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Police, sewers, infrastructure. These may not be the issues that Berkeley residents care to ponder over coffee, but these are the issues candidates are bringing to the forefront of the 4th District City Council race. 

Dona Spring, a 10-year incumbent and one of council’s most doggedly progressive members, faces two active challengers in the district, which encompasses the downtown and its high-maintenance logistical framework.  

One challenger is Bob Migdal, a former Rent Stabilization Board commissioner, who is supported by the council’s moderate wing. Laid back and self deprecating, Migdal defies most labels. A tax attorney, that has driven a taxi in San Francisco for nearly 20 years but gets around Berkeley mostly on bike, Migdal considers himself a “numbers freak,” who can help tame council spending in the face of mounting city deficits. 

The other competitor hails from Spring’s Green Party. LA Wood, a Community on the Environment commissioner, is running as an independent. Wood, a self-described environmental watchdog, has spent much of the last 12 years learning the nuts and bolts of Berkeley infrastructure and says he can bring real world know-how to council. 

“It helps to understand the physical world, to have the ability to read a blue print and understand it,” said Wood, who previously worked in construction and now owns a video company. 

A fourth candidate, David Freeman, did not return telephone calls or e-mails from the Daily Planet. 

The only Green Party member ever elected to City Council, Spring has been an advocate for local environmental and international justice concerns during her tenure on the council. Among her accomplishments are banning cigarettes from playgrounds and protecting city trees from removal. 

But her opponents say her interest in big picture issues has resulted in neglect of the 4th District, a charge Spring denies. 

“Ninety-nine percent of what I do is for the district,” she said, noting that she continuly meets with neighborhood groups to discuss district concerns. “I don’t see them reaching out to work with people to solve problems.” 

Spring, a graduate of UC Berkeley who worked for several nonprofits before joining council, said she, unlike her opponents, has worked with community members to solve problems. “Pick any issue, and I have more experience,” said Spring. 

Wood, however, claims he has dedicated much of the past 12 years trying to make Berkeley a safer place. “The difference,” Wood said, “is that Donna gets paid for what she does and most of what I do is on my own time and dime.” 

Deflecting claims that he is a loner who would be ineffective on council, Wood said he has worked successfully with both council factions and that he offered an alternative to factional politics. 

Migdal also stresses his independence. He is the only candidate to support Measure P – the ballot initiative lowering allowable heights for new developments – and has criticized council for giving city employees too many concessions during recent contract negotiations. 

Spring’s challengers also oppose her ambitious environmental infrastructure project for the district: the unearthing of Strawberry Creek at Center Street and the construction of an adjacent environmentally-friendly hotel and convention center. 

Spring, though, said the plan would be an economic boon for the downtown area, but Migdal said the plan highlighted Spring’s refusal to deal with harsh budget realities: “It’s going to cost $2 to $4 million. They don’t have the money to do it.”  

In addition to opposing the creek project on fiscal grounds, Wood argued that the plan would not have the environmental benefits that Spring envisions. “I’m only in favor of daylighting creeks if it restores habitat. A concrete channel downtown is only a water enhancement.” 

Migdal also harped on the condition of district roads and sewers. He said that, given an $850,000 transportation budget, the number of potholes on city streets seemed “fishy.” 

Spring agreed that repair work was needed, but said the current $2.1 million budget deficit hinders efforts to make improvements.  

One problem all three candidates acknowledge is crime. According to police statistics, burglaries and robberies have increased throughout the district. Migdal and Wood both say the solution is to compel police to deploy officers who are familiar with the neighborhood. “There is no community policing,” said Migdal who noted officers are rotated frequently. Wood agreed. 

Spring said she supported a multi-departmental strategy for dealing with crime. She identified a recent city policy of using zoning officers to condemn troubled, crime-ridden property as an important step in fighting neighborhood crime. 

Traffic and parking problems also plague the district, according to the candidates. On weekdays, a crowd of city and UC Berkeley workers flood the area, clogging up roads and parking spaces. 

Wood said Berkeley needed to do a better job of working with the university to manage traffic problems. He said the council has failed to form a partnership with university officials to discourage car use. 

Spring said she has requested that the university provide free bus passes to workers. The university only gives workers monthly discounts. She added that she supported the construction of more parking spaces, but her efforts to add underground parking at new downtown art theaters and Berkeley High School buildings have been rejected by council. 

Migdal said he supported construction of new lots above or below ground. “We need parking so people can shop at businesses,” he said. 

Increased traffic downtown has also led to concerns about pedestrian safety. Spring and Wood support a ballot measure to raise $10 million for new safety devices including traffic circles and pedestrian-operated traffic lights. Migdal said the measure would be a poor allocation of resources. “There is only so much money in a community,” he said noting that a recent study showed Berkeley was actually the second safest city in the state for walking. He added that traffic circles were dangerous because drivers often get confused when confronted with them. He would like to see more stop signs to help slow traffic.