With only two dissents, Zoning Adjustments Board members Thursday approved construction of a five-story condominium project at 2700 San Pablo Avenue. 

The building is the latest in a series of condo projects recently announced for the city. Most controversial is the Seagate building, a nine-story project recently approved for Center Street, a half-block west of the Wells Fargo building on Shattuck Avenue.  

San Francisco developer Charmaine Curtis and architect David Baker presented plans for their five-story building at the corner of San Pablo and Carleton Street. 

Curtis bought the site from developer Patrick Kennedy, whose earlier project for the site had foundered on neighborhood opposition. 

While Kennedy’s proposal had called for a four-story building, Curtis offered a structure that city staff classified as five floors because ground floor live/work units have an upper level, though the heights of both incarnations are identical. 

When she bought the site from Kennedy, Curtis also inherited the use permits previously awarded, paving the way for a potentially speedy approval. 

In the eyes of city staff, the new plans constituted a modification of the earlier versions, though the number of units had been reduced and the project had been changed from an apartments plus commercial to condos and commercial. 

The Kennedy version had sparked strong neighborhood opposition as well as a lawsuit, prompting the controversial developer to abandon the project and put the land—and permits—up for sale. 

“I knew the previous project had engendered a certain amount of controversy,” Curtis told ZAB members. 

Because of the project’s troubled history, she sent notices to 18 neighbors in September and invited them to a meeting where the most common complaint she heard concerned the project’s height, a point on which she wouldn’t yield.  

“I couldn’t eliminate one floor and still make money,” Curtis said. 

With the ZAB’s approval, Curtis said, “I’m ready to complete the design and pull permits. I can begin construction next summer and have it complete the following year.” 

While two neighbors praised the project as a source of neighborhood revitalization, six others spoke against it—including Julie Dickinson, one of the litigants who sued over the previous project. 

In addition to height, critics worried about the potential environmental, parking and traffic impacts of construction. 

Leslie Marks, who lives immediately behind the site, said she was worried about loss of privacy and garage noise. She also expressed concern about possible exposure to noxious odors and toxins when crews tear down a former gas station of the site. 

Tank leaks had polluted the soil around the station, and during the preparation work conducted during Kennedy’s ownership, contaminated soils were left uncovered on the site, which Marks said caused her health problems. 

Curtis’s use permits bar a repeat of the past incident, mandating that toxic-laced soils to be moved offsite immediately upon excavation. 

Another concern voiced by both neighbors and ZAB members centered on the four ground floor units, reduced from five in an earlier version of her plans. 

One of the original five she had planned was reserved for purely residential use and assigned for sale as an inclusionary unit to be sold at a reduced price. 

The Design Review Committee rejected the residential unit, said Senior Planner Greg Powell, so the space was consigned to four live/work units. 

Curtis said she simply couldn’t afford to sell one of those four as an inclusionary unit because construction costs were too high. 

A larger ground floor space at the corner of San Pablo and Carleton is reserved for a commercial tenant, most likely but not necessarily a restaurant, Curtis said. 

ZAB member Carrie Sprague asked Curtis why the remainder of the floor was reserved for live/work and not commercial. 

Asked why she didn’t devote the entire ground floor to businesses, Curtis said, “I would never have tried to develop 5,000 to 6,000 square feet of commercial space. It would just be dead commercial space.” 

Commissioner Sprague then asked if she could simply remove the upper level loft in the ground floor units to reduce the overall height of the building. “It just seems really high,” she said to the applause of the neighbors seated in the back of the room. 

Curtis disagreed. “Live/work space are considered high volume spaces,” she said.  

Member Bob Allen said he understood the concern over height, “but this project meets every planning criterion on the books. What I like about the building is that instead of crowding in every unit they could, they have fewer units, which means fewer cars in the neighborhood. . .It’s going to be a beautifully executed building.” 

Allen moved approval of the project and Jesse Anthony seconded. 

Deborah Matthews, in her final session as a ZAB member, said that as a longtime resident of Carelton Street, she welcomed the project, in part because it would discourage the prostitution which has long blighted the area. 

“Going from rental to ownership units is also a plus,” she said. 

David Blake said he was troubled at the loss of the first floor residential unit and by the fact that the live/work units might present a curtained or papered-over face to pedestrians along San Pablo. 

He said he was also troubled by the way the city calculated the density bonus granted to the project, which will have inclusionary units on each of the other floors. 

The San Pablo project will be the last in the city in which inclusionary bonus space is calculated under the old rules. A new state law coming into effect Jan. 1 will mandate a new basis for calculation, and Sanderson said city staff is studying the changes to bring themselves up to speed. 

Then the board voted, and barring an appeal to the City Council, Berkeley has its newest condominium project. 

One of those voting for the project was the newest ZAB member, Richard Judd, a lawyer with a degree from Harvard Law School who works for the Oakland real estate law firm of Goldfarb & Lipman, which specializes in affordable housing, redevelopment and municipal law. 

Judd was appointed by newly elected City Councilmember and former ZAB member Laurie Capitelli to fill the seat he had just vacated. 

The board delayed a decision on developer Richard Schwarzmann’s plan to build a five-unit green residential complex at 1414 Harmon Street after neighbors voiced opposition to the loss of daylight the new project would cause. Members indicated they’d be glad to approve the proposal if he submitted a new design with a lower roofline for one of the buildings. 

Members also approved plans for renovation of the industrial building at 950 Gilman St., including a reallocation of a quarter of the structure from industrial to office use. 

The board took no action on realtor/developer John Gordon’s plans to convert seven vacant dwelling units at 1952-1966 University Ave. into office space and construct 3,545 square feet of additional space for two restaurants at the site. 

Both the Harmon Street project and Gordon’s proposal were continued to ZAB’s Jan. 13 meeting. 

While many of the sharply dressed partygoers gathered Thursday at Jupiter can expect a generous Christmas bonus, their guest of honor, Mayor Tom Bates, is facing about a $60,000 loss. 

That looks to be the final cost of the mayor’s 2002 campaign to unseat former Mayor Shirley Dean. Sparing no expense, the mayor and his wife Assemblymember Loni Hancock loaned his campaign $90,000 that Berkeley’s rigid campaign rules make all but impossible to repay in full. 

Now with the Dec. 31 deadline to retire his campaign debt looming, Mayor Bates is getting a little help from friends he didn’t know he had. 

Thursday’s event, the second fundraising bash held in the mayor’s honor this year, was organized by PG&E Government Relations Manager Tom Guarino, and Clear Channel Outdoor Vice President for Governmental Affairs Michael Colbruno. The event raised $1,400. 

Although the fundraiser included several familiar faces, including developer Patrick Kennedy, land use attorney Rena Rickles, Councilmember Linda Maio and City Auditor Ann-Marie Hogan, most of the nearly two dozen people in attendance were less familiar. When one long time city political player was asked who many of the guests were, he replied, “I don’t know.” 

Neither did Bates. The party was organized mostly by friends, he said, but many of the invitees were strangers. 

Bates, who receives a pension from his 20 years in the state Legislature and declines to accept the mayor’s $34,000 salary, said he was resigned to losing about $60,000. 

“Loni and I knew that when we advanced the money it would be very difficult to repay it,” he said. 

Berkeley only allows contributions from individuals, not businesses or organizations and limits contributions to $250 per person. With a candidate’s natural base of support exhausted by election day, they have few potential contributors available to repay any lingering debt. 

The stringent rules have ensnared a second city politician. Councilmember Kriss Worthington hosted a fundraiser earlier this month to retire a $6,000 campaign debt from his 2002 race. Worthington’s event raised $3,800, leaving him $2,200 in the hole with the Dec. 31 deadline fast approaching. 

“Now I just have to call people and beg them to send me a check,” he said. 

Bates’ effort to repay some of his campaign debt has raised the ire of many of the progressives who backed him in 2002. While progressives flocked to Bates as their best chance to defeat the more moderate Shirley Dean and raised no objections when Bates spent some of his own money in his record-setting $236,000 campaign, they have winced at Bates turning to many of Dean’s natural allies, especially developers, to help him retire his debt. 

“It’s sad to me but I’m not surprised,” said Barbara Lubin, a longtime Berkeley activist. “Berkeley has moved to the middle and when you look at development stuff, Tom is close to Shirley.” 

Since 2003, Bates has received contributions from several Dean supporters, including John DeClerq, senior vice president of TransAction Companies; Robert Ellsworth and David Ruegg of the development firm Ruegg & Ellsworth; Thomas Cone, a Realtor; Rauly Butler, an executive at Mechanics Bank; Councilmember Gordon Wozniak; former Councilmember Fred Collignon; John Drew, a West Berkeley-based developer; and Kennedy, head of Panoramic Interests. 

Bates, who listed contributions from 64 people this year, attributed his wide range of support to his performance as mayor, where he has preached consensus and positioned himself towards the middle of the city’s left-center divide. 

“I think a lot of people are happy that the bickering, fighting and endless meetings are over,” he said. Bates added that contributions wouldn’t affect his priorities for the city. 

“I’ve always made decisions on what is the right thing to do, not on who gives me money,” he said. 

In a five minute speech at Thursday’s fundraiser, Bates told attendees that he was committed to streamlining the city’s process for issuing building permits, but also said that public input into new projects resulted in better developments. 

If the mayor didn’t know all of those assembled, he showed keen instincts by addressing land use issues. 

Michael McClure, an Oakland Planning Commissioner and executive for Oakland-based construction company Alarcon Bohm, was one of many people in the development business on hand Thursday. Other guests included a former football teammate and friends from Bates’ days in the State Assembly. 

McClure said he had met Bates on occasion and was asked by a friend to come to the party. 

He in turn invited Nicholas Jellins, a Menlo Park City Councilmember and land use attorney, who met Bates for the first time Thursday. Joining them was Clinton Killian, a real estate attorney who currently serves as chair of the Oakland Planning Commission. 

“Mayor Bates remembered my name. I was kind of touched by that,” said Killian, who said he had met Bates in passing several times and would soon write him a check. 

Other guests were already big fans of the mayor. Scott Donahue, a Berkeley-based public artist, said that Bates intervened with Caltrans on his behalf when the state agency objected to Donahue’s design for art that will soon adorn Berkeley’s pedestrian bridge over I-80. 

“When everyone else was afraid to take on Caltrans, he came through for me,” said Donahue, who proposed a piece that included a tribute to Berkeley’s history of protest, which he said Caltrans found objectionable.  

“Mayor Bates is a practical person,” he said. “I wish I had money to give him.” 

›

Finding an apartment in Berkeley may no longer be difficult, but finding Homefinders is another matter. 

The company, Berkeley’s longest running pay-for-service housing locator, has all but disappeared in recent days, sparking concerns that it has folded. 

On Monday its office at 64 Shattuck Square was locked, the blinds drawn and the company sign removed from the front door. 

“We’ve had about 10 people knock on our door today wondering what happened to them,” said Doug Pestrak, an employee at a neighboring business. 

Homefinders’ landlord, who only gave his first name, Sasha, said the company had a short-term lease and that Homefinders’ employees hadn’t visited their office since Friday. 

Across the street, Davin Wong, president of eHousing, Homefinders’ lone remaining rival, said several Homefinders customers told him that the company was closing. 

Homefinders didn’t respond to the Planet’s telephone messages left Friday and Monday. On Saturday the company’s homepage disappeared, replaced by a message from Network Solutions that the site’s account “expired on Dec. 5 and is pending renewal or deletion.” 

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they were out of business,” said Berkeley landlord Mark Tarses. “The combination of high vacancy rates plus craigslist has made their business kind of obsolete.” 

Robert Cabrera, the former head of the Berkeley Property Owners’ Association, said more than 90 percent of his prospective tenants tell him they saw his ad on craigslist, not the pay services. 

“I don’t need to list with the other services,” said Cabrera. He added that craigslist has the additional benefit of allowing landlords to post their listings immediately, include pictures, and without having to leave a telephone number. 

Homefinders, which has served tenants and landlords in the East Bay for over 20 years, in past months reduced staffing from 20 to five and moved out of its longtime home on University Avenue to a small second story office at Shattuck Square. 

Linda Muller, a Homefinders customer who hasn’t been able to contact the organization and has had her e-mails bounce back to her, feared she might lose the balance of her subscription she bought two weeks ago. “This is really lousy,” she wrote in an e-mail to the Planet. “Now I have to rely on eHousing and craigslist. And I’m probably out my $60.” 

If it has folded, Homefinders would be Berkeley’s third pay-for-service outlet to go out of business since the housing crunch ended in 2001. Rental Solutions and Berkeley Connections were both purchased by competing San Francisco companies, which ultimately folded them. 

Cal Rentals, which operates a pay service for UC Berkeley students, has also struggled in the face of a weak rental market and a new breed of competitor, said Assistant Director Becky White. 

“Housing is easier for people to find on their own,” she said. “Now you can walk around town and find For Rent signs in windows, that never used to happen.” 

Wong insisted that eHousing, which would be the last pay-service in the East Bay if Homefinders closed, remained in sound fiscal shape. He said his business appealed to a different clientele than craigslist by offering more personal attention to landlords and renters. 

“We really don’t see them as a competitor. The market is the bigger problem,” he said. “Not so many tenants need help finding a place right now.” 

In figures collected earlier this year, Cal Rentals reported that the average Berkeley Studio cost $852, down from $1,102 at the peak of the housing crunch in 2001. 

One-bedroom apartments peaked at $1,375 in July 2001 and have dropped to $1,080. Two-bedroom units peaked in at $1,822 at the same time and dropped to a low of $1,356. Although Berkeley does not maintain an official vacancy rate, White and city officials have guessed that it stands between five and seven percent. 

›

The City Council tonight (Tuesday) is scheduled to decide whether to shrink North Berkeley’ major east-west thoroughfare in half for motorists. 

Under a plan devised by Albany and Berkeley officials, Marin Avenue, the preferred route for many Berkeley hills residents to reach I-80, would be reduced from four lanes of traffic to two lanes, with bicycle lanes on each side of the street and a center turning lane. 

After a seven-year push from avenue neighbors, mostly in Albany, to slow traffic on the avenue, the Albany City Council voted unanimously last month to proceed with the plan for its section of Marin, from Stannage Avenue east to Tulare Avenue. 

If Berkeley chooses to join Albany, the project would extend four blocks further east to The Alameda. The current plan calls for re-engineering the avenue by the end of the summer for a one-year trial period at a cost to Berkeley of $41,000. The city is seeking grant money to pay for the project. 

In October, the Transportation Commission unanimously recommended the project to the council amid charges from opponents that they had not been properly notified of the commission’s public hearing. 

“Nobody knew about it,” said Zelda Bronstein, the president of the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association, who questioned why city staff limited notices to the hearing to the 750 households within a block of Marin and provided the commission with summaries of constituent letters rather than the full correspondence. 

“This has really started a fuss,” said Councilmember Betty Olds. She plans to oppose the proposal after receiving more than 20 e-mails from constituents from her district in the North Berkeley hills who were concerned that their commutes would be slowed and that they were left out of the decision making process. 

Laurie Capitelli, who represents the affected streets, wouldn’t disclose his position, but said he thought the city had limited options after Albany, which encompasses most of Marin slated for the redesign, approved the plan. 

“What concerns me most is that so many people feel surprised about this,” he said. 

Heath Maddux, a Berkeley transportation planner, held that the staff acted according to procedure by sending notices only to residents who lived a block from the affected portion of Marin and defended the decision to summarize resident letters for the commission. 

“It was just seen as the most efficient use of the commission’s time,” he said. 

At its hearing in October, the 16 residents in attendance were evenly split on the plan. Supporters like Gary Amado said his two sons had been hit by cars when trying to cross the street. 

Opponents feared that motorists would congest neighboring side streets. 

Currently, cars travel an average of 31 mph on the avenue, which is zoned for 25 mph. From 2001 through 2003, there were 114 collisions on the section of the avenue encompassed by the plan, which was comparable to the statewide average of similar avenues, according to a report by Fehr & Pierce, a transit engineering firm. 

The report also concluded that the average rush-hour trip down Marin would increase by about 80 seconds with the reduced lanes, and reduce average speeds from 31 mph to 26 mph, not enough of a disincentive to push motorists onto side-streets. 

Responding to concerns from opponents, Maddux, who oversees the city’s bicycle boulevard program, has said that the city was working on developing standards to judge the success of the program after a one-year trial run.  

He said that Berkeley and Albany began working together on the plan two years ago. They are hoping to win grant money either from the California Air Resources Board or from Regional Measure B, which set aside money for local transportation projects. 

Also on the council agenda is a proposal to reduce staff costs to operate the city’s transit service for the elderly and disabled. Currently city staff accounts for 36 percent of the $453,000 program budget, an amount Housing Director Steve Barton called “unconscionably high.” 

With the backing of the commissions on aging and disability, Barton and city staff have proposed streamlining the city’s taxi scrip program to reduce staffing by one-half of a full time employee ($36,000). 

The new guidelines call for eliminating the sale of taxi scrip, which serves as taxi vouchers for the elderly and disabled. In its place, Berkeley Paratransit Services will establish income criteria; all eligible consumers will receive scrip free of charge, while new applicants will be excluded from the program if their income exceeds 30 percent of the Area Median Income. Current customers who earn more than 50 percent of AMI, about 85 in all, will be phased out of the program. 

Also, the city will stop selling subsidized East Bay Paratransit tickets and vouchers for paratransit vans, operated by Alameda County as well as tickets for local paratransit service Easy Does It. 

Applicants who meet the new income criteria will receive nine taxi scrip books worth $360 annually. Previously, consumers who must be over 70 or certified as disabled, could buy $40 taxi scrip books valued for $14. 

“A big piece of the high administration costs was selling the scrip,” Barton said. 

Maris Arnold, a former member of the Commission on Aging, opposes the plan. “Any reform should reduce more staff time and provide more services,” she said, noting that the new policy would limit recipients to nine books of scrip annually, less than one-quarter the amount they could purchase under the current rules.  

Councilmember Dona Spring, who uses a wheelchair, said she was inclined to support the proposal, but was concerned that some users wouldn’t use the vouchers they were given. 

“There’s no way to redistribute them if half the recipients haven’t used their vouchers,” she said.

Mayor Tom Bates fumed Friday, blasting the Schwarzenegger administration’s decision to scrap an expensive tower design for the new span of the Bay Bridge. 

State Business, Transportation and Housing Secretary Sunne Wright McPeak told lawmakers of the governor’s decision Friday in San Francisco. She added that bridge tolls would likely have to climb to $4 in the coming years to help fund the project, which has been beset by cost overruns. 

Bates, in a press release issued Friday, called on the governor to “revisit his disastrous decision.” 

“It is truly an offensive design that will visually damage one of the world’s most unique and beautiful areas,” wrote Bates, adding that the change might also delay completion of the bridge, and require new environmental reviews that would swallow most of the expected savings. 

He maintained that requiring local motorists to chip in for the cost overruns with higher tolls conflicted with long-standing precedents for state transportation projects. 

McPeak told lawmakers Friday that the redesign, which is actually a replica of a 1997 proposal from then-Gov. Pete Wilson, would trim more than $300 million from the project now estimated at $5.1 million.Ã

A Berkeley Unified School District oversight committee designed to assist the BUSD board in monitoring school construction funds has had difficulty providing such assistance in the past year because of lack of a quorum. 

Most recently, the School Construction Oversight Committee has been charged with overseeing $116.5 million in Measure AA school bond construction money passed by Berkeley voters in 2000. 

Committee member Bruce Wicinas says that “after a pretty good record of meeting for the past nine years we have met only intermittently this year.” Wicinas explained that the committee “only had quorums three times this year,” with “a couple of more meetings held where we couldn’t make any decisions because we didn’t have a quorum.” 

BUSD Facilities and Maintenance Director Lew Jones—who provides staff support for the committee—had a different recollection, stating that the committee met 10 times last year, with a quorum for six meetings. 

The School Construction Oversight Committee has positions for 11 appointed members. Each elected school board member and the board student director has one appointee apiece, the superintendent has two appointee slots, and the board has three more slots to choose collectively. 

BUSD Public Information Officer Mark A. Coplan recently released a notice that the BUSD Board of Education “is currently soliciting applicants for ... committees and commissions,” including the School Construction Oversight Committee, and listing an Internet site address where prospective members can fill out an application. 

At last week’s reorganization meeting of the board of education, only five members were appointed to the construction committee—the same number, and the same members, who were appointed last year: Lloyd Lee (appointed by board member Joaquin Rivera), James Hallman (John Selawsky), Carl Bridgers (Terry Doran), Matt Taecker (Shirley Issel), and Bruce Wicinas (Nancy Riddle). Student Director Lily Dorman-Colby was not present at last week’s meeting, and Superintendent Michele Lawrence said that she had no recommendations to make for the committee. 

At the same meeting, the district filled only five slots on the 11-member Facilities Safety and Maintenance Oversight Committee. Superintendent Lawrence filled only one of two slots on that committee, while both board members Selawsky and Doran said that they had not identified anyone to appoint. Two of the members of the facilities committee are appointed by the Planning and Oversight Committee of the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project (BSEP). 

According to BUSD Facilities and Maintenance Director Jones, a quorum of board advisory committees consists of a majority plus one of the members actually appointed. That means a quorum of the currently five-member School Construction Oversight Committee is three members. 

One of the problems with filling the positions may be the specialized qualifications needed by committee members. The district’s web site lists criteria for committee membership that includes construction experience or knowledge (including familiarity with costs of construction and standard trade practices in public construction projects), maintenance and safety knowledge, and budgetary knowledge. 

Jones said that while the district desires the committee to function and is “always” interested in getting more people to serve, school construction can legally continue without it. 

“The School Construction Oversight Committee is not a statutory committee,” Jones said. He explained that oversight committees created within a bond measure—such as BSEP or the Facilities Maintenance and Security Advisory Committee of Berkeley School Bond Measure BB of 2000—must function in order for the bond money to be spent. Oversight committees created by board policy—such as the construction oversight committee—are advisory panels that are desirable but not legally necessary. “Nothing concerning school construction has to go to the committee first before it goes to the board,” Jones explained. “It’s the board which decides which items they want the committee to review.” 

But Jones stressed that the district considers the work of the oversight committee “valuable.” 

“We have good people on there,” he said, “but we don’t have as good as an analysis as we would have if there were more committee members.”›

A requested recount of Berkeley’s medical marijuana Measure R vote could cost the Yes On R Committee about $21,000, according to an estimate by a representative of the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office. 

The Yes On R Committee made the recount request last week, and recounting has already started. Assistant Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold gave a “rough estimate” that it would take a week to “sort out the ballots” and another week to do the actual counting. 

Recount costs in California are $3,000 for the first day and $2,000 for each subsequent day. 

The ballots to be recounted are 22,631 absentee ballots as well as 6,714 provisional ballots cast by paper on election day. The remaining roughly 31,500 votes were cast on computerized touch-screen voting machines. Measure R proponents could have asked for a manual recount of printouts of the touch-screen votes of each voter. Instead, the group opted simply to have the machines re-run their internal vote tallies. 

Measure R—which would have raised the number of medical marijuana plants allowed in the possession of users and would have made it easier for medical marijuana clubs to relocate in Berkeley—lost by 191 votes out of more than 50,000 votes cast in the Nov. 2 election. 

That margin of difference—0.38 percent—would have triggered a mandatory, county-funded recount in 14 states, including Florida. However, California is one of 21 states that require parties requesting recounts to pay for those recounts. If the recount reverses the results of the election, the money is refunded to the requesting party. 

Representatives of the Yes On R campaign were not available for comment.

Planning Commissioners will get their first look at plans for the proposed new Berkeley Bowl at Ninth Street and Heinz Avenue during a special meeting Wednesday night. 

The session begins at 7 p.m. in the West Berkeley Senior Center, 1900 Sixth St. at the corner of Hearst Avenue. 

Designed by West Berkeley architect Kava Massih, the 91,060-square-foot 40-foot-high steel-clad structure will sit atop an underground parking lot. A semi-detached 7,070-square-foot structure will offer prepared food for eating there or take away. 

Because the West Berkeley site is currently zoned for light industrial use, the Planning Commission must approve both a zoning change and an amendment to the West Berkeley Plan before construction can begin. 

Massih’s plans drew raves from the city Design Review Committee during a Nov. 18 meeting in which members proposed only slight modifications, largely connected with landscaping. 

Meeting with project neighbors on Oct. 26, Massih heard criticisms largely centered on traffic flow in and out of the facility. The option favored by neighbors calls for closing all access to the store from both Heinz Avenue and Ninth Street on the north. 

The main entrance to the site, Massih told Design Review Committee members, would be from the south via the traffic light-controlled intersection of Ninth Street and Ashby Avenue. 

Also on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting is a discussion of the workshop held the week before on proposed amendments to the city’s Landmarks Preservation and Zoning ordinances. 

The proposals, the fruit of four years’ labor by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, would transform the way the city handles alterations to and demolitions of buildings 50 years and older. 

Under the new proposal, all such structures must be evaluated for their landmark potential before the city can issue permits, and once permits are issued attempts to landmark would then be prohibited.  

Many hurdles remain before an effective ordinance can be crafted, most notably a means for property owners to learn about the history of their properties. 

One possibility is a city-wide survey of all eligible properties, a process that could take years and a $1 million expenditure, said Deputy City Attorney Zach Cowan. 

Other items on the agenda include a discussion of the impact of the City Council-approved task force on revising the municipal Creeks Ordinance as well as minor changes in grammar, syntax and code references to several sections of the city code.

The passions stirred by plans to build a major casino in unincorporated North Richmond have been spelled out in 600-plus pages of documents released by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). 

The documents, a combination of letters, studies and news accounts, were collected in the scoping process for preparing an environmental impact statement on the project, one of three tribal casinos currently in the planning stages for the Richmond area. 

The other two are the Point Molate project of Berkeley developer James D. Levine and a plan to build a casino adjacent to Hilltop Mall backed by the same Florida casino developer who is planning another casino near the Oakland Airport. 

The proposed location of the North Richmond casino is a nearly 30-acre site along Richmond Parkway on a site bounded by Goodrick Avenue on the East and Parr Boulevard to the south. 

The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo tribespeople proposes to build the Sugar Bowl, a 225,000-square-foot casino building with 1,940 slot machines, 55 table games and 13 Asian card games on the main casino floor, plus a poker room with 16 tables and a “high-roller” room with 60 slots, five table games and three Asian card games. 

Plans also call for construction of more than 3,500 parking spaces, a 1,500-seat showroom, a 600-seat buffet, a 250-seat entertainment lounge, a 150-seat sports bar and a food court and restaurant, each seating 120. 

Other alternatives for the site include a smaller casino, a reduced casino with retail shopping and a shopping/office center with no casino. 

Fans of the project say it will create jobs, reduce crime and stimulate economic development in the largely minority and economically disadvantaged North Richmond community, while foes have visions of higher crime rates, increased traffic congestion and a drain on community resources. 

The band’s original reservation in Lake County was disestablished by the BIA in 1958 and many band members were dispersed into the Bay Area. 

The band won a victory in U.S. District Court in 1991, reestablishing their status as a federally recognized, albeit landless, tribe. 

Because so many members of the band lived in the Bay Area, the BIA designated Contra Costa County as a potential home for the tribe, based on a Gold Rush-era federal treaty which promised them land in Contra Costa County. 

The BIA has endorsed the notion of a tribal casino because the band is economically disadvantaged and has no sustained income or employment opportunities in their current Lake County landholdings, and because the federal government has cut back on funding programs for tribal government. 

To build the casino, the BIA must first take the land into federal trust status on behalf of the tribe. 

One opponent submitted a supplemental survey conducted in conjunction with the 2000 census that showed that Contra Costa County residents had the longest commute times—an average of 34 minutes—of any county is the western United States. 

Also included were surveys by CalTrans, ABAG, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Texas Transportation Institute.  

One of the major sources of opposition letters was Neighbors Against the Parkway Casino, which maintains its own web site at www.StopParkwayCasino.com. 

The group urged opponents to write individual letters, unlike the proponent groups, which, for the most part, relied on boilerplate letters with room for individual signatures. 

Among the opponents are: 

• The Bay Area Rescue Mission, which cited the high incidence of gambling troubles among its clientele. 

• Artichoke Joe’s, a San Bruno cardroom whose lawyers sent a seven-page letter. 

• Gerald D. and Carl Overaa, owners of Overaa Construction, a major East Bay builder headquartered near the proposed casino site. Two Overaa employees also wrote letters in opposition. 

• The Oaks Card Club and the California Grand Casino, two non-tribal card rooms in the East Bay. 

One opposition letter came from an 8-year-old boy from Lafayette, who wrote, “Both of my parents live in Richmond. I am worried that a drunk driver will hit them.” 

Among the proponents were the signatories of 71 identical letters from participants in an Aug. 16 meeting of neighborhood associations and community groups representing over 1,500 North Richmond and Parchester Village residents who met with representatives of the Scotts Valley Band. 

Another 50 supporting letters, all identical, gave no hint of their origins. 

Contra Costa County Administrator John Sweeten sent a two-page letter with a 13-page attachment spelling out areas the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) should address. 

The cover letter noted that the county hadn’t received a detailed description of the proposal and asked that the final EIS include a worst-case scenario, detail assumptions used to determine impacts, outline mitigation measures for each of the impacts and analyze and disclose the cumulative impacts of each of the proposals. 

The remainder of the letter provided a detailed laundry list of specific impacts the EIS should address. ›

The aftershocks of the dollar’s fall are still felt far and wide by Europeans. Yet, slowly but surely, the continent is beginning to appreciate the newfound power of a strong euro.  

In factory boardrooms, European entrepreneurs still seek strategies to offset the increased cost of exporting their wares to the United States and Asia. But on the street and in the halls of government, optimism is growing. Many of the old continent’s analysts are peering around the edge of the tempest and seeing clearer skies.  

Europeans who travel abroad, for example, are feeling the same sense of power and abundance that American travelers knew before the advent of the recession and the Bush administration’s hands-off monetary policy. International airfares and hotels and meals outside the EU have become extremely cheap for Europeans. Foreign imports are cheaper by the day, American products of course, but especially Chinese and other East Asian products. Even the punishing cost of commodities like oil, since those trades are named in dollars, has been in part offset by the gain that the euro has made on the U.S. dollar.  

In fact, a strong euro even allows European exporters to absorb some of the increased cost of doing business with the United States.  

“Italian staple products and fashion nowadays have to be subsidized by our exporters to remain competitive on the American market,” say Vittorio Palladino, commercial attache to the Italian Consulate General in San Francisco. But Palladino points out that European exporters have kept prices steady for U.S. consumers, and they can do that, he says, because a strong euro enables them to absorb the losses generated by the poor exchange rate with the United States.  

European trade with the United States accounts for one-fifth of the old continent’s exports. With China, the EU registers a trade deficit of about 50 billion euros. But with the United States it still registers a trade surplus. In fact, the United States still imports more from Europe than it exports, accumulating—according to EU official sources—a deficit of about 80 billion euros a year, about $107 billion. As imports from Europe keep growing, that deficit is bound to increase.  

“If I were an American industrialist I would be worried about the strength of the euro right now, because U.S. and EU economies are highly interdependent,” says Guido Fontanelli, economy editor for Panorama, one of Italy’s leading newsweeklies. “More than a quarter of world transactions are made by firms that have investments on either side of the pond. The transatlantic relationship is still the nexus of the global economy, since the U.S. and the EU are the largest trade and investment partners for many of the world’s countries.”  

Even with securities, Europe is poised to reap the benefits of a strong currency.  

“As the dollar falters it is unavoidable that foreign investors will start to look at Europe’s securities and its currency as refuge investments,” says Jeffrey Frankel, professor of economics at the Kennedy School of Government and a former Clinton administration advisor. “The greater rate of return of European investments is compounded also by Europe’s higher interest rates. As long as the Euro stands strong, the European Central Bank (ECB) doesn’t have any incentive to reduce those rates.”  

In fact, the ECB recently signaled its intention to raise interest rates, and noted in the same announcement that currently, one-fifth of world’s monetary reserves are named in euros.  

The rise of the euro may also empower Europe’s political leaders to deal with the continent’s labor market rigidity, which has hampered Europe’s growth.  

To offset export losses, says Gary Becker, Nobel laureate for the economy in 1992, Europeans will have to increase productivity and reduce labor costs. “They’ll have to follow the American lesson of the 1980s, when Japan was flooding the U.S. with cheap electronics and automotive products,” Becker says. “The U.S. didn’t turn to protectionism, but instead increased productivity, the mobility of its work force and invested heavily in research and development and thus found again its economic edge.”  

Europe may be ready to follow suit. In Italy, air-transportation unions—the most powerful in Europe—recently agreed to layoffs and pay cuts in order to help Alitalia, Italy’s flagship airline, get out of bankruptcy.  

According to Fontanelli, Europe’s real conundrum is with Asiatic countries and countries whose currencies have been pegged to the dollar. Fontanelli believes that the dollar’s present level is tantamount to reducing China’s costs of exporting to Europe by a further 30 percent, since the value of China’s currency is pegged to that of the dollar.  

But with last July’s inclusion of nine former Iron Curtain countries into the EU, Europeans have discovered their own domestic China—that is, an area to which they can safely offshore production, gaining both low production costs and high-quality products.  

“Eastern Europe is becoming Europe’s NAFTA”, says Michele Libraro, CEO of Global StartUps, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm devoted to promoting European start-ups in the United States. “Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Baltic countries are attracting a great deal of West European investments and production. Those countries have a very good industrial base. For the first time in centuries, Europe could have a closed-circuit economy where everything is produced and consumed internally.  

“Regardless,” Libraro says, “Eastern Europe’s production keeps European products competitive internationally, notwithstanding China and the rise the euro.”  

Paolo Pontoniere is the San Francisco-based correspondent of Focus, Italy’s leading monthly magazine.  

Déjà vu 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“Culvert Giving Way” reads the headline over a brief article on the front page of the Berkeley Daily Gazette of June 18, 1904. “The old wooden culvert that carries the waters of Strawberry Creek from the University grounds through the business section of the city, to a point half a block west of Shattuck avenue on Allston way, is beginning to give way in places. A large cave in has occurred… The Town Board of Trustees will soon recommend replacing the wood with cement.” 

It is exactly a full century later and we are at it again. 

Jill Korte 

• 

VOTE IRREGULARITIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Even before the voting machines were turned off in the wee hours of election night the American public began hearing an explanation to account for the sudden shift in election results which were in stark contradiction to the earlier exit polls showing Kerry to be the projected winner. There started what turned out to be a wave of cookie cutter analyses which swept through the TV and print media claiming that the Christian right backlash against gay marriage accounted for Bush’s slim margin of victory.  

By their timing and abundance it was almost as if these were planted by white house strategist, Karl Rove, designed in advance to explain an unlikely reversal of events. But then one would have to believe that this administration is capable of widespread deception and subterfuge. And what is the chance of that? 

Also, who the hell is Bob Burnett, anyway? He has now written two “news analysis” pieces on the stolen election in your pages that mirror other op-ed pieces in the Chronicle explaining away Bush’s suspect win of the popular vote. There are now thousands of documented incidents of fraud, vote suppression and voter abuse to indicate that in all likelihood Kerry did, in fact, win the popular vote. In his latest infotorial, Burnett’s use of confusing speculative presumptions based on an unreferenced poll suggests a somewhat more subtle but a very similar intention to explain the improbable. It does appear he’s attempting to anaesthetize a disbelieving, outraged voting public. 

Please do your readership a favor and feature Henry Norr, a well-known, trusted local writer whose substantive commentary of Nov.16 shows that he represents the predominant sentiment of Bay Area voters. I also applaud letter writer Judy Bertelsen (Dec. 10-13) who offers a cogent assessment of election irregularities backed up by references readers can check for themselves on the Internet. 

I urge the Berkeley Daily Planet to start printing some of the dozens of news stories around the country documenting instances of vote suppression, etc. which are available from newspapers such the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Columbus Dispatch. Even the Associated Press is wising up on this issue. 

Of the myriad number of websites devoted to the stolen election, www.solarbus.org and www.blackboxvoting.org are good starting points and www.votersunite.org has a detailed partial compendium of hundreds of serious voting irregularities backed up with links to specific print media reports. 

Peter Teichner 

• 

COMMUNITY IS GOOD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As affairs of state coast along Mr. Bush prepares for his second term by reshaping his cabinet and prioritizing his initiatives. The reform of Social Security is at the top of his list. So, from the bully pulpit he will again direct the political equivalent of a hymn extolling privatization and his choir has already started to warm up. David Brooks, for instance, praises the power of a free market to solve Social Security’s “intractable problems”; the benefits, he sings, “vastly outweigh” the risks. 

Brooks’ melodic performance is seductive but ears accustomed to hearing common sense are sure to find his discords discomforting. 

So far the president has revealed only the direction: Increase private retirement accounts to make up for reduced benefits – a road to the past. 

Our septuagenarian system needs revitalizing but an honest effort to change it should not jettison its core principle – security anchored in community; wage earners holding up the roof to prevent it from falling on individuals. Privatization a la Bush operates the opposite way; it would take a portion of what the community now bears and distribute it onto individual shoulders. 

Community cohesion—slim threads plated into a rope—is reliable and vastly more powerful than the market, exposed as it is to capricious global influences. 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

MAGIC THEATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I went over to the Magic Theater in San Francisco Saturday night (Dec. 11) to see the Riot Group’s play Pugilist Specialist. There were over 100 in the audience with a few empty seats. If you like tight theater drama on the edge try and catch this play before it disappears in a week or so. You won’t be disappointed. On a sparse set of two benches, four characters somehow dramatize all of the tensions of life in the U.S. today. Like the Iraq war itself the play appears to be about a military intelligence group’s assignment to assassinate a middle east dictator—who appears to be Saddam Hussein. Ultimately the play turns out to not be about that at all but about the contradictions in the internal culture within which the four characters exist and from which they derive. These guys and the Bay Area deserve an extended run of this brilliant play and it probably won’t happen unless they get a huge surge of interest. Pugilist Specialist has received rave reviews.  

Marc Sapir 

• 

CHURCH AND STATE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The founding fathers of this country for the most part were very religious, spiritual people but the reason they insisted on separation of church and state is because they were fully aware of the historic abuse when the church and state are not kept separate. The federal government/Bush administration is now making this huge mistake that our forefathers warned us against and which is not even suppose to be done according to the Constitution, so history is now repeating itself with dire consequences. It is also unfortunate that through out recorded history people in position of power have used religion and God to mislead people to fulfill their own agenda which even includes starting wars in the name of God. Most people do not realize this but that was something Hitler also did, an in depth article concerning this can be found at: www.buzzflash.com/farrell/04/12/far04041.html. 

Thomas Husted 

Alameda 

• 

LOCAL VOTE ANALYSIS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read your weekend edition regularly but not always the weekday editions. I did pick up the Dec. 7-9 edition and found the vote tally for Kerry and Bush to be very, very interesting. Also, Rob Wrenn’s analysis was very informative. 

I would like to suggest that you reprint that article and the table of votes again in some future weekend edition. There are probably many voters in Berkeley who like me found a bit of solace in knowing that I was part of a vast anti Bush majority. 

Max Macks 

• 

RENT CONTROL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Planet recently carried a commentary by Robert Cabrera attacking rent control (“Berkeley Rent Control Violates U.S. Constitution,” Daily Planet, Dec. 7-9). The rather inane claim was that Rent Control violates the Constitution, specifically the Fifth Amendment. How does Mr. Cabrera explain the fact that almost all judges and courts who have considered this matter came to the opposite conclusion? Almost all of those judges, with a very few rare exceptions, were Republicans and they certainly had no political motivation in upholding rent control.  

I would like to quote you something equally inane, from a philosophy professor well-trained in logic, by none other than Bertrand Russell. Said John Searle at a public hearing of the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board on Sept. 10, 1991: “The treatment of landlords in Berkeley is comparable to the treatment of blacks in the South...our rights have been massively violated and we are here to correct that injustice.”  

Considering that it is largely the black population of Berkeley that has been protected by rent control and badly hurt by its recent undermining, I think the more apt analogy would be that Mr. Searle’s objections are like objecting to the tight government regulation of the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. 

However, there is a germ of truth in the attitudes of Cabrera and Searle. It is that the politicos in Berkeley government have tended to compensate one wrong for another wrong, rather than correct all wrongs at their root. This stems from laziness and from over-politicization of governmental obligations. Very few of the Berkeley law makers have had much knowledge about the law, and so they have tended to play down proper law making according to constitutional rights in favor of tit-for-tat partisan bickering. 

I do not believe, for one minute, however, that tenants have come out on the long end of that stick. Quite the contrary. It is a formula that ensures the defeat of tenants rights, which in fact depend strongly on constitutional support, even as did the civil rights of blacks in the South. Although tenants are the majority, they are not the ones with political muscle in a capitalist society. Even as a small fraction of the population possesses most of the wealth, so does it possess most of the power that derives from that wealth. 

If Mr. Cabrera or Mr. Searle or any other gung-ho enemy of tenants rights would like to engage in a mock trial over rent control, I will be glad to demonstrate to them the errors of their ways. 

Peter Mutnick 

• 

EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“Only in Berkeley” again? That the La Vereda cottage, easily the most unsightly dwelling in its neighborhood, and only mitigated by Mother Nature’s 

forgiving terrain, should stir such passions is incomprehensible. If I had been Mr. Wurster (may he rest in peace), I would not have wanted my memory to be associated with it, nor with Wurster Hall, two unfortunate examples of the Post-Bauhaus geometric dreck that thrives in the Berkeley Hills, and which has ripped the soul out of most twentieth-century architecture. That short-sighted, superficial, Modernistic mania is hopefully drawing to a close. There is nothing sadder than an aging avanguard. 

Juergen Hahn 

• 

BUDGET UPDATE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A Nov. 4 memo from City Manager Phil Kamlarz to department directors regarding “Budget Update” is being circulated this month. It refers to the fiscal year 2005 adopted budget that “included a number of departmental and programmatic reorganization efforts. We must immediately begin implementation of these plans.” 

One of the Police Department “Adopted Balancing Options” (page 2 of the fiscal year 2006 Reduction Plan) is to “Eliminate Police Officer—Sex Crimes”—a position which appears to be vacant, a potential “savings” of $142.500. 

Here’s a suggestion with potential for genuine savings of money and lives: Post on the city website photographs and names of the johns arrested in Berkeley. 

Helen Rippier Wheeler 

• 

MORE RENT CONTROL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I must respectfully disagree with former Berkeley Property Owners Association President Robert Cabrera’s surprising claim that the city’s rent stabilization program violates the U.S. Constitution. 

Mr. Cabrera contends that municipal rent stabilization policies are tantamount to an “uncompensated” private property “taking” or expropriation. 

In point of fact, the hundred or so community rent stabilization laws across California—including mobile home parks—have been declared constitutional 

by both the California Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.  

For example, in Pennell vs. City of San Jose (1988) and Yee vs. City of Escondido (1992), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that rent controls do not constitute a “taking.” 

Further, the state and federal Supreme Courts have explicitly addressed Mr. Cabrera’s central concern: Rental property owners are constitutionally entitled to receive a “fair return” on their property investment under a rent stabilization environment. 

The “fair return” doctrine articulated by the courts is a long established legal principle. Berkeley’s rent stabilization policies fully comply with this constitutional doctrine and the court’s rulings on this issue. 

Although space prevents from addressing Mr. Cabrera’s other op-ed points, it is a fact that the Bay Area has some of the highest rent levels in the entire nation. Without the city’s rent stabilization program, Berkeley’s unique character and diversity—including the city’s thousands of low income households—would have eroded away or disappeared a long time ago.  

Chris Kavanagh 

• 

RUMSFELD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Donald Rumsfeld at the talk to the troops when they questioned him said “ Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I’m an old man, it’s early in the morning, and I’m gathering my thought here.” His answers certainly were inadequate.  

He was a major participant in the decision of going to war in Iraq. It is his responsibility to provide our soldiers with all that is needed to fight in this war.  

These questions are not the first time that the fighting military has asked for proper protection in this Iraqi war. Recently 18 soldiers refused to go on a mission because of faulty equipment. 

Demands need to be made for his resignation. Rumsfeld states because he is an old man he is slow in formulating his thoughts. How can he then make instant decisions that affect not only the military, but also the citizens of United States and the people of the world? How can the president have any confidence in Rumsfeld’s abilities? The military who are fighting and dying in Iraqi are questioning his leadership. What can we expect from him in four years when he is 76 years old? 

We must have someone is this vital position who is competent all the time. 

Helen and Frank Sommers 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Zelda Bronstein’s opinion piece about re-striping Marin Avenue (“The Stealth Plan to Bicycle-ize Marin Avenue,” Daily Planet, Dec. 10-13) shows that she does not understand the purpose of this project. Its goal is to make the street safer by reducing illegal speeding.  

When a street has two lanes in each direction, some drivers use the “fast lane” to speed. When it has only one lane in each direction, all drivers tend to travel at the same speed as the safest drivers.  

Bronstein says that the re-striping will “profoundly affect” the entire neighborhood, so the city should notify everyone, not just residents of Marin Avenue.  

In fact, the plan will affect Marin Avenue by making it safer. It will have only one profound effect on other neighborhood residents: People who now drive at high speeds will have to slow down a bit and take a few more minutes to travel on this street.  

The study for this plan found that the re-striped street will have capacity to carry all the traffic that now travels there, so re-striping will not cause congestion. In fact, the study found that the average speed after re-striping will still be greater than the legal speed limit: Drivers will be slowed down only if their current speed is well above the legal limit.  

The city has already re-striped Sixth Street north of Hearst Avenue in exactly the same way that is proposed for Marin Avenue—and I have not heard anyone complain about (or even mention) the “profound effect” of this re-striping.  

Bronstein sometimes plays at being progressive and writes about “renewing” the Democratic Party. But when it comes to the decisions that affect her own ºlife, she has not moved beyond the urban planning clichés of the 1950s. Many of today’s traffic engineers have rejected the ideal of 1950s traffic engineering—to move cars as quickly as possible, regardless of the impact on the environment and on neighborhoods. Bronstein will not renew anything by advocating this sort of out-dated, reactionary idea.  

Charles Siegel 

• 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The commentary by Zelda Bronstein in the December 10-13 issue contains some very misleading allegations, which are reinforced by her unfortunate headline “The Stealth Plan to Bicycle-ize Marin Avenue.” 

I write as a Berkeley bicyclist (aged 67, and a daily participant in the Berkeley traffic) and as a member of the board of directors of the Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition (BFBC). At a recent meeting, the BFBC Board made a considered decision not to commit resources or energy to the Marin Avenue reconfiguration project. It is indeed part of the Bicycle Plan—Bronstein at least got that right—and as such we support it in principle, but we consciously chose not to give it a high priority. 

I was disturbed by the fact that Ms. Bronstein chose to set up bicycling as a straw man. The Marin project is primarily about the safety of pedestrians and of residents backing out of driveways. Her headline suggests that it is being covertly driven by bicyclists. That is simply false. In the actual text, most of Ms. Bronstein’s substantive criticisms concerned the planning and notification processes. For all I know, some of her concerns in those areas may be well founded. However, if something is wrong with the city’s process it is not because of secret influence by a cabal of bicyclists. 

The Marin Avenue project will do a few good things for bicyclists, but it is far from the top of our wish list. It will, I think, do far more for pedestrians and residents of Marin Avenue, by reducing speeding. At the same time, the center left turn lane will allow vehicles to stop to wait for a chance to turn left without blocking a through traffic lane as they do now. Several knowledgeable observers have predicted that traffic flow will actually become smoother and easier as a result of that change. 

Ms. Bronstein ended by expressing concern about “...the Berkeleyans whose daily lives it will profoundly affect.” Think how profoundly it might affect your daily life if you were crossing Marin and were hit by a car going 35 MPH. 

David A. Coolidge 

• 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a North Berkeley resident, I’m seriously affected both by the proposed choking of the Marin Avenue traffic artery, and by the actual choking of public participation in the city’s decision about this. 

The core traffic problem is this: As civic policies continue to increase congestion on the overloaded Ashby, University, and Solano corridors, east/west access to North Berkeley depends ever more vitally on the Marin Avenue corridor. It’s not ideal—but the cost of constricting its flow will be more than just significant inconvenience to its many regular users. Traffic diverted to nearby streets will degrade local neighborhoods, and the increased load on the other main corridors will have disproportionate effects on their already-jammed flows and on all drivers who use them. I sympathize actively with the needs of bicyclists, but another east/west corridor can be modified for them. There’s no other alternative here for car drivers, and the impact of restricting Marin’s flow will be felt city-wide. 

This makes even worse the failures of the Transportation and Planning commissions to adequately publicize this plan, and to invite citizen participation. Though local residents have had little chance to offer feedback, their reactions have been decisively negative. To have their careful analyses digested to bland bullet-points by the Transportation Commission’s consultant has made a mockery of citizen input. This matter is being pushed to the City Council with inadequate consideration even for opinions of the local public, and none for feedback from the larger community. 

What’s at stake here is not only a major traffic decision, but the process of participation. I hope other readers will help pressure council and commission members to make both of these better than what’s portending. 

Michael Rossman 

• 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Earlier this year I watched my neighbor, Tom Bowen, die while crossing Marin Avenue. I have crossed Marin Avenue thousands of times at the same intersection, first as a student at Thousand Oaks School, later while heading to Ortman’s Ice Cream, or for shopping at Park and Shop. I learned to ride a bike on Marin and I learned to drive on Marin. 

I know the street well, and I support the proposed reconfiguration project. Traffic will flow more rationally on a three-lane street, due to the center turn lane. The weaving and lane shifting that occurs now will no longer be necessary. Cut-through traffic will be minimal, because Marin will still be the best route. And Marin will finally have one consistent profile, all the way from the circle down to San Pablo. 

But most importantly, with a reconfigured Marin Avenue, the type of collision that killed my neighbor will no longer be possible. Tom was killed by a common collision type called “double threat.” The car in the first lane stopped, but the car in the second lane continued at full speed. He and his small bag of groceries flew high in the air. His crumpled and broken body landed partially in the opposing lane. He died after 11 painful days in the hospital. 

Bryce Nesbitt 

• 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Zelda Bronstein’s commentary on the Marin Avenue conversion misses the point! 

My family lives on Marin Avenue, and has to put their life (and the lives of their children) on the line to walk across this speedway each day. Yes, the Marin conversion will impact automobile traffic, yes it will doubtlessly please cyclists. But, the ultimate beneficiaries are the many pedestrians who walk along Marin Avenue and its cross streets, and to Marin Avenue schools, and library, and community center. 

As Bronstein pointed out, 20,000 cars speed down this street daily. Your writer failed to mention that earlier this year, one of those cars killed a woman as she stepped into the crosswalk of Marin. 

Perhaps the greatest failure of Berkeley government is to their refusal to adequately enforce the 25 mph speed limit on Marin Avenue. Speeds of 40-50 miles per hour are common, especially at night. For this reason, the street has become eminently dangerous—the lane conversion is a logical, and hopefully a lasting, solution. 

To your commentator, I propose: Get out of your car and try a bicycle or your own two feet! 

Philip Krayna 

• 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Zelda Bronstein, in her commentary about the “bicycle-ization” of Marin Avenue, implies that a handful of letters in opposition represents an accurate sample of public opinion. Not so. There are many of us north Berkeley residents using Marin as an arterial who favor the new three-lane plan. There has been a great deal of public advocacy supporting this plan, but Zelda leaves out all the voices in favor when she ads up her short public comment scorecard. The point here is that a small collection of letters is not a scientific survey of public opinion. Nor is it an accurate representation of political will. Self-selected advocacy groups, whether pro-bicycle or pro-traffic lanes, should never be regarded as speaking for the public at large. The commissions, on the other hand, derive their authority from the elected officials that appoint their members. So a commission recommendation—even though it may be at odds with what appears to be a preponderance of public comment —remains the more valid expression of representative democracy. 

The real value of public hearings and public comment is not to see who wins a skewed popularity contest. It is to bring up new ideas and focus attention on problems that may not have been apparent to the commission, council or staff. 

That said, Zelda does raise an important point about the flow of information from the public to the commissions. The problem is that a letter or e-mail to the commission’s staff secretary goes through the filter of staff. Theoretically, all communications are included in the information packet for the next meeting. But as Zelda has seen, this is not always the way it’s done in practice. Even when commission secretaries act in the best of good faith, which they almost always do, controversial material is often presented along with a rebuttal representing the staff position. In Zelda’s case, her letter and others were apparently reduced to a condensed summary. There can also be a considerable time lag before the next monthly packet goes out, and if the agenda is heavy, the communication can be buried under all the other documents in the packet and never receive the detailed attention from the commissioners that the sender intended. 

The moral: If you really want to communicate with a commission, mail to each commissioner individually. It will get full attention and bypass the staff filter. 

Only problem is, the commission web pages generally do not list e-mail or mailing addresses for the commissioners. This information is available to the public in hard copy from the City Clerk’s office, but it’s not there on the web. This is one of the reasons that I maintain an unofficial website devoted to the Berkeley waterfront. If you need to write to any or all of us on the Waterfront Commission, www.BerkeleyWaterfront.org has the contact list. I urge all commissions to make their contact list equally accessible. 

Paul Kamen  

Member and former chair of the Waterfront Commission 

ED ROBERTS CAMPUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Richard Brenneman’s article on the appeal of the Ed Roberts Campus (ERC) use permit (“Roberts Center Critics Appeal Project Approval,” Daily Planet, Dec. 7-9). ERC will be designed and built for people with disabilities. It will house eight disability-related nonprofits. Some services provided are: a fitness center for the disabled and seniors, a Childhood Center for disabled and non-disabled children, computer training and lab, and accessible meeting space. 

The ERC has been a cooperative process from the beginning. We had meetings with the neighbors, before applying for a use permit. We made major changes to address their concerns. Neighbors support the ERC. Design Review supported our design 6-0. The ZAB favored our use permit 7-0. 

I’d like to support Susan Parker’s column in the Planet (“Opposition to Ed Roberts Campus Masked in Historic Design Complaint,” Daily Planet, Dec. 7-9). Those few appealing the ERC use permit say they “they don’t want to stop or delay the project”. Yet if their appeal succeeds, it can have no other result than to at least delay our project. I also find it interesting that Mr. Brenneman chose not to include a response from ERC in his article. 

We can do something beautiful to remember Ed Roberts, serve the neighborhood, and people with disabilities. I hope the City Council will dismiss the appeal. 

Guy W. Thomas,  

Ed Roberts Campus board member 

• 

RESPONSE TO PARKER COLUMN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a very close neighbor to the proposed Ed Roberts Campus (ERC), I want to respond to the column by Susan Parker. She said “the people who live near the proposed building site…just don’t want it in their neighborhood, and they will clutch onto any excuse not to have it”. Wrong. There are four very obsessed people, only one of whom is actually a close neighbor to the site, who have tried doggedly to highjack the right to represent our neighborhood, who have gone to such hideous extremes to avoid having a disabled presence in the area. They do not represent me or any of the other neighbors I know, but they have extraordinary amounts of time to push their agenda. They deceptively try to soften their opposition by saying they somehow support the concept of the ERC.  

At an early meeting on the proposal I overheard comments that “they (the disabled) would attract bad elements” to the neighborhood. Their true opposition is not to the design but to the people.  

Their current path to delay and destroy is the spurious claim that it would not fit in to the supposed historic character of the neighborhood. Just walk from Alcatraz to Ashby along Adeline Street and look at all the buildings on the east side of the street, the side where the ERC will be built. The majority are modern. The only buildings with character are very different from each other: the Orthodox church, the liquor store, and the Marmot store. The warehouse, the post office, the laundromat, the apartment and office complex buildings, the Children’s Hospital office building, the Black Repertory Theater, none have the slightest hint of architectural value.  

Just because a few buildings in the area are about 100 years old does not make them interesting or architecturally valuable. If you’ve been to Europe, Mexico, or even the east coast, you know that 100 years is not old. And if you wander around south Berkeley, you know that most of the aging buildings are of no historic value. The best of the lot are only mildly interesting, and no existing buildings will be torn down or altered. The buildings they select as landmarks were simply ordinary when they were built, have not yet passed the test of time (about 500 years), and are often not in great shape. There is nothing to match the Parthenon, or Palace of Versailles, Taliesin, or Hermitage, or even Claremont Hotel. And if you walk Adeline Street you will see no single theme, no consistency at all. They are making this all up out of whole cloth, hiding their ugly motives. Sadly, they have impugned the South Berkeley neighborhood and made us look like NIMBYs and bigots. 

I am convinced the Ed Roberts Campus will add in every way to the value of our neighborhood and to that of the whole city as well. It is a wonderful project and a beautiful design. The architects should be praised for the thoughtfulness and boldness and elegance they have offered. And, unlike the obsessed bigots, I believe having a strong disabled community benefits us all. 

Ronald Good?

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In Nona Caspers’ Teaching Creative Writing workshop at San Francisco State, my classmates and I spent the semester exploring educational theory and pedagogy. We created curriculums and gave lectures on different aspects of craft; we read about teachers whose lesson plans worked and others who left their students confused and disappointed. Guest speakers told us about their experiences in the classroom, warned us about pitfalls and false expectations. We asked questions and took notes. We were earnest and sincere, scared and inspired.  

Nona pushed and prodded us and her workshop was stimulating and rewarding. But for our last class meeting, she suggested that we switch gears. “Instead of writing,” she said, “Let’s teach each other something we’re good at, something that has nothing to do with poetry, fiction, or theater. For instance, I’m good at yoga, so next week I’ll show you a pose.” 

Nona’s request worried me. I stayed up late wondering what the hell I was good at. I could think of dozens of skills I practiced before my husband’s accident—things I haven’t done in the past 10 years, like rock climbing, cycling, skiing, and rollerblading. I was once proficient at reading a topo map and compass, finding routes through the Sierra where there were no trails. I could erect a tent swiftly, break it down after a night in the snow, carry a heavy backpack while on skis or dangling from a climbing rope. But now I doubt that I could pull anything up a haul bag line, or even find my way out of a paper sack. I might be able to change a flat tire on a bicycle if my life depended on it, but true a crooked wheel, or prime a camp stove? Forget it. 

So what am I going to teach my fellow classmates? These days, my physical activities are limited to swimming and pushing an electric wheelchair. I could bring flippers and goggles to class but that doesn’t seem very interesting, and shoving a wheelchair takes no skill, only brute force and suppressed grunts.  

What am I good at? I’m an expert at not crying thanks to the miracle of Zoloft. I could share a few tablets with my classmates, but I’d have to explain that it takes a month of daily dosages before the tears subside. I could teach them about the Kaiser Emergency Room, how each visit there lasts a minimum of seven hours, or about what it’s like to be trapped on the third floor of a building with a wheelchair-bound companion after the elevator breaks down.  

What am I good at? A whole lot of things that I wasn’t good at a decade ago. I’m a professional, in some ways, at being patient, (see above reference to ER and elevators). Because of the people who live with me and help me take care of my husband, I know much more about other cultures and ethnic groups, racial matters and socio-economics. I used to be a whiz at saving money, but now I’m better at spending it on things I never expected to pay for: pills and domestic help, other people’s traffic tickets and child support. I’m first-rate at putting up with addictions and petty theft, tolerant of many behaviors that I once found intolerable.  

What can I teach my fellow students? Maybe I can explain to them that you never know for sure what might happen to you or someone you love; that accidents are sometimes unavoidable; that you can do things you never thought possible, stick with situations that you once viewed as unbearable; build new relationships and forge friendships with people you never would have met in your old life, the life you were forced to leave behind. Your new existence may not be one that you expected, prepared for, or wanted, but you can go on. You can survive.  

Or maybe I’ll just teach them how to make a strong, double martini, straight-up, with an olive. I’m a specialist at that. ›

Reporter’s Car Stolen 

Daily Planet reporter Matt Artz stepped out his front door last Wednesday to discover that his faithful Honda Accord had been stolen. 

His insurance provides a temporary rental car, and the one available in the specified price range was a Dodge Dakota pickup, which he duly rented. 

Then came the news that General Motors had recalled the Dakota. 

Finally, a preoccupied motorist bumped into the agile reporter as he was crossing Ashby Avenue Monday morning. Fortunately, he was able to leap out of the way, and was struck only a glancing blow by the car—whose driver rolled down his window and cursed at him as he departed the scene. 

Vandal Hits Landmarked Church 

A vandal smashed a small pane in one of the windows of Berkeley’s most famous landmark, architect Bernard Maybeck’s First Church of Christ, Scientist at 2619 Dwight Way. 

A church member discovered the damage early Thursday morning. 

Police were unable to determine how the damage was done and have no suspects in the crime, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies.  

Cab Jacker Busted 

A 50-year-old man opted for a do-it-yourself cab ride Thursday evening, pulling a knife on the driver near the corner of Queens Road and Fairlawn Drive. 

After the driver departed, the man headed for the hills, where police arrested him and recovered the stolen vehicle on Grizzly Peak Road.  

The ride could end up costing the suspect considerably more than the fare, as officers booked him on suspicion of carjacking, a crime that carries a prison sentence of from three to nine years. 

Gunman Grabs Purse 

A gunman in his late teens approached a 38-year-old woman near the corner of Gilman and Fourth streets shortly before 8 p.m. Friday and demanded she hand over her purse. 

The woman complied and the bandit split. 

Stupid is as Stupid Does 

When an anonymous caller phoned in a tip of a purported drug deal underway at Allston Way and San Pablo Avenue, officers dispatched to the scene were greeted by a belligerent fellow who showed his discontent by attacking one of the officers. 

The 30-year-old man was arrested on charges of battery on, and willful obstruction of, a peace officer. 

Robber Thumps Victim, Flees 

Two felons in their 20s approached a man in the 2400 block of Haste Street shortly after 11 p.m. Friday and demanded he fork over his money, 

The man refused, and one of the pair thumped him on the head before the duo departed, sans loot. 

Hammer Whammer 

A dispute between two South Berkeley men took a nasty turn Saturday morning when one of them pulled out a ballpeen hammer and struck the other in the leg. 

The 45-year-old victim identified his assailant to police, who are actively on the lookout for him, ready to make an arrest on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. 

Melee at the Med 

Police were summoned to the Caffe Mediterraneum at 2445 Telegraph Ave. 3:30 Saturday afternoon, where they found at least 10 fellows embroiled in fisticuffs. 

Before the dust settled, a 62-year-old disputant had pulled a blade and inflicted a minor stab wound on one of his fellows. 

The injured man was treated at the scene by Berkeley Fire Department paramedics and the knife-wielder was hauled off to the pokey, where he was booked for assault with a deadly weapon. 

Nasty-Bator 

A 30-year-old man threatened two women and invited them to lend him assistance after they spotted him masturbating in the 1900 block of Russell Street about 6:15 p.m. Sunday. 

Police were summoned, and they arrested the fellow on two charges each of solicitation to engage in lewd conduct in a public place and uttering “offensive words in a public place which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.” 

“Blade” Meets Gun 

A cinema buff watching a showing of the vampire flick Blade Trinity at the Shattuck Avenue Cinema Saturday evening noted that a fellow seated nearby appeared to be packing holstered heat. 

After receiving a strange answer to his question of why his fellow theatrical patron appeared to be armed, the citizen called police. 

When officers arrived, they discovered that the 25-year-old cineaste was indeed carrying a 9-mm semiautomatic pistol. 

The man was booked on one charge each of carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a loaded weapon. 

Spat Ends in Assault Busts 

An argument in a pickup truck between a 40-year-old man and his 40-year-old female companion took a serious wrong turn shortly after noon Sunday. 

One of the pair called police to Second and Gilman streets, where things got complex. 

The woman said the man had tried to run her down after she got out of the truck in the course of the verbal altercation, and that man said the woman smashed a truck window and stabbed him with a nail file. 

Their stories earned each of them an arrest on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, said Officer Okies.›

Readers of the Daily Planet’s Dec. 7 issue could easily come away with the impression that NIMBYs appealed the Zoning Adjustments Board’s recent decisions on the Ed Roberts Campus in an attempt to block the project. In fact my co-appellants and I support the project: this appeal is part of the ongoing fight for fair and open permit approval practices. 

In 1998, the ERC presented its original three-story, 130,000-square foot design in a series of community meetings. Many neighbors said that proposal was out of scale with the neighborhood, provided insufficient parking (only 100 spaces), and would exacerbate existing traffic problems. Naturally some of these neighbors were NIMBYs, but those were real issues that needed to be addressed. 

At that time, some neighbors suggested the building would make more sense in another location, such as downtown Berkeley, where it would not be out of scale, or on the other side of Adeline, where the much larger lot would allow a lower, less bulky building. The North Berkeley BART station was also mentioned, not as a practical alternative but expressing longstanding South Berkeley resentment: BART gave North Berkeley greenbelt parks and open space, we get asphalt and big buildings. 

Over the course of these community meetings, the ERC modified its plans to respond to complaints about parking and traffic, but didn’t back off an inch on height and bulk until mid-2002, after the current architect took over the project and worked with the partner organizations to figure out how much space they really needed and what they could afford to build. The resulting two-story, 80,000-square foot design ended most neighbors’ concerns about the project’s height and bulk. Unfortunately, a lot of people thought the new design was ugly, a complaint they’ve made that complaint at every meeting and public hearing since. 

The Design Review Committee took up the project in late 2002. By their last hearing in January 2003, involved neighbors and the ERC were on accord on almost every issue. The plan to move the BART parking lot entrance would reduce traffic through the neighborhood. The ERC would build a 143-space garage to meet its own parking needs and reduce the current 250 BART spaces only as necessary to save trees (an architect neighbor estimated that might mean losing 20 spaces). The main remaining point of contention was the design of the facade: a majority of attending neighbors complained that it was ugly, too modern, and wouldn’t fit in the neighborhood. The DRC disagreed, and voted 6-0 to recommend approval. 

This year, the project finally came before the Zoning Adjustments Board. In August there was an informational preview, on October 28 a public hearing with no clear purpose (scheduled by mistake?), and on Nov. 15 the public hearing at which ZAB made the two decisions we are appealing. 

ZAB’s first decision was to adopt the “negative declaration” required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Per CEQA, the negative declaration and supporting documents (including an initial study prepared by staff and 21 documents referenced by that study) had to be available for public review for 20 days before ZAB could adopt it. Members of the public alerted ZAB at both the Oct. 28 and Nov. 15 hearings that staff had failed to make the documents available as required, giving ZAB two chances to delay its decision and allow the full public review required by law. 

CEQA also required ZAB to check the negative declaration for accuracy and omissions, discover public concerns, and disclose agency analyses. The ZAB failed on all these counts, most notably in regard to the section of the initial study regarding impact on historical resources. Members of the public alerted ZAB prior to its decision that the initial study failed to disclose that the city had received a letter from the state Office of Historic Preservation disputing staff’s conclusion that the ERC would have “no impact” on historical resources. 

In sum, the main reasons for our appeal are that ZAB virtually ignored the state requirements, acted prematurely, and approved an inadequate negative declaration without identifying and addressing fatal defects. The City Council should reverse that decision and take steps to avoid similar errors with future projects. ZAB should hold a new hearing to determine properly whether the project meets CEQA standards as is, or if to avoid significant adverse impact on surrounding historical resources the facade should be revised to look less like a 1960s-era airport terminal. 

Pro-democracy activist Robert Lauriston lives across the street from the Ed Roberts Campus site. 



On Tuesday, Dec. 14, the Berkeley City Council will be asked to approve city staff’s recommendation to re-stripe Marin Avenue west of The Alameda for only two auto lanes, plus a center left-turn lane and two bicycle lanes, absent an environmental impact report (EIR). The City of Albany has already approved the project for its portion of Marin.  

The Dec. 14 date was selected to keep most of Marin’s users’ objections to the project out of the loop. Only a small fraction of such users were ever officially notified, by the cities of Albany and Berkeley, of how each was to modify Marin within its respective boundaries.  

This project is a thrust of the East Bay bicycle lobby to expand its bike-route system under the veil of a 5-mph speed reduction on this arterial. The current high speeds and dangerous driving on Marin certainly needs curtailment, but it’s clear from the official write-up of the project, still online at www.albanyca.org/news, that the redesign will 1) jam up traffic during commute hours, 2) cause cars to divert onto feeder and residential streets, and 3) likely create a more hazardous course for pedestrians crossing Marin.  

Albany’s police chief, having given up on using speeding tickets to slow Marin traffic, insisted only an engineering solution would do the job. But traffic crowding and physical impediments to speeding are inherently hazardous and not substitutes for law enforcement. With curb changes visualized in the next phase, this “study” phase is offered as only a simple, reversible pavement-striping project. However, some 40 concrete structures must be removed from the centerline of Marin to accommodate the advertised left-turn lane, with their replacement upon any decision to revert after the trial period. 

Fire and police personnel have stated their concerns about emergency-vehicle travel on the reconfigured Marin, but their concerns were disregarded in the consultants’ writings on the project, as noted in residents’ letters to the Council. 

Most of the traffic and noise data claimed as excusing the need of an EIR are either inadequate or based on inappropriate computer simulations. Often single results are differently massaged to read “more than one-minute” or “up to one minute,” depending on the particular political point of the moment. I drove Marin and two other routes that would bypass the projected traffic-riled version of it. My times on the alternate routes equaled the consultants’ calculated longer travel times on a lane-reduced Marin. See www.znet.com/~raych/MyEvaluation.htm , a more technical discussion than this. Apart from the issue of time, these routes would avoid the constant start and stop on the modified Marin. 

On this wholly residential arterial, the opportunities for turning left into driveways are very frequent. Envision two well-calmed drivers in the center lane, each unaware of the other’s choice of targeted driveway. Oops, their projections overlap, so it’s back to their respective through lanes or executions of dangerous diagonal left turns.  

And all that pedestrians get to improve their safety in crossing Marin is a potential bone-breaking impact speed claimed as 5 mph lower than before. No overpass, an admittedly expensive item, but one feasible and not unaesthetic as erected at the Marin BART crossing. No additional pedestrian-controlled traffic lights. Removal of all centerline safety features in order to permit the center-lane hazard of left-turners streaking across crosswalks while looking for holes in oncoming traffic, or of others misusing this lane for passing—likely worse than the second-travel-lane problem pedestrians currently face.  

Even most bicyclists are slighted by this project’s design! Still cramped by cars traveling at probably the same speed as before during non-commute hours, pedestrians poking out from between cars to get into their parked cars and doors opening for drivers entering or leaving their parked cars would continue to threaten them. Only substandard bicycle lanes will fit into the reshuffled Marin. Only daredevil cyclists would use the reconfigured Marin. The commute diversion routes referenced above would be superior to a bike-laned Marin for your ordinary bicyclist. How has this easily foreseen fiasco been so smoothly dumped upon us? By 1) today’s scarcity of public money, 2) excess laxity in criteria for public grants, and above all, 3) inadequate resistance to infiltration by bicycle extremists into positions in city and district governments and green organizations. 

Presently, bicycle activists run Berkeley’s Transportation Commission, known around City Hall as the Bicycle Commission. The bicycle recreational lobby, which sees itself as a church of ecological salvation and its fanatic disciples as superheroes in Spandex, seeks a flexing of its muscles, not paths needed by civilized bicyclists. These zealots see road constrictions not as safety measures taken in the interest of pedestrians, but as means to get large numbers of motor vehicles, eventually all of such, off all the rights of way they feel are their inheritance in this, as they perceive it, post-private-automobile era. The Internet is filled with the fantasies of these vastly overspoken, underwheeled ideological blokes who, in most of their power plays, are not seeking safety, not even their own. They fantasize that choking traffic will cause a significant number of commuters to switch to public transportation or. . .you guessed it. . .bicycles! Give me a brake (but no derailleur)!  

One source of funds for this game is grant money from clean-air-seeking organizations such as the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), a source Albany has tapped for implementing their initial phase of the Marin project. The BAAQMD bit on the road dieting line a few years ago, when Oakland was to change its portion of Telegraph Avenue from four to two lanes. But the bikers had overstated, in their grant application, the number of transportation-mode switchers, and the grant was withdrawn. May Albany’s present grant likewise be reconsidered.  

City staff claim the Marin project will be subject to dismantling at the end of one year. But at the Berkeley Transportation Commission’s October 21 public hearing, staff conceded that no limiting criteria had been set for determining continuation of the project after its yearlong trial.  

So raise your voice at the City Council meeting of Dec. 14—or better still, use your City Hall connections to move this Marin issue to a City Council meeting after the holidays, when it can be addressed by many more of those it would affect. Don't just peg this project as another politically correct Berkeley happening.  

Raymond Chamberlin lives in the Berkeley hills. 

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Four of the Berkeley High jazz program’s most illustrious graduates are coming home to the East Bay for a series of holiday gigs. And the teenagers now in the school’s Jazz Ensemble are doing all they can to follow closely in their footsteps. 

Four famed alumni of Berkeley High’s Jazz Band—Steven Bernstein, Benny Green, Charlie Hunter and Joshua Redman—are back home to groove and swing through Advent/Chanukah and Christmastide, past New Year’s to Twelfth Night. This past Saturday at the Redwood Empire Jazz Festival, the current Jazz Ensemble continued the program’s winning tradition, taking first place in its category. The judges also awarded three Berkeley High musicians the distinction of being the best on their instruments: pianist Julian Pollock, trombonist Danny Lubin-Laden and saxophonist Andy Baltazar. 

Right now at Yoshi’s on Jack London Square through Sunday, Dec. 19 is 8-string guitarist Charlie Hunter, well-known for clubbing throughout the Bay Area during the Hammond B-3 organ combo revivals of the ‘90s. Playing bass and lead simultaneously on his specially designed box, Hunter’s sound reminds at times of the great Hammond keyboard itself. With him in trio are saxophonist John Ellis and drummer Derrick Phillips, same personnel as on the Ropeadope CD, Friends Seen and Unseen. “Bluesier than ever!” 

Trumpeter/fluegelhorn player Steve Bernstein, of Sex Mob fame, will bring his quintet—reedsman Pablo Calogero, drummer Danny Frankel (Flying Karamazov Bros.), DJ Bonebrake (X’s drummer, but on vibes) and bassist David Piltch (from the Bill Frissell Quartet)—of his Diaspora Hollywood CD (third in the Diaspora series on John Zorn’s Tzadik label, following Soul & Blues) to the Jazz House at the Berkeley Fellowship Hall, Cedar at Bonita streets, for a two-show world premiere of his compositions from the CD, live, 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., on Saturday, Dec. 18. Bernstein first played Jazz House last year, sitting in with sax great Sam Rivers after dropping by to catch Rivers’ show. 

Jazz House, the innovative non-profit club that features young players, grade school to college-age, opening for—and sometimes playing with—well-known older players, has been homeless since Halloween. They lost their lease after two years’ on Adeline Street, with “the blue light above the door.” The search for a new home—and the necessary funding or sponsorship to bring it up to code as a showplace--is ongoing, says programmer Rob Woodward. 

Presenting this show at the Fellowship Hall, after a phone call from Bernstein, has Woodward elated: “I’m really a fan; his CD blew me away!” For more information, see www.thejazzhouse.org. 

Star tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman stretches out with his Elastic Band trio (Sam Yahel on organ; Brian Blade—from Josh’s original quartet—on drums) at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square over the new year. Redman is son of the great tenorman Dewey Redman (sideman to Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett) and Berkeley’s Renee Shedroff, librarian and dancer. 

Redman’s band will play the Oakland club from Tuesday, Dec. 28, to Sunday, Jan. 2, including a single, long New Year’s Eve show, starting at 9 p.m., that will be broadcast live, nationwide, on National Public Radio. Coming to prominence after winning the Thelonius Monk Award and recording for Vanguard, Josh is also artistic director for the San Francisco Jazz Festival. 

With famed pianist Benny Green (praised by Oscar Peterson) and guitarist Russell Malone (once Diana Krall’s accompanist) in a duet Jan. 3-6 (a jazz Epiphany?), Yoshi’s has cornered nine of the Twelve Days of Christmas with sounds by nationally-known Berkeley-bred players, home for the holidays—real Yule spirit. 

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd recently fingered the ever-present miasma these shopping days of Xmas tunes spinning endlessly, over and over, as the prime symptom of her own holiday malaise. For anybody down with it, the antidote is easy: celebrate locally with the festive spontaneity of live music. 

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If you still don’t have a Christmas tree, and would like one you can feel good about, the place to go is Rancho Siempre Verde. It’s on Highway 1 on the San Mateo Coast, about half way between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, and about five miles south of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse on the east side of the road. 

I went there last weekend with my two Santa Cruz grandchildren, their parents, their grandfather, their other grandmother, who is in her eighties, and their little yappy dog, not much bigger than a cat but much louder. A good time was had by all, each in his or her own way. 

Jon and Margaret Kosek, both doctors, bought the farm in 1960 and raised five kids there. All five (three doctors, two teachers) along with partners and 8 grandkids are still part of the maintenance and management. Jon said they knew they had to buy the piece of land when they saw their two first kids “running up the hill in joy.” 

My grandkids, along with the dog, ran up the hill in joy when they saw the giant swings that the Koseks have hung from the big eucalyptuses and pines at the top. Along with 25 acres of Christmas trees of all kinds, visitors (who are encouraged to stay as long as they want) can toast marshmallows at a campfire, ride on a tractor, crawl through bales of hay, make wreaths and picnic. Dogs are allowed to run free—the only rule is that they not be on leashes, possibly to prevent fights.  

Wreath-making is a plus for crafty types. The farm supplies wreath frames, metal circles with upstanding pegs, which are used on special tables with a device that looks like the triumph of a 19th century inventor, for $5. Bunches of greens are laid around the circle next to each peg, and a press of a foot pedal bends the pegs to hold them invisibly. The engineer in our group was delighted. Trimmings of all kinds including holly, eucalyptus, salvia flowers and pyracantha berries, are free. 

The trees themselves are the main attraction. Buyers pay a flat $40 for any and every kind of tree: Douglas firs, Monterey pines, sequoias, incense cedars and several other varieties. This includes all taxes, the use of a saw, wrapping or bailing the tree, twine, tying the tree on top of your car, free fresh boughs, and all the marshmallows you can eat. There are huge trees and small ones, shapely pruned specimens and free-form natural ones, all pungent and fresh. The Koseks plant between 1,000 and 1,500 new trees each year, after starting out by planting 10,000.  

The ranch is habitat for many kinds of wild creatures, and provides an economically feasible way of preserving open space on the development-pressured San Mateo Coast. Son Jake Kosek is a recent Stanford Ph.D. and newly-hired professor at the University of New Mexico. He has taken an increasing role in making things work as his parents have gotten older, and thinks of the ranch as having important social benefits.  

“Given what Christmas is—parking lots, long lines—this is about doing something about Christmas that is not all about consumerism. It’s more about spending time with your family, it’s a different type of Christmas,” he told us.  

The view from the hill, out over the ocean, is magnificent, in itself worth the whole trip. The weather when we were there on Saturday was spectacular, 70 degrees and sunny. Starting at the Santa Cruz/San Mateo county line, and then for about 5 miles up the coast, there is a section that Jon Kosek refers to as a banana belt, where there isn’t as much fog and the weather is warmer. My family reports that even on rainy days, as in preceding years, it’s an exhilarating spot. It will be open this weekend both Saturday and Sunday, 9 to 5, rain or shine. 

Staff writer Jakob Schiller contributed to this report. 

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TUESDAY, DEC. 14 

FILM 

“Weapons of Mass Deception” a new documentary by Danny Schecter at the Oaks Theater, 1875 Solano Ave. this week. www.wmdthefilm.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Owen Hill reads from “The Chandler Apartments” and other works at 7:30 p.m. at the Book Zoo, 2556 Telegraph Ave. #7. 883-1332. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mamadou Diabate, Kora master, with guitarist Walter Strauss at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Lecture and demonstration at 8 p.m. Cost is $5 for lecture only, $15 for lecture and concert. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Christmas Jug Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Charlie Hunter Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Michael Wilcox and Sheldon Brown at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 15 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Star Alliance Peace Flag” on display at the Berkeley Main Library, 2090 Kittredge St., through Dec. 27 along with other Star Alliance memorabilia. www.staralliance.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Political Art in California” with Dr. Peter Selz at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Center. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Café Poetry hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Barbara Gates, Berkeley resident, on “Already Home: A Topography of Spirit and Place” journeys though the history of the Ocean View neighborhood, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose, 843-3533. 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit Organ recital with John Stump performing works by Bach at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

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

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

La Peña AfroCuban Youth Ensemble at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

La Verdad, salsa, at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Gaucho Gypsy Jazz at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Moonlife, Charlotte Summer, B! Machine, electric pop rock, at 8:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $4. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

THURSDAY, DEC. 16 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Wendy-O Matik, “Redefining Our Relationships: Guidelines for Responsible Open Relationships” at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. www.belladonna.ws 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

New Century Chamber Orchestra performs Bach and Vivaldi at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $18-$39. 415-357-1111. www.ncco.org 

Grapefruit Ed and David Gans at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. All ages show benefit for the 2005 Jerry Garcia Birthday Celebration. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Beth Waters, contemporary folk, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50-$16.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Ligia Waib and Carlos Olivera perform Brazilian music at TIME at the Capoeira Arts Cafe, 2026 Addision St. Donation $5-$10. 666-1349. 

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

20 Minute Loop, Farma, Fojimoto at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

www.starryploughpub.com 

Gary Rowe, solo piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

FRIDAY, DEC. 17 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Sufi Chocolate” works on paper by Josephine Balakrishnan Reception at 6:30 p.m. at Red Oak Realty, 1891 Solano Ave. 527-3387. 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Emma” at 8 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through Dec. 19. Tickets are $36. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Polk County” A musical about aspring blues musician, Leafy Lee, at the Roda Theatre to Jan. 2. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org  

Bill Santiago’s “Spanglish 101” total immersion comedic excursion at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Shotgun Players “Travesties” by Tom Stoppard, at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. through Jan. 9. No performances Dec. 23-26. Free with pass the hat after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

FILM 

Indy Film Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Ballet Theater “The Nutcracker” at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Also on Sat. and Sun at 2 and 7 p.m. through Dec. 19. Tickets are $18. 845-4689. www.berkeleyballet.org  

California Revels “The Winter Solstice” music dance and drama of 18th century Scotland. Fri. at 7:30 p.m., Sat.-Sun. at 1 and 5 p.m. through Dec. 19, at the Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$42. 415-773-1181. www.calrevels.org 

Organ Recital “Celebrating the Winter Solstice” with organist Angela Kraft-Cross at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway, Oakland. Suggested donation $10. 444-3555. www.firstchurchoakland.org 

Oakland Opera Theater “Rake’s Progress” by Igor Stravinsky, at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Dec. 19. Tickets are $22-$32. www.oaklandopera.org 

Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble sings Christmas music at 8 p.m. at St. Leo the Great Parish, 176 Ridgeway Ave. at Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$10. 233-1479. 

Houston Jones at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. Donations accepted. 548-5198. 

Stompy Jones at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson with Nick and Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

House Jacks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Fishbone, ska, funk, rock, at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $15 in advance, $18 at the door. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Asylum Street Spankers at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $14. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

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

Michael Bluestein Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Brown Baggin’ at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Luna Groove at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Look Back and Laugh, Lights Out, The Answer, Last Priest 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. 

Charlie Hunter Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, DEC. 18 

CHILDREN  

“A Christmas Carol” the Dickens’ classic performed by Berkeley Public Library’s Teen Playreaders at 3 p.m., at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda. Free, appropriate for ages 5 and up. Refreshments and carol singing will follow the performance. 981-6109. 

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

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse featuring singer/songwriters Anthony Jerome Smith & Hassaun Jones-Bey. Open mic sign-up 6:30 p.m., reading/performance 7 p.m. Admission free. Piano & 2 mics available. Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts. 527-9753. 

Phyllis Whetstone Taper reads from her new novel, “On Kelsey Creek” at 7:30 p.m. at the Leaning Tower of Pizza, 498 Wesley Ave., Oakland. 

Starhawk presents her new book “The Earth Path: Grounding your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature” at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. www.belladonna.ws 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Pacific BoyChoir Academy “Harmonies of the Season” at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Oakland. Tickets are $15. 452-4722. www. 

pacificboychoiracademy.org 

Trinity Chamber Concert with Karen Melander-Magoon sings the story of Clara Barton at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864.www.TrinityChamberConcerts.com 

San Francisco Early Music Society “A Venetian Christmas” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Kairos Youth Choir “Welcome Yule” with carols from amy traditions at 7 p.m. at St. Marks Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $8-$10. 704-4479. www.kairoschoir.org 

Bay Area Classical Harmonies Christmas holiday program featuring liturgical music from many traditions at 7:30 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $10-$15. 866-233-9892. www.berkeleybach.org 

The Magnolia Sisters 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 

Domeshots, Desa, Dexter Danger, hard rock, at 9:30 at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

The Sugarhill Gang, in a free hip-hop concert at 5 p.m. at Hilltop Mall, Lower Level, Center Court. 223-1933. www.shophilltop.com 

Jahi & The Life, Baby Jaymes, at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

J-Soul at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

CV1 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Rachel Garlin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

www.freightandsalvage.org 

Shelley Doty X-tet, Sistas in the Pit at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Collective Amnesia at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

The Warriors, Make More, Set Your Goals, Greyskull 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. 

SUNDAY, DEC. 19 

CHILDREN  

Princess Moxie with Charity Khan and Jamband at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra “A Ceremony of Carols” A free concert at 4 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. 964-0665. www.bcco.org 

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, based on the tradition from King’s College, Cambridge, England with St. Mark’s Choir Association at 4:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way at Ellsworth. Donations accepted. 848-5107, 845-0888. 

Bach’s “Magnificat” sung by the Temple Choir at 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. www.firstchurchoakland.org 

Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” at the 10:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. services at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 526-3805. 

ACME Observatory “Fluxus Night” conceptual music at 8 p.m. at 21 Grand, 449B 23rd St., Oakland, near 19th St. BART. Cost is $5-$10 sliding scale. http://music.acme.com 

Johnny Otis Living Tribute Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Magnolia Sisters, Cajun quartet, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mirah, Dear Nora, Athens Boy Choir, Bye and Bye at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, DEC. 20 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

PlayGround, readings by emerging playwrights, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $15. 415-704-3177. www.PlayGround-sf.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trovatore, traditional Italian songs at 6 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Secret Santa Show at 8:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

African Roots of Jazz featuring the music of Elvin Jones and John Coltrane at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, DEC. 21 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Solstice Night of Noise, with noise artists, amplified plants, mutant instruments, and volatge made audible at 8 p.m. at 21 Grand, 449B 23rd St., Oakland, near 19th St. BART. http://music.acme.com 

Zydeco Flames 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 

Laurie Lewis’ Holiday Revue at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50- $16.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Peter Barshay & Murray Lowe at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Anton Schwartz Quintet with Taylor Eigsti and Julian Lange at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$15. 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, DEC. 22 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit A Christmas concert with unusual Christmas Carols at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

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

Universal, salsa, at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Noah Schenker Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Ghost Next Door, Blue Sky Theory, Musashi Quartet at 8:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $4. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Clairdee’s Christmas at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$15. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, DEC. 23 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Word Beat Reading Series at 7 p.m. with featured readers Allen and Ann Cohen at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Brian Kane, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Ledisi at 8 and 10 p.m., also Fri. - Mon. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

There are only a few official redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, on Berkeley’s streets, but many people have planted them in yards and gardens, and there are still a few within city limits in the hills, trees that we can fancy grew there on their own. They aren’t a patch on what we used to have. Over a century ago there were redwoods in the hills big enough to be seen from ships at sea many miles away, and used as navigation markers, beckoning ships to San Francisco Bay. 

Eucalyptus have replaced many of those redwoods, though we do have some respectable second-growth stands in the regional parks. The original trees ended up as San Francisco’s Victorians, and ours too. We live in a duplex that was once a Victorian of sorts; it underwent an complete characterectomy when it was raised to two stories, but a photo of earlier owners posing in front of their cottage turned up in the attic. And when some bits of wall were cut out for switchplates, we got a look at the original structural timber: redwood with such close, tight grain it looked like fingerprints. 

Such grain and the strength it implies signify old-growth redwood. Yes, trees like media star Luna went into some of the modest, unlandmarkish elder buildings in the Bay Area. In a way, it’s embarrassing. One would like to think we’ve learned some modesty in the last century, but it’s market forces (along with financial sleight-of-hand) that are driving the last old-growth remnants toward oblivion. 

Redwood lumber is handsome and, especially when it’s a product of slow growing, bug- and rot-resistant, so it’s sought after for building and outdoor uses. Because of its rich ruddy color, it’s also used for interiors. (I’m a bit bitter that ours has been painted over so many times that the paint layer is visibly three-dimensional; stripping it would be a Herculean job.) 

Fortunately, there are places that sell salvaged lumber, so we can have redwood stuff with a clear conscience instead of a clear-cut. Good thing; the tree is worth more alive than dead, if you take a whole ecosystem into account. 

The coastal redwood forest here, once stretching from south as far as Big Basin (where a relict still stands) to well up the coast, evolved interesting and rare adaptations to its site and fostered unique flora and fauna. Among its hat tricks are the ability to sieve fog for enough moisture to thrive through long rainless summers, thick, fire-resistant bark, and wide-ranging roots that can intertwine with each other and, unusually among trees, can withstand being covered with more layers of soil after they’re mature. Most trees tend to smother under such conditions, but redwoods apparently figure out how to endure and enjoy the silt dropped by repeated flooding. 

Intact redwood forests have a cathedral stillness that belies their lively polity. They shelter birds like spotted owl, varied thrush (here for the winter—look twice at every robin!) with its melancholy whistle, and the oddball “foglark,” the marbled murrelet, a seabird that nests on moss-upholstered limbs miles inland. Red tree voles, relatives of the mousy critters in fields, live almost entirely up in the treetops, dining on those unpromising needles. Others from flying squirrels to Roosevelt elk to banana slugs share the remnant forests. 

Redwoods mix with other big trees like Douglas fir and smaller species from madrone to rhododendron, and shelter understory plants: lush ferns, trilliums, huckleberry and salal, clintonia and calypso orchid. Walk through the Tilden Botanic Garden’s redwood patch in spring, for a taste. 

Redwood itself is a remnant of a formerly mixed warm-wet climate forest including other sequoia species, ginkgo, bald cypress, sassafrass, and hickory; when the climate swung toward our cooler half-drought, the other sequoias mostly went extinct, and the rest died back to remnant populations elsewhere. Sempervirens hung on to make a world of its own. 

In nurturing the coastal forests with the water it catches and showers on them, redwood is a real live Giving Tree. It’s the closest thing to a natural “Christmas” tree we have, with classic conical shape. It would be nice to think that, even in the city, there’s still room for them.›

TUESDAY, DEC. 14 

Morning Bird Walk “Some Gulls I Know” Meet at the Berkeley Municipal Pier at 7:30 a.m. 525-2233. 

Return of the Over-the-Hills Gang Hikers 55 years and older who are interested in nature study, history, fitness, and fun are invited to join us on a series of monthly excursions exploring our Regional Parks. Meet at 10 a.m. at Tilden’s Inspiration Point to walk the scenic ridge lands. Registration required. 525-2233.  

“Exploring Pt. Reyes and Beyond,” a slide presentation by photographer-writer team Richard Blair and Kathleen Goodwin at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Weapons of Mass Deception” a new documentary by Danny Schecter at the Oaks Theater, 1875 Solano Ave. this week. www.wmdthefilm.com 

Berkeley High School Site Council meets at 4:30 p.m. in the school library. Agenda items include athletic eligibility requirements, report of the Positive Minds program, and data on student achievement. bhs.berkeleypta.org/ssc, bhssitecouncil@berkeley.k12.ca.us  

The Alexander Foundation for Women’s Health lecture on “Sexual Desire: From Romance to Physiology” at 6:15 p.m. at the Claremont Resort, 41 Tunnel Rd. Cost is $10-$15. 527-3010. www.afwh.org/about/ 

claremontlectures.htm  

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. Dr. Robert Greer will speak about macular degeneration at 11 a.m. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 15 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7:15 a.m. at Au Cocolait, 200 University Ave. at Milvia. For information call Robert Flammia 524-3765. 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, for ages 4-6 years; accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $3-$5. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Ujamaa Market Fest and Crafts Sale Celebrating collective economics, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Cole School Auditorium, 1011 Union St., West Oakland. www.mocha.org/projectyield/ujamaa.html 

San Pablo Avenue Roadway Rehabilitation Project meeting at 6 p.m. at the Ocean View School, 1000 Jackson St., Albany. Sponsored by the California Department of Transportation. 286-1313. www.dot.ca.gov/ 

dist4/sanpabloave 

Argosy University Information Sessions for degree programs in Psychology, Education and Business at 6 p.m. at 999-A Canal Blvd., Point Richmond. To RSVP or for directions to the school, call 215-0277. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday, rain or shine, at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen and a hat. 548-9840. 

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 

THURSDAY, DEC. 16 

Holiday Healthy Gift Sale from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Health Dept., 2180 Milvia St., 1st floor. Items include pedometers, bike helmets, bike accessories, and much more. 981-5367. 

San Pablo Avenue Roadway Rehabilitation Project meeting at 6 p.m. at the El Cerrito Community Center Council Chambers, 7007 Moeser Lane, El Cerrito. Sponsored by the California Department of Transportation. 286-1313. www.dot.ca.gov/dist4 

/sanpabloave 

FRIDAY, DEC. 17 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Brett Schnieder presenting a Magic Show. Children are welcome. Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, reduced price for children. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020.  

Philippine Textiles on display and for sale by the Filipino American national Historical S0ciety from noon to 5 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 499-3477. 

Holiday Healthy Gift Sale from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Health Dept., 2180 Milvia St., 1st floor. Items include pedometers, bike helmets, bike accessories, and much more. 981-5367. 

Community Based Solutions to Ending Violence Against Sex Workers at 2 p.m. at Lutheran Church of the Cross, 1744 University at McGee. 981-1021. www.swop-usa.org 

Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the North Berkeley Senior Center Celebration at 1:30 p.m. with entertainment and refreshments for all.  

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

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 

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, DEC. 18 

Candlelight Vigil for Tibetan Monk facing execution in China, at 5 p.m. at the downtown Berkeley BART. Sponsored by Tibetan Youth Congress and Bay Area Friends of Tibet. 

The Season for Slugs for youth age 7-11 to discover the cold and wet climate where banana slugs flourish. From 10 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Winter Blooms!” Free garden tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden. Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. 845-4116. www.nativeplants.org 

Bayshore Stewards Tidal Marsh Restoration from 9 a.m. to noon at the UC Richmond Field Station, near the Bay Trail in Richmond. We will install the native plants along the marsh edge and help create habitat for endangered species. We will provide tools, gloves, rain gear and refreshments. Heavy rain will cancel the event. 231-9566. 

Succulant Wreaths A class on how to make your own succulant wreath and keep it healthy and growing throughout the year, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. www.magicgardens.com 

Women on Common Ground Help make holiday decorations for the Women’s Drop-In Center, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Followed by a Nearly Winter Solstice Hike up to Wildcat Peak. Bring your lunch. Cost is $15-$18, registration required. 525-2233. 

The Crucible Open House and Arts & Crafts Sale, including demonstrations in welding blacksmithing and glassblowing, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat. and Sun. at 1260 7th St. at Union, Oakland. www.thecrucible.org 

Berkeley Potters Guild Sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. and Sun. through Dec. 19. 731 Jones St. 524-7031. www.berkeleypotters.com 

Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair, with over 200 street artists, merchants, community groups, musicians and other entertainers, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sat. and Sun. and Thurs. and Fri. Dec. 23 and 24. 

Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios Sat and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For map see www.berkeleyartisans.com 

Fireside Story Hour Have a seat by the hearth to hear Native American stories about animals in winter at 1 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. For ages 12 and under. 525-2233. 

Junior Rangers of Tilden meets Sat. mornings at Tilden Nature Center. For more information call 525-2233. 

Holiday Benefit Sale for Middle East Children’s Alliance with carpets, kilims and textiles, olive oil soap and handicrafts from Palestine from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 901 Parker St., corner of Parker and 7th. 548-0542. 

Holiday Crafts Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Potters Guild Sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at 731 Jones St. 524-7031. www.berkeleypotters.com 

Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios Sat and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For map see www.berkeleyartisans.com 

Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair, with over 200 street artists, merchants, community groups, musicians and other entertainers, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sat. and Sun. to Dec. 19, and Thurs. and Fri. Dec. 23 and 24. 

The Earth Path with Starhawk at 7 p.m. at Belladonnna, 2436 Sacramento St. 883-0600. 

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, DEC. 19 

Gray Panthers Holiday Party with Linda Hodges of the Rockridge Institute, from 2:30 to 5 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. 548-9696. 

WinterFest: Kwanza, Ramadan, Las Posadas, Chanukah Explore the winter traditions from different cultures. For children and their families from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at the Willard Community Peace Labyrinth, on the blacktop next to the gardens at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby and Stuart (enter by the dirt road on Derby). Free and wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by the East Bay Labyrinth Project. 526-7377. 

Plants at Winter’s Edge Learn how plants get ready for winter, cope with the cold and set-up for spring at 10 a.m. at Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Short Day, Short Hike Learn about the role of light in the life-cycles on animals and plants from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

MONDAY, DEC. 20 

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. 

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. 

TOPS Take Off Pounds Sensibly meets every Mon. at 9 a.m. in Albany. For information call Mary at 526-3711. 

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. 

TUESDAY, DEC. 21 

Morning Bird Walk at 7:30 a.m. in Sibley to see the birds of an extinct volcano. For information call 525-2233. 

Winter Solstice Celebration at the Interim Solar Calendar, Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina, promptly at 4 p.m. 845-0657. ww.solarcalendar.org 

Winter Solstice Celebration from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Chabot Space and Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. 336-7300. www.chabotspace.org 

“Hard to be Merry” Service for those feeling disconnected from the celebrations of the season at 7 p.m. at Loper Chapel, at Dana and Durant. Sponsored by Trinity United Methodist Church, First Congragational Church and First Baptist Church. 

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

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Should People Keep Pets?” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Please bring snacks and soft drinks to share. No peanuts please. 601-6690. 

Organic Produce at low prices sold at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon Streets every Tuesday from 3 to 7 p.m. This is a project of Spiral Gardens. 843-1307. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 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, DEC. 22 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday, rain or shine, at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen and a hat. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Prose Writers’ Workshop An ongoing group focused on issues of craft. Novices welcome. Community sponsored, no fee. Meets Wed. at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 524-3034. georgeporter@earthlink.net 

Fun with Acting Class every Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Free, all are welcome, no experience necessary.  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/ 

vigil4peace/vigil 

HOW TO HELP 

Alameda County Community Food Bank’s Annual Food Drive accepts donations of non-perishable food in the red barrel at any Safeway or Albertson’s. 834-3663. www.accfb.org 

Firefighters Toy Drive Donate new, unwrapped toys and canned food to any Berkeley fire station. For information call 981-5506. 

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center, 2700 Ninth St. 845-7735. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

United Way Bay Area is recruiting volunteer tax preparers and greeters/interpreters in Alameda County to assist low-income families who are eligible for free tax assistance and refunds. No previous tax preparation experience is necessary. There is a special need for volunteers who can speak Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Training sessions begin Jan. 8. Register now by calling 800-273-6222. www.earnitkeepitsaveit.org  

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Dec. 14, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housingauthority 

City Council meets Tues., Dec. 14, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/humane 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/civicarts 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/labor 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. William Greulich, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Dec. 15, 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., Dec. 15 at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. Note location change for this meeting. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/designreview  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Dec. 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation›

It began inside a classroom, where a world-renowned professor was holding his last session with students, barring a decision from UC Berkeley’s new chancellor. 

Then it moved outside as ever-growing numbers of students, academics and journalists marshaled for a march on California Hall. 

It climaxed in a chant outside California Hall, a cascading chorus of protest aimed at Chancellor Robert Birgeneau: “Justice Now! Justice Now! Justice Now! Justice Now!” 

For Ignacio Chapela, a member of the Cal’s department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management faculty since 1995, the day marked the end of the latest chapter of his battles for academic freedom and his challenges to an increasingly corporatized academic culture. 

An overflowing crowd of students, faculty, and supporters crammed into his last class. As the 8:30 a.m. class drew to a close, Chapella thanked the crowd and vowed to “keep raising hell.” After a standing ovation, the group led a march to the chancellor’s office in California Hall. There they protested Chapella’s dismissal and called on the university to grant him tenure. 

Chapela’s once-promising career at Berkeley foundered on two critical issues. 

When Swiss biotech giant Novartis (now renamed Syngenta) struck a five-year $25 million deal with the College of Natural Resources’ Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Chapela was quick to criticize, citing the obvious potential of conflicts of interest and corporate control of research. 

His frankness did nothing to endear him to college Dean Gordon Rausser, one of the architects of the agreement. 

But the crowning blow followed from a discovery made by Chapela and one of his graduate students, David Quist, one of the founders of Students for Responsible Research. 

A native of Mexico, Chapela has remained deeply involved with his homeland, conducting research and helping indigenous people work toward economic self-sufficiency. 

Quist and Chapela discovered strands of genetically modified DNA in the genome of native strands of corn cultivated in the heart of the region where maize was first domesticated. 

Chapela and Quist submitted their findings to Nature, the British scientific journal which remains the world’s preeminent scientific publication. Their publication in November 2001 ignited a firestorm. 

Their discovery wasn’t the first instance of artificial genetic intrusion. Reports have surfaced of strands of DNA conferring resistance to the pesticide Roundup finding their way into the weeds the herbicide was designed to kill.  

But the Chapela/Quist discovery was especially troubling to the agribusiness giants whose patented strains of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are being spread throughout the world and generating huge profits. 

The implicit threat their research raised was of homogenized crops, of a reduction of genetic diversity that could render crops far more vulnerable because diverse varieties with a wide range of resistances would vanish into a giant genomic blender. 

The attack was instant and fierce. A British web site posted scathing critiques from non-existent scientists who turned out to be creations of a corporate advertising and Nature received letters, one from a UC Berkeley colleague of Chapela, who questioned the scientists’ methodology. 

In the end, Nature published a partial retraction—the first in the publication’s history—that advised readers to make their own interpretations of the findings. 

Other research has since verified their findings, buy the damage was already done. 

Chapela was already up for tenure when the Nature furor erupted, but the flap didn’t prevent department members from voting 32 to 1 in favor of tenure, followed by tenure recommendations from both his department chair and the dean of the College of Natural Resources. 

On Oct. 3, a five-member Campus Ad Hoc Committee voted unanimously in favor of tenure. 

The first blow came on June 5, 2003, when the university’s budget committee made a preliminary vote against tenure. 

Then, on Nov. 12, the vice provost asked the ad hoc panel chair to reevaluate tenure in light of new critical letter, prompting the resignation of the chair. 

After another negative vote from the budget committee, Chancellor Robert Berdahl denied tenure on Nov. 20, 2003, despite repeated tenure recommendations from the chair and dean. 

Chapela’s supporters are hoping for a more receptive hearing from new Chancellor Birgeneau, an academic with a history of involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. 

Professors, journalists and supporters joined the regular student contingent for Thursday’s final class, an undergraduate course in environmental biology. They filled the seats, lined the walls and sat on the floor. 

The discussion was wide ranging—“part of the class is to show how environmental biology is connected to everything else”—and he invited all those in attendance, students and others, to comment on a current event and show its connection to environmental biology. 

One student raised the issue of Proposition 71 as corporate welfare, the voter-approved $3 billion in funding for stem cell research, embodied in the California Institute for Regenerative medicine. 

“It’s the bailout of an industry that was in pretty bad shape,” said Chapela. “It’s exempt from public scrutiny. The Legislature can scream and scream, but they really can’t do much.” 

Another student cited the Bush administration’s decision to undo protections for salmon spawning runs and to include hatchery populations in the census of wild salmon. 

Other issues raised included the implications of Bush administration research bunker-busting nuclear weapons and UC’s long-standing in nuclear weaponry and the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. 

During the class volunteers passed out cut sections of ribbons, red and earthy green, and audience members tied them to their forearms, reminiscent of two forms of protein on which so much of life depends, hemoglobin and chlorophyll. 

As class drew down to the end, Chapela declared, “I will keep raising hell in different forms.” 

After a standing ovation, one after another, professors rose to pay tribute to their colleague. 

“Today is also my last class,” Professor Andrew Gutierrez told the crowd. Unlike Chapela, Gutierrez is retiring. 

“I have come to the conclusion that Aristotle could not have made tenure here,” he said. “Honesty is not something that’s appreciated at this campus. The Mario Savio Steps and the Free Speech Cafe are two monuments to hypocrisy.” 

Miguel Altieri, a professor of insect biology, urged the audience of “the need to remember that this is a public university. We cannot allow this hypocrisy.” 

Two weeks ago, Altieri said, he had written the new chancellor, “saying this was your chance. I didn’t even get a reply. The university does not belong to the university or to the corporations. It belongs to us.”  

Jennifer Miller, an assistant professor in the English Department, said that the last time she was in Chapela’s classroom she’d been lecturing on oppression 

“We are very, very lucky to have had Ignacio as a teacher,” she said.  

Miller recalled a time when she and Chapela had been serving on a committee and Chancellor Berdahl had asked them what might cause them to leave the university. 

“He said, ‘Is there something so wrong that it would cause you to leave?’ 

“Ignacio and I replied, ‘If there was something so wrong, the last thing we would do is leave. We would stay and fight.” 

Then everyone filed outside and began the march on California Hall. 

After a pair of chants calling for tenure, the audience listened as speakers addressed them through an amplified bullhorn. 

First up was Dan Siegel, Chapela’s attorney in his fight for tenure and a veteran of the ‘60s protest movement. 

“The last time I came to California Hall, I was sitting in,” he said. “I was arrested for protesting the actions of another chancellor.” 

Birgeneau, he said, “is caught in the conflict between doing the right thing and doing the expedient thing. As time goes on, we may need to escalate our tactics, but we will succeed.” 

Siegel pointed to another colleague of Chapela’s who had run afoul of corporate power, “Professor Tyrone Hayes of the Department of Integrative Biology, whose research discovered the unintended consequences of corporate intervention into biology.” 

Hayes discovered the effects of the pesticide Atrazine on frogs, which developed severe malformations when exposed to the toxins. 

Hayes then stepped forward. “If we lose Ignacio, diversity in the biological sciences will decrease by 50 percent. Isn’t it a coincidence that Ignacio and I have wound up on the wrong side of the same corporation that was funding research here at the university?” 

Hayes said he had consulted for Novartis and his work had been published in Nature and by the National Academy of Sciences. “I was lucky I had tenure; the vice chancellor wrote a letter saying I shouldn’t be doing any work here on campus. 

“This is bigger than frogs or corn.” 

David Quist, Chapela’s collaborator on the transgenic corn research, said Chapela’s tenure case should’ve been open and shut. “Then we get to the top levels of the administration and they show him the door.” 

Carolyn Merchant, professor of environmental history, philosophy, and ethics, said the denial of tenure is “unethical and unprecedented. I would urge the chancellor to look at the process and grant tenure, Right here. Today. Now.” 

“Something is rotten, not in Denmark, but here in Berkeley,” said Ethnic Studies Professor Carlos Munoz. “This case send a clear message that faculty who challenge the dominant paradigm are not welcome, especially if they don’t accept corporate funding.” 

Barbara Epstein, professor of history at UC Santa Cruz, blasted the tenure denial. “The university is egregiously violating its own rules. I hope this struggle continues.” 

Joe Nielands, emeritus professor of biochemistry, came to UC Berkeley in 1952. In a firm, clear voice, he decried “the privatization and the corporatization of the university,” harkening back to the days when the school’s funding came primarily from Sacramento. 

“The Budget Committee knows the chancellor wants to get his hands on that corporate loot. . . Chapela is exactly the kind of person we need around here. He has wisdom, and above all he has courage and integrity.” 

After more praise from John Garcia, instructor at the University of San Francisco, it was finally Chapela’s turn. 

It wasn’t his first time outside California Hall. After his denial of tenure, Chapela had brought a desk and held “office hours” outside administration headquarters in protest of the decision. 

Chapela said the idea of the march first came up Saturday, and when the word got out, e-mails and phone calls poured in from around the world. 

“You are standing here for many others,” he told the crowd. 

“At exactly the moment this was scheduled, the university scheduled another media event,” a press tour at the university Richmond Field Station, where the university is planning a major corporate/university research park adjacent to Campus Bay. 

“Now we are all students and teachers together, and I hope you will get the word out.” 

And then came the last chant, “We Want Justice!” repeated over and over again. 

While Birgeneau refused to meet with the protesters, one of his staff did agree to accept copies of a letter signed by 145 university professors and 174 others calling for a review of Chapela’s case and extension of his employment. 

Calls placed to the Chancellor’s office met with no response.?

Berkeley gained two new landmarks this week, one a massive structure familiar to all, the other a small redwood-shaded cottage in the hills. 

While the Webb Block—that exuberant red-faced curvilinear three-story turn-of-the-20th-century presence at the c orner of Ashby Avenue and Adeline Street—sailed through with nary a dissent after minimal discussion, such was not the case with the Edgar Jensen House. 

Indeed, by the time the dust settled, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) handed proponents o f landmarking the home at 1650 La Vereda Road a Pyrrhic victory. 

The house received the designation, but commissioners approved a major expansion, the very thing that the landmarking advocates had hoped to stall. 

Marshaled against them were an 87-year-old grandmother, her multimillionaire son and daughter-in-law, two highly skilled attorneys and the president of the most powerful media relations firm in Northern California—an outfit which has played a major role in recent land use battles in Richmond. 

The dispute also spilled over into the Internet. A single, factually incorrect entry at reasononline, the web site of the libertarian magazine Reason, provoked 30 pages of comments. 

At issue was a small redwood home with two upstairs bedrooms, bu ilt in 1937, designed by William Wurster, a widely acclaimed modernist and former dean of the UC Berkeley School of Architecture. 

The furor began when John E. Holey, San Francisco-based architect for homeowner Marguerite Rossetto—mother and mother-in-law of WIRED magazine co-founders Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalf, who live on the same street—filed plans to build a two-story addition to the structure. 

The elder Rossetto, who lives in Long Island and comes to Berkeley to visit her son and grandchildr en, has said she needs a downstairs bedroom for herself because she suffers from late-onset leukemia and has become too frail to regularly climb the stairs to the existing second-floor bedroom. The additional bedroom would be for her caretaker. 

Neighbors, including retired architect Christopher Adams and spouse Jane Adams, emeritus UC history professor Ruth Rosen and spouse Dr. Wendel Brunner, who is Contra Costa County Public Health Director, and Brian Viani attempted to meet with Rossetto and her son to discuss the planned alterations. 

Instead, architect Holey met with them, resulting in negotiations that failed to accomplish what the neighbors wanted, namely a more modest single-story addition. 

After the Zoning Adjustments Board approved the Rosset to plans, the neighbors appealed to the City Council and simultaneously filed an application to landmark the building. 

The City Council upheld the appeal on Nov. 12, referring the decision back to ZAB and handing the landmarks commission two months to ac t o n the application. 

When the Rossettos and their contingent appeared before the commission Monday, architect Holey offered an additional design for the remodel which would effectively create a modified mirror image clone of the original house connecte d by a breezeway. 

They had also paved the way for their presentation by purchasing a full page ad in last Friday’s Daily Planet. The paper had rejected an earlier, more inflammatory version, but the ad as published featured a stinging attack on the neigh bors, questioning their motives. 

Among those who came to testify for the Rossettos was Sam Singer, president of Singer Associates, the powerhouse San Francisco media relations firm which represents the ChevronTexaco refinery in Richmond in their battle a gain st the Point Molate casino, as well as Cherokee Simeon Ventures in their efforts to build a 1,330-unit housing complex above a buried mound of hazardous waste in South Richmond. 

Singer, a Berkeley resident, didn’t mention his business affiliation wh en he told the LPC that “the process has been hijacked” by the landmarking application. 

Also testifying against landmarking were two Rossetto attorneys, Rena Rickles and Pamela Duffy, who brought along a court reporter to provide a verbatim transcript of the proceedings. 

Architect Holey spoke against landmarking, saying it didn’t meet the criteria. 

One thing I don’t have is time, said Mrs. Rossetto, who said she had followed all the rules and “done all the things the city required to build my bedroom.” 

Say ing “I have never done anything to my neighbors,” she asked, “Why are they doing this? What kind of neighbors are they” to “have been abusing the planning process. . .and abusing me.” 

Former Landmarks Commissioner Richard Dishnica also testified on the R ossettos’ behalf, calling the landmarking application an abuse of the process, “unfair to the owner of the property.” 

Brunner said he hadn’t even been aware of the LPC until two or three months ago and said “it has never been the attention of anyo ne to prevent an additional ground floor bedroom.” 

“We have been unable to meet with Mr. Rossetto or Mrs. Rossetto. We had hoped to deal with this in a more neighborly manner,” he said. 

Christopher Adams, who helped write the landmark application, praised the existing structure as “an outstanding example of Wurster’s ability to design compact housing” and “a very important part of the neighborhood.” 

When the hearing closed, Commissioner Carrie OIson blasted critics of the landmarking process. “I think the ave rage citizen in Berkeley has no idea of what any of these processes mean. People are thrown into the process with a city staff that’s too busy to help them.  

“Please don’t come and tell us things are abused because someone in the neighborhood did n’t unde rstand the process,” she said. 

After a lengthy discussion, Commissioners Olson, Leslie Emmington, Aran Kaufer, Jill Korte and Richard Spaid (sitting in for member Pat Dacey) approved the landmark designation over the dissenting votes of Robert J ohnson, J ames Samuels, Fran Packard and Steven Winkel. 

The neighbors had only a few minutes to savor their victory before the commissioners voted unanimously to approve the two-story addition Holey had submitted the same day. 

The least contentious deci sion of th e night was the 15-minute hearing to landmark the Webb Block at Adeline and Ashby. 

Designed by Charles W. McCall for Christopher Webb, the building once housed the pharmacy of Thomas E. Caldecott, who later became the Alameda County Supervisor whose name graces the most famous of the East Bay tunnels. 

The building is now one of the major draws for antique shoppers from throughout the Bay Area. 

That the structure was just being landmarked was “one of those classic oversights,” said Commission er Olson. “I always thought it had been landmarked.” 

The structure, already on California Historic Resources Inventory, was landmarked by a unanimous vote. 

The commissioners didn’t have time to hear from more than one witness on another controversial landmarking, the proposals for the Celia’s Restaurant Building and Brennan’s Irish Pub in the 700 block of University Avenue. 

The hearing was postponed until the next LPC meeting in January.?S

The day after Landmarks Preservation commissioners approved his mother’s plans for a two-story addition to her La Vereda Road home, WIRED magazine co-founder Thomas Rossetto was on the Internet, flaming her neighbors and the Berkeley landmarking process. 

“I am both exhilarated and depressed by the experienced [sic],” Rossetto wrote. “Exhilarated because we beat those motherfucking neighbors and my mother can build her bedroom. 

“And saddened to have witnessed first had [sic] a truly arbitrary, philistine process that must be repeated ad nauseum across America, and that causes neighborhood wars, promotes mediocrity (if not worse), and can leave people emotionally and financially ruined without even protecting the alleged purposes of the landmark ordinances.” 

Rossetto wrote to Nick Gillespie, who writes the “reason hit + run” column for wiredonline, the Internet site for the magazine Rossetto co-founded. 

Gillespie had written an error-laced entry (the Daily Planet is called the Berkeley Barb) on Rossetto’s mother’s problem with neighbors who had filed a landmarking application for her cottage. 

Rossetto entry referred to neighbors as “the local Soviet” and to the commission as “this kind of kangaroo court.” 

Near the end of his entry, Rossetto announced his intention to donate to the Institute for Justice, which describes itself as “the nation’s premier libertarian public interest law firm.” 

Economic libertarians oppose all governmental regulation of property use and hold that the courts, preferably privatized, are the proper former for arbitrating land use disputes. 

“Once again,” Rossetto concluded, “we are shown that tyranny is not just a national threat; it starts, and is perhaps most pernicious, on your own block.” 

The comment thread to Gillespie’s entry had reached 30 pages late Wednesday afternoon. 

Rossetto’s cause was also espoused by Mark Frauenfelder, author of the boingboing.net blog, who pleaded, “Let Louis Rossetto’s mom have her damn bedroom.” 

His entry was prompted by an e-mail from Rossetto, who described the struggle of “one of those good versus evil, little guy—actually little grandmother—versus City Hall kind of stories.” 

?

When Cal named Jeff Tedford to coach its football team three seasons ago, the prospect of rustling up more than $140 million to rebuild the antiquated and often half-empty Memorial Stadium seemed like a hail mary.  

But now that Cal has re-signed the coach who filled the stadium and turned its moribund football program into a national title contender, Bear fans have reason to be confident that their stadium prayers might soon be answered. 

“We’re probably in the best position in decades to take this on,” said Dexter Bailey, Cal’s executive associate athletic director in charge of its fundraising drive for renovating the team’s 81-year-old facility. Already, he said, the university has raised $20 million without actively soliciting for donations. 

When Cal kicks off its official effort, expected to begin next year, Bailey can impress potential donors with a winning team, a proven coach, and a new chancellor who has a track record of supporting his athletic department. 

But while Bear fans, all too accustomed to waiting in line at the stadium’s multitude of port-o-potties, rejoice at the prospect of a first class facility, many Berkeley residents recoil at the notion of keeping the stadium in their back yard. 

They argue that the time is right to move the stadium from its current location in Strawberry Canyon directly on top of an earthquake fault and just beside residential communities, where neighbors often find themselves barraged with unwanted visitors for the team’s five to six home games every year. 

“I think the university is using Coach Tedford as an excuse to push for rebuilding at the current location instead of looking for the best possible site,” said Janice Thomas, who lives on Panoramic Hill, just beside the stadium. She and other residents have pushed for the university to consider building a new stadium on the Albany waterfront or the west side of campus, two options university officials have said were not under consideration. 

Stadium opponents are facing an unparalleled drive from boosters determined to keep Cal from returning to the basement of collegian football.  

Over the last five weeks, boosters raised $10 million dollars to keep Coach Tedford in Berkeley. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said David Rosselli, the assistant athletic director in charge of major gifts. “There’s tremendous support to elevate the program into a national powerhouse and keep it there.” 

The money allowed Cal to sign Tedford to a five-year contract extension that will pay $1.5 million annually, nearly double his previous salary. The contract is comparable with salaries paid by some of the traditional football powers who were rumored to make a run at luring Tedford during the off-season. 

The university’s ability to pay top dollar for Tedford illustrates its sudden rise as a football power and an attractive partner to sports-loving corporations. Over the past year, the athletic department has signed 27 new corporate partnerships and seen its sponsorship revenue jump from $2.6 million a year to $4.3 million, said Director of Corporate Sponsorships Solomon Fulp. He attributed nearly all of the increased revenues to Tedford. 

Tedford has been clear that for him to stay at Cal, the university would have to upgrade Memorial Stadium, widely considered the most outdated facility in the Bear’s conference and a hindrance in recruiting top high school talent. 

Like his previous contract, Tedford’s new deal contains escape clauses if the university falls behind on stadium renovations, but at Monday’s press conference the coach appeared confident that the project was on track. 

“I’ve been encouraged by the direction that the stadium project is heading in,” he said.  

Competing design proposals are now before Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, Bailey said. At his previous job as the chancellor of the University of Toronto, Birgeneau championed an $80 million renovation to its football stadium to house both the university’s team and the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts. 

Any proposal for a renovated Memorial Stadium would include a seismic retrofit, luxury suites, new football offices, a new weight room, new locker room and possible academic space as well. 

Compounding neighborhood concerns, university officials have not ruled out handing the project over to a private developer, which several neighbors fear would result in more intensive use of a renovated stadium to maximize profit. 

Don Muret, facilities reporter for the Sports Business Journal, said that private developers building and operating on campus stadiums is a growing trend, but so far such proposals have been confined to basketball arenas that can more easily host a variety of events. 

“It’s becoming more common now that states have no public money whatsoever,” he said. 

Muret added that owners of recently renovated football stadiums have typically tried to book different events at the facilities. “Everyone is trying to get creative,” he said. “They try concerts, corporate hospitality meetings, even weddings.”

A 175-ton sculpture honoring former Sierra Club President David Brower is coming to Berkeley, but where it will end up remains unknown. 

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to accept the stone and bronze globe, commissioned by Brian and Jennifer Maxwell, founders of Berkeley-based Power Bar, Inc. 

In other matters, the council postponed a vote on the Foothill Bridge until Jan. 18, established a three-month rotation system for the title of vice mayor, approved an extra $727,000 to complete construction of Affordable Housing Associates’ Sacramento Senior Homes project and accepted $3 million in state grants to begin construction of sports fields along the end of Gilman Street just west of I-80. 

The Maxwell family, which is offering the sculpture free of charge, turned to Berkeley after the San Francisco Arts Commission rejected the sculpture designed by Finnish-American artist Eino. Several Berkeley residents were lobbying for the city to reject it too, arguing that the sculpture’s mass and inclusion of a figure of Brower scaling the globe weren’t a proper testament to his legacy.  

Born in Berkeley in 1912, Brower, who died four years ago, was one of the nation’s foremost environmental activists.  

Instead the council adopted a recommendation from the Civic Arts Commission to accept the work on several conditions. The Brower figure must be removed from the piece and the Maxwell estate must pay all placement and upkeep costs, the council said. Also, the future site must be professionally landscaped and include an educational component. 

The Civic Arts and Waterfront commissions now have to find a home for the 20-foot-tall sculpture. 

Councilmember Wozniak called on the commissions to find it a prominent home, perhaps in the planned David Brower Center, slated to be constructed at the Oxford Parking Lot. 

Several Waterfront Commission members have stated they didn’t want the sculpture on the city’s shoreline.  

Noting that much of Berkeley’s coast is landfill, Councilmember Betty Olds said, “If we’re talking 350,000 pounds, the first earthquake that thing is going to end up in China.” 

To which Mayor Tom Bates retorted, “It could become a traffic circle.” 

Foothill Bridge 

The council left the fate of a proposed pedestrian bridge over Hearst Avenue dangling for another month to give the three newly elected councilmembers a chance to tour the project site. 

Since construction began on the Foothill Housing Complex in 1988, UC Berkeley officials have sought unsuccessfully to build a bridge 21 feet over Hearst Avenue between Le Roy and La Loma avenues. The bridge would connect the La Loma Dormitory on the northern side of Hearst with the rest of the housing complex on the avenue’s south side. 

Tuesday was the third time this year that the council delayed a vote on UC Berkeley’s latest offer to pay $200,000 for pedestrian improvements on Hearst Avenue and give the city final say over the bridge’s design. 

Some councilmembers opposed to the bridge have expressed doubts that they could muster enough votes to deny UC an encroachment waiver. However, Jim Sharp, a bridge detractor who lives near the proposed site, said he was confident that the council would ultimately reject the bridge in the face of a threatened lawsuit from opponents. 

“I don’t think the council is willing to stick its neck out that far for the university,” he said.  

Alan Seher, attorney for the New Education Development Systems, Inc., said his client which owns 2717 Hearst Avenue, a landmarked building just uphill from the proposed bridge, has already agreed to fund litigation if the council issues the waiver. He maintained that the university could not legally qualify for the waiver according to the city’s municipal code because it would not be “substantially damaged” if the city refused the waiver, had not adequately studied other ways to improve pedestrian safety and disability access and would cause material damage to neighbors by building the bridge. 

University officials have argued that the bridge is necessary to give disabled students access to the La Loma dormitory, which is located on a steep grade, above the rest of the residence community and most of campus. 

Gilman Fields 

The council voted unanimously to accept a $3 million grant from the state Urban Parks Act program to pay for roughly half of the construction costs to build five athletic fields on the western edge of Gilman Street.  

Last year, the East Bay Regional Park District purchased the property from the Magna Corporation, owner of Golden Gate Fields. The fields are slated to be operated by the city. The $3 million grant should be enough to build three playing fields, however the park district lost out on a second grant for $2.5 million that would have paid for an additional two fields and other amenities. The district is now applying to for two separate state grants to raise an extra $2 million for the field construction. Field advocates hope the project will be ready by next fall. 

Sacramento Senior Homes 

The council voted 7-1-1 (Wozniak no, Olds abstain) to give an extra $727,072 from the city’s housing trust fund to Sacramento Senior Homes. The 40-unit project at the corner of Sacramento and Blake streets faced cost overruns when the developer, Affordable Housing Associates, had to delay construction while the city fought a lawsuit from neighbors opposed to the project. The neighbors lost their appeal of the case earlier this year. 

Faced with proposed changes to the Berkeley Landmarks Ordinance, Planning Commissioners posed questions and pondered options during a two-and-a-half-hour workshop session Wednesday. 

The proposed legislation, the product of three years of labor by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), would radically alter the way the city handles additions to and demolitions of buildings older than a half century. 

“It comes to us to consider the changes recommended by the LPC and to advise the (City) Council. At a future meeting we will advise staff concerning proposed changes, and hearings will follow,” said Planning Commission Chair Harry Pollack. 

Under the new ordinance, all property over 50 years old must be evaluated for landmarking potential. 

“We’re trying to make it so that it doesn’t slow down the planning department process in any way,” said LPC member Carrie Olson. “One of the biggest problems with the current process is that a (landmark designation application) can be filed even after the project goes to ZAB. We want it done right away.” 

One possible way to ease the process would be the creation of a comprehensive survey of the community, she said. 

Planner Gisele Sorensen said the last historical inventory of the city was made by the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association in 1977 and hasn’t been updated since. 

Deputy City Attorney Zach Cowan said that a new survey could prove costly. Palo Alto, which has two-thirds of the buildings of Berkeley, spent three or four years on a survey that cost $1 million. 

Berkeley Planning Manager Mark Rhoades said the city has a lot of distinguished architecture as well as people who write about it, offering the opportunity to cobble together a list—but that still wouldn’t be enough. 

Planning Director Dan Marks said he was involved in a comprehensive survey when he was on the staff of the City of Fremont, but to duplicate the effort here would take years, “and the cost would be very high.” 

A survey would also need frequent updates, “and even then you can’t get a 100 percent guarantee.” 

Further complicating the process, Olson said, is that “a lot of what the preservation community looks at is not just architecture but history and culture.” As it is, preparing the documentation and writing a landmark application takes from 20 to 40 hours. 

“A survey isn’t a definitive answer, but it helps,” she said. 

Pollack said he was concerned with “the extent of information that can be provided to folks who want to do something to their property.” 

An additional complication is the amount of city staff time needed under the 50-year rule. Marks estimated the cost at $100,000. 

Livable Berkeley, an organization critical of the current landmarking process, was represented by two speakers, developer Ali Kashani and Alan Tobey. 

Kashani urged the commission to adopt strict standards of architectural integrity for all landmarks, but Olson said integrity was sometimes difficult to quantify and in some cases a connection to an historic event or personages could trump the issue. 

Kashani also urged the LPC to increase the frequency of their meeting because the current monthly meetings enable to panel to deal with only a third of their applications. 

A lot of questions remained unanswered, to be tackled when the Planning Commission holds its next meeting on Wednesday.›

Since Nov. 2, progressives blogs have been rife with talk about how to build a broad-based coalition that can change the way we do business in this country. On the evening of Thursday, Dec. 2, Tradeswomen, Inc. showed how to walk such talk, as it celebrated its 25th anniversary with a joyous event at the Oakland Museum.  

Founded in 1979, Tradeswomen, Inc. is dedicated to getting women into the trades, keeping them there and developing tradeswomen’s leadership capabilities. On Dec. 2, the exemplary spirit in which it pursues these goals was palpable in the bustling good cheer at the crowded jazz reception in the Oakland Museum restaurant. There tradeswomen, tradesmen, apprentices, unionists, contractors, public officials, workforce advocates and friends of Tradeswomen, Inc. exchanged memories, congratulations and business cards.  

About 240 people, most of them from the Bay Area, attended the event, said Debra Chaplan, a member of Tradeswomen, Inc.’s board and a staffer with the State Building Trades Council, AFL-CIO, who helped organize the celebration. The State Building Trades Council is the umbrella organization for construction unions in California. The handsome program commemorating Tradeswomen, Inc.’s first quarter century of work included tributes from sixteen locals representing among them six unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Plumbers & Steamfitters union, as well as greetings from the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council.  

In further testimony to Tradeswomen, Inc.’s extensive support network, the commemorative booklet also displayed congratulations from the City and the Port of Oakland, the National Economic Development and Law Center, PG&E, nine contractors in northern and southern California and EBMUD, among others. EBMUD pipeline superintendent Margo Schueler, a resident of West Berkeley, was among those at the festivities.  

Also in attendance was the City of Berkeley’s Building Official, a.k.a. the city’s chief building inspector, Joan MacQuarrie. MacQuarrie offered her own history as testimony to the Tradeswomen, Inc. crucial role. “I worked as a Muni driver, an auto mechanic, a BART mechanic, a carpenter and electrician,” MacQuarrie said. “Then I became a general contractor. None of that would have been possible without Tradeswomen, Inc. and its forerunner, Advocates for Women.”  

MacQuarrie got involved in the tradeswomen’s movement in the 1970s. A landmark achievement of that period, she recalled, was getting the California Apprenticeship Council in 1976 to institute goals and timetables for bringing women into the trades—the first time such a thing had happened in the United States.  

That victory and other hard-won accomplishments were made vivid when party moved into the museum’s James Moore Theatre. A video entitled “Women Building and Protecting California” showed tradeswomen doing just that in all manner of trades and contexts. Then, to applause and earsplitting whoops and whistles, Tradeswomen, Inc. paid tribute to individuals who have made special contributions to its mission.  

First to be honored was Robert Balgenorth, journeyman electrician and President of the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California, which sponsors the annual “Women Building California” conference. There followed recognition of teacher Eva Clark and counselor and employment specialist Richey Rice-Gore, both hailed as “tireless advocates” for bringing women into the trades. The evening ended with tributes to Tradeswomen, Inc.’s “founding sisters,” union electrician Molly Martin, workforce development specialist Salafai (Susie) J. Suafai, and former Regional Administrator of the United States Department of Labor Women’s Bureau in San Francisco Madeline Mixer.  

Molly Martin, the first female electrician for the City of San Francisco, founded and edited Tradeswomen Magazine, the only national publication of its kind, and along with many others helped to produce it for nearly twenty years.  

Susie Sufai helped start Tradeswomen, Inc. when she was Director of the Women in Apprenticeship Program, an organization funded by the United States Department of Labor to place women in nontraditional employment in the construction, manufacturing and automotive industries in the San Francisco Bay Area.  

As director of the Department of Labor’s San Francisco office, Madeline Mixer, a Berkeley resident, spent twenty years urging federal and state apprenticeship agencies and state apprenticeship councils to set, enforce and realize goals for women. She also established and continues to fund the publication of Pride and a Paycheck, a women’s support newsletter and guide to blue collar jobs. Mixer is currently working with another Berkeleyan, licensed plumber and contractor Naomi Friedman, to train women as apartment house managers, a project described in the Daily Planet last summer.  

The stories told by each of the honorees dramatized the challenges women faced in gaining entry into the trades and staying there in the face of male inhospitability, if not outright harassment. “Walking onto the job site—just going to work in the morning,” said Martin, “was a feminist act.”  

Is that still the case? Not to Mary Lieser, Vice President of the Northern California Regional Council of Carpenters. “It’s time to stop saying that tradeswomen are ‘non-traditional’,” Lieser remarked at the reception. “I’ve been a carpenter for nineteen years. We’re not un-traditional; we’re there.”  

Certainly one place that that women have arrived is the City of Berkeley’s building inspection department, where, Joan MacQuarrie reported, three of the eight building inspectors are women (until one recently got promoted out of the job, there were four). “The City of Berkeley made an effort to create a promotional ladder,” said MacQuarrie, “so that people, and women in particular, could move up into building inspector positions.”  

But the Berkeley story is hardly typical. Currently, women make up only about 5 percent of the trades workforce in California. That’s a huge improvement over when Tradeswomen, Inc. was founded, when almost no women were in the trades, and better than the 2 percent figure nationwide. But in 1983, 11 percent of apprentices in the trades were female. The decline reflects in part the California Apprenticeship Council’s elimination of the goals and timetables for women in the trades after the passage of Prop. 209 in 1996. 

And on the federal level, the tradeswomen movement recently suffered a major setback when the Bush administration axed 2004 funding for the Department of Labor’s Women in Apprenticeship and Non-Traditional Occupations (WANTO) grants program—the only program of its kind. In both 2002 and 2003, Tradeswomen, Inc. received WANTO awards of $100,000—money that it used to develop and strengthen its connections with employers and labor unions in the greater Bay Area and throughout the state to bring more qualified women into high-wage, high-skilled trades careers.  

In the face of new challenges, Tradeswomen, Inc. remains committed to mission through the efforts of its paid staff of two and its hundreds of unpaid advocates in organized labor, business, education, government and the community at large. The organization’s next annual conference will take place in Sacramento on May 14-15, 2005. Its next brunch will be in San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 29. For more information, including how to get Tradeswomen, Inc.’s newsletter, job announcements, publications and other kinds of information and assistance, call 891-8773, ext. 313 or go to www.tradeswomen.org on the Internet.  

©

The lingering effects of Berkeley’s hotly contested school board battle spilled over into the reorganization meeting of the newly-re-elected board Wednesday night, as members held a brief but emotional public battle over the board vice-presidency. 

In the end, Joaquin Rivera withdrew his candidacy moments before the board elected Terry Doran on a 3-2 voice vote, with Rivera and Shirley Issel voting against him. 

Before the vote, a defiant Doran accused fellow board members of “stooping to personal politics, pure and simple” and “acting out of spite,” but after the meeting he said he was “gratified” by his selection, and admitted that “had expected that there would be some fallout from the position I took during the November election.” 

Traditionally, Berkeley Unified School District board officers are elected on a normally non-controversial rotating basis, with the presidency and vice-presidency going to the members who received the highest citywide votes in the previous elections. 

That should have meant Nancy Riddle stepping up from the board vice-presidency to replace John Selawsky as president, and Doran moving into Riddle’s old position. And Riddle, in fact, was elected board president without opposition. 

But some board members apparently held lingering bad feelings from the recent elections, where Doran had publicly supported the unsuccessful candidacies of challengers Karen Hemphill and Kalima Rose over incumbents Rivera and Selawsky. And so shortly after Selawsky nominated Doran for the vice-presidency, board member Shirley Issel nominated Rivera for the post. 

Doran said after the meeting that he’d “heard there were some concerns about the election, and I was prepared to have no support for my election.” And during the debate—in which members sometimes talked directly to either Rivera or Doran with trembling voices—Riddle said, “I sort of saw this freight train coming since the night of the election” and apologized to viewers who “might be wondering why we’re having this uncomfortable discussion in public; the Brown Act prohibits us from working these things out behind the scenes.” 

Selawsky summed up the board’s dilemma at having to decide between close colleagues, telling Doran and Rivera that “I consider either one of you worthy and competent to represent this board.” Then, almost apologizing to Rivera, Selawsky said that he had “not heard any overwhelming arguments not to vote for Terry Doran.” He added that he “understood the emotions of some board members coming out of the election. I’ve shared some of those privately with my wife. But I don’t want to do anything to push any board member away.” 

But it was Issel who provided the most dramatic moments of the discussion, looking directly at Doran and telling him that “I don’t think you represent the views of the majority of the board. It’s disingenuous for you to campaign against board members and then think there won’t be consequences.” She added that Doran’s support against his board colleagues’ election was “unprecedented,” and told Doran that “you should take responsibility for your actions.” 

For his part, Doran argued that he would be able to put aside his differences to work in a leadership role with the board, and denied charges that his support for Hemphill and Rose signified a lack of confidence in the direction the school board has been taking. “I didn’t disagree with the direction of the board,” Doran said. “I didn’t think it was moving in that direction rapidly enough. I thought the challengers would have done a better job at that.” Doran added that “the people who elected me [two years ago] expected me to have my chance to be the public face of the board.” 

It was Riddle who apparently turned the tide. Saying that “I have a horrible feeling that I might be the swing vote—I’ve had that feeling since election night,” she said that she would “only vote to exclude any board member if he was completely out of the mainstream.” When that appeared to signal her vote for Doran—and Doran’s probable victory—Rivera immediately withdrew his name for consideration. Riddle called it “one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.” 

Following the meeting, Doran said that “I think the discussion swayed some people.” 

After the battle over the vice-presidency, the remainder of Wednesday’s board meeting could only be anticlimactic. 

Following brief criticism from a few members, the board unanimously adopted Berkeley High School’s development goal site plan for the upcoming school year. Board member Riddle commented that the high school’s plan contained “no achievable, identifiable goals as we saw in the plans for the elementary sites,” but a school staff member said that “we just didn’t want to pull a number out of the air-like saying we could achieve 5 percent growth in test scores—that would be disingenuous. Give us another year to develop the state test score data, and we’ll be able to provide you with realistic goals.” 

And at board member Issel’s request, Superintendent Michele Lawrence said that future BHS plans would include more detailed proposals for a high school literacy program and an upgraded effort to increase attendance. 

The board also heard parent concerns that Berkeley High’s site plan’s funding favored small school participants over students in the academic choice “large school.” Superintendent Lawrence said the funding was more complicated than that, with monies earmarked for the small schools actually benefiting all of the high school’s students. Board members said they wanted to monitor BHS’ plan to make sure there was “some equity” in the funding. 

The board also agreed—on the consent calendar and without discussion—a request by American Federation of Teachers Local 6192 (the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees) to reopen talks concerning the recently-signed three-year contract between BUSD and its classified employees. 

Following the meeting, Superintendent Lawrence said such reopenings were “normal” for multi-year contracts as the parties attempt to adjust salary schedules and benefits to changing economic circumstances. “There’s no special significance to the opening up of the contract for renegotiation,” Lawrence said. “There may be some economic significance, however, depending on what happens when the actual talks get started. We just won’t know until we get into the negotiations.” 

BCCE President Ann Graybeal agreed that contract reopenings are “fairly standard procedure.” 

Among other things, BCCE is asking for some salary reclassifications and increased benefits for its represented workers. BCCE representatives did not make any presentations at Wednesday’s school board meeting. 

Å

Berkeley’s John Muir School—which earlier this summer had to fight off concerns that its student achievement might have been dropping—got vindication this week with the announcement that the College Avenue elementary was one of 35 California schools nominated for a national academic award. 

The nomination was made by California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2004-05 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Honors Program. 

John Muir principal Nancy D. Waters called the nomination “way too cool” and said that “we’re flying pretty high around here, right now.” 

The school was hit with another honor this week when the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) announced that Muir fourth-fifth grade teacher Marlo Warburton was one of some 450 California teachers achieving the prestigious NBPTS certification this year. Warburton has taught at John Muir for nine years. 

According to a news release sent out by the California Department of Education, Blue Ribbon Schools are “considered to be national models of excellence.” The 35 schools nominated by Superintendent O’Connell all have met Academic Performance Index (API) growth targets as well as federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements. John Muir was one of only four schools nominated from Alameda County, and one of only nine schools nominated from the Bay Area. 

Nominated schools that meet both the U.S. Department of Education criteria and the 2005 AYP standards will be named next fall as Blue Ribbon Schools and honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. 

Waters said that “everybody’s really excited over here” concerning the nomination. “The kids are very proud of themselves for the work they’ve been doing, and the teachers are feeling validated that their time and effort is paying off. This has been a real collaborative effort, between certified teachers, classified staff, students, and their families.” 

Meanwhile, BUSD Superintendent Michele Lawrence said she was giving her “heartfelt congratulations” to Warburton for the NBPTS certification. “She is a wonderful teacher, and she deserves this recognition. She...is representative of so many excellent teachers that we have in the BUSD, and I hope that this encourages more of them to tackle this difficult challenge.” 

BUSD Public Information Officer Mark A. Coplan called the NBPTS certification “the highest credential in the teaching profession.” He said that certification “is achieved through a rigorous, performance-based assessment that takes between one and three years to complete and measure what accomplished teachers and school counselors should know and be able to do.” 

Only 3,000 California teachers have received the NBPTS certification, four of them—with Warburton—from the Berkeley Unified School District. 

Earlier this fall, the academic news from John Muir Elementary was more confusing and less pleasing, with the announcement that English Language Arts scores taken by the school’s fourth graders last May on the California Standards Test (CST) had dropped 30 percent from the year before. But school and district officials say the results were misleading and appeared to be contradicted by the fact that the school’s scores on the California Academic Performance Index (API) had gone up in the same period. School and district officials later said that the drop in John Muir’s school’s CST may have been caused by a problem with the test scoring procedure.›

After three months of heated negotiations, employees at Cody’s Books will be voting to ratify or reject a new union contract that cuts health care costs in half for employees who have families. 

The Service Employees International Union Local 790, and Andy Ross, owner of Cody’s, had been deadlocked until a compromise was reached in late November, according to John Supanich, the store’s magazine buyer and a member of the negotiating committee. 

“It was really contentious,” Supanich said. “Usually we wrap [contract negotiations] up in a month.” 

According to Supanich, employees were primarily concerned with re-writing the old contract’s health care policy. That contract, which only lasted a year, doubled health care costs for employees with dependents and reduced it for single employees, he said.  

In the new contract, Supanich said, all full-time employees will pay 10 percent of the premium plus a co-pay for each doctor visit. Part-time employees will pay slightly more. Supanich, for example, will pay $55 a month for himself and his wife instead of the $120 he now pays under the previous contract. Any increases in the premium would be absorbed by the employer. As a result, premiums would stay the same for employees throughout the two-and-a half-year contract. 

While employees understand health care costs are rising, Supanich said, they are unable to pay double the cost for health insurance with their current wages. He said workers start at around $8.30 an hour and can earn up to about $16 an hour. Eleven of the 60 people in the union support families on their wages. 

“We wanted it to be equitable, so the families were not paying more,” said Supanich.  

Ross said his concern is that the store’s health care costs have gone up “exponentially,” while business has either dropped or stagnated. Part of the problem he said, is a bad economy. 

Even as one of the largest independent bookstores, with 150,000 titles in their Telegraph Avenue location, the store has struggled to compete against large chains and the Internet. 

“It’s all about health care,” Ross said. “Workers do not want to lose their benefits and we need to do something we can afford.”  

Employees at the store have been unionized since 1992. Founded in 1956 by the Cody family, the Telegraph store was bought by Ross in 1977. A second branch on Fourth Street was opened in 1997.  

According to Ken Jacobs, who works for the UC Labor Center, the fight at Cody’s is part of a national trend. 

“[Health care] has been the central issue in almost every labor dispute in the county over the last several years,” he said. 

As health care costs rise, he said, employers have tried to shift the cost to employees. Employees have fought back, resulting in large strikes like the ones that consumed Southern California grocery markets and San Francisco hotels. 

When employers successfully shift the cost, the tax payers are forced to carry the burden as employees turn to public services like Medical for basic care, he said. 

Jacobs said the November defeat of Proposition 72, which would have required businesses with more than 100 employees to provide health care, was a lost chance for employers and unions to encourage reform. 

“Rather than getting into these knock-down fights, we need to see motion forward in employers working with the union in reforming costs,” he said.  

At Cody’s, Supanich said, he expects employees to ratify the contract and gave Ross credit for agreeing to an equitable solution. 

“In the end, we found some creative ways to solve things,” he said. “My sense is that he understood that the more he has a well-compensated and happy staff, the better it will be for him.” 

It’s worth remembering that John Kerry came within 2.7 percentage points of beating an incumbent wartime president. Bush won, but his margin of victory was the smallest of any sitting president in more than 100 years. Rather than dwell in grief or anger, Democrats should take the time to understand why Kerry failed to win, because there are important lessons to be learned.  

Bush triumphed in a popularity contest: 93 percent of Republicans voted for him, while only 89 percent of Democrats favored Kerry. Exit polls indicated that a vote for Bush was primarily an affirmation; 81 percent of the president’s supporters said they voted for him, rather than against his opponent. In contrast, only 55 percent of Democrats voted for Kerry; 35 percent cast their vote because they were against a continuation of the Bush regime. 

This relative lack of enthusiasm for Kerry showed up dramatically when pollsters asked voters for reasons they voted for and against Kerry and Bush. The strongest justification to vote for Kerry was “health care,” which was mentioned by 26 percent of those polled. On the other hand 37 percent said the strongest reason to vote for Bush was “response to 9/11,” followed by “the war against terrorism” (32 percent), “decisive leader” (31 percent) and “his religious faith” (29 percent). When asked for reasons to not support Kerry, 36 percent of those polled responded, “flip-flopping on issues,” whereas 32 percent opined their justification for not supporting Bush was “Iraq and foreign policy.” 

There was a pattern: Kerry tended to get positive support for his policies and Bush for his personal qualities. The converse was also true: Kerry was criticized for his personal qualities, flip-flopping, and Bush for his policies. (Interestingly, only 11 percent of those polled saw Bush’s “rigid/stubborn leadership” as a negative.) While voters tended to see Kerry as more intelligent than Bush, and better able to express himself, Bush was viewed as the stronger leader and the most honest and religious. 

Thus, in the 2004 presidential campaign, George W. borrowed a page from Ronald Reagan: Voters tended to separate their favorable personal feelings for him from their unfavorable opinions of his policies. 

Voters found Bush to be more likable because he conveyed a “common man” persona, whereas Kerry came across as aloof—professorial. If the polls had contained the question, “Who would you rather go to a ballgame with, George Bush or John Kerry?” no doubt a strong majority would have preferred Bush.  

Exit polls showed a strong relationship between the level of education and candidate choice; the less education the voter had, the more likely he or she was to choose Bush. What appeared to be the “dumbing down” of the president was actually a strategy to make him more likable. 

The Kerry campaign was at a disadvantage because of the relative lack of appeal of their candidate. They further weakened the campaign by making three critical mistakes: First, they failed to make an issue of the Bush administration’s mishandling of pre-9/11 intelligence. There was a case to be made that from the moment they took office, George W. and his advisers were obsessed with Saddam Hussein and, therefore, committed a series of blunders: discounting intelligence that indicated that Al Qaeda was planning a major terrorist attack on the United States, following the wrong strategy in the invasion of Afghanistan that facilitated the escape of the top Al Qaeda leaders and the destabilization of the country, and rushing into an ill-conceived war in Iraq without a plan for the occupation. By attacking George W. on the issue of security, Kerry could have made a mockery of the notion that Bush “kept us safe.” 

The second mistake was in not responding swiftly, and effectively, to the Swift-boat ads. These ads, and the accompanying book, Unfit for Command, called Kerry’s honesty and patriotism into question, and tarnished his heroic image. 

Finally, the Kerry campaign never settled on a central campaign theme. For example, they touched on the issue of moral values and then backed away. At the Democratic convention, Kerry expressed what could have been a central theme in the campaign, “It is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families,” which highlighted core progressive values such as fairness, protection, and equal opportunity. Then the campaign dropped the concept of “valuing families” and talked primarily about policies.  

In October, when George W. lambasted Kerry as a liberal, the Democratic challenger seemed unable to mount a defense; he did not offer a clear expression of progressive values or attack the Bush administration for investing in the powerful rather than in the people. The Kerry campaign ignored the reality that the label, liberal, does have a negative connotation to many voters who listen to Rush Limbaugh, watch Fox News, or read Ann Coulter. To these Americans being a liberal means being the bearer of a contagious immorality that subverts youth, weakens the family, and undermines the defense of the nation. 

For many Democrats, Kerry was a satisfactory rather than optimal candidate. Ultimately, his personality was not strong enough to compensate for the mistakes made by his campaign. 

‚

TAX DOLLARS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Council Spends Our Tax Dollars. 

Appalled Citizenry Shocked at Victims paying for Robber’s Financial Problems. 

Robbers Jubilant About Decision. 

Rosemary Vimont 

• 

A CITY FOR EMPLOYEES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley once was a city which provided basic city services to its residents and taxed them to pay for it. Now it has evolved into a city that provides free services, pensions and benefits to its city employees and cuts back basic city services to provide for it. 

There has been a fundamental change from serving residents to serving city employees. The City Council acts as decider and enforcer. 

The 50 year retirement age and full pensions paid for by the city cannot be justified by services rendered by city employees. The benefits are so large that they equal or exceed the total salary paid to city employees during their working years. It obviously is an excess benefit. 

The City of Berkeley is a non-profit public service organization. Under IRS Tax Code 501(c)(3) and Section 2370(d) of the California Revenue and Taxation Code, anyone receiving an excess benefit from a non-profit organization must pay it back or pay a 200 percent penalty and the persons authorizing the excess benefit payment must pay a 10 percent penalty unless the excess benefit is paid back. 

If I were a City Councilmember, I would be very concerned about this. 

When a person is taxed without their knowledge or consent to pay for something from which they will receive no benefit and then is held in enforced servitude to pay for that benefit under threat of confiscation of their property if they don’t pay up, that violates so many aspects of the U.S. Constitution that it seems highly probable to me that your pension contracts will be struck down by the courts. 

What a mess you created when you signed those contracts. 

Stephen Jory 

• 

INDIAN SOVEREIGNTY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The result of the Nov. 2 election should have many people resisting any attempt by President Bush to put conservative judges on the Supreme Court. These judges that Bush wants on the bench will roll back American Indian sovereignty, environmental laws, and civil and reproductive rights if they are confirmed. 

Contrary to what some people have said, this president doesn’t have any mandate to pick conservative judges that want to take us back to the bad old days of Jim Crow. 

Billy Trice, Jr. 

• 

HOMELESS IN BERKELEY? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Daily Cal’s recent report titled “Berkeley Streets Mean To Homeless” poses a big question: If in fact the streets of Berkeley are so “mean” to the local homeless population, than why are there so many homeless people (800-plus) in Berkeley? There must be a better place, where the streets are much “nicer.” 

Obviously, any urban area coast to coast has their group of homeless persons, where, just like Berkeley, many are familiar faces, such as local residents around us. However, it has been very well known for years within the underground, somewhat younger “trendy homeless population” that such places as Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and even Venice, Calif. are somewhat more fashionable for the “chosen” element of the homeless population. 

The theory of social conditioning prevails and people of all different anti-social behavioral groups will gather when and where they see fit. Believe me, they’re all very aware of when and where the food services are available, as well as just where homelessness is more tolerated. 

It is probably time to take a closer look in our community to see who is really homeless by luck or more legitimate, seriously contributing factors, and who is merely posing as homeless by choice, perhaps for the pride of adventure or non-conformity. 

Michael J. Parker 

• 

DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Dec. 7-9 article by Matthew Artz (“Rosy Budget Projections Tempered by Warnings”) revealed that the city manager’s latest report contains troubling news, namely “that parking fine revenues have, for many years, lagged behind expectations in contributing to the city’s coffers”.  

The real reason for this lag is just one more of the city’s dirty little secrets.  

Since 1996, a Community Service program has existed, which allowed parking violators to satisfy their parking citations by doing community service work. No income or vehicle registration eligibility requirements were established. In addition anyone could do the actual community service for the parking violator. Often non-resident owners of luxury cars had friends or others perform their community service. For example, in 2002 there were 898 community service contracts signed allowing 4,231 citations totaling $273,733 to be converted to community service hours. In 2003, 828 contracts were signed for 3,922 citations totaling $277,451. No doubt at least $2-3 million dollars in lost revenue has been experienced since 1996. In essence we have paid meter maids, at union wages, to issue tickets, to violators who never paid anything to the city. Not surprisingly a lot of them became recidivists, “working off” 10 or 20 tickets a year. 

The program was recently amended to limit community service, in lieu of paying fines, to low income Berkeley residents. Its full elimination would have made better sense considering that the council says we have no money for adequate fire and police protection. What other “dirty little secrets” don’t we know about? 

Miriam Wilson 

• 

VOTE COUNT DISPARITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bob Burnett’s article (“Election 2004: Another Look at the Disputed Vote Count,” Daily Planet, Dec. 3-6) article notes why so many of us do not have confidence in the announced election results, but then, without giving any reason why we should believe the election results, launches into his reasons for why Bush allegedly won. That leaves me still unconvinced. The election results were wildly different from the exit poll results. I have seen nothing to explain this. The so-called CalTech/MIT study has been shown to be flawed by a confused notion about the nature of the “final” exit poll data (which were not exit poll data but were a blend of exit polls and the reported results to bring the two into concurrence). Freeman and others have expressed their concern that the wide discrepancy between the exit poll and reported election results are statistically improbable, with odds of 250 million to one. 

There were many reports of election anomalies, such as touchscreens that recorded a vote for Bush when the voter had selected Kerry. Burnett does not address the implications of those troubling matters. He simply asserts that the documented irregularities don’t account for Bush’s alleged 3.3 million plurality. I don’t buy that assertion. Certainly we do not need 3.3 million individual reports of anomalies to question the reliability of the reported election results. If anyone reports that the machine recorded a vote for Bush when the voter was selecting Kerry, we can guess that many more such anomalies occurred, machines being machines that tend to do the same thing over and over. Especially under the time pressure that was reported (long lines, few voting machines, five-minute limits) in many heavily Democratic precincts, many voters may not have seen the error, may have been intimidated by the pressure to vote fast and move on, etc. The fact that many people reported such incidents in more than one state should be viewed as the tip of an iceberg. No one can know how large that iceberg is. All we know is that it exists. It really exists.  

That’s why we need good recounts wherever they can be done. I am very grateful to the Green and Libertarian parties for their willingness to take the lead in Ohio and to also pursue a recount in New Mexico. I am also very pleased to see that the Kerry campaign is supporting the recount effort in Ohio. 

Recounts are an important part of our electoral system. They will not take forever. Now is the time to focus on doing whatever we can to count this very flawed election as accurately as possible. There is no point in calling for a voter verified paper trail if we are unwilling to tolerate some uncertainty after election day. We need to use the paper trail to try to answer our questions. 

Another terrible problem in the 2004 presidential election is voter suppression—efforts to disenfranchise by means such as challenging registered voters inappropriately, telling people to vote on Nov. 3, undersupplying heavily Democratic precincts so as to promote long lines, etc., etc. Many of these problems will not be directly addressed by a recount. But the widespread occurrence of voter suppression adds to my conviction that this election must be recounted carefully. Recount is what we can do now. We must continue to work on all fronts to clean up and correct our very flawed electoral system. 

There are many good sources of information on the recounts. Two websites to check: www.usvip.org and www.votecobb.org. 

Judy Bertelsen 

• 

ED ROBERTS CAMPUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Susan Parker, whom I admire very much, should be glad to know that she is quite mistaken about the concerns she expressed in her Dec. 7-9 column “Opposition to Ed Roberts Campus Masked in Historic Design Complaint.” 

Parker referred to the Nov. 15 Zoning Adjustments Board meeting, and stated that representatives of the neighborhood turned out “to protest the presence of the center in their community.” This is not at all correct. I wish that Parker had attended the meeting she wrote about, so that she could have heard neighbors voicing their support of the Ed Roberts Campus and their wishes to have it in their neighborhood. Since Parker last attended a community meeting, circumstances have changed greatly. As a resident of the area, I no longer know a single neighbor who opposes this project. Remaining neighborhood concerns are mainly with the city’s failure to follow the California Environmental Quality Act.  

Parker then states, “I don’t recall anyone saying that the building design did not fit in with the historic nature of the neighborhood, but now this is being used as another possible excuse for holding up the project.” But in fact Parker did attend the community meeting which took place about two years ago at the South Berkeley Senior Center. At this meeting, the project’s architect was asked by neighbors if he was open to modifying the design so that it would fit in better with the existing historic buildings. His response was “yes.” The request was not unreasonable, especially now that we know the State of California shares concerns about the design. 

The conclusion that we “just don’t want it in our neighborhood” is completely untrue, and doesn’t seem to be based on anything that’s happened in the last two years. I can understand why Parker has some strong feelings about this project, as everyone I know agrees that it is greatly needed. As a big fan of her column, I also realize how busy and hectic her life must be, and I understand her not having time to keep up with the events of these exhausting proceedings in the last couple years. But to name call, to paint as NIMBYs a neighborhood that recently welcomed several other responsible developments, is just not seemly, and it’s not right. 

Erica Cleary 

• 

UC LONG RANGE PLAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

By mid-February, the City Council will decide whether to sue the university over the adequacy of the environmental impact report (EIR) for the university’s 2020 Long Range Development Plan. The LRDP contains a 20 percent increase in UC space and facilities, and a 10 percent increase in campus users, mostly commuting research-related personnel. In a heartwarming—and rare—alliance with the sentiments of Berkeley citizens, the city’s response to the draft EIR last June was indignant, tough, and unequivocal in charging that the draft EIR is grossly inadequate on multiple levels. Though such a lawsuit is unlikely to derail the juggernaut of UC expansion entirely, it would probably lead to a moderated and much less damaging expansion of the Berkeley campus. 

The EIR is required under the California Environmental Quality Act. The beauty and power of CEQA is that it forces large project sponsors to search in good faith the project “alternative” that meets their goals with the least possible damage to the natural or human environment. It encourages the developer and the community to work together on creative solutions. EIRs rarely stop projects, nor are they intended to; properly done, they always improve them. However, the university 2020 LRDP EIR does not even pretend to search for less damaging means of achieving UC’s goals. And UC working with the community? Yeah, right. 

This decision will be one of the first opportunities the new council will have to show courage in the face of UC bullying, respect for the people of Berkeley, and determination to save the city from a literally unsupportable 2.2 million more square feet of UC expansion. If history is any guide, the council’s decision will be made behind closed doors, and councilmembers’ votes will remain unknown; an official vote may never even be taken. This is unacceptable. The citizens have a right to know their council members’ actions on such a monumental issue, so they can be held individually accountable at election time. 

Now is the time to let the City Council know your feelings about UC expansion and, even more important, to demand that decisions about UC be made by vote, and that the vote be made public. This will not tell UC anything it does not already know, but it will tell Berkeley citizens something they surely need to know about their elected representatives. 

Sharon Hudson 

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Click here to view the latest work by Daily Planet cartoonist Justin DeFreitas

We’re trapped in a quagmire with no apparent strategy except one that has consistently failed, with leaders too distracted by their futures in the next elections to explore other choices, and a public left generally uninformed because the press only gives us the official line. 

And no, friends, if you thought we were talking about Iraq, you were mistaken. This is about Oakland, and our continuing discussion of what everyone calls the sideshows. 

Sideshows is one of those terms—like “freedom” or “racism” or “separation of church and state”—in which the various sides use the same words, but are clearly talking about vastly different things. It’s one of those “don’t ask, don’t tell” kind of things where everybody in the room is supposed to know what you mean—like talking about the “them” who are ruining things for the rest of us—except that we’re all not in the same room, and the “them” to you may not be the “them” that I’m talking about. In fact, it might actually be “me.” 

The Oakland Tribune almost always puts the term “sideshows” in quotes, as if there’s still some sort of debate going on in the newsroom about its meaning. For years we have asked—vainly—for an official definition from the Oakland Police Department. But between them, the police and the Trib seem to have worked out an unofficial, working definition. According to a Trib article this week, “Oakland police Lt. Dave Kozicki said it starts with unlicensed drivers driving recklessly, speeding and under the influence of drugs or alcohol, sometimes both, and leads to more serious crimes like murders, stabbings, sexual assaults and vandalism.” 

It’s hard to know exactly what Lt. Kozicki actually said—the sentence is not presented as a direct quote—but the code words are all there. Sideshows. Unlicensed drivers. Drugs. Alcohol. Murders. Stabbings. Sexual assault. It’s all presented as one giant, slippery slope. Start a sideshow and a girl is going to get raped. 

The average reader—safe in your home far from East Oakland—reads such a sentence and says, “My God! What animals! Of course we’ve got to stop this!” And that, of course, is reinforced by the Tribune’s reports of “residents” from ground zero of the sideshow—the Foothill/Havenscourt area-where “they complained [at a recent Neighborhood Community Policing Council] about the smell of burning tires that fills their homes, the noise from gunshots, thumping music and screeching wheels, and the sight of grown men and women urinating in their front yards.” 

We heard the same complaint a couple of years ago, at a city-sponsored town hall meeting on the sideshow problem held at Eastmont Mall. In response, an articulate young African-American woman—an admitted sideshow participant—said that she wouldn’t want anyone urinating in her yard either. She suggested that some of the stated problems might not have come from the sideshows but from other elements of Oakland’s street life, which sometimes gets confused and lumped in together by people who are not out there in the streets. She also said that the sideshows were developed by young people who were born in Oakland, live in Oakland, but are generally ignored and even actively discouraged by Oakland when it comes to providing safe social outlets. 

As if we needed another reminder of that official discouragement, we heard it—again—this week from Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, who the Tribune reports “scoffed” at those who have said sideshows are an outlet for young people with nothing else to do. “I reject that,” the Tribune quoted Mr. Brown as saying. “There are gangsters and hard-core criminals exploiting the sideshows ... doing carjackings and shooting people. Parents need to keep their children home, and if you’re over 18, have enough sense not to get in harm’s way. And sideshows are harm’s way.” 

It is true that the gatherings we generally identify as “sideshows” are more violent, and more dangerous this fall than the ones we witnessed two and three years ago. If you believe what the mayor and police officials say then this was inevitable, that unsanctioned, unsupervised street gatherings of black kids in Oakland was always going to lead to violence and death. 

If you’ve followed the history of the sideshows—or if you talk to some of the participants who have—you come up with a different conclusion. The sideshows, they say, began in isolated parking lots—not in the streets—by young people who were themselves worried about the violence in Oakland’s night scene, and took it upon themselves to organize safe social gatherings away from the drugs, the gunshots, and the fights. They policed their own events, and kept down trouble. We will never know what these late 90’s gatherings might have eventually turned into had we left these young people alone or—better yet—worked with them. Instead, the police drove them like animals out of the parking lots and into the streets, effecting arrests and confiscating cars, making illegal what was previously only innocuous. Gradually, as a result, many of the more responsible people who only wanted a place to safely socialize were replaced by people who were more excited by defying the police. Are we surprised at the result? 

If not surprised, we ought to be troubled. 

The Tribune reported a night of “‘sideshow’-related” violence in Oakland last weekend-again, the quotation marks around “sideshow” are theirs—in which two people were shot and killed and three officers were injured. It’s hard from the details in the story to know how much the two shooting deaths were related to the sideshows themselves. Was this a beef from an argument that grew out of the gathering itself and would not have happened if there hadn’t been a sideshow, or did this result from an older dispute that would have played out wherever the players met-in a club, on somebody’s front porch, or in a parking lot at Albertsons? We ought to know, before we lump these things all together. It makes a difference, in our response. 

We ought to be disturbed, too, about one of the reported attacks on the police last weekend. “The injury to the police officer occurred about 3:30 a.m. [early Saturday morning] at 90th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard,” the Tribune reports. “Someone put a brick on a car’s accelerator, tied off the steering wheel and sent the vehicle down 90th Avenue toward several officers at high speed. The car struck a marked patrol car, injuring the officer inside. No one was arrested.” 

For several years, Oakland has declared the relatively-nonviolent sideshows a police problem, and have given the police virtual free reign in shutting them down. The suspension of civil liberties and millions of dollars in overtime later the sideshows have not been shut down, the talk of violence is becoming a self-fulling prophecy, and we are beginning to see ambushes of police on our city streets. 

Hasn’t the time long since come for Oakland citizens to come together—young and old in the same conversation in the same room—to talk about a different approach? 

?

My grandfather, George Price, followed my grandmother, Mary Perry, from Texas to Arkansas to Chicago to California, declaring to her mother—referred to as “Miss Maggie” even by her employer—that he would marry Mary or he wouldn’t marry at all. Mary had graduated from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas and she advised her suitor that if he was planning on coming west to California he had better get an education and a good job. He did and they married and set up housekeeping, integrating their South Berkeley neighborhood in 1934. My father grew up in that house and my two children are growing up in the same house now.  

I think about my family’s history in this town that I love when I drive by Berkeley High, on the lookout for my teenage daughter and up into the hills to pick up my son from his elementary school. As I pass the construction site of the new Temple Beth El, I see a small boarded up shack off to the side that was at one time thought to house the very first African American residents of Berkeley. Pete and Hannah Byrne were enslaved by Napoleon Byrne of Missouri. He freed the pair and they accompanied the Byrne family by covered wagon to California in 1858. Pete was the groundskeeper, while Hannah cared for the children. What happened to Pete and Hannah after the Byrnes moved in 1880 is unknown. 

As I drive through their old neighborhood, I wonder if Pete and Hannah would be surprised to know that few other blacks have made their way up into these hills since then. Initially, legal segregation or “redlining” kept well-to-do blacks out of the Berkeley hills. Many moved to more hospitable areas in Oakland and Richmond. Today, not many black families live north of University and east of Shattuck. I have heard some remarkable stories from a few of those who do. One African American hill resident was mistaken for a servant, another had the police called on her, who accused her of trespassing in her own front yard.  

When I pick up my son from school, it is interesting to note which kids go home with a parent and which go home on the bus. It is even more interesting to observe who gets invited over for play dates and who doesn’t. My children have often been the only brown-skinned children invited to classmates’ homes and parties.  

Young children do not self-segregate. Their parents teach them, by example, that there are certain people we have over and break bread with and there are others whom we merely tolerate until private school or a good tracking program or college. I am reminded of recent efforts by a group of concerned parents to re-segregate our public schools, supposedly so that their children could attend their neighborhood schools. Perhaps these parent advocates place little value in having their kids associate with children who seem very different from their own.  

I wonder how many of these parents grew up here? How many are bringing attitudes and practices from the midwest, the south or even the “blue” east coast? How “Berkeley” are they? Are the traditional Berkeley ideals of the ‘60s and ‘70s passé? Unrealistic? Inconvenient? Which word would you choose?  

I watch my children navigate race and class issues, from my daughter at age 4 being told by a playmate that she couldn’t be the princess because she didn’t have long blonde hair, to my 10-year-old son recently telling me that the so-called smartest kid in his class said that he hated all the black boys. 

Who decides who can be a princess and who can’t or what makes a person “smart”? How meaningful is the correlation between power and color, between class and self-esteem? What direction do we want our town to move in? And what role will you play?

Bank Robber Sought 

Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying the gunman who robbed the Wells Fargo Bank branch at 2144 Shattuck Ave. at 2:15 p.m. Dec. 2. 

Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies said the gunman stands about six feet tall and weighs approximately 205 pounds. He had scabs over his right eye and was carrying a black pistol in his waistband.  

He was wearing a blue jacket with gray stripes on the arms. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Robbery Detail at 981-5742 or e-mail tips to police@ci.berkeley.ca.us. Tipsters may remain anonymous, Okies said. 

Pedals Away From Heister 

When a would-be robber tried to strongarm his ride away from a bicyclist near the corner of Shattuck and University avenues Tuesday, the would-be victim made his get-away on the very two wheels the robber wanted. 

Junior High Brandishers  

An anxious mother called Berkeley police Wednesday morning to report that two students, one carrying a knife, the other a wrench, had threatened her son at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. 

Officer Okies said police had no suspects.

The West Berkeley Bowl supermarket, proposed for Ninth Street near Ashby, is on a very fast track. It is double the size of the University Avenue Andronico’s. According to industry standards, a supermarket that size is expected to generate more than 51,000 cars per week. That level of traffic would put an enormous strain on an already stressed system, and would transform the area, hampering industries, damaging the mixed residential neighborhood, and gridlocking commuters.  

The project will come before the planning commission at a “special” meeting on at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 15 at the West Berkeley Senior Center, 1900 Sixth St. (at Hearst). You wouldn’t know that from the notice on the city website, which states only that they will post the agenda of the meeting just five days in advance. That the city has quietly scheduled it right in the heart of the holiday chaos, when everybody is preoccupied, indicates that they want to minimize public scrutiny. 

This story started decades ago. Drive down Dwight below San Pablo and turn south on any local street before Seventh Street. You will find yourself in a neighborhood that looks basically industrial. On closer examination you’ll discover a thriving mix of industries, artisans, artists, creative start-ups, residents, recyclers, homes, schools, restaurants, almost anything you can imagine. It is a very fertile place. Most locals love the neighborhood. The atmosphere is relaxed and the scale is human. It is a good place to walk. 

The main ingredient almost all agree is needed, is a neighborhood supermarket. In 1993 this desire was written into the West Berkeley Plan. Three years later, developers proposed putting a big Lucky’s store in almost the same location as the Bowl, but community opposition quashed it in the bud. What the community wanted was a small supermarket, not a big box that would turn the area into a commercial zone. Years passed. Then when the Bowl made their first proposal, for a 27,000-square-foot neighborhood market, it sounded perfect, and the community expressed almost universal support. But suddenly they doubled the size to 55,000 square feet, and were proposing a big box catering to regional traffic, along with a warehouse and offices totaling over 92,000 square feet. Nonetheless, it was still the Bowl, maybe a little tainted by their recent attempts to bust the union, but some rough edges are understandable for a family business seguewaying up to the big leagues, no? It was still a community icon, offering the best produce anywhere.  

Well, the joke is that the Bowl—if built—will probably wind up being Lucky’s after all. The buzz has it that the family just plans to get the West Bowl started, then after a few years will cash out. The Bowl gets the use permit that Lucky’s was denied, th en we get Lucky’s through the back door. This is shaping up as a remake of the Reel Store transmogrifying into Hollywood Video. 

At a recent meeting with the architect, Kava Massih, the locals living and working in the adjoining Potter’s Creek neighborhoo d came out against any car access to the Bowl from the local streets, asking that all traffic be routed through Ashby or Seventh Street. That would limit damage to the neighborhood. However, all that traffic on the main arteries would make a difficult sit uation even worse for industries. The already-jammed intersections of Ashby/San Pablo and Ashby/Seventh would take big hits. Lower Dwight Way would be heavily impacted. Nonetheless, the Potter’s Creek neighborhood should be protected and there should be n o access from Heinz Street. 

But the Bowl itself would not be the end of it. Developers see it as an anchor to further regional retail development in the area.  

Just as perilous are the widespread repercussions of the changes that would have to be made t o the zoning ordinance and to the General Plan. To grant the Bowl a permit, zoning of the land would have to be changed from mixed use/light industrial (MU-LI) to commercial west (CW), and regulations would have to be changed to permit the warehouse in CW. To avoid being accused of “spot zoning,” they would have to gratuitously include adjoining properties in the zoning change. The city would also have to change the General Plan policy of maintaining the MU-LI boundaries. This is particularly dangerous be cause the policy applies to large areas of West Berkeley, and its removal could open the door to dismantling the district piecemeal. Other industrial neighborhoods immediately affected would be the Gilman area and lower University Avenue. 

A further impac t of the intense increase in traffic is air pollution. The most vulnerable victims would be the many children in the immediate area, concentrated in the French School on the corner of Ninth Street. This could possibly make the city vulnerable to a law sui t. 

From the city’s point of view, the main attraction seems to be sales tax for the General Fund. True, the city is hurting. But to turn the industrial zone and the Potter’s Creek neighborhood into a sacrifice area for the benefit some supposed greater g ood, is to take a low road unworthy of Berkeley.  

There is an alternative: Scale the West Bowl back to 27,000 square feet, as originally proposed. At that size it could be both a moderate financial success and a great social success. A store that size should generate half as much traffic, although some argue that the Bowl's popularity would draw excessive traffic no matter what its size. However, after the initial curiosity, if it’s too impacted, many people would stop coming, and traffic would probably diminish to manageable levels. 

But according to the architect, the Bowl owners have said that they will ditch the project if they can’t erect a big box and reap big bucks. Can this be the same store that once took satisfaction in providing the best foods at affordable prices, and in building community? 

Today the industrial zone shelters all the other diverse West Berkeley uses. Only by maintaining an environment in which industry can thrive, can economic, social, and ethnic diversity be maintained in th e area. If industry is pushed out of town, it will drag diversity with it.  

So that is what is before the planning commission and ultimately the City Council: Will the city open the door to the destruction of a successful neighborhood for the tinkle of a few gold coins? 

Come to the meetings and make your voice heard. 

John Curl is co-chair of the West Berkeley Association of Industrial Companies. 

On Tuesday, Dec. 14, city staff will ask the Berkeley City Council to give final approval to a plan to change Marin Avenue west of the Alameda to Tulare from four car lanes to two car lanes with a center left-hand turn lane and a bicycle lane on either side.  

The council should put off further consideration of this project until the people who will be most affected by it—thousands of North Berkeley residents—have been adequately notified and properly consulted. To date, such notification and consultation has been lacking, to say the least.  

Marin Avenue is the major east-west route into and out of North Berkeley. Everyday it’s traversed by 20,000 cars. City staff have been working on the proposed reconfiguration of the street with staff from the City of Albany for two and a half years, and longer than that, if you count the formulation of the Berkeley Bicycle Plan, which was adopted by the City Council in 2000. Yet today only a handful of North Berkeleyans are aware of the proposal to radically change Marin.  

On Oct. 21, the city’s Transportation Commission held a public hearing on the project. Staff sent notices only to households on or near Marin Avenue. To my knowledge, there was no announcement in any newspaper. Staff did not even directly contact the office of District 6 Councilmember Betty Olds.  

At least two North Berkeley residents—I was one—e-mailed the commission before the meeting and asked that the public hearing be continued until the North Berkeley public had been properly notified. My message noted that the public hearing was on the same night as the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association’s candidates forum, a meeting scheduled in August. These requests were not delivered by staff to the commission. Indeed, my e-mail doesn’t even appear in the packet of communications that I picked up a few days ago from the city planner in charge of the project, Heath Maddox.  

But staff’s failure to communicate the views of the citizens to the commission went far beyond the non-delivery of two e-mails. In fact, the commission never saw any of the e-mails or letters sent to the commission from the public.  

All it saw was a summary of public commentary prepared by Catherine Reilly, the planner from the Berkeley consulting firm, Design, Community & Environment, hired by the cities of Albany and Berkeley to analyze and facilitate the project. In a memo to Maddox dated Oct. 21—the same day as the public hearing—Reilly provided a bulleted list of arguments for and against the project that she had culled from the public’s communications.  

Having served almost seven years on the Berkeley Planning Commission, as well as having written and read numerous communications to the Berkeley City Council and many other Berkeley boards and commissions, I can say that I’ve never encountered this mode of transmitting written public comment to an official policymaking body. And for good reason: It makes a mockery of the public’s views.  

When I write to my official representatives or their appointees, I expect my words to reach them just as I set forth those words—with all the nuances and evidence (or lack thereof). I do not expect my ideas to be reconstructed by a consultant or a city staffer or anybody else. I bet every other person who communicated to the Transportation Commission about the Marin reconfiguration project had the same expectation, especially those who offered lengthy, meticulous critiques of the consultants’ and staff’s conclusion that the project would not significantly affect the environment and therefore would not require an environmental impact report (one North Berkeley author of such an assessment described himself as a retired traffic engineer).  

But the discounting of public opinion went even further. Not only did the consultant reduce each view, no matter how detailed or extensive, into one sentence or at most two; she never presented an overall tally of the pro- and anti-project communications.  

In fact, of the 24 letters addressed to the City of Berkeley, four supported the project, while twenty opposed it. Of the 24, 21 communications were signed by an identifiably North Berkeley resident; of those, three were in support and 19 in opposition. The figures for e-mails and letters sent to both Berkeley and Albany were even more lopsided: Out of 11 communications, one was for, and 10 were against. Six of the eleven were from North Berkeleyans; all six were against.  

In short, the members of the North Berkeley public who knew about the project overwhelmingly opposed the reconfiguration of Marin Avenue, and not only in writing: At the Oct. 21 public hearing, twelve North Berkeleyans spoke. Of the eleven whose positions I’ve been able to document, three supported the project, and the other eight opposed it.  

Yet in face of overwhelming public opposition, the Transportation Commission unanimously approved the proposal. The Transportation Commissioners could have—and should have—said: We need to see the actual communication from the public, not a consultant’s summary, and we need to see that communication well before the same evening on which we’re voting, so that we have time to ponder it. Better yet, they should have said that notifying households only along Marin west of the Alameda about a project that will affect thousands simply will not do—and then instructed staff to hold at least one well-noticed workshop on the reconfiguration of Marin Avenue, a workshop designed around real dialogue with the North Berkeley community.  

The commission neither said nor did any of the above. The City Council must do it instead.  

Supporters of this project are going to say: The train or rather the bicycle has already left the station; the City of Albany has given its final approval; Albany has a big grant for this project; Berkeley’s share of Marin is only a few blocks long; it would be awkward to bicycle-ize up to Tulare and then leave Marin from Tulare up to the Alameda in four car lanes. They are going to advertise the project’s supposed merits. They may even point to the statement in the consultants’ Initial Study that the Berkeley City Council has already approved this project—a claim that is highly dubious.  

All these arguments are beside the point. The immediate issue for the Berkeley City Council is not the merit of the project but the adequacy of the planning process. To give this proposal the final go-ahead now would amount to governance by fiat. The Berkeley Council’s first responsibility is not to the City of Albany or to hired consultants or paid staff; its first responsibility is to the people of Berkeley. When it comes to the reconfiguration of Marin Avenue, the way to carry out that responsibility is to hold off on a final council vote until this project has been adequately reviewed by the Berkeleyans whose daily lives it will profoundly affect.  

Zelda Bronstein, a former chair of the Planning Commission, has lived in North Berkeley since 1990.  

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At Nabolom Bakery, Crow Bolt has been soaking nuts and fruits in vats of rum and schnapps for weeks to make fruitcake. Paul Masse has purchased his weihnachtsgewurze—a special German spice blend—to make Masse’s stollen bread and at Crixa Cakes owner Eliz abeth Kloian has pulled out her set of intricately carved molds for honey cake.  

“We really do up the holidays,” said Paul Masse, who, with his wife Marcia, runs Masse’s Pastries at Shattuck and Vine. “I used to work in Switzerland and I lean towards the more Germanic and French traditions.” 

Masse’s holiday offerings include stollen ($16), a fruited, spiced egg bread, bishop’s bread ($16), a Viennese-style sponge batter made with ground nuts and egg whites and studded with chopped chocolate, pine nuts, and rum raisins, and three types of buche de noel ($30-35), the French Christmas sponge cake filled with cream and topped with icing to look like a tree truck, complete with meringue “mushrooms.” 

The holiday season is upon us and Berkeley bakers are cast ing traditional European recipes anew. The results of some local baker’s top quality ingredients and careful technique are wonderful—old world favorites might have lighter textures and clearer flavors than they would in their countries of origin. 

“Our st ollen is not the really dense kind they sell a lot of in boxes at Cost Plus,” said Betsy Reihle, the baker at Fat Apple’s. “Those are really strongly flavored and could be a year-and-a-half old. Ours are lighter, they are really more of a fruited bread and we put in dark and gold raisins, almonds, and citron (candied peel of the citron fruit).” 

panettone, an Italian holiday bread similar to the lighter versions of stollen. “Panettone is the main holiday bread we make,” said Acme owner Steve Sullivan. “It is naturally leavened (using a bread starter) as opposed to a yeast bread or quick bread (made with baking soda or powder).” The result is rich, flavorful bread with a nice smattering of nuts and fruit. It makes a wonderful snack when sliced, toasted, but tered and served with hot tea. The bread is also delicious by itself, particularly when it is perfectly fresh. 

If you enjoy traditional Italian Christmas foods, baker Kloian at Crixa Cakes makes two versions of panforte, a highly spiced dense dessert bread, which should be thinly sliced and enjoyed with a glass of dessert wine. “We make it the old way, with honey,” said Kloian. “The classic Sienna has candied orange peel and toasted almonds.” She also makes a fig and walnut panforte, which she said, “is more softly spiced and has a hauntingly autumnal flavor.” 

Other spiced breads to try are Fat Apple’s pumpkin ginger bread and Acme’s pumpkin bread, which like their panettone is baked in paper molds, but has the flavor of pumpkin pulp and pie spices, raisins and cranberries. 

Crixa also makes old-fashioned honey cakes with spices. “We make them according to a traditional recipe in the old way using intricately carved molds,” said Kloian. “Each hand stamped cake is ready to eat, but like all spice cakes, will mellow with age.” The molds have designs with names such as: Barley Maid, Thistle Lad and The Tree of Life Heart. 

Masse’s makes an elegant cake that boasts the season’s spicy flavors: poached quince and ginger bread cake. The cake has a layer of lig ht Bavarian cream made with calvados (apple liqueur), which Masse said “mellows” the spice of the gingerbread cake. 

Christmas breads make wonderful gifts and are nice to keep stocked in your own home through the holiday season, particularly if you’ll hav e houseguests rooting around your kitchen for food. Cookies are another holiday staple that double as a gift. 

Fat Apple’s owner Hildegard Marshall, who is from Germany, sells enormous gingerbread cookies called Big Boys ($1.50) and also makes gingerbread houses ($34) decorated with icing and chocolate candies likely to capture the attention of children. Fat Apple’s also makes a variety of small holiday cookies, which they sell in tins ($12). “I’m from the Midwest,” said baker Reihle. “Cookies are really big there. You go to everybody’s house to visit and bring a tin of cookies.” Masse’s makes a wide range of holiday cookies and sells them in tins small ($12) and large ($24). 

Nabolom’s Danish butternut cookies ($1.50) are loaded with nuts and butter and rolled in powdered sugar. The bakery makes them year-round but the cookies make a handsome holiday platter when grouped together because they look like snowballs. 

Crixa Cakes offers chestnut kifli, which are Hungarian pastry crescents filled with chestnu t paste and Saint Nicholas gingerbread cookies. 

Even in the dead of winter, you can enjoy the flavor of raspberries. A number of Germanic Christmas recipes call for the berry in jam form. Fat Apple’s lattice topped Linzer tart is made with ground hazelnut pastry and raspberry marmalade. Nabolom makes raspberry spitzruben ($2.00) at Christmastime. The spitzruben has flavors similar to the Linzer tart, but it comes in bar cookie form. According to baker Bolt: “Half of the raspberry spitzrubens we sell get eaten right in the store.”  

Just as busy Berkeley residents depend on local bakeries for quality holiday treats, the bakeries depend on the season’s shoppers. Speaking of the recent financial woes of the 28-year-old collective bakery Nabolom, Bolt said, “We’re not totally out of the difficulty but we’re over halfway there. The holidays are really our peak season and a good one may get us out of our difficulty entirely.” Nabolom, which sells a rich, dense fruitcake ($10), traditional holiday pies ($20-$30), and two types of vegan pie, will stay open late on Christmas Eve.?

“Film is like a battleground: Love. Hate. Action. Violence. In one word—Emotion.” 

Newsboy, copyboy, teenage crime reporter, pulp novelist, “dogface,” screenwriter, producer, director. By the time he ad-libbed his rejoinder to the question “What is cinema?” that Jean-Luc Godard fed Jean-Paul Belmondo to ask him in Pierrot Le Fou (1965), Samuel Fuller had lived—and lived through—all those careers. 

But he hadn’t yet realized his long-envisioned lifetime project, The Big Red One, meant to be the epic odyssey of the foot soldier in the U.S. First Infantry Division, fighting from North Africa to Sicily and Italy, from Normandy across France and Germany to the liberation of the concentration camp at Falkenau in Czechia. It was a journey that Fuller had experienced as an over-age (30-ish) WWII enlistee.  

Even the eventual release of The Big Red One in 1979 was a poor studio cut with narration, not his intended masterwork. That delayed “scoop” of life and death on the front lines—where the only victory, as Fuller said, is survival—is finally out in a reconstructed version, seven years after Fuller’s death at 85. It was destined for DVD, but is onscreen now at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, today (Friday) through Wednesday, Dec. 15. 

Starring Lee Marvin as a middle-aged sergeant with a squad of very young “dogfaces” (Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, Kelly Ward) thrown into battle after battle, the reconstruction—by film critic Richard Schickel—restores almost 50 minutes (15 scenes, as well as 23 extensions and inserts) to achieve a running time of 2 hours, 43 minutes—and a coherence missing from the original release, making what’s left of the narration redundant. 

In a brilliant performance, Marvin plays a WWI veteran (“brutalized in one war and coming back for more in the next,” as Fuller put it), tough but vulnerable, brooding over what he’s already seen. He is attacked in no-man’s land by a shell-shocked horse (“A horse has as much right to go crazy as a man does”). He kills a German soldier in the smoke, only to discover later that the war’s ended and the German was trying to surrender. He shepherds his young flock from their first beachhead in North Africa as raw recruits through their education in survival, in the vanguard of great armies, “where all you see—if you’re lucky—is the guy to your left and the guy to your right.” 

There’s a paradoxical sense of intimacy in vast landscapes, many close-ups crowded with figures in action. Fuller’s celebrated wild mood swings are in evidence: Overcoming an ambush on the same ground where Marvin killed his man a quarter century before, the squad assists a young Frenchwoman giving birth in a gutted Panzer tank. A kind of surrealism as well: North African irregulars on horseback attacking a German tank in the ruins of a Roman amphitheater—elaborate choreography—then cutting off the ears of the fallen enemy.  

Earlier films rehearsed The Big Red One’s themes—the sergeant (Gene Evans), suspicious and guilty over his own survival, first surfaces from a pile of corpses in Steel Helmet (1951), Fuller’s first commercial hit, set in Korea. Run of the Arrow (1957) has Rod Steiger as yet another sergeant, but in the Confederate Army, shooting the last shot of the Civil War, then heading West to join an Indian nation, avoiding Union citizenship. 

Other films had his tormented soldiers seeing action in Indochina, post-war Germany—even as an army unit-turned-bank robbers in occupied Japan. In the late ‘50s, Fuller thought he had a deal for his pet project, with John Wayne as producer, starring as the sergeant. But unable to find his story’s hook, Fuller balked and the Duke withdrew. Later, when Fuller offered Marvin the part, he got his answer with a phonecall: “This is your sergeant reporting!” 

“This is fictional life, based on factual death.” What film critic Kent Jones perhaps understates as “the slightly fabulous aspect” in Fuller’s storytelling came naturally to a man who’d been copyboy to Hearst editor Arthur Brisbane in the ‘20s, a crime reporter at 16, riding the rails to cover Ku Klux Klan rallies, the “Hoovervilles” of Depression America, the General Strike in 1934 San Francisco. 

“How did you like the flavor I got in the picture?” he used to ask. But that piquant taste, all his own, has been often misunderstood. Fuller was portrayed as “primitive” (misconstruing Andrew Sarris’ praise of him as “an authentic American Primitive”—“Primitive” as in “the style of late Medieval painters”), “brutal,” “The Ugly American” (Pauline Kael), or by the terribly mistaken epithets “reactionary,” even “fascist.” 

Fuller was intensely admired by younger filmmakers. Steven Spielberg, whose ideas for the opening of Saving Private Ryan certainly came in part from observations on war films that Fuller, survivor of Omaha Beach, used to make. Martin Scorsese, who in the introduction to Fuller’s memoirs, A Third Face, wrote, “It’s been said that if you don’t like the Rolling Stones, then you just don’t like rock and roll. By the same token, I think that if you don’t like the films of Sam Fuller, then you just don’t like cinema. Or at least you don’t understand it.” 

Fuller in public would often play the hardboiled cynic with relish. But behind the act was an unusually open, responsive person. “Not the usual Hollywood director,” said author Jim Kitses, who teaches at San Francisco State University, “an exemplary human being.” 

The Castro showing of The Big Red One (following its premiere at Cannes, Scorsese’s New York Film Festival and at the Rafael Film Center during the Mill Valley Festival) is the last film programmed there by Berkeley resident Anita Monga, recently controversially dismissed after 16 years at the landmark moviehouse.  

When she was programming for the York on San Francisco’s 24th Street, Monga showed a double feature of Fuller’s Shock Corridor (1963) and The Naked Kiss (1965), both then obscure films. I saw them, and was electrified, thinking that I had to meet Fuller. 

The opportunity came about a year later, in 1986, when he screened The Big Red One at Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive. After the showing, a woman in the audience commented that it was the best “War Is Hell” movie she’d seen, but within a minute was shouting at Fuller, “Why have you not shown us the causes of war!”  

“Obviously, she’s never seen his other films!” somebody whispered. 

The audience was restive—but Fuller was almost courtly: “If I were to show all that, dear lady—politics, diplomacy, finance, the media—it would be such a long film, it’d never be released. And besides, all the politicians, diplomats, financiers, print and broadcast talent who’d see it have their excuse—that someone else would do what they had done if they hadn’t. Only an 18-year-old can’t make that excuse, it’s his life on the line. That’s why most films romanticize war as glorious—for the 18-year-olds.” 

Fuller continued, “When The Big Red One was screened privately for an audience of Pentagon officers, my old friend Patton, Jr. said afterwards, ‘To those of us who served in combat in the war, this is clearly the most authentic film about it. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to show it on a recruiting mission. No young person would sign up.’ I went up to the podium, shook his hand, and said, ‘George, that’s the best compliment my film could ever have—because that’s why I made it.”

So one of the things that happened during World War I was that a significant number of creative people took off to go live in Switzerland for the duration. Quite a few of those in flight turned out to have pretty significant names.  

Jump forward a few decades; in the ‘70s, Tom Stoppard, the contemporary British playwright who has established his own impressive reputation as a top-notch, fiercely intellectual, funny wordsmith, decided to toss three or four of the really big guys among those refugees into a play and jiggle it up and down to see what he’d get.      

What he got is a truly extraordinary piece of writing, Travesties, now playing in a terrifically staged production by the Shotgun Players at the Ashby Stage in Berkeley. 

The short form of this review of the play is to say simply that the play is brilliant: breath-takingly, and maybe sometimes even out-of-sight, brilliant. And the production is first-rate. Acting, costumes, and right up there with them, the stage setting itself, top-notch.  

The only problem is that Stoppard is so darn’ smart that he can expect a bit more out of you than you are really prepared to give. It can be a bit humbling. 

Alf Pollard, the set designer, has created a remarkable stage setting which, while essentially indescribable, manages to simultaneously convey both an early 20th century atmosphere and the disciplined chaos of the play itself. My favorites of the seemingly unrelated items strewn around the stage are the fairly modern toilet and a 1920s-style radio dangling in mid-air. (Don’t let the toilet scare you; it makes a perfectly good desk if you sit on it backwards. Besides, it’s a good place to hide a prop or two that you might need later in the play).   

The Ashby Theater’s stage is open and large. The space between the stage itself and the ceiling is enormous, but absolutely neither of these significant issues overwhelms the action of the play. It is a remarkable accomplishment for both set designer Pollard, and the director, Sabrina Klein.  

Shotgun has obtained a strong cast for Travesties, with excellent supporting work for the four main characters. Henry Carr (flawlessly played by John Mercer) holds together the play’s outrageous collection of ideas, people and pot-shots at the world in general. Like the other major roles, Carr is based on one of the real people who was in Switzerland during World War I. Mercer does an extraordinary job as an elderly man with an unreliable memory and a passion for flawless dress.  

Although he is a significant figure throughout the play, it seems appropriate to note that toward the beginning, Mercer successfully accomplishes the Herculean task of performing a four and a half page monologue without losing the audience.    

For reasons known only to Stoppard the three kingpins that he settled on to feature in the play are James Joyce (Kevin Kelleher), Lenin (Richard Louis James), and Tristan Tzara (Kevin Clarke). The first two characters may be a little large to swallow, but certainly need no introduction, of course. However, “Tzara,” “Who’s he?” 

Tzara was the founder of “Dada,” an artistic movement that has done its damage to our cultural scene and faded away—only to be replaced by other sources of mass confusion. Dadaism was apparently the first of the creative movements of the 20th century to take major steps away from the goal of portraying reality as most sane people experience it. 

The Luddites among us cringe at Tzara’s memory. But enough of all that.  

With a staggering leap that only a madman or a major theatrical genius would attempt, Stoppard elected to take this mish-mash of 20th century icons and deal with them ( who knows why?) in a play based on Oscar Wilde’s wonderful 19th century comedy The Importance of Being Ernest. In fact, so much of the humor in Travesties is based on Ernest that someone who is unacquainted with the earlier play may miss large chunks of some very good stuff in the evening’s entertainment. 

Anyway, by all that’s sane and logical, the whole thing should have fallen apart at the seams before the play ever saw the light of day. No way. It’s terrific, and Shotgun has done a major job of staging.  

 ù

FRIDAY, DEC. 10 

FILM 

Cine Mexico: “The Beginning and the End” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

THEATER 

“The Play of Daniel” by the Aurora Theatre Company and The Pacific Mozart Ensemble at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Through Dec. 11. Tickets are $22-$25. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Aurora Theatre “Emma” at 8 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through Dec. 19. Tickets are $36. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley High School “O & E” An original interpretation of the Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus, at 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., at Florence Shwimly Little Theater, Allston Way. Tickets are $5-$7. 332-1931. 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Polk County” A musical about aspring blues musician, Leafy Lee, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. to Jan. 9. Tickets are $15-$60. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org  

California Shakespeare Theater Student Company “As You Like It” Fri., Sun. at 7 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 701 Heinz Ave. Tickets are $3-$5. 548-9666. www.CalShakes.org 

Impact Theatre, “Meanwhile, Back at the Super Lair” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. through Dec. 11, at La Val’s Subterranean Theater, 1834 Euclid. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

Shotgun Players “Travesties” by Tom Stoppard, at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. through Jan. 9. Free with pass the hat after the show. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Spoken Word with Shirley Phelps, Yolande Barial, Linda Joy Myers and Teresa LeYung Ryan at 7:30 p.m. at Kajukenbo Self Defense Center, 5680 San Pablo Ave. Oakland. $10-$20 sliding scale. 428-0502. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Ballet Theater “The Nutcracker” at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Also on Sat. and Sun at 2 and 7 p.m. through Dec. 19. Tickets are $18. 845-4689. www.berkeleyballet.org  

Berkeley City Ballet “The Nutcracker” at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Also Sat and Sun. at 1 and 5 p.m. Tickets are $15-$25. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Bella Musica performs Rachmanioff’s “All Night Vigil” at 8 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Tickets are $12-$15. 

California Revels “The Winter Solstice” music dance and drama of 18th century Scotland. Fri. at 7:30 p.m., Sat.-Sun. at 1 and 5 p.m. through Dec. 19, at the Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$42. 415-773-1181. www.calrevels.org 

Oakland Opera Theater “Rake’s Progress” by Igor Stravinsky, at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Dec. 19. Tickets are $22-$32. www.oaklandopera.org 

“Recommendations” new student choreography by UC Dept. of Theater and Dance at 4:30 and 8 p.m. in Zellerbach Room 7, UC Campus. Free. 642-9925. 

University Symphony performs Lutoslawski and Beethovan at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Brubeck Institute Jazz Sextet, featuring Christian McBride, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10-$15. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Native Elements, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Lucy Kapansky, modern city folk, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Bing Nathan/David Kahn Duo at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

DJ & Brook, jazz trio, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

The Uptones, Minus Vince, Shitouttaluck at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Calvin Johnson, Whysp, No Nothing Party 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. 

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

Pitch Black, The New Strange, The Feed, rock, at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. Canned Food Drive for the Alameda County Food Bank. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Bucho, Soul, hip hop, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$7. 548-1159.  

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

Gato Barbieri at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $18-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Edge of the Bay, progressive music California at 8:30 p.m. at the 1923 Teahouse. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

SATURDAY, DEC. 11 

CHILDREN 

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

EXHIBITIONS 

“Everyday Universe” new paintings by Justin O’Neill and Paula Malesardi. Reception for the artists at 5 p.m. at Gallery of Urban Art, 1266 66th St., Emeryville. Exhibition runs through Jan. 6. Gallery hours are Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. noon to 4 p.m. 596-0020, ext. 197. www.galleryofurbanart.com 

“Negotiating Desire” works in various media by Kirsten Stromberg. Reception at 5 p.m. at Arts and Consciousness Gallery, John F. Kennedy University, 2956 San Pablo Ave. 649-0499. 

“Watercolors of Imaginary” by Keith Wilson. The artist will be at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to answer questions about his work. 848-1228. www.giorgigallery.com 

THEATER 

Living Arts Playback Theater “Fathers and Daughters” at 7:30 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $12-$18, sliding scale. 655-5186. www.livingartscenter.org 

“Born to be King” a nativity pageant by Mary Ann Tidwell Broussard at 5:30 p.m. at Black Repertory Theatre, 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $13-$15. 652-2120. www.blackrepertorygroup.org  

FILM 

Cine Mexico: “Violet Perfume: Nobody Hears You” at 7 p.m., “Danzón” at 8:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Art of Face: A Mask, a Body, a Movement” with photographer and sculptor Leonard Pitt, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Art Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12. 848-1228. www.giorgigallery.com 

Berkeley’s Poetry Walk comes to the Central Library at 2 p.m. with six poets reading their work in celebration of the publication of The Addison Street Anthology, edited by Robert Hass and Jessica Fisher. 981-6139.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Ballet Theater “The Nutcracker” at 2 p.m. followed by Sugar Plum Fairy Party at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Other performances through Dec. 19. Tickets are $18. 845-4689. www.berkeleyballet.org  

Kensington Symphony with Bharati Soman, soprano, at 8 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. Donation $8-$10. 524-4335.  

Sacred & Profane “O Magnum Mysterium” at 8 p.m. at St. Ambrose Church, 1145 Gilman St. Tickets are $12-$18. 524-3611. www.sacredprofane.org 

University Symphony performs Lutoslawski and Beethovan at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Community Chamber Singers at 3 p.m. at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. Free. www.accigallery.com 

Bay Area Classical Harmonies Christmas holiday program featuring liturgical music from many traditions at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15. 866-233-9892. www.berkeleybach.org 

Rose Street House of Music Concert with Irina Rivkin, Green & Root and others at 8 p.m. at 1839 Rose St. Donation $5-$20. 549-4000, ext. 687. 

Holy Names University Community Chorus Holiday Concert at 4 p.m. at Studio Theater, Valley Center, Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$15 at the door. 436-1330. 

PickPocket Ensemble at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Lucy Kapansky, modern city folk, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Last Band Standing Winners at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Carlos Olivera, Brazilian guitarist, at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Palenque, Cuban son, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Salsa dance lesson with Wendy Ellen Cochran at 9 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dave Bernstein Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Mike Jung and Nate Cooper at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Jah Warrior Shelter at 10 p.m. at Club Oasis, 135 12th St., Oakland. Cost is $10. 763-0404. 

Iron and the Albatross, Rosin Coven at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Accidental Beauties, Pebble Theory, Damond Moodie, urban alt rock, at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Dominatrix, The Dead Betties, Jack Queen at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Saul Kaye Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Bittersweets, americana/ 

alt-country acoustic duo, at 8:30 p.m. at the 1923 Teahouse. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

SUNDAY, DEC. 12 

CHILDREN  

Dan Zanes & Friends perform children’s classics at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24 available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Hanukkah Family Program A celebration of light and miracles with music, images and play from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. www.magnes.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Grids and Reflections” giclée color prints by Art Levit. Reception at 3 p.m. at Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Runs through Jan. 22. Gallery hours are Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 644-1400. 

“Threshold: Byron Kim” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

Cine Mexico: “Cabeza de Vaca” at 4:30 p.m., “Return to Aztlan” at 6:40 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Young People’s Chamber Orchestra, holiday music at 3 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. http://ccclib.org 

Bella Musica, “All-Night Vigil” by Rachmaninoff, at 4 p.m. at St. Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman St. Admission by donation. www.bellamusica.org 

Cantabile Choral Guild “The Seasons of Christmas” at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $6-$25. Preview lecture 30 minutes before the concert. Tickets are $6-$25. 650-424-1410. www.cantabile.org 

Voci, “Voices in Peace: Litanies and Lullabies” at 3 p.m. at Lake Meritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$20, children under 12 free. 531-8714. www.coolcommunity.org/voci 

UC Choral Ensembles Holiday Concert at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-3880. tickets.berkeley.edu 

Alexander String Quartet performs Brahms and Mozart at 4 p.m. at the Crowden Music Center, 1473 Rose St. Tickets are $12 for adults, free for children. 559-6910. www.crowdenmusiccenter.org 

Papa Gionni and guests at 2 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198. 

Acoustic Ace of Spades at 1 p.m. at MamaBuzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Free for all ages. 

Steven Bernstein “Diaspora Hollywood” at 8 and 9:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Cost is $12 per show. Presented by The Jazz House. www.thejazzhouse.org 

Alexa Weber Morales, Latin jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Patrick Landeza, Hawaiian Christmas concert at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $16.50-$17.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Café Bellie at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Bellydance lesson at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Odd Shaped Case, Balkan music brunch at 10 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

MONDAY, DEC. 13 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express, featuring Tanya Joyce and Ravi Shankar from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Songwriters Symposium at 8:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

John Calloway and Diaspora at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Denny Zeitlin Trio with Buster Williams and Matt Wilson at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, DEC. 14 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Owen Hill reads from “The Chandler Apartments” and other works at 7:30 p.m. at the Book Zoo, 2556 Telegraph Ave. #7. 883-1332. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mamadou Diabate, Kora master, with guitarist Walter Strauss at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Lecture and demonstration at 8 p.m. Cost is $5 for lecture only, $15 for lecture and concert. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Christmas Jug Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Charlie Hunter Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Michael Wilcox and Sheldon Brown at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 15 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Star Alliance Peace Flag” on display at the Berkeley Main Library, 2090 Kittredge St., through Dec. 27 along with other Star Alliance memorabilia. www.staralliance.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Political Art in California” with Dr. Peter Selz at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Center at 7 p.m. 644-6893.www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Café Poetry hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Barbara Gates, Berkeley resident, on “Already Home: A Topography of Spirit and Place” journeys though the history of the Ocean View neighborhood, at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. at Rose, 843-3533. 

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

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit Organ recital with John Stump performing works by Bach at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

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

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

La Peña AfroCuban Youth Ensemble at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

La Verdad, salsa, at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Gaucho Gypsy Jazz at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Moonlife, Charlotte Summer, B! Machine, electric pop rock, at 8:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $4. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com

Anyone who thinks Franz Kafka’s writing is college-level material should stop by Margot Pepper’s second-grade classroom. Now in her eighth year teaching at the Rosa Parks Environmental Science Elementary School, Pepper uses Kafka’s short story “Metamorphosis” in a project about insects that exemplifies the school’s curriculum-wide integration of science and the environment.  

“I read the story aloud to them,” says Pepper. “At the moment when [the protagonist] turns into a cockroach, I ask them to finish the story themselves, using information about insects that they’ve learned in class.” The children, inspired by Pepper’s colorful laminated cutouts and enthusiastic enactment of the story, then research and write their own stories about what their lives would be as insects.  

Formerly the Columbus Environmental Science Magnet School, Rosa Parks is one of three elementary schools in Berkeley’s northwest zone and is in its fourth year of an improvement regimen mandated by the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. Unlike California’s previous accountability standards, NCLB imposes up to five years of corrective measures onto schools that don’t meet their yearly progress goals, and ultimately can result in major restructuring of schools’ staff and curriculum.  

Staff and faculty at Rosa Parks are also struggling with the aftermath of a controversy last spring, when more than three quarters of the school’s faculty signed a “letter of no confidence” to Superintendent Michele Lawrence asking that Principal Shirley Herrera be transferred from the school for reasons including “unreliable leadership” and “inequitable treatment of students, teachers and staff.” 

Lawrence kept Herrera (now in her third year, she is the first principal since 1999 to last more than a year). Four teachers were involuntarily transferred and several others voluntarily left. This year, seven out of the school’s 16 teachers are new to Rosa Parks.  

Tensions from last spring still linger, but new programs and initiatives have meant that overall morale is high, say teachers and staff. 

“There’s been a lot of healing since last year,” says Tontra Love, an eighth-year kindergarten teacher at Rosa Parks. “People are trying to stay positive and move forward.” 

Love says she is excited about the new diversity training for the staff, as well as an early intervention plan to provide tutoring, counseling and other services to needy students. Pepper praises the faculty’s recent training in Guided Language Acquisition Design, which trains teachers to incorporate literacy skills into different classroom subjects, and helped inspire Pepper’s project on insects and Kafka. 

And a recent visit by Michele Borba, author of Building Moral Intelligence, gave Principal Herrera the idea to highlight a “characteristic of the month” in student-of-the-month assemblies, one of several new approaches the school is taking to encourage responsibility and respect among students.  

Students at Rosa Parks can also look forward to the continuation of other resources special to the school, including its curriculum’s focus on science and the environment, its Kids’ Village after-school program, its family resource center and its six-year dual-immersion language program in Spanish and English, which Rosa Parks is the only school in its zone to offer.  

Located at 920 Allston Way, Rosa Parks’ campus itself is unusual, built in 1997 after the previous buildings were deemed unsafe in the event of an earthquake. Its highlight is the Bayer Children’s Science Center, constructed with and supported by funds donated for the school’s environmental science curriculum. 

The center concentrates on weather and space, marine-life studies, and urban gardening and ecology. Designed to resemble a village, the classrooms themselves are arranged around an open basketball and playground, and each is contained in its own peak-roofed building with high ceilings, natural light, and a tucked-away outdoor alcove.  

If the school fails to meet its Adequate Yearly Progress—a standard of measurement used by NCLB—it will have to implement an alternative governance plan to be decided upon during the 2004-2005 school year. But still, hopes are high.  

“I’m very optimistic about the year,” says Herrera. “We’ve got great teachers and a great team spirit. We want what’s best for our children, and will work together to get there.” 

This is the third in a series profiling Berkeley elementary schools. The reports are written by students of the UC Berkeley Journalism School.Ã

FRIDAY, DEC. 10 

Flu Vaccination Clinic sponsored by the Berkeley Public Health Dept. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Frances Albier Commnity Center, San Pablo Park, 2800 Park St., between Russell and Ward Sts. Suggested donation $5., no one turned away. For information call 981-5356 or Nurse of the Day Advice Line at 981-5300. 

Human Rights Day Celebration at 11:45 a.m. at Upper Sproul Plaza, UC Campus. 849-1752. 

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Today: Relevant, not Quaint” with Rita Maran, UCB lecturer at 12:30 p.m. in the Fireside Room, Starr King Seminary, GTU, 2411 Le Conte Ave. Sponsored by Starr King School for the Ministry and Seminarians for Choice. 665-7785. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Purnima Jka on the “Status of Women’s Rights” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

Human Rights Day with Michael Nagler and The Search for a Nonviolent Future at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Berkeley Design Advocates Design Awards to acknowledge significant projects completed within the past two years, at 5:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Admission is free, with recommended donation of $5. berkeleydesignadvocates@yahoo.com 

Opera Piccola’s Holiday Benefit Party at 7 p.m. at U-Turn New and Recycled Clothing, 5251 Broadway, corner of Broadway and College Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $30 for adults, $5 for children age 9 and up, and are free to children through age 8. All proceeds will benefit Opera Piccola’s arts and education programs in underserved communities. 658-0967. www.opera-piccola.org 

Family Literacy Night and Scholastic Book Fair at 7 p.m. at the Downtown Berkeley YMCA, 2001 Allston Way. Winnie the Pooh will be the special guest. 665-3271. 

Not Your Mother’s Craft Sale and Party from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Holiday Wreath Making Class from 10 a.m. to noon at the Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. Cost is $25-$30. Registration required. 643-2755. 

“Alive in Limbo” a documentary on the Palestinian right of return at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $6-$8 sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“So How’d You Become an Activist?” with Peter Phillips, director of Project Censored and Alli Starr, co-founder, Art & Revolution, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Donation $5. 528-5403. 

Free Fitness Tests for people 50 and over at 12:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. You will receive a personalized scores and tips on how to maintain or improve your fitness. 981-5367. 

Literary Friends meets at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center for a Haiku poetry workshop with Connie Andersen. 549-1879. 

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. 

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. 

Celebrate a Humanistic Chanukah with Kol Hadash, the Bay Area’s only Jewish Humanistic Congregation, with a pot luck dinner and party with music by the Klezhumanists, 6 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. To RSVP call 428-1492. 

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

SATURDAY, DEC. 11 

Berkeley Schools Informational Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for families with children entering kindergarten and other newcomers to the Berkeley Unified School District. Learn about district-wide curricula and programs, talk with representatives from all 11 elementary schools, get a head start on the assignment system, and meet child care providers. at the Rosa Parks Environmental Science Magnet School, 920 Allston Way. 644-6504. www.berkeley.k12. 

ca.us/info_fair.html 

“The Commune: Histories, Legacies and Prospects in Northern California” A free workshop open to the public. Urban and rural communards, with some intact memories, especially welcome. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 223 Moses Hall, UC Campus. 642-2472. 

Berkeley Path Wanderers Walk exploring “Creeks, Paths, and History” with Friends of Five Creeks president Susan Schwartz. Meet at 10 a.m. at the main entrance of Live Oak Park Recreation Center, 1301 Shattuck. 848-9358. www.berkeleypaths.org  

Solo Sierrans Bayshore Walk in El Cerrito. A two hour walk along the Bay to Point Isabel on paved and level trail, wheelchair accessible. Rain cancels. Meet at 3:30 p.m. at small parking lot at Pt. Isabel. 234-8949. 

Kids Garden Club For children 7-12 years old to explore the world of gardening. We plant, harvest, build, make crafts, cook and get dirty! From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$6, registration required. 525-2233. 

“Winter Blooms!” Free garden tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden. Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. 845-4116. www.nativeplants.org 

Holiday Decorations - Naturally Create wreaths and garlands using natural materials. Bring a pair of small hand clippers, a bag lunch, and a large flat box to take home your creations. From noon to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. For adults and children 8 and over. Cost is $30-$61. Reservations required. 636-1684. 

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant’s Annual Craft Sale from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat. and Sun. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Handcrafted items from indigenous co-ops in Central America, Haiti, Nepal, Afghanistan, Africa and other places at reasonable prices. Proceeds benefit Women’s Cooperatives all over the world. 527-0324. 

Berkeley Potters Guild Sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. and Sun. through Dec. 19. 731 Jones St. 524-7031. www.berkeleypotters.com 

Holiday Crafts Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair, with over 200 street artists, merchants, community groups, musicians and other entertainers, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat. and Sun. to Dec. 19, and Thurs. and Fri. Dec. 23 and 24. 

Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios Sat and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For map see www.berkeleyartisans.com 

Albany Community Arts Show from noon to 6 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave., Albany. 14 Albany artists will display paintings, prints, ceramics and jewelry. Work will be available for sale. The event is free and wheelchair accessible. 

Junior Rangers of Tilden meets Sat. mornings at Tilden Nature Center. For more information call 525-2233. 

Introduction to Permaculture Design A workshop on ecological landscape design basics from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way. Cost is $10-$15. 548-2220, ext. 233. www.ecologycenter.org 

Cape Ivy Removal in Joaquin Miller Park from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Free plant raffle during a break in the activities. Friends of Native Plants will have a propagation session from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Directions: from Hwy. 13 take Joaquin Miller exit and turn east up the hill. Park along Joaquin Miller near Sanborn Rd. and walk to the northeast corner (up hill left) of the intersection. greensatwork@yahoo.com  

SUNDAY, DEC. 12 

Early Morning Bird Walk Meet at 8 am. at Tilden Nature Center to walk around the mixed feeding flocks and discuss the ecology of these seasonal assemblages. 525-2233. 

Help Clean Up Castro Creek and its tributaries. Learn about the Dumping Abatement and Pollution Reduction Program and the trash assessment monitoring tool as we remove harmful trash. Refreshments, tools, and gloves provided. Call for meeting place. Sponsored by The Watershed Project. 231-9566. Elizabeth@thewatershedproject.org 

Decorate the “Lorax” Way Make holiday gift wrap and decorations from recycled materials. From 12:30 to 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Festivals of Light Explore festivals of the season with saffron buns, jelly donuts, marzipan pigs, poems, riddles, games and songs. From 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7, registration required. 525-2233. 

Chanukah Celebration Presented by Chabad of the East Bay from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 540-5824. www.chabadberkeley.com 

“Weapons of Mass Deception” with Ruth Rosen, S.F. Chronicle columnist at Women for Peace lunch, at noon at Café Venizia, 1799 University Ave. Cost is $37. For reservations call 849-3020. 

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. 

MONDAY, DEC. 13 

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. 

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

TUESDAY, DEC. 14 

Morning Bird Walk “Some Gulls I Know” Meet at the Berkeley Municipal Pier at 7:30 a.m. 525-2233. 

Return of the Over-the-Hills Gang Hikers 55 years and older who are interested in nature study, history, fitness, and fun are invited to join us on a series of monthly excursions exploring our Regional Parks. Meet at 10 a.m. at Tilden’s Inspiration Point to walk the scenic ridge lands. Registration required. 525-2233.  

“Exploring Pt. Reyes and Beyond,” a slide presentation by photographer-writer team Richard Blair and Kathleen Goodwin at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Berkeley High School Site Council meets at 4:30 p.m. in the school library. Agenda items include athletic eligibility requirements, report of the Positive Minds program, and data on student achievement. bhs.berkeleypta.org/ssc, bhssitecouncil@berkeley.k12.ca.us  

The Alexander Foundation for Women’s Health lecture on “Sexual Desire: From Romance to Physiology” at 6:15 p.m. at the Claremont Resort, 41 Tunnel Rd. Cost is $10-$15. 527-3010. www.afwh.org/about/ 

claremontlectures.htm  

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. Dr. Robert Greer will speak about macular degeneration at 11 a.m. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 15 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 7:15 a.m. at Au Cocolait, 200 University Ave. at Milvia. For information call Robert Flammia 524-3765. 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, for ages 4-6 years; accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $3-$5. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Ujamaa Market Fest and Crafts Sale Celebrating collective economics, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Cole School Auditorium, 1011 Union St., West Oakland. www.mocha.org/projectyield/ujamaa.html 

San Pablo Avenue Roadway Rehabilitation Project meeting at 6 p.m. at the Ocean View School, 1000 Jackson St., Albany. Sponsored by the California Department of Transportation. 286-1313. www.dot.ca.gov/ 

dist4/sanpabloave 

Argosy University Information Sessions for degree programs in Psychology, Education and Business at 6 p.m. at 999-A Canal Blvd., Point Richmond. To RSVP or for directions to the school, call 215-0277. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday, rain or shine, at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen and a hat. 548-9840. 

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 

THURSDAY, DEC. 16 

Holiday Healthy Gift Sale from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Health Dept., 2180 Milvia St., 1st floor. Items include pedometers, bike helmets, bike accessories, and much more. 981-5367. 

San Pablo Avenue Roadway Rehabilitation Project meeting at 6 p.m. at the El Cerrito Community Center Council Chambers, 7007 Moeser Lane, El Cerrito. Sponsored by the California Department of Transportation. 286-1313. www.dot.ca.gov/dist4 

/sanpabloave 

FRIDAY, DEC. 17 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Brett Schnieder presenting a Magic Show. Children are welcome. Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, reduced price for children. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925.  

Philippine Textiles on display and for sale by the Filipino American National Historical Society from noon to 5 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center. 499-3477. 

Holiday Healthy Gift Sale from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Health Dept., 2180 Milvia St., 1st floor. Items include pedometers, bike helmets, bike accessories, and much more. 981-5367. 

Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the North Berkeley Senior Center Celebration at 1:30 p.m. with entertainment and refreshments for all. 

Community Based Solutions to Ending Violence Against Sex Workers at 2 p.m. at Lutheran Church of the Cross, 1744 University at McGee. 981-1021. www.swop-usa.org  

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. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

HOW TO HELP 

Alameda County Community Food Bank’s Annual Food Drive accepts donations of non-perishable food in the red barrel at any Safeway or Albertson’s. 834-3663. www.accfb.org 

Firefighters Toy Drive Donate new, unwrapped toys and canned food to any Berkeley fire station. For information call 981-5506. 

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center, 2700 Ninth St. 845-7735. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

United Way Bay Area is recruiting volunteer tax preparers and greeters/interpreters in Alameda County to assist low-income families who are eligible for free tax assistance and refunds. No previous tax preparation experience is necessary. There is a special need for volunteers who can speak Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Training sessions begin Jan. 8. Register now by calling 800-273-6222. www.earnitkeepitsaveit.org  

CITY MEETINGS 

Public Housing Resident Advisory Board meets Mon., Dec. 13, at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Housing Authority, 1901 Fairview St. Sharon Jackson, 981-5472. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/publichousing 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Dec. 14, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housingauthority 

City Council meets Tues., Dec. 14, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/humane 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/civicarts 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/labor 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. William Greulich, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Dec. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Dec. 15, 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., Dec. 15 at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/designreview  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Dec. 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation

Adultery (cheating on his wife with two different mistresses, simultaneously). Bribery. Mob ties. Abuse of authority. Incompetence. Shady business deals. You name it, Bernie Kerik can be, and has been, accused of it, in news reports which started surfacing over the weekend. The laws of probability suggest that he might have done some of it, if not all of it. No matter, his unforgiveable sin seems to have been paying for the hire of a nanny and a housekeeper whose immigration papers were not in order.  

According to Sunday’s New York Times “Mr. Kerik withdrew from consideration on Friday evening and said his discovery that he had employed a nanny and housekeeper who appeared to have been in the country illegally was the sole reason. White House officials say that the nanny matter was not disclosed during their background investigation, and that none of the other matters that they were aware of were sufficient to disqualify Mr. Kerik.” 

So now we know the sin which is beyond redemption for the Bush administration: nanny negligence. Land on the illegal nanny square, don’t pass go, don’t collect two million dollars, though you probably won’t go directly to jail. It’s perversely amusing to see this situation coming back to bite a Bush appointee, and a man yet, after it was used so effectively by Republicans to defeat an excellent female judicial candidate in the Clinton years. If, of course, the Bushies are telling the truth, which would be a novelty. 

Kerik is a protégé of folk hero Rudy Guiliani, whose tough guy demeanor after 9-11 cancelled out any possible opprobrium which might have attached to his own complicated sexual hanky-panky in Gracie Mansion when he was mayor of New York City. Evidently real guys like Rudy and Bernie are just expected to have fun, and no one should hold it against them. But if they hire the wrong nanny, it’s curtains. Oh sure. 

Now, which of you out there believes that Bernie Kerik selected his own domestic staff? How could he possibly have had time to do the interviews, what with the two mistresses and the back room confabs with mobsters?  

The New York Post reported on his wife’s role at the December 4 White House ceremony announcing his nomination for the post of director of homeland security:  

“Kerik’s wife, Hala, and three of his children sat in the front row of chairs facing the president. The Syrian-born Hala seemed preoccupied during most of the ceremony by her two youngest daughters, Angelina and Celine, who played with small plastic purple Easter eggs. At one point, one of the eggs fell to the floor and rolled toward Bush’s feet.”  

Does that sound like a mom who makes her husband hire the nanny? We think not. Dare we suggest that the nanny question is just a convenient out for a candidate who turns out to have a whole flock of skeletons in his closet?  

The man sounds like he should be selling his life story as the successor to The Sopranos, or possibly as the libretto for a new opera. We encountered a neighbor of the La Vereda Street Rossetto family compound in the balcony at the San Francisco Opera last week. He’d attended the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing on the Rossettos’ latest proposed building project, and was bowled over by the panoply of slick lawyers, orotund flacks and attendant characters they had mustered for the occasion, not to mention by the Rossettos themselves. He suggested that someone ought to commission composer John Adams to do an opera score, using the commission transcript as the libretto. Seems promising.  

A similar treatment might work for the Bernie Kerik saga. The only question would be whether it should be the usual operatic tragedy, or if a comic opera would be more appropriate. Bernie will surely land on his feet—anyone as well wired as he seems to be shouldn’t have to worry about a tragic denouement. 

—Becky O’Malley 

›

It’s been just about two years since we launched our crackpot scheme of reviving the Berkeley Daily Planet, which had gone under suddenly in November of 2002. We signed the papers on Dec. 12, the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, who according to legend appeared in the 16th century to a humble Mexican peasant and left a miraculous image of herself printed on his cloak. A day celebrating a miracle, in other words, fitting because it seemed that it would take a miracle to get the paper started again. 

And, in fact, it has been a miracle. The paper is thriving. We are lucky to be supported by Berkeley’s best businesses, not to mention some of the best businesses in Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito and Richmond. If you’re looking for pharmaceuticals, office supplies, real estate, books—whatever it is, you can find what you want, the best in every category, advertised in the Berkeley Daily Planet. We’ve gotten the reputation of being the best place for the best businesses to reach their best customers.  

We’ve had the best kind of help getting here, too. In the difficult months before our April 1 re-launch, dedicated friends helped with everything, including moving furniture when needed. One incredible piece of good fortune was finding our office in the heart of a lively Berkeley neighborhood on South Shattuck, with the world’s best landlord, Bob Sugimoto, who with his much-missed late wife Keiko made us feel right at home from day one. 

This steadily increasing base of support has made it possible for us to expand our news coverage well beyond what you might expect to find in the ordinary hometown paper. We’ve broken many stories which later appeared in the much-better-endowed metro dailies: Our slogan could be “you read it first in the Planet.” A recent case in point: Thursday’s New York Times carried a story about credit card switches affecting UC alumni association members which our correspondent broke in the Planet last week. Key stories about the intense development pressure on the north bay shore, including the Point Molate casino, were first reported in the Planet. There are many other examples of groundbreaking news stories, too many to list here. 

Our calendars are the most comprehensive and the most accurate in the Bay Area. Our arts coverage highlights unusual events you might not encounter in a more conventional publication.  

Our opinion writers are certainly the best. We’ve gotten some amazing commentary pieces contributed by locally and nationally renowned authors on all sorts of topics. Our letter writers often break local news before our reporters do, and we’re proud to make that possible.  

What’s next? We hope to continue making steady improvements in what we offer readers and advertisers. We’re starting a new feature: “Berkeley’s Best.” We’d like reader suggestions for topics, which could be anything from a fine business you patronize, to your child’s excellent teacher, a favorite croissant or a favorite tree in the Botanical Garden—anything, in other words, that you want to characterize as the best of its kind. Oh, and as usual, that’s the best of “Greater Berkeley”: not just inside the city limits, but also in neighboring towns. You can write up your nominee yourself, in 400 words or less, or you can simply tell us about it and we’ll write it up. You can send a picture, or we can take one for you.  

We also particularly want to expand our coverage of topics which interest the greater Berkeley area’s concerned and dedicated parents and their friends and supporters. We all care about education—the only Berkeley tax measure which survived the recent election was the one which benefits the public schools. Today’s issue contains the first step in that direction: a new regular column by P.M. Price, who has two kids in school in Berkeley.  

Between now and our second anniversary of publication in April, you’ll see even more new features and surprises. And of course, as always, we’d like your suggestions on what you’d like us to add. Without our faithful readers, who never hesitate to tell us what to do, we couldn’t have gotten here. 

—Becky O’Malley 

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