Page One

BORN AGAIN  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I got out! Sold my house and moved out of Berkeley area and to Benicia. Sure is nice not having to walk around all the people on the sidewalk panhandling in front of every store. The Berkeley merchants bring it on themselves. It’s an attitude, not a problem! It’s all the PC crap that rules Berkeley, not the police or the local government. Let the police enforce the laws already on the books, and have the liberal judges enforce it, and part of the problem would go away. 

Get all the drug paraphernalia out of the head shops on Telegraph, and the drug problem would lessen. 

Let the police arrest for pot and crack, and get it off the street. Stop tying their hands! 

The attitude also gets rid of school superintendents and managers in Berkeley. Let them do their job! 

And here I am, up in Benicia becoming a born-again redneck. Love it! 

Allan Munkres 

Benicia 

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HEIGHT RULES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Did you know that developers are using tricks in neighborhoods much like those being used on commercial corridors? These tricks give a nod and a wink to oversized and insensitive development. 

Height rules! Not democratic process, nor quiet enjoyment of one’s home and community. The tricks to increase height include using lofts, mezzanines, undefined roof areas, and average height. Under “by right” development, the immediate neighbors have no rights. 

Mayor Tom Bates and his associates (including six of eight City Councilmembers) should be held responsible for the massive redevelopment of Berkeley which they are allowing and encouraging. Bates has actually said: “My priority now is getting Berkeley developed.” But who gave him the right to redesign this city? He said that he told everyone during his campaign about his plans for development. But Bates tells tall tales. I attended all the major political forums during the campaign, including the Greens, Berkeley Democratic Club, BCA, Berkeley Party, November Coalition, and the Rainbow Coalition, and Bates never mentioned his development plans. In fact, he didn’t mention much of anything, except the waterfront and his wife Loni. He usually arrived late and left early. 

“What can we do about out-of-control development and betrayal of the public trust?” I asked someone at City Hall today. “Well, I think we have to take the democratic process back.” he answered. “Just be active. Mobilize!”  

I share this advice with you. 

Merrilie Mitchell 

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PORTABLE LIGHTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A recent letter to the editor communicates contempt for stadium neighbors who annually “whine” about traffic, etc. “Why not move?” is the gist of the letter. 

The writer’s point of view is instructive because it suggests that the real story hasn’t gotten out yet. Concerned neighbors are not whining about the status quo, but about a possible project that stands in limbo. 

In the summer of 1999, UCB’s Athletic Department proposed to install TV broadcast quality lighting. But despite euphoria surrounding the opening of PacBell Park, few wanted our collective backyard lit up like South of Market in San Francisco. 

And yet that is exactly what was proposed. Only with a Public Records Act request did university administrators cough up the details. Prior to our request, we were only told that there would be “nine free-standing light poles...five light assemblies... approximately 60 feet above the stadium rim.” Upon receiving a blueprint in response to the record request, we learned the grizzly details: 282 lights with light assemblies as large as 22’x12’ with the smallest 19.5’x7’.  

The project stands in limbo while the athletic department continues its fundraising to retrofit Memorial Stadium. As many fans are opposed to installing TV lights, the administration has remained strategically ambiguous. If asked, they say they have no plans, which is quite different from making a commitment to their potential donors one way or another.  

The obvious compromise is portable TV lighting. But the only thing standing in the way between portable lighting and concerned neighbors is the administration’s silence on the issue and the public’s necessary reliance on the media for information and dialogue.  

Janice Thomas 

President, Panoramic Hill Association 

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RENEW INTEGRITY  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Executive Editor O’Malley’s Editorial (”Hello and Goodbye Mayor, Council.” Daily Planet, Sept. 9-11) voicing concern over the smothering of Berkeley’s once vibrant Council meetings is very welcomed. O’Malley traces this smothering back to the Bates-driven Agenda (nee Rules) Committee. Let’s remember that all of Council except for Dona Spring and Betty Olds supported creation of this committee. This anti-democratic committee, then, was voted in by both moderate and progressive Democrats. At that moment, those who voted for it surrendered their civic vision of Council Agendas/meetings as Berkeley’s main open forum for political discussion. 

Now we have a small Agenda Committee deciding/delaying what city issues the Berkeley citizenry may be informed of. Adding insult to injury, we also now have fewer council meetings scheduled because Bates has other plans for those nights. The mayor’s absence heretofore never prevented council meetings; that’s why we have a vice-mayor. To date, we’ve not heard even murmurs of protest from the other councilpersons.  

Bates’ Agenda Committee and fewer council meetings are logically indefensible with regard to their democratic consequences. With these two maneuvers, Berkeley’s own political process has been undermined. This turn to the right belies whatever larger social justice resolutions City Council may pass.  

I would suggest that the Wellstone Democratic “Renewal” Club direct some of its energy to renew Berkeley’s own political integrity by working to abolish the Agenda Committee and to restore the cut council meetings but, alas, the Wellstone Club was initiated by Bates’ closest advisors.  

Instead, other citizens must input their councilpersons to rescind the Agenda Committee and restore cut council meetings. In addition, there always are the three minutes of public comment at council meetings to voice disapproval and sense of loss. Though it’s a long time to endure Berkeley’s loss of democratic process, there are also the next Berkeley elections to correct the course. 

Maris Arnold