Sidewalk Preaching

The sidewalk on the south side of MLK Jr. Middle School is still painted with a half-dozen uplifting words colorfully covering the path to the stairs leading to the entrance of the school's main building. The words include RESIST, UPLIFT, and PROTEST.

This got me wondering: Why do we have a word like "uplift" but we don't have a word like "downput"? One the other hand, we have the word "off-putting" but we don't talk about "on-putting."

And then there are the pros and cons of prose. The opposite of Protest is not Contest (they are actually closer to being homonyms than antonyms). On the other hand: The opposite of protrude (to extend beyond) is contrude (to crowd together). The opposite of provoke (to spread mayhem) is convoke (to draw together). The opposite of proscribe (to forbid or exclude) is conscribe (to enlist).

Signs of the Times

There's a public service sign on display in the bus-booth and the northwest corner of San Pablo and Ashby with a disturbing message. "Pressure," it states, "Stops Bleeding." The ad shows two hands pressing down on a blood-red background above the words: "Simple Acts Save Lives." How's that for a status report on the current hazards of urban living? 

What's next? Instead of containers of plastic doggie bags for poodle-poop, will our neighborhoods start seeing displays of metal containers stuffed with bales of bandages and tourniquets? 

Another oddity. A block north of the San Pablo/Ashby intersection, Heinz Street ends at San Pablo Avenue. Although there's no cross traffic on the east side of the street, there are still two push-to-walk boxes on the sidewalk in front of the C&M Meat Company parking lot. In theory, you can't walk down that roadless part of the sidewalk without stopping to wait for the "light to change" from red to green. 

Three Servings of Champagne 

A local performance artist scored a rare trifecta in the SF Chronicle's Sunday (March 13) Datebook section. Champagne Hughes managed to rack up not just three, but five citations/references/appearances in two different stories on three pages of that single edition. 

In a historical review of the pandemic ("2 Years that Felt like 20") and Lily Janiak's investigation of the local theatre world's tradition of hiring "interns" and "fellows" for cheapo pennies-on-the-hour service, Hughes was mentioned on pages 11, 12, and 23, while photographs of Hughes performing were featured on pages 4 and 11. Hughes was described as an Oakland educator, storyteller, board chair, and nonprofit leader. In both articles, Hughes also was identified as a "pleasure activist." A curious visit to her Instagram page further informs that the multi-talented Hughes is a deejay, an actress, a devotee of raw vegan food, a marathon runner, and a sex coach. 

World Court to Putin: "Nyet!" 

The International Court of Justice (aka ICJ, aka The World Court), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has ordered Russia to immediately halt its military operations in Ukraine and announced that the ICJ order to do so is legally binding.  

But you can stifle that sigh of relief. The jurists also noted that, while the order is "legally binding" it is not "enforceable." 

In a related note, Nicholas J.S. Davis writes: "It is 36 years and counting since the ICJ ordered the United States to pay reparations to Nicaragua for its crimes of aggression, including training and dispatching Contra mercenaries to massacre civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure, and mining Nicaraguan waters. Will President Biden finally pay up now, to set a good example for Russia?" 

Leagalese, If You Please 

While perusing some of the articles in the March issue of the Law & Society Review, I chanced across a criticism of a Canadian politician whose "inchoate attempt at reconfiguring her defense of genocide into concern over 'tax dollars' requires theorization." The article went on to criticize "fiscal racism" in the context of "settler colonialism." At one point, the author lamented how "ostensibly fiscal concerns are imbricated with white political entitlement." (Emphasis added.) 

I had never encountered that word before and—judging from the red line that appeared beneath it on my laptop screen—neither had Apple or Spellcheck.. 

In order to suss out the meaning of this red-lined verb, I had to walk to a different room and pull out a dusty artifact known as a "dictionary." Buried deep inside its dusty pages was the following definition of imbrication: "to cover with gutter tiles." 

Musk and the Monkeys 

An animal rights message from care2: "He's a billionaire who's famous for making cars that are neither self-driving nor very safe, and for taking over whole towns with his rocket company. He's Elon Musk and his recent research ventures into 'brain chip' technology involved mutilating the brains of monkeys.  

"More than one dozen of these innocent animals died because of Musk's mad-scientist experiments. While Neuralink, Musk's brain chip company that's responsible for the shoddy research, is denying the claims and asserting that it acted in line with ethical principles for research, watch groups claim otherwise.  

"The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has filed an official complaint with the USDA against Neuralink. In its report, PCRM claims Neuralink's research caused animals "extreme" suffering — as evidenced by signs such as vomiting, stress and anxiety, hair loss, and loss of appetite. Some monkeys even displayed self-mutilating behaviors, including painfully removing their own fingers." 

It appears that Neuralink violated the Animal Welfare Act, but the USDA has yet to respond to Musk's critics. 

Adding to the scandal, the care2 Petition notes that the University of California is also involved in these grisly experiments, to wit: Sign the petition to demand that the USDA investigate Neuralink and the University of California Davis for their treatment of animals during these unethical experiments! 

Free Speech Fettered by US Clampdown on News from Russia 

In early March, while attempting to sample Ukraine-invasion coverage on RT News (aka "Russia Today," a Moscow-based international news agency), I was blocked by an alert that announced the link could no longer be made because of a problem with "the upstream server. That's all we know." 

Also blocked from our screen-feeds: Lee Camp, the host, head writer and creator of the RT News-hosted commentary, Redacted Tonight, which had excoriated US politicians for eight raucous years—until it was abruptly canceled due to US sanctions. 

Camp was recently a guest on Talk World Radio, whose host, World BEYOND War peace activist David Swanson, noted that Redacted Tonight was "the only anti-war anti-corporate comedy show on US TV." The very same week, Lee’s podcast, “Moment of Clarity,” was summarily removed from Spotify while his YouTube channel was banned across Europe, leaving him clinging to his last remaining perch at: https://www.patreon.com/LeeCamp 

Camp reflected on being booted into the media shadows during a recent appearance on Talk World Radio. 

Newsrooms No Longer Clatter 

In a recent column, Chronicle book critic Barbara Lane the recalled with fondness the classic "newspaper world" of the past century: 

"What an intoxicating place it was: clattering typewriters, clanging phones, teletype machines ringing bells and flashing with big stories, the rumble of the presses, boys running copy downstream, ripped copy and paste pots. And, of course, fishbowl-size martinis, endless cigarettes and political gossip at Harrigan’s, the bar where reporters gathered." 

Lane then bemoaned the newsroom of today: 

"Walk into any big-city newspaper today and it’s strangely quiet. Everybody staring at their screens, writing and transmitting copy electronically. No clattering, no clanging, no rumbling. And certainly no cigarettes." 

And then, in a flash of inspiration, Lane considers the ramifications of the electronic commons projected onto the art of storytelling:
"[T]he digital revolution has not only transformed big-city newsrooms, but would have drastically altered the very plots of so many well-known stories." 

For example:
"The plot of 'Pride and Prejudice' would be destroyed without all the letters going back and forth and the time that elapses between them. Romeo and Juliet had epic communications issues that would have been easily solved by cell phones."  

Imagine what Shakespeare might have written: "To 'hit send' or not to' hit send,' that is the question." "Romeo, Romeo, where posteth thou?" "If you troll us, do we not hit 'delete?" "Is this an emoji I see before me?" "If music be the food of love, play Lady Gaga, Siri." "All the world's a platform…." 

"Don't Lie Like Boris Johnson" 

A message from Yurii Sheliazhenko, executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement. 

"The UK Prime Minister lied three times about the war in Ukraine in the video FYI Kids Q&A with Boris Johnson, streamed by Sky News. Putin's invasion to Ukraine indeed is evil, but Putin is not a war criminal convicted by the court for perpetrating genocide. 

"Also, the West and Ukraine are not innocent victims who did nothing wrong. Current two-layer conflict between the West and East and between Russia and Ukraine happened in the first place because of the widespread wrong view that good guys should wage just war and kill bad guys. 

"In this video, I explain how lies incite war, describe hardships of war resisters' life in Ukraine under Russian attack, and advocate peace talks instead of shooting." 

Venezuela Orders 18-fold Increase in the Minimum Wage 

That's an unexpected headline that stopped me in my tracks. Last time I heard, Venezuela was suffering from inflation aggravated by US-imposed economic sanctions. But on March 4, before a crowd of 10,000 cheering government workers, President Nicolas Maduro announced he was acting to meet their demands for improved salaries. "You proposed to [raise] the workers' basic minimum wage," Maduro declared. "Approved! And that pushes all salary tables upwards." 

Maduro's action increased the value of the country's currency by a factor of 18, increaing the new minimum wage to 126 bolivars, which is the equivalent of $28.* 

But workers won't be paid in bolivars. For the past four years, Venezuela's economy has been pegged to a digital cryptocurrency called the "petro" (a fitting term for a country whose economy is hitched to oil extraction). Unlike other currencies, one bolivar is worth the value of one barrel of oil.* The new minimum wage is set at "half a petro." 

* With the current global shortage of oil and resulting price hikes, Venezuela's economy must be soaring. 

The Brookings Institution poop-poohs the petrocurrency as a means to "create foreign currency reserves from thin air." ('Course, since Richard Nixon abandoned the "gold standard" back in 1971, it could be said that the dollar, itself, is also backed by little more than "thin air.") 

Pen Pals 

As the director of Academic Publishing, Inc.—the designated nonprofit caretaker of the Berkeley Barb archives (www.berkeleybarb.org)—I occasionally get requests from publishers and museums to reprint articles and reproduce artwork. Last week, two requests arrived in the AcPub mailbox on the same day. One was a request from the People's Oral History Project in Salinas. The other was a handwritten note from a prison inmate named Wintworth Foster. It read as follows: 

"I remember your newspaper from back in the 70's. Was under the impression that it went out of business. I really enjoyed the extensive 'pen pal' section because of the myriad opportunity to meet a variety of people. I wonder if it remains like that today." 

Wintworth asked for a recent sample copy to see if the Barb still publishes the Pen Pals section in the same format. And he inquired about the subscription rate. 

Alas, the Barb's last issue spilled off the presses in July 1980. However, I'll be happy to send off a rare collector's edition of the historic weekly. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in writing to an inmate ( a real-life "pen pal)", here's Wintworth's mailing address: Wintworth Foster #21181, Southeast Correction Center, 300 East Pedro Simmens Dr., Charleston, MO 63834. 

Since the Taliban drove out the Americans and took control of Afghanistan, the country has faced a monumental humanitarian crisis leaving half of the population experiencing acute hunger. The U.N. Refugee Agency reported a staggering 3.4 million Afghans are internally displaced. The country’s healthcare system is experiencing chronic shortages. The new generation of children are bereft of the most basic education while workers in schools and hospitals are going without salaries while facing rising food and energy costs. Many attribute the dire situation to cruel economic restrictions the Biden administration implemented while diverting $billions to families of the 9/11 victims. Many 9/11 families have condemned Biden's decisions and attributed his actions to pandering to domestic policies. 

The New York Times Magazine Afghanistan journalist Matthieu Aikins, formerly based in Kabul, went undercover with Afghan refugees to write his book, “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water,” following his amazing journey crossing borders to the West. It’s very stark, the difference in treatment between the vast majority of refugees who need smugglers to escape and what’s happening in Ukraine right now. He posed the question, who does the West consider worthy of saving? 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, visited the Afghan capital of Kabul and urged the international community not to neglect Afghanistan. When the entire attention of the world is focused on Ukraine, it is important that other situations should not be ignored. As former Secretary of State, General Powell reminded the U. S. government, following the debacle of Iraq, “the US must take ownership the fallout of its invasions.”  

Sadly, Iraq was abandoned following the death of thousands of Iraqis and destruction of much of their country. Let us hope the Biden administration does not abandon the people of Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen while its attention is focused on Ukraine.

I have a little catching up to do, having taken a holiday from writing last weekend.

I had lunch with friends this last week who live just across the Bay in San Rafael. The husband used to live in Berkeley and both were curious about local Berkeley politics. I described what I knew of the incident at the Berkeley Drop-In Center, four police with guns drawn, handcuffing the program manager and keeping him on the ground even after it was determined that he didn’t have a gun, just a phone.

The incident didn’t fit with their image of Berkeley as the bastion of liberal politics, but as I described to them Berkeley has changed with the high price of housing and gentrification--or maybe it hasn’t. I was pretty shocked when I started attending City Council in 2014 and saw firsthand the in-your- face racism.

I finished two books this week A Colony in a Nation by Chris Hayes and White Space Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality by Sheryll Cashin. Both books cover similar territory: the familiar story that if you are Black (non-white) your experience with policing is different than if you are White, although some might argue that being Poor White or Poor White and Homeless isn’t much better. Even though this isn’t new information for many of us, the books are still worth reading.

Hayes focuses mostly on the difference in who, what, where and how policing is performed and law is applied, based on race and neighborhood, and how Black neighborhoods are treated like an occupied colony.

Cashin goes deeper into history and the broader impacts and describes how “the Hood is a place of confinement, an enclosure, with surveillance, disinvestment, and dislocation from opportunity created through federal and local policy”. Cashin writes a lot about education financing, and also showsl that police are more likely to use force in a majority Black neighborhood and an integrated police force is no guarantee of ending biased policing.

Looking at old census data back to 1940, the highest percentage of Black residents in Berkeley was in 1970 at 23.5%. Now it is 7.8%. In the council redistricting map (Amber 2) which will be before council at 4 pm Tuesday, March 22 the neighborhoods with the highest percent of Blacks are still the formerly redlined areas, with District 2 as the highest with 18% Blacks. District 5 is 2% and Districts 6,7 and 8 are 3% Black. 

Listening to the public comment following the presentations on Reimagining Public Safety from the National Institute on Criminal Justice Reform and the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force on March 10, 2022 at the council special meeting, it was like listening to two different cities with two different experiences. There is a certain amount of fear expressed from District 2, a gentrifying area, and accolades for policing from the hills. The hills are where police turn a “blind eye” to illegally parked cars (per District 6 councilmember Wengraf at the Public Safety Policy Committee) versus the flats where parking enforcement is dutifully carried out. 

Parking enforcement in fire zones (the hills) as requested by the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission is complicated, according to Councilmember Wengraf, and can’t be enforced, according to Police Chief Louis, without increasing the budget allocation to expand parking enforcement.  

The Berkeley Drop-In Center incident was in District 3, 15% Black, where according to one public speaker at another meeting, the incident was started by a caller seeing a phone as a gun. We can all be grateful that as traumatic as the incident was for everyone involved, in Berkeley the police only pulled their guns, no one fired them. 

Part of the Reimagining Public Safety effort and the disparate policing found through the Center for Policing Equity Report in 2018 is Mayor Arreguin’s vision to create BerkDOT a Berkeley Department of Transportation to offload traffic enforcement and traffic stops from Berkeley Police. At the Transportation Commission meeting on Thursday evening, March 17, BerkDOT was described as moving parking enforcement and school crossing guards into the new BerkDOT. The commission chair Karen Parolek gave her support (which can best be described as enthusiastic) for the plan to hire a consultant for $250,000 to develop the program. 

Which leads to another question, just how much does Berkeley spend on consultants? My opinion on the matter is all this rearranging just adds layers of administration and diverts spending away from services that are so badly needed by the vulnerable in our community. And, it doesn’t get to the root of the problem. 

Parking is an issue that comes up over and over. The housing projects planned for the BART parking lots will leave only 85 parking spaces at Ashby BART and 200 spaces at North Berkeley BART. 

The survey of BART riders found most do not drive to the station, and one proposed solution at the public meeting was that those who do drive could park at the underutilized Center Street lot, which badly needs users to offset construction and operating debt and expenses. The walk to the Downtown BART from that location is short. Other options are being explored. It will be several years before the projects break ground so no immediate change is in the offing for drivers. 

The changes to Hopkins Street to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety will happen much sooner. You can see the plans at https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Hopkins/. Basically, the Sutter to The Alameda section will have a bicycle lane on each side of the street. Where Hopkins narrows crossing The Alameda toward the Bay down to the Hopkins and Gilman intersection both bicycle lanes (east and west bound) will move to the south side, the park, school and Monterey Market side of the street. Answers to public questions were thoughtful. 

The March 15 special council meeting on the Housing Element and Residential Objective Standards produced some interesting facts. No change in zoning is needed to meet the new Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) requirements of adding 8934 units, and the average time from project approval to pulling the building permit is 3 years. 

The first public speaker on housing and zoning was Matthew Lewis, the Matthew Lewis on California YIMBY staff (there is a different Matthew Lewis active in Berkeley public life) as Director of Communications https://cayimby.org/staff/ who should be registered as a lobbyist. He stated he would happily have the solar access on his roof blocked, because Berkeley has opted up to 100% renewable with East Bay Community Energy and therefore his solar doesn’t matter in decarbonization. Several public speakers made a similar comments. 

The justification for protecting solar access was well outlined in the Planet and in public comment by former Planning Commission Chair Rob Wrenn. It fell on deaf ears as Councilmembers Kesarwani, Taplin, Droste, Robinson and Mayor Arreguin dismissed such calls and gave their support for lifting the height cap on tall buildings in the downtown. Ben Bartlett was the only councilmember to speak in support of protecting rooftop solar. Wengraf avoided the topic of solar completely and Hahn and Harrison were absent. 

Droste also bemoaned the open space requirements as adding to building expense. The whole city would be better off if the requirement for open space was a contribution to support our parks and especially the marina than a balcony hanging off a building or a rooftop with planters instead of solar. 

Information about 3 years being the average time from approval of a project to the application for a permit may slide by those who aren’t deep into the topic of project approvals. The YIMBY build- everywhere group blames Nimbyism (“not in my back yard”) for blocking projects. If they were actually watching and attending meetings they would know only a handful of projects are appealed and in the end they are almost always unanimously approved. 

The real solution to getting multi-unit housing projects built is to enforce the lapsed permit section of the zoning code (though I would really support changing the time limit from one year to two years). If the lapsed permit rule were enforced, instead of the city turning a blind eye to entitled/approved projects that don’t proceed to a building permit. that would naturally select developers who want to build and rein in the speculators who don’t produce housing in the end.  

This is the Zoning Code BMC 23.404.060 

C. Time Limits 

2. Expiration of Permit  

a. The Zoning Officer may declare a permit lapsed if it is not exercised within one year of its issuance, except as provided in Paragraph (b) below. 

b. A permit authorizing construction may not be declared lapsed if the applicant has applied for a building permit or has made a substantial good faith effort to obtain a building permit and begin construction. 

Hill Street Realty, the applicant to be developer for 2211 Harold Way never built anything. They were speculators and wasted seven years of public and staff time for a doomed project that was poorly designed and couldn’t be built. Those of us protesting the project tried in so many ways to inform, but we were dismissed. After all, how could ordinary citizens do a better job of reading architectural plans and financials than city planners, ZAB commissioners, DRC committee members and city council? 

We were right, of course. The criticism of the proposed project’sl seismic study was right too. It was water that brought the plans down, the ground water that citizens warned would be a problem. 

There are some other meetings that might have slipped your attention. The Berkeley Marina Area Specific Plan wasn’t posted to the City Community Calendar until sometime Monday for the Wednesday, March 16 evening meeting. These public meetings never have video or audio recordings. 

By contrast the last three Hopkins Street meetings were recorded. It doesn’t take a conspiratorial mind to conclude that either the city staff and directors involved are completely disorganized or the intent is to deliberately give short notice to limit attendance. 

The March 16^th meeting consisted of: these are our three alternatives for development, which one do you like best? https://www.cityofberkeley.info/BMASP/ I couldn’t stay, so I can’t say how it ended. 

The March 16^th EBMUD presentation “Searching for the Sewage Signal” searching for COVID in wastewater was recorded and should be posted this week, maybe by the time you pick up this Diary. https://ebmud.com/about-us/education-resources/water-wednesday 

The CDC is tracking SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewage https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance. If you look at the map of the US, the Bay Area is looking good with decreasing COVID-19 RNA found in wastewater, but I wouldn’t visit San Benito which is the red hotspot in the northern California. The pandemic isn’t over yet, but if we pay attention, keep up with our vaccines including boosters and keep that N95/KN94 handy we can certainly reduce our risks. 

Worth Noting:

Tuesday City Council has a busy last day before their twenty-day Spring Recess from March 23 through April 11, 2022. The 4 pm special meeting on Tuesday is the next step in establishing the new council district boundaries. The Independent Redistricting Commission determines the district boundaries and has selected the Amber Map 2. The 6 pm meeting starts with two preliminary matters which should be of interest to everyone. The first is titled Anti-Eviction and is really about densification and dispels some commonly held myths. The second preliminary item is on the condition of the Maudelle Shirek (Old City Hall) and Veterans Buildings and what seismic stabilization and water leak repair will cost. The agenda looks long, so expect some of the action items to be postponed.

Wednesday the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission will continue the discussion on Eucalyptus Tree Groves and the request by a neighborhood group to use public funds on privately owned land. Managing fire risk is complicated. If, as presented at the last meeting, the Hillside Group is looking to remove Eucalyptus trees and fill with mostly grass, then fire danger may actually increase.

Thursday at the Mental Health Commission the SCU (Special Care Unit) for people suffering from a mental health crisis is on the agenda. It is unknown how much detail will be provided, but the efforts to provide the mentally ill with crisis intervention instead of jail or a 5150 trip/a 72-hour hospitalization against a person’s will is worth our attention.  

Sunday, March 20, 2022 – no city meetings or events found 

Monday, March 21, 2022 

Community Environmental Advisory Commission at 5 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89970982149 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 899 7098 2149 

AGENDA: 7. Report from Toxics Management Division, 9. Discussion/Action: Transition Letter to merged Environment and Climate Commission summary of actions of CEAC and initiatives for follow-thru (Hazardous Waste, 100% sustainable transportation by 2040, decarbonization of buildings, advancing on cliate action plan, housing and sustainable trips, de-zoning gas stations, banning gas powered delivery vehicles). 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Community_Environmental_Advisory_Commission/ 

Loan Administration Board 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87963266386?pwd=amxzanJSWXlOQ1RrK1lLQlkvNHZCQT09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 879 6326 6386 

AGENDA: B) Action Item Kidventurez request for an additional six months of deferred monthly payments on a $25,000 revolving loan fund. 

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

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 

CITY COUNCIL CLOSED SESSION at 3 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89722983133 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 897 2298 3133 

AGENDA: one item pending litigation Reugg & Ellsworth v. City of Berkeley. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx 

CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING at 4 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85474741619 

Teleconference: 1-699-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 854 7474 1619 

Agenda: one item: Implementation of Redistricting Plan for City Council District Boundaries Amber Map 2. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx 

CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85474741619 

Teleconference: 1-699-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 854 7474 1619 

AGENDA: the two additions to the council meeting as Preliminary Matters are: 1. Presentation by the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, 2. Presentation on Seismic Retrofits for Civic Center Buildings, the consent and action calendar of the 6 pm council meeting follows the list of meetings by day of the week or use the link. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx 

Solano Avenue Business Improvement District Advisory Board at 11:30 am 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86475480085 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 864 7548 0085 

AGENDA: 4. Review Invoices from SAA – approve expenditures, 5. Projects/Goals for 2022, banners, flower baskets, landscaping 

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

Police Accountability Board Regulations Subcommittee at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82281228507 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 822 8122 8507 

AGENDA: 4. Continue drafting regulations 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=162752 

Wednesday, March 23, 2022 

Civic Arts Commission at 6 – 8 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86147520326 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 861 4752 0326  

AGENDA: 6. Presentations, Discussion & Action Items: a) Election, b) Appoint Cameron Woo to DRC, c) Work Plan, d) Discuss Festivals and History of Alcohol Sales, 7. Public Art Funding Ordinance, c) CA Arts Council Administrators of Color Fellowship and Related Program Ideas. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CivicArtsCommissionHomepage/ 

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81595546232 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 815 9554 6232 

AGENDA: 1. Fire Department Staff Reports FF, GG, call metrics, Discussion Items: 6. Presentation on fire hazard of Eucalyptus, Costs and Monarch Butterflies, 8. Hazardous Vegetation Removal Program and Budget, 9. FEMA Grants, 10. Parking Enforcement, 11. Outdoor Warning System, 12. Process for notifying commission of reports status. 

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

Energy Commission at 5 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89892047848 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 898 9204 7848 

AGENDA: Discussion/Action Items: 7. Presentation & Discussion Neighborhood Electrification & Gas Pruning, 8. Discussion & Consideration of Recommendation Regarding Vision 2050 Bond Measure, 9. Discussion of Environment & Climate Commission, 

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

Human Welfare & Community Action Commission at 6:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/4863098496 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 486 309 8496 

AGENDA: 6. Review CoB funded agency Program and Financial Reports for J-Sei, 7. Communication Vacant Properties, 8. Alta Bates Update, 9. Communication to Council regarding Easy Does It lapse in services, 10. Potential infrastructure and affordable housing bonds, 11. Pathways Facility, 12. Subcommittee update for prevention and ending homelessness in Berkeley. 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Housing_Advisory_Commission/ 

Police Accountability Board at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82237902987 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 822 3790 2987 

AGENDA: 3. Public comment on agenda and non-agenda items, 5. Chair and Board Member’s Reports, Update Police Chief search, Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, 6. Director PAB Report, 7. Chief Report, 8. Subcommittee Reports, 9. Review Policy 319 Hate Crimes, 10. a. PAB Budget Proposal, b. Training: Constitutional and case law regarding searches, detentions and arrests. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=162752 

Thursday, March 24, 2022 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Eviction/Section 8/Foreclosure Committee at 5:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86109304385?pwd=TlpCbWZpVnpMVzQ2Q0ZoOUN5V0NtUT09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 861 0930 4385 Passcode: 321033 

AGENDA: 7. Presentation by eviction Defense Center on Tenant Protection Ordinance Activities 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/rent/ 

Mental Health Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83719253558 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 837 1925 3558 

AGENDA: 3. Bridge Services to SCU and SCU Update, 4. Selection for Mental Health Division Manager Update, 5. April presentation on Behavioral Health Crisis System, including the role of Berkeley police, Alameda County and patient’s rights, 6. Re-imagining Public Safety Task Force Update, 7. Mental Health Manager’s Report and Caseload Statistics 

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

Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86902758076 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 886 5437 9637 

AGENDA: 2. 1235 Tenth Street – on consent – add Alcoholic beverage service of beer on-site at commercial recreation center 

3. 2361 San Pablo – on consent – add Alcoholic beverage retail sale of beer and wine for off-site consumption to an existing retail store. 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/zoningadjustmentsboard/ 

Friday, March 25, 2022 & Saturday, March 26, 2022 – no city meetings or events found 

Sunday, March 27, 2022  

Berkeley Equity Summit Series #8 at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://bit.ly/3HSXMLD 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 832 1453 3420 Passcode: 712730 

AGENDA: Women’s Herstory, Celebrate and Embrace Women’s Stories 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

MARCH 22, 2022 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR 6 pm MEETING AGENDA 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85474741619 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 854 7474 1619 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx 

CONSENT: 1. 2^nd reading lease agreement with NFS Unlimited, LLC for Skates-on-the-Bay, 2. Resolution to meet via videoconference, 3. Resolution ratifying COVID emergency, 4. Minutes, 5. Contract $60,000 (ARPA Funds) Amendment to Berkeley Revolving Loan Fund to contract with Working Solutions to provide technical assistance to small businesses participating in Revolving Loan Program (RLP), 6. $12,952,000 Formal bid solicitations, 7. Donate surplus fire truck and equipment to Livermore Pleasanton Department, 8. Contract $325,000/fiscal year with Pinnacle for Occupational Physicals replacing current contract 3/23/2022 – 3/22/2022 with option to extend to total 10 years, 9. Contract $100,000 with Interior Motions for HHCS Public Health Division Furniture 1/1/2022 – 12/30/2022, 10. Amend Contract add $140,800 total $541,715 with Help@Hand Participation Agreement with CA Mental Health Services thru 6/30/2024, 11. Revenue Contract Alameda Co Behavioral Health Care Services, 12. Increase Taxi Scrip Window daily cash redemption limit from $800 to $1000 one day per week, 13. Amend BMC 12.70 to align state and local laws on smoking and cannabis, 14. Add $900,000 to each contract with ELS Architecture and Urban Design, Siegel & Strain and Noll & Tam Architects 6/30/2022 – 3/31/2023, 15. Purchase Order $765,000 Nicholas K Corp dba the Ford Store San Leandro for 15 Ford Interceptor Utility Hybrid Vehicles, 16. Purchase Order $135,000 Nicholas K Corp dba the Ford Store San Leandro for 3 EV Ford Pickup Trucks, 17. Amend contract add $100,000 total $400,000 with Du-All Safety, LLC for Safety Consulting and Training Services thru 12/31/2025, 18. Amend contract add $85,000 total $277,947 with Silao General Engineering for site improvements (parking lot) at 125/127 University, 19. Amend contract add $500,000 total $1,400,000 with Coastland Civil Engineering for on-call civil engineering services for sanitary sewer program and extend 6/30/2023, 20. Amend contract add $500,000 total $1,200,000 with West Yost for on-call civil engineering services for sanitary sewer program and extend 6/30/2023, 21. Amend contract add $2,805,612 total $45,545780 with Waste Management of Alameda County for Landfill Disposal Services thru 12/31/2026, 22. FY 2023 Street Lighting Assessments – initiate proceedings, 23. Commission on Disability – Recommendation appoint new members to fill commission vacancies Districts 3,4,5,6,7 and Mayor, 24. Disaster and Fire Safety Commission – Recommendation to Identify High Risk Safety Areas that are exempt from State Imposed Housing Increases Due to Public safety Considerations 1. Fire Zones with narrow (26 feet or less) winding streets, 2. Locations Alquist-Priolo (Hayward Fault) and 3. Locations within Liquefaction and Landslide Zones,Parks.25. Parks and Waterfront Commission – Letter of support for South Sailing Basin Dredging, 26. Letter of Support to State Senate Budget Chair Skinner and Assembly Budget Chair Ting for Waterfront Infrastructure Improvement Projects, 27. Auditor’s Report Berkeley Police: Improvements Needed to Manage Overtime and Security Work for Outside Entities, 28. Taplin – Support for AB-2053 (Social Housing Act), 29. Taplin – Support for AB-2336 (Speed Safety Pilot Program – cameras to catch speeders), 30. Taplin - Support for AB-2713 (Rent caps –limits annual rent increase to 5% + CPI or 10% whichever is lower), 31. Taplin – Budget referral $300,000 to hire consultant to draft West Berkeley Transportation Plan, 32. Bartlett, co-sponsors Hahn, Taplin, Arreguin – Budget referral $350,000 to fund consultant to design and implement a local reparations plan to address economic injury and intergenerational trauma experienced by Berkeley’s decendents of slavery and ongoing harm caused to all African Americans by systems that uphold the legacy of segregation, 33. Hahn, Arreguin, Robinson – Oppose AB2808 which would ban rank choice voting, 34. Wengraf – Support for AB 1755 (wildfire home hardening, wildfire mitigation improvements), 35. Wengraf co-sponsors Taplin, Barlett – Support AB-1594 Fire Arms Civil Suits, 36. Wengraf, Hahn co-sponsors Bartlett, Arreguin– approving expenditure council office budget funds for 2022 Virtual Holocaust Remembrance Day Program, 37. Robinson co-sponsor Hahn – Budget Referral $3,600,000 Telegraph-Channing Garage elevator repairs, ACTION: 38. Berkeley economic Dashboards Update, 39. Research and Development (R&D) definition, 40. Accept the Surveillance Technology Report for Automatic License Plate Readers, GPS Trackers, Body Worn Camera and the Street Level Imagery Project (expect at the meeting for this to be moved to a future meeting) INFORMATION REPORTS: 41. FY 2022 First Quarter Investment Report ended 9/30/2021. 

LAND USE CALENDAR: 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

1643-47 California – new basement level and 2^nd story 4/26/2022 

Remanded to ZAB or LPC 

1205 Peralta – Conversion of an existing garage 

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

8 Brookside – Construct 2-story addition over 14 ft in average height and 20 ft max height, add 5^th bedroom in R-1H zoning district 3/30/2022 

1409 California - Construct a 96 sq ft addition over 14 ft in ave ht within a non-conforming rear yard setback 3/24/2022 

1635 Curtis - 187 sq ft backyard office over 12 ft in average height 4/6/2022 

1412 Derby – Residential addition of 431 sq ft to an existing 1,250 sq ft single family dwelling 3/24/2022 

2451 Fifth – Establish an art/craft studio under 20,000 sq ft 4/6/2022 

1795 Fourth – 1350 sq ft addition to existing 3750 sq ft commercial building conversion from 4 tenants to 2 tenants, work is shell only, tenant improvements under separate permit 3/31/2022 

2200 Fourth – Change of use of less than 25% of existing protected manufacturing use to R&D, construction of 5113 sq ft of new R&D space, 

2730 Grant – 2-story rear addition with average height of 21 ft 7 in, which horizontally and vertically extends the existing non-conforming 1 ft 8 in side setback 4/6/2022 

1915 Milvia – Residential addition of 578 sq ft to existing 1-story single family dwelling. Project includes demolition of a portion of the rear home 3/24/2022 

1341-1343 Parker – Addition of 5^th bedroom, relocation of exterior stairs to single-family dwelling, project includes demolition of a portion of the structure 3/24/2022 

2421 Piedmont – Remove and replace an existing 6-ft fence along the northern side lot line on top of retaining wall with combined maximum height of 9 ft 3/30/2022 

89 San Mateo – New rear decks above 14 ft in average height, window alterations within non-conforming setbacks 4/6/2022, 

825 Santa Barbara – Expand existing 502 sq ft garage with a non-conforming setback by 31 feet, increase average height from 6 ft 11 in to 10 ft 5 in and replace door 4/6/2022 

2145 Ward – Major Residential addition over 14 ft reconfiguration of existing 2 units, continuation of non-conforming side setback and an increase of bedrooms to 5 on lot 4/6/2022 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/planning_and_development/land_use_division/current_zoning_applications_in_appeal_period.aspx 

WORKSESSIONS: 

April 19 – Fire Department Standards of Coverage Study, BART Station Planning 

June 21 – open 

July 19 - open 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Alameda County LAFCO Presentation 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

Civic Center – Old City Hall and Veterans Memorial Building (Tentative: Action Item) 

Mid-Year Budget Report FY 2022 

Kelly Hammargren’s on what happened the preceding week can be found in the Berkeley Daily Planet www.berkeleydailyplanet.com under Activist’s Diary. This meeting list is also posted at https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html on the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition website. 

If you would like to receive the Activist’s Calendar as soon as it is completed send an email to kellyhammargren@gmail.com. If you wish to stop receiving the weekly summary of city meetings please forward the weekly summary you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com. 

l