The Justice Department concluded today, based upon a thorough investigation, that there is reasonable cause to believe that Alameda County is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in its provision of mental health services, and that conditions and practices at the county’s Santa Rita Jail violate the U.S. Constitution and the ADA.

The department’s investigation found that the county fails to provide services to qualified individuals with mental health disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. Instead, it unnecessarily institutionalizes them at John George Psychiatric Hospital and other facilities. In Olmstead v. L.C., the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title II of the ADA requires public entities to provide community-based services to persons with disabilities when appropriate services can reasonably be provided to individuals who want them. However, on any given day in Alameda County, hundreds of people are institutionalized for lengthy stays at one of several large, locked psychiatric facilities in the county or are hospitalized at John George Psychiatric Hospital, while others are at serious risk of admission to these psychiatric institutions because of the lack of community-based services.W ithout connection to adequate community-based services, people return to John George Psychiatric Hospital in crisis again and again.  

“The ADA protects individuals with mental health disabilities from unnecessary institutionalization, and the Constitution guarantees all prisoners necessary medical care, including mental health care,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Our investigation uncovered evidence of violations that, taken together, result in a system where people with mental health disabilities in Alameda County find themselves unnecessarily cycling in and out of psychiatric institutions and jails because they lack access to proven services that would allow them to recover and participate in community life.” 

The department also concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that conditions at the jail violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, as well as the ADA. Specifically, the department concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that the jail fails to provide constitutionally adequate mental health care to prisoners with serious mental health needs, including those at risk of suicide; that the jail violates the constitutional rights of prisoners with serious mental illness through its prolonged use of restrictive housing; and that the jail violates the ADA by denying prisoners with mental health disabilities access to services, programs, and activities because of their disabilities. 

As a result of these failures, prisoners with serious mental health needs have experienced worsening mental health conditions, are sent repeatedly to John George Psychiatric Hospital for acute care, have experienced prolonged stays in restrictive housing, and, at times, have seriously injured themselves or died. 

The Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section initiated the investigation under the ADA and under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), which authorizes the department to address a pattern or practice of deprivation of constitutional rights of individuals confined to state or local government-run correctional facilities. 

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via phone at (844) 491-4946 or by email at Katelyn.Smith2@usdoj.gov. 

Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at https://civilrights.justice.gov/.

City Council Budget & Finance Committee at 10 am

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82433984748

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 824 3398 4748

AGENDA: Department Budget Presentations 2. Health, Housing & Community services, 3. Public Works, 4. Parks, Recreation & Waterfront, Police Department, UNSCHEDULED ITEMS for future meetings: 6. Predevelopment allocation ARCH, 7. Proposal to allocate revenues generated by Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel tax) generated in waterfront to the Marina fund.

PolicyCommittee@cityofberkeley.info,

Mental Health Commission at 7 pm

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/96361748103

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 963 6174 8103

AGENDA: 3. Presentation by Research Development Associates (RDA) on Results Based Accountability and evaluation for the Division of Mental Health, 4. Update Specialized Care Unit, Update Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, 6.d. PRIDE Program Update – LGBTQIA+ Transition Age Youth.

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

Zoning Adjustment Board at 7 pm

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/97790280207

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 977 9028 0207

AGENDA: 2. 1333 Sixth Street – new – 1-story existing industrial building change use of less than 25% of 17,220 from material recovery enterprise to auto repair and service, located in newly established new tenant space (MU-LI – mixed use light industrial district zoning)

3. 55 (0) Latham Lane – new – Construct 2,905 sq ft 2-story single family dwelling, ave height 22’ 10” on 9,755 sq ft vacant lot, Zoning: R-1(H) Hillside overlay - fire zone 2

65 (0) Latham Lane – new – Construct 3,344 sq ft 2-story single family dwelling, ave height 26’ 3” on 8,347 sq ft vacant lot, Zoning: R-1(H) Hillside overlay - fire zone 2

75 (0) Latham Lane – new – Construct 3,140 sq ft 2-story single family dwelling, ave height 22’ 3” on 7,913 sq ft vacant lot, Zoning: R-1(H) Hillside overlay - fire zone 2

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

As the country grapples with yet another mass killing, Republicans continue to bury the heads in the sand ignoring the weeping of Americans pleading with lawmakers to legislate sensible gun laws supported by over 80% of the population.

Four of eight victims gunned down at the FedEx facility warehouse were Sikhs easily distinguished by their turbans and beards although one was a woman.. A majority of the workers at the warehouse are Sikh. It is likely the killer, Brandon Hole, was targeting Sikhs as police found evidence that he was frequently browsing white supremacist websites. Simran Jeet Singh, scholar, activist and senior fellow for the Sikh Coalition is demanding a full investigation into the possibility of bias and racism in this attack.

It is astounding that Indianapolis police reported that the white terrorist, Brandon Hole, and former FedEx employee, who killed himself, legally purchased the two semiautomatic rifles used in last week’s attack just a few months after police seized a shotgun from him, after his mother raised concerns about his mental state. But prosecutors inexplicably admitted they did not try to use Indiana’s “red flag” law, which could have prevented Hole from obtaining the two guns. Tragically, the Indianapolis mass shooting took place as more than 15 states across the country, including Indiana, are marking April as Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month to reflect the enormous contributions by Sikh communities across the country.  

No longer can we blame the NRA whose organization has been riddled with corruption. Sadly, the Senate Republicans are using the same NRA talking points to increase gun sales at complete odds with the wishes of the majority of Americans who are demanding sensible guns laws. A simple tweak in an existing law could dramatically reduce gun violence. 

Proposed new federal law: The seller of the gun must be held liable if his gun was used in the commission of a crime. This should stop ALL private sales of guns. President Biden must issue a presidential decree introducing new federal gun legislation that triumphs ALL State laws. 

Additional new proposed law: Gun manufacturers must be held liable if their products result in injuries or death. All guns without safety locks must be recalled, much like unsafe automobiles. 

There is little doubt that lawyers would be only too happy to file wrongful death suits targeting gun manufactures. Currently, gun manufacturers are immunized by an absurd law with an equally absurd title, “Protection of Lawful Commerce”. This also insulates ammunition makers and dealers from liability. AR 15 military style weapons MUST be banned immediately by presidential decree. 

Finally, I urge religious groups of ALL stripes, especially Christians, to join Sikhs in enacting these new proposed laws. PROFITS MUST NEVER TRIUMPH THE SANCTIFY OF HUMAN LIFE.

City Council Regular Meeting at 6 pm

The Special City Meeting at 5:30 pm to appoint Farimah Faiz Brown as City Attorney uses the same videoconference and teleconference links as the 6 pm meeting.

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84640742374

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 846 4074 2374  

AGENDA: Recess item: 2. Contract add $250,000 total $2,495,726 for Police Substation at 841 Folger/3000 7^th St, CONSENT: 4. T1 Loan $1,500,000 to complete Phase1 projects, 6. Contact add $25,000 total $74,000 and extend thru FY2024 with Freitas Landscaping at Dona Spring Animal Shelter, 7. Contract add $110,000 total $231,600 and extend 6/30/2026 with Koefran Industries for Animal Disposal Services, 8. Add $4800 with Orsolya Kuti, DVM to provide free spay and neuter surgeries to pets of low/no income and homeless persons and authorize receipt of $40,000 in donations, 9. Add $9,936 total $219,936 for public art commission at San Pablo Park, 10. Approve (unspecified) bid solicitations $1,581,000, 11. Predevelopment affordable housing funding 2024 Ashby $1,198,960 and 1708 Harmon $1,056,400, 13. Receive grants for Shelter Plus Care Program Renewal HUD $4,124,485 6/1/2021-1/1/2022, COACH Project $2,411,026 1/1/20222-12/31/2022, and Co. of Alameda for tenant-based rental assistance $881,046 3/1/2021-2/28/2022, 14. Contract add $160,562 total $6,066,230 with Mar Con Builders for Live Oak Community Center Seismic Upgrade, 15. Contract add $125,000 total $2,094,056 with Suarez and Munoz Construction Inc for San Pablo Park Playground and Tennis Court Renovation, 16. Contract $542,032 plus 20% contingency $108,406 total $650,438 with ERA Construction for King School Play Area at 1700 Hopkins, 17. Contract $5,369,727 plus 15% contingency $805,459 total $6,175,186 with O.C. Jones & Sons for Berkeley Marina Roadway, 18. Grant application accept any amount up to $8,000,000 CA Proposition 68 Statewide Parks Program for selected Santa Fe Right-of-Way parcels, 19. From Homeless Commission Refer to City Manager including Homeless Persons in hate crime reporting, 20. From Housing Advisory Commission Refer to City Manager release a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) of Measure O Bond funds allowing tenant incomes up to 120% of AMI reserve $15,432,000 for 2001 Ashby, 21. Authorize CM to amend contract with Badawi & Assoc to perform audits of City’s financial statements for FY 2021, 2022 and include T1 adding $372,660, 22. Refer to budget process from Taplin, Arreguin remediation for plan for Lawn Bowling Green at 2270 Acton and 1324 Allston (North Bowling Green at 1324 Allston contains elevated pesticides and metals and is protected from development under Measure L), 23. Taplin Support AB1401 eliminate parking requirements for housing and commercial buildings near transit, 24. Taplin Support SB 519 decriminalize controlled substances, 25. Taplin, Bartlett, Harrison Urge AC Transit to Restore 80-Ashby/6^th Street bus line, 26. Bartlett Support AB 816 State and Local Agencies: Homelessness Plan, 27. Bartlett, Taplin, Harrison oppose FAA proposal to shift WNDSR Commercial Airliner Flight Corridor Directly over residential neighborhoods in Berkeley, Richmond, El Cerrito and Albany, 28. Harrison, Robinson Support SB 271 Sheriff Democracy and Diversity Act to allow for more diverse and democratic sheriff elections, 29. Harrison support AB 1199 creates a database of rental properties serving low-income tenants and levies a tax on holders of multiple rental properties, ( in packet pages 119 -174 from Hahn and Harrison not in agenda revitalization of Solano Ave), 30. Budget Referral FY2022-FY2023: $300,000 Solano Ave Revitalization Plan, 31. Hahn Personal Liability Protection for small businesses impacted by COVID-19, 32. Robinson support AB 455 Bay Bridge designate transit-only traffic lanes, ACTION: 33. New temporary rules for Council committees during COVID-19 emergency, 34. Davila Request CA State Legislature to introduce actions to value human life and condemn racial injustice and police brutality – Health Council Committee recommends refer to Public Safety Committee and f/u on pending bills on police reform, 35. Kesarwani, Taplin refer to Planning commission to establish zoning overlay at Pacific Steel Casting Property to redesignate zoning as Manufacturing (M) to Mixed Use-Light Industrial (MULI), 37. Harrison refer to CM prioritize shift to electric bicycles and other forms of zero-emissions mobility, INFORMATION REPORTS: 38-41 Workplans from Civic Arts Commission, Community Health Commission Disaster and Fire Safety Commission and Measure O Oversight Committee.  

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

The People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group has released an Open Letter today that was sent to UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, State Legislators, the Board of Regents and Governor Newsom.

The hundred and two signatories on the letter include Berkeley residents, UCB professors, two former Berkeley mayors, three former Berkeley city councilmembers, many former Berkeley commissioners, Cal alumni and students, attorneys, architects, historians and many others who are concerned about the threatened destruction of People’s Park.

The open letter calls upon the University of California to work with the Berkeley community to protect and enhance People’s Park, rather than destroy it and build a 17-story housing structure. UC argues the destruction of the park is necessary to respond to its housing shortage, yet the university has identified several other possible sites for student residences.

While recognizing the need for truly affordable housing, the letter condemns the threat to the historic and cultural legacy of the People’s Park and the environmental damage that would result from the loss of the irreplaceable open space. The letter envisions what would be a properly maintained park and “a safe, well-used public space frequented by all.”

The Board of Regents will consider People’s Park project and another poorly conceived UCB construction project in a meeting this summer. Berkeley, Bay Area and California residents are encouraged to investigate the overreach of UC and contact their legislators. More information can be found at peoplesparkhxdist.org. 

---

To: The Chancellor, Mayor, State Legislators, the Regents and the Governor:

No northern city was more affected by the great social and cultural movements of the ‘60s than Berkeley and no event in Berkeley history brought together more of the diverse forces of that era than the conflict over People’s Park in 1969. That is why the park is designated as a landmark by the City of Berkeley and the State of California and is deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. 

And that is why the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group and the undersigned call upon the University of California to work with the Berkeley community to protect and enhance People’s Park. Just as the nation preserves the great battlefields of the Civil War of the 1860s, so should it preserve places like People’s Park that commemorate the great social and cultural conflicts of the 1960s. 

Instead, the university proposes to destroy the park in order to build a 17-story student housing structure. UC argues the destruction of the park is necessary to respond to its housing shortage, yet the university has identified several other possible sites for student residences. Of all the jurisdictions dealing with the Bay Area’s regional housing crisis, only UC Berkeley proposes to destroy a public park of national historic importance. UC’s development plan would also destroy the view from the park and overshadow the surrounding other distinguished local, state and national landmarks, e.g., Maybeck’s Christian Science First Church. 

In destroying the park, the university is eliminating the only public open space in Berkeley’s most densely populated neighborhood. Over the past several years, UC has over-enrolled the number of students, violating its own plans and increasing the number of budget-padding out-of-state enrollees. This greatly increases the population density of the area. Doesn’t the university have a responsibility to maintain and enhance the one piece of restorative nature still open to the public in this over-crowded neighborhood? 

The university argues the park is a place of great crime and violence, a claim vehemently denied by park users and their supporters. The university’s unacceptable “solution” is to displace the poor, the unhoused and other park users by paving over the park. UC has clearly allowed the park to deteriorate; however, maintaining it as well as other city parks could ensure that People’s Park could be a safe, well-used public space frequented by all. 

Shouldn’t a great university, with a brilliant faculty and immensely talented students, use its resources to work with neighbors and park supporters to create an inclusive public open space welcome to all? Shouldn’t the university’s architecture faculty help design truly affordable low-income housing projects in other Berkeley locations? Such efforts would be consistent with UC’s mission of public education and service and consistent wit 

Please join with us not just to preserve People’s Park, but to make it a place that respects and commemorates its history and celebrates and serves its diverse surrounding community. 

For more background, go to www.peoplesparkhxdist.org. If you want to add your name to this statement, send name and affiliation to peoplesparkhxdist@gmail.com. 

Signed: 

Lynn Adler, Berkeley resident since 1973 

Gael Alcock, musician, Berkeley resident 

Phil Allen, former Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commissioner 

Jurgen Aust, AICP, Expert in Land Use, Transportation, City Planning; 

Berkeley Resident 

David Axelrod, attorney 

Russell Bates, 47-year Berkeley resident, Berkeley Copwatch member, 

People’s Park Committee member 

Tom Bates, former Berkeley Mayor, State Assemblyman and Alameda 

County Supervisor 

Reverend Allan Bell, Director, The Silence Project, London 

Robb Benson, Food Not Bombs 

Howard Besser, retired UC Professor and 50 year Berkeley resident 

Paul Kealoha Blake, activist 

John Roosevelt Boettiger, Ph.D, psychologist and professor of human 

development emeritus, Hampshire College 

Summer Brenner, writer, Berkeley resident 

Zelda Bronstein, Journalist and former Chair, Berkeley Planning 

Commission 

James Brook, poet and translator, Berkeley resident 

Mina Davis Caulfield, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., UC Berkeley; resident of Berkeley 

61 year; Assoc. Prof., Anthropology and Women Studies, emerita, 

San Francisco State University 

James Chanin, civil rights attorney 

Sas Colby, artist, activist, resident of South Berkeley 

Terri Compost, ecologist 

Tom Dalzell, author, union lawyer 

Cheryl Davila, former Berkeley City Councilmember 

Shirley Dean, former Berkeley mayor, former Berkeley City Councilmember 

Michael Delacour, People’s Park co-founder 

Carol Denney, writer, musician 

Linda Diamond, Food Not Bombs volunteer 

Lesley Emmington, former President, Berkeley Architectural HeritageAssociation, former Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commissioner 

Annie Esposito, retired Community News Director at KZYX 

Laura Fantone. UC Berkeley Research Staff, Berkeley resident 

Isis Feral, environmentalist, labor and disability justice activist 

Helen Finkelstein, UCB alumna & Berkeley resident 

Arthur Fonseca, Picuris Pueblo Senior Services Provider. 

Anne-Lise François, Associate Professor, English and Comparative 

Literature, UC Berkeley 

Clifford Fred, former Berkeley Planning Commissioner 

Paula Friedman, author and editor 

Gloria Frym, writer, professor, California College of the Arts 

Leah Garchik, journalist 

Ann Garrison, Contributing Editor Black Agenda Report, KPFA/Pacifica reporter 

Charles Gary, Spiritual Activist 

Judith Gips, UC Berkeley graduate, writer, Berkeley resident since 1975, 

K-12 teacher, community organizer 

Rafael Jesús González, Poet Laureate, City of Berkeley 

Emil de Guzman 

Hali Hammer, musician, activist, teacher 

Kristin Hanson, Berkeley resident and professor of English at UC Berkeley 

Chandra Hauptman, Berkeley resident, former KPFA Local Station Board & Pacifica National Board member 

Art Hazelwood, Lecturer, San Francisco Art Institute 

Robbin Henderson, UC Berkeley alumna, B.A., 1963; former Executive Director, Berkeley Art Center; Berkeley Civic Arts Commissioner 

L. Higa, legal analyst, UC Berkeley alumna, former Boalt Hall law school 

& UC Berkeley Southeast Asian Studies Dept. employee 

Aidan Hill, former Vice-Chair, City of Berkeley Homeless Commission 

Greg Jan, historical researcher, political activist 

Theo Jones, concerned citizen 

Sheila Jordan, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Emerita, 

Youth and Justice Advocate 

Persis M. Karim, Ph.D., Neda Nobari Distinguished Chair, Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University 

Jonathan King, editor, writer 

Ken Knabb, Berkeley resident since 1965, writer and translator 

Jack Kurzweil, Professor (Emeritus) of Electrical Engineering, San Jose State University 

Moni T. Law, J.D., Chair of Berkeley Community Safety Coalition, Cal Alum, 1982 

Ying Lee, former Berkeley City Councilmember, former aide to Congressman Ron Dellums, former BUSD teacher 

Michelle LePaule, Berkeley resident 

Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor Tikkun magazine and Ph.D. in Philosophy, UC Berkeley, 1972 

Joe Liesner, activist 

Thomas Luce, People's Park Committee 

Seth Lunine, Lecturer, UCB Geography 

Amelia S. Marshall, UC Berkeley alumna, 1980; retired staff research 

associate/development engineer; local history author 

Gary McDole, Berkeley resident 

Tom Miller, President, Green Cities Fund 

Ed Monroe, artist 

Doug Minkler, printmaker 

Meave O’Connor, Wireless Radiation Education and Defense 

Becky O'Malley, journalist and editor, former City of Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commissioner 

Eliza O’Malley, Opera Singer, Artistic Director Berkeley Chamber Opera 

Osha Neumann, lawyer 

Cynthia Papermaster, UC Berkeley alumna, 55-year resident of Berkeley,former Berkeley PTA Council President 

Marcia Poole, Berkeley resident, artist 

Jim Powell, poet, MacArthur Fellow, Berkeley native 

Martin Nicolaus, Berkeley Law alumnus, Berkeley parks advocate 

Janette M. Reid, Berkeley resident since 1967, Cal alumna & staff retiree 

Diane Resek, Professor Emerita of Mathematics, San Francisco State University 

Justin Richardson, Landscape Architect, UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design alumnus 

Eugene E Ruyle, Cal Alumnus, 1963, Anthropology; Emeritus Professor of Anthropology Cal State Long Beach (Puvungna) 

Jos Sances, artist, activist 

Marty Schiffenbauer, Berkeley resident 54 years 

Bob Schildgen, writer 

Patrick Sheahan, architect 

Dan Siegel, civil rights attorney, ASUC president (1969-70) 

Gar Smith, FSM vet, author, environmental activist; former Ecology 

Center board member; editor emeritus, Earth Island Journal 

Harvey Smith, public historian, educator 

Margot Smith, retired social scientist, activist 

Elizabeth Starr, environmental advocate 

Zach Stewart, landscape architect for Berkeley Shorebird Park and Willard Park 

Paule Cruz Takash, Ph.D., Anthropology, UC Berkeley, 1990 

Lisa Teague, People's Park Committee and Berkeley Outreach Coalition 

Daniella Thompson, writer, historian 

Maxina Ventura, mother, activist, musician 

Richard Walker, former department chair UCB Geography, professor Emeritus 

Steve Wasserman, publisher, Heyday 

Michael Weber, UC Berkeley student, 1969 

Pat Welch, graphic designer 

Jane Welford, activist, gardener, grandmother 

Jane White, Berkeley resident 

Tobey M. Wiebe, Ph.D. candidate, School of Education, UC Berkeley, 1978 

Charles Wollenberg, California historian, writer 

Lope Yap, Jr., filmmaker

Not long ago the Berkeley City Council held a special meeting at the behest of Association of Bay Area Governments President (oh, and also Berkeley Mayor) Jesse Arreguin. He called the meeting to reify the dubious proposition that the City of Berkeley could make amends to the descendants of enslaved Africans by giving investors the right to put ten dwelling units on one city lot where previously only one had been allowed.

Did you find that hard to follow? If you happened to tune in via Zoom, you might have wondered what all the excitement among the one-minute public commenters was about.

You’re not the only one to be confused, especially if you figured out while listening on Zoom that the preponderance of the fans calling to support the original proposal (sponsored by Arreguin and Lori Droste) seemed to be young (well, 30-something) White males.  

Though you couldn’t see the speakers (and no, I don’t know why Berkeley chooses to hide the faces of its online Public Commenters) it was not hard to imagine that they were garbed in spandex bike shorts. Zoom lets viewers see the list of participants, but the COB meeting protocol doesn’t support that feature, even though people are allowed to sign in under pseudonyms, which most of the supporters of the proposal chose to do.  

Opponents, identifying themselves as Berkeley residents, almost all used their real names, first and last. And they were men and women of all ages, genders and ethnicities, judging by their voices.  

What was decided at the meeting? Well, that’s really hard to say. Arreguin made it abundantly clear that he had the votes in his pocket for whatever he wanted, and versions of the proposal that he sponsored floated in the ether right up until the 6 pm starting time. The whole thing came across as a shell game, and the pea under the walnut shells was that sponsors wanted to make sure that Berkeley continues to be branded as the city that defeated racism by eliminating single family zoning, a concept introduced conceptually at an earlier meeting. (That’s “branded” in the Coca-Cola sense, not the cattle one, though both might apply here.)  

In the end, Arreguin’s latest version passed. Whatever it was.  

Councilmembers Hahn, Bartlett and Harrison (absent for a family Passover gathering) offered a competing resolution that mandated studying the problems before settling on a solution. What an old-fashioned idea! Mysteriously, their resolution also passed.  

One more time: What exactly is the problem we’re solving? Well, among other things, ABAG has told the City of Berkeley that it must come up with 9,000 new housing units by 2023. Actually, it’s a lot more complicated than that, but if you really need to know, take a look at this. Do you think this will mean enough affordable housing will be produced? As Mr. Bush used to say, that's voodoo economics.  

In order to prove its bona fides, cities are asked to add a “housing element” to their general plans, in Berkeley’s case to promise that 9,000 additional residences will appear on schedule—or at least their enabling paperwork. The penalty? If we don’t achieve this mandate, our power over local land use will be taken by the state of California.  

Yes, you’re right, that’s magical thinking, so let’s skip over the details at the moment. The fact that the two competing resolutions both passed tells the tale—neither one makes any actual difference in the real world.  

Arreguin and cohorts are wont to call the requested number of added dwellings “state law”, but it’s not nearly that simple. The number is called by the cognoscenti our RHNA (‘reena”) number. From the above-referenced web site:  

“The Draft Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Methodology and Final RHNA Subregional Shares were approved by the ABAG Executive Board on January 21, 2021, meeting a major milestone in the multi-year RHNA process.”  

So, a “major milestone” is not a law. Many people believe that the draft RHNA numbers are, to use a term of art, nutty. Many cities and towns have begun to work their way through an insanely tortuous appeal process to challenge their RHNA number. But not Berkeley. Why, you might wonder. Perhaps it would embarrass our very own ABAG president?  

And, full circle, why again is Berkeley now up-zoning madly? To make amends for the racist misdeeds of the 1920s?  

Just exactly what does that do for African Americans a century later? Or, for that matter, for all the White Boys who have drunk the YIMBY Kool-ade?  

Listening to the young men at that meeting made me sad at first. They really would like to live in Berkeley I think, and they truly believe that ending single family zoning will make that possible. It’s a complicated topic, but the simple answer is that capitalism is not their friend.  

There are buckets of international capital sloshing around the U.S.A. right now. Investors are scooping up all kinds of little homes in cities and suburbs with all-cash offers—even, for example, in Akron, Ohio. Upzoning increases the value of the land under the houses.  

A simple Berkeley calculation: Buy a house from an elderly widow lady in SW Berkeley for a million, and tear it down. Build, let’s say, four townhouses on it.  

How much do you think each will sell for? At least that same million each, right? Do the math. Not a windfall for these YIMBYs, most of whom are sons of privilege and developer wannabes who don’t realize that the odds are stacked against them.  

And it’s highly unlikely that Black families will be able to afford to buy them either. Also, and this is seldom acknowledged, people of color want the same old American dream house that whites have wanted until now. In California’s inland empire more than half of the homeowners are Latinx, and they’re not pushing to have their single family homes upzoned.  

I started writing this on the 18^th, Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts, commemorating the famous ride of Paul Revere  

If my horse were not in the shop I might ride around shouting “the moneybags are coming”. Or perhaps ““beware the one percent”.  

But I won’t be shouting “The British Are Coming”, because the financialization of housing, the real problem, is affecting Britain the same way these days. The immense escalation of real estate prices, in Berkeley and all over the world, is a disaster, but don’t think doing away with single family zones will fix it.  

As the Wizard of Oz once said, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” He’s not here to find you a place to live.  

The meeting I watched was billed as the authorization of an 18-month process. In Berkeley, we're off to see the wizard. 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear [Planet] Editor:

It’s hard to break a bad habit. We’ve subscribed to the Chronicle for years, although recently only getting the Sunday paper home-delivered. Otherwise, on-line, mostly for weather, smattering of local news, obits….

We dropped the paper before—their wrong-headed endorsements, employment of columnists like Chip Johnson, but this time the rupture seems more serious. The paper has yielded hard reporting to others, concentrating on food, sports, and lifestyle diversions. And, of course, if it bleeds, it leads.

The Chronicle will never run the following note, so hopefully it will get some exposure this side of the Bay.

Thanks,

Robert Brokl



Dear [Chronicle] Editor:

Your Berkeley zoning editorial, damning single family housing, was the last straw. More greenwashing—the insidious insinuation that zoning is inherently “racist,” discriminatory, etc. The latest developer propaganda, espoused by paid lobbyists like the YIMBYs, but even more dangerous and potent than the previous argument that zoning was driving up the costs of housing, creating homelessness.  

Conveniently, the YIMBYS argue that building housing, anywhere, even market rate-only projects, will fix the problem of the unhoused. A “trickle down” solution to the problem. Truthfully, government subsidies for truly affordable housing is the answer, but admittedly it’s easier for simplistic statements that zoning is the issue, and gutting it is the remedy. 

The other previous go-to, cliched argument for high-density urban housing, advanced by local developer shills like State Senators Wiener and Skinner, was that urban density was green, saving farmland and the Planet.  

One of the first manifestations of the “zoning is bad" argument, that “fixing” zoning would solve the housing crisis, was dropped into his columns by the generally exemplary New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.  

It might be noted that Krugman can likely float above inconveniences of zoning, with residences in New York City, St. Croix, in the Bahamas, and also a property in upstate New York, whose tenant is the famous artist, Nicole Eisenman. We learn this courtesy of her recent profile in the New Yorker--she jests she thinks of writing a letter to the New York Times to get her dishwasher fixed. 

Whoever the inspired adperson is who invented Zoning = Racism has earned a St. Croix home next to Krugman! 

Hypocrisy is the Chronicle’s middle name. Now it’s build housing everywhere, the denser the better, but painfully the same editorial page argued vociferously to demolish the old Montgomery Wards warehouse building in the Fruitvale, in order to build 2 low-rise elementary schools on contaminated soil and in notorious asthma zone, from truck traffic on nearby 880 freeway, and heavy-duty industry. I remember John Diaz of your editorial page rudely and summarily hung up on me three times, when I called to advocate for the plan by San Francisco developer Emerald Fund to develop the National Register of Historic Places-listed, seismically sound, reinforced concrete buiding for loft housing, walking distance from the Fruitvale BART station. (Talk about green!) The developers even promised subsidized housing for underpaid workforce residents like teachers and fire firefighters. And sharing the site with a smaller school. 

These same Emerald Fund developers currently are the lead developers to turn the old CCA campus in Rockridge into a large housing development, with some retail and retention of some of the historic structures. Good enough for the City of Oakland now, just not then, or there. 

Another example of the Chronicle’s hypocrisy, and short memory, (but who’s paying attention?) is its treatment of Sen. Dianne Feinsten. You endorsed her for election a mere 3 years ago, in 2018, even while admitting she had a viable opponent in Kevin de Leon and was then in her mid-80s. Even the late Mel Wax, Feinstein’s press secretary as Mayor, said to me that “she wasn’t really a Democrat.” 

Now you acknowledge (3/18/21) that, at 87, she “has entered the denouement of a storied political career whether she likes it or not,” implicitly siding with calls for her to stop down. 

Enough said.  

Goodbye, 

Robert Brokl

George W. Bush, the “decider” as he loved to call himself, and his side-kick, Dick Cheney, made a monumental blunder invading Afghanistan in 2001. Both were “green” to the horrors of war, Cheney received 5 deferments and escaped the Vietnam draft and George W was MIA in the National Guard, protected by Papa Bush. 

The War in Afghanistan has killed or wounded tens of thousands of Afghan civilians excluding the large numbers of victims killed in errant drone strikes launched during the Obama administration. Over 2,300 U.S. service members and hundreds of NATO soldiers have perished costing the U.S. trillions of dollars. Taliban said it would boycott the talks because Biden is going back on a deal made by President Trump to have all U.S. troops out by May 1. Doesn’t America ever keep its promises or does the US regard treaties worthless pieces of paper? 

The Biden admiration is dealing with a weak hand. The Taliban have dealt America another humiliating defeat. Postponing the withdrawal date will only put more soldiers and Afghans lives at risk. Afghan American scholar Zaher Wahab says “The United States and its allies should never have attacked and occupied Afghanistan. “It was wrong. It and totally illegal and immoral. Much like former Soviet invading force, the US violated the sanctity of a sovereign country.” Wahab’s view is shared by Matthew Hoh, senior fellow with the Center for International Policy, who in 2009 resigned from the State Department in protest of the escalation of the war in Afghanistan. 

“The invasion and occupation and the bloodshed have destroyed the country, its economy, its institutions, its infrastructure, its education, its way of life, relationships among the different ethnic groups. This occupation has been nothing short of a catastrophe”. 

The cruel irony is Osama bin Laden was no friend of the moderate Taliban and they were willing to hand him over their unwanted guest to the Americans without a shot being fired. 

British prime minister, Tony Blair willingly joined forces hoping to bring back memories of the “glorious British empire.” Following a backlash back home, the nimble Blair retreated to became a high priced consultant. More tragic misadventures followed in Iraq and Libya. No American politicians has paid the price for the appalling loss of human life. America and its allies continue to use the same strategy fighting wars expecting different outcomes – the definition of insanity! Even as the Biden administration has committed to ending the “forever war” in Afghanistan he has promised to increase the Pentagon budget! More insanity! 

Jagjit Singh

Some years ago, Harry Brill told me that local politics weren’t very interesting , since the topic was just real estate. A lot has changed in the years in between then and now.

Real estate and land use are big issues. Those of us who care about open space, biodiversity, climate and urban habitat are horrified by state legislation to strip cities of local control over such factors. Add in the resolutions and ordinances coming from Berkeley’s own mayor and City Council these days. There are obvious disconnects when you’re discussing density, covering land with concrete, climate change and environmental impacts. Another real estate piece of the picture is the complete denial that deregulation of zoning brings on an investor feeding frenzy. If this isn’t enough add UC Berkeley’s plans.

The city meeting of the week with the highest video attendance was Tuesday’s special City Council meeting on the UC Berkeley Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) draft environmental impact report (DEIR). https://lrdp.berkeley.edu/environmental-review The deadline to respond to UC is this Wednesday, April 21 at 5 pm. One surprise: Why did the council wait until a week before the deadline for a presentation by staff and council comment and questions, when the LRDP 45 day review period started March 8?

 

It was obvious the Sophie Hahn had read the 1000 page document as she started through her list of comments. This was one time I really wanted to hear what she had to say, but the mayor cut her off to go to public comment. 

While many in the Zoom audience (there were over 70 logged in) spoke against the projects to build on People’s Park and to demolish rent controlled apartments on Walnut Street, everyone was reminded that public comments need to be sent directly to UC Berkeley by the authors. The email is planning@berkeley.edu with “Draft EIR Comments:2021 LRDP and Housing Projects #1 and #2” in the subject line. 

The list of deficiencies in the DEIR is long: The document has been described as 1000 pages of nothing. 

Here are some key points: Mills College is closing, but reuse of its campus by UCB was not considered in this plan; People’s Park as a historic resource and open space will be lost with 60 mature trees removed; rent controlled units in the building on Walnut will be sacrificed to build more expensive dorms; the impact of increased UCB enrollment is ignored; the DEIR considers only impact to UCB campusl not the adjacent community; demolition of existing structures is a given; there are no plans to return the archeological resources stolen and held by UCB to Native Americans though People’s Park (Strawberry Creek) was a major village site; UCB uses the City of Berkeley fire department services; the impact of building in high risk fire zones was not included; there is no fire evacuation plan; the addition of parking and traffic is unacceptable; there is no labor agreement for construction,. 

Monday afternoon was the Agenda and Rules Committee meeting, with the task of planning the April 27^th regular city council meeting. One item that didn’t receive any attention that should be on everyone’s radar is that reserving $40 million from Measure O bond funds for transit-oriented housing over the Ashby and North Berkeley BART station parking lots achieves only 35% affordable housing at each BART station. The agenda item says that a new community process and new bond measure would be needed to get above 35%. 

The most poorly attended meeting of the week was the Personnel Board on Monday evening. None of the job descriptions being reviewed were available to the public as the packet was sent only to board members and not posted. My comment was direct to the impropriety of not posting the job descriptions for the public. While I did receive a copy from Dana d’Angelo, Assistant Management Analyst, on the following day, it was too late to provide comment. The packet still is not posted for the public to read. 

Much to my surprise and disappointment not one person from the Police Review Commission (PRC) joined the meeting to comment on the Director of Police Accountability position. Of course, they hadn’t received a copy of the Director of Police Accountability job description, let alone notification it was up for review. The presence of someone from the PRC would have been helpful. From my reading there is a disconnect between the Director of Police Accountability and the Police Accountability Board. I wonder if anyone present had ever paid any attention to the PRC or the ballot initiative other than a dry reading. There were few questions and comments, altogether very unsatisfying. 

Probably many of us didn’t spend much time looking at our job descriptions until that work performance evaluation rolled along, but well done job descriptions do set the direction of work. They are also how we decide whether we want the job in the first place. LaTanya Bellow from the Human Resources Department told the board there were over 150 jobs with only one person in them. She was bringing to the board two generic job descriptions. These would replace all those inconvenient one person job descriptions. There was no review of what was being eliminated. The board suggested that a couple of responsibilities might be reordered and otherwise gave their rubber stamp of approval. 

As someone who wrote programs for state licensure, many job descriptions and held responsibility for hire and fire of employees, I think well done job descriptions are important. A better standard than the inconvenient number would consider whether the job was unique with special skill or knowledge requirements, was the description written without bias for or against any group, and does it still fit a job that may have evolved. It is no wonder why many of us are unhappy with performance of some of our city employees. Is generic the best we can expect? 

The last meeting for comment is the Open Government Commission on Thursday evening. For that meeting, “open” is not a term I would use. Former Mayor Shirley Dean had filed a Brown Act complaint on March 5, 2021 (see Activist’s Diaries March 6, March 20, March 28 and Packet-OGC/FCPC https://www.cityofberkeley.info/opengovermentcommission/ starting on page 24). 

Commissioner Janis Ching noted that the minutes of that meeting did not include the Commission’s discussion of calling a special meeting to review the complaints. The complaints arrived 13 days, not the required 14 days, before the Open Government Commission’s scheduled March 18^th meeting. Therefore, the complaints would not be reviewed prior to the special meeting called by the mayor to consider council action on the issues which were the subject of the complaints, land use zoning, including Resolution to End Exclusionary Zoning, and Quadplex Zoning. 

The special Open Government meeting was not called. The chair, Brad Smith, made that decision. The commission members were not notified of the decision, nor were they notified under what conditions the members of the commission could call a special meeting. I commented that all of this looked suspect when Chair Brad Smith was the appointee of Councilmember Lori Droste, who is the author of the proposals which were the subject of Mayor Dean’s Brown Act complaints. Smith was not present for the April 15 commission meeting. A majority of the commissioners voted to dismiss the complaints rather than perform side by side comparisons of the documents as requested by Commissioner Ching. 

I finished Twilight of the Elites by Chris Hayes. It was published in 2011. I wish the optimistic “twilight” in the title was true. One book that stands out from last year with the formation of the Republican America First Caucus is It Was All a Lie by Stuart Stevens. In summary, Stevens wrote the Republican party stands for nothing but white supremacy. 

 

 

 

In the scene on the TV, we see a man lying on the ground, unmoving, his hands behind his head. His head is raised a bit so he can see what is coming toward him. We see four large men walking in a line toward this guy on the street. The four approach him slowly, carefully, as if with a predatory intent, expecting him to defend himself. We don’t know why they are preparing an attack, but we watch them step carefully toward him, as if samurai about to enter mortal combat. The samurai step, forward and to the left with the left foot, forward and to the left with the right foot in front of the left, then the left foot again, always keeping balance and facing frontwards. It is like an adult street gang in the movies. We can almost hear the Edward G. Robinson growl; “Okay, punk, you t’ink you wise or somethin’. We’ll show you a thing or two.”  

We watch them approach their prey. He lies there, also watching them. But wait a minute; something is wrong. This guy has shown no preparation to defend himself. Maybe he’s playing possum so that this street gang will leave him alone. But it is too late for that. He knows what they are going to do. We see it in his face.  

As the four surround him, yelling things at him that interfere with each other and become unintelligible, two of them reach down, grabbing his arms and pulling him up from the ground. They pull him up roughly to a kind of sitting position, twist him around, and throw him back down. They are kicking him, and one of them punches him four or five times. He doesn’t go down as easily as he came up.  

But wait a minute. Something else is wrong. This isn’t a gang of street punks. They’re in uniform. They’re cops. Predatory cops?? What is going on here?  

We are watching the evening news. There had been an earlier scene in the video in which we saw this same guy, on the same spot on the street, on his knees. A shot rings out. We don’t see who shoots, nor what the shot hits. But the guy falls toward his right, and lies down. When we see him lying on the street as this street gang walks up to him, there doesn’t seem to be any blood.  

Most of this is factual. This is what we see in these video clips, though its resemblance to a street gang operation is a judgment. It is important to point that out. There are other "facts" that will have to be added in order to explain why four cops are acting like a street gang. But those "facts" will belong to "knowledge," not to observation. For instance, we might conclude, having seen the entire event, that the shot was just a threat, a warning, or a prelude to moving in and beating up this man – something to make it look like "real" police work.  

The town is Hayward, CA. The day is April 7, 2021. The media is CBS TV Evening News. Those facts seem less important than the fact that one cop kicks the guy after pulling him up to sitting position, and another punches him in order to get him to lie down again. The guy can’t defend himself with two other cops holding his arms. Neither bravery nor justice is in evidence. It is an exercise in “violence for the sake of violence.” ###### 

After showing these video clips, the news program shifts to an ex-cop who the reporter knows, and to whom she showed the video. We might assume that this reporter does this because she considers him an "expert." Why else bring him into the story? In his response to the video, he says, “Even those punches, which I didn’t think were excessively brutal, even that could have been avoided had these officers known really good submission techniques and arrest control techniques. But again, hearts are pounding, people are nervous and scared, you know, in a situation like that, someone could die.”  

Huh??  

A man is lying down, and this alleged "expert" says the cops need “good submission techniques”? To do what? Make him dead instead of just lying down? They have guns, and this guy, their prey, does not. Who does this "expert" think is going to do the dying??  

They pull him up from the ground in order to punch him and throw him back down, and that isn’t excessive? The brutality seems to be okay with this "expert." Why? Maybe because he was a San Jose cop too long. After several incidents like this, one would get used to the idea of manhandling a person in order to then beat them up them for resisting. But he also wants to judge it as not excessive. “Use of Force” is excessive if it is totally unnecessary. It doesn’t even have to be "brutal" to be excessive. Just kneeling on a person’s neck is excessive because it can kill (“Someone could die.”).  

Question: how come this ex-cop expert is unable to think beyond violence? He advises that the cops should have used “really good arrest control technique.” Apparently, neither he nor this gang of four have ever been taught to use the English language. I mean, speaking to people in a human voice, without yelling. Here is some guy rendering himself compliant by lying down and showing his hands. And these cops can’t figure out how to say, in English, “get up, you are under arrest. We are going to handcuff you.” Is it true that a cop can only talk to a civilian by yelling commands, so that even language becomes violence for the sake of violence?  

Maybe talking to him is too complicated an idea for these cops. It would mean thinking of him as a person, and not as a thing. We assume that these cops are interested in arresting this man. But that means they must grant him person-status. You can’t arrest a thing. So our assumption is obviously mistaken. They are not interested in arresting him. They are only interested in his submission. That is not even street gang language. It is plantation owner language. “Prepare to be tortured for your false pretensions to being human.” Is there any aspect of this that is not excessive?  

But our "expert" then mentions "hearts" and "nervousness." Hearts are pounding, he says. People are nervous. As the four walk toward this man lying on the ground, one of them, obviously in command, rearranges them around the guy, before reaching down to pull him up in order to throw him back down. They couldn’t be doing that to handcuff him. They could tell him to stand up to do that. But then, they couldn’t strong-arm him – power for its own sake.  

These cops aren’t scared. At four to one, they are looking for satisfaction. They surround him so that they can get a few punches in. For most men who like violence, punches give them a feeling of elation. The fear, the heart beats, the nervousness, that’s all fiction. We saw that fiction in their walk, something they might have learned in a “fight school,” or by watching Samurai movies.  

But this ex-cop "expert" makes one valid statement. “Someone could die.” That is a fact. And he smiles when he says it. The police kill around 1100 people every year. That averages out to around 3 a day – a government killing its own people.  

But it gets worse. A captain in the HPD makes a few statements under the heading of a “Use of Force Incident.” “We do not draw conclusions,” he says, “about whether the officers acted consistent with department policies and the law until all the facts are known and the investigation is complete.”  

With what law is beating up a man who is compliant and lying down consistent? What law is enforced by substituting violence for speech? One doesn’t have to be a lawyer to know the answer. There are none. What is to investigate? But this ranking Hayward cop wants “all the facts” to be known. What does he not "know" after watching the same video we have seen. Maybe it is that this guy is a "bad" guy? That’s not a fact; it’s a judgment. Or maybe this guy has been disobedient earlier on, and that the cops wanted revenge for that? Their desire for revenge is not a fact, but a criminal intention. Maybe this “gang of four” thinks unnecessary force is necessary to teach this guy a lesson? That is not a fact; it is a decision made by these cops to act like a gang. Or perhaps this "spokescop" wants the opportunity to invent a few more fictional facts of his own so that he can excuse the violence, imposed for the sake of violence, on this guy. If our "expert" can fictionalize, why can’t an HPD captain?  

But then, why don’t we require (as necessary) that these cops go and do their playwriting in Hollywood, and not in the streets of our cities? Failing that, someone should arrest this gang of four cops before they kill someone. They are dangerous people. We can see that, even though that is not a fact but a judgment.  

This same captain who wants to start with the facts has seen the same punches thrown that we have. What he hasn’t seen is "why." But that would be "knowledge." It might be retaliation, or anger, or to make the other submit. But those are not facts. They are motives.  

A big problem emerges once motives get raised to the level of fact. Racial profiling, for instance, is a form of raising a cop’s suspicion and bigotry to the level of evidence. Similarly, the excuse used most often by cops who shoot someone in the back and kill them is: “I felt threatened.” To use that as evidence of self-defense (the term "evidence" implying factuality) is to make a mockery of an entire judicial system by honoring shooting someone in the back. It is to turn judiciality into a form of dictatorship, implemented with guns on the street.  

But even these cops, as they manhandle this guy on the street, do their own fictionalizing in the moment. We hear them demand that he let them get his hands so they can cuff him. (!!!) They had his hands. They pulled him up off the ground by his hands. But they want it on record that he is resisting. That is necessary for their excessive force to be seen as necessary. But seen by whom? By what audience? For us, the entire thing is a performance. It wasn’t law enforcement. It certainly wasn’t peace keeping, or ensuring that the people of Hayward were safe and secure.  

What required fictionalizing was their reason for pulling him up physically from the ground. They had to do that so that, when he squirmed under their force, they could consider it resistance and beat him. They couldn’t do that if they just told him to get up because he was under arrest. They couldn’t punch him for resisting if they hadn’t manhandled him first.  

Even Chauvin is using that defense in his murder trial, viz. that Floyd was resisting him. That itself is fiction. Floyd was already in custody, and handcuffed when Chauvin arrived on the scene. You can read that in the news articles written at the time (May, 2020). Chauvin killing Floyd on camera was also a performance. In other words, we have a government that has adopted “snuff films” as its role model, not for policing, but for social control.  

The most amazing thing that happened during the killing of George Floyd was that there was a guy on the sidewalk who saw what Chauvin was doing to Floyd and called 911. Can you imagine that? He did that to report a murder in progress. He called the cops to come and arrest this cop who was in the act of murdering someone.  

For the police, there is no longer a clear boundary between the tragic and the criminal. Or, as Maldoror would say, what you are doing is so horrendous, so evil, so dehumanized, that it could only be intentional.

I've had some amount of not-so-great behavior in my past. Some of it consisted of getting jobs that were over my head and then quitting when I was unable to fulfill the expectations of the job. This was a very unprofessional behavior and I regret it. Yet, in employment scenarios, it is hard for a medicated, mentally ill person to keep up with demands of most jobs. Additionally, it is difficult for us to relate on a personal level to coworkers and supervisors, since we may not have enough in common, and we may not know enough about how social interactions are done. Both of those factors are significant barriers to employment.

In 1989, I landed a job at Sears Service Center, Concord location, as a television repair technician. (The salary and benefits of the job were great.) Yet, I was really struggling with the job demands and with a coworker was critical and harsh toward me. Some of the other coworkers also weren't that nice. After work, when I'd been there for two or three weeks, the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck. The following day, there was no reprieve from the expectation to show up and do work; it was business as usual. The earthquake was the final bit of dust on the camel's back. 

This was a bad pattern for me when I tried to hold jobs in my twenties. It resulted in the resolve of not taking jobs as readily, including when offered them, when I got older. I decided that I would assess whether I could handle what was expected at some stage prior to accepting the job. This led to me not accepting very many jobs. 

Electronic repair was a particularly good skill, and I was talented at it. However, nearly all of these jobs were full time and expected far more performance than I could produce. Additionally, it was hard to talk to coworkers, because the background of being a mentally ill man is totally different than that of being a mainstream person. 

When I didn't keep jobs, I was heavily criticized for it. Parents would be critical, and my counselor at Department of Vocational Rehabilitation ended up being critical and judgmental. This was the beginning of the end of working with Department of Rehabilitation. The criticism came at times when I was already down on myself. 

On the other hand, if you attempt to stay with a job in which the work is over your head, most employers will not hesitate to get rid of you. How is being abruptly fired more honorable for you than abruptly leaving? I've been fired from my share of jobs. Many times, the psych medication interfered with the work to the extent that I couldn't do the job. Psych medication impairs brain function. Long term psych meds cause the brain to age faster and can cause the patient to have severe limitations. I've had to accept these awful facts because I've had no choice. It was either take medication and have a semblance of normal, or don't take it and become dangerous, dead, or at least, defunct. 

If your brain function is suppressed as a gross way through medication to treat psychosis, one of the side effects is that you can't handle very much. An examining psychiatrist when I applied for Social Security said to me "If you're on medication, you're disabled." 

Writing manuscripts doesn't involve multitasking, it doesn't involve any immediate pressure, it doesn't involve socializing, and it doesn't involve dealing with a complex environment. It is real work, but it is very specialized, very straightforward, and involves working the brain in a way that is compatible with medication. This is true for me at least. 

While I hardly make anything in terms of money at writing, it keeps me out of trouble, and it is a lasting accomplishment. 

Medication to treat psychosis can interfere with reading and writing. However, there are ways of getting around this. However, if you do not have a strong history of reading and writing from before your onset of psychotic illness, you will not have a chance of building these skills after being medicated. As a teen I was highly into reading and did some amount of writing. This develops certain areas of the brain that are needed if you have writing aspirations. Almost anyone who wants to become a writer must have a history of a lot of reading. If you are dealing with a psychotic condition, you should look to skills that you had before the condition came about for you. If you did in arts and crafts as a hobby, that might be your area of possible expertise. If you fixed things, that might be your area. 

Skills can be developed if you are mentally ill, but a skill that you do not have a precedent for is not something you can produce out of thin air, realistically speaking. 

When jobs do not work out, it is not good form to blame a mentally ill person for not having enough stick-to-it-iveness. Instead, look at all of the factors. Mentally ill people often have less adaptability than others. 

When you blame a mentally ill person for a failed work attempt, you should realize it is counterproductive for her or his future success. Punitiveness doesn't work for very many things. And it stands in the way of creating a successful life.

Get the Money Out of (Gubernatorial) Politics

When it comes to putting a proposition on the State Ballot, California sets a high bar. To qualify, petition-backers must gather a number of signatures equal to at least 5% of the total votes cast for the office of Governor at the previous election. Gathering a million legitimate signatures in 180 days can wind up costing millions of dollars. Not surprisingly then, special interest groups and corporations have dominated successful initiative-qualifying campaigns in California.

But when it comes to running to become governor, you only need to gather 7,000 valid signatures. And if that's too much trouble, there's another option that makes running to occupy the Governor's Mansion far easier than trying to get a proposition on the ballot. As the Chronicle's Joe Garafoli recently noted: "All it will take is $3,916."

Yep. While it's costly and time-consuming to place a proposition on the ballot, you can flat-out buy yourself a spot as a contender to win the state's highest elected office!

With such a low bar, it's no surprise that previous recall efforts have drawn the attention of past-due-date celebrities and publicity seeking wing-nuts who might not be able to find 7,000 fans to sign a sheet but can scrape together a couple of thou. 

Garofoli referenced the 2003 gubernatorial recall campaign that brought Arnold Schwarzenegger to Sacramento. According to Garofoli, the 135 pay-to-play candidates who bought a place on the ballot included "porn star Mary Carey Iwho listed her chest measurements in her campaign materials), a ferret advocate, a guy who never stopped talking in a fake Australian accent, and the humorist Gallagher, whose 'comedy' act climaxed with him smashing watermelons using a wooden mallet." 

Also among 2003's crowd of contenders: Garry Coleman, the pint-sized child star of TV's "Diff'rent Strokes" and Hustler magazine publisher and porn-connoisseur Larry Flynt, who admitted to Garofoli that he had no intention of becoming governor, he just wanted a platform to get interviews to promote the legalization of slot machines in the state. "This was a cheap buy-in for me: 3,500 bucks? It was worth it." 

But was it worth it for California? In 2003, the pay-to-play option would have raised slightly over a half million dollars for the state. But, in the process, it made the election contest a ripe target for ridicule. 

So here's a target for political reform: Let's ban the practice of "ballot buying." If someone wants to run for governor, insist that they gather 7,000 valid signatures to qualify. 

This would make a great ballot proposition for the next election, don't you think? Can anyone spare a couple of million dollars to put it on the ballot? 

A Gotcha Line re "American Democracy" 

A short fund-raising email from the Alliance for Global Justice contained the following zinger: 

"For over 40 years, Alliance for Global Justice has fought the idea that the US has some 'exceptional' right to tell other countries how to run their internal affairs. Help us tell the US government that — after its Jan. 6 election debacle — it has no right to tell Venezuela and Nicaragua how to run their elections." 

What We Choose to Remember Reveals What We Choose to Believe 

In an April 14 "virtual event," the University of Virginia's Memory Project posed some good questions: "Why does Germany have no Nazi memorials, while the United States is riddled with Confederate statues? How did post-war Germans’ strategies for the redress of trauma and memorialization align with the aim of revitalizing democracy and repairing democratic culture? … [Are there] lessons that Americans can learn from the Germans?" 

When it comes to eliminating racist statues, there should be no statute of limitations. 

Publishers Clogging-House Strikes Again 

The Big Award Day is approaching on April 30 and the Publishers Clearing House envelopes continue to arrive, clogging my PO Box with invitations to purchase scores of unwanted items and instructions on how to find numerous sticky tags that need to be moved from the scads of advert fliers and affixed to mail-back forms—on pain of losing an ever-so-close chance to receive (at latest count) "$14,000 a week for life!"  

Relentlessly, week after week, the PCH's envelopes arrive bearing alarming reminders: "Final Step!! Pending," "Compliance Incomplete," "Only and Final," "Claim or Forfeit," "Only and Final Advance Notice," and "Winner Selection Imminent." 

PCH claims to have handed out $494,000,000 in prize money (yes: that's nearly half-a-billion bucks) and turned more that 100 Average Joe and Jane Americans into instant millionaires. (Note: Another PCH mailing claims to have dispersed only $472 million. Perhaps, it's time to spend some of that money on an audit.) 

So far, several promised prizes have never materialized. One big payoff announced for December 2020 passed without mention. On February 5, 2021, PCH announced a "Forever Prize to be awarded real soon." "Real soon" went by a two months ago. 

The PCH mailers are now arriving personalized, with purchase pitches offered on a first-name basis in envelopes (creepily) containing street maps of Berkeley neighborhoods in which contestants are living! One PCH mailer even included a winner's list of "16 Californians" including four "residents of Berkeley." I hope these four gave PCH permission to post their names alongside the news that they are now swimming in unearned loot. 

Anyone know "Kyndal Clemons, Stuart Reinsch, Leslie Tibbetts, or Mildrd [sic] Lee"? My guess is that these "residents" are "ficticious." 

Despite PHC's fevered pitches (alternatively testy and tantalizing), I'm not excited. I just noticed PCH has been using a familiar logo borrowed from the US government. It shows an eagle with its wings and legs outspread. And what's it holding in its clenched claws? Nothing! 

A Contagion of Contest Mail! 

How can PCH afford such a glut of commercial pandering? One way is by selling the personal data from contest participants to—wait for it!—other competing contest organizers. 

An unsolicited letter from the National Magazine Exchange recently informed me that I'm eligible to win a "10,000 weekly prize for 52 weeks" but "only if you call us by April 22, 2021." (Sorry, NME, I'll be busy celebrating Earth Day.) To lighten the tax load, NME notes the $520,000 can also be dispersed "as 30 annual installments of $36,666,67." 

And the Sweepstakes Headquarters of the North Shore Animal League of America sends a "confirmed" and "approved" envelope announcing that I've made it to the "Phase 3" rung of its Prize Ladder and thereby qualify for a $25,000 cash prize. (Great progress, considering that I never entered the contest in the first place.) The NSALA claims it exists to spay and neuter "homeless puppies" and "motherless kittens" across the country. (So what are they doing throwing away large stacks of cash that could be used to castrate cats?) 

Biden Bids Goodbye to Afghanistan! 

After mulling aloud that he would only consider a partial pullout of US troops in Afghanistan, President Biden has announced plans for a total pullout of US forces from one of the Pentagon's longest-running resume of Endless Wars. 

Frustration with these unwinnable military adventures has been growing. The frustration reached the point where World BEYOND War's founder David Swanson, pounded off an essay that contained both a stinging headline and a lead sentence that took jibes at both the Joint Chiefs and GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz (known to some on The Hill as "the Chief Joint"). Here's Swanson's opening salvo: 

Geologists Provide Perspective on Idea of Ending War on Afghanistan in Human Historical Time Frame  

The US-led Occupation of Afghanistan may be old enough to date or marry a Congressmember, but the time that nature took to form the Grand Canyon offers a more reasonable perspective on the fantasy of ending this war in a future foreseeable and measurable by available science." 

Fortunately, the day after this article was posted, Biden announced his decision to remove US troops from Afghanistan by September 11. (Cheering news for US taxpayers ut not the best news for the Taliban.) 

PS: You can send President Biden a quick thank-you by adding your name to this letter to the White House. Caveat: There are growing concerns that the US will remain engaged in Afghanistan through the use of contractors (aka "mercenaries"), Special Operations units (aka "assassination teams"), and Air Force bombing runs (aka "boots in the air"). 

Earth Day Action: Tell Joe to "Go Green!" 

From the Climate Reality Project: "The science is clear: the world must cut emissions in half by 2030 or risk a future of runaway global warming and climate catastrophe. That’s why “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs)—commitments to reduce a country’s greenhouse gas emissions—are so critical in the Paris Climate Agreement. 

"President Biden set a fitting deadline of April 22—Earth Day—to announce the US’ NDC commitment, so we only have a brief window to make our voices heard. With a strong commitment, we’ll show the world that the US is back in the driver’s seat when it comes to bold climate action." 

(Note: "back in the driver's seat" was probably not the best phrase to use, considering all the pollution generated by driving cars.) 

Here's a link to tell President Biden to commit to cutting US emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030. 

Ask Not for Whom the Climate Clock Tolls 

For more than a generation, the world has lived with the image of the Doomsday Clock, a terrifying timepiece created by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) to symbolize how near the world is to nuclear self-obliteration. Now there's another clock worth consulting. 

A Climate Clock installed in New York's Union Square has been tolling out the years, days, and minutes left until the looming Climate Endtimes create a world that is so super-hot that it's no longer habitable for humans (not to mention most of the planet's other living species). 

While the BAS clock foreshadows a catastrophic "doomsday" that would kill millions in minutes, the Climate Clock warns of a slower, prolonged devastation resulting from climate change. Perhaps it should be called the "Gloomsday Clock." (Note: There are similar Climate Clocks in Paris and Berlin.) 

 

Of these two alarming clocks, it's the Doomsday timepiece that gets most of the publicity (perhaps, because the clock's minute hand is controlled by human hands and sometimes has been known to retreat counter-clockwise). The Climate Clock, which marks off our remaining days with the irreversibility of sand slipping through an hour-glass receives much less notice. An online news check reveals that the Climate Clock has been virtually ignored since it debuted on September 21, 2020 when it warned that the "tipping point" to extinction would arrive in 7 years, 102 days and 12 hours. 

On April 16, the Climate Clock was warning that humankind had less than 6 years, 259 days, and 17 hours to mend our ways. But here's some hopeful news: The Climate Clocks now feature a second countdown that shows the percentage of global energy being produced by renewables—and that number is now 12.233% and climbing. Another positive note: The CC webpage includes a "news scroll" at the bottom that lists hopeful accomplishments—e.g.: "Biden cancels Keystone XL Pipeline and rejoins Paris Climate Agreement," "Drax abandons plans to build Europe's biggest gas power plant." 

 

Meet the Companies That Profit Off Pepperspray

Thanks to the Geneva Protocol of 1925, tear gas is listed as a globally banned chemical warfare agent that cannot be legally used on the battlefield. At the same time, it's OK for cops to fire canisters at unarmed protesters in city streets. As tensions rise in cities around the world, the tear-gas industry's profits are booming. While we all know who manufactures our cars, refrigerators, and microwaves, the companies that profit from trafficking banned chemical weapons don't advertise their wares on TV and—thanks to the increasing "militarization" of our domestic police squads—they don't need to. 

So who do we have to thank for all those memorable moments that have brought tears to our eyes over the years? Well, one of the planet's largest canister corps is Combined Systems, Inc. in Jamestown, Pennsylvania. There's also SAE Manufacturing Specialties Corp (New York), CRS Chemicals (California), Defense Parts LLC (Wyoming), Middlesex Gases & Technologies, Inc. (Massachusetts), SABRE Security Equipment Corporation (makers of "Red Sabre Defense Spray": Missouri), Mil-Spec Industries (New York), and The Naval Jelly Company (Kansas City). 

PCH Strikes Again! Dear Lord, Make It Stop! 

With the Publishers Clearing House Grand Prize set to be announced in two weeks—on April 30^th—I wasn't expecting to see two new PCH envelopes arrive on the same day. Both were adorned with promising statements including: "Notice of Advance Prize Payment," "Selection of Winner Imminent," "Owners Papers Inside Confirming Rightful Ownership of $7,000 a Week for Life Prize Number." 

One envelope contained 37 sheets of paper—mostly double-sided advert fliers. A second, larger envelope was stuffed with 42 slips of advertizing and Prize Claim reply forms. 

Shocker! I just noticed that, while the PCH forms have my name and address correct, the PCH "Personal ID Number" that assures my chance to "win big," has been changing on subsequent entry forms! 

And in the final envelope, there's a trap—a form that "Must be returned with an order stamp in the enclosed reply envelope. If not ordering, you can not use this form." The same form notes in small print "No purchase or fee necessary to enter." But in order to procede without entering an order, contestants need to "go online." 

Sorry, PCH. For this "Imminent Prizewinner," that's a sign it's time to pull the plug. 

Just Got My Vaccination 

Founders Sing 

Worth Noting:

Wednesday, April 21 at 5 pm is the deadline for responding to UC Berkeley’s Long Rang Development Plan – Draft EIR (Environmental Impact Report) https://lrdp.berkeley.edu/environmental-review

Monday – COVID-19 Town Hall is at 6 pm with Mayor Arreguin (it will be recorded if you miss it).

Website for vaccine appointments https://myturn.ca.gov/

Tuesday – City Council regular is meeting at 6 pm.

Wednesday – Facilities, Infrastructure Committee meets at 2:30 pm, paving is on the agenda

Thursday – Budget and Finance committee meets at 10 am.

Future Events

Getting Off Gas in Berkeley’s Buildings (homes, offices, schools, businesses) Shape the Vision of All-Electric Future, May 4 at 7 pm register at http://electrifyberkeley.eventbrite.com

If you have a meeting you would like included in the summary of meetings, please send a notice to kellyhammargren@gmail.com by noon on the Friday of the preceding week. 

Sunday, April 18, 2021  

No City meetings or events found 

Monday, April 19, 2021 

Town Hall on COVID-19 with Mayor Arreguin at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://www.jessearreguin.com/ 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 822 4238 0739 Passcode: 382017 

AGENDA: send in questions by 3 pm https://www.jessearreguin.com/ all questions must be submitted in advance. 

Tuesday, April 20, 2021 

City Council Regular Meeting at 6 pm 

The Special City Meeting at 5:30 pm to appoint Farimah Faiz Brown as City Attorney uses the same videoconference and teleconference links as the 6 pm meeting. 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84640742374 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 846 4074 2374 

AGENDA: Recess item: 2. Contract add $250,000 total $2,495,726 for Police Substation at 841 Folger/3000 7^th St, CONSENT: 4. T1 Loan $1,500,000 to complete Phase1 projects, 6. Contact add $25,000 total $74,000 and extend thru FY2024 with Freitas Landscaping at Dona Spring Animal Shelter, 7. Contract add $110,000 total $231,600 and extend 6/30/2026 with Koefran Industries for Animal Disposal Services, 8. Add $4800 with Orsolya Kuti, DVM to provide free spay and neuter surgeries to pets of low/no income and homeless persons and authorize receipt of $40,000 in donations, 9. Add $9,936 total $219,936 for public art commission at San Pablo Park, 10. Approve (unspecified) bid solicitations $1,581,000, 11. Predevelopment affordable housing funding 2024 Ashby $1,198,960 and 1708 Harmon $1,056,400, 13. Receive grants for Shelter Plus Care Program Renewal HUD $4,124,485 6/1/2021-1/1/2022, COACH Project $2,411,026 1/1/20222-12/31/2022, and Co. of Alameda for tenant-based rental assistance $881,046 3/1/2021-2/28/2022, 14. Contract add $160,562 total $6,066,230 with Mar Con Builders for Live Oak Community Center Seismic Upgrade, 15. Contract add $125,000 total $2,094,056 with Suarez and Munoz Construction Inc for San Pablo Park Playground and Tennis Court Renovation, 16. Contract $542,032 plus 20% contingency $108,406 total $650,438 with ERA Construction for King School Play Area at 1700 Hopkins, 17. Contract $5,369,727 plus 15% contingency $805,459 total $6,175,186 with O.C. Jones & Sons for Berkeley Marina Roadway, 18. Grant application accept any amount up to $8,000,000 CA Proposition 68 Statewide Parks Program for selected Santa Fe Right-of-Way parcels, 19. From Homeless Commission Refer to City Manager including Homeless Persons in hate crime reporting, 20. From Housing Advisory Commission Refer to City Manager release a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) of Measure O Bond funds allowing tenant incomes up to 120% of AMI reserve $15,432,000 for 2001 Ashby, 21. Authorize CM to amend contract with Badawi & Assoc to perform audits of City’s financial statements for FY 2021, 2022 and include T1 adding $372,660, 22. Refer to budget process from Taplin, Arreguin remediation for plan for Lawn Bowling Green at 2270 Acton and 1324 Allston (North Bowling Green at 1324 Allston contains elevated pesticides and metals and is protected from development under Measure L), 23. Taplin Support AB1401 eliminate parking requirements for housing and commercial buildings near transit, 24. Taplin Support SB 519 decriminalize controlled substances, 25. Taplin, Bartlett, Harrison Urge AC Transit to Restore 80-Ashby/6^th Street bus line, 26. Bartlett Support AB 816 State and Local Agencies: Homelessness Plan, 27. Bartlett, Taplin, Harrison oppose FAA proposal to shift WNDSR Commercial Airliner Flight Corridor Directly over residential neighborhoods in Berkeley, Richmond, El Cerrito and Albany, 28. Harrison, Robinson Support SB 271 Sheriff Democracy and Diversity Act to allow for more diverse and democratic sheriff elections, 29. Harrison support AB 1199 creates a database of rental properties serving low-income tenants and levies a tax on holders of multiple rental properties, ( in packet pages 119 -174 from Hahn and Harrison not in agenda revitalization of Solano Ave), 30. Budget Referral FY2022-FY2023: $300,000 Solano Ave Revitalization Plan, 31. Hahn Personal Liability Protection for small businesses impacted by COVID-19, 32. Robinson support AB 455 Bay Bridge designate transit-only traffic lanes, ACTION: 33. New temporary rules for Council committees during COVID-19 emergency, 34. Davila Request CA State Legislature to introduce actions to value human life and condemn racial injustice and police brutality – Health Council Committee recommends refer to Public Safety Committee and f/u on pending bills on police reform, 35. Kesarwani, Taplin refer to Planning commission to establish zoning overlay at Pacific Steel Casting Property to redesignate zoning as Manufacturing (M) to Mixed Use-Light Industrial (MULI), 37. Harrison refer to CM prioritize shift to electric bicycles and other forms of zero-emissions mobility, INFORMATION REPORTS: 38-41 Workplans from Civic Arts Commission, Community Health Commission Disaster and Fire Safety Commission and Measure O Oversight Committee. 

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

Wednesday, April 21, 2021 

City Council Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment & Sustainability Committee at 2:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82959137560 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 829 5913 7560 

AGENDA: 2. (Harrison) Potential Bonding and Funding for improving PCI (paving condition index) of residential streets and creating master plan, 3. (Harrison) Establish impact/mitigation fees to address disproportionate impact to public right of way (heavy trucks/vehicles chew up our streets), 4. (City manager) ask for delay to Amend BMC for reducing tax for electrification, energy efficiency and water conservation, 5. (Taplin) 15 mph speed limit at all early childhood education facilities, UNSCHEDULED ITEMS for future meetings: 6. (Harrison-Hahn) Regulate plastic bags, 7. (Taplin) Just Transition from Fossil Fuel Economy. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Facilities,_Infrastructure,_Transportation,_Environment,___Sustainability.aspx 

Animal Care Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82150538692?pwd=V2pDbnhMTXZOMVZvVlZpRWxaUHZaUT09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 857 4344 7842 Passcode: 725597 

AGENDA: VI. a) Transition to plant based food only for City facilities that provide food to the public, b) Annual work plan, c) COVID related impact on Berkeley Animal Care Services, V. b) Creating pet friendly housing, VII. a) Monthly financials, b) Shelter budget, 

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

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Outreach Committee at 5:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/97533782971?pwd=cDcwbi90eVJLNGZ0WGJocFNHT0lmUT09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 975 3378 2971 Passcode: 078297 

AGENDA: 5. Tenant Survey 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/rent/ 

Human Welfare & Community Action Commission at 6:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/97245011849 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 972 4501 1849 

AGENDA: 5. Public Hearing Agency Community Action Plan FY2022-2023, 6. FY Single Audit Report FY 2020, 7. CSBG 2021 Discretionary Funding, 8. Review City of Berkeley Agency Program and Financial Reports 

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

Thursday, April 22, 2021 – Earth Day 

City Council Budget & Finance Committee at 10 am 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82433984748 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 824 3398 4748 

AGENDA: Department Budget Presentations 2. Health, Housing & Community services, 3. Public Works, 4. Parks, Recreation & Waterfront, Police Department, UNSCHEDULED ITEMS for future meetings: 6. Predevelopment allocation ARCH, 7. Proposal to allocate revenues generated by Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel tax) generated in waterfront to the Marina fund. 

PolicyCommittee@cityofberkeley.info, 

Mental Health Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/96361748103 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 963 6174 8103 

AGENDA: 3. Presentation by Research Development Associates (RDA) on Results Based Accountability and evaluation for the Division of Mental Health, 4. Update Specialized Care Unit, Update Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, 6.d. PRIDE Program Update – LGBTQIA+ Transition Age Youth. 

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

Zoning Adjustment Board at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/97790280207 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 977 9028 0207 

AGENDA: 2. 1333 Sixth Street – new – 1-story existing industrial building change use of less than 25% of 17,220 from material recovery enterprise to auto repair and service, located in newly established new tenant space (MU-LI – mixed use light industrial district zoning) 

3. 55 (0) Latham Lane – new – Construct 2,905 sq ft 2-story single family dwelling, ave height 22’ 10” on 9,755 sq ft vacant lot, Zoning: R-1(H) Hillside overlay - fire zone 2 

65 (0) Latham Lane – new – Construct 3,344 sq ft 2-story single family dwelling, ave height 26’ 3” on 8,347 sq ft vacant lot, Zoning: R-1(H) Hillside overlay - fire zone 2 

75 (0) Latham Lane – new – Construct 3,140 sq ft 2-story single family dwelling, ave height 22’ 3” on 7,913 sq ft vacant lot, Zoning: R-1(H) Hillside overlay - fire zone 2 

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

Friday, April 23, 2021 & Saturday, April 24, 2021 & Sunday, April 25, 2021 

No City meetings or events found  

______________________ 

April 27, City Council Regular meeting, 6 pm, available for comment 

Email comments to council@cityofberkeley.info 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82895393673 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 828 9539 3673 

CONSENT: 1. Urgency Ordinance lease 742 Grayson for 11 months, 2. Dorothy Day to operate shelter at 742 Grayson, 3. Appointment of Jordon Klein as Director of Planning and Development annual salary $194,765, 4. Extend contract to 6/30/2023 with Michael Brady Emergency Management Training, 5. Donation surplus fire apparatus, 6. Contract add $245,700 and extend 3 years FY 2022, FY2023 with Rebuilding Together East Bay-North, 7. Contract add $180,100 total $230,000 1/7/2019-6/30/2022 with Cyber Leadership and Strategy Solutions, LLC for professional services, 8. Contract add $60,000 total $120,000 with Edgeworth Integration for additional security cameras at waterfront, 9. Contract add $110,000 total $240,000 with Bellingham Inc. for additional finger dock repairs, 10. Contract $540,000 with Raimi + Associates for professional planning services for the 2023 – 2031 Housing Element Update (RHNA), 11. Contract $4,296,733 with Bay Cities Paving & Grading, Inc for street rehabilitation FY 2021, 12. PO $465,000 for one CCTV Sewer Camera Truck, 13. PO $390,000 plus up-fitting costs $120,000 total $510,000 for eight hybrid Ford Interceptor Utility Hybrid SUVs, 14. Contract add $50,000 total $920,304 with Downtown Streets Team for services around encampments and neighborhoods, 15. Contract $2,000,000with California Constructores for Sidewalk Repairs FY 2020 16. Contract add $1,000,000 total $1,450,000 with Trip Stop Sidewalk Repair for sidewalk inspection and shaving, 17. Contract add $78,200 total $484,800 with Disability Access Consultants for ADA Transition Plan, 18. Approve list of projects to utilize State Road and Maintenance Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) Funds, 19. Contract for parking data collection, community outreach with Nelson/Nygaard for goBerkeley Residential Shared Parking Pilot, 20. Contract add $100,000 total $3,156,900 with D.L. Falk Construction for renovations at Central Library, 21. Vision Zero Annual Report and BerkDOT Berkeley Department of Transportation, 22. Contract add $350,000 total $8,670,400 with D.L. Falk Construction for renovation/upgrade at N. Berkeley Senior Center, 23. Lease Agreement 2010 Addison at Center St Garage with Vito Loconte and Alexie LeCount DBA Lexie’s Frozen Custard for 10 yr w/5 yr lease extension and $9,331.23 to Colliers International for commercial brokerage fees for locating tenant, 24. Arreguin, Assessing City’s Bonding Capacity Referral to CM, 25. Taplin, support AB-490 (use of force policies to prohibit techniques and transport methods with substantial risk of positional asphyxia. 26. Taplin, Arreguin, Budget Referral remediation Ninth St Traffic Conditions adds six traffic circles, 27. Harrison, Request CalPERS Divest from Industrial Animal Protein and Factory Farming Companies and Invest in CA Local Plant-Based Food Economy, ACTION: 28. CM, Public Hearing Submission of PY2021 (FY2022) Annual Action Plan Allocations of Federal Funds (HUD) for community agencies, 29. CM, Refinancing 2010 Certificates originally issued to finance Animal Shelter Project, 30. CM, Issuance of $45,000,000 in General Obligation Bonds, Series B for Measure T1 (Facilities and Infrastructure Improvements), 31. CM, Reserve $40 million of Measure O bonds as part of the $53 million to achieve 35% affordable housing at the Ashby and North Berkeley BART sites and future Housing Funding Notices of Funding Availability (NOFA), reserve at least $13 million in future Affordable Housing Mitigation fees to cover balance of $53, million, refer to CM to investigate bond measure with goal of maximizing affordable housing (up to 100%), 32. Harrison, Bartlett, Taplin, Adopt Ordinance Regulating Police Acquisition and Use of Controlled Equipment, 33. Information Reports: Zero Waste Commission Workplan. 

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

_____________________ 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

2421 Fifth Street (construct two residential buildings) 6/1/2021 

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

190 Alvarado 5/4/2021 

905 Contra Costa 4/20/2021 

1205 Cornell 5/4/2021 

1428 Delaware 5/4/2021 

2801 Dohr 4/29/2021 

1918 Grant 4/29/2021 

1402 Hawthorne 4/29/2021 

1205 Peralta 4/27/2021 

2943 Pine 4/27/2021 

1836 Thousand Oaks 5/4/2021 

1175 University 4/27/2021 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications_in_Appeal_Period.aspx 

LINK to Current Zoning Applications https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications.aspx 

___________________ 

WORKSESSIONS 

May 18 – 1. Systems Realignment 3. Affordable Housing Policy Reform (tentative) 

July 20 – 1. Bayer Development Agreement (tentative), Measure FF/Fire Prevention 

September 21 – 1. Housing Element (RHNA) 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Berkeley Police Department Hiring Practices (referred by Public Safety Committee) 

Update Zero Waste Priorities 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

This meeting list is also posted on the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition website. 

http://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html and in the Berkeley Daily Planet under activist’s calendar http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com 

To Check for Regional Meetings with Berkeley Council Appointees go to 

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

If you or someone you know wishes to receive the weekly summary as soon as it is completed, email kellyhammargren@gmail.com to be added to the early email list. 

If you wish to stop receiving the Weekly Summary of City Meetings please 

forward the weekly summary you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com.