Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods says SB 118 is poorly drafted and confusing, and wouldn’t solve the dire situation that UC has created for students in California.

SB 118, introduced today in the California State Legislature, is poorly drafted and confusing, attempts to admit a small number of additional students to the UC Berkeley campus in 2022, but does nothing to solve the dire situation that UC has created for students in California.

Despite overwhelming evidence that UC has failed to house and support students, and increased campus crowding to the point that many students can’t graduate in four years, the bill would allow UC to continue rapid enrollment growth with no mitigation for least for 18 months after a court finds that UC has failed to analyze or mitigate growth impacts.

“We are very disappointed to see that the legislature is reacting in such an ill-considered way to UC Berkeley’s cynical use of students as pawns,” said Phil Bokovoy, President of Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods. “Instead the legislature should be focusing on the dire situation of students who face often insurmountable problems with housing, crowded classrooms and the inability to graduate in 4 years. Low income students have suffered the most from UC Berkeley’s 50% enrollment growth since the early 2000s.”

The bill attempts to allow UC to continue to increase enrollment far beyond current levels, even if that enrollment has severe impacts on the local community. For example, in the last 18 months, UC Berkeley increased enrollment by over 2700 students. Those 2700 students have likely displaced additional low income households in Berkeley. Further increases for the Fall of 2022 will only accelerate the local housing crisis. -more-

Daniel Dean, known simply as Dan, of Berkeley, passed away at the age of 93 on February 17, 2022 from COVID related pneumonia.

While born in Oakland, he lived 86 years of his life in Berkeley during which he was deeply involved in improving the lives of children and their families through counseling and education. For 56 years he was the beloved husband of former Berkeley City Council Member and Mayor, Shirley Dean, loving father of Daniel and John, and grandfather of two.

Dan had a life-long commitment to education and counseling. He attended Hillside Elementary School where he was a member of the fledging Junior Traffic Control, attended then called Garfield Jr. High and Berkeley High School and on to UC-Berkeley where he was a member of Theta Xi fraternity. As his life goals began to become more focused, he went to work as a counselor in the California Youth Authority facility, Fricot Ranch School in San Andreas, California. At that time, Fricot housed boys as young as eight years who had been committed to the CYA for crimes as serious as murder. He worked there for about two years when he decided he wanted to do more to prevent children from entering a life of crime, so he enrolled at San Francisco State University where he obtained a Master’s Degree and met the requirements that enabled him to work as a teacher and as a State Certified Guidance Counselor. -more-

People's Park advocates spent over a year providing information to the East Bay Sierra Club appealing for their support for People's Park remaining public open space in the densest, most under-parked area in town. One of the sympathetic members prepared a letter of support to present at their meeting, but pulled it from the March 1, 2022, agenda when "advocates" objected that they might look like NIMBYs, or "not in my backyard" people.

In the meantime, the University of California's Capital Strategies just unveiled a new plan not just to demolish a public park, an underground creek, and a community garden (People's Park) in favor of 12 stories of high-end, student-only housing --- they plan to demolish a twelve-story building on campus and replace it with open space.

The Sierra Club Executive Committee is not unaware that People's Park is full of redwoods and sequoia, pollinators and native plants. They are not unaware that retrofit and re-use is the greener alternative to demolition, or that demolishing parks is abhorrent. They include Berkeley City Council member Sophie Hahn and former Rent Board Commissioner Igor Tregub, neither of whom offered any objection to the default position the Sierra Club's Executive Committee is now taking: having nothing to say about sacrificing parks for housing when alternatives exist. -more-

The February 24th invasion of Ukraine has ushered in a new world order. Remarkably, it's like that predicted by George Orwell in his book, 1984: three perpetually warring superstates. (In 1984, these states were "Oceania," the english-speaking world and South America, "Eurasia," Europe and Russia, and "Eastasia," China and southern Asia.) Putin's act of war has created a wall between Russia and most of the western world, with Ukraine, Moldava, and Georgia as disputed territory. -more-

Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods offers partial relief to UC Berkeley from enrollment pause; 1,000 more deserving California high school students could attend UC Berkeley in person -more-

Honorable Mayor Jesse Arreguín –

We are writing to you, as we have received no response from the city thus far concerning the traumatic event that took place a month ago, on February 2, 2022. First to our representative, Honorable Ben Barlett, who joined us via Zoom to offer his sympathies. We also contacted Dr. Lisa Warhuus, Director of Health, Housing, and Human Services, who we are currently negotiating the Specialized Care Unit Bridge Services contract (Specification No. 22-11472- C) to provide Peer-Run non-police crisis response.

We request an immediate meeting with you, Mr. Mayor, Madam City Manager, Police Chief Jennifer Louis, and Dr. Lisa Wuurhus. The reason for our request is that on February 2nd, 2022 Jorge, Program Manager of the Berkeley Drop-In Center, a young Black father, was detained at gunpoint by Berkeley police officers. He recounts the incident as, “brutalizing, shaming, traumatizing and completely unnecessary” He says it “felt like they wanted to kill me.” -more-

It was a very full week and the survival of Ukraine and the Ukrainians hangs over _everything changing minute by minute and hour by hour. It looks like Putin has decided that since the Ukrainians didn’t lie down and welcome the invasion, he will rain down massive destruction until there is nothing left to save. The “Z” on everything Russian presumably representing Zelensky is chilling. -more-

The insanity and humiliation of Vladimir Putin, the former K.G.B. officer, has been festering ever since the collapse of the former Soviet empire. Buoyed by the sweeping success of Crimea where hardly a shot was fired, the messianic Putin made the tragic mistake of invading Ukraine shocking the world by its utter brutality but encountering a fierce opposition. Putin, 67, has run Russia, as president and prime minister, for 21 years, a feat surpassed only by Joseph Stalin. He is surrounded by highly corrupt political cronies who have used their enormous wealth and privilege to enjoy high-end European perks with massive real-estate investments. On the home front, Putin has repressed free speech with utter brutality. To quell any form of opposition the ex-KGB spy has amassed a terrifying array of assassination tools. Unfortunately, Putin has grossly mismanaged the economy which is in terrible shape suffering from chronic capital light. One eye-popping investment of $390bn was a major failure. -more-

The brains and minds of people are limited, and following sustained exertion, they need recovery time and rest. If you overextend the mind, in any way, shape or form, it can sometimes cause damage from which it is hard to recover. This is a type of damage that many people, including mental health professionals, would have a hard time understanding and/or measuring.

When I push too far beyond what I know to be my natural limits, I seem to incur damage to the operating systems that make my personality work. I was in such a situation in 2018, and it affected how I behaved; it also made me far less tolerant of any kind of demanding situation. The reversal to such damage took me a long time to do, despite my knowing some types of self-training that I utilized, that eventually fixed it.

So many people treat their minds as though machines that should always work for anything. This may be okay for some, but it doesn't work for me. When I am not at a hundred percent, I might refuse to do things that other people expect me to do. I will also postpone some tasks until such time as I am ready to do them.

People have not been pleased when I've refused to do as they expect. Often, I will refuse a task or series of tasks because I know my limitations and I know that based on those limitations, trying to do the thing(s) will be beyond what I can reasonably do. I don't ascribe to "no pain, no gain." Pain is an excellent signal provided by the body, giving us information that we must back off from whatever it is we're trying to do. -more-

Running a Marathon — by Chance

There are just too many things to worry about these days. Climate change is worse than we thought. The Bay Area's overdue earthquake is still overdue. Ukrainian cities and civilians are being bombarded. Russia and Washington are making references to the "nuclear option." The Golden State Warriors squandered a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter....

I needed a distraction, so I took a break by running in the Berkeley Half-Marathon.

Actually, I couldn't avoid it. Part of the Marathon's course overlaps with my much-shorter Sunday jog—from the Monterey Market up to the Berkeley Rose Garden and back.

If anyone were to ask, I could honestly boast that I "easily passed hundreds of other runners."

If anyone were to cast a doubtful look, I would have to confess: while the half-marathoners were all running west, I was heading east, uphill to the Marin Circle Fountain. Once there, I reversed direction and joined the flood of marathoners for the downhill trot back to Hopkins Street.

It was a kick, running past the residents gathered along the curb, banging bells, clapping hands, and shouting words of encouragement: "Looking good!" "Way to go!" "You're gonna make it!" "Suck it up, slowpoke!"

I figure I only ran a half-of-a-half-of-a-half-of-a-Half Marathon but my legs are still sore. -more-

Bill Schrader
The Austin Group
164 Gale Road
Alamo,
CA 94507

Dear Mr. Schrader,
When I first learned of this proposal I was concerned about its effect on the Shattuck Cinemas, but then I heard that you had expressed the intent to keep the theaters intact. However, when I examined the sketch on the City of Berkeley Planning Department poster on the side of the building, I could find no indication of the presence of the theaters. This could simply be due to the fact that the entrance to the Shattuck Cinemas is on Shattuck Avenue. However, I write for confirmation that you appreciate the cultural and economic importance of the 10-screen Shattuck Cinemas and have no intention of harming them. -more-

Worth Noting:

A packed week ahead that closes with daylight savings time.

Policing in Berkeley starts Monday with a policing proposal, followed with an ordinance to prohibit discriminatory reporting to law enforcement at the Public Safety Committee at 10:30 am. Monday afternoon at 2:30 pm the Agenda Committee will review the draft agenda for March 22 which contains item 40 undoing protections from no cause search and seizure of persons on parole/probation. Monday afternoon at 4 pm is the Press Conference following Berkeley Police holding the Program Manager of the Berkeley Drop-in Center at gunpoint, handcuffed and on the ground who was at work doing his job completing decorations in observation of Black History month. Monday evening at 7 pm the Personnel Board will review a revised job description/classification for the investigator of police misconduct. Tuesday evening at City Council is the report of the implementation of Fair and Impartial Policing in Berkeley and the Crime and Collision report. Wednesday is the Police Accountability Board at 7 pm. Thursday morning at 9 am the Budget Committee will take up the report from the auditor citing improvements needed in managing police overtime and the absence of contracts with outside entities. Thursday evening is a special council meeting to receive the reports on the Reimagining Policing work at 6 pm. If all three reports are read the total is 754 pages.

BART Parking, Parking enforcement and reconfiguring Hopkins starts Monday morning at 10:30 am the Public Safety Committee will review the recommendation from the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission to enforce existing parking code in high fire zones. The Hopkins Traffic Corridor study and recommendations is Monday evening at 6 pm. The BART meeting on parking at the BART stations is Wednesday at 6 pm. The BART housing developments will be built on the Ashby and North Berkeley BART parking lots.

Toxic Contamination, groundwater and sea level rise (SLR) presentation by Kristina Hill is Tuesday at 3 pm. The impact on groundwater and toxic sites is the piece of SLR that never gets attention. This is important as it changes the assumptions of SLR impacts.

Saturday March 12^th the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council will take up Berkeley issues, the agenda isn’t posted yet, but the above makes it look like a full plate. -more-

Perennial favorite Jordi Savall returned to Berkeley on Friday evening, March 4, 2022, under the auspices once again of Cal Performances. This time, Jordi Savall was joined by the ensemble he and his late wife, Montserrat Figueras, founded many years ago, Le Concert des Nations. For this concert the music offered came from the 1992 film by Alain Corneau Tous les Matins du Monde. This beautiful film, with an imaginative scenario by Pascal Quignard, dealt with the relations between the reclusive master viola da gambist Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (ca. 1640-ca.1701) and the young Marin Marais (1656-1728), whom Sainte-Colombe reluctantly agreed to tutor. So gifted was the pupil that Marin Marais quickly rose to become principal violist in the court orchestra of Louis XIV at Versailles, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Lully. For this film, Jordi Savall directed and performed the music of Sainte-Colombe, Marais, Lully, Couperin, and others. Quite remarkably, the film Tous les Matins du Monde enjoyed huge international success. Moreover, a recording of the original sound track of this film became a hit among music buffs, thus expanding interest in early classical music. For the March 4 concert at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church, Le Concert des Nations was comprised of director Jordi Savall on seven-string viola da gamba; Manfredo Kraemer on violin; Charles Zebley on flute; Marco Vitale on harpsichord; Lucas Harris on theorbo and guitar; and Philippe Pierlot on seven-string viola da gamba. Opening the concert the musicians performed a Suite from the opera Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme by Jean-Baptiste Lully, composed for the play by Molière. Featured was ceremonial music for the Turks, and for this music, Lucas Harris played guitar, and Philippe Pierlot offered frequent pizzicato accompaniment to the ensemble. Next came the work entitled Le Retour, from the Concert XLI for two violes by Sainte-Colombe. The burnished tones of the two violas da gamba melded beautifully as they exchanged musical motifs in lively interaction. -more-