Berkeley’s political establishment—scarcely having drawn a breath since the abortive battle over the parcel tax measure—has jumped into the next round of City Council elections fully eleven months before voters head to the polls. -more-

FRIDAY, DEC. 5 -more-

WHAT A DIFFERENCE -more-

The visitor to Keiko Nelson’s exhibition, called “Wave,” at the City of Oakland’s Craft and Cultural Arts Center, will encounter examples of her forceful sculptures before entering the gallery space. -more-

FRIDAY, DEC. 5 -more-

When Zhirong Li, a second-year Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley, flew back to China last December to visit her family and boyfriend, she bought a return flight booked for Jan. 23. -more-

When the Berkeley City Council voted not to ask for voter approval for a parcel tax increase in next March’s election, the critical factor may have been a failure to communicate. City officials failed to successfully communicate a message that no one—not the voters, not the employees, neither unions nor management—wanted to hear: that, without a tax increase, significant reductions in police, fire, and youth services are in the immediate future. -more-

So what if it isn’t Christmasy—some people might even see that as a plus. -more-

Today’s Berkeley Police Department bears little resemblance to the force that fired on People’s Park protesters in 1969 and prompted voters to approve one of the nation’s first citizen review commissions four years later. -more-

For several years I’ve watched in shock as the “development community” took over this town. When the escaped tax issue came to light, I thought this outrageous loss of revenue in the face of a deficit might remind city staff that their salaries are actually paid by the taxpayers of Berkeley. -more-

The Blood House battle—pitting a Berkeley historical landmark against a prominent developer in the arena of California’s complex environment law—entered a new phase this week when the city ordered developers back to the drawing board. -more-

Berkeley’s city planning commissioners got their first chance to question the man behind UC Berkeley’s proposed downtown hotel and convention center Tuesday afternoon, and—among other things—they learned that the complex will likely be shorter than the twelve-story tower sketched in the university’s conceptual drawings. -more-

An old lefty labor organizer, someone I’ve known slightly for a while, came up to me at a party in The City this week. “How come no one asked me if I’d support a parcel tax increase?” he said. “I live in Dona Spring’s district…I get mail from Linda Maio all the time…but no one asked me!” He has a point. As the former head of a big public service union, his opinion is predictable—he favors a tax increase. But we discussed the bigger question of What Went Wrong at some length. He wondered where all the opposition came from. -more-