Nationally significant People’s Park was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 2022.

This designation underscores the historical, cultural, architectural and environmental assets of this irreplaceable open space. The park has an over half-century legacy of political and cultural events, a bio system of flora and fauna, and a surround of highly significant architecture.

This recognition follows being nominated unanimously by the California State Historical Resources Commission. People’s Park has played a key role as a gathering place for free speech during the decades of anti-war and civil rights struggles.

Former Berkeley Mayor Gus Newport commented that, “The stability of cities and towns is formed from the history of planning and participation of citizens. People's Park very much reflects and proves this. People's Park is very deserving of being on the National Register of Historic Places.”

However, the University of California plans to destroy the park despite its national significance. Harvey Smith, president of the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group, commented that, “Its planned destruction is unconscionable. The park’s importance is beyond a squabble in Berkeley or within California. It is a nationally recognized historic site.” 

Smith suggests the park should be preserved so that its appearance and infrastructure are no different than any other park within the City of Berkeley or any green space within the UC Berkeley campus. This is entirely possible once the present homeless population of the park is relocated to housing as planned by the City of Berkeley and the University. 

The ill-considered plan of UC Berkeley to build on the park should be scuttled because the university has many alternative sites for student housing. Chief among them is the Ellsworth Parking Structure, which is one block away from People’s Park. Keeping a parking lot and destroying a park is a totally irresponsible action in the age of extreme climate change. UC Berkeley’s plan to demolish Evans Hall to create open space on the campus should be matched by maintaining the open space of People’s Park in the community. 

Both the City of Berkeley and UC Berkeley celebrate the Free Speech and Sixties history of the Telegraph Avenue corridor. It is an asset to both the city and university, and among the reasons visitors from all parts of the globe are drawn to Berkeley. Recognizing People’s Park for the asset that it is and then preserving and enhancing it can only add to its value as a treasured Berkeley attraction. 

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources. 

More information on the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group can be found at peoplesparkhxdist.org.

If you’ve been around Berkeley for a while, you might wonder what’s behind all the changes that you see to the cityscape, especially the ones you think are ugly. To paraphrase Malvina Reynolds:

“Ugly boxes in the downtown, ugly boxes made out of ticky-tacky, ugly boxes made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.”

And also, they’re replacing the few amenities that downtown Berkeley previously boasted: This week, there go the remaining movie theaters, having been preceded by retail shops and soon to be followed by destination restaurants now serving movie-goers. Let’s paraphrase Pete Seeger: Where has all the fun stuff gone?

The short answer is that the city of Berkeley is being swallowed up by the University of California’s relentless metastasizing . The UC administration is working hard to monetize its brand, admitting more and more gullible students and providing them with less and less.

This issue we’re going to follow the practice of bigger publications with a guest editorial. Professor Davarian Baldwin was invited by the UC faculty association to share his analysis of the relationship between universities and the places they’re located, what he call “univerCITIES”. A UC regent was asked to engage in conversation with the professor, which I heard on ZOOM. Baldwin pretty much wiped the floor with the regent, a building trades union executive, which is probably why the regent would not allow the video of his participation to be posted on YouTube.

But here’s Professor Baldwin, in what was supposed to be an introduction, but proved to be a concise summary of his research on college towns, including Berkeley. His conclusion (one among others): real estate speculation is the name of the game.

Watch it—it’s only about 20 minutes, and well worth the time.  

Watching climate news is like walking into the opening of the book The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson. In the India and Pakistan heat wave, birds fell out of the sky from heat stroke.

On Tuesday May 18, 2022 the temperature in Santa Rosa was 20°F above normal. As I write there is a heat warning covering the entire east coast and our own temperature predictions for the coming week are 10 to 20 degrees above what used to be normal. The red flag fire warning for counties west of Sacramento begins Monday at 11 am. Grass fires in San Jose and Sonoma are already making news. Saturday night in local news there was a flash of Governor Newsom saying that water rationing is coming.

On the good news front Australians, who are required to vote, threw out the conservatives electing Anthony Albanese largely on climate. If all eligible Americans voted would there be enough of us to throw out the anti-abortion, fascist replacement theory Christian nationalist Republicans? I think so, but the big if is voting and who counts the votes.

The Democrats have some cleaning up to do to elect more progressive voices. Summer Lee, Democrat for Congress in Pennsylvania, overcame $2,025,297 from the Democratic dark money Super PAC (Political Action Committee) United Democracy Project (UDP), a PAC for the American Israel Public affairs Committee (AIPAC) to defeat Steve Irwin. Jessica Cisneros, a progressive Democrat, is fighting the same fight against Henry Cuellar, a conservative anti-abortion Democratic Congressman with AIPAC backing in Texas. The election is Tuesday. Meanwhile Berkeley Mayor Arreguin just wrapped up a Jewish Community Relations Council sponsored trip to Israel. 

Sometimes I wonder if the comments made at City meetings even make a difference. The Design Review Committee (DRC) took an interesting turn this week. I used the stark realities mentioned above to remind the DRC about the climate crisis. The second project on their agenda was 2213 Fourth Street a 5-story parking garage with 415 parking spaces. The neighbors spoke, objecting to this huge parking lot adding pollution and traffic next to their homes. I commented about how wrong it is, in this climate emergency, to even be building a parking lot for combustion engine cars especially when the City of Berkeley is eliminating parking from mixed-use apartment buildings.. Erin Diehm criticized the landscape architect’s choosing the plant Nandina, which is poisonous to birds. 

Janet Tam asked the developer about the future of this structure when it was no longer needed for parking. There was no response, but the question became part of the longer conversation. The DRC followed its mandate to review projects from the design perspective and added in their motion to be sent to the Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB), that the approval of the design did not mean approval of the project and the ZAB should consider the project use. The DRC also said in their motion that planting Nandina should be prohibited. 

The next project 747 (787) Bancroft Way is a 159,143 square foot research and development project one block from Aquatic Park with glass spanning the second, third and fourth floors. The developer planned to use bird safe glass only on the side facing aquatic park, using the rationale that birdsafe glass was only indicated on the aquatic park side because inside shades and curtains on the other sides would protect birds. 

Erin Diehm pointed to the architectural plans showing a reflection of the sky. Birds see the reflection of the sky in the glass, not the curtain or shade behind it and fly into the glass. She described the building as being in the bird flyway and noted the abundance of birds at Aquatic Park. Mark Schwettmann said that standards for bird safe glass are evolving. 

Evolved is the correct word with bird safe glass from ground to 75 feet on all sides. This is the model ordinance from the American Bird Conservancy and the ordinance for New York City. 

Charles Kahn lamented that the DRC can only recommend and not require 100% bird safe glass, because the City of Berkeley has not finalized the ordinance. 

Which brings us once again to how the city of Berkeley manages to give a show of taking action on climate and the environment while stalling that very same action through referrals where they are left to wither and die. It is now thirty months since the City Council referred the bird safe glass ordinance to the Planning Commission. 

There is another failure here. Sustainable Berkeley Coalition was cc‘d on the April 7, 2022 response by Erin Diehm to the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) prepared by LSA Associates Inc. for the 747 (787) Bancroft research and development project. This was well in advance of the DRC meeting. But Diehm’s response is nowhere to be found in the documents included with the 747 (787) Bancroft research and development project while the LSA 566 page Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration report is included. 

In Diehm’s response, she pointed out the biological richness of Aquatic Park, the gross undercount of bird species and the false statement in the LSA report that “The project site [747 (787) Bancroft] is not located within a migratory wildlife movement corridor”. 

I don’t know how responses to the Mitigated Negative Declaration make it into packets for DRC and ZAB members, or whether this was a mere oversight by staff, lack of coordination or more fallout from the city’s buggy new website, but it is a lesson that we as citizens need to keep a watchful eye on the doings of the City. Given the inaccurate information in the LSA 566 page report, this is starting to smell like a disinformation document and campaign. 

Monday morning at the Council Public Safety, Councilmember Wengraf presented her motion to accept the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission’s recommendation to enforce parking restrictions in Fire Zones 2 and 3 (the hills) with the modification of hiring an additional parking enforcement officer to do the work. It will now make its way into the list of council referrals for the FY 2023 and FY 2024 budget. 

The generation of parking revenue from meters, garage fees and parking enforcement used to be over $10 million per year according to Public Works submissions for the current City budget, but with the pandemic, changing habits, and working from home there isn’t enough money generated to cover the cost of the payments on the $40 million dollar bond for the underutilized Center Street Garage, the parking enforcement officers, the parking services manager and the various contracts with parking meter servicers. 

Now Wengraf wants parking enforcement in the fire zones to begin immediately. Will community safety prevail over more lucrative parking enforcement sites? We shall see. 

Since I was at the Design Review Committee Thursday evening, I don’t know how well parking enforcement was covered in the Wengraf - Hahn Wildfire Preparedness webinar running at the same time. 

At the very end of the Council Public Safety Committee, the chair, Councilmember Kesarwani stated there was an item coming from the City Manager on police tools (controlled equipment). It looks like the City Manager is poised to make an end run around the Police Accountability Board with three councilmembers, Kesarwani, Taplin and Wengraf. 

The discussion at the end of the Budget and Finance meeting on Thursday morning between Councilmembers Droste and Kesarwani on the Land Use Planning Division fee schedule tells us what to expect this Tuesday evening May 24th at City Council on item 16 under Action Items. Droste and Kesarwani were asking about staff time involved in preparing for a challenge to a project approval and whether community members are charged the full cost of bringing an appeal of an approved project to Council. Charging the public an hourly rate for appealing a zoning approval would essentially make challenging a project prohibitive. And, that seemed to be exactly the point. 

Before leaving for the sponsored junket to Israel, Mayor Arreguin emailed to the public an announcement of the achievement of a decrease in the number of homeless people in Berkeley by 5%. Fewer people living on the street is great news. The real question is how many people assisted into “permanent” housing are still housed one, two, three or more years later. Or, did any homeless person cleared from the streets in Berkeley end up in Oakland where the number of homeless people grew? How well our programs are doing to keep people housed permanently is an open question. Follow-up for multiple years after an individual or family is housed and reporting back to the Council and community would tell us to what degree programs are successful and what needs more work. I am probably thinking more about these questions, because I just finished The Turnaway Study. 

The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having? Or Being Denied? an Abortion by Diana Greene Foster, first published in 2020, is available at the Contra Costa and San Francisco libraries. This book is not about the stories of women with late term abortions because of fetal anomalies or a pregnancy threatening their lives. Yet two women in the study who were turned away died of complications of childbirth. 

The Turnaway Study is about ordinary women seeking or denied an abortion in 30 clinics in 21 states from all walks of life, from all racial, ethnic and religious groups, who were followed for five years with interviews every six months and in-depth analysis of their responses.  

No harm was found from abortion and in fact women who had abortions were more likely to have wanted pregnancies later: They were in better health, able to leave abusive relationships, to care for the children they already had and a whole host of other positive outcomes. The difference in outcomes for women denied an abortion validates their reasons for seeking to end an unwanted pregnancy. Sixty percent of women seeking abortions already had children, and the worry about being able to care for existing children was validated through interviews and analysis. Poverty was a prevalent problem as was the difficulty of leaving an abusive relationship. The comparison is stark. After listening to the audiobook, I found so much information in The Turnaway Study that I placed an order to buy it. 

Women are denied abortions all the time in the U.S. because they can’t afford one, there is no clinic nearby or they discover they are pregnant too late to receive an abortion. Young women with irregular periods or women who continue to have their period during pregnancy are most likely to miss cut off dates. Being required to have an ultrasound had no impact on their decision to have an abortion. 

Asa Hutchinson (Republican) Governor of Arkansas was on the Sunday morning show CNN’s State of the Union, with Dana Bash grilling him on the Arkansas abortion “trigger law” he signed. The Arkansas 2019 law defines life as beginning at conception with a complete ban on abortion except to save the life of the mother. Defining life as beginning at conception outlaws the morning-after pill (the medical abortion pill) and many if not most methods of birth control. 

While The Turnaway Study did not include little girls who become pregnant, we must not let that fall off the radar. Just this last week the New York Times published an article on the early onset of puberty. Girls as young as 9 and 10 are entering puberty. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/science/early-puberty-medical-reason.html There was another article in the Washington Post last March. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/03/28/early-puberty-pandemic-girls/ What happens to these little girls, young children with bodies developing sexually and still physically immature? Do we really want pregnant children in grade school? And, now Florida, Texas and other states in the “red belt” appear to be competing on who can pass the most prohibitive laws censoring education on sex, sexuality, identity and race. 

There is a lot at stake this year and in the 2024 elections, especially at the state level where the most restrictive laws are being written. There is no reason to feel secure in California if the Republicans sweep the 2024 elections. They will be poised to pass a national abortion ban. 

If demonstrating is in your blood, there is another on access to abortion this coming Thursday May 26th in San Francisco at 12 noon at 24th and Mission. https://riseup4abortionrights.org/3955-2/ 

The play Roe will be performed right here in Berkeley in the Goldman Theater at the David Brower Center on June 12th at 5 pm and at the Marsh on Thursday, June 16th at 7 pm. Actors Ensemble of Berkeley and Carol Marasovic are putting on these performances. Admission is free. 

Part One

Shortly after midnight on May 11, the Berkeley City Council took another ideologically driven, data-challenged action and voted 8-1 to approve a disputed conceptual design for adding two side-by-side bike lanes on the south side of Hopkins Street from Sutter in the east to Gilman in the west when the street is repaved in summer 2023. The No vote was cast by District 6 Councilmember Susan Wengraf.


The approved design generally reflects the final recommendations of the Hopkins Corridor Traffic and Placemaking Study that evolved in the course of eight online public meetings and Transportation Department staff “outreach” to “stakeholders” between 2020 and 2022. The study was initiated by a January 2018 referral to city staff from District 5 Councilmember Sophie Hahn.

Adding the bike lanes will require the narrowing or eliminating auto lanes, removing an unspecified number of parking spaces, and eliminating a bus stop. Other changes include raised pedestrian crosswalks, bulb-outs (sidewalk exensions) and bus boarding islands.

A supplemental proposal authored by Hahn and Mayor Arreguín added some amendments to the Study’s recommendations, including the removal of the widely despised bicycle infrastructure at the Hopkins-Alameda intersection; extending the two-way parking-protected bike lanes along the entire south side of Hopkins east of The Alameda; establishing Residential Preferred Parking both on and/or surrounding Hopkins; and widening the proposed bike lanes from 4 feet to a minimum of 4.5 or 5 feet each wherever possible by narrowing traffic lanes, without eliminating additional parking.

In response to a supplemental proposal from District 1 Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani, Hahn and Arreguin also asked staff to study extending the bike lanes to San Pablo. In response to an amendment suggested by Wengraf, the council asked staff to study adding a traffic signal at Hopkins-Monterey intersection. Also approved was Hahn’s request that the city’s Office of Economic Development be engaged to address the concerns of the businesses on Hopkins.

A traffic plan that increases congestion

Those who are unfamiliar with the current conventional wisdom in transportation planning might suppose that the goal of a traffic study is to ease auto traffic. They would be mistaken. The goal is “traffic calming”: slow down auto traffic to facilitate safer cycling and walking.

As a major connection to the shops at the Monterey-Hopkins intersection, to Sacramento Street south, and to Gilman Street to San Pablo and then the freeway, Hopkins is heavily traveled by automobiles. Adding bike lanes will require removing the “slip lane” on the north side of the Hopkins-Sacramento intersection—the lane that westbound cars now use to avoid the backup of cars turning south onto Sacramento. The bus stop lane on the northeast corner of the Hopkins-Monterey intersection will also be eliminated; now vehicles will have to wait while passengers board and exit the bus.

It follows that turning Hopkins into a two-lane auto road with bike lanes will make the traffic jams around the Hopkins-Monterey retail hub and the Hopkins-Sacramento intersection worse. That’s how traffic calming is supposed to work. 

Criticism from cyclists  

On April 24, fifteen cyclists who live in the Hopkins Street area sent a letter to Councilmember Hahn with a mixed review of the proposed changes. The letter was posted by the Planet. The authors “approve and appreciate all efforts to increase safety for pedestrians,” including “the proposed bulb-outs, raised crosswalks, added stop signs, and striping.” But the “protected two-bike lane” located on the south side of Hopkins “seems to raise more problems than it solves.” 

For starters, it puts west-bound cyclists in a place that rightward turning drivers will perceive as “the wrong side of the street.” It also “requires cyclists to cross back and forth across the car bike lanes to enter and exit the bikeway.” Cyclists who want to turn north will be forced “to cross back and forth across both traffic lanes,” an especially hazardous situation at both Albina and Hopkins Court, where there are no traffic controls. 

Moreover, adding medians between Gilman and California will force cars backing out of driveways to “pull across the bike lanes while waiting to enter the flow of traffic, instead of being able to wait on the edge of the paving”—an especially problematic situation, with cyclists coming from the right, going west, where again, drivers do not expect them.” 

The cyclists’ final concern is that even experienced riders like themselves will not use the dual bikeway. “We believe that riding on the wrong side of the road and having to cross back and forth across the traffic lanes places us in greater danger than sharing the road with the cars.” 

They conclude with a list of suggestions to increase pedestrian and bicyclist safety on Hopkins. 

• Most importantly, “repave the street” and keep the road clean.” Now the broken glass and potholes require cyclists to “swerve in and out ito the lanes of traffic to avoid obstacles.
• Add sharrow striping and signage.
• Change the color and/or material of the paving to alert drivers to the likely presence of cyclists.
• “[M]itigate the issue of people rolling through the stop sign at Hopkins and Gilman,” perhaps with a raised crosswalk.

To date, the cyclists’ concerns have not been addressed by anyone in City Hall. 

The city’s bogus rationales for bike lanes on Hopkins  

Why put bike lanes on a street heavily trafficked by cars in the first place? Why not put them on a nearby side street that parallels Hopkins—for example Rose, Ada, or Sonoma? At the May 10 meeting, Wengraf posed that question to the city’s Deputy Director of Public Works for Transportation Farid Javandel. 

In reply, Javandel said that “a lot of destinations are on Hopkins”—for example, the North Berkeley Library branch, schools, the shopping hub at Hopkins and Monterey. He added that the side streets are steeper than Hopkins, and that “bicyclists don’t like to go uphill if they can avoid it.” 

What he didn’t say is that putting bike lane on Hopkins would extend the “continuous low-stress network” of cycle tracks envisioned in the city’s 2017 Bicycle Plan. According to the Plan, “for the network to work”—which is to say, to foster maximum bicycling in town—“it must be complete, without gaps,” and it “must link to all key destinations in Berkeley.” 

Nor did Javandel state two of the leading rationales for the creation of such a network. Cited in Hahn’s 2018 referral, these justifications were and reiterated again and again during the online public meetings. Only a stylized version appears in the perfunctory May 10 staff report, folded into the recommended council resolution: 

“WHEREAS, the Berkeley Vision Zero Action Plan has documented severe and fatal crashes on Hopkins Street; [and] gaps in the low-stress protected bikeway network on Hopkins Street result in connectivity problems that discourage bicycling for transportation…” These claims are connected: a high-injury street is a high-stress street, and thus one that discourages bicycling. 

On May 6, Hopkins neighbor Donna DeDiemar sent the council a packet that included an in-depth critique of the research behind these claims. (Her full argument is posted in the Planet.) 

First, she disputes the depiction of Hopkins as a high-injury street for severe and fatal traffic crashes. Checking the California state dabatases referenced by the city’s transportation planners, DeDiemar found that the period cited by the city, 2016-2019, within which four serious and/or fatal accidents occurred in the Hopkins Corridor, was “an anomaly.” Moreover, she writes, “the three serious injury accidents” documented during that period were all attributed to the cyclist.” 

She adds: “[C]ounter to the assertion in the budget referral, there were no other deadly incidents in the area, nor any other severe ones, going all the way back to 2010.” Citing Berkeley police records, she says that “there were no other fatal accidents in at least the last 38 years,” and that “there have been none since 2018.” 

DeDiemar further challenges the staff claim that Hopkins is a “high-injury street” with “a disproportionate number of crash-related severe injuries and fatalities” by comparing its accident history with that of other Berkeley streets. She argues that charts in Berkeley’s Vision Zero Action Plan make it “quite clear” that “the Hopkins Corridor has a much lower number of accidents than other areas in the city,” most notably the area bounded by University, Sacramento, Ashby, MLK, Telegraph and Shattuck. 

Next, DeDiemar debunks the the research behind the claim that gaps in the city’s low-stress cycling network result in connectivity problems that discourage cycling. The May 10 staff report omitted the metric that staff, citing the city’s 2017 Bicycle Plan, repeatedly invoked during the online public meetings: 71 percent of Berkeley residents would be willing to bike if the right bikeway facilities were provided. 

According to the Bicycle Plan, the Santa Cruz-based consultancy Civinomics interviewed 660 Berkeley residents, whose responses they sorted into one of four types, “based both on their current bicycling behavior and their bicycling comfort level on different facility types and roadway conditions”: “Strong and Fearless,” “Enthusiastic and Confident,” “Interested but Concerned,” “No Way, No How.” The types were drawn from a 2012 study conducted in the Portland region. 

Civinomics’ findings: 

“Seventy-one percent of Berkeley residents were classified as Interested but Concerned, which means the majority of Berkeley residents would be willing to bike if the right bikeway facilities were provided….[S]urvey results showed that Interested but Concerned riders responded that they would be very uncomfortable if there were no bicycle facility, somewhat comfortable if a bicycle lane was added, and very comfortable if there were a bicycle lane separated from traffic by a curb or parked cars.” Staff described these findings as “statistically significant.” 

The trouble with this research, DeDiemar explains, is that “people living south and west of the Cal campus (Zip codes 94702-94705) constituted 81 percent of the survey respondents. ….[N]ot a single resident of 94708 (the hills) was queried.” A bit of clarification: Zip codes 94702 and 94703 are sandwiched between San Pablo and MLK; Hopkins runs along their north edge. The street runs along the south side of Zip codes 94707 and through 94702. 

DeDiemar comments: “It seems unlikely that responses from that area, with an older population living in a steeper terrain, would have mirrored those from the younger population living in flatter terrain, who are much less likely to be traveling the Hopkins Corridor.” 

The skewed results reflect Civinomics’ peculiar method, described in the Bicycle Plan’s Chapter 4, “Needs Analysis”: 

“The survey firm Civinomics used the publicly available zoning map of the City of Berkeley to categorize each street based upon its zoning designation. Streets were then randomly selected from each zoning category in proportion to the number of residents who live within each category. Each street within a certain zoning designation had an equal chance of being selected compared to other similarly zoned streets in the same area. Some streets have multiple zoning designations through multiple jurisdictions. In such a case, the street is separated out by designation and jurisdictional area and treated as multiple streets.” 

The initial choice of zoning designations is bizarre; such designations are not uniformly distributed around the city. Civinomics should have used the population-based council districts. 

The consultants further skewed their sample to favor student respondents. From the Bicycle Plan: 

“One goal of the survey was to include UC Berkeley students in the respondent pool, as they compose a large percentage [of] the city’s population. In addition to the interviews with students that occurred as a result of door-to-door interviewing, outreach representatives conducted interviews at several of the university’s dormitories.” 

The results of such a biased survey cannot possibly represent the bicycling preferences of Berkeley residents at large. 

To date, DeDiemar’s concerns have not been addressed by anyone in City Hall. 

On Thursday, June 2 the City Council will be voting both on zoning and on their priorities for development at both Ashby and North Berkeley BART. There will be time for public comment. The agenda for the June 2 meeting is not yet available but you can find the staff report for their April 19 work session here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f0v7w3m4va6sr6z/2022-04-19%20Worksession%20Agenda%20Packet%20-%20Council%20-%20WEB.pdf

By a 5-4 margin, with two last minute substitutes voting in the majority, the Planning Commission voted in April to recommend 12 stories at the BART sites! This action flies in the face of three years of community testimony and emails, public hearings, and advisory committee meetings. The City’s own planning staff have recommended a seven story maximum.

Priority for BART station development: 100% Below Market Affordable Housing
The City Council will be voting on what they want in a Joint Vision and Priorities (JVP) document for both sites (Ashby and North Berkeley). This document will help guide the development process from developer selection through construction. This document should call for selecting developers who will build housing for those lower income households who can’t afford rents in market rate housing and are at risk of being priced out and displaced from Berkeley. The master developer for the project should be a non-profit. City public affordable housing funds from the Measure O bond, Measure U1, from affordable housing fees (paid by market rate developers), and from any future bond measure can help leverage other state and federal funds and tax credits to build this housing.

Higher building Costs: 12 story buildings cost a lot more build per square foot than 4-6 story buildings. Non-profit affordable housing developers rely on public funds, including local funds from Berkeley’s Housing Trust Fund and other sources. Non-profits don’t build more expensive 12 story buildings, which would be a bad use of public money. Affordable housing built downtown on Oxford on the former public parking lot, and the project now under construction on the City’s Berkeley Way parking lot, are both six stories, a height that works for non-profit developers, who want to make efficient use of public funds. If a market-rate developer is chosen (building just 10% affordable units), they could receive a density bonus and other concessions which could increase the height to 16 stories or more. With just 15% affordable units, they could build to 18 stories!

Lower Land Cost on Public Land: The cost of acquiring land to build on, especially in today’s overheated housing market, adds substantially to the cost of building below market affordable units. When non-profits build affordable housing on public land, land cost can be reduced or eliminated altogether. BART has adopted a policy of discounting land cost by up to 60% below fair market value for affordable housing projects. It’s hard for the nonprofits who build affordable housing to compete with market-rate developers for expensive private sites. By prioritizing public land like BART stations for affordable housing, the city can make sure that available local affordable housing funds stretch as far as possible and produce the largest possible number of affordable units.

Use Fruitvale BART as a Model not MacArthur BART: When construction of the current phase of housing development is completed at Fruitvale BART, almost 90% of the housing built there will be affordable to people at varying income levels who can’t afford market rate housing. By contrast, only 17% of the housing units at MacArthur BART are below market affordable units. The market rate units in the MacArthur high rise building there have high rents: studios over $2500 a month; 1 bedrooms from around $2800+ to over $3300 on higher floors. It’s not just the percentage of affordable units at Fruitvale that’s higher, the total number of below market affordable units is also higher at Fruitvale despite its smaller low-rise scale. The City’s Adeline Corridor Plan calls for 100% below market affordable housing at Ashby BART. South Berkeley needs housing for families who can’t afford to pay $4000 for a high rise two-bedroom unit. The City Council should help implement the Adeline Corridor Plan zoning for affordable housing with a maximum height of seven stories. And North Berkeley should have its share of affordable housing too and North Berkeley BART as a public site is an ideal location.

Negative Environmental Impacts: 12 story and taller buildings use a lot more concrete and steel. Cement is the main component of concrete, and the manufacture of cement is very energy intensive and is responsible for an estimated 8% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Wood frame construction of four to six story buildings, with less use of concrete, has fewer negative environmental impacts. Most of the city’s non-profit built affordable buildings have rooftop solar panels that provide hot water and, in some cases electricity. Using solar to help meet a building’s energy needs is not practical with high rise buildings. Taller buildings also use more electricity per square foot than buildings of seven stories or less, and can have significant shadowing impacts on other people’s homes. 

Tell the City Council:

Zone Berkeley’s BART stations for Below Market Affordable Housing. The maximum height allowed should be 7 stories as recommended by City staff. Reject the Planning Commission majority plan for unaffordable market-rate high rises at our BART stations.

Public Land should be used for Public Benefit. Non-profit affordable housing developers should be chosen to develop both our BART stations.

The City Council will be voting on both zoning and priorities for both North Berkeley BART and Ashby BART at a special meeting on Thursday, June 2.

Send an e-mail to Council soon: council@cityofberkeley.info

Please write them again if you already sent something for the April 19 council work session or prior to the Planning Commission’s April 6 vote. Emails received by Thursday, May 26 will be included in the first supplemental communications packet for the June 2 special meeting. Write “BART zoning June 2” in subject line of your email. 

If you would like to see below-market affordable housing at Berkeley’s BART stations rather than unaffordable market rate high-rises, then consider signing the petition on this Web site:

https://www.neighborsnottowers.com/abouta

The seven story height limit recommended by City staff works just fine for non-profit affordable housing developers. Such developers have built reasonably scaled housing at a number of BART stations including Fruitvale BART and San Leandro BART. They don’t build high-rises which cost substantially more per square foot to build.

What is curious to many followers of the Point Molate saga is the role of Tom Butt and his sons Daniel and Andrew, all of them boosters of selling Point Molate to a SunCal affiliate (a shell corporation - no assets) with no reliable financial protections for the City of Richmond. 

They seem intent to stir up alarm and panic about a fiscally smart decision the City Council made - the decision to turn down the sale of Point Molate to SunCal and thereby NOT expose the City's finances to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. If the Butts cared about the well being of Richmond, they should be applauding the Council decision. 

The three Butts also act as if they are shocked that after May 21, 2022, the City was obliged to sell Point Molate for $400 to the former would-be casino developers, Upstream Inc. and the Guideville Rancheria (a Band of the Pomo Tribe).  

Why the surprise when this is exactly the deal that Tom Butt worked out and that Andrew and Daniel supported. The potential sale for $400 was an integral part of the terms of the "secret settlement" that Tom Butt orchestrated when he muscled through a very poor settlement of the lawsuit filed by the casino developers against Richmond. The casino developers had sued Richmond seeking their money back after the City did not approve the casino developers' proposed project. Tom Butt used the specter of the sale for $400 over and over as he bullied and threatened anyone in his way in pushing the SunCal development deal through. 

Why the feigned surprise and alarm that the City Council would not endanger the city's finances to back the project? The Butts seem perfectly willing to expose the City of Richmond to bankruptcy, pursuing this sale of Point Molate to Tom Butt's hand-picked developer SunCal. The Butts insist that the City put its finances behind the deeply flawed project even now after it has been exposed as a potentially disastrous deal for Richmond. 

The City Attorney reviewed the financing package that was submitted by the developer (the SunCal empty shell, "Winehaven Legacy, LLC") in its effort to get the City's financial backing for a "Community Facilities District (CFD)" (basically a city guarantee for the costs of the infrastructure). But there were so many faulty assumptions, missing pieces of information, and falsehoods that the package made no financial sense as a proposal. The examination of the underlying math showed that the city financing that the developer sought would not be legal under state law because it exceeded the amount of debt per housing unit allowable. In addition, the City staff and the City Council saw that the project could cost the City hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. 

Despite the continued efforts of the City Attorney, and the outside specialists and attorneys the City hired to address the problems with the missing requirements of its package, SunCal repeatedly failed to provide the numbers, data and documentation required under the Development Agreement and Disposition Development Agreement. From all accounts, the City Attorney made a mountainous effort to get the process of reviewing the proposal done, and to allow the sale to go through, but was simply thwarted by the mis-information, dis-information and missing information from SunCal and its affiliates. 

This decision not to sell to SunCal is not about what other project or use people may want to see, or about what might be a better use for the property. It is about how bad the SunCal proposal was. And it was about how SunCal itself did not move forward to make the purchase in time due to the enormous risks of the project.  

In plain words, when someone tries to sell the City a terrible deal, the City Council's responsibility is to say no. 

The demand of Mayor Butt that the City Council have an alternative all worked out before saying no to a deal that could bankrupt the City is not only wrong-headed but would require a whole other planning process when the city is already under a contract with a developer. Simply put, the City does not have to have alternatives worked out before saying no to a very bad deal. 

As to the rights the former casino developers would get for the $400 - the rights and obligations they get are to market the property for five years, to find a buyer who can pay a price agreeable to the City, for a project agreeable to the City. 

If the former casino developers try to sell the City on a project that would risk bankruptcy as SunCal did, the City can and presumably will say no. 

Everyone will have time to see what the proposed sale may be, and to see who the buyer may be. It is good to keep in mind that Upstream and the Guidiville Tribe will face the same quandary that SunCal faced - to be approved, a project must pencil out financially and have bona fide buyers behind it. The Butts’ house of cards is tumbling down.

Once again, black America has been the victim of another horrific killing spree executed by a deranged 18-year-old whose brain and critical thinking has been hijacked by mega doses of hate delivered by anti-Christ, anti-God white extremists epitomized by the killer’s racist Manifesto amplified by the “”Great” (bah humbug) Replacement Theory promoted by right wing conspiracy theory hacks. Social media companies are also guilty for failing to remove such disgusting material from their platforms. 

Tucker Carlson of Fox News and like-minded wing-nuts and his godfather, Donald Trump, who amplify white supremacy, should lift their collective heads from the sewer and be skewered by the general public. 

There is a special place in hell for Carlson and his ilk who put ratings and profit over the welfare and safety of the general public by spewing vile, vicious messages driving a wedge between whites and non-whites. What’s next, forcing non-whites to abort their babies to ensure whites reign supreme forever? Haven’t they committed enough crimes? 

Mr. Carlson, there is no brown or black God, only one “Amazing Grace” formless, omnipresent, omnipotent entity whose name according to the great sage Nanak, is TRUTH. A simple but profound guide, a veritable compass to guide ALL one’s activities on earth. Mr. Carlson, I hope you and your adoring, misguided fans drag yourself out of this dark satanic cesspool of lies before it is too late to save your soul. 

Finally, as the good book says Mark 8:36 What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul.”

Anger happens; it just does. Even "enlightened" Zen Masters experience anger and must cope with it through breathing exercises or with other mindfulness. (I've witnessed as much firsthand and have also read of it.)

If you try to deny your anger, it potentially becomes an internal agent of self-harm. If you try too hard not to be angry, this can cause you to disassociate, or it can cause an uptick in symptoms of a psychiatric illness. If you live with someone with whom you must walk on eggshells, it could become a problem, adversely affecting your wellness. 

You should not damage your mind so that you can please others. Stuffing your anger, sweeping it under a rug, or pretending not to have it, are all bad for you. If you have anger, it has to go somewhere. It is energy that your mind and body have generated, and it does not go away unless you release it in some manner. 

This is not a green light to yell at people or do harm to anyone. We must find acceptable mechanisms for the release of the anger. One of them is to behave with assertiveness. Furthermore, we should not let people use our own anger against us. If someone tries to bait me so that they can get a reaction that will give them an advantage--I don't currently have an adequate system for dealing with that. And although that's not ideal, that's how I currently am. I do know that when I get angry, I'll get verbal. And this is far better than getting physical. 

Walking on eggshells, in other words, always trying to be sweet and accepting, does not work. Some spinoffs of Buddhism expect that we should never be angry. This is not reasonable. Buddhists do have anger. It is not so much whether you have anger that matters, it is how you deal with it. You could learn methods of releasing it in one or more harmless ways. 

Hypothetically, you could pursue Buddhism to the extent that you don't get angry. However, this is not realistic, and it just doesn't happen. And the belief that we should never be angry is a weak spot in any philosophy that promotes enlightened behavior, not just Buddhism. 

Gautama Buddha is quoted as saying: "You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger." Yet anger, although it can certainly be inconvenient, isn't going away, much as we might want it to.  

Sweet acceptance only goes so far. It, too, can carry the vibrations of anger--in a warped form. Acceptance is sometimes "passive aggressive" in which you intentionally cause an opponent to get off balance and to do the ranting and raving for you. 

Physical abuse is never acceptable. When someone does that to us, we should do something about it, such as calling the cops. If we physically harm someone, we've made a grave misstep. When anger is strictly verbal, there is not nearly as much anyone can do about it legally. Yet if we get in someone's face with it, it could be misinterpreted, or correctly interpreted, as being threatening--and this is a problem. 

If anger is excessive for the situations that might trigger it, learning to manage anger, in some cases with a mood stabilizer, is a possibility. Anger can become excessive. When it is, it might be time to get something prescribed for it. Or it might be time to change your living situation. When we are dealing with someone who intentionally baits us, we need to run away as far and as fast as we can. No good can come of that. 

Sometimes, the appropriate response when someone is angry at us is that we should apologize for something we've done wrong. At other times, we can't manage a genuine apology because we instinctively do not feel ready for it. When we override out own anger to appease someone else, it is usually counterproductive in the long run. 

To combat anger, we must be incident specific in any mindfulness we try. In other words, we could tell ourselves, "When John puts his little finger in his ear, I do not need to be offended by that; it is okay." And we could supplement that with mental pictures of how other people may have been offended when we did something that was similar. 

I was at a Zen monastery in a class when one of the students in class called the Zen master a name. The master turned their head in instantaneous anger, and in a split second, the master's mindfulness addressed it, and it was gone. That's about as good as most people can hope for. 

Anger can lead us to take corrective measures to an unacceptable life situation. Anger is related to determination--they are similar emotions. Anger doesn't have to lead to hostility. If we channel it, it can lead us to doing better, not worse. 

Jack Bragen is a writer who lives in Martinez.

The Buzz in the News Biz

Is Sacramento the only capital city whose daily newspaper is named after an insect? I'm speaking, of course, of the Sacramento Bee.

So how did Sacramento bumble into naming its newspaper-of-record after a bug (instead of Press, Journal, Registrar, Herald, or Tribune)? According to the Bee's website: "An editorial on the first day of publication said: 'The name of The Bee has been adopted as being different from that of any other paper in the state and as also being emblematic of the industry which is to prevail in its every department.' So, the promise was a paper as busy as a bee." And it would be fair to expect the editorial mission would also include stinging criticisms delivered with biting sarcasm.

Itching to follow in the Bee's flight-path and redub other news dailies after insects and other bite-sized animals? How about renaming the Napa Register the Napa Gnat, along with the Fresno Fly, the San Jose Mercury-Newts, and the San Francisco Salamander.

Primary Statements 

It's always fun flipping through the primary election guide that includes Candidates' Statements. Run for office and you can get unrivaled free publicity to rip other politicians or engage in hyperventilating anti-vaxxer rants. 

Two of my initial faves are among the shortest. Democrat for Senate Akinyemi Agbede writes: "Rescue America!! America must be Revived from collapsing. Therefore, electing Dr. Akimyemi Agbede, for the United States Senate is the answer." 

And then there's the pithiest statement of all, from Gubernatorial Candidate (No Party Preference) Mariana B. Dawson: "F all politicians." 

Greeking and Salutations 

Planet reader Mike G. sent an email message that ended with a salutation in Spanish and one in Greek Latin. "El pueblo armado jamas sera aplastado!" ("The people, armed, will never be defeated") followed by Nullum Gratuitum Prandium! (No Free Lunch). And, for good measure, he includes his preferred pronouns: "Your Eminence/His Eminence." 

Fist-Amendment Rights 

In the aftermath of another mass-shooting (this one in Brooklyn), Public Citizen issued an appeal warning of the spread of "replacement theory," a "once-fringe myth" spread by "a white supremacist patriarchy" that "has become an engine of racist terror," which has been "aggressively promoted by Fox News" and "leading Republican politicians" including "Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump, and more." 

In response to weaponized acts of "racialized violence," Public Citizen issued a call to "reject hateful discourse and demonstrate instead our commitment to equality and decency, love and solidarity." 

Unfortunately, the plea ends on a jarring note that reveals how confrontation has become such an ingrained part of the American mind-set. Public Citizen's call to action ends with the statement: "Multiracial democracy is an ideal worth fighting for" [emphasis added]. 

Drawing a Blank 

The monthly bill from a well-known healthcare provider arrived in my mailbox. On the back of the invoice was a short statement that read: "This page is intentionally left blank" 

This is an anomaly (one that usually crops up in US government documents) that raises the question: "So, what is the intention?" To waste paper? To waste ink? 

Even more brain-fretting is the fact that the statement invalidates itself—i.e., once the alert is printed, the page is, in fact, no longer blank. 

Basil Metabolism 

The majority of a typical mail deliveries consists of funding solicitations. That's not news. Many of these funding pitches offer a "free gift" (a phrase that is unnecessarily repetitive. These are typically personalized address stickers, car decals, magnetized refrigerator pads, and the occasional writing pad. But there could be a better trend blossoming on the postal horizon. 

Recently, I received a mailing that I initially thought was from UNICEF, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. It turned out to be an envelope from the United Negro College Fund in Boston and it contained a gift that could become increasingly popular—a thin paper packet containing basil seeds. The gift donation form contained an invitation to "help sow seeds of change by helping minority youth get to and through college." 

Flirting with Nuclear Annihilation 

The Great Chessgame to decide whether Washington will continue to claim its right to rule the planet as "the one exceptional, indispensible country," continues to press down on Russia and China. Meanwhile, the Pentagon continues to provoke China over Taiwan at the same time the US rejection of negotiations to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted Putin (several times) to threaten a nuclear response. 

Small comfort that Putin is reportedly suffering from various maladies, including cancer. Fact is, when it comes to flipping a nuclear switch, a dying man has little to lose. As Putin recently remarked when asked if he would risk destroying the planet by launching a nuclear attack: “Our submarines are capable of launching over 500 nuclear warheads, which guarantees the destruction of the US and all NATO countries,” Putin said. “Why do we need a world if Russia is not in it?” 

More bad news: Putin is not the only world leader capable of blowing up our beleaguered home planet. The following clip is from the 1995 film, Crimson Tide. 

A Boffo Case of Schiffting Attention  

California's crusading Congressmember Adam Schiff (D-CA) just mailed a nifty election-fundraising packet containing a three-page letter and two photos of his Republican challenger—one, standing next to Trump's "Dirty Trickster" Roger Stone and a second posing with Michael Flynn, Trump's disgraced National Security Adviser and a proud Q-Anon promoter. 

Schiff's letter quotes Flynn's endorsement, which describes the GOP's pro-Trump female challenger as "a true America First candidate, and she's running against that odious piece of crap, Adam Schiff." (Flynn's track record of putting America First is blemished by the fact that he advised Trump to seize the presidency by suspending the Constitution, muzzling the press, declaring martial law, and conducting a new election under military control.) 

The best part of the mailer? The fact that the GOP challenger's name was not mentioned once. It took an online search to identify Schiff's would-be replacement as Ronda Baldwin Kennedy, a mother of six (including triplets), a descendant of slaves, and a civil rights lawyer who describes herself as "America First, pro-2 Amendment, and I'm running for Congress to sue the crap out of the Democrats." That would be a novel form of Congressional activism: litigating instead of legislating. 

Air Commander Bone-Spurs Misfires 

No one would expect Draft-Dodging Donald to be a military expert, but revelations in Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper's new tell-all memoir have caused jaws to drop from sea-to-shining sea. At one point, Trump began venting about Mexico's failure to eradicate the cross-border drug trade (driven, one must note, by the demand of customers inside the US) and suggested to Esper "we could just shoot some Patriot missiles and take out the labs quietly," and "no one would know it was us." This idea came from the same POTUS who proposed launching nuclear weapons at approaching hurricanes! The best part of the tale is that Trump, who has boasted of his mastery of all things military, proposed using Patriot missiles to take out the cartel labs. Two problems: the Patriot only has a range of 62 miles and it's a surface-to-air missile which means it's designed to take out airborne targets, not ground-based meth labs. 

Want to Slow COVID? Defend Roe v. Wade 

The activists with Population Connection (formerly known as Zero Population Growth) have come up with a plague-fighting solution that has received little attention: If you want to stop the spread of deadly diseases among the human population, they argue, you'll need to reduce the size of the human population. (Germs, bacteria, and virus have known this fact for eons.) 

"Before COVIS, there was Ebola, Zika, HIV, West Nile, and SARS," PC writes. "In recent decades, more than 300 deadly infection disases have emerged. One of the major reasons is rapid population growth. We can—and must—stop it." 

Like many other deadly infections, these "zoonotic" diseases were spread by human contact with previously remote wildlife. "When we add 80 million people to our planet every year, we push wildlife out of their habitats and bring them into closer contact with humans." 

Ironically, "pro-life" Republicans are essentially assuring the survival of deadly pathogens by providing an ever-expanding diet of human bodies. Family planning and contraception should be considered as effective pandemic defenses, right alongside vaccines and inoculations. If the Global Gag Rule (which bans advice on birth control options) and contraceptive medical services were provided, PC argues, unwanted pregnancies would fall by 8%, unsafe abortions would decline by 72%, and maternal deaths would, drop by 62%. 

Still, even with "significant fertility declines' the human population is on track to top 9.7 billion by mid-century, Bad news for beleaguered wildlife; great news for disease-spreading bacteria and viruses. 

Fashion Plates 

Blue Tesla: MRSCHOW. 

BMW: ICEBEEM (ICBM). 

Tesla: DSGNERD (Design Nerd) 

A BMW: GRNBEAM (Green Beam) 

Mazda with Colorado plate: MNTMAMA (Mountain Mama) 

Red Lexus: GTGSTBY (Great Gatsby?) 

Toyota van: CAP FRNK (Captain Frank) 

Subaru Outback: CDG SFO (Charles de Gaulle Airport; San Francisco Airport) 

Red Mini Cooper: [Heart symbol] 2PIRAT: (Love to Pirate) 

Unidentified Model: HUIS [Hand/Palm symbol] 23 (Who is Psalm 23? A: "Jesus") 

Unidentified Model: L HMBRE (El Hombre) 

Toyota: LOAANKD (Low and Naked?) 

Toyota Cruiser: FISHAWK. Framing statement: "Reunite Gondwanaland." 

Blue Mazda: DNCFEVR (Dance Fever). Bonus: the plate frame contains the message: "Don't Touch. I've Got Dance Fever. Let's Boogie!" 

"Make Love Not War": Make Movies Not Sense 

Here's a short, big-budget video that tries to make the case that Love Can Vanquish War. To my eye, however, it looks like a reverse Lysistrata. 

Awesome presentation but it seems a bit creepy to propose that women can stop war by offering themselves as sexual playmates. This comes across as a "guy's fantasy," where a beautiful young blond approaches a tank, walking over the rubble of a city and climbing onto the metal war machine wearing … a pair of sexy red stiletto shoes. The video actually includes a quick close-up of the shoe, setting foot on the steel flank of the tank. 

Oddly (and conveniently), there's no tank crew inside. Just a single young soldier emerges and the couple immediately embrace. No words are exchanged. No handshakes. Instead, it's the straight-forward message: "Make Sex Not War." 

In a Vietnam-based alternative universe, the most beautiful girl in a village targeted by US helicopter gunships walks toward an armed US soldier. The fear is that he will mow her down, My Lai-style. Instead, he drops his rifle, closes in on her and they embrace. Instead of offering words of peace, concern, or commiseration, or apology for invading her village, the soldier and girl immediately start French-kissing. 

Instead of envisioning peace, the video is more like an exercise in war-porn. 

Bike and Walk for a Livable Climate 

Check out this summer-time event supporting the campaign for climate solutions. The Road to a Livable Climate is set for June 4 & 5 and 11 & 12. Join 350 Bay Area this summer for two fun-filled weekends exploring the Bay Area by foot and by bicycle across six counties. Each event will feature inspiring speakers, climate points-of-interest along the way, a delicious lunch, and prizes. See the routes and register today! 

Worth Noting:

If you have not explored the new city website, here is the link https://berkeleyca.gov/ You can also use cityofberkeley.info to take you to the new home page. One improvement with the new website is that all of the City staffed commission and board meetings do make the calendar, but finding them is not always obvious, nor is getting to the correct page for meeting links. For the present, I will continue the calendar and always include the meeting website.

The biennial budget for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 must be passed by City Council by June 30. Budget and fees are in the agendas for several of the commissions and City Council meetings on May 24th and May 31. However, the budget to be considered and discussed is NOT in the meeting packet. The closest offering is from the May 19 Budget meeting https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/legislative-body-meeting-attachments/FY2324%20Proposed%20Budget%20Presentation_51822.pdf A fuller discussion of the budget should occur at the Budget Committee Thursday at 9 am.

Expect the last item on the City Council May 24th agenda #19 to be very controversial. Item 19 is warrantless searches.

The Vision 2050 on multiple agendas is the lead up to the planned November City Ballot measure. If you have missed a Vision 2050 presentation you can pick it up Wednesday at the Civic arts Commission at 6 pm and /or the Disaster and Fire Safety at 7 pm

The Police Accountability Board (PAB) called a special meeting on controlled equipment on Monday at 11 am and controlled equipment is on the PAB agenda Wednesday at 7 pm.

The newly formed Environment and Climate Commission is meeting for the first time Wednesday at 5 pm. The first agenda is thin.

Last, the Zoning Adjustment Board has been meeting only once a month, and the agenda for Thursday looks like it is too heavy to complete in one evening.

Monday, May 23 2022 

Board of Library Trustees at 4 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86042306506 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 860 4230 6505 

AGENDA: II. A. Recommendation to Council on FY2023 Library Tax Rates $0.2584/sq ft for dwelling units and $0.3907/sq ft for industrial, commercial, and institutional buildings, B. Proposed FY 2023-2024 budget. 

https://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/about/board-library-trustees 

Zero Waste Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/s/82587046286 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 825 8704 6286 

AGENDA: 4. Public Comment non-agenda items, 5. Commissioner announcements, 6. Staff Updates New City website, Zero Waste Integrated Waste Management Plan, Transfer Station rates, C&D Processing RFP, FITES Committee Draft Bag Ordinance, Single-Use Foodware Ordinance, SB 1383 Implementation, Discussion/Action: Workplan 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/zero-waste-commission 

Police Accountability Board (PAB) Controlled Equipment Reporting Subcommittee at 11 am 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83842714327 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 838 4271 4327 

AGENDA: 4. Continue to develop plan for addressing Community Safety Ordinance Impact statements, Associated Equipment Policies, Annual equipment Use Report and Military Equipment Policy 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/police-accountability-board 

Tuesday, May 24, 2022 

CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA at 6 pm  

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84636500260 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 846 3650 0260 

AGENDA: Use link or go to agenda at end of email with key items bolded and underlined. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas 

Wednesday, May 25, 2022 

Civic Arts Commission at 6 pm 

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

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

AGENDA: 6. Presentations and Actions: a) Presentation Vision 2050, b) FY23 Public Arts Budgets, c) Work Plan, d) Development of Artist Certification for Affordable Housing for Artists. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/civic-arts-commission 

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 Dept Staff Report a. Measure FF, Measure GG, c. Call Metrics, Special Reports, Commission Actions status, Action Items: 4. Election of Commission Chair, 5. Add meeting, 6. Recommendation to Council Measure GG, Discussion Items: 7. Vision 2050, 8. Community Wildfire Protection Plan, 9. Red Curbs Adjacent to Fire Hydrants. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/disaster-and-fire-safety-commission 

Environment and Climate Commission at 5 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84024211266 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 840 2421 1266 

AGENDA: First Meeting of the Environment and Climate Commission after reorganization and combining of the Energy Commission and the Community advisory Commission 4. Vision 2050, 5. Commissioner overview, 6. Election of officers. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/environment-and-climate-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 reports, 6. Director PAB report, 7. Chief report, 8. Subcommittee reports a. Fair & Impartial Policing Implementation, b. Director Search, c. Regulations, d. Controlled equipment, 9. a. Continue review of commendations, b. Consider forming Outreach Subcommittee c. Consider forming Lexipol Subcommittee, 10. a. review draft of proposed permanent Regulations for Handling Investigations and Complaints, b. Consider having a booth at the Berkeley Juneteenth Festival on Sunday June 19, 11. Public Comment, Closed Session tentative and final decisions in complaints #1 and #3 (15 minutes), 13. Announcement of Closed Session. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/police-accountability-board 

Thursday, May 26, 2022 

City Council Budget & Finance Committee at 9 am 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82547507309 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID:825 4750 7309 

AGENDA: 2. Legislative Update on Governor’s FY 22-23 May Revision Budget and State & Federal Legislation, 3. Discussion Proposed Biennial Budget & CIP (Capital Improvement Recommendations) 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-committees/policy-committee-budget-finance 

Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82097456683 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 820 9745 6683 

AGENDA: Staff recommend approval of all projects except Grizzly Peak which is continued to 9/8/22 

2. 1151 Grizzly Peak – Continue to September 8, 2022 – to legalize two Accessory Buildings in the rear yard of a Single-Family Dwelling 

3. 2970 Adeline – Convert 2nd floor commercial space to residential dwellings 

4. 1208 Kains – Make alterations in the non-conforming front setback by raising the roof of the attached garage and altering the entry porch and legalize existing hot tub, 

5. 2440 Shattuck – demolish one existing commercial building and construct an 8-story, mixed-use building with 40 dwelling units and 2700 sq ft of ground floor commercial, 

6. 2018 Blake – demolish a single-family dwelling and construct a 6-story multi-family, residential building with 12 units (including 2 low-income units) 

7. 1828 Euclid – Convert 1st floor commercial space to 2 dwelling units and combine 3 commercial spaces on 12,600 sq ft lot with existing mixed-use building, 

8. 906-908 Ensenada – Combine 2 exisiting tenant spaces on the ground floor, 2640 sq ft in total, change the use of one space from retail and establish medical practitioner use, 

9. 2600 Tenth – Fantasy Media - Change the use of four existing tenant spaces on the 1st and 2nd floors, totaling 20,367 sq ft from media production to a research and development use. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/zoning-adjustments-board 

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, May 27 - May 30, 2022 – Memorial Day Holiday Weekend 

++++++++++++++++++ 

CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA for May 24, 2022  

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84636500260 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 846 3650 0260 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas 

CONSENT: 1. 2^nd reading FY 2022 Annual Appropriations Ordinance, $53,155,906 (gross) and $43,380,083 (net), 2. 2^nd reading Arts Commission - Public Art Funding 1.75% of the estimated cost of construction associated with eligible municipal capital improvement projects for art and cultural enrichment of public buildings, parks, streets and other public spaces. 3. $300,000 Formal Bid Solicitations, 4. Accept $10,000 donation for Echo Lake, 5. BPD Chief – Contract $191,740 with Care Systems, Inc. for Electronic Scheduling system for 2-year contract with option to extend to 5 years, 6. Parks and Waterfront Commission – Allocate Revenues Generated by the Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel tax) in the Waterfront area to the Marina Fund all other property, sales, utility, parking taxes, fees and licenses allocated to the general fund, 7. Kesarwani co-sponsors – Droste, Taplin, Wengraf – Budget Referral: Street Maintenance Funding to Prevent Further Deterioration of Pavement Condition to Save Tax Dollars and Our Streets bring total street paving budget to $15.1 million/year, 8. Kesarwani co-sponsor Bartlett – Budget Referral total $20,000 ($10,000 each) for the Gilman and Lorin Districts to support economic development / commercial development with advisory boards, 9. Taplin co-sponsors Wengraf, Hahn, Robinson– Urge AC Transit Board of Directors to Restore and Expand Transbay Bus service and bus service to the hills, 10. Bartlett, co-sponsors Robinson, Harrison, Taplin – Budget referral $1,226,619.52 to consider updates to the guidelines and procedures for City Council office budget for City Council staff salaries and fringe benefits, 11. Harrison – Budget referral $100,000 for Crisis Response, Crisis Related Service Needs and Capacity Assessments, conduct service needs assessment based on 911 and non-911 calls for service and initiate model to divert people with mental health and substance use disorders away from justice system into treatment, 12. Authors Harrison, Arreguin, Wengraf, co-sponsor Hahn– Support SB 379 Solar Access Act, 13. Harrison – Budget referral consider fund strategies and related fiscal policies for funding capital improvements, in particular, street, sidewalk, micromobility and transit infrastructure, 14. Relinquishment of Council office budget funds for staged reading of the play Roe on June 12 at the Brower Center, ACTION: 15. CM -Resolution of intention of Amendment to CalPERS Contract 1^st reading of ordinance 1. Cost sharing between City and PEPRA, 16. CM – Changes Land Use Planning Division Fee Schedule / Hourly Rate – Increase hourly rate from $200 to $230 for staff time to process various permit types, adopt new fees, and clarify existing fee descriptions, 17. CM – FY 2023 and FY 2024 Proposed Budget and Budget Hearing #1 – NO BUDGET POSTED AS OF @:$( PM FRIDAY, 18. Auditor – Berkeley’s Financial Condition FY 2012 – 2021: Pension Liabilities and Infrastructure Need Attention 19. Authors Droste, Taplin – Revision of Section 311.6 Warrantless Searches on Supervised Release Search Conditions enables BPD to conduct detentions and warrantless searches of individuals on parole/probation consistent with probationer’s/parolee’s release conditions, INFORMATION REPORTS: 20. Mental Health Commission Annual Report 

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AGENDA COMMITTEE DRAFT AGENDA for May 31, 2022 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88127787306 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 881 2778 7306 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas 

CONSENT: 1. Resolution to continue legislative bodies to meet via videoconference, 2. Minutes, 3. Resolution Supporting Sale of 3404 King and transfer of the Turning Point transitional housing program for homeless youth from Fred Finch Youth Center to Larkin Street Youth Services, 4. Commission Reorganization - Homeless Panel of Experts to add functions of Homeless Commission, 5. Assessments Berkeley Tourism Business Improvement District, 6. Assessments Downtown Business Improvement District, 7. Assessments North Shattuck Business Improvement District, 8. Assessments Telegraph Business Improvement District, 9. $535,000 formal Bid Solicitations, 10. Resolution providing notice Council will adopt an appropriations limit on June 28, 2022 for FY 2023, amount limit will be available for review in the City Clerk’s Office on or before June 13, 11. Revenue Grant Agreements for 2023 1. Foster Care Program $93,187, 2. BHS and Berkeley Tech $181,208, 3. School Linked Health Services $200,011, 4. Tobacco Prevention $78,960, 12. Revenue Grant $32,080 for Public Health Infrastructure Program, 13. Revenue Grant $120,000 for Essential Access Health 4/1/2022 to 3/30/2023, 14. Revenue Grants FY 2023 1. CHDP and EPSDT for children in foster care $358,309, 2. MCAH $381,147, 3. Tobacco Trust Fund $300,000, 4. Immunization Program $1,185,901,5. Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) $265,000, 15. Revenue Grant TB control Program $14,000, 16. Contract $135,000 with Interior Motions for new furniture for Public Health Division offices 4/1/2022 – 12/30/2022, 17. Transfer CA Mental Health Student Services Act Grant Funds $2,267,355 to BUSD for coordination and provision of Mental Health Services, 18. Approve Proposed Projects anticipated to be paid for by State’s Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account for FY 2023, 19. Berkeley Strategic Transportation Plan Update and Grant Application opportunities, 20. Declaration of Intent – FY 2023 Street Lighting Assessments, 21. Contract $428,950 with Nema Construction for FY 2022 Street Light Maintenance Project, 22. Contract $21,551,718 with Zanker Recycling for Construction and Demolition Materials Hauling, Sorting and Marketing Services, 5 yr term July 1, 2022 – 6/30/2027 with option to extend for two 5 year periods, 23. Amend contract add $500,000 total $1,640,000 with TK Elevator for Elevator Maintenance and Repair Services, 24. Amend contract add $50,000 total $130,000 with MSR Mechanical LLC to on-call heating, ventilation and air conditioning services, 25. Amend contract add $400,000 total $1,675,304 and extend to 12/31/2023 with Downtown Streets Team for expanded services, 26. Amend contract add $250,000 total $2,725,200 with CF Contracting for Sacramento Complete Streets Improvements Project, 27. Purchase Order $345,188 Pape Machinery, Inc for completed rebuild and repair of Zero Waste Division’s John Deere Wheel Loader, 28. Civic Arts Commission - authorization request for additional meeting in 2022, 29. Civic Arts Commission – Increase budget allocation by$41,685 total $200,000 for Festival Grants Program, 30. Arreguin, co-sponsors Robinson, Hahn, Harrison - Budget referral $1,000,000 from ARPA to launch a needs-based grant program for Berkeley based small businesses (under 50 employees)to provide supplemental assistance to cover outstanding commercial rent debt and legal assistance, 31. Taplin – Budget referral $1,000,000 for Ceasefire Program staffing, 32. Harrison so-sponsor Hahn – Budget referral $350,000 for Mental Health and Wellness Support and Services Coordinator for Berkeley High Health Center, 323 Harrison – Budget referral $104,863 for additional HHCS Community Development Project Coordinator Position to assist with enforcement of existing and prospective labor laws and regulations, 34. Wengraf, co-sponsor Taplin – Support SB-1076 Lead-based paint – to reduce lead poisoning, 35. Robinson, co-sponsor-Harrison, Hahn - $25,000 purchase electric bicycles for City use. ACTION: 36. CM- Establish published charges Mental Health Clinical Services, 37. CM- Discussion Vision 2050 Ballot Measure for November 2022, 38. Comments on FY 2023 – 2024 biennial Budget and Capital Improvement Program, 39. Harrison – Refer to FITES strategies and recommendations to ensure infrastructure bond expenditure consistent with climate action goals – expect to be moved to consent at meeting, INFORMATION REPORTS: 40. Referral Response: Further Supporting Worker Cooperatives, 41. On-Call Energy Efficiency Services Contracts through On-Bill Financing 

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LAND USE CALENDAR: 

Remanded to ZAB or LPC 

1643-47 California – new basement level and 2^nd story 

1205 Peralta – Conversion of an existing garage 

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

This website is no longer functional and the information is not available with the conversion to the new City of Berkeley website.  

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

WORKSESSIONS: 

June 2 – Special Meeting – BART Development 

June 21 – Ballot Measure Development Discussion 

July 19 – Fire Facilities Study Report 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Alameda County LAFCO Presentation 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

Kelly Hammargren’s take 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. 

In a lifetime of opera-going in which I’ve attended over 1,300 opera performances, I’ve never till now had the chance to attend a performance of Richard Wagner’s second opera, Das Liebesverbot. At last the opportunity was presented by Pocket Opera, which offered it on Sunday, May 15, at Berkeley’s Hillside Club. As usual, Pocket Opera offered this opera, as they do with all operas, in an English translation written by their late founder, Donald Pippin. So Das Liebesverbot was presented as No Love Allowed, which is an apt translation of Wagner’s own title. 

Despite all the Wagner scholarship I’ve read over the years, I still found myself slightly unprepared for how different this opera was from all the other Wagner operas I’ve seen so many times. For one thing, Das Liebesverbot is a comic opera, a genre that Wagner himself only ventured into one more time, in Die Meistersinger von Nurenberg. All the rest of his vast opera production was given over to oh so serious operas. So some of my perplexity in encountering Das Liebesverbot was how different this was from almost everything else Wagner wrote. Further, his models for this early opera were 19th century French and Italian comic operas. So Wagner attempted to endow Das Liebesverbot with wit, charm and a brisk pace, something he rarely did elsewhere in his long career. Perhaps the one thing I found similar between Das Liebesverbot and everything else Wagner wrote is that this opera was very loud. Even the much-reduced Pocket Philharmonic led by Jonathan Khuner managed to pump out a boisterous, very loud performance that reverberated in the small, enclosed space of the Hillside Club. 

DAS LIEBESVERBOT was a near-total fiasco at its premiere in Magdeburg in 1836 with Wagner himself conducting. The second performance had to be cancelled because a fistfight broke out backstage between the prima donna’s husband and the tenor even before the curtain could rise. At this performance only three people were in the audience. It was never given again in Wagner’s lifetime. Later in life, in a rare self-critical moment, Wagner repudiated this opera, labelling it “horrible.” He averred that he liked this overture better than that for his first opera, Die Feen; but aside from that he approved only DAS LIEBESVERBOT’s Salve regina coeli, a hymn sung by nuns at a convent. 

Based on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Das Liebesverbot deals with a would-be tyrant, who, in a vain effort to chasten Carnival revelers, tries to outlaw love, sex and any celebration of Carnival. Wagner transfers the setting from Shakespeare’s Vienna to Palermo, Sicily, where the King of Sicily has temporarily left his domain in the hands of a Viceroy, Friedrich, a stout-faced German who heavy-handedly clamps down on his citizenry as Carnival approaches. He orders his captain of the guard, Brighella, to arrest anyone who displays licentiousness, including even Claudio and his Julia, two lovers who are expecting a child out of wedlock. Friedrich was here sung by baritone Spencer Dodd and Brighella was sung by baritone Michael Grammer. Both were convincing in their roles. Claudio was sung by tenor Austin Brunett, who was a sympathetic, much put-upon figure. 

In an effort to save himself from a death sentence, Claudio entreats Luzio to seek help from Isabella, Claudio’s sister, who is in a nearby convent. Luzio was here sung by tenor Michel Dailey, who was excellent in this role. Isabella was sung by soprano Leslie Sandefur, whose radiant voice has already won her the prestigious Leontyne Price award. When we first encounter Isabella she is engaged in friendly conversation with her fellow novice nun, Mariana, beautifully sung here by soprano Aléxa Anderson. Mariana reveals to Isabella that her husband cruelly abandoned her in his ambitious craving for political power in Palermo, and that her husband is none other than Palermo’s temporary Viceroy, Friedrich. These two women forge a bond and agree to help one another as they deal with cloistered life in the convent. 

Luzio converses with his buddies, Angelo and Antonio, sung here in bit roles by baritone Julio Ferrari and tenor Eric Levintow respectively. Though these three men fail to stop the crackdown on licentiousness, Luzio agrees to seek the help of Isabella to free her brother Claudio. When Luzio arrives at the convent and is granted an audience with Isabella, he becomes instantly smitten with her and he then succeeds in persuading Isabella to temporarily leave the convent to return to the world in an effort to plead for the life of her brother. How sincere are Luzio’s feelings for Isabella is put in question by his already being bound in a promise to marry Dorella, a very flirtatious young woman who becomes charged with prostitution. Dorella is sung by mezzo-soprano Sonia Garlaeff. When Brighella attempts to play the role of judge in cases of alleged licentiousness, Dorella turns on all her seductiveness, enflames Brighella with lust, and wins dismissal of the case against her. 

When Isabella passionately entreats Friedrich to pardon her brother Claudio, Friedrich becomes instantly smitten with Isabella and tells her he’ll pardon Claudio only if she agrees to spend the night with him. Revolted by Friedrich’s hypocrisy, Isabella initially threatens to accuse Friedrich publicly. But Friedrich retorts that no one would believe her and he threatens her with reprisals if she dares to go public with her accusation— a threat that women even today face as the Me Too movement makes all too clear. Thinking things over, Isabella quickly comes up with a plan to win her brother’s pardon by agreeing to meet Friedrich for a clandestine night together wearing Carnival masks but she’ll substitute to the rendez-vous a masked Mariana, Friedrich’s estranged wife. When this substitution is revealed to the public, Friedrich will be humiliated and forced to pardon Claudio. 

Suffice it to say this plan works, and all’s well that ends well. Mariana and Friedrich are reconciled, Claudio is pardoned and rejoins his Julia, and Luzio even wins the love of Isabella. As for Dorella, she happily hops in bed with Brighella. The ban on Carnival is lifted. 

Musically, Wagner tries hard to master the gusto of French and Italian comic operas of the day. Ernest Newman, in his book on Wagner, finds the overture to Das Liebesverbot ingratiating, at least in a superficial way. Of the overture, Newman writes, “All the while the tone is getting louder and louder, with a crescendo roll on the tympani. One has to listen, whether one wants to or not….The whole overture is very effective in this noisy, rather empty way; there is much use of castagnets, tambourine, triangle, and cymbals.” Granted, there is hardly a trace of depth of character in Das Liebesverbot, but Wagner is content here to endow this music with as much superficial Italian brio as he could muster. 

Pocket Opera’s production of No Love Allowed enjoyed music direction by Jonathan Khuner, stage direction by Nicolas A. Garcia, costumes by Joy Graham-Korst, and set design by Daniel Yelen.