It’s too bad John MacDonald, who died in 1986, didn’t live long enough to say “I told you so”. He was a prolific and adept writer of mystery novels, many if not all of which were set in Florida. Lots of them were thrillers about tough-guys, many of them crooks , but one served to demonstrate that MacDonald actually had a Harvard MBA and that all the sleaze in Florida was not on boats. Title? Condominium!

I remember the exclamation point, but don’t see it now in online pictures of covers of later editions. Abe Books adds the subtitle “Political Swindles & Payoffs”, but since I’ve mislaid my own copy of the 1977 edition I’m not sure that’s original.

But in light of the tragic events of the last few days, I do remember that I learned more from this novel about swindles and payoffs in the development industry than I learned in law school or from my own reporting in the last 40-some years. 

Long, long ago I read a piece by William Greider which claimed that the majority of the money in politics supporting both Democrats and Republicans came from developers, and since then I’ve seen nothing to disprove that. And “Condominium” could serve as a roadmap to what went wrong 40 years ago when the death trap condominium in Surfside was built, or what’s been wrong since them with the obviously bogus inspections which failed to protect the residents, or whether the condo developers in the first instance ignored the environmental considerations which are so important in fragile Florida (as they are in California). 

In 1978, soon after Condominium came out, I went to Florida to report for New Times Magazine (a good, fearless, generously endowed but short-lived publication) on the (perfectly legal) shenanigans that accompanied developing Disney World in the 1970s, which blithely dodged environmental laws, zoning and all sorts of other regulations. Courtesy of New Times, I spent a couple of weeks in Kissimmee, adjacent to Orlando, getting the flavor of the local laissez-faire culture of what were at that time a couple of sleepy little southern towns where almost anything had its price. 

My main unidentified source for that story was an older county official, an agricultural agent, who had been battling to no avail against what he called the “Californication” of his beloved area. The Disney corporation was a lot bigger than he was, and they got what they paid for. 

He had a bunch of environmental worries, based on the fact that Florida sits on a network of underground sandstone aquifers. Most of the water for its expanding population comes from rainfall which is stored in them, and all too often they collapse, creating enormous sinkholes which can swallow cars and even buildings. And for powerful players like Disney, environmental law seldom applies. 

Here’s how it looked to me back then: 

“Disney's 43-square-mile Florida property (as big as San Francisco, twice the size of Manhattan, 275 times as big as Vatican City) is a feudal domain that has been legally themed, courtesy of the Florida Legislature, to present a clever imitation of a Democratic government. Or, to be precise, three governments. The Disney corporation and its friends and business associates are able to control this large piece of Florida at their pleasure by means of an amazing legal construct called the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RGID). Property, not people, votes in Reedy Creek, which has exactly the same boundaries as Walt Disney World. The five supervisors who run the district are elected by the peculiar principle of one acre, one vote. And Disney owns all but 25 of the acres and casts virtually all votes on Election Day. “ 

What this means is that in Florida what Disney wants, Disney gets. I expect that’s still true, even after four decades. The consequences as of 1978: 

“A Disney Vice-President explained that one of Walt's major goals at Disney World was to show that ‘you could take virgin land and develop it and enhance the environment, not take away from it. I think the classic example’ he said, ‘is the lagoon there that we built. That lagoon was a very large swamp, and I think we've really enhanced the environment, because that's a beautiful lagoon. It adds pleasure for a lot of people, and there's still a lot of trees you can see around.’ It seemed fruitless to explain to him that a lot of people would rather see a real swamp with real alligators than an artificial lagoon with motorboats and light-up electric simulated seals. But even if everything inside the borders of Disney's Florida domain is clean, beautiful and environmentally sound, as company press releases claim, there is a larger problem raised by its exemption from Florida environmental law: its impact on the region around it. Disney has plans for additional development, which the company hopes will almost double attendance-from 13 million to 20 million people a year.” 

In the forty years since I went there, Orlando and Kissimmee are no longer quaint little southern villages. Disney World attendance 40 years later, in 2018, was reported as 58 million—and it’s all been legal, I imagine, with no bothersome CEQA to slow it down. And the rest of Florida has grown at the same rate. 

Today’s press is full of hypotheses about what went wrong in Surfside. Just a few: shoddy materials, negligent inspection, construction of an unbalanced penthouse by granting an exception to the building code, a sinkhole, a swimming pool misdesigned, saltwater intrusion attributable to climate change….lots of choices of villains. John MacDonald foreshadowed them all in his 70s work. 

Carl Hiassen’s mystery novels are worthy heirs to the MacDonald tradition, but with a sardonic twist. Wikipedia quotes Hiassen’s introduction to a new edition of The Deep Blue Good-by: "Most readers loved MacDonald's work because he told a rip-roaring yarn. I loved it because he was the first modern writer to nail Florida dead-center, to capture all its languid sleaze, racy sense of promise, and breath-grabbing beauty." 

That’s all still there in Florida, especially its trademark sleaze (e.g. the current governor). But Florida does not have a monopoly on development corruption. Right here in Berkeley we had the 2015 Library Gardens disaster—a balcony on a new building collapsed with fatalities, though on a smaller scale, and no one in the City of Berkeley government has ever been held to account in that one, to my kmowledge, though civil suits by victims’ families have mandated changes to building codes.  

Meanwhile, Scott Wiener and his loyal henchpersons Toni Atkins and Nancy Skinner are laboring assiduously to get rid of what’s left of CEQA and of local oversight over building standards. They’ve invented SB9 and SB10 to facilitate construction of the same sort of shoddy but profitable apartment buildings, the current equivalent of the 40-year-old condominiums which now line the Miami area. Many are owned by investment firms like Blackstone, which owned Library Gardens. 

Now downtown Berkeley is filling up with the siblings of Library Gardens and worse. If Wiener et al. have their way, there will be more, with nary an affordable family home among them. Meanwhile, the “soft story” apartments which proliferated here before the intiative which produced the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance in the early 70s are still around, and they’ve reached the dangerous age too. And we have earthquakes here. 

A generally accepted standard is that a reasonably carefully built “modern” multi-unit building will last just about 40 years, which is one reason that Florida is in trouble now. Many buildings are now reaching that limit, even the better ones. If you factor in corruption and eliminate oversight, things look even more dire, in both California and Florida. 

Miami-Dade County’s weakest spot is the many many condominiums which were built in towns like Surfside around 1980. Among other problems, all the numerous owners must agree to pay before needed repairs can be made. 

But there’s some modest good news. The way I first got on to the Disney World story is through the efforts of a Nevada City lawyer, Harold Berliner. He got wind of the Disney Corporation’s plans to turn a big chunk of the Sierra into another destination resort like Disney World. He’d been a prosecutor, and he smelled a rat, not just a cute mouse. He suspected that a completely legal takeover of local governments like the one in Florida was in the works in his 'hood, and he did everything possible to make sure that didn’t happen in California by publicizing what happened in Florida. 

It wasn’t just my story which stopped Disney’s plans, I’m sure, but let’s just say that the Sierras are still relatively pristine, for which we can be grateful to eternally vigilant citizens like the late Harold Berliner. 

Sometimes dark deeds can be stopped with daylight. It’s tragic that this couldn’t save the Florida condo victims this time around. 

To: Mayor Arreguín and Councilmembers:

I write on behalf of Berkeley Citizens for a Better Plan (BC4BP) to ask that the City slow down any settlement of the proposed new UCB LRDP, first obtain UCB’s final Environmental Impact Report, and includeall of the necessary terms of any settlement in a legally enforceable document. BC4BP is sponsored by BAHA and many other organizations and individuals concerned about UCB’s proposed LRDP with its astonishingly damaging impacts on the City of Berkeley and its residents.¹

Between April 2019, the start of UCB’s 2021 LRDP preparation and April 7, 2020 when UCB held a scoping session for preparing an EIR², it engaged in forums, surveys, and other public relations events, but failed to comply with Public Records Act requests for documents and architect plans related to the draft LRDP.³ Concerned about UCB’s suspicious withholding of information and documents, BAHA began extensive online research and on August 26, 2020, wrote to the Mayor and then met with him, the Vice Mayor, and staff to explain that UCB’s plan for a huge increase in enrollment was likely to harm Berkeleyans by: “(1) imposing enormous added pressure on already strained city services with their attendant costs; (2) substantially increasing demand for housing while reducing the number of rent-controlled units available to city residents; and (3) destroying key cultural and historic structures, and negatively impacting other historic structures located near UCB’s new development project sites.”

The first time UCB provided the draft LRDP to the public was on February 23, 2021 and on March 8, 2021 it issued the Draft EIR (DEIR). Prior to the close of the comment period on April 26, 2021, less than two months ago, BAHA submitted over 5,000 pages of documents—a 160-page comment letter and appendices of the research documents it had collected. The City submitted a 65-page letter from its planning director. The next step in the CEQA process requires UCB to respond to the allegations, facts, and questions contained in these letters and any others submitted by the public.

The LRDP is shocking, not only in its negative impacts for all Berkeleyans, but in the arrogance of the Chancellor pursuing these development plans. For example, the LRDP combined with the research completed by BAHA and BC4BP demonstrates that the so-called student housing in the gateway planned luxury high-rise building (Anchor) is full of luxury suites and amenities consistent with a $750-1,500 per night hotel stay, including each student having a private bathroom and each apartment for up to four students having a full kitchen and laundry equipment, and throughout the building, multiple lounges with full-size televisions, billiard rooms, cafes, private gyms, and substantial commercial space to compete with downtown Berkeley’s business district. Tens of thousands of square feet that should be used for student beds has instead been squandered away in this lavish development. It also requires evicting rent controlled tenants of a building UCB intends to demolish just to enable the luxurious lifestyle of wealthy students residing in this building.  

Another deplorable example is the requirement for pile driving the foundation for a (no doubt second luxury) 17-story building on the People’s Park location. The pile driving would last 22 days, and the EIR admits it will damage the nationally landmarked Anna Head School building and Bernard Maybeck’s masterpiece First Church of Christ Scientist. The EIR flicks away the problem by stating that UCB will pay some money for the damage after construction, without explaining how the church will use that money to find to buy irreplaceable art objects and special windows, once destroyed.  

BC4BP has prepared an extensive website using lay terms, that also includes the supporting research documents. It goes live next week.⁴ Before the City settles around the 2021 LRDP, the public needs an opportunity to review it and the Final EIR which will include the legally required public comment letters and UCB’s detailed responses. The City should not settle until after the Regents rule on the project, which still leaves plenty of time under CEQA for settlement discussions, and may resolve at least some of the impacts short of litigation.  

As an experienced and old land use attorney, I agree that settlement of lawsuits is always advisable if it means obtaining enforceable and beneficial results, rather than just another EIR report. However, the timing matters—settlements without all of the information or that represent “cutting and running” with no real benefit are not better than CEQA litigation, especially here where a court is likely to force UCB to include feasible and enforceable mitigations almost everywhere in the DEIR where it is claiming inability to mitigate negative impacts because of alleged “overriding considerations.”  

While UC has legal control over its properties under the California Constitution, and not the City, California courts have become fed up with the UC Regents’ arrogance and noncompliance with CEQA. Regents have lost many recent cases as a result, forcing them to either scale back, substantially delay, or abandon altogether their planned development projects. The Legislature also has come to the end of its patience with UCB’s financial waste, scandals, and depravity, resulting in large reductions of public funding over recent years. The latest state auditor report is highly damning, and includes despicable behavior related to UCB’s admissions practices. Most of the problems have been laid squarely at the current Chancellor’s feet and yet the Regents have done nothing to replace her. For all of these reasons, the City has strong leverage in these negotiations about an incredibly cruel, financially irresponsible, and environmentally damaging LRDP.  

UCB, as one of the world’s premier learning institutions, should be able to manage its growth in a way that does not negatively impact its host city. In its communications with City of Berkeley Mayor Arreguín, BAHA made the following specific requests prior to release of the draft LRDP: Seven Principles  

1. Ensure that the UC Regents pay the City fairly and fully for all lost tax revenues and increased service costs associated with the planned massive enrollment increase. We urge Your Honor to use all means possible to obtain those payments, including seeking assistance from Governor Newsom and Berkeley’s representatives in the state legislature, who have discretion over the state budget that UCB relies upon for a portion of its funding;  

2. Demand that UCB reduce the total projected UCB enrollment of 48,200 students through competent management, including reassignments to other campuses, a new campus, online education, or other means; or provide a complete, transparent, and realistic plan for student and faculty housing to accommodate the new projected enrollment, rather than relying on Berkeley’s already strained housing market and City services to absorb (magically) more students and staff;  

3. Request UCB substantially expand the geographic area of the proposed “new student housing” projects as the current plan reflects all new construction within one mile of the center of the main campus, which is already densely developed and which contains a disproportionate number of important historic and cultural resources including numerous landmarked structures. UCB owns and/or leases many more acres both within the City of Berkeley and outside it. Therefore, there is no need to pursue a plan that will result in eviction of non-student tenants, demolition of rent-controlled housing, and the use of master leases for most new housing to pit students against non-students for affordable housing. The LRDP also would produce large high-rise developments in current low-rise residential neighborhoods, thus destroying much of the character and fabric of the City. Expecting students to commute to campus from more than one mile is realistic and will not substantially diminish the campus experience particularly for graduate students and even seniors and juniors who have already formed solid relationships with faculty and their fellow students and may be more focused on their academic studies;  

4. Ask UCB to prioritize construction of new housing on non-landmarked properties including, but not limited to 1995 University Avenue (previously Golden Bear Ford dealership— this site has a surface parking lot which covers one-half of the block on the north side);  

5. Negotiate a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UCB to preserve and maintain the Anna Head School building, the Clark Kerr Campus, UC Garage, and Smyth House, including their grounds, for the next 50 years, thereby preserving these historic structures and sites for future generations of students and citizens alike and removing the current uncertainty as to the plans regarding these iconic sites;  

6. Request that UCB substantially revise plans for the 17-story student housing behemoth on People’s Park that is inconsistent with the low-rise surrounding neighborhood and will overshadow all neighboring structures including the national landmark gem First Church of Christ Scientist by Bernard Maybeck and its facade wisteria; and  

7. Request that UCB provide more information and more transparency about its current enrollment and development plans. The information supplied by UCB to date, regarding its proposed LRDP is inadequate to understand all of the potential negative impacts. UCB should arrange for several public meetings (rather than the public relations presentations given to date) to explain exactly what it intends to do with the 13 properties that it describes tersely as “Housing Opportunities”; disclose on its website existing agreements with donors and developers concerning future student housing sites; and provide details on how it intends to acquire additional property and negotiate arrangements with private owners to accommodate the large number of additional student housing units proposed that cannot be built on current UC sites.  

Thank you for considering our comments. 

² Required under the California Environmental Impact Act (CEQA).  

³ See, https://lrdp.berkeley.edu/recent-updates?field_openberkeley_news_type_tid_op=or& 

⁴It was completed two weeks ago but a technical issue prevented its release at that time. 

The existence and growth of homelessness in the US and the world loudly imposes a question; how can housing not be a human right? How could a self-respecting society not provide housing for all the people composing it? There are a few Constitutions in the world in which housing is named as a human right (e.g. Venezuela). What is preventing it from being named a human right in most other countries? Is it not time to speak about this? Does the existence of homelessness suggest that human existence is not the primary concern for human society?

Rights

Let us begin with civil rights. The Constitution provides that government shall make no laws abridging freedom of speech, religion, press, the right to bear arms, security in one’s home, etc. When we speak about civil rights, we reason logically from these constitutional clauses. They describe relations between individuals and political (legislative) power. They represent how the Constitution, the source of political structure, sets limits on its own power. Nevertheless, those limits are often self-indulgent. For instance, the police have SWAT teams and no-knock warrants that are legally and existentially in violation of civil rights. If rights can be violated, then they exist only as politically bestowed. When the Constitution bans their abridgement, it implies that abridgement was imminently possible.

Human rights exist as characteristics of people, and thus of relations between people. The Declaration of Independence opens with a reference to human rights declaring them "inalienable." But the Constitution amends that to say, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” If deprivation is possible under certain conditions, then the right is not inalienable. And again, life and liberty are violated by the police all the time. To handcuff a person without warranted arrest and without due process is a violation of human rights. When a cop shoots a man in the back, it is intentional murder. So what are we really talking about? To disrespect a person’s human rights is to demean their humanity. To demean the humanity of the homeless, as so many neighborhood home-owners tend to do, is precisely to invoke housing as a human right.

The right to property is more complicated. There is a contract clause in the Constitution that says. “No state shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts.” Contract is a relation of agreement between two people, or two legal entities, involving exchange and price. Pollution cannot be stopped without purchasing the polluter’s compliance. Sale of land cannot be rescinded except with negotiated compensation. All disputes over property devolve to issues of cost. To speak about the money expended when a marriage ceremony in Afghanistan is bombed by US airplanes becomes a way of not thinking about the many dismembered bodies.

When property rights crash against human rights, it is property rights that win. If a small town in Illinois decides that a black family should not be allowed to buy a house in it because that will reduce real estate values for all, the sale is voided. When property owners complain about a homeless encampment, it is the encampment that is razed, and not the owners penalized for harassing or illegally molesting the homeless. So how are we supposed to speak about "human" rights at all?

If property is a relation between contracting parties, is the same true for life and liberty? It is against power that the deprivation of life and liberty banned. Why is that ban of less concern or import than the sanctity of contract? How did that hierarchy come to exist? Either it represents a huge hypocrisy central to this society, or the sanctity of contract is a mistake. If property is a relation between people, then so is life and liberty. But they are not mediated by cash. Does housing relate to rights only through cash, or does it have a direct relation to life and liberty?

This problem extends deep into this society. Private prisons are institutions that assist government in depriving people of their liberty (with due process). They do it for profit, which transgresses rights insofar as property becomes the location of power, and not simply its instrument. They have transgressed the constitutional equity between human and property rights. Once power locates itself in property, property holds clear hegemony over the right to life and liberty. The police, who have established their insular power and impunity to kill on the street and get paid for it, have stepped across that boundary as well. How are we to rectify this transgression, to render this society a democracy and not an autocracy of property rights?

For housing to be a human right, it would have to stand with life and liberty, rather than with property. Nevertheless, housing has a cost. The act of making housing a human right would subordinate that contractual aspect to its human dimension; in other words, it would invert the hierarchy, and be an instance of giving human rights hegemony over property rights. It would undo the hierarchy that the sanctity of contract has imposed on life and liberty. Government would have to take responsibility for housing as it does for life and liberty. In short, it would produce a situation in which the recognition would be unavoidable that this society has yet to found itself on human rights. That is, it has yet to become a democracy.

The dichotomy between democracy and autocracy

The idea of government taking responsibility for housing has been the subject of this series articles (on SB-35). We have seen that, in terms of that law, the government of California has acted like a classical protection racket, while at the same time being in conflict with its own state Constitution. In that sense, it enacts an autocracy of property rights, which is in evidence all around us in the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. It is precisely that gap that people are calling in question by demanding affordable housing. Affordability is the nickname for that gap.

Confronted with the coincidence of two governmental systems, the autocratic and the democratic, what marks their conflict is their inversion of procedure. In one system, political decisions are made, and then there is outreach to explain those decisions to the people, and get feedback on what is already an accomplished fact. In the other system, there is outreach to the people first, with discussion on issues and on the resolution of problems. It produces thinking and awareness, and often consensus on the basis of which decisions can then be made. The first system is one of autocracy, government acting first and on its own, and then imposing itself on the people. The second system is that of democracy in which the people discuss what they need and expect elected representatives to manifest those needs as governmental enactments. 

It is this dichotomy of systems that is exemplified by SB-35. It is an ordinance that imposes a housing responsibility on the cities of California, and then calls for discussion. The alternate process would involve discussion of real urban needs (affordable housing, an end to police brutality, care for the homeless as constituents of a city, etc.), and then call for representatives to represent their many resolutions. Thus, neighborhood people would be involved in making the political discussion that would then affect them. 

Autocracy is the system enacted by the corporate structure. A board of directors makes decisions, and the corporation then goes out and sells those decisions to the public and to its own lower level managers and workers. This is the path of economic enterprise. It is no longer “private enterprise” because corporations are not owned by individuals. Indeed, it is the corporations that own the individuals that work for them insofar as they turn those individuals into managerial machines for the operation of the corporate structure. 

What SB-35 demonstrates is that our political system is an autocracy, like that of corporate operations. State governments, even though elected, act as boards of directors, making decisions, and then selling those decisions to the public. We have seen the malfeasance of this in SB-35’s concept of "proposed needs," a concept that violates common sense. 

Furthermore, this government operation clearly obeys the interests of the rich minority, the developers and the real estate financial corporations, over the interests of the communities. In providing enormous opportunities for the rich (mainly corporate entities), the legislature becomes their agent, functioning within the process by which the rich get richer. It thus also operates within the hierarchy of property rights over other human rights. 

It is in direct opposition to this autocracy of real estate corporatization that the demands of the people and the communities can no longer be ignored, but are instead a direct demand for democracy, a demand for democratization of housing development, which ultimately becomes a demand for housing as a human right. The idea that housing is a human right concretely marks the difference between autocracy and democracy in the US today. 

A word about the relationship of "rich" and "poor." There is a mythology that says the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It is mythic because it simply presents itself as an observation on the human condition. But in that, it is wrong. The rich get richer because they impoverish the poor. That impoverishment is the machinery by which the rich get richer. When society becomes an impoverishment machine, it produces both wealth and destitution inseparably. The rich get richer by making the poor poorer. With respect to housing, this myth asserts that homelessness is produced by a housing shortage rather than by rent gouging and arbitrary increases in rent levels, which become the machinery that is throwing people on the street. 

The nature of corporatization  

But how did we arrive at a situation in which the corporation took over not only the economy but the structure of politics as well, and imposed their version of autocracy on even electoral processes? By taking over the economy, they have ensured that the rich (themselves) get richer, and done so by perfecting their impoverishment procedures. 

The essential fact about the corporate structure is that it operates in securities markets. Whatever corporations do in production, even in its most direct manufacturing form, it is overseen and dominated by what happens in the securities markets. Companies succeed or go bankrupt according to what happens in those markets, even if their product is good, and their production is profitable. We saw that happen to the Nummi plant in Fremont in 2009. 

This situation evolved over the last 50 years out of the multinational corporate crisis in the 1970s. Multinational corporations made their first appearance as part of the Marshall Plan (1950s), and found they could operate more smoothly by having headquarters and charters in several countries at the same time. The key to its success was the international dollar, which enabled currency transfer and exchange on a stable basis. 

The system went into crisis in 1973 when the dollar came off the gold standard. US militarism, Cold War bases, and the War in Vietnam had drained US gold reserves. The multinational corporations (MNCs) realized they needed a way of controlling politics in other countries that didn’t depend on the US military. Thus, they developed a centralized form of global financial operations. 

This centralization of financial operations, in the context of a global dispersion of production (which occurred in the 80s) produced a profound division between the financial economy and the productive economy, in which the former was predominant over the latter. Production even became internationalist, with production assembly lines strung out through many countries. The result was the emergence of two other branches of economy, service (locally oriented), and logistics, the transport of goods, machines, and information from one place to another. Ships, planes, trucking, warehousing, computer communications, and the movement of money has become the bloodstream of the economy. Logistics doesn’t produce or finance, nor does it add value to commodities. But it has become essential to all economic processes. 

The way housing has reflected this corporate evolution  

Housing reflected this process as it developed. During the settlement of the continent, housing was built as lodging for farmers and townspeople. As the need was filled, houses got bought and sold. The resulting market in houses turned houses into commodities. After World War II, the housing boom brought different funding schemes into existence, and mortgaging became an industry of its own. It marked a separation between housing finance and housing commodification. Along with housing markets, what could be called a rental market developer that had financial implications far beyond mere owner debt and income. As with the separation between corporate finance and corporate production, housing rental markets became independent of the character of the housing, and rent were charged that had nothing to do with the actual house or its features. This was concomitant with the rise of subprime mortgages during the 2000s, and led to the crisis of 2008. Subprimes were invented to attract mortgage "buyers" who weren’t really ready for house ownership. The resulting overproduction of mortgages led to massive foreclosures on housing and the more general crisis of that year. 

In the wake of that crisis, a new form of financial corporation emerged, one in which houses were bought up in great quantities from banks and foreclosure auctions and impoverished owners, and became the substance of a new form of financialization. A corporation like Blackstone or Compass does not care if a house is occupied or not. It uses its ownership as pure asset value, as the underlying value for its corporate securities. Then, it makes money on the variations in price of those securities. So this sets housing into its last corporate phase as asset for financial corporations that don’t care what happens to the houses. 

In Berkeley, more market rate housing is going to be built, even in the face of a glut, and the financial corporations will get richer while more people will be priced out of the rental markets and be thrown into homelessness. 

In effect, these real estate corporations have become extractive, mining the “raw material” of low income communities like a kind of mineral. Low income properties produce higher value gains (capital gains), with higher development profits because they buy into low property value communities. 

In a sense, housing has become the orphan of the economy. It is produced by an industry that has only corporate customers, a debt structure that lends itself to endless speculation, an economic niche that locks housing into asset value, and which is economically separated from its social function as housing. It is not in the productive economy, nor the financial, nor the service economy. For that reason, it ends up in the logistics economy, simply as place, location, a space in which people can live, or go to when they get off work. 

If housing were to become a human right, it would be resurrected from its orphan status, and placed on the map (rather than the ledger) as a social factor. Many know this. It is government that has to catch up with that fact. What will this entail? 

Housing as a human right  

What does this idea signify in a society in which property rights take priority over human rights. 

Housing cannot be a human right as long as houses can be considered commodity property. In order for housing to be a human right, houses must enter a different relation to persons and to state power. They must escape being something that can reduce other human rights to lesser status. They must be that form of social property that prevents property rights from oppressing and impoverishing people. That would mean to strip way the intervening modes of economy, such as commodity, mortgage, and corporate asset, and bring housing back to earth as the human right to lodging and home. 

Let community begin again in such a resurrected human space. This is not a juridical or judicial or commercial consideration. It is an ethical issue.

We are now witnessing the darkest days of early Canadian history.The arrival of European traders, missionaries, soldiers and colonists changed the native way of life forever. 

First Nation tribes viewed the new intruders with profound distrust. To remedy native hostility devious plans were contrived to kidnap hundreds of indigenous children and obliterate all family ties and tribal customs. They were forbidden to speak their native languages and were given Christian names to replace their tribal names. The children were sent to Roman Catholic Residential homes for religious indoctrination. One can only imagine the horrors many of these children were subjected to by sexual predatory priests. 

Many of the schools were overcrowded and hundreds of the children unable to cope from the emotional trauma of being separated from their families and friends simply vanished. Hundreds of unmarked graves have been found at the former Residential Schools in Saskatchewan. The Residential School opened its doors in 1898 and it closed its doors, in 1996. Radar-penetrating research has located many of the unmarked burial sites. 

The Canadian government and the Vatican must apologize for these appalling crimes and offer massive REPARATIONS to assuage the deep sorrow of First Native tribal people.

In the private sector, being successful in your endeavors toward making money and achieving status are worshipped. The culture is often narcissistic, and it is all about promoting oneself and being the best at something. People compare themselves to others and try to see how well they measure up. People who've made a fortune are admired, emulated, and asked to do public speaking. In the private sector, ethics do exist. Sometimes they are overshadowed with the quest for more profit at any cost. But many companies are run conscientiously. Being an entrepreneur is generally a signal of status. And if a person can make their company successful, (which happens less than half the time) meaning the company is profitable and remains in business, more so. 

On the other hand, failure, and the inability to fulfill the requirements of a job are disrespected, and you are thought to be scum. If you feel victimized by your situation, you are punished for being the victim. Even if you call in sick one day, whether you're truly sick, you come under negative scrutiny. If you cannot succeed in a big way at something, you are looked upon as an object of ridicule. Money, power, and fame are godlike, and lack of money, lack of being "known" and lack of savvy, are the devil. 

The above is not always so. Many businesspersons have empathy. However, that doesn't get rid of the need to push aside a person who presents problems. 

Disabled people, especially those who seek work in one's company, are generally viewed as a nuisance to doing business. This is much more so if the disabled person is using an intermediary, meaning a social worker of some kind, to represent him or her. 99 percent of people in business want to hire a person who can do the job and who is his or her own agent, rather than someone who is deemed incompetent, or "special needs." 

Put this in contrast to how we are treated in the mental health caregiving system and in our dealings with government benefits. Success is presumed an impossibility. And when we make progress toward becoming successful, we are punished for it. 

In my past attempts at success in life, the primary cause of falling short has been me. Yet I want to say that the mental health caregiving systems don't do very much to help an individual who has lofty goals. Perhaps they assume we're having grandiose delusions. Mentally ill people find it much harder to succeed at something, partly because the care-receiving environment does not prepare us to fit in with the work world. 

The programs that prepare a young mentally ill woman or man to have a career are few and far between. Yet there are some, and for some they have had stellar results. So, I can't make a rule that says the mental health system is out to make everyone a failure or considers us no better than a herd of cattle. I may be apt to say that, but it would not be quite accurate. 

Community-based treatment is far better for us than living in a state hospital, something I've never done and hope to never do. My repeat hospitalizations have been caused by noncompliance with treatment and not by an evil government. Every time a person becomes noncompliant and relapses, they go down a notch in unpreparedness to succeed in life, because for success you need your brain. Relapsing is awfully bad for the brain. Many consumers make the error of thinking they're cured when they succeed in their job. This is a grave mistake. 

While some counselors who work in the system tend to reinforce victimhood, others are better and provide suggestions on how things could be made better. 

And, although the caregiving system has its flaws, it is the only thing that stands between us and calamity. We need the system more than it needs us. We need medication and other treatment, and we need government benefits. I would like to see more programs enacted that prepare mentally ill adults to move upward in our lives, whether we're young and fresh or older but can still learn new things. There aren't enough of these programs. And some, sadly, have been slashed due to budget cuts. 

Counselors are not to blame for the lack of success of their clients. The first step in succeeding at something is that we take responsibility for where we've ended up as of now. 

In a Senate procedural vote on whether to start debate on Senator Joe Manchin’s compromise For the People Act, which would add a nationwide voter ID requirement or other alternative like providing a utility bill receipt to prove identity; make Election Day a public holiday; along with an outline of about 24 other proposals that incorporate some of the original bill, including tighter campaign finance and ethics rules. The For the People Act ended as expected in a 50-50 vote along party lines. Sixty votes had been required to overcome Republicans’ use of the filibuster.  

The most viable option for passing the Act is to remove the filibuster rule by invoking the so-called nuclear option which would then require only a simple majority vote in the Senate to pass legislation. However, the filibuster need not be eliminated entirely but could instead be lowered from 60 to a lower number or changed. For example, in 2013 Democrats removed the 60-vote threshold and moved to majority votes for most federal court nominees, except to the Supreme Court. In 2017, Republicans used the nuclear option for Supreme Court nominees as well.  

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), however, are opposed to ending the filibuster to enact federal voting rights legislation. It is unclear whether they would vote to even change the filibuster rule. Meanwhile, 14 states have enacted 22 laws to make it harder to vote and other Republican-controlled states are considering similar legislation.  

On June 25, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Georgia over their recently-passed restrictive voting law. Hopefully this is just one of many such lawsuits. 

Senate Republicans’ refusal to even debate the Act and their previous refusal to vote for an independent commission on the January 6 Capitol riot should be enough evidence for Senate Democrats that bipartisanship is not possible with their Republican colleagues. Why, because Democrats try to govern through policy, while Republicans focus their energy on ideological interests and growing and preserving their political power.  

In a bit of satire, Andy Borowitz put it nicely: "Blasting the For the People Act, Senator Mitch McConnell claimed that the bill’s passage would bring the United States to the brink of democracy. The Democrats can dress this bill up any way they want, but their real agenda couldn’t be clearer, the Senate Minority Leader said. They want to turn the United States of America that we love and cherish into a democracy. Noting that the word 'democracy' originated in ancient Greece, he vowed, I will not sit idly by and watch a foreign form of government sneak across our border. McConnell rallied his fellow Republican senators by reminding them that we’re the only thing standing between this country and democracy. The people who voted for us did not vote for us so that other people could vote for other people,” he said.” Sometimes, as here, using exaggeration and hyperbole to get to a truth that the real news often cannot. 

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 Joe Biden’s presidency, opening the door for the unthinkable — the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

The 100 Millionaires Who Make Mitch Rich

Minority Lynchpin Mitch McConnell likes to snort that his fondness for the Jim Crow-era filibuster is rooted in his concern for "protecting the rights of the minority." Of course, Mitch is not talking about any impoverished racial minority here. No, he's talking about a much smaller cohort — the very-very-very tiny minority that controls the political levers of this country.

Public Citizen President Robert Weissman recently exposed how small Mitch's Minority really is. As Weissman noted: "Just 100 donors are responsible for 70 percent of Super PAC contributions" that power the Republican Party. Call them the .00000001 Percenters.

Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday, You Twos

Thanks to the political fund-raising gambit of asking citizens to "surprise" elected political representatives by "signing a birthday card" addressed to the lucky individual, I was surprised to discover and am pleased to report that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) both share the same birth date—June 22.

Warren's emailed response read: "It was a busy day in the Senate, and we ran headfirst into a Republican filibuster, but reading notes like yours always gives me just the fire I need to stay in the fight…. PS: My best present yesterday? Going out to a birthday dinner with my sweetie." 

Word Weirdities  

Isn't it odd that an employee can resign from a job permanently but an athlete can re-sign for another year? 

Edits on the Run 

The June 23 Chronicle ran a local front-page story with the headline: "Grand jury finds Peralta trustee are misbehaving." The article included an excerpt from a grand jury investigation that reported "a board member 'screamed and yelled' at an administrator (who was) doing their job…." 

What's In a Name? 

I came across a great name recently when I discovered a photographer named "Gaff Skidmore." Sounds like a two-word resume for an accident-prone skateboarder. Odd name for a photographer: worse name for a taxi driver. 

Watt's In a Name! 

There aren't too many TV reporters filing critical stories on the dogged, trouble-logged "roll-out" of the hulking 5G transmitters needed to power "The Internet of Things." But there is one award-winning investigative consumer-beat journalist (KCBS, KPIX, CBS News) who continues to share first-person encounters with the downsides of having a microwave antenna mounted on a power pole ten yards from your kitchen sink. 

And it pleases me no end that this seven-times Emmy Award-winning critic of joules and watts and high-energy hype is named … Julie Watts. 

Women Set to Face Off with George Washington 

Starting next year, George Washington's profile is due to disappear from US quarters to be replaced by the faces of some outstanding US women. This woke redesign is part of Rep. Barbara Lee's American Women Quarters Program. Lee's bill calls for stamping five female faces onto US Treasury coins each year through 2025. The first Fem Five to appear are: Berkeley writer and activist Maya Angelou, Astronaut Dr. Sally Ride, Native American women’s rights pioneer Wilma Mankiller, suffrage movement leader Adelina Otero-Warren, and Chinese-American film star Anna May Wong. 

Meanwhile, Joe Biden has not been able to deliver on Barack Obama's promise to put Harriet Tubman's face on the $20. The US Mint—claiming that it's easier to redesign a coin than to revamp a bill—has put the new $20 on hold until 2030. 

The first bill to get a gender make-over will be the $10, now set to debut in 2026. Back in 2015, the Treasury Department announced plans to replace Hamilton's familiar visage with a portrait of an unnamed "notable woman" in 2020—to mark the 100^th anniversary of the 19^th Amendment, which guaranteed a woman's right to vote. Why didn't that happen? According to Wikipedia: "this decision was reversed in 2016 due to the surging popularity of Hamilton, a hit Broadway musical based on Hamilton's life." 

The Berkeley Link to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" 

The Berkeley vets who oversee the Free Speech Movement Archives are frequently compelled to correct misleading references to the FSM. Recently an article in The Oxford Student surfaced that alleged a link between the Free Speech rebellion and Marvin Gaye's mega-hit "What's Going On." (The song is famous for its refrain: 'Mother, mother/ There's too many of you crying. Brother, brother, brother/ There's far too many of you dying.') 

The article asserted that: "The song was inspired by an incident of police brutality during protests in Berkeley, California as part of the Free Speech Movement and protests of the Vietnam War." 

FSM vet Anita Medal took a deep dive into the history of the sixties and discovered that there was, in fact, a Berkeley link to Gaye's "Anthem for the Ages." But is didn't have anything to do with the FSM or the anti-war movement.  

Medal doubted the alleged FSM-link from the get-go. "We weren't dying or heavily black. It was black sons, brothers and fathers who were being disproportionately conscripted and senselessly dying in Vietnam," she initially reported. "I doubt it's a quote from Gaye." 

Medal doubled down researching the source of the idea and finally announced the surprising news: "It's neither the FSM nor the Vietnam War. It was People's Park!" 

According to Wikipedia, the song's inspiration came from Motown singer Renaldo "Obie" Benson, a member of The Four Tops, whose tour bus brought the quartet to Berkeley on May 15, 1969. It was the day of the People's Park protests and Benson was an eyewitness to the police brutality that lead to the deadly event that became known as "Bloody Thursday." 

Police shot dozens of unarmed demonstrators and James Rector was felled by a fatal blast of buckshot. Disturbed by the violence, Benson asked his friend Ben Edmonds, "'What is happening here?' One question led to another. "Why are they sending kids so far away from their families overseas? Why are they attacking their own children in the streets?" 

The Story Behind "What's Going On" 

Google provides additional background: 

"What's Going On" was originally inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo "Obie" Benson .… Benson wanted the Four Tops to record his song, but they refused on the grounds that it was a protest song. He approached Joan Baez to record the song …, but was unsuccessful. Finally, he approached Marvin Gaye, who liked the song but wanted The Originals to cut a version of it. 

Benson eventually persuaded Gaye to record the song by offering him a cut of the royalties. Gaye definitely earned the credit by adding lyrics and other touches to the song. The song was recorded in June 1970, but Motown refused to release it at first, claiming it was 'uncommercial.'  

Finally the song was released and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, while topping the R&B chart. "What's Going On" is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest rock or R&B songs of all time, reaching the top 5 of the "500 Greatest Songs"… and as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. 

The song went on to sell more than two million copies, becoming Gaye's second-most successful recording. And almost no one knows about the song's genesis in Berkeley's dark day of tear-gas-and-blood. 

Trump as Speaker of the House? 

The Daily Kos recently posted a bizarre warning: "Republicans are so desperate to keep [Trump] front and center in the electoral debate, that they’re now talking about making him speaker of the House." 

It gets worse. According in a little-known quirk of the House’s rules, The Orange Lobster of Mar-a-Lago wouldn’t even need to be elected to anything to make that happen. In a major flub on the part of the Founding Fathers, the Constitution's Article 1, Section 2, states, “The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers...” A simple choice: no election required. There are no prerequisites for holding the position—not age, not skills, not even being elected to anything.  

Down through American history, the House speaker has always been a member of the House. But that's no hindrance to the Trump-troopers of the GOP plotting to make Trump the next speaker. 

The only thing that stands in the way of Trump's return to Washington in 2022 is Democratic control of the House. Otherwise, flipping a handful of seats from blue to red could open Washington's backdoor to the Orange Menace.  

Media Under Fire—in Hong Kong and Iran
The news can be appalling these days but readers around the world still cringed at reports that Hon Kong's Chinese-government-backed authorities had shut down the Apple Daily, a publication The New York Times called "rebellious and pro-democracy." 

The paper's bank accounts were seized and armed police stormed the Daily's headquarters to arrest the paper's three senior editors and two executives. The remaining staff (whose salaries were frozen by the authorities) stayed at their desks and worked without pay to produce the last issue of "one of Hong Kong's largest and most radical media organizations." 

The New York Times had less to say about the crackdown against the media inside Iran. In this case, however, the media wasn't attacked by government hard-liners. The villain in this case was not in Teheran but in Washington. 

On June 22, the US Justice Department boasted that its cyberwarriors had taken down Iran's state-owned Press TV and seized 36 Iranian websites. As commentator Caitlin Johnstone noted, this attack was undertaken by the same government that "paid for the weapons used to destroy more than 20 Palestinian media outlets in Gaza last month." (And the same government that kvetches about Russia's "meddling" in US media.) 

And yes, that was US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who tweeted on World Press Freedom Day that the US "continues to advocate for press freedom, the safety of journalists worldwide, and access to information on and offline." Note to Tony: You might want to retweet that message to the head of the Justice Department, US Attorney General Merrick Garland. 

A Breath-taking Performance 

Take the plunge and enjoy an in-depth immersion in a spectacular bit of water ballet called "Dance of the River Goddess Fei Tian." This video was broadcast on China's Henan TV recently as part of the annual Dragon Boat Festival Special. 

The dance is based on the story of Luo, the daughter of Fu Xi, the creator of humanity. Luo drowned in a river but was resurrected as a water goddess. 

The dancer's name is He Haohao. Leading to the question: "How she?" Some details, thanks to the South China Morning Post: The dance only lasts two minutes on screen but it took 26 hours to film. No information on how long it took to edit. 

Biden's Navy Sec Says NO to Nukes! 

During a June 4 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mike Milley testified they had not been in the loop when acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker circulated a memo that ordered the defunding of a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile (SLCM-N) planned for 2023. 

As Harker's three-page memo noted: "The Navy cannot afford to own, operate, and maintain its current infrastructure and must prioritize demolition to achieve long-term sustainment." 

The Pentagon's 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, issued by the Trump administration, identified the SLCM-N as a requirement but during the presidential campaign, candidate Joe Biden called the SLCM-N "a bad idea" 

Also in agreement: Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D-MD), and House Seapower Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Joe Courtney, (D-CN). Both have announced plans to defund the sea-and-sub-based atomic weapon. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is under mounting pressure to cut appropriations for new nuclear weapons. The Congressional Budget Office estimates eliminating the SLCM-N would free $9 billion that could be used to fund human services. 

Spend the Money on Health Care 

Navy Sec. Harker said another priority will be improved sailor mental health. Harker’s focus on mental health follows the Pentagon's August 2021 annual report to Congress, which cited an increase in suicide rates. A Defense Department inspector general report concluded that access to mental health services is inadequate—53% of active duty soldiers and their families lack access to mental healthcare. Harker revealed that every commander he has ever met knows of a member of their command who has committed suicide. 

For Every Soldier Killed in Combat, Four Veterans Commit Suicide 

More troubling news. While suicide rates in the general population have been on the rise in recent years, Pentagon suicides (for both active service members and veterans) have been rising even faster. A June 21 study by the Costs of War Project reported that 7,057 soldiers have lost their lives in the Global War on Terror but 30,177 veterans have died from suicide—a more-than four-fold difference. 

Among the contributing causes: "forever wars" involving extended terms of service and multiple deployments; the increased use of improvised explosive devices; the corrosive prolonged separation from families and, surprisingly; "the prevalence of sexual trauma." Although post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries are two key risk-factors for suicide, Pentagon data uncovered the surprising fact that most active-duty suicides were committed by service members who never served in combat. The spread of COVID-19 was also accompanied by a 20% rise in military suicides and spikes in "incidents of violent behavior." 

These shocking statistics, prompted a thought: Has anyone proposed honoring all the "unknown soldiers" who served in combat only to succumb to suicide? Has anyone — veterans organizations or anti-war organizations, perhaps — proposed commissioning a statue to commemorate their sacrifice? Perhaps a statue of a soldier kneeling in despair and staring at a pistol in his/her hand?  

Barbara Lee Vindicated

Rep. Lee was pilloried by members of her own party and became the target of op-eds, insults, and death threats. But she persisted in her principled insistence that Congress should never grant a president a blank check to wage war. 

Lee’s brave stance was vindicated this month when the 2002 AUMF was repealed by the House in a bipartisan vote. Now, it’s headed to the Senate. 

In the campaign to end "forever wars" and redirect wasteful and unaudited defense spending to serve human needs, Barbara Lee still takes the lead. 

More work remains to restrain presidential powers, end to forever wars, abolish nuclear weapons, and put an end to the billion dollar defense budgets that fuel the Military-Industrial Complex. Or, as former CIA officer Ray McGovern calls it, the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think-Tank complex, aka MICIMATT). 

(Note: Thank-you notes—and/or bank notes—can be sent to: Barbara Lee for Congress, 333 Hegenberger Road, Suite 369, Oakland, CA 94621.) 

Lay the Guns Down 

The Founders Sing 

The week started with a roundtable discussion Sunday evening on TOPA, the Tenants’ Opportunity Purchase Act. I was surprised by the slick mailers in opposition to TOPA that were shared on zoom during the discussion. TOPA was passed out of the Land Use Policy Committee May 20 with Councilmembers Hahn and Robinson voting yes and Droste voting no. If I had to take a guess on the outcome, TOPA has not shown up in any draft council agendas, making it look like the opposition is the winner. Of course, the city is in full throttle to finishing the budget by Tuesday evening. If TOPA does happen to squeak by in a vote later this year, I doubt it will benefit more than a handful of tenants. 

There were two budget meetings this last week and it doesn’t feel like the City is any further along. Most of the public commenters spoke to the union contract negotiations. At the Thursday meeting, Councilmember Harrison said that according to her calculations the police are 35% of the budget and there is an increase for the police of $8,000,000 for FY2022. Harrison said she was not happy with a “flat” police budget, but though she recognizes that this is a year of transition an increase is not okay. If that is how it stays, then she cannot vote for the budget, she said. This is money that won’t be available for other services. 

The next budget meeting, on Monday at 9 am, will be the telling one when the mayor reveals his proposal for FY2022. 

One of the books I read this last week was Tangled Up in Blue Policing the American City by Rosa Brooks. Brooks, who is a Professor of Law and Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, joined the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) as a volunteer reserve police officer for four years before writing Tangled Up in Blue. Reserve officers are sworn members of the MPD and have the same training, certification and responsibilities as traditional police officers. In the book Brooks gives depth to the training and experiences that can’t be covered in this brief interview, but the interview still gives a glimpse into the problems: https://wamu.org/story/21/03/30/dc-gw-law-professor-police-officer-book/ 

Even before reading Tangled Up in Blue, I was thinking about how the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force seems to be circling around reorganizing with the initiation of the Special Care Unit (SCU) for incidents involving the mentally ill and creating a new department of transportation to deal with traffic enforcement (BerkDOT) without ever touching the core issue: biased policing and the underlying causation. I’ve written previously about how the meetings feel orchestrated to achieve a predetermined end. The next meeting of the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force is Wednesday evening at 6 pm with police department overview as the main agenda item. 

Councilmember Bartlett authored, with co-sponsors Mayor Arreguin and former Councilmember Davila, the Safety for All: The George Floyd Community Safety Act, for development of a Progressive Police Academy. It was referred to the Public Safety Committee June 16, 2020 and withdrawn December 7, 2020 as financially infeasible. 

After reading Tangled Up in Blue, I wonder how much of the training of our police is the same as what Rosa Brooks experienced at MPD or if our police have a program like the one created between MPD and Georgetown University after a change in leadership at MPD and out of what Brooks found missing. Is there a forum for current events like the death of George Floyd, Tamar Rice, racism, biased policing? 

Community meeting #3 for the Ashby and North Berkeley BART Station Planning was Saturday and followed the Monday BART Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting. https://www.cityofberkeley.info/bartplanning/ 

I asked these questions: What has really been gained by the CAG meetings? and What would prevent city council from throwing out the CAG and Community recommendations as was done with the Adeline Corridor Plan? 

The answer from planner Alisa Shen wasn’t very satisfactory. She said she couldn’t predict what council will do; there are tradeoffs: financial and space. Also, decisions will include BART and council. 

The last meeting to mention (not the last attended) is the Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) Thursday evening. After weeks of citizens like me speaking up on native plants and bird safe glass, ZAB and Design Review Committee (DRC) are coming along. Bird safe glass was brought up again with the 2000 University 8-story mixed use building. Charles Kahn said he was looking into it and maybe council will have to take action. I informed Kahn that council has already voted. 

Council passed the bird safe glass ordinance November 12, 2019, but Berkeley’s convoluted process means that the ordinance passed in 2019 still has hoops to jump through like Planning Commission before it actually hits the books as a requirement. The Planning Commission in its great wisdom or loss of it, put the bird safe ordinance/construction under miscellaneous #54 as NR (not ranked) with no staff assigned. https://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Planning_and_Development/Level_3_-_Commissions/Commission_for_Planning/2021-03-17_%20PC_%20Item%209.pdf 

San Francisco implemented a bird safe glass ordinance in 2011, Oakland 2013, Richmond 2016 and Alameda 2018. https://goldengateaudubon.org/conservation/make-the-city-safe-for-wildlife/standards-for-bird-safe-buildings/ Birds in Berkeley will continue to lose their lives unnecessarily in collisions with transparent or reflective glass. Interesting how Arreguin has time to promote himself in an interview national TV with Lester Holt, but here at home he is mayor of a city that can’t manage in 19 months to get the bird safe glass dark skies ordinance implemented. 

In closing, there were three other books I finished this week. Crimson Letters Voices from Death Row ( by Tessie Castillo with contributions by: Michael J. Braxton, Lyle May, Terry Robinson and George Wilkerson) is a collection of essays. Tessie Castillo is a journalist who taught a journaling class to death row inmates in North Carolina until in May 2014 when she wrote an editorial in the Raleigh News & Observer; after which she was quickly dismissed. Castillo continued to exchange letters with the prisoners resulting in the collection Crimson Letters Voices from Death Row where they write about their lives of dysfunction, poverty, drugs, virtues and failings and evolution to self-reflection. 

You can find reviews of Premonition by Michael Lewis everywhere including the SF Chron pink section May 23 – 29. In response to a friend who complained that one of his heroes was not included, not everyone can be covered in 320 pages. I had trouble putting the book down. It kept me up until 4 am at least one morning. 

Last is The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee. I’m losing count of all the books I’ve read on race. This morning I turned on State of the Union to pass the time of my morning workout. Mitt Romney was being questioned about teaching Critical Race Theory. Romney responded with this: Parents should determine what their children are taught. 

How will we ever move forward in a country that is forever trying to bury the ugly truths? Then I thought about the conversation with a neighbor just a few blocks away on Tuesday morning. Somehow in our casual chat, she told me her 92-year old mother had just sold the family home in the San Pablo Park district. I let out an “oh no!” and told her about the Berkeley council vote to eliminate single family homes as exclusionary and racist. The neighbor, Juanita, is Black and she let out an exclamation of disbelief. She had me laughing with her discourse on apartment living, but it is no laughing matter when an industry uses race to swell its profits. 

As I walked away, I thought about how the three of us, two Black and me, White, standing on the corner chatting, jumping from one subject to another during the power outage while PG&E replaced a rotted transformer pole was all so pleasant. The Sum of Us is about what we gain together and what we lose through racism. 

Worth Noting:

Monday morning at the 9 am Budget and Finance Committee Mayor Arreguin will present his proposed budget for the fiscal year July1, 2021 – June 30, 2022.

Tuesday evening at 6 pm the City Council will vote on the budget for the fiscal year July1, 2021 – June 30, 2022.

Wednesday evening the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force meets at 6 pm.

Thursday evening the agenda for the Public Works Commission is not posted, check later.

Sunday the 4^th of July fireworks are cancelled.



Sunday, June 27, 2021 - No City meetings or events found



Monday, June 28, 2021 

Council Budget & Finance Committee at 9 am, 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87010068054 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 870 1006 8054 

AGENDA: 2. Discussion Proposed FY 2022 Budget, 3. Discussion Referrals to Budget Process, 3. Discussion and Possible Action on Mayor’s Proposed Supplemental Budget Recommendations. 

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

Agenda and Rules Committee, 2:30 pm, 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87071301412 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 870 7130 1412 

AGENDA: 2. Agenda Planning for 7/13/2021 (draft agenda for 7/13 regular council meeting follows the list of meetings) 3. Berkeley Considers 4. Adjournment in Memory, 6. Council Referrals for Scheduling, 7. Land Use Calendar, Referred Items for Review: 8. Discussion Impact of COVID-19, Unscheduled Items: 9. Strengthening and Supporting Commissions, 10. Preliminary Analysis of Return to in-person meetings. 

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

Ashby and North Berkeley BART Community Advisory Group (CAG) 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/98680115389 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 986 8011 5389 

AGENDA: Office Hours 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/bartplanning/ 

Mayor Jesse Arreguin last scheduled Town Hall on COVID-19 at 6 pm 

Use link to Submit questions by 3 pm Monday using form, watch Town Hall live or to watch recording later https://www.jessearreguin.com/ 

Children, Youth and Recreation Commission at 7 – 9 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/91252916243 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 912 5291 6243 

AGENDA: 8. COVID Related Program Changes, 9. Recreation Program and Facility Updates, 10. FY22 Annual Work Plan 

http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Children_Youth_and_Recreation_Commission/ 

Zero Waste Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/s/82587046286 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 825 8704 6286 

AGENDA: 6. Staff Updates: Solid Waste and Recycling Transfer Station CEQA Study, Cal Move Out, Mattress Recycling Pilot Program, Textile Recycling, Single Use Foodware & Litter Reduction, AB881, AB1454, AB 1276 Council Recommendation, Zero Waste Strategic Plan, Discussion/Action: 1. Report-back from COVID Related Waste Mitigation Subcommittee, 2. SB 1383 County Ordinance and CoB Opt-in, 3. Commission Restructuring. 

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

Tuesday, June 29, 2021 

City Council Regular Meeting at 6 pm, 

email: council@cityofberkeley.info 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83147858591 

Teleconference: Meeting ID: 831 4785 8591 

Council will vote on Budget for FY2022. To read full agenda use the link or go to the agenda after the list meetings 

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

Wednesday, June 30, 2021  

Reimagining Public Safety Task Force at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83728229201 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 837 2822 9201 

AGENDA: Subcommittee Reports: Policing, Budget & Alternatives to Policing, Community Engagement, Subcommittee Discussion: Improve and Reinvest Subcommittee, AAPI Community Engagement Subcommittee, Discussion/Action: Police Dept Overview – Interim Chief Louis 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/RIPST.aspx 

Thursday, July 1, 2021 

Landmarks Preservation Commission at 7 – 11:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/99455191476 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 994 5519 1476 

AGENDA: 5. 2942 College – Demolition Referral, 6. 2213 Fourth Street – Demolition Referral, 7. 2221 Fourth & 2216 Fifth Street – Demolition Referral, 8. 2546-2554 Bancroft – plaque content for Fred Turner Building, 9. Annual election. 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/landmarkspreservationcommission/ 

Public Works Commission at 7 – 10 pm 

Meeting is listed in Community Calendar and on webpage, however, no videoconference link or agenda is listed. 

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

Willard Clubhouse Community Meeting at 6:30 – 8 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/98034178023 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 980 3417 8023 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventMain.aspx?calendarEventID=17419 

Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) at 1:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89718217408 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 897 1821 7408 

AGENDA: 5. Staff Reports: b. monthly financials, c. Federal legislative update, d. State legislative update, e. Monthly Ridership and Recovery, 7. RFP for 6-month pilot between SSF and Downtown SF, 8. Approve Contract with Curtain Maitime Corp for Dredging and Marine Construction Services for Vallejo terminal dredging, 9. Approve Lynne Yu as CFO. 

Friday, July 2, 2021 & Saturday, July 3, 2021 - No City meetings or events found 

Sunday, July 4, 2021 – Holiday 

Berkeley 4^th of July activities and fireworks are canceled – list of activities and cancellations in surrounding cities https://patch.com/california/berkeley/4th-july-fireworks-2021-canceled-berkeley?utm_term=article-slot-1&utm_source=newsletter-daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter 

Monday, July 5, 2021 – City Offices Closed - Holiday 

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Agenda and Rules Committee, 2:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87071301412 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 870 7130 1412 

Draft agenda for 7/13 regular council meeting, CONSENT: 1. Formal Bid Solicitations $663,976, 2. Contract $1,200,000 (includes 7.3% contingency $82,000) with ERA Construction, Inc. for the O&K Docks Electrical Upgrade Project at the Berkeley Marina, 3. Amend Contract add $50,000 total $2,144,056 with Suarez and Munoz Construction for San Pablo Park Playground and Tennis Court Renovation Project, 4. Authorize City Manager (CM) to accept Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) grants of $75,000 (competitive), $83,506 (non-competitive) and Priority Development Area (PDA) Grant $750,000 for San Pablo Ave, 5. Accept Grant $135,462 from CA Highway Patrol (CHP) Cannabis Tax Fund to reduce impaired driving detection/investigation training for officers, community education in Berkeley, 6. Resolution approving adjusted fees for 2018 Clean Stormwater Fee, 7. Contract $702,384 (includes $117,064 contingency) for Central Library Waterproofing & Restoration Project, 8. Amend Contract add $150,000 total $200,000 and extend by 2 yr to 11/30/2023, 9. Resolution supporting ending Qualified Immunity Act, ACTION: 10. CM – Zoning Map Amendment of Parcels at 1709 Alcatraz, 3404 King 3244 Ellis, 1717 Alcatraz and 2024 Ashby rezone to Commercial – Adeline Corridor District (C-AC) and revise boundaries of the Adeline Corridor Specific Plan Area to include the 5 parcels, 11. CM – Conduct a public hearing and adopt the first reading of local Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance, 12. Harrison, co-sponsors Bartlett, Taplin – Adopt Resolution Updating City of Berkeley (CoB) Street Maintenance and Rehabilitation Policy and Refer to Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment and Sustainability (FITES) potential bonding and funding opportunities for improving the Paving Condition Index (PCI), 13. CM – Housing Element Annual Progress Report, 14. Arreguin – Endorse All Home CA Regional Action Plan on Homelessness, 15. Taplin – Amend BMC Section 14.56.070 for 3-Ton Commercial Truck Weight Limit between University and Dwight on Tenth Street, Ninth Street, Eighth Street and Seventh Street, INFORMATION REPORTS: Work Plans, 16. Animal Care Commission 2021/2022, 17. Commission on Disability, 18. Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Product Panel of Experts. 

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June 29, 2021 - City Council Regular Meeting at 6 pm 

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

email comments to council@cityofberkeley.info 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83147858591 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 831 4785 8591 

AGENDA CONSENT: Items 1-12 Tax Rates 2^nd reading: 1. Library Improvements General Obligation Bonds FF, 2. General Obligation Bonds Measures G,S & I, 3. Affordable Housing General Obligation Bonds Measure O, 4. Business License Tax on Large Non-Profits, 5. Firefighting, Emergency Medical Response and Wildfire Prevention Measure FF, 6. Maintenance Parks, City Trees and Landscaping, 7. Provision of Library Services, 8. Emergency Services for Severely Disabled Measure E, 9. Infrastructure and Facilities General Obligation Bonds Measure T1, 10. Street and Watershed Improvements General Obligation Bonds Measure M, 11. Fire Protection and Emergency Response and Preparedness Measure GG, 12. Provision of Emergency Medical Services Paramedic Tax, 13. Outdoor Dining - Parkletts 2^nd reading, 14. Minutes, 15. 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, 16. Appointment of Katherine as Interim Director of Police Accountability, 17. Formal Bid Solicitations, 18. Appropriations limit for FY2022 $311,493,168, 19. FY 2022 Revision to Investment Policy and Designation of Investment Authority Director of Finance, 20. Project Homekey Request for Proposals (RFP) 21. 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, 22. Contract $1,432,011 using Measure E funds with Easy Does It for Disability Services and Audit Recommendation for FY2022 & FY2023, 23. Contract FY2022 & FY2023 with Eviction Defense Center (EDC) for Housing Retention Program, 24. Energy Commission - Resolution to Upgrade Residential and Commercial Customers to EBCE Renewable 100, 25. Auditor – Berkeley’s Fleet Replacement Fund Short by Millions with report back by January 2022, 26. Taplin – Resolution supporting freedom for Nasrin Sotoudeh and all other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Islamic Republic of Iran, 27. Harrison – Resolution Urging MTC to Program and Prioritize American Rescue Plan Act Funds to support Bay Area Transit riders. ACTION: 28. Appointment Police Accountability Board, 29. City Manager – Adoption FY2022 Budget, 30. FY2022 Annual Appropriations, 31. Borrow $45,000,000 and sale and issuance of FY2021-2022 Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes, INFORMATION REPORTS: 32. Voluntary Time off program for FY2022, 33. FY2022 Civic Arts Grant Awards, 34. FY2021 2^nd quarter Investment Report ended 12/31/2020, 35. FY2021 3^rd quarter Investment Report ended 3/31/2021, 36. Commission on Aging Work Plan. 

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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 (demolish existing unit and construct 4 detached) 7/27/2021 

1634 & 1640 San Pablo (Acme Bread Co) 6/29/2021 

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

1182 Euclid 6/29/2021 

1380 Gilman 7/1/2021 

1131 Hillview 7/13/2021 

1201 Hopkins 7/6/2021 

2526 MLK Jr Way 7/6/2021 

2326 Roosevelt 

1527 Sacramento 7/6/2021 

1634 San Pablo 6/29/2021 

3015 San Pablo 7/13/2021 

2768 Shasta 7/13/2021 

2941 Telegraph 7/1/2021 

3001 Telegraph 7/1/2021 

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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