Dear City Council, I urge you to Vote NO to item 19 and the supplemental proposal that would limit public comment. We are coping with so many things that seek to limit democracy at every level these days, gerrymandering, purging voter databases, and more. And now here in Berkeley, there is the potential for limiting public input on the local issues we care about. Please vote NO on Item 19 this Tuesday.The spirit of the Brown Act, which governs public comment in California, is to safeguard the public’s First Amendment rights and to ensure transparency and accountability. Separating public comment from each policy item effectively strips the public of meaningful input. Critical issues around labor or tenant rights, police reform or the environment do not lend themselves to soundbytes. -more-

Shortly before leaving office in late 2022, former Councilmember Droste submitted an item to Council that would consolidate all public comment to a single period at the beginning of Council meetings and limit the number of speakers. This is instead of our current practice of taking public comment on consent items as a group and then on each action item. While this proposal received a negative vote at the Agenda Committee (chaired by Mayor Arreguin), two councilmembers have revived the proposal through a modified supplemental proposal that consolidates public comment on all action items into one period at the beginning. The supplemental suffers many of the same shortcomings as the original.

I need your help to demand that Council vote no at Tuesday February 28 Council Meeting (details about how to voice your opinion below).

This proposal would mean you would have to condense all of your public comments on scores of complex and different items into one single 1–2-minute period. Councilmembers could effectively forget about or ignore your public comment when the item you care about comes up hours later. The public would not have the benefit of an item’s author description of the item or the initial council discussion before commenting. The spirit of the Brown Act, which governs public comment in California, is to safeguard the public’s First Amendment rights and to ensure transparency and accountability. Separating public comment from each policy item effectively strips the public of meaningful input. Critical issues around labor or tenant rights, police reform or the environment do not lend themselves to sound bites.

The most powerful monied interests have the loudest voice in City Hall. Now some want to further eliminate meaningful public participation.

Please write or call into Tuesday’s Council meeting and demand that Council vote NO to item 19 and the supplemental proposal!

To access the meeting remotely: Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Android device: Please use this URL https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1610465939. To request to speak, use the “raise hand” icon by rolling over the bottom of the screen.

To join by phone: Dial 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (Toll Free) and enter Meeting ID: 161 046 5939. If you wish to comment during the public comment portion of the agenda, Press *9 and wait to be recognized by the Chair.

To submit a written communication for the City Council’s consideration and inclusion in the public record, email council@cityofberkeley.info and cc clerk@cityofberkeley.info.

I ran for office to represent and listen to the people of Berkeley. Engaging in hours of robust public testimony and debate comes with the job description. Democracy can be messy and time intensive; don’t let Council shirk its duty. -more-

This item is clearly another attempt to weaken democratic participation at the local level under the guise of convenience for City Council and staff. In the holy name of 'efficiency', local democratic participation will be marginalized even more in the last place where individual voices can matter and possibly sway elected officials. The neoliberal elimination of life-protecting laws and regulations at the global, national, state levels is nearly complete, with politicians who strive for higher offices completely captured by the corporate-money-driven political campaigns, and their hopes for revolving-door golden parachutes after they have greased the wheels of corporate profiting. Only at the local level do we still have representatives who may answer to the people, to the public - representatives who can actually interact daily with the people they represent rather than just lobbyists. -more-

San Ramon Valley High School in California is embroiled in a growing nationwide debate over book bans. Around the country, parents are increasingly clashing with librarians and school districts over book bans, demanding titles they find inappropriate — often with LGBTQ content — be removed from shelves. Actually, the best way to protect our children’s “innocence” is to take away their access to the internet and lock them up until they reach age 18 or move to Florida. -more-

Raging Against the War Machine

There was a good deal of agitation, debate and disagreement surrounding the "Rage Against the War Machine" rally held in the nation's capital on February 19. The divisive issue was a question about whether groups like CODEPINK could share the stage with groups like the Libertarian Party. -more-

Emotions get thorny. They are a semi-intangible cause of human suffering, but also a cause of great joy. Without emotions, where would we be? Emotions are the powerhouses that motivate humans to the point that we have civilization. And yet, for mentally ill people, it almost seems as though emotions are more a source of difficulty than anything. -more-

I'm sure I've heard somewhere that 'Berkeley'--the city, the campus, both--is the home of, or defender of, something called Free Speech. The phrase may even show up in tourist brochures. -more-

Worth Noting:

Plan Ahead: City Commissions return to in-person only attendance on March 1, 2023. Check calendar post when planning to attend city meetings for location and if online option is available.

• SUNDAY: The BART site walk is rescheduled for March 5
• MONDAY: At 2:30 pm the Agenda and Rules Committee item-9 Droste’s Legislative process (limiting legislation) is on the agenda. At 6:30 pm is a special City Council meeting (online only) on the COVID emergency and the Rental Eviction Moratorium. At 6 pm Speaking Up for Point Molate (online only) presents GeoTracker the Water Board’s monitoring system that provides progress on groundwater cleanup.
• TUESDAY: At 4 pm is a City Council special meeting on increasing the solid waste container fees to cover cost. The Zero Waste Commission meets 6 pm
• The Go To Meeting is Tuesday at 6 pm the City Council regular meeting with a submission from Robinson and Wengraf to limit public participation in city council meetings by restricting public comment to a single comment on all action items. On Tuesday evening this major change is scheduled to come up for a vote as the very LAST ITEM of the evening, agenda item-19. This started as a Droste item and then Robinson and Wengraf submitted an alternative (supplemental) The Exceptions to a single comment are when a public hearing, an appeal or a quasi-judicial (court like) item are on the agenda. In these exceptions the public may comment on those individual items.
• WEDNESDAY: Both BOLT (in-person) and the Ohlone Park Improvements (online) meet at 6:30 pm. The Homeless Services Panel of Experts meets at 7 pm.
• At 7 pm the Bird Safe Ordinance hearing is on the Planning Commission agenda. The proposed ordinance DOES NOT meet the American Bird Conservancy model ordinance to reduce bird collisions see: https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/bird-friendly-legislation/
• THURSDAY: At 1 pm FITES meets on GEG emissions and Climate Action Plan. Item-5 is for $600,000 total for studies for adding bike lanes, dedicated bus lanes and raised platforms to University and modifying Shattuck - all of these traffic narrowing impacts emergency access and evacuation routes. The HAC and LPC meet at 7 pm. WETA meets at 1 pm ferry ridership continues to drop. At 4 pm is a Webinar (online) on Transforming the Nation's Food System.
• SUNDAY March 5: At 2 pm North Berkeley BART Housing Site walk at 2 pm