It wasn't the first time I stood and demonstrated on the Savio Steps outside UC Berkeley's Sproul Hall but it was the first time I found myself hoisting the middle of a 12-foot-wide banner reading "Save People's Park."

In the early hours of Tuesday, armed police had sealed off the park with a metal fence, standing by as hired contractors set to work chopping down the park's trees.

A rally had been called for 5PM and now, more than a hundred park supporters were standing in the shadow of the Student Union as a tattooed activist flipped on a microphone. He invited the crowd to move into the sunshine to hear short messages from a half-dozen scheduled speakers.

The choreographed event soon turned into a Free Speech free-for-all when a self-important bozo in the audience marched up the steps, snatched the mike from the startled moderator and began to pontificate.

The crowd responded by booing his bullying tactics. He only stopped ranting when the power to his microphone was cut.

With power—and decorum—restored, Park co-founder and legendary radical presence Mike Delacour returned the rally's focus to the University's desecration and peoples' defense of the park. A few more speakers stepped forward with comments, condemnations and legal updates—while an unamplified chorus of critics hovered behind, waving their arms, pointing fingers, and seeming to challenge whoever held the microphone. -more-

The People’s Park Hearings opened this week in Downieville, CA. Called by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the hearings were originally scheduled for Oakland, CA, but University of California lawyers called for a change of venue to the second smallest California county where digital access is extremely limited. However, the old Courthouse where the hearings are taking place does have indoor plumbing. The UC attorneys originally opted for the town of Loyalton because its name reminded them of the historic UC Loyalty Oath controversy, but the town lacked a large enough space for the hearings.

The central question before the UNEP panel is the destruction by UC of a park and urban ecosystem in the midst of extreme climate change. The hearing opened with questioning of Chancellor Carol Christ. Christ was asked if she felt the destruction of the park contradicted the public mission of UC. She responded that in the era of tight budgets the bottom line was paramount and that public-private partnerships called for a scorched earth policy. -more-

This Diary is going to cover a lot of territory. It’s August and at least things look quiet for the week ahead. Looking back, there is so much that happened.

The Berkeley City Council is finally on summer recess through September 12th. Thank goodness! I so hope they stay away for the remainder of the summer. We could use weeks of peace to recover from CoB (City of Berkeley) WHIPLASH.

July 27, 2022 was the date that City Council was supposed to leave town or at least close up shop until mid-September, but Mayor Arreguin scheduled a special council meeting for August 3 dedicated to ballot initiatives. The mayor must have reconsidered how he handled the Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause Ordinance Ballot measure from the 4 x 4 Committee at the July 26th council meeting. By Monday afternoon Arreguin had resurrected it, placing it as the last item on the August 3 special council meeting agenda.

On Tuesday afternoon, on the day before the meeting, I received an email from someone I don’t know, Geoff Lomax (evidently my email is being shared – thank you and I mean that sincerely) saying that the calculation of the total debt service payment (the expected cost for property owners) in the city’s documents for the General Obligation Bond ballot measure was off by as much as 50%. And that wasn’t in the good direction: if he’s right, any of us who are property owners would actually be paying almost double what the City initially estimated.

On the website ("blog") of a new organization called Within Our Means Berkeley, Geoff Lomax is identified as a volunteer. His analysis can be found here. Some of the group’s supporters (“endorsers”)can be seen here. The site does not specifically identify its organizers. -more-

Managing to Make a Difference—With Ice Cream Sandwiches

ActivSpace, a block-long triple-story office building on Seventh Street (where I rent an office) recently got a new office manager. I first encountered Chandra Thomas in a second-floor hallway, standing atop a chair and adjusting one of the building's wall-mounted emergency lamps.

I noticed further evidence that there was "a new sheriff in town" when the scramble of business cards and publicity fliers haphazardly splayed across the building's bulletin-boards were suddenly up-dated and rearranged in a neat and visually pleasing manner.

But the biggest sign of the new ActivSpace Era came in the form of a colorful flyer posted in the shared elevators. The posters announced that an hour-long "Ice Cream Social" was slated for the office parking lot—"Wow!" "Good Times!" "First Come, First Served!" "Enjoy Every Moment!"

The host for the event: our new office manager Chandra "Chan" Thomas. -more-

In the past, both Sens. Joe Manchin (D.WV) and Kysten Sinema (D.AZ) have blocked much of President Joe Biden’s agenda. Now that Sen. Manchin and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.NY) have agreed to the "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," which includes $790 billion for the climate and healthcare financed by a tax increase on the rich and big corporations. As far as I know, Sen. Sinema was not a party to the negotiations between Sens. Manchin and Schumer.

Sen. Sinema enjoyed the media attention while we waited for her to announce how she will vote on the proposed legislation. She did finally agree to support the legislation but used her leverage to get Democratic leaders to agree to drop a $14 billion tax increase on some wealthy hedge fund managers and private equity executives, change the structure of a 15% minimum tax on corporations, and include drought money to benefit Arizona. -more-

The U.S. has fully implemented the new 988 national suicide prevention phone line. It works for talk and text. It can be called by anyone experiencing an emotional crisis in which there is a perceived or possible suicide risk. A family member can also call when worried about the wellness of a loved one. Rather than me trying to answer all questions related to this resource, I'm going to give you this link:

https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988/faqs



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Writing this column has been an especially stabilizing influence for me. In 2012, after my first year of writing it, I was honored with an award for the column by the Alameda County Mental Health Commission. This was especially gratifying. A week later, my father passed away. Within 72 hours of that, I was in a substantial car accident with minor injuries that totaled my Toyota Matrix that family had paid for. -more-

A psychiatric diagnosis is a life sentence to poverty, suffering and humiliation? That is a rather narrow point of view. -more-

Worth Noting:

Relief – City Council is finally off for summer recess and most commissions do not meet in August.

Monday the BART Police Citizen Review Board meets, it is only listed because you may find the crime report interesting. The increase in crime is at the Alameda and Contra Costa County Stations not San Francisco or Santa Clara.

Thursday the Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) has two home addition projects on the consent calendar. There are no action items and no major projects for review at the August 11 meeting.

Saturday the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council is scheduled to meet at 10 am. Check later in the week for the agenda. (This is the meeting I will be watching.)

Things can change so it is a good idea to check the City website https://berkeleyca.gov/ -more-

Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and his wife, actress and director Maria Valverde, created the Encuentros Orchestra as a way to explore and promote cultural unity by bringing together outstanding young musicians ages 18-26 from many different countries. This year,

Dudamel and Valverde brought more than 100 young musicians from 22 countries to California for an intensive two-week program of master classes, rehearsals, cultural activities and concerts in conjunction with Los Angeles Philharmonic and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA). On Thursday evening August 4, Gustavo Dudamel conducted the Encuentros Orchestra with special guest artist esperanza spalding in a concert at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre under the aegis of Cal Performances. -more-

The first article of music criticism I ever wrote was a review of a 1974 Merola Opera production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. (This review appeared in the August 25-29, 1974 issue of the now long defunct Berkeley Barb.) Now, 48 years later, here I am writing a review of another Merola Opera production of The Magic Flute, or, to call it by its original German title, Die Zauberflöte. Happily, by whichever name you call it, this opera never gets old. It is as amazing and delightful today as it ever was and forever will be. -more-