When Sophie Hahn, my District 5 Councilmember, sent an email announcing two community meetings regarding “IKE Advertising Kiosks" I was filled with curiosity. One was to be held via Zoom on July 7 about North Shattuck Avenue; the other was an in-person meeting to be held on July 8 about Solano at the Solano Oriental Rug Gallery. I attended the July 7 Zoom meeting and to my surprise, the meeting was hosted by a City of Berkeley staff member, Kieron Slaughter, from the Office of Economic Development. Ms. Burton from IKE was present to explain the project and Barbara Hillman, representing the former Berkeley Convention Bureau (now called Visit Berkeley) was in attendance to support the kiosks. More than 80 people were on the call, and right off the bat, people asked if this was a city-sponsored meeting that met city notice requirements, and why another meeting was being held in a private space. No answer was given, and this turned out to be the model for addressing the public’s questions for the rest of the meeting. -more-

Dear Mr. Coppola,

Reading about Megalopolis moves me to write you, out of deep anxiety for the future of our movie theaters and the ability to see movies communally on a big screen.

Berkeley apparently will lose the great ten-screen Shattuck Cinemas after the city showed no interest in saving the other Landmark-leased California Theatre earlier this year when the heirs of the owner rejected Landmark’s lease renewal offer. As you may know, the Shattuck Cinemas’ ten screens allowed for screenings of independent films and foreign films along with big budget films. From 2015 to 2020, a group of us who love film succeeded in delaying the previous developer who proposed to demolish them. The new developer proposes 8 instead of 18 stories but he too plans the demolition of the theater, as he told me himself. He dismissed movie theaters as now obsolete. But the city could require him to preserve the theater.

The capacity of Netflix et al to make movies accessible privately during COVID was a comfort. But I’d hate to see this convenience be allowed to displace the shared experience of seeing films on the big screen. Without movie theaters and their large screens and sound systems, I worry that we will lose great films. They need the financial support that comes from large-scale presentation, and viewers need the scale provided by big screens in movie theaters to enjoy the richness of a film made as a work of art. -more-

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Joe Garofoli recently published an article with the disturbing headline: "Survey Finds Half of Americans Expect a Civil War." According to Garofoli, "A study asked Americans if they could support political violence. Half said they think a civil war is coming."

I passed the article on to David Swanson, executive director of World BEYOND War. He replied by noting there is "no such thing as a 'civil' war" and offered three other examples of contradictory phrases. To wit: "Army Intelligence says bring your Diet Coke and some Lethal Aid."

I responded by musing whether there might be a word for such self-contradictory phrases. Idionyms? Stuponyms? Contradictoryms?

Swanson's reply reminded me that a term for such internally contradictory phrases already exists: "oxy Morons." -more-

Thank you, Mr. Stone, for voicing the plain truth that mentally ill people are not to be blamed for the prevalent and worsening gun violence in the U.S.! However, I have more to add to this, and it is of grave concern.

We've seen some of how Trump operates and gains an increasing toehold on power. One of these methods is to vilify a person or a category of people. During his campaign against Hillary Clinton, the mantra was "Lock her up, lock her up!" And Trump very likely paid individuals to attempt to defame the Clintons.

Historians probably know a lot about Adolf Hitler's rise to power. A major strategy of Hitler was to vilify the Jews. And now we are seeing Trump, perhaps in similar fashion, vilifying mentally ill people. I don't know; I wasn’t alive in the 1930's and 40's.

Yet it doesn't seem very farfetched for Trump to make a watered-down attempt at another Holocaust. Of course, we aren't going to see anything like what happened under Hitler--there are too many people determined it won't happen again, at least not with Jews as victims.

Yet, the mentally ill are some of the most helpless people in society, because of difficulty organizing, because of being medicated, and because of having a harder time fighting back. -more-

I only take the print edition of the Chronicle one day a week though I really miss having the full paper in hand every day. Reading the e-edition of my various subscriptions is not the same and it’s too easy to miss them altogether. Some say the Chronicle isn’t worth reading at all, but today on the front page is Mono Lake drying up from the drought and on the back the temperature map of the entire continental U.S. is in deep orange (90 – 100 degrees and above) with a tiny sliver on the west in yellow (60 degrees) where we live. This week more than 100 million in the US were under an excessive heat warning and Europe is burning up.

Maybe the investors of units sitting vacant about town with many if not all priced out of reach for those of us with income under the area median (AMI) are holding out for migration back to the Bay Area. A two-bedroom 1079 square foot unit at the Blake is available for $5410/month or maybe a 461 square foot studio at $3397/month is more in your price range. Neither are in my affordability range.

At a neighborhood gathering in District 8 last week, the conversation moved to apartments pulled from the market and turned into AirBnBs. Just a few blocks from me is an apartment building that has been vacant for decades. And I am surrounded by for rent/lease signs in the downtown and cranes of more buildings under construction. Meanwhile the homeless can be seen throughout the flats with their carts of belongings and tents.

Vacant units throughout Berkeley are the subject of the vacancy tax authored by Councilmember Kate Harrison. It is item 6 at the 3 pm (new time) City Council Special meeting next Tuesday, July 26, on ballot initiatives for the November 8 election. Whether council members will do what is right for the community or bow to the real estate industry which they look to for supporting their elections and for feathering the political action committee (PAC) money to bolster “candidate friendly” campaigns is the big question. -more-

A massive heat wave has scorched much of Europe, with the U.K. shattering its record for highest temperature ever recorded. Oblivious and unconcerned about the future but determined to retain his coveted Congressional seat, Senator Manchin has shown a complete willingness to sell his soul to the highest bidder, the fossil fuel and coal industry to upend his party’s efforts to introduce legislation to combat climate change. -more-

President Biden should have heeded candidate Biden who vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for the state-sponsored killing of The Washington Post columnist, Jamāl Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018. -more-

The Hopkins project is District 5 Councilmember Sophie Hahn’s baby, albeit a late and cranky adoptee. She initiated their special relationship in January 2018 with a budget referral that allocated $200,000 to add “placemaking” considerations for the part of Hopkins that lies in her district (Sutter to Sacramento) to the city’s plan to repave the entire street in the summer of 2023.

Due to Covid disruptions, the public process only got underway in October 2020. After working mostly behind the scenes for two and a half years, on May 2, 2022, Hahn presided over an online public meeting about major changes to the staff’s conceptual plan from the Alameda intersection up to Sutter. A few hours before the council convened on May 10, she sent her council e-mail list an impassioned appeal to support those changes and other amendments that were folded into the omnibus proposal that she and Mayor Arreguín submitted on the day of the meeting. Shortly after midnight, the council approved that proposal with a few amendments (see below) on an 8-1 vote, with Susan Wengraf casting the sole No. -more-

Worth Noting:

Monday – Zero Waste Commission meets at 7 pm. The staff and legislative updates are at the beginning of the meeting.

Tuesday - July 26 is the last of City Council meetings before summer recess/vacation from July 27 through September 12, 2022. The ballot initiatives for a bond measure, street repair tax and rental vacancy tax are on the 3 pm special meeting agenda. NOTE the original announcement for the special meeting on ballot initiatives was 4 pm. It is changed to 3 pm. The Rent Stabilization and eviction ballot initiative, surveillance report, police equipment policies and city website are on the 6 pm meeting agenda.

Wednesday – Environment and Climate Commission at 5 pm takes up the Residential Electrification Program. Civic Arts at 6 pm reviews public art projects and grants. The Police Accountability Board at 7 pm has a full agenda. The Transportation and Infrastructure Commission at 7 pm is reviewing the complete streets grant application.

Thursday – the Mental Health Commission at 7 pm will hear progression on the SCU (Special Care Unit to respond to mental health calls with mental health workers and professional) and program presentation for improving the standard of living for persons with serious mental illness. The BART Board takes up conformance with AB 2923 (BART housing and parking requirements) at 4 pm.

The July 31 Hazardous Waste drop-off event sign-up is full.

August 2 is Neighborhood Night Out for further details and to register your event go to city website https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/news/national-night-out-2022

Check https://berkeleyca.gov/ for late meetings postings and city events. -more-