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. -more-

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. -more-

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 -more-

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 -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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] -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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." -more-

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 -more-

Editor's Note: The latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times is now available.

You can view it absolutely free of charge by clicking here . You can print it out to give to your friends.

Grace Underpressure has been producing it for many years now, even before the Berkeley Daily Planet started distributing it, most of the time without being paid, and now we'd like you to show your appreciation by using the button below to send her money.

This is a Very Good Deal. Go for it! -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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." -more-