To the Mayor and members of the Berkeley City Council –

Friends of Adeline has, from its beginning, been a strong advocate for the building of more housing. We have seen our community decimated and our long-time residents, and their families, eliminated from the city. Local development over the last 25 years has pushed the cost of housing and the cost of living higher and higher. The homes they have lived in have become too expensive for them to be able to continue to survive here.

A major factor in the development of high cost housing has been the lack of any serious controls. New construction has been primarily of market rate housing. There have been only minimal attempts to ensure that low-income, affordable housing, gets built. Senate Bill 9 is now attempting to force Berkeley to have more, high-income, affordable housing and to eliminate more of its low-income residents.

We Say No To This.

Why is there is no requirement that any of the units replacing demolished homes be affordable? Some cities like Cambridge, MA allow greater density if the developer builds affordable units on a site. But SB 9 gives away density while bringing no benefit to the community.

SB 9 will result in more displacement. The San Pablo Park neighborhood has been zoned single-family residential since 1963. The homes here are not as expensive as in most other parts of the city. The lots here and the homes on them tend to be smaller than in other parts of the city. They will be less expensive to acquire by speculators than housing elsewhere. Much money can be made by demolishing them and replacing them with up to six market rate units, none of which need to be affordable to the many low-income people currently living in South Berkeley.

Once again, we see our community being looked at as the source for large profits for those who have little interest in the well-being of our people. We are pleased that Councilmembers Harrison, Wengraf and Hahn are asking the City Council to oppose SB 9. Friends of Adeline urges the Berkeley City Council to state that it cannot support legislation that allows housing development without a requirement of the inclusion of significant numbers of on-site, low-income, affordable units. 

Friends of Adeline Says Oppose SB 9!

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Friends of Adeline is an organization of residents and neighbors in South Berkeley.

A first pandemic visit to Tulsa family happened to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Memorial Day 1921 massacre inflicted upon the Black residents of Greenwood, a prosperous community across the tracks from downtown Tulsa, originally settled by former Black slaves of Native Americans who were forced to leave their lands east of the Mississippi for Oklahoma and west. This exodus, known as the Trail of Tears, started in 1830.

With the end of the Civil War, freed Black slaves of the aboriginal peoples were declared full tribal members and were granted 160 acre allotments of land considered undesirable—that is until oil was struck, fueling the prosperity of the cohesive Greenwood community. Racial and economic tension built, until a vague incident involving a Black man and white woman was fanned into an angry and armed White mob attacking predominantly Black Greenwood. In one day this resulted in an estimated 300 deaths to residents and 1,500 left homeless. Thirty-five square blocks were burned to the ground, including the thriving commercial district known as the ‘Black Wall Street’, in a race war aided and abetted by the authorities, including an attack from planes armed with machine guns and turpentine bombs. 

Misnaming the massacre a riot, insurance companies had the justification to invoke the riot exclusion clauses in the victims' insurance policies to avoid paying fire damage claims. The history of this staggering event was systematically erased so effectively that even my brother-in-law, who came of age in Tulsa and graduated in law, was unaware of the episode until last year, when a mass grave was unearthed at the instigation of surviving descendants of the Greenwood community, some of whom live there now. 

The 100th anniversary commemoration week included a speech by President Joe Biden at the Greenwood Cultural Center and a hearing at the Tulsa City Council, which acknowledged the great injustice, though it stopped short of calling for reparations. During the week another mass grave was unearthed. Brief mention was made in local newspaper coverage that the impetus behind the massacre was tacit encouragement from real estate interests. They were intent on expanding commercial downtown Tulsa north into Greenwood, by acquiring the land at distressed prices from a devastated community rendered bare. In the 1960s highway I-244 further dismembered Greenwood. 

Learning of this historic land grab caused me to reflect on the current surge of real estate activity and attendant prices in California, where private equity firms are scooping up property in anticipation of the raft of up-zoning and deregulation measures proposed at the state and local level. A major player behind these measures is California YIMBY, a lobbying organization funded by real estate and technology interests. 

The same sort of money has backed campaigns of local state representatives, including Senator Nancy Skinner (SD-9, Dem.) and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (AD-15, Dem.) along with Berkeley councilpersons Lori Droste (D-8) and newly elected Terry Taplin (D-2), who with Mayor Jesse Arreguín and councilpersons Rigel Robinson (D-7) and Rashi Kesarwani (D-1) form a council majority that has authored and sponsored several proposed up-zoning measures, claiming the effort is all in the interest of providing affordable housing. However, there is no commensurate affordable housing mandate included in these efforts. 

It appears that market forces, AKA trickle-down economics, are being counted on to address the ever increasing need for affordable housing. What has been amply demonstrated is that up-zoning fuels speculation and increases land prices, accelerating gentrification and pushing housing further out of reach for many more. What amounts to economic discrimination disproportionately impacts communities of color, as evidenced by the alarming drop in the Black population of Berkeley over the past decade, with thousands of new ‘luxury’ units constructed or approved and an embarrassingly scant number of affordable units. 

Berkeley's pushback against proposed state measures that override local jurisdiction is taking the form of a proposed resolution, authored by Berkeley Councilmembers Kate Harrison (D-4) and Susan Wengraf (D-6) and co-sponsored by Sophie Hahn (D-5)opposing Senate Bill 9, the state ‘duplex’ bill co-authored by Wicks and supported by Skinner that allows building at least 6 units—not just two— with ministerial or by-right approval, on lots where a single houses now stand. 

The test of allegiance to the community over real estate interests will come this Tuesday, June 15th, when the Berkeley City Council considers and votes on the resolution opposing SB-9. Your councilperson would love to hear from you: clerk@cityofberkeley.info and council@cityofberkeley.info 

 

Patrick Sheahan, is an architect and was formerly a member of the Berkeley Planning and Zoning Commissions

The increasing power and influence of social media poses a serious threat to democracy in in many countries of the world including the United States.

Prior to the birth of the information age and independence from the British Raj, Indians like most people of other countries had extremely limited news sources which was tightly controlled by the government intolerant of independent thinkers. Families would sit around their radios and often doze off listening to mind numbing news glorifying their national leaders.

There was limited exchange of opinions unless the writer was a foreigner. My brother and I happened to be visiting India in the late 1950’s when a dear English friend, Vic Penry’s, letter to the Hindustan Times went viral. Pendry was harshly critical of the actions of the Central government in response to the brutal lathe charges by Delhi police on a peaceful procession of Sikhs agitating for greater independence.

Not much has changed in the intervening years. Facebook has become a threat to the current prime minister, Narendra Modi who recently ordered Facebook and other tech companies to take down posts critical of its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Facebook meekly complied. But once they did, Facebook execs received a torrent of angry chats from their employees demanding to know why Facebook capitulated and helped Modi stifle dissent. His BJP government has always threatened to banish the company if social media posts are too critical of its actions. let us see if Facebook profits continue to outweigh concerns for democratic ideals. 

When clashes broke out between Israelis and Palestinians, Facebook removed posts from prominent Palestinians and deleted their hashtags. Facebook employees again erupted castigating their company for bowing to pressure from the Israeli government and demanded the ban on messages critical of Israel’s brutal apartheid occupation be reinstated. 

Discontent at Facebook has surged over its recent handling of international affairs, especially by autocrats who refuse to relinquish power. Internews by current and former employees were especially critical of the company’s handling of political events in India and Israel. Over 200 employees signed an open letter calling for an independent third-party to audit treatment of Palestinian posts. 

Zuckerberg and his management team need to pay far more attention to their loyal employees who have enriched the company beyond their wildest dreams rather than buckle under the dark anti-democratic demands of autocratic governments.

The University of California at Berkeley is billing its new development plans as housing-centric in the hopes that Berkeley residents and housing activists will look no farther. We recommend that everyone pull back the curtain on UCB’s current plans and take a good hard look at what they are really doing. Once you do so, you will agree that UCB’s proposed plan is a really bad deal for Berkeley -- both as to housing and as to proposed development generally. 

UCB’s planned Helen Diller Anchor House (fondly known in some circles as UCB’s Taj Mahal) is a perfect example of this bait-and-switch strategy. The project, which UCB pitches as necessary transfer student housing, in fact will house comparatively few students. Instead, the 16-story dark-grey tower that is a block long, a block-wide, and by a New York City architectural firm adept at maximizing development income out of tight spaces, will contain hundreds of thousands of square feet (and several floors) of commercial retail, office, and event space complete with underground parking that UCB has already arranged to lease via Baird & Warner to generate tax-free rental income in direct competition with private landlords who must pay taxes to the City (something UCB believes it does not have to do). The “donor” of the project has arranged to “manage” the building in exchange for money and control of the property. Student rents – paid for primarily by federal Pell grant funding – will go to pay for building operations. 

To conceal its income-producing plan, UCB has fitted the “dorm” with luxury appointments to attract rent-paying students. Every student will have their own bedroom; all student apartments will be fitted with their own kitchen and in-suite washer and dryer in addition to a living room. Oh, and that in-suite living room is in addition to the multiple private student lounges on each floor, some complete with large screen televisions (!), in addition to yoga rooms, a roof garden, balcony, and large fitness center. (Two blocks is apparently too far for these lucky students to have to walk to get to the regular student gym.) 

Who will pay the price for all this luxury? Well, first of all, there are the families who have resided at the rent-controlled, landmark-eligible apartment building at 1921 Walnut Street, some for generations. UCB has already sent them eviction notices. Where will they go? Likely outside of Berkeley given the City’s tight housing market and that UCB has already leased most of the new apartment units either recently completed or under construction. It is also worth noting that the UC Regents approved the Anchor House plan based on specs that did not include the 1921 Walnut Street property; UCB’s planning department acted unilaterally to purchase the property and evict the tenants (seems like a bit of an over-step, no?) 

The second category of loser, of course, is Berkeley’s citizens, who will lose three historic (and one landmarked) buildings, rent-controlled apartments available to the public, and property tax revenue associated with the parcels UCB has acquired over time. They will also find themselves paying higher taxes and user fees to pay for the services UCB will consume. UCB does not pay property taxes – or any taxes at all for that matter – but does use City services and infrastructure. So, yes, Berkeley taxpayers will foot the bill for the additional services required for all of UCB’s new buildings including Anchor House and the estimated 25,000 new students, staff, and faculty that UCB will add over the next two decades. Residents will also have to fight increased traffic on Oxford Street -- where UCB has plans for huge structures in addition to Anchor House – and around Clark-Kerr Campus where they plan to add a large number of parking spaces. 

Existing Berkeley businesses will also lose out. They will have to compete with UCB’s new retail and commercial tenants; notably, UCB can rent to large retail chains without regard to City Restrictions. UCB can also charge competitive rents and obtain more funding because they don’t pay taxes over to the City either for the student apartments or commercial tenants. Still think this sounds like a good idea for Berkeley?  

BAHA and numerous other community groups think UCB’s plans are a BAD deal for Berkeley. We urge UCB to go back to UCB’s original plan for the Oxford/University “Anchor House” that it agreed to with the City and that made use of the existing historic buildings while providing the same number of student housing units as provided in the new “Taj Mahal” iteration. New housing and landmarks can co-exist; it just requires more creativity than this latest plan offers! 

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The authors are members of Berkeley Citizens for a Better Plan and Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.

A world in which women can be drafted? That doesn't register.

A gender-neutral draft is being saluted as a victory for women's rights, an open door that promises a new platform for equal opportunity with men. In this case, an equal opportunity to shoot, bomb, burn and kill other human beings.

Women may soon be faced by a new legal requirement that they must register with the Pentagon when they turn 18. Just like men.

Is it sexist and unfair that young women have not been compelled to register for the Pentagon's (retired but still revivable) military draft? What is the thinking here? 

In February 2019, a federal judge ruled that a male-only draft was unconstitutional, accepting a plaintiff's argument that the draft invoked "sex discrimination" in violation of the 14th Amendment’s "equal protection" clause.  

This is the same "equal protection" clause that has been used to extend and enforce reproductive rights, election rights, racial equality, election fairness, and educational opportunity. 

Citing the 14^th Amendment to justify forced conscription seems to run counter to the concept of "protection." It's less a case of "equal opportunity" and more a case of "equal jeopardy." 

The male-only draft has been called "one of the last sex-based classifications in federal law" but the US Supreme Court has opted not to rule on the issue, choosing to await action from Congress. 

American Civil Liberties Union lawyers have taken the lead in demanding that both women and men should be treated equally when it comes to draft registration and I agree. I believe that neither men nor women should be compelled to register for military duty. 

The Selective Service System is unconstitutional not because it fails to require women to be trained to fight and kill: it is unconstitutional because it requires any citizen to register to be trained to fight and kill. 

Despite the euphemism, the SSS is not a "service" but a "chore" and it is "selective" on the part of the recruiters, not "elective" on the part of potential inductees. 

The draft is a form of forced enslavement that has no part in a country that claims to be founded on "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The Constitution is clear. The 13^th Amendment's Section 1 declared: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude . . . shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Forcing young men to become soldiers (and sentencing them to lengthy jail terms for refusing to do so) is clearly a case of "involuntary servitude." 

But wait! The Constitution is actually not so clear. The kicker is in the ellipsis. Section 1 includes an exemption. The missing "…" stipulates that citizens can still be treated as slaves "as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have bee duly convicted." 

According to Section 1, the only citizens who can be legally compelled to defend "the land of the free" are convicts serving time in US prisons. Traditionally, however, conscripted jailbirds have only been enslaved to build county roads and to fight wildfires. 

The US has the world's largest inmate population, with 2.2 million prisoners. That makes America the host of the largest legally enslaved population on the planet. In today's Prison-Industrial-Compex, prisoners are required to provide free labor for Corporate America—ranging from mining operations and agriculture to manufacturing military weapons, serving as call-service operators, and sewing undergarments for Victoria's Secret. If they refuse these assignments, inmates can be punished with solitary confinement, loss of credit for "time served," or suspension of family visits. 

In 1916, the Supreme Court ruled (Butler v. Perry) that free citizens could be conscripted for unpaid labor involved in the construction of public roads. In fact, the language of the 13^th Amendment was copied from a 1787 Northwest Territories ordinance that outlawed slavery but required "every male inhabitant of sixteen years of age and upwards" to show up for unpaid roadwork "on being duly warned to work on the highways by the supervisor in the township to which such inhabitant may belong." (And, yes, most of the prisoners who served on "chain gangs" up through the 20^th Century, were engaged in unpaid road-work.) 

A 1792 revision of the road-repair mandate reduced the target population to males between the ages of 21-50 years, and reduced the period of servitude to "perform two days work on the public roads." 

The US is not alone in compelling its "free citizens" to serve as soldiers. At the present time, 83 countries—fewer than a third of the world's nations—have a draft. Most do not include women. 

Many nations with armed forces (including most NATO and European Union states) do not rely on conscription to compel enlistments. Instead, they provide the promise of well-paying military careers to attract recruits 

One surprising exception is Sweden, a "feminist" friendly nation that abolished the draft in 2010. Recently, Sweden's left-tilting leaders have revived compulsory military service by introducing a draft that, for the first time, applies to both men and women. The government argues that “modern conscription is gender neutral and will include both women and men" but, according to Sweden's defense minister, the real reason for the change was not gender equality but under-enlistments due to "a deteriorating security environment in Europe and around Sweden." 

If this is to become the new standard for gender equity, the Supreme Court may someday be called upon to require the National Football League to include women it its NFL draft. If women are deemed eligible for equal standing on the field of battle, consistency would require that they be guaranteed the same opportunities to perform and compete on the nation's football fields. 

In the interest of gender equality, let's end draft registration for both women and men. Congress is supposed to have the say in decisions of war and peace. In a democracy, people must remain free to determine whether or not they wish to support a war. If enough refuse: no war.

DT won't go away! The most recent Quinnipiac Poll ( https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3810) reports that 66 percent of respondents do not want Donald Trump to (re)run for President. Nonetheless, 66 percent of Republicans wouldlike him to run again. (Not surprisingly, the same percentage of Republicans do not believe that Biden's 2020 victory was legitimate.) DT refuses to disappear and, as a result, the Republican Party keeps acting crazy. What explains this? 

Here are four explanations. 

1.Psychological: DT is mentally ill; he has the pathological variety of narcissistic personality disorder. He craves attention and, therefore, since leaving the White House, he has been undergoing a form of withdrawal. This situation has been exacerbated by the fact that Donald has been banned from Twitter and Facebook -- as this was being written Facebook banned DT until at least January 2023 (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/04/facebook-says-donald-trump-to-remain-banned-from-platform-for-2-years-effective-from-jan-7.html) 

Losing the competition for the US presidency would be hard on anyone -- reportedly, Hillary Clinton was very depressed after her 2016 defeat -- but particularly hard on DT because he has never been characterized as "playing with a full deck." After all, this is the guy who suggested a possible antidote to the Coronavirus was to drink bleach. DT asked Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails. He proposed buying Greenland. And on and on. 

Since losing the 2020 election, Trump's aberrant behavior has worsened. (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-other-than-that-happy-easter_n_60688dd7c5b6832c7937af52) And, he's taking the Republican Party down the toilet with him. Congressional Republicans seem to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome: "where hostages or abuse victims bond with their captors or abusers." 

2. Anthropological: An alternative explanation is that since June of 2015, when Trump announced his run for President, he's turned the Republican Party into a personality cult. In effect, he's created a pseudo-religion featuring himself as the messiah. This religion operates by the DT rules:
a. The truth is whatever Donald says it is.
b. Winning is everything. Whatever you have to do to win is acceptable.
c. The American system is broken and only DT knows how to fix it. Trust him.
d. The mainstream media can't be trusted; there is no honest criticism of DT.
e. Salvation is letting DT have his way. 

Some studies have shown that uneducated white males trust capitalism more than they trust religion. These pilgrims trust DT to fix their lives. Trump is their role model; someone who beat the system by playing by his own rules. Trump devotees believe if DT triumphs, they will triumph. (If you think this sounds like Totalitarianism 101, you're right.) 

3. Sociological: A slightly different explanation is that Trump has provided a vehicle for millions of white, male, less-educated Americans to channel their resentment. Writing in the Washington Post, Republican columnist Michael Gerson (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gop-is-now-just-the-party-of-white-grievance/2021/03/01/67679480-7ab9-11eb-85cd-9b7fa90c8873_story.html) observed: "One of the poisonous legacies of Donald Trump’s presidency has been to expand the boundaries of expressible prejudice. Through the explicit practice of White-identity politics, Trump has obviated the need for code words and dog whistles... The party has been swiftly repositioned as an instrument of white grievance. It refuses to condemn racists within its congressional ranks. Its main national legislative agenda seems to be the suppression of minority voting." [Emphasis added] 

Trump devotees feel they have lost their shot at the American dream. DT provides them with an acceptable narrative: What happened to them is not their fault: they haven't lost out because they are poorly educated or insufficiently motivated; they've been cheated out of their deserved opportunity by a conspiracy -- promulgated by Obama and the Clintons -- that shunted them aside and favored undeserving women and people-of-color. (And Jews.) 

In this context, racism and misogyny is okay; because DT says it's okay. The Trump resentment express is a closed system that says and does unethical, un-American, and violent things and then justifies them on the basis that they either aren't being reported accurately or the targets deserve payback. The resentment express theme is not only that "anything goes" but also that DT validates any behavior seen as favoring him. 

4. Political: Finally, there's a political explanation; the Republican Party is intellectually bankrupt and has allowed itself to be taken over by DT because Republicans actually don't have any ideas other than protecting the rich and powerful. Think hard: what policy ideas were promoted by DT during his residency in the White House? (1) Cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy. (2) Build the wall. (3).... 

Next time "mainstream" Republicans excuse DT by saying, "I never liked his tweets but he had a lot of good ideas;" ask them what ideas they are defending. After cutting taxes for the rich and building the wall there were NO ideas. Think about it. Republicans were in total control of Washington for the first two years of the Trump regime. All they accomplished was cutting taxes for the rich and powerful. (And building a few miles of wall.) 

When an American political Party is devoid of ideas they have no choice but to run national campaigns based upon personality. So. Republicans were steamrolled by DT's narcissism. At the time -- 2015 -- they felt they didn't have a choice. Since then Republican leaders have had lots of opportunities to chose the non-DT road but each time they have folded. Because they are intellectually and morally bankrupt. 

Writing in Mother Jones ( https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/06/why-donald-trump-doesnt-need-facebook/?), veteran correspondent David Corn observed, "Trump still will inhabit a supersized role in Republican—and American—politics because of two important factors: money and fear." (DT is by far the biggest money raiser in GOP land.) 

66 percent of Republicans would like to see DT run again because he's alive and their other GOP choices are zombies. Out here on the Left Coast, the Republican party looks like it is going over the falls. 

Bob Burnett is a Bay Area writer and activist. He can be reached at bburnett@sonic.net 

Human beings, through social osmosis, are taught to be happy when we experience things believed "good" and unhappy when "bad things" happen in our lives. Yet if the bad things do not physically directly affect us, it means we have wiggle room with respect to how much this will affect us. Diseases affecting the body and/or mind have a direct effect of causing suffering. Some circumstances, such as homelessness, starvation, or being incarcerated, have a direct effect of causing suffering. The above are situations that we can't make okay through mental gymnastics. Physical disease or an injury are painful, with few exceptions. 

Physical causes and extremely bad environments have the power to make people suffer, including when people have practiced mindfulness for many years. If you can be happy in the presence of extreme physical pain and/or symptoms of physical illness, or in extremely bad environments, the level of practice of mindfulness is probably beyond what people can learn in the U.S. 

But then there are other things in our lives, situations in which people are expected by common consensus that they would feel suffering, that are negotiable with mindfulness. This includes seeing the glass half full, not half empty. Adverse circumstances could include poverty at a level that is not bad enough to be life-threatening, being demoted or fired at one's work, getting into a fender-bender car accident that ruins a car but not a human being, divorce, eating food that's not very palatable, or being treated, in your perception, disrespectfully. 

When someone insults you, whether this is intentional or not, many people, if the insult isn't over their heads, might generate being offended, which is a form of suffering. However, this reaction is negotiable with mindfulness. 

Antipsychotic medication can directly cause suffering because it impacts the central nervous system and causes it to generate depression, physical side effects, difficulty with tasks, and engaging the higher functions. Yet antipsychotics, if you truly need to take them, solve more suffering than they create because they are intended to treat serious psychotic disorders. 

Yet, much perceived hardship is more abstract. And the more an instance of hardship can be dealt with as an abstract thing, the more it is solvable with mindfulness. And this remediation begins with the decision to be happy. 

As persons with psychiatric conditions, there are many sources of suffering that we can cross off the list when we practice mindfulness. If someone gets the better of you in a verbal argument, it doesn't have to be a lingering source of aggravation. Through mindfulness, realistically you could be a bit miffed, but then forget about it quickly. If someone is using words to bully you, you should respond to that. Making the distinction is easier with an expanded consciousness that comes with mindfulness. 

Having your basic necessities paid for but then being broke doesn't have to hurt. If you have a psychiatric condition, this situation is common, and you are in the same boat as many. Just be glad you aren't worse off. 

"Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be."--Abraham Lincoln. Another quote, (which one source claims is not from Lincoln, but about him): "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power." Either way, adverse circumstances don't have to defeat us. 

When circumstances are hard but not to the extent that we are truly made to experience suffering, mindfulness is an appropriate alternative to the knee jerk response of becoming emotionally upset as poor examples may have taught us. 

Some spinoffs of Buddhism have exaggerated the level of immunity to suffering that can be created with their versions of mindfulness. Short of turning yourself catatonic, there will always be some things that will hurt, and to try to use mindfulness to evade valid suffering will cause damage. However, as I've said above, if a situation is more abstract or more distant, or if it isn't devastating to your way of life, you have more choices that can come about with retraining yourself. 

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Jack Bragen is author of "An Offering of Power: Valuable, Unusual Meditation Methods," and other works.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D.-WV) says he will not vote for The People Act or to end the filibuster, claiming the legislation has no Republicans support. But he knows or should know that bipartisan support will not be forthcoming. Remember when Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-KY) warned, “One hundred percent of my focus is standing up to this administration.” It seems Sen. Manchin is now aligned with Sen. McConnell and former president Trump in stymying President Biden’s agenda.  

According to findings of a RepresentUs poll, more than two-thirds of West Virginia voters support the For the People Act, including a super-majority of Trump voters. Seventy-one percent of West Virginia voters say they would like their senators to vote yes on the For the People Act, including 45% who think their senators should definitely vote yes. Just 13% of voters would like their senator to vote no, while 16% are undecided. More than two-thirds of Trump voters support the bill. 

As of May 14, at least 389 bills in 48 Republican-controlled states have passed voter suppression laws with more such laws on the horizon. Voting rights should not be partisan. Republican-sponsored state voter suppression laws are.  

Unless the For the People Act is passed, these state voter suppression laws could cost the Democrat’s majorities in both the House and Senate in the midterm elections. If the Democrats lose a majority in either body, nothing will pass in Congress the last two years of Biden’s presidency, opening the door for the unthinkable — the return of Trump to the White House. 

Sen. Manchin should honor his constituents’ views on the For the People Act, and the integrity of our elections instead of serving Trump and McConnell’s political ambitions.

No Home in the Biome?

On June 7, Mayor Jesse Arreguin shared the screen with NBC Evening News anchor Lester Holt to discuss the NIMBY vs. YIMBY debate currently roiling Berkeley's neighborhoods. Not broached in the broadcast was the issue that much of the pressure to build denser housing comes from UC Berkeley's plan to augment revenues by increasing the number of customers—er… make that "students"—from 55,130 to 67,200 over the next 15 years—a 22% increase.

In order to accommodate this planned 12,000-plus surge in the civic population, UCB plans to add another 8 million square feet to the 11.9 million square feet of Berkeley acreage that it currently occupies. This unprecedented 68% expansion will be needed to add 11,739 new beds for students, another 549 beds for new faculty and staff, and 1,240 more parking spaces.

It occurs to me that, if single-family homes are sacrificed to make room for multi-story apartment buildings (fueled by growth-addicted developers and revenue-seeking UC administrators), there is a constituency that is not being represented.

With the loss of open space as backyard gardens are buried beneath high-rise apartment complexes, what will become of the birds, bees, butterflies, squirrels, raccoons, and deer that currently inhabit our vegetated neighborhood open spaces?

Will the city's only gardens be rooftop gardens? And, without open spaces to roam and forage, will bucks and fawns be replaced by new populations of the dominant denizen of compact urban squalor—the rat?

Hippie Summer Boomer Bummer 

A colorful poster recently popped up on my Facebook page. It showed a colorful, hand-painted VW "hippie van" with a peace symbol on the side and what looked like a trio of squids wrestling on the rooftop. The words surrounding the art read: "How old were you during the summer of love?" and the date "1969." 

The first comment following the poster is succinct. As Mark Moerman was the first to note: "1967 was the Summer of Love." 

Quick, someone pass the acid—I mean, the Prevacid! 

The $185,000 Ad Fox News Wouldn't Air 

According to a Los Angeles Times report, Fox News refused to broadcast a paid political ad that included interviews with Capitol police officers who were caught up in the pro-Trump riot that rocked the country on January 6. 

The spot's producer, MeidasTouch, had pre-booked $185,000 of air time to broadcast the ad on Fox for seven days, starting on June 6 with Chris Wallace’s Sunday show and rounding out the rest of the week with airings on Fox and Friends. 

The commercial, consisting mainly of quotes from officers who experienced the siege first-hand, casts significant shade over the GOP's roster of "Jan. 6 Deniers"—including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, and Wisconsin Rep. Ron Johnson. Here's to candor: take a gander. 

 

Nuclear Weapons. "No-first Use" Versus "First: No Use!"

Green Party Presidential candidate Howie Hawkins recently sent a message to the American people inviting us to join the countries that have signed and ratified the Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons (TBNW). To date, 54 United Nations member states and 607 NGOs (non-government organizations) have joined to pledge "no-first-use" of nuclear weapons. (Hawkins has also called for reducing the US military budget by 75 percent.) 

Here are some other numbers: 32 nations—including the US and eight other nuclear-armed countries—have stated their opposition to the TBNW. Currently (as far as we know), there are 13,400 nuclear weapons in nine national arsenals. 

While a majority of Americans support the TBNW, many also support a "no-first-use" policy. Russia and China have both taken the no-first-use (NFU) pledge but the US has not. The NFU offers little comfort since it implies that a retaliatory "second-use" nuclear strike is a reasonable alternative. A global nuclear war (or even a "regional" use of nuclear weapons) would destroy much of the living world. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is a "proud co-sponsor" with Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) of a bill to "Restrict the First-Use Strike of Nuclear Weapons (S. 1148)." Feinstein writes that "this critical legislation would prohibit the President from conducting a first-use nuclear strike without an explicit declaration of war by Congress." 

Unfortunately, if you think about the practical application of S. 1148, it becomes clear that this "good will gesture" is inherently flawed. Imagine if you were the leader of Russia or China and the US Congress convened to debate whether or not to authorize a nuclear "first strike" at targets inside your borders. Wouldn't this be likely to provoke you to launch your own missiles in an act of "preemptory self-defense"? 

Related No-First-Use Note 

How many lives might be saved if every US police department adopted a "no-first-use" policy when it comes to discharging their weapons. 

Unfortunately, neither police nor combat soldiers are trained to exercise such restraint and, in fact, both are inclined to shoot-first if they so much as see anything resembling a weapon in a suspect's hands. 

Here's a chilling thought. Wouldn't it be fair to assume that this resistance to "not firing the first shot" is not limited to cops-on-the-street and grunts-on-the-ground but is equally present in the ranks of our military leaders and the civilian planners who guide nuclear policy?) 

#NoWar2021: A Virtual Peace Conference 

World BEYOND War recently hosted a powerful global gathering of peace activists from more than 25 nations. Hundreds of virtual attendees spent the better part of three days meeting online for panel discussions, workshops, and unscripted live interactions. 

But even if such a rarified environment, the inbred US penchant for "militarized speech" occasionally burst to the surface of the pacifist dialog. 

Case in point: In a workshop on Media Training, the facilitator's recommendations were salted with verbal landmines. In the space of a single minute of screen-time, the following words shot forth: "tactics," "target," "escalate," "engage," "empower," "campaign," and "roll out," along with the question: "How do we escalate our tactics?" 

Project Save the World 

Can webinars save the planet? The jury is out on that one but, in the meantime, scores of positive-thinking activists are busy posting Earth-saving content on (appropriately enough) the Worldwide Web. One of these resources is Project Save the World's World Repair Shop (WRS) where you can find more than 225 eco-chats archived on YouTube that play constantly. (Click here to link to the trove.) A recent selection of eclectic discussion topics included: Biochar and Climate Smart Food; Arctic Ice; Sustainable Construction; Proportional Representation; Life in Yemen (with Mustafa Bahran, Abdulla Nasher, and Qais Ghanem). And, for real-time interactions, WRS hosts regular live conversations at 9:30 AM Pacific Time. (Project Save the World is also the home of Peace Magazine.) 

The Rise of Scornalism 

Charles Pierce, whose Esquire bio reads "he's been a working journalist since 1979," writes: Normally, I do not pay a lot of attention to Sub-Left’nant Blimp of the National Review [a mocking reference to NR's Charles C. W. Cooke], but I figure that his sources on the Right are better than mine, so I present without comment the latest installment of The Adventures of Captain Crazypants and His Howling Morons. [A reference to our twice-impeached former president and his faithful hoards.] After citing two paragraphs from one of Cooke's recent dispatches to the National Review, Pierce steps back on the podium to pronounce: "If the most immediate former president* has gone this cuckoo bananas, and is already planning to crank up his wankfests again, that’s a helluva story." 

Referring to the still insidious reach of "the stubby little clutches of the former president*", Pierce observes if T***** were to show up "at Bedminster with his body painted blue and bellowing about His Imperial Majesty, surely nobody would begrudge us the video." 

That's a fusillade of snark that sounds like it could have been launched from the decks of the Daily Kos. And, speaking of the Daily Kos…. 

The Daily Kos: Journalism Meets Scornalism 

The feisty Oakland-based, online alt-news source known as The Daily Kos (founded by Markos "Kos" Moulitsas) has recently lamented the decline of traditional media—i.e., the collapse of print publications that have lost essential operating revenue as advertiser dollars have migrated from paper to screen. Many city papers have gone out of business and tens of thousands of print journalists have lost their jobs. 

The Kos survives, in part, by maintaining an entertaining and progressive profile in the media landscape and promoting lots of progressive action campaigns. The Kos prides itself as a journalistic engine that values justice over jaundice but much of the time, the Kos cosmos isn't the last refugee of professional journalism, it's a leading purveyor of a new form of screen-based "opinion journalism" that is rife with rants that echo the ethos and cadences of influencers, gossips, and other self-referential voices that reign over social media. 

And, like the right-wing blogs it derides, many of the commentators on Kos tend to rely more on opinion than research. Instead of carefully crafted arguments based on deep reflection, interviews, and fact-checking, the typical Kos writer relies on attitude, quips, and ridicule. 

In the new world of Kos Journalism, articles are mostly op-eds and—like their brethren in the conservative trenches—Kos writers lean heavily in the direction of inspired defamation. In this new form of "scornalism," the discourse tilts heavily in the direction of coarse. Postings are filled with salacious comments, insults, innuendo, mockery and bias. (But, at least, it's not Republi-cant.) 

Here's a taste from a Kos writer to writes under the pen-name, "Hunter." 

In the course of a single short article, Hunter refers to the former president as "a grifting, incompetent, helium balloon of a man," a "coughed-up hairball," an "incompetent, death-dealing blowhard," "the world's most clearly dysfunctional reality TV star," and "Typhoid Hitler." And, for good measure, he skewers the GOP as "a party of spineless and immoral weasels." 

Entertaining but not journalism. Not even traditional op-editorializing. But it is arousing and amusing (if you're on the same side of the political dish). 

The Daily Kos Versus JFK Junior 

But not everyone is amused. 

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. recently sued the Kos crew for "defamation" after the website posted a commentary that portrayed RFKJ as a prominent anti-vaxxer caught "cavorting with Nazis" during an anti-vaccination rally in Germany. The full title of the article was: “Anti-Vaxxer RFK, Jr. joins neo-Nazis in massive Berlin 'Anti-Corona' Protest.” 

RFK's lawsuit cites "the erroneous nature of Daily Kos's inflammatory 'fake news'" and demands to know the identity of the accuser. And this is where the story takes a wiggy twist. 

In sync with other habits of social media's online "scornalism," Daily Kos contributors are allowed to hide their true identities behind pen names. One of the most prominent writers on the Kos roster (praised by Bette Midler and Sarah Silverman, no less) slings his barbs while crouched behind the nom de guerre, "Aldous J. Pennyfarthing." 

The disputed Cavorting Kennedy dispatch was attributed to the pseudonym DowneastDem. 

Kennedy has demanded to know the true identity of the writer and a judge has agreed that this is a just demand. In response, the Kos collective staunchly maintains that it has a First Amendment right to hide the identity of its writers to avoid "physical harm to themselves and their family." A professional journalist, of course, has to stand by his/her published reporting. A Kos a contributor, however, is described as a "community diarist" and the website insists that "it's important for Daily Kos to protect the pseudonymity of its community." 

But there is a well-established problem here—namely, anonymous opinionating removes social restraints and culpability, freeing the commentator to say anything without fear of being called to account. Anonymity enables ignominy. 

While the contest over Free Speech versus Masked Speech continues, The Daily Kos can claim one solid factual coup worthy of "old school" journalism. According to a Kos fund-raising letter, "the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that just 12 people were responsible for 65% of all the COVID-19 misinformation on social media." And "No. 2 on their list [was]… Kennedy and his Q-style-named organization, Children's Health Defense." PS: In February, Kennedy was banned from Instagram over his anti-vaxxing efforts. 

Berating for Gadot: Galled by Gal 

CODEPINK is seeing red over the news that National Geographic has chosen Israeli icon and sometime Wonder Woman Gal Gadot to host Impact—Nat Geo's short-form documentary series on the plight of displaced Indigenous women around the world. 

CODEPINK's case is as follows: "Gadot served in the Israeli military as a combat trainer during Israel’s brutal 2006 war in Lebanon when indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes killed about 900 civilians. The following year, Gadot parlayed her military identity into a modeling career, including posing for a Maxim Magazine spread titled: 'Women of Israel Defense Forces'.”  

Gadot says she is executive-producing Impact to “inspire women” by offering uplifting tales of survival in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Michigan, Louisiana, Tennessee, and California. But a CODEPINK press release notes that the series offers "nothing for the indigenous people of Palestine, whose land has been stolen and olive trees burned by Israeli settlers. In 2014, during the Israeli assault on Gaza where over 2,000 Palestinians, a fourth of them children, were massacred, [Gadot] posted the hashtag #loveIDF with Shabbat prayers on her Facebook page." 

CODEPINK is petitioning Nat Geo to drop Gadot from any future projects, including the final episode of Impact. "If Gal Gadot wants to inspire women to make change," CP suggests, "she should rethink her unwavering support for Israel, atone for her actions participating in and helping whitewash Israeli war crimes and join the struggle for justice in Palestine. Supporting land theft and apartheid is neither feminist nor sexy." 

 

Eliminate Tax Breaks and Loopholes for the US OILigarchy 

The Care2 Petitions Team has revealed one of Big Carbon's Dirty Little Secrets. 

The Care2 Petitioners are understandably steamed: "What kind of a country would subsidize polluters and fail to provide a living wage and healthcare to its citizens?" they write. "End the OILigarchy!" 

Decarbonation—from Nation to Nation 

Here are some hopeful words from May Boeve, Executive Director of the climate-action group, 350.org:
• On May 26, "a Dutch court ruled that Shell must reduce its net carbon dioxide emissions 45% by 2030 (with 2019 as a baseline). This decision sends a strong message to fossil fuel companies, banks, and pension funds all over the world that greenwashing and lies will not prevent them from being held accountable for the climate crisis." 

• Meanwhile, in the US, "Chevron shareholders voted against the oil company's board to force the company to cut its emissions, and two climate activists were elected to ExxonMobil's board." 

• And finally, on May 18, 2021, "the International Energy Agency joined the choir and said what campaigners and activists have been saying for years: 'We have to get off fossil fuels NOW and leapfrog development across the globe towards a renewable energy powered future.' Absolutely amazing." 

Ballot-Rigging in Washington 

The vote was rigged! No, not the presidential ballot: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote on restoring net neutrality. 

Net neutrality would assure equal Internet access for everyone by prohibiting the use of “fast and slow lanes” that make it possible to charge more for faster service. 

Under pressure from the telecom industry, the FCC rejected the protections of net neutrality. Recently, the FCC invited public comments to guide its decision regarding the possible restoration of net neutrality. 

The Daily Kos cites an investigation that found "an eye-popping 18 million of the almost 23 million comments submitted to the FCC to consider in the decision to repeal net neutrality were fake!" 

This didn't happen by accident. It was planned. Broadband companies spent more than $4 million to trick people into sharing private information that was then used to submit fake public comments in support of the industry's goals. "Only 800,000 comments were found to be 'unique' and over 99 percent of them were in support of net neutrality."  

Meanwhile, Internet equity activists are calling on Joe Biden to break the "deadlocked" FCC by filling an empty commission seat with "a fifth commissioner who doesn’t have ties to the telecom industry and will stand up to the ISPs, who supports reinstating net neutrality, and who will expand broadband and ensure everyone—especially low-income neighborhoods and communities of color who have experienced the greatest harm by the digital divide—has affordable access to the Internet. 

Sign the petition: Reverse the repeal of net neutrality! 

Worth Noting:

Because the agendas for the Agenda and Rules Committee, City Council Special 4 pm meeting and City Council Regular 6 pm meeting are so long, those agendas are at the end of the email/post. You can also choose to just use the link with each listed meeting.

Quick Summary

Sunday – The Green home tour 10 am – 1 pm is really super! Register in Eventbrite.

Monday – The Budget and Finance Committee meets at 9 am. The Agenda and Rules Committee planning meets at 2:30 pm to plan the June 29 council meeting.

Tuesday – Council Special meeting is at 4 pm on reorganizing the commissions (this is not a “worksession” expect action to be taken). The Regular Council meeting is at 6 pm. Both meetings have the same zoom link.

Wednesday – FITES meets at 2:30 pm and is taking up the plastic bag ordinance. Animal Care and Human Welfare & Community Action Commissions both meet at 7 pm

Thursday – Land Use Committee meets at 10:30 am on Housing as a Human Right, The Transportation Commission meets at 7 pm on Dana Street and BerkDOT.

The comment period to (Bayer Projects) the Bayer Healthcare LLC Development Agreement Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (Draft SEIR) ends July 6, 2021.

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Zoning_Adjustment_Board/Bayer_Development_Agreement.aspx 

Sunday, June 13, 2021  

East Bay Green Home Tour 10 am – 1 pm  

Tour schedule: https://www.eastbaygreenhome.com/schedule 

Register Eventbrite: https://www.eastbaygreenhome.com/register 

AGENDA: Features short video tours of 12 homes 6 on June 6 and 6 on June 13 with each tour followed by live Q&A with the homeowner/tenant. Extras include induction cooking, heat pumps, air quality, solar storage, power outages, rebates 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/electrification/ 

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CABERKE/bulletins/2e283bb 

Monday, June 14, 2021 

Council Budget & Finance Committee at 9 am 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88645042310 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 886 4504 2310 

AGENDA: 2. Discussion Proposed FY 2022 Budget, 3. Discussion Referrals to Budget Process, 4. Droste - Potential Measure P Allocations, 5. Parks & Waterfront Commission - Proposal to allocate revenues generated by the transient occupancy tax (hotel taxes) in the waterfront to the Marina Fund to avoid insolvency, 6. Harrison, Arreguin co-sponsors Robinson, Taplin - Establish A Pilot Equity Action Fund to assist low-income residents with transition to zero-carbon transportation and buildings. 7. Harrison co-sponsor Bartlett – Establish a Pilot Existing Building Electrification Incentive Program to assist new homeowners, renters and existing homeowners with transition to zero-carbon buildings. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Budget___Finance.aspx 

Agenda and Rules Committee at 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm, 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87954040397 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 879 5404 0397 

AGENDA: 2. Planning for June 29 Regular Council Meeting, SCHEDULING: 5. Worksessions, 6. Council referrals for scheduling, 7. Land Use Calendar, REFFERRED ITEMS for REVIEW: 8. Impact of COVID-19 on meetings, 9. Analysis of return to in-person meetings, UNSCHEDULED ITEMS: 10. Strengthening and Supporting City Commissions Guidance on Development of Legislative Proposals. 

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

Board of Library Trustees at 5:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J0Ke5R_wQwy2Xk97F4v5VA 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 829 2723 1561 

AGENDA: II. Trustee interviews and recommendation to City Council for Trustee appointment. 

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

Tuesday, June 15 2021 

City Council Special Session, 4 pm, June 15 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87908681987 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 879 0868 1987 

AGENDA: Droste, Co-sponsors Robinson, Kesarwani, Arreguin - Commission Reorganization for Post-COVID19 Budget Recovery, The chart of the proposed commission mergers follows the list of meetings 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2021/06_June/City_Council__06-15-2021_-_Special_Meeting_Agenda.aspx 

City Council Regular Meeting at 6 pm, 

Email: council@cityofberkeley.info 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87908681987 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 879 0868 1987 

AGENDA: Scroll down to almost the bottom of this email/post or use the link to read the full agenda. 

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

Loan Administration Board at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84619645868?pwd=YktndENWSmZJNWd2WlBDQUd0VEF2QT09#success 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 846 1964 5868 

AGENDA: B) Program Review i) State of Revolving Loan Fund $105,000, ii) Update East Bay Media Center, C) Action Items i) Kidventurez $75,000 

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

Wednesday, June 16, 2021 

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

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84109502982 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 841 0950 2982 

AGENDA: 2. Harrison - Adopt an Ordinance add BMC 11.62 to regulate plastic bags at retail and food establishments. 

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

Animal Care Commission at 7 – 9 pm 

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

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

AGENDA: VI. Ordinance to mandate that only plant-based food be provided by all CoB owned and operated facilities, V. a. Discussion/Action Foxtail Growth at Cesar Chavez Off-Leash Dog Area, b. Discussion/Action: Possible mergers of the Animal Care Commission with the Climate Environmental Advisory Commission and/or Parks and Waterfront Commission, VII. Monthly financials, review of budget. 

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

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Outreach Committee Meetings at 5:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/92432525754?pwd=cEdBbXJVVkMxNnY1MEh0cDRpRmIzdz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 924 3252 5754 Passcode: 661672 

AGENDA: 5. Tenant Survey, 6. Accessibility Issues, 7. Measure MM Website, 8. Staff Report: Upcoming Webinars 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/rent/ 

Human Welfare & Community Action Commission (HWCAC) at 7 – 9 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/4863098496 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 486 309 8496 

AGENDA: 5. Review City funded agency Program, 7. Alta Bates Hospital, 8. Update Pathways, 9. TOPA, 10. Encampment near Here/There sign, 11. So Adeline Corridor Plan, 12. Citywide public restrooms, 13. Disabled accessibility in high-density corridors, 14. Improvements to HWCAC request for RFP process, 15. Discuss Grant writer procurement, 16. Questionnaire to Council regarding HWCAC priorities, 17. Homeless status in Berkeley, 18. Commission mergers. 

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

Thursday, June 17, 2021 

City Council Land Use, Housing & Economic Development Committee at 10:30 am, 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85943483266 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 859 4348 3266 

AGENDA: 3. Taplin co-sponsors Arreguin, Hahn, Harrison - Resolution Recognizing Housing as a Human Right – read revised supplemental 125 pages for details and supporting documents. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Land_Use,_Housing___Economic_Development.aspx 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/93352509109?pwd=QUNOd2ovZUphWEYxL2xxRmhTM1FKdz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 933 5250 9109 Passcode: 650166 

AGENDA: 4. Consent b. Recommendation to adopt Resolution Condemning the Illegal Evictions of Palestinians by the Israeli Government, 6. Action a. (1) FY2021-2022 Budget, Authorize Executive Director to: (2) modify contract with Eviction Defense Center not to exceed $150,000, (3) modify contract with Brian Augusta & Associates for legislative advocacy by an amount not to exceed $60,000 for FY2021-2022, (4) modify contract with Berkeley Community Media not to exceed $7,000 for FY2021-2022. 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/rent/ 

Design Review Committee at 7 – 10 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/95902859386 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 959 0285 9386 

AGENDA: IV.1. 1207 Tenth St – demolish existing non-residential building on 12,800 sq ft industrial parcel and construct 3-story, 20,390 sq ft mixed-used building with 2 live-work units containing art/craft studios, 12 artist studios, a R&D facility, fabrication shop and art gallery, 24 bicycle spaces, 10 vehicle spaces. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/designreview/ 

Fair Campaign Practices Commission(FCPC) & Open Government Commission(OGC) at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82458769567 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 824 5876 9567 

AGENDA: 6. Staff update regarding City Clerk enforcement referrals, a. Carole Marosovic, b. Stephen Murphy, FCPC 2021-2022 Work Plan, 9. Recommendation to City Council re public participation in meetings held via videoconference, 10. OGC FY2021-2022 Work Plan, 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/FCPC/ 

Transportation Commission at 7 – 10 pm 

Videoconference: (number is showing as invalid, use website to check for update) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82953751819?pwd=MnV6VHBtcS8rS3NJdUFYSnhCU0lqUT09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 829 5375 1819 Passcode 688225 

AGENDA: B. 1. Dana complete streets, 2. BerkDOT update,  

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

Friday, June 18, 2021 & Saturday, June 19, 2021 & Sunday, June 20, 2021 

No City meetings or events found 

 

*******************AGENDA and RULES COMMITTEE ******************* 

Agenda and Rules Committee, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm, 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87954040397 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 879 5404 0397 

AGENDA Planning for June 29 Regular Council Meeting: CONSENT: 2.  

Contract add $40,000 total $139,000 and extend 12/21/2024 with Code Publishing Company for BMC Publishing Services for online and print BMC, 3. Appointment of Katherine as Interim Director of Police Accountability, 4. Formal Bid Solicitations, 5. Appropriations limit for FY2022 $311,493,168, 6. FY 2022 Revision to Investment Policy and Designation of Investment Authority Director of Finance, 7. Project Homekey Request for Proposals (RFP) 2. Allocate Home-ARP funding and General Fund Measure P and/or other funding source, 8. FY2022 Block Grant Facility Improvement Program for West Berkeley Service Center $1,145,251 and allocate any additional FY2021 CDBG program income to West Berkeley Service Center renovation, 9. Contract $1,432,011 using Measure E funds with Easy Does It for Disability Services and Audit Recommendation for FY2022 & FY2023, 10. Contract FY2022 & FY2023 with Eviction Defense Center (EDC) for Housing Retention Program, 11. General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR) (Report submitted to State), 12. Auditor – Berkeley’s Fleet Replacement Fund Short by Millions with report back by January 2022, 13. Appointment Police Accountability Board, ACTION: 14. City Manager – FY2022 Budget, 15. FY2022 Annual Appropriations, 16. Borrow $45,000,000 and sale and issuance of FY2021-2022 Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes, 17. Energy Commission - Resolution to Upgrade Residential and Commercial Customers to EBCE Renewable 100, 18. Taplin – Resolution supporting freedome for Nasrin Sotoudeh and all other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Islamic Republic of Iran, 19. Harrison – Resolution Urging MTC to Program and Prioritize American Rescue Plan Act Funds to support Bay Area Transit riders. 20. Harrison – Ordinance add BMC 13.09 Prohibiting Discriminatory Reports to Law Enforcement (these are community-initiated calls for service on innocent people purely on discriminatory grounds – modelled upon SF unanimously adopted 2020 Caution Against Racially and Exploitative Non-Emergencies (CAREN) Act), INFORMATION REPORTS: 21. Voluntary Time off program for FY2022, 22. FY2022 Civic Arts Grant Awards, 23.FY 2021 2^nd quarter Investment Report ended 12/31/2020, 24. FY2021 3^rd quarter Investment Report ended 3/31/2021, 25. Commission on Aging Work Plan, REFFERRED ITEMS for REVIEW: UNSCHEDULED ITEMS: Strengthening and Supporting City Commissions Guidance on Development of Legislative Proposals. 

***4 PM SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING REORGANIZING COMMISSIONS** 

City Council Special Session, 4 pm, June 15 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2021/06_June/City_Council__06-15-2021_-_Special_Meeting_Agenda.aspx 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87908681987 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 879 0868 1987 

AGENDA: Droste, Co-sponsors Robinson, Kesarwani, Arreguin - Commission Reorganization for Post-COVID19 Budget Recovery 

New Commission Name (suggested)	Existing Commissions to be Merged
Commission on Climate and the Environment   (18 members)	Zero Waste, Energy, Community Environmental Advisory Commission, and Animal Care (?) (Merger with Parks instead of Climate/Environment under consideration)
Parks, Recreation, Waterfront (special Marina subcommittee)	Children, Youth, and Recreation and Parks and Waterfront
Peace, Justice, and Human Welfare  (mayor and council appointees only eliminates representatives of the poor)	Peace and Justice Commission and Human Welfare and Community Action Commission
Public Health Commission & Sugar Sweetened Beverage Panel of Experts	Community Health Commission and Sugar Sweetened Beverage Panel of Experts
Housing Advisory Commission  (Phase 1 priority consolidation)	Measure O and Housing Advisory Commission
Homeless Services Panel of Experts  (Phase 1 priority consolidation)	Homeless Commission and Measure P Homeless Services Panel of Experts
Public Works and Transportation	Public Works and Transportation
Planning	Planning and Cannabis
All other commissions will maintain their current structure: Aging, Library Board of Trustees, Civic Arts, Disability, Commission on the Status of Women, Design Review Committee, Disaster and Fire Safety, BIDs, Fair Campaign Practices and Open Government, Redistricting, Landmarks Preservation, Labor, Loan Adjustments Board, Personnel, Planning, Police Review/Accountability, Reimagining Public Safety, Mental Health, Zoning Adjustments Board, and Youth

 

Policy Committee Oversight	Commissions
Agenda and Rules	Fair Campaign Practices/Open Government Commission Personnel Board
Budget and Finance	(any legislation that requires funding)
Public Safety	Disaster and Fire Safety Commission Police Accountability Board/Police Review Commission Reimagining Public Safety Task Force
Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation and the Environment	Commission on the Environment Parks, Recreation and Waterfront with Marina Subcommittee Public Works and Transportation
Land Use and Economic Development	Measure O Housing Commission Planning Commission Labor Civic Arts Commission
Health, Equity, Life Enrichment, and Community	Peace, Justice and Civil Rights Health and Sugar Sweetened Beverage Panel of Experts Homeless Services Panel of Experts Mental Health Commissions (state/federal mandate) Commission on the Status of Women Disability Commission
Other Commissions: Zoning Adjustments Board (DRC), Landmarks Preservation Commission, Board of Library Trustees, BIDS, Independent Redistricting Commission, Loan Administration Board.

City Council Regular Meeting, 6 pm, June 15 

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

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87908681987 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 879 0868 1987 

AGENDA CONSENT: 1. 2^nd reading Lease Agreement 2010 Addison (Center Street Garage) Lexie’s Frozen Custard, 2. 2^nd reading BMC 14.72.105 broader range of community facilities to be eligible for parking permits, 3. CM- Systems Alignment Proposal , 4. Temporary Appropriations FY2022 $50 million, FY 2022 Tax Rates items 5 – 16: 5. Debt service on Neighborhood Branch Library improvements, 6. Debt Service 2015 Refunding General Obligation Bonds Measures G, S, &I, 7. Debt Service on Affordable Housing General Obligation Bonds Measure O, 8. Business License Tax on Large Non-Profits, 9. Funding Firefighting, Emergency Medical Response and Wildfire Prevention Measure FF, 10. Maintenance of Parks, City Trees and Landscaping, 11. Provision of Library Services, 12. Emergency Services for the Severely Disabled Measure E, 13. Debt Service on Infrastructure and Facilities General Obligation Bonds Measure T1, 14. Debt Service on Street and Watershed Improvements General Obligation Bonds Measure M, 15. Fund Fire Protection and Emergency Response and Preparedness Measure GG, 16. Emergency Medical Services Paramedic Tax, 17. Designate a Line of Succession for the Director of Emergency Services, 18. Revenue Grant from Alameda Co of $32,080 for Public Health Infrastructure Program (health promotion), 19. Housing Trust Fund Predevelopment Loan Advance for Maudelle Miller Shirek Community at 2001 Ashby of $1.5 million, 20. Withdrawn - contract with Easy Does It, 21. Revenue Grant $14,000 from State for Tuberculosis Program, 22. Accept Community Services Block Grant, 23. Contract add $100,000 total $150,000 with Renne Public Law Group LLP for Chief Labor Negotiator Services, 24. Contract add $53,000 total $102,999 thru 12/31/2023 with Bryce Consulting for Professional Classification Studies, Compensation Surveys, Desk Audits, 25. Contract add $215,000 total $665,000 with Sloan Sakai LLP for Chief Labor Negotiator Services, 26. MOU IBEW Local 1245 6/28/2020 – 6/30/2022, 27. Tentative Agreement SIEU Local 1021 Community Services Unit and Pat-Time Recreation Leaders Association related to inclusion of the Legislative Assistants into Unit, 28. Contract $61,215 with 20% contingency $12,243 total $73,458 with Get IT Tech for new electronic gate system at the waterfront, 29. Contract with Community Conservation Centers, In for processing and marketing services of recyclable materials 7/1/2021-6/30/2026 with 5 year extension option 10 yr total $30,080,793, 30. Contract with Ecology Center for curbside recycling collection 7/1/2021-6/30/2026 with 5 year extension option 10 yr total $54,528,752, 31. Contract add $50,000 total $250,000 and extend to 6/30/2023 with HF&H Consultants, LLC for study of providing commercial collection services and development and update of rate model, 32. Contract add $150,000 total $340,000 and extend to 6/3/2025 with Fairbanks Scales, Inc for preventive maintenance and repairs at CoB solid waste management and transfer station, 33. Zero Waste Commission - Support Assembly Bills 881 (closes loophole of Plastic Waste Exports counted as recycling regardless of ultimate destination), 1454 (bottle bill modernization helps recycling centers stay open), 1276 (expands restrictions on single-use foodware to upon request), 34. Bartlett so-sponsor Harrison - Support AB-279 Intermediate Care and Skilled Nursing Facilities prohibits facilities from terminating, transferring or significantly altering conditions of residential care services during COVID-19 also includes conditions of sale, 35. Wengraf & Harrison co-sponsor Hahn – oppose SB 9, ACTION: 36. Public Hearing Street Lighting Assessments FY2022, 37. City Council Comments on the FY 2022 proposed Biennial Budget, 38. Path to Permanence: Outdoor Dining and Commerce, INFORMATION REPORTS: 39. City Council Short Term Referral Process-Quarterly Update, 40. Update on the Implementation of the FIP (Fair and Impartial Policing Task Force) recommendations, 41. Animal Care Commission workplan, 42. Planning Commission workplan, 

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Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

2943 Pine (construct a 2^nd story) 9/28/2021 

1205 Peralta (conversion of garage) 10/12/2021 

770 Page TBD 

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

600 Addison 6/15/2021 

723 Delaware 6/17/2021 

2737 Durant 6/15/2021 

1182 Euclid 6/29/2021 

0 Fifth 6/17/2021 

770 Page 6/15/2021 

3 Virginia Gardens 6/17/2021 

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 

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WORKSESSIONS 

July 20 – 1. Bayer Development Agreement (tentative), 2. Measure FF/Fire Prevention 

September 21 – 1. Housing Element (RHNA) 

October 19 – 1. Update Zero Waste Rates and Priorities, 2. Berkeley Police Department Hiring Practices (referred by Public Safety Committee), 3. Crime Report 

December 7 – 1. Review and Update on City’s COVID-19 Response, 2. WETA/Ferry Service at the Marina, 3. Presentation by Bay Restoration Authority 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

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