of those nice things Chancellor Christ said about him and the settlement on the video featured on jessearreguin.com that extolls his achievement in reaching such a “historic” settlement. Why would the mayor do this? Well, according to many sources, Jesse Arreguin plans to run for higher office soon. 

Viewed in that light, the unenforceable promises begin to make sense. They allow Jesse Arreguin to boast about the promises he got from UCB, but UCB never actually has to honor those promises in the future. So, UCB and Jesse Arreguin got a deal that works for both of them: UCB does what it wants, and Jesse gets good press.[11] But what about the citizens of Berkeley? 

Hmmm. We smell a rat and an elections violation. 

Hearing rumors of a recall election. Perhaps it is time for one. 

 

Berkeley Symphony Music Director Joseph Young Leads the Orchestra in Its First Live Performance Since February 2020 at Bruns Amphitheater, Wednesday August 4th at 7:30 and Conducts a Symphony Ensemble in the third Free Berkeley Symphony Live! At the Plaza.

For its first live performance before an audience in almost a year and a half, the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by music director Joseph Young in a diverse program featuring selections from the classical repertoire alongside contemporary compositions by Gabriela Lena Frank, Brian Raphael Nabors and Jesse Montgomery, at Bruns Amphitheater, overlooking the Siesta Valley in Orinda, home of California Shakespeare, with actors from Cal Shakes joining the Symphony to speak passages from Goethe's drama 'Egmont' for the Beethoven orchestral piece it inspired--Wednesday, August 4th at 7:30 pm. Gates open at 6. Preconcert dining available. 

Single tickets are $50, available online at: http://www.berkeleysymphony.org or by phone at: (510) 841-2800 ext. 1. All attendees must show proof of vaccination. 

And on Thursday, August 5th at 5:30 pm, Maestro Young and an ensemble of string players from the Symphony will play a free community concert at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza, the third in the Berkeley Symohony Live! On the Plaza series. Music director Young was introduced to the community at the first concert in the series, when audience members of different ages were invited to conduct with Young's guidance. The program will include works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Vivian Fung and Jesse Montgomery. 

The program for the night of the 4th at the Bruns Amphitheater will include--Brian Nabors: 'Iubilo,' Rossini: Overture from 'Barber of Seville,' Beethoven: incidental music from 'Egmont' Op. 84, Gabriela Lena Frank: 'Elegía Adina,' Tchaikovsky: Waltz from 'Serenade for Strings,' Jesse Montgomery: 'Strum,' Bizet (arranged by Kerenyi): Suite from 'Carmen,' J. S. Bach (arranged by Hyken): 'Toccata y Fuga.' 

<30>

The tech support department points out that the best sentence in the excellent op-ed on the COB's deal with UCB is the last one in the last footnote. In case you missed it:

"There is ample evidence that much recent construction as well as the movement to abolish single family zoning (R-1 zoning) in Berkeley are driven primarily by the demand for short term student housing, rather than by any real desire to provide affordable housing to families wanting to live here over the long term."

Well, yes. And not only that, what still hasn't been adequately reported on is that it's not just in Berkeley, it's all over the country, but especially in college town. On the front page of today's New York Times there's a story about Charlottesville, home of the University of VIrginia, that could be about Berkeley. I've heard simllar tales about Bloomington (Indiana U.), Gainesville (U.of Florida) and several others. What's being built in most of these towns is indeed not affordable housing for families, but luxury dorms for well-off students who spurn the old three-in-a-room proletarian dwellings with cafeterias and shared baths which their predecessors tolerated.

I trust you will represent the interests of your constituents and not those of for-profit developers, who care only about their profit margin and who will not build affordable, energy-efficient housing for that reason unless required by law to do so. 

High density housing places ever more pressure on our aging infrastructure. Before supporting the interest of developers to build high density housing unfettered by low-income unit requirements, the legislature needs to address infrastructure upgrades. 

These bills, under the guise of addressing California’s urgent housing needs, fail to acknowledge that market rate housing is not what we need. It only takes up ever more sites that need to be reserved for housing for Californians who earn below the median income. These bills do NOT serve our urgent need for affordable housing. It becomes ever more clear that we must instead focus our efforts on subsidizing non-profit developers. Berkeley has a good model of a non-profit project going up now at Cedar and Oxford streets that will include low income units as in the old building owned by All Souls Episcopal Church.  

Please acknowledge that the trickle down theory has been definitely disproved (right across the Bay—building ever more big residential projects rented at market rate only served to increase the average rent in San Francisco) and vote NO on SB 9 and SB 10.

Why are Berkeley citizens so upset about the proposed settlement agreement between the City and UC Berkeley? Reasons are many, but three stand out:

1. Secrecy:

Like the flawed 2005 deal that it is designed to replace, the current "settlement" was reached in secret, and debated among council members in secret. Critical though it is to our future, we are faced with a done deal, with no public review whatsoever. This violates open government laws and is a betrayal of multiple promises that the mistakes of 2005 would not be repeated this time around.

2. Dollars:

The law exempts UC from local property and other taxes. However, the courts have held that cities may seek reimbursement for goods and services provided by them to the University, like fire and police protection, emergency medical care, etc. In 2003, Berkeley's net UC generated expenses were independently calculated at $11,374,100 per year.[1] But in 2005, the city agreed that the University needed to pay only $1.2 million in yearly reimbursement. Current payments under the 2005 deal are reported at $1.8 million, an increase which accounts for only half of the 49.5% inflation which has actually occurred since 2003.[2] In real dollar terms U.C. currently pays less today than it agreed to pay in 2005.

And a lot more than simple inflation has happened since 2005. The big issue has been the expansion of the Berkeley campus from an estimated 31,800 students in 2005 to 40,955 in 2018, and with a further projected increase to 50,000.[3] The impact on the City's university-related costs should be obvious, with the Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. (EPS) analysis putting them at $21,415,000 (net of all receipts) as of 2018, or nearly double what they were in 2003.

Early reports were that UC under the 2021 settlement would pay the City $4.1 million/year in current dollars, with an inflation adjuster, or a total of $82 million over a 16-year term. Proponents proudly say this is double what was agreed to in 2005. But when the 2005 payment is adjusted for inflation and for the added costs of a near doubling of the student body, it is obvious that the new deal is as bad as the old. Indeed, it is worse. The annual subsidy by Berkeley taxpayers to UC as of 2003 was $11,374,000.[4] Using 2018 numbers as the base line, (they are the only ones publicly available), the annual subsidy will increase from $17,315,000 in Year 1 to $26,976,206 in Year 16, or a total of $349,108,399 over the life of the agreement.[5]

Things are worse yet when we consider the non-money parts of the settlement.

3. An Illusory Agreement:

Because of the City's passion for secrecy, we did not learn all the details until July 27, when the Mayors office released a fully executed and "final" settlement document. Skeptics' fears prove justified. For example, only $2.8 million of the advertised $4.1 million will go to the City's general fund. The rest is earmarked for special projects that must be (a) within a half mile of the campus, and (b) jointly negotiated with UC.

It also turns out that that the City has agreed to permanently withdraw from current litigation involving UC's Long Range Development Plan ("LRDP") and must support all UC expansion projects now in the works. Not only must it accept current expansion plans, but "poison pill" provisions prevent the City from enforcing the limits set by the LRDP. Should UC choose to expand beyond the 50,000 students forecast by the LRDP, or to build beyond the limits of the LRDP, Berkeley's only remedy would be to withdraw entirely from the Agreement, and to lose the promised compensation for fire, police, medical and other services provided by it to UC. Settlement Agreement (copy upon request), paragraphs 6.3, 7.3 and 7.4.

While most of UC's promises are illusory, the City's are very real. They threaten decades-long efforts to preserve what makes for a quality life in Berkeley, including adequate infrastructure, affordable housing (especially for young families), a healthy environment (clean air, uncongested streets, green spaces), and a balanced relationship with the University. There are no meaningful caps on student and staff totals, and no requirement to mitigate the housing crisis that results in large part to ever increasing UC demand.[6] There is no relief for local taxpayers' who must continue to subsidize tens of millions in costs that under the law should be borne by the State as a whole.

In short, our mayor and his captive Council have secretly agreed to a deal that will bring irreversible and long-term harm to us all. They should rescind their approval, explain their conduct, and allow us the input to which we are entitled under the law. 

David Wilson 

Dean Metzger 

Editors: 

Berkeley Neighborhoods Council (BNC) Executive Committee 

Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association (CENA) Board of Directors 

Attachment 1 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Clerk/Level_3_-_General/UC%20SEIR%20LRDP%20HEARST%20041219.pdf 

UC Berkeley Economic and Fiscal Impact Study starts on Page 46 

D RAFT MEMORANDUM 

To: Mr. Jordan Klein, Economic Development Manager, Office of Economic Development, City of Berkeley 

From: Benjamin C. Sigman, Jason Moody, and Ashley Boots, Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. 

Subject: Preliminary Fiscal Impact Analysis of UC Berkeley in 2018 

Date: March 27, 2019 

The City of Berkeley (City) has engaged Economic & Planning Systems (EPS) to analyze and document the economic and fiscal effects of the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). The EPS study ultimately will provide new data and analysis to inform City input to long-range campus planning and associated impact mitigations to be negotiated between the City and the University. While the EPS study will be developed throughout calendar year 2019, UC Berkeley recently released California Environmental Qual Act (CEQA) documentation that Amends the 2020 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) Environmental Impact Report, and there is a near-term need to evaluate the current fiscal impact of UC Berkeley on the City. 

The release of CEQA documents presents an opportunity for the City to provide comments and express concerns related to the University’s recent growth. In this memorandum, EPS presents preliminary fiscal impact estimates to assist the City in developing comments on the University’s CEQA document. The 2018 fiscal impact estimates reflect analytical methods established by the UC Berkeley Fiscal Impact Analysis conducted by EPS for the City in 2004 (Appendix B). 

This memorandum describes EPS fiscal impact estimates from 2003 and updated estimates for 2018. To the extent possible, the 2018 estimates incorporate new City revenue and cost data, UC and City population counts, and consumer spending data, in combination with fiscal impact factors derived from EPS’s prior analysis of the University’s impact. While the 2018 fiscal impact estimates presented here are preliminary, and the outputs of EPS’s ongoing comprehensive study surely will differ, the estimates presented in Figure 1 offer a reasonable first look at UC Berkeley’s annual impact on the City revenues and costs in 2018. 

See page 2 for the summary of UC Berkeley’s Fiscal Impact on the City of Berkeley 

Figure 1 Summary of UC Berkeley’s Fiscal Impact on the City of Berkeley 

Net Fiscal Impact 2003 - $11,374,000 2018 - $21,415,000 

Attachment 2 

City of Berkeley Agreement with UCB LRDP
Payments per year increased by 3% per year per agreement
Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5	Year 6	Year 7
$4,100,000	$4,223,000	$4,349,690	$4,488,181	$4,614,586	$4,753,024	$4,895,614
year 8	Year 9	year 10	Year 11	Year 12	Year 13	Year 14
$5,042,483	$5,193,757	$5,249,570	$5,510,057	$5,675,359	$5,845,620	$6,020,988
Year 15	Year 16					Total
$6,201,618	$6,387,666					$82,551,213
			Amount agreed to by Council			$82,640,000
					Difference	$88,787
Amount Berkeley is subsidizing UC Berkeley per the agreement
		Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Payments made by UCB		$4,100,000	$4,223,000	$4,349,690	$4,488,181	$4,614,586
City cost for UCB services		$21,415,000	$22,057,450	$22,719,174	$23,400,749	$24,102,771
City subsidizing UCB		-$17,315,000	-$17,834,450	-$18,369,484	-$18,912,568	-$19,488,185
		Year 6	Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10
Payments made by UCB		$4,753,024	$4,895,614	$5,042,483	$5,193,757	$5,249,570
City cost for UCB services		$24,825,854	$25,570,630	$26,337,749	$27,127,881	$27,941,718
City subsidizing UCB		-$20,072,830	-$20,675,016	-$21,295,266	-$21,934,124	-$22,692,148
		Year 11	Year 12	Year 13	Year 14	Year 15
Payments made by UCB		$5,510,057	$5,675,359	$5,845,620	$6,020,988	$6,201,618
City cost for UCB services		$28,779,969	$29,643,368	$30,532,669	$31,448,649	$32,392,109
City subsidizing UCB		-$23,269,912	-$23,968,009	-$24,687,049	-$25,427,661	-$26,190,491
		Year 16
Payments made by UCB		$6,387,666
City cost for UCB services		$33,363,872
City subsidizing UCB		-$26,976,206
Total amount spent on UCB services by the City of Berkeley					$349,108,399
per the 16-year agreement

 

 

I have been thinking more about how to encourage owners to renovate the uninhabited housing that is currently in Berkeley, especially since President Biden announced he would not extend the eviction moratorium beyond this weekend.  

I wrote to you last week with the subject line, "Problem solved and new ideas to help others." As Kate Harrison's office summed it up:  

"it is in the public interest to retrofit/invest in existing buildings and to preserve embodied carbon. We are happy to report that last month the Mayor and Council agreed to fund her budget referral seeding a Climate Equity Action Fund Pilot with $500,000 in grant money and an additional $100,000 for staff costs. 

The fund will provide low-income homeowners and renters with grants for various climate upgrades, including increasing panel capacity and circuitry, electrifying appliances, and providing low-carbon transportation and micro mobility options (e.g. e-bikes and transit passes). 

My idea was a bit different : 

"Berkeley is putting more and more emphasis on going electrical, but they are losing a lot of their housing supply by not helping existing buildings upgrade for little or no cost. Older buildings, where many people with rent control or lower incomes live, will not be able to upgrade without affecting the current landlords financially in significant ways. They will have no incentive to use the already constructed buildings and will, instead, resort to tearing down what is there and rebuilding from scratch. All of this will effect the environment and consume more resources that we already have there. This is not smart growth, since it is adding to climate change, which going all electrical in housing is supposed to help. 

Grants are needed for redoing the electrical wiring in these buildings. We can't expect a lot of these older buildings to be able to handle our modern lifestyles. We should try to keep the resources that we have and limit further unnecessary destruction and construction. Grants would benefit the landlords and the current and future renters would to be able to continue to live in these wonderful older buildings  

Old housing codes, which are currently grandfathered into the building code. do not require the rewiring of older apartments to accommodate newer electrical needs or the amount of electricity that people now use. However, we could really increase the occupancy of currently built, but unoccupied rental housing, if grants were provided to the landlords with agreements for rentals. We would not see the destruction of buildings that are already there.  

Kate's office stated that " The fund will provide low-income homeowners and renters with grants for various climate upgrades." I would like to add to this to say that the owners who are currently holding empty apartments or buildings be contacted and that the reasons for and obstacles to that they are stating for the non-habitation of the apartments or buildings be considered. If the reason has to do with electrical circuitry or plumbing issues, the city could provide them grants so they can upgrade the residences and make them habitable to low-income, very low-income or moderated income people. Agreements would have to be made. 

This approach would open up vast numbers of apartments and buildings to the target renters, without the owner having to be low-income too. I do not suggest giving these grants be given to the large, corporate style landlords - Everest, Equity, etc. - but to local landlords who are meeting obstacles and could use these grants to upgrade to code and provide needed housing.  

I am a renter who has lived in the same apartment for 30 years. My interest is there because I appreciate what I have. I want to see more people find rentals in Berkeley.

Tom Joyce of the Washington Examiner refers to the Vice President as [President Biden's] "Harris Mistake." And here is another bit of bigoted terminology from history: "The Jewish Question." 

The current political climate has seriously devolved, to the point of tolerating hate, rather than mandating tolerance. And I was eyewitness to a newscaster on television who referred to homeless people and their encampments as "The homeless problem." 

When we stop referring to people as human beings and instead invoke terminology that conjures up the concept of ridding your household of vermin, such as a "fly problem," or a "rat problem," it dehumanizes people to the point where the next step is destruction. 

I've spoken to a Holocaust denier; I won't tell you the exact circumstances. She spoke of "the problem," vaguely in reference to Jews. When I asked her to elaborate, she said, "About the Holocaust: It never happened." 

That's the default of perpetrators--when something did happen, the statement: "It never happened." This is why in most European democracies it is a crime to deny the Holocaust. It is not a crime in the U.S., because we have our First Amendment. Anyone can say and believe nearly anything they want unless you can prove it is a threat or a part of a fraud. Also, you can't rip off someone else's writing and/or intellectual property and call it your own. 

But, for the most part in the U.S., you are free to have any beliefs you want and to say almost anything you want. You can be sued for it but not prosecuted. 

What evidence do we actually have that the Vice President isn't fit for her job? It seems to me that we don't have any. She is criticized because of race and gender, and she is getting less than spectacular ratings in popularity polls. White men probably resent having someone in a higher position than they who is female and Black. Again, and again, human beings are subject to dinosaur thinking. And if we stick with that, we too will go the way of the dinosaurs. 

Human consciousness is failing to evolve. If we expect to have any chance of making through the next two centuries, we will have to evolve. Otherwise, we are looking at universal destruction fueled by hate, small-mindedness, self-appreciation, and ignorance. 

People would rather forget about Slavery in the U.S. People would rather forget about the U.S. grabbing the land from Native Americans, killing most of them off, and selling their body parts. People would rather forget that Hitler killed six million Jews, and killed numerous others, including anyone with the bravery to speak the truth out loud. Tom Joyce, shame on you. The Vice President is no mistake. If politics is only about getting votes, then throw out that part about leading the country and just have it be a game show or a reality show of who is the most popular.

Our young people weren’t around when Berkeley was engulfed in massive wildfires, first in 1923 and again in 1991. Over 650 houses were reduced to ash in the 1923 fire, which started northeast of UCB and raged down the narrow, densely built up streets below Wildcat Canyon Road all the way to Shattuck and Hearst Streets. Fire equipment struggled to get through the twisting, switchback streets at a time when fewer cars were parked in front of the houses.

In 1991, 3,354 houses and 456 apartments were destroyed, and 25 people died. The fire raged down from Grizzly Peak, engulfing Hiller Highlands, Vicente and Alvarado, crossed Highway 24 to Roble Road and on to El Camino Real and Hillcrest, and across to consume upper Rockridge all the way to Broadway. Fire crews were again unable to progress along many of the narrow, car-clogged roads above the Claremont Hotel. Some who died were in their cars trying to snake their way to safety.

Senate Bill 9 exempts ‘very high hazard areas’ in incorporated areas from mandatory banning of R-1 houses in favor of 8- to 14-unit apartments, but Berkeley’s fires started in unincorporated areas, and swallowed up vast swaths of ‘high hazard areas’ and even non-hazard areas like Rockridge, in which SB-9 and 10 encourages dense apartment building.

PLEASE urge our state lawmakes to VOTE NO ON SB 9 & 1

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This is a Very Good Deal. Go for it! 

Wherever I go, it seems as though a body of rumors precedes me. People talk. They judge. They don't necessarily have the facts, nor do they very often try to see things from my perspective. 

I feel as though I'm considered guilty of being Jack Bragen. In one instance, a person was accusatory because of me wearing a "nice shirt." It was as though if you are mentally ill, it is suspicious if your wife bought you a shirt. Others have questioned me concerning why I am in a particular public place, as though I need to explain myself for being--anywhere. Someone called me up to ask me why I was at a bank branch. It was my bank--I had banking to do. I didn't bother to explain this to the woman who called, I hung up on her, as was appropriate for such a bogus caller. 

Another person, or maybe the same person, called me to ask me whether I'd seen a psychiatric nurse practitioner to receive services on a certain date. Her question came across as though she'd watched far too much ancient television, specifically, Perry Mason. I replied to this pseudo-cop that I didn't have a way of verifying who she was and wasn't going to give her any information. 

(Information, by the way, is a commodity, it is worth something, and we don't have to give it out unless circumstances force it. When you are being questioned by an authority, you do not in all cases need to answer every question. While they may employ the power to intimidate, you should be aware of your rights.) 

What I've experienced begs the question: Where does this garbage come from? 

Some people apparently would lock me up if they were able to come up with an actual crime. Yes, I'm schizophrenic. Schizophrenic people are okay too. If you are mentally ill, it is not a crime to conduct yourself as though you are a normal person; you are an actual person. People with schizophrenia go to the bank, the post office, supermarkets, and some go to work. That's right, many mentally ill people have jobs. 

I wouldn't say this is like being Black; I acknowledge that Black people have it harder than me, meaning it is harder for them to be accepted as respectable. Yet, you could draw some parallels. In the past, in the days of "Father Knows Best" or "Look Who's Coming to Dinner" most white, gray haired papa figures probably would not let a Black man anywhere near their daughter. It's before my time, so I could not tell you firsthand, only by media recordings and word of mouth. 

I am past fifty, and this could put me chronologically in the same class as the gray-haired, father-knows-best, white men who were deemed supremely respectable and authoritative in earlier decades. This is dinosaur thinking, and I expect it to die off completely in the next ten to fifteen years. Nowadays, women can be considered respectable, and so can nonwhite people of any age. 

Racism, misogyny, classism, antisemitism, and all other forms of less respect for those not white, male, and gray haired, have been pushed into the category of ignorant extremism. Republicans are forced to adopt liberal beliefs when those beliefs are accepted into mainstream thought. The difference between liberalism and conservatism is largely a time gap. At some future point, it will be considered ignorant and bigoted to assume that mentally ill people are dumb and belong in institutions. 

I should be respected for my work. Not just for becoming a good writer and thinker, but also for the degree to which I've strived to recover from psychiatric illness--this takes work. 

Instead, I am regarded with suspicion. People wonder that I haven't died, and they probably don't like the fact. Maybe I, too, belong to the dinosaur age, a time before human beings devolved, with love of Donald Trump as the main symptom of this. But for me, this is not about disliking Trump, it is about my quest to be left alone by idiots. 

---

 

Jack Bragen sells books on lulu.com in the U.S., and on Amazon in the U.K. and other countries, including but not limited to: "Schizophrenia: My 35 Year Battle: Vignettes of Hardship and Persistence." He lives in Martinez, California.  

On July 29, 2021, President Joe Biden announced that federal workers and contractors will be required to attest they’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus or else face mandatory masking, weekly testing, distancing. and other new rules. President Biden also said he is "asking the Defense Department to look into how and when they will add COVID-19 to the list of vaccinations our armed forces must get."

At this point in time, we don’t have the time to coax vaccine holdouts to get vaccinated. It might have been feasible back when the vaccines were first approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By now the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness have been proven again and again over time, yet resistance remains. And we continue to hear that persistent education about the vaccines’ importance will eventually overcome resistance. It hasn't. If the unvaccinated aren’t convinced by now about the lifesaving benefits of vaccination, they just haven’t been listening or are listening to the wrong sources. 

Now is the time for vaccination mandates at the federal, state, and local levels. Already California and New York will require all state employees and on-site public and private health care workers to be vaccinated or face at least weekly testing. San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties in California and New York City have a similar requirement for their employees.  

In addition, employers should mandate their employees get vaccinated or get frequent tests and wear masks at their workplace. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stated that employers can now order their employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccination shot, provided that they comply with the reasonable accommodation provisions of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), religious exceptions, and other laws. And the Justice Department said that federal law does not prohibit public and private employers from requiring vaccinations, even if it has been approved only for emergency use by the FDA. On June 12, 2021, a federal District Court in Texas upheld a hospital’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for employees. Here are some of the companies that have already announced Covid-19 vaccine requirements for at least some of their employees: Google, Facebook, Netflix, Morgan Stanley, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Washington Post, Lyft, Uber, and Twitter. 

As of July 29, 2021, institutions of higher learning in thirty-five states and the District of Columbia require vaccinations in some form for the start of the 2021-22 academic year. Unfortunately, at least seven states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Montana, Oklahoma and Utah -- have already banned such vaccination mandates in public schools, while 34 more have introduced bills that would limit requiring someone to demonstrate their vaccination status. 

I applaud these vaccination mandates. Without such mandates, I fear the pandemic will continue on and on as more virulent variants come on the scene. At some point, public health and safety must trump individual freedom of choice.

Street Art for the Sake of Clean Water

A talented team of artists and activists recently took the campaign against Big Carbon to the streets—specifically to the first block of Fresno Street to the south of Solano Avenue. This Albany intersection now sports a colorful two-lane proclamation of resistance to the Line 3 Pipeline.

If built, Line 3 would open North America's oil-stained floodgates to a daily surge of nearly a million barrels of Canadian tar sands. Line 3 would drive this toxic slurry all the way from Alberta to Wisconsin—across wild wetlands and the sacred treaty territory of the Anishinaabe peoples—before plowing through the headwaters of the Mississippi to a terminus on the shore of Lake Superior. And here's a Bonus Bonehead Blunder: Line 3 would be built by Enbridge, the firm responsible for the biggest inland oil spill in US history.

The Indigenous communities in the projected path of this costly and unnecessary project are waging a brave and determined nonviolent resistance to block the pipeline and protect their ancestral lands. They have succeeded in holding the project at bay for nearly five years.

For more details on this epic struggle, check out the Stop Line 3 link.

And, if you have a chance, take a stroll off Solano to check out the message that now adorns the pavement alongside the nearby Chase bank: "Defund Line 3: For the Love of Water." 

Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the Livermore Labs 

David Hartsough (co-founder of the Nonviolent PeaceForce and author of Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist) has issued an invitation to his fellow Bay Areans to join in marking the somber commemoration of that other "date that will live in infamy"—the 76^th anniversary of the US nuclear mass-murder of Japanese civilians in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two US bombs instantly killed 180,000 Japanese civilians—that's more than the populations of Berkeley, Albany, and Emeryville combined. 

Hartsough writes:
"Dear Friends,
"We will commemorate (virtually) Hiroshima Day August 6 and Nagasaki Day August 9 at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Labs where the US is modernizing our nuclear weapons arsenal this year. Hope you can join us. We will remember the hundreds of thousands of people who died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and commit ourselves to abolish all nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth." 

The virtual rally will include presentations by Daniel Ellsberg, Nobuaki Hanaoka, Nell Myhand, Tsukuru Fors, John Burroughs, Marylia Kelley, and climate activists from the Marshallese Islands. You can join the event live-and-online at 9am on Friday, August 6 and Monday, August 9. 

Into the Valley of Debt Rode the 500 

In the Good Old Days of bloody, boots-on-the-ground war-fighting, military explosions of "toxic masculinity" would be triggered by clashes over borders and competition for access to resources—minerals, water, land, slaves, women. These "great campaigns" were often secretly ginned-up by powerful leaders looking for opportunities to expand their wealth—or protect it from competitors. 

In order to recruit soldiers to fight these oligarchic battles, kaisers, kings, and khans, monarchs, czars, and presidents would look for a causus belli (and they were not shy about staging "false flag" provocations) to stir the troops to bravely fight to defend the motherland/freedom/democracy/God/Allah/etc. 

On today's testy and toasty planet, however, wars are not only driven by border disputes. The New Triggers involve climate-stressed competition over commerce and trade. With China out-performing the US economically, Washington increasingly looks like the seat of a fading world power. 

When President Biden tells the world "America is back at the table," he really means "the head of the table." But the rest of the restless world appears to be growing impatient with Washington's lack of table manners. Needless to say, it's not easy giving up the title of Leading World Power, History's Greatest Democracy, The One Indispensible Nation, or Global Policeman. 

So what might ignite the next (and potentially final nuclear-powered) showdown? 

According to President Joe Biden, quoted in the AP: "I think it's more likely…. If we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major power, it's going to be as a consequence of a cyberbreach of great consequence." 

And so, it's come to this: the next computer hack could spell the end of the human experiment on Earth. 

To paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson: It's once more into the cyberbreach, dear friends. 

Diplomacy Ka-boom! 

The government-founded National Museum of American Diplomacy recently sent out an invitation to participate in the institution's new "Historical Diplomacy Simulation Program" and engage in a discussion about how best to introduce these programs "into the classroom." The Diplomacy Classroom is described as a "monthly virtual event" designed to "teach history through diplomacy simulations" and "explore diplomacy through a historical event, person, or contemporary global issue." 

But it was the graphic presentation that caught the eye—and the optics were confusing. 

The invitation to the inaugural one-hour event on August 17 featured three historical images, all involving ships. The first was an engraving that portrayed a respectful shipboard encounter between British and Muslim traders. The second image showed a ship being blown apart and the third depicted a damaged ship sinking into the sea. What's the message here? Diplomacy doesn't always work? 

Say Again? 

Publishers Clearing House (PCH) continues to send weekly installments of oversized envelopes stuffed with offers to win "$5,000 a Week for Life"—along with solicitations to buy lots of kitschy household items. According to PHC's contest rules, "making a purchase will not improve your chances of winning." That said, PCH has come up with a number of gambits to nudge recipients to part with their money in hopes of grabbing some of PCH's million-dollar loot. 

Sometimes, an envelope will have special offer that is only available for people who place orders. Sometimes a decision not to place a mail-in order requires participants to either toss the return envelope or go online to set up an electronic account. 

Recently a PCH packet arrived with the following announcement printed in bold, all-caps, large-font type: "ADVISORY! Failure to order from this bulletin will result in forfeiture of our highest level of rewards for any product you may order." [Italics added.] 

I think PCH might want to consider re-writing that pitch. 

The US Company Behind the New Covid Surge 

Did the US play a role in the spread of the super-active delta variant that's been threatening a second deadly global surge of infections and death? The connection was made in an AP report cited by the SF Chronicle on July 28. In a dispatch from Sydney, Australia, the Associated Press reported: "the delta outbreak [in Australia] began in mid-June when a limousine driver was infected while transporting a US air crew from the airport." But who were these Yanks who infected Australia's "Patiet Zero" with the aggressive new variant? 

Reuters only refers to an "overseas airline crew." Marketwatch mentions a "foreign air crew." The Wall Street Journal cites an "international flight crew." The Washington Post mentions an unidentified "US air crew." 

Only the Australian Broadcasting Corporation managed to identify the actual source of the driver's infection, stating in a June 16 report: "It's believed he transported a crew of three from a FedEx freight plane before he became infectious." The race-baiting Other Guy once referred to the COVID outbreak as the "Kung Flu." Maybe we can dub this new contagion the "FedEx Hex." 

Amazon Shipping Scams 

A week ago, I received a notice from Amazon that a $1,400.99 Apple 12.9-inch iPad Pro I had ordered had been shipped and would arrive in 12 days. The invoice included a line showing a discount of $112.39 on the purchase. But there was a problem: I never ordered a laptop. 

Eager to avoid a misunderstanding that could involve more than a thousand dollars, I was eager to contact Amazon and set the record straight. In such online encounters, however, I always "tickle-click" the displayed email to make sure that it's legit and not the work of some cyber-bandit operating out of Bulgaria. The invoice appeared to link to orderprime@amazonusorders.com. But on closer inspection, I discovered the final letter in ".com" was missing. 

On the assumption that this might have been a typo, I phoned the customer relations number and was put on hold while a recorded voice recited the familiar refrain: "Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line until a representative can assist you." The "hold music" featured a familiar symphony performance—but the quality of the recording was suspiciously sub-par. I quickly hung up. 

Then I noticed the invoice included a small-print "mailing address." A check with Google Earth produced a photo showing the location … a weed-covered empty lot in San Juan, Texas. I deleted the email. 

It turns out these "false shipping notices" are a common "phishing scam" designed to goad callers into sharing Amazon account numbers, passwords, and personal banking information. Note: The July edition of the AARP Bulletin contains a superb investigative piece by Doug Shadel and Neil Wertheimer called "Inside the Fraud Factory." Shadel and Wertheimer expose the fraudsters behind the Internet's global scam industry and provide a wealth of tips on how to avoid becoming a victim. 

Reich on America's Rich Space Cadets 

In a recent MoveOn memo, UCB Economics Prof. and Progressive Good-guy Gadfly Robert Reich aimed some suborbital darts at Wall Street's Favorite Space Cowboy, Jeff Bezos:
"Billionaires rocketing off to space isn't a sign of progress. It's a sign of grotesque inequality that allows a select few to leave Earth behind while the rest of humanity suffers. No one needs billionaires to colonize outer space. We need them to pay their fair share of taxes so people can thrive here on Earth. 

"Just a few months ago, Jeff Bezos made $8 billion—that's $8,000,000,000—in a single day. To put that into perspective, it would take a worker making $7.25 an hour—the federal minimum wage—69,000 years to earn that much. 

"And despite making all that money and hoarding all of that wealth, Bezos has for years paid nothing in income taxes." 

Reich isn't finished. He offers another shocker: 

"I want to tell you about a small building in the Cayman Islands. This modest five-story building houses more than 18,000 corporations. As my friend Senator Bernie Sanders said, 'Either this is one very crowded building, or it is a phony address, used by 18,000-plus corporations for one purpose: to avoid paying taxes to the United States of America.' 

"Bernie's right. For decades, American multinational corporations have hired armies of lobbyists, lawyers, and accountants to abuse the tax code and get away with paying as little in taxes as possible." 

The five-story building is known as the Ugland House. According to a recent Wikipedia post accessed on July 21, 2021, "the building is occupied by the law firm Maples and Calder and is the registered office address for 40,000 entities." 

So Washington is responsible for two shadowy, conscience-shocking Caribbean-based operations: (1) a notorious jail for prisoners captured in the War on Terror (GITMO) and (2) a notorious shelter for corporate fortunes captured in the War on Taxes (GITMORE). 

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Debt 

Donald Trump has left a lasting legacy: one that the GOP would like to disavow. According to a ProPublica exposé: "The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 million during Trump's time in office. That's nearly twice as much as what Americans owe on student loads, car loans, credit cards and every other type of debt (other than mortgages) combined…. It amounts to about $23,500 in new federal debt for every person in the country." 

The "Trump Bump" is the third-biggest debt increase (relative to the size of the economy) of any presidency other than George W, Bush (who started several costly, deadly, destructive, endless, fruitless foreign invasions) and Abraham Lincoln (who had to finance the Civil War). 

The January 6 Attack: Forget the Weeds: Investigate the Roots 

Talk-show host Thom Hartmann (author of The Hidden History of American Oligarchy) hopes the House investigations of the origins of the January 6 Attack on Democracy will go beyond the actions of the "few hundred foot-soldiers" who stormed that Capitol Building and turn a bright light on "the meeting in Trump's DC hotel the night of January 5 or any other meetings or actions that may imply organization and leadership." 

Hartmann is particularly concerned about the role of Acting Secretary of Defense, Trump loyalist Christopher Miller. Miller was placed in that key position immediately after Trump lost the election and ordered a sweeping purge of senior Pentagon officials.  

Hartmann's concern is focused on a leaked January 4 memo from Miller that ordered the District of Columbia's National Guard (DCNG) to "stand down," leaving the Capitol police to confront the insurrection alone. 

The Miller Memo (as reported by the New York Times and confirmed by Snopes.com) read: 

Without my subsequent, personal authorization, the DCNG is not authorized the following: 

• To be issued weapons, ammunition, bayonets, batons, or ballistic protection equipment such as helmets, and body armor.
  To interact physically with protestors, except when necessary in self-defense or defense of others, consistent with the DCNG Rules for the Use of Force.
  To employ any riot control agents.
  To share equipment with law enforcement agencies.
  To use Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets or to conduct ISR or Incident, Awareness, and Assessment activities.
  To employ helicopters or any other air assets.
  To conduct searches, seizures, arrests, or other similar direct law enforcement activity.
  To seek support from any non-DCNG National Guard units. […]

According to Hartmann, "Miller's memo specified that the DC National Guard would be essentially neutered unless he gave the order—and he and other Trump loyalists weren't answering the phone for hours during the attack."  

This raises questions that the House investigators need to answer: "Who ordered Miller to do this? Why did he go along with it? What was the end game? Who else was involved?" 

Trump (Nearly) the Worst President Ever 

On June 30, the publication of the 2021 Presidential Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership revealed the Reviled Previous Occupant of the Oval Office ranked in the bottom rungs of Washington's leadership ladder. 

Trump likes to boast that he's been one of the best presidents ever to dine on Big Macs and Diet Cokes in the Oval Office. During 2017 rally in Ohio, Trump exclaimed: "With the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that’s ever held this office.” 

The 142 Presidential Historians, however, gave top honors to Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Barack Obama also made the Top Ten. 

Meanwhile, Trump—listed as the country's 41^st least-popular leader—was lumped in the basement with other debased frauds and failures like Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan. 

Trump did score one top ranking, however: he beat out his personal hero Andrew Jackson as the "most impeached" president in US history. 

With a Little Help from the Feds 

The Founders Sing