Opinion

Few recent events have prompted more letters to the Planet than last week’s announcement by Andy Ross that he plans to close the Telegraph Avenue Cody’s bookstore. Many of them can be found in this issue. Correspondents have a wide variety of reactions and theories about why this decision was made, and there’s probably some truth in all of them. -more-

At a birthday party for a 4-year-old recently, a youngish mother of my acquaintance, in between bouts of chasing her very active baby who was just learning to walk, wondered why no one had ever tried to figure out some good way for parents to work part-time at interesting and responsible jobs with future promise. Of course, I told her, we did try. But it didn’t work as easily as we might have hoped. Why? she asked. -more-

PAVING BERKELEY -more-

There is 12.5 percent tax proposed on the sale price of duplexes and triplexes for those owners who convert their owner-occupied buildings to condominiums. (The city has rationalized this as a “fee” through something called a “nexus study”—the newest tax strategy, so that the city does not have to take the issue to the voters.) This tax is in addition to the 1.5 percent transfer tax and the 6 percent real estate commissions, and the costs charged by the planning department for the conversions. -more-

You are invited to a platform convention for Berkeley progressives to prepare for next November’s election. The convention will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 20 at Unitarian Universalist Hall and Cedar and Bonita streets. -more-

The nation was recently shocked by the beating death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson in a Florida boot camp. Sadly, this is not the first case of a death occurring in a “behavior modification” facility; in fact, there have been three deaths in such facilities throughout the country since December 2005. Although the camp that Anderson attended has recently been shut down, many similar ones are still in operation throughout the country. -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following commentary appears only on our website. -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following commentary appears only on our website. -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following commentary appears only on our website. -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following commentary appears only on our website. -more-

GREEN BERKELEY -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Daily Planet has invited all the mayoral candidates to write a regular commentaries. Previous editions included contributions from Zelda Bronstein and Zachary RunningWolf. Of the officially declared candidates, only Richard Berkeley has yet to respond. -more-

The fact that the Berkeley Unified School District’s maintenance department is in disarray and lacks accountability is not new. BUSD’s maintenance department has been functioning poorly state for over two decades. And more money isn’t the cure. And a new department organizational structure isn’t the cure. The problem is the continuing lack of a qualified, skilled head of maintenance, a continuing lack of a competent plan of action, and the continuing lack of a system of accountability to evaluate whether BUSD is getting the job done. -more-