North Berkeley’s major east-west thoroughfare is one step closer to shrinking in half for motorists.  

On Wednesday the city’s Transportation Commission unanimously backed a proposal to re-engineer the lower portion of Marin Avenue to slow traffic and improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. 

Under the plan, backed by traffic engineers in both Albany and Berkeley, Marin from Stannage Avenue east to The Alameda would be scaled back from four lanes of traffic to two lanes, with a center turning lane and bicycle lanes on both sides of the street.  

If the city councils in both Berkeley and Albany approve the plan, Marin Avenue could be redrawn by the end of the summer for a one-year trial period, said Berkeley Transportation Planner Heath Maddox. Berkeley’s share of the project cost would be about $41,000. The source of the funding has not yet been identified. 

The proposal is the culmination of a seven-year drive by Marin Avenue neighbors, primarily those in Albany, to calm traffic on the avenue.  

Originally designed as a grand approach to a proposed Capitol building, back when Berkeley had designs on being the seat of state government, Marin Avenue now serves as the main artery for commuters from the Berkeley hills to Interstate-80. 

With lanes of traffic just 10 feet wide—the minimum width permitted in California—and few bicycle and pedestrian amenities, proponents of the plan say Marin is one of Berkeley’s most dangerous streets and is especially risky for children who attend two elementary schools within blocks of the avenue. 

“When you see a child or an elderly person try to cross it just makes you shake,” said Gary Amado, a neighbor whose two sons were both struck by cars on the street. Neither sustained serious injuries 

Last June, Berkeley resident Thomas Bowen was killed crossing the street outside his home at Marin and Modoc Avenue. 

From 2001 through 2003, there were 114 collisions on the section of the avenue encompassed by the plan. The figures are comparable to the statewide average of collisions on similar thoroughfares, according to a report commissioned by Berkeley and Albany from the environmental firm of Design Community & Environment (DCE) and the transit engineering firm Fehr & Pierce. 

Albany Police Chief Greg Bone, who is backing the plan, has reported that a six-month police operation to ticket speeders resulted in only a 0.4 mph reduction in speeds on the avenue with a 25 mph speed limit. The average speed on the avenue is 31 mph. 

About 16 North Berkeley and Albany residents were evenly divided on the plan at a public hearing before the Transportation Commission.  

Zelda Bronstein, the president of the nearby Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association, blamed the low turnout at the meeting on the city’s failure to send notices to residents beyond the 750 who live on or within one block from the avenue. She said she did not know enough about the plan to comment on it. 

“Nobody knew about it,” said Bronstein, who wasn’t able to attend the meeting because of a District 5 city council candidates’ forum scheduled for the same time. She said she was further angered to learn that letters she and others had written on the proposal never made it to transportation commissioners or to those attending the meeting.  

Rather than give commissioners all the letters on the subject, the Transportation Department opted to provide them with a summary instead, said Maddox. 

At the public hearing, opponents of the plan argued that the avenue posed no unique threats to pedestrians and cyclists and that reducing the number of traffic lanes could exacerbate dangers by redirecting motorists to winding side-streets and bringing traffic on Marin to a standstill during rush hour. 

But the traffic report forecast no such hardships.  

The average rush-hour trip down Marin would increase by about 80 seconds, and reduce average speeds from the 31 mph to 26 mph, which is not enough of a disincentive to push motorists onto side-streets, said Sam Tabibnia, a traffic engineer with Fehr & Pierce. The firm concluded that the projected impacts were not significant enough to require a more extensive environmental review. 

Neighbors opposed to the plan challenged the study’s findings. “There is no way you can say that people won’t take the side-streets,” said Raymond Chamberlin at the hearing. 

Opponents predicted stop and go traffic on Marin that would result in more air pollution and dangerous intersection crossings. They also faulted the study for failing to adequately consider the impact of a new Target store and the expansion of Albany Village on traffic, as well as failing to identify measurable standards to judge the success of the plan after a one-year trial period. 

Creating those standards could require a new round of consultants, said Cherry Chaicharn, an Albany transportation planner.  

The study did take into account the new Target planned to rise just north of the Berkeley border beside I-80 and expansion of Albany Village, UC Berkeley’s family housing community on San Pablo Avenue close to the Marin intersection, but concluded neither project would have a major impact on Marin. 

The study found that residents of Albany Village would likely use public transportation or commute by car against the flow of rush hour traffic and that the Target would not add many trips on Marin because residents already use the avenue to get to shops. 

Albany and Berkeley began working in tandem on the proposal two years ago. Maddox, who oversees the city’s bicycle boulevard program, said the proposal adheres to the city’s General Plan, which calls for calming traffic and promoting cycling as a means of transportation.  

Several years ago the city reduced the number of traffic lanes on Marin, to one in each direction, from the traffic circle at Sutter Street to The Alameda. If Berkeley chooses not approve the current plan and Albany decides to move ahead, motorists traveling westbound on Marin would have to merge from two lanes to one at the Albany border at Tulare Avenue. 

Marin is not the only major thoroughfare in Berkeley that could be reduced to two lanes of automobile traffic. AC Transit has a plan to put an express bus route on Telegraph Avenue, limiting access for cars. 

One successful example of reducing traffic lanes, mentioned by Tabibnia at the public hearing, is Valencia Street in San Francisco. Seven years ago the street was converted from four lanes of car traffic to two lanes, a center turning lane and two lanes for cyclists. Traffic moves reasonably well on the street, he said, but unlike Marin, Valencia is part of a traffic grid with straight streets to the east and west that absorb much of the neighborhood’s automobile traffic.›

A backer of the campaign to pass three city tax measures has charged two of Berkeley’s anti-tax groups with violating city election law. 

Malcolm Burnstein, who two years ago served as treasurer for Tom Bates’ campaign for mayor, filed charges Friday against the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) and Berkeleyans Against Soaring Taxes (BASTA). 

His complaint alleges that BASTA twice failed to submit its list of contributions and expenses before city deadlines and that CNA, a registered nonprofit for over 30 years, was required to register as a political committee and file contribution and expenditure reports before sending out newsletters that took stands opposing the tax measures. 

It charges that the group is “nothing more than a decidedly partisan hack committee acting to defeat certain measures.” 

The complaints will be heard Wednesday at a special meeting of the city’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission (FCPC). If the commission substantiates the charges against BASTA, the group could be fined. Even if CNA escapes a monetary penalty, it could be made to register as a political committee for future elections. 

In the past year, relations between neighborhood associations and city political leaders have grown increasingly bitter over proposed taxes to help plug the city’s budget deficit. 

“Obviously this is an attempt to intimidate the opposition,” said CNA President Laurie Bright of Burnstein’s complaints. 

CNA, as a non-profit educational group, is only allowed to take positions on ballot measures. This November, as it has in prior elections, the group is opposing all four new city taxes as well as a school district tax. 

Burnstein argues that the group’s newsletter, which carried its endorsements on the measures and was mailed to approximately 1,000 homes, rendered the group a political organization falling under the Berkeley Election Reform Act. 

“It’s an interesting question that I think the commission should discuss,” Burnstein said. 

Berkeley election law requires organizations that lobby on behalf of a campaign to file contributions and expenditures and list individual donations greater than $50. The filings are required so residents know which individuals and interests are supporting candidates and ballot measures. 

CNA, comprised of leaders of city neighborhood organizations, charges $30 for a subscription to its newsletter, which is printed five times annually and is the only newsletter published by private residents. 

Bright said that Berkeley election law specifically exempts subscription mail like the group’s newsletter.  

Bright, who received a copy of Burnstein’s complaint Monday morning, had to provide city election officials with a written reply by Monday afternoon and prepare for the hearing on Wednesday. 

“The fact that the city isn’t giving us any time to adequately respond to this is outrageous and ridiculous,” he said. 

Commission policy is to address all complaints before the election, said Assistant City Attorney Prasanna Rasiah. 

BASTA, which was formed this summer to fight the four city tax measures and a measure to publicly fund city elections on the November ballot, failed to make campaign filings for two consecutive filing periods, Oct. 5 and Oct. 21, according the city clerk’s office. 

BASTA Assistant Treasurer Jim Hultman said he mailed the filings to the city clerk, and hadn’t been alerted that they had not been received until hearing from the city on Friday. Hultman, who chose not to send the filings via certified mail, has no record of the packages being delivered. 

Although he has no proof, he said he suspected that officials backing the tax proposals intercepted the mail before it reached the city clerk’s office. 

“I find it hard to believe that the postal service would screw up two consecutive deliveries,” he said. 

According to reports provided Friday by the group, BASTA has raised $6,480, nearly one-third of which has come from the Berkeley Property Owners Association. Other contributors include Edwin Quenzel, who donated $1,000, and City Council candidate Barbara Gilbert, who donated $200. 

Burnstein filed the complaint against BASTA on behalf of the Measure J, K and L Committee and filed against CNA on behalf of the Committee for Measure L. Measure J is a proposed utility tax hike, Measure K is a proposed increase to the tax on property transfers and Measure L is a parcel tax to pay for library service. 

BASTA was not the only campaign to miss the filing deadline this year. For the Oct. 21 filing, City Council candidate Laura Menard filed late and Maudelle Shirek had not filed as of Monday. For the previous deadline, City Council candidate Sharon Kidd and school board candidate Merrilie Mitchell also filed late. 

›

When Max Anderson announced this summer he was challenging Councilmember Maudelle Shirek in District 3, he was prepared for the inevitable charges that he was an ingrate.  

But the chairman of Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board never expected the many twists and turns the race would take. 

When Shirek, a 93-year-old icon of the civil rights movement, was thrown off the ballot for not submitting candidate papers with the requisite number of signatures from residents of the district, neighborhood activist Laura Menard entered the fray and attacked Anderson from the right as a tool of the city’s progressive political machine. Also in the race is Jeffrey Benefiel, a jeweler with little or no experience in city government. 

Now with Shirek, the only person to represent the district, back in the race as a write-in candidate, District 3 residents are guaranteed something they have not known since district lines were drawn 18 years ago: a competitive election. 

Even two of the city’s biggest political powers, Mayor Tom Bates and Rep. Barbara Lee, who have made nearly identical endorsements over the past two years, are split on the race. Bates and his wife, Assemblymember Loni Hancock, are backing Anderson, while Lee and her predecessor in Congress Ron Dellums support Shirek, who assisted Dellums on his first run for Congress in 1970. 

“[Maudelle’s] got a history of service and a vision for the community,” Lee has said. 

District 3, one of Berkeley’s most ethnically diverse areas, covers a section of South Berkeley from Dwight Way to the Oakland border between Sacramento Street to the west and Ellsworth Street to the east. The district has always elected someone to the left of Berkeley’s political center, and that person has always been Shirek. 

But in recent years, progressives on the council maintain that Shirek’s vote has been inconsistent and her attention has wavered at council meetings. Often she has allied herself with the council’s three most conservative members, all of whom have backed her candidacy. 

“I wouldn’t describe her as a progressive anymore,” said Councilmember Dona Spring, who said Shirek increasingly appeared not to understand what she was voting on. 

Last winter, Spring began rallying support for an Anderson bid, and most progressives in Berkeley have followed her lead. The left’s embrace of Anderson culminated in his endorsement last month by Berkeley Citizens Action, a progressive political organization that had previously backed Shirek. 

But Anderson has had more difficulty making inroads among members of South Berkeley neighborhood groups, many of whom are backing Menard, the president of the Russell, Oregon California Street Neighborhood Association and the founder of the South Berkeley Crime Prevention Council. 

Menard said she was planning to vote for Shirek, but jumped into the race when the incumbent was disqualified. 

“I didn’t think Max was going to represent our initiatives,” said Menard. “He hasn’t been here in the trenches with us.” 

Menard has led the fight against relocating a cannabis club on Sacramento Street, worked to revitalize community policing and most recently has battled a daytime center for the homeless and mentally ill, which some local merchants and residents blame for increasing crime along Adeline Street. 

She charges that the city has hampered business development and exacerbated social ills in District 3 by concentrating social service providers along its commercial corridors and not requiring that they are managed competently. 

“You can’t attract businesses unless you deal effectively with crime, homelessness and drug activity,” she said. 

Crime in District 3 has declined steadily over the past decade but the district still leads the city in violent crimes, according to figures compiled by Councilmember Gordon Wozniak using police and census tract data. In census district 40, which includes a section of District 3, assaults account for about 16 percent of all crimes. Census Tract 28 in Downtown Berkeley is second at eight percent. 

Anderson criticized Menard’s approach to problem solving as “divisive” and charged that she had used wedge issues like the homeless center to divide the district. He said the district wouldn’t be able to address its multitude of concerns effectively until tensions eased between long-term residents and recent transplants. 

“If crime becomes the only thing, it crowds out the possibility of working with everyone in the community,” he said. A former member of the city’s Planning Commission, Anderson said that besides attacking crime, local businesses would also benefit from better street signs, more foot traffic and re-engineering boulevards to encourage motorists to slow down and stop at local shops. 

On the five tax measures facing voters on the November ballot, Menard opposes all but a tax for schools, while Anderson and Shirek support all of the tax proposals. 

Closer to home, Menard and Shirek oppose a school board proposal to consume a block of Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street to build a regulation size baseball field. Anderson, who at a League of Women Voters forum supported the plan, now said he would convene neighborhood discussions before taking a final position. 

Though Shirek hasn’t embroiled herself in the battle between Anderson and Menard, neither candidate nor their supporters are dismissing the eight-term incumbent. 

Wanda Stewart, an Anderson backer and the vice president of Berkeley’s PTSA Council, said several of her neighbors have urged her to cast a write-in vote for Shirek.  

“It’s hard for the black community to say no to Maudelle,” she said. “Look at Barbara Lee, she had the courage to be the only vote against the war in Afghanistan and she can’t tell Maudelle not to run.” 

The Shirek campaign posted campaign signs last week and plans to deliver a mailing before Election Day, said Jackie DeBose, a campaign aide. DeBose chastised progressives who questioned Shirek’s left-leaning credentials. 

“For Dona Spring to say Maudelle is not a progressive is like someone calling Dona a rap star,” she said. 

›

Plans for the University Avenue Apartments, a five-story mixed use condominium and commercial project planned for 1698 University Ave., are scheduled to go to the Zoning Adjustments Board Thursday night. 

The project, planned by Pacific Bay Investments of Berkeley, would create a staggered building with a three-floor street frontage rising to five stories at the building’s center. 

Plans call for 25 condominium units, ground floor commercial rentals and a 32-space parking garage at the current site of a Tune-Up Masters franchise. 

Thursday’s 7 p.m. hearing in the second floor City Council chambers at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, will consider a mitigated negative declaration which would authorize the project, provided developers minimize construction noise and clean up any possible toxic materials on the site. 

The project has drawn fire from members of PlanBerkeley.org, a collection of University Avenue-area residents who have criticized the size and mass of the project. Their web site includes relevant city documents on the project. 

Original plans called for apartments, but a revision calling for condominiums was filed in July, along with increased parking spaces as requested by neighbors. 

If ZAB members approve the project, all that remains is for the builder to receive the building permits, which normally would take an additional two months, said city Principal Planner Aaron Sage. 

The city has received extensive correspondence questioning the project, Sage said. 

Also on the agenda for Thursday’s ZAB meeting is a hearing on plans for the Ed Roberts Campus, a learning and advocacy center for the disabled to be constructed at the Ashby Avenue BART Station, 3075 Adeline St., and a proposal to open four carry-out food locations at 1511 Shattuck Ave. 

Another controversial project has landed on the city Planning Commission agenda for Wednesday night’s meeting, the tentative tract map for another condominium and retail project, this one already under construction by developer Avi Nevo at 1797 Shattuck Ave. 

The project landed before the Planning Commission because that body is charged with approving the tract maps that allow individual ownerships to be sold in condominium projects, said Janet Homrighausen, commission secretary. 

Opponents had tried to block the project, built at the site of a gas station that had leaked pollutants into the soil. 

The Planning Commission meeting begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave.

When the Regional Water Quality Control Board opens its Wednesday night informational meeting on the controversial marshland toxic waste cleanup at the site of the proposed Campus Bay shoreline residential project, Richmond workers and residents might well have questions about similar efforts underway at the adjoining UC Berkeley Field Station just to the north. 

Earth moving equipment is busy this week at both sites, which have a long history of pollution by chemical manufacturing complexes, lacing the inland soil and shoreline with a range of organic and inorganic pollutants. 

The water board meeting, scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Booker T. Anderson Community Center, 960 S. 47th St., is slated to address just the Campus Bay portion of the cleanup. 

Work at the UC Berkeley site has been planned in five stages, including an ongoing cleanup of the university’s portion of Stege Marsh, a waterfowl nesting area along the shoreline, which is a seasonal home to the endangered clapper rail shorebird.  

Work at the Campus Bay portion of the marsh is now underway and will be the focus of the RWQB session. Neighbors and members of Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development (BAARD) have criticized Campus Bay developers for what they and water board officials have called inadequate monitoring of dust and chemical emissions from the site. 

Excavated soil from the Campus Bay portion of the complex is being temporarily stored atop a recently uncapped area of the toxic waste dump on the site. It is scheduled to be moved off-site in the spring after the muck has dried. 

Cherokee Simeon Ventures, a partnership between Marin County developer Simeon Properties and Cherokee Investors, a venture capital firm specializing in developments on reclaimed toxic sites, plans a 1,330-unit residential complex at the dump site. 

Former site owner AstraZeneca, a British chemical and pharmaceutical company, has responsibility to clean up the site. It retained former San Francisco Mayor and past Assembly speaker Willie Brown this week as its Sacramento lobbyist in advance of Nov. 6 hearings on the site called by Berkeley Assemblymember Loni Hancock. 

BARRD members raised questions about the Campus Bay cleanup last week when San Francisco water board Executive Director Bruce Wolfe appeared at a meeting of Citizens for the Eastshore State Park. 

Wolfe told Sherry Padgett, a leading BARRD activist who works near the Campus Bay site, that he was surprised that Campus Bay and their cleanup contractor, Emeryville-based LFR Levine Fricke, had not implemented round-the-clock monitoring at the site. 

Wolfe promised Padgett and the others that he would reiterate a standing order for continuous monitoring of site emissions. 

BAARD also asked that the scope of monitoring be included to encompass more of the potentially dangerous volatile organic compounds on the site. 

One compound now under monitoring, perchlorethelene, may not be dangerous, while other compounds not being followed could be dangerous. 

Both sites contain large amount of iron pyrite ash and other metals, and the university site also has significant qualities of mercury.  

Earth-moving equipment at the Field Station has been moving already excavated soils off site, and BAARD activists have complained that dust has been blowing off the trucks. 

Work at the UC site is being conducted under the supervision of the campus Office of Environmental Health and Safety.›

Though soaring energy costs and overseas demand have driven up the prices of most building materials, the developer of a proposed nine-story apartment complex on Center Street said plans are moving ahead, with construction to commence after the first of the year. 

“Obviously we’re going to have to update our costs with the latest steel and concrete prices,” said Darrel de Tienne, who is ramrodding the proposed Seagate high-rise at 2941-67 Center St. through the city’s planning process. 

Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board gave their final approval to the project Oct. 14, though de Tienne said, “It’s Berkeley, so someone’s going to appeal.” He said he expects the final go-ahead from the City Council might come at their Dec. 7 meeting. 

An analysis by the Berkeley Housing Department in April estimated that Seagate Properties, the Marin County firm developing the 149-apartment complex built atop a ground floor retail and theatrical space, would only yield a 1 percent annual return for Seagate. 

“That’s based on the city’s figures. We hope it’s more,” he said. “We’ll probably re-price it three or four times before construction begins.” 

The developer said one upside of the current economic picture is increasing rents in the San Francisco area and increases in sales prices for homes and condos. 

RealFacts, a Novato-based firm that tracks rent prices in Northern California, recently reported marginal Bay Area rent increases in the last quarter, the first upward movement in three-and-a-half years. 

“Obviously, it’s kind of a crap shoot, but we hold buildings as part of a portfolio rather than building on spec. It’s not a single, one-shot deal. You hold it long enough, and you’ll do fine,” de Tienne said.  

Rising construction materials prices have doubled construction cost estimates for the new Bay Bridge, and only continuing low interest rates have kept the overall construction pace up, according to some economists.  

Construction materials are energy-intensive, with large amounts of electricity and fossil fuels consumed in baking limestone into cement, drying lumber and refining ore and recycled metals. PVC pipes, wire coatings and other construction products are also created directly from fossil fuels. 

Increased transportation costs brought on by rising oil prices push costs still higher. Demand from China, in the midst of a national infrastructure rebuilding program, has sent prices higher still. 

By midyear, materials prices had outpaced, by nearly three times, the consumer price index, according to a study by Peter Morris of the Sacramento office of Davis Langdon Adamson, a leading national construction cost planning firm. 

“We’ve seen pretty sizable increases in the last year compared to the last few years, which were pretty flat,” said Ben Bartolotto, research director for the Burbank-based Construction Industry Research Board. 

“The prices for steel frame and reinforced concrete construction have gone up considerably,” he said, referring to the principal construction techniques for the multi-story mixed residential/commercial projects now rising or planned to rise in Berkeley. 

Chinese steel consumption has doubled over the past four years, and some economists say there is no immediate sign of letup, “UCLA reports that the bubble should burst once the Chinese building program peaks in a year or so,” de Tienne said. 

“In the past decade we saw very little escalation of construction material prices,” said Tim Rogan, chief economist for Engineering News Record, a leading industry publication based in New York. “Starting at the end of last year, we’ve seen historic price increases for steel that kicked the ball off, and now we have across the board increases for most construction materials and they seem to be holding.” 

Average prices for structural steel have risen 23 percent in the past year, one of the largest increases since the inflationary years of the 1970s, he said. 

“Rebar, iron bars used in reinforced concrete construction, are up 43 percent from a year ago, and steel plate is up 42 percent,” Rogan said. “Lumber is up 15 percent from a year ago. In June, plywood was up 48 percent from a year earlier, though it’s only up one percent more now.” 

The biggest increases in steel prices were in the first quarter, most of the others followed in the second quarter, and now cement is catching up, Rogan said. 

Wallboard and particle board are up 10 percent, and pipe prices have increased from 8 percent to 22 percent, depending on the material. 

Rogan said recent reports, not yet figured into his calculations, cite significant increases in concrete costs. “We have field reports of 15 percent,” he said. 

Evan McDonald, of Berkeley developer Hudson McDonald, said the increases haven’t had an impact on their firm, which had locked in prices on its recently completed projects three years ago, before the prices increased. 

Panoramic Interests, Berkeley’s other major developer, also has no major projects now in the construction pipeline. 

The Federal Reserve Bank, under the tenure of Director Allan Greenspan, has been keeping interest rates down to spur an otherwise ailing economy. That has caused the dollar to lose value against other currencies, including the Canadian dollar which has surged to record highs, further increasing prices for lumber products, a major export of that nation. 

Construction industry officials are pushing for the Bush Administration to drop tariffs against Mexican concrete, which sells for less than the domestic product.›

One of the most visible political signs in El Cerrito this year is a placard asking voters to support Measure K. The measure, placed on the ballot by the city, would approve an 8 percent utility tax that the city already charges, which provides $2.2 million, about 12 percent, of the city’s general fund. 

A number of residents say they will not vote for the tax. They have formed a group, El Cerritans for Tax Justice, and claim the tax is poorly drafted and allows the city to escape proper fiscal mismanagement. 

“They’ve panicked the gullible,” said Peter Loubal, an El Cerrito resident, an opponent of the measure. “Everyone is in a tizzy.” 

The City Council passed the tax in 1991. At the time, they believed that general taxes, or taxes that don’t fund a particular program, did not need voter approval. In 2001, the California Supreme Court ruled to the contrary, which means El Cerrito must now put the utility tax to a vote. 

According to city officials, if voters do not approve the measure, city services that depend on the money, such the police and fire departments, senior programs and the swim center, will be scaled back.  

Opponents counter that the city should suspend the tax and draft another version with more citizen oversight before the tax is brought before the voters. In the meantime, they want the city to use some of its reserve funds to keep existing programs alive. 

A delay would also force the city to review its fiscal management, said Brit Johnson, a member of the group and husband of Gina Brusatori, a city council member. The tax justice coalition, he said, is confident the city could reduce the tax rate “substantially below 8 percent” if there were better management of the city budget. 

They point to a recent 19 percent raise for Scott Hanin, the city manager, and a near doubling of city attorney fees since fiscal year 2001-2002 as proof that the city is in good financial shape and does not need the full tax. 

The group wants the inclusion of a sunset clause, which would require renewal of the tax at a specified time, and protection against increases when energy costs rise. They are also irked that the measure would allow the city to charge for water services for the first time and possibly levy the tax against people who use solar power. 

“This was snuck in,” said Councilmember Brusatori about the ability of the city to target solar power. “And it’s completely wrong.” 

City Manager Hanin said the group’s proposal to rely on reserve funds for city services is dangerous. “There is a limit to how much you can use one-time money to fund on-going operations,” he said. 

Hanin said that El Cerrito’s reserve fund contains about $2.4 million. 

He added, “If we lost, there is no guarantee we would win next time.” 

Hanin also said the reserve funds might be sucked up by residents filing for tax refunds. Residents would be eligible to regain what they paid for the utility tax during the previous two years if the measure fails, as a result of the 2001 ruling. 

Several residents have already won refunds in small claims court, said Hanin. 

When questioned about why the city failed to put the tax up for a vote before, all he would say is, “Councils have known about this in the past.” 

The old ordinance also included a provision to tax solar power, he said, but the city never enforced it. 

“If you generate [energy] on site, you would have to self report,” Hanin said about the proposal in the new ordinance. “But historically the city has not gone after self reporters.” 

›

PROP 62 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Louisiana is the only other state in the nation that has dared to implement a Prop 62-style “run-off primary” system. What effect has this system had on Louisiana politics? 

Louisiana’s voter turnout is now the worst in the nation, with only 33 percent of registered voters bothering to participate. Fraud and abuse of the electoral system has increased. Radical candidates like Ku Klux Klanner David Duke have been able to seriously compete the governorship. 

In California, Prop 62 means that most voters in today’s gerrymandered districts will get to chose only between Democrat A and Democrat B, or Republican A and Republican B, for their representative to the state legislature. Political philosophies, principles, and policies will no longer be at issue because only candidates with the biggest bankrolls will have a chance to be heard. 

Yes, our current legislature is a mess, but Prop 62 will only make it worse. The answer to good governance in California is public financing of elections to get the corporate money out of politics, and electoral reforms like proportional representation and instant run-off voting to allow a broad spectrum of political opinion into our governing process. It is definitely not a system that severely reduces voter choice to a corporate-approved tweedledum and tweedledee. 

Prop 62, financed by large corporations, will take an already moribund system and set it in concrete.  

Don’t let them do it. Vote No on 62. 

John Morton 

Oakland 

• 

MENARD SUPPORTER 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I am so glad recent letters to the Planet give me an open door to point out why councilmember candidate Laura Menard is endorsed extensively by neighborhood leaders of South Berkeley. She not only listens but she gets things done. An example: for six years volunteered, taking phone calls from troubled parents as a parent advocate in Berkeley Schools. This is just a part of her extensive volunteer work in Berkeley schools which led to her being named Outstanding Woman of the Year in 2003 by the City of Berkeley. 

I was at the candidates’ forum, and what was left out of Marcy Greenhut’s letter is more interesting than the exaggerations described. I was also with Laura during the precinct walk when we stopped at Sally Hindman’s house and don’t agree with her assessment of what Laura “implied.”  

After the topic of the Arts District was discussed by Laura as holding promise for our Commercial District, Max followed. He talked about meeting with the members of the Ashby Arts District, and spoke disparagingly that they were all “white people who had better not try to shut out the Black Repertory Theater.” He asked how an Arts District was going to help “our community.” Either he didn’t know or declined to discuss the fact that various members of the Arts District have made repeated communications with the Black Repertory Theater, inviting them to meetings and even including their events on a calendar postcard. 

When I brought up the Drop-In Center, I recounted testimony from neighboring businesses and residents: drug and alcohol use, drug dealing, fights, public urination etc. Conditions so bad and constant that one neighbor put her house up for sale, several businesses are thinking of leaving, including one in our neighborhood for 22 years. This was behavior was confirmed by two African American women who nodded their head and verbally agreed, who live on Fairview Street.  

It’s clear that if we really want the best for the troubled drop-in clients that the peer counseling and community living room approach is not helping enough. The clients deserve to be cared for by an organization that will maintain individual case files! The city manager’s report prepared by the Housing Dept. (5/25/04) states this clearly. The Drop-In Center has been under performing for a long time. In fact, they are not yet following the conditions mandated in their use permit 10 years ago. 

Marcy didn’t mention that that after my disclosure of drop-in problems, Max clearly lost his temper.  

Worse yet, was the behavior of two of his supporters at the end of the forum when Laura and I left the meeting room but were still in the building. Loud shouting came from the meeting room. I later found out from Frank Davis Jr. president of the Black Property Owner’s Association, and a 65 yr. resident of South Berkeley, what it was about. He was yelled at: “Why are you letting those white people push you around?” (as if he would have to be bullied into supporting a white woman council candidate.) Frank replied, “No one is pushing me around.” Hearing this left me very troubled and hurt. One of the people who yelled had greeted me and given me a warm hug on my way out of the room. I still count him as someone I like and respect, but the need for him to denigrate the white woman candidate was more important I guess. 

Laura Menard has a diverse group of supporters who don’t care what color she is, they care most about the quality of her actions.  

Robin Wright 

• 

BASTA ON MEASURE M 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Measure M would increase the paramedic services tax by 59 percent, i.e. from .02626 cents per square foot to .041634 cents per square foot. The tax in 2005 for a 1900 square foot home would be $79.10. Taken alone this is not a whole lot. Except that with the other things on the ballot the result would be total property taxes of more than $10,500 per year for the average Berkeley home (assessed at current values), plus a utility tax of more than $300. 

Proponents say Measure M will cover a $78,000 deficit in the city’s paramedic fund. But if enacted the measure will raise $1,200,000, with no guarantee that the excess will be used for medical services. What is really happening here? 

BASTA!, BudgetWatch, and other neighborhood associations and citizens groups argue that like other City of Berkeley tax measures on the ballot, Measure M is a figleaf. It is offered to us by “leaders” who refuse to face the real reasons for the budget deficit, and only want to cover them up. These problems include (1) expensive, non-essential programs which the mayor and his friends refuse to re-examine, and (2) union contracts which give city workers far better salaries and benefits that the rest of us can ever hope for in the private sector.  

Facing these problems takes political courage, which the mayor and council majority do not have. So they present us with false choices. For them we must either vote for the taxes or sacrifice essential public services. The classic example is the council’s vote last week to shut down one of two fire truck companies unless Measure M is approved on Nov. 2. They know full well the terror that comes from such a threat: fires in multistory structures, or on steep slopes can only be fought from a truck equipped with ladders. With only one of these in Berkeley, response time will double. Indeed there will be no response in the event of two simultaneous alarms.  

The mayor and council played their card. The Vice Mayor (Linda Maio) suggested gently that if the firefighters (who had declined to support Measure M) would only be “team players,” the truck would be restored. In case there was any doubt about what being a “team player” means, it was resolved when the clerk’s office announced that other city unions had already donated $19,000 to support the mayor’s tax increase proposals. 

The firefighters have now fallen into line. But the city will be worse for it. The annual cost of the truck company (about $300,000) is only a bit more than the free YMCA memberships that the council gives the employees every year. Indeed, the $498,000 proposed by the council in Measure H to finance their own election campaigns would be enough to fund the truck company and the deficit in the paramedic fund.. Alternatively could not the city do without one or two of its 51 commissions, each with its own funding needs?  

Why didn’t the mayor, and the council majority consider these alternatives before it put higher taxes on the ballot? Why do they take our generosity for granted? Why do they feel that if a measure can be described as for youth, or paramedical services, or literacy programs, surely the Berkeley electorate will go along? 

Where in short are the leaders? Today’s Berkeley establishment was born in the idealism of the ‘60s, but has evolved into a classic inner city political machine. The primary beneficiaries of the status quo are the city’s labor unions and the developers. The unions want to keep their annual raises, their pensions and their health care, all guaranteed by the city. The developers need their permits, variances and financial breaks. It is no surprise that union and developer contributions are the driving force in the current campaign.  

Berkeley does not have a budget problem. It has a leadership problem.  

Dean Metzger, President, The Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association and 

David Wilson, Steering Committee of BASTA!  

• 

DROP-IN CENTER 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I was truly disappointed to read the article in the Berkeley Daily Planet about the efforts of some of my neighbors to shut down the Mental Health Drop-In Center on Adeline Street (Daily Planet, Oct. 15-18).  

I have lived in District 3 (South Berkeley) for 16 years, and lived down the street from the Drop-In Center from 1988 until 2000. Now I own a home in the same area. I am proud to have the Drop-In Center in my neighborhood, and proud of South Berkeley for providing this service to some of our neediest residents. Berkeley has the reputation of being inclusive, socio-economically and ethnically diverse, and supportive of all its residents. That is the Berkeley I want to live in. 

The Drop-In Center is a productive and valuable resource. They provide necessary services to some of the most vulnerable people in Berkeley. According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services: 95 percent of the center’s clients are homeless or at risk of becoming so, 98 percent are very low income, the majority are African American men, and 30 percent are veterans. These people are part of our community.  

Laura Menard, a candidate for District 3 of the City Council, would like to shut them out of our community. She is running on a platform to close down the Drop-In Center. Menard argues that this action will improve the neighborhood. Improve it for whom? 

Menard and her supporters blame the Drop-In Center for the drug dealing and drug use in the neighborhood. This is disingenuous and unfair. These problems existed long before the center moved into the neighborhood and cannot be blamed on the center and its clients. Some neighbors of the center voice concern about its effects on their property values. Anyone who is selling a house in Berkeley these days is making such an immense profit that to complain about this supposed devaluation is not only petty and ridiculous, but is also unfair. They are valuing the profits from their investment over the quality of life for everyone in the community. Property values are important, but so are other values—such as compassion and support for those most marginalized in our community, and living in an inclusive and diverse neighborhood. 

Concerns about safety and criminal activity in the neighborhood are valid. I would like to see the neighbors and the city work together to address these issues. However, providing services to people who need them is part of the solution, not the problem. Taking away these services will not improve the quality of life for anyone in Berkeley—not for the people who will be denied mental health services and the support they need, and not for those of us who are fortunate and privileged enough to own a home in Berkeley.  

Annemarie Heineman 

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MEASURE BB 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

AC Transit is demanding another parcel tax with Measure BB, and again they’re threatening to cut service for seniors, students and the disabled. Didn’t they use this blackmail in 2002? 

Back then voters approved the bailout, but AC Transit raised fares, eliminated discounts and cut service anyway. Clearly the AC Transit board cares about seniors, students and the disabled only around election time. 

It’s the responsibility of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to distribute state and federal transit dollars. MTC should divert funds from frivolous AC Transit capital programs (like buying Van Hool buses they can’t afford to run) until the books are balanced or the economy improves. 

Vote NO on BB: We bailed out AC Transit once and got burned. Now let MTC clean up the mess. 

Robert D. Bildeau  

• 

SELAWSKY ABSENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Where have you been John Selawsky and Joaquin Rivera? 

How can you know what’s going on in the Berkeley schools if you never check in? John Selawsky is the School Board liaison for Washington Elementary. Yet we haven’t we seen him for almost two years. Even then he was reluctant to meet with us. We asked both John and Joaquin to assist us in figuring out ways to support schools like Washington, with disproportionately large numbers of low income and kids of color—kids that the district has historically not served well. Did they want to engage in this conversation...no! Did they even take to heart some of our proposal...no! Instead what they did when they returned to the board was...nothing! Washington brought over 100 of our community members three times to the board and they never responded to our issues. And since then they have not come back. After the layoffs were rescinded, we were overjoyed and would have welcomed visits from either John or Joaquin. They’ve had their chance to address real issues at our schools. It’s time for both of them to move on. Congressperson Barbara Lee endorses Karen Hemphill, Washington parent, and Kalima Rose and so do we. They know and care about what’s going on and are willing to work with our schools in good times and in bad. 

Linda Currie and Greg McCrea  

• 

MEASURE Q, FOR 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The irrational anger and outcry against measure Q illustrates well how prostitution exposes people’s unease about the incendiary combination of sex, women’s rights, money, and morality. Opponents of Q have distorted the content of the measure and then attacked its proponents for the distortions that the opponents themselves created. They attack something completely different from what those of us who support decriminalization want to accomplish, which is a safer and just society for women and children. Some examples of misinformation about Q: 

· Decriminalization (or legalization) of prostitution in Berkeley is accomplished by passage of measure Q. Measure Q changes no laws. It calls upon the state of California to repeal prostitution laws pertaining to adult, private, consensual sex. Until that happens, the BPD is asked to maintain their policy of “low priority” for prostitution arrests and to keep track of its law enforcement activities so that the city can generate relevant data about the sex industry in Berkeley. 

· Decriminalization will cause an increase of prostitution, pimping and the exploitation of women and children by “looking the other way.” In fact, prosecuting adults for non-violent, consensual sex uses tax money to enforce victimless crimes rather than using law enforcement to prosecute crimes that matter: the sexual abuse of children and violence against women. Moving toward decriminalization will focus tax money and police time on crimes of violence with real victims. Sex worker’s rights groups put this initiative on the ballot in order to begin a dialogue about what does and does not help them, in order to find an alternative model that can effectively reduce violence and other harm to prostitutes and to address more directly neighborhood quality of life concerns. The countries with the most restrictive prostitution laws have the most prostitution, the highest incidences of child prostitution, and acts of violence against prostitutes. 

· “Decriminalization promotes prostitution in all its forms” an unsubstantiated assertion made by anti-prostitution researcher, Melissa Farley and others. Measure Q does not seek to normalize, glamorize or celebrate prostitution but instead asks that more humane social policy be initiated with the collaboration of those most affected and harmed by prostitution: the prostitutes themselves. The best way to reduce prostitution is to empower sex workers and make it easier to leave such work without a criminal record. I have spoken all over the world to sex worker groups, World Health Organization doctors, government officials, and organizations trying to stop child prostitution and the exploitation of sex workers. Virtually all of them called for decriminalization as the most important first step in humanizing the lives of women and children and empowering those most victimized by prostitution.  

Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock, Starr King School for the Ministry (SKSM), Berkeley  

• 

MEASURE Q, AGAINST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Measure Q, on Berkeley’s November ballot will, if passed, instruct our police to make enforcement of prostitution laws their lowest priority. This would be a terrible mistake, both for the streetwalkers themselves and for our community.  

Our social service providers report that children as young as 12 are recruited into prostitution by pimps. Pimps introduce them to drugs, generally heroin. In most cases these youngsters have had a history of sexual abuse. Enforcement gets them into Child Protective Services and away from the violence, sexually transmitted disease, and addiction associated with pimps and street prostitution. Without enforcement, these abused and hopeless children are left to the mercy of the pimps and the streets. 

Our diversion courts in Alameda County offer adult multiple offenders a choice: enter a recovery program or go to jail. Most, of course, choose the program. Options Recovery Services, located in and supported in part by the City of Berkeley, report a 65 percent success rate in recovery, largely because the court order keeps people in the program. “Options” saves lives. Enforcement is required to get to the court order. Without enforcement adults are never offered the choice. “Options” may not be the answer for every person, but it is an effective alternative for many. 

Research into prostitution reveals that 90 percent of the women in this profession do not want to be. Most girls, women, and boys are forced into prostituting themselves either by pimps, to support their drug habit, or out of financial desperation.  

In Berkeley we have street prostitution. Children traveling to and from school in some of our South and West Berkeley neighborhoods regularly encounter open sex acts in cars and on porches; they find used condoms and hypodermic needles strewn through their neighborhoods. This is an unacceptable affront to these children and their families.  

Prostitution is a complicated and serious matter. There are no easy answers. Reducing enforcement of our prostitution laws would be tantamount to saying that as the tragedy of exploitation and violence unfolds in our neighborhoods we will look the other way. Measure Q is poorly thought out, poorly drafted, and can do a lot of harm to the very people it ostensibly seeks to help. I urge Berkeley voters to reject Measure Q 

Linda Maio  

I came home to find the hot water in the downstairs bathroom running furiously from the spigot. “I can’t turn it off,” explained Hans, the man who lives with us and helps take care of my husband. “It’s been running since this morning when I gave Ralph a shower.” 

I peered into the bathroom, which was flooded. There was no steam; the hot water heater had given up hours ago. 

“Che and Jenna came over and tried to help,” said Hans, referring to our next door neighbors. “But we don’t have the right tools. We’ve been waiting for you to get home.” 

Just then Andrea, our other roommate, came downstairs to commiserate. “Dion’s got one of those keys that’ll turn off the water from the street. Now that you’re here, we’ll go get it.” Dion is Andrea’s boyfriend. He lives several blocks away with his mother, Mrs. Overstreet. Andrea and Hans took the car and left. I went back into the bathroom and watched water run down the drain. When they returned, they used the key to stop the flow. We were no longer wasting a precious resource, but now we couldn’t wash dishes, clean clothes, or flush the toilets.  

Our neighbor Teddy wasn’t at home. He’s the person we call when we’ve got a problem. But this couldn’t wait. I looked up PLUMBER in the yellow pages. The first one I contacted said he wasn’t available until Tuesday. It was Friday afternoon. I called another listing. “Yes,” said the person who answered the phone, “I can have someone there in two hours.”  

“Nobody use the bathrooms,” I shouted. Andrea and Hans closed their bedroom doors. It was lockdown on Dover Street. 

The plumber arrived and said that it was probably a faulty gasket. “One hundred and eighty-five dollars,” he advised. “I won’t start until you agree to the price.” Even me, who knows virtually nothing about plumbing, knows that replacing a five cent gasket is easy stuff if you’ve got the proper tools. But I didn’t have a choice. There are four adults living in our house, plus a steady parade of friends and relatives trooping in and out. “Go for it,” I said.  

But when the plumber removed the faucet innards, he found that it wasn’t just a bad gasket. The entire stem was bent, and the connecting pipe was broken. “Eight hundred dollars,” he said. “I’ll cut a hole in the wall and replace everything. You’ll have to pay someone else to repair the wall.” 

“Hold on a minute,” I shouted. As much as I wanted our toilets to flush, I had to think twice about the price. It was money we didn’t have, and anyway, shouldn’t I get a second opinion? 

Andrea emerged from her room and said she had a friend who was a plumber. Maybe he could help us out. At nine that night he arrived to diagnose the situation. “I can do it,” he said, “and it won’t cost you eight hundred dollars. But I’m not available until Wednesday. Can you wait that long?” 

“I don’t think so,” I said. Hans opened the door to his room and nodded his head affirmatively. 

The next morning I looked out the window and saw that Teddy was at home. I rushed over and knocked on his door. “Teddy,” I said. “I’m a desperate woman.”  

“You’re always desperate,” he replied, “but let’s see what the problem is.” 

Teddy looked at the faucet. “Take that bad stem to Orchard Hardware on Ashby and ask for the exact same part and the piece that it seeds into. I’ll come back when you’ve got the merchandise.” 

I rushed to OSH. A little old man in a blue blazer helped me match up the parts. The total at the register came to $12.99. Teddy fixed the faucet immediately. Everyone came out of their rooms and gave him a hug. “Thank you, Teddy,” I said, “but why, why, why does stuff like this always happen to me?” 

“Shut up,” said Andrea, “and count your blessings. You wouldn’t have nothin’ to write about if it wasn’t for excitement like this. Think on the positive side. I bet you can get a column out of this if you try.” 

Once again, Andrea was right. ›

I am the current incumbent to the BART Board and am running on a limited campaign budget where my opponents are probably spending 20 to 30 times more than what I will spend. This will be my last term so I am using my reserve, which I had from former campaigns and am not seeking any contributions for this last campaign.  

Just last week my opponent sent out a defamatory and slanderous hit piece about me and it is too late to even file suit so I have written to you in hopes that my response will be published.  

I am the most qualified candidate to continue in this office for I am very familiar with actual operations of transit. I have influenced BART to proceed in a more rational and studied manner. I even pressed the board to consider a study whether BART would survive a major earthquake and had to introduce this motion three times before the board’s approval. After the study the board realized that it was imperative that we act on an Seismic Retrofit program immediately. If BART is damaged, it will cause serious affects to the overall transportation system of the Bay Area. The recent report made last week by UC’s transportation group indicated over three hours delay leading on and through the freeway maze would occur. The repair would take at least two years to repair if we do not complete the retrofit work before a major quake occurs.  

I also managed to influence several policies which will lead to a more reliable system. I have written much of this into LWV’s www.smartvoter.org if you are interested. You can also see the wonderful transit oriented people who have endorsed me as well. 

My extensive transit knowledge comes from travels to major cities in the US, Canada, Germany, Japan and other cities in Europe and South America studying various forms of transit, its capital cost, operation and maintenance cost. Kathy Neal’s fancy expensive colored mailing, without checking with anyone, accuses me of using excessive public funds in my travels. On the Port Commission she said she seldom took out of area trips. She implies that I am too focused on academic interests of transit that are not relevant to BART. This shows her naiveté about why I investigate other transit systems. I could elicit numerous transit innovations in Europe and Japan that could be applied to us to make BART more rider-friendly and cost-effective. 

Of the 12 overseas trips, excluding Canada, I paid for them myself except one trip to Germany where the Bavarian Transit Industries paid for the trip. About 1/4 of my trips were funded by AC Transit or BART because they were sponsored by American Public Transit Association where staff and board members attended as well.  

On almost all my trips, I stay with friends or at two-star hotels and motels or some private homes, most often at cost, and charge less per diem days to save public costs. BART staff and board know of my economiy travel because it is so unusual among board and staff that it’s conveyed through the grapevine. They usually stay at expensive conference hotels, which are generally four stars or fancier. Also, I limit my spending to 75 percent of what is allowed under BART rules in view of the deficit BART has experienced last three years. Staying at outlying places, I use the city’s transit system to get to/from the meeting and experience the quality of their system to compare to BART. 

›

Music is vitally important to the healthy development of young people. This artistic expression deserves encouragement and financial support from the community. Unfortunately, music programs in the Berkeley Unified School District suffer low priority in the budget. To stay alive, they require tremendous volunteer work and fundraising on the part of educators, students, and parents. Music is more than a pastime, pure entertainment; it increases a child’s IQ, it broadens his or her knowledge of the outside world, and it encourages positive personal development. These are all reasons why the Berkeley Unified School District music programs should not be thought of as a dessert, but as an essential part of the meal. 

Many people consider music to be an embellishment in our lives, but not a necessity. In school it is often an elective, and at home, music practice usually happens after the homework is finished. However, the Mozart Effect and many other studies show us that participating in music is very important to our intellectual development; it actually increases a person’s IQ. It helps, for example, to enhance a person’s spatial reasoning the ability to manipulate objects in three dimensional space. In both music and math, the same part of the brain is activated; a person’s math skills increase from studying and listening to music. Similarly, a person’s music skills increase from participating in math. According to records of national average SAT scores, students who participate in music rank much higher in verbal and math than students who do not. 

Participating in music also contributes to an individual’s knowledge of the world around him or her. It provokes thoughts of other cultures by transporting the musician and audience to the composer’s world as we imagine it, or to any other illusionary place. For example, if the King Middle School band stretches itself beyond familiar American Jazz and plays a piece of Jamaican reggae, every musician in that band gains greater understanding of the form of reggae and the country and culture of Jamaica. Further, it helps to increase understanding and comprehension of other times, places, people, and ideas. A Classical student learning a Baroque piece considers the fact that the composer wrote the piece for a harpsichord, not a piano, and the student is inspired to think about how developing technologies have modified instruments through the ages. In a nutshell, no matter what type of music one plays, he or she will always learn something new. Awareness of the heart of the music, its culture and period, as well as the personal mood that inspired its composer, connects the musician to the outside world as well as to his or her inside world. 

The school band is a wonderful place to help a young musician flourish. It provides a remarkably positive environment and activity for its members. While it keeps some kids off the street and out of trouble, it leads other kids towards a career or future in music. Most importantly, in band or orchestra, the music joins everyone together in the moment. We are all playing and participating in the same beat, the same rhythm, the same melody, and it is to me a superb phenomenon. When I play the piano and other music, I am completely present and happy. It helps calm me and it nourishes me. Altogether, participating in music is a great social, intellectual, and emotional experience. 

Because music is fundamental to the positive development of one’s physical, mental and emotional being, music programs and classes should be strongly encouraged, supported, and promoted by students, parents, staff, governmental figures, and tax-payers alike. One simple thing that could help promote music programs to be a part of daily curriculum and to make sure music is in the lives of young people would be to say yes to Measure B, (“Protecting Quality Education in Berkeley’s Public Schools”). Over the last few years, overwhelming budget cuts have been made, one of them being the governor’s cut of $2 billion in funds for Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade education (2004-2005 budget). With Measure B, the Berkeley Unified School District music programs will receive seven percent of the new funds. This money will serve the following purposes: Fourth graders will have the opportunity to begin an instrument, music classes will have fewer students (particularly, elementary classes), and there will be full week programs for middle and high-schoolers instead of only scattered days throughout the week. It is obvious that Measure B will give school music programs some of the funding we need, so the only answer is for it to pass. It is critically important that the Berkeley Unified School District fully encourage, support, promote and fund its school music programs and students.  

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Stick to the issues please. 

I write in response to the diversionary smear campaign attacks on Laura Menard (Daily Planet, Oct. 22-25). These hit pieces are used against anyone brave enough to oppose the oppressive city machine that serves only the politically connected, leaving the rest of us fighting over crumbs. Their typical vernacular of division is to use simplistic, reactionary labels to paint opponents with alleged transgressions since they can’t speak to the real issues. 

And what are those issues? Well in my opinion, it’s historic redlining, exploitation, and neglect of District 3 by the city’s power elite that has left our community devastated, overrun with crime, violence, and hopelessness. My commentary “Homebuyers‚ Assistance Program is Predatory” (Daily Planet, Feb. 10-12, 2004) explaining how the city pillaged hundreds of thousands of dollars from our neighborhoods through deceptive predatory lending scams in the name of affordable housing assistance is one such example of this dispossession. Those factors likely played more of a role in the exodus of Black home owning families than any so-called gentrification. Why only when Black people’s property values increase is it seen as a bad thing that must be stopped, while the rest of Berkeley is allowed to benefit? 

Spiraling taxes and fees are increasingly imposed to feed the insatiable hunger of a bloated, ineffective bureaucracy that treats us as second-class citizens. Our neighborhoods are filled with fixed income elderly, minority and lower income families that simply cannot afford to keep up with the city’s financial arms race who are being squeezed to the breaking point! The lack of investment in our community has deprived us of opportunity to build businesses. Our streets and sidewalks are deformed and covered with broken glass, so much so that they were cited as a major factor in the death of Fred Lupke. We pay in, but we don’t get back. Shamefully, our pitiful images are often used as window dressing to solicit support for regressive taxes that hurt us the most. 

These issues, and many others are what give Laura Menard strong support in her real grass roots campaign that has ignited like a wild fire. She is not beholden to city interests that have so devastated our neighborhoods. As the independent voice of our community, she supports families, education, safe neighborhoods, inclusiveness, affordable housing, and opportunity for all District 3 residents because she is one of us. We can finally have a seat at the table instead of begging for scraps as she will fight for our rightful piece of the pie. Laura is not a conservative, or a racist, and you can rest assured I will keep her (or who ever wins) true to our values. 

Downtown is clearly threatened by the momentum of Laura’s campaign greatly outspending her trying to install their own hand picked candidate. Why are they so interested in meddling in the affairs of District 3 after ignoring us for so long? Do they want to hear what citizens have to say, or do they want to keep us in our place? I do not seek to label Mr. Anderson, but it is legitimate to be suspicious of the fact that the power brokers that fostered these conditions are spending a small fortune trying to elect him. His position as a city insider raises questions about where his loyalties are. Will he stand with us against his city cohorts for the benefit of District 3, or sell us out for political expediency as others have done in the past? Will he demand and end to the political and financial redlining of our neighborhoods? Will he work to enact anti-predatory lending laws and end the city’s abusive practices in our district, or allow the city to continue denying us due process rights? Will he offer opportunity to our families and youth? Please don’t sell us short trying to manufacture conflict. 

Hopefully, it will based be on the issues that this election is won, or lost. I ask that the discussion return to the issues of District 3, which are too important to be brushed aside by petty personal attacks. 

On Nov. 2, Berkeley voters will be asked to support an array of ballot measures. As a Berkeley Fire Captain, I can tell you that Measure M should be strongly supported by this city and community. 

Measure M is asking the average homeowner for an additional $2.50 per month or eight cents per day to place a paramedic on every engine at every fire station. Berkeley is the only city in Alameda County that does not staff their fire companies with paramedics.  

By placing a paramedic on every fire engine, advanced medical care can be initiated before the ambulance arrives. Paramedics with the proper tools and equipment can start breathing treatments for the asthmatic or for the person in congestive heart failure. Paramedics can also administer emergency drugs to treat severe allergic reactions or persons suffering from diabetic reactions. 

Even though we have three transport ambulances, the call volume for emergency medical calls requires Berkeley to ask for ambulances to respond from Albany, Oakland or Piedmont. The response time of an ambulance from those outside agencies can be as long as twenty minutes. The solution to alleviate the long wait time is to provide your firefighters with the tools and equipment to start treating patients as soon as the fire engine arrives. 

Measure M will also keep your fire department fully funded and staffed. If Measure M passes, the City Council will restore funding for a fire truck slated for closure on July 1, 2005.  

If funding is not restored, Berkeley will lose 50 percent of its rescue capability and eliminate 10 percent of its on-duty firefighting personnel. Berkeley can’t afford to lose one of two fire trucks, because of all the rescue equipment it carries and the tasks the truck is responsible to complete. Truck companies have firefighters specially trained in heavy rescue, auto extrication, ventilation, forcible entry, and search and rescue. 

Berkeley firefighters are dialing 9-1-1 for your support. Please vote Yes on Measure M and provide the tools and equipment to the firefighters so they can keep Berkeley safe! 

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Shooting on Carleton Street 

A 56-year-old Berkeley man was shot in the stomach by a younger gunman Sunday night in the 1700 block of Carleton Street, according to Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Police had yet to talk to the victim, who was reported in serious condition Monday. 

Detectives are working the case intensively and have declined to release the victim’s name because they say it might hinder their investigation.  

Officers are seeking a light-skinned African-American male with a goatee in his early to mid-20’s who stands about 5’2”. He was wearing a blue knit cap, a blue puffy coat and blue jeans and may be driving a dark red or silver 1970 Dodge or Chrysler two-door sedan with a rally stripe. 

Strong-arm Snatcher 

A teenager forcibly robbed a 60-year-old Berkeley woman of her purse about 2 p.m. Friday near the corner of Franklin and Cedar streets, police said. 

Threatens Cane Attack 

A 57-year old woman called police about 1:20 a.m. Sunday to report that she’d been threatened by a cane-brandishing young fellow in the 1200 Block of Allston Way. 

He had vanished by the time officers arrived. 

Escalation Ends in Bust 

A dispute between two gentlemen in the 1200 block of Ashby Ave. escalated dangerously Sunday afternoon, and when the dust settled, one of the pair earned a ride to the hoosegow. 

During the dispute, a group of young people approached the disputants, one of them tossing a brick at one of the pair, a 61-year-old Berkeley man. 

Alarmed, the intended victim ducked inside his domicile and reemerged with a gun, prompting the others to take flight. 

At some point the gun went off, earning the adult a single count of willfully negligent discharge of a firearm, a crime carrying a penalty of up to a year in lockup. 

Police are still seeking the brick-thrower, described as a young male in his late teens to early 20s, said Officer Okies.›

When I asked Allen Shearer how he got the idea for an informal concert by local poets, composers, singers, and instrumentalists, I expected to hear the familiar lament: that composers of new music have few opportunities to have their works performed. 

But he surprised me: “Well, it sounded like great fun. Not to form an ‘organization’ or anything. Just to get together a group of composers and performers and a small audience. So I called Peter Josheff and broached the idea, and Peter said, ‘Let’s do it.’ That was in 2001. This year will be our fourth concert.” 

Allen Shearer, (as if you didn’t know) is the renowned baritone, composer, and teacher at UC, Hayward State, and the SF Conservatory. (Check the Internet for a list of his compositions and awards, too many to list here.) 

Peter Josheff has played clarinet with most of the new music ensembles in the Bay Area (helping to found some of them), often playing works dedicated to him by new composers. He is known for his solo improvisations as well as multi-media performances. His compositions have been performed in many concert series, including by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. He teaches at SF State University. 

Why choose the Berkeley Art Center as the venue for this kind of concert? “It was perfect,” Peter says. “An intimate place with an established, ongoing series of art events. We wanted to form a special kind of performing community. You know, most composers have an institutional base, usually academic. We wanted to form another kind of communit y—poets, composers, performers, audience—with a local feeling, a neighborhood feeling.” He laughs. “An institution of friendship.” 

“Intimate,” adds Allen, “and affordable. We get an unusual audience, mature, knowledgeable people who have a lot more savvy than money. You know, the East Bay, I think, does better than San Francisco in offering a variety of the kind of small concerts that we all love to do.” 

“After last year’s performance,” says Peter, “a player told me it had been her favorite performance of the whole year.”  

And how do they choose composers and performers? “Oh,” says Allen, “it just happens. You know, in the Bay Area, we have the pick of the best performers, and, like Peter, they sometimes compose as well, or know composers who want to write for them. For instance, Peter asked Loretta Notareschi if she’d like to write something for him to play, so she composed a piece called ‘Liquid Sings.’” 

“Don’t forget Mary Watkins,” says Peter. “She’s going to present scenes from her opera based on the life of Clara Barton. And, of course, Allen always throws in a dramatic surprise that isn’t newly composed. This year he’s going to sing an aria from a forgotten 19th century opera called The Vampire, by a German composer, Heinrich Marschner.” 

Anothe r special offering this year will be music by Peter to accompany a poem by Dorothy Cary (Peter’s mother), and spoken by poet Jaime Robles.  

Jaime’s name came up several times. Not only has she participated as poet and performer from the beginning, but, drawing on her background in book design, she produces a program that prints the words of all songs, “like a chapbook,” says Peter. “Worth the price of admission,” says Allen. (Jaime is also the publisher of Five Finger Review, available at Cody’s Books.) 

What are the difficulties of putting together a concert like this? Neither man had any complaints, only noting that “at the very end, it gets hectic because we do everything ourselves.”  

The audience for Harvest of Song is growing. “Last year we were really full, about 100 people, so this year we’ll do two performances.” Do they ever think of moving to a larger venue? In unison, they said, “Never.” Then Allen: “We don’t want to lose that intimate, neighborly sense of community. That’s the whole point!” 

Last question: In what way have these concerts changed you or changed the way you work? Interestingly, although I asked Allen and Peter separately, in different phone calls, they gave almost identical answers, that they approached composing for these concerts in a different “lighter, quicker, relaxed, personal way.” Peter cited a more simple, quiet, less virtuosic style the series has helped him develop, and Allen said he felt “liberated by the close relation to performers and audience. Free to try th ings I never would have dreamed of.”›t

The signage above the door at 2430 Bancroft Way boldly proclaims “Ten Thousand Minds on Fire,” an apt description of what University Press Books/Berkeley set out to do when it opened in November 1974. 

For the past 30 years this independent bookstore, wh ich is not affiliated with the University of California Press or the University, has offered rare, unique, and hard-to-find titles from university and academic presses from around the world. 

  “It will never work,” is what the friends, family and colleagues of Bill McClung said when he first expressed his idea of opening a bookstore devoted exclusively to the sale of books published by university presses; but McClung was determined to give it a try.  

  As an editor with the University of California Press, he traveled the country to acquire manuscripts and frequently visited local bookstores in hopes of finding the books he had published on the shelves. Not only were they not there, even in the campus stores, but neither were the books published at Harvard, Columbia, or Chicago—not to mention Alabama, Washington, or Northeastern.  

  He figured if all these scholarly books were amassed in one intellectual center, like Berkeley, they just might be able to sustain a bookstore. And this November, the store that ‘couldn’t work’ is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. This cultural institution carries more than 20,000 titles from over 100 American and Canadian university presses, plus Oxford and Cambridge. It has since added other presses such as Routledge, W.W.Norton, and Penguin, and sells books to individuals and libraries all over the world. 

Of course, like all independent bookstores, University Press Books faces its share of challenges. “We definitely struggle with competition from corporate on-line booksellers,” explained Karen McClung, co-founder and general partner. “But we sell a class and depth of books that other bookstores avoid and we have a knowledgeable, dedicated staff that offers a level of service that the chain stores simply cannot provide.”  

  To remain competitive, and to serve international as well as domestic customers, University Press Books has established a web site through which its entire inventory is available for purchase. It also has a book club that rewards frequent buyers, and has recently expanded to include selected current fiction and nonfiction, excellent children’s books, international newspapers and selected magazines and journals, and beautifully-designed blank journals, greeting cards and bookmarks. 

  The store itself is a wonderful refuge for the mind. Its two levels are filled with books from floor to ceiling, interspersed with Turkish and Persian rugs and masks from all over the world. There are various nooks and tables for perusing favorite finds, including a huge, welcoming table at the rear of the store, around which book parties and other events take place. In 1999, Wilt Idema, a visiting professor and columnist from Holland, described University Press Books as “not just a good academic bookstore, but a unique p lace with a praiseworthy intellectual climate. As long as it exists,” he continued, “Berkeley will easily stand…among the very best American universities.” 

  “Nobody got rich,” explained Grant Barnes, one of Bill’s colleagues at U.C. Press, now Director E meritus of Stanford University Press, and one of the bookstore’s early partners, “but the store has been self-sustaining. All concerned, which includes a significant number of Berkeley faculty and university administrators, had the great satisfaction of s eeing this community asset being born and staying alive for thirty years. And countless book buyers have found and purchased new and backlist books that were exactly what they needed.” 

  As part of its anniversary celebration, University Press Books/Berkeley will have an open house, a store-wide sale, and several raffles during the month of November. 

  “We would like to thank our customers, partners, and staff for making it possible for us to celebrate this anniversary,” said Karen McClung. “Without them we would never have made it; and with their continued support we look forward to many more years of scholarly bookselling.” 

University Press Books/Berkeley (www.universitypressbooks.com) is located at 2430 Bancroft Way, below Telegraph, and is open seve n days a week (Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun. noon-5 p.m.). (510) 548–0585. 

›y

TUESDAY, OCT. 26 

CHILDREN 

Family Night at the Library, 2090 Kittredge at 7 p.m. Halloween fun for ages 4-8. 981-6223. 

FILM 

JPEX: “Exploded States: War, Politics, and National Idenity” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Gary Snyder reads from his new collection of poems, “Danger on Peaks” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Tim Junkin, author of “Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

The Whole Note Poetry Series with John Gatten and John Rowe at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jazz House Jam hosted by Darrell Green and Geechy Taylor at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. www.thejazz- 

house.com 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Maeve Donnelly & Steve Baughman at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50- $17.50. 548-1761. www.freight- 

andsalvage.org 

Peter Barshay at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Palenque at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazz- 

school at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

A.G. Rizzoli’s “Transfigurations,” images of a fantastic world, opens at the GTU, Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. and runs through Feb. 2. 649-2541. www.gtu.edu/library 

FILM 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “The Sign of the Cross “ at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Photographer as Activist” with Sebastio Salgado, photographer and co-founder of Instituto Terra, and photo critic and curator Fred Ritchin at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10. 642-9988. http://journalism.berkeley.edu 

Ben Barber, Prof. of Civil Society at the Univ. of Maryland, examines how U.S. foreign policy has gone wrong in “Fear’s Empire” at 7:30 p.m. at at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Ray Raphael re-examines “Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Philip Gelb’s Natto Quartet at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Halloween Concert with organ works by Grieg and Bach at 12:15 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. www.firstchurchoakland.org 

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

Balkan Folkdance at 8 p.m., dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Peau de Chagrin at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Acoustic Strawbs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Earl Brothers, Royal Deuces, Houston Jones at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Rhiannon at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, OCT. 28 

FILM 

Cinema and Migration: “A Little Bit of Freedom” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Matrix 213: Some Forgotten Place Curator’s talk with Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Yuri Kochiyama reads from “Passing It On - A Memoir” of her years working for human rights at 7 p.m. at 30 Stephens Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by Ethnic Studies/Asian American Studies Library. 548-2350. 

Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi introduces his new novel “The Last Song of Dusk” at 7:30 p.m. at at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Armour Garland and Stephen Berry, followed by an open mic, at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985.  

Sheila Ellison, editor, reads from “If Women Ruled the World” at 7 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Panopticon” Dean Santomieri Multimedia Performance at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Mark Morris Dance Group at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Jackie Greene, folk and blues, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

Jazz Mine, string swing jazz quartet, at 6:30 p.m. at King Tsin Chinese Restaurant, 1699 Solano Ave. www.jazzmine.net 

Pebble Theory, Teri Faleschini, Scissors for Lefty at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

David McLean, flamenco guitarist, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Evander Music October Festival Karen Stackpole & Brady Sharp, Birgit Uhler & Gino Robair at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Proceeds benefit the relocation of The Jazz House. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Abdullah Ibrahim at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, OCT. 29 

THEATER 

Acme Players Ensemble, “Ghost in the Machine” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., call for Sun. times., through Nov. 7, at APE Space, 2525 Eighth St. Suggested donation $5-$20. 332-1931. 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “Present Laughter” by Noel Coward at 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman. Through Nov. 20. Tickets are $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Albany High School Theater Ensemble, “Pirandello’s Absolutely! (Perhaps)” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Nov. 7 at Albany High School Little Theater, 603 Key Route Blvd. Tickets are $5-$10 at the door. 558-2500, ext. 2579. 

“Aya de León is Running for President” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St. at 27th St., Oakland. Tickets are $10. 273-2473. www.ayadeleon.com 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Eurydice” at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. through Nov. 14. Tickets are $20-$55. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works, “A Step Away” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Through Nov. 21. Tickets are $8-$20. 558-1381. 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, “Noises Off” Fri., Sat., and selected Sun., through Nov. 20. Tickets are $10-$15. 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. 524-9132. www.ccct.org  

Un-Scripted Theater Company, “Fear,” a full-length improvised horror story, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. through Oct. 30. Tickets are $7-$12. 869-5384. www.un-scripted.com 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Native American Jewelers, Marian Denipah (Tewa) and Steve LaRance (Hopi) Reception at 6:30 p.m. at Gathering Tribes Gallery, 1573 Solano Ave. Exhibition runs through Dec. 31. 528-9038. 

FILM 

Behind the Seen: Walter Murch on Feature Film Editing at 9:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Da Shout at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Voices: Lesbian Choral Ensemble & East Bay Gay Men’s Chorus at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Sponsored by the Berkeley Arts Festival. Cost is $10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Mark Morris Dance Group at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

UC Choral Ensembles at 6 and 8 p.m. in 155 Dwinelle, UC Campus. Tickets are $5-$8. 642-3880. http://tickets.berkeley.edu  

Distant Oaks, traditional Gaelic and Celtic music at 8 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Tickets are $12-$15.  

Mandrake, Paul Panamarenko at the 1923 Teahouse at 8 p.m. Cost is $5. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Evander Music October Festival The Lost Trio plays Monk, John Schott’s Typical Orchestra, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Proceeds benefit the relocation of The Jazz House. www.thejazz 

house.com 

The People, Orixa at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Baguette Quartette at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Psychokenetics, Baby Jaymes at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Lemon Lime Lights, Demented Big Band, Militant Children’s Hour at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

“13 Dreams of a Dying Clairvoyant” dance, music and video presentation by Double Vision at 9 p.m. at The Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $6-$10 at the door. www.oaklandmetro.org  

Mandrake Three with Paul Panamarenko at 8 p.m. at the 1923 Teahouse. Donation of $5-$10, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

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

Danny Caron, Ruth Davies and Pamela Rose at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Matt Bauer & Sonya Greta at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Dick Hindman Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Vinyl at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $8. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Dynamic at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Halloween Show with The Tad Poles, Unit Breed, The Abi Yo Yos at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, OCT. 30 

CHILDREN  

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

FILM 

Fiercely Primitive; Guy Maddin “The Naked Jungle” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Dan Plonse’s Daniel Popsicle big band with John Schott, Randy Porter, John Shiurba, Tom Yoder, Sarah Willner, Scott Rosenberg, and Mark Culbertson among others at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Musica Pacifica performs rarely heard baroque concertos and chamber works, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Mark Morris Dance Group at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Traditional and Medieval Music of Scandinavia, performed by Erik Ask-Upmark and Anna Rynemors with Tim Rayborn and Shira Kammen at 7:30 p.m. at Parish Hall, St. Alban’s Church, 1501 Washington St., Albany. Tickets are $12-$15.  

“Imagining a Map of the World” solo dance performance by Evangel King at 11 a.m. at 1374 Francisco St. Donation $7-$15. 841-9441. 

Harvest of Song with music by Bay Area composers at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $9-$10. 644-6893. 

Halloween Cajun Dance with Aux Cajunals and guest Keith Terry at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Danny Santos & The Savoys at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

O-Maya at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Brindl, singer-songwriter, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Kenny White at 8 p.m. at the 1923 Teahouse. Tickets are $5-$10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Wake the Dead at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Flametal, a mixture of flamenco and metal, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$17. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Fred, Thriving Ivory, Falling Stars at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Plays Monk at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Evander Music October Festival Alex Candelaria Trio and Wind Trio of Alphaville at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Proceeds benefit the relocation of The Jazz House. www.thejazz- 

house.com 

The Squirrelly String Band, The Stairwell Sisters at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Mundell Lowe & Friends at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Research and Development at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, OCT. 31 

FILM 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Grouping” paintings by Collective 9. Reception from 4 to 7 p.m. at Nexus Gallery, 2707 Eighth St. Exhibition runs to Nov. 6. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. 415-454-2823. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

California Revels Autumn Showcase featuring storyteller and musician Kevin Carr, at 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $5-$10. 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

Harvest of Song with music by Bay Area composers at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $9-$10. 644-6893. 

Meeting House Strings performs Beethoven, Taneiev at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Meeting, 2151 Vine Street. Fundraiser for Friends Committee on Legislation. Tickets $5. 

Americana Unplugged: the Saddle Cats at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Susan Muscarella Trio at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Farewell Party Fundraiser for the Jazz House with a selection of short solo piano sets by Matthew Goodheart at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Proceeds benefit the relocation of the Jazz House. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Phil Ochs Night, celebrating an American songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Blakes Unplugged at 6 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $6. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

MONDAY, NOV. 1 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Last Word Poetry Series with Debra Grace Khattab and Vince Storti at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Poetry Express, featuring Nina Corwin from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave.  

MUSIC 

St. Mark’s Choir “Requiem” by Gabriel Faure at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Donations accepted. 854-0888. www.stmarksberkeley.org 

Dave Eshleman’s Jazz Garden Big Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$15. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

\

I first saw the bats, as it happens, a few Halloweens ago. I had stopped by the main Berkeley library on the way from work, before heading home to hand out candy to the little extortionists, and it was dusk as I was leaving the building. Something caught my eye: what appeared to be birds—starlings? blackbirds?—flying away from the business school across the street. Birds with an odd flickering flight. 

No, not birds: bats. And they were emerging from the Spanish tiles of the building’s roof. 

We’re not talking hordes of bats, a few dozen at most. It wasn’t Carlsbad Caverns. It wasn’t even the Congress Street Bridge in Austin, Texas, where folks gather on summer evenings to watch bats fly out on their nightly hunt. But it was a stirring sight in its own way. 

Somewhat later I met bat rehabilitator Pat Winters (and some of her charges, which were really engaging creatures) at an Audubon Society presentation, and asked her about the downtown bat flight. She knew them, of course. They were Mexican free-tailed bats, a species that finds Spanish-tile roofs congenial roosting places. She also knew of another roost on the UC campus. 

Mexican free-tails, also known as Brazilian free-tails or guano bats, may be the most abundant bats in North America. “Free-tailed” refers to an anatomical peculiarity. Most bats have a skin membrane, the uropatagium, which stretches between their hind legs from ankle to ankle and completely encloses their tails. Free-tails have a reduced uropatagium that leaves the tip of the tail, well, free. Since bats use the membrane as a scoop to catch insects in flight, this would seem to put free-tails at a competitive disadvantage. But you wouldn’t know it from their numbers. 

California lacks the enormous aggregations of bats that occur in the Southwest. In summer, female free-tailed bats gather in nursery caves to give birth and rear their single pups. Bracken Cave in Central Texas harbors an estimated 20 million bats, the largest colony of any mammalian species. Other caves in the region have bats in the lower millions. Within the cave, bat pups group together in creches at densities up to 500 per square foot. Somehow returning females are able to locate their own youngsters by voice and smell, although some freeloading inevitably occurs. 

On the West Coast, free-tails use buildings in lieu of caves. They also differ from their Texan kin in being non-migratory. Free-tails are found year-round in California and Oregon, going torpid when the weather turns cold and bugs are scarce. 

A free-tailed bat nursery cave is no place for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. Here’s how Roger Barbour and Wayne Davis described the setting in Bats of America: “The bats are always alert, and the disturbance of the intruder’s lights causes them to peel off from the great clusters….The floor and the walls of the cave soon seem to be crawling with them, and they collide with the observer in ever increasing numbers. They cling to him and crawl upward to reach a high point from which to launch into flight…one gets the feeling that he may be smothered by the animals as he sinks deeper into the loose and sometimes soggy guano which covers the cave floor.” All this plus stifling heat, powerful ammonia fumes, and biting insects.  

You have to appreciate, then, the dedication of the bat wranglers who took part in one of the loonier episodes of World War II: Project X-Ray.  

It all started when Dr. Lytle Adams, an oral surgeon from Irwin, Pennsylvania, had a sort of epiphany while driving back from Carlsbad after Pearl Harbor. Adams was musing about what bats could possibly be good for when it struck him that their tendency to fly into buildings could be exploited for strategic purposes. As he put it in a letter to FDR: “This lowly creature, the bat, is capable of carryng in flight a sufficient quantity of material to ignite a fire.” 

Bats could be refrigerated to induce hibernation, rigged with little incendiary devices and parachutes, and airdropped over Japanese cities. “The effect of the destruction from such a mysterious source,” Adams wrote, “would be a shock to the morale of the Japanese people as no amount of bombing could accomplish.” 

People in Washington took this seriously. As Jack Couffer recounted in his 1992 memoir, The Bat Bomb, X-Ray was funded to the tune of a couple million dollars. A Harvard chiropterist was assigned to the project, and its staff came to include actor Tim Holt (Treasure of the Sierra Madre), an alumnus of the Capone organization, and, as mascot, a young Bengal tiger. 

Bats were gathered from some of those Texas caves, and by the spring of 1943 the crew was ready for field tests, first over a dry lake in the Mojave, then at an Army airfield near Carlsbad Caverns. However, technical difficulties were encountered. Texas free-tailed bats, being migratory, did not take naturally to hibernation. When released from planes, some of the bats did not so much fly as plummet. During the Carlsbad test in June, napalm-bearing bats got away from their handlers and flew to the airfield’s control tower, then to nearby barracks. The base erupted in flames, as did a general’s automobile. 

The bat-bomb project survived this debacle, but not for long; the Chief of Naval Operations (the Army Air Force had lost interest, but the Navy had signed on) pulled the plug the following February. By then, plans for another kind of weapon were far advanced at Los Alamos.  

The next time you pass the library in an autumn twilight, though, think of this footnote to history, and look up.›

TUESDAY, OCT. 26 

Morning Bird Walk Meet at 7 a.m. at the first pullout on Wildcat Canyon Rd. off Grizzly Peak Blvd. for a look at fall migrants and residents. Call for directions or to reserve binoculars. 525-2233.  

Day of Dialogue: Candidates and Propositions From 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Vista College, 2075 Allston Way.  

Domestic Violence Awareness Self-Defense Workshop for men and women at 12:45 p.m. at Boalt Hall, Room 140, UC Campus. 409-0951. 

“Global Climate Change: What Are The Facts?” with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, in discussion with Orville Schell, Dean, School of Journalism at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10. 642-9988. http://journalism.berkeley.edu 

Raising the Bar An evening with Clif Bar’s Gary Erickson at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

An Evening with Senator Don Perata at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237.  

Berkeley PC Users Group Problem solving and beginners meeting at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St. All welcome, no charge. 527-2177.  

“Adolescent Sexual Values in Africa” with Datius Rweyemamu of the Univ. of Dar es Salaam at 4 p.m. at 652 Barrows Hall. 642-8338. www.ias.berkeley.edu/africa 

Family Story Time at the Kensington Branch Library, Tues. evenings at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Organic Produce at low prices sold at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon Sts from 3 to 7 p.m. 843-1307. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. 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. 

Acting and Storytelling Classes for Seniors offered by Stagebridge, at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Classes are held at 10 a.m. Tues.-Fri. For more information call 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27 

Town Hall Meeting for Overwhelmed Voters, part of a community-based collaborative art project by students in which state propostitions and local measures were researched and will be discussed at 7:30 p.m. at John Kennedy Univ., 2956 San Pablo Ave. 486-8118. 

“Farenheit 9/11” at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $3-$5, no one turned away. Sponsored by the International Council for Humanity. 419-1405.  

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around Preservation Park to see Victorian architecture. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of Preservation Park at 13th St. and MLK, Jr. Way. Tour lasts 90 minutes. For reservations call 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/wallkingtours 

District 6 Candidates Night with Betty Olds and Norine Smith. Opening comments by Mayor Tom Bates. 7:30 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. http://groups.yahoo.com/ 

group/northside/ 

Domestic Violence Awareness with Pablo Espinoza on violence in the LGBT community at 12:45 p.m. at Boalt Hall, Room 140, UC Campus. 409-0951. 

Community Workshop on Commercial Parking at the Planning Commission at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7429. 

“California State Propositions: A Progressive Approach” with Betty Brown, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

“The Campaign: Strategy, Tactics and Rhetoric” with Mary Hughes, George Lakoff and Sean Walsh at 3 p.m. at 109 Moses Hall, UC Campus. http://politics.berkeley.edu 

“History of Free Medical Care in Berkeley” with Roberta Hector Ghertner of the Berkeley Clinic Auxiliary at 1 p.m. at the Northbrea Community Church, 941 The Alameda. jerrykey@earthlink.net 

The Knitting Hour at 6 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, West Branch, 1125 University at San Pablo. All are welcome. 981-6270. 

“Central do Brasil” a film of an emotional journey to Brazil’s remote Northeast at 7 p.m. at the CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. In Portuguese with English subtitles. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

Tradition and Change: Conservative Judaism 101 An exploration of the history and legal decisions of the Conservative Movement in America and its counterpart, the Masorti Movement around the world, at 7:30 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237, ext. 110.  

“Living and Writing in an Uncertain Reality” with Israeli author Orly Castel-Bloom, at 7:30 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237, ext. 110. 

The East Bay Children’s Theater Auditions for adults for the production “There’s no Business Like Shoe Business” at 9:30 a.m. at Piedmont Community Church, 400 Highland Ave, Piedmont. 537-9957.  

Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College Open House from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2550 Shattuck Ave. Learn about how you can become a licensed acupuncturist. RSVP to 666-8248, ext. 106. 

Upfront Talk About Arrangements for Death and Dying with Betty Goren at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Prose Writers’ Workshop An ongoing group focused on issues of craft, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 524-3034. georgeporter@earthlink.net 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss “Rabbi Jesus” by Bruce Chilton at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble Coffee Shop in El Cerrito Plaza. 433-2911. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, OCT. 28 

Domestic Violence Awareness with Margot Mendelson on issues faced by battered immigrant women at 12:45 p.m. at Boalt Hall, Room 140, UC Campus. 409-0951. 

“Rosa Remembers Palestine” a documentary by Wendy Campbell at 8 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cost is sliding scale $10-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Pumpkin Carving by the Hearth Bring your own pumpkin for a pre-Halloween opportunity to cut up gourds. We’ll supply tools, designs and clean up afterwards. From 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $5 per family, $7 for non-residents. 525-2233. 

“High Blood Pressure: The Silent Disease that Steals your Health” at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Chinese Commu- 

nity Church, 2117 Acton St. Sponsored by Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. Free, but reservations suggested. 869-6737. 

Berkeley Marina Volunteer Training from 9 a.m. to noon, at the Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Ave. Also on Fridays. Topics cover each of the local estuarine environments. For information call 981-6720. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/marina/marinaexp/volunteer 

Dia de los Muertos Full Moon Procession On Solano Avenue at 6:30 p.m. beginning at the intersection of Solano and The Alameda and ends at 1561 Solano Ave. with Aztec music and dance performances and community alters to the dead. 526-7003. 

“Goodbye Germany? Migration, Culture and the Nation State” A conference on the cultural friction points that arise from transnational migration in postindustrial societies. Through Sat. at the Townsend Center, 220 Stephens Hall, UC Campus. 643-2004. http://german.berkeley.edu/mg/goodbyeger 

“Lost Boys of Sudan,” a screening of the documentary with director/producer Megan Mylan in person, at 7:30 p.m. at The College Preparatory School, Buttner Auditorium, 6100 Broadway. 658-5202. 

“The Empire Has No Clothes: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed” with Dr. Ivan Eland, Senior Fellow, at the Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 632-1366. www.independent.org 

El Cerrrito Library Book Club meets to discuss “Lying Awake” by Mark Salzman at 7 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. 526-7512. www.ccclib.org 

Berkeley Farmer’s Market Shattuck at Rose, from 3 to 7 p.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

FRIDAY, OCT. 29 

Free Compost for Berkeley Residents from 8:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Berkeley Marina Maintenance Yard, 201 University Ave., next to Adventure Playground. 644-6566.  

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Jane Micallef, City of Berkeley Housing Dept. on “The Homeless.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $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.  

“Haiti After the Coup: Repression and Resistance” with Kevin Pina, Port-au-Prince journalist, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar. Donation $5-$15 for the Haiti Information Project. 

Bats Eat Bugs Just in time for Halloween, join us to dispel myths and hear the truth about the wonderful world of bats, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Fright Night A haunted house, Halloween parade, costume and scream contest and goodies bags for youth age 4 to 12, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the MLK Jr. Youth Services Center, 1730 Oregon St. Cost for the haunted house is $3. 981-6670. 

Halloween Haunt from 5 to 9 p.m. at The Downtown Berkeley YMCA, 2001 Allston Way. Haunted House, Kindergym, swim in the bat cave and win prizes at the carnival. Tickets are $3-$6.  

Chamber of Horrors Costume Party from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Royal Cafe, 811 San Pablo Ave., Albany. Cost is $7-$10. Sponsored by the Albany Chamber of Commerce. 525-1771. www.albanychamber.org  

Montclair Village Halloween Parade for children to 12 years old and their parents. Meet at 3:30 p.m. in front of the steps of Montclair Park. 

“The Yoga of Sound” a weekend mantra chanting conference with Russill Paul at Naropa University, 2141 Broadway. To register call 925-935-1022. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

“Three Beats for Nothing” meets weekly to sing for fun and practice, mostly 16th century harmony. At 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center 655-8863, 843-7610. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 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. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

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, OCT. 30 

Explore Haunted Caves from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Crafts and refreshments at the end of the darkness. For ages 3 and up. Cost is $3-$5. 525-2233. 

Costume Making Crowns and Wands at the East By Depot for Creative Re-use at the Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK Jr. Way from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Halloween Bazaar with face painting, children’s games, rummage sale, food, crafts and more from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The New School of Berkeley, 1606 Bonita St. 548-9165. 

Women Shoot for Cancer Pool playing clinics, mini-tournaments and skill building games from noon to 4 p.m. at The Broken Rack in the Emeryville Pubic Market. Cost is $15 and all proceeds benefit the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic. 652-9808. 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Disaster First Aid from 9 a.m. to noon at 997 Cedar St. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. and the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Green Design for Everyday People Covering cleaners, paints, furninshings and energy efficient systems and products at 10 a.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10-$15, no one turned away. 548-2220. www.ecologycenter.org 

A Harvest for Peace Songs and activities for the whole family, celebrating peace, the gifts of the earth and our ancestors. At 10:30 a.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Please bring a fruit or vegetable of the season to place on a special harvest alter. Food will be donated to a local soup kitchen. Also, pictures or rememberances of your grandparents, favorite animals, or those you consider ancestors. 525-7082. 

Backpack Safety Evaluations for school-age children at 9:30 a.m. at Creating Harmony Institute, 828 San Pablo Ave., Albany. 526-1559. 

“Enabling Technology for the Aging Population: From the Lab to the Home” A day-long conference sponsored by the Center for Research and Education on the Aging at Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Campus. Free, but registration requested. 643-5049. http://crea.berkeley.edu 

Plants with Prominant Fall Blooms at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

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. 31 

Kids Garden Club Carve a pumpkin harvested from our garden from noon to 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. For ages 7-12. Cost is $3-$5, registration required. 525-2233. 

Colors of the Day We’ll look for black and orange in nature and learn about the role of warning colors in the lives of animals. From 10 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

It’s Halloween We’ll talk about the cultural history and significance of All-Hallow’s Eve as we walk on the Jewel Lake Trail. Meet at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Halloween Costume Parade on College Ave. Rockridge. Meet at the Rockridge BART at 11 a.m. Pre-teens, pets, parents & guardians come show off your costumes. Costume contests at 1 p.m. 428-2100. 

“Celebrating Ram Dass” A session on his teachings at 9:30 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302.  

Tibetan Buddhism with Robin Caton on “Meditation for Compassion and Insight” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, NOV.1 

“Bums’ Paradise,” award-winning documentary on the former encampment on the Albany Bulb, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin. All are welcome to this meeting of Friends of Five Creeks. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60 years and over meets Mondays at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Join at any time. 524-9122. 

“Ulysses” Discussion Book Group at 7 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. We will meet every Monday night and hopefully finish by Bloomsday 2005. 

Fitness for 55+ A total body workout including aerobics, stretching and strengthening at 1:15 p.m. every Monday at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5170. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7041. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. Harvey Turek, 981-5213. www.ci.erkeley.ca.us/commissions/mentalhealth 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Oct. 28, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., Nov. 1, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St., Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Mon., Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks 

Youth Commission meets Mon., Nov. 1, at 6:30 p.m., at 1730 Oregon St. Philip Harper-Cotton, 981-6670. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/youth

Neighbors of an alleged Oregon Street drug-dealing two-house complex say they never suspected any illegal activity at the residences, but call it a “problem property” that they now want the owner to sell. 

A UC Berkeley senior died at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center last Friday after losing consciousness in the house at the rear of the property at 2136 Oregon Street in South Berkeley. He’d been brought to the Alta Bates Emergency Room by two of his roommates. The Alameda County Coroner’s Office has not yet determined the cause of death of 22-year-old Patrick McCann, who was a university water polo player. 

A spokesperson for the Berkeley Police Department says that homicide or foul play are not currently suspected. 

Shortly afterward being notified of McCann’s death, investigating Berkeley police officers found what they called “evidence of marijuana cultivation” at McCann’s home. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Steve Rego said that a later raid under search warrant netted 14 pounds of marijuana, over 100 methadone pills packaged for sale, and materials consistent with a drug sale operation, including a Pay-Owe sheet listing transactions. In addition, police say they found throwing knives and four unregistered firearms—two semiautomatic pistols, a 12-gauge shotgun, and an assault rifle. The assault rifle is illegal under California law. 

Berkeley police later arrested four of McCann’s roommates on charges of cultivation and possession of marijuana for distribution. One of the roommates, Casey Lanzon, was also charged with illegal possession of the assault weapon.  

Three of the arrested students—22-year-old Matthew Morrison, 21-year-old Babatunde John Oyelowo, and 22-year-old Thatcher Hillegas—have been identified as UC Berkeley students. Hillegas is a former illustrator for The Daily Californian newspaper. The fourth arrestee, 23-year-old Casey Lanzon, is reported as having last attended UC Berkeley in 2003. Bail for all four students was set at $20,000 each, which their attorneys said was standard for the charges. The four students are due back in court in Oakland on Nov. 4. 

UC Berkeley spokesperson Marie Felde called the death and arrests “the most serious situation involving UC Berkeley students and drugs that anyone here can remember.” 

Hillegas is being represented by Berkeley attorney Elena Condes and Lanzon is being represented by Oakland attorney Dennis Roberts. Oyelowo’s case has been referred to the Alameda County Public Defenders office, while Morrison’s attorney was not identified in court records. 

Rego said police had not had any complaints about the address prior to the arrests.  

The two gray stucco houses are owned by Dr. Cynthia LeBlanc, Chief Academic Officer of the West Contra Costa Unified School District. The houses sit in a quiet, residential neighborhood within a half a block of both the LeConte Child Development Center and the Elmwood Care Center, a long-term adult care facility operated by Sutter Health. On Wednesday evening the houses looked little different from any of the other single-family dwellings on the block, quiet and undistinguished, except for an open front screen door on the front house, and a television crew standing across the street filming the property as background for a news reporter. 

One pre-school-age neighborhood child, after learning that the man talking to her mother was a newspaper reporter, said she knew exactly why he was on the street. “To talk about that house over there,” she said, pointing to the LeBlanc property. 

Five days earlier, neighbors stood outside and watched as police cordoned off the property and pulled out boxes of evidence. “It didn’t really bother us until they brought out the guns,” one neighbor said. “We’re really up in arms about that. There are small children living on both sides of the house. There are 10 families with children on this block. That’s got us really upset.” 

Neighbors, who asked not to be identified, said that the two houses on the property have had “problem tenants” for several years predating the tenancy of the arrested students, and the situation has prompted neighbors to make what they call “several complaints” to owner LeBlanc. “The only time we’ve had anyone good in there is when there were two graduate students who we recommended,” one neighbor said. “And they moved out because they had problems with the tenants in the back house.” The neighbors said that LeBlanc has been unresponsive to their concerns, and said they are now working with “city authorities” to try to get her to release the property. 

LeBlanc did not return telephone calls in regards to this article. 

Neighbors said that the present problems began in May when the two recommended graduate students moved out. They say that three of the arrested roommates then moved from the back house to the front house, and McCann and the other arrestee, which one was unclear, then moved into the back house. 

“There was apparently some connection between the two houses,” one neighbor said. 

One woman described the students as “really rough people” who generated complaints from other residents, another woman called them “normal complaints. Noisy parties and stuff. They were college students, and a lot of us used to be college students. We’re pretty tolerant. We understand.” 

But although residents say they were unaware of any illegal activities on the property, several of them said that in hindsight, they should have been. 

“Now I kick myself, because I didn’t pay attention that I never saw them walking down the street with a backpack or anything,” one woman said. “How could they be college students?” 

She said she also should have been suspicious that “they spent a lot of time at home during the day, watching television. Actually, it was pretty quiet over there. Maybe it was too quiet.”

One of Berkeley’s largest affordable housing developers has been stripped of its federal funding amid charges that it has engaged in nepotism and misallocated funds. 

A monitoring report, released Tuesday, by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has cited Jubilee Restoration Inc. for spending federal funds earmarked to hire three full-time workers for its Supportive Housing Program on ineligible projects and random office expenses including a luncheon.  

HUD also questioned if Jubilee’s family-run hierarchy constituted a conflict of interest. Until recently the organization was headed by Berkeley Pastor Gordon Choyce and his son, Gordon Choyce II, who served concurrently as executive director and deputy director and also maintained seats on the board of directors.  

At HUD’s demand, they and another family member recently resigned from the nine-member board. 

Jubilee, which did not return phone calls for this story, has until Nov. 19 to respond to the charges. 

If HUD is unsatisfied with Jubilee’s response, the nonprofit could pay a heavy price. HUD can require Jubilee to return the estimated $200,000 in funding for the program it has received over the past two years and could disqualify Jubilee from receiving future funding for all of its activities.  

Already the investigation has jeopardized Jubilee Village, a proposed 110-unit affordable housing development. City staff was set to recommend Tuesday that the City Council guarantee up to $3 million in HUD-sponsored loans for Jubilee to purchase the property at 2612 San Pablo Ave. for the project. However, according to a city manager’s report, HUD advised the city not to provide funds to Jubilee while the organization was under investigation. 

The City Council heeded the advisory and chose not to guarantee the loan, putting the project on hold. Berkeley has thus far contributed $75,000 towards the development, of which $28,960 has been spent. 

Jubilee, the city’s third largest affordable housing developer, got its start 12 years ago rehabilitating single family homes along San Pablo Avenue in West Berkeley, where its founder Gordon Choyce is pastor of the Missionary Church of God in Christ.  

The organization now concentrates on social service work and new infill developments including the 71-unit Acton Courtyard Apartments, built in partnership with for-profit developer Panoramic Interests.  

In an Oct. 5 letter to Jubilee, HUD wrote that it initiated a conflict of interest review based on its observation that, contrary to HUD rules, Jubilee’s executive director and deputy director are father and son and that they both serve on the board of directors.  

HUD rules prohibit an employee from directly supervising a family member, and prohibit anyone from sitting on a board of directors of an organization where a family member is employed. 

Jubilee is requesting a waiver from HUD to allow Gordon Choyce II to remain as deputy director under his father, who does not receive an income as executive director. 

In addition to reshuffling its board of directors, Jubilee will have to answer to additional conflict of interest questions that emerged from the investigation. HUD found that the organization disbursed $1,400 from the Youth Checking Account to Kara Choyce-Palmer, another family member employed by the organization. HUD also questioned the relationship between Charles Lightfoot, the board’s treasurer, and Charlton Lightfoot, the adult program coordinator, who was paid $4,782 from May 2003 through January 2004. 

In monitoring Jubilee’s expenditures, HUD also uncovered evidence that the organization misallocated funds for the HUD-subsidized Supportive Housing Program (SHP). 

The HUD grant earmarked $100,000 annually—about one-third of Jubilee’s total budget—specifically to pay for three full-time homeless counselors beginning in 2002. However, HUD found no evidence that any of the positions were filled until October 2003.  

At the same time, HUD found unspecified transfers were withdrawn from the SHP and Community Development Block Grant checking accounts without adequate explanation. Both accounts were found to have paid for ineligible costs including insufficient fee charges, overdraft charges and the luncheon. 

HUD also found evidence that Jubilee made duplicate salary payments. The organization made regular withdrawals to the payroll account, HUD concluded, but at the same time individual checks were written to the same employees in the same month. HUD demanded that the duplicate payments be returned unless Jubilee could substantiate them. 

Jubilee isn’t the first Berkeley non-profit to potentially suffer from a HUD monitoring. Last year, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency was found to owe HUD over $600,000 in ineligible requests for payment and the Jobs Consortium for the Homeless is still fighting for survival after HUD ordered it to pay back over $1 million after determining that the organization was not eligible for a federal matching grant that it had previously received. 

›

In City Council District 5, running for the seat being vacated by Councilmember Miriam Hawley are Jesse Townley, a civic-minded musician who offers youth and a fresh perspective, Laurie Capitelli, a real estate broker, connected to the city’s establishment who hasn’t sought to make waves, and community activist Barbara Gilbert, who thinks that the establishment will tax and spend the city into the ground. 

Starting at the outer edge of the gourmet ghetto and rising into the North Berkeley hills, District 5 lacks the crime of the South Berkeley flatlands, the controversial new developments in and around downtown or the grinding traffic of the Claremont/Emwood District. 

“It’s a blessed part of the city,” said Zelda Bronstein, chair of the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association. 

The district, nevertheless, does have some unique concerns. The sewer and storm water systems occasionally fail, a major traffic corridor, Marin Avenue, might be reduced from four to two lanes under a new proposal, and hundreds of residents are affected by a controversial creek law. 

With the candidates debating taxes, development and the city’s budget deficit, the contest in District 5 has taken on the feel of a race for mayor. 

So has the fundraising. As of Oct. 16, the candidates have together raised more than $52,000, more than all the other city council candidates combined. 

Leading the pack with $27,500 is Capitelli, who has the backing of incumbent Hawley, Mayor Tom Bates, councilmembers Linda Maio and Gordon Wozniak and the moderate Berkeley Democratic Club, which has endorsed the winner of every District 5 race since district lines were drawn in 1986. 

With strong support from the city’s political establishment Capitelli, a partner in Red Oak Realty and member of the Zoning Adjustment Board, has assumed the aura the leading candidate. He touts his experience in business and city politics and defends the current council and himself against charges that he would be a rubber stamp for the mayor. 

“Laurie will go along with Bates’ program,” Gilbert insisted. 

“That’s simply not true,” replied Capitelli, who differs with the mayor on some of the proposed tax measures. 

Previously an aide to former mayor Shirley Dean, Gilbert has dedicated her candidancy to what she calls her fight against the “Taxation Development Complex.” 

She claims to draw much of her support from middle-class homeowners and members of neighborhood organizations who share her anti-tax and anti-smart growth views. Gilbert, though, has failed to garner the backing of her former boss, Shirley Dean, who has refused to make a public endorsement in the district where she outpolled Mayor Bates in 2002. 

Townley, a Green Party member and the secretary of the punk rock venue 924 Gilman St. Project, has cast himself as a “pragmatic progressive” in a district that has never sent a progressive to the council. 

“I’m not an ideologue,” he said. “I’m open to logic and facts.”  

The candidates differ on the hot-button issue of amending a creek law that prevents new construction of roofed buildings within 30-feet of the centerline of a creek or underground culvert. Gilbert, who has a creek that runs through her property, wants the restrictions suspended and the Planning Commission to take the lead in proposing changes to the ordinance.  

Capitelli favors retaining restrictions for the time being and supports a hybrid taskforce of stakeholders and members of different city commissions. Townley also favors retaining restrictions and supports the formation of an independent taskforce to consider creek issues. 

Townley stands alone in his support for Berkeley to follow an Albany plan to turn Marin Avenue from four lanes of traffic to two lanes with a center turning lane and bicycle lanes. Gilbert outright opposes the idea, and Capitelli said he was concerned the lane reduction would exacerbate traffic during rush hour. 

When it comes to the four city tax measures on the November ballot, Capitelli has seized the middle ground. He favors the property tax hike for libraries and a utility tax hike to replenish the general fund, but opposes taxes that are supposed to go for youth programs and paramedic services. Townley supports all of the taxes and Gilbert supports none of them. 

“People feel they are the host and the city is a parasite sucking away their savings,” she said. 

While Gilbert thinks the tax hikes are sending the city “off a cliff,” Capitelli and Townley hold that residents are willing to pay for services. 

“That’s why we have such an incredible library system and a good school system,” said Townley. 

All three candidates say they will insist on less generous union contracts when the deals expire and push for the unions to contribute to their retirement funds. They also all agree that the city needs to wring more money out of UC Berkeley, which currently doesn’t pay city taxes or assessments, to cover the city services the university uses. 

On the issue of development, Capitelli, who chaired Mayor Bates’ development task force, supports the current city policy of concentrating housing and commercial developments on major transit corridors and said the taskforce’s recommendations would address concerns that neighbors are excluded from providing input on proposed projects.  

Gilbert opposes many of the bigger developments Capitelli approved on the ZAB in favor of smaller bungalow-style dwellings. She wants to reconsider a city law that requires developers of larger projects to include affordable housing. Townley, a renter, wants to see more affordable housing built along transit corridors as long as it doesn’t tower over adjoining neighborhoods. 

All of the candidates agree that residents of District 5 don’t frequent downtown Berkeley, but have different remedies for the business district that has seen several stores close in recent years. Gilbert has called for satellite parking lots and supports attracting chain stores, while Townley and Capitelli both say they would emphasize locally owned businesses. 

Capitelli, who if elected would be the only councilmember to have experience running a business, said one of his top goals would be improving the city’s business climate. 

“There is still a suspicion in Berkeley that business is bad and God forbid a business make a profit,” he said. 

One part of town where both Capitelli and Gilbert are interested in increasing business tax revenue is West Berkeley, where zoning rules currently favor manufacturing interests and craftsman. They would favor reopening the West Berkeley Plan, while Townley supports the current zoning restrictions. 

›

Following complaints by neighbors of a controversial South Richmond development site, the top official of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Quality Control Board promised Thursday to order round-the-clock monitoring of potentially toxic dust and compounds escaping from the Campus Bay project.  

Bruce Wolfe, executive director of the regional control board, was grilled during his appearance at the board meeting of Citizens for the Eastshore State Park (CESP). 

An organization largely composed of members of regional environmental groups, CESP members have voiced concerns about developments on the East Bay shoreline, in particular the Point Molate casino proposal and the Campus Bay project. 

But the greatest concerns were raised by two members of Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development (BAARD)—Sherry Padgett, who works at a firm near the Campus Bay site and UC Environmental Science Professor Claudia Carr, who lives nearby—and their attorney, Peter Weiner. 

“It’s a perfect storm of a site,” Weiner said. “They are creating an open sore for the community.” 

Immediate worries focused on the current dredging of Stege Marsh along the waterfront edge of the site where the developer is proposing to build 1,330 units of housing over the buried hazardous wastes of the former Stauffer/Zeneca chemical manufacturing complex, which produced a variety of noxious organic and inorganic wastes. 

Muck from marshlands at the west of the site has been polluted by iron pyrite cinders created in the manufacture of sulfuric acid by Stauffer Chemicals, which operated plants on the sites for nearly a century. 

The property was later sold to AstraZeneca, a British firm which retained responsibility for cleanup even after the site was sold to a developer.  

The wastes are being dumped atop previously buried hazardous waste and soil which has been partially uncapped to make room for the 25,000 or so cubic yards being excavated from the marshland. 

Also buried beneath the cap are wastes from UC Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station, a 160-acre parcel adjacent to the site which also housed some of the Stauffer/Zeneca buildings and the California Cap Co., which manufactured blasting caps and polluted the site with a toxic mercury compound. 

The sites houses a witch’s brew of hazardous materials ranging from heavy metals to organic pesticides and the especially hazardous VOCs, short for volatile organic compounds that are carried by the air. 

BARRD is particularly worried that the cap now in place on the Campus Bay site isn’t designed to prevent the escape of VOCs, including the perchlorethylenes and chlorobenzenes found on the site. 

An additional concern is the limited monitoring being conducted of dust and organic compounds leaving the site in an area where wind gusts are frequently recorded in the 40 mile per hour range. 

“Dust is coming our way. We are really concerned that we will be inundated without proper testing,” Padgett said. “The wind comes right over the property to our business.” 

Padgett and Carr both recalled heavy dust levels generated by the original site cleanup work two years ago. “Houses and cars in Marina Bay were covered with dust then,” Carr said. 

No monitoring has been conducted when dredging and other work isn’t underway, which came as a surprise to Wolfe, who said he had presumed that monitoring was being conducted around the clock. 

“We’re going to be reiterating our requirement to monitor the site 24/7,” Wolfe said. 

Weiner said he had been amazed to learn, during a Wednesday night meeting with the cleanup firm handling the site, that acceptable exposure levels used in the monitoring were based on an eight-hour-per-day, six-month basis in an area with nearby residences and companies where people had worked for years. 

“This was a revelation to us,” he said. “Usually risk assessments are based on decades of exposure, but this is for six months. Proposition 65 calls for a 70-year period.” 

Padgett complained that the current monitoring covers only 22 of the 70 known hazardous compounds at the site. 

The site cleanups are being conducted by LFR Levine Fricke, a toxics cleanup firm once headed by Berkeley developer James D. Levine, the would-be developer of a tribal casino, hotel, shopping and entertainment complex on Richmond’s Point Molate. 

Carr charged that LFR’s existing report on toxins at Campus Bay is outdated, because it analyzed on-site toxins before soil from the UC site was added to the mix. 

“It’s 300,000 cubic yards of something else,” she said.  

Shoreline marsh waters off the university site are also heavily polluted, and soil cleanup at the field station still requires additional remediation, Wolfe told CESP members. 

Adding yet another complication to the development picture are claims by the Campus Bay developer, Cherokee Simeon Ventures, a specially-formed entity created by Marin County developer Russell Pitto’s Simeon Properties and Cherokee Investment Partners, a firm based in Colorado and Florida that specializes in investing pension fund and other moneys in developments built on “brownfield” sites—reclaimed hazardous waste properties. 

The developers had originally planned to build an extension of their Campus Bay business park on the site and had received the appropriate clearances from regulatory agencies, but when the economic downturn stymied that plan they turned to the residential plan. 

Regulatory agencies set different standards for residential sites, which are often occupied round-the-clock by infants, children, the elderly and the chronically infirm, and the developers must obtain a whole new set of approvals before they can build housing. 

Weiner told Wolfe that city officials had told BARRD that the developer had asked the city to stop its mandatory environmental review required by the California Environmental Quality Act so they could first win the water board’s approval, and the project’s web site (www.campusbay.info/approval.html) claims that “[p]rovided the RWQCB approves the residential reuse, the project will undergo environmental review conducted by the Richmond Planning Department.”  

“That’s the disconnect,” said Wolfe. “We can’t give an approval without a new CEQA finding by the city. We’ve just received letters from the city and the developer asking us to stop the process, but we still see on the web site that once approval comes from the water quality control board they will start. That’s simply not true. 

“Until it goes through the CEQA process and the project is defined, we can’t act.” 

Wolfe said he couldn’t recall a single instance where the board had approved unlimited—that is, residential—use of a site previously cleared only for limited use. 

Weiner and other critics of the project have also urged that the lead agency role on the site be handed to the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, which retains direct jurisdiction longer than the water boards, which had responsibility to local agencies. 

Wolfe has long experience with polluted sites in the area. “I was involved 25 years ago when Liquid Gold was there,” he said. An oil recycling firm, Liquid Gold was located immediately east of the Campus Bay site. Wolfe worked on the cleanup. 

“They would take any type of oil without testing. They took (electrical) transformer oil that was laced with PCBs (a now-banned organic toxin) that drained into the marsh,” Wolfe said. 

›

Backed by a crowd of some 40 sign-carrying union members, representatives of the Berkeley Unified School District’s custodians, maintenance and food service workers, and bus drivers told BUSD board members Wednesday night the district must change its stand on worker health care and salary needs in contract mediation talks scheduled to begin next week. 

“We are your infrastructure and your infrastructure is crumbling,” Stationary Engineers Local 39 business agent Stephanie Allen said. 

Some 170 Local 39 members have been working without a contract since July 1. The Public Employment Relations Board declared contract negotiations at an impasse at the end of September, and mediation is scheduled to begin next week. 

The board meeting was held at Longfellow School after a faulty elevator caused the meeting to be moved from the Old City Hall. 

Allen and fellow union agent Lynn Long staged an indirect ad-hoc debate with board members during Wednesday’s regular board meeting, with Allen and Long leveling charges during public comment and board members answering during their report period. With one of the union representatives saying that the members “have to leave because they have to get up in the morning to work,” Local 39 members exited the meeting immediately following the business agents’ presentation, missing the board members’ responses. 

Long charged that when the contract ended on the first of July, the district unilaterally began charging union members with Kaiser health benefits a $50 per month fee for Kaiser’s Family Plan, the amount Kaiser had raised its fees on that date. Long said that prior to July, union members were not charged for health benefits by the district. She also charged that the district had floated a $300,000 interest-free loan to BUSD Superintendent Michele Lawrence in order to buy a house. 

“None of our union members have been offered loans to buy homes,” Long said, adding that on their current salaries, many of them were having trouble meeting their rent and health care payments and putting food on the table. Long told reporters earlier that Local 39 members have not had a raise in three years. 

One of the union members held up a sign reading “We Want To Buy A House Too.” 

Long criticized Lawrence for what she called “unilaterally” canceling negotiations with the union in July. 

But board member Terry Doran defended Lawrence, saying that “the board takes responsibility for the negotiations; the administration is acting at our direction.” Doran said that BUSD “is not in violation of our agreement with the union with regard to health benefits. We’re doing what the contract states. We have a bilateral agreement with the union, and we are honoring it.” 

Responding to a statement by Berkeley Council of Classified Employees president Ann Graybeal that “one of the members claim[s] that this is a pro-union board,” Board member Joaquin Rivera said, “I said this was a pro-union board, and I reiterate that this is a pro-union board. But it is also a fiscally responsible board, and we have to make sure our financial house is in order before we make other commitments.” 

Rivera said that that while he “completely understands” Long’s point about the health charges to the Local 39 employees, “we’re not going to be able to tackle health care problems at the district until we do major health care reform at the state and national levels.” 

Both Doran and Rivera expressed the belief that the problems with the union could be worked out in the upcoming negotiations. 

During her presentation, Allen criticized what she called the district’s “mismanagement” of its food service department. 

“At a recent public forum, Board Members [John] Selawsky and [Joaquin] Rivera defended [Food Service Director Karen] Candito and blamed the losses [of nearly $2 million] on her purchases of fresh food. If Candito is buying fresh food, she sure isn’t serving it to the majority of students who eat in the schools.” Allen passed out an elementary school lunch menu for the month of October which listed corndogs, pizza, hot dogs, pasta, chicken nuggets, and burritos among the offerings. 

Earlier this month, Candito and BUSD received a national food service award from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The committee cited BUSD’s vegetarian lunch and policy banning fried foods among its reasons for giving the district the award.›

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Tom Bates delivered a proposal that could bridge the city’s creek divide.  

But his compromise plan, crafted with councilmembers Miriam Hawley and Linda Maio, came too late for the City Council to agree to take a vote or for Bates to escape a rebuke from three colleagues over how the plan was distributed. 

The plan, which will be discussed further at the next council meeting on Nov. 9, calls for the formation of a task force, under the supervision of the Planning Commission, to study the city’s embattled creek ordinance. 

Bates’ plan effectively nullifies a staff recommendation last week to send the issue to the Planning Commission with a directive to eliminate restrictions on new construction within 30 feet of a creek or underground culvert. 

Creeks were not the only issue Tuesday to get pushed into November.  

The council postponed a vote to guarantee up to $3 million in loans for a proposed affordable housing project after learning that federal regulators are investigating the developer, Jubilee Restoration, on charges of nepotism and misallocating funds (see story page one).  

Also, acting on a planning commissioner’s report, the council unanimously reversed its vote from last week to establish new zoning rules for University Avenue. Instead it will give the plan further study on Nov. 9. 

Bates’ compromise plan would create a task force to review creek issues and make recommendations regarding the ordinance and city creek policies by May 2006. The 13-member body, under the supervision of the Planning Commission and staffed by the Planning Department, would consist of appointees from councilmembers, the mayor, and the Planning, Public Works, Parks and Recreation and Community Environmental Advisory commissions.  

All appointments would be made in December following the election of new councilmembers.  

The city’s 15-year-old creek ordinance, which affects roughly 2,400 property owners, prohibits new construction of roofed buildings within 30 feet from the centerline of an open creek or underground creek culvert. Creek advocates, who want to strengthen the ordinance, and a group of homeowners that want to weaken it have battled in recent months over the proper venue to consider changes.  

Neighbors on Urban Creeks has demanded the issue go to the Planning Commission and creek advocates, fearing that the commission is stacked against them, have called for an independent task force. 

While the content of the mayor’s plan for creeks won praise from both sides, the way Bates presented it caused fireworks. 

Peering into a crowd of creek advocates sitting on one side of the aisle all with a copy of Bates’ proposal and their opponents on the left, who claimed they didn’t even know a compromise was in the works, Councilmember Betty Olds demanded an explanation.  

“I don’t want this glossed over,” she blurted out during time set aside for public comment. “This certainly isn’t very democratic.” 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak said he was “concerned” that creek advocates had good connections in the city and could get a copy of the report. 

Noting what she sees as a recent trend, Councilmember Margaret Breland declared, “We should stop putting these items on the agenda at the last minute.” 

Last week the council declined to consider a vote on the staff recommendation because they didn’t receive a copy until hours before their meeting. 

“I apologize,” said Bates responding to the criticism. “It was worked out in the last few minutes of the day, Monday. That is the nature of this kind of compromise.” 

Bates said his office provided 30 copies of the proposal at the council meeting and the plan was also on the mayor’s website Tuesday afternoon. 

Creek advocate Juliet Lamont said she and other creek supporters downloaded their copies of the plan. “I check the website everyday,” she said. 

The homeowners group, Neighbors On Urban Creeks, however still suspected foul play. “It was a done deal before anybody walked into the meeting,” said Trudy Washburn. Other members of the group questioned why the report was on the mayor’s website but not the city’s. 

Under the mayor’s plan the task force would have until next April to deliver a budget and work plan to the Planning Commission and then have until the following May to recommend changes to the ordinance. The taskforce is not accounted for in the city’s budget and Bates did not estimate how much the body would cost. 

The task force discuss the issue of financial responsibility for repairing culverts that sit underneath private property. Many of the culverts are near the end of their useful lives, and currently the city contends that homeowners should be responsible for the repairs. 

If the task force failed to deliver recommendations by the 2006 deadline, Bates’ plan calls for suspending the prohibition of new construction within 30 feet of a culverted creek. 

That didn’t sit well with creek advocates and their allies on the council, who otherwise backed the plan. 

“The clause will encourage obstructionists to delay the taskforce,” Lamont said. 

Councilmember Maio assured creek advocates that if their opponents tried to stall, the council would step in. Despite their concerns over how the plan was distributed, councilmembers Wozniak and Olds both said the compromise had good potential. 

At times during the meeting, members of Neighbors on Urban Creeks held signs reading “No Taskforce on Creeks,” but afterward they seemed resigned to the mayor’s proposal. 

“We just have to make sure it’s a balanced taskforce,” said former mayor and group member Shirley Dean. 

University Avenue 

By a unanimous vote, the council reversed itself on new zoning rules for University Avenue and demanded a staff report to determine the effects of a new residential-only building option. 

Last week the council voted 5-3-1 to pass the first reading of the zoning rules over the objection of residents who wanted the Planning Commission to further study the residential-only component. A second vote needed to approve the plan now won’t come until after the council receives the staff report. 

Members of Plan Berkeley, a group organized around building on University Avenue, argued that the residential-only buildings could balloon from three stories to five because of a state law that grants developers extra building density for projects that include affordable housing.  

Since the city interprets the law to grant developers more space based on the number of rental units, Plan Berkeley members feared developers would choose not to include ground floor retail so they could build bigger buildings than would otherwise be allowed. 

Adding to their concerns, earlier this month Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill increasing the density bonus, from 25 percent to 35 percent, allotted to developers who satisfy certain requirements. 

Neighbors received crucial support Tuesday from Planning Commissioner Gene Poschman. He wrote that the amended state law could make the residential-only projects approximately 94 percent larger than buildings with similar zoning standards. 

Fire Department Negotiations 

Berkeley will likely lose the service of one of its two fire truck companies during evening hours after city negotiators and the firefighters failed to agree on a one-time reduction of scheduled raises. 

The truck company is scheduled to close between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. every day starting Nov. 8. The closure is estimated to save the city $300,000 in overtime expenses.  

The City Council has exacted similar concessions from other unions to help it close a $10 million budget deficit.  

Unlike other city unions, the firefighters’ contract lacked a clause allowing the city to unilaterally reduce their salary increase. The City Council rejected a union offer to tie the salary giveback to a one-year contract extension with a six percent raise in return. 

No future negotiations are scheduled, though Deputy City Manager Lisa Caronna said the city would be open to additional offers from the union. 

g

The first two weeks of October saw political contributions skyrocket for citywide ballot measures and slow down for City Council candidates, according to campaign contribution and expense reports released this week. 

Berkeley’s power brokers went to bat for a campaign fund to back tax increases on utility bills and property sales. The Committee to Support Measures J and K raised $19,874 between Oct. 1 and 16, more than any other campaign. In all, the campaign has raised $35,785 and has $19,143 left to spend before the election. 

Enriching the coffers to support the two tax measures were Mayor Tom Bates who donated $250, SEIU Local 790 gave $15,000, developers Ali Kashani gave $250 and Panoramic Management LLC contributed $1000, contractor Oliver and Company gave $1000, Planning Commissioner David Stoloff gave $250, Deputy City Manager Lisa Caronna gave $500, Assistant City Manager Arrietta Chakos gave $250, and Carol Kamlarz, wife of City Manager Phil Kamlarz, donated $250. 

Berkeley election law allows contributors to make unlimited contributions for ballot measures but limits contributions to individual candidates to $250. 

Raising money is usually a prerequisite for winning elections in Berkeley. Last election the most well-heeled candidate won every city race. 

The most evenly matched fundraising contest is over Measure Q, a largely symbolic proposal that would make prostitution the city’s lowest police priority. 

Proponents of the measure raised $3,736 during the filing period to bring the total amount raised to $7,865. Their opponents, consisting mainly of business owners along San Pablo Avenue, where prostitution is most prevalent in the city, raised $5,555 bringing the total to $5,955. 

Supporters of a proposed library tax raised $15,500, bringing its grand total to $45,991. Nearly all of the money raised has come from unions and pro-library civic organizations. 

Advocates for a measure that would liberalize the city’s marijuana laws raised $15,140 in October, $9,000 of which came from two different marijuana collectives, the Patients Care Collective and Berkeley Patients Group. 

The fundraising battles in the four city council races remain lopsided with contributions in the first half of October. In District 3, Max Anderson, the chairman of the Rent Stabilization Board, reported raising $2,646, bringing his total to just over $13,000, quadruple the amount reported by his two closest challengers, community activist Laura Menard and Councilmember Maudelle Shirek. Neither Menard nor Shirek filed contributions and expense statements for the current filing period. 

Laurie Capitelli raised $2,450 to bring his total contributions to $27,498 in his bid to succeed Miriam Hawley in District 5. Among his two opponents, Jesse Townley raised $3,745 during the filing period for a total $15,487 and Barbara Gilbert raised $2,098 for a total $11,797. 

In District 6, incumbent Betty Olds raised $4,464 for a total of $18,464, while her lone opponent, Waterfront Commissioner Norine Smith, didn’t raise any money. Her campaign is in debt because of a credit card payment. 

In District 2, Darryl Moore raised $3,227 for a total of $12,117. His opponent Sharon Kidd has raised $957 and given herself a $2,500 loan. 

›

On Sept. 29 the Governor signed SB 1818, which City of Berkeley planner Mark Rhoades has called a “bombshell.” Despite strong concerns expressed by the League of California Cities, the bill had sailed through its final votes: no nays at all in the Senate and only four (including Loni Hancock) in the Assembly. It makes many changes to crucial Section 65915 of the state’s density bonus law. 

SB 1818 comes on top of several other bills that amended that section during the last three years. The cumulative re sult is a dramatic overhaul that sharply increases potential impact on communities, while apparently reducing local governments’ flexibility and power to respond.  

Previous Amendments 

During the dozen years before 2002, Section 65915 had remained largely unchanged. Back then, it provided incentives only for housing developments in which at least 20 percent of the units were affordable for “lower income” households, 10 percent were affordable for “very low income” households, or 50 percent were specifical ly for senior citizens. For all these, cities and counties were required to either (a) grant a requested “density bonus” of 25 percent over the otherwise allowable zoning and general plan level and at least one extra “concession or incentive” (such as a r educed setback requirement), unless the city or county made a written finding that the extra concession or incentive wasn’t needed to make the units affordable, or (b) “provide other incentives of equivalent financial value based upon the land cost per dw elling unit.” In exchange, the affordable units had to stay affordable for 30 years or for a longer time period if required by an applicable assistance program, but only 10 years if the local government didn’t grant an extra concession or incentive. 

Then in 2002, AB 1866 added to 65915 a provision for condo projects in which at least 20 percent of the units were for “moderate income” households. (”Moderate income” generally means up to 120 percent of area median income, adjusted for household size.) For these, cities and counties were required to either (a) grant a requested density bonus of at least 10 percent and at least one extra concession or incentive, unless the city made certain written findings, or (b) provide financially equivalent other incent ives or concessions. In exchange, the moderate-income units would have to stay affordable for 10 years. 

More generally, AB 1866 wrote in a requirement that—subject to two escape clauses—cities and counties “shall” grant the specific concession or incenti ve requested by an applicant. The exceptions are where the local government makes a written finding, based on substantial evidence, that the concession or incentive either (a) isn’t needed to make the units affordable or (b) would have a “specific adverse impact,” as tightly defined elsewhere in the Government Code, upon “public health and safety or the physical environment” or on a property that’s listed in the California Register of Historical Resources. However, the applicability of these exceptions se ems unclear. 

The bill added a provision that if a city or county “refuses” to grant a requested density bonus, concession, or incentive, the applicant may sue, and shall be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of suit if a court finds that the re fusal violated 65915. It also added a provision banning the application of “any development standard” that has the effect of precluding a qualified development at the densities or with the concessions or incentives allowed by 65915. Critics have argued th at these provisions “cast a negative and litigious tone to the law,” and that the language about “any development standard” is dangerously broad. Both provisions do give to local governments escape clauses in cases where there’d be a specific adverse impa ct on health, safety, or the physical environment, or an adverse impact on a property in the California Register. But the provisions are so written that the applicability of those escape clauses is unclear. 

Also in 2002, AB 2755 amended the definition of “housing development” to specifically include rehab projects that convert an existing structure from commercial to residential, or increase the number of residential units inside it. 

In 2003, AB 305 added a subsection about child care facilities. Where an applicant proposes to include such a facility (other than a family day care home), located in or adjacent to the housing development and meeting certain conditions, the city or county—unless it finds that the community has adequate day care facilities—must either (a) grant an additional residential bonus equal to the child care facility’s square footage or (b) provide some significant other concession or incentive. 

This Sept. 23 the Governor signed AB 2348, which added a subsection about parking. It s ays that for a development otherwise qualifying under 65915, the local government shall—if requested by the developer—be banned from requiring more than specified amounts of parking in relation to unit size. The ratios are one space per studio or one-bedr oom, two per two- or three-bedroom unit, and two and a half spaces per bigger unit. And the subsection might even be read as letting “tandem” spaces count toward all those ratios!  

What SB 1818 Does 

SB 1818 replaces the former single-figure density bonus es (25 percent and, for condos, 10 percent) with a complex set of sliding scales. These let developments with merely half as many affordable units as previously required obtain density bonuses—though relatively smaller ones—but then as the percentage of a ffordable units increases, potential density rapidly escalates. If there are 10 percent lower-income units the developer is entitled to a 20 percent density bonus, but for each additional l percent of lower-income units he or she gets an extra 1.5 percent of density bonus, up to a maximum bonus entitlement of 35 percent. Similarly, 5 percent very-low-income units earns a 20 percent density bonus, then for each additional 1 percent in such units there’s an extra 2.5 percent of density bonus, up to a maximu m 35 percent bonus. For condo projects (or planned unit developments), 10 percent moderate-income units gets a 5 percent density bonus, then each additional 1 percent in such units brings an extra 1 percent of density bonus, up to a maximum 35 percent bon us. 

Those formulas are paralleled by mechanistic sliding scales for the required number of other “incentives or concesssions.” A development with 10 percent lower-income, 5 percent very-low-income, or (in a condo) 10 percent moderate-income units gets one such goody. A project with 20 percent lower-income, 10 percent very-low-income, or (in a condo) 20 percent moderate-income units earns two incentives or concessions. A development with 30 percent lower-income, 15 percent very-low-income, or (in a condo) 30 percent moderate-income units gets three!  

So for developments whose proportions of lower-income or very-low-income units are at or near the previously applicable thresholds, SB 1818 boosts the density bonus from 25 percent to 35 percent—and the numb er of other incentives or concessions from one to two. Another prominent result is that whereas condo projects containing 20 percent moderate-income units but no lower-income units could formerly demand only a 10 percent density bonus (and one other incen tive or concession), they now seem entitled to a 15 percent bonus (plus two other incentives or concessions). 

Yet for what it recasts as “senior citizen housing developments,” the bill apparently reduces the density bonus, from the previous 25 percent down to 20 percent (without any sliding scale)—and even seems to omit any requirement for extra incentives or concessions. Go figure. 

SB 1818 deletes the important long-standing general language “or...provide other incentives of equivalent financial value....”  

For moderate-income units in condo projects, the bill abruptly deletes the formerly required 10-year period of continued affordability. Moderate income will now be required only of the initial buyer—who it seems can promptly turn around and resell the unit at market rate. The bill does say that upon resale a defined share of the appreciation shall be “recaptured” by the local government, for general use thereby “within three years” in promoting affordable housing. But during the bill’s review, this recapture provision was criticized as “administratively intensive” and costly. 

SB 1818 also adds provisions whereby under certain conditions an applicant can get a special density bonus by donating a substantial piece of land suitable for construction o f housing for very-low-income households. But this bonus plus all other density bonuses under Section 65915 can’t exceed a combined entitlement of 35 percent. 

The Upshot 

Swollen to some 3500 words, Section 65915 has become a dense and daunting legal thic ket with ample unclarities and some puzzling inconsistencies. At the Berkeley Planning Commission’s Oct. 13 meeting, Rhoades said that staff would analyze SB 1818 within the next 30 days and then report back. 

Commission chair Harry Pollack suggested it m ay also be timely to “tweak” Berkeley’s inclusionary ordinance, which actually requires five-or-more-unit developments to include affordable units. Whatever he may intend, the reference calls to mind an irony of what the League has called the state’s “one-size-fits-all” approach. Various Berkeyans have asked why this city’s commendably requiring affordable units should be “penalized” by its triggering the need, under Section 65915, to sacrifice cherished local standards. 

(Some have even turned the issue around by suggesting that where Berkeley’s inclusionary requirement amounts to the same as 65915’s affordability threshold, no density bonus is required. They’ve remarked that in such cases zero units would be allowed unless the local inclusionary units w ere provided—and that a 25 percent bonus over zero still equals zero.)  

Meanwhile some citizens have questioned the adequacy of the brand-new zoning provisions for University Avenue, which were painstakingly crafted with 65915’s former rules in mind, and with no general awareness of SB 1818’s potential impact. 

Section 65915 contains requirements for local implementing ordinances, and “legislative body approval of the means of compliance with this section.” Although the Zoning Ordinance’s skimpy Section 23C.12.050 tries to do something like that, its paraphrase of the state law is patently obsolete. And local critics have argued that the situation is needlessly worsened by the total lack in Berkeley’s commercial and high-intensity residential zones of an y dwelling-unit “density” standards on a parcel basis.  

Implementing 65915 may be quite costly for Berkeley, in many direct or indirect ways—from time spent redoing laws and procedures, to potentially granting incentives in the form of development-fee wa ivers, to potential impacts on infrastructure and neighborhood quality of life. In any case, the thorny basic issues involved seem urgent. SB 1818 will go into effect on Jan. 1.  

John English is a planner by profession, and has lived in Berkeley for most of his life. 

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Voters in the city of Albany, one of Alameda County’s smallest cities (18,000 population), will be asked to choose three City Councilmembers out of six candidates. All of the candidates are running at-large. 

Proposed development of Albany’s waterfront dominates the concerns of the six City Council candidates, with no other issue (including city finances) coming close. 

Richard Cross 

Cross is an attorney with more than 20 years experience in local government law and environmental law. “I’ve done almost everything you can do as a lawyer representing local government,” he said. He lists one endorsement: the National Organization for Women. 

While Cross said that “everybody talks about how the waterfront is an important issue,” he doesn’t think it’s as important “in the same way as everybody else. They are concerned about it being developed by various rapacious developers, but I don’t think there’s much chance of that happening with Measure C in place.” 

Cross said this law prevents waterfront development without voter approval. 

“What’s more important is for us to choose natural use and open space for that area,” he said. “The best place for commercial development—maybe the only place, from my point of view—would be along the freeway. I think that would be fine.” 

Cross also called for rezoning of San Pablo Avenue near the intersection of Solano Avenue to bring in “affordable housing that’s suitable for singles, couples, and young families. The kind of mixed use the city has supported in that area so far is two- and three-story condominiums for wealthy people.” Cross said that revitalizing that area depended on bringing in more people to live on San Pablo Avenue. 

Farid Javandel 

A registered Traffic Engineer and Civil Engineer and a member of Albany’s Traffic and Safety Commission, Javandel says that despite being the youngest candidate (at 34), “I’ve been an Albany resident longer than any other candidate than Jewel Okawachi, who has lived here her entire life.” 

He ran for City Council two years ago, losing by less than a percentage point. He is endorsed by the Albany Peace Officers Association, the Sierra Club, the Alameda County, Green Party, Citizens For The Albany Shoreline, and Congressmember Barbara Lee. Although none of the current City Council members have endorsed his candidacy, Javandel said, “They all signed my nomination papers. If they didn’t actually want me to serve, I don’t think they would have signed my papers.” 

Javendel called “intelligent planning” one of the key issues in the campaign, “particularly in specific locations such as the waterfront and UC village. Both of those are strong examples of the need for open space and parks. At the UC Village, we need to make sure that we don’t lose the baseball field for the Little League. At the waterfront there’s opportunities for park open space. Albany’s got very little in the way of parks for local neighborhoods. I’ve been hearing that we’re second or third densest in California. With that kind of density, it’s hard to have a lot of parks. So it’s an important issue to plan those sorts of things well.” 

Javandel said that one of the city’s biggest challenges is “weathering through the [current financial] storm without doing too much damage. I see the financial shortage as a short-term problem. As the economy turns around, the city’s revenue base will recover. As we’re responsible along the way, we’ll get back to a healthier economic environment.” 

Robert Lieber 

Lieber says, with a laugh, that his biggest qualification for City Council is that “basically, I’m a smart guy.” He also lists years of experience as a grassroot participant in politics since he was a child, including work in the anti-war movements stemming back to the Vietnam War. He is being supported by Congressmember Barbara Lee, the Sierra Club, the Democratic Party of Alameda County, the Green Party of Alameda County, Citizens for the Albany Shoreline, and the League of Conservation Voters, as well as by Albany School Board members Miriam Walden, Michael Barnes, and Sherri Moradi. 

Lieber sees the three most important issues in Albany as “saving our waterfront for a park,” “preventing massive development of malls in our city,” and “stopping any kind of casino gambling at all.” He said that the Magna Entertainment Corporation—which is proposing a 3,000 slot machine casino and shopping complex along the Albany waterfront—“is a company that has shown itself to be very unfriendly to Albany as a whole. On the one hand they say let’s get together and talk about how to have a really nice mall—that’s what the citizens want—but on the other hand they’re sponsoring Proposition 68, which would take all local control away from us if it passes. What I see is a corporation that is not talking to us in good faith.” Lieber said that in waterfront development, “I’m supporting the Sierra Plan that calls for about 15 percent development and 85 percent open space. The details of the exact type of development can be worked out, but we can’t work out those details if we give the land away.” 

Jewel Okawachi 

Okawachi has served on Albany City Council for one term, and is the only incumbent in the race. A lifelong Albany resident, she is a business owner of 27 years, has served on the city’s Parks and Recreation and Waterfront Committee, was a founding member of the Albany Education Foundation, and says that she is “active in support for the schools. I do a lot of other things with the city other than sit on City Council.” Okawachi said that she has “probably a couple of hundred endorsements from my Albany constituents. Those are the endorsements that I think are important, as far as I’m concerned.” She also lists endorsements by Assemblymember Loni Hancock, the Albany Peace Officers Association, and the National Organization for Women. 

“It seems that the waterfront is a big issue. Magna is going to be coming out with their plan for development. We haven’t seen that plan yet, but I would guess that it’s going to be a pretty big plan. I’m certainly not for a big plan. I am for some small development in the waterfront area that would bring some more revenue into the city. There are also some other development plans for the area, including one by the Sierra Club. We are going to have hearings on this issue, as we did before, and so the public will be able to look at all the plans and decide what they want.” 

Okawachi also said that improvements to the police and fire department were “also a big issue. It’s a matter of safety.”  

Brian Parker 

Parker is a marketing manager with IBM, and worked for 20 years as a city planner. He lists the Sierra Club, the Alameda County Democratic Party, and the League of Conservation Voters as his key endorsements. 

In his campaign literature, Parker lists three top priorities: “We need to stop [the] Golden Gate Fields plan for large scale development; I oppose Prop 68 and the proposed casino for Golden Gate Fields; and I support the Citizens for the Eastshore Park/Sierra Club Plan for more open space on the waterfront.” 

Alan Riffer 

Riffer recently retired as a financial manager and a Certified Public Accountant. He served on the Albany School Board from 1989 through 1996. “I deliberately did not ask for support from anyone who is outside of Albany,” he said. “Organizationally, I only have one endorsement: the Albany Peace Officers Association” He also lists endorsements by Mayor John Ely and Councilmembers Allan Maris and Peggy Thomsen, as well as School Board President David Farrell. 

“Maintaining city services in the face of the budget situation,” is the city’s top issue, Riffer said. “Albany’s always short of resources. Health benefits for employees go up double digits. Retirement costs are escalating. About two-thirds of the city’s general fund is wages and benefits. So the ability for a small city to attract and retain staff and pay them fairly, those kinds of budget decisions would be one of the issues.” 

Riffer also said that you “can’t seem to get anyone to talk about anything but the waterfront and Golden Gate Fields. We need to look at all the proposals and work with them. All of [the proposals] fall short, in my opinion. We’ll need to work with those proposals, and with the developer, and property owner and the environmental groups.” 

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UC Berkeley officials issued a statement of regret about a computer hacking that may have exposed the names and social security numbers of about 600,000 people. 

The state Department of Social Services announced Tuesday that they are investigating the hacking incident. UC officials said the breech occurred in early September. 

The database in question contained personal information about people who provide and receive in-home health care, including provider pay. UC officials said that a scholar from Connecticut College visiting at UC’s Institute of Industrial Relations was doing statistical analysis of home health care in California, and was accessing the database for her research project. The scholar was trying to determine how wage and benefit increases can improve the recruitment and retention of quality home-care workers. 

As soon as the matter was brought to the attention of the campus counsel he began to work closely with the appropriate state and federal authorities, including the FBI. Officials from the campus, Department of Social Services, the FBI and officials from Connecticut College met on Sept. 27 to address the security breach. 

Officials believe the security breach was related to linking a non-UC computer and non-UC server to the campus network system without taking proper precautions against intrusion. 

Anyone concerned that their personal information was in the database is encouraged to contact the state Department of Social Services for instructions on fraud protection. The department’s Web site is http://www.cdss.ca.gov/ihss, and their phone number is (866) 404-9214. 

An investigation into this incident has not yet determined whether any of the personal data was acquired. However, UC officials reported that the Department of Social Services has not gotten any information indicating that identity theft or misuse of the data has occurred, they added. 

Campus officials said that even one breach of its network is unacceptable. The campus works hard to avoid such incidents and regrets that this one occurred. 

The campus has been in the process of directing units to comply with new standards for security that will officially go into effect in the spring. At that time, individuals who fail to meet these standards will be denied access to the university’s network. For example, installing patches that block computer viruses and that address other security problems will be required. 

In the interim, campus network security officials will continue to scan campus systems for problems. Particular attention is being paid to databases with sensitive information. 

— Bay City News and wire reports 

The talk around town this week is that the sudden decision of Richard Word to resign his job as chief of police of big-city Oakland to take up the same position in little-city Vacaville is a terrible step down for Mr. Word and, therefore, a significant personal defeat. I don’t know. The assumption, here, is that bigger is always better, and that in order to demonstrate career progress, an Oakland executive must necessarily move on to places like Atlanta, Detroit, or Los Angeles, where national reputations can be made. In fact, not knowing the state of either Mr. Word’s mind or his heart, we can’t be sure that he doesn’t consider a transfer of responsibility from the 400,000 citizens of Oakland to the 90,000 citizens of Vacaville as nothing short of a breath of fresh air. 

But, then, that’s from Mr. Word’s point of view. 

From Oakland’s point of view, Mr. Word’s five year term as chief of police can be described in a few of words: Defeat. Significant mistakes. And, oh yes, failure. 

Let us, briefly, point out for whom, and why. 

Mr. Word’s selection shortly after the election of Jerry Brown as mayor of Oakland marked a significant defeat for the black political establishment of the city, from which that black political establishment has never fully recovered. Mr. Brown, you might remember, easily outpolled seven African-American opponents in a city where African-Americans are the largest population block (though not the majority) and where two black mayors had just ended long, consecutive tenures. (Mr. Brown, if you didn’t know, is white.) Mr. Brown, you also might remember, campaigned in 1998 partly on the platform of breaking up Oakland’s black political establishment (or you might not remember, since those ideas were talked about in the Wall Street Journal—interestingly enough—rather than in the Oakland Tribune). After Mr. Brown’s inaugural address, former Mayor Elihu Harris (who is African-American) said, a little acidly, “I don’t think [Jerry Brown] cares much about diversity,” voicing the black fears that Mr. Brown was going to sweep away the African-American gains of the past 20 years. And so, when Mr. Brown announced that he was firing (black) Oakland police chief Joseph Samuels, members of the black political establishment decided to oppose the new mayor and tried to keep Mr. Samuels on the job. 

Several things happened, at the gallop. The black political establishment lost, and Mr. Samuels was fired. Mr. Samuels turned out to be a bad chief who should have been fired, as we later learned after he took over the job of Richmond police chief and ran that position into the ground. Meanwhile Mr. Brown replaced the African-American Mr. Samuels with the African-American Mr. Word, completely undercutting the black leaders’ charge that Mr. Brown was anti-black. And if you haven’t heard much from what we used to call the “black political establishment” in Oakland, you might trace its decline and fall back to that incident. 

But did Mr. Word do much better in Oakland than Mr. Samuels would have done? 

Well, despite the fact of Vacaville City Manager David Van Kirk’s praises of Mr. Word as “a recognized national leader in the field of law enforcement … credited with developing many innovative police programs,” and Mr. Brown’s praise of Mr. Word as a “top-flight professional,” Mr. Word’s tenure in Oakland was actually marked by several significant failures by the organization he was leading: the Oakland Police Department. As its leader, its failures are his failures. 

How many failures, and how bad? You could talk about the Riders scandal, in which four police officers were arrested—arrested!—for allegedly assaulting citizens, planting evidence, falsifying police reports, lying on the witness stand, and stealing drugs and money from arrestees. The accused police officers say that they got the green light to “bend the law” from Mr. Word himself, who wanted the officers to clean up drug trafficking in West Oakland (that wasn’t one of the “innovative police programs” to which Mr. Van Kirk refers, we hope). Or you could talk about the $11 million police misconduct lawsuit settlement. In that legal action, brought by Oakland attorney John Burris, Oakland agreed to pay cash settlements to 119 plaintiffs because of police actions similar to the ones that got the Riders in trouble (the Riders were some of the police named in that lawsuit, but they weren’t the only police named in that lawsuit). In addition, the lawsuit forced the Oakland Police Department into a court-ordered monitoring program to make sure it lives up to a promise to reform its conduct.  

Significant mistakes? There was the time Chief Word diverted police from North Oakland in order to chase joyriders in East Oakland, thus causing North Oakland’s murder rate to triple. The police had to apologize to the North Oakland folk for that one. Or you could talk about the notorious April 2003 Port of Oakland debacle in which Oakland police fired tear gas and wooden dowels at unarmed antiwar protesters, or the earlier antiwar protest in which at least one Oakland police officer allegedly used his motorcycle to run over a protester. Mercy, mercy. The list goes on and on. 

But the biggest symbol of Mr. Word’s failure as Oakland police chief—in my mind, anyway—is how he presided over Oakland’s conflict with its black youth. That conflict was—and continues to be—marked by the city’s years-long attempt to shut down street sideshows, an effort that once cost the city a million dollars a year in police overtime. Two highlights—or lowlights—of that effort come to mind. One was the long-ignored comment by Mr. Word that the police “probably made a mistake” in driving the sideshows out of the parking lots—where they were bothering almost nobody—and onto the city’s streets, where they ended up bothering a whole lots of folks. Problem was, Mr. Word never corrected that mistake. The second lowlight was the aborted police effort to look for legal alternatives to the sideshows. At one point, the police department identified an experienced, nationally-recognized event organizer who was willing to build a legal sideshow venue, handle the insurance problems, take the legal responsibilities, and put up the necessary money to finance the effort. Implementing that idea would have solved Oakland’s sideshow problem. But the police sat on the plan, never presenting it to the general public, and it eventually died in obscurity. Why did that happen? Damned if I know for sure. But it was certainly a failure of Mr. Word’s leadership. Under him the Oakland Police Department foundered, drifting along without a clear sense of direction or purpose. Community policing is in a shambles and in many neighborhoods, police-citizen relations are almost nonexistent. 

In the end, Mr. Word’s failures are also Mayor Brown’s, who raised the chief up to his present position. Mr. Word was hired during that odd period in which the mayor was seeking out African-Americans who were prominent and successful in one field of work, in order to put them into positions where they were guaranteed to disappoint. And so, he tried to hire both Angela Davis and Maya Angelou to serve as Oakland’s chief librarian, presumably on the theory that someone who writes books ought to know where to put them on the shelves. Fortunately, both Ms. Davis and Ms. Angelou turned down the offers. Mr. Brown also offered the job of Parks and Recreation Department head to Harry Edwards, a man who had no previous experience in the running of either parks or recreation programs or, for that matter, running any type of program at all. Unfortunately Mr. Edwards accepted the position, and managed to live down to all our low expectations. 

So it was with Mr. Word, a man who might have made a good captain, but never demonstrated the qualifications for the challenges of being the top dog. He leaves us with a lot of work left to be done.?

28. Federal Judicial Branch 

After 9/11, the actions of the Bush Administration did not indicate that there are three equally important branches of the federal government: legislative, judicial, and executive. The money being spent by the DOD on Afghanistan and Iraq cut an enormous hole in the federal budget, as Bush loudly opposed any increase in corporate or high-income taxes.  

One problem with the budget for the judiciary is that judges are not in charge of how many cases are filed in the federal courts. That depends on how many are arrested for committing federal crimes, how many ask for jury trials, and how many civil lawsuits corporations and human beings decide to file. So the Bush cuts in all branches actually cut the judiciary very seriously. 

The judiciary’s portion of the federal budget is just .2 percent (2/10 of 1 percent). The cuts do not take into account increases in “fixed” costs, or increasing need for public defenders and legal service lawyers for litigants without money for lawyers in suits against gouging landlords and unscrupulous employers. 

Report 28.1 

Federal Budget Creates Crisis in the Judiciary (Nina Totenberg, “Morning Edition: Federal Courts Face Budgetary Crisis,” National Public Radio, Aug. 12, 2004.) 

F. The Government’s Duty to Report Violations to Congress and the U.N. 

The duty of Government to file reports did not begin with 9/11. It certainly did not end with 9/11, as new and old issues required actions by the federal Government and by state and local governments. 

29. To Report Through the Office of Inspector General 

In 1978, Congress passed the Office of Inspector General Act, establishing an OIG office in virtually every agency of the U.S. Government. Each OIG must investigate all complaints received and submit a report describing each complaint and the results of their investigation to the chairs and vice chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees every six months.  

The OIG procedure was little known to the U.S. public, or the media, until two reports by OIGs hit page ones after 9/11. One OIG responded to complaints by inspecting jails in New York and New Jersey housing 9/11 detainees. 

Then the EPA OIG issued a report on the Government’s suppression of an EPA report on the dangers of working at Ground Zero.  

These reports led many people to start using the procedure of filing complaints with the OIG in working in their communities on their major complaints against Government action or inaction.  

This certainly opened up a new path that concerned residents can follow whenever they can find a link to a federal agency or to federal funding of a city or county government action. And it will work sometimes. 

Report 29.1 

Inspector General Finds Detained Aliens Physically Assaulted (Glenn A. Fine, “The September 11 Detainees: A Review of the Treatment of Aliens Held on Immigration Charges in Connection with the Investigation of the September 11 Attacks,” Office of the Inspector General, DOJ, April 2003.) 

Report 29.2 

Administration Suppresses EPA Reports on Ground Zero Damage (”EPA Covered up Deadly Ground Zero Air Problems,” Albion Monitor, Sept. 11, 2003.) 

30. To Make Periodic Reports Under U.N. Treaties 

The U.S. Government continued a policy after 9/11 of not filing reports required under treaties ratified by the U.S. at the same time the Government was demanding that other governments file the required reports under the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Agreement and pushed hard for adoption of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). 

The reports are required by the three human rights treaties ratified by the U.S.: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention Against Torture, and the Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination.  

Public dialogue on country reports is the method of enforcement of UN human rights treaties. It is called the Mobilization of Shame.  

The Second Reports under each treaty require city, county and state reports, which give community activists another path to insist on their local officials and police not violating human rights guarantees in the law. 

One city, Berkeley, Ca., did make reports under the first U.N. ratified treaty, with affirmative results. 

Report 30.1  

U.S. Delinquent in Filing Three Required Reports to the UN Cecil Williams, “U.S. Walks Out on Antiracist Conference: World’s People Demand Reparations for Slavery and Colonialism, Support Palestine,” International Action Center, Sept. 5, 2001.) 

Report 30.2 

U.S. Failing To Collect And Report at State and Local Levels (Associated Press, “Police Accused of Abusing Demonstrators,” Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, Nov. 26, 2003.) 

Report 30.3 

One City’s Commissions Made Required Reports to Department of State (Ellie Bluestein, “It’s Happening At Last,” Community Alliance, Dec. 2003.)  

This concludes the excerpts from 184 Reports on violations of human rights since 9/11 by U.S. Government officials, and the struggle to stop the violations by people across the U.S. 

Please use this information to convince your neighbors to think, and vote, on Nov. 2. 

And, whoever is elected, please use the facts and laws in this series to lobby your elected officials to stop the violations of human rights, to oppose new bad laws, to repeal the PATRIOT Act and other bad laws, and to start building a 21st Century climate of peace and human rights for all. 

And, in March 2005, look for the fat paperback, “Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11,” filled with complete descriptions of all of the reports merely listed in these columns, and with history, forms, briefs, new ordinances, and texts of the laws discussed. 

Berkeley resident Ann Fagan Ginger is a lawyer, teacher, activist and the author of 24 books. She won a civil liberties case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1959. She is the founder and executive director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, a Berkeley-based center for human rights and peace law. 

Reports excerpted from Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11, edited by Ann Fagan Ginger (© 2004 Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute; Prometheus Books 2005). Readers can go to www.mcli.org for a complete listing of reports and sources, with web links. 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

Recently, creeks issues have been a difficult and controversial issue for the City Council and the community. In addition to the hundreds of people that have testified before the City Council, my office has received over 350 emails, letters, and phone calls in the past six weeks.  

The City Council has taken an important first step in fixing the creeks ordinance by unanimously voting to eliminate the prohibition on rebuilding existing structures that are within 30 feet of a creek after a fire, earthquake, or any other disaster. This change has now been codified into law. 

However, there is still much work to be done. How do we define a creek? How should we best protect free flowing surface creeks? Should culverted creeks be protected? How do we determine the exact location and status of existing culverts? Where is it feasible to consider daylighting creeks that are currently in underground culverts?  

While there are differences of opinion on how best to move forward with this review, I have not heard any disagreement on the need to undertake this review and make changes. In an effort to move forward together in an inclusive and effective manner, Council Members Linda Maio and Mim Hawley joined me in proposing a compromise process for reviewing and amending the existing creeks ordinance. 

(You can read a complete version of this proposal on my website at: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/mayor/PR/webrelease2004-1019.htm) 

Our recommendations include a temporary 13-member task force with appointments by each Council Member, and a Commissioner from the Planning, Public Works, Community Environmental Advisory, and Parks and Recreation Commissions. This Task Force will report to the Planning Commission before submitting proposals to Council. 

This task force will be required to complete its work within about 18 months. Our proposal includes two provisions that ensure the Task Force makes progress and meets deadlines. First, it requires that a work plan and budget be submitted by April of 2004. Second, the Council will adopt a provision that the current culvert protections in the Creeks Ordinance will be indefinitely suspended on May 1, 2006 unless the task force has provided its recommendations. In addition, the task force will be required to hold public meetings, take public comment, and provide notice of meetings just as the City Council or Planning Commission would.  

It is our hope that this proposal can be the basis of a good discussion that will help the Council and the community move forward together to address these difficult issues. 

Mayor Tom Bates

Retired Chief Dies in Venice 

Well-respected former Berkeley Fire Chief Chester Moller died Wednesday while touring Venice, Italy, with a group of current and retired firefighters, reports Acting Fire Chief David Orth. 

Born in San Francisco in 1912, Moller had been the oldest surviving former chief of the Berkeley department. He retired on Sept. 1, 1964 after seven years as the city’s top firefighter, Orth said. 

“He was very, very well liked,” Orth said. “He attended Chief Reginald Garcia’s retirement, and he was here for the 100th anniversary badge ceremonies. He was also quite active in various firefighters’ organizations around the state.” 

Among his survivors is daughter Sandy Englund, who has served as secretary to several Berkeley city managers. 

Services were still pending at press time. 

New Station Groundbreaking 

Chief Orth invited the public to attend this Saturday’s groundbreaking for the city’s newest fire station at 3000 Shasta Road, just off Grizzly Peak Road in the Berkeley Hills. 

Ceremonies will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. 

The 6,920 square-foot station will provide additional protection to the fire-prone hills area and will house two full-size and two smaller engines. 

Crews Battle Freeway Fire  

Berkeley firefighters were summoned to battle a blaze on Interstate-80 at the University Avenue exit early Sunday after a tractor with two trailers crashed and burned on the freeway. 

Chief Orth said the accident was originally reported at 5:01 a.m. by a cell phone user who called 911, which is answered by the Highway Patrol, and mistakenly said the fire was in Albany. 

Albany firefighters arrived and quickly ran out of water before the blaze could be extinguished. They then called for help from Berkeley, which sent a ladder truck and three engines to supply additional water. 

The fire, ignited by a ruptured tank underneath the cab, destroyed the tractor and one of the two plywood-lined Fiberglas trailers. No one was injured in the incident. 

Southbound traffic was closed for nearly two hours, causing a jam that stretched back to Vallejo. Two lanes were opened at 6:45 a.m., and traffic flow was fully restored after firefighters finally left the scene at 8 a.m.

Armed Duo Cops Cash 

A pair of gun-toting baddies confronted a civilian outside Lee’s Market at 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Way at 12:39 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct., 14, demanding money. 

Having received same, they boogied. 

Gang of Four Scores Cellular 

A hapless pedestrian was relieved of his cell phone by a gang of four robbers near the corner of Hearst Avenue and Sacramento Street just after 5 p.m. on the 14th. 

The threat of an unseen gun was enough to convince their victim to surrender to their demand. 

BART Lot Purse Snatch 

A strongarm artist grabbed the purse of a woman walking through the east parking lot of the Ashby BART station shortly before 7 p.m. on the 14th. 

Freeway Shooting Probed 

A troubled San Pablo man rushed into the Berkeley Police Station just before 2 a.m. on the 15th to report that he’d been shot at while driving along Interstate-80 on the University Avenue overpass. 

Investigating officers found immediate verification in the bullet holes newly ventilating his vehicle. 

The driver told officers he was fired on by one of three occupants of a white Acura two-door sedan. The incident is still under investigation, said Berkeley Police Officer Steve Rego. 

Robbery by Intimidation 

A scruffy-looking fellow waited patiently in line at the Mechanics Bank branch at Shattuck Avenue and Bancroft Way just before 10:30 a.m. Saturday. 

When he reached the teller, his intimidating demand for cash was sufficient to enforce compliance. 

He was last seen beating the pavement northbound along Shattuck, police said. 

Hooded Gunman Robs Driver 

A man in a black hooded sweatshirt approached the driver in a car on San Luis Road near the corner of Arlington Avenue about 1:30 p.m. Saturday. He departed with a red satchel containing her wallet and other items, said Officer Rego. 

Scissors Stabber Grabbed 

After a disturbed homeless man stabbed him with a pair of scissors near the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street early last Sunday afternoon, the victim and an eyewitness chased down the 39-year-old suspect and held him down until police could escort him to new quarters devoid of sharp and cutting things. 

The victim received only minor injuries, said Officer Rego. 

Barefoot Butt Booster 

A barefoot bandit, desperate for a smoke, strong-armed a pack of butts away from a hapless pedestrian walking along Shattuck Square at University Avenue just after 5:30 p.m. last Sunday. 

He was last seen bounding eastbound along University. 

Surly Book Booster 

A man with a thirst to read and an apparent shortage of cash helped himself to a bagful of books at the Barnes and Noble outlet at 2352 Shattuck Ave. around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. 

When a store employee followed him out the door, the book-booster’s surly threat turned a mere shoplift into a robbery. 

Police are still seeking the avid reader, described at a white male in his 50s wearing gray shorts and a black jacket. 

Gunman Hits Smog Pros 

A bandit stormed in Smog Pros at 3000 Shattuck Ave. just after 7 p.m. Wednesday, flashed the pistol he was carrying beneath his jacket and demanded cash. He was last seen fleeing on foot.Ã

SCHOOL FUNDING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Berkeley Public Education Foundation, which has voted unanimously to support Measure B. 

California is more diverse than any state in the union—yet for 30 years we have stubbornly stayed at the bottom in funding our schools to teach all students well. We are 45th in the nation in per-student spending, dead last for school libraries, and $22 per student for textbooks. 

Since 1986, Berkeley has risen above this sorry state. The Berkeley Schools Excellence project (BSEP), a tax based on square-footage for homes and business properties, adds $10 million each year—10 percent of the School District’s budget—to fund specific priorities including smaller classes, books, and music instruction. 

In recent years, however, the will of Berkeley voters—more than 80 percent of whom have supported BSEP every time it’s on the ballot—has been thwarted. Skyrocketing costs and devastating state cuts have enlarged our class sizes and forced painful cuts everywhere. 

Measure B is a two-year emergency response to the educational needs of today’s students and teachers. Its governance is based on BSEP which, with its specific direction for use of funds and its duly elected Planning and Oversight Committee, stands as a model of responsible fiscal management. 

We commend our School Board Directors for their leadership in presenting us with the choice between watching our schools fail because of forces outside our control, or once again coming together as a community to provide all our children with a decent education. 

Trina Ostrander  

Executive Director, 

Berkeley Public Education Foundation  

• 

DERBY STREET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“If you don’t think that the city should donate Derby Street to BUSD to build a ball field for varsity athletes, should you vote against funding measures, and if so, for city or school district? It’s confusing.” And made more so by the editor of this newspaper when no councilmembers, school board members, school or city staff or any organized sports group I am aware of is suggesting the city donate anything to BUSD to develop a ball field at this location. Is there a source for this idea or just something the editor made up to sell newspapers? 

Doug Fielding 

Chairperson, Association of Sports Field Users  

• 

FREE SPEECH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The coverage of the week of FSM events last week—before, during, and after the event—was wonderful, and the planning committee thanks all of you, especially Richard Brenneman, for their good work. This hometown icon of free speech was well served by our terrific hometown newspaper. 

Joan Levinson, for the FSM Planning Committee 

• 

MENTAL HEALTH  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Concerning Proposition 63; There may be hundreds of misrepresentations by those who want their opinions in print. You’ve heard the expression “opinions are like assholes‚ everyone has one”? I particularly refer to those who forward insensitive, probably unread, mail on the Internet. 

Investigation of the other side of an opinion (in other words, keeping an open mind) is usually not considered.  

I’ve been interested in mental health since age 20 when I was hospitalized as manic-depressive. Fortunately, I had excellent care and recovered. 

Never having been asked for money as with other diseases, I’m disturbed by arguments against Prop 63 which could provide a portion of money necessary to help repair the contributors of physical disease, as well as our minds. Please consider the vets, your neighbors and family who suffer mentally—then dig deep in your hearts and pockets for them, as well as the National Alliance for Mental Health. While you’re at it, vote YES on Prop 63. 

Joy A. Flaherty 

• 

ELECTION READING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If you would like to read about fraud and deception on the California electorate with respect to some of the state propositions on the Nov. 2 ballot, read the joint letters to the California Secretary of State and the Contra Costa County election officer dated Oct. 1, 4 and the Oct. 6 letter to said election officer. 

For example, Sec. 19(f), Art. IV of the California Constitution authorizes the governor to negotiate and conclude Tribal-State gaming compacts. The governor is the person designated as a matter of law. At present there is no such person in office and that creates a real problem with respect to propositions 68 and 70 on the Nov. 2 ballot, both of which deal with time limits with respect to amendment of existing compacts. 

With respect to Proposition 68, under present circumstances it is impossible for the Indian tribes to know with whom to negotiate within 90-day period set forth in that proposition. The lieutenant governor is a possibility except for the fact that there is proof that Gray Davis was improperly recalled. Also, it is impossible for Indian tribes to know with whom to negotiate with respect to the 30-day provision in Proposition 70. For this and other reasons the demand was made to remove said Provisions from the Nov. 2 ballot. 

In the aforementioned letters you can also read about fraud and deceit with respect to propositions 1A, 60A, 66 and 69. 

Raymond Hawkins  

Kensing 

• 

CANDIDATE FORUM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Recently at a candidates’ forum, the choice for District 3 was made abundantly clear. Max Anderson is clearly the right choice.  

Here’s what happened: While Max Anderson was listening to and answering questions, his opponent, Laura Menard exhibited behavior common in adolescents. Max’s intelligent and thoughtful answers showed he knows the issues, has more experience than his opponent, and wants to include a broad range of residents in his decision-making process. When it was Laura Menard’s turn to answer questions, Max listened attentively to what she had to say.  

In stark contrast, when it was Max’s turn to speak, what did Laura do? She giggled and held side conversations with her supporters. She did anything but listen. It was quite disruptive. Does Laura think she knows all the answers? Or is she simply rude and disrespectful? The display of rudeness was offensive and appalling. It reflects a lack of respect and concern for her potential constituents.  

Before attending this forum, I barely knew either candidate. But I sure learned a lot from their behavior. One of them is respectful toward others, even if their views might be different than his. The other candidate apparently doesn’t care to listen to differing opinions or views; only to opinions and views that are similar to her own.  

Now, if you live in District 3, who would you want representing you? Someone who listens? Or someone who will shut you out? Someone who will address your concerns, or someone who will only address concerns she shares? What if your concerns are not the same as Laura’s?  

We’ve had quite a few years in South Berkeley of no one listening to our concerns. It’s time for us to be represented by someone who listens. Let’s not waste any votes or the next four years on someone who won’t listen. I learned many important reasons to vote for Max, but this one stuck out above all the rest. 

Marcy Greenhut 

• 

BROWER LEGACY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in support of the Spaceship Earth Memorial to David Brower.  

This stone and bronze sculpture will enhance the proposed location at the Berkeley Marina. It will encourage tourists and visitors to the area.  

As a member of Earth Island Institute, I became aware of the project when the sculptor, Eino, met with David, members of his family and leaders of Earth Island Institute in the year 2000. All gave their enthusiastic support. A private donor also met with David and his family, and agreed to underwrite the cost of the monument, as well as the site preparation and development. The sculpture is being donated to the City of Berkeley as a gift. 

David Brower was born in Berkeley. He had a profound impact on creating numerous national parks and seashores, preserving millions of acres of America’s wild lands for future generations, and raising world consciousness about the fragility of our ecosystem. Through this unique sculpture David Brower’s message will be carried to this and future generations. 

I foresee that the Berkeley community will be proud to have this monument to David Brower on the proposed site. 

The pieces of precision-cut stone used to create the globe are remarkable because of their blue color, which resembles the earth as seen from outer space. This stone and the bronze figure of David Brower reaching protectively over the globe reminds us of his words: “We are all together on spaceship earth. There are no connecting flights, no stops, infinite destinations, and no passengers—only crew.” 

I hope the Berkeley community embraces the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy to the internationally acclaimed environmentalist David Brower. 

Sheila Maxwell 

• 

FUTURE DOWNTOWN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I always enjoy your editorials, agreeing with some points, not with others. However, “Sending a Message to Officialdom” (Daily Planet, Oct. 12-14) has a glaring error, and I would like to set the record straight. 

You stated that the Economic Development Department was responsible for axing Edy’s Ice Cream Parlor. Not true. The Edy’s I loved when I went to Berkeley High School and afterwards had long-departed years before the Eddie Bauer proposal came on the scene. There were other owners that had taken it over, changed it from a wonderful ice cream parlor to an aging sandwich shop, and couldn’t make a go of it. Finally the very last owner went out of business before the Eddie Bauer store deal was finalized. The agent for the building’s owner offered this last owner another location in the Downtown, but he refused saying he didn’t have the customers and sadly didn’t know where he would find them. If the real, beloved Edy’s had been around, I would have moved heaven and earth for it to stay at their original corner location, and Eddie Bauer would have had to wrap around it. 

This whole issue shows how hard it is to attract retail to a struggling downtown. A few stores like Eddie Bauer were willing to take a chance on an historic downtown instead of a mall surrounded with loads of free parking. However, no one anticipated the economic downturn that closed retail outlets and placed a greater reliance on Internet sales for which the city receives no sales tax revenue. 

I hope that you keep raising issues about development in Berkeley. There are few to none willing to stand up and say the time has come to take a good, hard look at where this city is headed. It seems much too dense to me and that the conversation about our future has been delayed for far too long. It isn’t good for our neighborhoods, or for our economic future.  

Shirley Dean 

• 

HOMELAND HEALTH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There’s more to “homeland security” than invoking patriot acts‚ and swaggering across the globe wreaking havoc in the name of freedom. 

The systemic problems involved in the production of the flu vaccine found by the BMHA (British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) at the Chiron plant are a case in point and indicative of our current administration’s broken philosophy regarding healthcare. Not only does this debacle reflect on the Bush-Cheney laissez-faire approach to healthcare, but it illustrates their visceral lack of concern for the American people. The very least they could have done was to ensure that the high priority patients were, in fact, given such access to the limited supply of vaccine now available.  

Instead, what we now have is virtual bedlam. Just locating a place that is administering the shot is like trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack. There is virtually no centralized listing anywhere helping those in most critical need of the inoculation locate a nearby store or medical facility where the vaccine is available. Yesterday, at a Safeway in Alameda, there were 500 people lined up at nine in the morning to the tune of 200 available flu shots!  

The government has an obligation to make sure that clinics dealing with high risk patients have the vaccine on hand before it is served up to anyone at our supermarkets. But most clinics don’t have the buying power of these mega-corporations and have been “outbid” for the meager supply of the vaccine. Apparently, this president and his cronies are content, once again, to let “market forces” rule the day—as if we were talking toothpaste or cereal here. After all, they probably have received their “high priority” vaccinations. Unfortunately they are inoculated not only against the flu, but against any credible concern for the well being of the American people. After all, homeland security starts with homeland health! 

Marc Winokur 

Oakland  

• 

HILLSIDE CLUB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When Mrs. Maybeck, Mrs. Keeler, and other women founded Berkeley’s Hillside Club in 1898 they hoped to encourage a creative integration of manmade and natural environments. Nobody could ever have been more sensitive to preserving trees, creeks and hillsides than these women and their husbands. As Berkeley grew, they envisioned a city that would resemble an Italian hill town—streets would curve to accommodate the natural terrain and houses would be sited and designed as integral parts of the landscape. The city wisely followed their lead. For example, in laying out our streets, a section of Le Roy Avenue was divided to preserve what has come to be called Annie’s (Mrs. Maybeck’s) Oak: now a City of Berkeley landmark. 

Much of Berkeley’s beauty and charm comes from the legacy of the Hillside Club. Berkeley’s cookie cutter, one size fits all approach to legislating a building’s relationship to an urban creek seems more appropriate to the shopping mall or development tract than to our very beautiful hill town. The fact that in Berkeley today Frank Lloyd Wright would be denied a permit to build the Kaufmann House, Fallingwater, should encourage us to think more carefully about the wording of our creek ordinance. Berkeley should have guidelines for development near waterways. But an ordinance that respects the natural environment, the built environment and the spirit of man’s creativity should have flexibility. It should welcome creative, well engineered, and well-designed projects that define their own relationship to their unique settings. 

Robert Kehlmann  

• 

ROSE/ HEMPHILL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a teacher in the Berkeley Schools for the last 18 years, I strongly urge people to vote for Kalima Rose and Karen Hemphill for the Berkeley School Board. The Berkeley Teacher’s Union (BFT) has endorsed Kalima and Karen.  

After listening to a couple of presidential debates and a couple of school board debates, I am left with a sense of Alice in Wonderland-ness. It seems that people can say whatever they want and because of the constraints of the debate there is no way to challenge the truth of what anyone is saying! I mention the debates because we have heard many statements from the incumbents that are just not true. We in the district have not been able to change the state of education in this city. The children who are poor, and/or of color still do not succeed. The high school is perhaps more separate and unequal than before (certainly not less). There are serious problems of violence and disengagement at the middle schools. At all levels school teachers are struggling to meet their children’s academic needs, be their advocates in times of crisis and generally help them to cope with a world which at best ignores them and at worst purposely blocks their progress. 

Kalima and Karen will bring a welcome presence to the Berkeley schools. They understand the issues, not only because they are parents in the school system, but also because they are thoughtful, intelligent people who ask questions and listen to the answers. They are part of a movement to transform our schools beyond test scores and beyond rhetoric by looking at the realities of the children, their families and communities, at the data and research that we have so much of and don’t use. Perhaps no one here has maliciously placed our children at such risk, but it is time to step away from business as usual and bring onto the board and into our system, two people who recognize the urgency of the situation and give us hope that we can do better. We need to start uniting around specific issues that we have carefully analyzed. We need to act, with the scary understanding that it is not going to be safe or easy. We know that many of our students are at severe risk of failure. They are beautiful, they are smart, they are full of energy, they are deep and wise and hurt and angry and black and brown, and many of them will not make it. On their behalf all of us need to vote for Kalima Rose and Karen Hemphill and to be there after they win to support them in supporting our children. 

Liz Fuentes  

• 

NO NEW TAXES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’ve always found it amusing that the City of Berkeley uses a segment of a mural featuring the facial features of four men as its unofficial logo, a rather sexist image for this liberal bastion. However, if the city’s mural now on national tour is worth a reported million dollars, perhaps its sale could be a nice chunk of change for this city’s own artfully designed budget coffers. Sadly its sale would still not alleviate the burden the city’s power elite thirsts to place on the backs of working and retired residents with their bold brush strokes of new tax measures in the upcoming election. But who cares. At least they have fashioned them under a banner of library books and ambulances. Indeed, the city power structure might think about marketing its skill of financial irresponsibility with Bush and his puppeteers in Washington. 

Bruce McMurray  

• 

BUSH’S RECORD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The majority of white evangelical Christians are supporting President Bush for re-election because they feel that he is a good Christian. What is so good about this president being a Christian when he wants to drill oil on the Arctic National Wildlife in Alaska, which is home of the G’wish people? What is so good about him being a Christian when he wants to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which is home of the Western Shoshone people? 

What is so good about this president being a Christian when he wants to relax both the “Clean Water Act” and “Clean Air Act” which preserve both clean water and clean air around the country? His actions will result in both dirty water and dirty air around the country. Finally, what is so good about this president being a Christian when he put in a segregationist judge, Charles Pickering to the 5th Circuit Court, which covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi? 

In conclusion, when the majority of white evangelical Christians are supporting President Bush for re-election because they feel he is a good Christian, it doesn’t surprise me. These same white evangelical Christians had been using their religion to commit violent acts against other people who don’t share their belief. They are following the path their ancestors did against American Indians for more than 500 years ago. 

Billy Trice,  

Oakland  

• 

UNFAIR ORDINANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As I read the comments in the paper, the emails and attend the meetings, I am struck by the attempts to legitimize an illegitimate creek ordinance. One that was passed without proper notice to the stakeholders (those of us who are stewards of the creeks as they cross our private property). 

The Creek Ordinance should be rescinded with respect to private property. The Planning Department and Commission can then re-consider the issues affecting the city, its creeks and the citizens. The Planning Director has proposed a phased approach to re-consideration to that sounds fair and reasonable. That work, completed under the oversight of the Planning Commission, would allow the creation of a creeks ordinance that permits all interested parties to participate. 

Among other outcomes, such a process allows a full and fair evaluation of the city’s waterways, including the cost to maintain them. 

Mischa Lorraine 

• 

DUGAR FOR SELAWSKY  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I told myself that I was going to stay a neutral party during this year’s school board race as only one candidate truly amazes me. But after reading your article “Incumbents Face Stiff Challenge In School Board Race” by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor (Oct. 15-18) I know I just can’t do that. The school board is single handedly the most important elected position that our citizens elect. It is a position that directly effects the youth of our community for at least the next 50 years.  

The thought of Karen Hemphill on the school board terrifies me. I have sat down with her several times to try and convince myself that she is what is needed on the board. But I cannot and will not vote for someone just because they are black. Karen has values and thoughts that change like the wind.  

While we are faced with the lesser of several evils I had to voice my opinion and let the world know that I am endorsing and voting for Kalima Rose and John Selawsky.  

With Berkeley High School headed towards small schools we need a board member who is truly involved and dedicated to small schools and seeing them further develop into a tool that can be utilized by all races and classes of students. Kalima Rose is that person. 

While I have not agreed with a lot of what John Selawsky has done on the board, we know where he stands. We know what positions we must place pressure on him to support. We know that he is someone who is visible in the schools and in the community. He brings to the board the views and values of the Green Party, which in “progressive Berkeley,” are needed to bring a sense of ideas from all sides.  

Finally I will not be voting for Karen Hemphill because, if we are going to be asked to elect someone to the school board because we need a person of color on the board let’s make sure that they represent our black staff. Let’s make sure that they have met with the black teachers who feel they are not represented by the BFT.  

If we are going ahead with small schools we need someone on the board who is not wishy-washy on small schools.  

Finally I am not voting for Karen Hemphill because our community cannot afford to have someone we cannot trust on board. 

Sean Dugar 

Former Chair, City of Berkeley Youth Commission 

Las Vegas, NV 

• 

CALL FOR REVISION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a concerned citizen and property owner in Berkeley who very much cares about the community and the environment in which it is situated, I would like to see the Berkeley Creek Ordinance revisited and revised. 

I would like to see this revision reflect the best science and ecological knowledge available to preserve and responsibly maintain our creeks and the habitat they support. I do not believe that this kind of considered, intelligent stewardship should be a threat to our own properties as has been so misleadingly suggested by certain council members but, on the contrary, it would best preserve and maintain them as well. 

To this end, I want to see an independent commission formed that would utilize the most knowledgeable and dedicated talent we have. The Berkeley Planning Commission does not have the full range of expertise or the overall breadth and depth of perspective to meet this end. 

Christine Walter  

• 

NEW CREEK ORDINANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing about our existing Creeks Ordinance and the need to update it. Such update should be handled through an independent city-wide task force that includes stakeholders from all the interested and affected members of our community. 

Clearly, the Planning Commission has neither the expertise nor the credibility to shepherd this process. 

Please then appoint an independent task force to revisit and update our Creeks Ordinance. 

An observation—Councilmember Wozniak has unnecessarily inflamed this discussion by intentionally distorting the positions of others. It makes civil discourse that much more difficult when someone in his position resorts to misrepresentation. Most of us are involved in this issue because we hope to shape a good outcome for the city and not because we have hidden personal agendas, as apparently does Councilmember Wozniak. Would that he could rise to the occasion. 

John Murcko, Esq. 

• 

PUBLIC ENDORSEMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was surprised and disappointed to read of Kalima Rose’s unfair and inaccurate criticism of School Board member John Selawsky (Daily Planet, Oct. 15-18.) 

When Kalima called me to see if I would be an endorser of her campaign in the ballot handbook, I told her that I thought Selawsky had done an outstanding job. She told me that she agreed with my assessment and that Selawsky was supportive of her running. I publicly endorsed Kalima because I thought she would be an excellent replacement for incumbent Joaquin Rivera, giving Selawsky another strong ally on the Board. 

Kalima’s attempt to blame John Selawsky for budget problems that preceded his tenure and whose responsibility lies at the state and federal levels is simply wrong. To the contrary, John has done everything in his power to keep our school system afloat in the face of drastic funding cuts to the district. 

I saw John Selawsky’s commitment to kids firsthand when our children were both at Oxford School, and I have closely followed his work at the School Board. His dedication to the children of Berkeley is unsurpassed, and we should feel grateful that John has been willing to put in so many hours in what in these budget times has truly become a thankless job. 

In the School Board race, voters can select two candidates. John Selawsky should be every voter’s first choice. 

Randy Shaw  

• 

DISTRICT 3 CHANGES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a District 3 resident and new homeowner, and long-time Berkeley citizen, it is truly disappointing to see City Council District 3 candidate Laura Menard attempt to make activities of the homeless and poor at Berkeley Drop-In Center an election issue this year. Once again a conservative running for the council is drumming up animosity toward those most vulnerable--for political gain.  

This is reminiscent of the “bad old days” of former mayor Shirley Dean’s ugly 1998 campaign where the Telegraph Avenue homeless were targeted and arrested in large numbers because it was politically popular to do so—and win. Shame on Menard for stooping to these tactics.  

District 3 is by any stretch of the imagination going through changes. A long-standing African American neighborhood, anyone can see that gentrification is quickly resulting in the sale of many homes of black families who have lived in the community for generations to white families. On our block at least three houses were sold in 2003/04, ALL to young white couples. As one of those couples, we bought our home from an African-American family who had owned it since 1944—sixty years. 

With all of the change this district faces, it is truly a time for careful listening by any District 3 City Council candidate. Listening to long-time residents, listening to lower-income people struggling to stay here in the face of higher and higher costs of living, listening to the plurality of all who make up this area now. From this deep listening a candidate might develop a positive and inclusive vision for moving the district forward in its present context.  

Yet, with all due respect, when Menard came to our house precinct walking, she spent nearly 30 minutes talking AT US about her views. She had many opinions (she said she had lived in District 3 a long time) but never took the time to LISTEN to our concerns, or thoughts, or to get a sense of how we viewed the neighborhood. Instead, she went quickly to her agenda: the need to close the Berkeley Drop-In Center, arrest the dealers and criminals, and implied, more or less sweep the unsightly poor out of the area. She voiced her belief that the neighborhood had for too long been a dumping ground for special needs populations—without exploring our views on homelessness and poverty. She even referred to those who supported Tom Bates (ourselves!) as the “Bates Machine.”  

Prior to Menard’s visit, I had not given a lot of thought to whom to support for District 3’s council seat, and felt truly quite open to learning about the candidates. But afterward I felt genuinely AFRAID. Not afraid of the drug dealers, or of the homeless and poor who are active in the Berkeley Drop-In Center...I was afraid of what might happen to District 3 if someone like Laura Menard actually won. I was appalled by her political opportunism in attempting to appeal to the fears of home owners (myself included) and by her inability to listen at a time so filled with change for this neighborhood. Laura Menard would be a truly frightening choice as District 3 City Council Person.  

Sally Hindman  

• 

TEST SCORE PROGRESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On behalf of the progress and the wonderful work made by our students and staff, I am compelled to respond to the article by J. Douglas Allan-Taylor (Daily Planet, Oct. 15-18) regarding the school board race. Mr. Allan-Taylor asserts that my statement at a recent forum that African American and Latino students have made “humongous progress” in test scores is an exaggeration. At the forum, I clearly indicated that I was referring to the growth at our elementary schools over a five-year period (1999, the year the state started its accountability system, to 2003, the last year for which we have disaggregated data); Mr. Allan-Taylor misleadingly uses only the last two years of data to refute my claim. The data from 1999-2003 show that the test scores of African American, Hispanic and socio-economically disadvantaged students have increased at a faster rate than those of their white and Asian counterparts at almost every elementary school in the district. In most cases the growth for these three groups has been more than 100 points, and in some schools more than 200 points. As I stated at the forum, this proves that we are in fact closing the achievement gap. 

Although the term “humongous” can be open for interpretation, minimizing this growth is a disservice to the students that have made measurable progress and to the hardworking teachers that have helped in this accomplishment. I urge the readers and Mr. Allan-Taylor to look at this data that is available at the California Department of Education web site, the district office or by contacting me at jrivera2004@pac 

bell.net. 

Despite this progress, the challenge to eliminate the achievement gap remains. Now that the board has balanced the district’s budget and strengthened our financial systems I am looking forward to our focus, once again, on improving student achievement. We must expand the successful programs that we have implemented at the elementary schools to the middle and high schools. I wholeheartedly pledge to continue working hard, as I have done during my tenure on the board, to improve the achievement of all students and to bring the scores of all students to a higher, equal level. 

Joaquín J. Rivera, School Board Director  

• 

LIBRARY MEASURE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read David Wilson’s and Dean Metzger’s letter on Measure L with great astonishment. How can these two men continue to attempt to misinform the community about the city’s audit of the Berkeley Public Library after the City Auditor told them clearly and specifically that their statements were wrong?  

The Library Board has managed the library carefully and well. Berkeley has one of the finest public libraries in all of California. When the renovated library opened in 2002, the Library Board did not request one additional cent to run a building twice the size of the old library. They maximized their resources in order to be responsible to the public. Now, statewide economic problems have forced them to cut Sunday hours, evening hours and to reduce the book budget. Measure L would restore the hours and the book budget at the cost of $41 to the average taxpayer.  

If Mr. Metzger and Mr. Wilson are concerned about increases in taxes, let them argue that. But to continue to provide misinformation, to continue to use what they have been informed is false, is not in the best interests of the voters of Berkeley. 

Marian Drabkin  

• 

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The creek advocacy groups in Berkeley have in the past plied that advocacy quietly, if not secretively, with little public awareness or involvement. There can be no doubt, however, that they have useful contributions to make to the city’s further planning about creeks, in terms of knowledge, resources, and helpful contacts. The Planning Commission will be free ask for those contributions in open, public meetings, where they may be heard and considered by all interested parties—especially by the homeowners of creek properties who ultimately must be, as they are now, the custodians of the creeks. The Planning Commission 

should be the venue of this open process. The City Council will decide this at the 10/19 meeting. Be there.  

Jerry Landis  

• 

NO ON MEASURE B 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I’m opposed to Measure B, because it’s seems like a bait and switch tax measure. 

We give the school system more and more money, but the programs, such as small class size, libraries, music, etc. never have a net gain. Instead, the school system just cuts the money it now uses to fund libraries and small class size, and uses that money for something else, like $30,000 a year pay raises for administrators. And then they come back and say, the schools need more money. 

This type of bait and switch happened with the lottery. We were told that the money would go for education. Well, the lottery money went for education, but the legislature used their general fund money which used to go for education, for something else, so education never really had any real benefit. 

Class sizes in Berkeley have increased because the school district has cut its contribution for small class size, libraries, and other programs.  

Right now our current extra school taxes pay for almost 17 percent of all teacher salaries, and even so class sizes are large because the school system has used their share of the general fund money to pay for things like the food service director a six figure salary and paying the $3 million dollars of budget deficit in food services she keeps creating. 

I don’t want to vote for Measure B, which will double our school taxes, and end up with nothing improved. For even higher taxes for the Berkeley school system I want to know that the Berkeley school district guarantees to maintain its share of the funding for class size reduction, and libraries and music. How many more teachers will be hired with higher taxes? What is the guaranteed class size? How much music will students get? 

The school district needs to rewrite Measure B and answer these questions. Include elected parent and teacher participation and oversight in budget decisions at all levels. Get rid of the cut for overhead. And include a guarantee of no bait and switch. Until then, vote No on Measure B. 

Peter Dumas  

• 

BART ALTERNATIVES 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The recent article titled “Commute looks bleak minus BART” poses an impossibility to supposedly make the point for voting to support the current BART bond issue on the ballot. 

The article disregards the ability of buses to take up the slack by using HOV lanes. Before BART, AC Transit was carrying 58 percent of the peak hour passengers on the Bay Bridge with 300 buses per hour that were traveling 12 seconds apart, using 1/5th of a lane. (Lane capacity is 1500 to 1800 vehicles per hour.) 

This article also overlooks the possibility of spontaneous carpools forming everywhere with people holding up signs showing their destinations and offering to pay. 

I believe other studies have shown that BART has had minimal impact on freeway traffic in general. 

All this disregards the benefit of the many Tranportation Systems Management (TSM) alternatives which would have major impacts on traffic congestion: 

One study by Vince Desimone of the use of a four-day week, with staggered weekends (Mon-Thurs., Tues-Fri. & Wed.-Sat.) would wipe out the congestion on Los Angeles freeways. Just staggered working hours, and or peak hour tolls could work wonders. 

Better facilities for buses, with bus stops at each freeway interchange; a bus transfer facility at the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza; with buses picking up passengers near their homes, batching up at the Toll Plaza, and running right straight to destinations would form a whole network of buses that would be far more convenient than BART. 

BART has so many problems it really needs to be completely rebuilt. The top priority should be for a flood gate where the BART tunnel enters San Francisco ninety feet below Market where water may run as far as the 16th Street station if the tunnel is breached. 

Charles Smith 

• 

BART PARKING FEE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

At a BART meeting in April, BART operations committee director Joel Keller stated that the wishes of Berkeley, or any local community served by BART, could definitely influence BART board parking policy in the future. 

But now we know how far that influence goes before it stops. Even though the Berkeley City Council subsequently endorsed converting all free parking at the North Berkeley and Ashby stations to paid parking, BART staff has rejected such a move, even though a premature fare increase is coming in 2005 to help cover rising costs that include parking. 

BART staff takes the position that any new parking fees should be accompanied by some increased value or service to motorists. But non-motorists could pay the tab for new parking services as well. In early 2005, staff is planning on implementing a new parking validation program at North Berkeley, yet plans to provide this service free to motorists, passing along the entire cost of this service to all riders, instead of directly to motorists who would benefit from the program. Even though the North Berkeley BART station fills up every weekday and certainly would continue to do so with parking charges in place for every space. 

For more details on this recently-revealed BART staff position, see www.groups.yahoo.com/ 

group/bart-parking-charges. 

I would hope this becomes an election issue within Berkeley. There’s too much talk from the BART District 3 candidates of using any new parking revenues to add new services, and not enough talk about using new parking revenues to cover the existing (rising) costs of providing parking at BART. 

Scott Mace  

• 

YES ON MEASURE B 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

When many high school classes have upwards of 40 students, or that our elementary and middle classes have 35-plus, we cannot ignore why Berkeley’s Measure B parcel tax was written. When we know that the library and music programs support the curriculum and that teacher-training and parent-outreach is essential, we cannot deny the importance of Measure B to our families. Measure B is the community’s grandest bake sale and your “yes” vote will raise money for our community’s children. Consider your own school experiences: was class size important? We cannot afford inadequately prepared students. It is our responsibility, as members of this village, to raise our children.  

Measure B is a Berkeley parcel tax measure designed to serve our public school students for two years. Measure B will benefit the school district by $8.3 million for two years and will pay for: 

• reducing class size—$5.6 million (68 percent) 

• staffing libraries at elementary schools, adding more librarians to middle and high schools—$1.3 million (16 percent)  

• expanding music programs & reducing class sizes—$600,000 (7 percent)  

• teacher training hours; evaluating learning programs; parent outreach—$750,000 (9 percent) 

Measure B will be controlled by an independent Planning and Oversight committee, comprised of school, staff, community members, very similar to the oversight required by the BSEP Measure. As with the BSEP measure passed almost 10 years ago, this community-governed committee structure serves as a model for the nation. 

For two years only, Measure B will tax residential property owners 9.7 cents per square foot (about $8/ month or $97/ year based on 1000 sq. ft. of house size) and 14.7 cents per square foot for commercial property owners. Exempt from the tax are our low-income senior citizens.  

On behalf of our children, and as a Berkeley property owner, my vote on Measure B is an unequivocal “yes” and I hope you, too, will value the preparedness of our children. 

AnaLuisa Quiñonez  

• 

NO REGRETS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

My endorsement of John Selawsky for re-election to the Berkeley School Board is based on my direct experience working with him. Four years ago I endorsed John for election, and I do not regret it. John has proven himself to be an excellent school board director. 

I know that John’s highest priority in the district is academic excellence for all children, but his vision and energies do not end there. John authored the nation’s first ban on irradiated foods in school lunch programs and has worked with Children’s Hospital and Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Foundation to address the epidemic of child obesity and diabetes in school-aged youth. 

As School Board President John has been invaluable in assisting me and others in building a solar energy curriculum in the Berkeley Schools. He has also been in discussions with CAFA, Community Action to Fight Asthma, and the EPA, to develop a better, more effective District response to the growing incidences of childhood asthma.  

John is dedicated to working with the community. When the School District announced it was moving the Adult School to the 

Franklin School site, it was John who worked patiently with my constituents, for months, to address their concerns. John is 

always well informed, listens carefully, and has been an excellent partner working with the city, county and state agencies. He can be relied on to make sure promises are delivered. I hope you will join me in supporting John Selawsky for a second term, so he can continue his work for our children and our community. 

Linda Maio  

• 

HATS OFF TO GORDON 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

At last, an upbeat and reasonably objective article on the city’s downtown. Gordon’s one of the few knowledgeable real estate professionals that has put his money where his mouth is, by repeatedly investing in and restoring rundown properties in Berkeley. He has done a lot to enhance the slow but increasingly visible renaissance of the downtown. My hat’s off to him. 

Michael Yovino-Young  

• 

REGRESSIVE MEASURE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Measure Q promotes the sex industry under the cynical guise of helping women. However, the real beneficiaries of Measure Q are johns, pimps, and traffickers. Measure Q preys on the progressive impulse to assist women in prostitution in a deceptive ploy to profit johns, pimps, and traffickers. Decriminalization of this sort is not the solution to helping women in prostitution and rather, exacerbates and worsens the problem resulting in an increase in illegal, hidden, street and child prostitution as well as sex trafficking. This has been well documented in other countries where prostitution has been decriminalized and legalized.  

Measure Q would not provide women in prostitution with greater opportunities, safety, and resources nor would it reduce stigma, sexual violence and coercion, or health risks. There are $0 in this measure for programs that protect and serve women. Rather, this measure would expand the scope of harm and normalize the paid sexual exploitation of the most vulnerable and victimized in our communities.  

It’s time that Berkeley progressives support and promote a real and truly progressive alternative! Decriminalize the women in prostitution and arrest the perpetrators—pimps, johns, procurers, and traffickers! Let’s offer women and children in prostitution real choices. Persons in prostitution need housing, social services, medical treatment, and job training. That’s what they should receive—not decriminalization of their exploiters. The enactment of a 1999 Swedish law criminalizes pimps, brothels, and other sex establishments, but does not punish or criminalize women in prostitution. This law has been successful in decreasing the number of women prostituting by allocating extensive funding for social services and decreasing the number of men buying and selling human beings for sex and profit. Measure Q will not do this.  

Measure Q is regressive, not progressive! Vote no on Measure Q on November 2nd! 

Garine Roubinian, Oakland  

• 

CUTS AND RAISES 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Shirley Issel’s letter to the editor exhorting the necessity of Measure B, made some very odd points. Issel stated that the Board of Education has deliberately cut funding for libraries, music, and teachers. Perhaps these cuts were designed to specifically create the shortfalls that they claim are the reasons we need to pass Measure B. Curiously, during this period of cuts, the Board of Education gave the administrators large raises. The superintendent’s raise totals $30,000 a year, about what a starting teacher earns in one year. I guess it would be hard to justify a parcel tax measure to give the superintendent a raise, so music, libraries and teachers were put on the chopping block. Seems rather underhanded. Vote No on Measure B. 

Marta Diaz  

• 

THOU SHALT NOT KILL 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Bush and Cheney are Unchristian! 

As we move into the final days of the presidential campaign, Bush and Cheney are struggling to recover from their debate losses and to portray the debacle of Iraq as a victory. Due perhaps to an excess of charity, Kerry and Edwards have not attacked the hypocritical attempts of Bush to curry the favor of Christians and the fundamentalist right. How can Bush and Cheney claim to be Christians while they conduct an immoral and unjust war against Iraq and trample upon the needs of the sick, the young, and the poor of the USA? Does any Christian still believe that there was a verifiable basis for an unprovoked attack upon a sovereign nation with the resultant death, maiming, and suffering of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women, and children and brave USA and Coalition service men and women? Bush and Cheney have forgotten the sacred commandment: “Thou shall not kill.” 

But there is more. Bush and Cheney have financially gutted our already pitiably inadequate federal aid programs in support of the health, education and welfare of the most needy among us. In place of governmental responsibility, Bush and Cheney wish the sectarian private sector to step into the breach. This is an egregious mischaracterization of the role of our religious institutions. Our country is a democracy, not a theocracy. The chief executive cannot foist his social responsibilities upon our religious institutions. The appeal for faith based initiatives is a callous device to deny our citizenry the federal assistance to which they are entitled. 

Bush says that Jesus talks to him. I suspect the voice he hears is the greed of the super-rich or something/someone far more sinister. 

Michael S. Esposito 

Richmond  

• 

A BERKELEY HERO 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

It is encouraging that the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission is moving in the direction of accepting the gift of the Spaceship Earth sculpture. They should. I am a Berkeley resident and was a very close associate of David Brower. I’ve also worked closely with the Brower family on ways to recognize the legacy that Mr. Brower has left. 

I’ve met the sculptor, discussed the detailed plans of the work, and seen the quartzite stone that the sculpture will be made of. It is a deep-blue color and a beautiful surface. The sculpture conveys an inspiring message and provides a phenomenal opportunity for interpreting Dave’s life and what he stood for to the public. It is particularly fitting that the sculpture should be in Berkeley. 

I’ve recently seen commentary criticizing the size and weight of Spaceship Earth, and think this is off the mark. Who really cares how much it weighs? And as for height, there are many places in and around the parks and waterfront of Berkeley where the trees are sixty or seventy feet tall and the 15-foot piece would hardly be dominant. 

Let’s give the okay for Spaceship Earth to recognize one of Berkeley’s true heroes and the planet he fought for. 

David C. Phillips  

• 

CANDIDATE STATEMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been grateful for the Daily Planet summaries of November election issues, and especially for the publication of local candidates’ statements. I’ve been here over thirty years, and I can’t remember the last time the local Council candidates and we citizens were given this opportunity. Thank you! 

As you know from a Commentary by me that you printed in May, I am, as a resident of District 3, concerned about BUSD proposals to close Derby Street in order to fence and lock up what WAS TO BE a multi-purpose field for several schools and many children. The field, including Derby Street, would become a hardball field SOLELY for the use of the Berkeley High School team. 

This would mean, not only fewer through streets in our heavily impacted traffic area, plus obstructed access from the firehouse on Derby and Shattuck, but dazzling night lights, a blaring sound system, and constant use of the field by outside teams renting it when it is not in use by the Berkeley High team. 

I understand from Laura Menard’s statement in the Daily Planet that she is against closure of Derby Street, and has an alternate plan. 

I understand that Maudelle Shirek has consistently opposed closure of Derby Street. 

I did not learn, from Max Anderson’s statement in the Daily Planet or from any of his campaign literature, what his position is. 

If Mr. Anderson is willing to give you a brief statement on this specific issue, I’m sure everyone in District 3 would be grateful to see it in the Daily Planet before election day. 

Dorothy Bryant  

• 

ROOMS TO LAST CENTURIES 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Any serious proposal by the planning firm hired currently to take public input and document a reasoned set of ideas for BHS south campus must include (at least) an alternate plan which will save the two large pool rooms and upgrade/remodel them. Two quite reputable structural engineers have told me the two pool room structures look good...look well-designed as building structures, ignoring superficial appearances and some needed new quake bracing for the moment. Two major BUSD structural studies—one flawed, the second more carefully detailed—supply me with added support for my belief they (the big pool rooms) should be saved.  

The structure of a building is the most expensive thing about it. It would be tragic to tear down two valuable two-floor high rooms, one with brand new wood roof on existing steel trusses and the second with new roof work soon to be underway (by the city). At about 12000 square feet, and several hundred dollars per square foot for new construction, maybe you get my drift. 

Steel frame buildings are easy to upgrade and add on new work. I’ve worked on several steel frame buildings from very large to medium-sized, new and old, as an architect. This is the best type of structure available today, and if well-maintained and braced, should last for centuries, not just a few decades. A little rust and a few broken windows are not sufficient reason to tear down this neglected part of the old gym building complex at BHS. 

Terry Cochrell  

• 

PROBLEMS WITH 71 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I favor embryonic stem cell research and federal funding for additional research beyond that approved by President Bush. However, I strongly oppose Prop 71 amending the Constitution to require the State of California to incur $3 billion in new debt (plus $3 billion in interest) for a “start-up” stem cell research institute. My reasons are as follows: 

1. California is in extreme fiscal distress having borrowed billions of dollars just to balance the state budget. 

2. The state is currently “stealing” property tax revenues from the cities and counties who are suffering their own fiscal shortfalls to pay for education, police and fire protection as well as a host of other community necessities. 

3. Proposition 71 has no provisions for accountability to the state government or to the taxpayers. 

4. The University of California, as one of the great research universities in the nation, is dependent on federal fudning for non-stem cell research and many other essential research programs. Under current federal law, the University risks the loss of all federal funding if it engages in embryonic stem cell research. A loss of or significan reduction in federal funding could do irreperable harm to the University. 

Finally, we should be careful what we wish for. 

Robert Nagle  

• 

BUSH NOT “CONSERVATIVE” 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

When George Bush need to, he presents himself as a moderate conservative. But he has consistently governed from the far right. We can see this by comparing his deeds with the words of Edmund Burke, the father of modern conservativism. 

Bush tells Americans to live in fear. Burke wrote: “No pasison so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” 

Bush encourages us to distrust Moslems and their religion. Burke wrote: “I do not know the method of drawing up an indictment against a whole people.” 

He rushed to war. Burke wrote: “Our patience will achieve more than our force.” 

He encourages the clergy to play a role in politics for which they lack training and competence. Burke wrote: “Politics and the pulpit are terms that have little agreement. No sound ought to be heard in the church but the healing voice of Christian charity.” 

Finally, Bush is actively hostile to our domestic institutions, and treats government as an enemy. Burke described government as “a contrivance of human wisdom” to provide for human needs, and wrote that people have a right to expect it to provide for human needs, and wrote that people have a right to expect it to provide services experience has shown they cannot provide for themselves. 

Phil McArdle  

• 

DOWNTOWN DISCUSSION 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

I’m wondering why John Gordon excludes those of us who live “below” Sacramento St. from his downtown Berkeley marketing area? Many of us do dare venture as far east as Shattuck Ave. , and (gasp) sometimes even farther. 

Karen Ball  

• 

EXPLODING STEREOTYPES 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

It was great to see a preview of Somewhere Elsewhere in the weekday Daily Planet (Oct. 19-21). The topic the exhibition addresses is timely. An examination of stereotype and its role in the perpetuation of racism is important, especially in the United States now. Social criticism is particularly resonant when it comes from artists. Their perspectives are often nuanced and complex.  

A related exhibition is on view at the Berkeley Art Center. “Death Bird,” “Fear Booth,” “Christian Soldier,” “Power to the People,” “Rainbow of Terror: Yellow Alert” are some of the provocative titles of artworks in the exhibition that runs through November 6. 

Topics addressed in the exhibition include the machinery of war, the manipulation and manufacture of fear, religious hypocrisy, racial profiling, as well as messages of peace. San Jose resident Dio Mendoza’s “Death Bird” is a large, ominous-looking and convincing replica of a rusted stealth bomber made mostly of paper. San Francisco’s Olof Aspelin has constructed a “Fear Booth,” into which the visitor steps and is confronted by imagery that the artist collected during his visit to the Republican Convention in August. Textiles are represented by Dixie Brown of Kentfield, whose soft sculptural bombs seduce and repel at the same time, and Thelma Smith of Arizona whose quilt “Salvation Navy” advises recycling.  

Remedios Rapaport of Portland, Oregon reminds us in her piece, “Power to the People,” that we have agency and strength when we unite. The three dimensional work, elaborately painted in the style of a 19th-century carousel, provides the viewer with a peep-hole through which we can view a vast crowd of protesters. Safai and Smith, two artists who work collaboratively, have constructed “Soupcart.” Last year they offered soup from it to everyone they encountered in downtown San Francisco, and produced the video that accompanies their piece. 

Nuala Creed was invited to make an ornament for the White House Christmas tree in 2002. Artists were asked to make a native bird from their state. Although Creed was “honored to be invited to submit [her] work,” she wished she could send a message describing her feelings about the President’s policies, but was afraid “my name could have ended up on some list other than the guest list.” Her nine ceramic hummingbirds suspended from the gallery ceiling represent the ornament she wishes she could have sent to the White House. 

The exhibition is free of charge and the public is invited to bring posters, flyers and ephemera to the gallery to post on the windows and walls of the lobby. The Berkeley Art Center is located at 1275 Walnut Street, gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 

Robbin Henderson 

Director, Berkeley Art Center  

• 

MITCHELL RESPONDS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Re Douglas Allen Taylor’s article (Daily Planet, Oct. 15-18) on the Berkeley School Board candidates: It is not up to Mr. Taylor to decide who is a viable candidate. It is up to the voters. I expect most voters will read my statement in the Voter’s Handbook, or my flier, or website, or go to a debate, or see one on BTV. Berkeley voters need to know that I am running against a political machine, and that I am the only independent candidate in the School Board race. 

Mr. Taylor wrote a very long article skipping my candidacy and issues entirely and unfairly for two reasons. One is that I have no financial contributors. I wanted none because I am an independent and intend to remain one. I needed none because my campaign is affordable. My flier is half a page on white paper, message, slogan, picture, phone number, website, and costs a penny each! 

The other reason Mr. Taylor dismissed my candidacy was his assumption that I have no endorsements. But that is untrue. I have been endorsed by neighborhood leaders such as Martha Nicoloff, author of the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance; Laurie Bright, President of the Council of Neighborhood Associations; John Denton, beloved former City Councilmember; Martha Jones, education and neighborhood activist; and other wonderful people from all parts of town. 

A “glitch” in my filing papers similar to the one that kept Maudelle Shirik off the ballot happened to me. In my case my endorsers were not permitted but I got on the ballot. I moved on thinking that issues matter most, and knowing Berkeley endorsement processes are cold old controlled machine politics. My website, www.merriliemitchell.org, has a new page on this subject, and you may click on “Greens” for a look behind the scenes.  

I am the only Berkeley School Board candidate endorsed by the statewide “Cops” organization, probably because I emphasize the connection between safe schools and neighborhoods in the Voter Handbook. I am a strong advocate for “Peace Officers” in Berkeley but under the political machine their numbers decrease and we lose community - friendly officers - walking, bike, and traffic cops, detectives, and crime prevention specialists. 

My campaign is about considering the needs of the children first, and politicians, last. 

Merrilie Mitchell  

• 

RIVERA FOR BOARD 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

As former Berkeley School Board members we are supporting Joaquín Rivera for re-election to the Berkeley School Board on November 2, 2004, and we urging the community do so as well. 

We recognize the importance of maintaining strong leadership and stability in our district within a city that has a long history of dedication to public education. Our district must have school board members who are not only intelligent, experienced and well-rounded in the field of education, but also passionate and committed to meeting the educational needs of our diverse student body. Joaquín has these qualities, and that is why he has earned our support. 

During Joaquín’s tenure on the board over the last eight years, he has worked to balance our district’s budget during difficult times of decreasing funding from the federal and state governments, meanwhile maintaining high standards for our students. Joaquín has distinguished himself on the board for his commitment to improving student achievement. He played an instrumental role in the implementation of early literacy and dual-immersion/bilingual programs, pushed for reliable student assessments, quality professional development for teachers, and a variety of new strategies to improve the academic performance of all students. These efforts have resulted in a significant reduction of the achievement gap at our elementary schools. 

Under Joaquín’s leadership, the board hired an outstanding high school principal who has brought stability and a new sense of optimism to the school. They also approved a small schools policy to meet the diverse needs of our students. 

Berkeley is fortunate to have such a devoted, competent and committed person leading its schools. He will help the district to implement a strategic master plan in order to improve the academic performance of all of our students, provide fiscal accountability, and adopt innovative programs unique to our community. Please join us in support of Joaquín to keep our district moving in a positive direction. Joaquín is the proven leader that our children – and our community – need. 

Pamela Doolan 

Lloyd Lee 

Miriam Rokeach (Topel) 

Ted Schultz  

• 

NO FUNDS FOR TREE CENSUS 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Read the measure before voting. 

I guess lots of people will see that Berkeley’s Measure S is about trees and think it must be a good idea. Everybody likes trees. But please read the whole thing. In this time of budget crises and job cut backs someone wants to create two full time staff to keep track of the city’s trees. Do we really need a “tree census”? Who comes up with these ideas? 

Gary Herbertson  

• 

HOW TO HELP KERRY 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

A lot of readers want to support Kerry, but don't know how to help him. They think they have to leave the state to help register voters, or go spend the afternoon doing a phone bank. But that is just absolutly not true.  

I have three suggestions: (1) you can register as a volunteer on johnkerry.com, (2) you can register as a volunteer at america coming together and (3) you can go to democratic underground.com  

Each of these sites have an amazing number of tools for writing letters to the media, sending email reminders to friends and family to vote or to register, and tools to help you make phone calls to voters in swing states from your own home. You can help in as little as five minutes, with almost no effort. There really is no excuse not to be involved anymore.  

Clement Roberts 

Oakland  

• 

NADER’S MAD CHASE 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Whenever Ralph Nader is interviewed these days, I think of Melville’s mad Captain Ahab who, in his ultimately catastrophic pursuit of the white whale, declared “All my means and methods are sane: my purpose is mad.” 

Nader has added to his extensive enemy list those progressives who, he feels, have betrayed him because their fear of the Bush agenda exceeds their former loyalty to him. 

We who believe that a medieval theocracy has no place in the U.S. disagree with Nader that there is little difference between the two major parties this time, and so Nader wants to harpoon us along with his old corporate adversaries. 

If he and his supporters succeed in throwing the election to Bush once again, he will succeed in making his name an obscenity around the world, while sharing the fate of Ahab who took the ship down with all hands on board. 

Gray Brechin  

With the friendly assistance of the late Edward Lear: 

The Scowl and the Democrat went to see 

Who could get most of the vote. 

They took lots of money, pots and pots of money 

more than either one could tote. 

Scowl looked straight at the camera and said 

in a voice lke a rusted guitar 

“Ter-ror-rists, terrists, we want them all dead 

But you Dems are weak-kneed, you hesitate. 

We hate 

to wait. 

That’s why I am the best candidate.” 

Said Dem to the Scowl, “By fair means or foul 

I’ll kill them deader and quicker too. 

I’ll not only fight terror, I won’t make the error 

of going in unprepared like you.” 

“You voted against us, left us defenseless 

you’re always changing your mind, you.” 

“Not true!” 

“Is too!” 

And the air turned a rancorous blue. 

On such evidence, we choose presidents— 

who’s best in tone, in carriage— 

has good platform style, a one-liner file, 

is most quick to disparage. 

The content is thin, and subject to spin 

and served up with a runcible spoon 

Now play your roles, go to the pollls 

and hope for a happier tune 

and soon 

real soon 

and hope for a happier tune.›

This November election voters in the Berkeley and neighboring communities have a chance to improve our East Bay Regional Parks by voting Yes on Measure CC. This is a funding measure to raise money to pay for habitat restoration and improvements in the parks.  

Measure CC was put together by leaders in the Sierra Club and Golden Gate Audubon Society. We worked with the Park District staff and board to craft a measure that directly addressed park district needs for environmental maintenance. This measure was originally put on the ballot in March 2000 and covered projects and parks in all of the Park District’s lands in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. But in that election the measure just missed the 2/3 vote because voters in Eastern Alameda and Contra Costa Counties did not support it with enough votes.  

The voters in the area from the City of Alameda to Richmond, or in the zone West of the Berkeley Hills, however, supported the measure with well over the necessary 2/3 vote. After that defeat, the Sierra Club, Golden Gate Audubon Society, and many other community and park user groups urged the district to focus on the environmental maintenance needs for those parks in area West of the Berkeley Hills where the people showed their support for our parks. This was how Measure CC got on the ballot. It was not the creature of high priced consultants as the anti-tax opponents claim, but came out of the desires of grassroots organizations to see that our regional parks are well maintained with funding to restore and protect habitat and wildlife. 

The projects and parks are specified, and the money can only be used for those projects and uses. They are all set forth in your voter pamphlet, just check them out. As an example, in the Berkeley area, Measure CC will fund the operation and maintenance of the newly created Eastshore State Park. It also provides funding to restore the water quality of Jewel Lake in Tilden and improvements at the Point Isabel off- leash dog park. 

Measure CC will also provide the funding for a comprehensive ecologically-based assessment of how we can reduce the danger of fire in the wildlands from Richmond to Oakland that accomplishes two purposes: protecting us from wild fire while also restoring and enhancing native habitat and wildlife. The restoration of native habitat also promises to reduce the costs of maintenance because native habit is less fire prone and less costly to maintain. Measure CC also funds the implementation of this ecological-based fire safety plan. What a win for the environment and our communities! 

Measure CC will cost very little, a residential household will pay just $12, or a buck a month! That is less than a cup of coffee. Apartment dwellings are assessed even less at .69 cents a month.  

Measure CC has protections to ensure the money is spent wisely. It has a sunset clause. After 15 years, if voters don’t like it, it won’t get renewed. At the insistence of Sierra Club and Golden Gate Audubon Society, it has strict financial controls. The money will go into a separate fund to be used only for the projects on the list, and each year the Park District must show the public that it spent the money for the projects on that list. 

The opponents are the few and usual Jarvis-Gann anti-taxers some of whom masquerade as “environmentalists.” They have raised a specious argument that we should not vote to support our parks because people in other areas of the park district won't be taxed. Using that logic, the people of Berkeley should never have voted to create the East Bay Regional Park District in 1934 because people in Orinda, Walnut Creek, Fremont, and Concord, who were then not part of the original Park District, could use Tilden Park back then without paying anything for that pleasure. How ridiculous! We should recognize that this argument is really the Right-wing's attack all public uses and facilities. Voters should reject this selfish argument of those who just don’t want to pay for public goods like parks. 

The anti-taxers also make the well-worn and specious claim that the Park District really has the money to pay for all of these projects now. As the Sierra Club and Audubon leaders who have worked on Park District issues for over 20 years, we can tell you that there just is no money for the projects on the list. That is why we created Measure CC. Moreover, the district is losing revenue. It will take a 10 percent cut this year and next year as part of State's methods for balancing its budget. This is a $12 million a year loss in revenue.  

We urge voters to join Sierra Club, Golden Gate Audubon Society, Save the Bay, the League of Women Voters, Citizens for East Shore Parks, the Berkeley Democratic Club, and the Berkeley Citizens Alliance, and vote Yes on CC. 

Norman La Force, Chair Sierra Club Yes on CC Campaign and 

Chair, Sierra Club East Bay Public Lands Committee 

Arthur Feinstein, Conservation Director Golden Gate Audubon Society 

›

As a longtime Berkeley resident and employee of a non-profit organization, I support Measures J, K, and L. I believe that front-line services, our libraries and programs that support youth and safety in our communities must be protected. 

My neighbor, an elderly woman, oftentimes needs assistance from our local fire department to give her oxygen; without this vital responsive service she could not survive. Young children and youth need health services in particular families without health insurance. To c ut and/or reduce these vital services undermines the health and safety of Berkeley. Vote yes on Measure J. 

The threat of reducing city funding to community based organizations serving children and youth will greatly impact low-income families in Berkeley. Moreover, it is families with young children who are trying their best to go to school to obtain a successful career and better paying job; it is these families who will pay the price if this measure does not pass. Vote yes for Measure K! 

Measure L is important in order to maintain not only the tradition of excellent libraries in the city, but because more and more families who are non-English speaking are finding the library an excellent source for tutoring, promoting reading and access to learning ma terials not available in the home. Vote yes on Measure L! 

I would much rather pay this incremental changes than to tell a parent that their last day of childcare is tomorrow. We can only imagine the panic, frustration and confusion in denying a parent qu ality care for their young child while they strive to make a better life for their family. 

If Measure Q passes, the Berkeley Police will be told to make the enforcement of existing laws against prostitution their lowest priority. Supporters say that this will help women.  

In fact, Measure Q is likelier to hurt the women its supporters want to help. That’s one reason it should be defeated. The other reason is that it will certainly harm our neighborhoods.  

First, the women’s issue. The prostitutes who would be affected by Measure Q are the ones likeliest to get arrested, which is to say, the ones who work the street. In Berkeley, that means the prostitutes who frequent San Pablo Avenue and nearby neighborhoods. Often young (the average age is 14) and poor, these women became streetwalkers in the first place because they were fleeing an abusive family or, in an economy with shrinking opportunities for the disadvantaged, they were desperate for paying work. As prostitutes, many of them are trapped by drug addiction, isolation and low self-esteem into emotionally and physically abusive relationships with their pimps.  

The best way to help street prostitutes is to help them get out of prostitution, and the best way to help them to get out of prostitution is law enforcement. The City of Berkeley has a successful court diversion program, in which a judge offers street prostitutes who’ve been arrested for solicitation the options of going to jail or getting professional help through Options Recovery Services. This city-funded program helps women mend their lives, reunite with their families, and find meaningful work that will set them on the road to self-respect and independence. Options Recovery Services has had 65 percent success rate in getting people off the street and off drugs.  

The second reason to vote against Measure Q is that it turns a blind eye to street prostitution’s degradation of community and neighborhood life. After CNN and other TV stations reported that Measure Q had qualified for the city ballot, street prostitution increased in south and west Berkeley. We’re talking about sexual acts taking place in cars, on porches, in driveways. There are two schools in the area, the East Bay French American School and the Infant School for the Deaf. Children walking to and from school or just playing in front of their houses see prostitutes and their clients openly going about their business. They find condoms and dirty needles on the sidewalk.  

But it’s not just kids who are being put at risk. A man who lives near San Pablo told me a chilling story. He had walked toward a car parked on his block that had been used by a pimp to transport prostitutes. After memorizing the license plate, he had turned around and started to walk home when he heard a car door slam and a menacing voice behind him say, “You looking for something?” It was the pimp, who, having realized he was being watched, had gotten out of his car to defend what he had come to regard as his turf. The neighbor kept on walking. He got home, safe but shaken.  

The group that put Measure Q on the ballot, Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP), never consulted beforehand with Berkeley residents or their elected representatives. Perhaps that’s because SWOP sees its campaign in our town as merely a steppingstone toward its ultimate goal: the decriminalization of prostitution, which is illegal under California State law.  

At the July meeting of the Berkeley Commission on the Status of Women, SWOP spokesperson Robyn Few said that regardless of how Measure Q did on Nov. 2, the initiative had already succeeded, because she had been contacted by CNN and Reuters. “We have won,” said Few, “because all over the United States they’re talking about prostitution in Berkeley.” Repeatedly queried by members of the commission about harm protection programs for prostitutes, Few said again and again that she didn’t “have the details.”  

In fact, there no such details in Measure Q. Measure Q neither founds nor funds any programs that would help women get out of prostitution. Instead, it asks Berkeleyans to avert their eyes from the exploitation and intimidation of women that’s occurring daily in their neighborhoods. And it says nothing at all about protecting the women and children and, for that matter, the men, who already live and frequent those neighborhoods from the violence—physical and emotional—that sustains prostitution.  

Berkeley is a proudly humane city. That’s why we’ve been targeted by Measure Q’s supporters. We should reject their simplistic, publicity-seeking initiative and instead work to strengthen and expand the programs we have in place—programs that reach out to prostitutes and offer them real, practical opportunities to better their lives.  

For the sake of women and children and our neighborhoods, vote No on Measure Q.  

›

Editors, Daily Planet:  

The Berkeley Public Library—your library—is at a crossroads, and as a Berkeley voter, your vote on Measure L will determine what kind of library our community has. 

Here’s the background: The Berkeley Public Library is funded by a parcel tax established in 1980 after Berkeleyans experienced continuing and severe cuts to Library services, then financed by the City’s General Fund. Now, no part of the City’s General Fund finances library services, and no part of the library tax can be used in the General Fund. Only the parcel tax pays for library services, a system allowing Berkeley’s library to be directly responsive to community needs. Parcel tax increases, capped by the regional fiscal indexes of CPI or per capita Personal Income Growth, were taken only when needed during the past 24 years. 

Since 1980, the Library has delivered award-winning teen and children’s programs; Internet access for all; online databases that allow library access from home; and a literacy program that’s taught hundreds of adults to read. Berkeley residents use the Tool Lending Library—the first in the country, love the reading programs and events, make the most of CDs, videos, and new novels, and constantly access the new online resources. Homebound users—seniors, the disabled, and the infirm—have the library brought to them through outreach services.  

Because the Library belongs to California’s universal library access system, Berkeleyans can use other California libraries including Oakland’s branches or Alameda County’s Albany Library, accessing their special collections at no cost. 

Daily, over 4,000 Berkeley residents walk through the doors of Berkeley’s five libraries and receive friendly, helpful service. For many disadvantaged citizens, adults and children alike, the library is the only place where there is access to the Internet and the world of information. In a city with few certified school librarians, it is the public library that introduces Berkeley children to the world of books and helps them develop the skills necessary to bridge the digital divide. The library provides research resources and training for teens including those bound for college.  

This past year, library users checked out 1.6 million items, an 8 percent increase over the previous year. New online features have essentially created an e-branch library where patrons can efficiently request books or perform research 24 hours a day. 

Here’s the problem: Conditions totally outside the Library’s control have prevented the continuation of this level of services without a modest increase in the parcel tax. Why? In the past half-decade, the state retirement system performed poorly during the economic downturn, and health insurance and workers compensation costs skyrocketed. In 2002 the City Council signed a costly six-year contract with city unions. Although the City Council approved these contracts, the Library is bound by them. 

Here’s what the Library has done: In July 2004 the Library Board cut $1.2 million from the library operating budget: staff took a 3 percent salary deferral, staff positions were frozen as they became vacant (now 25 positions, including deputy director, head of branches, and 23 line staff), and Library hours were drastically reduced. Finally, 25 percent of the book budget—$300,000—was eliminated.  

When the Central Library was renovated and the building doubled in size, the Library Board didn’t seek increases to the operating budget. Instead, library staff implemented new technologies in order to work more efficiently and to improve services so the library could live within its existing budget. 

At the Library Board’s request, a city audit of purchasing procedures was completed to assure alignment with city practices. When the City Auditor suggested minor changes, all were implemented within four months of the report. The auditor found no gross failings in the library’s procedures. 

Employee unions worked closely with library management to create a safety program that reduced Workers Comp costs by 60 percent, generating long-term savings. 

These creative efforts, effective, efficient, and coupled with painful cuts in hours, staffing, and materials, are now at the limit of coping with the budget shortfall. The Berkeley Library needs your help. 

Here’s what you can do: Vote for Measure L, which proposes a modest increase in the parcel tax, an annual $41 increase for an average residence. It restores the library’s operating budget, returns library hours to their previous full schedule including Sunday operation at the downtown location, re-establishes a 100 percent book budget, and expands the Berkeley Reads Literacy program to meet demand. 

This election also offers a choice for the future of one of Berkeley’s most beloved institutions. Vote YES on Measure L, and reaffirm the existing library programs with a YES vote on Measure N, the Gann override, for your Berkeley Public Library. 

Jeffrey Shattuck Leiter, former Mayor, City of Berkeley 

Dion Aroner, former Assemblymember, State of California, 14th District 

›

The following small sampling of articles regarding DUI caused deaths from metropolitan newspapers is only the tip of the drunk driving catastrophe that continues unabated just in the Bay Area: “Motorist convicted in teacher’s death” “3 vehicular deaths on Memorial Day” (at least two DUI cases) “Driver slams mailbox, rider killed.” The Sept. 7 SF Chronicle reports “eight dead in Bay Area car accidents over holiday weekend—37 in state.” At least five of the drivers responsible were alleged to be DUI. In the article CHP Sgt. Wayne Ziese said, “Obviously, drinking and driving is still a problem here in the Bay Area.” 

Add all the DUI caused fatalities reported in the Bay Area to all of California’s DUI cases and you may find at least one death a day, of which most were victims in the other vehicles. 

On Aug. 15 another DUI victim was Charlene Agos, a beloved and dedicated mother of two children, wife to Hoche Agos, and assistant librarian at the Berkeley Library’s North Branch. The driver of the SUV that broadsided her car was one of “four men who had been drinking at a nearby bar” (Daily Planet, Sept. 7-9). 

But as in most news stories about DUI accident tragedies we are left relatively uninformed about the pre-accident drinking driver’s circumstances. When, where and why were they drinking before getting so soused that they became a danger to others? Could somebody or the bartender have alerted the police as soon as trouble came up? What other intervention could have saved her life?  

The public needs to know the full profile of DUI binging. Did it begin at home, a friend’s house, at a bar, in the car, at a party, a conference center, restaurant, a winery’s wine tasting room, or several of those? This insight may be the key to unlocking and peering into the mindset of the drinking driver, or at least to pose possible interventions to preempt drinkers from driving. 

The DUI problem is such a serious epidemic that it must become a mandated challenge for the entire community. This means absolutely everyone must get into the prevention act before the driver gets drunk and before they get behind the wheel and turn the key. 

Of course, the knee-jerk response will tend to be increased DUI punishment and more intense post-conviction therapy added to existing statutes. But such after-the-crime reactions cannot return lost lives and heal damaged bodies. Punishment should not be the only answer for stopping DUI crashes, nor most other crimes. Pre-emptive solutions that begin with the root causes are desperately needed, which will mean more open communication between the potential drinking driver and all those who may come in contact with them, from long before the first “one too many.” 

Prudent intervention can occur in numerous ways, from how DUI crash articles are written, to subtle reminders to strong warning labeling on alcohol bottles and advertisements, to advisory warnings from bar tenders and servers, to frequently and well-placed messages, articles, and signs in all the media formats, and in high school, college, and university class rooms and curriculum. Even self-testing breath-a-lators need to be tried. 

The above suggestions can be voluntarily done beginning now by all the institutions within our communities. But knowing human frailties as they are, it may be better for such preemptive techniques to be jump-started by well-organized and coordinated programs encompassing public entities, private businesses, churches, service clubs, and nonprofits. Teamwork between law enforcement agencies and the news media can contribute valuable public education information regarding the issue raised above in the third paragraph. For starters, newspapers could take the lead by digging a little deeper into police reports concerning the pre-crash circumstances of the DUI driver.  

The police and CHP can improve their crash scene investigation and questioning of the driver, as well as a post-crash investigation of how and where the driver exceeded the alcohol content level. This line of investigation may require State Attorney General and court rulings, and legislation, and congressional legislation. Producers and sellers of alcoholic drinks need to be brought into the circle of concerned community members. This should not morph into a punitive and heavy-handed regulatory process but become a wise and innovative inquiry that encourages volunteer ways to preempt drinking drivers. Perhaps the Governor can be persuaded to appoint a citizens DUI Study Commission. 

The stacking up of DUI crash and DOA statistics, and the increased array of broken lives is now beyond a problem, it is a huge, costly tragedy that requires immediate actions at multiple levels. 

›

Coming off a successful run of Love and Taxes in Seattle and with a film version of his earlier monologue Red Diaper Baby premiering today (Friday) at SF’s Roxie and Marin’s Rafael theaters, solo performer Josh Kornbluth has declared a “Joshtoberfest” wi th the opening of Ben Franklin: Unplugged at SF’s Magic Theatre in Fort Mason in advance of a national tour. 

Seated familiarly at the stage set version of his Berkeley kitchen table (designed by Annie Smart), Kornbluth (it’s a sign of his shy winsomeness that it’s hard not to just call him Josh)—bespectacled with round, shiny, smiling face and long hair on the sides of his bald head—explains that one day he had a revelation while shaving: He looks like Ben Franklin. 

Delighted by this, as “everything in my life, I’ve put in a piece . . . I’m out of life,” he decides to research Franklin as the character for a monologue: “The first American! My grandparents were among the first Un-Americans”—and mentions it casually to his mother on the phone: “Well, your uncle was the Jewish Clark Gable.” 

Kornbluth’s rapid-fire delivery is syncopated by his gestures as he paces the linoleum, spinning his yarn to the audience. But he’s peripatetic in other ways too: phone calls to and from his native New York, his Stalin ist mother interrupted by his Aunt Birdie (“A Communist millionaire during the Blacklist; that takes drive!”), who’s determined Josh will play Ben on MSNBC; he also travels from a gig in Hartford by train to see his family (and do the TV spots) in NYC, ge tting off in New Haven (“Where Amtrak switches from diesel to electric—and the Franklin Papers are at Yale, a local call!”).  

Having sworn never to visit Yale, from which he’d been rejected (“one of many colleges that rejected me”) as an “unlikely” enrol lee, Josh makes contact with the mysterious “Claude,” a Franklin scholar (who, he announced, will appear with him at The Magic Nov. 6)—and the entree to the archive, where he ends up skulking all night, investigating Franklin’s puzzling (and harsh) relati onship with his son William, colonial governor of New Jersey and Royalist terrorist during the Revolutionary War. 

He’s reminded of his own relationship with his father, their mutual frustration with each other (“He called it the ‘First’ American Revoluti on, a dress rehearsal for the real, Communist revolution—which I was supposed to lead!”)—and ends up giving an impromteau lecture to “likely” Yalies about “his” Ben Franklin, and why Franklin’s autobiography elides the Revolutionary years and switches from second to third person in addressing his son, dedicatee of its first part. 

Some Kornbluth fans may be slightly let down at first by the unwinding monologue’s pace; it’s maybe not as freewheeling or as frenetically funny as his previous efforts. But it makes up for that with a richer concept that’s fulfilled through a meticulously worked-out story, amusing repetitions (a little bit a la Lubitsch) that dovetail with new vignettes while adding rhythmically to the whole tale as it unfolds. 

Kornbluth’s lon gtime collaboration with Z Space Artistic Director David Dower, his director, pays off in all the little details that get gathered up and resown in the telling. Different from the crop of comics writing gags for TV or pieces for the New Yorker peppered wi th name-dropping and coy academic references, Kornbluth takes everybody along with him on his verbal journey of discovery at a leisurely pace (belied by his glib burp-gun delivery) uniquely his own. 

(Plus there’s the rare pleasure of seeing him in Ben Franklin drag, trailing a kite: “a big part of the budget,” when he becomes “The Jewish Ben Franklin”—and MSNBC sends him to a dating service, “a white male Founding Father,” not to mention around the streets of New York, where he confronts gun-nut militia leaders protesting at the UN, and explains the Second Amendment to them.) 

The one quibbling point with his “obsessive” historical account: I wish he’d made another aside of a sentence or two about the mass exodus of Loyalists to Canada, the West Indies a nd Great Britain after the Revolution. That profound social trauma was reflected in the split between Ben and his son. But in his telling of his “revelation” of the meaning of that split, and of Ben’s Polonius-like preaching, to the fresh-faced Yalies, he fulfills his father’s frustrated wishes in a way as devious as the plot of his long-winded, self-involved tale . . . 

Long-winded and self-involved; the audience is delighted to be involved with Josh and to go anywhere his longwinded-filled sails take hi m. 

›

FRIDAY, OCT. 22 

THEATER 

Acme Players Ensemble, “Ghost in the Machine” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., call for Sun. times., through Nov. 7, at APE Space, 2525 Eighth St. Suggested donation $5-$20. 332-1931. 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “Present Laughter” by Noel Coward at 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman. Through Nov. 20. Tickets are $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Eurydice” at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. through Nov. 14. Tickets are $20-$55. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works, “A Step Away” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Through Nov. 21. Tickets are $8-$20. 558-1381. 

Contra Costa Civic Theater, “Noises Off” Fri.-Sat., selected Sun., through Nov. 20, at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. Tickets are $10-$15. 524-9132. www.ccct.org  

Magical Acts Ritual Theater, “Heretics, Harlots and Heroes,” at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun at 2 p.m. Tickets are $16-$26. 883-0600. www.belladonna.ws 

Un-Scripted Theater Company, “Fear,” a full-length improvised horror story, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. through Oct. 30. Tickets are $7-$12. 869-5384. www.un-scripted.com 

“U.S. Provisional Authority” A musical set in the year 2014, at 8 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist, 2362 Bancroft Way, enter on Dana St. Cost is $5-$8.  

Woman’s Will, “Lord of the Flies” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m., at Eighth Street Studios, 2525 Eighth St., through Oct. 24. Every performance followed by a discussion on democracy, violence cessation, and preservation of just societies. Free, donations encouraged. 420-0813. www.womanswill.org 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

“Swimming Through Air and Time” Paintings by Marsha Balian and Judy Levit. Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5714 Telegraph Ave. Exhibition runs through Dec. 17. 601-4040, ext. 111. www.wcrc.org 

FILM 

Film Festival at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Free. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Documentary Voices: “Father, Son and Holy War” at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kevin Starr talks about “Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990-2003” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mark Morris Dance Group at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

California Bach Society at 8 p.m. at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. 415-262-0272. www.calbach.org  

Dick Hindman Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Jim Ryan’s Hideous Dream & Subjects of Desire, free jazz improv, at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Suggested donation $6-$12. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Sidewinders at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Christine Kane, contemporary folk, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50-$16.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Grapefruit Ed at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

The Look, Butane at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

The Drink Tickets, Cellofane at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Christy Dana Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Katie Garibaldi, singer-songwriter, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Brown Baggin’ at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Barbary Coast by Night at 7 p.m. at Cafe Raphael's, 10064 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-4227. 

Mushroom at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Science of Yobra, Try Falling at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SATURDAY, OCT. 23 

CHILDREN  

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

“Wild About Books” storytime at 10:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

Berkeley Arts Festival Bus Tours, depart the Berkeley Marina on the hour from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free. For details see www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

“Earthy Delights“ Sculptures and ceramics by Ralph Holker, Peter Voulkos and others. Opening reception, noon to 7 p.m., at Osceola Gallery, 4053 Harlan St. Suite 305, Emeryville. Show runs to Nov. 19. 658-1440. 

“Unfettered and Alive” Digital photographs from Europe by Jean Sirius. Reception at 6 p.m. at Photolab Gallery, 2253 Fifth St. Exhibition runs to Dec. 4. 644-1400. www.photolaboratory.com 

FILM 

Documentary Voices “War and Peace” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse featuring John Rowe & Rita Bregman at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 527-9753. 

Kay Redfield Jamison on “Exuberance: the Passion for Life” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Poetry By Women Of China’s Golden Age A reading and discussion with translators Bannie Chow and Thomas Cleary at 4 p.m. at What The Traveller Saw, 1880 Solano Ave. 527-1775. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mark Morris Dance Group at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Spirit of Africa African music and dance ensemble, directed by C.K. Ladzekpo, at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $3-$10 at the door. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Trinity Chamber Concert with Daniel Reiter, cello and Miles Graber, piano, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www. 

TrinityChamberConcerts.com 

Kensington Symphony Orchestra, Geoffrey Gallegos, conductor, Seth Montfort, piano, at 8 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. Tickets are $8-$10. 524-4335. 

Alexander String Quartet at 10 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 415-392-2545. 

Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums with Ms. Carmen Getit at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Native Elements, Dr. Masseuse at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

David Matela, singer-songwriter, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Times 4 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Robin Flower and Libby McLaren, California Celtic, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Misturada, Latin jazz, at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Guitarra y Cajón Folk song celebration at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Communique, benefit for Jesse Townley, at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Snake Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

The Catholic Comb, The Audrye Sessions, The Cushion Theory at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Giselle Fahrbach, Brazilian jazz vocals, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Edge of the Bay with Tensegrity Nine and Uncle Eye at 8 p.m. at the 1923 Teahouse. Donation of $5-$10, no one turned away for lack of funds. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

SUNDAY, OCT. 24 

CHILDREN  

Asheba plays Caribbean music at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Samora Pinderhughes, age 13 on piano and Elana Pinderhughes, age 9 on flute perform classic jazz, Latin and Brazillian tunes at 7 p.m. at at La Peña. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Day of the Dead Family Day at the Richmond Art Center from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. 2540 Barrett Ave., at 25th St., Richmond. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

THEATER 

“Ghostlands of an Urban NDN” at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival, “Route 181: A Journey Through Palestine and Israel” at 1 p.m. at Wheeler Hall, UC Campus, followed by discussion. Tickets are $10-$12. www.aff.org 

Documentary Voices: “Bombay: Our City” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Road to the Winter War” an English language playreading of a 1989 Finnish historical docudrama by Dr. Heikki Ylikangas, at 2 p.m. at Finnish Kaleva Hall, 1970 Chestnut St. Cost is $3. 849-0125. latoja86@hotmail.com 

Poetry Flash with Joanne Kyger and Michael Rothenberg at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“Within Small See Large” Guided tour at 2 p.m. and lecture with Susan Handler at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jerry Kuderna Piano Concert performing work of Catalan composer Federico Mompou including “Musica Callada” at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Mark Morris Dance Group at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Julian White, pianist, performs works of Beethoven, Copland, and Schumann at 8 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $15-$20. 528-4959.  

Jupiter String Quartet at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $9-$10. 644-6893. 

Quartet San Francisco performs at 4 p.m. at the Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Cost is $12, children free. 559-6910. 

Chamber Music Sundaes with cellist David Goldblatt and oboist Gonzalo Ruiz, at 3:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$19 at the door. 415-584-5946. www.chambermusicsundaes.org 

Friends of Big Band Jazz with Mike Vax Jazz Orchestra at 2 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10-$18. 845-8542. www.juliamorgan.org 

“Imagining a Map of the World” solo dance performance by Evangel King at 11 a.m. at 1374 Francisco St. Donation $7-$15. 841-9441. 

Americana Unplugged: Mondo Mando Madness at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Le Jazz Hot at 4:30 at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Shelly Burgon and Trevor Dunn, harp and bass, at 8:15 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations accepted. www.thejazz- 

house.com 

“Drum Journeys” A benefit concert for Spirit Drumz and Afia Walking Tree’s Afraka 2005 Project from 3 to 5 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. Cost is $15. 883-0600. www.belladonna.ws  

Táncház Band, Hungarian world music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

MONDAY, OCT. 25 

THEATER 

Upon These Boards, “The Inkwell Communiqués” The story of a tax-payer’s fight for social justice, at 7:30 p.m. at the Roda Theater at Berkeley Rep. Donations at the door. Reservations suggested. www.UponTheseBoards.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Arts Festival Poetry Reading at 8 p.m. at 2324 Shattuck Ave. Free. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Thai Jones describes “A Radical Line: One Family’s Century of Conscience: The Story of the Radical Movement in America” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express theme night on “masks” from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

M.R.L.S. at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, OCT. 26 

CHILDREN 

Family Night at the Library, 2090 Kittredge at 7 p.m. Halloween fun for ages 4-8. 981-6223. 

FILM 

JPEX: “Exploded States: War, Politics, and National Idenity” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Gary Snyder reads from his new collection of poems, “Danger on Peaks” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Tim Junkin, author of “Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA,” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

The Whole Note Poetry Series with John Gatten and John Rowe at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave., near Ashby. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jazz House Jam at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donation $5. www.thejazzhouse.com 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Diana Castillo at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Maeve Donnelly & Steve Baughman at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50- $17.50. 548-1761. www.freight- 

andsalvage.org 

Peter Barshay at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Palenque at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27 

EXHIBITION OPENINGS 

A.G. Rizzoli’s “Transfigurations,” images of a fantastic world, opens at the GTU, Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Rd. and runs through Feb. 2. 649-2541. www.gtu.edu/library 

FILM 

Fiercely Primitive: Guy Maddin “The Sign of the Cross “ at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Photographer as Activist” with Sebastio Salgado, photographer and co-founder of Instituto Terra, and photo critic and curator Fred Ritchin at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10. 642-9988. http://journalism.berkeley.edu 

Ben Barber, Prof. of Civil Society at the Univ. of Maryland, examines how U.S. foreign policy has gone wrong in “Fear’s Empire” at 7:30 p.m. at at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Ray Raphael re-examines “Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Philip Gelb’s Natto Quartet at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery, 2324 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Halloween Concert with organ works by Grieg and Bach at 12:15 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. www.firstchurchoakland.org 

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

Balkan Folkdance at 8 p.m., dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Peau de Chagrin at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Acoustic Strawbs at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Rhiannon at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.comÅ

We’ve gotten a number of requests from readers that the Planet endorse ballot proposals and candidates in the upcoming election. Some of these, of course, came from candidates and proponents, but others were from sincere individuals who just wanted a little help in deciding how to vote. Our principal response to this request has been to expand our opinion section as much as we can, to let candidates and advocates speak for themselves. We think we’ve learned a lot by doing that, and we hope readers have too.  

On the other hand, it would be false naïveté to claim that none of us around here have made up our minds on some topics. We can tell you that the Executive Editor and the Publisher are sure about how they’re going to vote in most cases, and that we haven’t heard many contrary opinions around the newsroom.  

We’re voting for John Kerry for President. This might come as a surprise to some readers, but if so they haven’t been paying attention. We don’t take formal votes on editorial endorsements, but let’s just say that no one at the Planet has expressed as much as one word of support for Bush in our hearing. It wouldn’t surprise us, after the election, to hear some people say that they had cast protest votes for Peace and Freedom or Green Party candidates because they were sure Kerry was going to carry California. Who knows, we might even be tempted to do the same next week, but as of now we’re running scared. If Kerry wins, the work will have just begun. If he loses….but let’s not go there for now. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. 

Barbara Boxer has a few things to answer for. We still haven’t forgotten her attack on San Francisco prosecutor Kamala Harris for not going for the death penalty in a prominent case. She’s way ahead in the polls, and it might be good if Boxer ran a bit behind Kerry (who opposes capital punishment) in Berkeley, so we’re looking for other anti-death penalty candidates for the Senate. Barbara Lee continues to make us all proud, and we’ll certainly vote for her. 

In local elections, we (the Publisher and I) are glad we don’t live in one of the council districts which have election contests this round. The vigor (some might say unseemly vigor) with which charges and counter-charges have been hurled in the Planet’s opinion pages is bracing, to say the least. Issues important to the city have surfaced in each race; no clear winner has yet emerged in most. Norine Smith gets our award for perseverance in her second attempt to galvanize complacent District 6, where most residents, elevated above the congestion, traffic and crime problems which beset flatter districts, are much too comfortable with the status quo to want to change a thing, including their councilmember of 20 years duration. 

Ballot proposals? Like most of you, we still haven’t had time to finish reading our sample ballot. We do know that we don’t think gambling is any way to finance government, so we’ll vote no on both casino propositions, 68 and 70. We’ll vote for Prop. 63 as a small way of supplying the mental health services which have been terribly underfunded since Reagan was governor. We’ll vote for Prop. 66, even though it’s not a perfect way of fixing problems with the three strikes law. We’ll probably vote for Prop. 71, funding stem cell research, as a way of showing the flag for government support of reality-based science, even though cynics fear that it’s a ploy to fund the biotechnology industry, which in our book is not exactly the same as science.  

Local measures? A real can o’ worms. We can’t buy the arguments of the two new organizations which have interlocking directorates with the Grumpy Old Men of previous anti-tax efforts in Berkeley: Voting No on Everything Will Send Them A Message that Berkeley government needs to be more efficient. We’re not fooled by the city’s stratagem of using young people, librarians and paramedics as poster-children for tax increases, but voting no on any or all of the specific tax measures won’t solve the real problems of the Berkeley city administration. We fear that the inefficiencies (and downright stupidities) will just persist at a slightly reduced scale even if the added taxes are defeated, and that bureaucrats will gleefully axe useful programs in order to protect their own pay and benefits.  

This is especially true of the school tax Measure B (which even the Grumpies don’t officially oppose). A friend is a computer professional who used to teach an economical and effective computer class as a part-timer in a Berkeley school. He was replaced by a lot of expensive equipment and a couple of less well qualified full-time teachers who don’t know how to use it. But will he vote against Measure B? Of course not, because he knows, as do we, that a No on B vote won’t get to the heart of Berkeley Unified School District’s problems. Measure B has a core of dedicated watchdogs watching how its funds are used, and it only lasts for two years, so there’s really no excuse for voting against it. It needs a two-thirds vote.  

How about prostitution and drug dealing? Ballot initiatives on these topics are poorly drafted and would cause more problems than they solve. As far as prostitution is concerned, we have the old-fashioned idea that sex shouldn’t be work, but if it is, it should be subject to the same careful regulation of the workplace as any other form of paid labor. It’s one thing to decriminalize recreational sex, but sex as work should be much better regulated than Measure Q contemplates. Dispensing medicine, including marijuana, should also be done in controlled circumstances, for the protection of patients particularly, and putting dispensaries all over town, especially if they’re called clubs instead of clinics, won’t do anyone any good.  

Measure S, the Berkeley Tree Act, offers a useful and positive way to suggest to the city bureaucracy that they’re not doing everything right. True, it would add a couple of staffers to the budget, but they would be supervised by a citizen board which could make sure that their work actually contributed to the public good instead of just to their paychecks. In our experience (and you don’t even want to hear the stories) caring for Berkeley’s beleaguered urban forest is one area of government activity which could use a lot of improvement. Measure S offers a good place to start government reform, at a modest scale and for a realistic cost. Even the neo-Grumpies in BASTA (Berkeleyans Against Soaring Taxes) aren’t against it. We’re voting for it. 

That’s as far as we’ve gotten. Anything else, we haven’t decided yet. 

—Becky O’Malley 

Letters note: despite our best efforts, we weren’t able to squeeze them all in today. So we’ll run the rest of your letters which beat the Sunday deadline in Friday’s opinion section. No more election letters, please, but thanks for what you’ve sent already. 

›

If 2000 was the year of the soccer mom, 2004 is the year for flip-flops: as fashion footwear, waving props (at the Republican convention) and taunting yells (at Bush rallies). This strategy was the brainchild of Karl Rove, Bush’s chief political strategist, who decided that the way for Bush to win was to destroy Kerry’s credibility and to attack his leadership qualities, largely by focusing on his alleged inconsistencies about the war in Iraq. 

Rove’s flip-flop charges quickly became the mantra of the Republican National Committee and the GOP apparatchiks who feed sound bites to the broadcast media, especially the Fox News network; and the president made the flip-flop accusation the rhetorical staple of his stump speech. 

It’s a measure of Rove’s skill in the dark arts of political spin—which he learned from Richard Nixon’s “dirty tricksters” of Watergate infamy—that the strategy has succeeded in obscuring two central facts about the presidential candidates: that Kerry’s positions have, in fact, been largely consistent; and that Bush, far from being the steady, conviction-driven leader of Republican imaginings, is by far the greater flip-flopper. Rove succeeded because the news media fell for his flip-flop flim-flam. How else could Bush’s flip-flopping have become the best kept secret in American politics? This is remarkable, given the sheer quantity of examples. Here’s a partial list of Bush flip-flops, with their presumed motivations. 

• Prescription drugs from Canada: For, then Against (big campaign contributions from pharmaceutical corporations) 

• Assault weapons in our streets: Against, then For (pandering to the NRA and gun manufacturers) 

• The creation of a homeland security agency: Against, then For (public outcry and political expediency) 

• McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform: Against, then For (unprincipled opportunism) 

• Nation-building: Against, then For (a double somersault to justify neocon invasion plans) 

• Steel tariffs: Against, then For, then Against (a free-trader becomes a protectionist to win votes in Pennsylvania and Ohio) 

• Arsenic in water: For, then Against (public outcry—those darned scientists) 

• Mandatory caps on carbon dioxide: For, then Against (the power of the coal and power companies) 

• Outside investigation into WMD: Against, then For (public outcry and world opinion) 

• WMD: We found them and then we didn’t find them (confusion, convenience and “flexibility”) 

• Gay Marriage: First it’s an issue for the states and then a federal issue (an opportunistic, red-meat, divisive wedge issue) 

• Osama bin Laden: In 2001 he was our No. 1 public enemy; in 2002, “I truly am not that concerned about him” (failure to prosecute the real war against terror) 

• North Korea’s nuclear threat: First it was extremely important; now it’s not much of a threat (a parry to divert attention from misplaced priorities) 

• Cutting troops in Europe: Against, then For (bad planning for the number of troops needed in Iraq and Afghanistan) 

• Immigration reform: For liberalization, then Against (a conflict between wooing the Hispanic vote and angering his nativist base) 

• AmeriCorps funding: For, then Against (a favorite target of congressional reactionaries) 

• Patriot Act II: For, then Against (the need to appear more moderate in the middle of an election; even angered Republican civil libertarians) 

• The 9/11 commission: Six flip-flops, Against and then For: 1) The creation of the commission; 2) the composition of the commission; 3) the extension to allow it to complete its work; 4) his testifying; 5) the testimony of his national security advisor; and finally 6) the implementation of the findings (public outcry, particularly from the families of 9/11 victims and then commission members—Republicans and Democrats) 

• The war in Iraq: At least nine different rationales as to why the U.S. invaded, and still counting (reality catching up with fantasy) 

• The war in Iraq: "It will be a cakewalk," then, "It will be long and difficult." (Talking out of both sides of the mouth; depending upon audience) 

So much for Bush and his “steady leadership.” Kerry has been a model of consistency by comparison. On the Iraq war, his position is complex. It requires the ability to understand history and shifting circumstances. These are not exactly the strong suits of the White House and the mass media—particularly cable TV and the talk-radio ranters, two media that are notoriously serious about unserious issues, and unserious about serious issues. 

The Bush spinmeisters wanted to undermine the simple truth that Kerry does understand history and complexity, particularly when it involves the most important decision that a president can make: that of taking our country to war, with all its drastic consequences in human lives and expenditure of national treasure. 

Bush does not seem to understand that those who do not learn from history are condemned to make the same mistakes. Kerry seems to know a basic historical truth, that genuine international cooperation, multilateral force, and traditional alliances are absolutely essential to our nation’s well-being and security in a dangerous world of terrorism and nuclear proliferation. 

If Kerry can be faulted, it is because he believed and trusted Mr. Bush—as did most Americans—when he voted for giving the president the latitude he needed to pursue all the necessary and viable diplomatic avenues before the Iraq invasion. Kerry then became convinced that Bush misled Congress and the American people by confusing the all-important war against terror with Bush’s own separate agenda of invading Iraq. Those were, and still are, two separate issues! 

Saddam Hussein was a despicable tyrant, but overthrowing him and invading Iraq did not lessen the threat of terror; it increased it. It did not strengthen American military capability; it weakened it. It did not make Americans at home or abroad safer; it had the opposite effect of increasing recruitment for al Qaeda and other anti-American militant groups. Invading Iraq did not increase international cooperation for anti-terrorist efforts or the respect for America’s diplomatic leadership that is indispensable to the war on terror; it diminished them. Both Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, in leading the victorious WWII allies in the war against fascism, understood the suffering, the human costs, and the scourge of war. They understood only too well the need for international cooperation, diplomatic and military. They understood the critical need for the exchange of intelligence and multinational action by and among traditional allies. They understood the need for strategic alliances that every single president since then, Republican and Democrat, has understood, with the glaring exception of Bush. 

Roosevelt, before his death, was quite clear. He said that the United Nations was the place to go not to end wars, but to end the beginnings of wars. And Churchill was just as explicit when he warned us, “The United Nations is an imperfect institution that is a reflection of an imperfect world. Its purpose is not to lead us into an ascent to heaven but to prevent us from going into a descent to hell.” Those words are just as true today as they were in the aftermath of WWII. Kerry understands what they meant. Bush isn’t interested. 

For the past three-and-a-half years I have listened carefully to the president and his chief advisors. All of it has reminded me of a passage in “The Heart of Darkness.” Joseph Conrad put it this way: “Their talk was the talk of sordid buccaneers: it was reckless without hardihood, greedy without audacity, and cruel without courage; there was not an atom of foresight ... in the whole batch of them, and they did not seem aware these things are wanted for the work of the world.” 

Conrad’s words capture the strategy of the Bush campaign and his four years in Washington; they reflect the mood and the moral nullity of the reactionary enterprise that seeks to tear apart the public good at home and to lead us into risky pre-emptive wars abroad. The Bush administration just doesn’t get it. No country can sustain itself, much less grow, on a political fare of one-liners, rerun ideas, deliberate distortions, paranoia, and official policy pronouncements borrowed from Orwell’s “1984”—where recession is recovery, war is peace, and a social policy based on aggressive hostility is compassion. 

In the final analysis, there are two disturbing realities about the 2004 presidential election campaign that should concern all Americans. The first is that Bush, not Kerry, is guilty of big-time flip-flopping. The second is that the mass media, through incompetence and a herd mentality, have missed this defining and crucial story. Bush’s flip-flopping had nothing to do with complexities or principle, and everything to do with political expediency. This is not a case of one or two isolated switches; it’s a deliberate pattern of manipulation designed to deceive the American electorate. What we find behind the pattern, and the mask, is a candidate who lacks character, principles, and integrity. George W. Bush cannot be trusted to govern. 

Professor Arthur I. Blaustein teaches public policy and politics at the University of California, Berkeley. He was chair of the President’s National Advisory Council on Economic Opportunity during the Carter Administration. His most recent books are “Make a Difference: America’s Guide to Community Service” and “The American Promise: Justice and Opportunity.” 

?

The soft light of autumn. Vibrant color. The sun overhead but the days crisp. The time of year when nature begins to slow down, to begin preparations for the cold and darkness of winter. A perfect time to spend a weekend soaking up the light and beauty around the Sierra Buttes. 

There is something magical about the angle of light in autumn, as it reveals colors not seen the rest of the year. All of nature glows in richness—the russet and gold of leaves; drying grasses in deep tan and sepia brown; even the rocks glow, their red, charcoal, gray and white sediments standing out in contrast against the deep blue of the sky. 

Located in the western portion of Sierra County, in a canyon carved out of the Sierra Nevadas by the power of the North Yuba River, discover the charming mountain villages of Downieville and Sierra City. Both ideal gateways to the next discovery, the Lakes Basin Recreation Area, straddling the crest of the Sierra Nevadas. You’ll find so much to do and enjoy in this majestic hideaway, that a two-day visit will merely whet your appetite for more. 

The picturesque town of Downieville is packed with history, unpretentious charm and friendly people. Many buildings are remnants of Gold Rush days, when the fever hit and Downieville’s population of 5,000 made it the third largest community in California. A stroll through town, along plank sidewalks, will take you past old brick and stone buildings, many with iron doors and shutters. Large, mature trees shade narrow Main Street, filtering the light and casting interesting shadows in the windows of antique shops, cafes and bars. You can browse, eat or stop in at the Downieville Museum for a glimpse into the past. Pick up a copy of The Mountain Messenger, the oldest continuously operating newspaper in California, whose ledger of past reporters includes Mark Twain. 

Downieville’s biggest attraction may well be its setting—sheltered by canyon walls, thickly forested, and at the confluence of the Yuba and Downie Rivers. Cast your line, hop on a bike or merely stroll, enjoying the fresh mountain air. In late afternoon head for the green bridge to watch the setting sun cast long shadows on the river, the trees, and the homey town of Downieville. 

Twelve miles up Hwy 49, you’ll find another historic town. Sierra City, with its easy access to the North Yuba River, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Lakes Basin, is just the right base for further exploration. The majestic Sierra Buttes, towering 5,000 feet, shelter the town, acting as buffers against cold winter winds and intense summer heat. Enjoy the gentle climate as you visit the Art Cultural Center and eclectic antique shops; tour the Kentucky Mine Park and Museum, or stop for a bite to eat at any one of the interesting eateries lining the road. 

If you enjoy nature at all times of the day and night, Wild Plum Campground has a campsite with your name on it. Even if camping is not your game, visit this peaceful hideaway for a picnic by the creek or a hike to view the incredible scenery. 

Here, the sounds of cars are left behind; only the cascade of water over rock, the wind through the trees and the calls of the birds interrupt your thoughts. Under pines and firs, a cool breeze off the creek, the pink hues of the Sierra Buttes overhead, you feel much farther removed from civilization than the short, two-mile drive from Sierra City. 

An easy 2.5-mile hike, the Wild Plum Loop Trail, takes you through a mixed conifer forest and across two creeks, while opening up new views of those imposing Buttes. Many consider the Pacific Coast Trail North to Love Falls the most rewarding in the canyon. Multiple falls cascade through a small gorge carved out by the waters of the North Yuba River. The moderate walk to the falls is two miles, part of it on the Pacific Crest Trail. 

One day spent in the Lakes Basin Recreation Area is a teaser, and will leave you hungering for more. Formed by ice-age glaciations, this area covers 11,000 acres, with over 30 mile high, granite-set lakes and 700 miles of stream, much accessible by trail only. Sparkling crystal-blue waters enveloped by mountains thickly forested and those amazing craggy granite peaks. Lush campsites, rustic, unpretentious resorts, few people—you’ll feel you’ve gone back to a time when life didn’t seem so complicated. 

Here you can hike over miles of signed trails to large rock bowls that fill with melted snow and are kept fresh by natural springs. Fish for Brook, German, and Rainbow trout from the shore or from a rowboat. Absorb the beauty around you and relish the thought that here trees and rocks outnumber people. 

Gold Lakes Forest Highway transects the Lakes Basin and provides access to the lakes, resorts and trails. On the road to Sardine Lakes, you’ll come to Sand Pond. Shallow, sun-warmed, this is the local swimming hole and can be quite crowded on summer days. Kids love it. There’s also an .8-mile Sand Pond Interpretive Trail with signs that lead you through this forest-marsh transition zone, explaining relationships and displaying resident wildlife. 

This same road also leads to Packer Lake, a microcosm of the entire Lakes Basin: campground, Packer Lake Resort and Restaurant, boats for hire, fish to catch and winding trails to hike. So quiet you only hear the sounds of nature; enjoy a picnic, a snooze by the lake or hit the trails. From here it’s an easy hike to both Tamarack Lakes and Little Grassy Lake. 

Further up the Highway, at Upper Salmon Lake, surrounded by granite, the Buttes looming in the distance, a boat is necessary to get you to the lodge across the water. This lake is popular with boaters and kayakers, who enjoy fishing at secluded coves and at the wooded island or merely floating across the waters. For the water-wary, Upper Salmon Lakes Trail skirts the east side of the lake, passes the Lodge, and continues across Horse Lake Creek to Horse Lake and farther up to Deer Lake. The views from Deer Lake make the hike worthwhile—a panoramic view of Horse Lake and Upper Salmon Lake with the massive glacial moraine in the background  

The Gold Rush may be long past, but gold surely remains around the Sierra Buttes: the gold of autumn light and a golden opportunity to discover a special place. 

From the snows of winter to the warmth of summer, step back, slow down and relish the fact that not all things must progress.  

Getting There:  

From Interstate 80 turn north at Auburn on Hwy 49. Downieville is 60 miles from Nevada City. The drive from Berkeley is 4.5 hours. To reach the Lakes Basin Recreation Area continue past Sierra City on Hwy 49 to Bassets where it meets Gold Lake Forest Highway. Packer Lake Road (to Sand Pond and Packer Lake) is one mile up Gold Lake Forest Highway from Bassetts. Salmon Lakes Road is two miles further. 

Where to Stay and Eat:  

Kokanee Kabins, Sierra City, (530) 862-1287, www.kokaneekabins.com 

Yuba River Inn, Sierra City, (530) 862-1122, www.yubariverinn.com 

Packer Lake Lodge, Sierra City (530) 862-1221  

Wild Plum Campground: Follow Hwy 49, 0.5 mile past Sierra City. Turn right onto Wild Plum Road, travel 1 mile to campground. 

Red Moose Café, Sierra City, (530) 862-1502 

Buckhorn Restaurant & Bar, Sierra City, (530) 862-1171 

Downieville, Sierra City and the Lakes Basin are within the Tahoe National Forest. Contact North Yuba Ranger Station, on Hwy 49 at Camptonville, (530) 288-3231, for more information. Open Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Printed trail guides available at the ranger station or by mail.

FRIDAY, OCT. 22 

Job Fair from 3 to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Youth Alternatives, 1255 Allston Way. 647-0719. 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Annie Pflager, Phil Pflager, George Johnson & Diane Rejman at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. Donation $5. 528-5403. 

“Misery” The Stephen King film for teens only at 7 p.m. at the Community Meeting Room, Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6121. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

“Many Faiths, Many Forms: Dancing the Sacred Together” Workshops on Fri. and Sat. by the Sacred Dance Guild at the Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. 849-0788. www.sacreddanceguild.org  

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Xuerang Sherry Zhang on “The Story of Falun Gong: Is Anyone Listening?” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $12.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

A Day of Remembrance for victims of domestic violence at 11:30 a.m. at the Alameda County Administration Building Plaza, 1221 Oak St. 272-6693. 

“Three Beats for Nothing” sings mostly 16th century harmony for fun and practice, At 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Free, drop-ins welcome. 655-8863, 843-7610. dann@netwiz.net  

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. 652-5324. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 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. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

SATURDAY, OCT. 23 

Gill Tract Harvest Festival Food, music, games, speakers, demonstrations. Tour one of last urban farmlands and research areas. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the SW corner of Marin and San Pablo Aves, in Albany. Wheelchair accessible. Free. Sponsored by Urban Roots. 235-5519. www.gilltract.com  

Mini Farmers A farm exploration program for children accompanied by an adult. Wear boots and prepare to get dirty. From 2:30 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $3-$5, registration required. 525-2233. www.ebparks.org 

Tail Tales Explore the hind ends of animals to see what tales they tell. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour “The New and Old Berkeley High School Campus,” at 10 a.m. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0181. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/ 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. For reservations call 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/ 

walkingtours 

Fall Fruit Tasting Discover the many varieties of apples and pears at the Farmers’ Market, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way. Cooking demonstrations at 11 a.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org  

Project Censored Book Release Celebration, highlighting this year’s censored news and to honor the investigative reporters who brought it forward, at 6:30 p.m. at King Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Catherine Austin Fitts, Founder/ 

President of Solari and whistleblowing former Assistant Secretary of HUD, will keynote the event. Cost is $15 sliding scale. 707-664-2500. 

Wilke Creek Clean-up from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Learn about the Dumping Abatement and Pollution Reduction Program as we remove harmful trash. Refreshments, tools, and gloves provided. Meet on Valley View across from Morninside Dr, near DeAnza High School, the El Sobrante Valley. Youth under 18 years need signed permission from a parent or guardian so please contact us for a waiver in advance. 231-9566. Elizabeth@thewatershedproject.org  

Plants for Small Spaces at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Día de los Muertos Celebration at 12:30 to 2 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $10-$23. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Registration required. Fees include Garden admission. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Nature Drawing with John Muir Laws using techniques from his book “Sierra Birds: A Hiker’s Guide” at 10 a.m. at the Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Road. For admission prices and information, call 632-9525. 

Branched Drain Greywater System Demonstration Learn how to recycle household waste water at 10 a.m. at Oakland Permaculture Institute, 2135 E. 28th St. Cost is $10-$15, no one turned away. Sponsored by the Ecology Center. 548-2220. www.ecologycenter.org 

Transgender Health Workshop from noon to 5 p.m. at the Pacific Center, 2712 Telegraph Ave. Registration required. 420-7900, ext. 111. 

“Many Faiths, Many Forms, Dancing the Sacred Together” a workshop in dance and movement inspired by religious traditions, at Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave., through Sun. 849-0788. http://www.sacreddanceguild.org 

Sprited Woman Workshop A self-inspiration workshop for women from 1 to 4 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Cost is $85, partial scholarships available. 888-428-1234. thespiritedwoman@aol.com 

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. 24 

United Nations Day Circle of Concern Silent vigil at 1 p.m., followed by speakers from the United Nations Center in Berkeley, at the west entrance to the UC Campus, at Oxford and University. 763-9326. 

Days of the Dead Community Celebration from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Los Días de los Muertos Family Day at 1:30 p.m. at the Richmond Art Studio, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-6770. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

Feast of St. Demetrios Celebration at the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute, 2311 Hearst Ave. 649-3450. 

Botanic Garden Gambol Tour California’s great variety of native plants at the Botanic Garden at the center of Tilden Park, from 10 a.m. to noon. 525-2233. 

“Botanizing California” A Workshop/Field Trip to Montara Mountain to see maritime chaparral, north coastal scrub, riparian woodland, and more with Dr. Glenn Keator, Field Botanist Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Cost is $80-$95. To register call 845-4116. www.nativeplants.org 

Sneaky Snakes and Timid Turtles Learn about these creatures on the front lawn of the Nature Center at 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Poison Oak and Others You’ll learn about bad plants and their good relatives, and get tips on how to avoid “the itch” at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Soap Making Explore the science of soap and learn to make olive oil soap in this hands-on workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $10-$12, registration required. 525-2233. 

The Austrian Bank Project with Gerald Feldman, head of the commission to examine the role of the Austrian banks in expropriation of Jewish property, at 2 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237, ext.110. 

East Bay School for Girls Raffle and Auction at 2 p.m. at 2727 College Ave. 849-9444. www.ebsg.org 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. Donations welcome. 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800. 

Artists for Change Fundraiser for John Kerry and MoveOn Pac Food, refreshments, entertainment and affordable art for sale, from 2 to 5 p.m. at 449 49th St. in the Temescal District of Oakland. Cost is $25. 524-5923. 

Improvisational Play Techniques with Masankho Banda of Interplay in a workshop for teens in 7th through 12th grades, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Arlington Community Church in Kensington. Free but registration required. 526-9146. 

“Religions and Politics: A Discussion with George Lakoff” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $10, no one turned away. www.spiritedaction.org 

“Theology in the Making: Our Responsibility for Action” with Bill Hamilton Holway at 9:30 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302.  

Tibetan Buddhism with Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek on “Healing through Mantra” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, OCT. 25 

Domestic Violence Awareness with Gerald Chambers for the West Oakland Mental Health Center at 12:45 p.m. at Boalt Hall, Room 140, UC Campus. 409-0951. 

“Has the Press Failed in Iraq: War, Torture and Accountability” A conversation with Robert Silvers, co-editor, New York Review of Books; Michael Massing, author of “Now They Tell Us;” Mark Danner, journalist, professor and author of “Torture and Truth.” Moderated by Orville Schell, Dean, School of Journalism at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10. 642-9988. http://journalism.berkeley.edu 

“Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election” video and discussion at 7 p.m. at Grand Lake Neighborhood Center, 530 Lake Park Ave, Oakland. Donation $1. Sponsored by East Bay Community Against the War. www.ebcaw.org 

“Voices of Dissent: Activism and American Democracy” documentary, at 6:30 p.m. at the Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. Panel discussion following. Tickets are $10-$15.  

“Standing Up For Civil Liberties in an Election Year” A discussion of the USA Patriot Act and proposed amendments under HR 10, at 7:15 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, College Ave at Manila, Oakland. Sponsored by The Paul Robeson Chapter of the A.C.L.U. 290-3557. 

“Marijuana vs The Supreme Court” A panel discussion on upcoming legal challenges and related issues at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Church, corner of Cedar and Bonita. Sponsored by KPFA. 644-1937. 

Tea at Four Taste some of the finest teas from the Pacific Rim and South Asia and learn their natural and cultural history, followed by a short nature walk. At 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, in Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7, registration required. 525-2233. www.ebparks.org 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60 years and over meets Mondays at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Join at any time. 524-9122. 

Copwatch Class from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at 2022 Blake St., near Shattuck. Free and open to the public. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, OCT. 26 

Morning Bird Walk Meet at 7 a.m. at the first pullout on Wildcat Canyon Rd. off Grizzly Peak Blvd. for a look at fall migrants and residents. Call for directions or to reserve binoculars. 525-2233.  

Day of Dialogue: Candidates and Propositions From 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Vista College, 2075 Allston Way.  

Domestic Violence Awareness Self-Defense Workshop for men and women at 12:45 p.m. at Boalt Hall, Room 140, UC Campus. 409-0951. 

“Global Climate Change: What Are The Facts?” with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, in discussion with Orville Schell, Dean, School of Journalism at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $10. 642-9988. http://journalism.berkeley.edu 

Raising the Bar An evening with Clif Bar’s Gary Erickson at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

An Evening with Senator Don Perata at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237.  

Berkeley PC Users Group Problem solving and beginners meeting at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St. All welcome, no charge. 527-2177.  

“Adolescent Sexual Values in Africa” with Datius Rweyemamu of the Univ. of Dar es Salaam at 4 p.m. at 652 Barrows Hall. 642-8338. www.ias.berkeley.edu/africa 

Family Story Time at the Kensington Branch Library, Tues. evenings at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Organic Produce at low prices sold at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon Sts from 3 to 7 p.m. 843-1307. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. 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. 

Acting and Storytelling Classes for Seniors offered by Stagebridge, at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Classes are held at 10 a.m. Tues.-Fri. For more information call 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27 

Domestic Violence Awareness with Pablo Espinoza on violence in the LGBT community at 12:45 p.m. at Boalt Hall, Room 140, UC Campus. 409-0951. 

“Farenheit 9/11” at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $3-$5, no one turned away. Sponsored by the International Council for Humanity. 419-1405.  

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around Preservation Park to see Victorian architecture. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of Preservation Park at 13th St. and MLK, Jr. Way. Tour lasts 90 minutes. For reservations call 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/wallkingtours 

District 6 Candidates Night with Betty Olds and Norine Smith. Opening comments by Mayor Tom Bates. 7:30 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. http://groups.yahoo.com/ 

group/northside/ 

Community Workshop on Commercial Parking at the Planning Commission at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7429. 

“California State Propositions: A Progressive Approach” with Betty Brown, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

“The Campaign: Strategy, Tactics and Rhetoric” with Mary Hughes, George Lakoff and Sean Walsh at 3 p.m. at 109 Moses Hall, UC Campus. http://politics.berkeley.edu 

“History of Free Medical Care in Berkeley” with Roberta Hector Ghertner of the Berkeley Clinic Auxiliary at 1 p.m. at the Northbrea Community Church, 941 The Alameda. jerrykey@earthlink.net 

The Knitting Hour at 6 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, West Branch, 1125 University at San Pablo. All are welcome. 981-6270. 

“Central do Brasil” a film of an emotional journey to Brazil’s remote Northeast at 7 p.m. at the CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch St. In Portuguese with English subtitles. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

Tradition and Change: Conservative Judaism 101 An exploration of the history and legal decisions of the Conservative Movement in America and its counterpart, the Masorti Movement around the world, at 7:30 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237, ext. 110.  

“Living and Writing in an Uncertain Reality” with Israeli author Orly Castel-Bloom, at 7:30 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237, ext. 110. 

The East Bay Children’s Theater Auditions for adults for the production “There’s no Business Like Shoe Business” at 9:30 a.m. at Piedmont Community Church, 400 Highland Ave, Piedmont. 537-9957.  

Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College Open House from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2550 Shattuck Ave. Learn about how you can become a licensed acupuncturist. RSVP to 666-8248, ext. 106. 

Upfront Talk About Arrangements for Death and Dying with Betty Goren at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Prose Writers’ Workshop An ongoing group focused on issues of craft, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 524-3034. georgeporter@earthlink.net 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss “Rabbi Jesus” by Bruce Chilton at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble Coffee Shop in El Cerrito Plaza. 433-2911. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

CITY MEETINGS 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., Oct. 25, 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 Mon., Oct. 25, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Becky Dowdakin, 981-6357. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/solidwaste 

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7041. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. Harvey Turek, 981-5213. www.ci.erkeley.ca.us/commissions/mentalhealth 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Oct. 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Oct. 28, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  

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