Features

MODERN-DAY SLAVERY 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Instead of trying to dredge up ancient history on slavery, how about a story on current day slavery alive and well in African and Asian countries today. Where children and women are bought and sold daily. Arab countries do it in what I have been told is the underground white slavery market—usually light-skinned women who foolishly travel unescorted in Arab countries. They just disappear. I do wish I knew if this is truth or legend. Our step daughter has been missing for almost four years. 

If we want to stop enslavement why not expose countries doing the deed today. And boycott their products and services.  

Furthermore, enslavement can be by drugs, gambling, chatrooms, ebay or video game junkies and the like. Since it is not possible to legislate morality and good sense, lets concentrate on showing people a good example, positive role models—no more dark heroes where what is good may or may not be good. How about good guys who wear white hats and truly do good and know what is right from wrong and are not afraid to do something about it.  

Robin Berry 

Cody, Wyoming  

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EMERGENCY SYSTEM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Unless citizens act quickly, a little-known emergency information system that can quickly contact thousands of Berkeley residents may be terminated in early June in spite of its effectiveness and low cost. 

The system is to be used during emergencies such as natural disasters, hazardous material incidents (biological, chemical or radiological releases), wildfires, criminal activity, and evacuations. All Berkeley landline phone numbers are presently in the system headquartered in Louisiana. Staffed 24 hours a day, the system can send out recorded warning messages to selected areas, calling up to 11,000 local telephones in 10 minutes. 

Continuance of this service is uncertain, despite local satisfaction with it. Renewal of the contract for this service was supported by the Berkeley City Council, but renewal has moved into the “budget process” where it might lose out in competition with better-known programs. 

The annual costs total about $17,600. Put differently, that’s just 17 cents (that’s right—17 cents) per Berkeley resident. This system is Berkeley’s only city-wide emergency warning system, since its 1610 AM radio station is just a travel advisory system, and a proposed city-wide siren warning system has been abandoned for a variety of good reasons. 

To keep this information lifeline, which can save lives anywhere in Berkeley, ask the mayor and your city councilmember to support it. You might even send your 17 cents to the city clerk’s office with an explanatory note of support. 

Dick White 

Member, Berkeley Disaster Council 

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ONE MAN’S PLAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My fondest wish is that the board of directors of PG&E would consist of the Berkeley mayor and City Council.  

Here’s what I would do:  

I’d get my bill and pay about one-quarter of what was due. Then, instead of cutting off my power, the PG&E run by the city fathers and mothers of Berkeley would sue me for the remainder of what I owed. I would then negotiate with them, threaten to buy more appliances and cut down their poles to use in the manufacture of hockey sticks. We’d enter into long negotiations and finally agree that for the next 15 years, I would pay 30 percent of what I owed instead of 25 percent. In turn I would promise not to buy more appliances and not to use their utility poles to make hockey sticks, neither of which I ever intended to do in the first place. I’d also promise that if I ever wanted to collect the copper from their wires to sell on the open market for a profit, I’d discuss it with them if I wanted to do that.  

Then they could write a press release saying how they’d brought peace in our time. 

Paul Glusman 

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STOLEN TREE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Just read Matthew Artz’s May 27 piece on the stolen traffic circle tree. He got carried away a tad, I think. 

Karl Reeh is not learning to “negotiate with terrorists.” He said that as with terrorists, the treenapper raises the stakes each time he concedes. Just because Bush lies like a rug doesn’t mean he’s a rug. 

The treenapper isn’t a terrorist; he’s a neighbor who stole a damn tree. Artz’s twist ratchets up the conflict way out of proportion. 

And somehow Mr. Artz got hold of an e-mail I sent to friends written tongue-in-cheek about life in Berkeley. If he had been one of the intended recipients, he would have known I was laughing, not fuming. “What a low-life. A tree-stealer… scuzzbag,” I said when I first heard the news and thought it was a vandal. If Mr. Artz had read (and cited) the whole message, the Planet’s readers would now understand that as soon as I found out it was a neighbor and not a vandal, I stopped thinking “scuzzbag” and started thinking “wacko.” 

And if the Artz had dug a little more, he would have learned that as more information came in, I realized it’s not even a wacko, but simply a person in the neighborhood who acted on a questionable impulse and is probably trying to find a way to repair his/her damage without losing too much face. 

It’s a great neighborhood, LeConte is. I wish the Planet hadn’t sent out the impression we’re fighting over this. We’re not. We’re just getting to know each other better and trying to learn how to work together at a whole new level of community involvement! 

Alan McCornick 

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WHAT HAPPENED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Concerning lawsuit over UC’s Long-Range Development Plan, I would like to let the public know my view of what has happened on the legal front since the settlement agreement was approved.  

Carl Friberg, the head of a local group called BLUE, filed an ex parte motion to set aside the dismissal and then intervene in the case. He was joined in his motion by Anne Wagley and Kriss Worthington. The motion was denied by Judge Richman. Judge Richman cited a case, O’Dell v. Freightliner Corp. (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 645, which clearly refuted the argument proffered by the attorney that Friberg and the others had hired.  

That attorney had come into the case like a hijack program, and he quickly defocussed the attention away from the criminality of the settlement agreement under the Brown Act. The resulting arguments were almost frivolous and had no chance of succeeding. But the hapless litigants had surrendered their self-reliance and were unable to see that. C’est la vie. 

There is still a strong case to be made based on the criminality of the settlement agreement. If any citizens feel as outraged as I do about the death of democracy in Berkeley and are interested in joining a lawsuit that stays focussed on that theme, they are invited to contact me at pjmutnick@sbcglobal.net. 

Peter J. Mutnick 

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AL AND SON’S 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Friends and neighbors on Milvia Street are losing an important part of our community. The closing of Al and Son’s parking lot and Baskerville’s hot dog stand due to a lost lease brings a sad closure to 40 years of a family business in downtown Berkeley. 

Generations of Berkeley High School kids lined up daily for hot dogs served by the Martinez family. Jeanie and son Allen in the stand taking orders at the window with a friendly word to neighbors as we scurry to start our business day. Dennis and his dad Al Martinez creatively directing traffic into the small parking lot with a cheery “Take care, have a nice day.”  

Through the years Al’s has been the sounding board of our neighborhood with lively discussion about the weather, sports, the economy and the state of the nation. Many of us don’t know each other but we know the Martinez family and they know our names.  

Thanks and appreciation to Al, Jeanie, Dennis and Allen. Your many friends in downtown Berkeley wish you well. We will miss you. 

Pat Hanscom 

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HISTORY LESSON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The May 20 commentary by Christian Hartsock illustrates two things: his extreme political bias and his ignorance about the purpose and history of the unique nature of the U.S. Senate.  

First: What the Senate is most emphatically not about is a majority up-or-down vote. The Senate was designed by the framers of the constitution to do just the opposite! States with very tiny populations were granted the same number of representatives as the most populous states. One vote in the Senate may represent a few thousand voters or millions. Under the rules adopted 200 years ago, a senator representing the least populated state could bring the business of the Senate to a standstill. The reasons for this system were very clear and well thought out. 

First, the framers did not want the larger, more powerful states riding roughshod over the smaller states. Secondly, it was intended to slow down over hasty decisions and thereby force opposing factions to work out compromises. 

The Republican majority has been systematically attempting to destroy this system of safeguards. Rather than meeting with the Democrats to work out compromises, they have been acting in secret and abusing the system to get what they want. 

The argument that their candidates deserve an up-or-down vote is ludicrous! The did not allow 60 of Clinton’s well qualified, moderate candidates to ever reach the floor for a vote by abuse of the system. Their reasons were obvious: By delaying these appointments, they could hold the positions open until they could appoint someone to their liking. The overwhelming majority of these candidates have been approved by the Democrats. The candidates who have not been approved are those who, based up their past behavior, would seek to legislate their extreme views from the bench rather than fulfilling their correct function of enforcing the law. 

The actions of the Republicans threaten our Constitutional system of government. They would tear down the great system represented by the U.S. Senate and concentrate all of the power in a single branch of government, thereby destroying the system of checks and balances so carefully devised by our Founding Fathers and placing our democracy in serious jeopardy. 

Daniel W. Julian 

Readers Sound Off on New AC Transit Buses, Policies 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Just before the AC Transit directors are set to consider proposals for fare change, brochures explaining the proposals began to appear in the buses. 

The brochure displays a complex set of five proposals, the effect of which is to diffuse attention from the most realistic proposals. 

When you look at it, two of the five proposals are rather unrealistic in that it eliminates transfers and passes for adult commuters entirely, and another one, by its own admission, “does not fulfill the revenue objectives of the fare change” (it says so in a footnote to the proposal). 

So we are left with two realistic proposals: either to raise the fare to $1.75 with 50 cent transfers, or to $2 with free transfers. In any case, it seems that the board is set to increase fees, though this time riders had few time and little clarity to notice what was coming. 

Given numerous complaints over the safety and comfortability of the Van Hool buses that are being introduced and the lack of accountability to these steady complaints, perhaps management reform should be considered before another fare raise. 

Takeshi Akiba 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read with great interest Gerald Mannell’s letter about a “massive financial crisis” in the transit systems of the Netherlands and France, because too many people just don’t pay on the proof-of-payment system. Yet Robert R. Piper (who was Berkeley director of transportation a quarter-century ago?) knows better. He informs us Berkeley primitives that POP “has been used in civilized countries for decades.”  

Let me add my voice to Mannell’s.  

I just got back from New York City, where I walked and rode buses and subways with my cousins visiting from Italy. Their opinion of “proof of payment” in Italy? A disaster. People don’t pay. When a rare inspector catches one, he tries to collect a fine, but invariably the cheater says he has no money. So, the inspector writes and hands him a citation to pay, which the non-paying rider ignores. On rare occasions the government goes after a non-payer—adding yet more costs to a transit system in financial collapse. 

By the way, it was a delight to ride the New York buses (plenty of hand-holds, most seats on the side to make wide aisles) and absolute heaven to ride one of their new electric (not trolley) buses with NO steps up from either entry or exit, a couple of steps up to a few seats in the back of the bus where the floor is higher to accommodate the batteries. A smooth, quiet, non-smelly, comfortable ride, with no need to climb up unless you are willing an able to take those few raised seats at the back. I didn’t manage to get the name of the company that makes them, but I assume the AC Transit officials must know about them—I’d like to know why AC chose the Van Hool buses instead. Could it be because these “civilized” European countries don’t want them anymore? 

Dorothy Bryant 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

While I appreciate the Daily Planet’s coverage of soon-to-be-voted on AC Transit fare proposals (“AC Transit Directors Ponder 5 Ways to Increase Bus Fares”), the article left out the impact that each proposal will have on very low-income, transit-dependent riders. How much AC Transit stands to make on each proposal is mentioned, but at what cost? 

At the request of AC Transit, the UC Transportation Center published an analysis of the five proposals and the impact each will have on the community. It is important to note that a large percentage of riders need to take more than one bus, making transfer costs an important element in determining impact. The center’s analysis showed that proposals 1 and 5 were financially detrimental to households making less than $10,000, possibly increasing transportation costs by 32-38 percent. Proposals two and three and had a lesser but still significant impact, roughly 14-25 percent, largely due to keeping discount passes and transfers. The analysis states that AC Transit can expect a revenue of $6-12 million dollars under proposals two and three. 

No matter which proposal is chosen, the community should insist that youth, senior, and disabled passes remain reduced and affordable for very low-income individuals and families, that transfers should be offered, and that the “pay per ride” fares only be raised enough to assist AC Transit with their deficit but not cause undue hardship on the very poor “transit dependent” (many more low-income AC Transit riders depend on it for daily transportation than do riders of other systems—61 percent as opposed to 22 percent for BART and 14 percent for CalTrans). 

AC Transit is a lifeline to jobs, housing, school, and services for the poor, and as such fare increases should be a last resort. The fact is, the annual revenue from fares currently totals $40 million. AC Transit’s entire budget is $250 million with an anticipated shortage of $8 million. To look only at fare increases to offset the deficit is extremely unfair. AC Transit can and should examine other avenues to save and/or make money. 

Janny Castillo 

Community Organizer 

Building Opportunities for  

Self-Sufficiency 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Edith Monk Hallberg’s May 13 letter on the quality of Van Hool buses on the AC Transit system: 

I don’t think it’s right to say that the reason Van Hool buses work better in Europe is down to the manners of the people on this continent. In Birmingham, the dominant bus group, Travel West Midlands, uses a combination of buses from LDV, Scania, Ford, Van Hool, and Wolff. Van Hool buses were brought in a few months ago at the behest of activists who called for better transport access for the wheelchair-bound and parents with children in strollers. Most buses here are double decker and these buses have extremely limited space for the large number of parents with strollers and for disabled passengers. Van Hool buses have provided ample space and mobility for these users and are added as a supplement to normal bus service rather than replacing buses already used on the line. I would suggest that the reason for the fast take-up of Van Hool buses at AC Transit is a marked activism by disability patrons to improve access to services. The unintended consequence of this arrangement is a forced adjustment for regular passengers. It is probably in the best interest of riders who will continue to use services unassisted to lobby for the re-implementation of smooth-ride buses and look into companies that can supply them to contract. 

Many countries in Europe have the advantage of home-grown bus and truck companies that supply state of the art transport. Germany has MAN, Slovakia has Skoda, and so forth. The United States is a country with many domestic transport suppliers and I am certain that if a concerted effort was made, a supplier of smooth-drive buses could be found. Perhaps even in California. 

John Parman 

Birmingham, England