Opinion

As a non-card-carrying but nonetheless proud Old Blue (I think that’s what University of California at Berkeley graduates are still called), from the class of ’61, back in the days when the local campus was called simply “Cal,” never “Berkeley,” I’m delighted to see that the school is still following its traditions. Well, “delighted” might be a bit strong. “Bemused” would be more like it. The tradition I’m referring to in this instance is acting with utter stupidity when anything approaching public relations is concerned. -more-

Mayor Tom Bates said Friday he has no intention of calling a special election on the referendum that threatens to block implementation of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) approved by the City Council last month. -more-

‘UNIVERSAL’ MEANS SINGLE PAYER -more-

This is the season for taking stock of the year that has just passed and making resolutions about the one that has just begun. It is a time of ambitious lists. Under the heading “Civic Affairs,” here is mine. -more-

Much has been written in the past several months about Berkeley’s troubled Housing Authority. Much more devastating news is likely to emerge in the coming months. -more-

MODEST PROPOSAL -more-

Yesterday, Jan. 12, 2007, will long be remembered as one of the most ignominious days in the history of UC Berkeley politics. The day after the county court refused to immediately allow the university to send in the chain saws, exactly 40 days after the tree sitters began their protest, and on one of the coldest days of the year with freeze warnings and weather forecast for record or near record cold lows in the 20s and 30s for the coming night, the UCB administration sent in their own police force to remove the ground support for the Memorial Oak Grove tree sitters. -more-

The Warm Pool Committee has received a copy of the final environmental impact report (EIR) commissioned by the Berkeley Unified School District. It consists of the EIR issued in September, copies of responses to that EIR, and the School District’s answer to those responses. Needless to say, their position regarding the warm pool is literally beyond belief. Their attitude is expressed in the following quote: -more-

Kathleen Cha’s brief explanation of ABAG’s (Association of Bay Area Governments) proposal to Bay Area cities, that they must develop new multilevel and multifamily housing (for 634,000 new residents regionally, 4,200 in Berkeley by 2015) [BDP, 1/5/07], is responding to concerns in the pages of the Planet initiated by an earlier article on that subject [12/5/06]. Cha’s growth estimates remain unattributed; she does not suggest what plans for the future they represent. Indeed, ABAG’s webpage projects population increases of a million in the next 20 years, and a Chronicle article [12/15/06] puts it at 2 million. The Chronicle advises us to simply reconcile ourselves to becoming “high density cities.” -more-