A BERKELEY ACTIVIST'S DIARY: week ending October 29
I often think I should approach writing the Activist’s Diary like plein air painting by picking a .point in time and stopping, but the world and the City keep moving on while I write.
I finished Naomi Klein’s book Doppelganger just two weeks before the Hamas attack on Israel. Doppelganger starts with Klein describing her “double” with whom she is often confused, Naomi Wolf, who has taken a hard right turn. In the book Klein recounts her trip to Gaza and compares the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel to the displacement and genocide of the American Indigenous People in the United States.
At the beginning of the week the death toll in Gaza was 5,791 of whom 2,360 were children. After President Joe Biden doubt about the number of deaths, the Gaza Health Ministry published on October 26, 2023 a 212-page list of over 6700 dead Palestinians by name, age, gender and ID number. 2665 were children. The list does not contain the names of 281 who could not be identified. As I write there is more bombing and more names to be added. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/27/headlines/gaza_health_ministry_publishes_names_of_nearly_7_000_palestinians_killed_in_israeli_strikes
The residents of Gaza are running out of food, water, medicine and fuel and Israel has shut off power and communications. The few aid convoys into Gaza before this latest siege were wholly inadequate for what is needed for 2.2 million people. Twenty-nine journalists are confirmed dead:bb 24 Palestinian, 1 Lebanese, and 4 Israeli. Eight journalists were reported injured and 9 were reported missing or detained. Last night I heard that the injured at the hospital in Gaza City numbered 19,000.
Will all the Israeli retaliation under the banner of turning Hamas to dust end terrorism? I doubt it. The horror raining down on Gaza, the massive destruction by Israel, the thousands dead and injured bring only more terror. It is not war crimes it is that war is the crime. I believe it was Howard Zinn who said that first.
In some parts of the country, calling for a ceasefire, ending the blockade to Palestine has meant being doxed, fired, nasty emails, posts, being called anti-Semitic and death threats. But now the pictures and reports coming out of Gaza look like a genocide of the Palestinians and the demonstrations calling for a cease-fire are growing around the world and here too. And yes, I sent off my ceasefire contact letters to the President, U.S. Senators and Barbara Lee.
Tuesday was book club. We chose The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917 - 2017 by Rashid Khalidi for January.
The new speaker of the House Mike Johnson is a self-described Evangelical Christian in the Southern Baptist tradition who said “My faith informs everything I do.” Johnson previously worked as senior attorney and spokesperson for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) a Southern Poverty Law Center designated hate group.
When I downloaded Robert P. Jones’ book White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, I never expected that the new speaker of the House would be coming out of the tradition of which Jones writes (religion, politics and culture including the Evangelical Christian in the Southern Baptist tradition). The book covers how deeply white supremacy is embedded in white Christianity especially the Southern Baptist and Evangelical churches in the South. Jones goes into detail in how the Daughters of the Confederacy embedded teaching children in the “Lost Cause” mirroring religious studies at church and Sunday school with lessons, holidays and celebrations of the Confederacy.
The book is fascinating. I never knew the National Cathedral had four stained-glass windows honoring the Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson (1953-2017) donated by the Daughters of the Confederacy. Those windows were replaced in 2017 (before my first visit) with racial justice themed stained-glass windows.
My copy of the book was from the Contra Costa County Library. There are four people in line for the one copy at the San Francisco Library and no copies that I could find in Berkeley.
If you are not up for a book or already in overload, Katelyn Fossett’s October 27, 2023 interview with Kristin Kobes Du Mez (author of Jesus and John Wayne) on Mike Johnson will give you a peak into what is ahead. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/27/mike-johnson-christian-nationalist-ideas-qa-00123882
On to the week in Berkeley.
Monday afternoon four of us attending the Agenda and Rules Committee spoke to our concerns regarding item 22 in the draft agenda for November 7, 2023.
“22. Modernizing and updating outdated & unnecessary language in the BMC related to transportation
From: Councilmember Rigel Robinson
Recommendation: Adopt first reading of an Ordinance amending BMC Chapters 6.32, 1432 and 14.68 to: 1. Rescind outdated or unnecessary regulations pertaining to jaywalking, skateboarding, bicycle licenses and bicycle establishment requirements, 2. Allow 24/7 use of public paths by pedestrians and cyclists for the purpose of transportation; 3. Allow bicyclists on non-electric bicycles to ride on the sidewalk while exercising due care and yielding right-of-way to pedestrians when no Class I, Class II, or Class IV bicycle facility is available; 4. Align the penalty for bicycle violations with other moving violations by amending it from a misdemeanor to an infraction; 5. Update definitions of bicycles and scooters to align with definitions in the California Vehicle Code.” [emphasis added]
There was not one peep out of Mayor Arreguin and Councilmember Sophie Hahn who were up first in making comments on the draft agenda. When it was finally Councilmember Wengraf’s turn to speak she suggested that Robinson’s item 22 go to a policy committee before it went to the Transportation and Infrastructure Commission. The policy committee suggested was Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment and Sustainability (FITES) with Councilmembers Harrison as chair with Robinson and Taplin and Humbert as the alternate.
After Wengraf started the discussion of pulling the item 22 from the November 7 agenda and sending it to committee, then Hahn and Arreguin joined in suggesting that the item should go to the Commission on Aging and the Commission on Disability. The final motion by Hahn was “to recommend to the author [Robinson] that they amend the item to include a referral to the Disability, Aging and Transportation and Infrastructure Commissions.” The annotated agenda listed only commissions and not those specifically named in the motion.
The special City Council meeting on the Waterfront Specific Plan on November 2 was still on the schedule, but it was cancelled later with a new proposed date of January 23, 2024.
Monday evening the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council sponsored the presentation by Kristina Hill on “Contaminated Sites and Sea Level Rise – Preparing for Change.” Hill explained (with diagrams) how groundwater sits on top of the denser salty sea water and seeps into capped contaminated sites with sea level rise. Levees will not stop the groundwater rise.
In the Q & A, one person asked about the flooding at the Coliseum Connections Housing Project in East Oakland. Hill said she warned that the project would sit on a dry creek bed, a disaster waiting to happen.
Right now, Berkeley is in the middle of rezoning the low-lying West Berkeley contaminated Steel Casting site for a large biolab campus. The environmental impact report (EIR) is underway. The plan as of this week is still to cap the contaminated site.
You can pick up the link for the webinar from the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council home page at https://berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/
or go directly to the webinar at https://tinyurl.com/2s4uuzbf
The 4 x 4 Committee met on the demolition ordinance. The subject of the ordinance is protections for the renters who are displaced by the demolition of the unit they are renting or the loss of a rental unit through elimination or conversion of a unit within a building. The protections include moving and relocation location assistance, first right of refusal when new building is completed, rental differential assistance in specified circumstances for example when household income falls below 50% of the AMI (area median income).
The definition of the dwelling units covered includes just about everything , even non-permitted dwellings as long as they are registered with the Rent Board, also ADUs and JADUs. The exceptions are group living accommodations in a University recognized sorority or fraternity and a single-family house.
The plan for the demolition ordinance passed by the 4 x 4 Committee on October 24, 2023, is to go to the Planning Commission, Housing Advisory Commissions and City Council before the
Middle Housing Ordinance reaches the City Council.
The discussion of the proposal for Middle Housing is before the Planning Commission on November 1. The goal of Middle Housing, which includes duplexes, triplexes fourplexes and small buildings, is to increase density in all areas of Berkeley (R-1, R-2, R-2A, MU-R) except the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. The theory is that Middle Housing besides being “middle in size” will be naturally affordable.
The proposal includes things like by-right demolition of single-family houses, removal of the minimum size restrictions of units, and reducing the amount of open space. The proposed ordinance was presented to the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council on October 14. You can see that recording at: https://berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/
Fire Chief Sprague presented the Fiscal Year 2023 in Review and the Fiscal Year 2024 Goals to the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission on Wednesday.
I caught up with my neighbor who was also at the meeting the next day to compare notes. We were both totally impressed by Sprague’s one hour and twenty-minute presentation and shuddered every time he mentioned succession and leadership planning. We wondered how long Berkeley would be able to keep someone this qualified.
The thrust of the presentation is that Berkeley is no longer a suburban city. Berkeley is the second most dense city of the 51 most populated cities in California. San Francisco is number one. The Fire Department resources in staff, fire fighters, equipment and facilities are not equipped for the dense city we have become with high-rises replacing single family housing, one and two-story commercial buildings and low-rise multi-unit buildings. Plus, the very high fire hazard severity zones are densely populated.
Sprague’s goal of returning wildland to native vegetation made this attendee very happy.
Sprague expects that when the evacuation emergency access study is completed next year more areas will be designated as the very highest fire risk, what we now call Fire Zone 3 or ES-R (Environmental Safety-Residential District) like Panoramic Hill. Sprague also said if Panoramic Hill is being evacuated from an oncoming fire, then we have failed. Panoramic Hill residents need to evacuate in advance.
When Mayor Arreguin states his vision of adding 15,000 units to Berkeley, which if filled would add around 30,000 to 40,000 people, never have I heard that goal accompanied by the information that to have adequate services and response times Berkeley needs to upgrade and properly staff the dispatch center (think 911), add ambulances, firefighters, EMTs, replace four fire stations with new facilities and renovate three. Nor do those statements that are so appealing to the building industry endorsements he is courting inform us that the needed investment of renovating three fire stations, replacing four stations, new headquarters and the training center comes with a $330 milliion - $372 million price tag. This does not include the dispatch center.
The presentation starts on page 15 in the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission packet for the October 25, 2023 meeting. https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/disaster-and-fire-safety-commission
No votes were taken on the AAO#! (Annual Appropriations Ordinance aka Fall Budget Adjustment) at the Budget Committee. However, before any more budget referrals are added, the spending requests total $38,805,924 and the available funds are $13,945,878.
The Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) was the last City meeting I attended for the week. Nature lost in the 600 Addison Street biolab building appeal. The appeal of the sign approved by the Design Review Committee (DRC) to the Zoning Adjustment Board was that the height and lighting of the signage was in conflict with the City Sign Ordinance. The DRC Secretary Anne Burns confessed to incorrectly informing the DRC members that the sign was in compliance with the Sign Ordinance when it wasn’t.
The developer gave the song and dance of how the signage wasn’t really advertising, that the lights would be shut off from 10 pm to 5 am and would meet the Dark Skies Initiative, ignoring that unnecessary night light is in conflict with the Dark Skies Initiative and detrimental to nature. The vote was 7 to 2 in favor of the sign. The ZAB was more moved by the DRC secretary confessing to providing incorrect direction to committee members, than that the sign was in conflict with the ordinance.
The last project was to request five additional parking spaces for the 2403-2407 San Pablo multi-unit project. There was a back and forth until finally the five spaces were approved in a 7 to 2 vote. It is quite amazing how the Berkeley electeds and appointeds are quick to prohibit parking at large multi-unit housing projects and perfectly willing to approve 943 parking spaces for 600 Addison and large parking lots for other biolab buildings.
The San Pablo project will be condominiums. Maybe the Panoramic Hill resident who commented at the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meeting that he absolutely must have [street] parking for his car or he couldn’t live on Panoramic Hill should take a look at the condominiums on San Pablo. It’s a nice project and not in ES-r/Fire Zone 3.
It is impossible to attend every meeting. I missed the Rent board, Loan Administration Board, Solano Business Improvement District, the Zero Waste Commission, the Civic arts Commission, the Police Accountability Board, the Community Forum on the Berkeley Marina and the Community Health Commission.
I did make it to the forum with State Senate Candidate Dan Kalb on Saturday. That was the third and final planned forum with State Senate Candidates sponsored by East Bay Community for Action. The great thing about each of these forums was we had just one candidate at a time with ample time to ask a wide variety of unscreened, unfiltered questions. I took pages and pages of notes at each forum and will send a summary in the next Activist’s Diary. The other two forums were with the candidates Kathryn Lybarger and Jovanka Beckles.
