Dear Becky:  

I am aware that you purchased the Daily Planet to allow the residents of Berkeley greater access to your views on development in Berkeley. You have been a vigorous and colorful opponent of many development projects in Berkeley, and virtually all of the mixed-use, mixed income projects I have done downtown. As a private citizen you are, of course, granted enormous latitude in your rhetorical excesses, such as likening the construction of the Gaia Building to the development of "strip mall." (Oak. Trib. May 6, 1998) 

In the past, I have cheerfully accepted such dialogue as part of the give and take that accompanies development in Berkeley.  

Your most recent article about me in the Daily Planet, however, was not an opinion piece, but was offered as a "news article." It contained several statements that were misleading or false, and is evidence of a a reckless disregard for the truth.  

Your headline, to begin with, is a libelous, and erroneous statement of "fact." It states "Two Kennedy Buildings Pay No Berkeley Tax."  

This is false.  

Fact: The Gaia Building paid property taxes in 2002 of $153,881.26, including $26,043.72 that went to the City of Berkeley and the Berkeley School District, and $2,131.95 to Peralta Community Colleges. 

Fact: The Berkeleyan Apartments paid property taxes in 2002 of $78,677.76, including $14,751.35 that went to the City of Berkeley and the Berkeley School District, and $956.16 to the Peralta Community Colleges. 

Your headline states that no taxes were paid to the city, and intimates that that no taxes were paid at all. 

A cursory investigation of the property tax records would have shown you falsity of your claim. You apparently chose not to actually investigate the details of the matter, or to ignore them altogether. 

We have paid all taxes assessed by city and the county on both buildings, and will work with them to correct any oversights in their record or procedures. It is worth noting that whatever errors may be involved here are solely the responsibility of the city, and that all the other properties that I am involved in—including 3 now under construction are accurately assessed. (Your reporter, Jesse Taylor, informed me that, among others, he looked up the ARTech Building, completed in 2001, and found it is accurately assessed on the tax rolls Any reason why he failed to mention that?) 

I request a retraction of the falsehoods in your article in the next edition of the Planet, in a place of similar prominence and size on the front page.  

Sincerely,  

Patrick Kennedy 

Dear Patrick, 

The Planet stands by the accuracy of its story on your buildings which appeared in Friday’s paper. Nothing in that story is in conflict with the two “facts” which you cite, both of which are true but not the whole truth. You do not cite any particular statement in the article as being “misleading or false”. 

Regarding the headline, it was perhaps excessively condensed to meet space requirements. “Berkeley Tax” was intended to be a short way of describing Berkeley’s own special fees and assessments, and did not include the state ad valorem taxes which you mentioned, none of which are assessed by the city of Berkeley. If you had any further information to offer regarding any more taxes which you pay on your buildings, you could have given it to Jesse Taylor when he talked to you last Thursday. Nevertheless, if you say so, we would be happy to run the lead from Friday’s story as a front page headline in a later paper in order to make our point even more clearly: 

At least two major properties built by prominent developer Patrick Kennedy are not paying Berkeley special fees and assessments, according to Alameda County property tax records and officials interviewed by the Daily Planet. 

But are you sure that’s what you want us to do? 

Best regards, 

Becky O’Malley

TUESDAY, OCT. 28 

Human and Ecological Health Risk Assessment of the Lawrence Berkeley Lab  

A workshop for the public by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. For information call 866-495-5651, or 540-3932. 

Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy will screen “Lolita: Slave to Entertainment,” about a killer whale and the dark side of the aquarium industry, at 7 p.m. at 206 Dwinelle, UC Campus. www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~boaa 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 525-3565. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers We are a few slowpoke seniors who walk between a mile or two each Tuesday, meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the Little Farm parking lot. To join us, call 215-7672.  

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the West Branch, 1125 University. 981-6270. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 29 

“Indefinite Detention and the Politics of Containment” with Judith Butler, Professor of Comparative Literature and Rhetoric, at noon at 145 Dwinelle, UC Campus. Sponsored by the UC Berkeley Faculty-Staff Peace Committee and the Peace Studies Student Association. 

“Secrets Lies and Empire” with Daniel Ellsberg, at 7 p.m. at 100 Lewis, UC Campus. Sponsored by the UC Berkeley Faculty-Staff Peace Committee and the Peace Studies Student Association. 

An Evening with Studs Terkel, “Keeping the Faith in Difficult Times,” a conversation with Harry Kreisler, producer and host of Conversations with History, at 8 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Sponsored by UC Institute for International Studies, KPFA Free Speech Radio, and Mother Jones Magazine. Tickets are $18, students $12 and are available from Cody’s Books or 642-9988. www.calperformances.org 

Touch Screen Voting Issues Educational Forum from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 2. Sponsored by the Oakland League of Women Voters. 834-7640. 

“The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living” with Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., physicist and systems theorist, a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy, at 4 p.m. at 160 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by The Altieri Agro- 

ecology Lab and The Center for Sustainable Resource Development. 643-4200. 

“Common Grounds: Land, Coffee, and Rural Organizing in Guatemala” with Paulina Culum, a small coffee producer and organizer, describing the work of Plataforma Agraria at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“Wicked John and the Devil” A night of Halloween storytelling for youth ages 8 and up, at 7:30 p.m. in the fourth floor storyroom at the Berkeley Central Library at 2090 Kittredge. 981-6223. www.infopeople.org/bpl 

Haunted Honeymoon An old-fashioned haunted house, fun for all ages, in a private home. 1818 5th St. Open Oct. 29, 30 and 31 from 7 to 10 p.m. Cost is $5, children 12 and under free. Benefits Greyhound Friends for Life. www.BerkeleyHauntedHouse.com 

“The World Community and International Human Rights: Are Things Getting Any Better?” with Maurice Copithorne, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

Berkeley High School Academic Quiz Bowl Practice Session, last Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave.  

THURSDAY, OCT. 30 

Free Weatherization Information and free energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps, low-flow showerheads and aerators, will be offered at West Berkeley Senior Center 10 to 11 a.m., South Berkeley Senior Center 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and North Berkeley Senior Center 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley Energy Office, together with California Youth Energy Services and Community Energy Services Corporation. 981-5435.  

Personnel Issues and Organizational Development for Non-Profits Free workshop on developing strategies to keep staff motivated during difficult fiscal times while staying true to organizational goals. Held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Alameda County Conference Center, 125 12th Street, 4th floor. Sponsored by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. To register, please call Felicia Moore-Jordan at 268-5376.  

“The WTO and its Critics: Perspectives on Cancun” a panel discussion from 5 to 7 p.m., Morgan Lounge, 114 Morgan Hall, near Hearst and Arch Streets, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Resource Development, College of Natural Resources, UCB and Graduate Student Pizza & Policy Organizing Committee. 643-4200. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Henry E. Brady, Ph.D., Professor Political Science, UCB, “California After the Recall Election.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50, Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Deceptions and Cover-Ups: Fragments from the War on Terror” film showing, “Jenin, Jenin” plus a slide show and presentation by John Caruso, ISM member, at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Berkeley Central Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. Co-sponsored by Berkeley Peace Walk & Vigil. 

Reflections on Old Ocean View with Barbara Gates, author of “Already Home,” Janet Lukehart, Good Shepard archivist, and Stephanie Manning, Ocean View resident and poet. At 7:30 p.m. in the Church of the Good Shepard, at 9th and Hearst. Lecture is part of the 150th Anniversary of Ocean View, Berkeley’s earliest settlement, sponsored by The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and Berkeley History Society. Tickets are $10. For information call 841-8562.  

“The Human Rights Situation in Iran: What Can the International Community Do About It?” with Maurice Copithorne, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

FRIDAY, OCT. 31 

“East Asia at Berkeley” a series of panel discussions covering historical, political and cultural topics, through Sunday, Nov. 2 at the Faculty Club, UC Campus. For program information see http://ieas.berkeley.edu/aab 

Overeaters Anonymous meets every Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church at Solano and The Alameda. Parking is free and is handicapped accessible. For information call Katherine, 525-5231. 

SATURDAY, NOV. 1 

East Bay Wetlands Restoration Join us for our regular drop-in volunteer days at Arrowhead Marsh, for a chance to learn about the ecology of the Bay and see some of the last remaining wetland habitat in the East Bay. We will be planting for the native plant project. Gloves, tools and snacks are provided. Please dress in layers and bring sunscreen and water. All ages and physical abilities are welcome. Please RSVP groups with 10 or more. Held from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland. For information call 452-9261.  

Native Plant Walk in Huckleberry Park Meet at Ashby BART, east side entrance to carpool at 12:40 sharp, or at Huckleberry Parking Lot at 1 p.m. Heavy rain cancels. $10 suggested donation. 658-9178.  

Carnivorous Plants Workshop Learn how to create a carnivorous plant bog garden with horticulturist Judith Finn. Participants can buy a kit at the workshop. From 10 a.m. to noon at the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $25-$35 and reservations required. 643-2755. garden@uclink.berkeley.edu 

Fall Permaculture: Native Plant Propagation Bring back the natives to your yard and soon the butterflies, bees and other native insects will follow. We’ll also cover how to set up a nursery. Any rain cancels. Held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wildheart Gardens, 463 61st Street, at Telegraph. $10 Ecology Center members, $15 others, no one turned away. 548-2220, ext. 233.  

The Changing Face of Downtown Berkeley Berkeley Historical Society tour, begins at 10 a.m. meeting at the north-west corner of Grant and University. Reservations and a donation of $8 required. Please make check payable to Berkeley Historical Society, and mail it to P.O. Box 1190, Berkeley, CA 94701-1190. 848-0181. 

Behind the Scenes at the Hearst Museum and Bancroft Library Berkeley Historical Society tour, from 2 to 4 p.m. Reservations and a donation of $8 required. Please make check payable to Berkeley Historical Society, and mail it to P.O. Box 1190, Berkeley, CA 94701-1190. 848-0181. 

Lead-Safe Painting and Remodeling Class Taught by staff from the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, this course offers simple solutions property owners can use to safely repair and renovate their homes. Held from 9 to 11 a.m. at the ACLPPP Training Center, 1017 - 22nd Ave, Suite #110, Oakland. Free to homeowners, landlords, and maintenance crews of pre-1978 residential properties in Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville, or Oakland. For information call 567-8280. www.aclppp.org/homeown 

Home Buyer Education Seminar, with Lois Kadosh, who will cover what you should know before you buy. This free event will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Association of Realtors auditorium at 1553 Martin Luther King Jr. Way at Cedar St. Reservations can be made by calling Daniel at 528-3400.  

Show Ya Stuff B-Ball Classic, for 10 and under through 14 and under teams. Held Sat. and Sun. at Portola Middle School in El Cerrito. For more information call 978-6585 or email twoniknik@yahoo.com 

Transforming Anger Workshop with Leonard Scheff from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 525-3948. www.transforminganger.com 

Making Room for Balance, a meditation and daily practice workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Place. Wheelchair accessible. Cost is $65, scholarships available, lunch included. 843-6812.  

Pet Adoptions, sponsored by Home at Last, from noon to 5 p.m., Hearst and 4th St. 548-9223. 

Sick Plant Clinic is offered by the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive, from 9 a.m. to noon. Free. 643-2755. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, NOV. 2 

Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Candidate for President, in a town hall meeting, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Taylor Memorial Methodist Church, 1188 12th St., Oakand, followed by a fundraiser from 5 to 8 p.m. with Rep. Barbara Lee and Danny Glover at Zazoo’s, 15 Embarcadero West, Oakland. 415-927-2004, ext. 33. 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. with the Cal Sailing Club. Bring warm waterproof clothes and come to the Berkeley Marina. For more information call 287-5905. www.calsailing.org 

Mysticism/Tibetan Buddhism Lama Ando on “Teachings and Stories from a Tibetan Mystic,” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, NOV. 3 

Fish: Eating Right for the Environment Serena Spring of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program will talk about choosing seafood that is good for you and the oceans also, at 7 p.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin. Sponsored by Friends of Five Creeks. 848-9358. 

The National Organization for Women, Oakland/East Bay Chapter will hold its monthly meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Boardroom, Oakland YWCA, 1515 Webster St. Valerie Edwards from the UC School of Social Welfare will discuss diversity. 287-8948. 

“Deconstructing Democracy: Israel, Palestine and the Middle East” with Dr. Yossi Beilin, one of the architects of the Oslo peace process and former member of the Israeli Knesset at 7:30 p.m. at 2060 Valley Life Sciences Bldg. UC Campus. Sponsored by Berkeley Hillel, UC Center for Middle East Studies, and Tzedek. www.berkeleyhillel.org 

Berkeley Biodiesel Cooperative Orientation at 7:30 p.m. Some technical questions can be answered. Call for location. 594-4000, ext. 777, berkeleybiodiesel@yahoo.com  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 6 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

Tenants Rights Week Stop by the booth in Sproul Plaza, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Oct. 31, to learn about your rights. Sponsored by ASUC Renters Legal Assistance and Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. 644-6128.  

Flu Shots will be offered during the month of October by Sutter VNA and Hospice. For a location near you please call 1-800-500-2400 or visit www.suttervnaandhospice.org 

Free Energy Bill Payment Assistance The City of Berkeley has money to help low-income households pay their gas and electric bills. For applications contact the Energy Office at 644-8544. TDD: 981-6903. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/energy 

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon., Nov. 3, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Mon., Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/landmarks 

Peace and Justice Commission meets Mon., Nov. 3, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Manuel Hector, 981-5510. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/peaceandjustice 

Youth Commission meets Mon., Nov. 3, at 6:30 p.m., at 1730 Oregon St. Philip Harper-Cotton, 981-6670. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/commissions/youth

PROPERTY TAX  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Food for thought: Might it not be fairer if any increase in property tax for our city’s coffers be voted on only by those owning property? Also, if a property tax increase were to occur, shouldn’t there be an automatic provision to allow those renting property to increase their rents due to higher operating costs? Just wondering.  

Bruce Nalezny 

• 

GILL TRACT SOON TO BE GONE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Last Saturday, I visited the Harvest Festival at the Gill Tract. This is UC’s agricultural experiment station, just over the border in Albany, at San Pablo and Marin. 

This may be the last such festival. UC wants to shut down the Gill tract as an urban agriculture operation, and replace it with housing. Agricultural research is supposed to clear out Nov. 1. I was one of many who signed a petition to keep the research going until the bulldozers actually move in, which could be next year, or farther off, depending on bureaucracy. 

We had lectures and tours of the fields. I learned that planting a “monoculture”—all the same kind of plant—makes those plants more likely to all be attacked by the same pests. Diversity is both natural and better agriculture. Much of the research was about how to mix plant types, when to plant them, and how much weeding should be done. 

I saw rows of cabbage, mixed with Buckwheat and Phacelia. Such plants are chosen because their flowers attract beneficial insects (such as those which eat aphids) and because they facilitate nitrogen fixing in the soil.  

The experimental rows of cabbage were in a small plot. Just beyond, taped off from the rest, was a much larger planting of corn. These plants, we were told, are transgenic experiments, funded by some big corporations. 

Some of the Gill Tract research may go to the plot on the Oxford Tract. This is closer to campus, but much smaller. Other options are much farther away. The fact is that agricultural research is not a high priority at UC Berkeley. These days, housing is much more important. Unfortunately. the Gill Tract is ripe for paving over and planting cars.  

UC is supposed to be a Land Grant college, dedicated to support of the California farmer. A speaker pointed out that, being publicly funded, UC should keep places like the Gill Tract, to be able to study “Urban Agriculture”—growing small crops within the city to avoid high transportation costs. This has been successful in Cuba. 

In this country, the emphasis is on big-time agribusiness, selling chemical pesticides. One speaker said this gives us mass-produced unhealthy food brought to us by long-distance transportation, and the small farmers are squeezed out. Urban agriculture isn’t even considered. Big crops make the money—and sell the chemicals. Corporate research grants are nice, but they tend to “skim the cream” by concentrating on patentable techniques and products. General research such as sustainable agriculture tends to be sidelined for lack of people (funds) to work on it. 

It’s really too bad that the Gill Tract, the last local outpost of urban agriculture, is to be swallowed up by apartments and rows of parked cars. The housing won’t even be affordable. If it’s like the recent new construction at University Village, graduate student families will be paying $1,400 a month. 

Money talks. UC stands to make a lot of money from developing the Gill Tract. Maybe there will be a big demonstration when the bulldozers roll into the Gill Tract, something like the events at People’s Park. The park is still there and thriving; it didn’t get paved over. 

Steve Geller 

• 

THE FICTITIOUS WAR  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that over the past year our president and his staff have waged a war based upon lies and fabricated evidence? In my book this constitutes mass murder and conspiracy to commit mass murder. Seeing as how there have been more deaths in Iraq on account of the “war” than there were in the 9/11 attacks I might even go so far as to label it a crime against humanity. 

Funny how I have not seen the mass of righteous indignation that one would expect from a healthy democracy when its leaders commit such high crimes. By now I would have expected an impeachment and a string of indictments, followed by an in-depth public debate about how our so-called leaders were allowed to commit such atrocities. 

I’m beginning to worry about the health of our democracy. 

George Palen 

• 

KILLING LIKE GENTLEMEN  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Congratulations to Kathryn Winter for lending support to the pro-Israel bomb threat-makers by favorably contrasting their ethics to those Palestinian “suicide bombers” she abhors (Letters, Daily Planet, Oct. 14-16). Perhaps she should lobby Congress for $10 billion a year in taxpayers’ money to supply Hamas with tanks, Apache helicopter gunships, F-16s and bulldozers. That way, they can stop their abhorrent practices and kill like gentlemen—as the Israelis do.  

P.S.: Please withhold my name, as I’d like to avoid death threats from the supporters of “democratic” Israel.  

Name withheld  

• 

XXXXXXXXXX  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There are increasingly frequent news stories about the security of our voting machines. In November 2002, congress passed The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) which allocated $3.8 billion to encourage states to buy the latest voting technologies. Some people feel that there was not sufficient thought or planning put into place to accomplish this massive change to our voting systems. 

For us in Alameda County this issue centers around the Diebold touch-screen voting machines - referred to as Direct Recording Electronic machines or DRE. Many concerned computer scientists have supported the use of a voter verified paper audit trail(VVPAT) as a preventative to malicious tampering and fraud that is possible in a system that is under trade secret protection and not open to public scrutiny. Most recently, the John Hopkins report on the Diebold machine has exposed poor security techniques in its code which has caused rising concern in the voting community. 

The Oakland League of Women Voters has put together an excellent panel for the Educational Forum - Touch Screen Voting Issues. The meeting will be on 

Wednesday, October 29th 5:30 - 7:30 

Oakland City Hall - Hearing Room 2 

Speakers 

Marc Carrel, Assistant Secretary of State for Policy and Planning and 

Co-Chair of the State’s Ad Hoc Touch Screen Task Force 

Elaine Ginnold - Asst. Registrar of Voters and LWVO Board member 

Dr. Barbara Simons - Past President and Fellow of the Association for  

Computing Machinery (ACM), and founder of ACMs US Public Policy Committee  

(USACM), which she currently co-chairs 

Genevieve Katz 

Oakland 

They call it the Shipyard, and it’s a lot like Jim Mason’s art—so grandiose and revolutionary that some people just don’t know quite what to make of it. 

When Mason, an icon of the Burning Man Festival, ringed a West Berkeley lot with 27 shipping containers two years ago to provide artists with studio and storage space around a shared courtyard, he found himself besieged, first by kinetic sculptors looking for affordable digs, and then by building inspectors, wondering if the project could possibly be legal. 

It wasn’t, of course. 

At least not until last Thursday, when about 150 local artists, joined by Burning Man Festival founder Larry Harvey, jammed into City Council chambers to hear the Zoning Adjustments Board consider a use permit for the property. 

ZAB chair Laurie Capitelli needed both hands to grip the hefty stack of cards identifying the artists who, one-by-one, testified about the sad plight of anyone looking for creative space in the pricey Bay Area and sang the praises of the unique benefits of Mason’s creation. 

When the board gave its unanimous approval to the permit, they were saluted with resounding cheers. 

“I don’t know of any other place where people aren’t limited by a ceiling,” said Kiki Pettit, a Shipyard artist whose Egeria fountain was given top billing at last year’s Burning Man festival in Nevada. 

Pettit said she would have needed about 1,000 square feet to build her creation in a warehouse—where the going rent is $1 per square foot. At the Shipyard she paid just $300. 

Pettit’s creation stood a dozen feet tall, dominated by three copper bowls supported by steel beams—a work she says was too big to be constructed anywhere but under the sun. Atop the fountain sat a sobbing Egeria, the Roman goddess who myth says cried so hard for a lost love that she melted into a fountain. Encircling Egeria, 20 fish spat streams of water that cascaded down the rims of two smaller bowls into a 10-foot basin beneath that held more than a ton-and-half of water, atop which floated a crown of burning fuel. 

Entering the Shipyard, a visitor is surrounded by the larger-than-life remnants of Burning Man creations scattered throughout the yard. To the left, a six-foot head perches atop a 1940’s amphibious cargo ship while dead ahead is a machine that resembles an eight-foot jelly donut in which the rider sits between two giant independently revolving wheels, powered by a wheelchair motor. 

This was precisely the sort of work Mason had in mind when he leased the 8,000-square-foot property—which formerly housed an art gallery—at 1010 Murray St., just across from Urban Ore. 

Among the many Shipyard-created projects displayed at Burning Man have been Mason’s own G-7 puppets, 25-foot-tall marionettes depicting the leading financial officers for the world’s seven richest countries. The giant homunculi starred at the 2001 festival, where they gyrated in response to stock market data converted into electromechanical signals. When U.S. stocks dropped, Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan crouched into a ball; when the market soared, he raised his arms in triumph. 

Mason said he wanted to create a communal space where like-minded machinists and industrial artists could collaborate on massive projects without the need to cover exorbitant rents. 

Mason thought shipping containers—already used for artist studios in the Netherlands—were the way to go. Built to withstand long journeys on the turbulent Pacific, used containers are sturdy, cheap, easy to transport and stackable to maximize space. So Mason bought, rented, and leased 27 of them, which he stacked two layers deep, envisioning the lower units as studio space and the upper ones as storage. 

He charges the 20 lucky artists $250 per month per container plus $50 to cover utilities and use of the courtyard. 

However, his project soon attracted the attention of neighbors, who wondered why trucks were dropping off empty shipping containers eight miles from the Port of Oakland. They called the city, which soon determined that Mason didn’t have a construction permit. 

Mason admits it wasn’t simply an oversight. “This is what artists do. They just go and start something and know that at some point they’re going to get caught and ask for forgiveness.”  

The city did show some leniency, allowing artists to continue working outdoors at the Shipyard, but ordering that the containers be used only for storage until Mason completes the arduous task of getting a building permit. 

The reprieve allowed Mason to keep his tenants, but his relationship with city officials hasn’t been smooth. 

In an effort to avoid the permit process, Mason first argued that the containers were a temporary structure. When the city disagreed, he tried to save money by doing the application himself. But city staff demanded he hire an architect and pay consultants for an environmental review. 

“It was tremendously frustrating,” Mason said, criticizing Berkeley’s zoning process for making nonprofits jump through the same expensive hoops as wealthy developers. His two-year effort for a use permit has cost him $12,000. 

Meanwhile, the Shipyard was garnering a reputation as the Bay Area’s leading forum for the kinetic arts. 

Now, use permit in hand, Mason still isn’t declaring victory. He still needs a building permit, which history has shown to be particularly tricky for unorthodox structures. 

“The building code tends to be oriented toward standard construction techniques,” said shipyard architect Thomas Dolan. “Whether there’s a standard on how you take ship containers and anchor them into the ground, I doubt it.” 

Another specter lurked in the background during the ZAB hearing: the example of the Crucible, an artists’ collective and teaching workshop located a block away from Mason’s Shipyard until it fled to West Oakland last year amid conflict with city building staff. 

Though many in Berkeley attribute the Crucible’s move to fallout from a party where a promoter overbooked the venue and two attendees were wounded by gunfire, Crucible founder Michael Sturtz appeared at Thursday’s hearing to tell ZAB commissioners that he left the city in frustration because every effort he made to expand the project met with inertia from city planners and building inspectors. 

“We struggled to exist three out of four years in Berkeley,” he said. “If you lose the Shipyard, that’s just one more thing that won’t be in Berkeley.” 

ZAB agreed to urge building inspectors to interpret Berkeley building code flexibly for the Shipyard, and Mason has no intention of renting out its space for parties or offer classes to the community as the Crucible did.  

He must now hire a geologist to conduct earthquake studies as well as a structural engineer to examine soil strength to determine how best to anchor the containers to the ground—a prerequisite for getting a Building Permit. 

Meanwhile, Mason’s newest project is sure to get him away from—at least for a while—the rigors of Berkeley development. 

He’s rebuilding a World War II amphibious landing craft he found on a Richmond lot. Once he finishes restoring the seven-ton craft, he plans to venture off to islands of Asia. 

“I’m going to use it for long-distance travel,” he said. “I’ll ship it to Singapore and then work my way around Indonesia on the way to New Guinea.”

TUESDAY, OCT. 28 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: The Films of Hannes Schüpbach, with the filmmaker in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Breathed on “Flawed Dogs: The Year-End Leftovers at the Piddletton ‘Last Chance’ Dog Pound” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

Don Lattin on “Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today,” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Free. Sponsored by Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Tom Bissell introduces Uzbekistan in ”Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Tim Cahill reads from world travel stories in “Hold the Enlightenment: More Travel, Less Bliss,” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose, 843-3533. 

The Whole Note Poetry Series, with Selene Steese and open mic, at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

Poets Gone Wild with Maryanne Robinson reading from “Pieces Together” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Landesjugendorchester of Rheinland-Pfalz, German youth orchestra, performs at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Band Concerts at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $4. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Tracy Grammer performs contemporary folk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mimi Fox, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 29 

FILM 

Fernando de Fuentes: From the Revolution to the Comedia Ranchera, “La Zandunga” at 7 p.m. and “Jalisoc Sings in Seville” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Studs Terkel on “Keeping Faith in Difficult Times” at 8 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $12-$18, available from Cody’s 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Donna Nebenzahl and Nance Ackerman will show slides and discuss their new book, “Womankind: Faces of Change Around the World,” at 7:30 p.m. at Boadecia's Books, 398 Colusa Ave., Kensington. 559-9184. www.bookpride.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Lunchtime Concert: Strings with Robert Howard, cello and Cary Ko, violin at noon at Berkeley Arts Festival Headquarters, 2110 Shattuck Ave. Free. 665-9496.  

www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Wednesday Noon Concert with Shaw Pong Liu, violin and Monica Chew, piano perform Ginastera and Prokofiev at the Chevron Auditorium at International House, corner of Bancroft and Piedmont Aves. Admission is free. 642-4864. 

From the Cafetorium in Berkeley: Better Bad News Berkeley artist George Coates’ independent media project will be shown at 7 p.m. on BTV Channel 25. 665-9496.  

www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Manufacturing of Humidifiers Randy Porter, Ward Spangler, and Dan Plonsey in three solo performances, and then collectively as the Return of the Manu- 

facturing of Humidifiers, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Headquarters, 2110 Shattuck Ave. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Adrienne Torf, pianist and composer, performs in a benefit for Breast Cancer Action, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Band Concerts at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $4. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Edie Carey, singer/songwriter at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Savant Guard, electro-acoustic jazz rock combo performs at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Jules Broussard, Bing Nathan and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 30 

FILM 

Genetic Screenings: “Demon Seed” with filmmaker Greg Niemeyer in person, at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“The Black Panthers (in Israel) Speak & Drowning by Bullets,” at 7 p.m. at 340 Stephens Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by Middle Eastern Studies. 642-8208.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Monique Everhart and Jack Boulware, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. 526-5985.  

Daniella Gioseffi introduces her revised “Women on War: An International Anthology of Writings from Antiquity to the Present,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Bram Dijkstra speaks on “American Expressionism: Art and Social Change, 1920-1950,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

Guided Tour: Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trombonga, trombone quartet, at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Headquarters, 2110 Shattuck Ave. 655-9496. 

Planet Grooves with DJ Omar at 10 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Wake the Dead, Celtic music tribute to the Grateful Dead, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Sarah Zaharako at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds.  

644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Keni El Lebrijano, flamenco guitar, at 8 :30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

FRIDAY, OCT. 31 

CHILDREN 

Halloween Shadow Puppetry Workshop with the Balinese group, ShadowLight, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. www.juliamorgan.org 

Halloween Costume Storytime with readings from Halloween stories, songs and shadow puppets, at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble.  

THEATER 

The Un-Scripted Theater Company, “Fear” a full-length thriller, no two shows are the same, at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.unscripted.com 

Larry Reed, ShadowLight Productions with Gamelan Sekar Jaya Shadow Theatre perform “Wayang Bali: Danger- 

ous Flowers” at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $7-$15 and are available from 925-798-1300. 

FILM 

Genetic Screenings: “The Fly” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Dirda introduces his memoir, “An Open Book,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books.  

845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Jonathan Stroud reads from his new novel, “The Amulet of Samarkand,” at 7 p.m. at  

Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

California Bach Society, Arvo Part: Kanon Pokajanen, at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Tickets are $12-$25, and are available from 415-262-0272 or email us at  

tickets@calbach.org.  

Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$46, and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Halloween Party with The Vesuvians at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenez. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“Strictly Skillz,” a celebration of Hip Hop in its purest forms at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Halloween Havoc Costume Contest with 7th Direction, Grasshoppers, and Pocket at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5 at the door, $3 if in costume. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com  

Danny Caron and Friends at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Leftover Dreams with Tony Marcus and Patrice Haan perform music from the great American songbook at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Aphrodesia, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Babyland, Plan 9, John Baker and the Malnourished, Ashtray at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Sterling Dervish at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

SATURDAY, NOV. 1 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Betsy Rose at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Hillside Players, “Tangled Tales: Wishes, Witches and Weddings,” favorite fairy tales intertwined in comedy, at 7 Tickets are $7 for adults, and $4 for children under 12, seniors and students. 2286 Cedar St. 384-6418. 

“The Wonderful World of Zaal,” a Persian legend, performed by Word For Word, at 10:30 a.m. at the Central Library, 2090 Kittredge. The free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library. 981-6224.  

THEATER 

Larry Reed, ShadowLight Productions with Gamelan Sekar Jaya Shadow Theatre See listing for Oct. 31. 

The Un-Scripted Theater Company, “Fear” See listing for Oct. 31. 

FILM 

Berkeley Video and Film Festival, featuring independent producers from Cuba to Berkeley, with documentaries, short features, comedies, and experimental works. From noon to 11 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$10 for one day, $14-$18 for both days. For a listing of films see www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org 

“Down by Law” with Tom Waits, Roberto Benigni, John Lurie and Ellen Barkin, at 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Wheelchair accessible. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Anime: “Space Firebird 2772” at 4 p.m., “Only Yesterday” at 7 p.m. and “Black Jack” at 9:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dao Strom, author of “Grass Roof, Tin Roof” in solo concert and reading at Berkeley Public Library’s Central Community Room at 2 p.m. 981-6100. 

Brian Alexander introduces “Rapture: How Biotech Became the New Religion” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“A Land Twice Promised” with award winning storyteller Noa Baum, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $7-$10. 839-2900 ext. 256.  

Three Western Voices: Utah Phillips, Paul Foreman and Pack Browning read from their poetry in a benefit for the Berkeley Foundation for the Arts and ACCI Gallery at 8 p.m. at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck. Suggested donation $10. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Improvised Comedy, at 8 p.m. at Cafe Eclectica 1309 Solano Ave., Albany. Cost is $5. 964-0571. www.eastbayimprov.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Flauti Diversi, “Follow the Lieder,” a program of rhapsodic instrumental music from 18th and 20th century Germany, at 8 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington St. Albany. Tickets are $15-$18, reservations recommended. 527-9840. 

Trinity Chamber Concerts Kazuko Cleary, solo piano, performs Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Takemitsu at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Admission by donation, $12 general, $8 students, senoirs, disabled. No one turned away. 549-3864. 

Academy of Ancient Music, with Richard Egarr, soloist, perform harpsichord concertos by Bach at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church. 2345 Channing Way. Pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. Tickets are $42 and available from 642-9988.  

Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$46, and are available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Groundation, reggae classics with band originals at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tempest at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Wataka Ensemble performs Afro-Venezuelan music at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.the 

jazzhouse.org 

Patrick Ball, Celtic harper, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freight-andsalvage.org 

The Original Intentions perform reggae, roots, soul at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Brian Melvin at 8:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Deadfall, Brain Failure, Hang on the Box, Love Songs perform at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Nicole McRory at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

Post Junk Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, NOV. 2 

CHILDREN 

Hillside Players, “Tangled Tales: Wishes, Witches and Weddings,” at 2 and 7 p.m. See listing for Nov. 1. 

THEATER 

Larry Reed, ShadowLight Productions with Gamelan Sekar Jaya Shadow Theatre at 2 and 8 p.m. See listing for Oct. 31. 

FILM 

Berkeley Video and Film Festival See listing for Nov. 1. For a listing of films see www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org 

“Something in the Air” Helvacio Ratton’s story of Brazil’s first clandestine radio station, in Portugese with English subtitles at 7 p.m. at La Peña. A benefit for indigenous community radio stations. Suggested donation $5-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Anime: “The Cat Returns” at 3:30 p.m. and “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Guided Tour: Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, at 2 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Poetry Flash with Frank Lauria and friends at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Heather Woodbury will read from “What Ever: A Living Novel” at 4 p.m. at Diesel Bookstore, 5433 College Ave. 653-9965.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Grupo Andanza presents “Antologia,” an evening of Spanish opera and dance, at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $18-$20 and are avaiable from 925-798-1300 www.juliamorgan.org 

Gabriel Faure’s “Requiem” Mass at the 10 a.m. service at All Souls Episcopal Church, 2220 Cedar St. With Cheryl Keller, soprano, Paul Thompson, bass, and 1893 orchestration. 848-1755. 

Chamber Music Sundaes, San Francisco Symphony musicians and friends perform at 3:15p.m. at St John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$18 and are available at the door. 415-584-5946. 

Wynton Marsalis Quintet at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$62. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Live Oak Concert with Solstice, female a cappella sextet, at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. Tickets are $8-$10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Michael Evans, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer, and Karen Stackpole, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation $6-$15. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

UC Folk Dancers Reunion from 2 to 6 p.m. Sponsored by the International Order of Aging But Still Game Folkdancers. Bring something to share: food drink, photos and memories, Ace bandages. 524-2193.  

Rastafari Celebration of 73rd Anniversary of the Coronation of Haile Sellassie and Empress Menen at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Forward Kwenda with Erica Azim, Zimbabwe mbira master at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Art Lande, solos, duos and trios with Bruce Williamson and Andre Bush at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Box Set Duo, Gypsy Soul at 6 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. Tickets are $15 and are available from www.new- 

thoughtunity.org 

A Berkeley resident of my acquaintance has a bullfrog in her garden pond. She’s not sure how it got there, but it’s been in residence for a couple of years. Usually she just sees its periscope eyes. Sometimes, though, it ventures out of the water, leaving wet frogprints on the pondside tiles. 

When she first told me about her frog, she seemed a bit apologetic, having presumably heard how environmentalists feel about the critters. Bullfrogs, like possums and cowbirds, are a native North American species, but never occurred naturally in California. I have nothing against bullfrogs in the right place, and that place is east of the Rockies. Out here, they’ve been a disaster. 

Bringing the bullfrog to California must have seemed like a good idea at the time. It was a commercial proposition: frog legs for the tables of San Francisco and other growing cities. 

Our state used to have native frogs in abundance. The most popular for culinary and recreational purposes (Twain’s “Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”) was the California red-legged frog, which once ranged from the North Coast all the way to Baja, west of the Cascade-Sierra crest. It was by all accounts a tasty amphibian. Mary Dickerson, writing just before the San Francisco quake of 1906, said westerners esteemed it “the best edible frog in North America,” finding the flesh of the bullfrog “tough and coarse” in comparison. Dickerson also described the red-leg as “very alert and intelligent-looking,” for whatever that’s worth. 

Intelligent or not, red-legged frogs were harvested in appalling numbers from the Gold Rush to about the turn of the twentieth century. French cuisine was in vogue—one San Franciscan recruited 40 Parisian chefs at one go—and frog legs were on all the best menus. The annual catch ran as high as 118,000 in the peak year of 1895. This, along with habitat loss as wetlands were drained for farming, took its inevitable toll, and the red-leg is now an endangered species. But Californians hadn’t lost their taste for frog legs. Enter the bullfrog. 

The state’s first froggery was founded in 1896 in El Cerrito, with 4 artificial ponds and 36 Florida and Maryland bullfrogs. Some of their descendants may have escaped, and other bullfrogs may have just been released in lakes and streams to fend for themselves and to be collected when needed. They did spectacularly well: they’re now found all over the state, even on Santa Catalina Island. 

The bullfrog, Rana catesbiana (named for 18th century naturalist-artist Mark Catesby, who discovered it in the Southeast), is a survivor. Bullfrogs are fecund in the extreme, their tadpoles seem to be unpalatable to fish, and they can tolerate a broader range of water conditions and temperatures than native frogs. With feral populations in Europe, Asia, South America, the West Indies and Hawaii, the bullfrog is a successful agent of ecological 

globalization. 

The trouble with bullfrogs is their appetite. They’ll consume pretty much anything they can get into their capacious mouths. You wouldn’t think of turtles as frog food, but hatchling western pond turtles are vulnerable to bullfrog predation. This once common species, the West Coast’s only aquatic turtle, is now in trouble, despite bullfrog-bashing efforts in some of the areas where it still persists. 

Snakes, too. Arkansas bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson’s song about fattening frogs for snakes represents the normal situation, but it’s sometimes reversed: big bullfrogs will eat small snakes. I once watched a bullfrog in Tilden Park swallow a garter snake of impressive size. Bullfrogs have been implicated in the decline of the gorgeously marked San Francisco garter snake and the Central Valley’s giant garter snake, which, when young, is not too gigantic to be a meal for a bullfrog. 

But perhaps the most drastic bullfrog impact has been on the native western frogs. It is a frog-eat-frog world. Bullfrogs will devour red-legged frogs, mountain yellow-legged frogs (despite their garlic odor, or maybe that just whets the appetite), foothill yellow-legged frogs, Cascades frogs, spotted frogs. Not that the frogs don’t have other problems: diseases, pesticides, holes in the ozone layer. But the bullfrogs have certainly not helped. 

There’s another aspect to the relationship between the bullfrog and the red-legged frog, and it’s an ironic one. Frogs have evolved species-specific mating calls so the appropriate partners can get together. However, male frogs appear to be less discriminating than females. (This tendency may reach its ultimate in the notorious cane toad, which will attempt to copulate with road kill). Male red-legged frogs have been found to prefer bullfrogs to females of their own kind. The larger bullfrogs appear to provide a kind of superstimulus. These misalliances have not produced fertile hybrid offspring, so there’s no risk of genetic swamping here. But it’s a distraction that reduces the threatened red-leg’s reproductive success. 

The bullfrog is one more instance of the ramifying consequences of introducing an exotic organism—even one from the same continent—into a new ecosystem. Bullfrogs, starlings, star thistles, and hundreds of other alien animals and plants have transformed California, mostly for the worse. My friend’s bullfrog, though, has so far led a celibate existence and seems unlikely to contribute to the problem.

Fourteen of Berkeley’s 15 public schools scored higher on the state’s Academic Performance Index (API) standardized tests last year than the year before, but the laggard—Rosa Parks Elementary School—had the most to lose and may now face a major administrative shakeup. 

Rosa Parks is already in year three of a process for schools that have failed to make adequate progress on standardized tests, set forth under President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. 

The scores released Friday by the California Department of Education may mean that the school will enter year four of the process, which calls for the district to develop a plan to overhaul the school. 

News was better for other Berkeley schools. Nine schools (64 percent) met their performance targets, and four others improved their scores without reaching their target scores. Rosa Parks regressed and Berkeley High School did not have a valid base from which to compare this year’s scores because new tests for high school students were incorporated into the API. 

By contrast, 78 percent of schools across the state met their targets, however this is misleading because Berkeley students annually outscore students across the state making their targets more difficult to reach. 

The API combines results from a nationwide test, the CAT/6, the California Standards Test in English Language Arts, Math and Social Sciences and the high school exit exam. 

Schools receive a score ranging from 200 to 1,000, with 800 as the statewide goal. 

Four Berkeley schools surpassed 800: the Emerson, Jefferson, John Muir and Oxford Elementary schools. Last year, only Emerson broke 800.  

The number of Berkeley schools that met state growth targets increased for the first time since 2000 when the API growth measures were implemented. 

Last year only four schools met growth targets, compared to five in 2001 and 12 the year before. 

Scores for racial subgroups and poor students improved this year as well. District-wide scores for African Americans improved 20 points to 609, Asians improved 6 points to 786, Latinos improved 30 points to 657, whites improved 10 points to 870 and socioeconomically disadvantaged students improved 21 points to 629. 

“I’m just very impressed with the areas of growth in our school,” said Board of Education Member Shirley Issel. “Some areas raise concern but there is a lot of basis for optimism.” 

To meet its targets, a school must improve its score by 5 percent of the difference between its previous API and the state target of 800. Also, the racial and economically disadvantaged subgroups must raise their scores to at least 80 percent of the school’s overall goal. 

Of the four schools to score above 800, only Jefferson Elementary failed to reach its targets because African American students at the school fared worse than the previous year.  

Schools that met their targets but failed to break 800 included Leconte Elementary, Malcolm X Elementary, Thousand Oaks Elementary, Longfellow Arts and Technology Magnet, Willard Middle School and Washington Elementary. 

Washington is in year two of the process for underachieving schools after falling short in the socioeconomically disadvantaged category last year. Administration officials were not available to comment if the improved scores will free the school from the state’s underachiever list.  

Rosa Parks faces a dire situation. After showing dramatic gains last year—just barely failing to meet one target—the school’s overall score this year dropped 20 basis points to 653. Among the school’s ethnic groups, only Latinos improved, rising 14 points to 610. African Americans dropped 60 points to 526, whites fell two points to 838 and socioeconomically disadvantaged students dropped 14 points to 570. No other subgroup comprised a statistically significant segment of the student body. 

Last year, the school raised its API score 49 points to 673, far exceeding its nine-point target but failing to reach its target for disadvantaged students by one basis point. 

That comparatively minor failure thrust the school into year three of No Child Left Behind, requiring the district to provide tutoring to struggling students and giving parents the opportunity to switch schools. The district also had discretion to replace school staff, appoint outside consultants or extend the school day, but instead choose to train all school teachers in a new teaching method also offered to teachers at other schools. 

API is the key component of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)—the yardstick used by the state to measure a school’s progress. Assuming that Rosa Parks now fails to meet its AYP goals, it will enter year four of the process for underachieving schools. That will require the district to develop a plan for alternative governance, which could mean reopening as a charter school, contracting a private educational group to run the school or a state takeover.

Our national political system is in the grip of big money interests who flood the political class with virtually unrestricted donations, effectively shutting out all other citizens who are not well-connected professionals, or, in California, successful action heroes. The exorbitant financial costs of national and state-wide campaigns are seeping into the comparatively low-cost democracy of Berkeley. As local races demand more and more fundraising, residents who wish to add a diversity of voices and experiences to our roster of elected officials are being systematically shut out. On top these already rising costs, City Council is considering adding more expenses for candidates of all financial levels.  

When I moved to Berkeley in 1989 from Philadelphia, I was shocked at the openness and accessibility of Berkeley politics. Philadelphia city government is controlled by big money interests and the idea of becoming a part of the government is laughable for 99 percent of the population. Of course, Berkeley’s openness means there’s some exasperating speech and petty personal feuds which work their way into the political discussion, but that’s part of the face of real democracy. It may not be pretty and the meetings may be long, but the residents of our city are directly involved with governing ourselves. This makes me proud to live in Berkeley. 

One of the ballot proposals City Council is considering would increase the various fees and signatures each prospective candidate would have to submit in order to run for any office. Currently a candidate must submit 20 signatures of registered Berkeley voters and s/he is on the ballot. That holds for district elections (councilmembers) and city-wide elections (mayor, school board, rent board, and auditor).  

For district elections, some on the Council wish to impose a $150 filing fee (with $1 off for each valid signature collected), as well as at least 20 signatures from within the district. For mayoral elections, the Council proposed a $300 filing fee (with $1 off per signature). For the other three types of city-wide elections, the council proposed a $200 fee (with $1 off per signature).  

One councilmember stated she was in favor of also having candidates pay the printing costs of their candidate statement in the voting booklet, which is mailed to every registered voter by the city. Under this idea, the 2002 election would have cost every candidate running for auditor, mayor, school board director, and rent board commissioner $1,250. A candidate for City Council would have to pay $600 (city manager’s report to Council, Oct. 10-14). The fees would change based on the number of candidates and the printing costs each election.  

It is clear that incumbents, who have already gone through at least one fundraising cycle and may have old campaign funds available, will have a clear financial advantage over non-incumbents. Non-incumbents who are wealthy or who have wealthy connections/donors will also not be affected by these added fees. The candidates who will be adversely affected are the rest of us—the non-wealthy, non-connected citizens. The more poor and middle-class citizens who are shut out of local politics, the more disaffection and voter apathy will grow.  

The justification repeated at Tuesday’s special Council meeting was that these added fees would ensure that only “serious” and “viable” candidates will participate in our democratic system. The Council seems to have confused “seriousness” with “financially comfortable”.  

The ethical dilemma of incumbents framing the debate of who is “viable enough” to challenge them in future elections is obvious. It’s clear that some of the current councilmembers would be happy if only an elite political class, drawn from only the BCA or the BDC, would have the financial resources—from either personal wealth or from well-off campaign donors—to mount a campaign.  

One attraction of candidate fees is that the city would spend less to hold each election. Yet the amount the city saves is dwarfed by the cost to our local political system in dissuaded potential candidates and in increased voter apathy. Additionally, the Council is discussing changing the definition of a “plurality” from 45 percent to 40 percent and eventually implementing an Instant Runoff Voting system. Both of these potential ballot initiatives would drastically reduce expensive run-off elections, thereby saving the city much more money than $600 here or $1,250 there. Such fees are cheap to the city (after all, we face an $8 million deficit next year) but prohibitively expensive to the average low and middle income Berkeley resident.  

Our local political system is expensive and intensive enough to get involved with as it is, yet there is still room for non-connected and non-wealthy candidates to mount earnest campaigns for office. The Council should not change our system for the worse. 

Jesse Townley is a DJ at KALX and a longtime volunteer at 924 Gilman St.

Berkeley Bowl workers and union organizers rallied outside the store Monday, joined by community supporters, elected officials and labor legend Dolores Huerta as part of the last push before Thursday’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) vote on unionizing the store. 

“Long live the union. Si se puede,” said United Farm Workers cofounder Huerta to a crowd of over a 100 supporters carrying balloons and sporting “I support Berkeley Bowl workers” buttons.  

Organizers said the rally was called to generate support and help workers regain confidence after encountering fierce opposition in recent weeks from management.  

Jeremy Plague, an organizer from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Butcher’s Union Local 120, the union working with the employees, said management has employed classical anti-union strategies, including “captive audience” meetings where employees are called into closed door meetings and lectured about management’s position on the union. Employees have also complained that department managers have surreptitiously told workers to vote no, which, if true, would be a violation on national labor law. 

“This rally is a way for the community to get the word out to the owners that they support what the workers are doing,” said Plague. “It’s a way for the community to tell them that they should stop union busting.”  

Controversy has also surrounded the issue of just who will be eligible to vote, Plague said. Under national labor law, only employees can vote. But Plague charged that the Berkeley Bowl has been blurring job definitions, enabling several people who organizers understood to be management to vote as workers. 

During Monday’s rally managers stood outside the store, handing customers a letter from store owners Glenn and Diane Yasuda that explained their opposition to the union. When questioned, management refused to comment about any of the proceedings. 

Pro-union workers involved in the organizing drive say they are still confident they will win, dismissing the impact of an anti-union campaign that they said they knew was coming. 

“The anti-union campaign has been disappointing and distressing,” said Irami Osei-Frimpong. “But after we win, we can all sit down and negotiate a contract and everyone can come to work knowing that they were heard and are being treated fairly.”  

As a way to boost the morale of workers worried about the vote, several supporters headed into the store after the initial rally to offer encouragement. Organizers many workers are scared because there have been threats from management saying that if the union were to pass, layoffs might follow.  

“We need to tell the employees not to be afraid,” said Huerta, the first to enter the store. “We’re behind you. Don’t be afraid. You can win,” she told employees. 

Plague said most of the layoff threats have been directed at the produce and deli departments.  

“The rumors are that if the union wins that the deli will close down because they won’t have enough money,” said Plague. “But everybody knows that’s wrong.”  

“They also said the produce department will have to lay people off. But the store is the produce department. People don’t go there for macaroni and cheese. We warned workers that they were going to do this.” 

The vote will be conducted by the NLRB throughout the day Thursday, and the result should be known that evening. One worker representative and one management representative will also be present at the voting area to ensure accuracy. 

If the union wins, workers along with union representatives and Berkeley Bowl management will enter into a bargaining session to draw up the terms that will define the union contract. Workers are hopeful that negotiations will go quickly, allowing the store to return to normal. Should the union lose, workers can’t hold another election until Oct. 30, 2004. 

Recently we have seen several articles and letters to the editor about violence in our society. The issue is of paramount importance and as long as it exists it must be constantly addressed and discussed. Until justice, equality of opportunity and celebrations of diversity are a reality, violence will continue to haunt us. Violence should never be condoned, and I don’t believe it ever has, in my experience in Berkeley. 

However, this, unfortunately, is nothing new. Violent incidents have happened periodically in Berkeley as long as I have lived here and opportunists have tried to exploit these tragedies for their own political gain for ever. 

Every mayor, and ex-mayor, has suggested strategies to deal with violence in our community, and yet they persist. Of course we should constantly be vigilant, of course we expose and publicize periodic increases in violence, and of course we must constantly search for new and creative ways to bring about a more peaceful and tranquil Berkeley. 

And despite the opinion of an ex-mayor, voted out of office because the majority of voting members of Berkeley lost faith with her efforts to improve Berkeley, I believe we are making progress, not going backwards. 

We live in violent times and Berkeley does not live in a vacuum. We are buffeted by poverty, ignorance, drug trafficking in the East Bay and a state bent upon cutting back on our meager social services and public safety dollars. Our social safety nets are unraveling and joblessness and homelessness are on the rise. 

Constructive suggestions and dialogue are what is necessary in these difficult and turbulent times, not finger pointing, trying to make political points, or using the pain of our city to mount a political comeback. 

With this in mind I would like to add my take, and frame the description and prescription in a different context with a different emphasis because the way we talk about violence, I believe, can either help society strive for realistic solutions, or just contribute to more frustrations that may inflame further violence and unhealthy attitudes. And in particular we want to douse, not inflame racial intolerance, finger pointing doesn’t help one bit, we are all in this together. 

First, individuals are violent in Berkeley, this is a fact. Violence may be tolerated by a few, but as a community and citizenry we abhor and work to prevent violent acts. To say otherwise may just be a call for more violence. Violence still happens too frequently and shocks our city when these acts are brought to our attention; speakers at Cal are threatened, football games are canceled, and students are beaten up at fraternity parties. But we do work, as a city and community to try and prevent these acts. 

To point out one type of violence, or to highlight particular examples of violence without talking or showing an understanding of the environment that fosters these acts is counterproductive and misleading. 

And most individual violent acts are within racial or ethnic groups. Shootings and killings in the East Bay are almost exclusively within a racial or ethnic group. Historically, for example, our societal infatuation with mobster movies highlights violent acts within one group—in this case, Italians. 

We do live in a very violent society. We are bombarded daily with violent acts by our government, mistreatment of immigrants and poor people by a callous medical system, mistreatment of workers by an anti worker, pro business economical and legal system and a society still permeated by institutional racism. 

We also have to be realistic about where we live and the environment in which we bring up our children. We can’t live in isolation to our surroundings or our own neighborhood mores. One must always use common sense and be practical about how we conduct our daily lives. I grew up on the streets of south/central Los Angeles. My parents always taught me to be just, believe in equality of opportunity for everyone, work for peaceful resolutions of conflict and respect everyone. That still didn’t prevent me and my multi-racial friends from having to learn how to defend ourselves against neighborhood bullies. 

I have now lived in Central/West Berkeley for 35 years and raised two sons here. They were also taught similar lessons handed down by their grandparents and parents. And they too developed similar urban survival skills of their parents.  

Within this milieu many of us still model, teach and preach tolerance, respect for individual differences, embrace and celebrate diversity. We truly believe that might does not make you right, that we should always strive towards peaceful resolutions to conflict, and that violence of any kind is wrong. We work against the tide, but we never give up. And we don’t point fingers, but continue to work collectively to develop creative strategies, to build upon the efforts of those before us and not criticize their efforts. Make love not war is not a slogan; it is a way of life for individuals and society. 

Terry Doran is a Berkeley School Board director.

The fallout has begun at Berkeley City Hall following last week’s revelation that two mixed residential-commercial properties developed and managed by prominent developer Patrick Kennedy are not currently being billed for City of Berkeley and Berkeley Unified School District property fees and assessments. 

The charge about one of the Kennedy properties—the Gaia Building—was originally made at last Tuesday’s City Council special working session by Barbara Gilbert, a former aide to ex-Mayor Shirley Dean. The information concerning the second building—the Berkeleyan—was reported last Friday in the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

The Gaia Building, with a taxable value in excess of $12 million, currently pays only $2,800 per year in special charges on its county property tax bill, none of which goes to City of Berkeley and BUSD fees and assessments. By comparison, the medical building at 3021 Telegraph Ave. with a taxable value of $300,000 pays more than $3,000 per year to the county in special charges, more than $2,800 of which goes to Berkeley fees and assessments. Berkeley fees and assessments not currently being billed to the Gaia Building and the Berkeleyan combined by the city could total in the neighborhood of $75,000 a year. 

Deputy City Manager Paul Navazio said that a summit meeting will be held this week between staff members of the City Manager’s office and the city’s Finance, Planning, and Information Technology departments to determine how the lack of billing occurred, as well as to make recommendations for possible changes in city property billing policy. 

A report from the city manager’s office on the property billing matter is scheduled to be given to Mayor Bates and City Council at Council’s 5 p.m. ballot measure working session on Tuesday, Nov. 4. 

“If we have situations where properties are operating under temporary occupancy permits for extended periods of time, it’s certainly not the intent nor the desire of the city for [the city’s billing policy] to serve as a way for somebody to not pay the appropriate assessments,” Navazio said. 

“If [city] policy or [city] internal procedures are that the tax rolls are updated upon final permits, and a temporary occupancy permit doesn’t currently trigger the reassessment, I think we want to revisit that policy at the staff level, particularly in cases when there’s a long period of time [that a building is operating under a temporary occupancy permit],” Navazio said. 

The Gaia Building on Allston Way has not yet received a permanent occupancy permit from the city, but has been occupied under a temporary occupancy permit since 2001. The Berkeleyan, on the other hand, received its permanent occupancy permit in 2000. 

Heather Murphy, Berkeley’s Revenue Collection Manager, said last week that the Gaia Building’s billings were consistent with current city tax billing policy, while the Berkeleyan’s city fees and assessments billings “fell through the cracks.” 

Berkeley fees and assessments not being billed the two properties include streetlighting, landscaping and parks, library services, paramedic supplement, emergency disabled services, Measure Q fire equipment, Berkeley Unified School District school tax, and Berkeley Unified School District school maintenance. 

Deputy City Manager Navazio added that city staff is “also looking at what other properties we can identify that may fall under the same circumstances [as the Gaia and the Berkeleyan]. Frankly, it’s unlikely that these are the only two properties in the entire city [with this situation].”

If you can't get through this list without wanting to throw up, I'll understand. But pass it around anyway. This is the nail in the Iraq War's coffin for any sane, thinking individual, regardless of their political stripe (thanks to TomPaine.com and the Center for American Progress). To get some perspective, here are some real-life comparisons about what $87 Billion means: 

$87 Billion is more than the combined total of all state budget deficits in the United States.  

The Bush administration proposed absolutely zero funds to help states deal with these deficits, despite the fact that their tax cuts drove down state revenues. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities] 

$87 Billion is enough to pay the 3.3 million people who have lost jobs under George W. Bush $26,363 each!  

The unemployment benefits extension passed by Congress at the beginning of this year provides zero benefits to "workers who exhausted their regular, state unemployment benefits and cannot find work." All told, two-thirds of unemployed workers have exhausted their benefits. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities] 

$87 Billion is more than double the total amount the government spends on homeland security.  

The U.S. spends about $36 billion on homeland security. Yet, Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) wrote, "America will fall approximately $98.4 billion short of meeting critical emergency responder needs" for homeland security without a funding increase. [Source: Council on Foreign Relations] 

$87 Billion is 87 times the amount the federal government spends on after school programs.  

George W. Bush proposed a budget that reduces the $1 billion for after-school programs to $600 million—cutting off about 475,000 children from the program. [Source: The Republican-dominated House Appropriations Committee] 

$87 Billion is more than 10 times what the government spends on all environmental protection.  

The Bush administration requested just $7.6 billion for the entire Environmental Protection Agency. This included a 32 percent cut to water quality grants, a 6 percent reduction in enforcement staff, and a 50 percent cut to land acquisition and conservation. [Source: Natural Resources Defense Council]

When UC Berkeley graduate student Helen Poynton became pregnant during her second year on campus, university housing officials gave her two options: She could move into to a brand new spacious apartment filled with modern amenities or she could rent a unit in a 1960s complex with smaller rooms, fewer amenities and a reputation for mold. 

Poynton picked the mold. What she lost out on in luxury, she more than made up for in price—two-bedroom apartments in Poynton’s complex, known as Section B cost $768, compared to the newly renovated East Village Apartments where similar units cost $1,344.  

Both complexes are part of University Village in Albany—the UC Berkeley residential community just west of San Pablo Avenue which is geared towards students with families. 

The fate of the project is closely linked to another UC institution now facing an end, the agricultural research projects on the nearby Gill Tract which are scheduled to be sacrificed for the construction of a supermarket, creation of new dormitory space for single students and faculty and the building of a pair of ballfields. 

Poynton rallied Monday with about 50 other tenants who were protesting the university’s plan to demolish Section B’s 412 units and replace them with 576 new units—a plan they say would eliminate the last bastion of desperately needed affordable housing for students with families.  

The university estimates that the new Section B units will cost tenants $1,366, slightly less than the maximum amount student loans allocate for housing and almost double the current rent. 

“I would have dropped out of school if not for Section B,” said Poynton. “Sometimes you prefer affordability over luxury.” 

But UC Director of Housing Facilities Operations and Services Bob Jacobs said that mold, which had seeped into the building through improperly sealed windows, poses a health risk. “If you have a condition like asthma, the mold will exacerbate it,” he said. 

Students submitted a counter proposal, replacing the university’s $120 million demolition plan with a $40 million plan to eliminate the mold, but Jacobs said Section B would have to be demolished within 15 years anyway. 

“If we followed their plan, we could keep rents lower for 15 years and then incredibly spike them after that,” he said. 

The additional Section B apartment units planned for construction would supplement the loss of Section A Housing—152 units—that will be sacrificed to Gill Tract development. 

Protesters alleged that the university had decided to demolish Section B during the Gill Tract construction next summer to make the project more cost efficient. Jacobs rejected the charge, saying the new projects are unrelated because the university will lease the Gill Tract land to a private developer for construction. 

He said tenant rents will jump because, as with the East Village, the university receives no funding for the construction and must float bonds that are ultimately repaid entirely by increased student rents. 

Construction will begin this summer on half of the Section B complex, allowing some residents to remain in the other half while university officials try to find housing for displaced students. The first half of the project is scheduled for completion in 2006 and the second half in 2008. 

The project will go ahead as planned, Jacobs said, adding that the university might eventually be able to offer needy students a rent grant to offset the price hikes. 

“We certainly recognize the problems students will face and we’re going to try to work with the campus to provide money for students who need it,” he said. 

Jacob Schiller contributed to this story.

A splendid Indian Summer afternoon couldn’t dispel the dark cloud hovering over Saturday’s harvest festival at the East Bay’s last urban farm. 

Festivities continued despite last week’s news that UC Berkeley officials have ordered professors to cease all research Nov. 1 at the Gill Tract—a university-owned 14-acre agricultural plot on San Pablo Avenue bounded by Marin Street and Codornices Creek. 

Researchers have vowed to ignore the order that sets the stage for a development which will include a 650-room dormitory complex, a supermarket, unearthed creeks, and two ball fields where organic crops and genetically modified corn now grow. 

“I’m afraid I’m going to show up on Nov. 1 and they’ll have changed the lock on the gate,” said Miguel Altieri, a professor with UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources who has tilled the soil at the Gill Tract for 22 years. 

Altieri and his 12 students argue they should at least be able to finish their research on organic farming while the university prepares to start construction next summer, and they say the university has yet to offer a suitable replacement plot. 

UC Berkeley Senior Planner Jeff Bond said the university would provide a replacement plot on university property in Contra Costa County, a proposal that the researchers derided because it is inaccessible to students without cars and unsuitable for the study of urban agriculture. Bond would not comment on the potential for a deal that would keep researchers at the plot temporarily. 

Any compromise that would preserve some farmland as part of the development seems unlikely. 

The university nixed an architectural plan by a student group devoted to urban agriculture that would have preserved part of the plot by altering the project’s housing and parking schemes. 

“This is not an agricultural area,” Bond said. “We’ve looked at the plan from all sides and we think we have the mix that the community wants.” 

Altieri sees his banishment from the plot as part of a trend affecting professors whose research isn’t backed by corporations. 

Since he first started work at the Gill Tract, the university has shrunk his share of the plot from all of the six acres devoted to farming to 0.8 acres to make way for researchers testing genetically altered corn. 

“There’s been a huge shift in the last 10 years where corporations skim off the value of research,” he said, adding that while tax dollars pay for professor salaries and facilities, corporate money drives the scope of the research. 

“The public needs to tell the university if they want their tax dollars to go to sustainable urban agriculture or genetically modified crops,” he said. 

Altieri said he also fears that shunting him off to Contra Costa County is part of a move by UC Berkeley to de-emphasize applied agriculture. 

“They can’t fire me or make me retire, so they decrease my facilities,” he said. “When I’m gone there won’t be anyone here to continue the research.”

Road Rage Shooting 

A 42 year-old Berkeley resident is in critical condition at Highland Hospital after he was shot by another driver in what police labeled a case of road rage. According to police, the man was shot in the parking lot of a car dealership at Ashby Avenue near Seventh Street at 11:25 p.m. Friday. The gunman fled west in a black SUV. When the injured victim tried to drive, presumably in search of medical aid, he crashed his car at Seventh Street. Fire Department paramedics responded, and he was rushed to Highland Hospital. 

Police revealed few details pending an ongoing investigation by the BPD Homicide Unit. They refused to disclose the name of the victim, location of the bullet wound, whether the victim was inside his car when he was shot, or the nature of the argument. 

Rat Pack Assault 

Six youths beat a man as he and a women friend walked through Willard Park at 11:29 p.m. Friday. Police said the youths jumped the man and started punching him repeatedly in the face. When his friend tried to call for help on her cell phone, one of the attackers knocked it out of her hand, then grabbed it and ran off with the others. Police say the youths made no attempt to rob the man, who refused medical attention. 

Backing Into An Officer 

A police officer making a routine traffic stop had to dodge for cover Friday evening when the driver of the car decided to make a delayed getaway. The officer stopped the car on the 2300 block of Curtis Street for driving with a missing headlight. When the officer began to walk towards the stopped car, a passenger leapt from the car and ran away. When the officer started to chase after him, the driver backed up, nearly striking the policeman, who managed to jump behind his patrol car before the driver sped away. 

No arrests have been made.

The Berkeley Community Fund (BCF)’s annual dinner Nov. 4 will celebrate more than a decade of providing financial support for the kind of social and community programs for which the city is so well known. 

Completing their most successful funding cycle ever, BCF organizers will recognize funding recipients and honor community leaders and organizations who have demonstrated a long-standing commitment to the city. 

This year’s Berkeley Community Award recipients include Kent Nagano, the director of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, who will be getting the prestigious Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal; Schuyler Bailey, vice president of Union Bank’s Berkeley branch; and Shirley Richardson, director of the South Berkeley YMCA. The Rosa Parks Collaborative and the Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center will each be given the organizational Berkeley Community awards. 

Thirteen organizations are receiving grants with a combined total of over $60,000 and $20,00 will go in scholarships to students from Berkeley High and Vista Community College.  

According to Eugenia Bowman, the Fund’s executive director, the fund has always tried to live up to its core value, “engaging philanthropy to make social change and improve the quality of life for the community.” All of this year’s award and grant recipients, she says, do exactly that. 

Nagano is being recognized not only for his commitment to the Berkeley symphony, which Bowman said has helped put it on an “international musical map,” but also for his commitment to local Berkeley school music programs. 

“This man is a world renowned conductor. He is in Berlin one day and Paris the next but he continues to return to Berkeley,” Bowman said. “He has a long-standing and enduring commitment to Berkeley.” 

Berkeley Community Award recipient Shirley Richardson is being singled out for helping transform what was becoming a dilapidated YMCA center into a flourishing educational haven for neighborhood youth. Richardson says she was awed on learning she would be honored by the BCF, which she says has been a big part in helping the center re-tool its programs to become an effective community resource. 

“I think the world of the Berkeley Community Fund and it is a great honor to receive the award,” she said. “The Fund is very responsible and socially conscious and it shows that they really try to honor people who are doing similar things.” 

Bowman says the fund chose to honor Richardson for her “lifelong and inspirational” commitment to Berkeley. 

Schuyler Bailey, who is retiring after 38 years with Union Bank, has been deeply involved with the Berkeley Public Education Foundation, the Berkeley Albany YMCA, the Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay, the Rotary Club of Berkeley, the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce and the Berkeley Breakfast Club. He’s also a founding board member of the Berkeley Public Library Foundation. 

Bowman said the organizations receiving Berkeley Community awards were singled out for coming up with creative and effective solutions to persistent problems in the community.  

She described the Rosa Park Collaborative as an institution that just might represent the wave of the future, creating well thought-out multidisciplinary programs to address the educational, health and social needs of community youth to insure their success in life, while addressing the needs of their families—helping them to “thrive economically and socially in an environment of mutual respect.” 

The other organizational honoree, the Woman’s Daytime Drop-In Center, has, since its opening in 1988, served as a refuge for homeless women and children, providing support, food and access to community resources in an effort to help them overcome homelessness and regain self-sufficiency. 

Bowman said the center was chosen because of their effectiveness at helping women and children get back on their feet. 

The center is a perfect example of how the BCF has chosen to tackle issues that fall outside what other funders might define as community enrichment, she said.  

“We’re not just funneling philanthropy to nice ideas. We’re here to serve critical needs. We are concerned about the arts, but we are more concerned about the people who never get access to the arts.”  

Linda Lazzareschi, executive director of the Drop-In Center, said the organization was honored to be acknowledged by the BCF, whose finds have been crucial in helping them improve training for volunteers and the providing long-term comprehensive client services.  

“We would not be here if it were not for the efforts of our volunteers and financial support from the BCF,” she said. 

Ultimately, Bowman said, BCF “isn’t about the money. It’s about the community. We don’t just do philanthropy; we do community.” 

The event is open to the public. Tickets are $45 and include dinner and wine, and “every cent will go toward the grants,” she said. “People can make a huge contribution by coming and the tickets are cheap,” she said. “Every dollar counts and every gift is honored.” 

For more information and tickets, contact the BCF at 525-5272. A reception and no-host cocktails will start at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7p.m. at H’s Lordships, 199 Seawall Drive, in the Berkeley Marina. All donations to the BCF are tax-deductible.

SAN JOSE—In the back of the San Jose airport, 30-year-old Farhan Kahn is handing out samosas to the other cab drivers sitting in lawn chairs waiting for their dispatcher to call. Kahn, cabby by day, world-music sitarist by night, is giving his explanation for the never-ending Bin Laden references drivers hear. “Even in the Bay Area people are ignorant,” he says. “They need to watch less movies and more PBS.”  

He's joking, but the group of South Asian and Ethiopian men don't laugh. Before, racial slurs, and questions like, “What do you think about Saddam?” from passengers were only words, part of the job. Now, after the recent shootings of three Bay Area Sikh cab drivers, many fear those words may portend something much worse. 

Three shootings in two months. Davinder Singh, 21, was shot to death by two passengers early Sept. 13 in Redwood City. Gurpreet Singh, 23, was killed on July 2 in Richmond. Another cab driver, Inderjit Singh, 29, was shot in the jaw on July 5th when he responded to a call from his dispatcher. 

Most Sikhs share the last name of Singh. 

Police in both Richmond and Redwood City determined robbery to be the primary cause of the shootings. But many Sikh cab drivers say the crimes were about racial hatred. 

“They just see the turban and the beard and they hate us,” says Baljit Singh, an older Sikh man who has driven a cab in the Bay Area for four years. 

Sikh Cab drivers responded to the shootings by holding a work slowdown and organizing a memorial procession of hundreds of cabs from San Carlos to San Jose. 

Here at San Jose's Norman Y. Mineta airport, the most common feeling among drivers is that they are trapped in a political and economic moment that has put Sikh cabbies in the crosshairs. If asked whether the shootings were hate crimes or just about money, most cab drives say it was both. 

Farhan Kahn explains. “Right now the biggest question on people’s minds is, ‘Who has cash?’ Put that with all the mistaken identity about Sikhs, and people get targeted.” 

Kavneet Singh echoes the sentiment while speaking about the death of Davinder Singh at a Muslim community center in Santa Clara. “Police say it is not a hate crime, but when the shooter sees the turban and beard it must have made it that much easier to pull the trigger.”  

Kavneet is a local organizer for Sikh Media Watch and Resource Task Force (SMART) and is addressing an Asian, Latino, and black audience that has convened to talk about civil liberties struggles since 9/11. SMART has taken steps to connect the attacks on Sikh cab drivers to this broader public dialogue. Kavneet, a young healthcare professional who can handle a microphone, is a bridge between the insular community of Sikh drivers and the city officials and community activists. His unexpected transformation into a vocal activist has mirrored the evolution of the Sikhs community from largely unknown, to targets of racial slurs and violence, to an organizing community. 

Since the shootings, Kavneet and SMART have facilitated meetings between local and federal law enforcement officials, elected representatives and cab drivers regarding safety and protections. As a result of these efforts, city officials in Richmond are considering cab drivers' suggestions for installing video cameras and glass partitions in cabs. 

Kevneet says San Jose police have even approached him about organizing trainings for their officers on cultural sensitivity toward Sikhs. 

At the airport, drivers are starting to get called by the dispatcher. Nobody seems too worried right now about incidents. The danger comes at night, when customers are finished drinking at clubs and bars, and the streets are dark and empty. Getting up, Swara Singh, a driver for three years, tells Kahn to translate his Hindi. “I don't want to drive a cab anymore.” His wife and children, he says, worry about him. “But I have to. If I work for someone else they may make me shave my beard, and I won't do that.” 

Raj Jayadev is the editor of www.siliconvalleydebug.com, the voice of young workers, writers and artists in Silicon Valley and a Pacific News Service project.

In the back of my closet hangs a dress that I last wore in 1972. It is a shapeless shift, made of crushed blue velvet with red, yellow and green embroidery embellishing a v-neckline. The same embroidery edges the flared sleeves and matches the ankle-length hemline. It has an East Indian motif. I imagine three decades ago a dark skinned Hindu woman sat at an ancient foot pedal sewing machine matching seams together and hand stitching the flowery trim.  

I bought the dress at a head shop on Samson Street in Philadelphia. It hung on a rack in the store between cotton tie-dyed t-shirts and batik bedspreads. A tape of Ravi Shankar playing the sitar wailed in the background. Incense swirled around my head and patchouli oil seeped into my teenage nostrils.  

I put the dress on and I don’t remember taking it off for the next three years, although in retrospect, it seems that I must have. I wore the frock everywhere between 1969 and 1971. 

I donned it for my senior prom, freshman chemistry class, family Christmas gatherings and the single fraternity party that I was invited to my first year of college. I wore it shoplifting, hitchhiking, panhandling, to bed and to see Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and The Doors. 

I wore it in the early morning hours when Jackie Wiler got drunk on a gallon of Boone’s Farm Apple Wine and threw up in my lap. 

I accessorized it with 10-inch platform heels, monstrous lace-up leather work boots, fringed rabbit fur moccasins and flimsy Indian sandals that caused a tropical rash between my toes. 

I wore it to Be-ins, Earth Day, anti-war marches, peace rallies, summer and winter solstice celebrations and nude beaches, where I blithely flipped it over my head and dropped it onto the sand as I raced to the Pacific’s edge. 

In winter I matched it with lime green tights, red knee socks and yellow opaque panty hose. In summer I wore it bare legged and unshaven. I put on hand-made bead earrings, mood rings, eight pounds of turquoise bracelets and a large leather peace sign that dangled between my braless breasts on a loop of burlap twine. 

I looked especially good by the light of an undulating lava lamp. 

I had my picture taken in that dress, a skinny pink feathered boa wrapped around my neck, wire rim, rose-colored granny glasses shading my dilated pupils. My hair stuck out from the sides of my head. There were definitely flowers in my hair. 

Now it hangs limp and sad in the closet on a hanger that is starting to bend under the weight of a dress that hasn’t moved in almost thirty years, except to be hauled twice across the North American continent in the back seat of a Super Beetle and shoved into a series of miserable little basement apartments, drafty communal cottages, storage units, teepees and trailers. It’s been stuffed into trunks and duffel bags, backpacks and shopping carts. It’s been borrowed by ex-sister-in-laws and a drag queen who long ago died of AIDS.  

I took it out of the closet the other day to see if it was suitable to wear for Halloween. I thought I could wear it with long shimmering earrings, thick mascara, a headband, and Easy Spirit walking shoes. But although it has no waistline, drawstrings or any shape whatsoever, I’m not certain I can still squeeze into it. 

Undaunted, I went up to Telegraph Avenue to buy a mask. 

As I got out of the car and mingled on the sidewalk with students and residents of the avenue, I realized that my dress was right in style and that it wouldn’t look like a costume on someone young and hip. Before I tried on a mask of Hillary Clinton, I looked in the mirror. Staring back at me was the face of someone I barely recognized. I looked as if I was already wearing a mask.

After working for the Albertson’s supermarket in Irvine, California for 16 and a half years, Susan, 52, has been shut out of her workplace after she and other workers demanded to keep their health care benefits and wages even though their contract was over.  

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), represents 70,000 workers for the “Big Three” grocery companies in Southern California – Albertson’s, Ralph’s and Von’s. Irvine workers belong to Local 324.  

The strike began when workers at Albertson’s, Vons/Pavillion, and Ralphs Grocery were shut out of their stores on October 11. Before they left, they were responsible for training the temp workers how to run the store—people whom the companies brought in literally off the streets to keep the stores open during the times of the strike.  

“We had to train them,” said one assistant manager on strike, “and if we didn’t, we were being insubordinate. But I tell you, it’s heartbreaking to see somebody else doing your job and you know they’re not as qualified.”  

Deciding to strike was a difficult decision. Workers risk their jobs, their unions, and their future. They do not receive wages while they are on strike, although the union does pay them about minimum wage to picket.  

The corporations claim they need to “stay competitive” in order to compete with the Wal-Mart stores encroaching on their territory and undercutting prices – yet Vons, Ralph’s and Albertsons’ combined profits are 91 percent higher than they were four years ago. Further, on average, only about 25 percent of these supermarkets need to compete with a Wal-Mart in a given area. In terms of profitability, each of the Big Three surpassed Wal-Mart in the Fortune 500. Meanwhile, 15 corporate executives earned $70 million last year amongst themselves.  

The union has launched a website: www.saveourhealthcare.org that shows how well the Big Three are doing economically.  

“I’m just a few years away from retirement and they want to take my pension away from me,” Susan says. “And I’ve been working all this time. I feel like I’ve been betrayed by my company. To me, a promise is a promise. I gave up my weekends with my family to work at Albertson’s. The truth is that we played by the rules – the company didn’t.”  

Albertson’s and the other companies are attempting to create a two-tier system, in which the current workers would receive some of their current benefits, while new workers would receive no benefits and lower wages. As the present workers retire over the coming 20 years, the companies would undergo a complete “Wal-mart-ization.”  

“I look at our country,” Susan continues, “And I look at how it’s going. We’re going to have only the very rich and the very poor. We’re not going to have any middle class. Some companies give the same bonus, which is a share of the profits, to everybody, from the managers to the janitors, because it takes everybody to make a company.”  

Instead, Albertson’s, Vons and Ralph’s are glorifying the negative example set by Wal-Mart and treating their workers as if they were merely a commodity, merely a cost to be cut.  

Todd said, “We’re told Wal-Mart sends their employees to get food stamps because they don’t pay them enough to afford food. And this is what Albertson aspires to become?”  

There are apparently more Wal-Mart-ization schemes on the horizon. According to one worker, the Big Three have unveiled plans to phase in non-union stores, phase out butchers and food clerks, and increase the responsibilities of bag boys who are paid $6.75 an hour to start.  

“How would you feel? Wouldn’t you be pissed?” asks a striking worker named Connie. “What about the people who work Sundays and now they want to take away their Sunday pay [time and a half]? Kids are in school Monday through Friday, and Sunday is the one day where you want to be with them, but the grocery store can’t even pay you extra on this one day? These owners profit every single day from your customers.”  

Connie worries that with the increased costs of health care and increases in premiums, out-of-pocket expenses for both routine and emergency health needs would become completely unaffordable on an Albertson’s salary.  

She adds, “This experience makes me not want to work here, but I’ll go back after the strike and provide the excellent customer service again. Right now, the temporary service in there is questionable. The the meats are all out of code and prepackaged. They don’t cut it for you. They freeze it and then they thaw it. Most customers don’t know, so they freeze meat again at home that has already been thawed in the store. And that’s a health hazard.”  

The strikers’ flyers read: “We’re sorry for the inconvenience but we couldn’t let corporate greed take away our families’ health care benefits.”  

This article first appeared in the Irvine Progressive.

Roger Montgomery, a former dean of the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, died Saturday at his home in Berkeley. He was 79. 

Over the course of four decades, Montgomery taught thousands of students, said university spokesperson Kathleen Mclay, teaching his last course, a freshman seminar called “The Museum and The City” three years ago. 

Montgomery served as dean from 1988 until his retirement eight years later. The University awarded him the Berkeley Citation, the campus’s highest honor, in 1994. 

He is survived by three sons and six grandchildren. A memorial service will be held on campus in the spring.

City Manager Weldon Rucker’s presence in Berkeley’s government has been so consistent, reassuring and unflappable that when he announced his retirement as of Nov. 1, some city employees broke into tears and many reacted as if the foundation had been suddenly yanked from beneath Civic Center. 

City Council honored Rucker’s 31 years of civic service with a proclamation and numerous laudatory testimonials last Tuesday. Mayor Tom Bates, each of the councilmembers and the president of the League of Woman Voters praised the departing executive both personally and professionally. Words like “honesty,” “integrity,” “fair,” “responsive,” “reasonable,” “phenomenal,” “caring,” “foresight” and “wise” flowed from the council dais.  

The responsibility and demanding hours of the city manager’s job are daunting, but nearly everyone who follows local politics agrees that Rucker—who worked his way up through the ranks to the city’s top job—carried out his leadership duties with professionalism and an unflagging commitment to the citizens of Berkeley. 

Rucker, 62, who had a heart attack in 1994 and suffers from diabetes, said he is stepping away from the high-pressure job to focus on his health and spend quality time with Jeanie, his wife of 41 years, their two adult daughters and two granddaughters. Rucker will be replaced by Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz. 

“This job can take a toll on your health and family life,” Rucker said. “It can be a bit lonely for my wife when I just come home to sleep and change my clothes.” 

While the mayor and City Council often have a higher public profile, it’s the city manager who is immediately responsible for overseeing the innumerable details and tasks that keep the city functioning. Council may be praised when it approves a new budget, for example, but it relies almost entirely on the city manager’s funding recommendations because he is the one who is responsible for crunching the numbers.  

The city manager oversees nearly all of the city’s daily functions including emergency and health services, public works, economic development and housing to name just a few. From fixing potholes to catching stray cats to preparing for the city for possibility of large scale disasters, the daily buck stops at the city manager’s desk.  

Mayor Tom Bates commended Rucker for his commitment to making city government citizen-friendly and for his good judgment and level-headedness amidst the city’s well known political histrionics. 

“People get so excited about things and Weldon is always the one who pauses. You can see his mind working and then he comes up with something that makes perfect sense,” he said. “We were so blessed to have him.” 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said Rucker’s retirement was “the saddest piece of news I had heard since I was first elected to the Council.” 

Councilmember Linda Maio said “We’re like a family on the fifth floor (of Civic Center) and you’re the dad.” 

Rucker is a large man, tall and broad-shouldered, packing a bit of extra weight around his middle of the sort that the Italians might say adds to his authority. He moves and talks slowly, as if he’s calculated how to regulate his energy to ensure he can function through the tough work days that frequently go long into the night. His easy manner and ready humor instantly put people at ease (Councilmember Miriam Hawley requested that he stop by Civic Center occasionally after he retires just so she could hear his “rumbling” and “somehow reassuring” laugh). 

Popularity aside, several city employees said Rucker believes in hard work above all else and that he can, at times, be a harsh taskmaster behind closed doors. “The motto around the Civic Center is ‘work, work, work,’” said one mid-level administrator, “and there’s not a lot of tolerance for anything less.” 

Leaning back in a chair in his corner office that overlooks Berkeley High School and Civic Center Park, Rucker took some time from his busy schedule to talk about his 31 years with the city, his priorities for managing city government and the uniqueness of Berkeley.  

He quickly dismissed any notion that he was personally responsible for having much impact on city government. 

“Just thinking about it, what have I really done that I accomplished by myself?” he said. “It’s always been in coordination with other people.” 

But those in the know in city government say Rucker has been the driving force behind such valuable city programs and services as the Adult Health Project and the Safe Telegraph Avenue Project. He’s also credited with establishing the Office of Neighborhood Services—which greatly increased the city’s response to complex neighborhood problems by coordinating multiple city services—and the City Center, which helps citizens and businesses quickly navigate city departments.  

A graduate of Saint Mary’s College with a degree in business management, Rucker began working for the city in 1972. He spent seven years in youth services, first as a recreation coordinator, then working with young adults and finally as a youth employment supervisor.  

He says working with the city’s youth first inspired him by revealing the potential to make a difference. Though a city employee, he was often put in the position of advocating for at-risk kids with city officials, giving him valuable insights into working from within the system. 

“I was in, but I was also out,” he said. “It taught me how to work with a bureaucracy.” 

It also gave Rucker another advantage, according to Frank Davis Jr., president of the Black Property Owners Association. Through his work with youth, he had gained the trust and goodwill of the African American community in South Berkeley. 

“There had been four other African American city managers before Weldon, but no one who had lived in South Berkeley, worked here and knew all of the kids by name,” Davis said. “It was a big plus because he had a special connection with south Berkeley residents and they felt they could go to him for advice and he was always, always available. I don’t know if the city will ever be able to replace him.” 

Rucker said availability and responsiveness to the populace have been the basis for his management style. “We have active, intelligent and knowledgeable citizens who know the rules and regulations,” he said. “It’s important that we work to engage and partner with the community. Increasing communication and understanding reduces rancor around certain issues.” 

Then there is the public’s vigorous participation in a city which has more citizen commissions per capita that any other municipal government in the country—at last count, some 42 commissions, boards and task forces. Rucker said the proliferation of citizen commissioners made his job “interesting.” 

“It’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, it stretches resources and staff time to have so many commissions and sometimes the commissions work at cross purposes,” he said. “But on the other hand if we didn’t harness the great minds in Berkeley and allow the free flow of ideas and idealism, we wouldn’t be who we are.” 

He pointed to Berkeley’s long list of innovations and firsts, such as being the first city to divest from businesses connected to South Africa’s apartheid government, the first to offer a municipal recycling program and the first to ban Styrofoam. 

Rucker said he is leaving office with a few regrets. He is sorry that the large vacant lot on the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street was never turned into a mixed-use building. He wishes the city had been successful in its attempts to replace a portion of Derby Street near the campus with a city baseball field, and he regrets that the city was unable to solve its homeless problem.  

“Despite our best attempts, we were only able to contain homelessness to a certain degree,” he said. “We were never able to come up with a solution.” 

Rucker has no plans for the immediate future. “A lot of people have come up to me and said they have the perfect job or project but I’m not too interested right now,” he said in his usual slow drawl. “But I’m not leaving Berkeley and I’m sure I’ll be getting involved in something before too long.” 

A public farewell reception will be held for Weldon Rucker on the sixth floor of the Civic Center Building from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. today (Tuesday Oct. 28.)  

At least two major properties built by prominent developer Patrick Kennedy are not paying Berkeley special fees and assessments, according to Alameda County property tax records and officials interviewed by the Daily Planet. 

Barbara Gilbert, a former aide to ex-Mayor Shirley Dean, raised the issue at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting when she declared, “We know the Gaia Building is not paying local assessments.” The accusation brought a stunned hush to the crowd at Council chambers. 

The Gaia Building, at 2116 Allston Way, is a downtown commercial/apartment complex built by Kennedy’s Berkeley development firm, Panoramic Interests, which is headquartered in the building. 

Acting City Manager Phil Kamlarz appeared surprised by Gilbert’s charge, responding to a request for clarification by Mayor Tom Bates that some portion of the Gaia Building “may be a nonprofit and therefore partially exempt, but it’s a mistake if they’re not paying taxes.” The complex does not claim non profit status on the county tax rolls. 

Kennedy, the founder of Panoramic Interests and a Piedmont resident who regularly contributes to candidates and campaign measures in the city of Berkeley, was curt in an initial interview two days after the meeting, saying that he knew nothing about the Gaia’s tax situation, and refused to give the Daily Planet access to anyone in his company who might know. 

“This is news to me.” Kennedy said. “I haven’t seen our tax bill. I don’t handle that.” Kennedy said that the company’s accountant handles its tax payments, but when asked how the Daily Planet could get in touch with the accountant to ask further questions, Kennedy said, “We don’t discuss financial matters relating to our project, to be honest with you. But I’m interested that you mentioned it. I’m going to take a look at it.” 

Kennedy later called back to say that “I’d like to say for the record that if there is an oversight on the part of the city, we’ll settle it, of course. I’m looking into it to see whether there is in fact some kind of oversight on the part of the assessors or anyone else. I know that we are current in [tax payments for] all of our properties.”  

The developer told a reporter “you are the first guy who told me about this.” 

A check of county tax rolls also revealed that Kennedy isn’t paying the special city assessments on another of his properties, the Berkeleyan, located at 1910 Oxford St. 

Heather Murphy, the City of Berkeley’s Revenue Collection Manager confirmed that both the Gaia Building and the Berkleyan are not currently being billed for Berkeley property fees and assessments. 

Murphy said that the Gaia Building is not being taxed by the city because it has not been issued a final use permit from the city’s Planning Department. But Murphy said that the city issued a final use permit for the Berkeleyan in July of 2000. 

Adding city fees and assessments to the Berkeleyan’s tax bill “kind of fell through the process in the communication between the building permits section and the Finance Department. It’s a process we’re still working on refining. [The Berkeleyan] should have started being assessed by July of 2001. And so we will be back billing them for those assessments.” 

Both the Gaia Building and the Berkeleyan are currently being billed for Alameda County property taxes as well as for special county fees and assessments, and there is no indication that Kennedy’s firm hasn’t paid for what it’s been billed.  

While city fees and assessments are paid through the property tax bill generated by the County Auditor’s office, supplying the information needed to generate the city’s fees and assessments is solely the city’s responsibility. 

Speaking of the Gaia Building, Murphy said that her office was already “looking at the building” as part of a regular reassessment process even before last Tuesday’s Council meeting. 

“Since we came to the realization that they do have a temporary certificate of occupancy,” Murphy explained, “we are now going back to assess how much of that square footage has actually been used or has been released to be used under the temporary certificate. We have all intentions of going back and billing them for the current year, and for last year.” 

But Murphy said that an investigation by her office showed that the Berkeleyan had not been placed on a list of properties to be reviewed for Berkeley fees and assessments prior to the Daily Planet’s query about the property. “It will certainly now be scheduled for review,” she said. 

Murphy also said that the city’s Finance Department was currently considering changing its procedure so that buildings with temporary occupancy permits can be billed immediately. 

Variables in how properties are assessed make it difficult to say exactly how much either the Gaia Building or the Berkeleyan owes from unbilled city fees and assessments. 

However, medical offices at 2850 Telegraph Ave. have a taxable value ($12.5 million) that is roughly equivalent to the taxable value of the Gaia Building ($12.4 million). The 2850 Telegraph property currently pays more than $49,500 per year in Berkeley property fees and assessments. 

And at $6 million apiece, both the Berkeley Bowl and the building at 1600 Shattuck Ave. that houses a Starbucks franchise have roughly the same taxable value as the Berkeleyan. The Starbucks building pays close to $19,000 per year in Berkeley property fees and assessments; the Berkeley Bowl pays more than $44,000. 

The Gaia Building was completed in 2001 and has operated under a temporary certificate of occupancy since that time. The Berkeleyan was completed in 1998. 

Gilbert raised the issue of the Gaia Building’s tax status after charging that Berkeley is not taxing significant portions of its tax base, primarily properties owned by nonprofits, during the council’s Special Session on Ballot Measures, called to consider a ballot measure to raise Berkeley property taxes to make up for an imminent budget shortfall.

FRIDAY, OCT. 24 

Peace Pole Planting in People’s Park Help plant a Peace Pole in the Roots of Peace Garden in People's Park, today, United Nations Day, at 4:30 p.m. at the southeast edge of the lawn area. A collaboration of Roots of Peace, the People's Park Community Advisory Board, and UC Berkeley. 642-7860. 

“The Precautionary Principle” a panel with Tom and Jane Kelley, Councilmember Kriss Worthington, and Jean Reinhardt Reiss of the Breast Cancer Fund at 5:30 p.m., and “The Disabling of Democracy,” a panel with Mike Ruppert of From the Wilderness on 9-11, Tara Treasurefield on the electronic voting machine scandal, and Fred Burkes on mind control/media control, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists at 1924 Cedar St. Part of the Redwood Sequoia Congress. www.bfuu.org/rscongress 

END-dependence Spoken Word Tour, fundraiser for Rocky Boice, Jr., sponsored by MEXA/Centro Abya Yala Xicana/ Latino Agenda Office, at 8 p.m. 145 Dwinelle, UC Campus. $5-8 sliding scale. www.brownprde. 

com/END-dependence 

Literary Friends meets from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. The film “Jane Eyre” and a video on the life of Charlotte Bronte will be shown. 232-1351. 

Family Literacy Night from 7 to 9 p.m. at the YMCA, 2001 Allston Way. Enjoy music, storytellers, fun activities, book swaps, and more. 665-3271.  

“Berkeley Reads” Orientation for new volunteer tutors in the Berkeley Public Library's adult literacy program, from 10 a.m. to noon at the West Branch Library, 1125 University Ave. at San Pablo. 981-6299. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Michael Nacht, Ph.D., Dean, Goldman School of Public Policy, “Post-War Iraq and the Mid-East.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $11.50 - $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 496-6000, ext. 135.  

SATURDAY, OCT. 25 

United Nations Day Commemoration and flag raising ceremony at 11 a.m. in Jack London Square, Oakland, followed by a luncheon and talk by SF State Prof. Marshall Windmiller at 12:30 p.m. at the Spaghetti Factory. Tickets to the lunch are $25 and and can be reserved by calling 530-7600 or 652-3192. 

Walking Tour of Ocean View, led by Stephanie Manning. Meet at 10 a.m. at Spenger’s parking lot, University and 4th St. This tour is part of the 150th Anniversary of Ocean View, Berkeley’s earliest settlement, sponsored by The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and Berkeley History Society. Tickets are $10. For information call 841-8562.  

“The Prison-Industrial Complex,” a panel with former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Davida Coady, M.D., Dorsey Nunn and Meredith Maran at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists at 1924 Cedar St. Part of the Redwood Sequoia Congress. www.bfuu.org/rscongress 

Cynthia McKinney on “Confronting Empire” at 8 p.m. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, 1781 Rose St. For a full schedule of the weekend events, please see www.bfuu.org/rscongress 

Neighborhood Emergency Supplies A large multi-media emergency supply exposition event from 1 to 4 p.m. at Truitt and White Lumber Showrooms, 642 Hearst Ave. Workshops will include mini-first aid, search and rescue, fire suppression and home retrofit workshops. Wheelchair accessible. Co-sponsored by the City of Berkeley. For information call 981-5514 or email clopes@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Pumpkin Carving and Costume Making from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333.  

Gardening with East Bay Native Plants, a hands-on workshop held in a Berkeley garden that is built from local native plants, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Cost is $25. Pre-registration required. 231-9430. mary@aoinstitute.org  

Harvest Festival and Open Garden Day at the Gill Tract Professors Miguel Altieri and Clara Nichols will lead a walk through the garden to discuss agroecological approaches to weed and pest management. Professor Ignacio Chapela will discuss the benefits of urban agriculture as an alternative to agribusiness and biotechnology. Other activities include seedball-making, compost demonstrations, fresh produce and food, local musicians, face-painting, and more. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Gill Tract, 1050 San Pablo Ave., south of Marin St., Albany. 597-9819.  

Halloween Bazaar from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New School of Berkeley, 1606 Bonita at Cedar. Activities include face painting, mask making, apple bobbing, rummage sale, bake sale and much more. Proceeds benefit the school’s scholarship fund. 548-9165. 

Green Living Series: Green Building Materials Learn about healthier building materials, and how to lower your utility bills, reduce home maintenance, and minimize remodeling construction waste. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10 EC members, $15 general, no one turned away. 548-2220 ext. 233. 

Halloween Night Hikes Learn to turn your feet into eyes and other nature secrets for being friends with the night. Some walks will be short, easy and accessible for strollers and some will be longer and spooky; flashlights to be kept in your pack, pocket or left at home! From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

Halloween Party at Lawrence Hall of Science, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., with games, activities, and candy fun you won't want to miss. Reservations are required. 643-5961. www.lawrencehallofscience.org 

Berkeley Path Wanderers, Paths of Northernmost Berkeley. Meet at Walnut and Portland Aves, at 10 a.m. For information 549-2906, 849-1142. 

Book Fair to benefit Center for Independent Living’s Youth Services Program at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave. from noon to 5 p.m. Bookfair vouchers required in order for the proceeds to benefit CIL, please call 841-4776 ext. 112, or visit www.cil-berkeley.org  

Yoga for Seniors at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., from 10 to 11 a.m. Open to non-members for $8.00 per class. For further information and to register, call 848-7800. 

Pet Adoptions, sponsored by Home at Last, from noon to 5 p.m., Hearst and 4th St. 548-9223. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 26 

Redwood Sequoia Congress with panels on “Strategies for Peace and Justice” at 1 p.m., “Strategies for Sustainability” at 3 p.m., “Confronting Corporate Rule” at 5 p.m. and “Confronting Empire” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists at 1924 Cedar St. Part of the Redwood Sequoia Congress. 841-4824, 527-7543. www.bfuu.org/rscongress 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. Donations welcome. The Berkeley City Club is located at 2315 Durant Ave. For reservations or more information, call 848-7800 or 883-9710. 

Balloons at the Berkeley Bowl, from 2 to 6 p.m. in support of workers. Come help blow up balloons, and distribute them to customers.  

Accessible Tools for the Internet, at 2 p.m. and Accessible Tools for Email at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 3rd Floor Electronic Classroom, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6121. 548-1240 (TTY). www.infopeople.org/bpl 

California Shakespeare Theater’s Annual Costume and Garage Sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 701 Heinz Ave. 548-4322. 

Tibetan Buddhism, special tour and introduction to Tibetan art, meditation and culture from 3 to 5 p.m. followed by “The Tibetan Mandala as a Map of Consciousness,” with Sylvia Gretchen at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, OCT. 27 

Gardening with Kids Join your child in a fun exploration of gardening, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 528-5587.  

League of Women Voters meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library. Henry Brady, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, UC Berkeley, will speak on “Integrity of Elections, How can we be sure our votes are counted correctly?” 843-8824. 

“Faith: Trust Your Own Deepest Experience” with Sharon Salzberg at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 433-9928.  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 6 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, OCT. 28 

Human and Ecological Health Risk Assessment of the Lawrence Berkeley Lab  

A workshop for the public by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. For information call 866-495-5651, or 540-3932. 

Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy will screen “Lolita: Slave to Entertainment,” about a killer whale and the dark side of the aquarium industry, at 7 p.m. at 206 Dwinelle, UC Campus. www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~boaa 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 525-3565. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers We are a few slowpoke seniors who walk between a mile or two each Tuesday, meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the Little Farm parking lot. To join us, call 215-7672.  

Lawyers in the Library at 6 p.m. at the West Branch, 1125 University. 981-6270. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 29 

An Evening with Studs Terkel, “Keeping the Faith in Difficult Times,” a conversation with Harry Kreisler, producer and host of Conversations with History, at 8 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Sponsored by UC Institute for International Studies, KPFA Free Speech Radio, and Mother Jones Magazine. Tickets are $18, students $12 and are available from Cody’s Books or 642-9988. www.calperformances.org 

“The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living” with Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., physicist and systems theorist, is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy, at 4 p.m. at 160 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by The Altieri Agroecology Lab and The Center for Sustainable Resource Development. 643-4200. 

“Common Grounds: Land, Coffee, and Rural Organizing in Guatemala” with Paulina Culum, a small coffee producer and organizer, describing the work of Plataforma Agraria at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“Wicked John and the Devil” A night of Halloween storytelling for youth ages 8 and up, at 7:30 p.m. in the fourth floor storyroom at the Berkeley Central Library at 2090 Kittredge. 981-6223. www.infopeople.org/bpl 

Haunted Honeymoon An old-fashioned haunted house, fun for all ages, in a private home. 1818 5th St. Open Oct. 29, 30 and 31 from 7 to 10 p.m. Cost is $5, children 12 and under free. Benefits Greyhound Friends for Life. www.BerkeleyHauntedHouse.com 

“The World Community and International Human Rights: Are Things Getting Any Better?” with Maurice Copithorne, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

Berkeley High School Academic Quiz Bowl Practice Session, last Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 2352 Shattuck Ave.  

THURSDAY, OCT. 30 

Free Weatherization Information and free energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps, low-flow showerheads and aerators, will be offered at West Berkeley Senior Center 10 to 11 a.m., South Berkeley Senior Center 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and North Berkeley Senior Center 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Sponsored by the City of Berkeley Energy Office, together with California Youth Energy Services and Community Energy Services Corporation. 981-5435.  

Personnel Issues and Organizational Development for Non-Profits Free workshop on developing strategies to keep staff motivated during difficult fiscal times while staying true to organizational goals. Held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Alameda County Conference Center, 125 12th Street, 4th floor. Sponsored by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. To register, please call Felicia Moore-Jordan at 268-5376.  

“The WTO and its Critics: Perspectives on Cancun” a panel discussion from 5 to 7 p.m., Morgan Lounge, 114 Morgan Hall, near Hearst and Arch Streets, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Resource Development, College of Natural Resources, UCB and Graduate Student Pizza & Policy Organizing Committee. 643-4200. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Henry E. Brady, Ph.D., Professor Political Science, UCB, “California After the Recall Election.” Luncheon 11:45 a.m. $11.50 - $12.50, Speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Deceptions and Cover-Ups: Fragments from the War on Terror” film showing, “Jenin, Jenin” plus a slide show and presentation by John Caruso, ISM member, at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Berkeley Central Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. Co-sponsored by Berkeley Peace Walk & Vigil. 

Reflections on Old Ocean View with Barbara Gates, author of “Already Home,” Janet Lukehart, Good Shepard archivist, and Stephanie Manning, Ocean View resident and poet. At 7:30 p.m. in the Church of the Good Shepard, at 9th and Hearst. Lecture is part of the 150th Anniversary of Ocean View, Berkeley’s earliest settlement, sponsored by The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association and Berkeley History Society. Tickets are $10. For information call 841-8562.  

“The Human Rights Situation in Iran: What Can the International Community Do About It?” with Maurice Copithorne, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, Home Room, Piedmont at Bancroft. 642-9460. 

ONGOING 

Tenants Rights Week Oct. 27 - 31. Stop by the booth in Sproul Plaza, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to learn about your rights. Sponsored by ASUC Renters legal Assistance and Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. 644-6128.  

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., Oct. 27, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Deborah Chernin, 981-6715. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/parksandrecreation 

Solid Waste Management Commission meets Mon., Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Becky Dowdakin, 981-6357. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/solidwaste

“As California has become more solidly Democratic, the name [Left Coast]—with its political connotation—is most closely associated with that state. (Oregon and Washington are still up for linguistic grabs.) 

—William Safire,  

New York Times Magazine,  

Oct. 1, 2000, on the origins of the term “Left Coast.” 

A Mandate?  

I don’t believe anyone ever predicted Arnold Schwarzenegger’s actually obtaining more votes than Gray Davis in the Oct. 7 recall election. But he did. And out of all 58 counties in California, only 15 voted not to remove Governor Davis from office. And out of those 15, only 8 did not vote for Arnold. Is this a mandate? Well, maybe and maybe not.  

Maybe, because if you consider that turnout for the election—over 60 percent—was significant. More voters tends to equals more democracy. Maybe not, because the actual number of eligible state voters who cast a ballot for Arnold was fewer than 17 percent, according to the New York Times. Kind of startling isn’t it?! 

And what of this notion of the “Left Coast?” There were eight counties that voted no on the recall, led by San Francisco at 80 percent, and yes on Cruz Bustamante, also led by SF, where Cruz obtained 63 percent of all votes cast. The election results reveal an astounding polarization between a couple of geographical regions. It is not hard to find a real California “Left Coast” when perusing through the state-wide recall results. If this state is the last bastion of leftist politics in our nation, and it might be pretentious to think so, then it is the north left coast eight counties which are to be held responsible for such a reputation. If you look at the numbers it really is remarkable that these eight counties exist in the same state as a Kern County, an Orange County, or a San Bernardino County. Kern County, just east of San Luis Obispo County, might be San Francisco’s ideological opposite. Kern County voted to recall Davis with almost 76 percent marking yes.  

The PC Left Coast 8  

In case you are wondering who would make up the Left Coast 8, get out your California counties map. Beginning from the north and heading south this elite eight includes: Mendocino, Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties. (A footnote to this is that all of the other counties voting no on the recall but yes on Arnold, except Los Angeles, are contiguous to the Left Coast 8—Humboldt, Napa, Yolo, Solano, Contra Costa, and Monterey.) 

If California were ever to split up, the Left Coast 8 might be the most potent geo-political force in forming a new separate state. It would not be overblown to say that when taken together, this eight-county swath of the California coast is perhaps more politically left of center than anywhere else in America. Does it mean this Left Coast 8 is somehow moving toward socialism with a human face? Probably not yet.  

What it most likely means is that this more educated and higher income geographical grouping shares some very similar political and social concerns: environmental protection (clean air, clean water, anti-logging, anti-sprawl, slow-growth, a love-hate relationship with the automobile), a great compassion for the those less fortunate, and a general belief that things can be better if we only do something about it, i.e. “people make history, but often not under conditions of their own choosing.” So when New York Times Columnist William Safire, or anyone else, refers to the Left Coast, it is really these eight counties, the Left Coast 8, to which they are referring.  

Of course many questions arise about what it is that has this part of California voting in droves in the exact opposite direction of the rest of the state. The water? A 60s hangover? The spectacular scenic coastal environment created by an array of micro-climates? Hard to say exactly. In Berkeley you will hear some say, ‘Oh, all of you live inside of some kind of bubble, Berkeley is just not part of the real world.’ Well folks, if the results of this election are any indication, the Berkeley bubble is a helluva lot bigger than many critics thought. 

But Is There a Real Left Coast?  

Finally, consider the fact that the real left candidate, Peter Camejo of the Green Party did not do very well in this election. While he holds many positions similar to his Democratic rivals, he parts company with them when it comes to how things get paid for. Camejo is solidly in favor of 1) publicly financed elections, and 2) rich people paying more taxes for the simple reason that they have more of the money. What is telling about this election is that many Greens and green-Democrats seemed to make a conscious choice to defect from Camejo in favor of Bustamante for fear that Schwarzenegger would win. Camejo actually received a hundred and sixty thousand fewer votes (213,087) than he did last November (381,700). It would be interesting for us who live on the Real Left Coast if the exit polling had included questions about what candidate you would vote for in an ideal world, or who is the most principled candidate. Camejo might have done exceedingly well in such a poll. 

In the case of the Left Coast 8, this election clearly presents a picture in which Berkeley has much in common with many other Northern California cities. In other words, progressives in Berkeley can take heart, for they are not alone. And, look out Southern California! 

Christopher Krohn is a former mayor of Santa Cruz.

Smiling, understanding and patient, Seymour Fromer ambled through the museum he’s been building for the past four decades, explaining the remarkable touchstones to history he’s selected for the show that will mark the reopening of a treasured Berkeley institution. 

The Judah L. Magnes Museum reopens its doors to the public Sunday afternoon, celebrating its return to the city following a brief, unsuccessful and now-dissolved merger with the Jewish Museum of San Francisco. 

Free ice cream and other treats await visitors to the 2 p.m. festivities at the museum at 2911 Russell St. Mayor Tom Bates will extend an official welcome on behalf of the city.  

Now curator emeritus, Fromer praised the museum staff for “bringing together all the strands from before the merger. It was a big task.” 

As a man who has devoted his life to education, Fromer is proud of the institution he created with his wife, Rebecca.  

“A museum is different from a gallery. If we acquire a painting, an artifact, a book, we don’t simply display it, but we research it to learn its meaning and how it fits into history. It’s a big task, and we’ve tried to stick to it. . .to build a matrix for Jewish studies that will fit into the curricula of schools like the University, like Stanford, and the other colleges and universities in the region that are offering courses in Jewish traditions and Middle Eastern studies.” 

But Fromer’s connection to the museum’s remarkable collection is clearly more than mere intellectual satisfaction, revealed in the quiet passion of his voice and the gleam in his eye as he describes some of the haunting, evocative works he has chosen for this exhibit. 

One Plexiglas case houses papers of Koppel S. Pinson, the Queens College scholar chosen by the Allies at the end of World War II to catalog and attempt to restore to owners the artworks and libraries seized by the minions of Hitler and Himmler as the Holocaust rolled over the face of Europe. 

It was Pinson who suggested to the victors that the seized works should be handed over to the library of Hebrew University in Palestine—the school founded by Judah L. Magnes, the San Francisco-born, Oakland High School graduate who became the first rabbi born west of the Mississippi. 

As rabbi of New York’s Temple Emanu-El, Magnes took unpopular stands. A pacifist, he opposed America’s entry into the First World War, and as an ardent Zionist he was also a powerful proponent of Arab/Jewish reconciliation and established a Department of Arabic Studies at Hebrew University. 

One of the most haunting pieces in Fromer’s exhibit is a massive canvas by Polish painter Mauryey Minkowski, depicting the battered, bandaged victims of the 1906 pogrom in Bialystok, then a part of the Russian Empire. As police stood watching, members of the Black Hundreds—vicious anti-Semites backed by the Ohkrana, the Tsar’s secret police—beat, raped and murdered. The gaunt, stunned expressions on the faces of Minkowski’s subjects offer eloquent mute testimony of what had gone before. 

Another display case bears witness to a still-earlier and more methodical onslaught, the Spanish Inquisition. 

In elegant, formal swirls inked on creamy well-made paper, a scribe captured the words of the prosecutors and witnesses in the Majorcan trials of Alonso Lopez and Ana Ayala. A 17-year-old covert to Catholicism, Lopez was convicted as a heretic in 1672 and burned at the stake. Two decades later, the judges were kinder to Anguilo, sentencing her to 200 lashes, a fine, and exile. 

One of the museum’s most unique artifacts testifies to a compassionate response to persecution. 

When the Nazis banned Jews from fleeing the Reich aboard the ships of Germany’s main carrier, the Jews of Great Britain appealed to the British Cunard line, which was then building the Queen Mary. Cunard executives then gave orders for the liner’s designers to include a synagogue in the grand vessel, where Jews sailing to freedom could worship in glorious freedom. When the ship was decommissioned in 1976 and installed as a tourist attraction in Long Beach, the ark was acquired by a succession of small temples in Southern California before winding up in the Magnes. 

Designed by Cecil Jacob Epril, the ark is a classic example of Art Deco craftsmanship in burls and inlays with a fanciful grillwork and a crowning Star of David. 

On the secular side, Fromer selected letters and a drawing by that most famous of all modern Jews, Albert Einstein. The small sketch had posed something of a mystery until a UC physicist recognized it as an illustration of the wonderfully abstruse concept of length contraction that is a corollary of the Theory of Relativity. 

No Jewish museum could be complete without some examples of that most famous and poignantly whimsical of artists, Marc Chagall. The Magnes recently acquired a collection of rare Chagalliana from the estate of a retired San Francisco city planner, including lithographs and books. Fromer picked a few choice items for the exhibit. 

To illustrate the rich Jewish theatrical tradition, Fromer picked the colorful gouache sketches of Issachar Ryback’s costume designs for a Purim play, illustrating character from the Book of Ruth, and Sir Jacob Epstein’s magnificent, earthy color rendering of his design for the curtained backdrop of a Duke of York Theatre 1930s production of a ballet based on the life of King David. 

A wide selection of artifacts reflects another vanished era, the days when the Jews of the Mideast lived in peace dispersed throughout the Islamic nations. 

Fromer’s face lights up as he walks a reporter over to a an extravagant copper lamp, featured a three-dimensional camel mounted on an armature that rises from a rectangular base etched in Arabic calligraphy. The lampshade of beaten, pierced copper is festooned with hanging glass beadwork and surmounted by the Magen David, the six-pointed star. 

Fromer’s obvious pride and delight offer eloquent testimony to the life he spent devoted to teaching at the Jewish Education Center in Oakland. 

“We felt we needed more material to educate people, and we realized there are a lot of people who move here from the east who have inherited things they don’t know what to do with,” he explained. One thing led to another, culminating in the launching of the museum in 1962. 

“Now we have rare books and manuscripts, graphics, arts and fine arts, Judaica—ceremonial art, prayer books, and so forth. We have the Western Jewish History Center, which has the foremost collection of Jewish artifacts from the eleven western states. We have complete runs of Jewish newspapers, and so much more. 

“Take the Inquisition papers. We’ve all heard of the Inquisition, but here you can see the actual documents, the minutes they kept recording the testimony given, the property seized, the punishments given. You come in first-hand touch with living history.” 

Fromer beams, his eyes sweeping across the collection he has so lovingly assembled. 

Born in New York City 81 years ago, Fromer came West in 1953, moving to Los Angeles to work for the American Association for Jewish Education after finishing his Master’s from Columbia University’s Teaching College. He met and married Rebecca Camhi that same year. 

Four years later, the couple headed north to Oakland, where Fromer served as Director of the Jewish Education Council of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. The museum opened as a single room in 1962—the year he found a high school graduation photo of Rabbi Magnes in an Oakland book store—and it hasn’t stopped growing since. 

Among the museum’s most unusual acquisitions are seven cemeteries in the Sierra Nevada. “They’re from the days of the Gold Rush and we wanted to preserve them,” Fromer explains, pointing to a display of black and white photos of tombstones carved with Yiddish characters. “The stone carvers were brought over from Europe.”  

The Magnes moved its exhibits to 2911 Russell St. in Berkeley in 1966, its present location. In 1997, the Magnes purchased a new building on Allston Way in the downtown Arts District, where the museum eventually plans to move. 

Fromer stepped down as director in 1998, though he remains an active figure. “It’s important to keep busy,” he says, smiling. 

The 140 pieces he selected for the reopening exhibit represent only a minuscule fraction of the museum’s 30,000 paintings, drawings, photographs, letters, books, sculptures, furnishings, and other items which comprise the third largest collection of Judaica in the country.  

The reopening exhibit was designed by Ted Cohen and is curated by Sheila Braufman. 

The Judah L. Magnes Museum is opening from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. Admission is free. For more information, call 549-6950 or see http://magnes.org.

FRIDAY, OCT. 24 

“A Tale of Symbiosis” Brecht, Bacteria, and the Biosphere, an evening of science, ecological storytelling, song, and artwork, co-authored by R.G. Davis and Joyce Todd McBride, with a 100-foot-long painted scroll by Ariel. Music by Schoenberg, Satie, and J.T. McBride. At 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $8-$15 sliding scale. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

CHILDREN 

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with readings from “Dora the Explorer” and other stories, at 10:30 a.m. at Barnes and Noble.  

THEATER 

The Un-Scripted Theater Company, “Fear” a full-length thriller, no two shows are the same, at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.unscripted.com 

Dept. of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies presents “The Story of Susanna” by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl, at 8 p.m. in Zellerbach Room 7. Admission is $7. 642-9925. jreil@uclink.berkeley.edu 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, “Ain't Misbehavin’,” starring Vivian Jett from the original Broadway cast, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $29.50 - $50, and are available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

FILM 

Heddy Honigmann: “Private” and “Good Husband, Dear Son” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Anne Garrels, introduces “Naked in Baghdad: The Iraq War as Seen by NPR correspondent Anne Garrels,” at 7:30 p.m. in the Large Assembly of First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $5. Sponsored by Cody’s Books and The Graduate School of Journalism. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

END-dependence Spoken Word Tour, fundraiser for Rocky Boice, Jr., sponsored by MEXA/Centro Abya Yala Xicana/ Latino Agenda Office, at 8 p.m. 145 Dwinelle, UC Campus. $5-8 sliding scale. www.brownpride. 

com/END-dependence 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Prague Chamber Orchestra and The Eroica Trio at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$52. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

Trinity Chamber Concerts, from West to East, piano to didjeridu at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Admission by donation, $12 general, $8 students, seniors, disabled. No one turned away. 549-3864. 

Festival Antiqua, “The Black Dragon,” music from the Time of Vlad Dracula at 8 p.m. at the Parish Hall, St. Alban’s Church, 1501 Washington St., Albany. Tickets are $15 general and $12 

students and seniors. 486-2803 or 524-7952. www.timrayborn.com/Festival 

La Monica “The Amorous Lyre,” a performance featuring music by 17th century Italian Baroque masters such as Monteverdi, Castello, and Marini at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Admission is $15, $9 for students and seniors. 323-547-4442. 

Ani DiFranco at 7:30 p.m. at the Greek Theater. 642-0212.  

The Slackers and Maxine perform Ska at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenez. Cost is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Kellye Gray, jazz singer, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Mood Food, The Saul Kaye band, and Tad Jordan perform at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com  

peAktimes, experimental dance, music and theater based on today’s news, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation $5-$10. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Sylvia and the Silvertones at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Bizar Bazaar improvise and jam at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Monster Cock Rally perform free jazz at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Donation of $7-$15, no one turned away. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Laurel Canyon Ramblers perform left coast bluegrass at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Lovemakers, Boy Skout, Ned at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Seventy, original pop influenced by the Beatles, Joe Jackson, etc. at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. beckettsirishpub.com 

SATURDAY, OCT. 25 

“A Tale of Symbiosis” Brecht, Bacteria, and the Biosphere, see listing for Oct. 24. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Diversity in Figures,” featuring Phoebe Ackley, Janet Bradlor, The Artist Hines, and Michael Sacramento at 8 p.m., with music at 9 p.m. at 4th Street Studio, 1717D 4th St. 527-0600. 

THEATER 

Dept. of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies presents “The Story of Susanna” 

see listing for Oct. 24.  

The Un-Scripted Theater Company, “Fear” see listing for Oct. 24.  

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, “Ain't Misbehavin’,” at 2 and 8 p.m. see listing for Oct. 24. 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Gary Lapow at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

FILM 

New Latin American Cinema: “25 Watts” at 5 and 8:40 p.m. and “The Birthday” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Banned Books Week Join us for a community reading from “The Guinness Book of World Records,” from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Central Library Plaza, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

Rhythm and Muse with M.O.S.A.I.C., Eliza Shefler, Gael Alcock, Nicole Milner and Susan Newman at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Dan Rhodes and DBC Pierre read from their respective novels, “Timoleon Vieta Come Home” and “Vernon God Little” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Joel ben Izzy reads from “The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness,” at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. www.brjcc.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Early Music Society presents Ensemble Mirable, Joanna Blendulf, cello; JungHae Kim, harpsichord; with guest artists Jay White, counter- 

tenor; Katherine Kyme, violin; and Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $25-22, $10 for students. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Kensington Symphony, with Laurien Jones, guest conductor, performs Beethoven, Vivaldi and Franck at 8 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ash- 

bury Ave. El Cerrito. Suggested donation $10, seniors $8. 534-4334. 

Conscious Fools, an evening of performance, poetry and fools, presented by Minoo Hamzavi at 8 p.m. in Western Sky Studio, 2525 Eighth St. Tickets are $10-$15, seniors and students $5. 848-4133. 

Tom Rigney and Flambeau perform Cajun/Zydeco at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Patti Whitehurst at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Blues and Otherstuff, with Miss Faye Carol and The Off The Hook Band at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15 and up, sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Tiptons, Lemon Lime Lights, and Bill Holdens at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Hafez Modirzadeh, Persian-American saxophonist, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Sarah Manning, jazz saxophonist, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations suggested.  

649-8744. www.thejazz- 

house.org 

Divas Latinas, the music of passion with Viviana Guzman and Tianne Frias at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Solo Oud Night with Tom Chandler and Eliot Bates at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Kellye Gray at 9:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Yaphet Kotto, Hot Cross, Lick Golden Sky, Anodyne, 30 Years Way at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Famous Last Words at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Nicole McRory at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. becketts- 

irishpub.com 

SUNDAY, OCT. 26 

“A Tale of Symbiosis” Brecht, Bacteria, and the Biosphere, see listing for Oct. 24. 

Inspired by Chagall Artist and Arts Educator Nancy Katz opens her studio for play with assorted colorful materials. All, including creatively blocked adults, are welcome. From 1 to 4 p.m. at 2121 Bonar Street, #F, in the Strawberry Creek Design Center. 665-9496. 

Workshop with Anna Halprin, “Honoring the Living, Honoring the Dead,” with teacher and dancer, Anna Halperin, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Live Oak Park Gym, 1301 Shattuck Ave., culminating in a performance with participants. Cost is $100. By reservation. 665-9496. 

Berkeley Potters Guild Tour and Demonstration at 1 p.m. at the Potters Guild, 731 Jones St. at 4th. 524-7031. 

CHILDREN  

Caribbean Kids’ Show with Asheba from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $6 for adults, $4 for children. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

FILM 

“Heavy in the Game,” a docu/film depicting the lure of the drug life in East Oakland, written, directed and produced by Goldie the Poet. At 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$8. www.lapena.org 

Fernando de Fuentes: From the Revolution to the Comedia Ranchera “Let’s Go With Pancho Villa!” at 5:30 p.m. and “Over on the Big Ranch” at 7:20 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

International Women’s Writing Guild Celebration, featuring D. H. Melhem reading from her new book “Conversation with a Stonesman” at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 1730 Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, Lecture with Paul Rabinow, professor of anthropology at 3 p.m. in the Museum Theater Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Guided Tour: Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, at 2 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Poetry at Cody’s with Aliki Barnstone and Mark Turpin at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

University Symphony, under the direction of David Milnes, performs at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Auditorium. Cost is $2-$8. 642-9988.  

California Revels at 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10 general, $5 children, and are available from 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Live Oak Concert Third Annual Harvest of Song at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park. Pre-concert dicussion at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $8-$10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Music from Scotland, England and Beyond with Pete Morton at 7:30 p.m. Donation of $12 in advance, $15 at the door. For reservations and location email sally@greenberg.org 

Marcelle Dronkers, soprano, and friends, in an afternoon of song and spoof from the world of opera and operetta, at 4 p.m. at The Crowden School, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $12, children free. 559-2941. www.thecrowdenschool.org 

Deaf Electric at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Sliding scale donation suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Freddy Clark and All Over the World at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tenores San Gavino performs traditional four voice Sardinian polyphony at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kenny Washington Quartet at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Americana Unplugged, with Jupiter Jam-Bo-Ree at 4 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

MONDAY, OCT. 27 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nell Freudenberger reads from her debut collection of stories, “Lucky Girls,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express, theme night Things That Scare You, from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Steve Gannon Band and Mz. Dee at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $4. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

TUESDAY, OCT. 28 

FILM 

Alternative Visions: The Films of Hannes Schüpbach, with the filmmaker in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Breathed on “Flawed Dogs: The Year-End Leftovers at the Piddletton ‘Last Chance’ Dog Pound” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

Don Lattin on “Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today,” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way, entrance on Dana. Admission is free. Sponsored by Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Tom Bissell introduces Uzbekistan in ”Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Tim Cahill reads from world travel stories in “Hold the Enlightenment: More Travel, Less Bliss,” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave at Rose, 843-3533. 

The Whole Note Poetry Series, with Selene Steese and open mic, at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

Poets Gone Wild with Maryanne Robinson reading from “Pieces Together” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Landesjugendorchester of Rheinland-Pfalz, German youth orchestra, performs at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Band Concerts at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $4. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dayna Stephens House Jam at The Jazz House. Donation $5. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Tracy Grammer performs contemporary folk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mimi Fox, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 29 

FILM 

Fernando de Fuentes: From the Revolution to the Comedia Ranchera, “La Zandunga” at 7 p.m. and “Jalisoc Sings in Seville” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Studs Terkel on “Keeping Faith in Difficult Times” at 8 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $12-$18, available from Cody’s 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Donna Nebenzahl and Nance Ackerman will show slides and discuss their new book “Womankind: Faces of Change Around the World,” at 7:30 p.m. at Boadecia's Books, 398 Colusa Avenue at Colusa Circle, Kensington. 559-9184. www.bookpride.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7, $5 with student i.d. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Lunchtime Concert: Strings with Robert Howard, cello and Cary Ko, violin at noon at Berkeley Arts Festival Headquarters, 2110 Shattuck Ave. Free. 665-9496.  

www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Wednesday Noon Concert with Shaw Pong Liu, violin and Monica Chew, piano perform Ginastera and Prokofiev at the Chevron Auditorium at International House, corner of Bancroft and Piedmont Aves. Admission is free. 642-4864. 

From the Cafetorium in Berkeley: Better Bad News Berkeley artist George Coates’ independent media project will be shown at 7 p.m. on BTV Channel 25. 665-9496.  

www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Manufacturing of Humidifiers Randy Proter, Ward Spangler, and Dan Plonsey in three solo performances, and then collectively as the Return of the Manu- 

facturing of Humidifiers, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Headquarters, 2110 Shattuck Ave. 665-9496. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Adrienne Torf, pianist and composer, performs in a benefit for Breast Cancer Action, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $16.50 in advance, $17.50 at the door. 

548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Band Concerts at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $4. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Edie Carey, singer/songwriter at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Savant Guard, electro-acoustic jazz rock combo performs at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Jules Broussard, Bing Nathan and Ned Boynton at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 30 

FILM 

Genetic Screenings: “Demon Seed” with filmmaker Greg Niemeyer in person, at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“The Black Panthers (in Israel) Speak & Drowning by Bullets,” at 7 p.m. at 340 Stephens Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by Middle Eastern Studies. 642-8208 cmes@uclink4.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Monique Everhart and Jack Boulware, followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. For information call 526-5985 or 205-1749.  

Daniella Gioseffi introduces her revised “Women on War: An International Anthology of Writings from Antiquity to the Present,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

www.codysbooks.com 

Bram Dijkstra speaks on “American Expressionism: Art and Social Change, 1920-1950,” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. www.codysbooks.com 

Guided Tour: Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Planet Grooves with DJ Omar at 10 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $6. 525-5054.  

www.ashkenaz.com 

Wake the Dead, Celtic music tribute to the Grateful Dead, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Sarah Zaharako at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $7-$15, no one turned away for lack of funds.  

644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Keni El Lebrijano, flamenco guitar, at 8 :30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

n an occasional series by UC Berkeley journalism students.  

For decades, children have used them to get to and from schools. People drive miles simply to walk their dogs along them. Others include them in their daily commutes, factoring in extra time to admire the beauty and peace they bring to the neighborhood. 

Seventy years ago, these 136 paths were integral to Berkeley’s daily life, allowing hill residents access to the electric streetcars running on Euclid and Spruce avenues.  

The pathways and steps are enduring evidence of the city’s commitment to the urban design principles of the Hillside Club, says historian Charles Wollenberg. 

In the 1920s, influential club members like naturalist Annie Maybeck and her husband, architect Bernard Maybeck, advocated streets that followed the contours of the hills connected by a system of pedestrian paths. 

“The city cooperated, and the pathways became public property,” says Wollenberg. 

The paths are maintained by the Departments of Public Works and Parks, Recreation and Waterfront. They are assisted by volunteers from the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, who have mapped all the paths and re-opened many for public use. 

Pat De Vito, co-president of the Path Wanderers, moved to Berkeley in 1953, and she often used the paths as a Cal undergraduate.. She and three friends started the pedestrian advocacy organization five years ago. 

“We were four women around a kitchen table in 1998,” said De Vito.  

Those four women recognized that “these paths are a part of our historical heritage and were, at one time, walkable,” De Vito said, and they wanted to make these paths accessible to the public again.  

The issue of public access is particularly interesting to artist and writer Karen Kerm, who is working on a book about city paths across the country. Kerm views the paths as a “dialogue of public and private space” and a relationship between public and private property that is rare these days when privatization is a catchword to fix public facilities. 

“It’s land for the people that unfortunately our planners today don’t value,” said Kerm. 

However, even if planners stop valuing the idea of public access, the pathways are here, providing not only a practical way of getting to where you’re going, but meeting pedestrians’ aesthetic needs as well. 

“They’ve been around for 90 years,” said De Vito. “They are a part of our open space, a calm place to be, away from the street.” 

“And they also have some of best views and vistas of the canyons, the bay, and San Francisco when you climb to the top of them,” she added.  

As Casen Maloy leisurely walks down Billie Jean Walk she is following a timetable controlled by a bus. 

Maloy, a first year undergraduate at UC Berkeley, has lived on Hilldale Avenue since April, but only recently discovered the picturesque steps that connect Hilldale to Euclid Avenue.  

Maloy, 19, with red hair and sunglasses, looked as if she was on her way to the beach. Instead, she was headed for the corner of Euclid and Marin where she had a

The future site for the Berkeley Adult School will have a different look as neighbors had demanded, but some now fear that the additional expenses required could cost them a planned playground.  

On Monday, a site committee of seven neighbors and six Berkeley Unified School District officials and employees voted to scrap the district’s site plan for the old Franklin Elementary School Campus at San Pablo Avenue between Virginia and Francisco streets and replace it with the neighbor’s proposal, designed by a local architect. 

The vote was a victory for neighbors, who had argued for months that the district’s plan directed too much traffic onto residential streets. But their triumph was tempered when shortly before the vote, BUSD Director of Facilities Lew Jones warned that the added costs required by the new plan would have to come from money slated for the playground. 

“It was a bombshell,” said Carrie Adams, a neighbor who along with her husband has filed suit against the project. “None of us had previously thought there was any question about the establishment of the playground,” she said. 

Jones disagreed. “It’s never been clear whether there will or will not be a playground,” he said, adding that some neighbors had complained that a playground would lead to increased vagrancy near the school. 

The northeast corner of the school site has housed a playground since 1989. When Franklin Elementary School closed in 2002, the district fenced in the entire property, including the playground—which needs repairs. 

Neighbors thought the $8.8 million plan included an un-touchable $130,000 for the playground, but Jones said that sum was part of a $250,000 contingency fund to cover necessary changes during construction.  

He said the new site plan and interior changes requested by the Adult School would cost nearly $300,000, jeopardizing playground funding. Adult School Principal Margaret Kirkpatrick requested a new kitchen to house a nonprofit baking group, an expanded computer lab and the division of a large classroom, which Jones said will cost the district around $140,000 

After the discussion ended, the committee passed the new site plan 10-2-1, contingent on winning Caltrans approval for a driveway on San Pablo Avenue and with an added clause that the vote “not prejudice” construction of the playground.  

The recommendation now goes to Superintendent Michele Lawrence and then to the school board for ultimate approval. Caltrans, which manages San Pablo Avenue is expected to approve the driveway within a month. 

Since Monday’s meeting, School Board Director and Site Committee member John Selawsky has reassured neighbors that the playground will be included. 

“I’ve made a commitment to neighbors to work something out,” he said.  

While the playground remains in question, neighbors and school officials both say they have a better design for traffic and parking. 

The new plan—designed pro bono by local architect Dietmar Lorenz—shifts the orientation of the school from Virginia Street to San Pablo Avenue, constructing a pedestrian walkway on San Pablo and keeping much of the mass transit, pedestrian and car traffic off residential streets. It also alters the parking arrangement to offer more space for planted buffers between parked cars and neighboring houses. 

Jones said the pedestrian walkway and extra plantings are among the added costs that have inflated the price tag by about $150,000. 

Lorenz became involved with the project when he attended the unveiling of the original plan this summer. 

“I was startled as an architect how poorly designed it was,” he said. “It seemed like a wasted opportunity so I worked with neighbors to determine an alternative site plan.,” 

“I think it really improves the site,” Selawsky said. “I don’t think district staff had the sense that re-orienting the site to San Pablo was so important.”  

Franklin Elementary School had been oriented to Virginia Street because young children needed to enter and exit school grounds away from car traffic, but adult school students, both sides agreed, would be better served by the new design. 

Any construction at the site remains contingent on the outcome of a lawsuit filed by Adams and her husband, Tim Arai, who have charged that the district’s Environmental Impact Report was insufficient under the California Environmental Quality Act. Attorneys for both parties met Monday, but were unable to bridge their differences. Adams said she was still considering filing an injunction to halt construction, which is planned to start in early November.

On this date in 1945, World War II battle-weary nations came together in San Francisco in the War Memorial Building, appropriately enough. They agreed to establish an international organization that could ensure world peace, and they brought the United Nations into existence with the highest of hopes. Today, the Bush administration charges that the UN has become an outmoded debating society lacking the gumption to act. But as the president should know, the UN was not designed to exercise power on its own; rather, it was intentionally set up to be almost entirely dependent on the will and wishes of its member states. Thus, when the Bush administration pulls the rug out from under the UN and then blames the UN for falling down, the administration is deliberately misleading the public on the rules by which the UN operates. 

But if we dim the spotlight on the Security Council for a moment, we can see more clearly how the UN, despite severely diminished resources and escalating physical risk to UN staff, does quite often successfully “think globally, and act locally.” In Iraq for example, despite the disturbing fact that the UN role there remains largely undefined, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is nonetheless dealing with hundreds of thousands of refugees; the UN World Food Programme is transporting and supplying tons of food; and UNICEF is delivering water and milk to children and providing them with emergency school materials. Take another look throughout the world where the work of UN agencies saves lives and occasionally dignity: the World Health Organization in dealing with AIDS and with SARS; the UN Population Fund’s work on prenatal care and childbirth; the UN Development Programme’s technology assistance to less-developed countries; the UN Development Fund for Women’s input into improving women’s health; and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s life-preserving foodstuffs delivered to millions who would otherwise starve. In East Timor, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and other sites, UN missions are helping societies move from war toward peace, stable government and progress. These are more than statistics and do-good stories; what these activities have in common, simply put, is their valuing of human life. 

While far from flawless, the United Nations and its agencies have become an invaluable and trusted partner throughout the world, more relevant every day to hundreds of thousands of women, children and men needing the food and medical support they supply. Is it enough? Certainly not. Much more needs to be done to assist more people more comprehensively, to help lift them out of dependence into self-sufficiency. 

That said, here in our community is a shining example of the global-to-local link: The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, headquartered in the UN’s Geneva offices, helps fund a San Francisco human rights organization, the Center for Justice & Accountability. CJA represents survivors of torture in civil suits against perpetrators living in or visiting the United States. Recently, two Salvadorans generals living in Florida were found guilty when a West Palm Beach jury determined that the generals bore “command responsibility” for the torture of three San Francisco-based Salvadoran refugee clients of CJA. The jury awarded a $54.6 million judgment against the generals. The steep amount reflects an American jury’s determination of the gravity of the harm done.The relieved survivors, however, subsequently declared the monetary award, whether or not any of it ever reaches them, to be of no real importance. Achieving a measure of justice is what matters. 

So the UN global-to-local link worked again. And survivors living among us were helped to regain a sense of wholeness. In the process, the rule of law—a basic tenet of the UN and the American system—was reaffirmed. 

Can the UN do better? Undoubtedly. Can we? As Danny Glover, a UN Goodwill Ambassador, can be heard repeating over the airwaves these days: 

“Today, we are taking notice of the world around us. Today, we understand that what happens in even the most remote part of the earth affects each and every one of us. Today, more than ever, Americans understand the value of the United Nations as an instrument of change. 

“This Oct. 24, join me in celebrating United Nations Day. To find out more about the UN, go to unausaeastbay.org or call 849-1752. “This Oct. 24, get involved. Get to know the UN and get to know the world.” 

Rita Maran is a lecturer in international human rights law at UC Berkeley. She is also president of the United Nations Association-USA East Bay Chapter and a boardmember of CJA.

As Casen Maloy leisurely walks down Billie Jean Walk she is following a timetable controlled by a bus. 

Maloy, a first year undergraduate at UC Berkeley, has lived on Hilldale Avenue since April, but only recently discovered the picturesque steps that connect Hilldale to Euclid Avenue.  

Maloy, 19, with red hair and sunglasses, looked as if she was on her way to the beach. Instead, she was headed for the corner of Euclid and Marin where she had a date with the 65 University-bound bus.  

She was taking part in a ritual that, although it isn’t as old as the hills, dates back to the development of Berkeley. 

Electric trolleys ran on major streets from the late Nineteenth Century until the 1940s. Residents of the hills could walk down the paths to streets such as Euclid and Spruce to meet a trolley, much in the same way as Casen Maloy walks to the bus.  

From Euclid, Billie Jean Walk begins with a steep set of steps that lead up to a sloping path. The path rises lazily upwards for about 15 yards before connecting with another steep stairway that leads up to Hilldale. 

The walkway is covered by branches of bottlebrush trees and green bushes. The canopy provides good cover for those making the inclined walk up to Hilldale on a warm afternoon. A view from the top of the path provides a spectacular vista of the San Francisco Bay. Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge sparkle from the vantage point on a sunny day. 

Seven decades before Maloy moved to Berkeley, Billie Jean Walk was named after one of its own. Billie Jean Harris, the adopted daughter of local haberdasher Joe Harris and his wife Pearl, was born on January 26, 1931. In a San Francisco Examiner article published later that year, Harris expressed his joy of being a proud parent by working to have the path named in honor of his daughter.  

Billie Jean D’Anna née Harris, now resides in San Bruno. On occasions she has been seen in Berkeley having her picture taken by the path sign. “I always have to remind people that it’s not named for Billie Jean King!” said Mrs. D’Anna during a phone interview. 

As Maloy walks by the ivy and blackberry vines that border the path, she is unaware of the history that surrounds her. It is just a pleasant part of her commute to class. Maloy, reared in San Francisco and Marin, says, “It makes getting up and down the hill easier.”

The Berkeley Rent Board entered a new era Monday, but the results looked a lot like the old as members agonized over a dizzying array of rent hike proposals—with the monthly dollar differences between the lower and higher increases barely enough to cover the cost of a cup of coffee. 

“We’re splitting hairs here,” said Rent Board Commissioner Paul Hogarth as he fought efforts to trim the rent increase he had proposed. 

Hogarth finally yielded to the majority of the nine-member board, which set the annual rent increase lower than both recommendations offered by the board’s subcommittee. 

Tenants in Berkeley’s roughly 19,000 rent-controlled units will pay between 1 and 1.6 percent more on rent next year, depending on whether the landlord invoked a 1999 state law that effectively ends rent control after units are vacated. Renters in private homes or buildings constructed after rent control went into effect in 1980 are not covered by rent control laws. 

The nine popularly elected rent board commissioners determined that since the law—known as Costa-Hawkins—has created a dual rental market in Berkeley in which tenants in unregulated units pay almost twice as much as other tenants, the annual rent adjustment should reflect that reality. 

Under the proposal finally adopted, landlords and tenants will probably need their calculators to figure out the new rents. 

Rents for tenants in market rate units will increase by one percent plus $3—a monthly increase of $15.20 for the average renter paying $1,220. 

Tenants covered by rent control—who pay an average rent of $698—will see rents jump by 1.5 percent plus $3, for an average monthly increase of $9.12. The extra three dollars are a pass along for unexpected costs from Berkeley’s new Rental Housing Safety Program. 

This year’s adjustment was supposed to have been simple. In February, the pro-tenant Rent Board settled a lawsuit brought against the panel by the Berkeley Property Owners Association (BPOA), which had charged that the board unfairly used its discretion to set arbitrarily low annual increases. 

To end 23 years of bickering, both sides agreed to follow the lead of other California cities with rent control and use a fixed formula to determine the annual increase—in Berkeley’s case, 65 percent of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). 

Voters must now ratify that agreement on next November’s ballot, but both sides agreed to use the formula this year so long as the CPI number didn’t vary too far from a report of owner expenses which the board commissioned a subcommittee to prepare. 

But that’s just what happened. 

While 65 percent of the CPI constituted a one percent rent hike, a series of unforeseen expenses to landlords—chief among them the city’s new safety program and increased Rent Board fees—added up to a 2.8 percent increase, turning the settlement designed to “free” the rent board into a political straitjacket. 

Legally obligated only to give owners the one percent increase, commissioners felt pressure from their tenant base not to pass along the entire 2.8 percent called for by the report.  

At the same time, the board didn’t want to antagonize landlords, whose support they need if voters are to approve the settlement agreement next year. 

“There was a concern not to engender a lot of hoopla that could put the November ballot at risk,” said Commissioner Bob Evans, the only member of the board who opposed the settlement. 

Landlords also acknowledged the political necessity of reaching a compromise. BPOA President Michael Wilson told the board before its deliberations that passing along owner expenses to tenants would be the “the politically intelligent thing to do.” 

“All of the tax increases that the city is going for right now, people are freaking out about it,” he said. “At the end of the day they are going to wonder if this settlement was intelligent or not depending in large part by what is decided here tonight.” 

The board struggled to reach a compromise, which requires the support of six members. Derided for years by property owners as a pro-tenant monolith, the panel divided over which owner expenses to pass on to tenants. 

The four-member subcommittee failed to agree on a recommendation to the full board, instead forwarding two proposals—one, submitted by Evans, for 1.8 percent plus $2 for market rate units and 1 percent plus $2 for controlled units, and the other, calling for 2 percent plus $3 and $1 plus $3, submitted by Selma Spector, who could not attend the full meeting. 

When the debate started, members first sought to bridge the difference between the two subcommittee suggestions. Hogarth, who supported a $4 passthrough for the safety program and the fee increases, adopted Spector’s proposal. 

Before the board could vote, Evans offered a counterproposal: 2 percent and 1 percent, but only a $2 passthrough, which the board rejected that 5-2-1-1—paving the way for Commissioner Howard Chong to alter the scope of the debate. 

Arguing that 2 percent was too high considering that many long-term tenants are on a fixed income and that the board did not need to go above 1 percent, Chong proposed 1.5 percent plus $4 and 1 percent plus $3. 

Hogarth held firm, arguing that the dollar amounts weren’t enough to abandon Spector’s proposal. “I don’t think that’s huge,” he said. 

“You don’t have to pay it,” declared Evans. 

Chong’s proposal also failed 5-2-1-1 when Commissioner Matthew Siegel—concerned that the different dollar passthroughs would be too confusing—joined Hogarth in opposition. Commissioner Chris Kavenaugh abstained. 

Siegel then tried to bridge the gap, proposing 1.8 percent plus $3 and 1 percent plus $3. “Don’t ask me for the rationale,” he said. 

The vote was agonizing. Three of the first five board members passed on voting, waiting for their colleagues to make the first move. 

“Wait, wait, wait, wait! Start at the other end of the alphabet please,” said Commissioner Judy Ann Alberti. When the vote came back to her 5-2 in favor, Alberti said, “I’m going to abstain.”  

Motion failed. 

Siegel tried again. “One percent plus $3 and 1.5 percent plus $3”—the lowest rent increase proposal of the night. That passed unanimously after Hogarth—his head in his hands—assented. 

Unlike other years, landlords didn’t rush to attack the board. “I acknowledge it as a good faith effort by the rent board to try to pass along costs, and I give them credit for that,” Wilson said. 

“This has never been about one tenant and one landlord; it’s about deeply held political philosophies,” he added. “That’s why it’s so difficult to get consensus from nine rent board members and that’s why we need the settlement to get us out of this.”

BOSS WOES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your story on BOSS (“BOSS Accounting Woes Force Cutbacks, Layoffs,” Daily Planet, Oct. 21-23) missed two critical issues that are at the heart of the agency’s financial problems. First, providers of social services pursuant to government contracts are not given the funding to hire the high-priced accounting staff they need. While federal, state and local contracting requirements are becoming more and more complex, these public entities will not give nonprofit groups money to hire the high-skilled administrative and financial support required for such programs. It is easy for local officials to blame BOSS for “failing to upgrade its accounting department” to handle the added bookkeeping complexity, but with the group’s budget being cut there was no new money to provide such an upgrade (and you can imagine how the BOSS employees facing layoffs and benefit cuts would have felt if the agency then went out and hired a high-priced financial officer). Bookkeeping errors due to a lack of highly skilled staff continue to undermine nonprofit groups throughout the Bay Area; this structural problem has only become more evident as cutbacks in the social service budgets have grown. 

Second, the framing of your story as one involving an allegedly poorly managed nonprofit ignores the real villains: the Bush Administration and Republican Congress that has bludgeoned social service funding while lavishing tax breaks on the wealthy. BOSS would not be having any of its problems had their public funding not been decimated, and nearly all homeless serving groups must watch every dollar even in the “good” times. Conservatives love the idea of contracting out social services to the nonprofit sector but then provide the bare minimum of necessary resources. When the downturn comes the blame then all goes to groups like BOSS, while the real perpetrators of the service cuts and layoffs are not held responsible. 

Randy Shaw 

• 

THE GENERAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Wesley Clark, a sometime Democrat, made general by being a good soldier in wars that I and many other vigorously opposed--Viet Nam, Kosovo, the Gulf War and others. Now we should admire him for his experience and judgment because he out-militarys Bush!  

There is something wrong with this picture.  

No thanks... 

Margot Smith 

• 

MORE BOSS WOES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your recent front page story, “BOSS Accounting Woes Force Cutbacks, Layoffs” (Daily Planet, Oct. 21-23) was very interesting.  

The Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS) agency, a non-profit overseer of several programs to help the East Bay homeless, seems to be plagued by accounting errors and omissions. In the middle of the article it is revealed that BOSS has been staffing the accounting and bookkeeping departments with its former clients: homeless from the streets. So this is not a case of the lunatics running the asylum, but merely of the lunatics auditing the books of the asylum. Hmm. Just what exactly is the root of problems of doing government bookkeeping in the East Bay? Is it the air? Is it the fog? It there a noxious mental drift from Baghdad-by-the-Bay? Or is it merely the coming together of white upper class liberal guilt interacting with the allegedly downtrodden lower classes?  

It seems to be part and parcel of the functioning of the school districts and local governments in the East Bay that they cannot add and subtract dollars and 

cents when attempting to create and maintain budgets. Are these folks all graduates of Oakland and Berkeley public schools? Maybe they are operating under the 

notion that if they don’t add up the bills, that the deficits won’t exist. Dreamland, thy name is East Bay. 

BOSS has placed some 40 homeless into housing with a budget of about $5 million per year: This amounts to $125,000 per formerly homeless person per year. That should cover the rent, I guess. Does it really require 100 staff members to cut rent subsidy checks to forty persons per year? What do the other 99 staff members do in the remaining 51 weeks each year? Assuming that the 40 formerly homeless persons each get $10,000 per year in rent subsidies, this amounts to an overhead rate of over 90 percent. Kids, can you say “boondoggle?” Maybe BOSS needs to hire some outside auditors, say some good Republicans from Florida, à la Arnold? Maybe Berkeley and Oakland could also place “Arithmetic Free Zone” signs on its borders. 

James K. Sayre 

Oakland 

• 

A FEW POINTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

J. Douglas Allen-Taylor should read Partners in Power by Roger Morris for a thorough critique of the Clintons from the Left. Bill Clinton did indeed physically assault several women over many years. Many of us believe that Clinton has been credibly accused of rape. 

As far as Molly Ivins goes, she is like an old comedy act that was stale forty years (like much liberal thinking in Berkeley). Molly was a shill and an apologist for the Center-Right Clinton policies for years. 

As far as Becky O’Malley’s repeated snide comments on Dean, he is the only genuine anti-war candidate running that has a chance at the nomination and beating Bush. The only “populist” constituency that John Edwards represents is the trial attorneys. Clark voted for Reagan and Bush and Nixon ! He’s no alternative, which is precisely why he is being pushed by the DLC-Clinton crowd. Kerry sold out long ago and has been endorsed by Feinstein, which all one needs to know about him. 

Michael P. Hardesty 

Oakland 

• 

GOVERNATOR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Does California really deserve the privilege of voting? Of those who actually take the time to vote, most do not make an informed decision--rather, they vote for who they think is funny, or cool, or perhaps they just vote on a whim. Our last election shows us what completely ridiculous ways the minds of the voters of California can work in. First off, Schwarzenegger is misogynistic and fairly unintelligent. Many have argued that his repeated harassment of women is his own personal business and does not reflect his ability as a politician. This would be true, if these situations were consensual. However, they were not. We have elected a man who does not know that “no” means “no”—not much better than a hormone-driven teenage boy. As for his intelligence, it should be clear to anyone who watched the debate that Schwarzenegger is not very smart. It is disgusting that we would vote for someone whose resume consists mostly of B movies. But, of course, we did elect Reagan as governor and then as president. Other candidates, such McClintock, Bustamante, Camejo, are much more intelligent and had good platforms, while Schwarzenegger’s was barely defined. But, we elected him because he’s a famous household name. Do we even deserve democracy when we aren’t even informed on the issues? We spent billions of dollars that could have been used for welfare or education; billions of dollars that we didn’t have to put on another gubernatorial race because someone decided that since Davis only won by three percent, he shouldn’t be governor. But he still won. Of course, after Bush and Gore, it seems like anything goes. The recall passed. By 54 percent. That’s only 5 percent off. And now all I can say is: time to recall the recall!  

Melissa Steele-Ogus  

• 

$87,000,000,000  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a retired math teacher large numbers get my attention. I revived some skills and did a little arithmetic with the number of dollars the president wants to “do the right thing” in Afghanistan and Iraq.  

The figure 87 followed by nine zeros represents an increase of about 24 percent in the defense budget, at $368 billion it is larger than the combined military spending of our closest allies.  

It also represents roughly the average of the president’s latest tax cut, about $300 for every man, woman and child in the country.  

Put another way, if each person in the country sent the president 83 cents a day for a year he’d have the money he wants. Congress has already allocated the money. So in effect the Bush administration reduced taxes and now takes back a daily average of a few cents more than it gave. 

Finally, $87 billion will enable the president to hang onto the tiger’s tail in Iraq until after the next presidential inauguration.  

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

GET IN SYNCH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Notice how dark it is in the morning? How more difficult it is to awaken before the sun? It’s more than 4 weeks since the Autumn Equinox (Sept. 21), when daylight and nighttime are of equal duration. Now that days are shorter and nights are longer, our clocks should revert from Daylight Savings back to Standard Time. That is scheduled to happen at the end of October, but it would be better if it were done at the end of September. 

Similarly, in the Spring, we start Daylight Saving Time much later than the Spring Equinox (March 21), thereby loosing precious daylight in the late  

afternoon. 

It’s time to adjust the way we set our clocks. Let’s get better synchronized with the reality of Nature. 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

• 

WHAT’S IN A NAME 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Apropos the ongoing flap over PETA’s proposed name change for the town of Rodeo, CA a REAL rodeo is now underway at the San Francisco Cow Palace, the annual Grand National Rodeo & Livestock Show. Legalized cruelty at taxpayers’ expense, some would call it. 

A lobbyist for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the event’s sponsor, recently opined in the East Bay Express that the terrified roping calves were not “babies” but “livestock.” In the same spirit of concern, the PRCA has recently changed the name of the calf roping event to “tie-down roping,” a transparent attempt to deflect growing criticism of this brutal activity Can you spell “hypocrisy”? Words DO matter. 

Eric Mills, coordinator 

Action for Animals 

Oakland 

Last Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting began with a love fest and ended with a bloody fistfight...literally. 

Council’s evening session began with a farewell reception and an extended tribute to City Manager Weldon Rucker, who is retiring from his position Nov. 1 after 32 years at City Hall. 

The night ended on a surreal note when Berkeley Police Chief Roy Meisner had to call off his testimony on local law enforcement block grants to rush downstairs to help break up a fistfight between two homeless men on the steps of City Hall. The noise of the fight was so loud that several Councilmembers and staff rushed to the windows to see the cause of the commotion. 

One of the fight participants was so badly hurt that he later had to receive EMT assistance. 

At its 5 p.m. working session, Council gave direction to the City Manager’s office to prepare reports on three proposed March, 2004 ballot measures. As formulated in the reports, the proposed $10 million special tax measure will include a cost of living adjustment, a low-income exemption and a sunset clause of seven years. 

The report on the proposed election runoff charter amendment calls for changing the date of runoffs in city elections from December to February, and would lower the percentage of votes needed to win an initial election in the city from 45 percent to 40 percent. The staff report on the proposed candidate nomination charter amendment adds filing fees to the requirements for running for office in the city. 

Council reserved the right to make changes in the proposed ballot language, which it will discuss again at its Tuesday, Nov. 4 meeting. 

Council also decided to postpone putting an Instant Runoff Voting ballot measures before the voters until at least the November, 2004 election. 

In other action at its regular 7 p.m. meeting, Council decided to postpone until Nov. 4 making a recommendation on the appeal of City Center neighborhood citizens to replace the current Berkeley Public Safety Building antennae tower with two smaller towers. 

At its tribute to Rucker, Council members were lavish in their praise of the City Manager and wished him well in his retirement years. Councilmember Maude Shirek cautioned Rucker that “there’s one thing I want you to remember—watch your diet!” Councilmember Dona Spring told him she “hopes you’ll come back and run for mayor some day.” That brought a chuckle from current Mayor Tom Bates, who said, “I’d be glad to resign and let him have it if that will bring him back.” 

In his remarks, Rucker said that “Somebody asked me one time when I was going to retire, and I said I’d do it the day after Ms. Shirek.” Smiling at the 92-year-old councilmember, who shows no sign of plans to step down from her position, Rucker added, “I just couldn’t last.” Rucker said before meeting that his immediate plans after he leaves his city position next week are to take off time and travel. “But after I get bored, I’ll get back into some things. I’m not leaving Berkeley. I’ll be here.”

Residents on a South Berkeley block victimized by a rash of car vandalisms are uniting to build a community they hope will be strong enough to stop the culprit from striking again. 

During the past year and with increasing regularity, someone has tampered with the engines of two cars, poured sugar, soda or ash into the gas tanks of six cars and slashed tires and spray-painted the exteriors of several others, said neighbors who Wednesday attended the second meeting of a fledgling neighborhood group formed primarily to address the vandalism. 

“We know who it is,” said Lisa—who declined to give her last name for publication—a neighbor who last weekend found a nail jammed into the tire of the car she’d parked outside her home on Ward Street between McGee and Grant streets. “Whenever there is a fight or argument with this guy, the next day your car is messed with.” 

Lisa said that over the past year, several neighbors mentioned that their cars had been vandalized, but most had chalked it up to random lawlessness. But then she noticed a common thread: “Every time it happens to a new person, I ask them if they had a confrontation with this person and the answer is always yes.” 

Neighbors said it’s hard to avoid conflict with the man they suspect of the crimes. He revs up his motor and races his car down Ward and Derby Streets and loses his temper easily, especially when someone parks too close to his car or truck. 

James Breunig, a lifelong resident of McGee Street, said he learned that lesson first-hand about a month ago. Driving down Ward Street, he found his path blocked temporarily by the suspect in his truck. The two exchanged cold stares as Breunig waited for his path to clear. Three days later he noticed his car’s acceleration was off and discovered a mixture of ash and oil clogging the fuel line. 

That wasn’t the end for Breunig. 

A few days later he spotted the man loitering in his driveway. When questioned, the man asked Breunig if he owned the car in the driveway, then walked away to join several other men waiting in a dark blue car parked nearby. A few days later Breunig spotted the same car circling his house and drove after it. After both cars parked, a passenger from the blue car got out, stood at Bruenig’s window and warned him that if he did anything to the man suspected in the vandalism, “I’ll come back around and firebomb your house.” 

Breunig didn’t know about the car vandalism until a family member talked to Lisa and they joined forces to rally the neighbors. “All I’m trying to do is make a difference and stop this,” he said. 

Sixteen neighbors attended Wednesday’s meeting after last week’s session—which ended on a sour note when Maria—another neighborhood organizer reluctant to allow her last name to be printed—returned home to find someone had spray-painted black on the hood and roof of her car. 

It was the second time her vehicle had been vandalized. “Last month he put Coca-Cola in my tank,” she said. The soda clogged her fuel system, resulting in a $1,700 repair bill. 

Maria responded by inviting the man to Wednesday’s meeting. Even though he didn’t attend and professed his innocence, Maria said she hoped the encounter might convince him to stop the attacks. “Usually he flies off but this time he was calm,” she said. 

Berkeley Police Officer Rob Rittenhouse offered to help neighbors organize block-by-block neighborhood watches, compile a list of complaints for a detective to study and schedule safety inspections for neighbors. But he cautioned that catching the suspect in the act would be tricky. 

“These crimes are difficult because they’re quick. Slashing a tire doesn’t leave much to go on.” 

Police statistics available at press time showed a high concentration of crime on the 1700 block of Ward Street. So far this year, residents of the block have reported 20 cases of vandalism, auto vandalism or auto burglary. 

“That definitely appears to be high,” said police spokesperson Kevin Schofield, who said that beat officers have been alerted to the high rate of property crimes on the block. 

Rittenhouse will work alongside Jim Hynes of Berkeley’s Problem Property Team to marshal the city’s resources to stop the vandalism. Earlier this month, the team successfully galvanized neighbors to help secure warrants for drug dealers operating out of a West Berkeley home. 

Some neighbors said they think the only answer is electronic surveillance. “As much as I don’t like the idea I’m considering buying a wireless camera. It’s the only way I can see catching him in the act,” Breunig said. “All we have is a bunch of circumstantial evidence. We need something to tie him to it.” 

Lisa opposes the idea. “As much as I don’t want him to do it anymore, I don’t want to bring Big Brother into the neighborhood. That doesn’t build community.” 

Breunig called on his neighbors to band together and file $5,000 small claim court lawsuits against absentee landlords on Ward Street whose properties are used to sell drugs—a tactic employed to some success in Oakland and West Berkeley—while Lisa and Maria want more neighborhood bonding events to foster a sense of community. 

Lisa also lamented that the vast majority of those in attendance were white homeowners. “I’m begging for the renters to come,” she said. 

By the meeting’s end, neighbors had formed the roots of a neighborhood watch group and agreed to draft a letter to residents in adjoining blocks, warning them not to argue with the suspect for fear of reprisal. But many remain skeptical they could stop the attacks. 

“I don’t feel real comfortable,” said Lisa. “I feel something might happen to my car tomorrow. But maybe next year we’ll be a tighter community and this won’t be a problem anymore.”

Hate Crime 

Workers at a Palestinian rights organization found swastikas scrawled on a bathroom poster Monday, in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime. 

Middle East Children’s Alliance co-founder Barbara Lubin said she walked into the bathroom Monday afternoon and noticed the defaced poster of 12-year-old Palestinian girls. 

“It’s really upsetting that someone could look at these beautiful children and see them as Nazis,” she said. 

The poster was marked over in ball point pen with about 7-8 swastikas drawn among the scribble, said BPD Spokesperson Kevin Schofield.  

Monday’s vandalism is the 25th reported hate crime in Berkeley this year, though the police department’s homicide unit—which investigates hate crimes—may ultimately change some of those classifications. Berkeley has seen a sharp increase in hate crimes since Sept. 11, rising from 10 in 2000 to 23 in 2001 to 38 in 2002.  

Police have no suspects in the case. The nonprofit, which advocates for children in Palestine and Iraq, shares its office with a graphics company also run by the founders. The company generates a lot of visitors, Lubin said noting that many people used the office bathroom Monday morning. 

Monday’s crime was the latest in a seemingly perpetual stream of low level property crimes at the West Berkeley nonprofit. In July, someone defaced a mural of Palestinian children, writing “I’m a terrorist,” in a bubble coming from the mouth of the children. Earlier this year an office window was broken and employees car locks were glued shut. 

The defacing of the poster was the first time a vandal struck inside the offices and was also the first hate crime since Alison Weir of Pro-Palestinian group If Americans Knew received a death threat warning her not to come to her office. 

Lubin remained unfazed. “I was on the school board for four years in Berkeley,” she said. “Nothing is spookier than that.” 

—Matthew Artz 

Rally Opposes University Village Teardown 

Members of the University Village Residents Association have planned a noontime rally for Monday on the steps of Sproul Hall to protest UC Berkeley’s plans to demolish 564 Albany apartments to make way for new units that will rent for twice the price of the existing apartments. 

Members of the VRA say the new rents will be higher than the monthly take-home pay of Graduate Student Instructors and campus researchers. 

Following the Sproul Hall gathering, protesters say they will march to California Hall to present their case directly to UC Chancellor Robert Berdahl.

Chief Makes Arrest 

Tuesday’s City Council meeting was disrupted when two homeless men started screaming and throwing punches outside Old City Hall. When the sounds of the dustup drifted into council chambers, Police Chief Roy Meisner left the meeting and headed outside to break up the fight. Meisner, along with other officers, separated the pair, one of whom was bleeding profusely from his face from as wound inflicted by a metal belt buckle. Police arrested the belt-wielder, Marlin Norrise, 21, for assault with a deadly weapon and sought medical attention for the victim, who was not charged. Norrise told officers the two had fought the previous week and that he was trying to sleep when the victim started bothering him. 

Purse Robbery 

A woman swung her purse at three robbers approaching her from behind, but couldn’t keep them from getting what they wanted. According to police, the woman was walking northbound on Milvia at 12:22 a.m. Tuesday when she heard loud footsteps coming from behind. She looked over her shoulder and saw three teenagers running at her, one with his fists raised. Acting on instinct, she reached back and swung her purse at them, but the strap broke and the purse landed on the sidewalk. As she fled on foot, the teenagers grabbed the purse and headed southbound on Milvia. 

Alert Neighbor 

A resident on the 2400 block of Telegraph Avenue spotted a burglar prowling his neighbor’s backyard Monday evening. When he tried to stop the burglar from stealing his neighbor’s two unlocked bikes, the burglar managed to escape. The neighbor called police, who found the suspect three blocks away with a third bike. Police arrested Lavell West, 52, of Oakland for grand theft. 

Robbery 

A robber armed with a screwdriver grabbed a purse from a woman on the 2700 block of Prince Street late Tuesday morning. The woman told police she had just parked in her driveway when she opened the car door when the thief appeared. When he threatened to stab her with the screwdriver if she didn’t hand over her purse, the woman complied. The thief then jumped into a gray coupe and sped away.

Back home—meaning, the back South version of back home—there used to be an older woman who, under certain unusual circumstances, would raise her hands, roll her eyes, and declare, “Oh, my God, it’s scooty-time again.” By “scooty-time,” I think she meant a series of odd, unexplained circumstances that were not especially remarkable or noteworthy in and of themselves, but put together in a long string, they added up to a condition of general looniness. As for me, “scooty-time” always gave me the image of a pack of old men wearing dark shades and riding scooters, running around in circles bumping smack into each other and anything else that got in the way. But maybe it’s the same thing. 

Scooty-time. 

Bill Lockyer, the Attorney General of the state of California and a member of the Democratic Party, without apparent prompting, announces a few days after the gubernatorial election that he cast a vote for Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, in that election. This is very much like Red Queen justice from the Alice stories (if you haven’t read the book, you might not get the reference, so just skip over this next part if that’s the case). First came the election. Then came the announcement of support. Next will come—what?—an announcement that Mr. Schwarzenegger is free and clear of any sexual battery crimes he might have been accused of? (Has that already happened? And in advance of a trial, too.) In any event, figuring out why Mr. Lockyer favored us with these particular revelations is like trying to plot a graph from one dot on a piece of paper. You’ll just have to wait for the next move, which is sure to come. 

Five years and some five hundred violent deaths after he was hired as Chief of Police of Oakland, Richard Word releases a plan to reduce violence in our city. I don’t mean no harm to a fellow who seems like a decent-enough guy, but don’t you think this might have been one of the first things the Chief should have taken up first off? 

Alameda’s own Don Perata gets elected to the California State Senate in a special election to serve out the second half of the four-year term of Barbara Lee after Ms. Lee trades up to Congress. Mr. Perata serves two years, and then gets elected for a full four-year term. Now he wants to run for another four-year term, but finds that he is blocked by the voter-approved term limit law, which says, pretty emphatically, that he can run again only if that first two-year term he served was “less than half of the full (four-year) term.” Not to worry, says the aforementioned State Attorney General Lockyer. Even though he was elected in November of 1998, Mr. Perata did not actually first report for work in until Dec. 7, three days after all the other legislators reported. Because of this, according to Mr. Lockyer, Mr. Perata served less than half of that first four year term, and just last week, a California Superior Court Judge agreed. And so, solely because he reported late for work on his first day on the job, Mr. Perata is declared eligible to run for the State Senate past the normal term limit time. 

And you thought there were no rewards for being a slacker. 

On May 30 of this year, the state superintendent took over the Oakland Unified School District because the district’s budget was out of balance and the district was forced to take out a $100 million loan from the state. The State Superintendent hired Randolph Ward to run the Oakland schools, taking all control out of the hands of the city’s elected School Board. Some of that control is supposed to be returned to the elected School Board after certain criteria are met. In a report issued last month, the state-sanctioned school oversight group called FCMAT (the Fiscal Crisis and Management Team) spelled out those criteria, saying the Oakland schools must bring up its standards in five areas: Community Relations and Governance, Personnel Management, Pupil Achievement, Financial Management, and Facilities Management. Problem is, the person responsible for bringing up the district’s standards in those five areas is—guess who?—Randolph Ward. Maybe I’m reading this wrong, but doesn’t this seem to mean that so long as he keeps the Oakland schools below FCMAT’s standards, Mr. Ward gets to keep running Oakland’s schools? 

And, finally…  

Earlier this year, the City of Oakland reached an agreement with Camden USA builders of Texas to put up a high-rise housing project between Preservation Park and the Dellums Federal Building. As part of the deal, Camden agreed to buy the vacant property from the city for $7 million. But now that the deal has been signed, Camden says that because of the downturn in the rental market, they want a guarantee that the city will return to them half of that $7 million if Camden doesn’t make enough of a profit on the project. According to the Tribune, “[Oakland] Redevelopment Agency Director Dan Vanderpriem said [this proposed rebate is] not a subsidy because Camden is still paying the appraised market value for the land if not more, even if the city gives something back.” Is this what my Republican friends call “fuzzy math”? 

Or is it merely what that lady used to call “scooty-time”?

EDITOR’S NOTE: For residents of a smoggy black neighborhood in a small Georgia city, federal agencies’ failure to address environmental racism—documented in a scathing new government report—is felt each time they take a breath.  

GAINESVILLE, Ga.—Leave your car for a few hours in the south end of town and you may return to find it covered with fine yellow dust from nearby mills. Mae Catherine Wilmont, a lifelong resident in her 50s, says she hardly notices the odor any more, but when employers from the mostly white north side drop her off at night, they sometimes wrinkle their noses and ask, “What is that smell?”  

Thirteen of Gainesville’s 15 toxic-producing industries are located around the African American neighborhood called New Town, even closer than its schools. New Town may be the kind of community the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights had in mind when it endorsed a report Oct. 17 slamming federal agencies for failing to comply with a Clinton-era presidential order to make environmental justice part of their work and programs. Race is a bigger predictor today of exposure to environmental hazards than geography or income, say studies cited in the 200-page report, “Not in My Backyard.”  

The 1994 presidential order clearly told agencies—the EPA, HUD and Departments of Transportation and the Interior—to consider effects on minority neighborhoods when deciding where to put landfills, toxic dumps and polluting industries. They don’t, determined the commission.  

The leadership of the agencies, said Commission Chair Mary Frances Berry, “lacks commitment to ensuring that low-income communities and communities of color are treated fairly during the decision-making process” about where to put hazardous sites. The report cited evidence of disproportionate incidence of environmentally related disease in those communities, lead paint in homes, dangerous waste sites and toxic playgrounds.  

The effort to be fair in locating dangerous dumps and factories is simply a low priority, the commission says. The issue is apparently considered so marginal that not a single agency reports any comprehensive assessment of environmental justice activities—the Department of Transportation categorizes the activity mandated in the executive order as “collateral.”  

Some Bush critics say the picture reflects a current Republican administration policy that is unfriendly to the environment in general. Others warn the report will hurt business opportunities and jobs.  

Berry, an Independent, and three Democratic members voted to endorse the report; two Republicans voted no and one abstained. Another member was absent.  

What the Civil Rights Commission determined in Washington is no surprise to the women on the ground in New Town. “What they find at the federal level we find with the state and the local level,” said Faye Bush, president of the Florist Club. The women push efforts to bring attention to their neighborhood, including conducting “Toxic Tours” aimed at college students, and at African American youth “so they know they need to get involved and keep this from happening again,” says Mae Catherine Wilmont.  

In the early l990s, Wilmont joined the Florist Club when she learned she had lupus, which she attributes to a lifetime in the polluted neighborhood. When the club began in the l950s, women simply collected money for funeral wreaths for low-income neighbors, and accompanied the bereaved to funerals as a group, wearing black in winter, crisp white in summer. By the l980s, as a veteran member recalls, they began to ask, “Why are so many of us dying?”  

Slowly, methodically, the women conducted interviews and found a high number of cases of cancer, and lupus, an incurable immune system condition. They joined with researchers, had their hair clipped and sent for analysis, and found significant levels of toxins in their systems. A state health survey found unexpectedly high levels of mouth and throat cancer. “It got so we asked all kinds of questions,” said Mozetta Whelchel, whose 16-year-old daughter Moselee died of lupus in the l980s. Towers of a dog food factory loom over her house. Her son Deotris died of lupus too, shortly after high school graduation. Faye Bush, Whelchel’s sister, has lupus, and so does Jerry Castleberry across the street.  

Experts argue environmental triggers can be key in the appearance of cancers and lupus; direct links are extremely difficult to prove. “We know this is coming to us from the outside,” said Welchel, however, a view held by the neighborhood.  

Joel Armstrong, an environmental justice specialist at the Washington-based Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, knows New Town and sees “bright spots” for such struggling communities in the Commission’s recommendations to federal agencies, if they are implemented. One of the “more helpful,” he says: A recommendation that the EPA broaden its authority to establish “adverse disparate impact” on communities where state or other laws shield or limit that process.  

The Florist Club is taking cases to court, and new members are joining, including some young women with college educations.  

“If we keep on working with it somebody is gonna learn they’re wrong,” said Mozetta Whelchel. She runs a hand across her bald-looking scalp, the effect of treatment for a second brain tumor. “We got to talk about it, the same over and over.”  

The Civil Rights Commission has no enforcement mandate. Previous reports have drawn public attention to key issues. The new report is scheduled for distribution to members of Congress and President Bush.  

Pacific News Service Editor Mary Jo McConahay is a longtime journalist and a filmmaker.

EDITORS NOTE: This is the first article in an occasional series by UC Berkeley journalism students.  

For decades, children have used them to get to and from schools. People drive miles simply to walk their dogs along them. Others include them in their daily commutes, factoring in extra time to admire the beauty and peace they bring to the neighborhood. 

Seventy years ago, these 136 paths were integral to Berkeley’s daily life, allowing hill residents access to the electric streetcars running on Euclid and Spruce avenues.  

The pathways and steps are enduring evidence of the city’s commitment to the urban design principles of the Hillside Club, says historian Charles Wollenberg. 

In the 1920s, influential club members like naturalist Annie Maybeck and her husband, architect Bernard Maybeck, advocated streets that followed the contours of the hills connected by a system of pedestrian paths. 

“The city cooperated, and the pathways became public property,” says Wollenberg. 

The paths are maintained by the Departments of Public Works and Parks, Recreation and Waterfront. They are assisted by volunteers from the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, who have mapped all the paths and re-opened many for public use. 

Pat De Vito, co-president of the Path Wanderers, moved to Berkeley in 1953, and she often used the paths as a Cal undergraduate.. She and three friends started the pedestrian advocacy organization five years ago. 

“We were four women around a kitchen table in 1998,” said De Vito.  

Those four women recognized that “these paths are a part of our historical heritage and were, at one time, walkable,” De Vito said, and they wanted to make these paths accessible to the public again.  

The issue of public access is particularly interesting to artist and writer Karen Kerm, who is working on a book about city paths across the country. Kerm views the paths as a “dialogue of public and private space” and a relationship between public and private property that is rare these days when privatization is a catchword to fix public facilities. 

“It’s land for the people that unfortunately our planners today don’t value,” said Kerm. 

However, even if planners stop valuing the idea of public access, the pathways are here, providing not only a practical way of getting to where you’re going, but meeting pedestrians’ aesthetic needs as well. 

“They’ve been around for 90 years,” said De Vito. “They are a part of our open space, a calm place to be, away from the street.” 

“And they also have some of best views and vistas of the canyons, the bay, and San Francisco when you climb to the top of them,” she added.

As Casen Maloy leisurely walks down Billie Jean Walk she is following a timetable controlled by a bus. 

Maloy, a first year undergraduate at UC Berkeley, has lived on Hilldale Avenue since April, but only recently discovered the picturesque steps that connect Hilldale to Euclid Avenue.  

Maloy, 19, with red hair and sunglasses, looked as if she was on her way to the beach. Instead, she was headed for the corner of Euclid and Marin where she had a date with the 65 University-bound bus.  

She was taking part in a ritual that, although it isn’t as old as the hills, dates back to the development of Berkeley. 

Electric trolleys ran on major streets from the late Nineteenth Century until the 1940s. Residents of the hills could walk down the paths to streets such as Euclid and Spruce to meet a trolley, much in the same way as Casen Maloy walks to the bus.  

From Euclid, Billie Jean Walk begins with a steep set of steps that lead up to a sloping path. The path rises lazily upwards for about 15 yards before connecting with another steep stairway that leads up to Hilldale. 

The walkway is covered by branches of bottlebrush trees and green bushes. The canopy provides good cover for those making the inclined walk up to Hilldale on a warm afternoon. A view from the top of the path provides a spectacular vista of the San Francisco Bay. Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge sparkle from the vantage point on a sunny day. 

Seven decades before Maloy moved to Berkeley, Billie Jean Walk was named after one of its own. Billie Jean Harris, the adopted daughter of local haberdasher Joe Harris and his wife Pearl, was born on January 26, 1931. In a San Francisco Examiner article published later that year, Harris expressed his joy of being a proud parent by working to have the path named in honor of his daughter.  

Billie Jean D’Anna née Harris, now resides in San Bruno. On occasions she has been seen in Berkeley having her picture taken by the path sign. “I always have to remind people that it’s not named for Billie Jean King!” said Mrs. D’Anna during a phone interview. 

As Maloy walks by the ivy and blackberry vines that border the path, she is unaware of the history that surrounds her. It is just a pleasant part of her commute to class. Maloy, reared in San Francisco and Marin, says, “It makes getting up and down the hill easier.”

Anybody with an ounce of anarchism in their blood felt a secret frisson of delight at San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly’s one-day coup last week. While Real Mayor Willie Brown was junketing in Asia, Mayor-for-A-Day Daly appointed two of the five members of The City’s extremely important Public Utilities Commission, and it looks like the appointments are going to stick. Some who believe in maintaining proper decorum (yes, we do have them, even in Berkeley) profess that they are Shocked, Shocked at Daly’s breach of political courtesy, of course. But that reaction misses the very real reason Daly felt justified in seizing the reins: the winner-take-all system for appointing commissioners in the city and county of San Francisco. Technically, the mayor (whoever that might be at the moment) gets to appoint all of the commissioners. Lately there’s been a nod to the power of the Supes, who can now veto some or all of the appointments, in some circumstances. (Here the Daily Planet must confess to haziness on the exact details. The San Francisco charter is a baroque, much-amended document that makes Berkeley’s somewhat fuzzy charter look crystal-clear.)  

Here, we pride ourselves on our Fair Representation Ordinance, under which our mayor and councilmembers each get one appointment, ensuring at least, most of the time, some variety of views on our commissions. That’s not to say that interest groups don’t have the ability to capture particular commissions, often for benign purposes. For example, we seldom see anyone appointed to the Parks Commission who favors converting all our parks into parking lots, though some in Berkeley might like that.  

The very diversity of our commissions can potentially lead to paralysis, but most of the time they work pretty well, better than the San Francisco equivalents. (The chair of San Francisco’s equivalent of our Landmarks Commission is now leading a campaign to modify his commission’s powers to be more like Berkeley’s.) At the same time, however, Berkeleyans need to watch out for the pervasive governmental tendency to creeping centralism, which has existed throughout history and around the world regardless of the form of government. 

Under the current mayor, we seem to be slowly drifting toward a kind of government by task force, coupled with sotto voce grumbling about the power of citizen commissions. Mayoral task forces, unlike commissions, have no fair representation requirement—the mayor just appoints everyone. When former mayor Dean tried this, progressives screamed, but now that their guy is doing the appointing their screams have been muted.  

So far, only two task forces have really gotten going. The Development Task Force has been forced by citizen activists to adopt a fairly public profile, but the City Revenue Task Force has come and gone without even posting a list of its members on the web. Since it was chaired by the estimable former Assemblymember Dion Aroner (who was Bates’ Sacramento aide for twenty years), its recommendations were expected to be reasonably solid. However the lack of real public participation in discussing alternative ways to deal with Berkeley’s inevitable cash crisis risks provoking voter hostility toward the recommended solution, which calls for balancing the budget with a $10 million parcel tax to be placed before voters in March. 

There’s muttering in the ranks, from a surprising number of points on the political spectrum, about the Revenue Task Force’s reluctance to examine whether the city’s union contracts are excessively generous in light of current revenue problems. Some, those historically closer to Berkeley’s “moderate” party, have not been shy about expressing these criticisms at council meetings and in print, including in these pages. What is more surprising is that a good number of well-respected long-term activists in the “progressive” party are saying the same kinds of things in private. The City Council, especially the “progressive majority,” ignores these voices at their peril. They’ve already voted to place the parcel tax on the ballot, at one of the usual poorly attended council sessions where active discussion is minimized. It will be billed as funding for fire services, an easy sell, but everyone won’t be fooled. A poll which was supposed to measure voter willingness to increase taxes did not show unequivocal enthusiasm from two-thirds of the electorate under all circumstances. 

Before the March vote there will be plenty of time for the sub-rosa criticisms to surface in the public discourse. Berkeley voters have always been generous with government, but with the current economic downturn this might not continue to be true. The council doesn’t take final action on all ballot measures until Nov. 25. They still have time to take a better look at paring staff costs as one way of helping to balance the budget. 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet.  

A curmudgeon, according Merriam-Webster Online, is a crusty, ill-tempered old man, so I guess I don’t qualify as a full-fledged curmudgeon. But, except for the man part, every year as Halloween approaches I feel more like a curmudgeon than ever. Halloween used to be a nice, low-key, non-sectarian opportunity for the kids to have a little cheap fun. It wasn’t part of any religious group’s traditional calendar, so everyone could participate.  

Now the kinds of chain stores which don’t advertise in the Daily Planet are featuring electrified vinyl pumpkins, presumably to save kids the trouble of carving their own, to give them more time to watch TV. And adults have taken over the celebrating. Halloween, even in Berkeley, has turned into an opportunity for conspicuous consumption, as people who have too much time on their hands try to out-compete their neighbors with lavish public displays.  

When I was a child, we didn’t even say “trick or treat.” We said, “My name is Jimmy and I’ll take what you gimme.” I lived in St. Louis, so that could have been a regional variation from the national standard, but the idea was that the people who answered the door pretended to be fooled by our obviously homemade costumes. Some of the really old people on our block, the ones who were at least 55, made us sing a song or perform in some other way—that was the “trick,” for us in those days.  

Treats were homemade, too. The Department of Urban Legends, a sub-division of the Ministry of Truth, tells us that it’s now unsafe for kids to eat the apples, cookies, cupcakes and popcorn balls that neighbor ladies used to offer. And no, don’t tell me that children will be poisoned by anything except individually wrapped commercial candy, because psychologists and folklorists have convincingly debunked the myth of trick-or-treaters being poisoned by neighbors. For twenty years I’ve offered to pay $100 to anyone who can prove that a single such incident has actually happened, and I’ve never paid out a penny. October candy sales are way up, though. 

We wore our costumes to school, and had simple parties where bobbing for apples (who knows what that is anymore?) was the main game. Now some schools have banned Halloween parties because right-wing religious nuts think that the holiday has some connection with Satanism. Then again, in Berkeley, perhaps the parties might be banned because some local citizens think they show disrespect for Satanism. You never know, these days, who might be offended or by what. 

Grown-ups, on the other hand, now have bigger and better parties. Growing up is hard to do, and Halloween is a chance to pretend that you don’t really have to. In and of itself, it’s okay to act childish occasionally. But when the child you choose to imitate is a malicious and destructive brat, it can be unpleasant to watch, which is why some gay groups are asking that the Castro scene be toned down this year.  

Is it ever going to be possible to reclaim holidays from exploitation? There’s a trend to expand the celebration of new holidays which are off the radar of the dominant commercial culture. But I fear it’s only a matter of time before some enterprising manufacturer comes out with products for Indigenous Peoples Day like an electrified drum which you don’t have to beat, or a string of lights in the shape of kachinas to put up on your porch.  

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet.