Planning commissioners will be juggling political hot potatoes Wednesday night, ranging from condos to landmarks and Telegraph Avenue. 

Condos appear in three different forms—a new condo conversion ordinance, a proposed “in lieu” fee that would allow condo developers to pay the city instead of adding units for low-income residents, and a bid to turn the Library Gardens project into condos. 

The “in lieu” fee was a unanimous recommendation of the density bonus task force, a special group that consists of members of the Planning and Housing Advisory commissions and the Zoning Adjustments Board. 

Planning Commissioner Gene Poschman said the proposal could lead to the creation of three or four times as many low-income housing units than are built under the current system by directing the fees toward low-income housing projects. 

City Housing Director Steve Barton agreed: “With the fee, we’ll be able to create quite a few more affordable housing units.” 

Under the existing law, developers of condo projects with five or more units are required to include units affordable to would-be buyers earning up to 120 percent of area median income. 

Soaring housing prices have created a huge gap between the inclusionary and market prices, rendering the final costs of the units far higher than affordable housing units the city could fund in cooperation with non-profit developers, said Barton and Poschman. 

Barton cited the case of a $700,000 market rate unit which a developer might be forced to sell at $200,000 under the existing code. 

Under his proposal, the developer would pay a fee amounting to 62.5 percent of the difference—$312,500 in his example. The $700,000 sales price would yield the developer $387,500, minus the city transfer tax and broker fees, compared to the $200,000 under the current ordinance. 

Affordable housing developers would use the money, allocated by the city’s Housing Trust Fund, to build new housing or rehabilitate existing structures—“which gives you a lot more bang for the buck,” Barton said. 

Poschman said that of the 107 communities in California with inclusionary laws, “more than 80 have in lieu fees.” 

But if the goal is more housing, the fee offers a proven way to get many more units. 

One potential source of opposition, Poschman said, comes “from a kind of nostalgia for having the inclusionary units in the same projects” which funded them. 

Councilmember Dona Spring, who appointed Poschman to the Planning Commission, shares that concern. 

“If I weren’t assured that we would get more housing” from the fee, “I wouldn’t support it,” she said. 

Barton’s measure also opens the door for developers of projects already in the development pipeline to pay the fee to opt out of previously approved inclusionary units. 

“If Library Gardens decides to sell units, they could apply,” he said. 

Developers of that nearly complete 180-unit project at 2016-2022 Kittredge St. will appear before the commission Thursday asking for approval of a map that would allow them to turn the previously-approved apartments into condos. 

Another building that could apply would be the Arpeggio on Center Street, the nine-story condo project scheduled to break ground by the end of summer. 

Under Barton’s proposal, units that are used to gain a density bonus—low-cost units in addition to the inclusionary units that are used to win approval for a larger project than would otherwise be allowed—would still have to be sold to low-income tenants. 

In the case of the Arpeggio, that would include the 12 units reserved for those who earn less than half the median income. Another 11 units reserved for those earning up to 81 percent could be opted out through fee payments he said. 

Poschman said another proposal is in the works that would allow for another fee for those units. 

The third condo item on the commission’s agenda is a report from Barton on the city’s existing condo conversion ordinance. 

Other business 

Commissioners will also comment on the latest draft of Mayor Tom Bates’s proposed revisions to the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance—yet another law the City Council hopes to decide on before the start of the summer recess. 

The Landmarks Preservation Commission bogged down in their review Thursday, in part because the draft they were given was heavily larded with glitches and conflicts. 

Landmarks and Planning have been at loggerheads over the ordinance, with each panel coming up with its own proposal, only to be trumped by the Mayor, with an assist from Councilmember Laurie Capitelli. 

Commissioners are also being asked to set a hearing on a new ordinance governing the height of fences and accessory structures on residential lots, as well as by-right installation of solar energy collectors. 

The final item on the agenda is a call to set a hearing on zoning amendments sought by the mayor to help business on Telegraph Avenue. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Avenue at Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

The deadline for the embattled Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) to correct a laundry list of managerial deficiencies is fast approaching. 

The authority has until June 30 to show the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that it is a “standard performing” agency, but with a paucity of staff, high management turnover and a dwindling administrative budget, the authority must prepare for eventualities, including a possible takeover by another agency. 

Tonight (Tuesday), at 6 p.m., BHA staff will ask the authority’s board, comprised of city councilmembers and two residents, to allocate general fund money for additional staff and to authorize the city manager to negotiate reorganization options with the federal housing department. 

The Berkeley Housing Authority provides rental assistance to 1,800 Berkeley residents through the federal Section 8 program and manages other local housing programs. The authority also owns 75 public housing units. Its annual budget, through HUD, is about $27.4 million. 

In 2004, HUD released a report detailing deep flaws in the authority’s operations. Tenants’ shares of the rent had been miscalculated, regular housing inspections had failed to take place and there was no efficient system in place to manage a waiting list of some 5,000 residents. The authority was deemed “troubled” and has since embarked upon a seemingly Sisyphean effort to correct its shortcomings. 

The problems stem in part from the federal government increasingly slashing funding for housing authority administration, said Stephen Barton, director of the Housing Department. Berkeley Housing Interim Authority Manager Beverli Marshall was away from work this week. 

“HUD has been cutting the administration fees paid to housing authorities, and at this point the housing authority can’t get all the work done it needs to get done,” Barton said. 

Two years ago, HUD reduced administrative fees by 13 percent, resulting in estimated shortages of $73,000 in 2004 and $212,000 in 2005. Congress is considering trimming the administrative budget by an additional 8 percent this year, Barton said. 

Much of the workload, including Section 8 inspections and janitorial services, is contracted out. Other work simply doesn’t get done. Over the years, the authority has reduced staff from 19 to 13 employees, Barton said. 

“With caseloads between 415 and 430 per case manager, there is not enough time to process all of the annual re-examinations, interim re-examinations and requests for tenancy,” Barton wrote in a correspondence to the authority board. 

The authority, typically an independent agency, is asking the board to earmark $150,000 from the city’s general fund for additional staffing for the 2007 fiscal year. 

That won’t save the authority from the scrutiny of HUD, though. 

If by Friday, the local agency has not pulled itself out of the doldrums, HUD may rule at a later date to turn the authority over to a larger agency, like the Housing Authority of the County of Alameda, send it into receivership or dissolve it altogether. 

A brighter scenario would involve stabilizing management and continuing to operate as a local outfit, Barton said, which would ensure local control.  

“If the Berkeley Housing Authority was dissolved, its vouchers would go (ostensibly) to Alameda County, and then there’d be no guarantee 1,800 Berkeley households would get assistance,” he said. 

Additionally, the authority is involved in coordinating with local housing development and, to a lesser extent, the city’s homeless programs—features that would be lost on an external organization, he said. 

City Councilmember Dona Spring echoed his concern. 

“We’ve got to do everything we can to keep the Berkeley Housing Authority in Berkeley,” she said. “These tenant are depending on us to make sure they don’t get short-shrifted at another agency.” 

Tonight, the BHA board is expected to grant City Manager Phil Kamlarz the power to work out a deal with HUD over the future of the authority. 

A report on the housing authority’s performance is due to HUD in mid-August. HUD should determine whether or not the agency has improved by October, Barton said.  

“The immediate focus is on getting the Housing Authority out of troubled status and coming to an agreement with HUD,” Barton said. “During that (time), we need to look at how can we make the internal functions more efficient?” 

Residents give the housing authority mixed reviews. 

Virginia Henkel, 68, has been on Section 8 in Berkeley for 22 years. She’s never had any problems with the agency. “I’m very satisfied,” she said. 

For Roger Aarons, a 29-year veteran of the program, the housing authority has proved more troublesome. A few months ago, his landlord opted out of Section 8, forcing Aarons to decide whether to maintain his apartment on rent control or take his voucher elsewhere. When he solicited the authority for help, he came up against a brickwall. 

“I didn’t even know who to talk to necessarily. I didn’t get a response to my calls. I couldn’t find out from the housing authority what the rules are,” he said. “I’m not naive, and I find it very difficult to figure out the rules.” 

Landlord Surendra Barot, who manages the building where Henkel and Aarons live, complains that the housing authority has fed him misinformation and has repeatedly botched payments. (Most recently, employees erred in his favor; he received voucher payments for Aarons’s apartment, though Aarons is no longer on Section 8.) 

Barot said he is starting to pull his units off Section 8 because he is so fed up with the agency. He said: “It’s a huge frustration on my part dealing with the Berkeley Housing Authority.” 

A Trader Joe’s in downtown Berkeley is one step closer to reality, following a vote by the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) Thursday.  

Charged with the task of deciding between two development proposals—one with a Trader Joe’s, the other without—board members voted 7-2 in favor of sending the grocery store plans along to the next phase of public review. The architectural components of the project, which is proposed for development at 1885 University Ave., move on to the Design Review Committee (DRC) for a vetting process. 

The proposed project involves two five-story buildings, 14,390 square feet of retail space, a two-level parking garage and 148 units of housing, of which 19 would accommodate low- and very low-income residents. 

The site, on a one-acre lot bounded by University, Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Berkeley Way, abuts commercial space and residences. 

Initially, Berkeley-based developers Evan McDonald and Chris Hudson floated a 186-unit mixed-use project with about 4,000 square-feet of retail and no Trader Joe’s. In prior meetings, board members branded that design scheme gravely flawed, predominantly due to the dearth of commercial space it contained. So McDonald and Hudson forged an alternative with 156 units and almost 14,000 square feet for a Trader Joe’s. 

ZAB has slowly been chipping away at that proposal, whittling the 156 units down to 148. On Thursday, the developers threatened to revive the 186-unit option if ZAB failed to get the ball rolling on the grocery store alternative. The project, in its various forms, has been in the works for multiple years, and Hudson said time is running out.  

“If we don’t move on to the DRC tonight, we’re not going to retain Trader Joe’s,” Hudson said Thursday. 

ZAB members Jesse Anthony, Rick Judd, Bob Allen, Raudel Wilson, Christiana Tiedemann, Andy Katz and Sara Shumer voted to send the 148-unit alternative to DRC along with the board members’ remarks. Members David Blake and Dean Metzger voted against it.  

Blake suggested a substitute motion that would have required the committee to consider chopping off 1,200 square feet, or about two units, from the project to appease Berkeley Way residents’ concerns about the project’s height. The motion failed 5-4.  

ZAB members generally agreed that the proposal as it stands for DRC review is far from perfect. 

“There are a lot of things that need to be tweaked,” said Tiedemann.  

The project’s density bonus, or the number of dwelling units developers can build over a base figure, is among the sticking points. McDonald and Hudson are asking for 25 units over what’s spelled out by state density bonus law. The extra units are necessary, they say, for the project to remain financially viable. 

That’s acceptable only if more affordable housing is the upshot, said board member Katz. Several other ZAB members similarly complained that the project does not offer enough low-income housing. 

Traffic, building mass and height were other bones of contention Thursday, but the board shunted them aside to focus on moving the project along.  

Board member Blake conceded plans for 1885 University Ave. still pose more questions than answers, but felt confident Thursday’s decision, complete with board comments, was a good point of departure for the DRC. 

He said, “That should be enough for Design Review to get to work.”

“I have heard again and again that the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) is being used to stop development, though it was never meant to,” said Patti Dacey Thursday. “That’s not true.” 

Speaking to her former colleagues on the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) from which she said she had just been “unceremoniously dumped,” Dacey hailed the LPO as part of Berkeley’s venerable radical tradition. 

“The Black Panther Party came to the City Council to support the passage of this landmarks ordinance,” Dacey said. “They saw this as yet another thing that would add to the health of the neighborhoods.” 

But the LPC, acting under the direction of a City Council that seems intent on passing the revised ordinance, kept to its task—while lamenting conflicts and apparent errors in the draft they’d been given to vet. 

With Dacey’s ouster, only Commissioner Lesley Emmington remains in unequivocal opposition to the revised ordinance proposed by Mayor Tom Bates with the strong encouragement of developers and real estate interests. 

But most of the commissioners who hashed through the ordinance last week and will do so again Thursday night voiced strong concerns about the measure the mayor and a majority of councilmembers have indicated they want passed by the time the council leaves for its annual summer recess. 

That would require a first vote at the council’s July 11 meeting, 

Pressured though they were, commissioners found numerous flaws in the proposal—more than enough to keep them busy until nearly midnight and were forced to postpone the discussion on the ordinance’s most controversial provisions until yet another meeting that will be held Thursday. 

Commissioners slogged through the measure, using a side-by-side draft that featured the mayor’s proposal alongside the existing version—skipping over portions that defined two parallel but different processes: landmarking and the assessment of historical significance. 

The latter process—one of the most controversial features of Bates’s propopsal and strongly supported by developers—gives property owners and developers a tool to force the commission to decide on the historical merits of their property separate from the regular landmarking process. 

If the commission failed to act, the property would be immune from further landmarking efforts by citizens or the commission—though for how long, the ordinance draft isn’t clear, since periods of both two and five years are cited in different sections. 

Commissioners offered an unusual opportunity for the public to join in the discussion, dropping the usual maximum of a three-minute public comment and allowing a broader, ongoing discussion. 

The audience was heavily weighted toward critics of the ordinance, with only Livable Berkeley’s Alan Tobey in support, along with a silent Calvin Fong from the mayor’s office. 

And Tobey acknowledged problems with the wording of the provisions for the parallel processes. 

“There are drafting problems,” said retired planner John English, a preservationist, and he backed up his contention with a concise memorandum outlining 11 of them. 

“There is no clear language on the status of structures of merit,” said Commissioner Steven Winkel. 

The structure of merit has emerged as the most controversial provision of the city’s existing ordinance, creating a landmark that may have been altered since its original construction. 

The mayor wants to ban any new examples of the category outside historic districts—though he has called for existing examples to be preserved. 

The mayor’s version would also bar members of the general public from moving to create historic districts and restrict initiation to a majority of property owners or residents of the proposed district, the council and the Landmarks, Civic Arts and Planning commissions. 

Future structures of merit would only be allowed within the districts—a key point of criticism for Dacey and Emmington. 

Dacey had been appointed by former Councilmember Maudelle Shirek, and was removed before last week’s meeting by Shirek’s successor, Max Anderson. Her replacement is Burton Edwards, the third architect on the eight-member commission. Darryl Moore has replaced his previous appointee with realtor Miriam Ng—although Ng was absent from the meeting. Civic Arts Commissioner David Snippen served in her absence. 

Carrie Olson, the commissioner who worked most closely with the mayor trying to hammer out a compromise, said the proposed assessment provision “in the current language is a determination made without information. We’re going to be expected to make people’s lives easier and totally give up our integrity.” 

Olson said her goal had been to create a single process, which would take some 20 to 40 hours of research to gather enough information to make an informed decision. 

Burton Edwards said he didn’t have enough information on the assessment process to make a decision. 

Commissioners will be back at their task Thursday night when the meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Meanwhile, the Planning Commission is scheduled to weigh in with comments of their own on Wednesday night. 

Critics of the mayor’s proposal have turned in petitions that could place a slightly revised version of the current ordinance on the November general election ballot. 

If passed by the voters, the initiative would trump the mayor’s proposal. 

Roger Marquis and Laurie Bright, the two key sponsors of the ballot measure, were present at last week’s meeting.

Despite the city attorney’s reluctance, the Fair Campaign Practices Commission voted 7-1 Thursday to ask the Berkeley City Council to put a measure before the voters in November that would support public financing for council and mayoral elections.  

Commissioner Dennis White voted in opposition; one commission seat is vacant. 

The FCPC will present an oral report on its decision to the council today (Tuesday), after which the council could vote on the concept. If it approves the clean money proposal in principle, the city attorney will draft the measure in time for final approval before the council recess. 

The Berkeley-Albany-Emeryville League of Women Voters (LWV) is among the clean money sponsors. Sherry Smith, outgoing LWV president, told the commission the measure is needed because elected officials listen to “friends” who contribute to their campaigns.  

“Wouldn’t it be better if the public were your ‘friends?’” she asked. 

The City Council voted to ask the commission to look at the public financing issue, limiting consideration to the mayor’s race. The commission, however, broadened its deliberations to address both council and mayoral elections. It went even further, noting that in the future it would consider expanding the measure to cover school board and auditor races. 

If the proposal is approved, candidates would collect $5 contributions to indicate they have community support: 600 for mayoral candidates and 150 for council hopefuls. Funding would come from the general fund and equal $4 per resident (or $410,972) per year, with a $2 million cap. Candidates could receive and spend up to $140,000 for the mayor’s race and $20,000 for the council contest.  

In a letter to the FCPC, Sam Ferguson of the Berkeley Clean Elections Coalition, which is spearheading the public financing effort, pointed to a 2002 election where one council candidate spent $70,000 and the opponent, $40,000, causing, he said, the candidate with less funding to lose. (Gordon Wozniak raised about $73,000 and the closest challenger, Andy Katz, raised about $33,000, according to campaign finance statements.) 

“There is a political arms race in Berkeley that must be stopped,” he said. 

Several weeks ago, City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque had said her office was too busy to write the ordinance before the council deadline, but on Monday, in a phone interview with the Daily Planet, she affirmed that, though it would be difficult, she would be able to make the deadline.  

At the commission meeting, Albuquerque had urged commissioners to move slower. 

“I’m not sure why we have to do it in November,” she said. “You have time. I can’t give you decent staff support.” 

Albuquerque urged the commission to take a year to thoroughly analyze each section of the draft. 

However, Commissioner Stephen Bedrick argued: “If people want public financing in 2008, then it has to be on the 2006 ballot.” 

Albuquerque said there is a mechanism for the council to adopt public financing without going to the voters, but Bedrick argued that would put the council in the position of supporting something voters rejected two years ago. 

“My nickel says the voters will pass it this time,” he said. 

In 2004 voters rejected a public financing ballot measure 59 to 41 percent. While he voted to support the measure, Commission Chair Eric Weaver said he was concerned about putting a similar proposal before the voters so soon. 

“If it is defeated again, that’s it,” he said. 

Ferguson responded from his seat in the audience, arguing that this year is different. In 2004, Berkeleyans Against Soaring Taxes (BASTA) opposed several tax measures on the ballot and lumped public financing of elections in with them. 

Now is the time, Smith said: “We have a lot of good press on clean money. People are thinking about how to clean up the election process. Every once in a while your stars line up—they are lined up now.” 

White, the only commissioner to oppose the measure, did not speak against it at the meeting, knowing, he said by phone on Friday, he would be outvoted. 

White told the Daily Planet he opposes the measure because of the ease with which a council candidate could collect 150 signatures and get access to public funds. 

“I could see somebody doing it for a lark,” he said, adding that the current $250 contribution cap is a sufficient deterrent to corruption.  

Moreover, the act of going door to door to solicit donations has political value, since candidates talk about issues while collecting funds, he said. And White said the commissioners should have listened to the city attorney and not rushed to approve the proposal. 

Clean elections on California ballot 

Meanwhile, Californians for Clean Elections (CCE) announced Monday that they had collected the required number of valid signatures to place a state-wide public financing initiative on the November ballot. 

“This initiative is intended to enable elected leaders to focus on the wishes and needs of all its citizens rather than their campaign contributors,” according to a CCE statement. 

In response, Assemblymember Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, announced in a press statement that she will drop her public financing legislation to allow political reform organizations to focus on the ballot measure. 

“The public has lost faith in California’s electoral process,” Hancock said in the statement. “Clean Money will reform the electoral system and re-establish trust with the voters.”

A California bill designed to inform high school students and their parents of their right to withhold contact information from military recruiters won Republican support in the state legislature last week but not nearly enough to survive a possible gubernatorial veto. 

Mountain View Democratic Assemblymember Sally Lieber’s AB1778 Release of Student Contact Information bill—co-sponsored by Berkeley Assemblymember Loni Hancock—passed the State Senate Education Committee 9-1-1. 

All of the committee’s eight Democrats supported the bill and the three Republicans split down the middle, with one voting in support, one voting against, and one senator’s vote recorded as “pass.” Staff members for Carlsbad Republican Senator Bill Morrow were not certain whether the senator abstained on the vote or was not present when the vote took place. Morrow is chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  

The bill now goes to the full Senate. 

Immediately following the Education Committee meeting, Lieber’s office issued a press advisory stating that the bill had passed “on a BIPARTISAN vote,” with the capital letters included in the advisory. 

Lieber’s bill did not receive a single Republican vote in passing the Assembly Education or Veterans Affairs committees and the full Assembly earlier this spring. 

With Democrats holding 63 percent of the seats in the Senate and 61 percent in the Assembly, the bill would have to receive two Republican Senate votes and five Republican Assembly votes, while holding all the Democratic votes, in order to survive a possible veto by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Two Democrat Assemblymembers, Nicole Parra of the Central Valley and Tom Umberg of Anaheim, voted against the measure when it passed the full Assembly earlier this month. 

The vote of the lone Republican Senate Education committee member who supported Lieber’s bill cannot be considered a Republican trend. San Jose State Senator Abel Maldonado has a habit of voting independent of the Republican Party line. 

The fiscally conservative Maldonado, who came in second in last month’s Republican primary for state controller, has supported both the pro-choice and pro-life abortion positions almost equally (67 percent support for Planned Parenthood of California in 2004, 79 percent for the Life-Priority Network in 2003), and voted with the California Republican Assembly 50 percent in 2005.  

Maldonado’s press information officer said that the senator voted for the Lieber bill “on his own,” and did so “because he sees this as a parental rights issue. It’s important that they have control over who gets their children’s personal information.” 

The Maldonado spokesperson said they did not necessarily see this as a move by the Senate Republican Caucus toward supporting the Lieber bill.

While City Manager Phil Kamlarz has detailed a $220,000 six-month Telegraph Avenue area improvement plan as part of his $300 million mostly fixed-cost budget that goes before the Berkeley City Council tonight (Tuesday), Councilmember Kriss Worthington will ask his colleagues to approve the funds but hold off on the plan specifics. 

“We need to analyze the community’s suggestions to figure out how to spend the money,” said Worthington, whose district includes Telegraph. 

He noted that there are “glaring omissions” in the city manager’s plan, including a lack of solutions to the parking problem on the street. 

The manager’s six-month Telegraph Avenue spending plan calls for:  

• $100,000 to be spent on overtime for increased bike patrol and drug task force officers. 

• $70,000 to add hours for laborers to clean the Telegraph area and downtown sidewalks ($50,000 from the 2005-2006-year budget has been spent recently for two green machines to clean sidewalks on Telegraph and downtown). 

• $20,000 to improve facades, a contribution to a $160,000 fund also supported by the university, the business improvement district, and property and business owners. 

• $30,000 to increase mental health staffing. 

Worthington said it would cost $50,000 to restore the 22 or so parking spaces converted to motorcycle parking last fall. 

He criticized the report for not addressing the yellow zones on Durant Avenue and Telegraph, which allow no public parking. 

The report should have addressed the specific amount of time that a city planner would spend working on Telegraph Avenue-related issues, Worthington said. 

And, when increasing police patrols on Telegraph Avenue, the city needs to address the displacement of drug dealing into the neighborhoods, he added. 

Other budget considerations 

Also coming up in the budget deliberations will be a 25-cent increase in hourly parking-meter fees, expected to raised about $1 million annually.  

Other proposed expenditures, in addition to the approximate $300 million in fixed costs, include: 

• $200,000 for a traffic-calming plan. 

• $2.8 million for street and sewer improvements, as well as affordable housing. 

• The mayor’s proposed $900,000 in expenditures that include funding for implementation of an ordinance to buy goods not made in sweatshops, promotion of business areas, the Ashby BART community process, a watershed coordinator and more.  

The council will also discuss: 

• Cultural uses at the Gaia Building on Allston Way. Owned by developer Patrick Kennedy, the Gaia Building was permitted extra height in exchange for the implementation of cultural uses on the ground floor and mezzanine. 

The council and developer have been at odds over that usage. The council will discuss an agreement between the developer and city staff specifying the amount of time to be used for cultural events. 

• Changing the rules for public comment at city meetings to possibly allow all items on the agenda to be addressed, rather than simply those selected by lottery. 

The change in rules is in response to a lawsuit threatened by the First Amendment Project. 

• Establishing the level of income at $33,500 to exempt low-income individuals and couples from paying certain local taxes and fees. 

• Placing an advisory measure on the November ballot calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney. 

The measure accused them of having “intentionally misled the congress and American people regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify an unnecessary war” and other crimes. 

• Approving, in principle, an ordinance that would ensure that large-scale hospitality businesses retain workers when the business changes hands. 

The item targets the Doubletree Hotel in the Berkeley Marina, which may change hands in September. 

In Monday morning’s bright sunlight, a front-end loader busily growled through the dwindling piles of rubble that are the last remnants of three Center Street buildings. 

And one morning soon—probably in late August—earthmovers will begin their excavations, making way for the posh, 186,000-square-foot, nine-story condo complex. 

Once that happens, the one-block stretch of Center Street between Shattuck Avenue and Milvia Street—already reduced to one lane by the work at the new Berkeley City College building—will become even more congested as crews across the street start digging for parking. 

The college’s “use of the street for construction activities will end approximately the end of July, and building occupancy will occur on August 23, 2006, which is the start of the school year,” said Tamlyn Bright of the city Office of Transportation. 

Excavation won’t commence until after college starts. 

Still more construction is being planned just across Shattuck where UC Berkeley and Carpenter and Company are planning a 210-room upscale hotel, condo and convention center complex, though the developer says construction could be as much as two years away. 

Once dubbed the Seagate Building after its first set of developers and renamed by their successors, the 2041-67 Center St. Arpeggio will become Berkeley’s tallest new building since the Gaia Building. 

But, unlike the always controversial Gaia, it will house a full-time 9,000-square-foot performance and rehearsal venue under the auspices of the non-profit Berkeley Repertory Theatre. 

Groundbreaking 

“My prediction is that it will be a couple of months before we start digging the hole,” said Darrell de Tienne, a San Francisco developer who has been involved with the project through two changes of ownership. 

The construction date will be determined by the city approval process, de Tienne said. 

“The city will probably change everything six ways from Sunday,” he quipped. “But once we begin, construction should be complete within 24 months.” 

The new building will incorporate green technology, the developer said, and will qualify for certification under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System, de Tienne said, but just at what level he couldn’t say. 

The Arpeggio will feature eight floors totaling 149 up-scale condominiums built atop a ground floor that will include rehearsal space for the Berkeley Repertory Theater, a public art gallery and at least one commercial use. 

The building will also feature 160 parking spaces in a two-level underground lot. 

The Berkeley Rep was given first call on the arts space—which provides an additional “bonus” floor of housing as compensation—because the non-profit’s rehearsal facilities were located in two of the just-demolished buildings. 

Berkeley Rep has signed a lease that allows other groups to hold performances in the space 52 days a year. 

A second bonus comes from the “inclusionary” condos incorporated in the plans, 11 units that will be sold to those earning 81 percent or less of the area’s median income and another 12 for those earning 50 percent or less. 

None of the units will be on the top two floors, which will command the highest prices—a point that irks City Councilmember Dona Spring. 

“Inclusionary units are supposed to be the same as any others,” she said, “but these units are the inside units that don’t have the views. That’s wrong.” 

The combination of bonuses allowed the developer to add four additional floors above the downtown five-floor limit. 

Berkeley Housing Director Steve Barton said that a proposal that will be presented to the Planning Commission Wednesday night would allow the developers to sell the 11 units at market rate if they paid a proposed in-lieu fee to the city’s Housing Trust Fund. 

The main legal opposition came in a November 2004 appeal by Citizens for Downtown Berkeley, spearheaded by current mayoral candidate and former Planning Commission Chair Zelda Bronstein. 

Two months later, the City Council rejected the appeal on an 8-0-1 vote, with Councilmember Kriss Worthington abstaining. 

Property sold 

The first developers were Seagate, a privately held five-member partnership with extensive real estate holdings in the Bay Area and apartments in Colorado. That company owns the 12-story Wells Fargo Bank building, 2140 Shattuck Ave. and structures at 2850 Telegraph Ave., 1950 and 2039-2040 Addison St., and 1918 and 1936 University Ave.  

Seagate sold the site, plans and permits in May 2005 to SNK Captec Arpeggio, LLC, a joint venture corporation between an Arizona builder and a Michigan financial company. 

Captec Financial Group, a firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., specializes in development and equipment financing and holds a portfolio of leased properties. The 24-year-old company owns or manages approximately $1 billion in assets, according to the corporate web site. 

SNK Realty Group, an arm of SNK Development, joined with Captec in August 2004 to create to form SNK Opportunity Partners LLC. 

The same partnership has developed a 102-unit residential and ground floor commercial project, with an adjoining 263-car parking structure, at 40th Street and San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville.

Representatives of the hospital workers union which successfully lobbied county supervisors to provide an $8 million budget bailout for the Alameda County Medical Center say they will continue to monitor the situation to make sure that the center incurs no new round of layoffs. 

With ACMC projecting a $4.8 million budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, the county board of supervisors voted this week to support Board of Supervisors President Keith Carson’s plan to shift $4.4 million from the county capital projects fund and $3.6 million in surplus fund to the medical center for use over the next two years. 

In a memorandum to the Board of Supervisors, Carson said the money was intended for “short term operational and/or capital needs.” 

Carson wrote that while ACMC CEO Wright Lassiter “anticipates closing his remaining $4.8 million funding gap … I propose that we establish an $8 million designation to help ensure that the ACMC budget remains balanced.”  

Patricia Van Hook, legislative analyst for the medical center, said in a telephone interview that Lassiter’s budget to be submitted to trustees today (Tuesday) will continue to include the projected $4.8 million deficit, and will not include the $8 million county bailout money. 

Van Hook said that Lassiter will continue to seek internal ways to close the budget gap, without further staff reductions than the ones already anticipated and announced.  

Earlier this month, at CEO Lassiter’s direction, ACMC trustees approved $23 million in budget reductions for the upcoming fiscal year, mostly from efficiency savings. 

Center officials were anticipating that the reductions would only result in the loss of between 68 and 84 full-time equivalent employees out of a total workforce of more than 2,000. 

“There will not be any more layoffs other than those already announced,” Van Hook said. 

ACMC Trustees will vote on the center’s budget today. The medical center operates several public medical facilities in Alameda County, including Highland Hospital in Oakland, Fairmont Hospital and John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro, and several clinics. 

Service Employees International Union Local 616, which represents 1,300 registered nurses, hospital clerical staff, and allied health care professionals at the medical center, conducted an intensive fax and online petition lobbying campaign in support of the bailout last week, targeting Carson and Board of Supervisors Vice President Scott Haggerty. Supervisor Nate Miley joined Carson and Haggerty in supporting the $8 million transfer. 

Local 616 representative Brad Cleveland said that Carson and Haggerty were specifically targeted because “they have worked most closely with the center, and they have the most intimate knowledge of Wright Lassiter.” 

Cleveland added that “the fact that they approved this money shows the level of confidence they have in the new management at the center.” 

Lassiter was hired last September to replace Tennessee-based management consultants Cambio Health Solutions. Cambio was hired by the medical center in early 2004 to analyze ACMC’s finances, but has been criticized by trustee board, staff, and union representatives for leaving the district in a budgetary shambles.  

With rumors circulating throughout the medical center that the $4.8 million deficit would lead to larger layoffs, representatives of SEIU and the Vote Health organization had urged supervisors to come up with the money. 

The SEIU’s Cleveland said that even with the $8 million influx, the medical center is not out of the fiscal woods yet. 

“The $23 million in savings from the margin audit process is not money in the bank,” Cleveland said. “All of that money won’t just materialize on July 1 and even in the best of all worlds, they won’t be able to realize all of the anticipated savings through the end of the next fiscal year.” 

In addition, Cleveland said that the new county money will not be simply transferred into the medical center’s account. “They are going to have to request it for specific needs,” he said. 

Cleveland said that the $8 million bailout should be considered a “cushion” that can help the center bridge any delays in the implementation of the margin audit process savings. 

Under Carson’s budget amendment, any of the $8 million not used by the center by the end of the ‘07-’08 fiscal year will revert to the capital fund.

A speaker’s comments disparaging homosexuality cast a cloud over an informal high school graduation ceremony earlier this month. 

Evangelical preacher the Rev. Manuel Scott Jr. made derogatory remarks about gays as part of his keynote address at the annual Berkeley High School African-American Studies Department Celebration of Excellence June 10. 

The event, sponsored by community members and the chair of the department—though it is not an official Berkeley High graduation—assembled hundreds of students, families, church figures and others at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Berkeley, to honor students’ successes. 

Scott, a Los Angeles-based Baptist Evangelist, gave a five- to 10-minute speech themed “After you graduate, be careful what you put in your system.” He identified an assortment of temptations to which students must not succumb such as drugs, alcohol and promiscuity. Rounding out the list was homosexuality, lesbianism and bisexuality. 

School board Director Nancy Riddle, who attended the ceremony as she has each year for four years, was appalled. 

“I know some people have those religious beliefs, but it was still shocking to hear,” she said. 

Some people in the audience were visibly bothered, a ceremony participant said. Riddle received a phone call from a parent upset by the sermon, as did City Councilmember Darryl Moore, the first openly gay, black public official in the East Bay. 

“I do think these graduations are great, but I think there is no place for homophobic comments,” Moore said. “We in Berkeley appreciate the diversity of our community. I think the speaker could have been just as forceful without making these extremely negative comments.” 

BHS African-American Studies Department Chair the Rev. Robert McKnight, who is responsible for the event, stands behind the speaker. 

“We do not censor anyone,” he said. “We defend free speech for everyone. If it’s right wing, if it’s left wing or in the middle, it’s free speech.” 

McKnight approached Scott, a longtime friend, to serve as keynote speaker. The evangelist was paid an honorarium for his services. Past speakers have included a former NAACP youth director and local clergy members. 

In a phone interview Thursday, Scott reiterated his message from the pulpit. 

“Homosexuality, bisexuality, they are sins according to the word of God,” he said. “I understand that the climate (in Berkeley) is a climate that values political correctness, but that’s not my concern. I’m concerned with biblical correctness.” 

The Celebration of Excellence is a 16-year-old, community- and church-supported tradition in Berkeley, which has come to be known as the black graduation—though it is open to all students, McKnight said.  

“This is the largest and most positive event in the African-American community,” he said.  

This year’s ceremony involved prayer, homage to African-American leaders who have passed, the awarding of scholarships, and featured several guests, including Berkeley resident Doris Branch-Tabor, B-Tech Academy Principal Victor Diaz and Riddle, who spoke in place of Berkeley High School Principal Jim Slemp. 

Students stood before audience members, introduced themselves and revealed their post-high school aspirations. Aside from Scott’s comments, the event was lively and inspirational, Riddle said. Several of those in attendance agreed, the ceremony was, overall, very positive.  

“It’s an opportunity for the black students to have some words and be encouraged by leaders of the black community,” said Michael McBride, who works with African-American male students at B-Tech.  

The African-American celebration was one of three cultural high school graduation ceremonies held at local churches this year. (The others were for Latino and Asian students.) They are supplementary to and unaffiliated with the official Berkeley high school convocation, which took place Friday, June 16, at the Greek Theatre. 

Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) retains stringent policy on controversial speakers, but the rules don’t apply to cultural celebrations because they are not district-sanctioned. 

On Wednesday, Board Vice President Joaquin Rivera, who is gay, said BUSD should clarify its role relative to these ceremonies.  

“I know they may be community events…” he said, “but anytime there’s that kind of hate speech, it’s completely unacceptable.” 

When the mayor’s proposed Compromise Landmarks Preservation Ordinance got before the council at around 12:20 a.m. Wednesday morning, Councilmember Laurie Capitelli balked. 

“I haven’t read it,” Capitelli said, arguing the matter should be put over. 

“Don’t worry,” answered Mayor Tom Bates, pointing out that the draft proposal, released late Friday would get a full airing at the Thursday Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting. 

Councilmember Dona Spring argued against the substance of the mayor’s draft proposal: “Just because it’s [called] a ‘compromise,’ doesn’t mean it’s a compromise,” she said. 

“It wipes out the ‘structure of merit,’” Spring said. Buildings currently designated as structures of merit are generally in the flatlands and have historic value, even if not designed by famous architects. 

In a phone interview Wednesday, Spring elaborated: “The structure of merit provides the backbone of historic protection, particularly in the flatlands of Berkeley.” The compromise would disallow most new structure of merit designations by mandating that they be located near an already-designated landmark, Spring said. 

But mayoral assistant Calvin Fong said the ordinance leaves the door wide open for change, allowing the Landmarks Preservation Commission to write new criteria for structures of merit, which would then be approved by the City Council. 

While some argue that the current structure of merit designation is simply a way to stop development, Spring pointed to development consistent with the historic designation. An 1894 home at 2418 California St., designated as a structure of merit, was raised and two units added beneath the original structure. 

The designation “doesn’t stop the site from being developed,” she said. 

In the end, rather than approving the mayor’s proposal to “support, in principle, the draft compromise revisions to the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Ordinance,” the council voted 8-1 simply to pass the draft on to the LPC and allow the commissioners to hash it out, before sending it back to council. Spring voted in opposition. The word compromise was dropped from the title. 

Any ordinance passed by the City Council, however, will become moot if a November historic preservation ballot measure is approved by the voters. 

Bates’ draft ordinance is available at http://www.berkeleyheritage.com. 

Two days after releasing details on a proposed downtown properties land sale that is supposed to help pay off $65 million already owed by the Oakland Unified School District to the State of California, the state-appointed OUSD administrator has proposed putting the district $35 million more in debt. 

On Monday, the district posted a Letter of Intent with east coast developers Terra Mark and Urban America calling for a $60 million purchase price for 8.25 acres of Lake Merritt-area property owned by the district, including the Paul Robeson Administration building, three schools, and two early childhood development centers. 

The developers are proposing putting up five high-rise residential buildings on the property, as well as 100,000 square feet in commercial space. 

The total purchase price is not scheduled to be paid for five years, and the Letter of Intent calls for reductions in that amount depending on the developers securing concessions from the City of Oakland. 

Negotiations on the final deal are currently being held between the district and the developers, and are not scheduled to be announced until September 13. 

Meanwhile, at a Wednesday Board of Education meeting, OUSD Administrator Randy Ward proposed borrowing the remainder of the district’s $100 million line of credit from the state to finance the move of the district’s administrative headquarters from the Paul Robeson Building to Carter Middle School in North Oakland, remedying problems in the district’s financial software, and re-establishing a 2 percent reserve fund that was wiped out when the district nearly went bankrupt three years ago. 

The district currently spends close to $4 million a year to pay off the $65 million currently borrowed from the state.  

OUSD Public Information Officer Alex Katz said he did not have an exact figure on the administration building relocation costs, adding that “it is still under discussion” between Ward and State Superintendent Jack O’Connell over “whether that money would come from a draw-down on the state line of credit” or from the $435 million in Measure B bond money passed by Oakland voters in this month’s election. 

In telephone interviews following Wednesday’s meetings, trustees said that borrowing the full $35 million was not in the best interests of the district, but since the state takover of Oakland Unified in 2003, the board of trustees functions as an advisory body only, and has no power to affect decisions made by the state-appointed administrator. Ward said only that he was considering the borrowing option, and would make an announcement at a later date.  

Trustee Dan Siegel, who chose not to run for re-election and is leaving his seat on the advisory board at the end of the year, said that borrowing any of the $35 million was a bad idea. 

He said that return to local control was contingent on restoring the district’s fiscal health, “and borrowing more money makes it more difficult to do that.” 

Siegel added that when local control is returned, “the new board will be saddled with an extra $2 million a year in debt payments on top of the $4 million” already in the budget. 

Trustee Greg Hodge said that he had mixed feelings about Ward’s proposal. 

“Even though return to local control is not contingent on paying off the loan from the state, there is a perception in the state legislature that this is one of the criteria, so I would be wary of adding to the debt,” Hodge said. 

“Still,” he added, “we’re only paying a 1.6 percent interest rate on the loan, so it’s cheap money, and maybe borrowing it is not a bad investment.” 

But Hodge said that under any circumstances, he would not borrow money for the renovation of Carter Middle School for the relocation of the district’s administrative offices, since, he said, that money should be factored into the proceeds from the proposed sale of the current administration building. 

Board President David Kakishiba said that it was “absolutely ridiculous” to use the state line of credit money for administrative relocation costs, saying that the loan money should be “reserved for its original purpose only, addressing the fiscal mismanagement from the past. It should not deal with current or future financial concerns, no matter what those concerns are.” 

Kakishiba said that the only money he would suggest borrowing from the remaining $35 line of credit would be to restore the district’s 2 percent operating reserve. 

“That’s appropriate,” he said, “because loss of the reserve resulted from the mismanagement problems in 2002 and 2003.” 

Meanwhile, Kakishiba said that even though the board has no power to block the sale of the Lake Merritt area properties, trustees are scheduled to give their recommendation on the sale in September following public hearings scheduled for July 12, August 16, and September 6. 

Kakishiba said that he expects presentations at the July 12 hearing from district staff members on the exact cost of relocating the three schools and two early childhood development centers from the Lake Merritt properties, as well as the cost of relocating the administrative offices. In addition, Kakishiba said, he wants the district to present enrollment projections for the district. 

Both Kakishiba and Siegel were concerned about the affect of the proposed sale on the existing schools on the Lake Merritt properties, particularly La Escuelita. Kakishiba represents District 2 where La Escuelita and the administrative offices are located. 

Under the Letter of Intent between the district and developers Terra Mark and Urban America released early this week, the district reserves the right to keep the schools on 3.2 acres of the property if suitable replacement sites cannot be found. 

Siegel said flatly there is no replacement site for La Escuelita. 

“There are no parcels of two acres or more within a mile of the administration building,” Siegel said, adding that a new La Escuelita could not be built on property two acres or less. 

In addition, he said that the 90 day window given by the district to either find new school sites for the five schools or keep them on the current sites is not enough time to secure new property. 

Siegel is also calling for a new appraisal of the 8.25 district property parcel to determine if the $60 million asking price is a good deal. 

Kakishiba said that the Letter of Intent “does not satisfy my concerns about La Escuelita.” 

He agreed that he does not see any property available in the Eastlake area to relocate the school “and even if there were, it would cost a lot of money to do so. I can’t see the value in that, because a big chunk of the revenues coming from the property sale would be eaten up by relocation costs.” 

Kakishiba also said he was concerned that the district “currently has no business plan for moving the administrative offices.” 

Letter of Intent Details OUSD Land Sale Deal 

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 

Under the proposed Letter of Intent, Terra Mark and Urban America pays an unrefundable $200,000 to the Oakland Unified School District for negotiating rights to purchase OUSD’s Lake Merritt-area properties. 

The developer also agrees to pay a $5 million option to purchase once a deal has been reached, which can be refunded if the developer backs out of the deal within 90 days.  

If all of the property is purchased by the developer and the developer is able to win all of the concessions within the proposed deal, the developer will pay another $55 million for 8.25 acres of district-owned land that include the Paul Robeson Administration Building, La Escuelita Elementary School, Dewey and MetWest High Schools, and two early childhood development centers. 

This would bring the total purchase price to $60 million if all of the concessions and conditions are met. However, the Letter of Intent does not specify how low the actual purchase price could go if all of the concessions are not met, and says only that “the parties will negotiate a more precise allocation of the Property value” under those circumstances.  

In addition, the bulk of the payment for the property is not due until five years after the developer exercises its option to begin purchasing the property. 

The developer is proposing to build five high rise residential towers on the property with a total of as high as 1,388 residential units, as well as building 100,000 square feet of unspecified commercial development. 

Other details of the proposed OUSD Lake Merritt properties agreement are: 

• The district has until September 13, 2006 (90 days from the signing of the Letter of Intent) to decide whether the 3.2 acres containing the three schools and two early childhood development centers will be included as part of the deal. 

• The property will be sold in five separate parcels under the following schedule (details on the location of the parcels were not included in the Letter of Intent): Parcel One for $7.8 million due within six months of the approval of the project’s building permit, Parcel Two for $9.3 million due no more than two years following groundbreaking for Parcel One, and Parcel Three ($12 million), Parcel Four ($11.1 million), and Parcel Five ($14.7 million) all due no more than five years following the developer’s exercise of its option to purchase the first parcel.  

• The $60 million purchase price is dependent upon the developer getting approval from the city to put 1388 residential units on the total property to be purchased. 

If the city approves less than that, down to 1,000 units, the purchase price for the property will be reduced by $20,000 for each unit the developer is not allowed by the city to build. (If the developer can only build 1100 units instead of the 1388, for example, the purchase price will be reduced by $5.8 million.) 

• The entire development proposal is also dependent on the developer being able to purchase “at market value” what is only called “property presently owned by the City of Oakland in the Lake Merritt Channel Area, which property will be made available by the realignment of 12th Street.” 

The actual site of that city-owned property to be purchased by the developer is not identified more specifically in the Letter of Intent.

For almost half a century now, Mario’s on Telegraph Aveue has built up a reputation for a lot more than its chile verde and grilled burritos. 

Mayor Tom Bates is known to frequent its banquet lunches, UC Berkeley students flock there during lunch and the homeless find refuge in its free bean and rice dinners—all served under the watchful eyes of Mario and Rosalinda Tejada, the owners of Mario’s La Fiesta.  

The couple, who have served Berkeley through their restaurant and banquet hall since February 1959, will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday. 

They have worked together tirelessly for the last 47 years to make their business the Berkeley institution it is today. 

At a time when a lot of old timers on Telegraph are folding up their shops, Mario and Rosalinda are the embodiment of survival. 

“The only thing we pray for right now is that we make it to the restaurant’s 50th anniversary three years from now,” said Mario as he returned from his Thursday morning market visit. 

Rosalinda said that during Mario’s trips to the local market, he handpicked anything the restaurant might need for the day’s business.  

At the age of 75, his optimistic spirit is only one of the many remarkable things about Mario, something he says has been a part of him since he immigrated to the United States from Guanajuato in 1954. 

“After serving in Korea till 1956, I came across a classified ad for a sandwich shop on Telegraph Avenue and purchased it,” he explained. “Then I fixed it up to look like a Mexican restaurant and introduced real Mexican food to Americans. Rosalinda and I haven’t looked back since then.” 

When asked about the declining businesses on Telegraph, Mario said that he has seen it all before. 

“It’s all part of the cycle, there will be good times and bad times. It was the same way during the free speech movement of 1962 and the People’s Park incident of 1969,” he said. “Business was down back then too, but it revived once again. It always does. I am hopeful it will do so this time around too.” 

The secret to success, Mario said smiling, was the restaurant’s old customers. “They always come back,” he said. “With children, grandchildren or even just on their own, my customers from UC visit me the moment they land in Berkeley. Just the other day one of my old patrons visited me from Israel. They love it here.” 

However, he does admit that some of that old world charm that made Telegraph what it was is missing today. 

“The atmosphere has definitely changed. It is more about being hip, about all things new,” Mario said. “But we have to realize that life is all about change. So many of my friends who started businesses around the same time as me have either died or moved away. Take Larry Blakes for example. The owner sold the restaurant before he died, but the place still exists.” 

When asked about the charitable work that both he and his wife do for the homeless in Berkeley, Mario says that it’s something the couple feel is a duty towards the community. 

“We give donations to UC Berkeley, to different organizations whenever we can,” he said. “Offering food to the homeless is also a form of giving.” 

Dan McMullan of the Disabled People Outside Project praised the couple for their services. 

“For 50 years these good people have served our community not only with their great food but with a quiet and loving acceptance of all people,” he said. “They have for years provided food for the truly needy, a kind word for everyone and the power that has run every People’s Park event since 1969. They are truly a Berkeley treasure and I know I speak for many when I wish them another great 50 years.” 

Apart from offering free food during events at People’s Park, the couple also allows event organizers at the park to use their electricity for different shows.  

“They serve as a bridge, from Mayor Bates to the different merchants to the homeless,” said Michael Diehl of the Berkeley Free Clinic. “Mario and Rosalinda have been there for all.” 

On Saturday, the couple plans to celebrate with family and friends. When asked about future plans, Mario said that he wants to see Telegraph Avenue retain its lost glory. 

“The mayor is trying, the merchants are trying.” he said. “I am sure something positive will happen soon. As for me. I would like to retire, but hopefully not too soon.” 

Library Gardens—the apartment complex nearing completion behind the Berkeley Public Library—is going condo, if the Berkeley Planning Commission approves. 

If the city gives the nod, the 176 apartment and four commercial spaces in the building at 2020 Kittredge St. could all become for-sale condos. 

But that doesn’t mean condos would go on sale any time soon, Berkeley Housing Director Steve Barton said Thursday. 

“As best I know, they are putting in an underlying condo map now because now is the time to do it,” he said. “As far as I know they have no intention at this time to sell” units. 

But Deputy Planning Director Wendy Cosin said she understood that the units will be marketed as condos, though they may be initially rented as apartments. 

The project was originally approved as apartments, with the intent to rent the relatively small one- and two-bedroom units to UC Berkeley students. 

Barton said that applying for a condo map at this point makes good financial sense for several reasons. 

“Lenders like it because the property keeps its value if they have to foreclose for any reason,” he said, because condos appreciate with the housing market. 

And even buildings purposefully built for condo sale are often rented initially because a 10-year warranty period accompanies the sale of new condos, Barton said. 

Builders can rent the units until the warranty expires and then sell without incurring the same obligations that would come from sales during the warranty period, he said. 

In addition, concerns over the rental market provide another incentive to see approval as a condo project. 

Getting the map approved now before the units are rented also exempts the developer from being forced to pay mitigation fees incurred if the switch is sought after the units have been rented, Barton said. 

Ownership questions 

Barton said he isn’t certain about the ownership status of the project. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, developer John DeClerq had a nonbinding agreement to sell the property to GMH Communities Trust, a Maryland real estate investment trust (REIT). 

GMH, which specializes in rentals to college students and the military, subsequently experienced a dramatic decline in stock value. The property is not currently listed among their holdings. 

DeClerq did not return calls from the Daily Planet. 

Asked if DeClerq still owned the property, Barton said, “I always assumed he was the agent for some big money source.” 

Robert H. Bisno—who is listed with the California Secretary of State as the agent of TransAction Financial Corporation, of which DeClerq is vice-president—is an attorney based in Oakland and Los Angeles. 

According to the website of Ponte Vista, a San Pedro development in which he is a participant, Bisno has investments in more than 70 properties in 40 cities, totaling over 6 million square feet, 

Those properties include, among other things, 3,600 residential units, 600,000 square feet of retail buildings, 1.1 million square feet of office buildings, parking lots, a conference center and a ski resort mixed-use development. 

Long controversy 

Library Gardens proved controversial from the start, in part because construction entailed the demolition of one of the city’s most popular parking lots, a 362-space structure built for the long-vanished Hink’s department store and heavily patronized by movie-goers. 

As originally proposed, the developer would have replaced all 362 spaces in a two-level underground lot. Citing higher costs, De Clerq resubmitted plans that included only 116 ground-level spaces, of which all but 11 were reserved for tenants—and promptly ran into strong resistance. 

The project was approved when he added another 124 underground spaces, but in the final version of plans given the city’s blessing, the project includes only 130 spaces. 

No sooner had the project been approved by the Zoning Adjustments Board than a critic of the project appealed. 

Oddly, that critic was none other than DeClerq, who was seeking to overturn the city’s requirement that the project include units reserved for low-income tenants. Hitting a stone wall from a city council that has consistently pushed for the so-called inclusionary units, the developer surrendered.

The draft budget Mayor Tom Bates presented to the council on Tuesday picked up only $900,000 worth of council and community wishes, leaving much of the rest of the $4.4 million potentially available—beyond approximately $300,000 in fixed costs for parks, police, planning and the like—to the city manager’s plan to allocate the funds to street and storm-drain repair. 

About half of the funding in Bates’ spending plan comes from an anticipated augmentation of 25 cents per hour in parking meter fees. The council will vote on the fee hike next Tuesday as part of the final budget vote. 

Preceding the council budget discussion, citizens lined up for a public hearing, asking for funds for their pet projects and then it was the councilmembers turn to ask the mayor to add their wish lists to the pot. Bates said in an interview on Thursday that he’s already begun making changes in his proposed budget to fund some of the items advocates spoke for at the meeting. 

For example, a number of individuals from the Peace and Justice and Labor commissions asked to fund implementation of a “sweat-free” ordinance, mandating that the city purchase goods from companies whose products are not made in sweat-shop conditions. Funding would help the city identify which products are “sweat-free” and which should be avoided. 

“Getting suppliers to disclose their sources raises consciousness,” Peace and Justice Commissioner Diana Bohn said. Bates said Thursday that he is planning to add partial funding to the project. 

Robbin Henderson, executive director of the Berkeley Arts Center made a plea for more funding than the $11,000 the Bates’ budget allocated, noting that she is about to retire and that attracting a director may take a salary increase. 

“We’ve had a job listing since March,” Henderson said. “We can’t afford competitive salaries.” Bates said his new budget will reflect an increase. 

The mayor said he is dropping funding for a pilot train-whistle project, advanced by Councilmember Linda Maio in response to some citizens who objected a year or so ago to the whistling sound.  

The budget Bates put forward at the council meeting also includes: 

• additional funding so that the Fire Department can be fully staffed during high fire season; closures of one fire station per day will continue during the rest of the year, despite a plea from the BudgetWatch group. “We need fully-staffed fire stations year round,” Barbara Allen told the council; 

• a part-time watershed coordinator, requested when the Creeks Ordinance was discussed; 

• Rubicon vocational training, that aims to place disabled—mostly mentally challenged people—in jobs after appropriate training; 

• police, mental health and beautification on Telegraph Avenue; 

• a youth services coordinator; 

• the Center for Accessible Technology; 

• the Ashby BART community process 

Among the items not making the cut were funds for: 

• the warm-water pool; 

• landscaping for traffic barriers;  

• an additional senior planner.  

Parking in Side Yards 

A proposal to allow parking in side and back yards “by right,” that is with an across-the-counter permit, was scaled down to allow one car to park “by right” in the side yard only, as long as there is two feet of landscaping protecting the neighboring property. 

The council first rejected 4-2-3 a proposal by Councilmember Kriss Worthington to make the process more difficult by demanding a use permit, which would mandate notification of neighbors, with Capitelli and Bates voting in opposition and Maio, Councilmember Darryl Moore and Councilmember Max Anderson abstaining. 

The ordinance was approved conceptually 6-3 with Councilmembers Dona Spring, Betty Olds and Kriss Worthington opposing. 

Refuse costs rise 

Nobody came to council public hearing to protest an 8 percent refuse rate hike, which the council approved unanimously. 

When it came to raising residential sewer fees, however, the council majority refused 5-0-4 despite the city manager’s warning that the piper would have to be paid in future years. Commercial users will have their bills increased by 1 percent and public agencies will see a 3.5 percent increase. Spring, Worthington, Maio and Bates abstained on the matter.  

Citizen appeal denied  

LA Wood lost his appeal on the permit for Pacific Steel Castings carbon adsorption filter 9-0, with Maio promising “continuous monitoring” of the plant. 

Speaking at the public comment period Christopher Kroll of the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs called for more study of the issue. “The community does not trust the settlement agreement” with PSC, he said. 

In other matters, the council: 

• voted unanimously to take no action on the question of a threatened eviction of artists from the Nexus workspace, owned by the Humane Society; 

• turned down putting a measure on the ballot or using certificates of participation to fund a new warm pool for disabled and elderly people; Spring’s motion failed for lack of a second. 

More than 50 supporters of the Wishing Well came to Tuesday’s City Council meeting to request the city save the 35-year-old recycling box on the sidewalk median strip of the 1700 block of Channing Way. 

A life-size cardboard cut-out of the Wishing Well was on display at the meeting along with posters, flyers and supporters dressed up in fairytale garb to support the well. 

Residents of Channing/Roosevelt/ McGee neighborhood have exchanged clothing and other useful items at this free box for the last four decades. A petition asking the city to remove the recycling amenity was received on April 17, signed by some of the block’s residents.  

Supporters of the freebox claim that the box’s use of the sidewalk strip precedes the encroachment ordinance by many years. The removal of this last neighborhood free box was ordered by the city manager’s office on May 16. 

“I have grown up in this neighborhood as a foster child and the free box is the only sign which told me whether any human being cared if I lived or died,” Nancy Delaney told councilmembers during the public hearing session. 

Barbara Cappa, a Well Wisher—an informal group formed to save the free box—informed councilmembers about the positive effect the well had on the neighborhood. 

“It’s not perfect, but it’s not violent or noisy either,” she said. “Six hundred people have signed the petition to save the well. We request the council to think carefully before making a decision.” 

Wes Ikenchi said that the well was an embodiment of nurturing, caring, and compassion, which was what the city itself stood for.  

Councilmember Donna Spring said that it was a great tool for recycling and that it was in the city’s best interest to preserve it. 

Councilmember Betty Olds added, “It’s too good to be true that there is such a free box in the city and that it is so well maintained.” 

The council and the city manager decided that the case would be reviewed once again in hopes that some kind of agreement could be reached with the neighbors.

Former City Clerk Sara Cox wasn’t in her office when the Daily Planet went there to speak to her on Wednesday. 

On a plane heading toward Italy, the city clerk had said good-bye to the weekly and bi-weekly 500-page council packets. 

Cox left her post as Berkeley’s number one clerk after a year and four months on the job. She’ll begin a new job as city clerk in a four-person department in Napa in mid July. 

Until an acting replacement is found, former City Clerk Sherry Kelly, who has been working as a consultant in the clerk’s office, is expected to fill in, said City Manger Phil Kamlarz. 

“We’re fortunate to have people here like Sherry,” Kamlarz said, adding that Kelly had been planning to help with the November elections. Kelly was not available for comment on Thursday. 

Councilmember Dona Spring called the clerk’s position “a burn-out job,” demanding 80 hours a week and 100 hours at election time. 

“No one could handle all the details,” Spring said, adding that Cox told her that she and her husband needed to slow down and live at a slower pace. 

This year, the clerk’s department of 11 has been down three people, with two on maternity leave and one in the military. 

Kamlarz said the council has authorized him to hire another staff person in the next fiscal year for that office. Finding people to act as temporary replacements is difficult, Kamlarz said, with “weekly deadlines and no room for mistakes.” 

Spring said the department has enormous turnover. “Staff gets trained and transfers out to other departments,” she said. “How can you run a department that is so time-consuming and never stable?” 

“It’s a workload issue,” said Mayor Tom Bates, noting that active citizens and commissioners create a demand for information. “People come here and learn by fire, then go to another city and it’s a piece of cake.” 

“It’s a strain every week” to get out the council agenda packet. “Sara and Sherry made it look easy.” Kamlarz said. “Sara did a good job.”

The Berkeley teachers’ union is urging the school district to apologize for threatening to dock the pay of teachers who skipped school last month to attend protests. 

A number of Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) teachers received letters stating that their salaries would be dinged for skipping classes May 1, the day of immigrant rights rallies nationwide. Berkeley teachers have since received paychecks for the month of May, and no deductions were made. It is unclear, however, whether the initial threat has been rescinded or will be carried out in the future.  

“There’s been no decision made as to how we’re going to handle the situation,” said Superintendent Michele Lawrence. 

Now, the Berkeley Federation of Teachers (BFT), the union representing 700 teachers, counselors, librarians and others, is seeking a formal admission of error.  

“We think the best way for them to resolve this at this point is to send teachers an apology,” said BFT President Barry Fike in an interview earlier this month. 

The letters state that missing school to attend immigrant rights rallies does not adhere to terms of the union’s contract. Specifically, they cite a provision, which stipulates that a request for leave must be made in writing on discrete grounds, such as a death in the family, a wedding or a court appearance. 

Fike says even if teachers failed to comply with standard absence reporting procedures, the district does not, per the contract, have license to cut pay. The average teacher would lose about $285, and could miss out on retirement credits.  

Letters went out at the site level and were signed by principals and vice principals on school letterhead, but the text in the various missives is similar, Fike said, leading him to speculate that central administration spearheaded the effort and school administrators followed along. 

The district, however, is not accepting responsibility. On Wednesday, Lawrence said she did not know where the letters originated. 

Almost 80 teachers missed school May 1, though how many reported absent to attend rallies is not known, Lawrence said. Also a mystery is why some employees who were absent received letters whereas others did not. 

Berkeley High School English teacher Ingrid Martinez believes employees with Latino surnames were targeted, pointing out that two white teachers she knows attended protests, but were not disciplined. 

“This is a strong negative message they’re sending about what happens when you stand up for yourself,” she said. “And this is Berkeley? I’m shocked …I would love a public apology and acknowledgement that this was not the right way to go about it.” 

Lawrence adamantly denies claims of racial profiling. “That is absolutely and totally false,” she said. 

Berkeley High history and English teacher Tim Moellering, who is not Latino, received a letter after admitting to a vice principal that he skipped school to attend a protest at UC Berkeley. Though he called the threatening memo “a really stupid idea,” he said he’s not taking it to heart. 

“I don’t consider it personal in any way,” he said. “I don’t think that there is anyone who is opposed to the (immigrants’ rights) cause, I think it’s a matter of the superintendent (and her staff) trying to show that they’re in charge.”

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) has hired a new assistant superintendent of human resources, a district spokesperson announced last Thursday. 

Lisa Udell, director of human resources in the 9,750-student Milpitas Unified School District, will replace Patricia Calvert, Berkeley’s existing director of certificated employees, who leaves the district June 30. 

Udell secured a two-year contract. She will earn $134,931 a year, effective July 1.  

“I’m really excited about coming to Berkeley,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday.  

Udell, 55, a former school administrator and elementary, middle and high school teacher, has worked in human resources in the Milpitas school district for three years, at one point acting as both the HR director and interim assistant superintendent when a colleague fell ill. 

“I’ve had the full experience of human resources,” she said. “From negotiations, to hiring to layoffs.” 

She counts minimizing employee layoffs during a budget crisis and peaceful negotiations with the district’s two unions among her successes in Milpitas. 

In the 9,000-student Berkeley Unified School District, Udell will face myriad hiring complexities associated with the district’s grants, special taxes and federal accountability standards. She also inherits a reputedly fractious work force, marked by 1,500 employees and five unions. 

“Berkeley is a little more contentious, but that’s OK,” she said. “Conflict is inherent to the job.” 

Udell is BUSD’s first assistant superintendent for human resources. In April, the Berkeley Board of Education approved replacing the director title with a higher-paying position as part of a larger effort to fill holes in the district’s managerial infrastructure. 

In the same meeting, the board issued pink slips to more than 70 employees, most of whom were paraprofessionals who had not yet met the higher education requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. 

In a 22-0 vote last week, workers at the Landmark Theater-owned Shattuck Cinemas won their union. 

“It’s exactly what we were expecting, but it feels good,” said Harjit Gill, organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World. 

“Though the struggle may not be over, workers at the Shattuck are looking with high hopes towards the future, and with massive support from the citizens of Berkeley and a landslide victory now behind them, that future looks bright indeed,” the cinema workers said in a press release. 

Landmark affirmed that the company is ready to sit down at the table. 

“Since the union has won, then Landmark intends to bargain with them and work hard to reach an acceptable agreement,” said Melissa Raddatz, director of publicity for Landmark Theaters. 

Once the election is certified by the National Labor Relations Board, “bargaining will commence,” Raddatz added. 

The sign Ramzi Obeid carried Tuesday afternoon at the downtown Berkeley BART station demonstration read: “Killing and destruction in Gaza—paid for by our taxes.” 

The demonstration that attracted about 100 protesters and a dozen counter-demonstrators was aimed at making the public aware of the recent killings in the Gaza strip, Palestine, and was organized by the Berkeley-based Middle East Children’s Alliance and the American Arab Anti-discrimination Committee. 

Obeid—a Palestinian-American who says he cannot go to the family home his mother left in 1948 in Jaffa, Israel-Palestine, because “I am not Jewish”—condemns the Israeli shelling of Palestinians in Gaza. 

Standing on a pick-up truck south of the BART station, Middle East Children’s Alliance Executive Director Barbara Lubin described the June 9 incident on a beach in Gaza when eight members of one family, including a six-month old infant, were killed while picnicking, allegedly a result of Israeli shelling. 

Lubin read a statement from Mona Elfarra, a physician working in Gaza: “An Israeli gunship suddenly fired at random against the beach while army tanks fired artillery shells and Apache helicopters crossed the sky; 40 civilians were injured, 10 killed.” The picnickers were among them. 

Counter-demonstrators flew Israeli flags and sported placards such as “Pro-Israel/Pro-Peace.” When Lubin addressed the rally from the truck, several pro-Israeli demonstrators moved from the north side of the BART station close to the demonstration, where picketers were circling as they listened to Lubin. 

“You’re lying Barbara, you’re lying,” yelled a counter-demonstrator through a bullhorn as he approached the truck with several others carrying Israeli flags. 

Lubin encouraged protesters to keep marching and ignore the other protestors as Berkeley police moved in to keep the pro-Israel group away from the pro-Palestine rally. 

Sanne DeWitt, a spokesperson for the pro-Israel demonstrators from Stand With Us, San Francisco Voice for Israel and Israel Action Committee of the East Bay, told the Daily Planet: “A lot of lies have been told.” 

Speaking to the protesters, Lubin contended that Palestinian functionaries have not been paid for months; the Israelis collect taxes and refuse to turn them over to the Palestinian Authority. “There’s no money to feed the children,” she said. 

DeWitt defended the Israeli government’s refusal to relinquish the Palistinian funds. “I’m concerned that Hamas [the ruling party] will use the funds to buy weapons and fight,” she said. 

After a few short speeches the protesters took their march to University Avenue down to Sacramento Street then back up to the BART station.

Le Conte neighborhood residents have raised several concerns to the city of Berkeley about the storage facility on 2721 Shattuck Ave. They claim that since developer Patrick Kennedy bought the property in January the building has been undergoing construction non-stop without adequate permits.  

According to Jim Hultman, a neighborhood resident, neighbors have turned in nine requests for service since January with no response from the city. 

“I have hand-delivered three myself,” said Hultman. “In April permits were finally taken out for the installation of a new elevator. However, the work being done goes way beyond elevator work, sometimes beginning as early as 6:30 a.m.” 

Jim Hynes, assistant to the city manager, said that although there were discrepancies on the file about the permits, the application was under review at the moment. 

“Only after this has been reviewed can we comment on the case,” he said. “However, it is my understanding that the construction is going on at the site with all the proper permits.” 

Kennedy did not return calls for comment. 

Neighbors have also complained about storage lockers being installed in the loading area where vehicles are supposed to be able to pull into the building to offload on the Ward Street side. 

“Additionally, the required ‘no offloading vehicles’ sign on the outside of the building has been removed,” Hultman said. “Keep in mind that offloading of vehicles is clearly prohibited under Section 23E.32.010 Off-street Loading Spaces C, F. They have been noticed in the past that no vehicles may offload on Ward Street. Instead, vehicles must pull entirely inside the building to offload. If unable to do so they are supposed to use the Shattuck Avenue lot.” 

A resident who has lived on Ward Street for more than 20 years but did not want to be named said that the neighbors wanted the facility to stop ignoring the zoning laws. 

“We do not want the streets, sidewalks, or entrances blocked because of the trucks offloading or being parked in the area,” the resident said. “We don’t want them to sell parking space—it’s really surprising to see that the last two parking spaces the storage facility had in the Shattuck Avenue lot are now painted City Carshare vehicles only.” 

The resident said “City Carshare is a great program, but we are furious that neighbors were not contacted, just like the time when the previous owners began renting Ryder Trucks, which we put a stop to. There should be some kind of an input from the residents about what can be done in the neighborhood, but instead we continue to be ignored.” 

Neighbors also oppose the construction of 18 cellphone towers on the same property. Karl Reeh, president of the Le Conte Neighborhood Association, told The Planet that the association had recently sent a letter to the city council to stop this construction. 

“We feel the decision where [the city] did not allow antennas on Gilman Street also applies to us,” Reeh said. “We think we should have been notified before they started construction on the towers a month ago. It is really inappropriate to start building even before the appeal has been passed.”

The future of the Ashby BART Task Force remains an open question, itself comprised of a host of lesser questions, ranging from the geographic to the mundane, says Co-chair John Selawsky. 

But Mayor Tom Bates has asked the City Council to approve $40,000 “for a community process to discuss the future of the Ashby BART West Parking Lot.” 

Just what that process would be isn’t spelled out in the mayor’s budget recommendations, but he had indicated earlier that he saw some role for the existing task force set up to administer a state grant that never materialized. 

His request would replace one third of the $120,000 grant denied by CalTrans last month to plan a transit-oriented development atop the parking lot. 

The task force had been created under the aegis of the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation to select a developer and create the outlines of a project for the site. 

Caltrans officials said they rejected the grant because it scored low on the agency’s list of priorities. 

Since that denial, the task force has been wrestling with its own future—as have the panel’s two biggest boosters on the city council, Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Max Anderson. 

Meeting privately two days before Monday’s public meeting, task force members had agreed they needed to seek new direction from the City Council, Selawsky said. 

“We also agreed unanimously that we were pulling a discussion of eminent domain off the table,” said Selawsky. 

The group, which was created to plan development on the main parking lot of the Ashby BART station, took no action at their Monday meeting, he said. 

While some of the issues facing the task force are highly charged political questions, another one is more basic—the need for a petty cash fund to pay for flyers, copies of minutes and other mundane expenses. 

“Right now we don’t have any funding,” Selawsky said. “As it is, we’re only talking about $400 or $500.” 

Another question is a venue for future task force public meetings. “We have the South Berkeley Senior Center on Mondays through July. What happens after that we don’t know,” Selawsky said. 

The largest question is geographic—defining a boundary for the area the task force should study. 

“At our last public meeting Tom and Max Anderson said it was possible to expand the scope” of the task force beyond the Ashby BART site, Selawsky said. “Tom was talking about the whole Adeline Corridor, which is a huge site. So it could be anything from the BART site to the whole corridor.” 

Because the Adeline corridor and surrounding territory is most of South Berkeley, Selawsky said, “It would take a five-year task force to develop a plan, and I have no idea how we’re going to do that.” 

Selawsky said he wanted to dispel concerns that the task force is serving as an agent for Bates, Anderson and Ed Church, the development professional who has been working for the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation, the private nonprofit agency picked by the city to spearhead the project. 

“Tom has said he wanted condos, and Max has said he wants affordable housing,” Selawsky said. “$700,000 condos are not compatible with low income housing, so you’d have to be schizophrenic to be their agent.” 

Osha Neumann, who lives across Martin Luther King Jr. Way from the site and who serves as attorney for Community Services United, the group that administers the Berkeley Flea Market which is held weekends on the lot, attended Monday’s task force meeting and came away with more questions than answers. 

“They told us they would listen to our questions, but they wouldn’t respond,” he said. 

Neumann said he learned of the mayor’s budget request later, though the document was prepared earlier on the same day as the meeting. 

“It doesn’t say who is getting the funding,” he said. 

Bates had told an earlier task force meeting that he hoped to see the planning process extended to include the whole Adeline Street corridor—though the budget requests keeps the focus solely on the parking lot. 

“What the task force is keeps morphing,” Neumann said.

A Marin County judge Wednesday endorsed claims by environmentalists and the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) that the city of Richmond violated environmental law in its sale of Point Molate to casino developers. 

The statement came in a ruling that held that the city and two casino development companies are liable for the costs of an earlier lawsuit.  

The three-page ruling by Superior Court Judge Vernon F. Smith awards $250,000 in legal fees and costs—the full amount they had sought. 

Upstream Point Molate, LLC, the corporation founded by Berkeley developer James D. Levine to develop the casino, had already paid $13,740 to the state Attorney General’s office as part of a Jan. 20 settlement that ended the lawsuit. 

Levine said he will appeal the ruling. 

The third defendant in the action was Harrah’s Operating Company, the world’s largest gambling firm and the would-be operator of the 2,500-slot-machine casino, hotel, entertainment and shopping complex planned for the North Richmond shoreline. 

The East Bay Regional Parks District filed one action, and a parallel suit was filed by the Sierra Club, Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP) and the North Richmond Shoreline and Open Space Alliance. Both actions charged that the Richmond City Council violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in their Nov. 16, 2004 vote to sell the property.  

The judge awarded $150,000 to the parks district, and the remainder would pay for all costs incurred by CESP and the environmentalists. 

“They gave us everything we asked for,” said CESP President Robert Cheasty, an Albany attorney. “This is a major victory for the forces of right and for the protection of our fellow creatures.” 

“We’re very grateful that the judge’s recognition of the significance of our lawsuit,” said Stephen C. Volker, the Oakland attorney who represented the environmental groups. 

The fees were awarded under a state provision that awards fees to private citizens and groups who act in the public interest under the so-called private attorney general doctrine. 

Smith wrote that the settlement “led to the enforcement of an important right that conferred significant benefits on the public.” 

While the city and the developers had claimed the litigation costs didn’t transcend the parks district’s interest in seeing the site remain open space or a possible addition to the parks system, Smith said the district “represents the interests of all residents and visitors to the area who would benefit from protection of the natural resources of this parcel.” 

“We think the judge took a swing and a miss,” said Levine. 

“This is another example in a long line of examples where the lower courts got it wrong,” said Levine, adding that it took a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to overturn lower ruling upholding school segregation. 

In a prepared statement, parks district attorney Ted Radosevich said the district had to take action because the potential loss of bay access, recreational opportunities and wildlife habitat as well as impacts to historic buildings and archeological sites could be enormous. 

The key issue—which was resolved by the settlement—was that the city couldn’t sign a binding agreement to sell the land, a former U.S. Navy refueling station it had bought for a dollar from the Navy. 

The Richmond City Council approved the sale on Nov. 9, 2004, after interim City Manager Phil Batchelor placed the long-term value of the Upstream offer at over $350 million, a powerful incentive for a city then awash in a sea of red ink. 

The parks district and the environmentalists charged that the sale was illegal because it took place without an environmental review—a process from which the city claimed it was exempt. 

Under the settlement approved in January, the city agreed it could select any use for the property, and the developers agreed that a decision not to sell or lease the land to them wouldn’t constitute a breach of the sale agreement. 

While the environmentalists and the parks district won the battle, the war may be lost. 

A joint environmental review is now underway under both state and federal processes, as is the application of the Guidiville band of Pomo tribespeople to take the law as a reservation. 

That document should be ready sometime this fall, Levine said. 

The developers plan a full Las Vegas-scale casino, along with a showroom, an upscale shopping complex, and a hotel complex at the site. If the Bureau of Indian Affairs denies the tribe’s application, Levine is looking at a condominium project as an alternative. 

The settlement also barred the city from lobbying the state and federal governments to approve the casino proposal, which Volker said was both pernicious and illegal.

The city’s downtown planning committee flexed its muscles Wednesday, demanding access to a previously closed tax force. 

And the developers of a proposed new university-backed hotel at the heart of downtown made it clear they want fast approval for their project. 

Closed meet challenge 

Members of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) voted 18-0-1 to open up meetings of the previously closed technical advisory committee (TAC). 

Former City Councilmember Mim Hawley abstained. 

Members said they were irked that they could receive only second-hand accounts of the meeting of experts helping the city staff and UC Berkeley officials on key details of the planning process. 

“I don’t find that you telling us for five minutes about what the TAC did really helps me understand,” Lisa Stephens told Matt Taecker, the planner hired by the city with university money to direct the planning process. 

Stephens and other DAPAC members had been barred from attending the first of three scheduled TAC meetings. 

“I know this is a sensitive issue,” said DAPAC Chair Will Travis, who urged the committee to postpone the discussion until after the presentation on the UC-backed hotel/convention center/condo complex. 

But members wanted a decision, and opted to hash out the issue instead of holding a discussion about their individual visions for the future of the downtown. 

In the end, members voted for a resolution mandating that all meetings attended by a majority of TAC members would be noticed as public DAPAC meetings where no action would be taken. The meetings would also be open to the public. 

Fatal delays 

If the city stalls the final go-ahead for the proposed new UC-backed downtown hotel complex beyond “a year or two,” the deal could die. 

That was the ultimatum handed down Wednesday by Richard L. Friedman, CEO and president of Boston-based Carpenter & Co. 

With construction costs at record highs of about $300 a square foot for similar projects and China consuming most of the world’s building supplies, any longer delay could prove fatal to the project, he said. 

“I heard about the four-year approval for a supermarket,” he said, referring to the long battle over the just-approved new Berkeley Bowl at Ninth Street and Heinz Avenue. 

The still-unnamed hotel could become the tallest new construction in Berkeley since the construction of the 13-story Power Bar building in 1971. 

“It’s unbelievable that Berkeley doesn’t have a great hotel,” Friedman said. “This is a tremendous opportunity” 

One of the country’s leading builders of upscale hotels, Carpenter was picked by UC Berkeley to develop a hotel at the northwest corner of the Shattuck Avenue/Center Street intersection. 

He shared his vision of the hotel—and the admonition—during Wednesday night’s meeting. 

DAPAC is working on a new downtown plan mandated in the settlement of a city lawsuit that challenged the university’s Long Range Development Plan outlining expansion plans through 2020, much of it into the downtown area. 

Though the hotel is a private development and will only lease its site from the university, the facility has been a key element in the university’s plans because of the need for upscale rooms for university visitors and guests. 

One Sept. 1, 2003, the university and Carpenter signed the first of a series of exclusive development agreements, which finally culminated earlier this month in the announcement that the details had been resolved and planning would begin. 

The City Council responded by appointing a UC Hotel Task Force, which developed a series of recommendations during a series of eight meetings. 

Peter Diana, vice president and general counsel for the firm, praised “the incredibly thoughtful report” prepared by the task force, and explained that many of the group’s suggestions would be incorporated in their plans. 

“The task force recommended 175 to 225 rooms, and we’re proposing 210,” he said. The ultimate design will also open up the hotel to Center Street, as recommended in the report, and the building will also contain condominium units, another recommendation. 

Similarly, all 200 parking spaces will be underground, another task force recommendation. 

Friedman and architect Gary C. Johnson of Cambridge Seven Associates, who will be designing the project with an as-yet-to-be-hired area architect, said they had no problems with closing Center Street, another task force recommendation. 

But Friedman said closing the eastern lanes of Shattuck Avenue where the roadway splits at Shattuck Square would be a deal-breaker. 

“If you closed Shattuck and Center Street, you wouldn’t have a hotel,” he said. “It would be a non-starter.” 

Several task force members have called for closing the eastern lanes and relocating all traffic to the west. 

The Massachusetts trio received a friendly reception from DAPAC members, answering questions. 

Planning Commissioner and DAPAC member Gene Poschman asked if the university was receiving any special accommodations from the hotelier. 

“This is a market rate hotel,” said Friedman. Though UC would probably be the largest single source of clientele, there was no deal on rates, he said. “We’re not subsidizing them. They’re not subsidizing us.” 

When Poschman asked about ownership of the land, Friedman said Bank of America, the current owner, would only sell to the university, because of a deal that gave the bank tax benefits. 

DAPAC member Patti Dacey said she was excited about the project, “but one of my concerns is that the hotel honor the historic character of the downtown.” What she heard, she said, “has made me feel better.” 

Asked about rates, Friedman point to the company’s Charles Hotel near Harvard Square in Boston, where rooms average about $250 a night. 

“Could you charge more for Stanford and USC fans,” quipped DAPAC member Jenny Wenk. 

Friedman smiled. 

Rat pack invaders 

A half dozen juveniles, all clad in dark clothing and one with his face masked by a bandana, burst into a home in the 2800 block of McGee Avenue minutes after 4 p.m. on June 5 and staged a BB-gun-point robbery. 

The invaders held the weapon on the home’s lone occupant, another youth, until he handed over his own BB-gun, whereupon the invaders departed, said Berkeley police spokesman, Officer Ed Galvan. 

Walk-in banditry 

A pair of strong-arm robbers walked into the unlocked back door of a residence in the 900 block of Virginia Street June 6, confronted the surprised resident and demanded his wallet. 

When he declined their offer, the bandits decided to retreat, and they had vanished by the time police arrived. 

Failed carjack 

An El Sobrante man told police about 3 p.m. on the 6th to report that he’d been sitting in his GMC SUV at the foot of the pier in the Berkeley Marina when he and a companion were approached a gang of 10 or so short fellows, one of whom reached in the opened window and made an unsuccessful attempt to grab the keys from the ignition. 

Cohorts managed to rob the companion of a cell phone and wallet, he said. 

Walk-by shooting 

A 47-year-old Berkeley woman called to report that she’d been shot by a pellet gun wielded by one of a trio of men who approached her while she walking in the 1800 block of Oregon Street just after 5 p.m. on the 6th. 

The men, all wearing white hats and matching T-shirts were gone by the time officers arrived. The woman declined medical treatment.  

Home invader 

“I’m looking for a job,” declared the tall man in the dark blazer who forced his way into a home in the 2700 block of Benvenue Street on June 8 just before 10:30 a.m. 

Trolling a wheeled suitcase behind him, the intruder forced the home’s terrified 32-year-old occupant to hand over her keys before he departed. 

Officers arrived in time to locate the suspect nearby, a 23-year-old. 

Shoving bandit 

A strong-arm bandit robbed a Berkeley woman by shoving her to the ground as she walked along Derby Street near the Milvia Street intersection about 3:40 p.m. on June 8, Officer Galvan reported. 

Foiled heist 

A 34-year-old Oakland woman managed to fend off the attack of two strong-arm bandits who accosted her as she walked along the 1800 block of Seventh Street at 1:30 a.m. on June 10.

The Doubletree Hotel at the Marina, in the process of being sold to Canadian buyers, has raised hotel workers’ concern.  

The transaction is part of an acquisition of the Boykin Lodging Company, which owns the Doubletree, by a partnership of the Toronto-based Westmont Hospitality Group and Cadim Inc. of Quebec in a cash transaction valued at about $416 million, according to Hotel Online. 

The sale is expected to be completed in 90 days, according to Mark Dean, Doubletree’s director of operations. 

The change in ownership is of concern to hotel and restaurant workers, whose contract expired at the end of 2005. (About 75 workers and supporters demonstrated at the hotel last month to press for a new contract.) In a recent negotiating session, Boykin asked Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) to extend the present contract to the new management. 

“We’re not sure who will operate the hotel,” said Mary Catherine Plunkett, HERE researcher. “The deal still has to go to the shareholders.” 

Plunkett said the union is not ready to approve a contract extension because Westmont has not agreed to real worker retention. 

“They want a 90-day probation period,” Plunkett said. “There’s no job security. They could be fired for anything at all.” 

Doubletree workers will attend tonight’s (Tuesday) City Council meeting to urge adoption of a worker-retention ordinance proposed in concept by Councilmember Kriss Worthington to make sure the new owners do not terminate current hotel staff.

The opinion editors of this publication have lately been badgered by several people who claim a divine right to pop off repeatedly at any length they choose and as often as they choose in these pages. Regular readers can attest, undoubtedly with some annoyance, that we have often indulged such writers and published them again and again.  

One more time: our slogan is “All the news that fits, we’ll print”. And this is doubly true for opinions, both shorter letters and longer “op-ed” commentary pieces. This is a small paper, and we do try to get at least part of the cost of publishing it paid by selling advertisements. White space between the ads is precious. There is no inherent “right to reply”—using up space in the paper is a privilege, not a right. 

We generally publish opinion content in the order received on a space available basis. Time-sensitive pieces are sometimes moved ahead, local writers take priority over out of town ones, and we don’t choose to print personal attacks against private citizens.  

Many in Berkeley are still waiting for the triumph of socialism, but until that happy day citizens have a constitutional right to free speech, but limited rights to a subsidized platform or a microphone. We’re pleased to note that some library fans—members of a dedicated free speech community—are threatening a legal challenge to Berkeley’s longstanding and almost certainly illegal practice of limiting public comment at civic meetings to ten people selected by lottery. Probably in response to this threat, the Mayor has lately been cutting the soundbytes from citizens from three minutes to two, in order to cram more talking heads into the measly half-hour he’s willing to spare to listen to vox populi. He’s also been soliciting additional comment from anyone who thinks their point of view hasn’t been heard.  

This is all the airtime that government provides, and that’s only thanks to the Brown Act. Beyond this, someone has to pay for disseminating opinions in our capitalist system. Up to a point, The Planet is happy to have the privilege of providing a free speech venue for East Bay citizens.  

We do have correspondents who can’t sneeze without consuming a thousand words, so lately we’ve been putting their second and subsequent iterations on topics of limited general interest in the web edition only. The longer a piece is, the harder it is to fit into our print pages. Web postings are just as widely read as print, over a bigger geographic area, and they cost us much less.  

And those few writers who think they can get themselves moved up in the queue by threatening or insulting us are just wrong. One recent whiner even had the temerity to try to hide under the skirts of the copyright law. He’s happy to excoriate the paper and its owners any way he wants to in his emails but says we can’t quote him doing so. Oh please! Starting with this issue, threats and insults directed at the paper or its management are a sure path to cyberspace-only publication.  

• 

On to a happier topic: Pat Cody suggests in this issue that “The Berkeley Charles” isn’t the best choice of names for a new hotel in Berkeley. We agree. The Charles River is in Boston, after all. Granted, the “Berkeley Strawberry Creek” doesn’t have quite the same Brahmin cachet.  

A wag at the DAPAC meeting suggested that “Charles” was a tribute to our famous Waving Man, the late lamented Joseph Charles, which conjures up agreeable visions of a bronze statue of Mr. Charles out in front of the hotel. Or perhaps the not-local but equally beloved Ray Charles, or maybe Charles Brown or … no, we’re not getting anywhere this way.  

Here’s a better idea: the Berkeley Daily Planet hereby announces a naming contest for the planned hotel, first prize one night on the premises if it’s actually built (and it’s going to be pricey, so this is a big deal.) The second prize will not be two nights in the hotel (which W.C. Fields might have suggested) but one night’s parking in the hotel garage, car or bike, your choice.  

Of course, we can’t guarantee that the hotel developers will go along with this, but we can at least express our opinions. To give them an incentive to cooperate, we’ll let them choose the winner. Contest entries should be sent to hotel@berkeleydailyplanet.com or mailed to 3025A Shattuck, Berkeley 94705. We’ll forward them to the developers. 

HYPOCRITICAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The title that your headline writer gave to Suzanne La Barre’s article regarding the Berkeley High Schools African American graduation ceremony was hateful and hypocritical! Your writer is a hypocrite! Where is the free speech? I believe the black graduates, their family and friends appreciated for once one of their own (I’m included) to have spoken truth to a hated generation that continuously is forced lies from the perverted people who think they’re in control of this city, particularly our community. Do you not have any shame? 

Rev. Manuel Scott, Jr and Rev. Dr. Robert McKinght, I thank you and praise Almighty God for your faith, for your love, and for your boldness in the Lord to stand against an evil and perverse city. May the Peace of God the Son Be Unto You. 

Lisa Owens 

• 

CORRECTNESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your article “Homophobic Speech Sours Community Graduation Event” caught my eye, as it was not the kind of speech one would expect to occur in Berkeley. The speaker, an African-American, defended his statement by stating that his interests were not with the “political correctness,” but “biblical correctness” of his content. I study the Bible and find much value in it, yet such biblical scholars as he should heed that the Old Testament clearly sanctions slavery, and it is my understanding that even Paul, who is most quoted as being the chief New Testament decrier of homosexuality, also delineates proper treatment for slaves rather than calling for its abolition. Given Paul’s close relationship with the slave in question, it is doubtful he entirely approved of the institution, so it raises the question: Was his acceptance of the slavery was out born out of “biblical” or “political” correctness? How many African Methodist Episcopal priests or Baptist evangelical preachers are preaching the “biblical correctness” of slavery today, and conversely, for how many centuries was slavery trumpeted in our country by ministers as being biblically justifiable and correct? Honest self-examination by the churches and their leaders would hopefully have them realize mores of homophobia and intolerance present in ancient times and today masquerading in the guise of sanctity as the real cause of this current cultural trend in Christian morality.  

Ethan Feldman 

• 

DISTURBING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I found the story on the homophobic speech at a Berkeley High School event deeply disturbing. The fact that the speaker was paid for his hate speech is even more appalling. And I can’t believe that the chair of the BHS African-American Studies Department made the choice to import this hatemonger from Los Angeles. I believe that the Rev. Robert McKnight should apologize for hiring Mr. Scott to give the keynote speech at this event. If Mr. McKnight can’t find it in his heart to do the right thing, he should be fired. 

Our community needs to come together, not be divided by hate speech.  

Mark Pasley 

• 

PACIFIC STEEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

L A Wood (no relation) has pulled back the curtain on what seems to me to be the obvious. This successful company, Pacific Steel, excellent as it may be, no longer should be in West Berkeley. I believe it could move to a more suitable location nearby, where it could thrive and expand and of course keep its current workforce intact.  

We could sue Pacific Steel Casting for polluting the air, land, and landscape, but this is a last resort if the following proposal is not accepted. I think a very large incentive could be favorably received by PSC and it’s quite simple and maybe cost free! The City of Berkeley can offer a one time rezoning of the PSC site and a one time offer to allow a “highest and best use” of the property. I suggest the city have certain design review of course but not much more because the likely use would be 10- to 12-story market-rate housing, even luxury housing, with Fourth Street retail extended north. PSC would have a one-time chance to move with a huge incentive which costs Berkeley really nothing and actually would bring huge benefits to the area and the city—the company would have this one time opportunity to fund not only the move but the cleanup of this site. It would be irresponsible for PSC not to accept this offer because the cleanup is an ongoing liability for the company with this one time chance to avoid it or shift it to a development project. I think PSC could be pleased to have this friendly offer of a huge contribution to an overdue move rather than lawsuits which don’t solve the basic problem. 

Phil Wood 

• 

SPARE THE AIR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Spare the Air Day, but not in Berkeley.  

So I heard that the City of Berkeley wants to get serious about cleaning the city’s air. Get more people on bikes, car pooling, AC Transit, and convert all its remaining city vehicles to bio-diesel or hybrids. What about Berkeley’s No. 1 contributor to bad air: Pacific Steel! Not only are they pumping out green house gases which contribute to global warming they release a large amount of PM-10s, which contribute to global dimming. Once again, the city turns a blind eye. After all Pacific Steel contributes to the spare the air day fund! Therefore it should be able to continuing polluting on spare the air days. I smell their stench as I try to get a breeze through my window on this hot Spare the Air Day. 

Patrick Traynor 

• 

MEASURE B 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

J. Douglas Allen-Taylor needs to get a correction from OUSD Public Information Office Alex Katz for mentioning newly passed $435 million Measure B Bond money as a possible source for paying for the transformation of Carter Middle School into the Oakland Schools’ new central administrative offices. State Administrator Ward made clear during the Oakland School Board meeting that Proposition 39 did not allow for expenditure of School Bond construction money on administrative facilities. However, Administrator Ward said he was discussing with the State Department of Education if bond money not yet spent from the bond measure prior to Measure B could be tapped for paying relocation costs. Here relocation cost means transforming a school into administrative offices at a cost of millions and not simply moving costs. 

The following quotes Mr. Allen-Taylor received from Alex Katz contradict Administrator Ward’s comments during the School Board meeting: 

“OUSD Public Information Officer Alex Katz said he did not have an exact figure on the administration building relocation costs, adding that ‘it is still under discussion’ between Ward and State Superintendent Jack O’Connell over ‘whether that money would come from a draw-down on the state line of credit ‘or from the $425 million in Measure B bond money passed by Oakland voters in this month’s election.’” 

Jim Mordecai 

Oakland 

• 

WRONG ORIENTATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For your information, the “Curvy Derby” baseball field has the wrong orientation. Proper field orientation is basic good design. The personal injury liability for public agencies shall be great and just one accident involving a pitcher and batter can result in a lawsuit and award (loss) of significant money. The partial use, complete lock down and even removal of the new baseball facility is then very real. 

Too, the basketball court orientation is not right. 

Who are these designers? 

Richard Splenda 

• 

A SUGGESTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Here is a suggestion for the Berkeley Unified School District: 

Give the teachers a chance to take any day off they desire to be able to “stand up for yourself,” as a teacher stated. There should be no need to worry about work contracts. The school district should even apologize if the work day was an inconvenience to any rally or protest that a teacher may want to attend. Here is a better idea. Cancel school on the days when these rallies might even seem extra important so that even kids can be involved. 

Frank Price 

• 

VOTING RIGHTS ACT 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

If there is one political proposition we might think has universal acceptance, it would be that all Americans should be encouraged and enabled to exercise their right to vote free of caging and obstruction.  

Yet a handful of Republicans in Congress are holding up renewal of the Voting Rights Act, landmark legislation of the Civil Rights Movement, for reasons they aren’t willing to publicly discuss. 

What reasons could those be? Opposition to excessive democracy? Opposition to allowing people to vote who might vote against the kinds of Republicans holding up this bill?  

Indications are that the Rovian strategy for 2008 is to eliminate opposition by eliminating opposition voters, and this is being done by demographic purging of state voting registration rolls, among other underhanded tactics that renewal of the Voting Rights Act would go a long way to prevent.  

That seems to be the real reason for delaying renewal, and the main reason the VRA is still needed today as much as when it was originally passed a generation ago. 

Citizens, call your representatives to free this bill from bondage, so that the civil right which secures all others can be secured for every voter.  

Dan Ashby 

San Pablo 

• 

THANKS TO THE LIBRARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Most cumulus commendations to our Berkeley Public Library for hipping me to the delicious works of Bill Fitzhugh, a contemporary satirical novelist messing with mystery—a true heir to the inestimable Richard Condon of Manchurian Candidate and Prizzi’s Honor acclaim. To wit, a Mississippi Delta FM blues DJ/private eye, a fired “Orkin man” named Bob Dillon, whose exterminations are highly sought by the global assassin world, a woman finally set for a heart transplant, only to be trumped by the president (a fainting spell is spun). Scandalously unavailable (found a total of two titles) in our best and other Berkeley book stores. Check out Bill Fitzhugh at Central.  

Arnie Passman 

P.S. Fitzhugh is one of “Five Mystery Writers Worth Investigation” in the June 26 issue of Time. 

• 

CRIMINAL REGIME 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The American people oppose this cruel war of aggression and war profiteering that is destroying our reputation and the goodwill of other nations! No candidate deserves to be in office who does not stand up to the lies and treasonous activities of the criminal Bush regime. The Democrats must also find the courage to confront the constitutional crisis of massive computer election fraud and systematic voter disenfranchisement that has been implemented by the Republican Party. The evidence that Bush was not the winner of the 2004 election is overwhelming and Americans are losing faith in our election system. Why are our Democratic Senators and Congresspersons so afraid to fulfill their oaths of office to “protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic”?  

It is time for a major change in our government! This nation belongs to “we the people” not to the corporations or their fraudulently “elected” cronies. 

Allen Michaan 

• 

DON’T “CELEBRATE” OUR NEIGHBORHOOD BY  

DISRESPECTING IT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Some people enjoyed April’s “International Food Festival” in West Berkeley. Others had 90 decibels of it imposed on them with no warning. One’s enjoyment seems to be inversely proportional to the distance one lives from the portable toilets, the smoke from the outdoor cooking booths, the rude staff, and the enormous sound speakers trained directly on certain apartment windows. 

An asphalt parking lot next to four apartment buildings, where sound ricochets off the surrounding walls, is the worst possible location for an amplified show, unless your intent is to annoy hundreds of tenants, only a few of whom had any warning from the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation (WBNDC). 

The notice to the neighborhood for the “International Food Fair” didn’t mention using the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot for an amplified sound stage or putting two aromatic portable toilets right under dozens of tenants’ windows. A variance notice with some of this detail, or any detail, would have initiated some objections, entitling the neighborhood to at least a public hearing. When the City of Berkeley had this pointed out, Jay Ogden (Department of Environmental Health) responded, “that’s not our problem.” 

The owner of a nearby vacant lot next to no residences agreed to host the stage, but Willie Phillips, one of the board members of the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation, said changing their plans was too much trouble. District 1 representative Linda Maio’s office said “negotiations with the neighbors was not required.” Darryl Moore’s office didn’t respond, but showed up to get some face time on the stage, ignoring the issue of the imposition on immediate tenants. 

WBNDC hired an out-of-towner from San Francisco to do its leg work rather than taking the time to walk the neighborhood. Many merchants I spoke with told me they found her manner offensive, or weren’t invited to participate at all. Some merchants no doubt made money, and some people with apartments adjoining the amplified sound stage no doubt enjoyed the music, but only at the expense of hundreds of others who had no warning about the event, and had their work, their quiet, and their private gatherings suddenly and needlessly disturbed for hours. 

One of the event’s staff, Bruce Williams, tore down posters representing opposition, not to the event itself, but to the event’s lack of notice to the neighborhood, and refused to identify himself when photographed doing so. Betsy Morris, the chair of WBNDC, refused to intervene. Letters from tenants in all four of the apartment buildings testify to the difficulty imposed on some of the neighbors that day, but the WBNDC has yet to acknowledge the fact, let alone promise to plan a different location for any future events. 

Please encourage the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation to play fair, if there is a next time, so that hard-working people don’t suffer the burden of their bad planning. Nobody opposes a festival, or music, or great food, or dance. But if your event poses an imposition on others, it’s rude not to consult with them about it, and to respond by telling them to “enjoy” it. 

Carol Denney 

The Berkeley City Council has just asked the Arts Commission to “review and update the definition of ‘arts and crafts’ as referred to in the West Berkeley zoning, which will enable an inventory of such space to go forward and ensure that the space is protected, as stipulated in the West Berkeley Plan and the zoning.” So far, great: protecting arts/crafts space is essential. But if you read on, another agenda appears: “The commission will no doubt struggle with what constitutes arts and crafts as their practice has been modified by the advent of computers and advanced technology.”  

This is not a debate over “what is art?” This is a struggle over development. “Advanced technology” is just verbal legerdemain, the latest sally in the current offensive from developers to touch off a gentrification explosion in West Berkeley.  

In fact the practice of artisans and artists has not been modified by computers. Potters still throw pots, glassblowers still blow glass, woodworkers still plane wood, and sculptors still chisel away, not in virtual space, but in real time immemorial, just as they have always done, in industrial-type studios. The very concept of an art/craft studio is to make space available for uses that cannot be done in an office setting. The definition determines what uses are eligible to be in an arts/crafts studio, and the current definition includes only those arts/crafts that actually need an industrial-type space. There have always been types of artists, such as poets for example, who do not need industrial-type studios, and these were purposefully not included in the West Berkeley definition. But to open the definition to all creative work, inclusive of that ordinarily done in an office, means doom to numerous working artisans and artists. The new computer media are practiced in an office environment, and can afford it. Computer art functions on a higher financial level than traditional arts/crafts, which generate only industrial-level rent. Office rent is double that of industrial. To include computer art in the definition means doubling the rent on arts/crafts studios, pushing working artisans and artists out of town, and converting all the arts/crafts studios into offices. 

It is actually no joke, poets being made eligible for arts/crafts studios. That’s what the city actually put in the shameful use permit of Strawberry Creek Center, a formerly industrial building located at Addison and Bonar, that was supposed to become arts/crafts studios, but which instead was converted into offices. Being east of San Pablo, West Berkeley protected use definitions didn’t apply. When Strawberry Creek Center first opened in the 1990s, a number of artisans and artists moved in, but these were soon pushed out by skyrocketing rents. The owners, with help of city staff, accomplished the conversion from industrial to office simply by their definition of “arts and crafts” in their use permit, which contained a list of over 300 examples of “artists and craftspeople” including gems such as architect, interior decorator, city or urban planner, civil engineer, communications engineer, aeronautical engineer, functionalist, daubster, copyist, stylist, writer, wordsmith, and of course poet. 

Remember those old movies where the villagers and peasants, after long-term abuse, finally rise up on a foggy night and storm the castle by torchlight with hammers and pitchforks? Well, West Berkeley artisans and artists just want to continue to work. Most of us usually ignore city politics. We are slow to anger. But if the city tries to redefine our studios out of existence, redefine our studios as offices, doubling our rents, at some point soon on a foggy night we are going to gather up our hammers and pitchforks. 

The Arts Commission holds the life or death of West Berkeley arts/crafts studios in their hands. I urge all people who support the retention of working artisans and artists in town to communicate that to the Arts Commission through its secretary at MMerker@ci.berkeley.ca.us. 

John Curl is a woodworker, poet, and co-chair of West Berkeley Artisans and Industrial Companies.

The City of Berkeley spends $89,000 annually to purchase goods that facilitate an efficient infrastructure and continued service. Police uniforms, computers for city offices, and accounting supplies are generally ordered from private vendors, who contract companies from across the world to manufacture the starting materials. 

It may come as a shock that the city, with its lasting and proud history of leadership in social justice issues, has no mechanism in place to trace the origins of these starting materials. Little known to any of us is the possibility that some of these origins may be rooted in an onerous legacy of sweatshops, inhumane labor practices, and wages as low as 13 cents per hour. 

This dereliction, however, has the potential for redress on June 27. On this evening, the City Council will have the power to pass a Sweat-Free Ordinance. This provision will ensure for years to come that the purchasing department employs our taxpayer money in a clean and just fashion.  

Subcontractors and contractors that honor the basic labor rights of a minimum wage, the ability to unionize, and the freedom from harassment and abuse will be rewarded through bid offers. Those that fall short of the necessary regulations will receive ample time to reform their practices; if, however, their efforts still remain inadequate, Berkeley will take its business elsewhere. 

It is of paramount importance to remember that such an ordinance without a proper level of funding amounts to nothing more than a toothless bill. This is why a broad coalition of members on the Berkeley Labor and Peace and Justice Commissions as well as over 30 labor, faith-based, student, and community groups in Berkeley recommend that this resolution receive the full amount of a $60,000 request. 

A portion of this amount would be earmarked for an internal monitor, who would conduct much-needed research into the genesis and lifetime of goods and services that eventually find their way into our municipality. Basic data, such as the country of production, normal working hours per day, and overtime policy, will be entered. 

The remainder would be allocated toward a consortium spanning the East Bay, created with the express purpose of sharing information, expediting research, and saving cities time and money. This collaboration will draw on the strength of enforcement in locales such as San Francisco, which recently passed its own sweat-free ordinance, and information stored in the collective annals of the Bay Area. 

The Sweat-Free Ordinance is inseparable in letter or spirit from the monetary request, as the latter will be the only method to promulgate the former. We urge you to contact your council member and state your support for this ordinance. Let’s enjoy the fruits of labor in a just and equitable way! 

Igor Tregub is member of the  

Commission on Labor.

Regarding UCB’s draft enviornmental impact report (DEIR) for the Southeast Campus Integrated Projects (SCIP), which include retrofitting Memorial stadium, a new Student Athlete High Performance Center (SAHPC), new parking garage, and other improvements, John Galen Howard was right.  

Back in the 1920s when the university first proposed the stadium, Campus Architect John Galen Howard opposed building the stadium in its current location, primarily because it was over the Hayward Fault. From Berkeley historians and preservationists, we can piece together other concerns of the day.  

First and foremost, the Hayward Fault bisects the Memorial Stadium, and the proposed 158,000-square-foot SAHPC adjacent to the stadium is within the Alquist-Priolo Fault Hazard Zone of the fault as is the proposed 911-car parking garage. It is now known that this fault is in one of the most dangerous locations in CA with a 27 percent probability of a 6.7 quake causing significant damage to persons and property by 2032. The university proposes to more than double the number of capacity events which would mean more people—both those attending events and those living in adjacent neighborhoods—would be exposed to greater risk in the event of a major earthquake. The DEIR downplays the seriousness of this increased risk and does not look at less risky alternatives.  

Second, access to the stadium and other buildings is through already congested narrow streets designed almost a century ago to serve a primarily residential area. Access remains difficult and would be made worse by the additional parking facility and more events. There is only one egress and one ingress to the new 911-car parking structure off Centennial Drive where it meets Gayley Road. Gridlock would be sure to ensue before and after a football game! This impact is not adequately covered by the DEIR nor is it fully mitigated.  

Third, nature lovers, including early Sierra Club leaders and professors, used to meet frequently in the area which became the stadium site to hike up Strawberry Canyon along Strawberry Creek, passing a beautiful waterfall (now culverted). This group opposed the stadium plan because they wanted to preserve a beautiful natural area. The university now plans to destroy 100 live oaks, including three or four rare heritage oaks, in the same area in order to build the student athletic center. One wonders if it would be possible to save these majestic, historical and long-lived trees or to build around them, preserving them in place. This latter option is not addressed in the DEIR.  

Fourth, residents of Panoramic Hill area were concerned about access to that area in case of fire or other emergencies since there was only one narrow road entering and leaving the area. There continues to be only one narrow road into and out of the area, Panoramic Way, which begins very close to the stadium and would very likely be adversely impacted by stadium and student athletic facility construction activity. The building of these new structures would exacerbate an already dangerous situation and increase risk to the area. An emergency access route is needed in case of fire or other disaster. The DEIR identifies the issue but does not suggest adequate mitigation.  

Given the significance of these concerns and requirements of CEQA, the university needs to look carefully at alternatives. One mentioned in the DEIR is to relocate the stadium and possibly the student athletic facility to Golden Gate Fields on the Albany waterfront. However, that alternative would conflict with plans for completing the Eastshore State Park. A plan for protecting the waterfront area is currently the subject of an initiative campaign in Albany.  

Another alternative the university might want to look at is using the Oakland Coliseum for football games. Although located in another city, one has only to remember that UCLA’s football team plays some 20 miles away in Pasadena to see it is possible to play football games outside of Berkeley. This alternative should at least be looked at in the DEIR and should include an analysis of local and regional traffic impacts.  

Furthermore, the university should consider: doing a minimal seismic retrofit of the stadium, thereby preserving its historical value; maintaining the current number of games per year; and building the student athletic facility in a safer, more easily accessible location.  

Another parking alternative the DEIR should consider is building several satellite parking structures in the downtown area, e.g. the Department of Health Services building, UC Extension Building and Tang parking lot, rather than centralizing and concentrating parking in one building near the stadium, which includes 411 new parking spaces. Dispersing parking in this way might lessen the impact of additional parking in the Gayley Road area and surrounding neighborhoods. What is needed is an overall analysis of the impact of campus parking on Berkeley streets, including the new Underhill parking structure currently under construction.  

Let’s hope the university will listen this time to John Galen Howard.  

Helen Burke is a Berkeley resident.

As she prepares to take to the stage at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura for the world premiere of Open Secrets, I thought your readers may be interested to learn how Berkeley’s famous daughter Karen Grassle saved my life almost 30 years ago when she was at the height of her fame, playing Caroline Ingalls in “Little House on the Prairie.”  

It was the mid ’70s and I was a troubled teenager living in a home where my father mentally and physically abused my mother on an almost daily basis and mentally tortured me. At that time domestic violence was not as openly discussed as it is today and as my friends were more into boys and make-up, I had no one to talk to and was pretty desperate. I was a big fan of “Little House on the Prairie” which at that time was the number one show in the U.S. It was the one hour every week when I could briefly escape from what was going on at home and how I wished I could have been part of a loving family like the Ingalls.  

As things got worse at home I found myself writing down all that was happening, how it was affecting me and how I was feeling. For some reason—I don’t really know why—I mailed the letter to Karen and to be honest I didn’t expect to hear anything back because, as I said, “Little House” was at the peak of its popularity. But I under estimated the care and compassion of this very special lady, because two weeks later not only did I receive a personal reply but her home address and a plea to keep in touch. How many “stars” of today would take the time and trouble to help out a fan in need?  

We exchanged letters for almost a year and then one day came the one which was to literally save my life. Karen sent me the address of Erin Pizzey’s office in London and pleaded with me to get in touch with it. Erin was one of the first people here in the UK to set up safe homes for battered women, a cause which I later learned was very close to Karen’s heart. She co-wrote and starred in the movie Battered about the effects of domestic violence between three couples. I eventually contacted the office and they put me in touch with a local group here in Northern Ireland set up to help kids like me and although the journey was long, slow and sometimes very painful, I survived. In the meantime though I lost touch with Karen when she moved but life went on and the years passed.  

I met and married a wonderful man who restored my faith in the males of this world, and we have two beautiful children. Last September, my daughter, who is 13, was learning in school about the different types of abuse we humans inflict on each other and it was while chatting to her about this that I was suddenly struck by the vast realisation that but for the grace of Karen Grassle I would not be here today to tell my story. Of that I have no doubt. That special letter arrived when I was truly considering suicide and I’ll never be able to thank this wonderful lady enough for saving me. I started what was to be a seven-month search for Karen after the discussion with my daughter. I felt the urge to get in touch with her again to see if she remembered me but more importantly, to thank her from the bottom of my heart for how her very kind actions which enabled me to turn my life around.  

You will be pleased to know I finally caught up with her as she was appearing on stage in Winnipeg. I wrote to her at the theatre and a few weeks later I received a personal reply. She did indeed remember me, was glad my life had turned out so well and thanked me for reminding her that sometimes she’s made a difference. Well that difference to me was my life and for that I will always be indebted to her.  

This lady is a star in the true sense of the word. If the world were full of Karen Grassle’s it would be a wonderful place. 

God Bless you, Karen. You’re one in a million and Berkeley should be very proud of you. 

Maureen McAlorum lives in Northern Ireland.

• 

SPARE THE AIR DAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Spare the Air Day, but not in Berkeley. So I heard that the city of Berkeley wants to get serious about cleaning the city’s air. Get more people on bikes, car pooling, on AC transit, and convert all the remaining city vehicles to bio-diesel or hybrids. What about Berkeley’s #1 contributor to bad air—Pacific Steel! Not only are they pumping out green house gases that contribute to global warming, they release a large amount of PM-10s, which contribute to global dimming. And once again the city turns a blind eye. After all, Pacific Steel contributes to the Spare the Air Day fund! Therefore it should be able to continuing polluting on Spare the Air days. I smell their stench as I try to get a breeze through my window on this hot Spare the Air Day. 

Patrick Traynor 

• 

THE BERKELEY  

MAYBECK? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your story on the hotel to be built downtown reports that it is to be called the Berkeley Charles Hotel, named after a square in Boston which has little resonance with Berkeleyans. The developer president says that “we really care about communities” and “it will feel like it belongs to Berkeley.” To truly belong perhaps it could be named with more local interest—such as the Berkeley Maybeck or the Berkeley John Muir. 

Pat Cody 

• 

JUSTICE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Hello, I am Salvador Nieves Jr.’s sister. 

I read the article that was written about the accident that caused the death of my brother as well as Jessica’s. 

It is a great article with many details that go into high speeds chases by cops, and how nothing is done about that and that’s why they continue. 

My family and I plan to be very involved in all aspects of this case, so that justice will be served in Jr. and Jessica’s names, as well as for the other young lady who survived but will be scarred forever. 

I cannot go into details on what my family plans on doing, as advised by our attorney, but I can tell you that we will not rest until justice is served. 

Thanks again for a great article. We hope to be in contact with you in the near future. 

Rocio Nieves 

• 

LOW-INCOME  

PARKING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’d like to call to your readers’ attention the fact that the city of Berkeley charges half the normal rate ($15 instead of $30) for permit parking to anyone who comes with proof in hand or duplicated by mail that their income is below $29,800. Unfortunately, the Finance Department doesn’t include that information on the renewal notice. I wonder why? 

Estelle Jelinek 

• 

PSC POLLUTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When I saw that Saturday’s Downtown Berkeley Vision Workshop would be held in the brand new Berkeley High School library, I thought “uh-oh.” I can’t climb stairs, and from previous experience I knew that the elevator might be, uh, somewhat problematic. Sho ’nuff, when I arrived at the elevator in question at about 1:20, there was a hand-lettered sign that read, “HANDICAPPED ACCESS—for elevator use see janitor or front desk [wherever that is]. BHS will not leave elevator unlocked.” (When that sign was put up is an interesting if irrelevant question.) 

After a few minutes, a city staffer came by, saw my plight, and went off to look for the janitor. After about 15 minutes, she came by for the third time and fumed, “you mean he’s not here yet? I’m as mad as you are.” At about 1:50 the janitor showed up, after apparently having his lunchbreak cut short, turned on the elevator and gave the city staffer his cell phone number. When it came time to leave, I went up to the city staffer (who was easy to find, fortunately), and she called the janitor; this time I only (!) had to wait 15 minutes to get out. 

When I complained to Dan Marks and Matt Tacker about having to wait half an hour to get upstairs, they complained in turn that the school district had promised that someone would always be available to turn on the elevator. This response begs two questions. 1) Even if someone is always available, how do you make sure they can be located? 2) Even assuming that someone with an elevator key can be easily found, is having to wait 5 or 10 minutes for them to come and unlock the elevator considered an acceptable level of accessibility? There are a number of suitable, perfectly accessible spaces (the senior centers, for example); why wasn’t one of them used? 

Then there is the question of why the elevator is key-operated in the first place. I’ve had similar maddening experiences when I’ve gone to the San Francisco Free Folk Festival at Roosevelt Middle School. It seems school authorities are averse to letting teenagers ride elevators. I’m curious as to how justified this aversion is; let's assume for the sake of argument that it is justified during school hours. Does anybody think it applies on evenings and weekends when very few if any teenagers are likely to be around? 

Hale Zukas 

P.S. On Monday, after I had drafted most of this letter, I was informed that the city planning department was sending a letter of complaint to the school district. While I am gratified that the city is responding expeditiously, I have not taken this response into account here, because I think the concerns raised here need to be addressed regardless. 

• 

ZEALOUS POLICE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Zealotry in our two police departments—both UC and the city’s—has never been greater. We folks who drive on campus and city streets are in danger of being ticketed everywhere and at all times. Never before have the cops worked harder at public safety. Some recent examples:  

Meters begin to operate at 9 a.m. in most places. If your car is parked before 9 and you are hurrying to rescue it by 9, you better make sure you’re present, as the ticketing begins at 9:01 in many places. No leeway.  

Recently a friend of mine was leaving north Berkeley BART station and turned to enter Sacramento Avenue. She saw a woman standing in the middle of the northbound lane. She stopped for a while. The woman did not move, so she moved on slowly and close to the median to avoid hitting her and was immediately nailed by a police car that had been waiting at the intersection for just such an incident. The woman was a decoy. 

I have heard reports of stealth operations on Solano Avenue. A car stops in a red zone at 7 p.m. for 20 seconds near a restaurant to let out an elderly woman who has trouble walking. Though no police car is in sight, within seconds there is one ready to hand out those expensive citations. A spotter?  

And apparently the appeals process rarely allows appeals now. 

We all know the city needs money. We all want car safety to be a norm, and most of us do not flout the law. But this quick and dirty way to pay for the city’s needs is making drivers feel as if we are the enemy. Is this punitive attitude to become the norm? Has the wretched meanness of Washington wafted westward? 

And where are the police cars that could better assure public safety in those streets that need them for real crimes—drug dealing, teen gangs, gun violence. What are our priorities? 

Joan Levinson 

• 

THE SPIN BEGINS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The spin machine is off to an early start with Carolyn Jones’ snide article (“Landmarks Ordinance in Critics’ Crosshairs,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 18) about our Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO). The Chronicle doesn’t print letters from Berkeley preservationists, unless their policy has changed, so I am sending my response to our local newspaper—the voice of the people—the Daily Planet. 

A picture of the Celia’s building is included in the article. Despite Ms. Jones’ insults, it looks great—interesting roof line, nice bay window, positively cute. By contrast, the drawings of the condo/apartment project proposed to replace it show a cheesy, characterless hulk, very similar to the Andante of Emeryville.  

I suggest that people bicycle or drive past the Andante, at the corner of 40th Street and San Pablo Avenue. Then check out Celia’s Restaurant at 2040 4th St. in Berkeley. Years of neglect by its owner have taken a toll, but it’s a cool little building, full of character and life. 

Brennan’s Bar and Restaurant next door, which is also in danger of demolition for the Hulk, is specifically mentioned in the West Berkeley Plan as a “part of West Berkeley history.” 

Both restaurants appear to be thriving, serving the community and contributing revenue to the city—the kind of locally-owned small businesses that Berkeleyans used to treasure and protect. 

Condos have begun to languish, unsold, here and in most of the bubbly real estate markets of the country. What will become of the limitless dot-condos and bubbleminiums already in the works? The building binge should be over soon—there’s no need to lose more of our history and vitality for mindless greed.  

Gale Garcia 

• 

CORRECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A fine article by Ms. Yamamoto about the exhibit at the Richmond Museum of History, “Siempre Aqui” (Berkeley Daily Planet, June 16-19), except that the portrait photographs were misattributed to Richmond High School students. 

They were taken by a young Latina photographer, Mariela Alcocer. Ms. Alcocer, whose parents are from Mexico and Venezuela, lives in San Pablo and is a recent graduate of the California College of Arts in Oakland. 

Maria Sakovich, Guest Curator 

• 

FEE HIKES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just read your article on page 11 of the June 20-22 edition regarding our City Council’s consideration of sewer fee rate hikes and a fee increase for refuse service. 

Our citizens need to know just what their getting for their money: 

1. City government that completely shuts down every month on VTO days (Voluntary Time-Off) and for a week in the winter. 

2. A refuse division that we are forced to pay for, with staff that works an “assumed work day.” This means they get off work when they are done with their routes. This takes them about 4-5 hours, but they are paid for eight hours of work. To make matters worse, they are paid overtime for anything they do after they finish their four-hour route.  

3. Worker’s compensation rates in the upper stratosphere with a Public Works director who manages the largest department in Berkeley and models herself for her staff by filing her own Worker’s Comp. Claim. (Guess which department has the most workers out on injury?)  

Should we pay more for city services? I think not, we should pay less because that’s exactly what we’re getting.  

Shame on our City Council for considering more fees, shame on our city manager for not corralling runaway staff and shame on us for allowing them to this to us time and time again. 

—Ken Lock 

• 

GOOD SOUND MINDS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

FDR was president when I was in grade school. I cannot remember our country in worse shape than it is in now. We need some good sound minds in charge, not ones who try to take all they can get from the American people.  

Mrs. Ina Boyles 

• 

GET THE LEAD OUT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If you could save a child from the harmful health effects of lead at little or no cost, wouldn’t you want to take action? 

Everyone knows lead poses health risks for kids. The National Center for Disease Control says there is absolutely no safe level of lead in the bloodstream of young children. Harmful health effects of lead include reduced IQ, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, stunted growth, impaired hearing, and kidney damage. Between 14 percent and 20 percent of the total childhood lead exposure comes from drinking water that flows through plumbing with too much lead.  

I have posed this question to my legislative colleagues with Assembly Bill 1953, which will phase-out the use of lead plumbing materials in both homes and large water utilities. Lead is commonly used as a component in brass water utility and household plumbing parts and fixtures. As water moves from the water main through the water meter and valves and into the household plumbing, lead can leach from lead-brass parts into drinking and washing water. As many as 20 percent of Californians are getting water with elevated lead levels.  

A.B. 1953 offers the solution to this problem. By phasing out the use of lead in plumbing materials, our water and our children will be safer. Passing this bill will not be easy. We won passage in the Assembly by a vote of 41–37, but we’re facing a tough fight in the Senate.  

Several major utilities in California, including East Bay Municipal Utility District, the L.A. Department of Water and Power, and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission have already begun voluntary programs to install plumbing parts that are lead-free. Furthermore, the San Francisco PUC offers lead-free household fixtures for sale to customers at a discount.  

Lead in drinking water should be a significant concern to the health of all Californians, especially to the most vulnerable, our children. With new lead-free plumbing materials available today, there is absolutely no reason California’s lawmakers should allow old-style lead products to be used.  

We know there is too much lead in our drinking water and AB 1953 offers the solution. Don’t our children deserve that? 

Assemblymember Wilma Chan 

• 

WE CANNOT WIN THIS WAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Today’s newspaper front-page headline told us that Iraqi troops who our soldiers were training, shot and killed two American trainers. Clearly, anti-American feeling runs deep in Iraq. With each passing day it becomes clearer that we cannot “win” this aggressive war. We must get our troops out—the sooner the better.  

Ms. Roberta Maisel 

• 

UNCOMPASSIONATE CONSERVATIVES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Look who the mouthpieces are for the Bush administration: Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, muckrakers with no conscience. Ghouls who strangle words, use contrived metaphors and extrapolate untruths.  

Religious right-wingers now control all processes and venues of the U.S. government. Uncompassionate conservatives who bury their greed and hypocrisy in Christian ethics. Ethics and honesty have taken a nosedive under the current administration? Any wonder why America is headed in the wrong direction?  

The GOP divides and polarizes with the help of its egregious pundits; it’s the only way they can hope to win elections and stay in power.  

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley 

“Redevelopment should be pursued primarily for the benefit of the community as a whole and of the people who live in the ... area; not for the redeveloper or his eventual tenants.” Herbert J. Gans, The Urban Villagers, 1962. 

Whenever I hear about large infill (re)developments / high density traffic corridors and their purported purpose of reducing urban sprawl by re-attracting people into the urban core, I wonder what evidence there is that this strategy will work. Over my years as a Flatlands resident, I’ve known many middle-income people including administrators (from both U.C. and the city), teachers, musicians, mechanics, chefs, firefighters, artists, carpenters, gardeners, health care workers and even doctors and lawyers who have moved from Berkeley to the suburbs and beyond. While affordability was often a consideration, they didn’t leave simply because of price but because the ‘city’ (Berkeley/Oakland/S.F.) did not provide the kind of housing they wanted at a price they could afford. They wanted, for instance, a larger house (or simply a house instead of an apartment/condo) where they could raise their kids. A quieter, less hectic, safer, friendlier area with less traffic and less noise. A cleaner, less polluted environment (for some their health depended on it.) More space to have a studio or workshop, to house an extended family, grow food, keep animals, store a boat, play music —in short, a more comfortable place where they could do the kinds of things that they enjoyed.  

Such anecdotal accounts are mirrored by statistical findings. Data from the US Census Bureau’s National Housing Survey shows a consistency over the years for the reasons people give for wanting to move from their neighborhoods. These are (in the order of frequency of reporting):  

—Noise (both street and aircraft) 

—Heavy traffic 

—Deteriorating infrastructures (e.g. streets, schools, lighting) 

—Crime 

—Commercial and industrial development 

—Litter 

—Deteriorating housing 

—Noxious odors 

—Abandoned buildings 

Intuitively, this list makes sense as each of the factors can negatively impact people’s health and well-being. For example, noise (as anyone familiar with psychological torture techniques can tell you) has long been recognized as having a debilitating effect on the human organism. Repeated exposure to loud noise can cause hearing loss. Noise is also a general biological stressor that contributes to stress related conditions like high blood pressure, coronary disease, ulcers, migraine (and other) headaches and a general lowering of the immune system. It is also associated with irritability, insomnia, fatigue, digestive disorders and neuroticism. On a social level, noise interferes with communication, disturbs normal domestic and educational activities, creates safety hazards and is a source of extreme annoyance. And workers exposed to high levels of noise have a significantly greater rate of accidents, diagnosed medical problems and absenteeism. It is understandable, therefore, that people would want to move away from noise.  

Taken as whole, the list is evocative of a pattern in urban areas across the US (like Cleveland, Buffalo, Toledo, Oakland, Chicago and Detroit) where vast urban wastelands inhabited by the very poor take up much of the central core while new massive institutional/corporate complexes along with housing for the well-to-do are constructed along the periphery, destroying neighborhoods and pushing settled residents into the ever outwarding spiral of urban sprawl.  

The list also has predictive value. One could anticipate, for instance, that a high density housing development built on a relatively small triangle of land bordered by three major arteries and above a transit station would be high on the factors of noise, heavy traffic and noxious odors. One could expect, therefore, that no matter the original intent, this housing would become transitional because residents would find it uncomfortable to live in for long periods of time. Similarly, construction of an athletic field with high intensity lights and evening practices/games across from a residential neighborhood would increase noise, traffic congestion and litter. This, in turn, would disturb normal domestic activity, motivate stabler, longer term residents to relocate, the neighborhood to become more transitory and crime to increase.  

Nor should we ignore the fact that reconstruction itself can have an impact on the livability of an area. It is noisy. It creates noxious fumes and odors. Blocked roads direct cars onto nearby streets thereby increasing traffic congestion. Nearby business suffer as street parking is eliminated during construction, foot traffic declines and old customers seek pleasanter and easier to get to places to shop. For example, the construction of a high rise hotel complex and a 9 story condo development within a block of each other in a relatively small, narrow streeted, suburban downtown that will take years (if not decades) to complete is certain to have a negative impact on nearby businesses, offices and residents. If such construction is necessary, help for the afflicted in the form of rental subsidies during construction, liquidation funds for small store owners and relocation assistance should be considered as a cost of the redevelopment and appropriately budgeted for.  

In order to reduce sprawl and re-attract people to the inner city we might better concentrate on creating a more livable environment by reducing noise and traffic, improving infrastructures like streets, schools, lighting, transportation, libraries, sewers, health services and parks, reduce pollution, repair deteriorating housing and increase public safety. We should strive to retain residents already in the city by working with neighborhoods to determine what they need and want. And we should encourage economic opportunities for all by promoting locally owned start-ups and small businesses including street vendors, farmers’’ markets, home offices and studios, flea markets, artisans, street musicians and solo practitioners. Redevelopment should be carefully done and over scale reconstruction limited to areas already abandoned. In short, if we truly want people to remain in or return to the cities, we should create a quieter, healthier, saner, more equitable place to live.  

Joanne Kowalski is a Berkeley resident.

Last Saturday I attended the “Visioning” meeting of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC). It is hard to find much to recommend about the usual “going through the motions of community input” workshop. But the upbeat attitude of the sub-group in which I participated made it enjoyable. Rather than the usual listing of problems, we started by listing the strong points of downtown Berkeley. So I came away with my own list of downtown’s assets and a renewed sense of regret at the threat posed to our city center by the mayor’s deal with the university.  

Consider some of the current downtown Berkeley plusses: 

Music: The Jazzschool, Jupiter, Anna’s Jazz Island, Becketts, The Down-Low Lounge, with Freight and Salvage coming ... soon?  

Berkeley Central Library, not only a world class library but the site of many special events produced by the Arts and Music Department.  

Three movie theaters with 22 screens.  

Legitimate theater: The Aurora and Berkeley Rep have three stages; The Marsh uses the theater in the Gaia Building occasionally (but that’s another story). 

Great variety of restaurants in ethnicity, price and ambiance. 

Convenient to BART and AC Transit. 

Plenty of parking. 

People on the street late into the evening. 

So when people say that downtown is dead perhaps they should look again.  

They should look again at the mythical lack of parking. When they say there is no parking they must mean there is no parking at meters in front of their destination because there are any number of parking garages within a few steps to two blocks of all of the places listed above. If it were true that we lacked parking, it is still of no moment because in a couple of years, after the Berkeley Megabowl is completed, the traffic snarl at Ashby and San Pablo will stop people from neighboring communities and across the Bay from coming downtown except by BART. 

It is true that downtown is dead as far as retail. Retail interests have visions of downtown being lined with small shops like College or Solano avenues, but developers have bought up all the available real estate and sent rents into the stratosphere, which has brought on a wholesale exodus of the small owner-run shops. Should we just sit by and watch as the Invasion of the Land Snatchers makes its final grasp? What if we had actually been invited to the DAPAC public meeting to be heard rather than as a cover for their schemes to obliterate all vestiges of downtown as we know it.  

If I had a voice I would describe a downtown that is a cultural mecca with multi-purpose performance and exhibition spaces in our lovely, old, well-proportioned buildings. I can see Shattuck Avenue with sidewalk cafes full of residents of all ages who live in affordable, height-limited apartments. (Now only students can afford the high rents. For some reason there are few older people who want to sleep in bunk beds with five roommates). Then, as more and more people want to live downtown, a new vitality would make Shattuck Avenue a place everyone could enjoy. The air would be clear as people ride their bikes, walk or take the non-polluting buses that run every few minutes.  

Why isn’t that within our reach? Greed in Berkeley? Not Berkeley, the home of Mario Savio and the Free Speech Movement, not Berkeley that for some reason remains a symbol of a progressive city. We need to face the fact that Berkeley is the Neo-Con of cities and is in serious danger of being exposed for the fraud it is. 

We were probably done for when, in the dark of night, the city climbed in bed with the giant corporation that looms over us. 

But if enough people take a hard look at the current power structure and make some significant changes in November, there is an outside chance that we may keep our human proportions. 

Bonnie Hughes is the director of the Berkeley Arts Festival.

Voters will determine 33 Senate seats in 2006. According to veteran D.C. prognosticator Charlie Cook, 16 incumbent senators are all but guaranteed reelection. In order to regain control of the Senate, Democrats will have to win at least six of the eight Republican seats that are in play and retain all nine of the contested Democratic seats. Here are the ten most interesting senatorial races:  

In Arizona Republican incumbent John Kyl anticipated an easy victory. Now, polls show that his margin over a Democratic challenger has dwindled from 31 to 7 percent. The Sept. 12 primary will pit Jim Pedersen against John Verkamp. Pedersen is the favorite. 

Minnesota has a vacant Senate seat because Democrat Mark Dayton is retiring. The primary will be held Sept. 12; the leading Democratic candidate is Hennepin County District Attorney Amy Klobuchar. The latest polls show her leading Mark Kennedy, her likely Republican opponent. 

An interesting race is shaping up in Missouri where Republican incumbent Jim Talent has weakened in the polls. The Missouri primary is Aug. 8, and the favored Democrat is State Auditor Claire McCaskill. The race appears to be a toss- up.  

Another intriguing contest is in Montana, which used to be solid red state but elected a Democratic governor in 2004 and now seems poised to dump Neanderthal Republican Sen. Conrad Burns. The June 6 primary resulted in the nomination of populist farmer Jon Tester. The latest polls show him ahead. 

You may remember that New Jersey Democratic Senator Jon Corzine resigned his position once he took office as governor in January. His replacement was Democratic Representative Bob Menendez. So far, Menendez has run a lackluster race against his Republican opponent, Tom Kean, Jr. This is probably the GOP’s best shot at picking up a Democratic seat. 

In Ohio, Democratic Representative Sherrod Brown is running against embattled Republican incumbent Mike DeWine, who has been implicated in the Abramoff scandal. This race is a toss-up. 

The most highly publicized Senate race is in Pennsylvania, where conservative Christian poster-boy Rick Santorum is in trouble. Polls show him running behind the Democratic challenger Bob Casey, Jr. Santorum has a lot of money on hand and can be expected to wage a vicious race to keep his seat.  

The Rhode Island primary happens Sept. 12. The Republican incumbent, Lincoln Chafee, is facing a stiff primary challenge from conservative Steve Laffey. If Chafee gets past the primary, his likely opponent is former State Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse. The race is a toss-up. 

There will be an open Senate seat in Tennessee because Bill Frist is retiring to run for president. The Aug. 3 primary will determine the Republican candidate. The Democratic challenger is likely to be Harold Ford, Jr., a handsome, articulate, African-American congressman. Early polls indicate that the race is a toss-up. 

In Virginia incumbent Republican George Allen was said to have an easy reelection. So easy that he was thinking about running for president.  

Democrats recruited former Secretary of the Navy Jim Webb to run against Allen and suddenly there’s a race. Allen remains the favorite. 

Those of you who believe that our best strategy in Iraq is to bring the troops home should note that Brown (OH), Klobuchar (MN), McCaskill (MO), Tester (MT), Webb (VA), and Whitehouse (RI) share this position. 

Besides the BB top 10, there are several other races that should be watched. In Maryland, Democrat Paul Sarbanes is retiring. 

The primary is in September, and whichever Democrat wins, will probably win the November election. In Vermont, Independent Jim Jeffords is retiring. The Sept. 12 primary will decide the Democratic and Republican candidates. However, the prohibitive favorite is Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders.  

Democrat incumbents face stiff challenges in Michigan (Debbie Stabenow), Washington (Maria Cantwell), and West Virginia (Robert Byrd). Finally, in Connecticut, incumbent Joe Lieberman is facing unexpected competition from anti-war Dem Ned Lamont. Whichever candidate wins the Aug. 8 primary will probably prevail in November. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net.

Joe and I spent a couple of days up in Humboldt County among the really big trees last week. We stayed in a motel on the Avenue of the Giants among the old redwoods, where we could sit on the front porch in the evening and listen to the Mozartian aria of hermit thrush and the haunting, minimalist song of varied thrush, a bird has perfected wabi-sabi.  

The redwood forest is justly celebrated—I’ve done considerable celebrating of it myself—but there’s a companion, a peer of the redwoods who carries the rainforest system farther north, joining with the great true firs and redcedars to complete world’s largest remaining temperate rainforest.  

This companion, Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menzieseii, shows up in cultivation, on campuses and big gardens here too. In fact, that’s not unique; I was surprised, many years ago, to notice that great big Douglas-firs were all over Harrisburg, Pa., where I grew up. The difference was that I’d learned to recognize them.  

That’s not hard. Aside from the massive yet airy bearing they have, with their deeply furrowed dark-gray bark and short narrow needles, they have a good trademark in their cones: small, brown, papery, and with a three-pointed tongue poking out from under each scale. There are stories about how Coyote was chasing the mice and they asked Douglas-fir to help them, so Douglas-fir let them hide in those cones but their tails and hind legs didn’t quite fit. One variant has Douglas-fir offering the mice shelter and then snapping them up in the cones.  

Maybe that depends on the tellers’ attitudes toward those big, useful guardian trees that, like redwoods, occasionally spear the forest floor with “widowmakers,” self-pruned branches from way way up that come down hard enough to stab the ground and stand upright like a hurled spear.  

Douglas-fir’s usefulness is evident all around us. Intense logging of the species after World War II was the first step toward the construction boom that followed, especially the residential part of that; it’s called “the tree that built suburbia.” As softwoods go, it’s strong, and it goes into plywood as well as board stock. It’s also a common Christmas tree, especially in the West.  

It hangs onto its needles well. If this makes you laugh, consider how extreme a condition it is to be amputated from most of your vital organs—half of your body, at least—stuck onto a truck, then crucified in a parking lot for a few weeks, and finally dragged into the stifling hotbox of someone’s living room for a few weeks more. And having your remaining self mauled and clamped with wire hangers and hung with twig-distorting ornaments and bound with hot points of light all the while. Then imagine trying not to shed any hair, or sweat, or get so much as flaky dry skin during this ordeal.  

The S-and-M holiday atmosphere goes mostly one way; Douglas-fir has rather non-poky needles, which is a virtue in a tree that’s going to be handled, and makes it easier company in the house too. 

The tree’s at its best, of course, in its native land. Old-growth Douglas-fir, like old-growth redwood, makes a distinctive kind of habitat. It’s preternaturally quiet in some of the old coastal groves, a place fit for Zen Druids to meditate, or for Ents to drowse. Birdcalls—hermit thrush, pileated woodpecker, spotted owl—knife the silence, echo, then dissolve into the treetop fog. Red coralroot orchids, pale irises, white-flowered thimbleberry, and tanoak look up to madrones that would be the giants of any other forest.  

The Doug-firs preside, straight as arrows to the sky or spreading low from the crowns like huge hands, “wolf trees” that got a head start in open spaces before other trees or fires got a chance to shape them. The species itself is far from endangered, but the habitats, the particular cathedrals that grow in its company, are few and scattered these days.  

When I see a Douglas-fir in the city I think of these places, and wonder sometimes if planting emissary trees where so many of us live, here in the paved and stifled parts of Earth, can possibly have the effect I’d like to see, striking a spark of longing for what we hardly know. It’s not far from here. We just have to journey there, and then stop, quiet ourselves, sit and listen to the congress of ancient giants. 

Last Saturday, the public finally got to speak at length to the city’s seven-month-old Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (or DAPAC—the only acronym you’ll need to read this column). One unexpected event at this “workshop” was that the inmates promptly took over the asylum. 

Another was that most participants seemed satisfied with the immediate results—although suspicions remain about the purposes and mechanism behind Berkeley’s development of a new downtown plan. 

The revolt began right after city staff planner Matt Taecker gave a slideshow packed with maps, graphs, and design options, then announced the afternoon’s intended format: Participants were to discuss their “issues of greatest concern” about the downtown in assigned “large groups,” then form smaller groups to pursue their favorite topics (things like “UC Growth & Oxford Edge”) by filling in maps with markers or Monopoly-money tokens. 

Playing the Jack Nicholson role from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was current mayoral candidate and former Planning Commission chair, Zelda Bronstein. Quoting current zoning, she challenged Taecker’s account of downtown’s building height limit (she said it’s seven floors, not eight) and area (she said the northern edge is University Avenue, not the Hearst Avenue boundary DAPAC is using). 

“To properly develop any of the ideas you’ve just shown us would take a planning process of several months,” she told Taecker. “The most respectful thing you could do, in terms of self-respect,” she told the audience, “would be to go home right now.” 

Next up, in the role of Nicholson’s Cuckoo’s Nest ally Billy Bibbitt, was mayoral candidate Christian Pecaut. A sign reading “Manufacturing Consent” summarized his view of the workshop. “They need your consent to proceed with this,” he said, referring to city staff. “And if you give it to them, they’ll keep all the power.” 

Then DAPAC chair Will Travis suggested that if people were concerned about the process, they could form a small group later to talk process. This got a round of unintended laughter. 

A speaker from the Star Alliance Foundation (a Berkeley nonprofit, not the United Airlines code-sharing partnership of the same name) admonished us to put goodwill into the process if we wanted goodwill to come out. Yours truly asked Taecker just what our authority was. “We want your raw, unfiltered feelings,” he said. 

DAPAC member Rob Wrenn heatedly addressed the suggestion that staff had predetermined the contents of the new downtown plan. “We will write the plan,” he emphasized, referring to the committee’s 21 appointed members. 

Around this point, enough consent was manufactured to start the large-group discussions. Then a funny thing happened. Most people seemed to decide they liked their “large” group enough to keep it together for the rest of the afternoon. So the idea of small groups organized around specific topics got tossed out, along with the corresponding placecards and the Monopoly money. A few people who found their assigned group unsympathetic reshuffled to other tables. 

A table anchored by environmentally-oriented DAPAC members Wrenn and Juliet Lamont suggested closing Center Street, daylighting Strawberry Creek, and closing lanes on Oxford Street. 

Longtime Berkeley commentator Richard Register, now a resident of downtown Oakland, left our table to start his own small group. He reported reaching consensus on the kinds of things he’s advocated for years: tall, terraced buildings with rooftop gardens. 

Our group was a mix of mostly unaffiliated Berkeley residents, including some UC employees attending as individuals. We filled a flipchart with things we liked most about downtown, and wanted to promote or at least not lose. Several people praised downtown’s independent businesses, and wanted to see the city help them thrive. Someone suggested a free shopper’s shuttle, which others liked. 

Several people mentioned conserving and reusing historic buildings, and filling vacancies before building more capacity. Berkeley Arts Festival director Bonnie Hughes, who lives downtown, said that older buildings often provide better performance spaces. 

“I keep getting shown new buildings with seven-foot ceilings,” she said. “Few musicians can perform gracefully in seven feet.” 

Others said that downtown should preserve sunlit areas, avoiding the shady, wind-tunnel effect of the tall towers flanking Center Street. Some noted the recovery of the top three blocks of upper University Avenue and Center Street, the latter thanks to city and university investments that shouldn’t be screwed up. 

By the time every group reported back, the session seemed to have pleased most people, including some tough customers. “I thought it was interesting that nobody used the game pieces,” Lamont later told me. “They just discussed what they wanted to discuss.” 

Wrenn said the workshop “had some value as another opportunity for the public to put forward their concerns.” He emphasized that “we also want them to submit their ideas in writing.” After this public meeting, or another planned for the fall, he hoped participants would “write a memo saying ‘We had a really good discussion, and here’s what we proposed...’.” 

“I am very pleased with the workshop,” Taecker wrote me, saying that it “provided a clear indication of shared community values for a downtown that is: vibrant, welcoming, greener, and pedestrian-friendly.” 

I heard much less satisfaction about broader questions of why and how Berkeley is developing a new downtown plan, with UC’s funding and substantial involvement. Many other DAPAC members and observers have suspicions rooted in the mayor’s May 2005 closed-door settlement with UC that launched that process. This settlement dropped a city lawsuit over UC’s 2006–2020 Long Range Development Plan. And to feel one’s way around this elephant is to enter a different movie—Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 classic about different witnesses’ conflicting recollections of a brutal rape and murder. 

Several people criticized the settlement (which you can download from: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/manager/LRDP/ucblrdpagreement.pdf) for giving UC “veto power” over the new downtown plan’s contents. But others point out that the university is constitutionally exempt from local planning controls. 

Under this agreement, UC at least agrees to consider following the guidelines the city develops. Its right to block the release of a new downtown plan is a problem only if you think the city needs to replace its existing one, which was adopted in 1990. 

Does Berkeley need a new downtown plan? Mayor Bates, writing in these pages last Sept. 27, said so. But others disagree. 

And Wrenn and Lamont both told me they were glad DAPAC has scheduled sessions to review the existing Downtown Plan and decide what language to keep. “We can’t meet the deadline if we start from scratch,” said Wrenn, who said he would have preferred to focus on implementing the city’s current Downtown and General Plans. 

“The train has left the station, and you can be on it or not,” Lamont said. “We’re trying to make something good of it.” 

Several other people identified beneficiaries other than the university. In their view, Mayor Bates is pursuing a three-point agenda to please high-density developers and their fans. Replacing the current Downtown Plan would serve the first two points, by freeing developers from its closely specified height limits and design guidelines. The third point, in this view, is the mayor’s parallel effort to facilitate demolitions by weakening the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. 

The convening of a DAPAC “Technical Advisory Committee,” whose meetings are closed to the public and to DAPAC members themselves, was a surprise even to many DAPAC members. “That’s never, to my knowledge, happened in the history of Berkeley planning,” said Wrenn. 

Then there’s money. Under the settlement, UC increases its annual payment to the city for services received. But critics complain that UC gets to unilaterally determine the purposes of much of the new funding, and that the city gives up the right to pursue the substantially larger compensation that it is arguably due. 

Other disagreements could easily fill another column: Is DAPAC’s expanded definition of “downtown” a threat, or a protection, for adjoining residential neighborhoods? Is DAPAC’s appointed membership better or worse than a “stakeholder” model? And what about the real bottom line: the university’s exemption from local zoning, which folks on all sides seem to agree is archaic? 

One clear conclusion I reached after Saturday’s short workshop is that people in all roles are approaching this new downtown plan with goodwill. But they’ll do their best work with close public scrutiny and involvement. 

DAPAC meets the third Wednesday of each month, usually from 7–10 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Their contact information is at: www.cityofberkeley.info/planning/landuse/dap.

While the Israeli military is denying it had anything to do with the deaths of eight Palestinian civilians at Beit Lahia beach in the Gaza Strip, June 10, a former Pentagon battle damage expert says “all the evidence points” to an artillery shell fired by Israel. 

According to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, “The accumulating evidence proves that this incident was not due to Israeli forces.” The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) claim the deaths and injuries were caused by an explosive device buried in the sand. 

But Marc Garlasco, a former U.S. Defense Department damage expert who worked in Kosovo and Iraq, says that the shrapnel he collected, as well as the nature of the wounds, points to a land-based 155mm howitzer shell, the basic artillery round for the U.S. and Israeli militaries.  

Garlasco found one shell fragment with “55mm” on it, and he dismissed the IDF’s theory that the explosion was caused by a 155mm shell buried by Hamas militants. He said most of the injuries were to the head and torsos of the victims, wounds inconsistent with a buried device. “If this had been a landmine,” Garlasco told Donald MacIntyre of the London Independent, “I would have expected to see serious leg injuries.” He called the IDF theory “ridiculous.”  

Human Rights Watch is calling for an independent investigation, which, so far, the government of Prime Minster Ehud Olmert is stonewalling.  

While the incident has vanished from the American media, it has sparked widespread discussion in the Israeli press. Writing in Haaretz, columnist Danny Rubinstein challenged the idea that the bloodshed was “the result of a tragic error. It was clear to everyone that in the exchanges of fire in the narrow Gaza Strip, where the population density is among the highest in the world, it was just a matter of time before an entire family was hit.” 

Rubinstein says there is not only no military solution to the overall conflict, it is “increasingly clear that there is no military solution for putting an end to the Qassam rocket attacks.” 

In the past year, the IDF has fired over 6,000 shells into Gaza, demolishing houses, fields, roads, bridges and launching sites, and killing more than 80 Palestinians (in the past two years eight Israelis have died from Qassam rockets). “None of this helped. On the contrary: there are many more rockets and missiles in Gaza today than in the past,” writes Rubinstein.  

But, according to the columnist, the shelling and the refusal to talk with the Palestinians has a purpose: “It is best that the Palestinians remain extremists because then no one will ask the government of Israel to negotiate with them. How do we insure that the Palestinians remain radical? We simply strike at them, over and over, via assassinations and incessant bombings, until they drive any thought of supporting a peace policy out of their minds.” 

Israeli peace activists marched on IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz’s house in Tel Aviv to protest the Gaza killings. Among the protestors was Dana Olmert, daughter of the Prime Minister. And five human rights organizations sent a letter to Olmert and Peretz calling on them to end the killing of Palestinian civilians in the territories, and to “uproot the elements that contribute to this killing.” 

There is lots of blame to spread around for the recent riots in East Timor that killed over 30 people and paralyzed the capital, Dili. For starters, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Australia, and the U.S.  

The trigger for the unrest was a decision by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri to dismiss 600 of the new nation’s soldiers. Alkatiri was responding to pressure from the World Bank and the IMF to curb government spending and impose austerity on the debt-laden island. 

The dismissed soldiers were mostly easterners, and westerners largely dominate the present East Timor government. The media has played up this “ethnic tension” angle, although there are no ethnic differences between the two populations. What has caused tension is that the current government is mostly composed of exiles that fled during Indonesia’s 25-year reign of terror.  

When the soldiers claimed that they were being discriminated against by Dili-dominated government, Alkatiri cavalierly dismissed them. 

The real source of the problem is that East Timor was first ravaged by the Indonesians, and then quickly abandoned by the United Nations, in large part because the UN is under severe budget pressure from United States and Great Britain. The United States is opposing efforts to send UN troops back in. 

East Timor is the poorest country in Asia. It lost 200,000 residents during the 1974-99 Indonesian occupation, a kill ratio higher than Pol Pot achieved in Cambodia. When the country voted for freedom in 1999, Indonesian militias destroyed 70 percent of East Timor’s infrastructure, and herded 250,000 people into concentration camps in Indonesian-dominated West Timor. According to a study in The Lancet, Britain’s leading medical journal, one third of East Timor’s people met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder following the 1999 rampage. 

Timor’s underdevelopment is due not only to Indonesia’s rapacious exploitation, but also to Australia’s refusal to turn over billions of dollars in oil revenues from the Timor Sea. Under current international law those fields belong to East Timor, but Australia claims they are “disputed.” 

Indonesia could not have invaded East Timor without the explicit permission of President Gerald Ford’s administration (then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger personally gave the green light to Indonesian President Suharto) and without the passive acceptance of the illegal occupation by Australia and Great Britain. 

Instead of pressuring Indonesia to turn over 400 people accused of war crimes during the long occupation and 1999 rampage, the United Stated and Australia have remain largely silent on the issue The Bush Administration recently announced it would begin selling arms again to the Indonesian military. 

Indeed, the U.S. Justice Department is actively aiding Indonesia’s illegal occupation of West Papua by charging that the Free Papua Movement is a “terrorist” organization, thus giving the Indonesian army the cover it needs to try and crush the separatist movement. 

The great colonial powers—in East Timor’s case, Portugal—plundered the less powerful, throttling their economies and strangling their political evolution. Then they shake their heads and tsk-tsk about “failed states” when things go badly, as if they bear no responsibility. 

Former Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi’s line on the April 9-10 razor close Italian elections was that they were a “fluke,” and that Romano Prodi’s center-left government was not long for the world. Well, the “fluke” turned into an old fashioned trouncing in local elections May 28-29, when the center right was lucky to hang onto Berlusconi’s hometown, Milan. 

The center-left’s candidate for mayor of the big industrial city of Turin crushed the center-right candidate, burying the myth that the wealthy north is right wing, while the scruffy south is left.  

Center left candidates swept 14 major cities, including Rome and Naples. The center right did hang on to the governorship of Sicily, but then again the victor, Salvatore Cuffaro, is on trial for aiding the Mafia.  

Not that Prodi will have smooth sledding. According to the Financial Times, Berlusconi’s mania for tax cutting left public finances in dreadful shape. 2006-07 will be a year of living dangerously for Prodi’s government, as it tries to fulfill promises with depleted coffers.

This is a time of euphoria for progressive Oakland—that small, special period between the promise and the practical reality of the Ron Dellums administration, a dizzy, giddy, magnificent time when hopes soar, the world appears as an incredible place, and all things suddenly seem possible. 

They salsa’d and danced the electric slide at the Dellums victory celebration at Kimball’s Carnival on election night, even before the first precinct count had come in, and when the former Congressmember got on the stage and said he believed “to a moral certitude” that the campaign would end with him occupying the mayor’s office at Ogawa Plaza, the faithful roared their approval and not a doubt of the ultimate outcome lurked in any corner in the club. 

Forgive me, then, my skepticism, and my words of caution in these in-between days, while the Dellums go off on a well-deserved vacation and City Hall prepares, some of the staff a little nervously, for the January inauguration and the changing of the guard. 

Mr. Dellums told us, more than once, that he was not the Man of Steel come to save Oakland. No red “S” is painted on his chest, and he will almost certainly walk up the steps to get to his desk, not fly in through an upstairs window. We should take heed, and believe him, because the time is soon coming for the governing part of this experience, and that will be far more difficult and challenging than the election ever was. 

Tucked in the middle of a Los Angeles Times article this week about the race between outgoing Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and State Senator Chuck Poochigian for California Attorney General was a predictable quote from California Democratic Party consultant and strategist Darry Sragow: Jerry Brown has “done a lot of things since 1982,” Mr. Sragow told the Times, “most recently a good job as mayor of a city that's pretty tough to govern.” 

This is what we should and have come to expect from Mr. Brown’s supporters when the current mayor is attacked on his record in Oakland; Oakland is so screwed up, they will tell everyone listening, that none of Mr. Brown’s massive failures were his fault but were only due to Oakland’s own deficiencies. We’re so bad, nobody could have done it any better, they will say, and we and the rest of the state ought to be thankful for the effort Mr. Brown put forth on our behalf. After all, who else could have done better? 

Forgive the use of the Anglo-Saxon, but that’s a bullshit excuse, smelling like the holding pens out at the Rowell Ranch. But it’s an excuse that will resonate around the state, because that’s what they think of Oakland in Bakersfield and San Bernadino and up in Tulare County, and so Mr. Brown will probably get away with it. 

Oakland would not have been so tough to govern for somebody who came to work every morning and completed the list of tasks that were set out on his desk for him to do. But Jerry Brown, the free spirit whose mind was always drifting with the breeze to other, more interesting (to him) pursuits and challenges, was never one for completion of the tasks he was supposed to be doing and for which we paid him, handsomely and regularly. 

Living the slacker life in City Hall’s upper floors will certainly not be the case with Mr. Dellums, who is legendary for his work ethic. 

But his term as mayor of Oakland is going to run into immediate difficulties for other reasons, some of them in large part because of the expectations raised by the way Mr. Dellums ran his campaign. 

This was a campaign that was heavy on inspirational talk and light-in-the-ass on the accompanying details, and that made it an exceptionally smart campaign in which Mr. Dellums was able to win decisively, without a runoff. Coming out with details on how he would redo the Oak to 9th or the Forest City deals would probably not have won Mr. Dellums a single new vote from the pro-developer crowd, but it might well have peeled away elements of that large and diverse coalition of his support—open space environmentalists or labor activists or members of the various ethnic-racial groups—who might have found, suddenly, that Mr. Dellums’ shoes didn’t fit their feet in quite the way they thought they would. But in running a campaign of vagueness, Mr. Dellums was an opaque pot into which progressive voters—immensely frustrated with the Brown years—could pour all of their long-ignored ingredients for a shining new city by the bay. What dish was rising in there, who knew, since most of Mr. Dellums’ supporters were convinced that whatever it was, it would certainly come out to their taste. 

We will soon come to the proof in this particular pudding, and find out how well Mr. Dellums can hold his campaign coalition together once it becomes an actual governing coalition. Who will get what important jobs and who will not? Will this be an administration in which one overall vision prevails, with others getting small handouts here and there to keep them satisfied and interested in the game, or will this be a mayoral office that moves by consensus between several powerful, progressive political interest groups? Watch, particularly, how Mr. Dellums satisfies the competition between his African-American and organized labor constiuencies, two immensely important Oakland groups without which Mr. Dellums would have remained a D.C. lobbyist. These two groups often find themselves on the same side of important issues, but just as often are at odds. Will Mr. Dellums be able to keep that competition friendly, or will the fight over the election spoils turn nasty? 

Another significant challenge for the incoming Dellums Administration, and for the citizens who supported him, is that many of the groups that had their way in Oakland during the Jerry Brown years were not created or even introduced by Mr. Brown—his administration simply facilitated their activities. They will not go away with Mr. Brown, because they will continue to believe that, regardless of the outcome of the election, they are entitle to certain entitlements and privileges in Oakland. 

The current mayor came to office promising that he would spur Oakland’s residential and commercial development without the nasty and embarassing public subsidies of the past. Remember when he said he was going to “put Oakland on the map?” Mr. Brown certainly did, but probably under a designation that read, like the Wayans Brothers movie, “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money!” I haven’t done the math, but it seems like the subsidies and public land tradeoffs for Forest City, for example, are larger than anything ever offered by City Hall under Mr. Wilson or Mr. Harris. Mr. Brown managed to sell away part of the Jack London Square waterfront that belonged to the City of Oakland since—well—since there was a City of Oakland, and his suspension of CEQA protections in downtown development (thanks in large part to assistance from State Senator Donald Perata) was a developer’s dream. With so much money to be made, the developers will be pressuring City Council and the Dellums Administration for similar concessions from the moment Mr. Dellums assumes office, and even before.  

The same will be true of such groups as the national educational interests who, under the state seizure, have turned Oakland into a massive educational experimental ground.  

There will also be problems reining in the powerful Oakland Police Officers Association, which continues to believe that they are doing us such a service that we should continue to pay them massively while they ignore accountability. 

These are among the challenges that Mr. Dellums always said he could not, and would not, face by himself, but in cooperation with the rest of the Oakland citizenry. 

The Dellums election, therefore, is not so much a victory as it is an opportunity, an opening of doors for larger numbers of Oakland citizens to walk in and sit down at the table where the decisions that govern our city are made. What happens next depends to some degree on what Mr. Dellums does next. But taking him at his word on the portion of his election speech in which he was the most consistent, he can hardly do all of this on his own. What happens next in Oakland depends, in large part, on us. 

Morning dawns on a Berkeley summer day. Gray light filters into bungalow-style rooms, a shawl of mist moistens stately plane trees and palettes of roses. Knowing the sun will soon make its presence felt, this is a good time to set out with a plan for the day. Within walking distance are specialty food shops, cozy eateries, an inspiring nursery, a comfortable park and a wonderful neighborhood library. Welcome to Northbrae. 

Snappy morning air signals “get going” to this peripatetic biophile, the perfect time to recharge batteries with heart-elevating activity. At the King School Park, the running track is already busy with walkers, joggers and a tot-sized soccer game on the center turf. More tots are lost in their own world among slides and swings shaded by towering eucalyptus; older kids attempt the tire obstacle course. Wimbledon fans with varying skills pop and lob balls across the net while gleeful sounds reverberate off the surface at the Public Swim Center. Something for everyone. 

The temperature fits for a neighborhood stroll, especially with the dangling carrot of coffee and accoutrements. Down quiet side streets, bucolic in nature, I pass well- 

maintained homes amid flourishing yards. One- and two-story California bungalows in stucco and brick border tree-lined streets. Handsome in colors of gray, puce and café au lait, their roofs peak above small porches or larger verandas and multi-paned windows. Pink evening primrose and magenta bougainvillea glow as light diffuses down through trees whose height reveals their longevity. 

I think back to 1841 when this area was the first in Berkeley to be settled by Europeans. On the south side of Cordonices Creek is the site of Jose Peralta’s adobe dwelling and nearby the wood-frame house he later added. 

Although it’s still early, the tables and benches at Espresso Roma are quickly filling up, this being a popular local meeting place. With coffee and bagel, I grab a table, content to absorb the pulse of this family neighborhood. I watch mom and dad distribute Mexican scrambled eggs and oven potatoes to a young girl, aglow in summer pink, and her stroller-enclosed brother. The young miss is also enjoying hot oatmeal, while her final course is a huge M&M studded cookie. An older couple, sitting in filtered sun, seems totally engrossed in books. Each lost in their own world, they barely notice as gentle breezes alter leaf patterns above their pages. 

It’s hard to see the former gas station in this lovely outside café sheltered from street traffic by salvia hedges. At the service island, the corrugated roof is almost hidden by thickly growing honeysuckle. Small trees and umbrellas offer sun and shade options for catching up on the news or the latest gossip. Some linger, reluctant to leave this relaxing refuge. For others, like myself, shopping calls. 

Anchoring the south end of this neighborhood is Monterey Market. Founded by Tom and Mary Fujimoto in 1961, this village-based business “provides good fruits and vegetables in season” supporting local farmers and the community. It was originally across the street. I remember squeezing sardine-like around a single lap, filling my basket as I waited in line.  

Though today’s space seems hundreds of times larger than the original market, laden carts still fill the aisles. What better way to celebrate summer than with an array of fresh produce? Blushing apricots and plump cherries, a cornucopia of berries from golden raspberries to long stemmed strawberries, glistening spring onions in purple and white and enough fungi for a mushroom festival, from toadstool-like trumpet royale morels to velvety brown porcinis.  

Magnani Poultry adds to my basket with free-range chicken and Muscovy duck legs. The Deliza bar provides squirt-your-own dispensers of vinegars and olive oils. Yum, white balsamic and Phoenician extra virgin olive oil vinaigrette over roasted asparagus and beets. In the deli case I see a picnic ready to be sampled—pork loin with proscuitto and apricots and a red potato and herb salad. 

At my next stop I vicariously travel the world as I sample cheeses: smokey bleu from Oregon, Humboldt Fog’s Chevre, Italian Taleggio, French Chaunces, Spanish goat milk Cabra, English Stilton, grilling cheese from Cypress and Swiss raclette. Along with the cheeses, the bulk spice and herb selection is unbeatable: at pennies an ounce, they’re the best bargain around. 

The catchword at Monterey Fish is sustainability, taking into account the environment, fishing industry and community. 

Everything on offer is of the freshest quality, not the lowest prices. Staffed by a hip, knowledgeable crew and backed by classic rock, Monterey Fish gleams and tantalizes. There’s eco-farmed salmon on offer from Scotland but the bright wild Atlantic salmon makes my mouth water. For appetizers, the Oyster Bar holds a choice of Humboldt’s Kumamoto and Tomales Bay’s Hog Island. 

Can’t say “fini” until the sweet tooth has been satisfied. A summer fete needs cake and I can’t improve on Mango Mousse Torte or Italian Cream Cake from Hopkins Street Bakery. Then there’s that chocolate cupcake bedecked in sprinkles and the cranberry cinnamon Breakfast Bun, both tempting mouthfuls. Can’t forget the bread on my list. Many Grain or Dill Parmesan Baguette—I’ll take both. 

With nutritional needs met I now seek “food for the soul”. In the 1920s George Budgen of Berkeley Horticultural Nursery stated, “It’s not a home until it’s planted”. This worthy goal is easily satisfied with the oasis of greenery on hand at Northbrae’s Berkeley Hort.  

Not for the indecisive, myriad choices will make your head spin. Inspired by Monterey Market, I check out the vegetable six-packs ready to drop in the ground. Just in zucchini I must decide between green, black, costata romanesco, magda and ronde de nice. Tomatoes occupy three entire shelves, but are well sorted by ripening season. 

Below arched room size areas topped by shade-giving screens, paved paths delineate specific plant varieties. Light and air freely circulate under the high peaked central structure and mature specimen plants line the walkway. Fallopia japonica’s variegated leaves appear sprayed with white paint and the huge pink-tinged white flowers of Patricia Marie Rhododendron are strikingly lovely. More than just a nursery, Berkeley Hort is a wondrous botanical garden, except I get to take the plants home with me. 

As the sun reaches its zenith the northern neighborhood anchor beckons. Like a heartbeat, the North Branch Berkeley Public Library maintains a steady rhythm. Within its triangular, park setting of wide lawns and circling trees, the Spanish revival building with central tower, tiled roof and deeply inset arched windows serves as a gateway to this mellow neighborhood. 

Each morning patrons patiently wait until doors open. Computers are quickly put to use. At reading tables, study materials spread out and the latest newspapers are perused; open windows framed in foliage keep interiors cool. In the children’s wing the tables and chairs are smaller and joyful voices display appreciation of weekly Picture Book and Family Story Times. As with a dear friend, I find myself visiting several times a week.  

In the golden slant of afternoon light, I head down Hopkins under the tree-tunnel of far reaching sycamores. Satisfied with my excursion and purchases I’m ready to savour my feast of local bounty—food, plant life and books. Steady, without pretense, Northbrae fits my needs, is home. 

Espresso Roma Cafe, 1549 Hopkins St, 528-8010 

Monterey Market, 1550 Hopkins St, 526-6042, www.montereymarket.com 

Magnani Poultry, 1576 Hopkins St, 528 6370 

Monterey Fish, 1582 Hopkins St, 525-5600, www.montereyfish.com 

Hopkins Street Bakery, 1584 Hopkins St, 526-8188 

Berkeley Horticultural Nursery, 1310 McGee St, 526-4704, www.berkeleyhort.com  

North Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda (at Hopkins), 981-6250 

When Maurice Strelinger, aka M.B. Curtis, built the fabulous Peralta Park Hotel, he envisioned it as a hostelry for theatrical companies passing through San Francisco. This dream never came to pass, but Curtis did manage to lure at least one stage star to his new subdivision. 

In October 1889, the California Architect and Building News (CABN) reported that Lord & Boynton was building for Miss Anita Fallon a two-story frame house on Lot 5 in Peralta Park. Designed by Fred E. Wilcox, the house cost $3,500, to be paid in four stages. 

Miss Fallon was a well-known San Francisco actress. In 1890, her city address was 120 McAllister Street. As befits a country residence of the late 1880s, the Fallon house in Berkeley is a beguiling fantasy. The main mass is a rectangular box, set back and surmounted by an enormous Dutch gambrel roof. At the front, a stout round turret flanked by a rustic stone chimney sports a bell-shaped roof that assumes a saddle shape as it connects to the gambrel roof. 

The exterior is clad in stucco—practically unheard of in an American house of the Victorian era—yet the 1889 contract notice stipulated a payment to be made after the first coat of mortar was put on. One can only speculate about the nature of the original walls. They may have been clad in an early form of stucco. Alternatively, the turret may have been shingled, the rest of the house clapboard.  

Unique in Berkeley, the Fallon house was kin to the fanciful East Coast villas featured monthly in the Scientific American Architects and Builders Edition. It was the perfect setting for its flamboyant owner.  

Anita (Annie) Fallon was born in San Jose on April 16, 1854. Her father, Captain Thomas Fallon (1825–1885), had been a member of the John C. Fremont expedition to Alta California. Later he joined the Bear Flag Revolt and on July 11, 1846 led a volunteer force that captured the pueblo of San Jose. He would serve as San Jose’s mayor in 1859–1860. 

Annie’s mother, Carmel Fallon (1827–1923), was the granddaughter of General Joaquin Ysidro Castro and the daughter of Martina Castro Lodge, the first woman to receive a Spanish land grant—Rancho Soquel, comprising 34,000 acres along the coast south of Santa Cruz. 

Carmel inherited one-tenth of Rancho Soquel, which she and Tom Fallon parlayed into land investments in the San Jose area. In the center of town they built a 15-room Italianate mansion that stood higher than City Hall and boasted the first bay windows in the South Bay area. Located across the street from the Luís Maria Peralta adobe (1797), the house is now part of the Peralta Adobe-Fallon House Historic Site. 

In 1874, Annie Fallon went to Paris to study painting, continuing to Germany the following year. Her pictorial subjects were apparently academic and uninspired, consisting mostly of Madonnas and landscapes. In 1878, she married John F. Malone, a young lawyer and Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney. Participation in local amateur Shakespearian productions propelled the couple to theatrical renown. 

On August 16, 1880 they made their San Francisco professional debut in Edward George Bulwer-Lytton’s drama “Richelieu, or The Conspiracy,” staged at the Baldwin Theatre on Market Street. John played the title role, while Annie portrayed Richelieu’s ward, Julie de Mortemar. 

The marriage soon went awry, and in 1886 Annie sued for divorce on grounds of neglect and failure to provide sustenance. She soon became a star in her own right, performing at the Alcazar and Golden Gate theatres. For her independent-living role model, the a cigar-smoking actress needed look no further than her own mother. 

Ten years earlier, Carmel had caught her husband in flagrante delicto with the housekeeper. After thrashing the errant pair with a fire poker, Carmel promptly filed for divorce and moved to San Francisco with her unmarried children. 

An astute businesswoman, Carmel invested her fortune in San Francisco real estate, building the Carmel Hotel and the Fallon Hotel. In 1894, she commissioned a three-story commercial/residential building at the intersection of Market, Octavia, and Waller streets. It would serve as her home for the next 29 years. 

Designed by the San Jose architect Edward Goodrich, the trapezoidal Fallon Building survived the 1906 Earthquake and Fire through the personal intervention of the 79-year old Carmel.  

In the late 1990s , now owned by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, the Fallon Building was threatened with demolition but saved through the efforts of the advocacy group Friends of 1800. It is now a designated landmark. 

Following her mother’s example, Anita engaged in building activities. In 1889, Fred Wilcox designed not only her Peralta Park house but an extant 4-story building of flats at 270 Divisadero Street. Like the Berkeley house, it features a prominent round turret, this one crowned by a witch's cap.  

Little is known about Wilcox. In 1889 and 1890, he had an office in the Flood Building on Market Street and resided at 828 Powell Street, on top of Nob Hill. According to architectural historian Bradley Wiedmaier, Wilcox spent only a few years in San Francisco. Half a dozen buildings in the city are known to have been designed by him, including the Pacific Heights homes of Baldwin Theatre manager Alfred Bouvier (2524 Broadway) and businessman Stanley Forbes (2614 Scott St.), both in Eastern Shingle style. For capitalist Isaac Hecht, Wilcox remodeled and enlarged three Italianate row houses on Green Street. 

Anita Fallon’s house in Peralta Park may well have been Wilcox’s only East Bay commission. For over 60 years it was the centerpiece of an oversized lot that extended from Albina Avenue to Fleurange Avenue (now Acton Street), just across Codornices Creek from the Peralta Park Hotel building. This lot had been the site of José Domingo Peralta’s adobe. A 1911 map indicates that the property (the address was 1304 Albina) included a water tower, a coop, and a car garage. It remained intact until the early 1950s, although the house had undergone some renovations, most likely in the ’20s and/or ’30s. 

How long Anita Fallon retained ownership of the house is not known. From 1911 until 1929 she was embroiled in a much-publicized dispute with her brother over their mother’s estate, which newspapers estimated at a million dollars. A five-year court case was finally resolved in an out-of-court settlement. Anita died in San Francisco on May 14, 1932. 

In the early 1950s, the former Fallon property was broken up into seven lots, and the house was turned around and moved to the western corner on Acton Street. On the Albina frontage, four modern houses went up, and an apartment building was later erected in the middle of the block. 

From the 1970s through the ’90s, the Fallon house was the home of William and Helga Olkowski, co-founders of the Farallones Institute and the Integral Urban House project. In 1979 the Olkowskis founded the Bio-Integral Resource Center, whose office was located on the first floor of their residence. 

The house is now owned by two writers: Phyllis Kluger, author of Needlepoint Gallery of Patterns From the Past, and Richard Kluger, author of a Pulitzer Prize–winning history of the American cigarette business, Ashes to Ashes. Mr. Kluger has just completed his next book, Seizing Destiny, in which he examines how the United States amassed its territories. The book will be released by Knopf next year. 

The Klugers have been good to the Fallon house. Beautifully restored with no structural alterations and minimal updating, it imparts grace, refinement, and beauty to its surroundings. 

This is the third and final part in a series of articles on Peralta Park.

In my job, I’m often asked to estimate what a particular job might cost. Mrs. Jones wants to know how much a new furnace might cost, or perhaps a roof. These aren’t too hard to roughly gauge and costs won’t vary by 100 percent (most of the time). 

I might even be able to give a pretty fair guess; but a paint-job is a horse of a different color when it comes to estimates and let me tell you why. There are paint jobs and paint jobs and paint jobs. They diverge in quality so much that it’s almost as though two different painters are in different lines of work.  

I mention this because I saw a classic case the other day. A true “blow and go” (I realize this gets used for lawn-care too but it really does apply, as you’ll see, to painting). This paint job was done so quickly and was so thin that there were actually voids on the surface that looked like thin leaves of paint in the places where it had failed to form a continuous sheet. 

Also, you could see from the clear image of the grain of the rough wood below that the thickness of the paint was probably about that of a sheet of paper. The painter must have gotten a lot of coverage out of that five-gallon bucket of paint. If you add a little water, you might just make it around to the other side and be done before 10 a.m. In other words, the house had a new color, but nothing that I would actually call a paint job. 

Now, let’s contrast, just within this one criterion, with another paint job. Last week I saw a paint job that I gave a very big vote of confidence to and boy, it was sweet. 

One of the ways in which it was clear that this was a great paint job was that the fine definition of surface reticulation or, in English, the texture of the surface below the paint, was very much obscured. 

This isn’t always a good thing, in terms of aesthetics, but they found a very good compromise and having enough paint on the outside of a house is a darned nice thing. 

The paint was rolled in the right places and brushed in the right places and was nicely built-up at the joints between surfaces so that it was very clear that, making allowances for the paint quality itself, this paint job would be around, protecting the house for a long time to come (10 years?). 

So even if the only thing we talk about is volume and thickness of paint, we can be talking two different world. By the way, the first product was literally in need of repainted now and I think it was done last month. If it were done twice as well, it might have needed to be repainted in a year or two. That’s how big the difference is. 

So when we speak of one paint job costing three grand and another being 12, it may well be that the 12 is a far better value and that the painter puts less money in their pocket than the felon (oops, I mean fellow) charging 3. We’re not just talking apples and oranges, we’re talking row boats and aircraft carriers. 

The second issue and the one that I usually use as my primary criterion is preparation. It’s often been said that preparation should be largest part of any paint-job, although the percentages I hear bandied about (of course I never bandy myself, gave it up years ago) range from 50-90 percent. 

Not withstanding statistics, the point is that preparation is extremely important and that gallons of the best paint, painstakingly applied by caring hands cannot prevent the ill results of inadequate prep. 

One very important example relates to moisture. If one paints a surface that is not fully dry, the moisture below the new paint coating will vaporize in the heat of the day and form blisters, which lead to delamination and pretty soon the coating has gone all wonky (technical terminology). 

If the paint job is applied over a dirty or oily surface, the paint can similarly begin to detach and fail in the course of a year or two. 

A real favorite of mine, because I see it so often, is paint failure (now or soon to come) when paint is placed (usually sprayed) over old peeling paint. 

There’s no paint strong enough to keep the paint layer in place very long when the surface it’s attached to is already hanging in leaves off the house. 

A simple scraping would have been enough to prevent this but many a painter has left such stuff on the outside of the house and blown over it in pursuit of a quick check (or simply because they didn’t know any better). 

A quick aside is due at this point to offer some explanation as to why such workmanship comes into existence. I do not believe that most tradespeople are corrupt. Most are just trying to get by and are going the best work they know how to provide. The larger problem is the lack of knowledge and experience out there. 

The really great painter knows so much more than their sorry counterpart. They might even know fast and inexpensive ways to remove all the detritus from the outside so that they can create an iron-clad surface without spending months preparing the surface. 

In any event, they are not going to be cheaper. That’s the sad but consistent truth about this kind of work (and, of course, many other kinds of work). 

Two plumbers might be darned close on their estimates and the rules on connecting pipe will help to keep their work somewhat similar, but painter A (Starving Student Painters of Lower Lower Rockridge) will simply not provide the same product as painter B (Francine Flaubert Faux Finish et Decorating), despite their best efforts. 

Again, it’s up to the buyer to do the bewaring and to help push the quality uphill. We do this by saying no the low bid and by looking at a painter’s past pains for paltry products. Talk to clients from two or three years ago and go see their house before you sign on. 

Paint thickness and good preparation are just two of the criteria one should be looking at when comparing paint jobs and your poor servant’s column space is nearly filled but let it be sufficient to say that there is a lot of difference between a good and a bad paint job and hopefully, just as great a difference between a cheap and a costly one. 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor, in care of East Bay Real Estate, at realestate@berkeleydailyplanet.com.

We old coots play a game, based on how long we’ve been in Berkeley: You Shoulda Been Here When. In my circle it runs heavily to vertical samplings of bird populations, politics, public venues: often the interesting little store that filled a niche, got big, got bought, got corporatized, got bland.  

Some of us remember The Nature Company, which to some extent filled the fieldguide niche of the late Lucas Books and had a merrily unpredictable collection of optics, toys, and garden tools (like my favorite switchblade pruning saw) along with the bird feeders, coffeetable books, and art.  

The Nature Company got bought out by some Eastern corporation, then sold back to a founder, then re-sold to become The Discovery Channel Store. By the time Discovery downsized and closed its only Berkeley venue, all it had in common with the original was the “The”—and one knowledgeable employee. Lots of electronic bling, but no fieldguides to speak of, no Bateman or Parnall prints, no inspired garden tools, no complete line of binoculars.  

The story of Smith and Hawken is similar, even sold to the same corporation. All that Ecology of Commerce stuff, and Paul Hawken turned it over like the sheets in a by-the-hour motel.  

Smith and Hawken was always a bit pricey and over-the-top in some departments. Olde propagators’ pots from some cellar near Great Dixter, with preserved mossy rime included, that sort of thing. Garden clothes you couldn’t afford to get dirty. But interesting: “Japanese” farmers’ pants with drawstring ankles and pockets for kneepads. Real Wellington wellies.  

Some tools were big cutlery, all shiny and expensive, and came with an honest lifetime guarantee; I know two professional gardeners who collected on that, and still love their replacements a decade later. My biggest gripe against S&H was the weirdly precious catalogue prose.  

S&H sold top-quality interesting plants then, too. The Berkeley store’s nursery department is gone now, just a lone lavender seedling hanging on in the gravel. The bargain section that was open on weekends has disappeared, too; the stuff there usually seemed overpriced for its condition anyway. But without those bits, it all seems less interesting. 

My impression last week was, “It’s converging on Target, but it’s still more pricey.” The merchandise looked generic and familiar. I actually laughed when I found that S&H sells some of its lines through Target. They need some sort of design backflow control valve, apparently. Target’s big on “accessible design,” but what’s S&H’s reason to exist? The corporate owner —Scott’s Miracle-Gro, of all things—promises a “Renaissance.” Show me. 

Teilhard de Chardin’s “everything that rises must converge” is unsupported speculation, but it looks as if everything that corporatizes must get more boring. 

My advice: Use S&H for a first look and a place to try on Felcos. Ignore the house-brand imitations; they’re almost as expensive, and Felco will probably exist and sell you parts longer than S&H’s latest corporate owners—maintain an interest in that line. Check out any bargains, but don’t spend money without comparison shopping. If you’re going to support a soulless corporation, you might as well do so for less. 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

Take a Good Look Around 

It’s surprising how few of us have walked around our home to take note of which furniture is ready to injure us in a serious quake. There’s usually quite a bit of it, folks!  

I’ve done many consultations where the homeowner thinks that because a piece is heavy, like an armoire or a desk, for example, it won’t fall. Or that because something is on wheels, like a baby bed, it will slide and not fall. Not true! Pieces like these are crying out for securing.  

For the handy person, securing is no big deal. Just go to your friendly hardware store and find the earthquake hardware section. 

If you’re not inclined this way, or just don’t have the time, hire your own handyman or go to my website. 

This is not that expensive. Most importantly, in a big quake, most injuries are due to falling objects (not fire).  

Is it worth taking a chance that you or somebody you love could be badly hurt? And, try comparing the securing cost of $150-$350 to the expense of replacing all kinds of furniture, computers, and TVs, after the quake destroys them.  

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service in the East Bay. www.quakeprepare.com.

TUESDAY, JUNE 27 

CHILDREN 

Gretchen Woefle reads from her book “Animal Families, Animal Friends” as part of the Kensington Library’s Summer Reading Program at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Puppet Company “Fantasy on Strings” a magical excursion with a variety of 3 feet tall, fully articulated marionettes at 7 p.m. at The Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

FILM 

Against Indifference: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski “No End” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Belinda Rathbone reads from “The Guynd: A Scottish Journal” at 7:30 p.m at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Tell It On Tuesday Storytelling at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $8-$12 sliding scale at the door.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Golden Gate International Childrens’ Choral Festival at 3 p.m. at the Mormon Interstake Center, Oakland. 547-4441. 

Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Michael Coleman Trio Jazz Jam at 8 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Bring your instrument. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Randy Craig Trio, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Chris Chandler and David Roe House Concert at 7 p.m. at 1609 Woolsey St. 649-1423. 

Zemog El Gallo Bueno at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28 

FILM 

Arab Women Film Series “Ashiqat Al-Cinema” at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Puppet Animation of Kihachiro Kawamoto “Demons, Poets, and Priests” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Ten Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military” presented by Cindy Sheehan, Paul Rockwell, and Aimee Allison at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Kyle Bravo & Jenny LaBlanc, artists from the Gulf Coast, speak at 7 p.m. at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. www.kala.org  

“Writing Teachers Write” monthly student and teacher reading series at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Natalie Coughlin and Michael Silver describe “Golden Girl: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America’s Swimming Champion” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

Roy Zimmerman in “Faulty Intelligence” An evening of satirical songs, at 8 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way. 800-838-3006.  

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  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Golden Gate Childrens’ Community Concert at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church, Kensington. 547-4441. 

Justin Hellman Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

J Soul at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Ugly Beauty at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

Zemog El Gallo Bueno at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JUNE 29 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Somewhere in Space” Installations and paintings by Mayumi Hamanaka and Eric Larson. Reception at 6 p.m. at Swarm Studios + Gallery, 560 Second St., Oakland. 839-2787. 

“TRASHed” an eco-friendly art exhibition of recycling bins on Bay Street through the end of August. 655-4002.  

FILM 

The Puppet Animation of Kihachiro Kawamoto “Absurdities, Legends, and Fairy Tales” at 7 p.m. and “The Book of the Dead” at 8:35 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Sandra M. Gilbert and Phyllis Stowell read from their new books on death and grief at 3 p.m. in the 3rd floor Community Meeting Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107. 

“For Review” with Jack Marshall discussing his memoir “From Baghdad to Brooklyn: Growing Up in a Jewish Arabic Family in Midcentury America” at 6:30 p.m. at the Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $6-$8 549-6950. 

Michelle Tea will read from her new book “Rose of No Man’s Land” at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, West Auditorium, 125 14th St. 238-3134. 

Siddharth Dhanvant Shangvi describes “The Last Song of Dusk” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Elizabeth Grossman talks about “High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxins, & Human Health” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

“The Da Vinci Code: Is the Truth Stranger than Fiction?” with Rabbi Harry Manhoff at 7:30 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Donation $5. 839-2900, ext. 249. 

Word Beat Reading Series with Ronda Lawson and Eugene David at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Full Circle “ Dream Dance Company and Jose Francisco Barroso and Carlos Mena, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St. at 9th St., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 597-1619, ext. 110.  

Lloyd Gregory Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Triskela, three harps, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Hali Hammer CD Release Party at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Suggested donation $5-$10 sliding scale. 649-1423. 

Roy Zimmerman in “Faulty Intelligence” An evening of satirical songs, at 8 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way. 800-838-3006.  

No More Stereo, Melaquis, The Team Hate at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. 

Jimi Bridges, music without borders at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $6-$8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Take 6, a capella, at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $28-$32. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jennifer Johns at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $8. 451-8100. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 30 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Permanent Collection” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through July 23. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. www.auroratheatere.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Footloose” the musical based on the 1984 film at 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Contra Costa Civic Theater, 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through August 5. Tickets are $12-$20. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Crowded Fire Theater Company “We Are Not These Hands” a comedy about the friendship between two teenaged girls in a fictional third-world nation, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. through July 16 at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10- $20. www.crowdedfire.org 

Masquers Playhouse “The Fantasticks” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. Sunday Matinees at 2:30 pm on uly 2, 9, 16. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through July 22. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Pinole Community Players “Oliver!” the musical, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., selected Sun. at 2 p.m., at the Community Playhouse, 601 Tennent Ave., Pinole, through July 15. Tickets are $14-$17. 724-3669, 223-3598.  

Shadow Circus Creature Theater Giant puppets perform “The Laptop Banditos” at 9 p.m. at The Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $7. www.shadowcircus.com  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Flaming: Art from LGBT Communities” Reception for the artists at 6 p.m. at WCRC Gallery, 5741 Telegraph Ave. Runs to July 28. 601-4040, ext. 111. www.wcrc.org 

FILM 

Isabelle Huppert: Passion and Contradiction “La cérémonie” at 7 p.m and “Story of Women” at 9:15 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Gary Younge describes “Stranger in a Strange Land: Encounters in the Disunited States” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Jazz Express at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Jules Broussard Birthday Concert with Bobbe Norris and Larry Dunlop Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Bay Area Classical Harmonies at 8 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Tickets are $15 for adults and $2 for children. 526-9146. 

“Full Circle “ Dream Dance Company and Jose Francisco Barroso and Carlos Mena Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St. at 9th St., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 597-1619, ext. 110. dreamdancecompany.org  

Wee and Jon Cooney, singer-songwriters, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Slydini, Moe Staiano at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Killing the Dream, Ruiner, Final Flight 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. 

Broun Fellinis at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Family Arsenal, Uncle Funky at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $7. 451-8100.  

Take 6, a capella, at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $28-$32. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com  

SATURDAY, JULY 1 

EXHIBITIONS 

Photo-Quilts by Sharin Smelser Photo montages on paper and fabric arranged in American quilt patterns on display to Aug. 20 at Musical Offering and Cafe, 2430 Bancroft Way. 849-0211. 

“Ted Gordon” Recent works on display at The Ames Gallery, 2661 Cedar St., to Sept. 30. 845-4949. www.amesgallery.com 

“From Isolation to Connection” works by residents of Berkeley’s Bonita House’s Creative Living Center and the City of Berkeley Mental Health Division, on display at Addison St. Windows Gallery, through July 27. 981-7533. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Bay Area Poets Coalition open reading from 3 to 5 p.m., at Strawberry Creek Lodge, dining hall, 1320 Addison St. Park on the street, not in Lodge parking lot. Free. 527-9905. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Agualibre, Latin, hip-hop, soul at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054.  

GTS, Downtown Rhythm at 8 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $10. 451-8100.  

Peter Apfelbaum & The New York Hieroglyphics at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

The Morning Line, El Capitan, Amee Chapman and the Big Finish at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Yancie Taylor Jazztet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Meli Rivera, world rock, at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. All ages. Cost is $7-$10. 558-0881. 

Larry Vuckovich & Buca Necak Duo at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Samantha Raven and Emaluna, singer-songwriters, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Sotaque Baino, Brazilian music at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$12. 548-1159. 

SUNDAY, JULY 2 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Dorianne Laux, Geri Digiorno and Nancy Keane at 3 p.m. at Diesel, 5433 College Ave. 653-9965. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Twang Cafe: Kit and Tanya and 3 Mile Grade at 7:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. All ages. Cost is $5-$10 sliding scale. 644-2204.  

Aleph Null at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ.  

Gombajahbari, Latin roots from Puerto Rico at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568.  

Edessa, Blkan, at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. 

The Bobs, a cappella, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Atmos Trio at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

MONDAY, JULY 3 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Al Averbach and Jeanne Lupton read their poetry at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Waybacks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$8.50. 548-1761.  

Blue Monday Jam at 7:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

Kékélé at 8 and 10 p.m. p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20. 238-9200.  

Clad in his mayoral uniform of velour sweats, Anton (Christopher Herold), CEO of gated Safe Harbor on the Mendocino coast, gazes out the window through binoculars, “looking out for people—my job.” To the tune of “The Very Model Of A Modern Major General,” he practices his putting, humming along and wincing extravagantly at each miss. He greets his bubbly wife, Anna (Deborah Fink), and they prepare to celebrate another property sold, with squeals, glib cliches and funny poses. 

Very much the stuff of situation comedy: cloyingly cute, archly mannered 30-somethings at home...though strangely edgy—and that edginess breaks through the mold when they’re unexpectedly visited by The Inspector General. 

Like an urban gumshoe barging into suburbia, a trench-coated fedora’ed figure seems to materialize in the trophy home, bristling with questions and abrupt silences, scribbling down the most banal responses, repeating them and trailing off, inferentially. He finally lets drop he is Ivan (Norman Gee), and that he’s on a National Security mission—the nature of which he of course can’t reveal. 

Central Works has performed a kind of culinary reduction of Gogol’s great farce, turning it into a chamber play in the confines of the Berkeley City Club. But the smaller scale accorded to this update of a sweeping social satire proves to be a pressure cooker that simmers with the physical comedy of unconscious domestic behavior confronted with uncertainty, bringing out all its hidden anxieties and resentments. 

Jan Zvaifler, Central Works co-founder, has directed her counterpart Gary Graves’ new play with close attention to the taut, interwoven timing of the mock suspense and uproarious hysterias as the innocents-at-home break down under scrutiny, while their interogator gets loopier and loopier. It could easily fall into the kind of puerile slapstick it plays off of, but the players ease into their silliness with the confidence of tightwire artists. Naturalizing Gogol’s grotesqueries to a Yuppie idiom, it could also prove a model for how to bring off a piece by Feydeau, or Oscar Wilde. 

Christopher Herold’s portrayal of Anton’s boyish vanity alternates with a self-conscious indignation, while Deb Fink’s face flashes quickly from a beaming countenance to suspicion and hysteria as Anna comes apart. Norman Gee’s playing is more inverted as Ivan shifts unexpectedly from geniality to menace, both tough and con cop bundled up in one, his agenda less mysterious than obtuse. 

The finale’s a bit abrupt and predictable. But Central Works has brought off another unusual adaptation of a classic theme into contemporary terms, taking hook and schtick from otherwise overworked headlines and trite TV fare and making something out of usually unpromising or academic material that proves to be light, meaningful, and very, very funny.

On the day in 1980 when Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) received the Nobel Prize for literature most people in Berkeley had never heard of him. When we went to the bookstores looking for his work, we were disappointed. What little there was sold out before noon. But when the stores restocked and newly published books by him became available, we discovered he was a prolific writer. And one of extraordinary stature.  

Milosz was Polish, a handsome, well-built man who dressed in the dark brown and gray colors favored by Eastern European intellectuals. Six feet tall, he had a face that was ruddy, craggy, and heavily lined. We became used to seeing him walking around Berkeley and, from time to time, at poetry readings. He read translations of his poems—all composed in Polish—in a pleasant, distinctly accented voice. 

He had personal gravitas, moral authority, and a sense of proportion. He described himself as “one of many poets in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of them write in English, but there are also those who write in Spanish, Greek, German, Russian. Even if one has some renown, he is, in his everyday dealings with people, anonymous, and so is, again, one among many.”  

Wilno  

Born in the early years of the 20th century, Milosz grew up in Wilno, the once and future capital of Lithuania. His mother was Lithuanian, his father Polish. He regarded both their languages as equally his own. He attended the University of Vilnius in Wilno. He published his first poem in 1929, and his first book, Poem on Frozen Time, four years later.  

He became a member of the Catastrophist movement, a group of young avant garde writers who looked at the future with a real apprehension of doom. Decades later Milosz would have been content to let his poetry from the Catastrophist period disappear, but he was persuaded to reprint a translation of “Artificer” in his Collected Poetry, a poem portraying a monster who “plants a big load of dynamite/and is surprised that afterward everything spouts up in the explosion.” It ends with the image of “a long row of military trains.”  

Warsaw  

By 1936 he was in Warsaw working for Polish State Radio, which modeled itself on the BBC. When Germany attacked Poland in 1939, Milosz, an army reservist, was called to active service but got caught up in the maelstrom of the army’s collapse before he could reach the front. In poems and prose written throughout his life he recalled the shock of losing friends in the blitzkrieg and the executions that followed—their sudden disappearances seem to have ached in his mind, the way nerves throb in a body which has not reconciled itself to losing an arm.  

He made his way back to Warsaw and joined a socialist resistance group. (He refused on principle to have anything to do with the right wing Home Army or the Communists.) He found a library job which provided cover for his underground writing, editing and publishing. He translated Jacques Maritain’s On the Roads of Defeat, an important attack on collaborationism. Milosz took satisfaction in the fact that his version of that book was published and circulating in Poland before a clandestine edition appeared in France. He also edited an anti-Nazi anthology, The Invincible Song. If the Germans had caught him, he’d have been shot.  

The war changed Milosz’s conception of poetry, and feelings and perceptions that had been building up in him came to a point one day in 1944. The Home Army had risen in an attempt to expel the Germans from Warsaw, and during the street fighting Milosz found himself pinned down by machinegun fire. In The Captive Mind he described this episode as though it happened to someone else:  

“A man is lying under machine-gun fire on a street in an embattled city. He looks at the pavement and sees a very amusing sight: the cobblestones are standing up-right like the quills of a porcupine. The bullets hitting against their edges displace and tilt them. Such moments in the consciousness of a man judge all poets and philosophers... In intellectuals who lived through the atrocities of war in Eastern Europe there took place what one might call the elimination of emotional luxuries.”  

This change showed in such poems as “A Poor Christian Looks at the Ghetto,” memorializing the Jewish uprising in 1943, and “Dedication,” addressed to the 200,000 members of the Home Army lost in the tragic battle for Warsaw. It is blunt writing, relying more on assertion than on the kind of showing we expect in poetry. Its effect is more like vodka than sherry—and it sneaks up on you.  

In 1944 he married Janka Dluska (“the central fact of my life story”), and their marriage lasted until her death 42 years later. It might have been much shorter: during the Warsaw uprising they were arrested and confined behind barbed wire for transportation to a concentration camp. A brave Catholic nun talked their jailor into releasing them. They escaped from Warsaw, coming to rest in Krakow.  

New York, Washington, and Paris  

After the war Milosz accepted a position in the Polish diplomatic service. He was posted to its New York Consulate in 1946 and promoted to cultural attache in Washington, D.C. As he performed his duties—trying to sell Americans on “the new Poland”—he became increasingly dismayed by what he heard of the Stalinist terror at home. In 1950, he returned to Warsaw for a visit, only to have his passport confiscated (usually a prelude to disappearance in the gulag). Through the secret intervention of an unknown friend, it was returned to him, and he was allowed leave the country.  

In 1951 he broke with the government, obtained asylum in France, and wrote The Captive Mind, a devastating analysis of life under Stalinism. This book put him in the company of Orwell, Koestler, and Camus, and made him a social leper in the artistic circles where formerly he had been most happy. Sartre and Neruda (among others) attacked him in print, and some of his friends were afraid to be seen with him. Worst of all, the publication of his work was prohibited in Poland. Free to publish in the West, he became an underground poet in his native land.  

But he kept writing. His poetry began to change once more, and the metaphysical and religious concerns which had always been part of it came to the fore. This was due in part to the influence of Simone Weil. 

Berkeley  

In 1960 Milosz returned to the United States, becoming Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at the UC in Berkeley. Here he led a quiet, productive life. A fine appreciation of this phase of Milosz’s career can be found in Twentieth Century Pleasures by Robert Hass, who considers the poetry written by Milosz during this time to be his most characteristic. In fact, he suggests that for someone beginning to read Milosz, the California period is the best place to start.  

The changes worked in Milosz by his life in Berkeley are reflected in A Year of the Hunter, a fascinating journal he kept during 1987-88—a marvelous tapestry of his past and present. When he arrived here, feeling like a perpetual exile, he seems to have been as mistrustful of the place as a feral cat in a new neighborhood. 

A Year of the Hunter shows how Berkeley mellowed him despite the inevitable tribulations of life, and how secure he became:  

“A couple of weeks ago, Carol [his second wife] planted an apple tree. The planting of an apple tree is optimistic ... but the deer went after it and ate half its leaves, just as in the last few days they have eaten all sorts of flowers, pansies, even the spirea and whatever else Carol buys to add to the garden. As I write these notes, a search is under way for means of outsmarting the deer.”  

“Yesterday I gave a poetry reading in Black Oak Bookstore to mark the publication of Collected Poems. It’s difficult to comprehend how four hundred people could have crowded into the bookstore’s two rooms; that’s the delighted owner’s count. I had total control over my audience. I could have read for another half hour. A successful evening, in other words.”  

“The colors of autumn in Berkeley where, not long ago, before the first rains, there was gray and tan; now, the intensive green of the lawn on the hillsides. The rusty gold of the sycamore leaves, the unchanged color of the eucalyptus and the conifers. Splashes of bright cinnabar reds: those are the cotoneaster bushes, covered with red berries.”  

And this naturally overflowed into his poetry:  

A day so happy.  

Fog lifted early, I worked in the garden.  

Hummingbirds were stopping over honeysuckle flowers.  

There was no thing on earth I wanted to possess.  

I knew no one worth my envying him.  

Whatever evil I had suffered, I forgot.  

To think that once I was the same man did not embarrass me.  

In my body I felt no pain.  

When straightening up, I saw the blue sea and sails.  

Even so, Poland was never far from his “severe and relentless mind” (the words are Joseph Brodsky’s). As the power of the regime faltered, his work was read more and more openly, and he became the laureate of Solidarity. The rebels recited his poems and carved them on monuments. After the government fell, he was invited to come home. So, in 1981 he made his first visit to Poland in 30 years. Honors were heaped on him, he read his work to audiences numbering in the thousands, and they hailed him as a hero.  

Milosz began dividing his time between Berkeley and Krakow, where he had acquired another home. But on a visit in 2000 he suffered a stoke which left him too frail to travel. When he died in Krakow in 2004, memorial services were held for him in cities throughout the world. He was 93.

Joe and I spent a couple of days up in Humboldt County among the really big trees last week. We stayed in a motel on the Avenue of the Giants among the old redwoods, where we could sit on the front porch in the evening and listen to the Mozartian aria of hermit thrush and the haunting, minimalist song of varied thrush, a bird has perfected wabi-sabi.  

The redwood forest is justly celebrated—I’ve done considerable celebrating of it myself—but there’s a companion, a peer of the redwoods who carries the rainforest system farther north, joining with the great true firs and redcedars to complete world’s largest remaining temperate rainforest.  

This companion, Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menzieseii, shows up in cultivation, on campuses and big gardens here too. In fact, that’s not unique; I was surprised, many years ago, to notice that great big Douglas-firs were all over Harrisburg, Pa., where I grew up. The difference was that I’d learned to recognize them.  

That’s not hard. Aside from the massive yet airy bearing they have, with their deeply furrowed dark-gray bark and short narrow needles, they have a good trademark in their cones: small, brown, papery, and with a three-pointed tongue poking out from under each scale. There are stories about how Coyote was chasing the mice and they asked Douglas-fir to help them, so Douglas-fir let them hide in those cones but their tails and hind legs didn’t quite fit. One variant has Douglas-fir offering the mice shelter and then snapping them up in the cones.  

Maybe that depends on the tellers’ attitudes toward those big, useful guardian trees that, like redwoods, occasionally spear the forest floor with “widowmakers,” self-pruned branches from way way up that come down hard enough to stab the ground and stand upright like a hurled spear.  

Douglas-fir’s usefulness is evident all around us. Intense logging of the species after World War II was the first step toward the construction boom that followed, especially the residential part of that; it’s called “the tree that built suburbia.” As softwoods go, it’s strong, and it goes into plywood as well as board stock. It’s also a common Christmas tree, especially in the West.  

It hangs onto its needles well. If this makes you laugh, consider how extreme a condition it is to be amputated from most of your vital organs—half of your body, at least—stuck onto a truck, then crucified in a parking lot for a few weeks, and finally dragged into the stifling hotbox of someone’s living room for a few weeks more. And having your remaining self mauled and clamped with wire hangers and hung with twig-distorting ornaments and bound with hot points of light all the while. Then imagine trying not to shed any hair, or sweat, or get so much as flaky dry skin during this ordeal.  

The S-and-M holiday atmosphere goes mostly one way; Douglas-fir has rather non-poky needles, which is a virtue in a tree that’s going to be handled, and makes it easier company in the house too. 

The tree’s at its best, of course, in its native land. Old-growth Douglas-fir, like old-growth redwood, makes a distinctive kind of habitat. It’s preternaturally quiet in some of the old coastal groves, a place fit for Zen Druids to meditate, or for Ents to drowse. Birdcalls—hermit thrush, pileated woodpecker, spotted owl—knife the silence, echo, then dissolve into the treetop fog. Red coralroot orchids, pale irises, white-flowered thimbleberry, and tanoak look up to madrones that would be the giants of any other forest.  

The Doug-firs preside, straight as arrows to the sky or spreading low from the crowns like huge hands, “wolf trees” that got a head start in open spaces before other trees or fires got a chance to shape them. The species itself is far from endangered, but the habitats, the particular cathedrals that grow in its company, are few and scattered these days.  

When I see a Douglas-fir in the city I think of these places, and wonder sometimes if planting emissary trees where so many of us live, here in the paved and stifled parts of Earth, can possibly have the effect I’d like to see, striking a spark of longing for what we hardly know. It’s not far from here. We just have to journey there, and then stop, quiet ourselves, sit and listen to the congress of ancient giants. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 27 

Cancer Prevention and Survival Cooking Course A series of 8 classes at 6:30 p.m. at Keller Williams, 2nd floor, 4341 Piedmont Ave. Oakland. Free, but registration is required. 531-2665. 

Raging Grannies of the East Bay invites new folks to come join us from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. to sing and have fun at Berkeley Gray Panthers office, 1403 Addison St., in Andronico’s mall. 548-9696. 

Great Weekend Camping Trips A slide presentation with Matt Heid at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, 3rd floor, UC Campus. To make an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. www.BeADonor.com  

PC Users meets at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St. near Eunice. 

Stress Less Seminar at 7 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28 

Walkin’ in Pride a 4-mile shoreline walk in Point Pinole at 6:30 p.m. in celebration of LGBT Pride Month. For information call 525-2233. 

Trip to Audobon Canyon Ranch with the El Cerrito Senior Center, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $15, reservations required. 215-4340. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

“Ten Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military” presented by Cindy Sheehan, Paul Rockwell, and Aimee Allison at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“Bureaucracy vs The Environment: What Should Be Done?” with speakers Michael Shaw, Founder, Liberty Garden, Randy Simmons, Prof. of Political Science, Utah State Univ., Carl Close, Co-editor, Re-Thinking Green at 6:30 p.m. at The Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland. Cost is $10-$15.  

“Alameda County: Present and Future” with Keith Carson, Alameda County Supervisor at 1:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696.  

“The Art of Placemaking: Transit-Oriented Development” A panel discussion on both the challenges and potential of making Transit-Oriented Development successful, at 5:30 p.m. at AIA East Bay, 1405 Clay St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$20, includes dinner. To register call 464-3600. www.aiaeb.org  

Indigenous Permaculture with slides and music and information from El Salvador at 7 p.m. at Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5-$50 sliding scale. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“McLibel” A documentary about two activists who take on MacDonalds in England, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations of $5 accepted. 

“Girl, I’ve Been Through A Lot...” Poetry workshop for girls age 13 to 17 at 4 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, Room 219, 125 14th St. 238-3134. 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss Rabbi Paul at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, El Cerrito. Also organizing meeting to become a Democratic Central Committee Chartered Club. 433-2911. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, 3rd floor, UC Campus. To make an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. www.BeADonor.com  

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes. 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 

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 

THURSDAY, JUNE 29 

Ecological Sanitation in Haiti, Compost Toilet Project with Sasha Kramer on the work of Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Free. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

A UPB Conversation on how we can live with strong ecological values locally with Ernest Callenbach, author of “Ecotopia” and “Ecology: A Pocket Guide,” from 5:30 to 7 p.m. At University Press Books/Berkeley, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Teen Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club with guest speaker Tom Whitmore on “The Other Change of Hobbit” at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6133. 

Free Skin Cancer Screening Clinic at Markstein Cancer Education Center, Summit Campus, Oakland. Free, but appointments required. 869-8833. 

Women’s Initiative “Develop a Business Action Plan” A free seminar for women entrepreneurs from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at 519 17 St. at Telegraph. 415-641-3463. www.womensinitiative.org 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, JUNE 30 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

“Integrating the Spiritual Path with Modern Day Lifestyle” with Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche at 7 p.m. followed by all-day workshop on Sat. Held at Berkeley Shambhala Center, 2288 Fulton St. Cost is $25 for the talk and $75 for the workshop. Registration suggested. 701-1681. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 845-1143. 

SATURDAY, JULY 1 

Farm Stories and Songs Listen to songs and stories then meet the animals at 1 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Campfire and Sing-a-Long in Tilden. Bring your hot dogs, buns, marshmallows and long sticks, and dress warmly. Meet at the Tilden Nature Center at 5:30 p.m. and we’ll walk uphill to the campfire circle. Wheelchair accessible. 525-2233. 

“Solar Electricity For Your Home” Learn how to size, specify and design your own solar electrical generator. A short field trip to a functioning house/system in Berkeley and current catalog of available equipment are also included. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610. 

Sunset Walk in Emeryville with the Solo Sierrans Meet at 5:30 p.m. behind Chevy’s Restaurant at picnic table, for an hour’s walk through the marina. Optional dinner afterwards. Wheel chair accessible. 234-8949. 

Teen Summer Reading Program begins at the Oakland Public Library. Anyone entering 7th to 12th grades can earn prizes when they read for school or pleasure. For information visit any Oakland Public Library branch or see www.oaklandlibrary.org 

Spiral Gardens Food Security Project from 1 to 6 p.m. at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon St.  

Sick Plant Clinic UC plant pathologist Dr. Robert Raabe, UC entomologist Dr. Nick Mills, and their team of experts will diagnose what ails your plants from 9 a.m. to noon at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. 643-2755.  

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Origami: Twistfish and Magic Star Learn to fold origami at 2 p.m. at the The Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720 ext 17. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

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, JULY 2 

Felting a Fun Hand Puppet Meet our flock of Black Welsh Mountain Sheep and learn how to turn their wool into a felt project from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. For ages 8 and up; children must be accompanied by an adult. Cost is $7-$12. 636-1684. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Summer Sunday Forum: Homelessness with Kecia McMillian at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack van der Meulen on Tibetan Yoga: Contacting Beauty at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, JULY 3 

Independence Day Celebration with a cabaret performance by Alan Horan at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

McGee Avenue Toastmasters meets at 7:30 p.m. at McGee Ave Baptist Church, 1640 Stuart St. 

Deeksha and Chanting at 7:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church, 941 The Alameda. Donations accepted. 655-1425. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., June 27, at 7 p.m. and Fri., June 30 at noon, in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434.  

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., June 28 , at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

School Board meets Wed. June 28, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 23 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Permanent Collection” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through July 23. Tickets are $28-$45. 843-4822. www.auroratheatere.org 

“Bigger Than Jesus” Rick Miller’s one-man show at 8 p.m. and Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $30. 642-9988. 

Berkeley Rep “The Miser” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $53. Runs through June 25. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare Theater “The Merry Wives of Windsor” at the Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda. Tues.-Thurs., 7:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m. through June 25. Tickets are $15 and up. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Central Works “The Inspector General” a new comedy, Thurs., Fri., and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 30. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. 

Crowded Fire Theater Company “We Are Not These Hands” a comedy about the friendship between two teenaged girls in a fictional third-world nation, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. through July 16 at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10- $20. www.crowdedfire.org 

Masquers Playhouse “The Fantasticks” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. Sunday Matinees at 2:30 pm on June 25, July 2, 9, 16. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through July 22. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Pinole Community Players “Oliver!” the musical, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., selected Sun. at 2 p.m., at the Community Playhouse, 601 Tennent Ave., Pinole, through July 15. Tickets are $14-$17. 724-3669, 223-3598.  

TheatreFirst Staged readings of four plays under consideration for next season, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at at 469 9th St., Oakland. Free. 436-5085. 

FILM 

Isabelle Huppert: Passion and Contradiction “Malina” at 7 p.m. and “The Trout” at 9:25 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Davy and Peter Rothbart introduce “Found II” at 8 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Roy Zimmerman in “Faulty Intelli gence” An evening of satirical songs, Wed.-Fri. at 8 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org  

Jessica Jones Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Tim O’Brien at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

David Gans, Mario DeSio and Jeff Pehrson at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Pellejo Seco, Cuban son, at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568.  

The Girlfriend Experience, Machine Green, Tokyo Decadence at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

“Listen” recordings by contempory sound makers at 8 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Tickets are $10-$18. 843-2787. 

Blanks 77, Hellbillies, Ashtray, Peligro Social at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Hyim & The Fat Foakland Orchestra at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

Du Uy Quintet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Mike Marshall, Angel of Thorns, The Brod Rob Experience at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $10. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

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

SATURDAY, JUNE 24 

FILM 

Isabelle Huppert: Passion and Contradiction “Merci pour le chocolat” at 6:30 p.m. and “Violette Nozière” at 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse will host an appreciation and fundraising night for the Berkeley Art Center, which is in jeopardy of closing its doors due to the cumulative effects of funding cuts by the City of Berkeley over the past three years. Open mic sign up at 6:30 p.m., reading at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts. 644-6893. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Solstice Celebration in Oakland’s Laurel neighborhood with over 50 musical groups performing from 3 to 7 p.m. at MacArthur Blvd. and 38th Ave. 531-1499. 

Hal Stein Quartet at 4 p.m. at 4024 MacArthur Blvd. Free. 

“Praise Him in Song” Gospel Concert at 5 p.m. at Linen Life, 1375 Park Ave., Emeryville. tickets are $20-$25. 776-8222. 

“Stand Still” with Gospel soloist Yvonne Cobbs-Bey, at 7:30 p.m. at Harmony Missionary Baptist Church, 4113 Telegraph Ave. at 41st St., Oakland.  

Baba Ken & Kotoja at 9:45 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dance in the Key to Life Dance from Hawai’i, Tahiti, North India, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, and West Africa at 8 p.m. at Regent’s Theater, Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $25. 925-798-1300. 

Company of Prophets, AIDS Awareness and hip hop show, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Khalil Shaheed/Yasir Chadley Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Rick DiDia and Nate Cooper at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

The Ravines at 8 p.m. at Spud's Pizza. Suggested donation $7, no one turned away. 540-7874. 

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

Sister Farmers Big Machine at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Eric Muhler, solo piano, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Santa Diabo, Project Greenfield, Mission Players at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $8. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Jagadambe, part of the Kirtan devotional music series at 7 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Tickets are $15-$18. 843-2787. 

The Devil Makes Three, The Blue Roots at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

A Night of Voices, stories by Matt Holdaway and music by The Isabellas, Kou Chen, at 5 p.m., and Slydini at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 25 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Inner Visions” Abstract paintings by Judy Levit and Susan Hall. Reception from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Foyer Gallery of the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave.  

“Staff Picks” New work from William Smith, Jennie Ottinger, Kvin B. Chen, Robert Armstrong, Edward Foley through July 27 at Barbara Naderson Gallery, 2243 Fifth St. 848-3822. 

FILM 

Isabelle Huppert: Passion and Contradiction “Saint-Cyr” at 3 p.m. and “Coup de torchon” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

PEN Oakland Poetry Benefit “Words Upon the Waters” to benefit Centers for Independent Living in Mississippi, at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Reading for Two Late Barbarian Poets: Eli Copolla and David Lerner at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Eric Dinerstein talks about “Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Friends of Negro Spirituals Bay Area Negro Spirituals Heritage Day at 3:30 p.m. at the West Oakland Senior Center, 1724 Adeline St., Oakland. 869-4359. 

Mozart in the Garden preview concert for the Midsummer Mozart Festival in the East Bay Hills. Tickets are $65. 415-627-9141. 

Kalanjali: Dances of India at 1 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Free. www.juliamorgan.org 

Brazilian Soul Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Americana Unplugged: Homespun Rowdy at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Pat Ryan’s Celtic Junket at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Jessica Neighbor Quartet at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

MONDAY, JUNE 26 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Amy Spade and Owen Hill read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express open mic on “The Blues” at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Blue Monday Jam at 8 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Bruce & Matt, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jake Shimabukuro at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com  

TUESDAY, JUNE 27 

CHILDREN 

Gretchen Woefle reads from her book “Animal Families, Animal Friends” as part of the Kensington Library’s Summer Reading Program at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Puppet Company “Fantasy on Strings” a magical excursion with a variety of 3 feet tall, fully articulated marionettes at 7 p.m. at The Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

FILM 

Against Indifference: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski “No End” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Belinda Rathbone reads from “The Guynd: A Scottish Journal” at 7:30 p.m at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Tell It On Tuesday Storytelling at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $8-$12 sliding scale at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Golden Gate International Childrens’ Choral Festival at 3 p.m. at the Mormon Interstake Center, Oakland. 547-4441. 

Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Michael Coleman Trio Jazz Jam at 8 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Bring your instrument. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Randy Craig Trio, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Chris Chandler and David Roe House Concert at 7 p.m. at 1609 Woolsey St. 649-1423. 

Zemog El Gallo Bueno at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28 

FILM 

Arab Women Film Series “Ashiqat Al-Cinema” at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Puppet Animation of Kihachiro Kawamoto “Demons, Poets, and Priests” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Writing Teachers Write” monthly student and teacher reading series at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Natalie Coughlin and Michael Silver describe “Golden Girl: How Natalie Coughlin Fought Back, Challenged Conventional Wisdom, and Became America’s Swimming Champion” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Roy Zimmerman in “Faulty Intelligence” An evening of satirical songs, at 8 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org  

“Ten Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military” presented by Cindy Sheehan, Paul Rockwell, and Aimee Allison at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

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.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Golden Gate Childrens’ Community Concert at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church, Kensington. 547-4441. 

Justin Hellman Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

J Soul at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Ugly Beauty at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Zemog El Gallo Bueno at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JUNE 29 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Somewhere in Space” Installations and paintings by Mayumi Hamanaka and Eric Larson. Reception at 6 p.m. at Swarm Studios + Gallery, 560 Second St., Oakland. 839-2787. 

“TRASHed” an eco-friendly art exhibition of recycling bins on Bay Street through the end of August. 655-4002. www.baystreetemeryville.com  

FILM 

The Puppet Animation of Kihachiro Kawamoto “Absurdities, Legends, and Fairy Tales” at 7 p.m. and “The Book of the Dead” at 8:35 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Sandra M. Gilbert and Phyllis Stowell read from thier new books on death and grief at 3 p.m. in the 3rd floor Community Meeting Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107. 

“For Review” with Jack Marshall discussing his memoir “From Baghdad to Brooklyn: Growing Up in a Jewish Arabic Family in Midcentury America” at 6:30 p.m. at the Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $6-$8 549-6950. 

Michelle Tea will read from her new book “Rose of No Man’s Land” at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, West Auditorium, 125 14th St. 238-3134. 

Siddharth Dhanvant Shangvi describes “The Last Song of Dusk” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Elizabeth Grossman talks about “High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxins, & Human Health” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“The Da Vinci Code: Is the Truth Stranger than Fiction?” with Rabbi Harry Manhoff at 7:30 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Donation $5. 839-2900, ext. 249. 

Word Beat Reading Series with Ronda Lawson and Eugene David at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Full Circle “ Dream Dance Company and Jose Francisco Barroso and Carlos Mena, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St. at 9th St., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 597-1619, ext. 110. dreamdancecompany.org  

Lloyd Gregory Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Triskela, three harps, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Hali Hammer CD Release Party at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Suggested donation $5-$10 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. 649-1423. 

Roy Zimmerman in “Faulty Intelligence” An evening of satirical songs, at 8 p.m. at The Marsh Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way. 800-838-3006.  

No More Stereo, Melaquis, The Team Hate at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. 

Jimi Bridges, music without borders at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $6-$8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Take 6, a capella, at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $28-$32. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jennifer Johns at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $8. 451-8100.

Al Gore may be soaking up the spotlight with his doc du jour An Inconvenient Truth, but The Road to Guantanamo, opening today (Friday) at Shattuck Cinemas, is a far more incendiary film and one that many Americans would do well to see. 

Guantanamo tells a harrowing tale, and though it ends happily enough for the young Englishmen whose story it relates, it is full of anguish and anger on behalf of the potentially hundreds of innocent detainees who have not fared as well. 

The film is part documentary, part dramatization. It tells the story of the “Tipton Trio,” three Englishmen of Pakistani origin who set out for their native country so that one of them can get married there. There were actually four of them at the start of the journey, but one vanished somewhere in Afghanistan, where the young men had traveled to be of some help to fellow Muslims caught in the crossfire between the United States and the Taliban.  

They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, rounded up with a group of alleged Taliban soldiers, arrested by the Northern Alliance, turned over to the American military, and eventually shipped off to Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were lucky to even make it that far, but that was far from the end of their troubles. At Guantanamo the trio was subjected to inhumane conditions and repeated interrogations. They were systematically humiliated, beaten, abused and degraded. 

Though the story is dramatized, the action is interspersed with news footage and interviews with the Tipton Trio themselves. The technique may sound clumsy on paper but it works quite well, taking the simple, just-the-facts monologues of the young men and illustrating them with dramatic re-creations of their experiences. 

The dramatized segments feature young actors with little professional experience, chosen because they reflected many of the same traits as the men they portray; they are young, adventurous, brash, not especially religious and certainly apolitical. They are just kids, really, caught up in something too dark and too vast to comprehend, and the casting of these young actors brings those qualities to the fore. 

The film has already sparked controversy for its unflinching portrayal of the trespasses of the U.S. and British governments. Doubtless, its claims will be refuted, written off as politically-charged fantasies. But the tale is real. 

It seems like just a few years ago that tales of abduction, torture, indefinite detention and unlawful imprisonment occurred only in far-off lands: criminal deeds done by lawless, totalitarian governments or shadowy drug cartels in exotic locales. But now the American government is in on the act, if not for the first time then certainly for the first time on such a grand scale.  

Fahrenheit 9-11 kicked off this latest wave of political documentaries, but unlike that film and the many that followed in its wake—Outfoxed, The Corporation, Wal-Mart: The High Price of Low Cost, and even An Inconvenient Truth—Road to Guantanamo is not so easy to dismiss as a politically motivated polemic, especially in light of the recent suicides at Guantanamo.  

The film avoids many of the pitfalls of some of its recent predecessors, keeping the focus on the story itself rather than on the political players; George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Tony Blair make only brief appearances. 

The filmmakers spend little time recounting the How and the Why, instead focusing their cameras on their subjects and sticking to the What. Why distract the audience with the pale justifications, obfuscations and moral rationalizations of politicians? Directors Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross dispense with the small talk and get right to the point, knowing that it is far more effective to simply stick to the facts, to simply show what happened to these men and leave spin to others. There is no more effective and affecting story to be told than the disturbing tale of how an unchecked government and an unwinnable war robbed these young men of more than two years of their lives. 

But those two years were not wasted, for these men did not cave in; they did not give in to the temptation to ease their suffering by saying what their captors wanted to hear. 

“It only made me stronger,” one of the men says in an interview, and the line received a round of applause from a recent San Francisco preview audience. This sense of irony is pervasive throughout the film, as we watch burly, ruthless Marines—“Honor-Bound to Defend Freedom,” as their slogan reads—systematically subverting every tenant of their democratic ideals in a misguided effort to protect freedom by destroying it.  

At times the film draws uneasy laughter, as if it were simply a comedy of errors as the big, bad bully misses the forest for the trees, lording his power over the powerless while his world crumbles around him. It is truly bewildering and dispiriting to think of the U.S. Marines wasting the time and resources to ask a few clueless kids, over and over, “Where’s Osama?” 

The film reinforces the realization that bin Laden has in fact achieved a crucial—if “asymmetric”—victory, having reduced the once-mighty United States to a nation of paranoia and recklessness, ruled by an increasingly undemocratic government bent on squandering its vast power and wealth in pursuit of the unattainable goal of an undefined victory over an unseen enemy.  

But the military acts at the behest of our president, and our president prefers to paint with a broad brush, with good represented by white faces and evil represented by brown ones. The Tipton Trio never had a chance.  

Even when evidence to the contrary rests right before their eyes, the Marines at Guantanamo see only what they want to see, choosing to gaze instead through the same polarizing lens favored by al Qaeda. 

And for many Americans, that’s quite all right. “My country, right or wrong,” apologists say. But they never finish the quote, never include the words Missouri Sen. Carl Schurz used to modify the statement: “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.” 

Contributed Photo.  

A scene from the part documentary, part dramatization The Road to Guantanamo

Over 40 local poets—including Ntozake Shange, Floyd Salas, Avotcja, Gerald Nicosia, Tennessee Reed and Reginald Lockett—will read to benefit the Hurricane Katrina victims of Mississippi, and to celebrate the self-publication of a book of poems on Katrina, Words Upon the Waters, this Sunday, 3 p.m., at Anna’s Jazz Island. 

Both the production of the book and the reading come from a collective effort by the artists involved, building on an earlier benefit at La Peña, to send all proceeds directly to elderly and disabled Katrina victims through the Center for Independent Living in the East Bay.  

“All of us are artists; I never thought we’d have a book,” said Kim McMillon, who hosts a reading series at Anna’s Jazz Island, and will preside at Sunday’s benefit with fellow organizers Wanda Sabir and Karla Brundage. 

The ball got rolling for the benefits and the book one night last year when a few friends began e-mailing each other and talking on the phone. 

“We’re mostly of color—African American, Native and Asian American, Latina,” said McMillon of the group that coalesced from the mutual concern. “Some of us had relatives down there, or our families were from there—my parents were married in Gulfport. And we could see that the needs of people were being ignored, especially those of older and disabled victims.” 

The group decided to focus on Mississippi because such a wide area of that state got devastated; it wasn’t just New Orleans. 

“People feel helpless,” McMillon said. “But for us, it’s an opportunity to use our words to help—and we’re building a sense of community.” 

Sabir, whom McMillon called the backbone of the effort, spent the time following Katrina “in a daze, waiting for phonecalls” to account for family members in the stricken area. 

“The older people, especially those in their 80s and 90s didn’t leave,” she said. “The younger ones evacuated, the older stayed. I kept seeing photos of people in wheelchairs being evacuated to the Astrodome in Houston.” 

Sabir, who teaches at Alameda Jr. College, visited Mississippi last fall. “Aid was being blocked; people were going, taking blankets and food down.” 

On her return, she talked with others, then contacted Karla Brundage. 

“We’d done events for South Central, for abolishing the death penalty together. We had lots of names standing by,” Sabir said. “Karla organized the La Peña reading. The poetry was awesome; the testimony, fabulous. We taped the evening, and Karla, Kim Shuck, Leroy Franklin and other poets started talking about doing a book.” 

“Inkworks donated 500 covers and found a binder for us,” said McMillon. “The project deserved something more than a stapled chapbook and Reginald Lockett legitimized us with his Jukebox Press. We’ve got an ISBN number, and—after Karla and five others spent all night long, every night for a week at the Bay Area Alternative Pres—we have 500 bound copies. When you make something this way, when your hand touches every page, it puts a different value on it.” 

McMillon said publishers have been invited to the reading, in the hope that one of them will publish the book. 

All proceeds from the readings and a silent art auction of donated works at La Peña are being wired, without fee, by the Center for Independent Living to Mississippi and Houston. 

“We get detailed reports on how it’s been spent,” said Sabir. “Jan Garrett of CIL has been great—and Mr. Batiste, whose own family members were evacuated during Hurricane Rita. He knows.” 

Brundage commented on the interracial and intercommunity cooperation that’s sprung from a widespread disaster, teamwork that’s overcoming a sense of voicelessness from being confronted with a history of neglect. 

“There are places down there that don’t exist anymore,” Sabir said. “But our community of poets and artists are of the same ethnic diversity—even including a similar diversity of disabilities—as the Katrina victims. We span the spectrum, and when we feel something, we write a poem or a song, put on a concert.” 

The reading is sponsored by Oakland PEN, Before Columbus Foundation and Poetry Flash. McMillon credits Anna Rodriguez, of Anna’s Jazz Island with “really going to bat for us—and she contributed a great poem, too.” 

“The anniversary of Katrina’s just around the corner,” cautioned McMillon, “and it’s hurricane season again.” 

Words Upon The Waters 

A Healing Event for Katrina by Bay Area Poets & Artists 

Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way,  

Sunday, 3 p.m. 

$5 admission; book $20.

Morning dawns on a Berkeley summer day. Gray light filters into bungalow-style rooms, a shawl of mist moistens stately plane trees and palettes of roses. Knowing the sun will soon make its presence felt, this is a good time to set out with a plan for the day. Within walking distance are specialty food shops, cozy eateries, an inspiring nursery, a comfortable park and a wonderful neighborhood library. Welcome to Northbrae. 

Snappy morning air signals “get going” to this peripatetic biophile, the perfect time to recharge batteries with heart-elevating activity. At the King School Park, the running track is already busy with walkers, joggers and a tot-sized soccer game on the center turf. More tots are lost in their own world among slides and swings shaded by towering eucalyptus; older kids attempt the tire obstacle course. Wimbledon fans with varying skills pop and lob balls across the net while gleeful sounds reverberate off the surface at the Public Swim Center. Something for everyone. 

The temperature fits for a neighborhood stroll, especially with the dangling carrot of coffee and accoutrements. Down quiet side streets, bucolic in nature, I pass well- 

maintained homes amid flourishing yards. One- and two-story California bungalows in stucco and brick border tree-lined streets. Handsome in colors of gray, puce and café au lait, their roofs peak above small porches or larger verandas and multi-paned windows. Pink evening primrose and magenta bougainvillea glow as light diffuses down through trees whose height reveals their longevity. 

I think back to 1841 when this area was the first in Berkeley to be settled by Europeans. On the south side of Cordonices Creek is the site of Jose Peralta’s adobe dwelling and nearby the wood-frame house he later added. 

Although it’s still early, the tables and benches at Espresso Roma are quickly filling up, this being a popular local meeting place. With coffee and bagel, I grab a table, content to absorb the pulse of this family neighborhood. I watch mom and dad distribute Mexican scrambled eggs and oven potatoes to a young girl, aglow in summer pink, and her stroller-enclosed brother. The young miss is also enjoying hot oatmeal, while her final course is a huge M&M studded cookie. An older couple, sitting in filtered sun, seems totally engrossed in books. Each lost in their own world, they barely notice as gentle breezes alter leaf patterns above their pages. 

It’s hard to see the former gas station in this lovely outside café sheltered from street traffic by salvia hedges. At the service island, the corrugated roof is almost hidden by thickly growing honeysuckle. Small trees and umbrellas offer sun and shade options for catching up on the news or the latest gossip. Some linger, reluctant to leave this relaxing refuge. For others, like myself, shopping calls. 

Anchoring the south end of this neighborhood is Monterey Market. Founded by Tom and Mary Fujimoto in 1961, this village-based business “provides good fruits and vegetables in season” supporting local farmers and the community. It was originally across the street. I remember squeezing sardine-like around a single lap, filling my basket as I waited in line.  

Though today’s space seems hundreds of times larger than the original market, laden carts still fill the aisles. What better way to celebrate summer than with an array of fresh produce? Blushing apricots and plump cherries, a cornucopia of berries from golden raspberries to long stemmed strawberries, glistening spring onions in purple and white and enough fungi for a mushroom festival, from toadstool-like trumpet royale morels to velvety brown porcinis.  

Magnani Poultry adds to my basket with free-range chicken and Muscovy duck legs. The Deliza bar provides squirt-your-own dispensers of vinegars and olive oils. Yum, white balsamic and Phoenician extra virgin olive oil vinaigrette over roasted asparagus and beets. In the deli case I see a picnic ready to be sampled—pork loin with proscuitto and apricots and a red potato and herb salad. 

At my next stop I vicariously travel the world as I sample cheeses: smokey bleu from Oregon, Humboldt Fog’s Chevre, Italian Taleggio, French Chaunces, Spanish goat milk Cabra, English Stilton, grilling cheese from Cypress and Swiss raclette. Along with the cheeses, the bulk spice and herb selection is unbeatable: at pennies an ounce, they’re the best bargain around. 

The catchword at Monterey Fish is sustainability, taking into account the environment, fishing industry and community. 

Everything on offer is of the freshest quality, not the lowest prices. Staffed by a hip, knowledgeable crew and backed by classic rock, Monterey Fish gleams and tantalizes. There’s eco-farmed salmon on offer from Scotland but the bright wild Atlantic salmon makes my mouth water. For appetizers, the Oyster Bar holds a choice of Humboldt’s Kumamoto and Tomales Bay’s Hog Island. 

Can’t say “fini” until the sweet tooth has been satisfied. A summer fete needs cake and I can’t improve on Mango Mousse Torte or Italian Cream Cake from Hopkins Street Bakery. Then there’s that chocolate cupcake bedecked in sprinkles and the cranberry cinnamon Breakfast Bun, both tempting mouthfuls. Can’t forget the bread on my list. Many Grain or Dill Parmesan Baguette—I’ll take both. 

With nutritional needs met I now seek “food for the soul”. In the 1920s George Budgen of Berkeley Horticultural Nursery stated, “It’s not a home until it’s planted”. This worthy goal is easily satisfied with the oasis of greenery on hand at Northbrae’s Berkeley Hort.  

Not for the indecisive, myriad choices will make your head spin. Inspired by Monterey Market, I check out the vegetable six-packs ready to drop in the ground. Just in zucchini I must decide between green, black, costata romanesco, magda and ronde de nice. Tomatoes occupy three entire shelves, but are well sorted by ripening season. 

Below arched room size areas topped by shade-giving screens, paved paths delineate specific plant varieties. Light and air freely circulate under the high peaked central structure and mature specimen plants line the walkway. Fallopia japonica’s variegated leaves appear sprayed with white paint and the huge pink-tinged white flowers of Patricia Marie Rhododendron are strikingly lovely. More than just a nursery, Berkeley Hort is a wondrous botanical garden, except I get to take the plants home with me. 

As the sun reaches its zenith the northern neighborhood anchor beckons. Like a heartbeat, the North Branch Berkeley Public Library maintains a steady rhythm. Within its triangular, park setting of wide lawns and circling trees, the Spanish revival building with central tower, tiled roof and deeply inset arched windows serves as a gateway to this mellow neighborhood. 

Each morning patrons patiently wait until doors open. Computers are quickly put to use. At reading tables, study materials spread out and the latest newspapers are perused; open windows framed in foliage keep interiors cool. In the children’s wing the tables and chairs are smaller and joyful voices display appreciation of weekly Picture Book and Family Story Times. As with a dear friend, I find myself visiting several times a week.  

In the golden slant of afternoon light, I head down Hopkins under the tree-tunnel of far reaching sycamores. Satisfied with my excursion and purchases I’m ready to savour my feast of local bounty—food, plant life and books. Steady, without pretense, Northbrae fits my needs, is home. 

Espresso Roma Cafe, 1549 Hopkins St, 528-8010 

Monterey Market, 1550 Hopkins St, 526-6042, www.montereymarket.com 

Magnani Poultry, 1576 Hopkins St, 528 6370 

Monterey Fish, 1582 Hopkins St, 525-5600, www.montereyfish.com 

Hopkins Street Bakery, 1584 Hopkins St, 526-8188 

Berkeley Horticultural Nursery, 1310 McGee St, 526-4704, www.berkeleyhort.com  

North Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda (at Hopkins), 981-6250 

When Maurice Strelinger, aka M.B. Curtis, built the fabulous Peralta Park Hotel, he envisioned it as a hostelry for theatrical companies passing through San Francisco. This dream never came to pass, but Curtis did manage to lure at least one stage star to his new subdivision. 

In October 1889, the California Architect and Building News (CABN) reported that Lord & Boynton was building for Miss Anita Fallon a two-story frame house on Lot 5 in Peralta Park. Designed by Fred E. Wilcox, the house cost $3,500, to be paid in four stages. 

Miss Fallon was a well-known San Francisco actress. In 1890, her city address was 120 McAllister Street. As befits a country residence of the late 1880s, the Fallon house in Berkeley is a beguiling fantasy. The main mass is a rectangular box, set back and surmounted by an enormous Dutch gambrel roof. At the front, a stout round turret flanked by a rustic stone chimney sports a bell-shaped roof that assumes a saddle shape as it connects to the gambrel roof. 

The exterior is clad in stucco—practically unheard of in an American house of the Victorian era—yet the 1889 contract notice stipulated a payment to be made after the first coat of mortar was put on. One can only speculate about the nature of the original walls. They may have been clad in an early form of stucco. Alternatively, the turret may have been shingled, the rest of the house clapboard.  

Unique in Berkeley, the Fallon house was kin to the fanciful East Coast villas featured monthly in the Scientific American Architects and Builders Edition. It was the perfect setting for its flamboyant owner.  

Anita (Annie) Fallon was born in San Jose on April 16, 1854. Her father, Captain Thomas Fallon (1825–1885), had been a member of the John C. Fremont expedition to Alta California. Later he joined the Bear Flag Revolt and on July 11, 1846 led a volunteer force that captured the pueblo of San Jose. He would serve as San Jose’s mayor in 1859–1860. 

Annie’s mother, Carmel Fallon (1827–1923), was the granddaughter of General Joaquin Ysidro Castro and the daughter of Martina Castro Lodge, the first woman to receive a Spanish land grant—Rancho Soquel, comprising 34,000 acres along the coast south of Santa Cruz. 

Carmel inherited one-tenth of Rancho Soquel, which she and Tom Fallon parlayed into land investments in the San Jose area. In the center of town they built a 15-room Italianate mansion that stood higher than City Hall and boasted the first bay windows in the South Bay area. Located across the street from the Luís Maria Peralta adobe (1797), the house is now part of the Peralta Adobe-Fallon House Historic Site. 

In 1874, Annie Fallon went to Paris to study painting, continuing to Germany the following year. Her pictorial subjects were apparently academic and uninspired, consisting mostly of Madonnas and landscapes. In 1878, she married John F. Malone, a young lawyer and Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney. Participation in local amateur Shakespearian productions propelled the couple to theatrical renown. 

On August 16, 1880 they made their San Francisco professional debut in Edward George Bulwer-Lytton’s drama “Richelieu, or The Conspiracy,” staged at the Baldwin Theatre on Market Street. John played the title role, while Annie portrayed Richelieu’s ward, Julie de Mortemar. 

The marriage soon went awry, and in 1886 Annie sued for divorce on grounds of neglect and failure to provide sustenance. She soon became a star in her own right, performing at the Alcazar and Golden Gate theatres. For her independent-living role model, the a cigar-smoking actress needed look no further than her own mother. 

Ten years earlier, Carmel had caught her husband in flagrante delicto with the housekeeper. After thrashing the errant pair with a fire poker, Carmel promptly filed for divorce and moved to San Francisco with her unmarried children. 

An astute businesswoman, Carmel invested her fortune in San Francisco real estate, building the Carmel Hotel and the Fallon Hotel. In 1894, she commissioned a three-story commercial/residential building at the intersection of Market, Octavia, and Waller streets. It would serve as her home for the next 29 years. 

Designed by the San Jose architect Edward Goodrich, the trapezoidal Fallon Building survived the 1906 Earthquake and Fire through the personal intervention of the 79-year old Carmel.  

In the late 1990s , now owned by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, the Fallon Building was threatened with demolition but saved through the efforts of the advocacy group Friends of 1800. It is now a designated landmark. 

Following her mother’s example, Anita engaged in building activities. In 1889, Fred Wilcox designed not only her Peralta Park house but an extant 4-story building of flats at 270 Divisadero Street. Like the Berkeley house, it features a prominent round turret, this one crowned by a witch's cap.  

Little is known about Wilcox. In 1889 and 1890, he had an office in the Flood Building on Market Street and resided at 828 Powell Street, on top of Nob Hill. According to architectural historian Bradley Wiedmaier, Wilcox spent only a few years in San Francisco. Half a dozen buildings in the city are known to have been designed by him, including the Pacific Heights homes of Baldwin Theatre manager Alfred Bouvier (2524 Broadway) and businessman Stanley Forbes (2614 Scott St.), both in Eastern Shingle style. For capitalist Isaac Hecht, Wilcox remodeled and enlarged three Italianate row houses on Green Street. 

Anita Fallon’s house in Peralta Park may well have been Wilcox’s only East Bay commission. For over 60 years it was the centerpiece of an oversized lot that extended from Albina Avenue to Fleurange Avenue (now Acton Street), just across Codornices Creek from the Peralta Park Hotel building. This lot had been the site of José Domingo Peralta’s adobe. A 1911 map indicates that the property (the address was 1304 Albina) included a water tower, a coop, and a car garage. It remained intact until the early 1950s, although the house had undergone some renovations, most likely in the ’20s and/or ’30s. 

How long Anita Fallon retained ownership of the house is not known. From 1911 until 1929 she was embroiled in a much-publicized dispute with her brother over their mother’s estate, which newspapers estimated at a million dollars. A five-year court case was finally resolved in an out-of-court settlement. Anita died in San Francisco on May 14, 1932. 

In the early 1950s, the former Fallon property was broken up into seven lots, and the house was turned around and moved to the western corner on Acton Street. On the Albina frontage, four modern houses went up, and an apartment building was later erected in the middle of the block. 

From the 1970s through the ’90s, the Fallon house was the home of William and Helga Olkowski, co-founders of the Farallones Institute and the Integral Urban House project. In 1979 the Olkowskis founded the Bio-Integral Resource Center, whose office was located on the first floor of their residence. 

The house is now owned by two writers: Phyllis Kluger, author of Needlepoint Gallery of Patterns From the Past, and Richard Kluger, author of a Pulitzer Prize–winning history of the American cigarette business, Ashes to Ashes. Mr. Kluger has just completed his next book, Seizing Destiny, in which he examines how the United States amassed its territories. The book will be released by Knopf next year. 

The Klugers have been good to the Fallon house. Beautifully restored with no structural alterations and minimal updating, it imparts grace, refinement, and beauty to its surroundings. 

This is the third and final part in a series of articles on Peralta Park.

In my job, I’m often asked to estimate what a particular job might cost. Mrs. Jones wants to know how much a new furnace might cost, or perhaps a roof. These aren’t too hard to roughly gauge and costs won’t vary by 100 percent (most of the time). 

I might even be able to give a pretty fair guess; but a paint-job is a horse of a different color when it comes to estimates and let me tell you why. There are paint jobs and paint jobs and paint jobs. They diverge in quality so much that it’s almost as though two different painters are in different lines of work.  

I mention this because I saw a classic case the other day. A true “blow and go” (I realize this gets used for lawn-care too but it really does apply, as you’ll see, to painting). This paint job was done so quickly and was so thin that there were actually voids on the surface that looked like thin leaves of paint in the places where it had failed to form a continuous sheet. 

Also, you could see from the clear image of the grain of the rough wood below that the thickness of the paint was probably about that of a sheet of paper. The painter must have gotten a lot of coverage out of that five-gallon bucket of paint. If you add a little water, you might just make it around to the other side and be done before 10 a.m. In other words, the house had a new color, but nothing that I would actually call a paint job. 

Now, let’s contrast, just within this one criterion, with another paint job. Last week I saw a paint job that I gave a very big vote of confidence to and boy, it was sweet. 

One of the ways in which it was clear that this was a great paint job was that the fine definition of surface reticulation or, in English, the texture of the surface below the paint, was very much obscured. 

This isn’t always a good thing, in terms of aesthetics, but they found a very good compromise and having enough paint on the outside of a house is a darned nice thing. 

The paint was rolled in the right places and brushed in the right places and was nicely built-up at the joints between surfaces so that it was very clear that, making allowances for the paint quality itself, this paint job would be around, protecting the house for a long time to come (10 years?). 

So even if the only thing we talk about is volume and thickness of paint, we can be talking two different world. By the way, the first product was literally in need of repainted now and I think it was done last month. If it were done twice as well, it might have needed to be repainted in a year or two. That’s how big the difference is. 

So when we speak of one paint job costing three grand and another being 12, it may well be that the 12 is a far better value and that the painter puts less money in their pocket than the felon (oops, I mean fellow) charging 3. We’re not just talking apples and oranges, we’re talking row boats and aircraft carriers. 

The second issue and the one that I usually use as my primary criterion is preparation. It’s often been said that preparation should be largest part of any paint-job, although the percentages I hear bandied about (of course I never bandy myself, gave it up years ago) range from 50-90 percent. 

Not withstanding statistics, the point is that preparation is extremely important and that gallons of the best paint, painstakingly applied by caring hands cannot prevent the ill results of inadequate prep. 

One very important example relates to moisture. If one paints a surface that is not fully dry, the moisture below the new paint coating will vaporize in the heat of the day and form blisters, which lead to delamination and pretty soon the coating has gone all wonky (technical terminology). 

If the paint job is applied over a dirty or oily surface, the paint can similarly begin to detach and fail in the course of a year or two. 

A real favorite of mine, because I see it so often, is paint failure (now or soon to come) when paint is placed (usually sprayed) over old peeling paint. 

There’s no paint strong enough to keep the paint layer in place very long when the surface it’s attached to is already hanging in leaves off the house. 

A simple scraping would have been enough to prevent this but many a painter has left such stuff on the outside of the house and blown over it in pursuit of a quick check (or simply because they didn’t know any better). 

A quick aside is due at this point to offer some explanation as to why such workmanship comes into existence. I do not believe that most tradespeople are corrupt. Most are just trying to get by and are going the best work they know how to provide. The larger problem is the lack of knowledge and experience out there. 

The really great painter knows so much more than their sorry counterpart. They might even know fast and inexpensive ways to remove all the detritus from the outside so that they can create an iron-clad surface without spending months preparing the surface. 

In any event, they are not going to be cheaper. That’s the sad but consistent truth about this kind of work (and, of course, many other kinds of work). 

Two plumbers might be darned close on their estimates and the rules on connecting pipe will help to keep their work somewhat similar, but painter A (Starving Student Painters of Lower Lower Rockridge) will simply not provide the same product as painter B (Francine Flaubert Faux Finish et Decorating), despite their best efforts. 

Again, it’s up to the buyer to do the bewaring and to help push the quality uphill. We do this by saying no the low bid and by looking at a painter’s past pains for paltry products. Talk to clients from two or three years ago and go see their house before you sign on. 

Paint thickness and good preparation are just two of the criteria one should be looking at when comparing paint jobs and your poor servant’s column space is nearly filled but let it be sufficient to say that there is a lot of difference between a good and a bad paint job and hopefully, just as great a difference between a cheap and a costly one. 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor, in care of East Bay Real Estate, at realestate@berkeleydailyplanet.com.

We old coots play a game, based on how long we’ve been in Berkeley: You Shoulda Been Here When. In my circle it runs heavily to vertical samplings of bird populations, politics, public venues: often the interesting little store that filled a niche, got big, got bought, got corporatized, got bland.  

Some of us remember The Nature Company, which to some extent filled the fieldguide niche of the late Lucas Books and had a merrily unpredictable collection of optics, toys, and garden tools (like my favorite switchblade pruning saw) along with the bird feeders, coffeetable books, and art.  

The Nature Company got bought out by some Eastern corporation, then sold back to a founder, then re-sold to become The Discovery Channel Store. By the time Discovery downsized and closed its only Berkeley venue, all it had in common with the original was the “The”—and one knowledgeable employee. Lots of electronic bling, but no fieldguides to speak of, no Bateman or Parnall prints, no inspired garden tools, no complete line of binoculars.  

The story of Smith and Hawken is similar, even sold to the same corporation. All that Ecology of Commerce stuff, and Paul Hawken turned it over like the sheets in a by-the-hour motel.  

Smith and Hawken was always a bit pricey and over-the-top in some departments. Olde propagators’ pots from some cellar near Great Dixter, with preserved mossy rime included, that sort of thing. Garden clothes you couldn’t afford to get dirty. But interesting: “Japanese” farmers’ pants with drawstring ankles and pockets for kneepads. Real Wellington wellies.  

Some tools were big cutlery, all shiny and expensive, and came with an honest lifetime guarantee; I know two professional gardeners who collected on that, and still love their replacements a decade later. My biggest gripe against S&H was the weirdly precious catalogue prose.  

S&H sold top-quality interesting plants then, too. The Berkeley store’s nursery department is gone now, just a lone lavender seedling hanging on in the gravel. The bargain section that was open on weekends has disappeared, too; the stuff there usually seemed overpriced for its condition anyway. But without those bits, it all seems less interesting. 

My impression last week was, “It’s converging on Target, but it’s still more pricey.” The merchandise looked generic and familiar. I actually laughed when I found that S&H sells some of its lines through Target. They need some sort of design backflow control valve, apparently. Target’s big on “accessible design,” but what’s S&H’s reason to exist? The corporate owner —Scott’s Miracle-Gro, of all things—promises a “Renaissance.” Show me. 

Teilhard de Chardin’s “everything that rises must converge” is unsupported speculation, but it looks as if everything that corporatizes must get more boring. 

My advice: Use S&H for a first look and a place to try on Felcos. Ignore the house-brand imitations; they’re almost as expensive, and Felco will probably exist and sell you parts longer than S&H’s latest corporate owners—maintain an interest in that line. Check out any bargains, but don’t spend money without comparison shopping. If you’re going to support a soulless corporation, you might as well do so for less. 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

Take a Good Look Around 

It’s surprising how few of us have walked around our home to take note of which furniture is ready to injure us in a serious quake. There’s usually quite a bit of it, folks!  

I’ve done many consultations where the homeowner thinks that because a piece is heavy, like an armoire or a desk, for example, it won’t fall. Or that because something is on wheels, like a baby bed, it will slide and not fall. Not true! Pieces like these are crying out for securing.  

For the handy person, securing is no big deal. Just go to your friendly hardware store and find the earthquake hardware section. 

If you’re not inclined this way, or just don’t have the time, hire your own handyman or go to my website. 

This is not that expensive. Most importantly, in a big quake, most injuries are due to falling objects (not fire).  

Is it worth taking a chance that you or somebody you love could be badly hurt? And, try comparing the securing cost of $150-$350 to the expense of replacing all kinds of furniture, computers, and TVs, after the quake destroys them.  

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service in the East Bay. www.quakeprepare.com.

FRIDAY, JUNE 23 

Reduced City Services Today Call ahead to ensure programs or services you desire will be available. 981-CITY. www.cityofberkeley.info 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Andy Ross, owner of Cody’s Books, on “Can the Independent Local Bookstore Survive in Berkeley?” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

How’d You Become an Activist & What Now? with Pauline Wynter and Jacques Depelchin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donations appreciated. 528-5403. 

Ecocity Report from New Orleans at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. Cost is $10 but no one turned away for lack of funds. 548-2220. 

East Bay Animal Advocates’ Dairy Documentary at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations of $5 accepted. 

Moving Mom and Dad with Donna Robins on finding the right retirement community at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190.  

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

SATURDAY, JUNE 24 

Open the Little Farm Feed the goats, collect some eggs, hold a bunny and meet our new calves at 9 a.m. at the Little Farm, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Outdoor Art Learn how to make a natural mural at 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $3. 525-2233. 

A Visit with a Guide Dog at 2 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Sponsored by Guide Dogs for the Blind of Marin. 524-3043. 

Spiral Gardens Food Security Project from 1 to 6 p.m. at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon St. Peaches, nectarines, cherries, root veges, garlic, onions, cabbage, and squash - with summer vegetables on the way!  

Challenge Hike on Sobrante Ridge Explore a fragile ecosystem and a small forest of rare manzanita on this 3-mile hike with some hills. Meet at 10 a.m. at the staging are at the end of Coach Drive, El Sobrante. For ages 10 and up. 525-2233. 

Send-Off for the 17th U.S.-Cuba Friendhipment Caravan with a film, music and food, at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation of $10-$15 requested, no one turned away. 650-367-9183. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. 

Carribean American Heritage Commemoration at 10 a.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway, Oakland. 599-1645. 

Re-Fresh Festival A community celebration of creative re-use and recycling from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 9235 San Leandro St., Oakland. 638-7600.  

Family Origami Craft Day from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. Free. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Buddhist Temple of Alameda Bazaar, Sat. from 4 to 9 p.m. and Sun. from noon to 8 p.m. at 2325 Pacific Avenue, Alameda. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 25 

Brooks Island Voyage Paddle the rising tide across the Richmond Harbor Channel to Brooks Island from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For experienced boaters who can provide their own canoe or kayak and safety gear. For ages 14 and up with parent participation. Cost is $20-$22. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Free Sailboat Rides for ages 5 and up from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring change of clothes, windbreaker and sneakers. For more information and directions see cal-sailing.org 

Berkeley CyberSalon “Blogging Mommies” with Grace Davis, Joan Blades, Mary Tsau, Jenny Lauck, and Lisa Brewer Canter at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $5-$10. 527-0450. 

Teach Your Dog to Walk Without Pulling from 3 to 4 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2128 Cedar St. To register call 849-9323. companyofdogs.com  

Epic Arts BBQ and Open House from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 644-2204, ext. 12. 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800 or 883-9710. 

Sunday Summer Forum: Towards a More Just World with Dr. Theodore Rosak at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712.  

Tibetan Buddhism Panel on “Memories of the World Peace Ceremony” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, JUNE 26 

Healthy Eating Habits Seminar at 7 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Deeksha and Chanting at 7:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Church, 941 The Alameda. Donations accepted. 655-1425. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 27 

Cancer Prevention and Survival Cooking Course A series of 8 classes at 6:30 p.m. at Keller Williams, 2nd floor, 4341 Piedmont Ave. Oakland. Free, but registration is required. 531-2665. 

Raging Grannies of the East Bay invites new folks to come join us from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. to sing and have fun at Berkeley Gray Panthers office, 1403 Addison St., in Andronico’s mall. 548-9696. 

Great Weekend Camping Trips A slide presentation with Matt Heid at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, 3rd floor, UC Campus. To make an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. www.BeADonor.com  

PC Users meets at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St. near Eunice. 

Stress Less Seminar at 7 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28 

Walkin’ in Pride a 4-mile shoreline walk in Point Pinole at 6:30 p.m. in celebration of LGBT Pride Month. For information call 525-2233. 

Trip to Audobon Canyon Ranch with the El Cerrito Senior Center, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $15, reservations required. 215-4340. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

“Ten Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military” presented by Cindy Sheehan, Paul Rockwell, and Aimee Allison at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“Bureaucracy vs The Environment: What Should Be Done?” with speakers Michael Shaw, Founder, Liberty Garden, Randy Simmons, Prof. of Political Science, Utah State Univ., Carl Close, Co-editor, Re-Thinking Green at 6:30 p.m. at The Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland. Cost is $10-$15.  

“Alameda County: Present and Future” with Keith Carson, Alameda County Supervisor at 1:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696.  

“The Art of Placemaking: Transit-Oriented Development” A panel discussion on both the challenges and potential of making Transit-Oriented Development successful, at 5:30 p.m. at AIA East Bay, 1405 Clay St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$20, includes dinner. To register call 464-3600. www.aiaeb.org  

Indigenous Permaculture with slides and music and information from El Salvador at 7 p.m. at Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5-$50 sliding scale. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“McLibel” A documentary about two activists who take on MacDonalds in England, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations of $5 accepted. 

“Girl, I’ve Been Through A Lot...” Poetry workshop for girls age 13 to 17 at 4 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, Room 219, 125 14th St. 238-3134. 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss Rabbi Paul at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, El Cerrito. Also organizing meeting to become a Democratic Central Committee Chartered Club. 433-2911. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, 3rd floor, UC Campus. To make an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. www.BeADonor.com  

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes. 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 

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 

THURSDAY, JUNE 29 

Ecological Sanitation in Haiti, Compost Toilet Project with Sasha Kramer on the work of Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Free. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

A UPB Conversation on how we can live with strong ecological values locally with Ernest Callenbach, author of “Ecotopia” and “Ecology: A Pocket Guide,” from 5:30 to 7 p.m. At University Press Books/Berkeley, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Teen Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club with guest speaker Tom Whitmore on “The Other Change of Hobbit” at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6133. 

Free Skin Cancer Screening Clinic at Markstein Cancer Education Center, Summit Campus, Oakland. Free, but appointments required. 869-8833. 

Women’s Initiative “Develop a Business Action Plan” A free seminar for women entrepreneurs from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at 519 17 St. at Telegraph. 415-641-3463. www.womensinitiative.org 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

CITY MEETINGS 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., June 26, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Virginia Aiello, 981-5158. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/parksandrecreation 

Zero Waste Commission Mon., June 26, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Tania Levy, 981-6368. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/solidwaste 

City Council meets Tues., June 27, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/civicarts 

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., June 28, 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., June 28, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., June 28 , at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

School Board meets Wed. June 28, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

By Judith Scherr 

The sign Ramzi Obeid carried Tuesday afternoon at the downtown Berkeley BART station demonstration read: “Killing and destruction in Gaza—paid for by our taxes.” 

The demonstration that attracted about 100 protesters and a dozen counter-demonstrators was aimed at making the public aware of the recent killings in the Gaza strip, Palestine, and was organized by the Berkeley-based Middle East Children’s Alliance and the American Arab Anti-discrimination Committee. 

Obeid—a Palestinian-American who says he cannot go to the family home his mother left in 1948 in Jaffa, Israel-Palestine, because “I am not Jewish”—condemns the Israeli shelling of Palestinians in Gaza. 

Standing on a pick-up truck south of the BART station, Middle East Children’s Alliance Executive Director Barbara Lubin described the June 9 incident on a beach in Gaza when eight members of one family, including a six-month old infant, were killed while picnicking, allegedly a result of Israeli shelling. 

Lubin read a statement from Mona Elfarra, a physician working in Gaza: “An Israeli gunship suddenly fired at random against the beach while army tanks fired artillery shells and Apache helicopters crossed the sky; 40 civilians were injured, 10 killed.” The picnickers were among them. 

Counter-demonstrators flew Israeli flags and sported placards such as “Pro-Israel/Pro-Peace.” When Lubin addressed the rally from the truck, several pro-Israeli demonstrators moved from the north side of the BART station close to the demonstration, where picketers were circling as they listened to Lubin. 

“You’re lying Barbara, you’re lying,” yelled a counter-demonstrator through a bullhorn as he approached the truck with several others carrying Israeli flags. 

Lubin encouraged protesters to keep marching and ignore the other protestors as Berkeley police moved in to keep the pro-Israel group away from the pro-Palestine rally. 

Sanne DeWitt, a spokesperson for the pro-Israel demonstrators from Stand With Us, San Francisco Voice for Israel and Israel Action Committee of the East Bay, told the Daily Planet: “A lot of lies have been told.” 

Speaking to the protesters, Lubin contended that Palestinian functionaries have not been paid for months; the Israelis collect taxes and refuse to turn them over to the Palestinian Authority. “There’s no money to feed the children,” she said. 

DeWitt defended the Israeli government’s refusal to relinquish the Palistinian funds. “I’m concerned that Hamas [the ruling party] will use the funds to buy weapons and fight,” she said. 

After a few short speeches the protesters took their march to University Avenue down to Sacramento Street then back up to the BART station.