Opinion

Traditional summer school isn’t working. -more-

Last Friday we found ourselves in Oakland at lunch time, in fact in the Old Oakland area near Ninth and Broadway where the Friday Farmers’ Market is held. Every farmers’ market has its own personality. -more-

BERKELEY BOWL WEST -more-

While Ed Church and the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation claim that on Dec. 13 the City Council authorized them to organize a task force to make recommendations to the council regarding development of the west parking lot of the Ashby BART station (“Development Corp. Seeks Task Force,” March 24), in fact the council did no such thing. Neither the resolution passed that night nor the Caltrans grant application it endorsed says anything about a task force. The cover memo from Planning Department Director Dan Marks to the City Council said that the SBNDC suggested that Mayor Tom Bates and City Councilmember Max Anderson appoint a task force, but in its discussions the council rejected that proposal, and took no action to endorse any of several proposed alternatives. -more-

At a March 15 EIR Scoping Meeting, Oakland City Planning Commissioner Michael Lighty described the recently unveiled plans for yet another transit village—this one at the MacArthur BART station—as “radical.” He wasn’t being strictly dismissive, defending developments at BART stations as “logical.” But even he allowed that this project with “signature” twin towers, one 20 stories, the other 22, abutting Hwy. 24—was a bold move by BART, the City of Oakland redevelopment agency, and a private development company headed by Shea Homes. -more-

Although we live in a dense urban environment, I think we all support conservation. Fortunately, our predecessors did as well. They’ve given us the East Bay Regional Parks—90,000 acres of natural habitat laced with miles of creeks. And here in Berkeley we have access to natural creeks in many public parks and on the UC campus. But these are urban creeks flowing through urban neighborhoods and must be viewed differently from those in natural preserves. -more-

It was a shame to once again read in the Daily Planet an inaccurate and one-sided account of the proposed revision of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (“Preservationists Vow to Take Landmarks Law to Voters,” April 11).    -more-

CREEK SETBACK -more-

Last summer in these pages John Gertz complained that the “old” Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission was “setting Berkeley’s citizens against one another by condemning one side alone.” He reassured us that the “newer members are unlikely to support anti-Israel resolutions. But neither are they inclined to put forth pro-Israel or anti-Palestinian resolutions. [T]hey are waging a peace campaign—they want peace to return to Berkeley on this issue.” (Daily Planet, July 29, 2005) Now he is suggesting that that same commission, as well as the City Council, “should call the Palestinians to task” for electing Hamas. -more-

On April 18 the Berkeley City Council seems set to pass a new sewer lateral ordinance. This ordinance requires the inspection and repair (as necessary) of sewer laterals to private property at the time of sale or in conjunction with a general property improvement valued at $100,000 or more or plumbing-related improvements valued at $50,000 or more. The inspections and repairs will be done privately, but they will be overseen by City of Berkeley staff at a cost to property owners for the oversight and necessary permits of several hundred dollars. Over the next 20 or so years, the value of these required repairs is estimated to be in the range of $1 million. -more-

I thought about writing this op-ed last summer when Reverend Pat Robertson said that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez should be “taken out,” but I decided to pass on the opportunity. I figured people were making too big a fuss over that. Surely, being a man of the cloth, Robertson had no malicious intent. He’s a good Christian, so when he talked about “taking out” Hugo Chavez, I’m sure he meant taking him out to dinner or something like that, possibly a movie as well, and walking him home after the movie, and then.... Well, we all know that Jesus said, “Love thy neighbor.” -more-