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It hardly seems possible that until seven or so months ago, before the new website was installed, the city’s involvement with its sister cities—all 17 of them at the time—was mere. Occasional visits by informal delegations or building volunteers sent hither might make it to the inner pages of local papers, but a more overt recognition at events, festivals or other civic doings, in a city with a global affect far beyond its size, was hard to find. Their once stalwart promoters had vanished. Sisters Cities International did not admit to having Berkeley as a member!

They have since had a noticeable if brief return from the backwaters of public attention. Those who use our new city website will find them displayed with some prominence under ‘Your Government’, in the form of a dry asterisked roster.

Those asterisks stand for recently dismissed ‘sisters’—the two in Russia. On June 28, the Council unanimously passed (on consent) Resolution 70,437 in reaction to the on-going—now stalled—invasion of Ukraine. Apparently, severing ties however tenuous with a Moscow suburb (Dmitrov) and a major hub near Lake Baikal (Ulan-Ude) backs some assertion that cities create foreign policy and conduct wars, or are directly approving and complicit.

Anticipating such, the SCI Political Suspension/Cancellation Policy states: “ ... the suspension of a sister city relationship due to disagreement over a government policy or practice can be counterproductive and contrary to the stated mission of sister city relationships promoting “peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation—one individual, one community at a time.” Suspending sister city relationships closes a channel of communication through which meaningful dialogue may be held.” -more-

Whatever happened to local government?

When we moved to Berkeley, way back in 1973, there were vigorous contests for the at-large seats on the city council and for the mayor. We’d spent the sixties in Ann Arbor, where there were also vigorous contests, with issues revolving around civil rights, especially the ultimately successful attempt to outlaw racial discrimination in local housing. Yes, this was the north and the 1960s, but housing discrimination was alive and well, even in a northern college town like Ann Arbor, and school integration was very much a work in progress. I had the privilege of managing the city council campaign of the first successful African American candidate since reconstruction in the 19^th century, and also, not so successfully, of working on the losing campaign of a quasi-socialist candidate for mayor, who did get about 5% of the vote in 1972, as well as Shirley Chisholm’s Michigan campaign for President, another 5%.

There were few if any town-gown disputes.

Mid-century Berkeley was livelier, on-campus and off. The University of California administrators have traditionally loved picking fights with faculty (the loyalty oath) and students (free speech), and also with local residents (taking and demolishing private homes by eminent domain)

Even without the university, local issues such as community control of the police and neighborhood preservation, which were supported by progressive configurations like the April Coalition and Berkeley Citizens’ Action, made Berkeley elections and council meetings lively. Gory details, which included recalls and rowdy meetings, can be found online in the late David Mundstock’s splendid history, Berkeley in the 70s. -more-

In the past, some psychologists theorized that schizophrenia passes from one generation to the next because the parents are or were "schizophrenogenic." This was a way of blaming parents for the disease of their offspring. Schizophrenia is a physical disease that impacts consciousness and affects numerous other things. Calling parents schizophrenogenic is like blaming the parents when a child has cancer or arthritis. There is no difference. -more-

Between my former lives as a plein air painter and a home health nurse in the inner city of Los Angeles, I am geared to taking in as much of my surroundings as possible. Last week I wrote about asphalt in tree wells in front of BODYROX. It is always a benefit to pay attention and this time it was a benefit to be wrong as that lead to an extended email exchange with Scott Ferris, Director of Recreation, Parks and Waterfront. It turns out the product around the trees only looks like asphalt and is instead a product that is flexible and porous protecting tree roots and letting water run through. -more-

It's been seven months since Russia invaded Ukraine (February 24). It's turned into a remake of David vs. Goliath.

1.Russia is losing the war: At the beginning of the invasion, most observers believed that Russia would overwhelm Ukraine. That didn't happen. After months of conflict, the war reached a tipping point with the Ukrainian liberation of Kharkiv Oblast (province). Now it appears to be only a matter of time until Ukraine pushes out all the Russian invaders.

There are multiple reasons why Russia is losing. The first is that the Ukrainians have out-fought the Russians; the Ukrainian soldiers are highly motivated and the Russians are not. The second reason 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. -more-

When our ballots arrive, we will be deciding whether to vote no or yes on Measure L the Berkeley $650,000,000 General Obligation Bonds. The total cost according to the City’s “best estimate” is $1,125,000,000. The City estimates property owners will pay $475,000,000 in interest and service fees making the final cost for the Measure L Bonds to be paid out over 48 years to be over $1.1 billion.

The ballot statement is:

Shall the measure to create affordable housing; repair streets and sidewalks; underground utilities; and enhance buildings, infrastructure, and safety, authorizing the issuance of $650,000,000 in general obligation bonds, subject to independent oversight and audits, be adopted?

In making your decision of whether to vote for or against the bonds, skip over the promises made in the Yes on L card dropped on your doorstep and the promises made in https://www.renewberkeley.org/ and go to the bond measure text and note these points:

• “dollar amounts are estimates and are not a commitment or guarantee that any specific amounts will be spent on particular projects or categories of projects.“
• “The dates of sale and the amount of bonds sold at any given time will be determined by the City based on need for funds and other factors”

These two statements open the use of bonds funds to anything that can loosely fit the laundry list of possible spending ideas or categories of projects. There are no specific projects, there is no priority of spending. It is not even known who will be making the decisions on what, or how money generated from the Bonds will be spent, with the decision to sell bonds based on the “need for funds and other factors.” .

If each bond is paid off over 30 years, then selling the bonds can be spread over up to 18 years, but even that is unknown, because it was a citizen who found calculation errors in the proposed ballot measure financial statements and challenged council that the estimate of cost to the property owners may have been off by as much as 50% (Reported in the August 7, 2022 Activist’s Diary). This resulted in last minute changes to the financial projections and spreading repayment over 48 years.

It is the statement of “no commitment or guarantee” that is the focus of the opposition to Measure L https://berkeleyansforbetterplanning.org/why-no/ , in addition to barriers to providing oversight for existing ballot measures and the absence of clear accounting for current ballot measures. -more-

Putting Words to a Quake

On September 13, twin jolts rocked the ground in Santa Rosa. A 4.4 magnitude quake and 4.3 aftershock had been triggered by a tectonic twitch that occurred 3.5 miles below a section of the Hidden Valley neighborhood. The temblor reportedly "knocked picture frames off walls, cracked water pipes and rattled nerves."

The best description was provided to the Chronicle, as follows:
"15-year-old Charlie Scoby was watching 'Rick and Morty' on TV when the whole house shook 'like it grew legs and started to walk.'" -more-

Queen Elizabeth was the enigmatic queen and embodied the myth of the good monarch. She never voiced her opinions in public, never expressed joy or sorrow. She always rose to the occasion swept up in the royal pageantry energized by the roaring crowds. She assumed her role of head of her government. All public events were meticulously choreographed by a battalion of advisers who groomed her for new role after she became head of state following the sudden death of her father, King George VI. She had been born into incredible wealth and privilege and had been schooled with private tutors. -more-

Worth Noting:

Rosh Hashanah begins Sunday evening and ends Tuesday evening.

City Council - The Agenda committee meets on Wednesday at 2:30 pm and the Regular City Council meeting is Thursday evening at 6 pm. A special Council meeting is listed for 5 pm on Thursday in the agenda packet on oversight of the General Obligation bond, however, this meeting is not officially posted. Links for special meetings preceding regular Council meetings usually use the same videoconference and teleconference links.



Tuesday - The 3 x 3 Committee meeting at 5 pm on Tuesday lists North Berkeley BART in the Agenda.

Wednesday – The last January 6th hearing is supposed to start at 9:30 am PDT. Agenda committee at 2:30 pm, the 4 x 4 Committee at 3 pm, Environment and Climate at 5 pm, Civic Arts at 6 pm, Disaster and Fire Safety and the Police Accountability Board both meet at 7 pm.

Thursday – Multi-commission meeting at 11 am on civic Center, Council starts with closed session at 4:30 pm, expected special meeting at 5 pm and regular meeting at 6 pm. Waterfront bike Park meeting at 6:30 pm.

Friday – Elmwood business district meets at 9 am and IKE Kiosks are on the agenda. Civic Arts Grant subcommittee meets at 9:30 am.



The Housing Element Draft Environmental Impact Report is a plan for adding 19,098 housing units not the RHNA 8,934. As stated at the Planning Commission in the presentation, the larger number is to push changing zoning in the City of Berkeley. The Comment Period ends October 17, 2022 at 5 pm. The document including appendices is over 500 pages.

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



Don’t forget to check for meetings posted on short notice https://berkeleyca.gov/



Sunday, September 25, 2022 - Rosh Hashanah begins -more-

On Sunday afternoon, September 25, Dover Quartet, which was hailed by BBC Music Magazine as “one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years,” performed at UC Berkeley’s Hertz Hall under the auspices of Cal Performances. Dover Quartet is comprised of Joel Link, 1st violin, Bryan Lee, 2nd violin, Hezekiah Leung, viola, and Camden Shaw, cello. On the program for this concert were Franz Joseph Haydn’s Quartet in C Major, Op. 76, No. 3, Emperor; the Quartet for Strings (in one movement) by Amy Beach; and Felix Mendelssohn’s Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 44, No. 3. -more-

On Friday, September 23, San Francisco Symphony kicked off its 2022-23 season with an Opening Night Gala Concert and After-Party. Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen led the orchestra, chorus and guest artists in music from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Felix Mendelssohn. African-American Shakespeare Company performed scenes from Shakespeare’s play interspersed between music Mendelssohn composed for each scene. Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream actually spans nearly his entire career, since his Overture was composed in 1826 and in 1843 he added music for seven scenes from Shakespeare’s play. -more-