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Dear Councilmember Humbert:

I understand that you also are an attorney. I practiced law in Washington state for 25 years. As a Cal alum (Class of 1982), I am grateful for my academic and social education at UC Berkeley. I was an elected ASUC Senator, a member of Berkeley Students for Peace, Students Against Intervention in El Salvador, and actively involved in the UC Divestment campaign to end Apartheid in South Africa. I was also involved in the Interfaith community- and worked as the Director of Hunger Education and Action at Unitas (now Free House) in my gap year before USF Law School.

I’m also a supporter of the historic, internationally recognized Commons, the 2.8 acre parcel of land that is known as People’s Park. I along with many others helped build the Free Speech Stage in 1979. I’ve also attended dozens of peaceful, joyful events in the park since my return to Berkeley in 2010. It is a space where diverse groups of people of all ages and backgrounds danced, sang, played music, gardened and held classes, tours for tourists, meetings, and individual conversations about life, current events, traveling, culture, etc.

It is tragic that people have died in People’s Park. The answer to that problem is prevention programs and more support to outreach teams to reduce harm and protect everyone from deadly drugs. We had four deaths in one day from fentanyl in Dr. King Civic Center Park last year, but that was not grounds to close the park. Park supporters are also continually working on keeping people safe - and definitely are proponents for public safety. Have you talked with any of the peace activists connected to the park, or attended any concerts or festivals before the COVID shutdown?

The answer also is to provide supportive housing, which could be provided on six other ‘opportunity sites’ identified by the 2021 UC Long Range Development Plan. If you have not done so, I encourage you to do as I did- read the entire 400 plus page report. I also participated in public comment at UC Regents meetings.

It is an erroneous label to call park supporters ‘anti-housing.’ I have been advocating for affordable housing in Berkeley for the last 13 years: I attended Planning Commision, ZAB, Council and other meetings. The council refused to set aside 20% BMR units despite the city’s own Nexus study confirming that developers would meet their ROI (they could ‘pencil it out’ in terms of profit). Both the City and University have failed to meet the urgent need for affordable housing. Our RHNA numbers are met over 200% for upper income and zero for very low income persons. Our crisis is horrible and preventable. I trust and hope that you will urge developers to do more including by passing a Community Benefits Ordinance.

Also, it was not clear to me that many Berkeley City Council members read the court opinion that suspended construction on People’s Park. Sadly, the council voted to submit an Amicus brief in support of the University. I read the entire opinion and it is based on a sound, rational analysis of the UC’s failure to identify mitigation of adverse environmental impacts, and its failure to consider and discuss alternative sites (which would actually provide many more housing units for students than the proposal for People’s Park).

The city and my alma mater have unleashed a dangerous and troubling situation. I witnessed very peaceful protestors when I was in People’s Park at midnight - early Thursday morning when unmarked white vans pulled up to the park filled with armed police officers. On Friday, I spoke with young people who witnessed a kid smashed to the ground by police (she apparently was treated at the hospital and may have a broken collar bone as a result). I witnessed an officer in the park attempt to rush up to a college student with baton forward - the young man was just standing there asking for his badge number that had been covered up. Another officer pulled the aggressive officer back. We have over 500 officers in our city in riot gear contributing to much anxiety and tension.

I don’t know if you have read the court materials on the Federal Court case captioned Law v. City of Berkeley - but the evidence and past pattern and practice does not support your statement that BPD is well trained and proficient in de-escalation. In a BlackLivesMatter protest, they escalated and bashed me, a journalist, a minister, and Cal students with hard, painful batons, and threw flash bang grenades at our feet, and later tossed tear gas through the streets including along Telegraph. In discovery, the city admitted dispersing so much of the toxic gas that they did not know the quantity.

h I don’t know if you ever attended any of the beautiful gatherings at People’s Park - but many of us are saddened by the overly aggressive, extremely costly actions (24/7 dining operation for 1,400 people for 4 days?) We could have provided meals for 1,000 unhoused people and 100 hotel vouchers for 6 months to a year probably. And low income housing vouchers for 40% of students at Cal who receive financial aid (Pell Grants provide only $900 a month for housing and UC dorms cost much more than that.. off campus housing is average $1,200- $1,400 a month per student .. many of them don’t have enough money to eat three meals a day - fortunately students started an on campus food bank- I helped start the UC Food Collective that is still going over 40 years later).

It is unfair and misleading to blame peaceful protestors for the university’s failure to provide affordable housing. Please examine all of the evidence- and I appreciate your willingness to investigate misconduct by BPD. They are required to wear body warn cameras as a result of the federal court settlement in Law v. City of Berkeley. And the Reimagining Task Force and Mayor’s Fair and Impartial Policing Task Force that I was appointed to by Mayor Arreguin worked tirelessly to ensure BPD operates within the guidelines of Constitutional Policing. The City Council and City Manager will hopefully ensure Best Practices are applied, and new reforms are being implemented. It has not been our experience - there’s often push back, delay and excuses (including the BPD Bike Patrol racist text scandal).

The other problem with this large military style operation in Berkeley this week is the inability to control police units from a dozen other locations. The ‘Mutual Aid’ operation caused significant harm during the BlackLivesMatter peaceful protest where police were a large part of the rioting behavior (see video online of officers beating people, throwing a young woman on the ground, shooting people with ‘less lethal’ but painful pellets, tear gas, etc).

I am also submitting this letter of concern to the Police Accountability Board.