UC Berkeley has been temporarily prohibited from proceeding with any demolition at People’s Park by a stay granted by the California Court of Appeal today. The stay is necessary because the UC regents refused to delay demolition at People’s Park until the trial court’s decision on the merits of a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) suit to prevent the destruction of People’s Park filed by Make UC A Good Neighbor and the Peoples Park Historic District Advocacy Group (PPHDAG). -more-

Thomas Lord was born April 26, 1966 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he lived until the age of 10 when his family relocated to western Massachusetts.

He graduated from Phillips Academy Andover in 1984.

He attended Johns Hopkins University and Carnegie Mellon University, and in 1987 began his career as a software engineer at Carnegie Mellon, working on the Andrew Project.

During this time he became interested in the free software movement (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html) and thereafter dedicated himself to developing and supporting free software (aka libre software or open source). He worked as an employee of the Free Software Foundation, developing for the GNU Project, for several years in the early 1990s.

In 1995 he first moved to Berkeley and began spending time in People’s Park, a place and a society that held great meaning for him.

He returned to Pittsburgh PA in 1998, then came back to the Bay Area in 2001 and relocated permanently to Berkeley in 2004.

In 2007 he married Trina Pundurs, his life partner since 1992.

Upon settling in Berkeley, he began engaging with city politics and policymaking. His interest led him to contribute to the Berkeley Daily Planet, and his work with Planet editor Becky O’Malley drew him further into city and regional issues, especially housing, displacement, and homelessness. In 2016 he was appointed by then-Councilmember Cheryl Davila to serve on the City Housing Advisory Commission.

In 2018 he was profoundly moved by a news report about scientists weeping in the aisles at COP 24, where the IPCC presented its Special Report on the impact of global warming of 1.5° C (“IPCC SR15”). Upon studying SR15, and following the work of Greta Thunberg, he became a tireless advocate of speaking the truth about the climate emergency and treating it as an actual emergency.

In addition to his climate and housing activism, he spent several years volunteering with students at Longfellow Middle School as part of the Writer Coach Connection program.

He died unexpectedly this week of a massive brain hemorrhage.

Thomas is survived by his wife Trina Pundurs, mother Luanna Pierannunzi, uncle Christopher Lord, aunt Sharlene Jones, and many cousins and extended family. -more-

Elsewhere in this issue you can find a good factual obituary for Thomas Lord, someone who was part of Berkeley’s civic life for at least two decades. But what’s hard to capture is the way he participated in public discourse, with a combination of passionate belief and fact-heavy logic which some people might say was “so Berkeley”.

Tom Lord was one of the last of the real Berkeleyans, not the goofy stereotypes of the long-gone “How Berkeley Can You Be?” parade (started by a guy who lived in Piedmont) but a data-driven free-range public intellectual who was not hampered by conventional thinking. He knew a lot about a lot of things that really count, and he wasn’t shy about telling you so. He showed up frequently at Berkeley public meetings to politely set officials straight on what they were doing, even when pompous officials allowed him no more than a one-minute sound byte.

He was generous with his time and his technical skills, available for the rest of us when we needed information to bolster something we were working on. And he even volunteered to set up a mail system to support Planet subscribers.

Berkeley is full of opinions,as is the whole Internet, but a relatively small number of these opinions are supported by data and certainly not by cogent analysis. However, you could always rely on Tom Lord for relevant facts and authoritative figures. He was a very smart guy who had been a hotshot in the world of open-source software, and he applied his keen intellect to knotty political problems. He wrote a good bit for publication, and as a member of Berkeley’s Housing Advisory Commission produced comprehensive discussions of key housing issues.

After he left the HAC he turned his attention to the even knottier problems of climate change. He was particularly skeptical of civic efforts to appear to be doing something significant to reduce or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions with what he thought was too little, too late.

Outrage was his signature style. It made officials mighty uncomfortable, as well it should have.

When solid information is expressed in strong language, you’re bound to make someone mad. That’s probably why Tom had the honor of being banned from the “comments” section of a timid local news outlet early in its existence. He never made it back in, except when he used a pseudonym—an experiment which didn’t last.

Here, we feel privileged to have known Thomas Lord, and very much appreciate his written contributions to the Planet and his regular participation in the city’s decision-making process. He exemplified Mr. Dooley’s mandate: comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable. He did both, with panache. Mourn for him, and organize. -more-

In these times where transit options are rapidly changing, few disabled people and seniors are aware of their rights and responsibilities. As such, I’m part of a rotating group of activists who hope to write the occasional column where we can let you all know how you can not only make your own lives and those of your caregivers easier, but also contribute to the well-being of the community as a whole.

Why Claiming the Benefits You’re Entitled to is Important

So often, official policy decisions are made based on who accesses available services. This is also true for parking in the City of Berkeley. It matters when people who are eligible don’t apply for parking benefits they are entitled to, because the City uses data from those applications to help them determine how many disabled people there are, and how much planning needs to be done to accommodate them. This can have far-reaching repercussions when there is a severe undercount in the numbers in everything from seating on BART and buses to availability of special parking spaces.

If you don’t need that advantage on a given day, then by all means, don’t use it, and leave it available for someone else who might need it. But if you DO need it, you should use it. Too often, we are stigmatized for stating our needs, or subjected to ableist comments about how our disabilities are some sort of character flaw. As long as we continue to play into that, we will continue to have more people who can’t take care of themselves, when really, the solutions are right there, and are inexpensive and easy.

Am I Really Disabled, Even if I’m not in a Wheelchair? -more-

In a dramatic reversal of his earlier promises to regard Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” state, in light of many human rights abuses, President Biden is heading to Riyadh assuring Mohammed Bin Salman, that all is forgiven and imploring him to pump more oil to lower global oil prices and boost his sagging approval rating. Conveniently ignored was the brutal murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The Biden administration also failed to condemn Saudi Arabia after the kingdom executed 81 people. Rights groups say many of those executed were people arrested for participating in human rights demonstrations. Many of the defendants were denied access to a lawyer, held incommunicado and tortured. -more-

After the week we just finished, it is hard to focus on anything other than the end of Roe: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and Clarence Thomas setting his sights on gay sex ; Lawrence v Texas, same sex marriage ; Obergefell v. Hodges and contraception;Griswold v. Connecticut. Note that Clarence Thomas did not cite the other transformative Supreme Court decision based on the Fourteenth Amendment: Loving v. Virginia, ending the ban on interracial marriage.

Roe isn’t the end of all the bad 6 to 3 rulings this session. The Court ruled on Thursday that a New York law restricting the ability to carry a gun in public violated the Second Amendment in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. There was Shinn v. Ramirez, that inmates can only use evidence previously produced in state court proceedings and cannot present new evidence. This leaves inmates on death row unable to present new evidence, the center of the Innocence Project. And, Vega v. Tekoh, that a person cannot sue a police officer under federal civil rights law for violating their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by failing to provide a Miranda warning.

We should note how generously John Eastman, former professor and Trump lawyer, pled the Fifth Amendment a total of 146 times when questioned in deposition. Jeffrey Clark, who appeared in White House logs on January 3, 2020 as acting Attorney General before Trump backed down, also pled the Fifth when under oath.

It is an ugly time. The seductive lure of authoritarianism and power rides high in the righteous right. And, on top of this mess is that the most corrupt president of all time brought us here, and he lost the popular vote twice. Even those who testified to Trump’s corruption and attempted theft of the presidency he lost said they would vote for Trump again should he run.

We should all recognize that this week was in the making for a very long time, decades. In fact, CWA, which I will get to later, organized in 1978. We are now in a country that is split into those who embrace authoritarianism, the power it brings, and the wish to impose their Christian interpretation on all of us, and those who still want to live in a democracy, a multicultural one at that where women have agency over their bodies, where there is separation of church and state, equity and equality exist and sexuality and exercise of gender is not tied to a past saturated in repression, oppression and imprisonment. -more-

Eliza O’Malley, Berkeley Chamber Opera’s founding Artistic Director, wrote that in the present Covid pandemic, she searched for two one-act operas she could present in a program that wouldn’t require an audience be confined in a small theatre space over more than two hours. As a further caution, she asked patrons to wear N95 face masks that were handed out at the door of Berkeley’s Hillside Club on the nights of performance. Thus, two one-act Russian operas, Maddalena by Sergei Prokofiev, and Mavra by Igor Stravinsky, were given three performances over the weekend of June 17-19.

At the Saturday, June 18 performance I attended, second casts sang in both operas. Although I initially regretted not hearing Eliza O’Malley herself sing the title role in Prokofiev’s Maddalena on Friday or Sunday, I was greatly impressed by soprano Mary Evelyn Hangley in this role. Singing in Russian in Prokofiev’s Maddalena, Ms Hangley displayed a voice that is full and rich in tonal colours. She’s a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Adler Fellowship program and in 2021 she stepped in on three hours notice to sing the Mother in Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel with San Francisco Opera. Mary Evelyn Hangley also made a last-minute house and role debut with Opera San Jose as Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and in 2019 she performed with the San Francisco Symphony in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. -more-

In human life, at some point we will face some difficult realities. It matters how we process them. The realities could be frightening, could be dismal, or could be merely a big disappointment. In the mind of a pre-psychotic person, it is easier to make up something that is not real, that provides relief from the pain and/or fear of this. This is the beginning of becoming mentally ill. This issue is up for me, because while I can't specify what I'm going through, I'm in for realities that include uncertainty and a tremendous amount of work, at least in the short term. So, I realized I could make some of this theme into a column for this week. -more-

In one week, the Court has made it clear that it believes guns are entitled to more rights and protections than women." — California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, June 24, 2022 -more-

The recent Supreme Court ruling in Carson v. Makin that Maine may not exclude religious schools from a state tuition program further erodes the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prior to John Roberts becoming Chief Justice, had been regularly interpreted to mean that the U.S. Constitution requires the separation of church and state. Since Roberts became Chief Justice in 2005, the court has ruled in favor of religious organizations in orally argued cases 83% of the time. -more-

Worth Noting:

Light week ahead ending with the 4th of July long weekend.

Check the new city website for late postings https://berkeleyca.gov/

Monday at 2:30 pm the Agenda Committee will finalize the July 12 Council Agenda. Warrantless searches and the Vacancy Tax are both in the draft agenda for July 12.

Tuesday evening at 6 pm City Council will vote on the biennial budget for Fiscal Year 2023 & Fiscal Year 2024. Item 41. Under action is the goBerkeley SmartSpace residential metered parking pilots.

Wednesday is the Housing Elements Workshop #3 at 6 pm. It is unclear how much will be covered of a 152 page draft in a 20 minute presentation, but it is worth attending to learn what the City is planning and/or whether a mid-rise building will be your new neighbor. The entire document is 590 pages. The comment period ends July 14. This workshop is not on the City website front page as of 1:35 pm on June 25.

The Housing Element Draft is available for comment from now until Thursday, July 14, 2022. Do not leave this to the last minute.

Draft: https://raimi.konveio.com/city-berkeley-housing-element-update-public-draft

Housing Element Update Webpage: https://berkeleyca.gov/construction-development/land-use-development/general-plan-and-area-plans/housing-element-update

City Council Summer Recess is July 27 – September 12, 2022.

Sunday, June 26, 2022 -more-

a woman scorned is one thing it can get pretty bad

but force her into childbirth and she can get pretty mad

she's going to start to organize it's going to happen fast

and if you all get in her way she's going to kick your ass



CHORUS:

pregnant and in jail , pregnant and in jail

let the men do all the work, we're pregnant and in jail (x2)

-more-