So much is happening, late again.

As I mentioned in a previous Diary, I receive the donation asks from Mayor Arreguin. That does not mean there is any money going from my wallet to the campaign, I am just on the mass email mailing list like so many of you. My support will be for whoever shines as the real environmentalist.

The article that keeps coming to mind on the biodiversity crisis and looking toward the future is “Addressing Climate Change Will Not ‘Save the Planet’” by Christopher Ketcham. https://theintercept.com/2022/12/03/climate-biodiversity-green-energy/

I’ve been listening to Ketcham’s book, This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption are Ruining the American West published in 2019. It is not a happy book, telling the story of how our public lands are exploited, ecosystems destroyed and governmental misconduct in failing to rein it in.

All the State Senate candidates have records in elected office. I am not going to fall for empty rhetoric this time around. The candidate with the long history of environmental work is Dan Kalb with the Sierra Club and the Union of Concerned Scientists. I am especially interested in checking his votes and work as a member of the Oakland City Council.

We are in an environmental crisis. Just adding density to cities and stopping urban sprawl will not solve the biodiversity crisis, nor will a singular focus on transportation. We need an environmentalist in that California Senate seat. I wish I could see that in either Arreguin or Beckles. 

The person whose work in office with whom I am most familiar is Mayor Arreguin. Sadly, I don’t see the support for what are going to be the most important actions. Ketcham is correct. Just addressing climate change will not save the planet. Our ecosystems are teetering on the edge of collapse. 

Berkeley’s Bird Safe Ordinance has been weaving its way through the City for five years starting in 2018. The final step is June 6th when the Bird Safe Ordinance passed unanimously by the Planning Commission comes before the City Council. 

Birds are in steep decline through habitat loss, climate and buildings. It is estimated that up to one billion birds die each year from bird glass collisions in the U.S. We can fix this. 

Any glass, transparent or reflective surface greater than 4 inches in any direction is a hazard for birds. If we are going to protect songbirds and tiny birds like humming birds the treatment to glass needs to be 2 inches by 2 inches. 

The Bird Safe Ordinance starts with new construction of the big buildings first and high hazard structures with a phase-in plan over several years for single family homes, small buildings under 10,000 square and replacement windows. 

The ordinance does not require treatment or replacement of windows in existing buildings, but you can choose to treat your existing windows. The American Bird Conservancy website, (an excellent source to learn about bird hazards, bird safe features and treatments) has many examples of how to fix existing buildings to be bird safe. https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/ 

If you have ever walked into a closed sparkling clean glass door, that is one example of a glass hazard. We’re bigger and slower so we walk away feeling foolish. Birds aren’t so lucky. 

Windows reflect the sky and trees, and birds collide with glass and reflective surfaces at full speed expecting open sky or a place to land. See-through corner windows, transparent walkways, wind and balcony-transparent barriers are high hazard building features. 

After finding a dead bird in my front yard, I applied the Solyx Frost Dot Bird Safety Film with a rating of 15 to the three windows where the bird collided with a window on my one story house. If I had just ordered the double hung windows that open at the top and the bottom instead of just opening at the bottom, the windows would have come with full external (outside) insect screens that have a rating of 1 in bird safety. The bird would have lived instead of dying in my yard. 

Permanently, fixed (as in don’t remove them) external (outside) insect screens on windows are an option within the Bird Safe Ordinance and the best option for existing windows. 

As for casement windows, which we see in nearly all of the new buildings, they have screens on the inside that keeps bugs out, but they do not protect birds. Curtains, levelers, screens on the inside of windows do not stop the reflections of the sky and trees on the outside.  

The short straight-forward Bird Safe Ordinance passed by the Planning Commission starts with non-residential new construction, big new residential and mixed-use buildings with 10,000 square feet or more and all high hazard features. There is a 2-to-5-year phase-in for smaller projects and replacement windows. The ordinance is written to accept all new products that are tested, rated and receive a score of 30 or less. (The lower the number the better the protection). 

The birds are not harmed and released after the test.:The testing procedure is explained in this video: https://vimeo.com/57158072 

It feels like there are construction cranes everywhere in the downtown as buildings have been approved while the Bird Safe Ordinance languished on to-do lists. We’ve seen over and over during the last five years that it just doesn’t work to add bird safe features as a recommendation in building approvals. It has to be a requirement. 

Between 2018 and 2021, when the Planning Department city staff started working on the Bird Safe Ordinance, the 2019 study on bird decline (2.9 billion birds gone) in North America was published and the American Bird Conservancy developed a model ordinance. 

The American Bird Conservancy lists 14 already passed bird safe ordinances that are NOT recommended and seven of the fourteen are in Northern California. These were the ordinances used by the Planning Department City Staff to propose an ordinance for Berkeley, along with the feature from the Emeryville ordinance that the American Bird Conservancy wrote must be removed (glass size as 12 square feet before treatment is required). 

The Audubon Society submitted an alternative which the Planning Commission approved unanimously, rejecting the Planning Department staff proposal. 

Berkeley has the opportunity to lead, but will we? This is a City Council vote I’ll be watching closely. 

At the Council’s Land Use, Housing & Economic Development Policy Committee, first up was a referral to the City Manager: Tenant Habitability Plan and Amendments to Relocation Ordinance. I missed the meeting; however, the meeting has an audio recording and the presentations and minutes of actions taken are already posted. 

The Habitability Plan is about building renovations and under what renovation conditions tenants are relocated and receive payments from the landlord toward the cost of relocation. This has been in process since October 31, 2022 and there is more work to the ordinance before it will come back to Council for a vote. 

The Habitability Plan, important as it is, does not have anything to do with whether the buildings designed and approved have bedrooms with windows, as described in the April 30 Activist’s Diary. 

There was another project, 2800 Telegraph, from Trachtenberg Architects, approved by the Zoning Adjustment Board, that had five three-bedroom units with a fourth room drawn as a TV room/study room without windows. This is the project David Trachtenberg referenced in a response to me about bedrooms with no windows. The project I named in the April 30 Activist’s Diary was at 2555 College, a building with eleven units and 10 out of 37 bedrooms with no windows. 

Given the high cost of market rate rentals, this fourth room in the units drawn with either desks or a couch will likely turn into a fourth bedroom. 

The second agenda item at the Land Use Committee was from Councilmember Hahn to increase housing in higher-resourced (wealthier) neighborhoods along the commercial avenues of Solano, North Shattuck and College. Jordon Klein, Director, Planning Department, said the funding of $250,000 requested by Councilmember Hahn was not needed in this budget cycle, but it was left in the referral rather than bringing it back in 2025. 

The discussion on ground floor uses with housing in the back and the need for continuous commercial in the front was quite interesting. Long breaks in street front commercial spaces is detrimental to viability. The referral was passed with a positive recommendation as amended by councilmembers Bartlett, Robinson and Humbert.  

More upzoning (big buildings) is Berkeley’s future. 

The agenda for the May 2 City Council Special Meeting on the Hard Hat Ordinance posted on April 28 arrived with including the cost of the new healthcare and apprenticeship requirements on private development as part of the Housing Feasibility Study currently underway, recommending adjustments to impact fees if needed to offset the new requirements, and to consider upzoning the downtown to allow for an increased number of buildings at or above 180 feet to offset the cost of these new labor standards.  

Adding density to the downtown with more taller buildings at or above 180 feet created a bit of a roar. By meeting time on May 2, that section with buildings at or above 180 feet had been replaced with “Explore zoning modifications to allow for additional density as a way to offset the cost of these new labor standards if needed.” [underline in document] 

Basically, builders of projects of 50,000 square feet or larger (includes renovations, not just new construction) and subcontractors (greater than ½ %) are required to either to enter into a labor-management agreement or contribute to healthcare, and either enter into a labor-management apprenticeship program, participate in a State approved apprenticeship program or make contributions to the California Apprenticeship Council. The ordinance states the cost of healthcare cannot not be subtracted from the minimum wage. The full ordinance, of course, contains more details and conditions. https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas 

The first reading of the ordinance passed with seven votes, Taplin, Bartlett, Harrison, Hahn, Robinson, Humbert and Arreguin. Kesarwani abstained and Wengraf was absent for the entire meeting. 

The Housing Feasibility Study relates back to Affordable Housing Mitigation fee. This is the fee developers pay to get out of including affordable housing in the building. 

The City of Berkeley requires in new construction that 10% of the units are affordable to households with very low income and 10% of the units are affordable to households qualifying as low income, or the developer pays an “in lieu mitigation fee” to have no affordable units in the building or some smaller portion of affordable units. 

The State Density Bonus gives the biggest bonus with the fewest affordable units when 10% of the units on the base project are affordable to very low income households. 

What I see in nearly every project is the 10% very low income units and payment of the fee for the rest. The 10% actually works out to a little less, as it is calculated on the base project, not the total project. The density bonus is what allows developers to build bigger, taller, denser projects over what is allowed in the zoning code. It means a 75 foot height limit is now 10 or 12 stories instead of seven. 

On February 14, 2023, City Council passed an ordinance to change the calculation of the in-lieu mitigation fee from the number of units (regardless of size) to square feet of residential living space. Then the council majority reduced the fee to the equivalent of the 2020 in-lieu rate, not the 2022 rate, and voted to have a study done of the in-lieu mitigation fee (the Affordable Housing Mitigation fee). Harrison abstained on the basis of using the 2020 fee instead of the 2022 one. 

With the Hard Hat ordinance, the cost of these new requirements, healthcare and apprenticeship, is to be included in the calculation of what is a financially feasible in-lieu mitigation fee for the developers to pay and still make a profit. 

Mayor Arreguin promised the construction unions in September 2022 that he would have their backs with the Hard Hat Ordinance. It didn’t come in time for workers on 2065 Kittredge, which the unions appealed and lost, missing that the City Council measure passed in September 2022 was a referral, not an ordinance requiring healthcare coverage. 

There were two meetings on the Waterfront Specific Plan. The Monday evening meeting was on design standards for recreation and nature areas, and the Wednesday meeting was on parking and commercial development. 

There was no report out after the Monday, May 1, meeting on the Waterfront Specific Plan Webinar, though discussion in the breakout group I attended supported nature, native plants and open space over organized structured recreation. 

On Wednesday, when the focus was parking and commercial development, there was a report out at the request of attendees. A couple of things that stood out. It was across the spectrum; attendees opposed paid parking seeing it as an equity issue preventing low income individuals and families from using the park. Charging parking was suggested by one for ferry users, though there was no discussion of the ferry. The suggestion from staff of valet parking was approached as inappropriate. One person called it kooky. Also, there was support for expanding the Doubletree Hotel not adding another hotel. Another suggestion from a member of Group 1 was food trucks in the His Lordships lot. 

While the Waterfront meetings were on Zoom and could have easily been recorded, it is the practice of Scott Ferris, Director Parks, Recreation and Waterfront that no meetings are video or audio recorded. And, while the meetings did offer closed captioning, they were also set up to prevent saving the transcript. Instead of any recordings, the city staff take notes. This practice establishes a certain amount of distrust, with the sense that what was is said at meetings is reshaped to fit a desired narrative. 

The Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) met May 3rd. From the beginning when Mayor Arreguin brought the idea of a ferry to Berkeley, it was that WETA would pay for a new pier and bolster the sinking Marina fund. It is looking more and more like instead of WETA paying for the pier, Berkeley will need to cough up money in the millions year after year to subsidize the ferry and that is over and above Berkeley paying for the pier. 

Once again, the T1 shortfall took up the entire Budget and Finance Committee. All the other agenda items were pushed off to a future meeting which as of this writing is still not scheduled. 

The final adjustments to balance the T1 funding gap ended with removing the installation of solar batteries at the North Berkeley Senior Center $500,000, a reduction in the estimate of the cost of security cameras by $643,899, to continue processing contracts by “sneakernet” (methods instead of the internet – USB, floppies, in this case paper) instead of purchasing a paperless system for $400,000, remove the Fire Station #6 upgrade $666,101, remove the Hopkins Bike/Pedestrian improvements $2,800,000 and borrow from the Worker’s Comp Fund (which is fully funded) $4,050,000 for a total of $9,060,000. 

These changes left the African American Holistic Center in place. The other projects should continue to move forward, but there may be more hiccups along the way. The feasibility of pedestrian safety improvements and placemaking to the Hopkins Corridor were noted by Arreguin as still being considered. 

The Turtle Island Monument is now up to $2,500,000 without the artwork. The artwork is estimated to be in the $500,000 range which will be funded by the Civic Arts and Parks Tax. It was also noted that the Turtle Island project could be reduced by $300,000 if the stonework in the upper plaza was only partially replaced. 

Sunday, I went to the Book Fair in Civic Center Park and imagined how the park might look different with daylighting Strawberry Creek. Years ago, the Outdoor Book Fair was so large it extended for 1 ½ blocks along Mivia and up Allston to Shattuck and ran for two days. This year the Outdoor Fair was one day and all the tents were contained in the park and on Allston between Milvia and MLK. The indoor author presentations were spread across seven sites several blocks away from Civic Center Park. The Slam Poetry was outdoors at the BART Plaza 

Daylighting the creek would mean a different arrangement. It could put that link between BART and the outdoor fair back together. 

Councilmember Kesarwani’s item to increase the funding for street paving passed out of the Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment and Sustainability Committee (FITES) with a positive recommendation so it will go into the budget requests for 2024.

Even though I watched the Berkeley City Council’s last meeting on Zoom , I appreciate Councilmember Kate Harrison’s post-session explanatory letter to her constituents and supporters, which she has given the Planet permission to reprint here. It was about an issue I hadn’t really been following very well, and as I watched I found it truly hard to believe what I was seeing.

In her letter, Councilmember Harrison graciously proffers some possible explanations for the City Manager’s proposal that the acting chief, Jennifer Louis, be summarily promoted, less than two months before the conclusion of an outside investigation into charges of police misconduct by Louis and others. The manager's request had been endorsed by a council majority, but Harrison declined to vote for it, and explained why.

Let’s get this straight: I have had approximately no opinion on Acting Chief Louis herself. Her statements on her own behalf on Tuesday were overloaded with bureaucratese, but otherwise her qualifications seemed appropriate on paper.

However, last fall there was a series of expose-type articles in the Los Angeles Times and elsewhere regarding a couple of questionable incidents in her record. One, a sexual harassment charge against her from another woman on the Berkeley police force, was internally investigated and has been dismissed.

The other involved Louis only tangentially: misbehavior by a group of officers in a special bicycle unit: racist texting, use of impermissible quotas and other offenses. Louis’s defenders point out that she was not chief at that time and had no interaction with the accused officers.

The first time the City Manager tried to get council approval for promoting Louis to the regular chief appointment, the resulting uproar caused her to walk back that recommendation. In November she told the council she would not ask the council again to approve Louis’s appointment before getting an outside consultant to investigate the charges. But she didn’t do what she promised.

Instead, she persuaded the council’s agenda committee to add confirmation of Jennifer Louis to last Tuesday’s consent calendar. This is the part of the agenda is where councilmembers are asked to unanimously approve non-controversial items without debate.

What? There is no way that a decision which is opposed by the League of Women Voters, the ACLU and the NAACP belongs on the consent calendar. Even worse, a decision about the Berkeley Police Department which is questioned by the city’s newly chosen Police Accountability Board should never be brought to the council before the PAB completes its duties, as explained in this issue by Councilmember Harrison. At last Tuesday’s meeting Councilmember Ben Bartlett did an excellent job of explaining why as a Black man he must insist that charges like those brought against the bicycle unit be treated with the utmost seriousness, so the investigations by the outside consultants and the PAB should be completed before a chief is confirmed.

While I appreciate the analyses articulated at the meeting by the two councilmembers who refused to vote to confirm Louis, I think they didn’t really get to the root of the problem. What I see is a deeper-seated management question. Unless I’ve missed something, I think that City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley really dropped the ball on this one in a number of ways.

She (and the councilmembers who voted to endorse her motion to confirm Louis) did not deal in good faith with the impressive array of community members who relied on her November statement that she’d wait until the investigations were complete before bringing the appointment back to the council. After this, how can any of us (and I include myself here) rely on her promises on other matters?

Besides the question of the Manager’s credibility, there’s an important practical matter. As a hypothetical, consider that if further research turns up anything questionable in the two situations under study, there could be reasons that the city would want to terminate the chief’s employment.

It’s a lot more difficult and expensive to fire a confirmed employee than it is to decline to promote an acting one. As it should be. Just saying.

Anyone who’s been in a management position with HR responsibilities knows that. In such situations, there’s usually a termination payment sum agreed on, and this promotion would inevitably result in increased cost to the city if that happens.

Also, if said employee is the best that can be found after a real national search, there’s a good chance that the search was never necessary or that it was inadequate. It’s puzzling that the L.A. Times was able to turn up these old charges, though of course it seems that Williams-Ridley knew about them all along but chose not to mention them to the electeds.

The fact that Jennifer Louis has been enthusiastically endorsed by the police officers’ union is not necessarily a plus.

According to the L.A. Times,

“The Berkeley Police Department was in turmoil … following the leak of text messages that allegedly show the president of the police officers’ union making racially charged remarks and calling for arrest quotas.

“The growing scandal resulted in the union president, Sgt. Darren Kacalek, being placed on administrative leave … city officials confirmed. He also stepped down from his position as union head..”

Berkeley’s city councilmembers should take a look at Antioch, where the police union is deep inside a scandal over racist texting. They should also take a hard look at the City Manager’s role in this debacle.

Seven out of nine of them voted to approve the Louis promotion. Five of the seven gushed over her. Two (Arreguin and Hahn) expressed reservations, but voted yes after counting the house. Probably the most noteworthy number in this whole analysis is the number of councilmembers reportedly angling for higher office: Arreguin for state senate, and for Berkeley mayor Hahn and Robinson.

Perhaps all these councilmembers think that backing Jennifer Louis will garner votes from what used to be called Berkeley’s “moderate” faction if they appear to be pro-police and anti-crime, but I doubt if they’re right. For other reasons, Wiliams-Ridley and Arreguin just don’t have a lot of fans in the Hills, and most Hills-dwellers have never heard of Robinson, who needed only a few hundred votes in the last election to win unopposed in his phony gerrymandered “student” district, where most of the eligibles don’t bother to vote in local races.

Hill folk, and also many of the rest of us, do have a number of major beefs with Berkeley’s city management, both elected and employed, however.

Current number one is the catastrophic Hopkins Street rerouting scheme in North Berkeley, now probably sunk, hopefully without trace. Whose idea was that? 

Then there’s the plan to “monetize” Cesar Chavez park, stopped, at least for the time being, thanks to quick response by former District 8 Councilmember Gordon Wozniak and allies. And a not-small demographic, both in the Hills and in the Flats, is outraged by ex-ASUC lackies Arreguin and Robinson’s obsequious endorsement of UC Berkeley’s plans to pave over People’s Park. The area formerly known as Downtown Berkeley is a constant reproach to anyone crossing the wasteland of empty storefronts, vacant movie houses and big ugly dorms it’s becoming. 

And that’s just for starters. Civil rights watchdogs are outraged by the city manager’s shenanigans over confirming the police chief, yes, but there’s much more not to like in the way the city’s managed. 

 

Dear Friends:

Thank you all for your robust and passionate public comment at this week’s Council meeting on police accountability and, in particular, the role of the Police Accountability Board (PAB). Our PAB, whose independence from the City Manager is enshrined in our Charter, asked in November, 2022 and again this April that we delay the appointment of a Chief until the investigation into text messages between members of the Downtown Bike Team is finished.

The team members’ texts, sent during work, used racist and derogatory language against members of the public and alleged that the department had arrest quotas in exchange for which team members would receive overtime. The City Manager in November withdrew the appointment of the Chief and promised to delay it until an investigation was complete. Investigations were launched by an independent law firm with a parallel investigation of departmental policies and practices by our PAB.

I am disappointed that the City Manager brought forward the appointment now even though the investigations are not finished and asked that it be placed on consent despite the extensive public interest in discussing it.

We have been assured by the City Attorney that the independent legal investigation will be completed within a month and a half and I expect the PAB to complete its work in that time. I and two colleagues voted to move the item to the action calendar and I made a motion to delay the appointment to our July meeting so we could move forward quickly but with full information. That motion failed and the Chief was appointed (Vice Mayor Bartlett and I abstained from the final vote). 

I put forward the dollars to reestablish the bike team four years ago and support special assignments for our officers, both to enhance community policing and to provide opportunities for growth among officers. I still believe that a well-managed bike team can be a strong model for community policing. I was encouraged by Chief Louis’ commitments at Tuesday’s hearing to introduce an early intervention system identifying departmental disparities and trends. Had such a system been in place, it could have much earlier identified the problems that surfaced in the Bike Patrol. She also addressed the Department’s on-going efforts to address its staffing shortages and reduce violent and property crimes in our city, including stemming gun violence through Ceasefire. 

My request to allow the process to play out is not based on the Chief’s role as a Captain when the texts occurred from 2019-2020. The Chief stated that she was working in another division and that she is confident the narrow personnel investigation of the bike team will vindicate her. The real issue is a credible plan to address the unconstitutional, racist and corrupt culture revealed by the texts, including how they plan to hold individuals involved accountable (especially those individuals who were in a management position over the team), and implement changes to City policy, as appropriate. The Chief’s ‘90-day plan,’ released the day before the hearing, is silent on these issues. The ‘plan’ references “transmit[ing] organizational expectations [and]…[e]ngag[ing] in needs assessment and develop[ing] approaches...” without specifics. Moreover, there was not a single mention of coordination with the Police Accountability Board.

The Charter gives the PAB the power to conduct investigations, promote the public trust, act as necessary civilian oversight of the Police Department and have a role in evaluating candidates for the Chief. I have heard some members of public and a few of my colleagues deride the PAB as “activists” (activists insured we have same-sex marriage and got us out of the Vietnam War). When the PAB advised us to slow the Chief appointment, it included members that are now a U.S. Attorney for Northern District of California who graduated from Harvard, lawyers licensed for 30-50 years by the California Bar, a professor in criminal justice at UC Irvine, two people who work for police departments and others. They were chosen by all of us (one of the amendments I accepted to the original language I proposed on the PAB). They represent all of us. I urge the City Manager and the entire City team to give the PAB the support it requires to carry out its Charter-mandated duties. 

The PAB, the League of Women Voters, the ACLU and the NAACP and LATINX and other students want our community to be safe and just. 

Ensuring that members of our community are treated fairly and that unconstitutional arrest quotas are not in place is not at odds with addressing crime. In fact, faith and confidence in government helps ensure that the public works with the police to make our community safe. This text scandal has detracted from what should be the focus of our department. 

I appreciate your dedication to making Berkeley safe for all and I am grateful for the trust you place in me to faithfully represent you even when the going gets tough. I am confident that the people will continue to lead the way with transparency and accountability at the forefront.

Major League Baseball has an elaborate minor league system, while the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) do not. The NFL, NBA and WNBA draw their talent from colleges and university programs who in turn draw players from high schools. If a student-athlete aspires to be a professional player, he or she must hone their skills and showcase them while in college. If student-athletes feels they are not getting enough playing time or are on an unsuccessful team or are dissatisfied with the coaching staff or college itself, they will seek to transfer to another institution. 

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) transfer portal launched in 2018 and a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision has made it easier and in some cases more lucrative to transfer.  

The NCAA Transfer Portal is a database to manage and facilitate the process for student-athletes desiring seeking to transfer between member institutions. The transfer portal allows student-athletes to place their name in an online database declaring their desire to transfer. Once an athlete's name is entered in the database, coaches and staff from other schools are permitted to make contact with the athlete to inquire about their interest in visiting the campus and accepting a scholarship. student-athletes in Divisions I and II football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s hockey and baseball change schools using the portal once without sitting out a year after the transfer. 

On July 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court in NCAA v. Alston ruled that the NCAA's ban of payments to student-athletes violated Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The NCAA was forced to remove restrictions on what college athletes could earn from the use of their names, images and likenesses (NIL). Under the NCAA rule change, college athletes get paid from their social media accounts, broker endorsement deals, autograph signings and other financial opportunities, and use an agent or representatives to do so. 

The NCAA was forced to remove restrictions on what college athletes could earn from the use of their names, images and likenesses (NIL). Under the NCAA rule change, college athletes get paid from their social media accounts, broker endorsement deals, autograph signings and other financial opportunities, and use an agent or representatives to do so.  

This Supreme Court decision, hopefully, helps balances a college sports system that generates huge sums for the NCAA, university athletic programs and top football and basketball coaches but provides scholarships for tuition and room and board but falls short of covering the full cost of attending school. Players are expected to maintain a rigorous training and playing schedule while keeping up their studies. 

According to NCAA research, in Division I, 20,911 student-athletes entered the Transfer Portal in 2022, an increase over the 2021 total (17,781). Of this total, 78% of the entrants in women's sports were on athletics aid at their departing school, while 65% of those in men's sports were on athletics aid upon portal entry. Additionally, 30% of the student-athletes who entered the Transfer Portal in 2022 were graduate students, only 1 percentage point lower than in 2021. While 13% of all Division I student-athletes were entered into the Transfer Portal in 2022, 7% of all Division I student-athletes successfully transferred to an NCAA program after portal entry. 

Fewer than 2% of NCAA student-athletes go on to be professional athletes. In reality, most student-athletes depend on academics to prepare them for life after college. Education is important. There are nearly half a million NCAA student-athletes, and most of them will go professional in something other than sports. 

Thus, a college or university can use various NIL inducements to lure a student-athlete in the transfer portal to transfer to that institution. Stanford women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer succinctly summed up the result of these changes for college coaches: “I think you certainly have to have a heightened awareness of the transitional nature of college athletics now . . . [I]f somebody’s not happy, there’s going to be opportunities in other places.” “I“I think you certainly have to have a heightened awareness of the transitional nature of college athletics now . . . [I]f somebody’s not happy, there’s going to be opportunities in other places.” “I think you certainly have to have a heightened awareness of the transitional nature of college athletics now . . . [I]f somebody’s not happy, there’s going to be opportunities in other places.” think you certainly have to have a heightened awareness of the transitional nature of college athletics now . . . [I]f somebody’s not happy, there’s going to be opportunities in other places.”  

Transactional relationships do not build loyalty. Student-athletes and families need much more than a transactional relationship with the college or university; they should get a transformational experience where the institutions put the needs of the student-athlete above the needs of the institution. If the transfer portal continues to take over college athletics at the rate that it is now, the system will continue to be a transactional one. 

 

 

Picking on a person for having a disability is infantile, crude, and obnoxious. Yet it is all too common for those blessed with wealth and easy conditions to find amusement in mocking disabled people and showing us the door. Or putting a broom in our hands and keeping us around for amusement.

This behavior of those blessed with privilege shows that many people have a long way to go before they measure up to the term, "human beings." I have lived among people with disabilities for forty years. I have lived among the down and out. I have lived among people who are literally falling apart. And I have lived among people with physical and/or mental disabilities who were and are going strong. People with disabilities deserve to be treated with the same level of dignity and respect that I'm sure all of the readers, not just the so-called "disabled" readers, want. 

People see me and they often seem to presume stupidity because I probably look low-income. But the idea I'm stupid--it's just not accurate. Maybe their assessment is affected in advance by some form of misinformation. I might not give the impression to most people that I have brains. This could be partly because I don't visibly react to things, even though I notice them. This could give people the false impression that I can't see what is in front of me. 

I am self-educated. My sister said of me that I can pick up a book on how to do something, read it, understand it, and then I know how to do the task described in the book. She admires that about me, and she admires how I can stand up to bullies. I acquired standing up to bullies because, at some point in my life, I'd had enough. 

People should try to stretch their minds. What if people with disabilities are often worthwhile individuals? Many of us strive to contribute to society, yet this endeavor could be stymied due to widespread stereotypes, prejudice, and misconceptions, concerning mentally disabled or otherwise disabled people. 

I've seen mentally ill people and those with other disabilities who have amazing talent. Sometimes this talent goes to waste because people keep all the doors closed and locked. People with disabilities ought not be judged by common routes of thought, ones that automatically dismiss our value because of our labels. And unfortunately, for too many people, refraining from prejudging is too tall an order. 

I was at a writers' group of just four members, years ago; it met at a Barnes and Noble in an upscale area. The woman who facilitated went out of her way to be insulting, and when I didn't react, she made a gesture as to say it was over my head, meaning I was too dumb to realize I was being insulted. The same woman was unhappy because low-income housing was being built near her. This is obviously a case of classism. And her reaction to me indicated an absence of basic sense. 

On the other hand, in the brief period that I participated before being thrown out, I was able to glean a couple of pointers that I could use in my writing. But otherwise, it was one of a series of rude awakenings. 

Intolerance, over the decades of my adulthood, has worsened. 

People with mental illness do not always behave in a cultivated manner. We might be seen as antisocial. This could come with the territory of having an underlying neurological issue. This is not to devalue myself or others like me, this is just an observation. The forementioned doesn't point to a lack of intelligence or a lack of sensitivity. It doesn't point to moral or ethical corruption. It doesn't point to the absence of insight. Many mentally ill people just come off as rough around the edges. That doesn't account for who we really are on the inside. People should become open to the possibilities. It may be an inconvenience to do this, but seeing what's in front of you rather than a projection of what you think you see is worth the effort. 

People who rely on a wheelchair, according to some of them, have been presumed dumb because they're in a wheelchair. Does that make any sense? 

Intolerance by itself isn't a crime. People can't realistically be forced to hire a disabled person and can't even hypothetically be forced to have an open mind. It doesn't matter how many laws you make; you can't force members of the public to think. The only way to make someone think is to provide an incentive. The incentive could be anything--it could be abstract. But there is value in those who really want to think, and who find it rewarding to use their mind. And that, I hope, is the future of human development. 

---

Jack Bragen is a writer who lives in Martinez, California. 

If you enjoy the weekly Chavez Park Conservancy newsletter, you may have read about a remarkable bird called a Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) that recently visited our shoreline. It forages for food by turning over stones with its curved bill. You can watch a slow motion video of this unique foraging behavior and learn more about these fascinating birds on the Chavez Park Conservancy website. 

I couldn’t help but visualize the Ruddy Turnstone in the video last Thursday while listening to an intense 3-hour Budget and Finance committee meeting on how to solve Measure T-1's $9.06 million deficit.  

Given this financial predicament, it seemed inevitable that there would be drastic cuts or deferments to the long list of promised Phase 2 projects, including the much-needed restrooms at Chavez Park. But I was badly mistaken.  

Like a hungry Turnstone hunting for crustaceans or other edibles under rocks, the three members of the committee (Mayor Arreguin, Councilmember Harrison, and Councilmember Kesarwani) hunted vigorously in the dark recesses of the budget for cash rather than entertain cuts to projects. 

However, it was Councilmember Harrison's perseverance with this seemingly impossible task which stood out. And in contrast to Councilmember Kesarwani, she insisted that the full $9.06 million deficit be closed this fiscal year rather kicking the can down the road to next year.  

Harrison’s determination to find the money was impressive: 

Could the General Fund Reserve (catastrophic and stability) be used? No, said the Budget Manager, the shortfall is due to increased construction costs (inflation) which are not included in the reserve policy. (No tasty worms under that rock!) 

How about the unassigned General Fund? There's $75 million there. No, said the Finance Director, most of that money is needed to pay CalPERS. (No yummy larval flies hiding under that stone either!) 

Can the Streetlight Fund finance the Ohlone Lighting project? No, said the Public Works Director, it doesn’t benefit the City right-of-way sufficiently. (There must be a stone to turn with food!). 

How about we use the sewer fund interest to fund the restrooms? Sorry, the interest stays in the fund. (Alas, no delicious spider for lunch!)  

As the questioning and brainstorming went on and on, it was starting to look grim. But then finally a feasible option emerged. How about borrowing from the Workmen's Compensation fund, a technique previously employed in the City’s purchase of Premier Cru? This idea to close the T-1 funding gap had been proposed in a letter by members of the Parks and Recreation Commission including Gordon Wozniak, Erin Diehm and Claudia Kawczynska. 

After exploring this proposal and drafting spreadsheets to share with staff, the committee voted unanimously to tap into the Workmen’s Comp to successfully plug the hole. Most importantly the 6,000 square foot African American Holistic Resource Center would be paid for in full. 

But for it to pencil out, a few projects took a direct hit including the complete Hopkins re-do at a cost of $11.5 million (however, $2.8 million of this amount was provisionally clawed back and limited to pedestrian safety improvements and placemaking; the money for paving will be used elsewhere in Berkeley); a paperless contract system; North Berkeley Senior Center solar batteries; and Fire Station #6 improvements. 

The full City Council will vote on the committee's recommendation soon. Stay tuned. 

 

Recently, the entities behind plans to transform the North Berkeley BART station into a high-rise mixed-use village of apartment owners, staged an open presentation at the North Berkeley Senior Center. It was a friendly two-hour event with play-space for children, tasty dinner-time snacks for all, and more than 20 easels holding large explanatory panels with info on the site's history, it's current status, and some of the possibilities the property (and neighborhood homes) might face if the location were developed to gentrify a crucial transit hub. 

During a munch-worthy tour down the aisles of easels, visitors picked up bits of crucial background—e.g. BART ridership is down to 40% of pre-pandemic highs; building skyscrapers on current parking lots would house 750 new tenants; a shadow-study shows that, during the darkest days of winter, the new high-rise towers would block the sun from a half-block of homes on Virginia Street. 

There were a few shockers. One panel was devoted to upgrading the open space of the Olone Greenway that extends to the east and west of the BART block. Potential amenities featured user-friendly additions like benches, vegetation, and playgrounds but one of the posted amenities read "BART Parking" and included a photo of one of the existing BART lots. A pro-development rep offered assurance that there were no plans to build new parking slots inside the Greenway but the new parking plan for the BART site raises new issues on its own. 

If the 119 existing parking lots become the nesting spots for a half-dozen high-rise apartments, the developers plan to build a seven-floor parking garage where the southwest parking area now stands. BART's two other parking lots would both vanish beneath other highrises and adjoining public walkways and shopping spaces. 

Instead of choosing between the existing five side-street entrances to three sprawling lots, new residents (and future BART commuters) would all have to park in the shared garage tower. One development rep explained that 310 parking spots would be set aside for residential parking. The remaining slots would be left for BART riders. But there's a problem. 

While current BART commuters can enter any of 3 open-air parking lots from as many as six different entrances, there would be only one access road (Acton Street) to the single high-rise garage. Requiring two lanes of cross traffic to simultaneously enter and exist the garage without risking a bent fender or two could require equipping this critical intersection with a complex assortment of traffic lights. 

To minimize congestion, the two-way traffic on Acton might need to be replaced by a single one-way approach off Delaware running north to the mid-block entrance while the rest of Acton was reserved for exiting traffic to turn right and continue north to escape on Virginia. This option would not require traffic lights at the shared entrance/exit. 

Another issue: Who gets assigned to the upper floors of the six-story parking lot? My guess is that residential parking would be confined to the upper stories while the busier flow of BART-rider traffic would have preferential access to the more accessible lower floors. 

One year ago, on May 11, 2022, an Israeli soldier fatally shot the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the head as she was reporting on an Israeli military raid just outside the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. She was shot while wearing a blue helmet and blue flak jacket clearly emblazoned with the word “press.” Abu Akleh was one of the most prominent TV journalists in the Arab world and had worked for Al Jazeera for a quarter of a century. She was also a U.S. citizen. But a year after her death, no one has been held accountable despite detailed testimony from eyewitnesses to the shooting. The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh won a George Polk Award by orrespondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous. “There’s still no justice in her case, no accountability whatsoever. while the White House has been very vocal about the case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is detained in Russia, the response to Abu Akleh’s killing has been muted. “Shireen was an American citizen, and her family deserves the same calls for justice, the same push for accountability from the White House.

The Debt Ceiling: Sealing the Deal
I'm all for cutting the Federal budget and putting an end to the country's endless, growing debt. Since the days of Richard Nixon, the US dollar is no longer backed by gold or anything else of physical value. Dollars are generated like newspapers and bubble-gum wrappers—on a printing press. They have no intrinsic value except as debt—debt that is "serviced" by loans from banks, investment houses, and other countries. 

The US' $16 trillion in outstanding debt is mostly held by a few powerful US banks—Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citibank, Bank of America. And the major foreign investor in Washington's Teetering House of Debt is … wait for it—the Peoples' Republic of China. Yup, Beijing is currently collecting interest payments on 7.5% of Washington's ever-expanding debt. 

So, yeah, cut Federal spending. But don't cut healthcare, social security and Medicare. Let's make those cuts where it really matters. Nearly half of the billions to be doled out in Joe Biden's $1.6 trillion FY 2023 budget request is destined to flow—directly and indirectly—to the Pentagon and America's corporate Arms Complex, for weapons, foreign bases, military housing, medical care, Veterans Affairs, "modernizing" the nuclear arsenal, and paying down the debt on past wars. This is where the big money goes—into a Pentagon that has routinely failed every federal audit ever attempted (and has lost every major conflict in the Global War on Terror). If our elected leaders were to focus on Pentagon misspending—the federal budget's fiscal motherload—we could easily balance the budget by spending taxpayers' money on welfare not warfare. 

Adam's Eve
Adam Hochschild has just published his 11^th book—"American Nightmare: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis"—and, on May 6 (as part of the two-day Chronicle-sponsored Bay Area Book Festival), he shared some of the content with an appreciative overflow crowd at Berkeley's Brower Center. 

The book exposes a lot of troubling history that has been left out of standard-issue American history books. Exactly the kind of eclipsed history that the GOPers want hidden as part of their Cancel-Culture assault on Critical History Theory. 

Hochschild recounted how, after the US became involved in WWI, the government declared a second front—a homefront battle waging war on the working class. While racist lynchings and murders plagued the South, President Woodrow Wilson's government was busy dispatching federal militias to gun down union protesters and passing laws to jail radicals and "socialists" for giving speeches that "interfered with the war effort." 

In response to a question from the audience about the Spanish Flu, Hochschild revealed that—unlike the media fixation that surrounded the COVID threat—government officials and media outlets in 1918 did their best to cover up the existence of the deadly disease—despite the desperation of hospital workers, the increasing body count, and the growing number of infected citizens falling dead in the streets of America. 

Again, the reason for the federal response—or, rather, the lack thereof—was based on concerns that the news would "interfere with the war effort." In the "freedom-loving democracy" of America," progressives who dared to speak out against fighting a war in Europe while ignoring demands for more justice and equity at home, were vilified by the government as subversives and even arrested and jailed for inciting crowds with anti-war speeches. Most famously, Emma Goodman was arrested after advocating for women's rights and Eugene V. Debs was imprisoned for "sedition" after calling for an end to the war. Debs actually ran a presidential campaign from the confines of a prison cell—winning nearly a million votes. 

"That was the first time anyone had run for the presidency from inside a jail," Hochschild noted. He then added: "But it may not be the last time." There was a brief pause and the Trump-weary audience in the Goldman Theater broke into laughter and loud applause. 

Ranting for Ratings: Daily Kos' Daily Castigation
Speaking of the Ocher Ogre, CNN appears to be so desperate for viewers that it hosted a Trump "town hall" broadcast on May 10. In response, The Daily Kos posted a summary of the events that have made Trump such a tasty morsel of newsbait—"a twice-impeached leader of a seditionist conspiracy who is currently being investigated for a multitude of crimes, including rape, defamation, financial and tax fraud, hush money payments, hoarding classified materials, election interference, and plotting a violent coup." A felonious fellow who has "been found guilty of 17 criminal felonies for falsifying business records, and was recently indicted for 34 felony charges related to his affair with porn star, Stormy Daniels. Previously his 'charity' was found to be a scam and shut down, and his 'university' was closed and ordered to pay $25 million in restitution to its students/victims." 

And yet, Kos marvels, "In light of that rap sheet, CNN thinks it's a good idea to give Trump an hour of valuable air time for him to lie, obfuscate, evade, and ramble incoherently." 

Fashion Plates
Personalized license plates spotted about town. 

CAP CO2: On a carbon-capping Toyota hybrid
Red BMW sport convertible: 6E: (Would that be "Sexy" as in "Sixy"?)
CHAMUCA: A devilish little girl or someone with a fondness for samosas
LVISX: Elvie Is Six? Love Is Sex?
QAZITS: Questions and answers for treating acne?
BRABUS: The owner is a boob? 

Bumper Snickers
No War/Nowhere/No Way
Conquest Is Not Sustainable
Stop Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
We Fight Wars for Oil / So We Can Fight Wars for Oil
Hegemony, No, Harmony, Yes
In One Hour, a F-35 Fighter Jet / Burns as much Fuel as / 16,000 Automobiles 

On a single Mini Cooper:
I Break for Butterflies; I Identify As A Jalapeno Popper; Life Is Better with Pot & Shrooms; I Brake for Interesting Cloud Formations; Honk If You're Boring 

Special Mention: A creepy note scrawled across a rear window: "Stay Sexy; Don't Get Murdered." Ironically, this was posted on a Ford Escape. 

Wavy Gravy Turns 87; Returns to the Party Circuit
Wavy Gravy (aka Hugh Romney) celebrated his 87^th birthday on May 7 in his usual fashion—with a benefit party raising fun and funds for his nonprofit Seva Foundation and Camp Winnarainbow. On past birthdays, I've invited the City Council to consider adding another plaque above the current "Berryman Street" sign on the block that's home to Groovy Gravy's Berkeley domicile. 

The new signage could read "Wavy Gravy Lane" or "Wavy Gravy Way." 

Wargaming: "Let's Play Bucks for Bombs"
In early May, a Washington think-tank called the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) invited members of the House Select Committee on China to spend nearly three hours (behind closed doors) playing a war-game titled "Invasion of Taiwan." 

Worth noting: CNAS was co-founded by a board member of Booze Allen Hamilton and most of its funding comes from the coffers of the Pentagon's leading arms contractors. 

The gaming exercise apparently had the desired effect. Instead of encouraging diplomacy, the Congressional gamesters were inspired to call for additional $19 billion in Pentagon play-dough to buy more weapons and training to elevate “our military posture throughout the region.” 

This off-the-record exercise prompted Win Without War to ask: "Is it really a surprise that the key takeaway from a war-game run by a think tank funded by weapons contractors was more money for the Pentagon?" 

"The thing about war-games," WWW observed, "is that they turn war into a game—pushing participants to think of conflict as something to be won, rather than a harm to be averted." 

If you want to protest the fiction that launching wars is all "funds and games," WWW has a petition for that. Tell Congress: Cut the Pentagon budget and invest in diplomacy and development to build real security. 

Australian Press Gives Biden a Down-Under Roasting
James Morrow, Rita Panahi and the crew at Sky News Australia have been getting a laugh (several, actually) at the expense of our octogenarian leader. The Sky News team regularly airs collections of Biden's flubs and brain-fog incoherence. Truly not Joe Biden's most coherent or cogent mutterings, these video clips capture a string of "senior moments" in which the Commander-in-Chief sounds more like a Commander-in-Cheese. While these clips are not widely aired by the US media, they are certainly being archived by the GOP for the 2024 presidential election. For a full menu of Biden's unforgettable forgettable moments, just do a Google search for "Sky News Joe Biden Gaffes." 

 

Joe Biden's AI-conjured Presidential Address
Beset by despair and depression I went online, looking for something cheery and distractive. Instead, I came across the following video—a daunting example of the insidious threat of manufactured reality. 

The video would be hysterically funny were it not so horrifically bleak. It has been viewed 225,000 times since it was posted on Feb 8, 2023 under the hashtag #funny #joebiden. 

Joe Biden's AI voice was conjured using ElevenLabs software to show Biden blundering through a State of the Union speech address in stream-of-conscious mode. On second thought, make that creek-of-conscious mode. In a frightening demonstration of how AI can skew—and screw with—history, this media-stunt shows us Marjorie Taylor Greene shouting compliments at the president who responds by inviting her out on a date! 

In a surrealistic note, this "satirical" creation, meant to embarrass Biden, is now preceded by a paid political ad for Biden's real-life presidential reelection campaign. 

It was another full week and there is plenty to report on what I did attend even though I missed the Cedar Rose Park Renovation, the Solano Business District meeting, the Zero Waste Commission, the Civic Arts Commission, the Environment and Climate Commission, the Police Accountability Board, the Homeless Services Panel of Experts and the Community Health Commission.  

I also missed the April 27 news conference with Councilmember Kate Harrison on the recent decision against the city of Berkeley by a three judge panel (all Republican appointees) on the natural gas ban, but at least the ban is in place for now and I have the video. That is not true for the missed city meetings. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=780273733648842 

While the California Restaurant Association that brought the lawsuit (with substantial financing by SoCalGas) claimed they couldn’t cook without gas, Harrison reported that Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse is in renovation to go all electric. https://news.yahoo.com/legendary-chef-alice-waters-absolutely-ready-to-go-electric-on-stoves-215520601.html 

Berkeley Mayor Arreguin was visibly absent from the news conference. In case you are not on his donation list, he is running for State Senate. I heard he was meeting with UC Chancellor Christ. 

The Monday morning Public Safety Committee meeting was over in 36 minutes. The Berkeley Police Department Surveillance Ordinance Policies related to fixed cameras, drones and acquisition reporting were approved with a qualified positive recommendation by Councilmembers Taplin and Wengraf. Councilmember Kesarwani was absent. How long surveillance recordings will be retained was still unsettled. The Police Accountability Board recommended that retention should be less than one year. 

Only Councilmembers Wengraf and Hahn were present at the Monday Agenda and Rules Committee to approve the agenda for the May 9th City Council regular 6 pm meeting. Mayor Arreguin was absent. Hahn asked to move the appointment of Jennifer Louis as Chief of Police off the Consent agenda to Action. Wengraf opposed, and said if there were three councilmembers at the council meeting who wanted to move the appointment of Louis to Action it could be done at the meeting. 

With only two members of the committee present and disagreement over the draft agenda, the rule is the agenda item remains as submitted. That means that the appointment of Jennifer Louis as Chief of Police, an appointment that has brought considerable objection from the community remained on the consent calendar for the May 9th City Council meeting. 

The two back-to-back Tuesday City Council meetings started with a special session on prioritizing referrals from the City Council. This got interesting. Councilmember Hahn went to the item ranked as 17th in priority, “Refer to the Planning Commission and Housing Advisory Commission to Research and Recommend Policies to Prevent Displacement and Gentrification of Berkeley Residents of Color and African Americans.” This was ranked by Council as number 1 in 2019, the year it was referred. Hahn asked why this was on the list, why this; wasn’t done. How is it that a number 1 ranking in 2019 was being recycled as number 17? 

Jordan Klein, Director of the Planning Department threw out excuses: there was the pandemic; there was a joint commission subcommittee that was formed and met once; it was a “meaty project for volunteers to take on, but they didn’t have the momentum behind that and so we made the decision; because that project was never completed, we made the decision to reintroduce it to this ranking process.”  

Hahn pushed back, “[I]t is meaty because it’s big and important and it addresses things that we probably should have addressed a long time ago. I think, you know, at this point when I was growing up in Berkeley, African Americans made up almost 30% of the population and now it’s at 7-8%. So, it just seems like if we keep putting this off, maybe the item becomes moot, because there are no more African American people in Berkeley. So, I would like to suggest that this be moved onto the list of projects that are ongoing. And, that this be picked up and the work be done…” 

So how did the mayor and your councilmember rate displacement and gentrification with a score of 0 as lowest priority and 5 as highest priority? 

Mayor Arreguin, 1; District 1, Kesarwani, 1; District 2, Taplin, 0; District 3. Bartlett,5; District 4,Harrison; 5; District 5, Hahn, 5; District 6,Wengraf, 2; District 7, Robinson, 5; District 8, Humbert , 0. 

It is quite interesting seeing what the mayor and councilmembers placed as priorities. Their individual votes on each referral item starts on page 30 of this meeting document. https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023-04-25%20Special%20Item%2001%202023%20City%20Council%20Referral.pdf 

The referral list gives you a peek into what happens when Council passes something as a referral. It goes onto someone’s to-do list where it can languish for years. There is another list that was referenced by councilmembers which was NOT included. 

At the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission Interim Deputy Fire Chief Keith May reported that there were two lithium battery fires. He explained that scooters left plugged-in after being fully charged can overheat and start fires. Another attendee showed me the picture of one, a house in the 1600 block on Kains. 

The next morning Interim Fire Chief David Sprague gave a presentation to the City Council Budget and Finance Committee on the shortage of fire fighters, the use of voluntary and mandatory overtime and the steps being taken to recruit and train new fire fighters. 

In my question to the committee, I noted that since the Planning Commission is going to be changing zoning, doubling and tripling the density in the southside areal that will probably give us 10 and 12 story buildings. The Fire Department’s ladder trucks only go to the eighth floor, and if some student leaves a scooter plugged in all night and we get a lithium battery fire as reported at the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission, what impact does that have on the existing shortage of tall enough ladders, and what equipment do we need to take care of that? 

Usually, in meetings questions like this are never answered and discussion goes on as if nothing was said. In this case, Mayor Arreguin acknowledged that I had asked two legitimate questions and asked Sprague if the City needed to purchase equipment. 

Here is Sprague’s answer: 

“Yeah, thanks. It’s obviously a question we’ve been thinking about for the last couple of decades as zoning and development has changed in the city. Yeah, essentially, the community is transitioning from a suburban community to an urban metro community. While we’re only ten square miles you know we’re the second densest in the top fifty-one most populated cities in California. So, we’re kind of a unique animal in terms of apparatus. We have basically what we need. There are some new types of ladder trucks that are coming out of Europe that have much higher ladder reach, but they’re not generally available in the United States yet. 

When we’re talking about fighting fires or responding to any type of call and an elevated structure, really above seven floors is our designation for high rise. But really the same principles applied to us, anything above five floors. It’s really about sending a significant number of personnel to those calls, because if you just think about it, if it’s a fire incident report of smoke, we don’t use the elevators. So, we’re transporting equipment up stairs while at the same time people are evacuating. We carry about 50 to 75 pounds of equipment per each person. So that is, you know, by the time you get to the actual incident floor you’re pretty tired, and have to be on breathing air. So we carry those tanks. The tanks last for about 10 to 15 minutes of work. 

And, so essentially, you have to have about 50 to 100 people ( fire fighters) for a kind of standard fire that we would handle with about 30 on the ground floor in a residential unit. You have to have between 50 and 100 for elevated fire, and if it’s anything more significant than a couple of rooms, then you know, you’re looking at several 100 firefighters, and that’s been proven by kind of a standard by departments that run these fires routinely in San Francisco, New York. So, it’s really about personnel. These fires. while they’re low frequency, they’re high risk. 

We have had several high-rise near misses in the last couple of months due to lithium-ion fires. So, it’s very concerning to us. These fires don’t have to be big to cause a lot of problem right? It’s really the smoke movement through these structures that can often-times trap and asphyxiate people…” 

The next night, Thursday, I attended the Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) meeting. I shared with the ZAB what I heard from the Interim Fire Chief, the two recent lithium-ion battery fires, and that “ we are putting up these buildings everywhere and we are really not looking at our carrying capacity. And it looks like the buildings that we plan to fill are going to be far ahead of the fire fighters that are able to serve those building. And so I just wanted to put that out there so that all of us are thinking about the impact on the City with all this increasing density and high rises.” 

ZAB Chair Yes Duffy responded with, “[A}s an architect who is familiar with low rise, mid-rise and high-rise buildings, the building code covers these issues quite clearly and I think, and I’m thankful there are engineers working at the national and international level to ensure low rise, mid-rise and high-rise buildings are safe for evacuation. I would like to think in the U.S. we have some of the safest buildings due to our building code.” 

It should be noted that California Assembly Bill 835 introduced by Assembly Member Lee with co-authors Ward and Wiener, and supported by California YIMBY, directs the State Fire Marshal to research and develop standards for “single stairway” multi-family buildings instead of two stairways as is now required. It would reduce building costs and eliminate the space needed for the second stairwell for evacuation of the building in an emergency such as a fire. 

The YIMBYs call the requirement for two stairwells, which take more land, outdated, a hinderance to design, affordability and obsolete in the era of more modern building techniques. 

Alfred Twu wrote a featured opinion for the SF Chronicle supporting single stairwell construction. https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/housing-architecture-california-single-stair-17774317.php 

Remember fire escapes from old movies? Anna Connelly invented and patented the first outdoor fire escape in 1887. 

In one article on single stairwells, some cities are allowing single stairwell buildings with up to ten floors. Those buildings are supposed to come with engineering to manage smoke from becoming deadly. Still, imagine, the fire fighters with their 50 to 75 lbs of equipment running up to the 10th floor for the student whose lithium-ion battery hoverboard or scooter caught on fire. And, all that planned upzoning for student housing backs up to Fire Zones 2 and 3. 

As for the nine projects before ZAB, everything passed, except 2900-2920 Shattuck, the ten-story 221 unit State Density Bonus project, which was pulled by city staff, and the meeting didn’t end until after midnight. 

The Clubhouse at Willard Park consumed over two hours of the meeting. There was an even split between those praising the plan and a large clubhouse as necessary for after school recreation and those objecting to size, design and noise. The clubhouse is 3301 square feet, a net increase over the current clubhouse by 2820 square feet. 

Board member Shoshana O’Keefe was the single vote against approval on the grounds that it was not compliant with the law. The setback was 16 feet instead of the required 20 feet and the desire for a larger clubhouse was not a substantial reason for the variance. (O’Keefe holds an inactive CA law license) 

The project at 2555 College a 4-story building with eleven units at the corner of College and Parker has 10 bedrooms with NO windows out of 37. Isiah Stackhouse with Trachtenberg Architects is the architect for the building. In my comment, I was clear that I was not objecting to the size and mass of the building, I was objecting to how it was designed as a livable space with bedrooms with no windows. 

The response was that the project is affordable by design, the rooms feel light and airy, the bedrooms have “large sliding glass windows” (instead of doors) and they have views of the main room windows (if one gets in the right position in the bedroom). The view to the outside from a bedroom with no windows only works for four of the ten bedrooms. The view from the other six bedrooms is another wall. https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023-04-27_ZAB_Item%202_2555%20College_Combined%20Staff%20Report%20and%20Attachments.pdf 

The Zoning Adjustment Board mission is, “Approves or denies permits related to the use and development of the land in Berkeley.” So broadly little to no attention is paid to the livability of the interior. And, thanks to housing laws limiting review, it is up to the architect to be thoughtful in creating livable space. 

I remember the days when looking at plans from Trachtenberg Architects, I could imagine the floor layouts as very livable spaces. Sadly 2555 College could have been designed to give each bedroom a window, but it wasn’t. One of the eleven units is for a very low income household to qualify the project for the State Density Bonus. One has to wonder if the very low income household will get one of the 4 units where every bedroom has a window or one of the units where three out of four bedrooms have no window and all of those bedrooms have a view of a wall. 

Here is what three investors did with an old abandoned school in Pittsburg. And note how they talk over and over about the windows and light. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/25/apartment-building-abandoned-high-school-unlocked.html 

You may have seen the February 18th article by Claire Hao in the SF Chronicle that it is estimated San Francisco may have as many as 3900 non-ductile concrete buildings, the kind of buildings that pancaked and collapsed in the Turkey-Syria earthquake that killed over 50,000 people. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/earthquake-building-risk-safety-17782287.php  

Former mayor and current commissioner Shirley Dean on the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission brought up the issue of “building standards” in March to determine to what extent Berkeley is at risk with non-ductile concrete buildings and to make recommendations from the findings. 

At the April commission meeting discussion, Dean asked how the commission might identify the number of buildings at risk. 

Sarah Lana, Emergency Services Manager, who attended to give an update on Disaster Preparedness Efforts, responded that 230 owners of at risk buildings have been notified, but that information would not be made available to the commission or the public. It was not a Fire Department Responsibility. 

Which prompted me to ask, shouldn’t people be notified? We have notifications of asbestos. 

There was no indication of whether the identified at risk non-ductile concrete buildings were commercial or residential or how many people might be affected. 

The commission subcommittee working group with commissioners Dean and Murphy continues their work.  

The 2538 Durant 8-story State Density Bonus project with 83 units approved by ZAB arrives at the expense of an older 4-story residential building with 12 units. In Berkeley there is little reuse of older buildings. Occasionally, a façade is saved, but usually everything is demolished to make way for the new mid-rise or high-rise building. 

I would feel better about losing these older buildings if it was a choice between a non-ductile concrete building and a new building housing more people. California YIMBY always goes for the new, but when it comes to the environment reusing old buildings in new more efficient ways carries the least impact. 

 

 

I began smoking cigarettes before this act became socially unacceptable, and I think the year was 1990. I was in my twenties, and medical repercussions seemed very distant. I was off medication, I was relapsing, and I smoked and "decompensated" listening to my brother's Jethro Tull album, and I used up all my brother's cigarettes.

Then, I was an inpatient at a locked ward at Herrick, and one of the staff members kept loaning me his cigarettes. (And an additional note about Herrick in the nineteen-nineties: I spoke to a woman there who was terrified, she said, of "going upstairs." She might have been getting shock treatments.)

But that was the start of my smoking. I was unwary. I assumed I would be strong-willed enough so that I would always be able to quit smoking. Could someone like me be hooked and unable to quit? Certainly not me! I was age, I think, about twenty-five. 

I returned to my apartment. When I was ill, I hadn't been working and hadn't had any money to live on. However, by the time I got home, money was waiting for me in the form of a retroactive check from Social Security. I was able to get caught up on rent, I was able to pay the utilities, and... I could eat. I'd lost considerable weight because of starvation--being too ill with psychosis to be organized enough to get free food. (I didn't get back to a normal weight until at least ten years later.) 

I'd been released from Herrick. I was at home, I had necessities paid for, and this was without the need to go to work. It was quite a relief to know I didn't need to work to survive. And cigarettes were very appealing. I'd wake up and sit around and have cigarettes and coffee all morning. That's what mentally ill people once did in times of basic freedom--before we became controlled to the extent that we are. Nowadays, such indulgent lifestyles are rarely allowed. 

In 1990, cigarettes were about a buck a pack.  

Fast forward thirty years... 

I'm still smoking, and it is illegal to do so in many, if not most places, by virtue of multiple ordinances and rules. Smoking is highly frowned upon, and it is thought of as stupid. It is a foolish activity for fools. That's a simple fact. If you don't smoke, don't start. After the first one, you're a goner. 

I'm making another attempt at quitting, and we will see how this goes. Nothing is for sure, and when addicted to nicotine, anyone can fall "off the wagon." I'm transitioning to a modern-day substitute that is widely criticized. 

Even tobacco companies are quite aware of the problems with smoking and the strength of the addiction, and the tobacco companies' executives don't smoke. 

The tax on cigarettes means that I should be buying Beluga Caviar instead of smoking--at ten dollars a pack, cheapest. How do you pay for that? Sometimes, it is a matter of having a choice between smoking vs. eating and having a roof over your head. It could go either way. You could have a five-dollar miscalculation or a fifty-dollar unanticipated expense, and you're out on the street. But guess what, have a cigarette on me. 

---

Jack Bragen is a writer who lives in Martinez.

If you enjoy the weekly Chavez Park Conservancy newsletter, you may have read about a remarkable bird called a Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) that recently visited our shoreline. It forages for food by turning over stones with its curved bill. You can watch a slow motion video of this unique foraging behavior and learn more about these fascinating birds on the Chavez Park Conservancy website.

I couldn’t help but visualize the Ruddy Turnstone in the video last Thursday while listening to an intense 3-hour Budget and Finance committee meeting on how to solve Measure T-1's $9.06 million deficit.

Given this financial predicament, it seemed inevitable that there would be drastic cuts or deferments to the long list of promised Phase 2 projects, including the much-needed restrooms at Chavez Park. But I was badly mistaken. 

Like a hungry Turnstone hunting for crustaceans or other edibles under rocks, the three members of the committee (Mayor Arreguin, Councilmember Harrison, and Councilmember Kesarwani) hunted vigorously in the dark recesses of the budget for cash rather than entertain cuts to projects. 

However, it was Councilmember Harrison's perseverance with this seemingly impossible task which stood out. And in contrast to Councilmember Kesarwani, she insisted that the full $9.06 million deficit be closed this fiscal year rather kicking the can down the road to next year. 

Harrison’s determination to find the money was impressive: 

Could the General Fund Reserve (catastrophic and stability) be used? No, said the Budget Manager, the shortfall is due to increased construction costs (inflation) which are not included in the reserve policy. (No tasty worms under that rock!) 

How about the unassigned General Fund? There's $75 million there. No, said the Finance Director, most of that money is needed to pay CalPERS. (No yummy larval flies hiding under that stone either!) 

Can the Streetlight Fund finance the Ohlone Lighting project? No, said the Public Works Director, it doesn’t benefit the City right-of-way sufficiently. (There must be a stone to turn with food!). 

How about we use the sewer fund interest to fund the restrooms? Sorry, the interest stays in the fund. (Alas, no delicious spider for lunch!) 

As the questioning and brainstorming went on and on, it was starting to look grim. But then finally a feasible option emerged. How about borrowing from the Workmen's Compensation fund, a technique previously employed in the City’s purchase of Premier Cru? This idea to close the T-1 funding gap had been proposed in a letter by members of the Parks and Recreation Commission including Gordon Wozniak, Erin Diehm and Claudia Kawczynska. 

After exploring this proposal and drafting spreadsheets to share with staff, the committee voted unanimously to tap into the Workmen’s Comp to successfully plug the hole. Most importantly the 6,000 square foot African American Holistic Resource Center would be paid for in full. 

But for it to pencil out, a few projects took a direct hit including the complete Hopkins re-do at a cost of $11.5 million (however, $2.8 million of this amount was provisionally clawed back and limited to pedestrian safety improvements and placemaking; the money for paving will be used elsewhere in Berkeley); a paperless contract system; North Berkeley Senior Center solar batteries; and Fire Station #6 improvements. 

The full City Council will vote on the committee's recommendation soon. Stay tuned. 

 

In May 8th of 1978 the University of California's Associate Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs J. H. (Ted) Chenoweth signed a Letter of Agreement with People's Park's neighbors, gardeners, project participants and users affirming the use of the park as "primarily reserved for educational, research and recreational purposes." It included a suggested mechanism for disputes resolution, maintenance, and additional issues. It was the first of three agreements over 1978 to 1979. In his outgoing letter to Vice Chancellor Kerley, Chenoweth stated "I expect to remain active as a member of the People's Park Council" to assist with "communication and coordination." He is not the only original signer who lives nearby, ready to assist with a framework for the park's future.

All parties wanted peace. In the late 1980's, after the 1984 declaration of People's Park as a city landmark in for its historical and cultural significance, the university and the city coordinated to create a special committee populated with park and university representatives to assist with decisions about the park. But since then neither the City of Berkeley nor the University of California has shown much interest in assisting the gardeners, project coordinators, neighbors, park users and neighbors who meet regularly to address the issues which arise in a park which feeds the hungry, maintains a community garden, and puts on events and concerts under a 1987 legal court decree by famed Judge Henry Ramsey affirming the park as a quintessential public forum and legally binding the university and the city to respect it as such. 

Peace grows more easily in fertile ground, and we have plenty. The Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) voted unanimously to support and affirm the necessity of the newly-rebuilt freebox created on the second People's Park 50th Anniversary concert April 28, 2019 - a week before a university crew tore it out in the middle of the night. The Peace and Justice Commission voted unanimously to affirm People's Park's unique history, a resolution affirmed by a unanimous City Council on Tuesday, May 14th, 2019. 

Even the Faculty Senate voted against the university's plans for the northeast corner of campus which includes cutting down redwoods, losing 150 parking spaces, unaffordable $3,000/month faculty studios but special perks for Goldman School of Public Policy bigwigs; an unadulterated affront to those who recognize "public private partnerships" as privatization of public resources, a favorite Trump mechanism which should offend anyone interested in protecting the public's land, space, universities, and interests. There's no real educational benefit for students in the plan rejected by the Faculty Senate. And there's no real housing benefit in the plan for housing in People's Park, just another shovelful of public land offered up to private interests out of Texas or Alabama who salivate over the opportunity to feast off of the manufactured housing crisis with guaranteed turnover - "students", a temporary population, who are housed by semester, and "homeless" people on the popular three to six month timeline where the rent or grant money can go up with every resident's exit. At UC Santa Cruz students are offered only two years of housing; after that they are on their own.Peace can be nurtured, planned for, and built. The university seems determined to vandalize our community trees, gardens, park projects and our community's prospects for a peaceful, respectful, and inclusive future in favor of the conflict it currently has in store. Our parks, our neighborhoods, our peaceful enjoyment of what little crucial urban open space we still have, our respect for the internationally renowned confluence of civil rights and anti-war movements which gave birth to not just People's Park but the force for ethnic studies, the recognition of free speech's imperative role in anti-war efforts, disability rights, women's rights, let alone avoidance of conflict should inspire us to come together - now, while there is still time to build the opportunity for "discussion and resolution of issues" memorialized in the still extant agreements of 1978, 1979, and 1987. 

Let's build the peace. The moment is right for all parties with an interest in and concerns about People's Park's future and the future of its neighborhood, the most landmark-saturated neighborhood in Berkeley where, from the park, you can enjoy architectural gems and significant cultural heritage sites in every direction. Just imagine. Whether you're a policymaker, a neighbor, a student, or a business owner, imagine for a moment that we take this time to plant peace together in People's Park's 50th year as surely as we planted the original garden. 

There are 10 acres at nearby Smyth-Fernwald's campus. Seven post-war dorms on property originally donated in 1926 to the university by inventor William Henry Smyth were only recently razed, while other buildings are currently in use. Re-building the dorms with additional stories on land already graded for construction and dedicated for more than 70 years for student housing is common sense. And just across the street, the spacious 130 acre Clark-Kerr campus has numerous low-rise, derelict buildings which would add hundreds of units without disturbing the landscape or blocking any neighbor's view. The university builds up there, to be sure; skateboard parks and sandpit volleyball, its former crucial plan for People's Park. 

People's Park was community land before the university exercised a dubious use of eminent domain in 1967 destroying housing, ironically, for a mix of students, workers, and families. It was then abandoned, left a muddy, rebar-studded blight of old foundations. Neighbors restored to the block to community use in 1969 for a much-needed park. That park is even more crucial now simply as open space. It's the only park in the most densely populated area in Berkeley, and probably the best-used urban park in town. It is certainly the only park protected not only as a city landmark but as a "quintessential public forum" by the late Judge Henry Ramsey's still operative court order requiring the university to allow amplified concerts, a judge whose own civil rights legacy is also a renowned part of California history; 

Among his many contributions as a member of our board was his persistent push for the foundation to invest in criminal justice reform, decrying the over-incarceration of young Black men, which he deemed a national crisis. When talking about the work to transition formerly incarcerated people back into communities, he often said that, “the best reentry is no entry.” -- The Rosenberg Foundation 

Our city leaders are currently negotiating with the university over its over-enrollment and impact on city resources. It's appropriate for them to include a serious concern about the proposed destruction of an internationally respected city landmark in that discussion. 

We can build housing and protect our parks and landmarks. Building peace is an active process. If you're a city councilmember, a neighborhood association, or just a neighbor, let the People's Park Committee know you support building peace together rather than cowering in the shadow of the chancellor's plan. A jubilee year, a fiftieth year, is traditionally a year of joy, restitution, and the pursuit of long-awaited justice. Our town has suffered extraordinary, blood-soaked tragedy for planting flowers, and if we come together we can actively build a lasting peace. 

I am writing to express my concern about the gross ethical violations and rabid corruption within the US Supreme Court. Recent examples, such as the rushed confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett and the blocking of Merrick Garland's nomination, indicate a clear politicization of the Court. Mitch McConnell has even gone on record saying that stacking the Court with conservatives is his greatest legacy, but the collapse of respect for the Court is actually his legacy. 

The Court has also made decisions that favor the interests of wealthy individuals and corporations at the expense of the environment and public health. For example, Neil Gorsuch effectively gutted the EPA's ability to regulate power plant emissions and ruled in favor of the auto industry in a case about emissions standards. Samuel Alito's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade shows that he prioritizes his personal beliefs over the rights of women. 

Furthermore, the revelations of ethics derelictions by Clarence Thomas are deeply troubling. His billionaire benefactor, Harlan Crow, secretly paid for luxury trips and private school tuition for Thomas's grandnephew. Additionally, Thomas's wife, Ginni, was paid by a nonprofit group advised by Leonard Leo, who has close ties to conservative donors and has been instrumental in selecting conservative judges for the Court. 

Despite all of this, Chief Justice John Roberts seems unwilling to hold his colleagues accountable. He has even refused to testify before Congress about the Court's ethics. The fact that his own wife has made millions of dollars as a legal recruiter, placing lawyers at firms with business before the Supreme Court, raises serious questions about conflicts of interest. 

These examples suggest that the Supreme Court is not living up to its duty to uphold the law and protect the rights of all Americans. It is crucial that we hold our justices accountable and restore integrity to our highest court.

"Based on current available research, there is no data to support claims that the use of e-bikes on trails is inherently less safe than conventional bikes or that e-bikes are more impactful to wildlife or habitats than conventional bikes except for potential noise impacts to some species":

1. Lack of research is not lack of impact!

2. This statement is obviously false! E-bikes give bikers a much greater range, thereby significantly increasing their impact on wildlife. It doesn't take any "research" to know what is so obvious. For the same reason, mountain bikes greatly increase people's range and therefore impact on the wildlife. It was a huge mistake to permit mountain biking. That decision needs to be reversed ASAP. 

3. The purpose of the Half Earth and 30x30 projects is to increase the extent of protected habitat, so permitting bikes on unpaved trails directly violates those projects. The same goes for all other projects aimed at increasing human access to the parks. They are seriously misguided. Additions to the parks should not automatically be opened to human access. It's based on the obviously false idea that access to nature increases conservation. All it does is increase recreation. A perfect example is the 30 miles of illegal trails constructed by mountain bikers in Briones Regional Park. Mountain bikers obviously don't understand the nature and importance of conservation. All over the world, they are hell-bent on building as many new trails as possible, destroying and fragmenting enormous amounts of habitat. Other recreationists differ only slightly in their dedication to conservation. I've asked hundreds of hikers to help remove invasive non-native plants, but I've yet to see even one of them actually do it. Recreation only leads to more recreation. For this reason, buying private land and opening it to the public can actually reduce available habitat, depending on how that land was managed! If we use 30x30 to continue "business as usual", it won't accomplish what it is supposed to accomplish. 

4. By the way, a recent article in New Scientist points out that animals and plants aren't the only species in danger of extinction. The same goes for microbes, which provide essential services to all living things (e.g. half of our oxygen is supplied by algae and photosynthesizing microbes). Are they even covered by the Endangered Species Act? I doubt it....

Worth Noting:

Another busy week – our attendance is important. The May 23, City Council Agenda is now available for public comment. Check the City website for late announcements and meetings posted on short notice at: https://berkeleyca.gov/

• Sunday: 2 -5 pm a Mother’s Day Hats and High Tea at the Rose Garden.
• Monday:
  • 10:30 am the Public Safety Committee meets in the hybrid format and receives a multi-department report on the January 16, 2023 mudslide. (audio recorded)
  • 3 pm City Council Closed Session includes the CA Restaurant Association v. CoB over the natural gas ban comment can be made in the hybrid format before the closed session.
  • 6 pm “What we can do now to prevent deadly bird-window collisions” Erin Diehm and Kelly Hammargren online at Speaking Up for Point Molate and hosted by the Sierra Club
• Tuesday:
  • 9 am the Budget Committee meets in the hybrid format on the 2024 Budget and RV parking. (audio recorded)
  • 4 pm City Council meets in the hybrid format on FY 2024 Budget (recorded)
  • 6 pm Council meets in the hybrid format on the Community Fire Wildfire Protection Plan and the Fire Department Facilities. (recorded)
• Wednesday:
  • 1:30 the Commission on Aging meets in person.
  • 6:30 pm the Human welfare and Community Action Commission.
  • 7 pm the Commission on the Status of Women meets in person.
  • 7 pm the Commission on Labor meets in person.
• Thursday:
  • 6:30 pm the Fair Campaign Practices and Open Government Commissions meet in person.
  • 7 pm the DRC meets on two SB 330 projects and responds to the presentation on the Southside Zoning Modification Project.
  • 7 pm the Mental Health Commission meets in person on the SCU.
  • 7 pm the Transportation and Infrastructure Commission meets in person and receives presentations on goBerkeley SmartSpace (parking metering pilot in residential neighborhoods) and HAWK signals.
  • 7 pm the Rent Board is scheduled to meet, but no agenda is posted.
• Saturday:
  • 10 am BNC meets online with City presentation on Small Business Support Package and Proposed Downtown Development. (recorded)
  • 10 am is the virtual Green Home Tour. (video recorded – whether closed captioning is offered is unknown)

All meetings noted as “recorded” are recorded by the host and recordings are posted for public access. If you attend one of the meetings noted as “recorded” those meetings also provide closed captioning and allow attendees to save the transcript. At City Council meetings, a real person is transcribing. At all other meetings the transcript is through computer voice recognition software.



Directions with links to ZOOM support for activating Closed Captioning and Save Transcript are at the bottom of this calendar. Whether the Green Home Tour offers closed captioning and saving the transcript is unknown. All of the other meetings that are noted as recorded also have closed captioning and allow attendees to save the transcript.

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BERKELEY PUBLIC MEETINGS AND CIVIC EVENTS

Sunday, May 14, 2023 – Mother’s Day 

Mother’s Day Hats and High Tea from 2 – 5 pm 

In-Person: Berkeley Rose Garden, 1200 Euclid 

https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/events/mothers-day-hats-and-high-tea 

Monday, May 15, 2023 

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE at 10:30 am 

Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor, Redwood Room  

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1619853040 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 161 985 3040 

AGENDA: 2. Klein – Planning, Sprague – Fire, Garland – Public Works on the January 16, 2023 Berkeley Hills Mudslide, 3. Sprague - Dispatch Needs Assessment Presentation 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-committees/policy-committee-public-safety 

CITY COUNCIL Closed Session at 3 pm 

Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor, Redwood Room  

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1610355649 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 161 035 5649 

AGENDA: 1. Conference with Legal Counsel existing litigation a. Alisha Gard v. CoB Case No. 23CV025176, b. CA Restaurant Association v. CoB, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Case No 21-16278, 2. Employee Performance Evaluation, a. City Attorney, b. Director of Police Accountability, 3. Conference with Labor Negotiators, Employee Organizations: Berkeley Fire fighters Association Local 1227 I.A.F.F., Berkeley Fire fighters Association Local 1227 I.A.F.F. / Berkeley Fire Officers Association, Berkeley Police Association. 

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

SPEAKING UP for POINT MOLATE FROM 6 – 7 PM 

Videoconference: https://sierraclub.zoom.us/j/99891619534 

AGENDA: “What we can do right now to prevent deadly bird-window collisions” Presentation by Erin Diehm and Kelly Hammargren on the size of the problem and solutions within reach, hosted by the Sierra Club. 

 

Tuesday, May 16, 2023 

BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE at 9 am 

Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor, Redwood Room  

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1615029400 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 161 502 9400 

AGENDA: 2. FY 2024 Mid-biennial Budget Update, 3. Measure P FY 2024 Mid-biennial Update, 4. Russell Street residence Update, 5. a. Homeless Services Panel of Experts – Recommendations for RV Lot and Waste Management of Streets for RVs, b. Companion Report – Refer back to the Homeless Services Panel of Experts to identify a new RV parking location/program and develop a waste management plan for RVs and budget priorities. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-committees/policy-committee-budget-finance 

CIVIC CENTER CONCEPTUAL DESIGN REPORT BRIEFING from 10 – 11 am 

In person: at 2180 Milvia, Cypress Conference Room, 1st floor 

AGENDA: Super Subcommittee meeting with representatives from the four commissions, Landmarks Preservation Commission, Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission, Civic arts Commission and Transportation and Infrastructure Commission. 

CITY COUNCIL Special Meeting at 4 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 1231 Addison St. in the School District Board Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1608636592 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 160 863 6592 

AGENDA: FY 2024 Proposed Budget Update and FY 2024 Proposed Budget Update Public Hearing #1 (packet 78 pages) 

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

CITY COUNCIL Special Meeting at 6 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 1231 Addison St. in the School District Board Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1608636592 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 160 863 6592 

AGENDA: 1. Approval of the City of Berkeley Community Wildfire Protection Plan, 2. Fire Department Facilities Master Plan. 

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

Wednesday, May 17, 2023 

COMMISSION on AGING at 1:30 pm 

In-Person: 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 1. Presentation on overview of social services by Culdonce Corona, Mental Health Clinical Supervisor, 2. Discussion of presentation, 3. Commissioner reports on Mental Health, Land Use and Economic Development, r. Update on aging services outreach methods. 

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

COMMISSION ON LABOR at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 2939 Ellis, South Berkeley Senior Center  

AGENDA: 2. FY 2024 Commission Work Plan, Under Information: 3. Fair Work Week, 4. Hard Hat Ordinance, 5. Discussion of First Source and Community workforce Agreement. 

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

HUMAN WELFARE and COMMUNITY ACTION COMMISSION (HHCAC) at 6:30 pm 

In-Person: 2800 Park, Frances Albrier Community Center 

AGENDA on ACTION: 5. Community services Block Grant Community Action Plan, 6. HHCAC Commission Seat Vacancies, 7. Review of J-Sei program and financial reports, Discussion/Possible Items: 1. Appointments to HHCAC, 2. Holding hybrid meetings, 3. Supporting the Commission on Aging’s communication regarding the Hopkins Corridor, 4. Mechanisms for City employees and service providers to communicate, 5. Requirements for contracted non-profit service providers and transparency of grant reports, 6. Possible holding concurrent meeting with the Commission on Disabilities regarding action items of mutual interest including but not limited to road plans, integral universal design planning, gaps and redundancies in existing service, 7. Accessibility and availability on the city website. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/human-welfare-and-community-action-commission 

COMMISSION on the STATUS of WOMEN (COSOW) at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 2939 Ellis, South Berkeley Senior Center  

AGENDA: Discussion and Possible Action: 7. Presentation from the Berkeley Police Department on domestic violence/gender-based violence/intimate partner violence, sex trafficking and increase in sexual assaults followed with Q&A and possible action, 8. Presentation on the African-American Holistic Resource Center (AAHRC), 9. Women-owned businesses losses during the pandemic and supports, 10. Letter to Council from the Commission requesting updates from the Mason-Tillman report regarding gender disparities in contracts, 11. Suicide surge among young women, 12. Plan Black Maternal Health Month, 13. Financial exploitation, scams and speculators approaching older women. 

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

Thursday, May 18, 2023 

 

FAIR CAMPAIGN PRACTICES COMMISSION & OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMISSION at 6:30 pm 

In-Person: at 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 6. City Clerk Department referral regarding failure of Mike Chang for Berkeley School Board 2022 to file campaign report covering Oct 23, 2022 to Dec 31, 2022, Amendments to Berkeley Election Reform Act (BERA) related to public campaign reporting, 8. Report on contribution limits, 10. Subcommittee report on reviewing policies and practices related to City Council meeting public commenting, access and public participation, 11. Annual report to BMC 2.06.190.C Open Government Duties related to the Brown Act, the Lobbyist Registration Act, or open and effective government in Berkeley. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/fair-campaign-practices-commission 

DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE (DRC) at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 1. 3030 Telegraph – Preliminary Design Review – SB 330 Project – Demolish an existing 1-story square foot medical office building and two duplexes and construct a new 5-story mixed-use building with 1,550 square feet of commercial area and 144 dwelling units (95 studios, 34 2-bedroom, 15 4-bedroom) including 8-below market units 

2. 2712 Telegraph – Preliminary Design Review – SB 330 Project – Demolish two exiting non-residential structures and construct a 41,065 square foot, 6-story residential building containing 40 dwelling units (16 2-bedroom units, 3-3-bedroom units and 21 4-bedroom units) including 4 very low income units (2 2-bedroom units and 2-4 bedroom units) Project contains bedrooms without windows and study rooms come without windows and a commercial space, 

3. Presentation of Southside Zoning Modification Project / DRC Recommendations 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/design-review-committee 

TRANSPORTATION and INFRASTRUCTURE COMMISSION at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center, Dining Room 

AGENDA: B. 1. goBerkeley SmartSpace Parking Pilot Informational Presentation, 2. HAWK (High Intensity Activated crosswalk signal presentation, 3. Daylighting Policy Informational presentation.  

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/transportation-and-infrastructure-commission 

MENTAL HEALTH COMMISSION at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 3. Bridge to SCU (Special Care Unit) and SCU Update, 4. Mental Health Manager’s Report and Caseload Statistics, r. Commission Vote on Revised version of Care First, Jails Last Resolution, 6. Community Health Records, 7. State legislative update. 

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

RENT BOARD at 7 pm 

AGENDA is not posted check after Monday 

https://rentboard.berkeleyca.gov/elected-rent-board/rent-board-meetings 

Friday, May 19, 2023 – No city meetings listed 

Saturday, May 20, 2023 

BERKELEY NEIGHBORHOODS COUNCIL at 10 am 

Videoconference:  

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4223188307?pwd=dFlNMVlVZ2d6b0FnSHh3ZlFwV2NMdz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-444-9171 Meeting ID: 422 318 8307 Passcode: 521161 

AGENDA: 1. Small Business Support Package – Kieron Slaughter, COB Office of Economic Development, 2. Proposed Downtown Developments – Steven, COB Land Use Manager. 

https://berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/ 

VIRTUAL GREEN HOME TOUR from 10 am – 12:30 pm 

Register to attend: https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/news/virtual-green-home-tour-2023-reduce-energy-increase-sustainability 

Tour will be recorded and available on the East Bay Green Home Tour website. https://www.eastbaygreenhome.com/ 

Sunday, May 21, 2023 – No city meetings listed 

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May 23, 2023 Agenda for CITY COUNCIL Meeting at 6 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 1231 Addison St. in the School District Board Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1604260018 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 160 426 0018 

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

AGENDA on CONSENT 

1. 2nd reading Arreguin - Adding BMC Chapter 13.107 Hard Hat Ordinance
2. Amendment FY 2023 Annual Appropriations Ordinance $27,940,780 (gross) and $29,658,924 (net)
3. 2nd reading - Resolution of Intention to Amend the Miscellaneous CalPERS Contract to Effectuate PEPRA Cost Sharing Agreements
4. Appointment of Standby Officers for District 8 and District 2.
5. Minutes for April 11, 13, 17, and 25
6. Appointment of new members to the Police Accountability Board by Councilmembers Humbert (Mr. Bill Williams) and Hahn (Leah Wilson).
7. Hollander, Economic Development – Annual Report for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for Telegraph Property Based Business Improvement District (TBID)
8. Hollander, Economic Development - Annual for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for Berkeley Tourism Business Improvement District (BTBID)
9. Hollander, Economic Development - Annual for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for North Shattuck Property Based Businesses (NSBID)
10. Hollander, Economic Development - Annual for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for Downtown Berkeley Property Based Businesses (DPBID)
11. Hollander, Economic Development – Contracts total $600,000 for 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2026, $200,000 with Atthowe Fine Art Services, $100,000 with Kala Art Institute, $200,000 with Preservation Arts LLC, $100,000 with ShipArt International
12. Oyekanmi, Finance – Formal Bid Solicitations - $1,907,987 ( Tenant Legal Services for Rent Board $870,000, On-call Landscaping $50,000, second stair Improvements $987,987)
13. Oyekanmi, Finance – Amend Contract 32000164 add $975,000 with Synthesis Group, Inc. dba Minuteman Press for citywide copying and extend thru 1/31/2025
14. Oyekanmi, Finance – Contract (no cost given) with Stella Courier, LLC. With Stella Courier for mail room services and coverage
15. Oyekanmi, Finance – Appropriations Limit for FY 2024
16. Oyekanmi, Finance – Amend Contract 9367 $3,000,000 with Wells Fargo for Banking Services to continue the work of de-bundling and extend to 5/31/2027
17. Sprague, Fire – Contract $100,000 to align with City of Downey existing contract with Data Ticket to provide Administrative Citation Processing 5/1/2023 – 9/21/2025 with option to extend for addition three one year terms not to exceed $300,000 for 5/2023 – 9/2028
18. Warhuus, HHCS – Revenue Grant total $46,080, $14,000 from State of CA for Tuberculosis Control Program, $32,080 from Alameda Co for Public Health Infrastructure Program
19. Warhuus, HHCS – Contract $200,000 with JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc. for CA Hom Visiting Program Planning Consulting Services, 7/1/2023 – 1/31/2024
20. Warhuus, HHCS – Amend Contract 32300104 add $250,000 total $500,000with Village of Love to Operate the Telegraph Neighborhood Sacred Rest Drop-in Center
21. Warhuus, HHCS – Amend Contract 32300144 with Resource Development Associates for Specialized Care Unit Evaluation
22. Fong, IT – Contract $299,710 with Accela, Inc. for software maintenance 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2025
23. Ferris, Parks – Contract $399,000 with Delta Charter for bus transportation services for Echo Lake Camp and Select Recreation Division Summer Programs 6/1/2023 – 6/1/2026
24. Ferris, Parks – Contract $436,954 includes 20% contingency $72,826 with Baldoni Construction Services, Inc. for Echo Lake Camp accessibility upgrades
25. Louis, BPD – Referral Response: Security Assessment of the 1700 and 1600 blocks of San Pablo, assessment did not indicate a need for further security improvements to the Berkeley Inn or immediate area
26. Garland, Public Works – Audit Status Report, Rocky Road, Berkeley Streets
27. Garland, Public Works – Amend Contract 10986 add $100,000 total $600,000 with Zero waste Collaborative for the Solid Waste & Recycling Transfer Station Rebuild Feasibility Study and extend to 6/30/2025
28. Garland, Public Works – Purchase Order 72 Hour, LLC, dba National Auto Fleet Group for Uplifting of Crime Scene Unit Cargo Van
29. Civic Arts Commission – Refer to City Manager Development of Artists Affordable Housing Certification Program
30. Energy Commission – Recommendation on Climate, Building electrification, and Sustainable Transportation Budget Priorities for FY 2023-2024
31. Removed by Aguilar, PAB – Contract $100,000 with AppleOne for temporary staffing services
32. Arreguin – Support Scott Weiner & Phil Ting SB 532 requires if proposed ballot measure imposes a tax, raises taxes or issues bonds, that rate and duration of tax levied be included in ballot, for full bill see https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB532
33. Arreguin – 1. Resolution calling on Hyundai and Kia to take immediate action to fix for the flaw in their vehicles that make the easy targets for car thefts, 2. Direct City Attorney to explore taking legal action against Hyundai and Kai
34. Arreguin – Contract $482,525 includes contingency of $50,000 with Badawi & Associates, CPAs for Professional Auditing Services to perform annual financial audits of City’s financial statements and perform annual compliance audits required by Single Audit Act of 1984 (revised 1996) for 5/22/2023 – 6/30/2026 with option to extend for 2 additional years
35. Taplin – Budget Referral $600,000 for HAWK crosswalk at 6th and Addison
36. Harrison – Relinquishment of Council Office Budget Funds 2023 Taste of Downtown Berkeley Event
37. Hahn, co-sponsors Harrison, Taplin – FY 2024 Budget Referral: Study to support Housing Element commitment to increase housing and enhance economic vitality on all commercial corridors, with particular attention to the higher-resourced commercial avenues identified in Program 27 of the Housing
38. Wengraf, co-sponsor Arreguin, Hahn – Support H.R. 603 HEAL Act Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Lessons Act
39. Robinson, co-sponsors Arreguin, Taplin – Relinquishment of Council Office budget Funds for Pacific Center for Human Growth 50th Anniversary Gala

AGENDA on ACTION: 

40. ZAB Appeal: 469 Kentucky Use Permit #ZP2022-0087 – demolish single family dwelling and construct a 3-story 3,310 sq ft single-family dwelling with a two-car garage, and dismiss the appeal
41. Warhuus, HHCS – Fee Increase: Condominium Conversion Program Application Fee by $30 new total $310 per application and for units currently rented by $40 total $410 and applications deferring the mitigation fee by $95 to $1040 per unit
42. Warhuus, HHCS – Fee Increase: Condominium Conversion Program Subordination Fee add $35 new total $399
43. Warhuus, HHCS – Fee Increase: Below Market Monitoring Program add $18 new total $450
44. Ferris, Parks – Selected Marina Fee Increases
45. Ferris, Parks – Changes to Selected Parks and Recreation fees
46. Louis, BPD – Surveillance Ordinance items related to Fixed Surveillance Cameras and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) (Drones)
47. Bartlett, co-sponsor Arreguin – Adopting temporary exemption from the collection of taxes under BMC Chapter 9.04.136(D): Tax Rate for Non-Medical and Medical Cannabis Businesses

Items 48 – 50 previously listed as Information Reports now listed as Action Items 

48. Louis, BPD - Audit Recommendation Status – 911 Dispatchers: Understaffing Leads to Excessive to Overtime and Low Morale
49. Louis, BPD - Audit Recommendation Status – Data Analysis of the City of Berkeley’s Police Response
50. Louis, BPD - Audit Recommendation Status – Berkeley Police Improvements Needed to Manage Overtime and Security Work for Outside Entities

+++++++++++++ 

LAND USE CALENDAR: 

Public Hearings 

469 Kentucky (single family dwelling) 5/23/2023 

 

WORK SESSIONS & SPECIAL MEETINGS: 

May 16 - Fire Facilities Study Report, Wildfire Prevention Plan 

May 23 – Unfunded Liability Obligations and Unfunded Infrastructure Needs 4 pm 

June 20 - Climate Action Plan and Resilience Update, Berkeley Economic Dashboards Update,  

July 18 – Draft Waterfront Specific Plan (tentative) 

Unscheduled Presentations: 

Fire Dept Standards of Coverage and Community Risk Assessment None 

City Policies for Managing Parking Around BART Stations 

+++++++++++++ 

Kelly Hammargren’s summary on what happened the preceding week can be found in the Berkeley Daily Planet under Activist’s Diary at: www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. 

This meeting list is also posted at: https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html 

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 calendar of city meetings please forward the email you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com with the request to be removed from the email list. 

________ 

 

For Online Public Meetings 

CLOSED CAPTIONING, SAVE TRANSCRIPT OVERVIEW, DIRECTIONS and ZOOM SUPPORT LINKS: 

For no extra cost the ZOOM meeting application has as part of their program Closed Captioning (CC). It turns computer voice recognition into a transcript. Accuracy of the Closed Captioning is affected by background noise, the volume and clarity of the speaker, lexicons/wordbook and dialect of the speaker. The transcript will not be perfect, but most of the time reading through it the few words that don't fit, can be deciphered, like Shattuck was transcribed as Shadow in one recent transcript. 

Know that any Zoom meeting can be set up to allow Closed Captioning and Save Transcript. Also, any meeting can be set up to allow Chat and to Save Chat.  

If there is no CC at the bottom of your zoom screen, the person who set up the meeting did not activate this option. They may not realize they have this option or they may know about it and have chosen not to offer closed captioning. If it is not activated, ask for it. 

To save a meeting transcript, look for CC for Closed Captioning at the bottom of the screen. Then click on the arrow next to CC and select View Full Transcript. You will only see the transcript from the time you activated closed captioning or view full transcript. It is not necessary to show closed captioning to see and save the transcript. 

At the bottom of the transcript column if we, as attendees, are allowed to save the transcript, there will be a button for, "Save Transcript," you can click on the button repeatedly throughout the meeting and it will just overwrite and update the full transcript. Clicking on the "Save Transcript" repeatedly as the meeting is coming to an end is important because once the host ends the meeting, the transcript is gone if you didn't save it. 

– So click often on both "Save Transcript" and on "Save to Folder"--saving it to your computer during the meeting for best results. (These text files are not large.) 

After you have done your last "Save Transcript" and "Save to Folder"--then (after the meeting is over) you can rename the new transcript on your computer, and save it (to re-read it, or to send or share it). Remember, allowing us attendees to save the meeting transcript does not require the public meeting host to save these transcripts (for any public record.) 

Here is the link to ZOOM Support for how to set up Closed Captioning for a meeting or webinar:  

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/8158738379917#h_01GHWATNVPW5FR304S2SVGXN2X 

Here is the link to ZOOM Support for attendees in how to save Closed Captions Transcripts: 

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360060958752-Using-save-captions#h_01F5XW3BGWJAKJFWCHPPZGBD70 

Worth Noting:  

Another busy week – our attendance is important. The May 23, City Council Agenda is now available for public comment. Check the City website for late announcements and meetings posted on short notice at: https://berkeleyca.gov/ 

• Sunday: 2 -5 pm a Mother’s Day Hats and High Tea at the Rose Garden.
• Monday:
  • 10:30 am the Public Safety Committee meets in the hybrid format and receives a multi-department report on the January 16, 2023 mudslide. (audio recorded)
  • 3 pm City Council Closed Session includes the CA Restaurant Association v. CoB over the natural gas ban comment can be made in the hybrid format before the closed session.
  • 6 pm “What we can do now to prevent deadly bird-window collisions” Erin Diehm and Kelly Hammargren online at Speaking Up for Point Molate and hosted by the Sierra Club
• Tuesday:
  • 9 am the Budget Committee meets in the hybrid format on the 2024 Budget and RV parking. (audio recorded)
  • 4 pm City Council meets in the hybrid format on FY 2024 Budget (recorded)
  • 6 pm Council meets in the hybrid format on the Community Fire Wildfire Protection Plan and the Fire Department Facilities. (recorded)
• Wednesday:
  • 1:30 the Commission on Aging meets in person.
  • 6:30 pm the Human welfare and Community Action Commission.
  • 7 pm the Commission on the Status of Women meets in person.
  • 7 pm the Commission on Labor meets in person.
• Thursday:
  • 6:30 pm the Fair Campaign Practices and Open Government Commissions meet in person.
  • 7 pm the DRC meets on two SB 330 projects and responds to the presentation on the Southside Zoning Modification Project.
  • 7 pm the Mental Health Commission meets in person on the SCU.
  • 7 pm the Transportation and Infrastructure Commission meets in person and receives presentations on goBerkeley SmartSpace (parking metering pilot in residential neighborhoods) and HAWK signals.
  • 7 pm the Rent Board is scheduled to meet, but no agenda is posted.
• Saturday:
  • 10 am BNC meets online with City presentation on Small Business Support Package and Proposed Downtown Development. (recorded)
  • 10 am is the virtual Green Home Tour. (video recorded – whether closed captioning is offered is unknown)

All meetings noted as “recorded” are recorded by the host and recordings are posted for public access. If you attend one of the meetings noted as “recorded” those meetings also provide closed captioning and allow attendees to save the transcript. At City Council meetings, a real person is transcribing. At all other meetings the transcript is through computer voice recognition software. 

 

Directions with links to ZOOM support for activating Closed Captioning and Save Transcript are at the bottom of this calendar. Whether the Green Home Tour offers closed captioning and saving the transcript is unknown. All of the other meetings that are noted as recorded also have closed captioning and allow attendees to save the transcript. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

BERKELEY PUBLIC MEETINGS AND CIVIC EVENTS 

Sunday, May 14, 2023 – Mother’s Day 

Mother’s Day Hats and High Tea from 2 – 5 pm 

In-Person: Berkeley Rose Garden, 1200 Euclid 

https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/events/mothers-day-hats-and-high-tea 

Monday, May 15, 2023 

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE at 10:30 am 

Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor, Redwood Room  

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1619853040 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 161 985 3040 

AGENDA: 2. Klein – Planning, Sprague – Fire, Garland – Public Works on the January 16, 2023 Berkeley Hills Mudslide, 3. Sprague - Dispatch Needs Assessment Presentation 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-committees/policy-committee-public-safety 

CITY COUNCIL Closed Session at 3 pm 

Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor, Redwood Room  

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1610355649 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 161 035 5649 

AGENDA: 1. Conference with Legal Counsel existing litigation a. Alisha Gard v. CoB Case No. 23CV025176, b. CA Restaurant Association v. CoB, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Case No 21-16278, 2. Employee Performance Evaluation, a. City Attorney, b. Director of Police Accountability, 3. Conference with Labor Negotiators, Employee Organizations: Berkeley Fire fighters Association Local 1227 I.A.F.F., Berkeley Fire fighters Association Local 1227 I.A.F.F. / Berkeley Fire Officers Association, Berkeley Police Association. 

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

SPEAKING UP for POINT MOLATE FROM 6 – 7 PM 

Videoconference: https://sierraclub.zoom.us/j/99891619534 

AGENDA: “What we can do right now to prevent deadly bird-window collisions” Presentation by Erin Diehm and Kelly Hammargren on the size of the problem and solutions within reach, hosted by the Sierra Club. 

 

Tuesday, May 16, 2023 

BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE at 9 am 

Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor, Redwood Room  

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1615029400 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 161 502 9400 

AGENDA: 2. FY 2024 Mid-biennial Budget Update, 3. Measure P FY 2024 Mid-biennial Update, 4. Russell Street residence Update, 5. a. Homeless Services Panel of Experts – Recommendations for RV Lot and Waste Management of Streets for RVs, b. Companion Report – Refer back to the Homeless Services Panel of Experts to identify a new RV parking location/program and develop a waste management plan for RVs and budget priorities. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-committees/policy-committee-budget-finance 

CIVIC CENTER CONCEPTUAL DESIGN REPORT BRIEFING from 10 – 11 am 

In person: at 2180 Milvia, Cypress Conference Room, 1st floor 

AGENDA: Super Subcommittee meeting with representatives from the four commissions, Landmarks Preservation Commission, Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission, Civic arts Commission and Transportation and Infrastructure Commission. 

CITY COUNCIL Special Meeting at 4 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 1231 Addison St. in the School District Board Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1608636592 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 160 863 6592 

AGENDA: FY 2024 Proposed Budget Update and FY 2024 Proposed Budget Update Public Hearing #1 (packet 78 pages) 

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

CITY COUNCIL Special Meeting at 6 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 1231 Addison St. in the School District Board Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1608636592 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 160 863 6592 

AGENDA: 1. Approval of the City of Berkeley Community Wildfire Protection Plan, 2. Fire Department Facilities Master Plan. 

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

Wednesday, May 17, 2023 

COMMISSION on AGING at 1:30 pm 

In-Person: 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 1. Presentation on overview of social services by Culdonce Corona, Mental Health Clinical Supervisor, 2. Discussion of presentation, 3. Commissioner reports on Mental Health, Land Use and Economic Development, r. Update on aging services outreach methods. 

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

COMMISSION ON LABOR at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 2939 Ellis, South Berkeley Senior Center  

AGENDA: 2. FY 2024 Commission Work Plan, Under Information: 3. Fair Work Week, 4. Hard Hat Ordinance, 5. Discussion of First Source and Community workforce Agreement. 

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

HUMAN WELFARE and COMMUNITY ACTION COMMISSION (HHCAC) at 6:30 pm 

In-Person: 2800 Park, Frances Albrier Community Center 

AGENDA on ACTION: 5. Community services Block Grant Community Action Plan, 6. HHCAC Commission Seat Vacancies, 7. Review of J-Sei program and financial reports, Discussion/Possible Items: 1. Appointments to HHCAC, 2. Holding hybrid meetings, 3. Supporting the Commission on Aging’s communication regarding the Hopkins Corridor, 4. Mechanisms for City employees and service providers to communicate, 5. Requirements for contracted non-profit service providers and transparency of grant reports, 6. Possible holding concurrent meeting with the Commission on Disabilities regarding action items of mutual interest including but not limited to road plans, integral universal design planning, gaps and redundancies in existing service, 7. Accessibility and availability on the city website. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/human-welfare-and-community-action-commission 

COMMISSION on the STATUS of WOMEN (COSOW) at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 2939 Ellis, South Berkeley Senior Center  

AGENDA: Discussion and Possible Action: 7. Presentation from the Berkeley Police Department on domestic violence/gender-based violence/intimate partner violence, sex trafficking and increase in sexual assaults followed with Q&A and possible action, 8. Presentation on the African-American Holistic Resource Center (AAHRC), 9. Women-owned businesses losses during the pandemic and supports, 10. Letter to Council from the Commission requesting updates from the Mason-Tillman report regarding gender disparities in contracts, 11. Suicide surge among young women, 12. Plan Black Maternal Health Month, 13. Financial exploitation, scams and speculators approaching older women. 

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

Thursday, May 18, 2023 

 

FAIR CAMPAIGN PRACTICES COMMISSION & OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMISSION at 6:30 pm 

In-Person: at 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 6. City Clerk Department referral regarding failure of Mike Chang for Berkeley School Board 2022 to file campaign report covering Oct 23, 2022 to Dec 31, 2022, Amendments to Berkeley Election Reform Act (BERA) related to public campaign reporting, 8. Report on contribution limits, 10. Subcommittee report on reviewing policies and practices related to City Council meeting public commenting, access and public participation, 11. Annual report to BMC 2.06.190.C Open Government Duties related to the Brown Act, the Lobbyist Registration Act, or open and effective government in Berkeley. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/fair-campaign-practices-commission 

DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE (DRC) at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 1. 3030 Telegraph – Preliminary Design Review – SB 330 Project – Demolish an existing 1-story square foot medical office building and two duplexes and construct a new 5-story mixed-use building with 1,550 square feet of commercial area and 144 dwelling units (95 studios, 34 2-bedroom, 15 4-bedroom) including 8-below market units 

2. 2712 Telegraph – Preliminary Design Review – SB 330 Project – Demolish two exiting non-residential structures and construct a 41,065 square foot, 6-story residential building containing 40 dwelling units (16 2-bedroom units, 3-3-bedroom units and 21 4-bedroom units) including 4 very low income units (2 2-bedroom units and 2-4 bedroom units) Project contains bedrooms without windows and study rooms come without windows and a commercial space, 

3. Presentation of Southside Zoning Modification Project / DRC Recommendations 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/design-review-committee 

TRANSPORTATION and INFRASTRUCTURE COMMISSION at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center, Dining Room 

AGENDA: B. 1. goBerkeley SmartSpace Parking Pilot Informational Presentation, 2. HAWK (High Intensity Activated crosswalk signal presentation, 3. Daylighting Policy Informational presentation.  

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/transportation-and-infrastructure-commission 

MENTAL HEALTH COMMISSION at 7 pm 

In-Person: at 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 3. Bridge to SCU (Special Care Unit) and SCU Update, 4. Mental Health Manager’s Report and Caseload Statistics, r. Commission Vote on Revised version of Care First, Jails Last Resolution, 6. Community Health Records, 7. State legislative update. 

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

RENT BOARD at 7 pm 

AGENDA is not posted check after Monday 

https://rentboard.berkeleyca.gov/elected-rent-board/rent-board-meetings 

Friday, May 19, 2023 – No city meetings listed 

Saturday, May 20, 2023 

BERKELEY NEIGHBORHOODS COUNCIL at 10 am 

Videoconference:  

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4223188307?pwd=dFlNMVlVZ2d6b0FnSHh3ZlFwV2NMdz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-444-9171 Meeting ID: 422 318 8307 Passcode: 521161 

AGENDA: 1. Small Business Support Package – Kieron Slaughter, COB Office of Economic Development, 2. Proposed Downtown Developments – Steven, COB Land Use Manager. 

https://berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/ 

VIRTUAL GREEN HOME TOUR from 10 am – 12:30 pm 

Register to attend: https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/news/virtual-green-home-tour-2023-reduce-energy-increase-sustainability 

Tour will be recorded and available on the East Bay Green Home Tour website. https://www.eastbaygreenhome.com/ 

Sunday, May 21, 2023 – No city meetings listed 

+++++++++++++++++++ 

 

May 23, 2023 Agenda for CITY COUNCIL Meeting at 6 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 1231 Addison St. in the School District Board Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1604260018 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 160 426 0018 

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

AGENDA on CONSENT 

1. 2nd reading Arreguin - Adding BMC Chapter 13.107 Hard Hat Ordinance
2. Amendment FY 2023 Annual Appropriations Ordinance $27,940,780 (gross) and $29,658,924 (net)
3. 2nd reading - Resolution of Intention to Amend the Miscellaneous CalPERS Contract to Effectuate PEPRA Cost Sharing Agreements
4. Appointment of Standby Officers for District 8 and District 2.
5. Minutes for April 11, 13, 17, and 25
6. Appointment of new members to the Police Accountability Board by Councilmembers Humbert (Mr. Bill Williams) and Hahn (Leah Wilson).
7. Hollander, Economic Development – Annual Report for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for Telegraph Property Based Business Improvement District (TBID)
8. Hollander, Economic Development - Annual for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for Berkeley Tourism Business Improvement District (BTBID)
9. Hollander, Economic Development - Annual for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for North Shattuck Property Based Businesses (NSBID)
10. Hollander, Economic Development - Annual for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for Downtown Berkeley Property Based Businesses (DPBID)
11. Hollander, Economic Development – Contracts total $600,000 for 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2026, $200,000 with Atthowe Fine Art Services, $100,000 with Kala Art Institute, $200,000 with Preservation Arts LLC, $100,000 with ShipArt International
12. Oyekanmi, Finance – Formal Bid Solicitations - $1,907,987 ( Tenant Legal Services for Rent Board $870,000, On-call Landscaping $50,000, second stair Improvements $987,987)
13. Oyekanmi, Finance – Amend Contract 32000164 add $975,000 with Synthesis Group, Inc. dba Minuteman Press for citywide copying and extend thru 1/31/2025
14. Oyekanmi, Finance – Contract (no cost given) with Stella Courier, LLC. With Stella Courier for mail room services and coverage
15. Oyekanmi, Finance – Appropriations Limit for FY 2024
16. Oyekanmi, Finance – Amend Contract 9367 $3,000,000 with Wells Fargo for Banking Services to continue the work of de-bundling and extend to 5/31/2027
17. Sprague, Fire – Contract $100,000 to align with City of Downey existing contract with Data Ticket to provide Administrative Citation Processing 5/1/2023 – 9/21/2025 with option to extend for addition three one year terms not to exceed $300,000 for 5/2023 – 9/2028
18. Warhuus, HHCS – Revenue Grant total $46,080, $14,000 from State of CA for Tuberculosis Control Program, $32,080 from Alameda Co for Public Health Infrastructure Program
19. Warhuus, HHCS – Contract $200,000 with JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc. for CA Hom Visiting Program Planning Consulting Services, 7/1/2023 – 1/31/2024
20. Warhuus, HHCS – Amend Contract 32300104 add $250,000 total $500,000with Village of Love to Operate the Telegraph Neighborhood Sacred Rest Drop-in Center
21. Warhuus, HHCS – Amend Contract 32300144 with Resource Development Associates for Specialized Care Unit Evaluation
22. Fong, IT – Contract $299,710 with Accela, Inc. for software maintenance 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2025
23. Ferris, Parks – Contract $399,000 with Delta Charter for bus transportation services for Echo Lake Camp and Select Recreation Division Summer Programs 6/1/2023 – 6/1/2026
24. Ferris, Parks – Contract $436,954 includes 20% contingency $72,826 with Baldoni Construction Services, Inc. for Echo Lake Camp accessibility upgrades
25. Louis, BPD – Referral Response: Security Assessment of the 1700 and 1600 blocks of San Pablo, assessment did not indicate a need for further security improvements to the Berkeley Inn or immediate area
26. Garland, Public Works – Audit Status Report, Rocky Road, Berkeley Streets
27. Garland, Public Works – Amend Contract 10986 add $100,000 total $600,000 with Zero waste Collaborative for the Solid Waste & Recycling Transfer Station Rebuild Feasibility Study and extend to 6/30/2025
28. Garland, Public Works – Purchase Order 72 Hour, LLC, dba National Auto Fleet Group for Uplifting of Crime Scene Unit Cargo Van
29. Civic Arts Commission – Refer to City Manager Development of Artists Affordable Housing Certification Program
30. Energy Commission – Recommendation on Climate, Building electrification, and Sustainable Transportation Budget Priorities for FY 2023-2024
31. Removed by Aguilar, PAB – Contract $100,000 with AppleOne for temporary staffing services
32. Arreguin – Support Scott Weiner & Phil Ting SB 532 requires if proposed ballot measure imposes a tax, raises taxes or issues bonds, that rate and duration of tax levied be included in ballot, for full bill see https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB532
33. Arreguin – 1. Resolution calling on Hyundai and Kia to take immediate action to fix for the flaw in their vehicles that make the easy targets for car thefts, 2. Direct City Attorney to explore taking legal action against Hyundai and Kai
34. Arreguin – Contract $482,525 includes contingency of $50,000 with Badawi & Associates, CPAs for Professional Auditing Services to perform annual financial audits of City’s financial statements and perform annual compliance audits required by Single Audit Act of 1984 (revised 1996) for 5/22/2023 – 6/30/2026 with option to extend for 2 additional years
35. Taplin – Budget Referral $600,000 for HAWK crosswalk at 6th and Addison
36. Harrison – Relinquishment of Council Office Budget Funds 2023 Taste of Downtown Berkeley Event
37. Hahn, co-sponsors Harrison, Taplin – FY 2024 Budget Referral: Study to support Housing Element commitment to increase housing and enhance economic vitality on all commercial corridors, with particular attention to the higher-resourced commercial avenues identified in Program 27 of the Housing
38. Wengraf, co-sponsor Arreguin, Hahn – Support H.R. 603 HEAL Act Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Lessons Act
39. Robinson, co-sponsors Arreguin, Taplin – Relinquishment of Council Office budget Funds for Pacific Center for Human Growth 50th Anniversary Gala

AGENDA on ACTION: 

40. ZAB Appeal: 469 Kentucky Use Permit #ZP2022-0087 – demolish single family dwelling and construct a 3-story 3,310 sq ft single-family dwelling with a two-car garage, and dismiss the appeal
41. Warhuus, HHCS – Fee Increase: Condominium Conversion Program Application Fee by $30 new total $310 per application and for units currently rented by $40 total $410 and applications deferring the mitigation fee by $95 to $1040 per unit
42. Warhuus, HHCS – Fee Increase: Condominium Conversion Program Subordination Fee add $35 new total $399
43. Warhuus, HHCS – Fee Increase: Below Market Monitoring Program add $18 new total $450
44. Ferris, Parks – Selected Marina Fee Increases
45. Ferris, Parks – Changes to Selected Parks and Recreation fees
46. Louis, BPD – Surveillance Ordinance items related to Fixed Surveillance Cameras and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) (Drones)
47. Bartlett, co-sponsor Arreguin – Adopting temporary exemption from the collection of taxes under BMC Chapter 9.04.136(D): Tax Rate for Non-Medical and Medical Cannabis Businesses

Items 48 – 50 previously listed as Information Reports now listed as Action Items 

48. Louis, BPD - Audit Recommendation Status – 911 Dispatchers: Understaffing Leads to Excessive to Overtime and Low Morale
49. Louis, BPD - Audit Recommendation Status – Data Analysis of the City of Berkeley’s Police Response
50. Louis, BPD - Audit Recommendation Status – Berkeley Police Improvements Needed to Manage Overtime and Security Work for Outside Entities

+++++++++++++ 

LAND USE CALENDAR: 

Public Hearings 

469 Kentucky (single family dwelling) 5/23/2023 

 

WORK SESSIONS & SPECIAL MEETINGS: 

May 16 - Fire Facilities Study Report, Wildfire Prevention Plan 

May 23 – Unfunded Liability Obligations and Unfunded Infrastructure Needs 4 pm 

June 20 - Climate Action Plan and Resilience Update, Berkeley Economic Dashboards Update,  

July 18 – Draft Waterfront Specific Plan (tentative) 

Unscheduled Presentations: 

Fire Dept Standards of Coverage and Community Risk Assessment None 

City Policies for Managing Parking Around BART Stations 

+++++++++++++ 

Kelly Hammargren’s summary on what happened the preceding week can be found in the Berkeley Daily Planet under Activist’s Diary at: www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. 

This meeting list is also posted at: https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html 

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 calendar of city meetings please forward the email you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com with the request to be removed from the email list. 

________ 

 

For Online Public Meetings 

CLOSED CAPTIONING, SAVE TRANSCRIPT OVERVIEW, DIRECTIONS and ZOOM SUPPORT LINKS: 

For no extra cost the ZOOM meeting application has as part of their program Closed Captioning (CC). It turns computer voice recognition into a transcript. Accuracy of the Closed Captioning is affected by background noise, the volume and clarity of the speaker, lexicons/wordbook and dialect of the speaker. The transcript will not be perfect, but most of the time reading through it the few words that don't fit, can be deciphered, like Shattuck was transcribed as Shadow in one recent transcript. 

Know that any Zoom meeting can be set up to allow Closed Captioning and Save Transcript. Also, any meeting can be set up to allow Chat and to Save Chat.  

If there is no CC at the bottom of your zoom screen, the person who set up the meeting did not activate this option. They may not realize they have this option or they may know about it and have chosen not to offer closed captioning. If it is not activated, ask for it. 

To save a meeting transcript, look for CC for Closed Captioning at the bottom of the screen. Then click on the arrow next to CC and select View Full Transcript. You will only see the transcript from the time you activated closed captioning or view full transcript. It is not necessary to show closed captioning to see and save the transcript. 

At the bottom of the transcript column if we, as attendees, are allowed to save the transcript, there will be a button for, "Save Transcript," you can click on the button repeatedly throughout the meeting and it will just overwrite and update the full transcript. Clicking on the "Save Transcript" repeatedly as the meeting is coming to an end is important because once the host ends the meeting, the transcript is gone if you didn't save it. 

– So click often on both "Save Transcript" and on "Save to Folder"--saving it to your computer during the meeting for best results. (These text files are not large.) 

After you have done your last "Save Transcript" and "Save to Folder"--then (after the meeting is over) you can rename the new transcript on your computer, and save it (to re-read it, or to send or share it). Remember, allowing us attendees to save the meeting transcript does not require the public meeting host to save these transcripts (for any public record.) 

Here is the link to ZOOM Support for how to set up Closed Captioning for a meeting or webinar:  

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/8158738379917#h_01GHWATNVPW5FR304S2SVGXN2X 

Here is the link to ZOOM Support for attendees in how to save Closed Captions Transcripts: 

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360060958752-Using-save-captions#h_01F5XW3BGWJAKJFWCHPPZGBD70

Worth Noting:

Another busy week. The funding gap for approved T1 projects ate up another Council Budget and Finance Committee on Thursday, meaning a special extra Budget meeting will be scheduled. Check the City website for late announcements and meetings posted on short notice at https://berkeleyca.gov/

• Sunday: Bay Area Book Festival
• Monday:
  • 10 am the Council Health Life, Enrichment Equity & Community meets in the hybrid format.
  • 1 pm the Community Health Commission Subcommittee meets online on long term care facilities
  • 2 pm (note time) the Agenda Committee meets in the hybrid format to plan the May 23 City Council Regular Meeting agenda. Use the link below or read the full draft agenda at the end of the list of city meetings.
  • 3 pm City council meets in closed session on labor negotiations,
  • 6:30 pm the Youth Commission meets in person.
• Tuesday: City Council meets at 6 pm in the hybrid format. Confirmation of Police Chief Louis is item 5 on Consent.
• Wednesday:
  • 6 – 8 pm is an in person open house on the North Berkeley BART Plan.
  • 6:30 pm the PAB meets in the hybrid format.
  • 7 pm the Homeless Services Panel of Experts meets in person on Measure P.
  • 7 pm the Parks Commission meets on the Waterfront Specific Plan.
• Thursday: The Zoning Adjustment Board meets in the hybrid format with two State Density Bonus projects on the agenda, 1598 University and 3000 Shattuck.
• Saturday: 10 am Berkeley Neighborhoods Council meets online. Two presentations by city staff are on the agenda, the Small Business Support Package and proposed downtown development.
• Sunday: 2 -5 pm a Mother’s Day Hats and High Tea at the Rose Garden.

Directions with links to ZOOM support for activating Closed Captioning and Save Transcript are at the bottom of this calendar.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BERKELEY PUBLIC MEETINGS AND CIVIC EVENTS 

Sunday, May 7, 2023  

BAY AREA BOOK FESTIVAL 2023  

Outdoor Fair events – one-day only – on Sunday 

No hours are listed on the festival website for the outdoor fair 

https://www.baybookfest.org/ 

Monday, May 8, 2023 

HEALTH, LIFE, ENRICHMENT EQUITY & COMMUNITY at 10 am 

Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor, Redwood Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1601472164 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 160 147 2164 

AGENDA: 2. Berkeley Food Utility and Access Resilience Measure (FARM), 3. Referral Response from Community Health Commission Responsible Psychedelic Drug Policy Reform in Berkeley. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-committees/policy-committee-health-life-enrichment-equity-community 

AGENDA AND RULES COMMITTEE Meeting at 2 pm 

Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor – Redwood Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1609748748 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 160 974 8748 

AGENDA: Public Comment on non-agenda and items 1 – 7. 1. Minutes, 2. Review and Approve 5/23/2023 draft agenda – use link or read full draft agenda below at the end of the list of city meetings, 3. Berkeley Considers, 4. Adjournment in Memory, 5. Council Worksessions, 6. Referrals for scheduling, 7. Land Use Calendar, Unscheduled Items: 8. COVID, 9. Discussion of Potential Changes to City Council Legislative Process, 10. Modifications or Improvements to City Council Meeting Procedures (referred by Council at the March 14, 2023 meeting), 11. Strengthening and Supporting City Commission: Guidance on Development of Legislative Proposals, 12. Discussion Regarding Design and Strengthening of Policy Committees Process and Structure (Including Budget Referrals). 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-committees/policy-committee-agenda-rules 

CITY COUNCIL Closed Session at 3 pm  

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor, Redwood Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1612609972 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 161 260 9972 

AGENDA: 1. Conference with Labor Negotiators, Employee Organizations: Berkeley Fire Fighters association Local 1227 I.A.F.F., Berkeley Fire Fighters association Local 1227 I.A.F.F / Berkeley Chief Fire Officers Association; Berkeley Police Association. 

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

COMMUNITY HEALTH COMMISSION Health Facilities Subcommittee at 1 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87903569046?pwd=d1NsT0QzR0hpNXFjcnFuYWNVUDFoQT09 

Teleconference: 1-305-224-1968 Meeting ID: 879 0356 9046 Passcode: 120168 

AGENDA: Bartlett - Discussion regarding City Council Referral on Long Term Care Facilities. 

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

YOUTH COMMISSION at 6:30 pm 

In-Person: 1730 Oregon, MLK Jr. Youth Services Center/YAP 

AGENDA: 9. Youth Commission responsibility, 10. Action: Youth Commission Work Plan 2023-2024. 

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

Tuesday, May 9, 2023 

CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting at 6 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 1231 Addison St. in the School District Board Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1603158470 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 160 315 8470 

AGENDA: Use the link and choose the meeting html option or see the agenda listed at the end of the calendar. 

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

Wednesday, May 10, 2023 

North Berkeley BART OPEN HOUSE from 6 – 8 pm 

In-Person: 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: Drop in anytime to see proposed plans and provide input on transportation bike and pedestrian routes, urban design, open space including the Ohlone Greenway, outdoor amenities and plants, ground floor uses, architecture and building design. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/events/north-berkeley-bart-open-house 

HOMELESS SERVICES PANEL of EXPERTS Special Meeting at 7 pm 

In-Person: 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 7. Review Programs, current and proposed, funded under Measure P and establish priorities for funding. Discussion and possible action. 

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

PARKS, RECREATION, and WATERFRONT COMMISSION (PRW) at 7 pm 

In-Person: 2800 Park, Frances Albrier Community Center Auditorium 

AGENDA: 7. Chair’s Report, 8. Presentation on Undergrounding Interstate 80 in Berkeley, 9. Presentation/Action on Waterfront Specific Plan Webinar 1, Webinar 2 and subcommittee report, 10. Discussion/Action on Measure T1 proposed reductions, 11. Discussion on Proposed fee increases to City Recreation and Waterfront fees and programs, 12. PRW Commission Workplan 2023, 13. Director’s Report Ferris. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/parks-recreation-and-waterfront-commission 

POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY BOARD (PAB) at 6:30 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center  

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82653396072 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 826 5359 6072 

AGENDA: 3. Public Comment on agenda and non-agenda items, 5. ODPA Staff Report, 6. Chair and Member Reports, 7. Chief of Police Report, 8. Subcommittee Reports: a. Policy and Practices relating to the Downtown Task Force and Bike Unit Allegations, b. Body-worn Camera Policy, c. Conflict of Interest, 9. A. Training on Graham V. Connor, 10. A. Appointment of members to the Berkeley City Charter Section 125 Review Subcommittee, b. Consideration of ODPA proposed procedure for internal/external communications between the Board and other parties, c. Discussion regarding the proposed guidelines for PAB Subcommittees, 11. Public Comment, 12. Closed Session. 

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

Thursday, May 11, 2023 

ZONING ADJUSTMENT BOARD at 7 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 1231 Addison St. in the School District Board Room 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84840138056 

Teleconference: 1-669-444-9171 or 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 848 4013 8956 

AGENDA: 2. 2049 Shattuck – on consent – change alcoholic beverage license from beer & wine to beer, wine and distilled spirits 

3. 2966 College – on consent – add sale of beer and wine for on-site consumption incidental to movie theater 

4. 1598 University – on consent – State Density Bonus project - demolish non-residential structure and construct a 134,409 sq ft 8-story (89 ft-2in) mixed-use residential building with 207 dwelling units (including 21 very low income), 5,787 sq ft commercial space, 39 auto parking spaces, 92 bicycle parking spaces, 

5. 3000 Shattuck – on action – State Density Bonus project – demolish existing gas station and construct 10-story (114 feet) mixed-use with 166 dwellings (including 17 very low income), 1,043 sq ft of commercial space. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/zoning-adjustments-board 

Friday, May 12, 2023 – A City Reduced Service Day 

Saturday, May 13, 2023 

Berkeley Neighborhoods Council at 10 am 

Videoconference:  

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4223188307?pwd=dFlNMVlVZ2d6b0FnSHh3ZlFwV2NMdz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-444-9171 Meeting ID: 422 318 8307 Passcode: 521161 

AGENDA: 1. Small Business Support Package with Kieron Slaughter, CoB Office of Economic Development, 2. Proposed Downtown Developments with Steven Buckley, CoB Land Use Manager. 

https://berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/ 

Sunday, May 14, 2023 – Mother’s Day 

Mother’s Day Hats and High Tea from 2 – 5 pm 

In-Person: Berkeley Rose Garden, 1200 Euclid 

https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/events/mothers-day-hats-and-high-tea 

++++++++++++++++ 

 

AGENDA AND RULES COMMITTEE Meeting at 2 pm 

Draft Agenda for May 23 City Council Regular Meeting at 6 pm 

Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 2180 Milvia, 6th Floor – Redwood Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1609748748 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 160 974 8748 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-committees/policy-committee-agenda-rules 

AGENDA on CONSENT 

1. 2nd reading Arreguin - Adding BMC Chapter 13.107 Hard Hat Ordinance
2. Appointment of Standby Officers for District 8 and District 2.
3. Minutes for April 11, 13, 17, and 25
4. Appointment of new members to the Police Accountability Board by Councilmembers Humbert and Hahn.
5. Hollander, Economic Development – Annual Report for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for Telegraph Property Based Business Improvement District (TBID)
6. Hollander, Economic Development - Annual for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for Berkeley Tourism Business Improvement District (BTBID)
7. Hollander, Economic Development - Annual for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for North Shattuck Property Based Businesses (NSBID)
8. Hollander, Economic Development - Annual for 2023 and 2024 Assessments for Downtown Berkeley Property Based Businesses (DPBID)
9. Hollander, Economic Development – Contracts total $600,000 for 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2026, $200,000 with Atthowe Fine Art Services, $100,000 with Kala Art Institute, $200,000 with Preservation Arts LLC, $100,000 with ShipArt International
10. Oyekanmi, Finance – Formal Bid Solicitations - $1,907,987
11. Oyekanmi, Finance – Amend Contract 32000164 add $975,000 with Synthesis Group, Inc. dba Minuteman Press for citywide copying and extend thru 1/31/2025
12. Oyekanmi, Finance – Contract (no cost given) with Stella Courier, LLC. With Stella Courier for mail room services and coverage
13. Oyekanmi, Finance – Appropriations Limit for FY 2024
14. Oyekanmi, Finance – Amend Contract 9367 $3,000,000 with Wells Fargo for Banking Services to continue the work of de-bundling and extend to 5/31/2027
15. Sprague, Fire – Contract $100,000 to align with City of Downey existing contract with Data Ticket to provide Administrative Citation Processing 5/1/2023 – 9/21/2025 with option to extend for addition three one year terms not to exceed $300,000 for 5/2023 – 9/2028
16. Sprague, Fire – Approve CoB Community Wildfire Protection Plan
17. Warhuus, HHCS – Revenue Grant total $46,080, $14,000 from State of CA for Tuberculosis Control Program, $32,080 from Alameda Co for Public Health Infrastructure Program
18. Warhuus, HHCS – Contract $200,000 with JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc. for CA Hom Visiting Program Planning Consulting Services, 7/1/2023 – 1/31/2024
19. Warhuus, HHCS – Amend Contract 32300104 add $250,000 total $500,000with Village of Love to Operate the Telegraph Neighborhood Sacred Rest Drop-in Center
20. Warhuus, HHCS – Amend Contract 32300144 with Resource Development Associates for Specialized Care Unit Evaluation
21. Fong, IT – Contract $299,710 with Accela, Inc. for software maintenance 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2025
22. Ferris, Parks – Contract $399,000 with Delta Charter for bus transportation services for Echo Lake Camp and Select Recreation Division Summer Programs 6/1/2023 – 6/1/2026
23. Ferris, Parks – Contract $436,954 includes 20% contingency $72,826 with Baldoni Construction Services, Inc. for Echo Lake Camp accessibility upgrades
24. Louis, BPD – Referral Response: Security Assessment of the 1700 and 1600 blocks of San Pablo, assessment did not indicate a need for further security improvements to the Berkeley Inn or immediate area
25. Garland, Public Works – Audit Status Report, Rocky Road, Berkeley Streets
26. Garland, Public Works – Amend Contract 10986 add $100,000 total $600,000 with Zero waste Collaborative for the Solid Waste & Recycling Transfer Station Rebuild Feasibility Study and extend to 6/30/2025
27. Garland, Public Works – Purchase Order 72 Hour, LLC, dba National Auto Fleet Group for Uplifting of Crime Scene Unit Cargo Van
28. Civic Arts Commission – Refer to City Manager Development of Artists Affordable Housing Certification Program
29. Aguilar, PAB – Contract $100,000 with AppleOne for temporary staffing services
30. Arreguin – Support Scott Weiner & Phil Ting SB 532 requires if proposed ballot measure imposes a tax, raises taxes or issues bonds, that rate and duration of tax levied be included in ballot, for full bill see https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB532
31. Taplin – Budget Referral $600,000 for HAWK crosswalk at 6th and Addison
32. Wengraf, co-sponsor Arreguin – Support H.R. 603 HEAL Act Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Lessons Act

AGENDA on ACTION: 

33. Warhuus, HHCS – Fee Increase: Condominium Conversion Program Application Fee by $30 new total $310 per application and for units currently rented by $40 total $410 and applications deferring the mitigation fee by $95 to $1040 per unit
34. Warhuus, HHCS – Fee Increase: Condominium Conversion Program Subordination Fee add $35 new total $399
35. Warhuus, HHCS – Fee Increase: Below Market Monitoring Program add $18 new total $450
36. Ferris, Parks – Selected Marina Fee Increases: - NO DOCUMENTATION OF FEE
37. Ferris, Parks – Changes to Selected Parks and Recreation Fees – NO DOCUMENTATION OF FEES
38. ZAB Appeal: 469 Kentucky Use Permit #ZP2022-0087 – demolish single family dwelling and construct a 3-story 3,310 sq ft single-family dwelling with a two-car garage, and dismiss the appeal
39. Louis, BPD – Surveillance Ordinance items related to Fixed Surveillance Cameras and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) (Drones)
40. Energy Commission – Recommendation on Climate, Building electrification, and Sustainable Transportation Budget Priorities for FY 2023-2024
41. Arreguin – 1. Resolution calling on Hyundai and Kia to take immediate action to fix for the flaw in their vehicles that make the easy targets for car thefts, 2. Direct City Attorney to explore taking legal action against Hyundai and Kai
42. Arreguin – Contract $482,525 includes contingency of $50,000 with Badawi & Associates, CPAs for Professional Auditing Services to perform annual financial audits of City’s financial statements and perform annual compliance audits required by Single Audit Act of 1984 (revised 1996) for 5/22/2023 – 6/30/2026 with option to extend for 2 additional years
43. Bartlett, co-sponsor Arreguin – Adopting temporary exemption from the collection of taxes under BMC Chapter 9.04.136(D): Tax Rate for Non-Medical and Medical Cannabis Businesses
44. Robinson, co-sponsors Taplin, Kesarwani, Humbert – Referral to City Manager to assess the viability of transforming the University & I-80 interchange with the goal of removing the I-80 at-grade barrier between the Berkeley Marina and the rest of the City and explore related grant opportunities, like Tunnel Tops in San Francisco

INFORMATION REPORTS: 

45. Audit Recommendation Status – 911 Dispatchers: Understaffing Leads to Excessive to Overtime and Low Morale
46. Audit Recommendation Status – Data Analysis of the City of Berkeley’s Police Response
47. Audit Recommendation Status – Berkeley Police Improvements Needed to Manage Overtime and Security Work for Outside Entities

+++++++++++++++++++ 

 

May 9, 2023 AGENDA for CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting at 6 pm 

A Hybrid Meeting 

In-Person: at 1231 Addison St. in the School District Board Room 

Videoconference: https://cityofberkeley-info.zoomgov.com/j/1603158470 

Teleconference: 1-669-254-5252 or 1-833-568-8864 (toll free) Meeting ID: 160 315 8470 

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

AGENDA on CONSENT 

1. Proposition Procedures and Five Year Zero Waste Schedule (garbage pick-up rates)
2. Brown, City Attorney – Waiver of Sanctuary City Ordinance to Amend Westlaw Subscription
3. Friedrichsen, Budget Manager – First reading of an Ordinance amending FY 2023 Annual Appropriations Ordinance (AAO) $27,740,780 (gross) and $29,4588,924 (net)
4. Williams-Ridley, City Manager – Appointment of David Sprague-Livingston as Fire Chief
5. Williams-Ridley, City Manager – Appointment of Jennifer Louis as Police Chief
6. Oyekanmi, Finance - $7,305,000 Formal bid solicitations
7. Warhuus, HHCS – Apply for and accept $5,000,000 from State of CA Local Housing Trust Fund program and apply to St. Paul Terrace (2024 Ashby) via the City’s Housing Trust Fund
8. Warhuus, HHCS – Amend contract #31900263 add General Funds $98,275, Safe at Home Program $24,575, Community Facility Improvement $122,850 amended total $614,250 with Rebuilding Together East Bay-North and extend to 6/30/2024
9. Warhuus, HHCS – Contract $75,000 with Optimas Services, Inc for consulting services related to Mental Health Medi-Cal Billing and the CalAIM Initiative
10. Warhuus, HHCS – Amend contract #32300108 add $50,000 total $99,500 with Street Level Advisors, LLC for housing consulting services and extend to 6/30/2024
11. Warhuus, HHCS – Contract $110,000 with Pacific Site Management Landscaping for 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2026
12. Warhuus, HHCS – Contract $380,000 with resource Development Associates for consultation services to support HHCS program assessment and planning
13. Warhuus, HHCS – Contract $100,000 with Hansine Fisher & Associates for Targeted Case Management and Medi-Cal Administrative Activities for 7/1/2023-6/30/2024
14. Warhuus, HHCS – Revenue Grant Agreement: funding support from Essential Access Health to conduct Public Health Services $180,000 for 4/1/2023 – 3/30/2024
15. Warhuus, HHCS – Revenue Grant Agreements: funding support from the state of CA to conduct Public Health Services CHDP and EPSDT and HCPCFC $303,709, MCAH $375,000, Tobacco Trust Fund $300,000 all for FY 2024; Immunization Program $1,368,080 for FY 2023-2027, CRI $1,368,080 for FY 2023-2027, CLPPP $107,374 per year for FY 2024-2026 total $322,123, CFHL $487,170 for FY 2024-2027
16. Warhuus, HHCS – Revenue Grant Agreements: funding support from Alameda County for health promotion, protection and prevention services all for FY 2024, Foster Care $96,500, Berkeley High and Berkeley technology Academy Health Center Programs $181,208, School Linked Health Services Program $200,011, Tobacco Prevention $78,960
17. Warhuus, HHCS – Accept $650,928 from CA Dept of Public Health Strengthening Public Health Initiative for 12/1/2022 – 11/30/2027
18. Kouyoumdjian, Human Resources – Establish Classification and Salary for Electrical Supervisor and Communications Supervisor monthly salary range $9,666.8000 - $10,882.1055
19. Ferris, Parks – Donation $3,400 for Memorial Bench at Mortar Rock Park in memory of Charles D. Sooy
20. Ferris, Parks – Amend contract #32100138 add $1,000,000 with AnchorCM and amend #32100144 add $1,000,000 with Park Engineering, Inc. for on-call Waterfront Project and Construction Management Services total for both contracts $4,000,000 and extend 6/30/2024-6/30/2025
21. Ferris, Parks – Contract $360,000 with Elavon for credit card payment processing transaction services for the Recreation Division’s online registration system for 6/1/2023 to 5/31/2027
22. Ferris, Parks – Amend contract #32200098 add $138,000 total $1,338,000 with ERA Construction, Inc. for the O&K Docks electrical upgrade project
23. Garland, Public Works – Agreement with EBMUD for Sewer Service Billing and Collection $6,100,000 for 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2033
24. Wong, Auditor – Amend contract add $100,000 total $124,000 with Missionmark for Audit Management and Recommendation Tracking Software and extend to 5/30/2027
25. May, Fire Dept – Approval of Additional Disaster and Fire Safety Commission Meeting

AGENDA on ACTION: 

26. Friedrichsen, Budget Manager – FY 2024 Proposed Budget Updates and FY 2024 Proposed Budget Update Public Hearing #1
27. Warhuus, HHCS – Submission of the ProgramYear (FY 2024) Annual Action Plan Containing Allocations of Federal Funds
28. Kouyoumdjian, Human Resources – Resolution of Intention to Amend the Miscellaneous CalPERS Contract to Effectuate PEPRA Cost Sharing Agreements

INFORMATION REPORTS: 

29. Oyekanmi, Finance - FY 2023 2nd Quarter Investment Report ended 12/31/2022
30. Warhuus, HHCS – Annual Report on the Ronald V. Dellums Fair Chance Access to Housing Ordinance
31. Klein, Planning and Development - LPO NOD 1919 Addison
32. Klein, Planning and Development – LPO NOD 0 Center Street – Civic Center Park

++++++++++++++++++ 

LAND USE CALENDAR: 

Public Hearings 

469 Kentucky (single family dwelling) 5/23/2023 

 

WORK SESSIONS & SPECIAL MEETINGS: 

May 16 - Fire Facilities Study Report 

June 20 - Climate Action Plan and Resilience Update, Berkeley Economic Dashboards Update,  

July 18 – Draft Waterfront Specific Plan (tentative) 

Unscheduled Presentations: 

Fire Dept Standards of Coverage and Community Risk Assessment None 

City Policies for Managing Parking Around BART Stations 

Unfunded Liability Obligations and Unfunded Infrastructure Needs 

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Kelly Hammargren’s summary on what happened the preceding week can be found in the Berkeley Daily Planet under Activist’s Diary at: www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. 

This meeting list is also posted at: https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html 

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 calendar of city meetings please forward the email you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com with the request to be removed from the email list. 

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For Online Public Meetings 

CLOSED CAPTIONING, SAVE TRANSCRIPT OVERVIEW, DIRECTIONS and ZOOM SUPPORT LINKS: 

For no extra cost the ZOOM meeting application has as part of their program Closed Captioning (CC). It turns computer voice recognition into a transcript. Accuracy of the Closed Captioning is affected by background noise, the volume and clarity of the speaker, lexicons/wordbook and dialect of the speaker. The transcript will not be perfect, but most of the time reading through it the few words that don't fit, can be deciphered, like Shattuck was transcribed as Shadow in one recent transcript. 

Know that any Zoom meeting can be set up to allow Closed Captioning and Save Transcript. Also, any meeting can be set up to allow Chat and to Save Chat.  

If there is no CC at the bottom of your zoom screen, the person who set up the meeting did not activate this option. They may not realize they have this option or they may know about it and have chosen not to offer closed captioning. If it is not activated, ask for it. 

To save a meeting transcript, look for CC for Closed Captioning at the bottom of the screen. Then click on the arrow next to CC and select View Full Transcript. You will only see the transcript from the time you activated closed captioning or view full transcript. It is not necessary to show closed captioning to see and save the transcript. 

At the bottom of the transcript column if we, as attendees, are allowed to save the transcript, there will be a button for, "Save Transcript," you can click on the button repeatedly throughout the meeting and it will just overwrite and update the full transcript. Clicking on the "Save Transcript" repeatedly as the meeting is coming to an end is important because once the host ends the meeting, the transcript is gone if you didn't save it. 

– So click often on both "Save Transcript" and on "Save to Folder"--saving it to your computer during the meeting for best results. (These text files are not large.) 

After you have done your last "Save Transcript" and "Save to Folder"--then (after the meeting is over) you can rename the new transcript on your computer, and save it (to re-read it, or to send or share it). Remember, allowing us attendees to save the meeting transcript does not require the public meeting host to save these transcripts (for any public record.) 

Here is the link to ZOOM Support for how to set up Closed Captioning for a meeting or webinar:  

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/8158738379917#h_01GHWATNVPW5FR304S2SVGXN2X 

Here is the link to ZOOM Support for attendees in how to save Closed Captions Transcripts: 

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360060958752-Using-save-captions#h_01F5XW3BGWJAKJFWCHPPZGBD70