If you’ve come to this space looking for a recommendation card to take with you to the polls, you’ve come to the wrong place. We—the Publisher and I—still haven’t made up our minds which candidate for governor to choose. Frankly, they both look somewhat unattractive at this point. -more-
In the wake of the news of the upcoming closing of Cody’s bookstore, people are acting like something that has been happening for over twenty years is suddenly a “crisis.” This is not necessarily good. As useful as “crises” are in finally focusing attention on their causes, it is equally important to focus on controlling their consequences. Crises always energize those with ideological or self-interested agendas, which they advance as panaceas for the problem at hand. -more-
Here are some thoughts on each of the nine items that were part of the Telegraph Avenue assistance package passed on May 23 by the Berkeley City Council: -more-
Ron Dellums is running for mayor of Oakland at a time when the people of Oakland are desperate for a change in leadership. The Board of Education has lost control of its own schools,the education of our own children. Under its current president, Ignacio De La Fuente, the City Council cannot even protect the safety of its own citizens. The security of life and limb is the first test of government, and De La Fuente has failed the test. He talks tough, he postures. But Oakland now has one of the highest murder rates of any city in the U.S., triple the national average. Our city is the crime capital of California, and entire sections of Oakland live in fear. Forty-six residents have been murdered in three months. -more-
One afternoon this past March, after several consecutive days of rain, the clouds cleared and I walked the length of upper Cerritos Creek in north Berkeley. This humble creek—and likely many others—fails to conform to the impassioned rhetoric and vision of the creek ordinance hawks. Such creeks should not be governed by any of the “one-size-fits-all” creek ordinance amendments proposed. Allow me to introduce to you upper Cerritos Creek as it appeared that March afternoon so you can understand why. -more-
There’s a popular saying in the Bay Area: “A better world is possible.” According to Aimee Allison, a young, dynamic candidate for the Oakland City Council, “A better world begins in Oakland.” For her it begins in District 2, where she’s waging a grass-roots campaign against the Brown–De La Fuente machine. Pat Kernighan, her opponent, is one of the Oakland insiders. She votes consistently with De La Fuente. In her first election, Kernighan raised $86,000, a lot of money for a small district. Some say she just bought the election. In contrast, Allison accepts no corporate donations. -more-
The 2006 California Democratic Party convention was a far cry from that in 2005. Whereas progressives were trying to get organized and recognized (as the Progressive Caucus) in 2005, in 2006 we showed that we are a real force in the CDP. The 2006 convention was a “platform convention” in which the CDP adopts its platform for the next two years and endorses candidates for the Democratic nomination for partisan offices. -more-
Do I have a reasonable point? -more-
Readers of the May 5-9 issue of the Daily Planet risk having some serious misperceptions of the Berkeley Unified School District’s Maintenance Department. I know that bad news is generally more exciting than good or okay news, but when a news article presents a misleading picture, those who know the true picture need to speak up. Since I was one of the persons quoted and since, after working here for almost four years, I know the department pretty well, I’d like to set the record straight. -more-
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