I'm an activist and Democrat running for State Assembly District 14 because I object to the housing laws that Buffy Wicks, our Assembly member, votes for. It's market-rate high-rise housing we see going up everywhere in the East Bay. Her laws let developers bypass our city council's environmental protections and build high-cost housing anywhere they can buy land.

We need low-cost housing, housing for all of us. See my video, https://youtu.be/78AfCZNbYHU

Her failed state housing policy means that more people camp on the street, travel far from home to work, couch surf, live in cars because they cannot pay the high cost of housing.

Wicks' "affordable" housing In the East Bay is for those making less than $100,000 a year. "Low-income" housing is for people who earn less than $78,000 a year. But we need housing for all of us. Minimum wage workers earn $30,000 a year.

In the Assembly, I will work to legislate needed housing, housing for elders on Social Security, veterans, teachers, students, families, people who want to live near their work. This is the housing we need, housing for all of us. -more-

“What’s Going On?”

A Teach-In on People’s Park

7-9 p.m., Monday, February 26, 2024

Maud Fife Room – 315 Wheeler Hall, UCB

People’s Park is currently barricaded by stacked shipping containers topped with razor wire and guarded round-the-clock, following a midnight raid in early January by combined police forces from UC, CSU, Alameda County, San Francisco City and County and the California State Highway Patrol, organized by the UC Berkeley administration. Why? "The existing legal issues will inevitably be resolved, so we are taking this necessary step now to minimize the possibilities of conflict and confrontation, and of disruption for the public and our students, when we are cleared to resume construction," said Chancellor Carol Christ (The Berkeleyan, January 16, 2024). Like others in the flood of official campus public relations communications with which students, faculty and staff have been inundated since the Chancellor’s 2017 announcement of plans to build student housing on the park, this response falls short of explaining why there is such fear of “conflict and confrontation” and such strong opposition to these plans, even from students whose interests the plans are supposed to serve.

For a broader range of perspectives on what was and is going on at People’s Park, Teach-Ins have been organized by UC Berkeley students (January 24) and by community groups (February 4). Please join us for the next one. There will be ample time for Q and A. Fiat Lux! -more-

We hear about what Israel is doing to Gaza, which comes to us in two stories. One is that Israel is defending itself against attacks from a political entity that has taken over the Palestinian population living in Gaza. The other story is that the Palestinians have engaged in a rebellion against the conditions they were forced into by Israel, and now the Israelis have decided to launch a “Final Solution” against their Palestinian problem.

The first story dies an ignoble death under Israel’s massive counter-attack whose intent is to push the Gazans into a Sinai desert demise. The second story gets censored by the media industry, implying that is must be the truth.

We USians can relate to either story. We fought against the original “Final Solution” of the Nazis in their attempt to rid the world of Jews. There are still some people old enough to remember that war. Many are Jews who survived it. But not enough to stop those who are now doing it to the Palestinians.

Today, many white USians look at Israel’s “settlement strategy” and say: “we did that, so why shouldn’t they?” The Mayor of Berkeley agrees with them.

There are those of us, on the other hand, who are fighting for a different story. Ours is about the indigenous in North America, those who defended themselves against the European settlers who came off ships and claimed ownership of this indigenous land (that had never suffered ownership before). The indigenous necessitate rebellion against the white government because it still imprisons them on reservations. To get out of prison, you either beg, or you rebel. -more-

Last year I did a piece about feeling self-possessed, and I'd said it was a feeling that I hadn't had in a long time. Mental resources can come and go. Your mind is not something you can take for granted. You can't assume that your mind will always work. -more-

Suffix, Prefix Update
Now that the world is versed in self-applied suffixes (him/her, he/she, it/them) let's prep for new explorations in the world of self-identifying prefixes. In addition to Mr., Ms., and Mrs., we now have a candidate for mayor of Grand Forks, North Dakota, who signs in as "Mx. Quen Wilkie." I'm guessing "mx" could stand for "mixed" or "mysterious." -more-

There is a lot to pick up from my last Activist’s Diary and several very interesting meetings.

The League of Women Voters’ Berkeley-Albany -Emeryville forums with District 7 Senate candidates, District 5 Alameda County Supervisor candidates and House of Representatives are posted at: https://www.lwvbae.org/league-news/candidate-forums-for-the-2024-primary-2/

I still have not made any decisions on the Alameda County Supervisor’s race. The Berkeley Neighborhoods Council Forum from the 15th isn’t posted yet. Watch for it at: https://berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/

I received several communications from Councilmember Ben Bartlett and his office in follow-up that I didn’t recall his association with the SCU (Special Care Unit).

Here are the results. Bartlett submitted the Safety for All: The George Floyd Community Safety Act on June 16, 2020. It was submitted as an urgency item and it is not listed with the agenda. The meeting minutes show the first part of the Act passed as a budget referral to reallocate Berkeley Police Department funds spent on non-criminal activity and reinvest in a Specialized Care Unit pilot along with $150,000 to hire a consultant to analyze police calls and responses that could be responded to by non-police services.

The motion for the second part of the Act passed as, “to Direct the City Manager to reduce the footprint of the police department and limit the police’s response to violent and criminal service calls” was scheduled for the July 14, 2020 council meeting. -more-

Back in 1975, as Director of Tanztheater Wuppertal in Germany, Pina Bausch created her visionary choreography of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Le Sacre du Printemps or Rite of Spring. Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring had premiered in Paris in 1913 and had evoked a scandalous response from audiences unprepared to accept its unrelenting rhythmic insistence and dissonance. Stravinsky had fashioned this work based on Russian folk traditions of primitive rituals involving human sacrifice. -more-

The venerable Takács Quartet, formed in 1975 in Budapest, is now in its 49th year. Cellist András Fejer is the only current member who formed the original Takács Quartet when all its members were university students. András Fejer is now not only the sole Hungarian in the current Takács Quartet, he is the very heart and soul of this illustrious group. I love Fejer’s consummate musicianship and burnished tone. With the recent announcement of the retirement of the Emerson Quartet, the Takács Quartet is now indisputably the world’s premier string quartet and a worthy Hungarian successor to the renowned Budapest Quartet. Aside from András Fejer on cello, the current Takács Quartet features Edward Duisenberre as 1st violinist, Harumi Rhodes as 2nd violinist, and Richard O’Neill as violist. -more-

Worth Noting:

CANDIDATE FORUM RECORDINGS for MARCH 5 PRIMARY

Berkeley Neighborhoods Council February 15 Recording of Alameda County Board of Supervisors

https://berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/uncategorized/alameda-county-board-of-supervisors-election-forum/

League of Women Voters Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, State Senate, Alameda County Supervisors, Congress, Superior Court Judges

https://www.lwvbae.org/league-news/candidate-forums-for-the-2024-primary-2/

If you didn’t receive your ballot the last day to register is Tuesday, February 27.

The go to meeting is the Economic Update (what is happening in business districts, empty store fronts, etc.) at 4:30 pm on Tuesday (ZOOM or in person)

• Monday, February 26, 2024: At 2:30 pm the Agenda Committee meets in the hybrid format to plan the agenda for the March 12 city council meeting.
• Tuesday, February 27, 2024: At 4:30 City Council meets in the hybrid format to receive the Economic Dashboards Update followed by the regular council meeting at 6 pm.
• Wednesday, February 28, 2024:
  • At 10 am the council meets in the hybrid format to establish the date for the District 4 Council election.
  • At 6 pm the Civic arts Commission meets in person.
  • At 6 pm the Environment and Climate Commission meets in person.
  • At 6:30 pm the PAB meets in the hybrid format. No agenda is posted.
  • At 7 pm the Disaster and Fire Commission meets in person.
• Thursday, February 29, 2024:
  • At 6 pm the Berkeley Parks Department sponsors a Celebration of Black History at the Frances Albrier Center.
  • At 7 pm the Mental Health Commission meets in person.

Check the City website for late announcements and meetings posted on short notice at: https://berkeleyca.gov/

Directions with links to ZOOM support for activating Closed Captioning and Save Transcript are at the bottom of this calendar.

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BERKELEY PUBLIC MEETINGS AND CIVIC EVENTS -more-