Full Text

 

News

The Hopkins Street Bicycle Folly

Jeff Kaplan
Tuesday May 03, 2022 - 08:09:00 PM

The City of Berkeley has managed to turn the bicycle into a weapon of civic destruction. Its bicycle policy is damaging neighborhoods, endangering bicyclists and undermining the legitimacy of governance while squandering millions of dollars. 

The proposal for Hopkins Street is a case in point. Known as the Hopkins Corridor Project, the proposal will come before City Council on May 10. It addresses Hopkins Street from Sutter Street at its eastern edge and continues west to Gilman Street. This stretch of road first goes through an area of mostly single family residences, followed by a segment with a public library and a stretch of city parks and other recreational facilities. It then enters a small but lively business district near the intersection of Hopkins and Monterey Street with food stores, a cafe, a hair salon, a dry cleaner, and child care centers. The westernmost section of Hopkins Street covered by the Project is heavily traversed by freeway commuters and is classified by the city as an arterial road. 

The plan calls for the creation of a two-way bicycle track on the south side of Hopkins Street running from The Alameda to Gilman. This type of bicycle track allows bicycles to travel in both directions on one side of the road. 

Transportation staff members know riding a bicycle in the type of two-way bicycle track the city is proposing would be more dangerous than simply riding on the main roadway with automobiles. A study published by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety cites a bike track in Washington D.C. as a particularly egregious example. It is "about two-thirds of a mile long" and "is crossed five times by other streets and four times by alleys or driveways." The two-way bike track on Hopkins Street would be almost exactly the same length and would be crossed five times by other streets and twenty-eight times by driveways. 

During an on-line session with neighborhood residents, Transportation Division staff member Ryan Murray as much as admitted that the proposed two-way bicycle track would be dangerous. However, he used a weasel word when he noted that a section of the bike track that would run along side the city park had no driveways or intersections and was thus much more "feasible" than the rest of the bike track,which would be crossed by numerous driveways and intersections. 

Mr. Murray was merely adhering to the principles of Berkeley's Bicycle Plan which declares that the goal of bicycle infrastructure projects such as the Hopkins Corridor Project is to widen the appeal of bicycle riding "to a broader segment of the population" by creating a network of "low stress" bikeways throughout the city. The Plan defines "stress" as "the perceived sense of danger associated with riding in or adjacent to vehicle traffic." The perception of safety rather than the actuality of safety seems to be the primary concern. As Mr. Thomas explained, because he and his colleagues could not find an alternative that "we felt was...low stress," they chose to have bicyclists continue on the two-way track. 

There are other serious problems in addition to safety. The installation of the bicycle track requires the elimination of all of the parking along Hopkins from the Monterey intersection to Gilman. The result will be a major increase in congestion and a concomitant increase in greenhouse gas emissions as shoppers circle looking for parking, especially when afternoon commute traffic is present. Local business will be undermined as frustrated shoppers are likely to go elsewhere. 

Meanwhile, the City Council seems set on approving this project despite its obvious shortcomings. Moreover, no one has offered a reasonable explanation of its benefits. The shops at the Monterey Avenue intersection are easily accessible via the California Street bicycle boulevard. Very few bicyclists use Hopkins Street itself, a fact the city apparently did not wish to have on record since they never did a bicycle count. 

Bicycles can and should be an important option for transportation in Berkeley. The city already has a robust set of bicycle boulevards on streets with light car traffic that are both safe and "low stress." Cyclists can use them to reach most parts of the city, including the Hopkins Street commercial area. 

A few bicycle enthusiasts from organizations such as Walk Bike Berkeley and Bike East Bay appear to have an outsized influence at city hall. They seem to be driven by an ideological obsession rather than rational thought. A housing YIMBY group called North Berkeley Now! recently joined them in submitting recommendations for changes to Hopkins Street that go far beyond the current proposal. And since we have been told the Hopkins Corridor Plan is just a "concept" that will be more fully defined during the engineering phase, it is impossible to know how much of the bicycle enthusiasts’ recommendations will be implemented. 

The way the city misuses its own survey data to support its bicycle policy further reinforces the sense that its policy is not based on reality. During the on-line sessions with Hopkins Street neighbors, Transportation Division staff kept repeating that 70 percent of the Berkeley residents surveyed expressed interest in riding a bicycle but were concerned about the safety of doing so. They went on to make the claim that the presence of "low stress" bicycle facilities would lead to a 70 percent increase in bicycling. 

However, the survey itself was badly skewed. Seventy-nine percent of the people they surveyed said they had ridden a bicycle during the previous month. It is highly unlikely the survey respondents constituted a representative sample of Berkeley's residents. 

Mark Twain once said "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." 

In Berkeley "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and bicycle plans." 


Fire Damages Anna Head Building at UC Berkeley

Keith Burbank
Monday May 02, 2022 - 06:40:00 PM

A historic hall owned by the University of California at Berkeley was damaged in a fire Monday, university officials said.  

Firefighters responded a little before noon to Anna Head Alumnae Hall, in the 2400 block of Bowditch Street. The hall was built in 1927 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

No one was injured but four people evacuated from the top floor of the building, according to the university. 

Crews had the fire out at 1:42 p.m., but flames and water caused damage. No other buildings were damaged. The cause of the fire is under investigation, university officials said.  

Anna Head Alumnae Hall served as the assembly hall for the Anna Head School Complex and was acquired by UC Berkeley in 1964. It was currently being used as a reception hall, according to the university's website.


A Berkeley Activist's Diary, Week Ending May 1

Kelly Hammargren
Saturday April 30, 2022 - 04:28:00 PM

There is so much going on it is hard to know where to start and what should percolate through for mention.

The City of Berkeley has turned on the new website. The pictures and font are clean. It is great if you want a parking permit, but if you are looking for a city commission or council committee it is a bit more complicated. If you are planning on joining a meeting do NOT wait until the last minute.

If you use google to find a city webpage as I often do, expect to land in the dreaded “404: Page Not Found WE’RE SORRY, BUT THIS PAGE EITHER HAS BEEN MOVED, DELETED, OR DOES NOT EXIST.”

Don’t give up!

You need to look around the screen. If you landed on a page that hasn’t been “disappeared” there will be possible options. “Your Government” will get you to Boards and Commissions and “City Council” to regular and special meetings. Then you need to keep scanning the Council page to find Council Committees. It is going to be a rough few days while we get used to the new arrangements. If you are on a “disappeared” webpage go to https://berkeleyca.gov/ or cityofberkeley.info to start your search over.

The Budget Committee meetings on April 27, 28, and 29 were video recorded. This is new and hopefully will continue. Not all is perfect, some listings are not up to date, for example the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission comes with “there are no results matching your selection” and some things are just missing, like all the reports and documents from the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force (RIPST) webpage. I happened to still have the RIPST open in my browser and copied the list of attachments though the links no longer function and the documents have disappeared into the ether.

Hopefully missing information will be discovered and reconnected. Possibly, I haven’t found the path to its location, but I worry that the conversion to the new website cleanses documents from view into records online searches, public records requests or worse. 

Outside consultants contracted by Berkeley like https://smartspace.goberkeley.info/ ,who are planning the pay for parking pilots in residential neighborhoods, are still not connected to the City website. You have to know what/who to look for. Smartspace conducted two meetings this last week, but between Eventbrite and so much going on, I couldn’t attend 

On to what happened last week: 

The only statement of interest from the Monday Agenda Committee was from the Mayor who said he would present his response to Reimagining Public Safety on May 5th. There is no posted special meeting announcement and it is hard to tell if the meeting will actually happen on the stated date with short public notice or if the Mayor will “reschedule” to another time. Short notice seems to be the new habit when there is likely to be a heavy dose of negative comment. 

The Zero Waste Commission did have a lengthy discussion of the observation that too much of what is put into the recycling bin is not recyclable. The list of unrecyclable plastics was not published and must be requested from the commission secretary. A plan for how to inform the City Council and the public of the problem plastics did not materialize. Until then, we are stuck in wishcycling. The Earthweek: A diary of the planet had a clip that chemical engineers in Texas have developed a new enzyme that will breakdown plastics. It sounds hopeful, but then we don’t have any details or even know if what is left behind is toxic. 

At City Council, the Surveillance Report was postponed again and joins the Hopkins redesign on the May 10th agenda. Councilmember Taplin submitted a supplemental agenda item, to advance studying the feasibility of a Crisis Stabilization Center and interim plan, which was accepted and passed. The surprise of the evening was that the Council remanded the 1643 – 1647 California Street project back to ZAB (Zoning adjustment Board). The neighbors were correct: Staff did not correctly interpret the Housing Accountability Act, something Steven Buckley, Planning Department Manager, tried to pass off in his comment as a “difference of opinion.” 

The City Department budget presentations kicked off at noon on Wednesday. It was a long three days. Most notable is the number of vacancies in departments across the City, often reported as high as 19% or greater. Despite the Reimagining process, which is planning to relieve the Police Department (BPD) of non-police duties and turning over mental health crisis intervention to mental health professionals, the BPD requested an increase to a whopping 189 sworn officers from current staffing of somewhere in the 150s to 160s. Maybe the rest of us need to read Adam Johnson’s April 3, 2022 editorial in the Chronicle on refunding police. https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Refunding-police-isn-t-working-in-17051410.php. 

One has to wonder just exactly what is going on with staffing the city. There was the “great resignation”, but glaring vacancies preceded the pandemic. The Council is having yet another closed-door meeting with “labor negotiators”. Public comment at Council meetings has declared that treatment of employees, not implementing contract agreements on pay in a timely manner, is impacting the reputation of the City as an employer. 

The lengthy discussion about financing the Berkeley Marina brought some very interesting discussion. If you wish to do a little research on the current Berkeley Marina Area Specific Plan (BMASP), development meetings about turning the Marina into an adventure and event enterprise which demolishes habitat, native plants and fragile ecosystems, that webpage with meeting history and plans has also disappeared with the new website. 

As it turns out there is no legal requirement that the Marina / Waterfront must be self-supporting with an enterprise fund. The budget process and concocted crises have been used to forward a vision that turning the Marina into an entertainment center will fix the budget problem and bring overflowing oodles of money into the City coffers. The Mayor, Council and Parks and Waterfront Department are pushing hard for that vision and the consultants and developers are enthusiastic supporters with their hands out. Of course, the fact that the events held at the Marina are money losers instead of a revenue stream is conveniently ignored (though overtime pay at events does fatten the police pocket.) 

Councilmember Harrison did speak about the Marina as a place for nature. 

There is a divide between those who require endless entertainment to fill their voids and those who wish to maintain a place to escape from endless overload and unwind surrounded by nature, sea breezes and the magnificent views of the bay to rejuvenate their soul. 

The Thursday marathon ZAB meeting ended at 12:05 a.m. 1151 Grizzly Peak was continued after a lengthy discussion. 2600 Tenth Street, conversion of the media tenant spaces in the old Fantasy building to R&D, was moved to May. The rest of the meeting was filled with the 6-story, 66-unit mixed-use project at 1201 San Pablo. Trying to live in a little house next door or finding your solar completely in shadow is enough to make all but the most entrenched YIMBYs unhappy. 

It was little comfort that the project owner and David Trachtenberg, the architect, responded to suggestions from the Design Review Committee and pulled back the project on the east side by 5 feet for more separation, created a stepdown to three floors and will plant a row of trees to add privacy. 

We have a tendency not to pay attention to local and state government and in this case until it is literally in our backyard. The push for mid-size and larger developments along transportation and commercial corridors has been in the making for years with legislation to match. 

It is probably also lost on these neighbors that State Representation Buffy Wicks and State Senator Nancy Skinner voted for this legislation and even worse SB 9 and SB 10, and our own city council majority have been supporters. Neighborhoods need to look hard when they check their ballots and it would be more beneficial if more neighborhoods engaged before the levers are pulled. 

If you tune in to Council meetings you will frequently hear Thomas Lord speak to the City’s appalling lack of response to climate change perils. He is correct, and, I would add that California has a water problem, but the question of carrying capacity for growth is never in the picture. Berkeley City Council side-stepped the opportunity to establish objective standards to protect solar. 

Each week I include in my Diary the book I just finished reading. This week it was The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth by Kristin Henning, 2021. 

I’ve read a long list of books on race and lingering systemic racism. I panned Walking with the Devil: The Police Code of Silence by Michael W. Quinn in prior reviews. It is impossible to take seriously a former Minneapolis Police Officer (23.5 years on the force) extolling the grand promise of EPIC (Ethical Policing is Courageous) as the answer to ending racist policing. Especially when EPIC was supposedly taught in Minneapolis prior to the murder of George Floyd. EPIC is also included as an answer by the National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform in their report on Reimagining Public Safety. 

Kristin Henning is a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and a juvenile defense attorney. Rage of Innocence focuses on youth, teenagers, in a way that is most often lost in discussion. Teenagers are impulsive, hang out with friends, make noise, have their own style of attire and music, but in this present culture sagging pants can mean being suspended from school and arrested for Black teens. This is unlike grandparents of their White peers who survived without being jailed for bellbottoms and tie dye shirts. The book chronicles the intersection of youth, police, courts, jails, prisons and the impact of incarceration on families. It also instructs parents in recognizing the signs of how they and their children may be bullied, manipulated and railroaded into false confessions. 

This book focuses on the present, reporting how Black youth are surveilled, policed, criminalized, arrested, detained, imprisoned or even killed for teenage behavior that is dismissed as boys will be boys when it is a White boy. White boys and girls are assumed innocent or just acting out in a way that they will grow out of, whereas Black boys and Black girls, who are just as much children, are seen as criminals to be feared for the same or similar behavior. Black boys are perceived to be bigger than their actual physical stature and years older than their chronological age, and therefore more responsible for their actions than their White peers. 

Most of us have probably done stupid things as teenagers and if we are White we might get reined in by our parents, but if we are Black it could mean being arrested, sent to prison as an adult and the end of a promising future. And, being innocent of the accused crime matters less than race where guilt is assumed if the child is Black. 

There is a lot packed into Rage of Innocence and it should help all of us look at our own biases no matter what our race or culture. 

This might be the end of this review if I hadn’t seen the New York Times banner on my phone “Tucker Carlson has built what might be the most racist show in the history of cable news – and by some measures, the most successful.” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-gop-republican-party.html 

Carlson has embraced Viktor Orban. In fact, he took his show to Hungary for a week. The January 6, 2021 attempted coup is not over. We are in the middle of it with a media host egging it on with his nightly drumbeat, warning his viewers that “they inhabit a civilization under siege” – by violent Black Lives Matter protesters, diseased immigrants from south of the border stealing their jobs and refugees importing alien cultures. Carlson portrays his viewers as victims of big tech, cultural elites and rising power of Black and Brown citizens. 

Ignoring or dismissing Carlson’s clarion call is at our own peril. Ben Rhodes writes in his 2021 book After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made, asking a Hungarian how Viktor Orban transformed Hungary from an open democracy to a largely authoritarian system in the span of ten years.
Here are the steps: 

  1. Win elections through right-wing populism that taps into people’s outrage over the corruption and inequities wrought by unbridled globalization.
  2. Enrich corrupt oligarchs who in turn fund your politics.
  3. Create a vast partisan propaganda machine.
  4. Redraw parliamentary districts to entrench your party in power.
  5. Pack the courts with right-wing judges and erode the independence of the rule of law.
  6. Keep big business on your side with low taxes and favorable treatment.
  7. Demonize your political opponents through social media disinformation.
  8. Attack civil society as a tool of George Soros.
  9. Cast yourself as the legitimate defender of national security.
  10. Wrap the whole project in a Christian nationalist message that taps into the longing for a great past.
  11. Offer a sense of belonging for the disaffected masses.
  12. Relentlessly attack the Other: immigrants, Muslims, liberal elites.
The American Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) will meet in Budapest, Hungary May 18, 2022 with Viktor Orban the far-right Prime Minister who was just reelected as a guest speaker. 

If this is not enough to set you on edge and into action then listen to the NYT Daily for May 1, 2022 https://tinyurl.com/2nnystcy 


YIMBYs Are Watching You--
Enforcement of Wiener/Wicks SB9 Rules is Left to Zealots

Manuela Tobias, Cal Matters
Monday April 25, 2022 - 10:01:00 PM

IN SUMMARY

A handful of activists represent the bulk of the state’s enforcement of the law. That could change as the state housing agency hires more staff.

Lea este artículo en español.

The passage of 2021’s Senate Bill 9 was supposed to herald the end of the single-family zoning that many point to as a culprit of California’s housing crisis. But four months into the new era, little has changed, and the scant enforcement of the law has come about largely because of pro-housing activists.

The new law, which allows duplexes and split lots on land previously marked as single-family only, has been met with stiff resistance by cities across the state that have passed ordinances effectively — but not directly — blocking the law in their area.

The state of California — with an annual budget north of $280 billion — is largely reliant on YIMBY, or “yes in my backyard” activists, to find out about law-breaking cities. 

“The bulk of how we’re going to learn about these cases is through complaints that we receive from ordinary citizens, through advocates, and other stakeholders,” said David Zisser, who leads the Housing and Community Development Department’s newly created Housing Accountability Unit. “The fact that we’ve gotten complaints about 29 different jurisdictions is a good example of how it’s working.” 

No one knows how many permits cities have issued statewide to split a lot or build a duplex, as that information is not tracked in any centralized database. Nor is there a centralized way to track the slew of local ordinances cities have passed to limit its use, state officials told CalMatters. 

But some lawmakers don’t see the reliance on outside watchdogs as a problem. In fact, advocates have long been the main enforcers of housing law in the state. 

“It would be abnormal if we were monitoring every action by each of the 500 cities at all times,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco who has been a vocal leader in the Legislature promoting housing production. “We have to have a robust advocacy network that is monitoring, reporting and sometimes filing lawsuits. In fact, it’s a healthy sign that that’s happening.” 

The attorney general has sent two sternly worded letters to cities about the law so far, and the housing department is gearing up to do the same. The jury is still out on how cities will respond. 

 

New cops on California’s duplex beat

The state housing department received a $4.65 million budget allocation last year to build out a team of 25 staff members — not all of whom will work on enforcement full time — to make sure 16 housing laws they received explicit authority to enforce are followed. 

That’s a dramatic departure from the status quo, according to Valerie Feldman, a staff attorney at Public Interest Law Project. The nonprofit legal services organization has been suing cities for decades that don’t build enough housing for low-income residents. 

“It’s a big change,” she said. “But it will take time. And they will always need connections on the ground.” 

Zisser, who leads the unit, said his department hadn’t received explicit statutory authority over the duplex law. One of the laws they can enforce limits a city’s ability to restrict the development of new housing, which is a concern with many of these duplex-hostile ordinances. The housing department’s main priority at the moment is the housing element, by which cities have to plan for enough housing to accommodate the growing population. 

Neither the attorney general nor the housing department is dispensing their limited resources to track the local city council and planning meetings in which duplex law related-ordinances unfold, and in which city councilmembers say things like, “What we’re trying to do here is to mitigate the impact of what we believe is a ridiculous state law.” 

Instead, they depend largely on advocates and local journalists to report on the shenanigans. That’s how Bonta’s office found out about Woodside, a Silicon Valley town that claimed immunity from the duplex law because the town, in its entirety, was a mountain lion habitat. A local newspaper first reported the story, and it went viral on Twitter — where many YIMBY activists pointed to Cougar Town as a poster child of the NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) mindset. Several news stories later, Bonta wrote the city a letter, and Woodside reversed course. 

“What we’re doing is new, in terms of active, visible, aggressive enforcement, so it has a statewide implication and impact,” Bonta said. “I think we need to see how that plays out. But I think we could always do more, we could always do it faster.” 

What could that look like? Bonta suggested maybe pouring more resources into enforcement and requiring that cities submit their duplex law implementation rules for state approval, as is the case for accessory dwelling unit ordinances. While he sees the value in centralization, he said that’s not the norm. 

“Most laws don’t work that way,” he said. “You create the law for the state of California and you expect the locals to comply with it.” 

The law is still so fresh and complicated for the average homeowner that YIMBYs have been the main cops on the new duplex law beat. 

Dylan Casey, executive director of the California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund, a YIMBY group, said he and an intern have spent most of their recent Fridays culling through city council and planning commission agendas for more than 200 cities, marking which weekday meetings to watch and ordinances to review. The group has sent warning letters to a few of the 64 cities they say have restrictive ordinances, and filed multiple complaints with the state — which are triggers the state uses to look into cities. 

Meanwhile, two employees of YIMBY Law, another pro-housing group, with the help of dozens of volunteers across the state, have created a spreadsheet of 80 cities with restrictive ordinances and shared it with the state housing department. Homestead, a development startup looking to help homeowners split their lots under the new duplex law, has also deployed two employees to track and explain these ordinances to potential clients. 

Zisser and Bonta said they plan to review complaints from these groups, developers and homeowners and step in when a law is broken. On which agency takes on what city, Bonta said, “We don’t spend too much time figuring out if it’s them or us, as long as it’s somebody.” 

ADU déjà vu

Accessory dwelling units — the small studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms cropping up across California’s backyards — were technically legalized in 1982. But it wasn’t until 2016 that state lawmakers made it feasible for homeowners to actually build them by stripping away prohibitive local regulations and fees. Permits for these backyard units exploded over recent years, making up about 10% of new housing stock in 2020. 

When the first laws to boost ADU construction went into effect in 2017, Sen. Bob Wieckowski, a Democrat from Fremont who has authored five ADU bills, was flooded with calls from homeowners struggling to get permits. The cries for help eventually translated to stronger enforcement: Now, cities have to submit their ADU ordinances, if they have them, to the state housing department for approval, and the attorney general can step in when the local rules don’t pass muster. 

“You don’t want to spend all your money on enforcement,” Wieckowski said. “On the other hand, you can’t expect a homeowner to become the plaintiff in the lawsuit against their city.” 

Cities often repeat the mantra of local control, and liken their fight against the state to David and Goliath, he said. “No, it’s the city who’s the Goliath.” 

Regardless of cities’ resistance, Wiener said he expects new duplexes will take several years to materialize. 

“You have to figure out, does it work on this parcel?” he said. “Is there an existing building there? Can I do a lot split? Do I have to hire an architect to see what can be designed? What will work and what won’t? And so people don’t just immediately file for a permit. It’s not surprising that it’s been a slow start.” 

 

Housing crisis enforcement on social media

Cities and the state have been clashing over solutions to the housing crisis for years, but the new enforcement approach feels punitive for some local elected officials. Susan Candell, a city councilmember from Lafayette and member of California Alliance of Local Electeds, a new group established last year to oppose “one-size-fits-all” housing solutions from the state, said cities were coming up with these hit-and-miss ordinances because the duplex law provides too much flexibility and not enough guidance. The housing department, coincidentally, has received a complaint about Lafayette’s restrictive ordinance, to which she responded: “We’ll take every advice. If we’ve fallen into a pit hole, I apologize.” 

 

When Pasadena, a Los Angeles suburb, claimed in its ordinance that landmark districts would be exempt from SB 9, Bonta wrote a stern warning letter that such districts were not exempt— historic districts were — and that these could be interpreted as large swaths of the city. They also shared the warning on Twitter. 

In a two-page letter response, Mayor Victor M. Gordo told Pasadena residents the state had got it all wrong, and the city was indeed in compliance. In his sign-off, Gordo “respectfully encouraged” the attorney general to get to know his city before tarnishing its good name on social media. 

“By now, we should all understand that governance by Twitter is ineffective,” the mayor wrote. 

The letter points to a wider shift in enforcement of housing law. Esoteric city council and planning commission meetings are now broadcast online by a growing number of YIMBY activists. Admonishments once delivered to city attorneys privately can now go viral on Twitter. 

“What I see is they’re enforcing laws that historically have not been enforced. Part of that enforcement is in the right vein, and part of it is haphazard,” said David Coher, a planning commissioner for the city of Pasadena. 

He attributes the visible, if haphazard, enforcement to mounting pressure on the state from pro-housing activists. 

“This is playing to an audience in a way that it never played to an audience before,” he said. 

Chris Elmendorf, a UC Davis Law professor focused on state housing law, said the mayor’s statement belies itself. 

“Even though there may not be a very systematic way of gathering information about what cities are doing, cities are more in the public eye than they used to be. And Twitter is a big part of that story,” he said. 

Bonta told CalMatters the state wasn’t yet ready to file a lawsuit against Pasadena, but would if it didn’t reverse course. His office is already gearing up to fight a lawsuit from a group of four LA County cities, led by wealthy Redondo Beach, that claims the duplex law “eviscerated” cities’ land use control. Bonta recently filed a brief in defense of a similar bill that makes it easier for local governments to zone for denser housing near transit. 

“The question is, what are the points of leverage?” Elmendorf asked. “What are the things that you can do efficiently that cities will honor and that will ultimately hold up in court? And I think that’s the stuff that is really, really unsettled.” 

Manuela Tobias is the housing reporter for CalMatters. Her stories focus on the political dynamics and economic and racial inequities that have contributed to the housing crisis in California and its potential. This story first appeared on calmatters.org. 

 


Opinion

Public Comment

The Berkeley Bicycle Plan: Unreal

Margot Smith
Monday May 02, 2022 - 02:26:00 PM



I admire people who ride bicycles, but I think it unrealistic to think that cars will eventually be eliminated from Berkeley (I've heard that statement) and that there will be a majority of the population who will use bikes and mass transit as their main means of transportation.

For example, if you have a large family (like I did) how do you get your groceries home? I used to buy 4 gallons of milk a week, plus all the other food for 3 boys.

Take your children to school? Several of them? One year I had kids in MLK, Columbus and Berkeley High.

People work in the hills: housekeepers, plumbers, construction, caregivers, etc. What about those with large families, caregiving facilities, those who work at night, those who need to manage time tightly, childcare drop offs and pickups, etc.

Get to work and back after dark? in the cold? How do you connect with BART if you live in the hills? How do you get to work if you work in the hills?

What happens when it rains?

What about the hills? Some hills are steep. How do us old and /or disabled people get around?

The plan for Hopkins Avenue will kill the businesses there. How many bicyclists buy at the liquor store, the fish market, Monterey Market? We could end up with a row of empty shops.

Data, please. 

I see the problem as thinking too narrowly about the lives of people. People are very complicated. Living is very complicated. 

Do you have any data on how many bicyclists there are in Berkeley vs. auto users? 

How many dollars should 90,000 Berkeley people invest per cyclist? 

I rarely see cyclists on the street. but lots of cars. Are there any data on the demographics of who are likely to cycle? 

For me (at age 91) the likelihood is zero. 

Can you show us some data? These bicycle plans sound like wishful thinking to me. 

 

If the bike people had a grand plan that included all of us, the whole thing would make more sense. Now all I hear is "We should all bike". 

Impossible for me. 

 


May Pepper Spray Times

By Grace Underpressure
Saturday May 14, 2022 - 09:59:00 PM

Editor's Note: The latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times is now available.

You can view it absolutely free of charge by clicking here . You can print it out to give to your friends.

Grace Underpressure has been producing it for many years now, even before the Berkeley Daily Planet started distributing it, most of the time without being paid, and now we'd like you to show your appreciation by using the button below to send her money.

This is a Very Good Deal. Go for it! 


Speak to the Russian People

Jagjit Singh
Saturday April 30, 2022 - 04:00:00 PM

Mr. President, I was profoundly disappointed with your repeated public comments justifying the defense of Ukraine is to “weaken Russia”. Such intemperate remarks are extremely dangerous. This plays directly into Putin’s playbook, “hat the US and its allies are conducting a proxy war aimed at destroying Russia.” This will undoubtedly serve to unite the Russian people behind their unstable leader. I would urge you to deliver future messages targeted at the Russian people, - “The US and our western allies have NO quarrel with the Russian people who we consider to be our friends in this tragic war of attrition. The Voice of America, the BBC, and social media outlets must act in concert to counter the massive pro-Putin propaganda war machine.

The Russian people should be encouraged to rebel against their maniacal leader who is using their sons’ as sacrificial lambs to fight an immoral war and likely be wounded or killed. The Russian Orthodox Church and ALL religious institutions around the world should be encouraged to denounce Putin’s immoral war of aggression. Silence is not an option. Mr. President please use your bully pulpit to plead with Russian soldiers to lay down their arms and embrace their Ukrainian brothers and sisters. Finally, please state unequivocally in future public comments the purpose use of arming Ukraine is to end this war, saving Russian and Ukrainian lives.

This is an insane war of attrition where there are only losers, Russian soldiers and Ukrainians. The focus should be to end the war and not threaten an unstable Putin whose itchy fingers might reach out to launch chemical or nuclear attacks which would likely be countered by US nuclear attacks ending all life on this planet. Words matter, Mr. President please use them with extreme care.


Refugees

Jagjit Singh
Monday April 25, 2022 - 05:18:00 PM

The plight of Ukrainian refugees has brought new focus on other refuges attempting to escape mortal danger from their own countries. While Ukrainian refugees have been cursed to live close to “big bad wolf Putin” and his murderous Russian army, they have been blessed to have fair skins which gives them a passport to neighboring countries which have welcomed them with incredible kindness and warm hospitality. In sharp contrast, US ICE agents have abused non-white asylum seekers; many have been imprisoned and tortured. Ukrainians entering the US from the southern border have been blessed to receive ‘Polish” style hospitality.  

In a rare victory, Cameroonians won Temporary Protected Status after an outcry over “Double Standard” for Ukrainians. The move allows Cameroonians protection from immediate deportation to a politically unstable state and grants them permission to work in the U.S. for at least 18 months amid escalating violence in Cameroon. As the midterm elections are fast approaching, there is intense debate over Title 42, a racist legislation which was enacted by the Trump administration to severely limit migration from our southern border targeting predominantly people of color. 

While we look in horror at the savagery of Putin’s army, we should remember our own dark history – the genocide of native Indian tribes, enslavement of African Americans, and the internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. In our earlier history, we annexed large swaths of Mexico land during the US Mexico war, -California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, the western half of New Mexico, the western quarter of Colorado, and the southwest corner of Wyoming. 

Western powers that once championed the welfare of refugees following World War 2 has been steadily eroding. Britain’s government announced a new plan for thousands of foreign citizens in the country who had applied for asylum. Rather than hear their claims, it announced it would now ship them to faraway quasi dictatorship of Rwanda mimicking the “stay in Mexico” US plan. What’s next? The Trump remedy separating parents from their screaming children? Britain did not invent the practice of shuttling refugees and asylum seekers in faraway facilities. European governments have been paying foreign despots and warlords, in countries like Sudan and Libya, to detain migrants on their behalf for years. Australia outsources this work to a string of island nations sometimes described as its gulag archipelago. The United States effectively pioneered the practice in 1991, when it diverted boats full of Haitians to Guantánamo Bay. A rise in right-wing populist politics, the backlash in Europe against a surge of migration in 2015 and then the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this practice and others like it. Finally, as more land becomes uninhabitable with the impact of climate change, The refugee crisis will likely become much worse.


Bicyclists' Letter to Councilmember Sophie Hahn
Re: City of Berkeley Hopkins Corridor Traffic and Placemaking Study

Hopkins Corridor Cyclists
Monday April 25, 2022 - 04:46:00 PM

We are cyclists who are residents in the Hopkins Street area who will be affected by the changes proposed by the Hopkins Corridor study. While we applaud efforts to make Berkeley streets in general and our neighborhood in particular safer for pedestrians and cyclists, there are several parts of this proposal that we think will decrease our safety. 

Firstly, we approve of and appreciate all efforts to increase safety for pedestrians. This includes the proposed bulb-outs, raised crosswalks, added stop signs and striping. 

However, the protected two-way bike lane seems to raise more problems than it solves. It places west-bound cyclists into an unexpected location. When turning right, most drivers look first for any near pedestrians, then look left to see approaching cars or bikes. Drivers do not expect fast-moving cyclists to be coming at them from the right. Most of us have experienced the sudden appearance of a biker riding on the ‘wrong’ side of the street, and thought ‘Is that person crazy?’ Well, now that crazy is being proposed in this plan. Placing the bike lanes in this location is a behavior-change that will occur only here and only for a few blocks. It is unsettling to both cyclists and drivers who are used to having cyclists riding with the traffic. In addition, it requires cyclists to cross back and forth across the car lanes to enter and exit the bikeway. 

Having all cyclists use the south side of the street creates a hazard for any cyclist who wants to turn north at any of the intersections here. The west-bound cyclist will have to cross both traffic lanes. East-bound cyclists will have to cross the on-coming bike lane and both traffic lanes, rather than being able to turn left from the left edge of the east-bound car lane. This will be especially hazardous at Albina and Hopkins Court where there are no traffic controls. 

Due to the proposed medians between Gilman and California, cars backing out of driveways or those trying to exit the Monterey Market parking lot will have to pull across the bike lanes while waiting to enter the flow of traffic instead of being able to wait on the edge of the paving. This is especially problematic with the cyclists coming from the right, going west, where, again, drivers do not expect them. 

Both Ryan Murray and Farid Javandel have stated that they are regular cyclists and that they would not use the protected bike lane but would instead ride in the travel lane where they could go faster and with the flow of traffic. This is what most regular cyclists would do, including us. 

The design team does not appear to have adequate data about bike usage along this corridor. Is it possible that the protected bike lane is a hugely expensive answer to a problem that will not help the majority of the people who use (or would use) this area? Just because 70% of the Berkeley residents polled said they would be more likely to use a bike for errands or recreation if there were safer routes, doesn’t mean they will use bikes, or that they will use this type of bike lane. Is there data about how many people polled actually come to this area? How many come to use the businesses, and how many are commuters passing through? If the idea is to tempt more people to arrive by bike, then where is all the safe bike parking? 

Finally, as cyclists, we believe that it is unlikely that we will use the dual bikeway. We believe that riding on the wrong side of the road and having to cross back and forth across the traffic lanes places us in greater danger than sharing the road with the cars. Our suggestions for increasing bicycle and pedestrian safety in the Corridor include the following: 

1.The number one thing that would make the area safer for cyclists is to repave the streets. The roads are so full of cracks and holes and broken glass that we are required to swerve out into the lanes of traffic to avoid obstacles. Keep the road clean. 

2.Along with the above, add sharrow striping and signage. Make drivers aware that cyclists have the right to use the road, including the whole lane if necessary for (the cyclist’s) safety. 

3.In the project area, change the color and/or material of the paving. This is another indication to drivers that there exist special conditions that require their extra attention. This change of paving occurs mid-block on 4th St. in the shopping area, and it makes the area safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and cars. The blocks between Sacramento and McGee would be a minimum. Farther would be better. 

4.Do something, such as adding a raised crosswalk, to mitigate the issue of people rolling through the stop sign at Hopkins and Gilman, particularly when turning right onto Gilman. We have seen several people, including two school children, almost get struck by drivers not coming to a full stop before turning. 

In summary, we believe there are too many unanswered questions in this proposal for the Council to make an informed vote on this plan that will cost the City of Berkeley millions of dollars and may be found to be unwise and/or ineffective.  

Please implement the pedestrian safety features of raised crosswalks, bulb-outs and striping during the repaving period, but leave the other changes, such as the two-way bike lane, medians and bus bulb-out between California and Gilman, for a later date after they have been given more study. 

Thank you for your consideration of our views. 

Sincerely, 

Lisa Friedlander 1329 Albina Ave. Lori Copan 1329 Albina Ave. 

Carine Elkhoraibi 1308 Albina Ave. Bill Marthinsen 1334 Albina Ave 

Eliot Jordan 1338 Albina Ave. Diane Garcia 31 Hopkins Ct. 

Emily Marthinsen 1334 Albina Ave. Ben Hartshorne 35 Hopkins Ct. 

Christy Hartshorne 35 Hopkins Ct. Riah Gouvea 28 Hopkins Ct. 

Shasta Phillips 28 Hopkins Ct. Celia Shryne 1259 Monterey 

Linda Russo 985 Euclid Carlos Castellanos 985 Euclid 

Shawn Duyette 2311 Jefferson 


Open Letter to Councilmember Sophie Hahn about the Hopkins Corridor Project
from neighbors, merchants, and patrons of the shops in the area

Donna DeDiemar and 117 others
Monday April 25, 2022 - 04:41:00 PM

Our recommendations:

  • Let the street be repaved, which by itself improves conditions for cyclists.
  • Do the non-controversial things (restriping, additional crosswalks and stop signs, etc.), and any safety measures that could be easily and cheaply reversed if, upon reflection, it becomes clear that something else would serve everyone better (painting sharrows, for instance).
  • If possible, take care of the pedestrian safety concerns at Hopkins and Monterey, and then see whether that is enough.
 

To: 

The Honorable Sophie Hahn 

shahn@cityofberkeley.info 

Councilmember Hahn, 

There are a fair number of people (including the recreational and commuter bicyclists) who welcomed your idea of the amenities (particularly benches) for the neighborhood that would have come with placemaking, so hearing that you are requesting funding for them is a welcome development. 

However, there are several aspects of the current Hopkins Corridor plan that are simply unsupportable. 

The two-way bike track should be flatly rejected as way too dangerous for cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists alike.  

For instance, few cyclists will risk turning from the two-way bicycle track through oncoming traffic onto Albina and Hopkins Ct. It’s dangerous because oncoming traffic would not be expecting it, and cyclists would have to block the bike lanes while trying to negotiate the turn. Both Hopkins Ct. and Albina, as well as Hopkins itself, are home to several children who bike with their parents, so to say this is a less than ideal situation is an understatement. 

Staff noted that it did not know anything about the volume of bicycle traffic currently carried by Hopkins.  

Since the intersection of Monterey and Hopkins is not on the city’s annual bike usage 

survey, we have taken our own counts to see what the bicycle usage is in this neighborhood. We have found that Hopkins is truly a pedestrian heavy street, not a well-used corridor for bikes. (See attachment 2) 

Those of us who are both recreational and commuter cyclists know that the biggest risk to bikers in Berkeley is the condition of the roads. Improving them is our number one priority. We find sharrows on Hopkins to be an acceptable, even better, alternative to the complicated, expensive plan that staff is proposing. We’d rather concentrate resources on improving the safety of the Hopkins/Monterey intersection, which is another huge priority for us. (See attachment 3) 

During the Zoom meetings, participants were often told that staff didn't know the answers to questions, that they shared neighborhood concerns about some things in the plans (like the two-way bike lanes and how they would safely interface with Hopkins Ct., Albina, and Gilman), but that staff was going to leave it to engineering to work out the details. 

That reminded us of the planning fiascos the city has endured in the recent past, including both redesigns of the intersection at The Alameda and Hopkins as well as the undoing of barriers on Milvia. 

It has left many of us with no confidence in this process, which seems to be driven by a well-meaning but hardcore group of bike activists. 

Bike enthusiast Ben Gerhardstein's comment in Berkeleyside about the Milvia problem exemplifies why we have concerns: “We shouldn’t be in a position of having to take out infrastructure a couple of months after it was put in,” said Ben Gerhardstein of Walk Bike Berkeley. “We fight tooth and nail to get this infrastructure put in place, and it’s not cheap,” he said. “It takes time and planning, and removing it without any kind of process is a slap in the face.” (2/3/2022) 

While Gerhardstein is correct that the city shouldn't have been in that position, in advocating for not correcting the problem immediately he seems to be blinded by his advocacy for bike lanes to the point of potentially harming patients at Alta Bates. But we agree with him on this point: if the city isn't entirely certain of what it is doing, it shouldn't do it, particularly when the cost is so high. It is too disruptive and too costly to do something and then have to remove it because it doesn't work. 

You could not have predicted what a fiasco this review process would be when you took the lead in requesting the funds to study the corridor for placemaking and safety upgrades. 

The plan no longer contains placemaking elements, and the improvement in safety is dubious at best. (Even the State of California, though not prohibiting two-way bike lanes, considers them the least safe option.) 

The most unsafe area in the corridor is the intersection of Hopkins and Monterey; it is unsafe for everyone, but mostly for pedestrians. Their safety should not be a by-product of putting in bike lanes; it should be the primary focus. 

Watching pedestrians, particularly kids, the elderly and disabled, try to dodge cars in that intersection is at times harrowing. According to the Vision Zero Plan document, drivers not yielding to pedestrians at crosswalks is the top traffic violation for severe and fatal vehicle-involved collisions in Berkeley. The proposed raised crosswalk may help. 

However, the danger felt at the intersection is not so much about being seen in the crosswalk; it is about finding an opening to even enter it. And it is the slow trickle of pedestrians that frustrates drivers, who then dangerously nose into the crosswalks to try to find their own opportunities to pass through the intersection. 

Bicyclists who do not make any attempt to stop at the intersection are equally of concern, particularly to the elderly. 

Based on our bike traffic counts, bikers who blow through the intersection do not make up a very significant portion of the bike traffic, but they definitely exist, and their presence is not predictable. 

Early last year, in late March or early April, you tweeted: “I do not support removing parking from the shops and also am asking staff to slow down this process and do the thorough and balanced study that was referred to them…My intent was to make sure all interests were consulted, listened to, and carefully balanced. I am not in support of a plan that puts bike lanes above all other options and takes away important support for our businesses and residents, nor a rushed and cursory process.” 

Pandemic restrictions have not made this easy for staff, but they are not a reasonable excuse for continuing to push forward a plan that has so little neighborhood support. 

The final three Zoom meetings provided equal time to discuss each of the segments of the corridor, as if each one faced the same number and intensity of issues. Yet only the lower segment (McGee to Gilman) is fraught with major planning difficulties and conflicts between all the involved constituents (bikers, pedestrians, drivers, merchants, residents). 

The discussion period was too short to address all the questions, and asking people to write to staff to re-ask them deprived the other participants of hearing the answers. Moreover, many have complained that, though they followed through by contacting staff, their questions were never answered. 

While removal of parking is certainly not the only issue for the merchants and residents of the lower portion of the corridor, it is nevertheless, a concern. 

Staff has yet to answer the question of how many parking spots will be lost (by our count, it is a minimum of 35); nor has it suggested what residents who use those spots are supposed to do as an alternative. The summary of the advantages of the design concepts says that most parking spots in front of the commercial block are retained, as if Monterey Market is not part of the commercial area. All parking spots on both sides of Hopkins north of Monterey Market are eliminated. 

In addition, all parking spots are eliminated from both sides of Hopkins the rest of the way down to Gilman. We were told that there were only three residences that didn’t have off-street parking on all of Hopkins, even though we know that one apartment building alone (at the corner of Hopkins and Hopkins Ct.) has 8 units and NO off-street parking at all. 

There are many other apartments and condos on Hopkins, some having less than one parking spot per unit and none having more. Some of those apartments have two and three bedrooms and likely house more than one adult, leading to the possibility that they are multiple vehicle households. Where was the consideration of this in the staff report? 

There is just too much misinformation and missing information for anyone to be able to make an informed decision about the appropriateness of this plan. It simply isn’t ready for prime time yet, so we are asking that at the upcoming council meeting you again request that the project be slowed down. 

The city has no data to indicate that Hopkins is or ever will be a major bike route. 

The major thrust seems to be due to its having been included in the Vision Zero plan, along with its having been designated as a corridor in the Berkeley Bike Plan. But, despite assertions to the contrary, it’s only because of an exceedingly loose definition that it can be classified as an area with a high rate of serious accidents. 

We can find no supporting documentation in any of the studies submitted by staff that actually shows the number of serious and fatal bicycle accidents the city claims. In fact, there is evidence to the contrary in the Transportation Information Mapping System (TIMS) information provided. 

There is no analysis by staff of whether bike lanes would have had any effect in preventing the few accidents that did occur, and the one fatality, which occurred at the Monterey/Hopkins intersection, was of a pedestrian and did not include a bicycle at all. This supports our claim that the major need on Hopkins is a rework of that intersection, with an emphasis on pedestrian safety first and foremost. 

Hopkins is a major car route and pedestrian area, and it has the exact same needs as other residential areas, plus additional needs because of its commercial area. Changes should not be made to the exclusive detriment of those two constituencies.  

We are including the results of our bike count, taken April 5-7, which mimics the counts taken each fall on other intersections in the city. You will be able to see from that what a busy pedestrian area this area is, and how it is one of the lowest bicycle usage areas measured in the city. 

We want to reiterate that residents are not opposed to changes to the corridor. But we want them to actually reflect the needs of the people who live here and shop here, and not just the needs of a few people who pass through the area during a few short hours a day, or the perceived needs of others who are singularly focused on one thing. 

Our recommendations: 

Repave the road as scheduled. 

Add the obvious amenities (new striping, stop signs, handicap parking, etc.). 

Postpone other enhancements until it is clear that they are needed and will do more good than harm. 

Thank you. 


The Prosecutorial Crime Wave, Part 2

Steve Martinot
Monday April 25, 2022 - 05:05:00 PM

Introduction

This series of articles began by introducing a concept of crime that was not based on law, but rather on an action’s existential effects. Traditionally, crime is understood as a violation of the law. Since this implies that a legal system determines what constitutes a crime, it facilitates a form of autocracy. Insofar as an administrative structure or organization determines whether something constitutes a crime or not, it is not the person suffering from that action who does so. Decisions are made for people rather than with them. To make policy without the participation of those who will be affected by the policy is to dispense with any pretension to democracy. For democracy to exist, those who will be affected by a policy are, and must be, the ones who conceive and institute the policy that will affect them.

We seek to approach crime in a democratic manner. In this vein, we would define a crime as any action that injures a person, or a person’s social standing, as seen by the person affected by the action. For instance, any action that deprives a person of their personal property or their access to their personal property, against their will, or which damages or interrupts their valued relations to other people, would constitute a crime against them. It would be considered a form of victimization. The Law sees it from outside the action, through an institutionality. From within the relation between an accused perpetrator and one charging injury, the jurisprudent dialogues that would provide an arena for the accused to deny and defend themselves would be quite different (de-institutionalized, and not based on conflict).

In sum, crime is an injurious relation between a perpetrator and a victim in which it is the victim who gets to say if (and how) an injury has been done to them. The focus of this perspective is that of the one injured, rather than the institutional interests of a judicial system. Slavery or segregation would never have been possible under this alternate perspective.  

When a police officer shoots and kills someone running away, existentially that cop has committed murder. In the eyes of “the law” and his department, his act can be seen as lawful. When we examine the system of laws called “victimless crime laws,” we are looking at something ridiculously irrational and autocratic with respect a democratic approach to crime.  

How, then, are we to understand the concept of a “crime wave.” And it has become important since police departments are using it as a rationale to demand increased spending on the police. As an outbreak of criminal activity that injures many people over the course of time, a crime wave supposedly exceeds normal social condition. But who is it who should get to define it as such? Typically, it is the police or the political structure that warns the populace, even though that has an element of self-interest. Political self-interest would obviate the ability of the people to define a “crime wave” committed by the political structure itself.  

Let us look at the "crime" called “plea bargaining.”  

Plea bargaining  

When a cop arrests a person pursuant to law enforcement, we generally understand this to mean there is evidence, witness testimony, etc. sufficient to bring the case to trial if the suspect pleads “not guilty.” But when a cop arrests someone purely on suspicion, without evidence, or without probable cause, simply on the basis of the person having refused to cooperate with the cop, or for having objected to the cop actions as harassment, a plea bargaining situation is set up – generally to protect the cop from having engaged in a false arrest.  

The absence of evidence or probable cause does not necessarily mean no crime has been committed. But it does mean that the arrest was as yet unwarranted. In any event, the arrest brings the person arrested under the jurisdiction of a prosecutor, who then decides what to do with respect to any charges. If the government decides the person is someone they want to imprison (for instance, for being black, or a member of a Latino youth group, or an environmental or anti-war activist, etc.), then it has the machinery of the plea bargain to do so. And, in such cases, that machinery gives the arrest a false validity.  

The first step in setting up a plea bargain is to charge the person arrested with a serious crime, something that will carry a heavy prison term. It will be something the person knows they have not done. For that reason, the person will object and deny the charge. Against the prosecutor’s claim of having evidence, the person will insist on their innocense, and promise to plead “not guilty.” The prosecutor then informs the person that, because a trial will cost the city money, the prosecution will insure that the person is convicted.  

Those who are knowledgeable about this process know that the odds the prosecutor can do so are quite high. It is precisely because of the absence of evidence for the serious crime charged that a real defense against it becomes almost impossible. It is not possible to prove that something didn’t happen. One can narrate the event’s non-existence, but no degree of logic or evidence can be brought in at the level of proof. It is the absence of proof or evidence for the original charge that makes the system work.  

In addition, the prosecutor will have resources at hand to make a circumstantial (though fabricated) case, in which the arresting (harassing) officer will be the main witness. Though an element of corruption is thereby introduced into institutional jurisprudence, it is rarely brought to public attention. In general, popular opinion already assumes that the fact of an arrest constitutes "evidence" that a crime occurred (this is the “myth of truthfulness” attributed to law enforcement). It is those knowledgeable about the plea bargaining machine who know the extent to which the deck is stacked against the arrestee.  

Should the person insist that they will plead not guilty anyway, out of self-respect, the prosecutor will promise not only to win a conviction, but obtain the maximum sentence. In other words, this agent of the law will be ready to punish a person for their sense of innocence, their self-respect, and their human rights. Under any ethics of lawfulness, this would be an atrocity. But in reality, as soon as the fabricated “serious crime” was charged, it would no longer matter whether the person had committed any actual crime at all. The principle of justice has already been thrown out (by the "justice" system itself), and replaced by the play of power. Once justice is thrown to the curb, human rights go with it.  

As soon as the prosecutor sees that his scare tactic has worked, he will offer the bargain. He tells the person that if they will plead guilty to a lesser charge, the prosecutor will go for a lighter sentence. That simply means confessing to the lesser charge, again in total separation from whether one had done it or anything else. It is pure blackmail. One’s choice is between doing maximum time for insisting on one’s innocense, or doing minimum time for agreeing to a prosecutor’s lie.  

What we have, in sum, is a system that does not represent law (blackmail is a crime), uses legal violence, and violates social ethics to a degree transcending the limits of training as well as administrative regulations. Since there would be no bargain without the person’s confession, the bargain represents an act of fraud. Through this compilation of criminal aspects, the procedure known as “plea bargaining” signifies that the aim of this judicial system, this operation of the "force of law," is simply a procedure to throw people into prison. Nothing more.  

It is that "cultural" structure that has been so adamant in framing movement activists over the last 40 years (including Mumia, Peltier, Pratt, Sundiata Acoli, Poindexter and Rice, Ruchell Magee, on and on – it is a very long list). All were convicted on perjured testimony. Geronimo Pratt, for instance, was in Oakland when the murder of which he was accused occurred in Los Angeles. The FBI knew this because they had tapped phone records of him in Oakland from that day. He was convicted on the testimony of an FBI agent. It took Pratt 22 years to clear himself. What this cultural structure, which is clearly white supremacist, is interested in is not justice but imprisonment. That is why the US today has the largest prison system in the world. It is not the largest country, but it is the one with the most people in prison. Each time a city increases appropriations for the police, it is saying it wants more.  

In sum, plea bargaining is based on three things; police harassment of people (profiling most often teenagers and people of color), police insistence on social control (through their criminalization of individuals), and police arrest activity. Harassment is based on three forms of law: victimless crime laws, the raising of police suspicion (subjectivity) to the level of evidence (Terry vs. Ohio), and the ability to demand militarized obedience to police commands. Victimless crime laws give the police the ability to stop and investigate (often search) a person at will. Because there is no complainant (the "crime" is victimless), the cop plays the role of a "complainant." It is the person accused by government who is the "victim" of the victimless crime law.  

The plea bargain is an abuse of law, a denial of justice, a form of oppression, and thus a crime against the people.  

Harassment of young people  

The mechanics of plea bargaining already represent a crime wave committed by the government. But there is a special category of target that needs to be reviewed. It is the fact the police often campaign against young people, engaging in a process of discrimination that eventually feeds a person into the machinery of the plea bargain.  

When young people come to the attention of the police, usually because they congregate on the street, they get their name on a list. That list is then used for future approaches or harassment. In other words, it constitutes the early stages of a "record," while at the same time being the source of a profile. The existence of a record is then used as "cause" for the police to watch, surveil, or detain. [cf. “Punished,” by Victor Rios, NYU Press, 2011]  

Harassment breeds resistance, especially among young people. Without worldly experience to guide toward positive organized forms of resistance, their rejection of harassment makes them easy targets for further harassment.  

There are stages in the development of a "record." And each stage becomes the basis for the next one. From warnings to tickets to juvie court dates with advisors or therapists to juvie court trials, ending too often in wholly repressive final stages, the process feeds on itself. At each stage, the person’s "record" stands in for probable cause. Because the "record" is self-generated by the police, its reality remains its use as a profile. The profile is to give young people a record in order to use the record as a means of profiling them.  

The final stages could be police violence, or plea bargaining, or long prison sentences. But in each stage, there will be the unfolding of a form of secret rage.  

It is here that the social effect of plea bargaining achieves a mythic nature. Under the rubric that the police are simply performing their function for society (aka law enforcement), the idea that arrest equals guilt is given mystical status. “They must have done something.” When the plea bargain transforms harassment into criminalization, the myth is affirmed. The more people are punished, the more their derogation becomes acceptable.  

There is an Orwellian catch  

We can say that some of those in prison on a plea bargain have committed crimes; and some haven’t. The irony about the plea bargain concept is that there is no way to tell the difference. There are no court records, no records of evidence, no witness testimony, no defense arguments, nothing. A confession, elicited through blackmail, is all there is.  

Because this is the case, I can say that everyone now in prison on a plea bargain is innocent, and there would be no way to refute my statement. (I ran this by a Superior Court judge one day, and she had to admit to its correctness.) If a statement cannot be refuted, then there is a character of truth that attaches to it. In other words, we must recognize that everyone now in prison on a plea bargain is innocent, precisely because my statement cannot be disproved. 

Some of the people who are imprisoned by the plea bargaining process may actually have done something. It could be that they had stolen some food from a market, or some jewels from a house, or engaged in selling illegal substances. Perhaps one wanted some money to take a pretty woman out on a date. or to clear a debt so the creditor would not do something rash. These are common circumstances; they happen all the time in a system dedicated to impoverishing entire classes of people. 

If there is no way to verify guilt, then the person must be innocent, and framed. And yet they are in prison. That is a crime that this society commits routinely, through its justice system. If the justice system wishes to eliminate crime waves, it should certainly start with itself.


Open Letter to the Santa Cruz City Council

Carol Denney
Monday April 25, 2022 - 02:43:00 PM

I am amazed that the council seems focused on making it harder, not easier, for people to share together and help each other whether the focus is food, poetry, music or emergency supplies. California has the worst poverty rate of all states, running at about 15% of the population.

The Santa Cruz Municipal Code Chapter 10.65 ordinance regulating "Public Gathering and Expression Events" passed on April 14, 2022, are an embarrassment to sensible, public-serving legislation. They appear to be clearly targeted at specific events or groups, which is a definition of bad law.

Please sit down with any groups you feel are honestly presenting an issue and work out your differences. I know that people of good faith are capable of this, and that our government and police resources are better focused on other things.


Columns

ON MENTAL WELLNESS: Two Topics This Week

Jack Bragen
Saturday April 30, 2022 - 04:23:00 PM

The first casualty of being a mental health consumer is Your Truth. When you speak your truth, you are contradicted. You are told that what you've said isn't real. You are told that your judgment isn't valid. You are never taken at your word. The assumption is that you are mentally sick and thus anything you say should be either ignored or disregarded. If you tell people a fact that you know for certain is a fact, they may contradict that and they may say they have notes that tell them otherwise. Do they really have such notes? Or are they just telling you that because the assumption is you're wrong? 

Anyone's mind works to prove its assumptions. This goes for "neuro-typical" persons as much as it goes for people in treatment for a disorder. When the assumption of mental health practitioners is that your mind is "wrong", "isn't worth anything", and thus you supposedly aren't worth anything, treatment takes on a whole new dimension--a ghastly one. Your suffering is deemed as not mattering. Thus, it is okay in their eyes to do all manner of inhumane things to you because you don't count. You're not a real person, you don't feel anything, or, when you do, it is the same thing as tormenting a farm animal--your pain is in a separated category. In the minds of too many mental health practitioners, we aren't actual people, we are things on which to do the work, to supervise and/or to keep under control. 

How do you fix this? One option is getting angry. When you get angry, people perk up. If you can do this and when it is totally clear that no threat is attached, generally there isn't very much that counselors can do to you. Yet you need to modulate this. If you get screamin' out of control, mad, even when you are not a threat, it can be used against you, and you might be kicked out of a program for it or locked up. This is because you were too disruptive, too uncooperative--or come up with a good psychological term that can be applied. 

But getting angry, yet modulating this, is an option. It is harder to ignore. They will doubtless use evasive tactics, but they will have heard you. This is because psych patients are taught to be submissive, and when we aren't submissive and instead angry, yet we aren't out of control, this is noticed. It has made me unpopular among some. But what can they do about it? Nothing. 

Yet, counselors have a set of tactics especially for dealing with angry mental health consumers. They will use this toolbox to deflate your anger. In the process, you are deflated. Yet, if you can get in a few good points produced by your sharp intellect, it is hard to ignore. And when you are told, "Take a deep breath," your response could be, "No, I'm not going to take a deep breath." A lot of this is where your anger is a tool, and where you are the master of it, not guided by it. 

Additionally, if you can think clearly and if you can have accurate short- and long-term memory, you can keep some of the counselors honest. This is because you have the option of pointing out things spoken and done by mental health practitioners. When counselors inevitably ask for specifics pertaining to an accusation we make, and when we can accurately give those specifics, while at the same time, when we can prevent the counselor from morphing the situation into one of psychological dissection of us, it means we have a good arsenal of verbal and cognitive tools. 

Second Topic: I Am Paranoid, But Are They Really Following Me? 

I want to share with you something. I played a trick on some high school or college kids who were loaded into a small Mazda sedan who were following me on the road. And how do I know they were following? This is how I know... 

I was driving toward home from errands and in my rearview mirror I spotted a carload of young men, with grins on their faces, in a sedan. I took the various turns I needed to take to get toward home. They continued to be behind me. Then I turned into the driveway of a Burger King from which I never intended to buy a hamburger. The carload of young men was still behind me in the parking lot of the Burger King. Then, the next moment, I went to the outbound driveway of same parking lot. They were still behind me as I was exiting back out of the parking lot. They were consequently in one of the outbound driveways of the parking lot that I had just used, and they hesitated because they were starting to become confused. I went up fifty yards and went back into the parking lot through the adjacent driveway and got behind them, but not directly behind. I looked right at them. They appeared very confused at that point, they turned, and they went back the way they'd come. The look I had given them was "Hey, maybe you're dealing with someone who is out of your league where brains are concerned." 

Apparently when you are mentally ill and you have photos of your face on the internet for your writings, you might occasionally attract sick people. But not mentally ill people who have been deemed "sick", I mean sick young people who have a need to harass and/or harm an apparently vulnerable individual, one who tells the truth, for the sake of helping others, and himself. People do not have a right to do this kind of thing! Yet it happens, and it is all too often done by high school and college kids. And it gave me satisfaction to have turned the tables on them, for once. 

Jack Bragen is a writer who lives in Martinez.


THE PUBLIC EYE: Ukraine: What We’ve Learned

Bob Burnett
Saturday April 30, 2022 - 04:41:00 PM

It's been more than two months since Russia invaded Ukraine (February 24). We've learned enough to be able to predict what will happen next and what the geo-political consequences will be.

1.Russia will lose the war: At the beginning of the invasion, most observers believed that Russia would overwhelm Ukraine. That didn't happen and, as time passes, it seems more unlikely to happen. The conflict may drag out but eventually, Russia will lose.

There are multiple reasons why Russia has performed so poorly. The first is that the Ukrainians have out-fought the Russians; the Ukrainians are highly motivated and the Russians are not. The second is that the Russia military has been "hollowed out" because Russia is a kleptocracy and Putin and his cronies have siphoned funds, that should have gone to defense, for their own purposes. In all facets of the Russian invasion we see indications that the invasion was underfunded, and terribly managed.

Russian soldiers are poorly trained. There is inadequate communication between front-line troops and battlefield commanders. The Russian generals have made bad tactical decisions; for example to invade the Donbas region in the spring while the ground is very wet. The Russian supply infrastructure is inadequate. Russians seemingly have no capability of repairing vehicles that break down in the field. Because of the EU sanctions, Russia cannot get critical parts it needs to repair or replace its equipment. (While Russia has shown the capability to build prototypes of advanced weapons, they cannot manufacture these.) 

The Russian military is a mess. Russian military power was over-rated. 

2. Russian soldiers have committed atrocities. It's one thing to be incompetent and quite another thing to be a brutal loser. Russia's conduct of the war has outraged the western world. Russian troops have no respect for civilized norms. 

3. Ukraine will win the war, but at a terrible cost. The war will end when Russia either runs out of money or has lost so much equipment it will be unable to maintain its lines. Then the Russians will withdraw, looting and burning everything in their path. 

Most likely, Russians will retreat to the previous Ukraine border; they will cede Donbas but there will be nothing left of it. Russia will pay no reparations. (The fate of Crimea remains to be determined.) 

4. Sanctions will continue. This isn't a war that will be ended with a peace conference where dignitaries sign agreements. Russia will slink back to its den. The west will be outraged by Russia's conduct. Putin will continue to threaten us. (How does it all end? "Not with a bang, but a whimper.") 

Russia will be isolated from the western world. "Normal" relations will not resume until Putin is out of power. 

5. Russia will lash out. Since the war began we've been expecting Russia to do something to hurt NATO countries -- such as arrange for Marine Le Pen to become president of France. The most likely possibility is cyber warfare. A recent "Sixty Minutes" segment explored this possibility. ( https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-cyberattacks-60-minutes-2022-04-17/) One of the presenters observed: "The reality is that [The United States has] way too many targets. If you look particularly in our energy sector, you have regional utilities. You have minor energy processing companies, storage companies, pipeline companies. And make no mistake, Bill. The cyber actors that [Russia has] are top notch. And they've demonstrated that time and time again." 

Russia will continue to interfere in US Politics. (Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Rand Paul...) 

To say the least, this is a dangerous period. If, as i expect, Russia eventually retreats to the previous Ukraine border, Russian forces will likely use heinous weapons to render the Donbas landscape unusable. 

6. Germany is particularly vulnerable. German has taken steps to aid Ukraine but not to the extent that the other major NATO members have. That's because Germany gets 34 percent of it gas, 32 percent of its oil, and 43 percent of its coal from Russia. 

If Russia loses, as we expect, it's reasonable to expect NATO members to suffer for this; of course, Russia would need to find a big customer to replace the revenue. The Guardian observes that Germany is at the edge of recession. (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/22/russian-gas-ban-germany-recession-bundesbank?) 

7. Russia is vulnerable to China. In a recent Renew Democracy podcast (https://renewdemocracy.substack.com/p/germanys-making-a-deadly-mistake? ), Tom Tugendhat was interviewed; he's a member of the British Parliament and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He observed that it's not just Russia's reputation that's been damaged by their poor performance in Ukraine. Tugendhat noted that to resupply troops killed or injured in Ukraine, Russia has been forced to withdraw troops from their eastern provinces. 

It's conceivable that China will capitalize on Russia's weakness and take back territory such as Manchuria. China might invade Siberia, where there are big oil fields. 

8. There will be severe economic consequences. There is a school of thought that argues the war will only stop when Russia runs out of money; that is, when NATO countries stop buying Russian fossil fuel -- currently estimated at $1 billion per day. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/27/russia-doubles-fossil-fuel-revenues-since-invasion-of-ukraine-began? ) 

However, there is an emerging school of thought that argues the war will end when Russia so depletes their military store that to continue the Ukrainian invasion would present Russia with a grave national security threat. In other words, Russia will have lost so many troops, tanks, trucks, and other weapons that they will not be able to adequately secure their vast territory. 

The latter possibility once seemed unthinkable. Now it isn't. Russia has lost far more troops than they anticipated and cannot adequately replace them. 

During the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has lost about one-quarter of their armored vehicles -- roughly 1200. They still have a lot of armored vehicles but they are not replenishing this supply and evidence suggests the existing store is poorly maintained. That suggests that by June, Russia will have lost more than half of their half of their armored vehicles. 

The war may continue but it will soon have grave consequences for the Russian and Ukrainian economies. Russia exports fertilizer, and grain to the West. These exports will stop as well as Ukrainian agricultural exports. The cessation of Ukrainian agricultural exports will create a food crisis in the Mediterranean region. Writing in Common Dreams, Steven Devereux (https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/03/28/russias-war-ukraine-poses-threat-global-food-security) observed: "Ukraine is known as the breadbasket of Europe, and Russia and Ukraine have both become major food exporters in recent years. In 2020 these two countries accounted for one third of the world’s wheat trade and one quarter of the world’s barley trade. Ukraine alone exported 15 percent of the world’s maize and half of all sunflower oil traded globally." The war will drive up food prices. 

9. The environmental consequences are unthinkable. Russia is the largest country in the world with 11 percent of the world landmass. It's unthinkable to seriously attack global climate change without the support of Russia. Nonetheless, under the present circumstances, that's not going to happen -- and is unlikely to happen until Putin is out of power. (Note that the effort to combat climate change has some support from all other major powers, including China, third largest, Brazil , fifth largest, India, seventh largest, and Kazakhstan, ninth largest.) 

For the foreseeable future, the world will have to tackle climate change without the support of Russia, 

10. Politics: We've started World War III, but the United States remains divided along political lines; According to the latest Pew Research Poll (https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/04/06/seven-in-ten-americans-now-see-russia-as-an-enemy/ ) "69% of Republicans [describe] Russia as an enemy." (Only 6 percent express confidence in Putin.) Nonetheless, there are huge partisan divide on the conduct of the war;.The latest Pew Research poll indicates that Americans are divided on the Biden Administration's handling of Russia's invasion of Ukraine: 47 percent strongly approve and 39 percent strongly disapprove. Opinion is divided along partisan lines: 69 percent of Democrats strongly approve and 67 percent of Republicans strongly disapprove. 

It's difficult to understand what Republicans disapprove of since they seem to change their tune every day. The one continuing theme is that Republicans don't like Joe Biden. 

But some Republicans have seen the light. Writing in the Washington Post(https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/24/biden-is-getting-ukraine-right-russia-war-critics/?), Republican columnist Jennifer Rubin thinks that Biden has done a good job managing the war in Ukraine. "In our age of perpetual cynicism, distrust and discontent, it would be unheard of for [Republicans] to acknowledge that an administration is doing just about everything humanly possible to confront evil. But this administration is. For that, Biden deserves a great deal of credit." 

Summary: Welcome to the new world order. We're not doing enough to combat climate change. Russia has launched World War III. And Republicans have lost their minds. 

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


SMITHEREENS: Reflections on Bits & Pieces

Gar Smith
Saturday April 30, 2022 - 04:12:00 PM

Do Mosquitos Have a Political Bias?

During his time in office, TrumpleThinSkin did a lot to dismantle the good work of the Environmental Protection Agency. Now it looks like nature's getting even. New research reveals that pro-Trumpers are more likely to suffer from mosquito bites.

According to University of Washington biologists, biting insects attracted by the CO2 in human breath favor targets wearing black jeans, cyan shirts, orange bandanas, and MAGA-red caps. Research published in the journal, Nature, has some good news for environmentalists and healthcare workers—mosquitos were shown to steer away from humans wearing hospital-worker white, first-responder blue, Lady Gaga purple and Sierra Club green.

Some Options Aren't Optional

On Earth Day, Rep. Barbara Lee (my favorite congressmember) emailed an invitation to "Sign on as a citizen endorser of the Green New Deal." Lee has joined Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey in a campaign to rally "citizen endorsers" to "match the scale of the climate crisis with a bold, comprehensive plan to promote environmental justice." But the petition only called for an email address, a postal code ("optional") and a First Name (also "optional").

How can it be called a petition if it doesn't require the name of the person signing? 

Karmic Strips 

The Chronicle's daily "funnies" took a serious turn on April 26, when Wiley Miller's Non Sequitur showed four scythe-wielding horsemen at the Apocalypse Corral reading a letter from "some guy in Russia [who] wants to know if our membership is restricted to just four." 

Meanwhile, Earth Day went largely unnoted in the Chronicle's Sunday Comics. The pickings were quite grim, actually. 

One strip featured a couple of Earth-orbiting aliens looking at a "World Peace" pie chart that mocked the Peace Symbol while the anti-social kinder-star of Lio was seen donning police-state body armor, helmet and face-mask in preparation for boarding a school bus inhabited by a dozen classmates beating each other with fists and baseball bats. 

So it was a welcome relief to encounter Mutts, a sweetly humane and pet-centric strip that featured a full-panel depiction of nature—trees, hills, clouds and sky—with a quotation from His Holiness the Dalai Lama floating high overhead:
"Because we all share this planet Earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. This is not just a dream, but a necessity." 

Zooming into Linguistic Antiquity 

An email with a subject line reading "What's New at Zoom" announced the advent of "many exciting and useful features" that have been added to the platform in 2022. According to the script, the upgrades included "Common Criteria Certification, which is an international security standard. Learn more about this distinguishment from our press release." 

"Distinguishment"?" 

According to every online dictionary consulted, "distinguishment" is just another way of saying "distinguished"—except that it's an option that has been obsolete for decades. 

Knock-Knock-Knocking on Kevin's Door 

Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had a bad week. Even for a fibbing Trump toady, McCarthy's missteps would have made a bullfrog blush. First he denounced as a lie reports that he urged Donald Trump to resign. Then a tape recording surfaced in which McCarthy clearly vented his disgust with Trump, grumbling "I've had it with this guy." 

Safely back in California, McCarthy tried to regain political traction by appearing on a podium surrounded by the state GOP's new election-year signature: CAGOP.org. 

Fortuitously, this string of letters conjures a potentially inescapable "earworm" by which we can address our local Repubs. Maybe we can call these corrupted political cyborgs "Cagoporgs." 

Chronicle political scribe Joe Garofoli recently described the state's GOP (with a nod to "Winnie the Pooh" fans) as "long the nation's political Eeyors." Garofoli dnoted that "No Republicans have been elected to statewide office since 2006." 

As for the Cagoporg's attempts to blame Democrats (and not COVID, Big Oil, or the Pentagon) for the fact that inflation is at a "40-year high"? That doesn't wash, Garofoli notes, because that previous inflationary peak was hit when the president was Ronald Reagan. 

Fashion Plates 

It's nice to see evidence of someone who's comfortable with their lot and life. Like the driver of the car with a license plate reading: LAZYOAF. 

On the other end of the achievement spectrum, there's a contender driving around behind a plate that declares: QALFYING. 

The owner of a Celica has a plate that declares: SO STAY. The mystery of the meaning is cleared up by two lines of type on the plate's metal frame. They read: "I don't want to grow up" and "We can stay forever young." 

A blue Tesla is leaving fellow drivers with a puzzle thanks to the plate: F43ONO. Maybe it is an echo of the previous message but written by someone who's not ready to turn 30—as in "Grade 'F' for 30 Years. No!" 

Finally, a car spotted parked in North Berkeley bore a plate that read: AHEGATO. Since the plate was on a Subaru, I thought this might be a version of "arigato," which is Japanese for "thank you." But it's not. Besides, translating "arigato" into plate speech would give you "REGATO." Google couldn't find a Japanese translation for ahegato but found a near-match in "ahegao," which turns out to be a goofy form of Japanese porn that's trending on TikTok. 

The Reich-versus-Musk Twitter Feud 

Several weeks ago, Tesla mega-mogul Elon Musk was in the news for spending $2.64 billion to purchase nearly 10% of Twitter's stock. On April 24, Musk staged a historic take-over, purchasing the Twitterverse, lock, stock, and bare-all, for $44 billion. In that one fall swoop, Musk became the World's Biggest Twit. 

Musk has described himself as a "free-speech absolutist" who plans to ramp-up Twitter to become a First-and-last-Amendment bastion. But many are doubtful. 

Foremost among those standing tall to de-mask Musk's libertarian masquerade is UC Berkeley Economics Prof. Robert Reich, who recently posted an essay titled "Why Elon Musk Blocked Me on Twitter." 

Reich noted that Musk has complained to his 80 million Twitter followers that banning insurrectionist D. Trump from Twitter was an abuse of power and argued that Internet giants should never be allowed to act as "the de facto arbiters of free speech." 

Reich has reason to challenge Musk's protestations. Two years ago, when Reich posted a tweet about dangerous working conditions for workers at Musk's Tesla plant, Musk responded by blocking Reich from his Twitter account. 

"Seems like an odd move for someone who describes himself as a 'free speech absolutist,'" Reich writes. "Musk advocates free speech but, in reality, it's just about power." 

Here are some recent Reich rants that Musk's minions were prevented from ever seeing on Twitter: 

• "So let me get this straight: Elon Musk made $159 million by violating securities law, and he was rewarded with a seat on Twitter's board?" 

• "In 2018, [Musk] allegedly misled investors for tweeting that he had enough funding to take Tesla private. He paid a $20 million fine—equivalent to some loose chance for a man worth over $250 billion." 

• "Tesla forced all workers to take a 10 percent pay cut from mid-April until July. In the same period, Tesla stock skyrocketed and CEO Elon Musk's net worth quadrupled from $25 billion to over $100 billion." 

• "Modern-day robber baron Elon Musk increased his wealth by $6 billion in one day last week. Meanwhile, our tax code enabled him to pay zero federal income taxes in 2018." 

• "Elon Musk became the second-richest person in the world after illegally threatening to take away stock options if employees unionized and firing staff after telling them they could take unpaid time off. I'll say it again: Musk is a modern-day robber baron." 

Taking Stock of Capital Hill's "Insider Trading" 

Public Citizen wants to make it illegal for Washington's elected representatives to invest in stocks—especially when they cast votes that can increase the value of their personal investmants. "Members of Congress [should be] public servants, not day traders," says Public Citizen's Robert Weissman. He gives some examples: 

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) invested thousands in cannabis industry stocks and three months later presided over the Budget Committee's vote to decriminalize marijuanca—a piece of legislation that Yarmuth cosponsored. 

• Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in Lockheed and Raytheon and now chairs the Republican Budget and Spending Task Force, which is calling for a $22 billion hike in Pentagon spending. 

• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)—who has a net worth of $1.5 million—invested in Chevron and Lockheed Martin stocks one day before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As Greene subsequently tweeted: “War and rumors of war is [sic] incredibly profitable and convenient.” 

Public Citizen would like to put an end to insider stock trading by the nation's lawmakers by urging voters "to swamp their offices with phone calls, emails, letters and petitions." 

 

Activists on Six Continents Link to #StopLockheedMartin  

On April 21, the same day Lockheed Martin held its annual general meeting, a global campaign was launched to condemn the company for its role as the world's largest arms maker. While few entities have cause to celebrate the monstrous war in Ukraine, Lockheed has seen its share price soar by 20% in the weeks following Russia's invasion. 

Lockheed pulls in $65 billion in annual profits and arms more than 50 countries—including some of the world's most oppressive dictatorships. As the mobilization notes: "From Ukraine to Yemen, from Palestine to Colombia, from Somalia to Syria, from Afghanistan to West Papua, no one profits more from war and bloodshed than Lockheed Martin." 

In response, more than a hundred groups on six continents organized a Global Mobilization to #StopLockheedMartin. 

David Swanson, the Executive Director of World BEYOND War, joined activists from CODEPINK, Maryland Peace Action, MilitaryPoisons.org, and Veterans For Peace at a protest event outside Lockheed's Annual Meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. Swanson noted: "They have so much money they can put up war memorials everywhere—as long as no one remembers what shame is. While we were there, we saw an armored bank car drive into the Lockheed Martin headquarters." 

 

More Gas-lighting for the Oil-igarchy 

The Sierra Club is seeing red because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has de-greened oversight of gas pipeline and export terminal permits, thereby damaging both climate and nearby communities while benefiting the fossil fuel industry. 

FERC knows that it needs to do better with its Pipeline Certification and Greenhouse Gas Emissions policies but seems to fear carbon-addicted oligarchs more than a carbon-fueled Apocalypse. 

Every time a federal watchdog cow-tows to a polluting industry, it sends a wounding message to our country's downstream communities. In this case, it tells us "You don't give a FERC." 

Spelling Out Solutions in Federal Legislation 

Some days it seems you can't get legislation passed in Washington without generating a catchy acronym. Case in point: Food and Water Watch recently referenced the untreaed tap water that poisoned thousands in Flint, Michigan eight years ago. (Lead leaching from the system’s decrepit pipes sickened Flint's children and at least a dozen residents died.) 

"We need real, permanent federal investment in our water and wastewater infrastructure to prioritize community safety and promote climate resilience," F&WW writes. And that means urging elected leaders to pass the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity and Reliability Act (aka the WATER Act). Click here to support the WATER Act! 

A Bandolier of Mil-Speak 

Militarized grammar seems to have an unbreakable lock on US English. A group called VoteVets offers a recent example in a fund-raising letter that aims to "Defeat Trumpism," "Expand Democratic Majorities" and "Advance Progressive Values." [Italics added.] VV hails itself as the "Most Potent 'Secret Weapon' in the Progressive Arsenal!" and promises to "combat disinformation," "deploy Operation Voter Storm to target vets," and ready to apply "force" "on the ground" to "win victories" in the November elections. VV has deployed a regiment of political foot-soldiers, many of whom are already embedded in Washington's trenches. In the November election, VV is promoting the campaigns of no less than 32 former military and intelligence veterans. 

A Sentence to Chisel in Stone 

The Economic Policy Institute will be hosting an online discussion with Robert Kuttner, the co-editor of The American Prospect and author of a new book, Going Big: FDR’s Legacy, Biden’s New Deal, and the Struggle to Save Democracy.  

As Kuttner writes:
“Joe Biden’s presidency will be either a historic pivot back to New Deal economics and forward to energized democracy, or a heartbreaking interregnum between two bouts of deepening American fascism. We are facing the most momentous threat to the American republic since the Civil War.”  

You can register for the May 3, 11:00–12:00 a.m. live-cast by clicking here. 

 


ECLECTIC RANT: No” on San Francisco Proposition H, the Boudin Recall

Ralph E. Stone
Saturday April 30, 2022 - 04:07:00 PM

“ee with his stated goal of focusing on services and rehabilitation instead of incarceration. That’s why I am voting “no” on Proposition H, the Boudin recall.

The San Francisco Chronicle analyzed data from the San Francisco Police Department and concluded, "While the pandemic significantly affected crime as San Francisco is getting back to ’normal,' so are its crime rates. Boudin likely hasn't had an impact one way or another." And Boudin has not been accused of any unethical or illegal activity.

What crime wave? According to the proponents of the recall, District Attorney Boudin is “failing to keep San Franciscans safe.” Yet, an analysis of police data for 2021 shows an uptick in crime from 2020, but overall lower crime rates than pre-pandemic levels. True murders have increased but murders are not just a San Francisco problem as murders in major U.S. increased in 2021. In sum, the police data may be subject to different interpretation but clearly do not show a crime wave in San Francisco.  

Why blame Boudin and for what? According to a Bloomberg analysis, there is no actual correlation between counties/cities with progressive prosecutors and crime rates or “tough on crime” district attorneys and crime rates. In other words, the District Attorney’s office cannot prosecute people until the police arrest them.  

Who is behind the recall? The main funder of the recall initiative is Neighbors for a Better San Francisco made up of GOP donors and allies who "support Trump, McConnell, and the GOP agenda, and run by a lobbyist for the real-estate industry." 

Chesa Boudin is just doing what he pledged to do; thus, a recall is uncalled for, or at least premature. Instead of a recall, he should serve out his term in office and then let voters decide whether he should be re-elected for another term. 

“


ON MENTAL WELLNESS: Poor Decisions Caused by Psychosis Contribute to Homelessness

Jack Bragen
Monday April 25, 2022 - 02:39:00 PM

My father passed away in 2012. He once said of people with my condition, "Judgment is the first thing to go." And I've discovered that to be a very astute observation, potentially a truism. I don't have him to help in a crisis anymore. Other family members continue to help a lot. They want me to rely on myself when possible. And this is for the best. If I'm able to survive with little or no help, it only helps me. 

However, my condition can and does affect my ability to make sound decisions. And because of this, I've thrown away a number of job situations, jobs that could be helping me today if I'd stayed with them. At the time that I was in the jobs, the work environment and the difficulties of working seemed unbearable. 

Yet, if I'd been able to coach myself more and tough it out, I'd be in a much better position at my age. Being able to withstand a challenging situation in order to have better life circumstances is, to a large extent, in the realm of judgment. It is also in the realm of toughness, but I have toughness--I'm just very challenged when it comes to certain things. I was looking for that ideal work situation in which working wouldn't be so damned uncomfortable and even threatening. 

It is a simple reality that jobs, almost any of them worth having, are hard. If I'd accepted and incorporated this realization early in life, I would be far better off today. Now I have medical issues, sleep issues, stamina issues, and mental health issues, not to mention being older and not having a college degree, that altogether make me unemployable, apart from self-employment. Yet, self-employment is also demanding if you want to make any significant amount of income. 

If you are unemployable, homelessness can easily follow. If you are a senior, one hopes you have accumulated retirement money and some sort of pension. If not, there may not be much protecting you. You must be very careful about your decisions. And if you have a brain condition that affects judgment, making consistently sound decisions is a tall order. 

Homelessness can happen more easily today than ever. The housing market for so-called "affordable housing" is reachable by those who, compared to disabled people, are well to do. If you work full-time at a minimum wage job, you might be able to afford a room in a house. This is different from how it was a relatively short time ago. Thus, any housing that a mentally disabled person can get and keep, even if less than ideal, is exceedingly valuable. 

Sometimes, mentally ill people are helped when we are protected from ourselves in the decisions we make or attempt to make. This is where I can see how some restrictions on mentally ill people under some circumstances could be beneficial. Yet this concept doesn't sell very well to those of us who'd like to strike it out on our own and make names for ourselves. Yet, there's a lot to be said for having a roof over your head, physical safety, and food in your gut. Decisions made while under the influence of psychosis can lead to homelessness, incarceration, or worse. Therefore, although I haven't read the text of Governor Newsom's Care Court Proposal, the idea of it might not be totally bad. I'm saying that with the stipulation that I haven't read the bill and I know very little about it except for what Newsom himself has said. And his initial speech promoting the idea was given before the bill had been drafted. Yet this is a reversal of a position I wrote about that was published previously in The Planet. 

Many NAMI members are in favor of Newsom's Proposal. NAMI California apparently supports it, according to at least one source. 

If the choices are having all your liberties intact and dying of exposure to the elements plus starvation, versus being restricted a little bit yet having your basic needs met, I'll take the latter of the two. 

Jack Bragen lives in Martinez, and his most recent indie book is titled: "Revising Behaviors that Don't Work."


A Berkeley Activist's Diary, Week Ending April 24

Kelly Hammargren
Monday April 25, 2022 - 04:25:00 PM

When I picked up my iPhone this morning checking the news banners, NPR caught my attention, saying that birds in North America are in trouble. The article reminds us that if birds are in decline, the ecosystems are in decline and our own health is tied to this shared environment.

NPR lists eight actions:

  1. reduce habitat loss and degradation, grow native plants (calscape.org will help you choose)
  2. reduce pesticide use (better yet eliminate pesticides, birds need those bugs for food and buy plants that are not pretreated with neonicotinoids)
  3. purchase bird friendly products (like bird friendly coffee)
  4. advocate for bird-friendly environmental policies and expect the same from elected and appointed officials
  5. reduce bird deaths, keep your cat indoors
  6. make windows more visible to birds (install bird safe glass, or add window film with dots or lines https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/products-database/, use exterior screens)
  7. turn off lights you are not using especially at night,
  8. if you have a bird feeder clean it regularly to prevent spread of disease.
Bill Shrader, part of the Austin Group, introduced his apartment project at 2440 Shattuck, “The Lair”, to the City of Berkeley’s Design Review Committee and proudly showed off the planned green wall of plants on the exterior and interior at the lobby entry. Erin Diehm pointed out that the interior plants will attract birds who will crash into the wall of glass, and asked if bird safe glass will be used. Shrader answered that bird safe glass is new and he will check into it. He said he doesn’t want dead birds by the entrance to his building.

Bird safe glass is not new. San Francisco has had an ordinance in place for over a decade. It is just Berkeley that can’t get it together and has left the Bird Safe Ordinance languishing at the Planning Commission. 

When Shrader was asked about the statement that he wants to seek exception to the prohibition of natural gas (the all-electric building ordinance) he said that the Office of Economic Development was advising this action. I have long had questions about the integrity of voices within the Office of Economic Development and as well as in the Planning Department. This advice only adds more confirmation to what I have already observed. 

As for number two in the list, to save birds reduce pesticides, a friend who will remain unnamed confessed to me that when she saw black spots on the milkweed she planted to save Monarch butterflies, she sprayed the plants with bug killer, killing the hatching baby monarch caterpillars. Sometime later she said she was going to use herbicide to kill the plants growing between the cracks in the driveway. I asked her how it is that, if she cares so much about her little two year old grandnephew, how she could use these toxic chemicals if she wants to leave a world in which that precious toddler could survive? 

We need to reorient how we view the world and how our actions foster health or speed extinction. 

Tuesday was a heavy council day, starting with a morning budget meeting in which the Budget Manager didn’t include the $1.5 million for the Building Electrification and Just Transition Program on the AAO budget sheet. A surprise, but no surprise. The Budget Manager is new, and responding to climate and the environment is always at the bottom (if it is mentioned at all) of anything trickling down from the City Manager’s office. 

One hundred fifty attended the evening Council work session, which lasted until 11:45 pm, on Fire Department Standards and Community Risk Assessment Study and the Ashby and North Berkeley Housing Projects. 

The Fire Department study was presented in easy to view charts and graphs and closed with recommendations which could be viewed in a couple of minutes. Recommendations: 911 dispatch times must shorten to best practices, the city needs six full-time ambulances, the city needs to implement a non-fire unit alternative response team for non-acute, non-911 medical calls, and mental health patients need their own appropriate clinical response. https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2022/04_Apr/City_Council__04-19-2022_-_Special_(WS)_Meeting_Agenda.aspx. 

The mayor delivered his introduction to the BART housing projects, with a statement that the Planning Commission voted (5 to 4) for the 12-story and above project design (against staff and Community Advisory Group recommendations.) Fifty-seven people commented verbally, and there is a very very long list of letters with the usual divide between mid-size 7-story supporters and the tall 12-story and more advocates. There were lots of questions from councilmembers which were left unanswered about the state density bonus, including how funding for affordable housing and affordable unit credits might end up benefitting for-profit developers while reducing their share of required affordable units. There was also the question of density bonuses and height. There will be a follow-up meeting on May 31 with a council vote. 

The City Manager’s response to the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force and the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform recommendations finally did come to pass on Thursday evening. The public meeting announcement and associated documents didn’t go up online until 5 pm on Tuesday, two days before the special council meeting, not even making the 72-hour posting window required for non-emergency meetings. The document dump of over 600 pages with sufficient repetition, historical notices, council actions, previous studies but no analysis puts off even the most robust reader. 

As far as “reimagine” there was little, but the evening and documents were filled with buzz words. The response included add more police, hire more consultants with some to analyze beats and staffing, move school crossing guards into BerkDOT (a new Berkeley Department of Transportation with a new added deputy director) and a repetition of the standing request to have a 24/7 mobile crisis unit. 

No action was taken and the Mayor didn’t sound happy with the direction, saying he would be bringing back a response. 

The City Manager is asking for $12,452,169 in additional funding and even that looks like fuzzy accounting. Voting for fattening the police budget comes with smiling pictures of uniformed officers and whoever is running for election, plus all those Berkeley Police Association (police union) mailers arriving in our mailboxes come election time. Or, what might be called the “be afraid of crime” mailers, aimed at anyone who dares to question all that financing. 

One lingering question for me is why school crossing guards are even in the police department in the first place, instead of part of the Berkeley Unified School District. 

What is proven to reduce crime is investing in community services. While a mobile crisis team is desperately needed, so too is a safe place to take people. Berkeley could have a crisis stabilization program with a center if actual reimagining was on the table. There are functioning crisis stabilization centers that Berkeley can use as a model, including the Deschutes Stabilization Center in Bend, Oregon. 

The budget meetings arrive with intensity this coming week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That will tell us a lot more about what direction Berkeley is headed in. 

When I moved to Berkeley, the selection of theaters for viewing independent and foreign film felt endless. Soon all that will be left is the theater at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. There is the Regal United Artists, of course, but that seems more like a collection of shows for teenage boys. 

There is something very special about watching film on the big screen in a theater which a handheld device or even a 65” TV if you have one (mine is 22”) can’t replace. Time has moved on and the pandemic speeded up the process. The California on Kittredge is closed. The Shattuck Cinemas will be torn down for an 8-story student housing project at 2065 Kittredge. It was the last project reviewed Thursday evening by the Design Review Committee. 

Even the making of film is threatened. This coming week the Zoning Adjustment Board will consider and likely approve changing four existing media tenant spaces to research and development. It looks like Chris Barlow of Wareham Development, owner of 2600 Tenth Street, is finally getting his way. From what I’ve read and heard, raising rents and the City’s heavy hand over the years are setting the stage for yet another cultural and talent loss.  

There is more money to be made in research and development, so we can expect the artisans to be pushed out of West Berkeley, with the developers and City leaders cheering the change while they fill the air with their hollow rhetoric of how much they care. 

Monday was tax day. Rutger Bregman was someone I had never heard of until I picked up the book Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World by Peter Goodman. Bregman was invited to speak at Davos in January 2019 and never invited back and this is why, he said: 

“This is my first time at Davos and I find it quite a bewildering experience to be honest. I mean 1500 private jets have flown in here to hear Sir David Attenborough speak about how we’re wrecking the planet. I hear people talking the language of participation and justice and equality and transparency, but then almost no one raises the real issue of tax avoidance, right? And, of the rich just not paying their fair share. It feels as if I’m at a fire fighters conference and no one is allowed to speak about water. This is not rocket science. We can talk for a very long time about all these stupid philanthropy schemes…but come on, we’ve got to be talking about taxes. That’s it, taxes, taxes, taxes. All the rest is bullshit in my opinion…10 years ago, the World Economic Forum asked the question what must industry do to prevent a broad social backlash? The answer is very simple, Just stop talking about philanthropy and start talking about taxes…just two days ago there was a billionaire in here, Michael Dell. And he asked a question like, name me one country where a top marginal tax rate of 70% has actually worked? And, you know, I’m a historian, the United States, that’s where it has actually worked, in the 1950s during Republican President Eisenhower, the war veteran. The top marginal tax rate in the U.S. was 91% for people like Michael Dell…the top estate tax for people like Michael Dell was more than 70%” 

Goodman writes, Davos Man has looted the treasury leaving other strategies to secure votes such as demonizing immigrants. We can add creating fear with critical race theory, book censorship, demonizing supporters of the LBGTQ community and designating parents of transgender youth as child abusers. Then there are the pedophile conspiracy claims too. 

If you pick up Davos name you will see familiar names like Marc Benioff – Salesforce, Jeff Bezos – Amazon, Stephen Schwarzman – Blackstone, Larry Fink – BlackRock, Jamie Dimon – JPChase. Goodman reminds us Americans have stared down Robber Barons before. It is time to do it again. We wouldn’t be struggling over affordable housing if BlackStone and BlackRock weren’t gobbling up housing and turning it into rentals and billionaires weren’t escaping paying their fair share of taxes. 

There is a waitlist for Davos Man at the San Francisco and Contra Costa libraries.


Arts & Events

The Berkeley Activist's Calendar, May 1-8

Kelly Hammargren, Sustainable Berkeley Coalition
Saturday April 30, 2022 - 03:45:00 PM

Worth Noting:

The new city website is turned on and it takes some getting used to. Most of the old links don’t work and there is still information missing. If you had webpages up in your browser before the conversion you will find most of them don’t work and you will either get a warning message or “404 page not found” The phone number 510.981.2489 goes to 311 after the list of emergency numbers.

To check for meetings, you will need to go to the home page https://berkeleyca.gov/ and weave your way down past the Latest News and Featured events to get to City Meetings. The City Council tab does not include Council Committees, it is only full council meetings.

Monday the Peace and Justice Commission meets at 7 pm with Reimaging Public Safety as item 10. on the agenda.

Tuesday the 4 x 4 Committee at 2:30 pm will be reviewing eviction for good cause ordinance as a November ballot measure,

Wednesday FITES at 2:30 pm continues work on plastic bag ordinance. In the evening at 7 pm the Planning Commission receives a Housing element Update. The Homeless Panel of Experts agenda is not posted, however, it would be expected that the agenda would be Measure P budget recommendations.

Thursday morning at 10:30 the Land Use Committee takes up a proposal for an Efficiency Unit Ordinance using 150 sq ft and 220 sq ft model ordinances – for comparison I added a link to tiny home pictures and floor plans.

The Thursday evening council special meeting is not posted - Mayor Arreguin announced that he will be presenting a response to the Reimagining Public Safety on May 5, but there is no posting for a meeting. Check during the week at https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas or call the Mayor’s office at 510-981-7100. The expected time would be at 6 pm.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission meets at 7 pm. The Transportation Commission is expected to meet but there is no posting.

The book festival is Saturday May 7 and Sunday May 8.

The May 10th regular Council meeting is posted and available for comment. A full agenda list follows the city meetings by day of the week.

I could not update the list of approved projects in the appeal period as the previously used link is no longer functional and no new active link to that page could be found in the website.

Sunday, May 1, 2022 – no city meetings or events found 

Monday, May 2, 2022 

Peace and Justice Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83078498478 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 830 7849 8478 

AGENDA: 3. Comments from the public, 4. Minutes, 5. Commission Updates & Chairperson Report, 6. Secretary’s Report, 7. Presentation and Discussion with Ms. Joemy Ito-Gates, BUSD K-12 ethnic studies teacher, 8. Discuss Conscientious Objector’s / Bob Meola Memorial Flag-Raising, 9. Peace & Justice Workplan, 10. Discussion on Police accountability, Reform and Reimagining processes in the City of Berkeley, 11. Oppose Russian Invasion of Ukraine and in Support of a Peaceful Future. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/peace-and-justice-commission 

Tuesday, May 3, 2022 

4x4 Joint Task Force Committee on Housing: Rent Board/City Council at 2:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87660974031?pwd=Z251QTZvcDR0QUFJbGVoMGxLaFN6Zz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 876 6097 4031 Passcode: 059116  

AGENDA: 6. Discussion and possible action on a memorandum regarding potential for adding more rent controlled units, 7. Discussion and possible action to recommend various amendments to Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause Ordinance to be placed on the November 2022 general election ballot. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/legislative-body-meeting-agendas/2022%20May%203_4x4%20Committee%20Agenda_PACKET.pdf 

Wednesday, May 4, 2022 

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

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88133116954 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 881 3311 6954 

AGENDA: 2. Harrison & Hahn - Ordinance to Regulate Plastic Bags at Retail and Food service Establishments, 3. Energy Commission - Community Outreach and Education Events on Proposed Regulations for the Use of Carryout and Pre-checkout bags (i.e. plastic bags used in fruit, vegie and bin goods in groceries), 4. Harrison, co-sponsor Hahn - Consider strategies and make recommendations to council and staff to ensure potential infrastructure bond expenditure is consistent with climate action goals and other environmental policies, 5. Harrison, co-sponsors Bartlett, Hahn - Adopt Ordinance to BMC establishing emergency GHG limits, and process for updated climate action plan, monitoring, evaluation, reporting and regional collaboration. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/legislative-body-meeting-agendas/2022-05-04%20Agenda%20Packet%20-%20Facilities.pdf 

Board of Library Trustees at 5:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82391166620 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 823 9116 6620 

AGENDA: public comment, then closed session Public Employee Appointment – Director of Library services. 

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

Board of Library Trustees Regular Meeting at 6:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86042306505 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 860 4230 6505 

AGENDA CONSENT: B. Amend Contract Innovative Interfaces, Inc implementation and subscription to hosted Link+/INN-Reach resource sharing system incremental amount $136,665 total $1,444,620 and extend from 6/30/2022 to 12/31/2025, C. 3-yr license agreement between Library and Friends of the Berkeley Public Library for use of space in central library thru 1/4/2024, D. Amend contract incremental amount $357,351 total $1,680,270 and extend 6/30/2025 with Bibliotheca, LLC for library’s automated material handling systems, ACTION: A. Revised Unattended Children Policy, B. Proposed Budget FY 2023-2024 all library funds, C. Bylaws of the BOLT and Accompanying Nomination Policy. 

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

Homeless Services Panel of Experts at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/92491365323 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 924 9136 5323 

AGENDA: agenda not posted 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/homeless-services-panel-experts 

Planning Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84031840274 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 840 3184 0274 

AGENDA: 3. Public comment non-agenda items, 9. Discussion: Housing Element Update: Preliminary Site, Goals, policies and programs, to receive information and discuss potential additional sites and programs to be incorporated in the Housing Element Update (packet 109 pages) 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/planning-commission 

Police Accountability Board Regulations Subcommittee at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82281228507 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 822 8122 8507 

AGENDA: 4. a. Receive feedback from BPD on latest draft, including regarding complaints filed with IA only, b. Finalize draft of proposed Regulations for submittal to Police accountability Board for review, comment and approval. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/police-accountability-board or 

https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/legislative-body-meeting-agendas/2022-05-04.Regulations.Agenda.pdf 

Thursday, May 5, 2022 

City Council Land Use, Housing & Economic Development Committee at 10:30 am, Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88068977626 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 880 6897 7626  

AGENDA: 2. Taplin - Efficiency Unit Ordinance - develop an ordinance to amend the BMC to model standards implemented by the Cities of Davis and Santa Barbara. An Efficiency unit for a maximum of two people in these cities is minimum of 150 sq ft in Santa Barbara and 220 sq ft in Davis. An efficiency unit includes a kitchen consisting of sink, cooking appliance and refrigeration appliance, bathroom with toilet, sink and tub or shower. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/legislative-body-meeting-agendas/2022-05-05%20Agenda%20Packet%20-%20Land%20Use.pdf 

Tinyurl made for you to check out samples of tiny houses with pictures and floor plans for considering this ordinance proposal tinyurl.com/mrxmvfm9 

City Council Closed Session at 3:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88320965147 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 883 2096 5147 

AGENDA: 1. Conference with Labor Negotiators employee organizations: Berkeley Fire fighters Assoc Local 1227, Berkeley Fire Fighters Assoc, Loal 1227 I.A.F.F. / Berkeley Chief Fire Officers Assoc, IBEW, Local 1245, SEIU 1021 Community Services and Parttime recreation Activity Leaders, SEIU 1021 Maintenance and Clerical, Public Employees Union Local 1, Unrepresented Employees, Berkeley Police Association, 2. Conference with Legal Counsel – existing litigation, Secure Justice v. City of Berkeley Case No. 21CV003630. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/city-council-closed-meeting-eagenda-may-5-2022 

Mayor Arreguin announced that he will be presenting a response to the Reimagining Public Safety on May 5, but there is no posting for a meeting. Check during the week or call the Mayor’s office at 510-981-7100. The expected time would be at 6 pm. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas 

 

Landmarks Preservation Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81581770114 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 815 8177 0114 

AGENDA: 5. 2113 Kittredge – California Theatre – resume public hearing to grant designation status 

6. 8 Greenwood Common – Structural Alteration Permit 

7. 2439 Durant – Demolition referral 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/landmarks-preservation-commission 

Public Works Commission at 7 pm  

Public Works normally meets the 1st Thursday, meeting is not posted check after Monday 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/public-works-commission 

Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) at 1 pm  

Hybrid Meeting 

In-person 670 W Hornet Ave, Alameda, CA 94501 (Face masks strongly recommended) 

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

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 897 1821 7408 Password: 33779  

AGENDA: 3. Report Chair, 4. Reports of Directors, 5. Reports Staff a. COVID-19 Protocol Update, WETA Board Appointment, b. Monthly Review of Financial Statements, c. Federal Legislative Update, d. State Legislative Update, e. Monthly Ridership and Recovery Report, 6. Consent Calendar a. Resolution regarding remote meetings, b. minutes, c RFP for on-call professional engineering/consulting services to support ongoing system capital planning construction management and vessel design, d. RFP for all electric vessel construction for MV Intintoli Replacement Vessel, 7. Approve contract award to Elliot Bay Design Group for construction management services for the MV Intintoli Replacement Vessel, 8. Sea change hydrogen-powered vessel demonstration project, 9. South San Francisco – San Francisco Pilot Service, 10. 2 year budget outlook, 11. Overview of WETA’s disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) program and small business enterprise (SBE) element and strategies to increase DBE and SBE participation, 12. Recess into closed session. 13. Report on closed session. 

https://weta.sanfranciscobayferry.com/next-board-meeting 

Friday, May 6, 2022 

Parking Enforcement Operation on 2500 block of Durant between 7 pm and 11 pm 

https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/news/parking-enforcement-operation-56-and-57 

Saturday, May 7, 2022 

Bicycling Park pop-up event at San Pablo Park at 10 am – 2 pm 

https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/news/share-your-thoughts-bicycling-berkeley 

Bay area Book Festival at 11 am – 5 pm outdoors is free  

In person ticketed events at Freight and Salvage, Brower Center, Berkeley City College, Magnes Museum, Residence Inn, the Marsh, Veteran’s Memorial Building. 

Check schedule at https://www.baybookfest.org/ 

Parking Enforcement Operation on 2500 block of Durant between 7 pm and 11 pm 

https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/news/parking-enforcement-operation-56-and-57 

Sunday, May 8, 2022 – Mother’s Day 

Bay area Book Festival at 11 am – 4 pm outdoors is free  

In person ticketed events at Freight and Salvage, Brower Center, Berkeley City College, Magnes Museum, Residence Inn, the Marsh, Veteran’s Memorial Building. 

Check schedule at https://www.baybookfest.org/ 

+++++++++++++++++++++++ 

May 10, City Council Regular 6 pm meeting 

Meeting is HYBRID in-person or zoom­ 

Attend in person at 1231 Addison School District Board Room  

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87240656157 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 872 4065 6157 

https://cityofberkeley.info/city-council-regular-meeting-eagenda-may-10-2022 or 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas 

CONSENT: 2nd reading for 1-3: 1. Community Health commission reduce membership to 9 members, 2. Lease agreement at 1835 Allston Way, 3. Zoning Ordinance Amendments technical edits and corrections, 4. Resolution Directing Legislative Bodies to Continue Meeting vis videoconference and teleconference, 5. Resolution to continue Ratify Local COVID-19 Emergency, 6. General Municipal Election 11/8/2022 including adopting policies and timelines for filing ballot measure arguments, 7. FY 2022 Annual Appropriations Ordinance, $53,155,906 (gross) and $43,380,083 (net), 8. Bid Solicitations $964,022, 9. FF Funds Purchase Order $250,000 ZOLL Medical for ECG Monitor/Defibrillators for emergency response vehicles, 10. GG Fire Prevention Funds $121,133 includes $14,552 contingency for carpet replacement at 1900 6th Street, 11. Contract $17,808 with JotForm, Inc, 12. Donation $54,167 for Berkeley Meals on Wheels, 13. People’s Park, Application for $5,000,000 to State of California Housing Trust Fund for Supportive Housing in People’s Park (2556 Haste) Funding Request Summary: The City of Berkeley will apply any Local Housing Trust Fund (LHTF) award to the City's Housing Trust Fund program. The LHTF award will fund the City's existing funding reservation for the pipeline project Supportive Housing in People’s Park (2556 Haste Street). The City will match the LHTF funding with money from its affordable housing trust fund. This project is planned to provide 119 permanent, safe, sustainable, affordable apartments for low-income households, and formerly unhoused households earning between 10%-50% of the Area Median Income. Supportive Housing in People’s Park will provide 62 apartments reserved as permanent supportive homes for previously unhoused residents, 14. Amend contract add $66,450 total $1,528,350 with Murray Building, Inc for Cazadero Camp Jensen Dormitory Construction Project, 15. Amend contract add $530,832 total $39,350,473 with Robert E. Boyer Construction Inc for Berkeley Tuolumne Cap Construction Project, 16. Amend contracts add $600,000 total $900,000 each with BASE Landscape Architecture with PGA Design, Inc and RRM Design and extend the 6/30/2024 (total for both $1,800,000), 17. Amend contract add $500,000 total $1,500,000 with Serological Research Institute for DNA Testing Services thru 6/30/2025, 18. Arts Commission - Public Art Funding 1.75% of the estimated cost of construction associated with eligible municipal capital improvement projects for art and cultural enrichment of public buildings, parks, streets and other public spaces. 19. Energy Commission – Recommendation that Vision 2050 Infrastructure Bond Prioritize Clean Mobility, 20. Landmarks Commission – Budget Referral $250,000 - $275,000 City-wide Historic Context Statement, 21. Arreguin co-sponsors Bartlett, Hahn. Harrison – Support SB 1173 – Divestment from Fossil Fuels, 22. Arreguin, co-sponsors Bartlett, Hahn – Approve expenditure from Mayor’s Office Budget $20,000 to Healthy Black Families, 23. Arreguin, co-sponsors Hahn, Harrison, Bartlett – Budget Referral $1,800,000 ($900,000 annually) for anti-displacement allocation per year 1. $250,000-housing retention, 2. Legal counseling tenants, $275,000 each to East Bay Community Law Center and EDC, 3. $100,000 Flexible Housing Subsidies for Homelessness Prevention, 24. Arreguin – $300,000 - Berkeley Housing Authority Loan Forgiveness, 25. Bartlett – Budget referral $50,000 for semi-diverter traffic bollards at east corner of Newbury and Ashby intersection, 26. Harrison, co-sponsor Bartlett – Budget referral $50,000 traffic calming on Dwight between Grant and California, 27. Wengraf, co-sponsors Hahn, Taplin – Resolution Declaring May as Jewish American Heritage Month, 28. Droste & Arreguin co-sponsors Wengraf, Harrison – Budget referral $120,000 performance evaluation of City Attorney and Director of PAB, ACTION: 30. Chief Louis - Police Equipment & Community Safety Ordinance Impact Statements, Associated Equipment Policies and Annual Equipment Use Report, 31 CM - Vision 2050: Strategic Asset Management Plan and Asset Management Policy, 32. Resolution Accepting the Surveillance Technology Report for Automatic License Plate Readers, GPS Trackers, Body Worn Camera and Street Level Imagery, 33. Hopkins Corridor Project Conceptual Design. Affects Hopkins between Sutter and Gilman Streets, INFORMATION REPORTS: 34. Fiscal Year 2022 Mid-year budget update, 35. LPO NOD 1940 Hearst 5/10/2022, 36. LPO NOD 2523 Piedmont 5/10/2022, LPO NOD 37. 2580 Bancroft Way 5/10/2022, 38. Mental Health Commission Work Plan. 

LAND USE CALENDAR: 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

1205 Peralta – conversion of existing garage 5/10/2022 rescheduled for June 14 

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

2222 Blake – 2nd Story addition over 14’ in average height and addition of laudry and deck on 1st story 5/11/2022 

1338 Carlotta – Major residential addition over 14’ in average height, alteration in NC front yard setback 5/11/2022 

1008 Grizzly Peak – install a hot tub in the rear yard 5/11/2022 

1301 Peralta - Major residential addition over 14’ in average height by creating 2nd story addition 5/11/2022 

2908 Russell – addition of 2nd floor bathroom addition of over 14’ 4/27/2022 

1425 Spruce – Re-frame the roof at the rear half of the house to extend the existing hip roof, add 20 sq feet rear addition on 2nd floor and legalize existing hot tub 5/11/2022 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/planning_and_development/land_use_division/current_zoning_applications_in_appeal_period.aspx 

WORKSESSIONS: 

Special meeting May 5 on reimagining to take action on budget process JA working on his proposal. Hahn asked for special meetings to be listed, pretty routinely scheduling meetings  

April 26 - Special Meeting – Referral Prioritization Process, Berkeley Strategic Transportation Plan Update, Bond Capacity, 

June 21 – Ballot Measure Development/Discussion 

July 19 - open 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Alameda County LAFCO Presentation 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

Mid-Year Budget Report FY 2022 

Kelly Hammargren’s on what happened the preceding week can be found in the Berkeley Daily Planet www.berkeleydailyplanet.com under Activist’s Diary. This meeting list is also posted at https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html on the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition website. 

If you would like to receive the Activist’s Calendar as soon as it is completed send an email to kellyhammargren@gmail.com. If you wish to stop receiving the weekly summary of city meetings please forward the weekly summary you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com. 

 


Angélique Kidjo’s Mystical Music-Drama YEMANDJA

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Tuesday May 03, 2022 - 07:58:00 PM

Afropop superstar Angélique Kidjo has ventured into new territory in writing and performing the music for a 105-minute work of musical theatre entitled Yemandja. Framed as a struggle between two supernatural West African orishas, Yemandja and Orò, this is a work of magical realism based in the beliefs of Yoruban cosmology. Here two supernatural orishas, the female Yemandja and the male Orò, struggle to lead the people of 19th century West Africa in how to resist slavery. With a libretto written by Angélique Kidjo’s daughter, Naima Hebrail Kidjo, and music written by Kidjo and her husband, Jean Hebrail, Yemandja is a Cal Performances co-commission, which received its West Coast premiere at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on Saturday evening, April 23. 

Revered in West Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil, Yemandja is the goddess of healing, water, creator of oceans, and guardian of women in childbirth. Orò is a male god of power, violence, and revenge. In this music-drama, these two Yoruban orishas struggle for the hearts and minds of West African peoples as they attempt to resist the 19th century slave trade. Angélique Kidjo herself sings the role of Yemandja, and the role of Orò is sung by Frank Lawson. Directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce, this elaborate production is designed by Kerry James Marshall, with stunning costumes by Mary Jane Marcassiano. Yemandja features African dances choreographed by Beatrice Capote. 

When the plot gets underway, we meet two young lovers, Omodola, sung by Briana Brooks, and Olajuwon, sung by Michael de Souza. Their opening flirtation features a duet that speaks of their innocence and love. Olajuwon is the mixed-race son of the European slaver DeSalta and an African mother. In spite of his being the son of the slave trader, Olajuwon is accepted as Omodola’s fiancé by her parents, Adefola and Loko. 

However, Omodola’s parents disagree over how to deal with the issue of slavery. Adefola is vehemently opposed to slavery while her husband, Loko, favors compromising with the local powers run by the slave traders. The role of Adefola is sung by April Nixon, and Loko is sung by George I. Brown. When the European slaver DeSalta, sung by John Carlin, leads in three chained Africans, Adefola recognizes Babalao and tries to free him. DeSalta shoots and kills both Adefola and Babalao. Then Omodola employs the powers given her by Yemandja and sings an ecstatic invocation that succeeds in freeing the three African slaves of their chains. In this ecstatic song, Briana Brooks was vocally outstanding. Musically and dramatically, this moment was perhaps the highlight of the show. 

While the music of this show was lively and infectious, there were, alas, many moments of spoken dialogue or narration that tended to bog down the drama rather then enhance it. And this was especially true in that not all of the spoken words could be heard throughout the vast reaches of Zellerbach Hall. Yet song and dance effectively carried the day, The songs were accompanied by instrumentalists John Samorian on keyboards, Dominic James on guitar, Michael Olatunja on Bass, and Magatte Sow on percussion. 

Throughout this music-drama, Angélique Kidjo had many dramatic songs to sing, and her remarkable voice often showed off its astonishing range, from low-throated contralto tones to clarion high notes near the top of the soprano range. All of the singing, by the way, was amplified. 

Yemandja repeatedly encourages Omodola to have the courage to use her powers for good, even counseling her to understand the cruel upbringing that lead DeSalta to be so greedy for power and lacking in compassion for others. When Olajuwon, DeSalta’s mixed-race son, exhorts his father to feel compassion for the Africans he seeks to enslave, this causes a split between father and son. DeSalta decides he must rid himself of Olajuwon and determines to send him off in a slave ship to Brazil. But Omodola intervenes, warns Olajuwon, and the two young lovers repeat their vows of love. This too was a musical highlight of the evening. Angélique Kidjo then summed up the moral of this story in an exultant song that closed the show on an upbeat note.


Gustavo Dudamel Leads Symphony in Mozart and Mahler

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Tuesday May 03, 2022 - 07:47:00 PM

In a major event at San Francisco Symphony, Guest Conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the Venezuelan-born wunderkind who took the helm of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009 at the age of 28, returned to Davies Hall on Thursday, April 21, to lead the San Francisco Symphony in four concerts over the weekend. Included in the program were Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504, “Prague,” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor by Gustav Mahler. 

Dudamel last performed in Davies Hall in November of 2016 when I heard him conduct Mahler’s 9th Symphony with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. (For my review of that performance go to the November 4, 2016 issue of Berkeley Daily Planet.) Then and now, Gustavo Dudamel’s commitment to the music is always evident, indeed, riveting. At this week’s opening night performance of April 21, 2022, at Davies Hall, Dudamel conducted the entire concert without a score. 

In the opening measures of Mozart’s Symphony No. 38, there are, interestingly, forward looking motives that anticipate his later operas Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte. When, at the sixteenth measure, Mozart dramatically turns into D minor, with drums and low trumpets, he anticipates the ominous use of D minor in Don Giovanni. He also anticipates here the fugato of the overture to Die Zauberflöte. There is subtle use of polyphony throughout this opening movement, though, as Alfred Einstein remarks, “the naïve listener would not be aware of it.” When the opening movement switches from Adagio to Allegro, even this change is handled with the utmost grace. There then ensues an astonishing and irresistibly energetic development section, which leads to the fiercely assertive coda. This entire opening movement was brilliantly executed by San Francisco Symphony lead by Gustavo Dudamel. 

The second movement, marked Andante, features the key of G Major and prefigures the aria Dalla sua pace that Mozart interpolated into Don Giovanni for the tenor performing the role of Don Ottavio to sing. Here, in this symphony’s elegant slow movement, this G Major motive achieves its full glory. The finale, which proceeds without any intervening minuet, brings this symphony to a close with irresistible energy, which, in spite of its apparent cheerfulness, contains hints of darker moods, or, as Alfred Einstein puts it, “a wound in the soul: beauty is wedded to death.” All of these subtle shadings of mood were evident in Conductor Gustavo Dudamel’s impassioned reading of this marvellous Symphony No. 38 by Mozart. 

After intermission, San Francisco Symphony returned to perform Gustav Mahler’s monumental, one might almost say, majestic, Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor. I have already stated, in my review in these pages of the March 2018 San Francisco Symphony’s performance lead by MTT of Mahler’s Fifth, that “I can even claim that Mahler’s Fifth is the greatest symphony since Beethoven, rivalled only by the Brahms Fourth.” (For my review of that performance, see the March 30, 2018 issue of Berkeley Daily Planet.) Now, for all my admiration for Michael Tilson Thomas’s highly acclaimed interpretations of Mahler, they pale in comparison with the impassioned, absolutely riveting interpretation offered of this Mahler 5th Symphony by Gustavo Dudamel. No conductor today, I think, with the exception of Simon Rattle, can so palpably and passionately identify themselves with the music that the work itself flames incandescently! With Gustavo Dudamel, this Mahler 5th Symphony is literally on fire, and it blazes from beginning to end over a duration of 75 minutes, never abating in its raging intensity! 

This symphony opens with a summons by the trumpet, here performed by Mark Inouye. This opening introduces a slow funeral march in violins and cellos. The tone is sombre, yet there are hints of light. When the trumpet recalls the opening notes, violins suddenly unleash a violent downward scale as the trumpet shrieks in anguish. Nowhere is the grief and emotional pain of this funeral march more palpable. The second movement is marked “with utmost vehemence.” It is indeed stormy. The cellos, however, introduce a simpler, slower approach to the grieving and anguished mood of this music. Yet this shift is only temporary, and the shifting harmonies,irregular rhythms, and tortured, leaping figures from the initial funeral march, suggest great iemotional instability. 

Next comes the Scherzo. Unlike most Mahler scherzos, this one is fairly straightforward, with little hint of his usual sarcasm and irony. Four horns in unison open this movement, then one horn disengages from this unison effort and embarks on a riveting obbligato for the principal horn player, here beautifully rendered by Robert Ward, who was singled out, along with trumpeter Mark Inouye, as the first instrumentalists singled out for applause by Conductor Dudamel at the work’s conclusion.  

Following the Scherzo is the famous Adagietto, perhaps the most universally appreciated movement of any of Mahler’s symphonies. It is truly amazing music, full of the German mood of Sehnsucht, which is so hard to translate. It connotes a mix of grieving and longing. And this amazingly beautiful Adagietto embraces both of these moods. If, as some believe, this Adagietto was a love song from Mahler to his wife, Alma, it should be understood as both full of longing and love yet also full of heartbreak over her infidelities, about which Mahler anxiously confided to Sigmund Freud when they met briefly. The Adagietto is scored for harp and strings alone. The Finale opens with yet another intervention from the first horn, introducing a Rondo-Finale that contains snippets of the chorale from the second movement and the theme from the Adagietto, which latter is now given up-tempo treatment. This astonishing symphony closes with a robust final passage that functions, almost miraculously, or at least optimistically, as a light of hope after so much pain and anguish. At the close of this work, the Davies Hall audience rose in universal appreciation to give Gustavo Dudamel and the San Francisco Symphony a standing ovation in what, to my mind, is one one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever had the privilege to attend. 


The Dynamic and Demonic Virtuosity of Daniil Trifonov

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Tuesday May 03, 2022 - 08:04:00 PM

Pianist Daniil Trifonov returned to Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on Thursday, April 28 under the auspices of Cal Performances for a solo recital of relatively unfamiliar works. The results, as always with Daniil Trifonov, were electrifying. Speaking of Trifonov after hearing his first Carnegie Hall recital, fellow pianist Martha Argerich said, “I never heard anything like this. His technique is impeccable and he has an element of the demonic.” That pretty much sums it up. 

At his Zellerbach recital, Trifonov’s impeccable technique and the demonic element were both very much on display. I once wrote of Daniil Trifonov that “he plays like a man with his hair on fire.” He often sits hunched forward over the keyboard while playing softer passages, then abruptly bolts upright on strong, hammered notes, and this violent movement sends his long, stringy hair flying. Such mood swings were evident throughout this recital’s opening work, Sonata No. 3, Op. 36 (1917) by Polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937). After a dramatic introduction, the first movement’s second theme is a melodic one replete with scales and dotted rhythms. There follows an Andante that begins and closes in a pensive mood while its central section is impassioned and intensely expressive. Next comes a very brief Scherzo, followed by a finale that is fugal and flamboyantly dramatic. Playing without a score, as he did throughout this recital, Daniil Trifonov gave a thoroughly riveting account of this angular, dramatic sonata by Szymanowski. 

Next on the program was the suite entitled Pour le piano by Claude Debussy. This work, written in 1894 and revised in 1901, features all the clarity of form and exposition that Debussy treasured in French music. Written in homage to the French Baroque composers Jean-Philippe Rameau and François Couperin, Debussy nonetheless imbued this elegant suite with his own distinctive harmonies and colourations. The opening Prélude evokes the gongs of Javanese gamelan music that so impressed Debussy at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. The second movement, a lovely Sarabande, is elegant with parallel harmonies. The closing Toccata is a tribute to the showpiece Toccatas of French Baroque keyboard music, replete with melody, harmony, rhythm, counterpoint, and Debussy’s distinctive colorings. Coming after the thunderous agitations of Szymanowski’s Sonata No. 3, Daniil Trifonov’s reading of this Debussy suite was a welcome haven of calm and rigorous architectural form, 

The final work in the first half of this recital was Serge Prokofiev’s suite entitled Sarcasms. 

This is an early piece by Prokofiev, and it stunned the audience at its premiere in 1914. “Some people held their head in their hands,” wrote Prokofiev, “some in order to plug their ears, others to express their excitement, and still more out of pity for the poor, once-promising composer.” The title is apt, for this work is full of sarcasm as Prokofiev mischievously pokes fun at music’s conventions. Mood swings are omnipresent here. At one minute the piano offers a lovely lyrical passage, then abruptly embarks on a thunderous outburst, and so on. One movement is marked Smamioso, which means very agitated, or, alternatively, raging and raving. The final movement is marked Precipitosissimo or extremely fast. Often playing with eyes half-closed or head thrown back and staring into space, Daniil Trifonov imbued this work by Prokofiev with an engaging mixture of seriousness and mischievous humour. 

After intermission, the second half of the program was given over to Sonata No. 3 in F minor (1853) by Johannes Brahms. The opening movement, marked Allegro maestoso, includes a repeated three-note motive that recalls the famous opening three notes of Beethoven 5th Symphony. There follows a regal Andante that for me was the highlight of this recital. Playing with eyes closed, Daniil Trifonov made this dreamy music sound absolutely unearthly. Likewise, the following Scherzo was vehement and demonic, yet it also contained a surprisingly calm central Trio. Brahms next inserted an Intermezzo that took up a theme from the Andante and turned it into a funereal threnody. The work closed with a Finale that was appropriately flamboyant, brilliantly performed here by Daniil Trifonov. 

In response to a standing ovation, Daniil Trifonov played three encores: “Stötzel, Bist du bei mir?” from Bach’s Anna Magdalena Notebooks; Lysenko’s Elegy, Op. 41, No. 3; and Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.


The Berkeley Activists' Calendar, April 24- May 1

Kelly Hammargren, Sustainable Berkeley Coalition
Monday April 25, 2022 - 02:33:00 PM

Worth Noting - There is a lot happening this week.

Besides the special and regular council meetings on Tuesday, the City Departments present to the Council Budget Committee on Wednesday 12 - 4 pm and Thursday and Friday from 9 am – 5 pm. The Surveillance Report will be heard Tuesday evening at the Council 6 pm meeting, plus the Hopkins Corridor Redesign and the Homeless Commission referral for the development of a 24/7 crisis stabilization center.

Monday Zero waste will hear an update on the plastic recycling market. We might learn how much is “wish cycling” rather than actual recycling.

The parking pilot projects SmartSpace are on Wednesday for Elmwood and Thursday for Southside at 6:30 pm.

Wednesday evening at 7 pm the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission has a full schedule including Greg Brown Park and an outdoor fitness court at Cesar Chavez Park and the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission called a special meeting on budget recommendations for Measures GG and FF funds and to reconsider spending $500,000 of Measure FF funds on Eucalyptus Groves on unknown private property sites in the hills. The Police Accountability Board makes the third Wednesday evening 7 pm meeting. Health and Welfare is at 6:30 pm.

There is a series of city meetings on bicycling in Berkeley starting Thursday at 12 – 1:30 pm.

Thursday evening the Zoning Adjustment Board takes up the 6-story project at 1201 San Pablo and removing four more tenant spaces from media /film and the Mental Health Commission will get the latest update on the Special Care Unit and access to crisis care in Berkeley.

Housing Survey for tenants https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CABERKE/bulletins/314823c

BART Survey - https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/

Sunday, April 24, 2022 – no city meetings or events found 

Monday, April 25, 2022 

Agenda and Rules Committee at 2:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87190567466 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 871 9056 7466 

AGENDA: Public Comment on non-agenda and items 1 – 7. 1. Minutes, 2. Review and Approve 5/10/2022 draft agenda – use link or read full draft agenda after list of city meetings, 3. Berkeley Considers, 4. Adjournment in Memory, 5. Council Worksessions, 6. Referrals for Scheduling, 7. Land Use Calendar, Referred Items for Review: 8. COVID, 9. Return to In-person meetings, Unscheduled Items: 10. Discussion Regarding Design and Strengthening of Policy Committees, 11. Supporting Commissions, Guidance on Legislative Proposals. 

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

Zero Waste Commission at 7 pm 

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

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

AGENDA: 6. Staff reports Strategic Plan, Transfer Station Rates, C&D Processing RFP, FITES draft bag ordinance, Cal Move Out, Illegal dumping, single-use foodware, SB 1383, Discussion and Action: 1. Current recycling market updates and transparency regarding plastics, 2. Work Plan. 

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

Housing Element Event at 5 – 7 pm 

In-person at Berkeley Bowl 2020 Oregon 

Share feedback on housing goals and types of housing 

Tuesday, April 26, 2022 

CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL Meeting at 4 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83685329120 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 8368532 9120 

AGENDA: 1. 2022 City Council Referral Prioritization Process Re-Weighted Range Voting (RRV), 2. Accept Risk Analysis for Long-Term Debt (Bonding Capacity) Report provided by Government Finance Officers Association, 3. Berkeley strategic Transportation Plan Update and Grant Application Opportunities. 

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

CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83685329120 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 836 8532 9120 

AGENDA:  

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

Wednesday, April 27, 2022 

City Council Budget & Finance Committee at 12 – 4 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83134748814 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 831 3474 8814 

AGENDA: Department Budget Presentations: 1. Office of City Manager including Economic Development, 2. Finance, 3. Human Resources, 4. Health, Housing & Community Services, 5. Measure P and Proposed Initial Recommendations. 

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

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission Special Meeting at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81595546232 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 815 9554 6232 

AGENDA: Measure GG and Measure FF Budget Recommendations, 2. Recommendation for Measure FF spending in FY 23 & FY 24 – Hazardous Vegetation Removal Program – Eucalyptus Groves 

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

Human Welfare & Community Action Commission at 6:30 pm 

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

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

AGENDA: 6. Work Plan,7. Review of Berkeley funded agency Program and Financial reports a. Through the Looking Glass, 8. Easy Does It lapse in services, 9. Potential infrastructure and affordable housing bonds/taxes, 10. Pathways facility, 11. Subcommittee update for prevention and ending homelessness in Berkeley, 12. Update Alta Bates. 

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

Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83911723812 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 876 1635 4584 

AGENDA: 6. Chair’s Report, 7. Greg Brown Park – multiple entrances, 8. Director’s Report, 9. Update Commission referrals to council, TOT, Refuse Policy, Adopt-a-Spot, South Sailing Basin Dredging and State funding for Marina, 10. Proposed locations – outdoor fitness court at Cesar Chavez Park, 11. BMASP Community meeting #2 additional feedback, 12. Discussion/action 787 Bancroft Development, 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Parks,_Recreation,_and_Waterfront_Commission.aspx 

Police Accountability Board Special (PAB) meeting at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82318238840 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 823 1823 8840  

AGENDA: 3. Public comment on agenda and non-agenda items, 5. Chair and Board reports, 6. PAB Director Report, 7. Chief Report, 8. Subcommittee Reports a) Fair & Impartial Policing, b) PAB Director Search, c) Regulations, d) Mental Health Issues, e) Policy 351, f) PAB Budget Proposal, 9. Old Business a. Update Search Committee, b. Discuss how to prioritize work of PAB, 10. a) Review commendations of BPD, b) Training Traffic Enforcement. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=162752 

goBerkeley SmartSpace Parking Pilot - Elmwood at 6:30 pm – 8 pm 

Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/goberkeley-smartspace-elmwood-community-meeting-3-tickets-310920179627 

AGENDA: New alternatives to managing parking in Elmwood pilot area, changes to non-resident parking in residential areas Residential Parking Permit (RPP) near commercial 

https://smartspace.goberkeley.info 

EBMUD – Water Wednesday Speaker Series at 6 pm 

Use link to register and obtain zoom links 

AGENDA: Drought Update 

https://www.ebmud.com/about-us/education-resources/water-wednesday 

Thursday, April 28, 2022 

City Council Budget & Finance Committee at 9 am – 5 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84955908549 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 849 5590 8549 

AGENDA: Department Budget Presentations: 1. Planning and Development, 2. Public Works, 3. City Clerk, 4. Police, 5. Parks, Recreation & Waterfront, 6. Proposal to Allocate Revenues Generated by the Transient Occupancy Tax in Waterfront Area to the Marina Fund to Avoid Insolvency. 

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

Bicycling in Berkeley at 12 pm – 1:30 pm 

Use link to register and obtain zoom links 

AGENDA: Provide feedback on bicycle plan 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/City_Manager/Press_Releases/2022/2022-04-14_Share_your_thoughts_on_bicycling_in_Berkeley.aspx 

Mental Health Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83719253558 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 837 1925 3558 

AGENDA: 3. Public Program on Exploring a Diversion Approach to People Experiencing Behavioral Health Crisis in Berkeley and Access of Crisis Services, 4. Bridge to SCU and SCU update, 6. Review and vote on application for Mental Health Commissioner, b. Mary Lee Smith, Glenn Turner, 7. May is Mental Health Month Proclamation, 8. Mental Health Manager’s Report, 9. Mental Health service Act FY23 Annual Update, 10. Santa Ria Jail Subcommittee Report, 11. Site Visit Subcommittee Report. 

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

Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86568983962 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 822 3423 6079 

AGENDA: 2. 2970 Adeline – on consent – convert 2nd floor commercial to residential dwelling units on 3,760 sq ft lot, 

3. 2026 San Pablo – on consent – add service of distilled spirits incidental to food in existing restaurant 

4. 2142 Oxford – on consent – allow distilled spirits in full-service restaurant 

5. 1151 Grizzly Peak Blvd – recommend approve - legalize two accessory buildings in the rear yard of single-family dwelling 

6. 1201 San Pablo - recommend approve – construct 6-story, mixed-use building on vacant lot, with 66 units (including 5 very low-income), 1,680 sq ft of commercial space, 2,514 sq ft of usable open space and 17-28 ground-level parking spaces, 

7. 2600 Tenth Street - recommend approve – to change the use of four existing tenant spaces on the 1st and 2nd floors, totaling 20,367 sq ft from media production to a research and development use. 

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

goBerkeley SmartSpace Parking - Southside/Telegraph at 6:30 pm – 8 pm  

Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/goberkeley-smartspace-southsidetelegraph-community-meeting-3-tickets-310915024207?aff=ebdsoporgprofile 

AGENDA: New alternatives to manage parking in Southside/Telegraph pilot area 

https://smartspace.goberkeley.info 

Poppin’ Thursday Roller Skate Party at 5 – 8 pm 

Grove Park 1730 Oregon at Russell 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventMain.aspx?calendarEventID=17825 

Friday, April 29, 2022 

City Council Budget & Finance Committee at 9 am – 5 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88256590559 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 882 5659 0559 

AGENDA: Department Budget Presentations: 1. Office of the director of Police Accountability, 2. City Auditor, 3. City Attorney, 4. Fire, 5. Information technology, 6. Responses to Questions from Prior Presentations and Discussion. 

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

Saturday, April 30, 2022 & Sunday, May 1, 2022 no city events found 

+++++++++++++++++++++++ 

April 25 Agenda and Rules Committee at 2:30 pm 

DRAFT AGENDA for May 10, 2022 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87190567466 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 871 9056 7466 

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

CONSENT: 1. Resolution Directing Legislative Bodies to Continue Meeting vis videoconference and teleconference, 2. Resolution to continue Ratify Local COVID-19 Emergency, 3. General Municipal Election 11/8/2022 including adopting policies and timelines for filing ballot measure arguments, 4. FY 2022 Annual Appropriations Ordinance, $53,155,906 (gross) and $43,380,083 (net), 5. Bid Solicitations $964,022, 6. FF Funds Purchase Order $250,000 ZOLL Medical for ECG Monitor/Defibrillators for emergency response vehicles, 7. GG Fire Prevention Funds $121,133 includes $14,552 contingency for carpet replacement at 1900 6th Street, 8. Contract $17,808 with JotForm, Inc, 9. Donation $54,167 for Berkeley Meals on Wheels, 10. Amend contract add $66,450 total $1,528,350 with Murray Building, Inc for Cazadero Camp Jensen Dormitory Construction Project, 11. Amend contract add $530,832 total $39,350,473 with Robert E. Boyer Construction Inc for Berkeley Tuolumne Cap Construction Project, 12. Chief Louis - Police Equipment & Community Safety Ordinance Impact Statements, Associated Equipment Policies and Annual Equipment Use Report, 13. Amend contract add $500,000 total $1,500,000 with Serological Research Institute for DNA Testing Services thru 6/30/2025, 14. Vision 2050: Strategic Asset Management Plan and Asset Management Policy, 15. Arts Commission - Public Art Funding 1.75% of the estimated cost of construction associated with eligible municipal capital improvement projects for art and cultural enrichment of public buildings, parks, streets and other public spaces. 16. Energy Commission – Recommendation that Vision 2050 Infrastructure Bond Prioritize Clean Mobility, 17. Landmarks Commission – Budget Referral $250,000 - $275,000 City-wide Historic Context Statement, 18. Arreguin – Support SB 1173 – Divestment from Fossil Fuels, 19. Arreguin – Approve expenditure from Mayor’s Office Budget $20,000 to Healthy Black Families, 20. Arreguin – Budget Referral $1,800,000 ($900,000 annually) for anti-displacement allocation per year 1. $250,000-housing retention, 2. Legal counseling tenants, $275,000 each to East Bay Community Law Center and EDC, 3. $100,000 Flexible Housing Subsidies for Homelessness Prevention, 21. Bartlett – Budget referral $50,000 for semi-diverter traffic bollards at east corner of Newbury and Ashby intersection, 22. Harrison – Budget referral $50,000 taffic calming on Dwight between Grant and California, 23. Droste, Arreguin – Budget referral $120,000 performance evaluation of City Attorney and Director of PAB, ACTION: 24. CM – FY 2023 and FY 2024 Proposed Budget Public Hearing #1, 25. Arreguin – Forgive $300,000 Loan to Housing Trust Loan to Berkeley Housing Authority, 26. Taplin – Refer to City Manager and Planning Commission to adopt Objective Standards for Efficiency Units, 27. Wengraf – Resolution Declaring May as Jewish American Heritage Month, INFORMATION REPORTS: 28. Fiscal Year 2022 Mid-year budget update, 29. LPO NOD 1940 Hearst, 30. LPO NOD 2523 Piedmont, LPO NOD 31. 2580 Bancroft Way, 32. Mental Health Commission Work Plan. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

April 26 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83685329120 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 836 8532 9120 

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

CONSENT: 1. Amend Contract add $151,000 total $200,000 with Rebecca Burnside for Personnel Investigations, 2. 2nd reading Collection of Parking Space Rental Tax for City Owned Parking Lots, 3. Minutes, 4. Acceptance of $2,200,000 donation from UCB to support 6 months of operations at Rodeway in for sheltering homeless at People’s Park, 5. Contract $3,993,397 with Abode Services to Operate Interim Housing at the Rodeway Inn from 5/1/2022-10/31/2023, 6. Urgency Ordinance for leasing 1461 University, 7. Contract $250,000 with Village of Love for Operation of Telegraph Neighborhood Sacred Rest Drop-in Center 6/1/2022 – 5/31/2023, 8. Endorsement of Alameda County Home Together 2026 Implementation Plan, 9. $10,914,400 Formal Bid Solicitations, 10. Contract add $60,000 total $160,000 Measure FF Funds with Fire Aside for Defensible Space Inspection Software 5/18/2022 – 5/17/2024 with option to extend 4 years for total $160,000, 11. Commission Reorganization of Community Health Commission to reduce membership to 9 and consolidate functions from 10 to 4, 12. Contract add $76,648 total $432,470 with Pacific Site Management for landscaping services and extend to 6/30/2023, 13. Amend contract add $19,350 total $82350 with Resource Development Associates for Crisis Assessment and Triage Line Evaluation, 14. Grant Application $60,000 with match $6,000 for Surrendered and Abandoned Vessel Exchange (SAVE), 15. Total all Contracts $600,000 for Climate Equity Fund Pilot Programs 5/1/2022-5/31/2024, 1) $83,334 Association for Energy Affordability, 2) $83,333 BlocPower, 3) $100,000 Ecology Center, 4) $83,333 Northern California Land Trust, 5) $250,000 Waterside Workshops, 16. Contract (numbers do not add up to listed total of $550,000) with Diablo Engineering Group for Preliminary Engineering and Final Design for the Ohlone Greenway Modernization and Safety project $220,000, plus $14,000 for as needed project related services, plus $234,000 6/1/2022 – 12/31/2024, 17. Contract $300,000 with ParkMobile, LLC for Mobile Parking Payment Services (mobile payment on-street meters and parking garage reservations 7/1/2022-6/30/2025, 18. Contract add $225,000 total $2,050,000 with Portable Computer systems dba PCS Mobile for Parking Permit and Citation Services extend to 6/30/2024, 19. Contract (no cost) with Chrisp Company for Roadway Thermoplastic Markings and extend to 6/30/2024 with option 3 one-year extensions, 20. Amend Contract add $1,000,000 total $3,500,000 with Pavement Engineering, Inc, for on-call civil engineering and construction management services, 21. Lease with Options Recovery for 1835 Allston Way, Old City Hall Annex1/1/202-12/31/2024 with 2 5-year renewal options, 22. Purchase order $1,731,000 with Western Truck Center for 4 Front Loaders, 23. Arreguin - Bay Area Book Festival Relinquishment $1068 from Mayor’s discretionary funds 24. Arreguin – Budget referral $1,00,000 from ARPA to Eviction Defense to supplement Housing Retention, 25. Kesarwani – Budget referral $50,000 to expand Downtown Streets services to Gilman commercial and industrial areas twice weekly, 26. Bartlett, co-sponsor Arreguin – Budget referral $300,000 convert 62nd street between King and Adeline into a cul de sac with marked bicycle lane connecting Adeline to bicycle blvd on King, 27. Harrison - Support AB 2557 specifying that records of Civilian Law Enforcement Oversight Agencies are subject to the disclosure Requirements of the Public Records Act, 28. Hahn, so-sponsors Arreguin, Taplin, Harrison – Refer grant $150,000 for the benefit of Luna Dance Institute, 29. Hahn, co-sponsors Wengraf, Robinson - Budget referral $300,000 for bike, pedestrian and streetscape and re-paving Hopkins Corridor, 30. Hahn, co-sponsors Harrison, Wengraf – Budget referral $40,000 Solano Stroll September 11, 2022 and September 10, 2023, 31. Robinson – Support AB 2234 Postentitlement Permit Streamlining, ACTION: 32. CM – Accept Risk Analysis for Long-Term Debt (Bonding Capacity) provided by GFOA, 33. ZAB Appeal 1643-1647 California – to 1) create new lower basement level, 2) construct new 2nd story, 3) modify existing duplex layout resulting in 3,763 sq ft duplex on existing property, 34. CM – Zoning Ordinance Amendments that address technical edits and corrections, 35. CM – Submission of 2022 (FY2023) Annual Allocations of Federal HUD funds, 36. Resolution Accepting the Surveillance Technology Report for Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), GPS Trackers, Body Worn Camera and Street Level Imagery, 37. CM – Hopkins Corridor Project Conceptual design, 38. Homeless Commission – a. Refer to the CM to develop a crisis stabilization program based on the Bend, Oregon model, b. CM - Staff response – use Amber House which has empty beds, , CSU too expensive and MediCal billing too complex, 39. Homeless Commission – a. direct CM to expand Berkeley Emergency Storm Shelter (BESS) to emergencies not otherwise covered including outside the dates of the current contract with Dorothy Day b. CM – staff response - refer to the budget process. 

LAND USE CALENDAR: 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

1205 Peralta – conversion of existing garage 5/10/2022 

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

2222 Blake – 2nd Story addition over 14’ in average height and addition of laudry and deck on 1st story 5/11/2022 

1338 Carlotta – Major residential addition over 14’ in average height, alteration in NC front yard setback 5/11/2022 

1415 Fifth – Convert an existing 2,257 sq ft residence into a 2491 sq ft duplex, construct new 2621 single family residence, 4/28/2022 

1008 Grizzly Peak – install a hot tub in the rear yard 5/11/2022 

1609 Kains – Raise existing home by 10 ft and construct new first floor, 4/27/2022 

1126 Keith – AUPfor installation in backyard at grade cedar hot tub (6’ wide, 4’ deep on concrete pad 6” thick sunk 20” into ground 4/27/2022 

1813 Parker - addition over 14’ in average height 4/27/2022 

27 Parnassus – Roof deck addition exceeding 14’ in height in hillside district 4/27/2022 

1301 Peralta - Major residential addition over 14’ in average height by creating 2nd story addition 5/11/2022 

2908 Russell – addition of 2nd floor bathroom addition of over 14’ 4/27/2022 

1425 Spruce – Re-frame the roof at the rear half of the house to extend the existing hip roof, add 20 sq feet rear addition on 2nd floor and legalize existing hot tub 5/11/2022 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/planning_and_development/land_use_division/current_zoning_applications_in_appeal_period.aspx 

WORKSESSIONS: 

April 26 - Special Meeting – Referral Prioritization Process, Berkeley Strategic Transportation Plan Update, Bond Capacity, 

June 21 – Ballot Measure Development/Discussion 

July 19 - open 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Alameda County LAFCO Presentation 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

Mid-Year Budget Report FY 2022 

Kelly Hammargren’s on what happened the preceding week can be found in the Berkeley Daily Planet www.berkeleydailyplanet.com under Activist’s Diary. This meeting list is also posted at https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html on the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition website. 

If you would like to receive the Activist’s Calendar as soon as it is completed send an email to kellyhammargren@gmail.com. If you wish to stop receiving the weekly summary of city meetings please forward the weekly summary you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com. 

 

Worth Noting - There is a lot happening this week.  

Besides the special and regular council meetings on Tuesday, the City Departments present to the Council Budget Committee on Wednesday 12 - 4 pm and Thursday and Friday from 9 am – 5 pm. The Surveillance Report will be heard Tuesday evening at the Council 6 pm meeting, plus the Hopkins Corridor Redesign and the Homeless Commission referral for the development of a 24/7 crisis stabilization center. 

Monday Zero waste will hear an update on the plastic recycling market. We might learn how much is “wish cycling” rather than actual recycling. 

The parking pilot projects SmartSpace are on Wednesday for Elmwood and Thursday for Southside at 6:30 pm. 

Wednesday evening at 7 pm the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission has a full schedule including Greg Brown Park and an outdoor fitness court at Cesar Chavez Park and the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission called a special meeting on budget recommendations for Measures GG and FF funds and to reconsider spending $500,000 of Measure FF funds on Eucalyptus Groves on unknown private property sites in the hills. The Police Accountability Board makes the third Wednesday evening 7 pm meeting. Health and Welfare is at 6:30 pm. 

There is a series of city meetings on bicycling in Berkeley starting Thursday at 12 – 1:30 pm. 

Thursday evening the Zoning Adjustment Board takes up the 6-story project at 1201 San Pablo and removing four more tenant spaces from media /film and the Mental Health Commission will get the latest update on the Special Care Unit and access to crisis care in Berkeley. 

Housing Survey for tenants https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CABERKE/bulletins/314823c 

BART Survey - https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/ 

Sunday, April 24, 2022 – no city meetings or events found 

Monday, April 25, 2022 

Agenda and Rules Committee at 2:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87190567466 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 871 9056 7466 

AGENDA: Public Comment on non-agenda and items 1 – 7. 1. Minutes, 2. Review and Approve 5/10/2022 draft agenda – use link or read full draft agenda after list of city meetings, 3. Berkeley Considers, 4. Adjournment in Memory, 5. Council Worksessions, 6. Referrals for Scheduling, 7. Land Use Calendar, Referred Items for Review: 8. COVID, 9. Return to In-person meetings, Unscheduled Items: 10. Discussion Regarding Design and Strengthening of Policy Committees, 11. Supporting Commissions, Guidance on Legislative Proposals. 

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

Zero Waste Commission at 7 pm 

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

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

AGENDA: 6. Staff reports Strategic Plan, Transfer Station Rates, C&D Processing RFP, FITES draft bag ordinance, Cal Move Out, Illegal dumping, single-use foodware, SB 1383, Discussion and Action: 1. Current recycling market updates and transparency regarding plastics, 2. Work Plan. 

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

Housing Element Event at 5 – 7 pm 

In-person at Berkeley Bowl 2020 Oregon 

Share feedback on housing goals and types of housing 

Tuesday, April 26, 2022 

CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL Meeting at 4 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83685329120 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 8368532 9120 

AGENDA: 1. 2022 City Council Referral Prioritization Process Re-Weighted Range Voting (RRV), 2. Accept Risk Analysis for Long-Term Debt (Bonding Capacity) Report provided by Government Finance Officers Association, 3. Berkeley strategic Transportation Plan Update and Grant Application Opportunities. 

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

CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83685329120 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 836 8532 9120 

AGENDA:  

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

Wednesday, April 27, 2022 

City Council Budget & Finance Committee at 12 – 4 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83134748814 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 831 3474 8814 

AGENDA: Department Budget Presentations: 1. Office of City Manager including Economic Development, 2. Finance, 3. Human Resources, 4. Health, Housing & Community Services, 5. Measure P and Proposed Initial Recommendations. 

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

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission Special Meeting at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81595546232 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 815 9554 6232 

AGENDA: Measure GG and Measure FF Budget Recommendations, 2. Recommendation for Measure FF spending in FY 23 & FY 24 – Hazardous Vegetation Removal Program – Eucalyptus Groves 

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

Human Welfare & Community Action Commission at 6:30 pm 

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

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

AGENDA: 6. Work Plan,7. Review of Berkeley funded agency Program and Financial reports a. Through the Looking Glass, 8. Easy Does It lapse in services, 9. Potential infrastructure and affordable housing bonds/taxes, 10. Pathways facility, 11. Subcommittee update for prevention and ending homelessness in Berkeley, 12. Update Alta Bates. 

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

Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83911723812 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 876 1635 4584 

AGENDA: 6. Chair’s Report, 7. Greg Brown Park – multiple entrances, 8. Director’s Report, 9. Update Commission referrals to council, TOT, Refuse Policy, Adopt-a-Spot, South Sailing Basin Dredging and State funding for Marina, 10. Proposed locations – outdoor fitness court at Cesar Chavez Park, 11. BMASP Community meeting #2 additional feedback, 12. Discussion/action 787 Bancroft Development, 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Parks,_Recreation,_and_Waterfront_Commission.aspx 

Police Accountability Board Special (PAB) meeting at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82318238840 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 823 1823 8840  

AGENDA: 3. Public comment on agenda and non-agenda items, 5. Chair and Board reports, 6. PAB Director Report, 7. Chief Report, 8. Subcommittee Reports a) Fair & Impartial Policing, b) PAB Director Search, c) Regulations, d) Mental Health Issues, e) Policy 351, f) PAB Budget Proposal, 9. Old Business a. Update Search Committee, b. Discuss how to prioritize work of PAB, 10. a) Review commendations of BPD, b) Training Traffic Enforcement. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=162752 

goBerkeley SmartSpace Parking Pilot - Elmwood at 6:30 pm – 8 pm 

Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/goberkeley-smartspace-elmwood-community-meeting-3-tickets-310920179627 

AGENDA: New alternatives to managing parking in Elmwood pilot area, changes to non-resident parking in residential areas Residential Parking Permit (RPP) near commercial 

https://smartspace.goberkeley.info 

EBMUD – Water Wednesday Speaker Series at 6 pm 

Use link to register and obtain zoom links 

AGENDA: Drought Update 

https://www.ebmud.com/about-us/education-resources/water-wednesday 

Thursday, April 28, 2022 

City Council Budget & Finance Committee at 9 am – 5 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84955908549 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 849 5590 8549 

AGENDA: Department Budget Presentations: 1. Planning and Development, 2. Public Works, 3. City Clerk, 4. Police, 5. Parks, Recreation & Waterfront, 6. Proposal to Allocate Revenues Generated by the Transient Occupancy Tax in Waterfront Area to the Marina Fund to Avoid Insolvency. 

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

Bicycling in Berkeley at 12 pm – 1:30 pm 

Use link to register and obtain zoom links 

AGENDA: Provide feedback on bicycle plan 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/City_Manager/Press_Releases/2022/2022-04-14_Share_your_thoughts_on_bicycling_in_Berkeley.aspx 

Mental Health Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83719253558 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 ID: 837 1925 3558 

AGENDA: 3. Public Program on Exploring a Diversion Approach to People Experiencing Behavioral Health Crisis in Berkeley and Access of Crisis Services, 4. Bridge to SCU and SCU update, 6. Review and vote on application for Mental Health Commissioner, b. Mary Lee Smith, Glenn Turner, 7. May is Mental Health Month Proclamation, 8. Mental Health Manager’s Report, 9. Mental Health service Act FY23 Annual Update, 10. Santa Ria Jail Subcommittee Report, 11. Site Visit Subcommittee Report. 

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

Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86568983962 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 ID: 822 3423 6079 

AGENDA: 2. 2970 Adeline – on consent – convert 2nd floor commercial to residential dwelling units on 3,760 sq ft lot, 

3. 2026 San Pablo – on consent – add service of distilled spirits incidental to food in existing restaurant 

4. 2142 Oxford – on consent – allow distilled spirits in full-service restaurant 

5. 1151 Grizzly Peak Blvd – recommend approve - legalize two accessory buildings in the rear yard of single-family dwelling 

6. 1201 San Pablo - recommend approve – construct 6-story, mixed-use building on vacant lot, with 66 units (including 5 very low-income), 1,680 sq ft of commercial space, 2,514 sq ft of usable open space and 17-28 ground-level parking spaces, 

7. 2600 Tenth Street - recommend approve – to change the use of four existing tenant spaces on the 1st and 2nd floors, totaling 20,367 sq ft from media production to a research and development use. 

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

goBerkeley SmartSpace Parking - Southside/Telegraph at 6:30 pm – 8 pm  

Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/goberkeley-smartspace-southsidetelegraph-community-meeting-3-tickets-310915024207?aff=ebdsoporgprofile 

AGENDA: New alternatives to manage parking in Southside/Telegraph pilot area 

https://smartspace.goberkeley.info 

Poppin’ Thursday Roller Skate Party at 5 – 8 pm 

Grove Park 1730 Oregon at Russell 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventMain.aspx?calendarEventID=17825 

Friday, April 29, 2022 

City Council Budget & Finance Committee at 9 am – 5 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88256590559 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) ID: 882 5659 0559 

AGENDA: Department Budget Presentations: 1. Office of the director of Police Accountability, 2. City Auditor, 3. City Attorney, 4. Fire, 5. Information technology, 6. Responses to Questions from Prior Presentations and Discussion. 

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

Saturday, April 30, 2022 & Sunday, May 1, 2022 no city events found 

+++++++++++++++++++++++ 

April 25 Agenda and Rules Committee at 2:30 pm 

DRAFT AGENDA for May 10, 2022 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87190567466 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 871 9056 7466 

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

CONSENT: 1. Resolution Directing Legislative Bodies to Continue Meeting vis videoconference and teleconference, 2. Resolution to continue Ratify Local COVID-19 Emergency, 3. General Municipal Election 11/8/2022 including adopting policies and timelines for filing ballot measure arguments, 4. FY 2022 Annual Appropriations Ordinance, $53,155,906 (gross) and $43,380,083 (net), 5. Bid Solicitations $964,022, 6. FF Funds Purchase Order $250,000 ZOLL Medical for ECG Monitor/Defibrillators for emergency response vehicles, 7. GG Fire Prevention Funds $121,133 includes $14,552 contingency for carpet replacement at 1900 6th Street, 8. Contract $17,808 with JotForm, Inc, 9. Donation $54,167 for Berkeley Meals on Wheels, 10. Amend contract add $66,450 total $1,528,350 with Murray Building, Inc for Cazadero Camp Jensen Dormitory Construction Project, 11. Amend contract add $530,832 total $39,350,473 with Robert E. Boyer Construction Inc for Berkeley Tuolumne Cap Construction Project, 12. Chief Louis - Police Equipment & Community Safety Ordinance Impact Statements, Associated Equipment Policies and Annual Equipment Use Report, 13. Amend contract add $500,000 total $1,500,000 with Serological Research Institute for DNA Testing Services thru 6/30/2025, 14. Vision 2050: Strategic Asset Management Plan and Asset Management Policy, 15. Arts Commission - Public Art Funding 1.75% of the estimated cost of construction associated with eligible municipal capital improvement projects for art and cultural enrichment of public buildings, parks, streets and other public spaces. 16. Energy Commission – Recommendation that Vision 2050 Infrastructure Bond Prioritize Clean Mobility, 17. Landmarks Commission – Budget Referral $250,000 - $275,000 City-wide Historic Context Statement, 18. Arreguin – Support SB 1173 – Divestment from Fossil Fuels, 19. Arreguin – Approve expenditure from Mayor’s Office Budget $20,000 to Healthy Black Families, 20. Arreguin – Budget Referral $1,800,000 ($900,000 annually) for anti-displacement allocation per year 1. $250,000-housing retention, 2. Legal counseling tenants, $275,000 each to East Bay Community Law Center and EDC, 3. $100,000 Flexible Housing Subsidies for Homelessness Prevention, 21. Bartlett – Budget referral $50,000 for semi-diverter traffic bollards at east corner of Newbury and Ashby intersection, 22. Harrison – Budget referral $50,000 taffic calming on Dwight between Grant and California, 23. Droste, Arreguin – Budget referral $120,000 performance evaluation of City Attorney and Director of PAB, ACTION: 24. CM – FY 2023 and FY 2024 Proposed Budget Public Hearing #1, 25. Arreguin – Forgive $300,000 Loan to Housing Trust Loan to Berkeley Housing Authority, 26. Taplin – Refer to City Manager and Planning Commission to adopt Objective Standards for Efficiency Units, 27. Wengraf – Resolution Declaring May as Jewish American Heritage Month, INFORMATION REPORTS: 28. Fiscal Year 2022 Mid-year budget update, 29. LPO NOD 1940 Hearst, 30. LPO NOD 2523 Piedmont, LPO NOD 31. 2580 Bancroft Way, 32. Mental Health Commission Work Plan. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

April 26 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83685329120 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 836 8532 9120 

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

CONSENT: 1. Amend Contract add $151,000 total $200,000 with Rebecca Burnside for Personnel Investigations, 2. 2nd reading Collection of Parking Space Rental Tax for City Owned Parking Lots, 3. Minutes, 4. Acceptance of $2,200,000 donation from UCB to support 6 months of operations at Rodeway in for sheltering homeless at People’s Park, 5. Contract $3,993,397 with Abode Services to Operate Interim Housing at the Rodeway Inn from 5/1/2022-10/31/2023, 6. Urgency Ordinance for leasing 1461 University, 7. Contract $250,000 with Village of Love for Operation of Telegraph Neighborhood Sacred Rest Drop-in Center 6/1/2022 – 5/31/2023, 8. Endorsement of Alameda County Home Together 2026 Implementation Plan, 9. $10,914,400 Formal Bid Solicitations, 10. Contract add $60,000 total $160,000 Measure FF Funds with Fire Aside for Defensible Space Inspection Software 5/18/2022 – 5/17/2024 with option to extend 4 years for total $160,000, 11. Commission Reorganization of Community Health Commission to reduce membership to 9 and consolidate functions from 10 to 4, 12. Contract add $76,648 total $432,470 with Pacific Site Management for landscaping services and extend to 6/30/2023, 13. Amend contract add $19,350 total $82350 with Resource Development Associates for Crisis Assessment and Triage Line Evaluation, 14. Grant Application $60,000 with match $6,000 for Surrendered and Abandoned Vessel Exchange (SAVE), 15. Total all Contracts $600,000 for Climate Equity Fund Pilot Programs 5/1/2022-5/31/2024, 1) $83,334 Association for Energy Affordability, 2) $83,333 BlocPower, 3) $100,000 Ecology Center, 4) $83,333 Northern California Land Trust, 5) $250,000 Waterside Workshops, 16. Contract (numbers do not add up to listed total of $550,000) with Diablo Engineering Group for Preliminary Engineering and Final Design for the Ohlone Greenway Modernization and Safety project $220,000, plus $14,000 for as needed project related services, plus $234,000 6/1/2022 – 12/31/2024, 17. Contract $300,000 with ParkMobile, LLC for Mobile Parking Payment Services (mobile payment on-street meters and parking garage reservations 7/1/2022-6/30/2025, 18. Contract add $225,000 total $2,050,000 with Portable Computer systems dba PCS Mobile for Parking Permit and Citation Services extend to 6/30/2024, 19. Contract (no cost) with Chrisp Company for Roadway Thermoplastic Markings and extend to 6/30/2024 with option 3 one-year extensions, 20. Amend Contract add $1,000,000 total $3,500,000 with Pavement Engineering, Inc, for on-call civil engineering and construction management services, 21. Lease with Options Recovery for 1835 Allston Way, Old City Hall Annex1/1/202-12/31/2024 with 2 5-year renewal options, 22. Purchase order $1,731,000 with Western Truck Center for 4 Front Loaders, 23. Arreguin - Bay Area Book Festival Relinquishment $1068 from Mayor’s discretionary funds 24. Arreguin – Budget referral $1,00,000 from ARPA to Eviction Defense to supplement Housing Retention, 25. Kesarwani – Budget referral $50,000 to expand Downtown Streets services to Gilman commercial and industrial areas twice weekly, 26. Bartlett, co-sponsor Arreguin – Budget referral $300,000 convert 62nd street between King and Adeline into a cul de sac with marked bicycle lane connecting Adeline to bicycle blvd on King, 27. Harrison - Support AB 2557 specifying that records of Civilian Law Enforcement Oversight Agencies are subject to the disclosure Requirements of the Public Records Act, 28. Hahn, so-sponsors Arreguin, Taplin, Harrison – Refer grant $150,000 for the benefit of Luna Dance Institute, 29. Hahn, co-sponsors Wengraf, Robinson - Budget referral $300,000 for bike, pedestrian and streetscape and re-paving Hopkins Corridor, 30. Hahn, co-sponsors Harrison, Wengraf – Budget referral $40,000 Solano Stroll September 11, 2022 and September 10, 2023, 31. Robinson – Support AB 2234 Postentitlement Permit Streamlining, ACTION: 32. CM – Accept Risk Analysis for Long-Term Debt (Bonding Capacity) provided by GFOA, 33. ZAB Appeal 1643-1647 California – to 1) create new lower basement level, 2) construct new 2nd story, 3) modify existing duplex layout resulting in 3,763 sq ft duplex on existing property, 34. CM – Zoning Ordinance Amendments that address technical edits and corrections, 35. CM – Submission of 2022 (FY2023) Annual Allocations of Federal HUD funds, 36. Resolution Accepting the Surveillance Technology Report for Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), GPS Trackers, Body Worn Camera and Street Level Imagery, 37. CM – Hopkins Corridor Project Conceptual design, 38. Homeless Commission – a. Refer to the CM to develop a crisis stabilization program based on the Bend, Oregon model, b. CM - Staff response – use Amber House which has empty beds, , CSU too expensive and MediCal billing too complex, 39. Homeless Commission – a. direct CM to expand Berkeley Emergency Storm Shelter (BESS) to emergencies not otherwise covered including outside the dates of the current contract with Dorothy Day b. CM – staff response - refer to the budget process. 

LAND USE CALENDAR: 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

1205 Peralta – conversion of existing garage 5/10/2022 

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

2222 Blake – 2nd Story addition over 14’ in average height and addition of laudry and deck on 1st story 5/11/2022 

1338 Carlotta – Major residential addition over 14’ in average height, alteration in NC front yard setback 5/11/2022 

1415 Fifth – Convert an existing 2,257 sq ft residence into a 2491 sq ft duplex, construct new 2621 single family residence, 4/28/2022 

1008 Grizzly Peak – install a hot tub in the rear yard 5/11/2022 

1609 Kains – Raise existing home by 10 ft and construct new first floor, 4/27/2022 

1126 Keith – AUPfor installation in backyard at grade cedar hot tub (6’ wide, 4’ deep on concrete pad 6” thick sunk 20” into ground 4/27/2022 

1813 Parker - addition over 14’ in average height 4/27/2022 

27 Parnassus – Roof deck addition exceeding 14’ in height in hillside district 4/27/2022 

1301 Peralta - Major residential addition over 14’ in average height by creating 2nd story addition 5/11/2022 

2908 Russell – addition of 2nd floor bathroom addition of over 14’ 4/27/2022 

1425 Spruce – Re-frame the roof at the rear half of the house to extend the existing hip roof, add 20 sq feet rear addition on 2nd floor and legalize existing hot tub 5/11/2022 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/planning_and_development/land_use_division/current_zoning_applications_in_appeal_period.aspx 

WORKSESSIONS: 

April 26 - Special Meeting – Referral Prioritization Process, Berkeley Strategic Transportation Plan Update, Bond Capacity, 

June 21 – Ballot Measure Development/Discussion 

July 19 - open 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Alameda County LAFCO Presentation 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

Mid-Year Budget Report FY 2022 

Kelly Hammargren’s on what happened the preceding week can be found in the Berkeley Daily Planet www.berkeleydailyplanet.com under Activist’s Diary. This meeting list is also posted at https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html on the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition website. 

If you would like to receive the Activist’s Calendar as soon as it is completed send an email to kellyhammargren@gmail.com. If you wish to stop receiving the weekly summary of city meetings please forward the weekly summary you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com. 

 

 

Worth Noting - There is a lot happening this week.  

Besides the special and regular council meetings on Tuesday, the City Departments present to the Council Budget Committee on Wednesday 12 - 4 pm and Thursday and Friday from 9 am – 5 pm. The Surveillance Report will be heard Tuesday evening at the Council 6 pm meeting, plus the Hopkins Corridor Redesign and the Homeless Commission referral for the development of a 24/7 crisis stabilization center. 

Monday Zero waste will hear an update on the plastic recycling market. We might learn how much is “wish cycling” rather than actual recycling. 

The parking pilot projects SmartSpace are on Wednesday for Elmwood and Thursday for Southside at 6:30 pm. 

Wednesday evening at 7 pm the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission has a full schedule including Greg Brown Park and an outdoor fitness court at Cesar Chavez Park and the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission called a special meeting on budget recommendations for Measures GG and FF funds and to reconsider spending $500,000 of Measure FF funds on Eucalyptus Groves on unknown private property sites in the hills. The Police Accountability Board makes the third Wednesday evening 7 pm meeting. Health and Welfare is at 6:30 pm. 

There is a series of city meetings on bicycling in Berkeley starting Thursday at 12 – 1:30 pm. 

Thursday evening the Zoning Adjustment Board takes up the 6-story project at 1201 San Pablo and removing four more tenant spaces from media /film and the Mental Health Commission will get the latest update on the Special Care Unit and access to crisis care in Berkeley. 

Housing Survey for tenants https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CABERKE/bulletins/314823c 

BART Survey - https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/ 

Sunday, April 24, 2022 – no city meetings or events found 

Monday, April 25, 2022 

Agenda and Rules Committee at 2:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87190567466 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 871 9056 7466 

AGENDA: Public Comment on non-agenda and items 1 – 7. 1. Minutes, 2. Review and Approve 5/10/2022 draft agenda – use link or read full draft agenda after list of city meetings, 3. Berkeley Considers, 4. Adjournment in Memory, 5. Council Worksessions, 6. Referrals for Scheduling, 7. Land Use Calendar, Referred Items for Review: 8. COVID, 9. Return to In-person meetings, Unscheduled Items: 10. Discussion Regarding Design and Strengthening of Policy Committees, 11. Supporting Commissions, Guidance on Legislative Proposals. 

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

Zero Waste Commission at 7 pm 

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

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

AGENDA: 6. Staff reports Strategic Plan, Transfer Station Rates, C&D Processing RFP, FITES draft bag ordinance, Cal Move Out, Illegal dumping, single-use foodware, SB 1383, Discussion and Action: 1. Current recycling market updates and transparency regarding plastics, 2. Work Plan. 

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

Housing Element Event at 5 – 7 pm 

In-person at Berkeley Bowl 2020 Oregon 

Share feedback on housing goals and types of housing 

Tuesday, April 26, 2022 

CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL Meeting at 4 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83685329120 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (toll free) Meeting ID: 8368532 9120 

AGENDA: 1. 2022 City Council Referral Prioritization Process Re-Weighted Range Voting (RRV), 2. Accept Risk Analysis for Long-Term Debt (Bonding Capacity) Report provided by Government Finance Officers Association, 3. Berkeley strategic Transportation Plan Update and Grant Application Opportunities. 

https://www