Are we better off today than we were four years ago? The answer is a definite “NO.” I am still trying, however, without much success, to understand why 74+ million Americans voted to re-elect Trump when for four years he has embarrassed himself and this nation with his ignorance, ineptness, and lack of human decency.
During the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables.” Who are these deplorables? Assuming they were paying attention, these supporters knowingly voted for a racist, a homophobe, a misogynist, and a xenophobic; they support a person endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan and White Nationalist groups. I do not think they are necessarily racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and xenophobic, but all are on a spectrum from white nationalists to just plain ignorant. And Trump has made this okay.
Trump supporters are voting against their economic interests. Income inequality increased during the pandemic. Twenty-two million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last four weeks, effectively erasing 10 years of job gains. Retail sales plunged in March, and small businesses exhausted the $350 billion in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program in less than two weeks. About 60% of jobs in America paying $100,000 or more can be done from home, compared with 10% of jobs paying under $40,000.
The Wall Street supporters, who may strongly dislike Trump, but benefit economically from the Trump administration. Trump rid them many of those troublesome regulations through deregulation of hundreds of regulations at the expense of the environment and public health and safety, and the ideological bent of his appointees to regulatory agencies.
In 2017, Trump signed the so-called GOP tax overhaul wherein half of the tax cuts went to the top 1% with the notion that tax cuts for high-income earners and large corporations would trickle down to average American, a "voodoo economic economic policy" as former President George H.W. Bush called it. Surprise, surprise, the tax cuts did not trickle down as promised. Over a roughly seven-month period starting in mid-March 2020 – a week after Trump declared a national emergency – America’s 614 billionaires grew their net worth by a collective $931 billion.
Trump often touts stock market gains as a barometer of the strength of the economy. The stock market, however, is not the economy. It is really an indicator of corporate profits and how fast investors expect them to grow. That window into the economy is smaller than you might think. Less than a third of Americans work for publicly traded companies, and much of consumer spending, such as rent, goes to individuals or small businesses, which the stock market doesn't directly account for.
After a pandemic-induced plunge in March 2020, the stock market quickly recovered. The gains, however, mainly benefited the most affluent households. Consider that 1% of Americans own 50% of stocks held by American households and the top 10% of American households, as defined by total wealth, now own 84% of all stocks. Thus, the stock market does not necessarily define economic health as a whole. Stocks are on the rise, but many individuals – and the country as a whole – are still facing the effects of business closures, record-breaking unemployment rates and more. And note that the pending $900 billion relief contains $200 billion in tax breaks for the rich with an estimated $120 billion of this amount to the richest 1%.
Why has Trump won over the majority of evangelical voters? As far as I know, Trump is not a churchgoer and though he claims the Bible is his favorite book, he does not quote the Bible at all and given no indication he has ever read it. Why then would conservative or right-wing evangelicals support Trump, especially as he is a racist, a misogynist, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, and corrupt? Because Trump has nominated 274 individuals to federal judgeships, 234 of whom have been confirmed, including three to the Supreme Court. These evangelicals hope this will result in a reversal of Roe v. Wade. They also hope he will blur the Constitutional separation of church and state. I also suspect that they support Trump, not because he is an authentic Christian, but because Christianity for millions of white evangelicals in America is simply white supremacy in disguise.
After all this rumination, I am still unable to fully wrap my head around Trump’s appeal. I wonder after the wreckage Trump will leave behind, do these deplorables still believe Trump was worth supporting? Will Wilkinson put it nicely, “It’s not Mr. Trump’s open contempt for the norms of liberal democracy that makes my blood run cold. It was the applause that came after.”
(Assuming, of course, that he doesn't attack Iran, declare a national emergency and degree martial law so he can remain White America's Tweeter-in-chief.)
Jail to the Chief!
Donald says he wants a Wall
I say, "Give him four!"
With a bigly cot
And a chamber pot
And a padlock on the door.
A Petition to De-park The Donald
Back in the 1990s, Donald Trump purchased 494 acres of prime rural New York real estate. Hoping to turn the wooded acreage into a money-milking golfing resort, he followed up by building a massive family retreat on the land and deducting its "upkeep" as a "business expense."
When the golf plan went bust, Trump "donated" 436 acres to the state to create a park. Trump stipulated that the park would need to be named after himself and then claimed a $26.1 million charitable deduction for his "gift."
Now, with Trump's DC departure on the horizon, the good people at Change.org are circulating a petition asking New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to rename the park after Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
There's only one alternative that might bring greater anger from Trump and greater satisfaction to his detractors—rename the park after John McCain.
Freeloader by Founder's Sing
The Sierra Club's 2021 Resolutions for California Leaders
Courtesy of the Sierra Club:
• For oil and gas lobbyists: Your success means the planet dies. Make 2021 the year you change your client base. • For food packagers: Stop using plastic. There are so many affordable alternatives now, and there’s no need to wait for legislation or a ballot measure. • For the California Energy Commission: Be brave, be bold and remember that there isn’t a Plan B for the planet: Do the right thing and decarbonize new buildings through the Title 24 Building Code. • For the California Air Resources Board: Keep being a brave, bold example for the California Energy Commission—and the rest of the world—to follow. Improve equity and opportunities internally and externally. As always, California’s breathers are depending on you. • For the Department of Water Resources: End your tunnel vision. There are so many better things you could be doing to help make sure Californians have a safe and sustainable water supply. • For newly elected California legislators: Lobbyists of every sort feign subservience. They laugh at your jokes and compliment you on your intelligence, over and over again. Commit to not letting it go to your head. Remember that not everyone thinks you’re an essential worker. • For returning California legislators: Many of you failed to step up on environmental legislation this year. Make 2021 the year you wake up and demonstrate a political will to assertively address the existential crisis we’re all facing. • For Governor Gavin Newsom: What can I say that will be constructive but adequately reflect the effect of your inaction on so many key issues affecting California’s air, water, climate, parks, people and wildlife? Maybe this: Keep your resume updated. • For Sierra Club members: Watch the inauguration on January 20 and feel proud that you played a significant role in helping roll back a dangerous threat to democracy. • For everyone: Stay safe, stay healthy, and wear a mask until this pandemic is over. And when it has clearly passed, dance with someone you’ve missed.
Mixing Metaphors
The publicists for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival just released a press-statement that began with an epic example of colliding parables. The urgent headline read: "The train is at the station! Don't miss the boat!" Appropriate, in a way, given that the promo was designed to advertise Gian Luca Farinelli's Grand Tour Italiano, "a guided film tour through Italy at the beginning of the 20th century" with footage "shot between 1905 and 1914 documenting the new Italian nation from Sicily to Venice." But maybe the clashing references were intended: odds are some travel by rail and sail must have been involved.
Our Militarized Language
It's been amusing to hear news stories on the vaccine scene in Britain, where people are reportedly eager to pull up their sleeves and get their "jabs."
Initially, I joined the guffawing crowd of listeners who found the word "jab" to be "quaint." But the chuckling stopped when I suddenly realized that Americans have introduced a much darker word into the popular medical vocabulary. In the US, we don't call them "jabs," we call them "shots." As in rifle, pistol, machinegun. I've made a vow never to use that word again for a procedure that is correctly called "an injection."
WestBrae Neighbors Blame AT&T for Wi-Fi Woes
The introduction of hundreds of powerful 4G/5G microwave transmitters to power "The Internet of Things" has triggered a debate over the safety of the technology. The World Health Organization has classified the radiation as a possible "class 2B carcinogen," the California Medical Association has called on the FCC to update its regulations to address the adverse effects of wireless radiation, and California's Department of Public Health and UC Berkeley's Department of Public Health have expressed concern over peer-reviewed scientific studies that link cell-phone radiation to DNA damage, reproductive harm, and certain cancers.
Protests by local residents earlier this year failed to prevent installation of AT&T Wi-Fi transmitters atop wooden poles near the Berkeley Natural Grocery on Gilman and the Monterey Market on Hopkins. And now, several months after the transmitters were mounted, some North Berkeley residents believe AT&T has quietly activated the antennas—without informing nearby residents. (In related news, many North Berkeley residents have complained that AT&T failed to provide advance notice of the planned installations, as required by law.)
One long-time local resident (a neighbor who prefers to remain anonymous while exploring legal action against AT&T) recalls walking by a cellphone tower at Cedar-Rose Park recently and experiencing an unusual level of discomfort.
"It was very strong. I was completely bombed out." Fearing the transmitter had been quietly "energized," she wondered if the antenna might be "exceeding permitted levels." She has joined other residents who want Berkeley officials to conduct independent monitoring of these new Wi-Fi sites.
Because her home sits just 500-600 feet from the new Gilman Street transmitter, she purchased a $200 radio-frequency (RF) meter to monitor ambient radiation levels. During a recent visit to Berkeley Natural, she was shocked to see the meter registering the highest level of red-zone radiation yet encountered.
"I was only out there for five minutes but I got very sick, and then the alarm on the meter started shrieking. It was shrill. The worst possible level. Over the top, unbelievable."
Meanwhile, "meter readings inside our bedroom are still in the green region but our yard is red," she said. New window blinds made from steel help to cut down the radiation but she continues to suffer. As recently as a week ago, she was walking an hour a day; now she has difficulty getting outside the house. Her legs hurt and she feels sick. On December 22, she woke at 4 AM with her hands feeling as though they were on fire. When she looked at her fingers, they were visibly reddened.
Like other Westbrae neighbors, she fears becoming a Radiation Refugee. And she's not alone. A couple in a house only 120 feet from the Gilman transmitter recently opted to quit Berkeley and move to a second home a neighboring county to avoid what seemed to be a sudden increase in radiation exposure.
"This is scary," my neighbor said. "Just in time for the holidays. Just in time for Christmas. Just in time for Hanukkah. 'Let's irradiate the people! Let's light 'em up like a Christmas tree.' But I don't want to be lit up like a menorah. I just want to live a normal life."
How about this for a holiday gift: Replace Berkeley's current, weak Wi-Fi ordinance with stronger regulations to assure public safety. Other California cities that already have done it include Encinitas, Mill Valley, Petaluma, San Anselmo and all of Marin County!
Dead People Did Vote—and They Voted for Trump
There's been a dearth of widespread voter fraud but the Republicans can finally point to at least one case of Grade-A Voting Vice.
So why aren't they pointing?
Because Bruce Bartman, a 70-year-old Pennsylvanian who is facing a jail term for voter fraud, is also a life-long Republican. Bartman allegedly pretended to be his own dead mother and he also registered as his dead mother-in-law, which allowed him to cast three votes for Trump in the 2020 election.
"This is the only known case of a 'dead person' voting in our county, conspiracy theories notwithstanding," Delaware District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer noted. Voter fraud is extremely rare in the US. According to a Heritage Foundation database, there have been only 193 convicted cases of voter fraud between 2000 and 2020 out of 250 million votes cast.
If convicted on all charges, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports, Bartman could spend up to 19 years in prison—much longer than his political hero is likely to spend behind bars.
What are the odds that Trump will issue Bartman a presidential pardon as one of his parting acts?
Scheer Brilliance
I was delighted to discover that there is a new documentary about Robert Scheer, the former Berkeley radical who became an anti-Vietnam-war firebrand, a proudly Left political candidate, and a now-legendary journalist. Crusading filmmaker Oliver Stone has called Robert Scheer: Above the Fold, "an inspiring portrait of a great American." Above the Fold is a compilation of Scheer's full-bore muck-raking and opinionated news-making over the course of several decades (and continuing today). The film also features interviews with the likes of Norman Lear, Jane Fonda, Arianna Huffington, and Daniel Ellsberg.
More good news: The film is available for free screening on Kanopy. All you need is a public library card or a university ID.
Money for the Many
The Alliance for Retired Americans (AARP) is circulating a petition in support of H.R. 2654, the Strengthening Social Security Act, which would add $800 to the government's annual Social Security payments. The present average SS check provides $1,461 in added financial aid to retired Americans but, as ARRP points out, this is "barely above the federal poverty level of $1,041." Not too empowering when, for 25% of Americans over the age of 65, their monthly SS checks constitute 90% of their monthly income.
AARP notes that today's SS checks "buy less than they did in 2000" because the cost of living in the USA has "risen faster than the [federal] cost-of-living adjustment." In other words, a loaf of bread that cost $2 in 2000 would cost $3.02 in 2020.
Black Mamas Bail Out
Color of Change sent out an unusual holiday invite asking for donations to provide bail for jailed moms of color. "'Tis the season to support Black Mamas and Caregivers in our 2nd Annual Black Mama’s Bail Out: Toy and Winter Coat Drive!” Last year, Color Of Change helped the National Bail Out (a coordinated effort by community organizations, advocates, and families) raise more than $1 million to free Black mothers to rejoin their families for the holidays.
The NBO campaign offers a stunning statistic that underscores the injustice of the "racist cash bail system." In the "land of the free," nearly half a million people (three-fourths of the US jail population) have not been convicted of a crime. They are simply awaiting trial. And 90 percent of this prison population is suffering in jail simply because they can't afford to pay the bail needed to be released.
Bill McKibben Bids Goodbye
Bill McKibben, author, activist and founder of the climate protection group 350.org has announced his retirement from the organization he founded. Here are some of his thoughts as we approach another critical year of do-or-die decision-making:
This is the last year I get to write my annual fundraising letter for 350.org. I’m stepping back from my duties — I’ve had my last board meeting, and as the year ends even my volunteer job as ‘senior advisor’ transitions to emeritus status.
It’s always hard to leave behind an institution one helped found, but the time is right: the people now doing most of the work at 350.org need the space to assert their own identities, become public figures in their own right.
I’m very proud of our work together fighting pipelines, divesting trillions of dollars from fossil fuel, and standing up to banks — but there are other battles ahead that need new ideas.
And those battles will need resources. From the South Pacific to South America, from the Arctic to Australia, from London and Paris to DC and New York, 350.org remains the essential global grassroots climate campaign. We have people scattered across the planet — 150 or so hardy souls, most of them young, together catalyzing a vast volunteer base to take on the entire fossil fuel industry.
It might seem like a mismatch, but in fact we’re winning: I took a day to celebrate this year when the news came that Exxon was no longer the world’s biggest energy company, that it had been surpassed by a solar and wind company. There will be more important news like this if we keep fighting.
I’m of course nostalgic right now, thinking back to the early days of 350.org, when the climate movement was tiny. But I’m also thinking ahead — to the new projects I’ll be working on but also to the work that 350 will be undertaking in every corner of the globe. As long as I’m alive I’ll be here to help out in some way with those fights — and I hope you will too.
Let me just finish by saying thanks. It’s been the privilege of my life to work shoulder to shoulder with y’all.
A man was arrested following a store robbery that led to an officer-involved shooting Saturday evening in Berkeley, police said.
Shortly after 8:20 p.m., officers responded to a robbery report at the Walgreens store at 2190 Shattuck Ave.
Officers found and attempted to detain the suspect, a 51-year-old man, walking on Bancroft Way after the robbery.
The suspect evaded officers and walked into the courtyard of the Tang Center at 2222 Bancroft Way, and threatened officers with a chain, according to police.
A negotiator-trained officer took steps to de-escalate the situation with the suspect, who continued to speak and act in an erratic manner, police said.
When the officers attempted to take the man into custody, he approached them, leading officers to deploy less-than-lethal ammunition, and one officer shot the suspect with a gun, according to police sources.
The suspect was injured and taken to a hospital, but is in stable condition.
The incident is being investigated by the Berkeley Police Department's Homicide Unit and its Internal Affairs Unit. Additionally, the District Attorney's Office will be notified of the investigations and the involved officer will be placed on administrative leave, police said.
At least 43 emergency department workers at the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last week, a senior official said Saturday.
Senior Vice President Irene Chavez said a statement that the medical center is using contact tracing and will personally notify and test any staff member or patient who were potentially exposed between Dec. 27 and New Year's Day.
Chavez said officials continue to investigate the source of the outbreak.
They are also removing employees who have tested positive as well as those who were in contact with a colleague who has tested positive, Chavez said in a statement.
The Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center remains open.
Expanded summer school for K-12 students may be one positive outcome of the pandemic that has otherwise contributed to varying levels of learning loss among students across the state.
Without providing details, Gov. Gavin Newsom indicated that he will be including funds in the budget he will present to the Legislature in January that might allow schools to effectively extend the school year into the summer, as a crucial way to help make up for the learning loss that many students have suffered during the pandemic.
"We're going to be creative to look more broadly outside the previous constructs, this mantra or mindset that goes back to an agrarian society that no longer exists, that has the presumption that 99 percent of us will be toiling the fields come this summer," he said during his briefing on his plan to encourage more schools to offer in-person instruction.
He said he didn't want to "get too far ahead in terms of the budget that we will be submitting," but that "we will be looking at extending the day, looking at extending into the summer, looking at the opportunity to get tutors and additional supports to comprehensively address learning loss."
His remarks were reinforced by those of State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond, who is also currently heading up the education transition team for President-elect Joe Biden.
"We need to understand the school year in new ways," Darling-Hammond said, pointing to a widespread concern among educators for decades that the long summer break can be damaging to the educational progress of many students, especially those who are already struggling. "We've been tied to an agrarian calendar for the school year that begins in September or August and goes until May or June."
But, she said, California shouldn't be thinking about the instructional calendar as consisting of "what we can we cram in only by May. We should think about this as the continuous process of solving for learning and taking advantage of the many other innovations that are going on in this state."
These could include everything from outdoor classrooms, expedition schools and project-based learning to interactive online materials that have become regular additions to teacher's toolboxes.
In general, summer schools are low-budget affairs, typically providing instruction for a small subset of students who have to make up for lost credits that they need to graduate, or to advance to the next grade. As described in this EdSource report, summer schools took a huge hit during the Great Recession a decade ago, and many have never fully recovered. Most summer programs, often described as "enrichment programs," are private ones that only higher income parents have been able to afford, further widening achievement gaps between higher and lower income students.
A notable exception is the ambitious and creative summer program launched last summer by Los Angeles Unified, which was intended to be accessible to all its students.
Neither Darling-Hammond nor Newsom provided details about what they will be proposing in his January budget. But Newsom stressed that the issue of how to ensure that children catch up and succeed is a major concern of his -- like it is of most parents, he said. "I can assure you it is not only top of mind, it's foundational in terms of the budget that we'll be submitting for consideration to the legislature."
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: This story was originally published by EdSource. Please use the original link when sharing: https://edsource.org/2020/expanding-school-year-in-new-ways-may-be-one-outcome-of-pandemic-in-california/646028 Copyright � 2021 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
My dad was the one who taught me to write. And re-write. And re-write. He has been writing his whole life and always told me that he’s not a good writer, but an excellent re-writer. He used to mark up my drafts with his red pen over and over which I certainly resented at the time when I just wanted to get out of the house to be with my friends. But now I see it for the gift it was. For him writing was more important than any sport or instrument I might learn. Because writing for him was an extension of living. And so much of living for him was about trying to impact a country he saw as deeply unjust.
My dad believed before all else in utter truth. No flowers, no protecting feelings, just calling it like you see it. He always attributed it to his working class upbringing in Coney Island by two immigrant parents. He said his house was full of the noise of people saying exactly what they thought at whatever volume the situation warranted. Following the bigger fights, he said he’d know if his parents were still mad because his feisty mom, 4’9” Ida, would sleep with her feet at the top of the bed and head at the bottom so as not to have to look at his father Nathan. But in the morning, they would get up and move on.
For me, growing up, he treated me as he would an adult, bringing me with him to whatever outing he and my mom went on, expecting me to engage in adult political conversations with his friends, holding signs on picket lines alongside him, and telling me exactly what he thought without holding back. That wasn’t always easy for me, but I knew what I was getting from him was always real. He loved to tell the story about me coming home crying after my first dance when I was 11 when no one had asked me to dance and he told me that I was going to have many other problems in life but boys wasn’t going to be one of them. And he tells how it made me feel better, which it did, in a way that it never would have if it was from my sweet sweet mother. She would have said anything to make me feel better. I knew whatever he said was nothing but raw truth.
So while his truth was sometimes warm and sometimes hard to take growing up, he gave me a view of the world that most children don’t get. He talked with me about race and class and his biggest passion, unfair working conditions. He believed in organizing together alongside workers, and going after what is right until it was achieved. He saw people as people, something that I have found to be quite unusual in this world. He didn’t give additional deference to someone because of holding a higher position, he believed in the good of hard working people and valuing that core of people above all else. While he would have said he was the most cynical person alive, always assuming the worst, I think in some ways he was the most hopeful. He worked for goals believing they could be achieved, as if there were no barriers. And he achieved so much because of the way he connected with people and organized in partnership.
I am in his backyard now where he loved to sit, drink coffee, and write. Although if I’m being honest, he would far rather be at a coffee shop around people, but quarantine led to him enjoying this space too. He and I and sometimes his grandchildren would sit out here three times a week, talking about life. I am sitting across from his empty chair and his empty coffee cup and his folded newspaper knowing he will never sit across from me again. But he is still here with me. With all of us. With the changes he made in the world during his 91 years, with the words he wrote that were published in different papers, forming connections with people that changed us all a little. He will not be able to submit another article or attend another rally, but his influence and his spirit will carry on in each of us. So, for him, for you, for our world, let’s look at the world in a raw way, the way my dad did, and keep on fighting for what you know is right.
*Harry Brill, born 7/25/1929, died 12/28/2020 at age 91.
When people in a big aggregation all believe the same lie, it starts to become more passable as truth. Yet it doesn't matter how many believe in a lie; it continues to be a lie. The Republican Party in the U.S. wants to deny the results of the 2020 election. They have no evidence whatsoever to substantiate the bogus claims that the election results were rigged. They assert it is so because they say so.
Israel and sixteen European countries have laws against Holocaust denial. In the U.S. there is no law against it because of the protections afforded by the First Amendment. In the U.S. you can think and say anything you want no matter how dumb, so long as you don't rip off someone's copyrighted material and call it your own, commit fraud of some kind, or issue a threat against someone. I've spoken to a Holocaust denier. At the time, I didn't know what to think--I'd never been told, "It didn't happen." As a Jew by birth, such an assertion is beyond offensive, beyond an outrage, and a clear sign that something is wrong. I'm not going to say those were fighting words, in part because the denier in this case was female and smaller than I. But also, beating a person up, if they weren't female, doesn't erase the Holocaust, it only complicates solving the underlying problems that led to the Holocaust.
There are cultlike aggregations of people who believe the Apollo manned missions to the Moon were a hoax produced by the U.S. Government. A 1977 move "Capricorn One" that starred James Brolin, at face value was about a hoaxed manned mission to Mars. It appears it was loosely based on conspiracy theories about the Apollo missions. I've been to websites produced by Apollo deniers. So, Apollo deniers really exist.
Denying things that are documented, that are proven beyond any infinitesimal reason to doubt, is done by people who lie for a purpose. The purpose is to bend truth, and this is for the purpose of dominance and destruction. It makes people feel powerful. In fact, such individuals who do this should try to have power over themselves.
City meetings resume. Council is on Winter Recess thru January 18, 2021.
Monday – Agenda committee 2:30 pm planning for January 19 City Council regular meeting. Note the documents for Reimagining Public Safety Task Force is not a quick read.
Wednesday – Planning Commission 7 pm considers 2628 Shattuck as a condo project
Thursday – Community for Cultural Civic Center meets at 12 noon. Public Works meets at 7 pm and considers paving policy.
Agenda Planning for January 19, 2021 Regular City Council meeting: CONSENT: 3. Suspend Commissioner Manual meeting procedures to enabling ad hoc Commission Subcommittees to meet while allowing City staff to continue COVID-19 response, 7. Adopt New Housing Trust Fund Guidelines, 8. Revised Agreement with CA State Historic Preservation Officer, 9. Predevelopment and Acquisition Loan for 2527 San Pablo, 10. 2021 Block Grant, 11. 2021 Health Plan Changes, 13. Amend contracts add $500,000 to each total $1,500,000 each West Coast Consulting, Telesis Engineers, 14. Fill vacancies Human Welfare and Community Action Commission, Denah Bookstein, Carols Hill, 15. Renaming Four City Paths for Founders of Berkeley Path Wanderers Eleanor Hall Gibson, Ruth Armstrong, Jacque Ensign, Patrician DeVito, 16. Referral to draft Ordinance terminating sale of gasoline, diesel, and natural gas passenger vehicles throughout City of Berkeley by 2025 (is a phase out of sales beginning in 2025), ACTION: 17. Call on supermarkets, restaurants and other food corporations in Berkeley to implement Proposition 12 (cage free eggs and meat – ballot passed in 2018) ASAP, 18. Amend Berkeley Lobbyist Registration Act, 19. Declare Racism As a Public Health Crisis (original and revised included with item), 20. Revisions to City Legislation for Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, 21. Resolution calling on National Parks to assess suitability of lands to honor the Black Panther Party, 22. Guarantee COVID-19 Hazard Pay for Grocery Workers, 23. Make Child Care Providers eligible for grants and assistance under Berkeley Relief Fund, 24. Extend Time for Temporary Parklets and Sidewalk Seating Post COVID-19, 25. Reaffirm COB commitment to Roe v. Wade, Information Reports: 26. Condo Conversional Annual Report, 27. Referral Response Housing/Homeless Uses for 1631 Fifth. Referred Items for Review: 8. Impact COVID-19, 9. Commission Reorganization, 10. Affirm Right to Boycott for Social and Political Change, Unfinished Business for Scheduling 1. Kitchen exhaust hoods, 2. Surveillance Technology Report and Acquisition and Use, 3, Report/presentation Homeless Outreach during COVID-19, 4, Vote No Confidence Police Chief (packet 167 pages)
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
No City meetings or events found
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Board of Library Trustees - Closed Session, 3:30 pm
Agenda: 3. Non-agenda public comment, 9. Public Hearing – Tentative Tract Map #8573 consider 2628 Shattuck @Carleton as condo project, 10. Parking Reform – revise off-street parking ordinance, 11. Consider subcommittee to develop workplan, 12. Consider subcommittee for gentrification and displacement referral,
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Community for a Cultural Civic Center (CCCC), 12 – 1 pm
A website is in process. Email Johncaner@gmail.com to receive meeting announcements and agendas. The Zoom link is the same for all of the Thursday meetings
Feb 16 - BMASP/Berkeley Pier-WETA Ferry, Systems Realignment
March 16 – Capital Improvement Plan (Parks & Public Works), Digital Strategic Plan/FUND$ Replacement Website Update,
May 18 – (tentative) Bayer Development Agreement, Affordable Housing Policy Reform
Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations
Cannabis Health Considerations
Berkeley Police Department Hiring Practices (referred by Public Safety Committee)
Ballot Measure Implementation Planning
Pedestrian Master Plan
Update Zero Waste Priorities
Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program
Removed from Lists
Update Berkeley’s 2020 Vision
Undergrounding Task Force Update – Will be presented as Information Item
_____________________
This Summary of City of Berkeley meetings is the available published public meetings that could be found and they are important. This does not include the task forces established by the Mayor (those schedules are not available). If anyone would like to share meeting schedules including community meetings to be included in the weekly summary so we can be better-informed citizenry, please forward the notices to sustainableberkeleycoalition@gmail.com before Friday noon of the preceding week.
