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Like public and private buildings around the country, City Hall instituted a slew of new security measures Monday in an attempt to make the building safer, while not disrupting public business.  

“All government agencies from the federal to local levels are operating with heightened awareness,” City Manager Weldon Rucker wrote in a Sept. 12 memo to city councilmembers. “Many have implemented considerable security measures as a result of the Sept. 11 events. As part of the city’s overall effort to review, update and exercise our emergency procedures, I will be implementing a new building safety and security plan.” 

All visitors to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center building will now be asked where they are going, then lobby staff will call ahead to that department to announce their arrival. Visitors will wear a name tag, which will include the floor and department they intend to visit. 

In addition, a plainclothes Berkeley police officer will be stationed in the lobby for at least the rest of this week. 

City Communications Manager Stephanie Lopez said the measures are designed to be helpful as well as security conscious.  

“Since the Civic Center reopened (early this year) we’ve needed to update our building plan for how we service the public,” she said. “People should expect to come to the Civic Center and have a safe and pleasant experience while here.” 

Lopez said the city manager’s safety measures are based on common sense. She said public buildings in other cities, such as San Francisco and Oakland, have implemented more intrusive safety measures including metal detector stations and parcel and bag searches. No additional funding will be needed for the new safety measures, she added, since more staff or equipment will not be used. 

Other safety measures include a tow-away zone around the perimeter of the Civic Center and closure of the public rest rooms in the rear of the building until further notice. 

According to the city manager’s memo, all the city’s buildings will be reviewed for safety measures. 

The general response among councilmembers and their aides was favorable to the new safety measures. 

Councilmember Miriam Hawley said she had not yet heard complaints from any of her constituents and that the new measures made city workers feel safer. 

“I suppose some people will be upset by the new security at first but it makes people working in the building feel unafraid,” she said. 

The mayor’s executive assistant, Tamlyn Bright, said the new safety measures are a welcome feature.  

“I think these are appropriate actions and I’m very happy that we are responding the way the rest of the country is,” she said. “This is the least we can do.” 

Councilmember Linda Maio’s aide, Calvin Fong, said the building was a little too open before – at least once a week there is someone wandering around the hallways with no apparent business in the building. He added that people frequently walk into the office.  

“It’s kind of irritating when people come walking right into the office unannounced,” he said.  

Councilmember Betty Olds said she thought the new measures were OK but the tow away zone outside the building was “going too far.” She said she was concerned about older residents who now have to park blocks away to come to the Civic Center. 

Berkeley Resident Frankie Fraser, who had business in the city clerk’s office Monday, said she approved of new safety measures.  

“I think it’s great,” she said. “Especially after you travel abroad and see that this type of thing is common procedure there. We just aren’t used to it yet.”