Full Text

Sen. Barack Obama greets supporters in Oakland. Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee.
Sen. Barack Obama greets supporters in Oakland. Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee.
 

News

Council Yanks Term Limit Ordinance for Commissions from Agenda

By JUDITH SCHERR
Tuesday March 20, 2007

An ordinance passed 5-4 March 13 that would have limited the number of years a person can sit on certain commissions and impose restrictions on the number of commissions on which a person can sit was rescinded 8-0-1 at Tuesday’s council meeting, with Councilmember Laurie Capitelli abstaining. 

Had the council approved the second reading of the ordinance on its agenda Tuesday, community members were set to challenge it with a petition to put it on the ballot as a referendum at the nest election. 

The future of the measure—whether it is dead or will come back in the same or a different form—will be discussed at the April 16 agenda committee meeting. 

On Monday, John Selawsky, Igor Tregub, Patti Dacey, Laurie Bright and Howard Chong submitted a petition to referend the ordinance to the city clerk, so that they could begin collecting signatures immediately upon passage of the ordinance. They would have 30 days from approval of the law to collect 4,073 signatures. 

The measure that passed on the first reading would apply to four quasi-judicial commissions: the Housing Advisory Commission, the Landmarks Commission, the Zoning Adjustments Board and the Planning Commission and would: 

• limit the number of years a commissioner could sit on these commissions to eight consecutive years. After a two-year break, the commissioner could be reappointed to the commission; 

• prohibit a person who serves on one of the key commissions from serving on any other board or commission, with the exception of elected commissions and the Library Board of Trustees.  

Voting to oppose the ordinance on March 13 were councilmembers Linda Maio, Kriss Worthington, Dona Spring and Max Anderson. 

 


10,000 Rally for Obama in Oakland

By Riya Bhattacharjee and Rio Bauce
Tuesday March 20, 2007

On Saturday afternoon at Oakland City Hall, there was some R&B, some hip hop and jazz, and then there was Barack Obama. 

The junior U.S. senator from Illinios drew a crowd of over 10,000 for his campaign speech at the Frank Ogawa Plaza in Downtown Oakland, according to organizers. 

“Just look at the crowd he has created,” said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris from her front-row seat on Saturday. “He talks to the people like no one else. He reaches out to them like none other. I am here today as a supporter of Obama. He is a leader, a friend and someone who will take us to the next generation of leadership.” 

Supporters of all ages and colors—some with “Vive Obama” and “Obama in ‘08” posters written in green to keep with the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day—cheered when Oakland mayor Ron Dellums presented Obama. 

“We welcome Senator Obama to the city which has the audacity to see itself as a model city for the entire United States of America ... Mi casa es su casa,” said Dellums, as people roared. 

Born to an American mother, from Kansas, and a Kenyan father, Obama began his career organizing community events in some of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. He went on to become the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, winning over both liberals and conservatives with his charisma. 

“When people heard I was running for president, some said ‘he’s got the talent, but he doesn’t have the experience,” Obama told the crowd. “It’s true that I haven’t been in Washington long, but I have been in Washington long enough to know that Washington needs to change. 

“My experience as a civil rights attorney has taught me that fairness and justice have to be practiced everyday. My experience as a senator has taught me that ordinary people have the ability to do extraordinary things,” he said. “This campaign is a vehicle for you, for your hopes and dreams. When a million people say a child will have better education, they cannot be stopped. When a million people say we need a better energy policy, they cannot be stopped. Oakland, California, I want to be a partner with you.” 

Obama’s speech touched upon his theme of the “audacity of hope,” echoing his book by the same name that was published last year. 

Hundreds of supporters ignored the chained barriers around the podium to get his signature, take a photograph, or grab his hand. 

“I have made up my mind, I am voting for him” said Kevin Godchaux, a campaign volunteer from San Luis Obispo. “I am a veteran. I was in the Marines for four years and we need someone like him who will support people like us. Obama wants to increase money for veteran’s care and I like the way he supported the Walter Reed investigation. And, more importantly, I am glad that he didn’t support the war from the very first.” 

Obama emphasized that he never voted to support the Iraq War. 

“We're sending our young men and women to fight in Iraq and we have a duty to treat them right when they get back,” he said. “We understand that we are in the midst of a war that should not have been authorized. After seeing 3,200 precious lives lost and thousands of men wounded and trillions of dollars spent, we are less safe and our national image has been diminished ... We need to give the Iraqi government a chance to stand up. We need our young men and women to come back home.” 

Criticizing President Bush’s No Child Left Behind policy, Obama called upon the government to invest in teachers. “Leave some money behind,” he said. “Give our teachers a decent raise.” 

Children, Obama said, were the country’s most precious resource. 

“We need to invest in our young people to allow our economy to grow. Our country needs to produce more engineers. We need to pay attention to math and science,” he said. “We have been so consumed by the cynicism and pettiness in Washington that we don’t understand what’s going on in the lives of ordinary people. If we change the politics, we can change the nation.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


New Arpeggio Design Disappoints DRC

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday March 20, 2007

The Arpeggio—known in an earlier incarnation as the Seagate Building—will soon soar 120 feet into the Center Street skyline, its developers told a city panel last week. 

But members of the Design Review Committee (DRC) said they want to see a little more elegance first. 

The structure—which will house nine stories of housing (including a loft level on the penthouse floor)—was granted the unprecedented height in exchange for adding low-cost condos among its 143 units and for creating rehearsal and office space for the Berkeley Repertory Theater on the ground floor. 

The front half of the ground floor will feature retail shops and separate lobbies for the theater area and condos, as well as a mid-block passageway and public art gallery connecting Center and Addison streets. 

The building will start to rise on the now-vacant lots at 2041-67 Center St. shortly after the final approvals are given. 

“This is a reintroduction of a wonderful project after two years,” said Don Peterson, executive vice president of Phoenix-based SNK Development. “We have devoted considerable thought and resources, and the building is now fully designed and engineered. We hope it matches your expectations.” 

But the DRC, the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) panel that sets standards for the appearance of Berkeley buildings, had expectations of their own, and by the time the dust settled Thursday night, SNK was headed back to the drawing board—though the changes required were more matters of form than substance. 

“This project was given an unusually enthusiastic report from this committee based on the quality of what we saw ... and I am not willing to allow anything to be degraded,” said DRC member and architect Burton Edwards. 

Objections didn’t focus on the size of the building, which has already been approved by ZAB, but on design specifics, ranging from the finish of the ground floor storefronts to the detailing of the finish of the penthouse level. 

Carrie Olson, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s representative to DRC, said she was amazed that the building’s potentially unobstructed views of the bay from the upper five floors had been restricted to glimpses from small windows. 

“These are the narrowest windows I’ve ever seen facing west,” she said. “You apparently aren’t aware that in Berkeley, people pay for views.” 

“We can’t put in more glass,” said Sam Nunes, one of the architects who worked on the project, who said construction details restricted the size of windows on restricted the size of windows on the building’s east and west sides. 

Edwards and fellow architect Bob Allen, a ZAB member and DRC chair, were concerned about changes in the design of the ground floor storefronts from the original plans developed by Seagate Properties, Inc. 

“The storefronts are the most unsuccessful part of you design,” Allen told architect Sam Wright. “The original storefronts were elegant.” 

“We threatened Darrell on the storefronts,” said Edwards, referring to Darrell de Tienne, who represented Seagate when the building was approved by DRC in its earlier incarnation. “We told him he couldn’t change anything.” 

“From the second floor down, this is a very undistinguished building,” said Allen. “From the second floor up, it’s nicely proportioned and detailed, but the ground floor is ho-hum.” 

Wright promised revisions. “It’s easy for us,” he said. 

Members also raised questions about the new roof line, which is slightly recessed at the eastern and western ends compared to the old design, and Olson faulted the penthouse loft designs because the spaces were open and partly visible from the floor below. 

ZAB member Dave Blake said he was concerned because the architects hadn’t provided any renderings of what the eastern and western faces of the building would look like. 

He said he was also concerned that the building had received twice the allotted cultural density bonus normally allowed because Seagate had merged two lots, using the bonuses from each. 

“I’m not convinced yet. We were told this was going to be the finest building in downtown Berkeley,” he said. “This is a modification of a permit, and it’s got to be every bit as good as the original permit.’ 

Rob Ludlow, another DRC member with an architect’s license, said the latest design “has lost the Art Deco elegance it had before,” especially given the width of the base separating the top of the concrete ground floor shell from steel framework of the upper floors. 

“With the exception of the ground floor, I like it,” said Allen. “There are some aspects that are a little more refined than the previous building ... what you’ve got is very nice, but please work on the ground floor.” 

Nunes said the changes were necessary to accommodate the thick concrete slab needed to support the steel-framed upper floors, as well as ducts for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning ducts. 

“We’re asking for a little bit of latitude,” he said. 

“We’re asking for something as elegant,” Allen replied. 

The developer and his architects could return as early as next month with revisions. 

SNK is a major developer of so-called infill housing and has projects in Emeryville and Oakland, as well as the Arpeggio. 

They bought the property from Seagate, which also owns the 12-story Wells Fargo building at the eastern end of the block, in May 2005.  

Under terms of the cultural bonus approved by the Civic Arts Commission, Berkeley Rep must allow other community groups to use its rehearsal stage to for their performances. 

Once finished, the Arpeggio will become the tallest new building erected in Berkeley in decades, though it will soon be eclipsed by the even taller Berkeley Charles Hotel planned for a site a block to the east at the northeast corner of the intersection of Center Street and Shattuck Avenue. 

That building, expected to rise to 21 floors, is being built by a Massachusetts hotelier picked by UC Berkeley to create a new venue for parents and dignitaries visiting the nearby campus.


Loni Hancock Calls for State Health Care Reform

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Berkeley Assemblymember Loni Hancock called out the big political guns on Saturday morning, with some of California’s top lawmakers to join her in an Oakland City Hall forum calling for reform of the state’s health care system. 

Among the participants in the packed Saturday morning forum in City Hall chambers were State Senate President Don Perata, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and the heads of the Senate and Assembly committees that will consider several health care legislative proposals that are being advanced this year. 

Similar forums are being organized by legislators across the state. 

“For the last four years, I have seen piecemeal efforts to address [California’s health care] problems, but none has resulted in significant change,” Hancock said in a prepared statement released before the forum. “However, this year seems promising … I hope 2007 is the year we bring true health care reform to California.” 

Speaking to reporters about the various health care reform proposals being floated around, including one of his own, one from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, one from Speaker Nuñez, and at least one from legislative Republicans, Perata said that he expects each legislative house will pass a bill this year, with the matter ending up in conference committee to work out the differences. He also said that he and Nuñez would be working to try to merge their two bills into one before that time. 

“I will make sure we have at least one Democratic-backed bill and one Republican bill to consider in the conference committee,” Perata said. 

In later remarks to the forum, Nuñez said that he and Perata “will soon come back to present a unified plan.” 

Perata added that Schwarzenegger’s proposal was “more a concept than an actual bill,” so it “can’t be put in conference committee.” He said that while “ultimately a single-payer system is the best way to proceed,” he was hoping to get a law passed and signed this year “which will at least provide accessible and affordable health care for adults in working families in the state, as well as for all children. I don’t know how much we will be able to get done. But I want to get something passed this year rather than nothing.” 

A panel of local and state leaders agreed that health care is a major legislative goal this year. 

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, who made affordable health care one of the major issues of his election campaign last year, said that while ultimately health care had to be taken care of by Congress, “absent action on a national level, we have to step up to the issue in the state. We join together today in a mighty coalition to bring health care in the nation, the state, the county, and the cities to everyone.” 

Assemblymember Sandré Swanson (D-Oakland) called health care “the great human rights issue of our time.” Swanson said that “we should not be selling health care like we do a loaf of bread,” adding that “the ultimate solution is universal coverage for every citizen.” 

Speaker Nuñez agreed that “our goal is universal health care. We know that there are difficulties and political realities to be overcome, however. So we are going to have to take this in incremental steps. The driving principle is that health care ought not to be a privilege, but a right.” 

Pointedly referring to the stand of some in California that so-called “illegal immigrants” should be barred from some of the state’s social services, Nuñez said that a bottom line for this year’s legislation should be health care for all of the state’s children “regardless of their legal status or their parents’ income.” 

Nuñez said that the cost for such expanded health coverage should be borne jointly by employers and the health insurance industry. He said that proposals that call for employers paying 4 percent of a state health care benefit “are far too low.” In addition, Nuñez said that the health insurance industry “is making the most money out of the current system. It’s time for them to step up to the plate. They must reduce the cost of premiums so they can be affordable to working families and small businesses.” 

But Nuñez agreed with other speakers that even with the current buzz over expanded health care coverage coming from several points, California citizens need to lower expectations about what is possible to be passed in the short term. 

“The political will is here to get something passed, but we don’t have the two-thirds vote necessary to pass a single-payer health care plan,” the speaker said. Noting that this should not discourage citizens from moving forward this year, however, Nuñez added that “before we get to the perfect, I want us to get to the possible.” 

The forum included several panels of speakers, including representatives of both the Alameda and Contra Costa public health departments, hospitals, health care workers, and Mayor Dellums’ Health Task Force. Dellums’ office recently released a 15-page report on the Health Task Force’s seven recommendations on reforming health care in Oakland. In addition, Dellums told reporters that the Health Task Force would not be disbanded, but would act as advocates for several of the proposals on its recommendation list. 

“The idea was never for them to present a report and for us to say ‘thank you; bye!’” Dellums said. “We envisioned from the beginning that the task force process would continue past the reporting stage.” 

 


New Tapestry Delights Children at Berkeley Library

By Zelda Bronstein, Special to the Planet
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Downtown Berkeley has acquired a delightful new attraction: Kaleidoscope, the marvelous tapestry that was recently installed in the fourth-floor Story Room of the Berkeley Public Library.  

Based on original art by North Berkeley children’s author-illustrator Elisa Kleven, the 10-by-6-foot cotton hanging offers a vivid panorama of a verdant, park-like Berkeley peopled mainly by kids in motion. 

There are kids on bikes, kids on skateboards, kids on scooters, kids playing soccer, kids riding BART, kids riding the merry-go-round at Tilden and above all, kids with books. A few children are reading, but most are flying book-kites featuring illustrations from well-known children’s literature, including many works of authors and illustrators with close connections to the San Francisco Bay Area. The most prominent structure is the Main Library, which itself looks like a big mint-green book opened to pages depicting children on every floor. 

Kaleidoscope was funded by Giorgia Neidorf through a trust fund created in memory of her son, Max Delaware Neidorf-Weidenfeld. Max’s fondness for salamanders and other small creatures is represented in the tapestry and the art on which it is based, as well as the salamander bookplates that can be found in the hundreds of children’s books bought by the trust fund for all branches of the Berkeley Public Library.  

The Story Room is the Central Library’s main venue for its many children’s programs.  

Children’s Librarian and Acting Manager for the Library’s Children’s Services Elizabeth Overmyer brought Neidorf together with Kleven, and the three of them collaborated on the tapestry’s design. 

“We knew we wanted books,” says Overmyer. What they didn’t want, she adds, is “teddy bear art … When you hear ‘children’s art,’ unsophisticated images come to mind.”  

Their goal was a work that would appeal to children but wasn’t childish. It was also a work that would engage the Story Room’s clientele, who range from infants to 8th graders. 

It was Kleven who came up with the kite imagery. “Books are like little journeys,” says the artist. In Kaleidoscope books literally take children onto flights of fancy: some of the kids are flying through the air, buoyed aloft by their kites. After doing preliminary sketches, Kleven produced the watercolor and collage that hangs over the fireplace in the Historic Children’s Room, which is also on the fourth floor of the Central Library. 

Transforming Kleven’s 30-by-22-inch art into a 10-by-6-foot tapestry was the next step. City of Berkeley Civic Arts Coordinator Mary Ann Merker put Overmyer in touch with Magnolia Editions’ Don Farnsworth. Located in Oakland, Magnolia Editions is a fine art print studio whose clients include many distinguished artists and their patrons. 

The Magnolia Tapestry Project originated in a commission to produce hangings to cover the walls of the huge nave of the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Working with artist John Nava, Farnsworth developed a computerized method that, in the words of Magnolia Editions’ website, “blends old-world weaving processes with the newest digital possibilities.” 

In a conventional tapestry, each time a new color is introduced, it’s necessary to cut the yarn and tie in another piece. With Magnolia’s unique technique, the weft-weaving (the movement of the yarn across the vertical yarns of the warp) is continuous. For each work, Farnsworth uses a computer and a spectrometer to create a customized palette. As with pointillistic art, what viewers perceive when they look at a Magnolia tapestry are colors that arise from a complex, optically blended mosaic.  

The final, woven product honors the artist’s vision and, inevitably, transforms it. So, for example, I asked Farnsworth why colors in the tapestry version of Kaleidoscope are more muted than what Kleven calls the “paintbox colors” of her watercolor/collage. He pointed to two factors. First, the Belgian weavers chose colors for their loom’s warp that would help them approximate the subtle shades of antique tapestries. Second, tapestries are by their very nature “hilly”; their woven texture creates shadows that don’t occur on paper’s flat surface. 

Farnsworth made a “pixelated” weave file for Kaleidescope and sent it to be woven on Flanders Tapestry’s electronic Jacquard loom in Belgium. The Belgian weavers sent back a six-foot-long sample. Klevens, Neidorf and Overmyer liked what they saw—“It knocked us out,” says Overmyer—and gave their okay to go ahead. 

The tapestry was completed in November and then installed over the Story Room’s fireplace. On Jan. 28 it was dedicated in a moving public ceremony attended by about 125 people, including authors, authors’ friends, Neidorf’s friends and library patrons.  

Kaleidoscope is a testimony to the fruitfulness of private-public collaboration, the generosity of its patron and the talent and commitment of all who were involved in its production. The Berkeley it depicts is a place full of joy, of freewheeling exploration and possibility, a child-friendly world inhabited by caring adults (there are a few grown-ups in the picture). It’s a sensuously pleasing place built to human scale. And it’s a place where the value of books, of reading and of culture is celebrated—indeed built into the very townscape. Would that Kaleidoscope inspires us to make the real Berkeley more like the place it portrays. 

 

The tapestry version of Kaleidoscope may be viewed when the Story Room is open for public events. Elisa Kleven’s watercolor/collage can be seen whenever the Central Library is open to the public. For library hours and for information about events in the Story Room, call 981-6224 or see the Berkeley Public Library’s website at berkeleypubliclibrary.org. More information about the Magnolia Tapestry Project is available at magnoliaeditions.com. 

 

Image: A detail from Kaleidoscope, a tapestry based on the artwork of Berkeley children’s author and illustrator Elisa Kleven which hangs in the Berkeley Public Library’s fourth-floor Story Room.


Berkeley Symphony Makes Everyone a Performer

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday March 20, 2007

How many ways can a child experience an orchestra? Performing with it—as the “I am a Performer” concert at Washington Elementary School illustrated Friday morning—is one. 

Children from kindergarten to grade-five at Washington and Emerson schools performed alongside the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra as part of the symphony’s annual Music Education Program (MEP).  

Held every spring, the concert acts as the grand finale for the MEP which starts in the fall and takes Berkeley elementary school children through a musical journey for the next six months. 

“We’ve had it for 13 years now but it has evolved every day,” said Sarah Bullock, who has served as program director for the last two years. “We want to give every child the opportunity to perform in music. Every year four elementary schools are selected based on rotation. Our goal is to extend this opportunity to every elementary school in Berkeley annually.” 

This year, students from Cragmont, Emerson, Rosa Parks and Washington Elementary received hands-on training in instruments, met up with symphony performers, took part in school concerts and enjoyed free Berkeley Symphony performances with their parents. 

Bullock herself spent a great deal of time in the different classrooms, teaching kids new songs and compositions for the final performances. 

The brainchild of Oakland elementary school music teacher and former MEP director Randy Porter, the MEP was initiated by Kent Nagano and Kelly Johnson, then administrator at Berkeley Symphony. 

“I told them I wanted the kids to compose music that the symphony would perform and they agreed,” said Porter, in a telephone interview from West Lake Middle School, where he is band director. 

“I wanted to see how many different ways children could experience the orchestra,” he said. “They can listen to the orchestra, rehearse with the orchestra, write music for the orchestra and, most importantly, play with the orchestra. While brainstorming for the education program back in 1993, we tried to create something that would include all of this, and MEP was born.” 

A decade later, the success of the program won it the Bank of America Award for excellence in music education. 

“It’s great motivation for the kids,” said Charles Hamilton, instructor of the Berkeley High Jazz program. Hamilton was getting the fifth-graders from Emerson ready for a traditional piece named “La Sorella” on Friday. “Playing with professionals will encourage a lot of kids to pursue music in the long run.” 

Around 30 musicians from the symphony took part in the program, some making classroom visits to expose students to classical music for the first time. 

“Imagine the excitement of the younger students when they are introduced to a harp that’s twice their size. It’s a lot of fun watching them perform,” said Bullock. 

Debbie Spangler, who plays the violin in the symphony, said the enthusiasm of the children was addictive. 

“Musicians often don’t like getting up early because they practice late at night. So this gives us an excuse to wake up in the morning. It acts like a shot of caffeine,” she said smiling. “This is the best time to expose them to classical music. Once they go into a concert hall as young children, they will never be afraid to do it again. Many turn away because of peer pressure, but they can relate to it at some point again.” 

The first encounters with the symphony orchestra and in-house concerts are followed by the final concert—which has music as varied as the “William Tell Overture” (homemade percussion ensemble performed by grades one and two) and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” (string performance by grade four). 

“There is immense pride in getting the notes right in front of parents and teachers,” said Kathleen Henschel, president of the Berkeley Symphony. “The program is very well received by the school district and is getting stronger by the day. We are currently working with the Berkeley Unified School District to expand the program. Our focus, however, will remain on Berkeley right now.” 

Henschel said that the program had an annual expense of $100,000, most of which was met with grants from foundations and individuals. 

 

Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee, 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra musicians Emmanuela Nikiforova (left) and Ward Spangler (center) show Emerson Elementary first graders how to play the cymbals at the “I Am a Performer” concert Friday.


Workshop Examines South, West Transportation Plan

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday March 20, 2007

A community workshop on the South and West Berkeley transportation plan was held at the North Berkeley Senior Center Thursday. 

The Transportation Commission, along with city staff, project consultants and members of the community discussed proposed solutions and strategies to address the transportation needs identified by the South and West Berkeley community and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). 

Lila Hussain, associate transportation planner for Berkeley’s Public Works Department, said that the outreach program to the community had taken place through surveys, community meetings and focus groups. 

“We want to go over the existing transit networks and identify the gaps in the transit networks,” said Ian Moore, a senior associate from Design, Community, and Environment (DC&E). “We have identified the cost of the project as the major issue.” 

Discussions about the reliability and availability of para-transit services were discussed at great lengths during the course of the meeting. Conditions of some of the bus stops, lack of lighting and shelters and the need for solar power lighting were also brought up, as was the lack of information, such as maps and bus schedules. 

The issue that was raised by a large number of people both in the survey as well as at the meeting was the Route 9 frequency and span improvements. 

“Currently, the headway is 20 to 30 minutes. We want to reduce the headway to 20 minutes which will cost us $660,000. If we take it down to 15 minutes, it will cost $1.5 million. We also want to increase the service to midnight seven days a week.” said Richard Weiner, one of the planners. 

The survey also identified the need for more frequent service to the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations. The “next bus display” that is being installed at the Downtown Berkeley BART station was recommended for both these stations. The cost for these displays were estimated at $100,000 to $200,000.  

“You have your projects well delineated. My concern is the cost. Do you have the funding laid out as well?” asked Deborah Weber, a Berkeley resident. 

A representative of the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency (ACCMA) told community members that the solutions were not just a wish list.  

“The Lifeline Transportation Program gives out funds for improvements for a period of three years. Alameda County, the City of Berkeley as well as the MTC will apply for funds depending on what kind of project they are responsible for. But before that happens, we have to find out from you what your priorities are,” the representative said. 

Weber also said that the team should prioritize coordinating the schedules of the different service providers instead of increasing the frequencies. 

Moore talked about pedestrian suggestions and ideas. 

“Elementary school children and seniors often find it difficult to cross at signalized intersections, especially at places such as 6th and Hearst, 6th and University, Sacramento at Ashby and King at Ashby,” he said.  

Red curbs and high-visibility crosswalks were offered as some of the solutions to this problem. 

Moore said that solutions to improving bicycle storing conditions at the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations were limited. 

“We are thinking of coming up with e-lockers (electronic lockers) which use smart cards to lock the bikes electronically. Retrofitting the existing metal lockers is also a good idea. The total cost for this is estimated to be $115,000,” he said. 

Plans to promote bicycle boulevards were discussed.  

Betsy Morris, chair of the West Berkeley Development Corporation, emphasized the need of implementing bus shelters. 

“Dozens of disabled people walk out of the BOSS (Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency) office on Kittredge Street and wait for the No. 9 bus. It’s only humane to get a shelter there. Bus stops should be treated like public amenities,” Morris said. “There are students who have stopped going to the Berkeley Adult School because the closest bus stop is located two blocks down and the lighting there is poor. We need to improve the lighting there and move the bus stop closer.” 

Planning Commissioner Rob Wrenn praised the ideas but said that it was important to secure funding for the improvements. 

“AC Transit is grossly underfunded,” he said. “We need big pots of money for major improvements. Bus drivers here need to get unionized just like the bus drivers in Los Angeles. Only then will things improve.” 

At the end of the workshop, the team decided to work on a draft plan which would include suggestions from the workshop and a more detailed funding plan. They will also be holding a few more community meetings in the future. 


PowerLight Finds New Richmond Home

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday March 20, 2007

PowerLight, a large-scale solar power system provider, announced last week that it would move out of Berkeley to the historic site of the former Ford Motor Company in Richmond.  

The company, which serves global as well as domestic markets, is now located in three separate spaces in West Berkeley, including the Heinz Building at 2954 San Pablo Ave. It will consolidate in the 175,000 square feet available in Richmond. The move is slated for the end of the year. 

“We are delighted that this icon of 20th century industrial production will become a beacon for 21st century clean, green technology,” said Tom Dinwoodie, PowerLight’s chief executive officer, referring to the Ford Plant in a press statement. Dinwoodie was out of the country and unavailable for comment in person. 

PowerLight was purchased in January by San Jose-based SunPower Corporation for about $330 million. SunPower is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp., also based in San Jose. 

“It was very important for PowerLight to have everyone under one roof,” said Economic Development Manager Dave Fogarty, noting that Berkeley does not have large spaces available like those in Richmond.  

“It is normal for the company to move,” he said, adding that he thinks vacancies that will be created will not be hard to fill and “no one will lose their jobs.” 

Gary Gerber, CEO of Berkeley-based Sun Light & Power, specializing in solar electricity and solar hot water systems and not a competitor with PowerLight, which serves a larger global market, spoke to the Planet about the state of the solar industry. 

A factor that Gerber said hurt the local smaller solar industry in recent years is that large companies have bought up the global stock of solar modules to use in Europe, particularly in Germany, where over several years, there was a 40-50 percent growth in demand for solar installations. 

“Companies like PowerLight made it a problem for us,” Gerber said. “There were gigantic projects in Germany, sucking up all the modules.” 

Gerber further noted, however, that the demand in Germany was flat last year and modules are once again available at lower prices. 

Local demand for solar energy has been growing due to a number of factors, including California’s rebate program, federal energy tax credits, an increasing awareness of the hazards of global warming and increases in the cost of electricity from PG&E, Gerber said. 


Thousands March

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Thousands marched down Market Street Sunday demanding an end to the war in Iraq and no military intervention in Iran. Catherine Siskron of Berkeley, at center with the St. John’s Presbyterian Church peace sign, told the Planet she had come to the march to speak out. “I believe we can live in peace,” she said. “The only way we can do that is to have a voice. I want to bring the troops home and keep people safe.” 

Photograph by Judith Scherr.


Sunshine and Alcohol Laws on Council Agenda

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Berkeley’s draft Sunshine Ordinance still needs work, says League of Women Voters President Junky Gardner, calling for the City Council to delay adoption of the ordinance intended to allow citizens greater access to local government until citizens can meet and further refine the law.  

Councilmembers Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington, as well as representatives of SuperBOLD (Berkeleyans Organizing for Library Defense) and Copwatch agree that more work needs to be done on the ordinance. 

Tonight’s (Tuesday) council meetings begin with a workshop on the Sunshine Ordinance at 5 p.m., followed by a meeting of the Berkeley Housing Authority, and then the regular council meeting. The draft sunshine ordinance is slated for discussion and possible action again at the council meeting. 

Also on the council agenda are laws regulating punishment of persons who allow underage drinking on their properties and who sponsor rowdy parties, siting of medical marijuana dispensaries, prohibiting parking at night on Frontage Road and more. 

 

LWV says delay Sunshine Ordinance  

“Don’t rush into this,” Gardner told the Planet in a phone interview Monday, speaking of the adoption of the Sunshine Ordinance.  

The draft language is not comprehensible to the average citizen and should be clarified, she said, adding that the public needs more time to weigh in on the ordinance. 

The change in public comment format—the mayor allows people to speak before the council discusses each item on the agenda, rather than choosing 10 people by lottery—is positive, Gardner said. “The ordinance needs to codify the changes,” she said. 

The City Council approved an item submitted by Worthington in 2001 that outlined a number of concerns to be included in the ordinance. A number were ignored, Worthington said, calling the omissions “outrageous.”  

Worthington said these omissions include: 

• making police logs, records and other relevant information available and making investigative information available once the district attorney decides not to prosecute a case; 

• requiring disclosure of agreements settling litigation 10 days before a City Council meeting, unless disclosure would harm the city’s interest in other pending litigation; 

• establishing guidelines making all memos to the City Council or city departments considered public information available for public view; 

Spring said she is especially concerned with the council holding closed sessions on a threat of litigation. “This could be discussed in open session,” she said.  

Spring further said the ordinance should address task forces, such as those appointed by the mayor that “operate in secret.” They are not publicly noticed, but include city staff as well as selected members of the public. 

The mayor’s office did not respond before deadline to a call for comment. 

Jim Fisher of SuperBOLD said members of his organization have a number of modifications they would like to see in the draft. One would be to take out discretionary language, such as allowing public comment “to the extent feasible.” Restriction of public comment should not be because of time constraints, he said. “There can be more meetings.”  

Fisher said there is an “inherent conflict” in the draft ordinance, which has the city manager in charge of responding to complaints about violations to the ordinance. 

Jake Gelender of Copwatch, an organization whose members often observe police arrests to make sure they are done properly, said he’s had a hard time getting reports on arrests from the police.  

And other types of information have been difficult for the organization to access, he said. After police reports were issued on the Cary Kent case—the officer who stole drugs from the city’s evidence locker room—Copwatch asked the police department for a number of other documents.  

The request was never answered, Gelender said, underscoring that it was not rejected but simply ignored.  

 

Alcohol-related laws 

The City Council will address problems caused by alcohol by considering two ordinances: One is a law that would punish those responsible for—and those attending—loud or unruly gatherings and the other is a law that would punish persons responsible for gatherings at which alcohol is served to persons under 21 years of age. 

The “second-response” ordinance addresses the situation in which police are called to an unruly gathering more than once in a 120-day period. At the first complaint, the premises are posted with a warning, indicating that a complaint is on file. At the second complaint within a 120-day period, including a second complaint on the same day the first complaint was made, a fine is imposed. (When the event host is the reporting party, the fine will not be imposed.) 

At the second police intervention, a second 120-day period for fining the responsible party kicks in. The fine for the second police intervention is $750, the third intervention is $1,500, and subsequent responses will cost the scofflaws $2,500. 

The other alcohol-related law before the council tonight is known as a “social host” ordinance, which penalizes the host of a party where minors consume alcohol. The council will have to decide whether to adopt a measure that penalizes all hosts of such a party or whether it penalizes hosts who “reasonably” should know minors are consuming alcohol on the premises. 

 

Sustainable Berkeley to liaison with commissions 

The mayor has asked the council to recommend to the Community Environmental Advisory, Energy, Transportation, Planning and Zero Waste commissions that each of these commissions discuss what the city should do to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, as mandated by Measure G. 

He also asked that representatives of Sustainable Berkeley, a mostly city-funded grouping of representatives of UC Berkeley, nonprofit organizations, consultants and alternative health practitioners, “attend the commission meetings to discuss the process and ensure ideas and feedback are incorporated into the overall plan [to reduce greenhouse gases to be written by an employee of Sustainable Berkeley].”  

The new contract between the city and Sustainable Berkeley to write the plan to reduce greenhouse gases was to have come to the council today—increased from $100,000 to $225,000—but was taken off the calendar by the city manager’s office. 

 

Appeals 

The council will consider two appeals: one at 2701 Shattuck, appealing the construction of a 24-unit mixed-use project and allowing the demolition of an unsafe building at 651 Addison. 

The council will also consider: 

• Expanding zoning districts for the dispensing of medical marijuana. 

• Prohibiting nighttime parking for vehicles on Frontage Road, 1100 feet north of the Berkeley-Emeryville border. This is a spot where people who live in their vehicles often park at night. 

• Supporting efforts to maintain AB2034, which is funding for mental health services targeted for cuts by the governor. The city receives $955,000 in AB2034 funds. “Elimination of the AB2034 program discontinues intensive mental health services for 102 adults with severe mental illness and histories of homelessness,” the staff report says. 

• Request for authorization of $5,000 to $10,000 as a city expenditure to encourage UC to create a trash collection program when students leave town at the end of the school year. 

 

 

 


Berkeley Historic Walking Tours Start This Weekend

By Steven Finacom, Special to the Planet
Tuesday March 20, 2007

A Maybeck home, a new religious headquarters, an old stadium, two lesser-known neighborhoods, and even a freeway interchange and municipal recycling center highlight the spring 2007 walking tours offered by the Berkeley Historical Society. 

I’ll start off the series Saturday, March 24, leading a walk through the upper Telegraph Avenue business district and its side streets.  

My aim is to talk about some of the changes Telegraph has undergone in a century and a quarter as a commercial, residential and institutional neighborhood, as well as some changes that were once proposed for the area but never came to pass.  

Have you ever heard of the four-block-long parking garage once proposed for Telegraph? Or seen a block that was densely populated with University-sanctioned boarding houses back when women students were required to have their living choices “approved?” 

We’ll talk about those episodes, and others, walking through this ever-changing, ever-historic slice of Berkeley. 

On Saturday, April 7, long-time Berkeley resident and photographer Bruce Goodell conducts a tour further to the east, focusing on California Memorial Stadium and its environs.  

The tour will take in the much-in-the-news oak grove as well as the stadium itself and its Hall of Fame Room where the feats, both long ago and recent, of Cal student athletes are immortalized by hundreds of artifacts, photographs, and memorial plaques.  

On display is one of two circa-1890s hand-embroidered flags that gave the “Golden Bears” their name. 

The modest neighborhoods of far southwest Berkeley and their layers of history and tradition are the subject of a Saturday, April 28, tour led by architect Bill Coburn.  

The San Pablo Park district became home to many of Berkeley’s early African-American families in an era when racial covenants and discrimination kept them out of other neighborhoods.  

Coburn will use the evidence of street grids, garden designs, and various building styles to explain how a neighborhood grows and changes. 

The tour will also pass the “Fish House,” a relatively recent and notable essay in Berkeley’s eclectic tradition of residential architecture. 

On Saturday, May 12, photographer Allen Stross and a staff member from Berkeley’s Transportation Department will jointly conduct perhaps the most unusual tour on the schedule, an exploration of the transportation and industrial facilities at the base of Gilman Avenue. 

Possible changes to Berkeley’s notorious Gilman/I-80 intersection will be explained, along with the city’s nearby Recycling Center. The tour will also visit Ursula Sherman House, a haven for homeless families.  

Transportation, recycling, homeless services—it’s late 20th/early 21st century Berkeley history in the making, and you can see it now. 

The final regular tour in the series falls on Saturday, June 2, when historian and Berkeley native Paul Grunland goes beyond the Berkeley border into Kensington to lead a tour of the Maybeck Estates. 

While Bernard Maybeck was the better-known figure, his wife, community activist Annie Maybeck, helped keep the family finances afloat with her canny real estate deals.  

Here in the highlands they owned considerable undeveloped property, where lot buyers were encouraged to build their own homes.  

Maybeck pere, Bernard, designed an unusual house here for Maybeck fils, Wallen, and it’s possible that building will be visited on this tour, which is co-led by Bob Shaner.  

For those who purchase tickets to the whole tour series there will be a free bonus tour on June 9, taking in the Buddhist Churches of America Jodo Shinshu Center at Durant and Fulton. This recently completed project occupies the renovated shell of a historic car dealership, one of Berkeley’s most notable Art Deco structures. 

The tours all start at 10 a.m. and end around noon. Some involve walking many city blocks; others encompass a smaller area. Two—the stadium vicinity, and the Maybeck Estates—are not wheelchair accessible.  

Series tickets cost $30 for Berkeley Historical Society members only, or $10 per tour for the general public. You can also join BHS for $20 to get the series—or individual tour—discounts. 

Some of the tours may have filled up to their 30-person maximum by the time you read this.  

To check on availability, call BHS at 848-0181 on Thursday or Friday before a tour, between 1-4 p.m. Make sure to leave a telephone number and e-mail address (if you have one). You can also drop by the Berkeley History Center in the Veterans’ Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, during the same hours.  


Naked in the Oak Grove

By Fernando Torres
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Dozens of people shed their clothes at the UC Memorial Stadium Oak Grove Saturday for a treespirit photograph by Jack Gescheidt. To see the photographer’s image of the event, as well as his other photos of the series, see www.treespiritproject.com. 

 

Photograph by Fernando Torres.


Downtown Transit Options Studied

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Cars, busses, shuttles, passes and parking will be the themes of the day Wednesday when members of two city panels gather to discuss the future of downtown transportation. 

Members of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) will huddle with the city’s Transportation Commission starting at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

DAPAC is currently formulating guidelines for the new city center plan dictated by the settlement of the city’s lawsuit challenging UC Berkeley’s Long Range Development Plan 2020. 

That plan calls for the addition of 800,000 square feet of university buildings and more than 1,000 parking places in the expanded downtown area covered by the new plan. 

The Transportation Commission adopted its own recommendations for the plan Feb. 15, and they will form a starting point for Wednesday night’s discussion. 

While no agenda had been posted by Monday afternoon on DAPAC’s website, members have been provided with a copy of the commission’s recommendations as well as a draft chapter of a proposed transportation element prepared by city staff. 

The commission wants a stronger role for public transit, with more frequent service to the city core. One of the recommendations calls for accepting congestion as a means of encouraging use of mass transit and as a sign of economic vitality. 

Transportation commissioners also want higher street parking fees to encourage use of parking structures and faster turnover of street spaces, as well as to ensure that more spaces are available for quick errands and drop-offs. 


Sierra Club Holds Forum on UC-BP Deal

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Are UC Berkeley’s plans to unite with a British oil company in a quest for new biofuels good for the environment? 

That’s the topic for a Thursday night forum sponsored by the Sierra Club’s Northern Alameda County Group, said event organizer Helen Burke. 

The event, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., will feature four scholars: Paul Ludden, dean of Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources; Chris Somerville, who will be one of the lead investigators, a member of the Stanford biosciences faculty; John Harte, of UC Berkeley’s Energy Resources Group; and Ignacio Chapela, a member of Ludden’s faculty and a leading critic of the proposal. 

Burke, who also serves on the city’s planning commission, will chair the event. 

The focus of the forum is the $500 million planned compact between UC Berkeley and BP, the former British Petroleum. 

Funds from the agreement, to be parceled out over a decade, would be used to create the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), billed by the university as “the world’s premiere alternative energy research institute.” 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana campus would be the primary subcontractors. 

Each speaker will have 10 minutes and will be given more time to comment on remarks from other panelists and to answer questions from the audience. 

Burke said she hopes these questions among others will be covered: Is reliance on biofuels to sustain current lifestyle habits in the best interest of the planet’s health? And could reliance on genetically modified organisms as fuels sources and producers create unintentional adverse environmental impacts? 

Doors will open at 7:10 p.m. A $5 donation is suggested. 

Burke said that while the Sierra Club is generally supportive of biofuels as alternatives to petroleum products, the club hasn’t taken a position on the UC-BP project. 


First Person: Iranian New Year

By Talieh Shahrokhi
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Last Tuesday, March 13, Iranians across the world celebrated the last Wednesday Eve of the Iranian Calendar year, called Chaharshanbe Soori.  

What I remember from my childhood in Iran is that this occasion was a day when my father and I would go out to a nearby woodland and gather dried bushes and wood for the Chaharshanbe Soori celebration in our neighborhood. We would bring them and arrange them in our street with the help of the rest of the neighbors. The street would be blocked, and at sundown the adults would set fire to the kindling that had been arranged in piles in a row, with the help of a bit of petroleum. I remember the goal of us kids would be to see who could jump over the biggest fire, so it was a bit competitive! As we jumped over the fire, we would say: 

 

(Sorkhi-e to az man)  

Give me your beautiful red color  

(Zardi-e man az to)  

And take back my sickly pallor!  

 

The mothers would bring out sweets and dried nuts to share with the rest of the neighbors, and after a good run at the fire piles, we would head home. Usually by this time, the little kids would pass out from all the excitement of the day and the older kids would put a cloak of some sort, usually their mother's chador, over their heads, and head out into the neighborhood with a pot and spoon in hand. They would go to each neighbor’s house and clang the spoon to the pot (this is called “ghashogh zanee”). The neighbors would then fill the pots of these visitors with dried nuts, fruit, and in some cases money. The dried nuts that are handed out during this time are a special kind of nuts called “ajeele moshghel gosha”; which translates to “problem-solving nuts.” I am not sure exactly how those nuts become problem solvers, but they sure are delicious! 

So now we come to the way we celebrate Chaharshanbe Soori away from the mother land. Chaharshanbe Soori cannot be celebrated the way it was in Iran due to the fire hazard, neighborhood ordinances, etc., so the Iranian community has had to get a bit creative in celebrating this old tradition. Usually at some beaches people have permission to burn wood, which is where a lot of Iranians go to celebrate Chaharshanbe Soori, but this doesn't have the same feel as doing it in the streets like back home. At the Persian Center (www.persiancenter.com) in Berkeley they have come up with a great alternative. 

The Persian Center actually gets all the right permits from the Berkeley City Hall and organizes Chaharshanbe Soori with the help of community volunteers—in the street. Berkeley city officials are very supportive of Persian Center’s preservation of the Iranian culture and have always taken the time to learn more about the culture and traditions. The City Council has even turned out on many occasions to celebrate Chaharshanbe Soori and Norouz. This may be one reason that the city adopted a resolution opposing military intervention or use of force against Iran. 

Chaharshanbe Soori at the Persian Center gets bigger and bigger every year. It has actually become its own Berkeley tradition for many local residents including non-Iranians. It is more like a festival than a quaint little neighborhood celebration. People come from all over the Bay Area to visit with each other, eat delicious food supplied by the vendors, dance to the latest Iranian pop music, and of course jump over fire!  

Happy Chaharshanbe Soori and Happy Norouz.  


‘Drop Everything And Read’

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday March 16, 2007

The smiles, gasps and cries of delight from the kindergartners sitting in their classroom at Washington Elementary School Tuesday morning were evidence of a morning well spent. 

The kids had just been in a reading session with Berkeley Public library Librarian Emma Coleman, as part of the Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Day Celebration in Berkeley schools on March 13. 

“160 volunteers, including 30 city employees, signed up to volunteer to read to students. The idea was to get everyone to read,” said BUSD spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

City of Berkeley employees took a morning break from their work to take part in the DEAR day celebrations that started at 9 a.m. Readers included Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, who read to fifth graders at Washington Elementary, and City Councilmember Linda Maio who dropped by LeConte Elementary. 

Besides councilmembers, readers also included fire fighters, police officers, librarians, Berkeley Rotary members, Bayer HealthCare employees, UC Berkeley students and community members. Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor also read to students at Washington from her favorite children’s book. 

Volunteers assigned to an elementary or pre-school classroom read a book of their choice to students for 20 minutes, after which the kids returned to their normal school day schedule. 

City officials get involved in DEAR Day as part of a citywide campaign to increase opportunities for employees to volunteer time in the community. Passed by the City Council last fall, DEAR Day is the second major event to receive City volunteer participation. 

“Eleven elementary schools and three pre-schools in Berkeley Unified were covered,” Coplan said. “For many volunteers this is something they look forward to every year; for others it is often the beginning of a longer relationship as a Berkeley School Volunteer. These are community members, beyond all of the parents who help out in their children's classrooms.” 

 

 

 

 


City Concerned Over UC Lab, Campus Plans

By Richard Brenneman
Friday March 16, 2007

For the city, it’s both too much and too little—too much building by UC Berkeley and too little consideration of its potentially profound impacts on the surrounding community. 

City Planning and Development Director Dan Marks issued a stark critique to city commissioners and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) officials Wednesday night about the lab’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) 2025. 

The occasion was a hearing called for four city commissions on the plan’s draft environmental impact report (DEIR). 

The plan calls for nearly a million square feet of new buildings—which includes one completed structure and one now underway—and up to 500 new parking spaces and 1,000 new employees. 

The biggest concern for the planning director was the combined impact of the two faces of city’s most powerful institution, both under control of a single master. 

“The University of California has prepared two LRDPs for jurisdictions under its control,” said Marks, the Berkeley campus and the lab. “This masks the cumulative impacts and makes the university as a whole responsible for mitigation. 

”There is a fundamental problem with the University of California, which is unable to address those impacts because of the way” the process is carried out, he said. 

Marks did praise lab officials who, “unlike the campus, met with city staff several times over the last few months, listened to our concerns and modified their plans.” 

Unlike the university, which refused city requests, LBNL officials were willing to establish benchmarks for parking which would require preparation of new environmental documents to review once they were surpassed, and agreed to establish a transportation demand management program designed to encouraged the use of mass-transit, ride sharing and other programs designed to reduce traffic. 

“However, it’s still a large development in an almost inaccessible location and it also offers free parking,” which encourages the use of passenger cars. 

The net impact is a 38 percent increase in occupied space and a 28 percent employment growth in an area susceptible to earthquakes and wildland fires. 

“I don’t see the justification yet,” Marks said. “There is more justification needed to put this many people in this location.” 

Further complicating matters is the fact that the two separate LRDPs mask the mixed uses of UC-owned land, with some lab facilities being sited on the university campus, and some campus facilities located at the lab. 

“From the community’s point of view, this is all the University of California, and in impacts on the whole of the community.” 

 

Who pays? 

With impacts of city water, wastewater, traffic, emergency and other systems, any increases of use will result in impacts that cost the city, and Marks cited last year’s California Supreme Court ruling in City of Marina v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, where the justices held that universities are financially liable for mitigation of the impacts of the new construction. 

While the lab is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Marks said that some of the federal millions paid to the university should be passed on to the city to cover the cost of providing services. 

One area where the campus does make concessions to the city is in review of new construction. Marks’s staff can sit in on meetings of the campus Design Review Committee, albeit “rather late in the process,” while the lab doesn’t extend a similar courtesy. 

Marks said he was concerned that the lab site is zoned for building of up to eight floors, although none is planned now that would reach that height.  

Marks said the report also needed to provide more information about toxic materials handling and diesel exhaust emissions, and because the lab is the site of experiments with microscopic nano-particles, he asked that officials comply with the city’s new ordinance which asks for reports on all nano-particle usage. 

More information is needed about the increased runoff that will flow into Strawberry Creek as a result of more impervious surfaces covering the earth, and he asked the lab to address the fact that planned demolitions will involve buildings that may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. 

The DEIR also failed to adequately address the impact on city emergency services in the event of a fire or earthquake. “There will be another thousand people there when—notice I didn’t say if—the earthquake comes,” he said, and the impact would be magnified if a temblor strikes when a major event is underway at Memorial Stadium. 

“There’s not enough analysis of consideration of impacts” on the city’s fire department, the primary first responder in a disaster. 

The splitting of the two UC development schemes becomes even more vexing when trying to consider traffic impacts. “The cumulative impact is underestimated and (the DEIR) avoids mitigations of the impacts on the city and we are troubled by that,” he said. Similarly, implementation of a traffic demand management program should be in place before additional parking is built, and not after as the current plan calls for. 

The plan also doesn’t say how the university would pay for increased use of the city’s wastewater system. “Obviously, the cumulative impacts are a big issue for us,” he said. 

 

Public input 

Nine members of the public added their voices to the critique, starting with Anne Wagley, who is a plaintiff in a pending lawsuit challenging the campus LRDP. Wagley works as the Planet’s arts and calendar editor 

“The cumulative impacts are a critical issue,” she said, adding that for UC to divide them between two LRDPs with separate environmental rules raises the question of violations of the California Environmental Quality Act. 

“I do not think that Berkeley’s infrastructure can handle” the combined impacts of the two million square feet of new construction in the campus LRDP with the 600,000 to one million in the lab’s plan, she said, given its aging culverts, sanitary system and streets. “I can only hope the lab recognizes the tremendous burden they are placing on their host city and pays for it.” 

Tom Kelly was the lone representative of the Community Health Commission to attend, and spoke from the audience to say that his panel said their main concern was the increased greenhouse gasses that would come from bringing more cars sand buildings onto the site. 

Another concern for Kelly was the pending pact between the university, the lab and the former British Petroleum to create a new $500 million research program. 

“We already have a lot of masters in the campus and lab, and if we add BP to the mix, it will make for a very different city he said,” urging that the resulting programs relocate to Richmond, where the university maintains a field station earmarked for a two-million-square-foot corporate/academic research park. 

Janice Thomas, a Panoramic Hill resident, urged the lab to clean up an area of the site designated as a Superfund hazardous waste site, then locate new construction there, rather in the Strawberry Creek Valley. 

“It really shocked me that they are completely ignoring the seismic risk by building here,” said Hank Gehman, who said geological reports indicate that landslides will occur throughout the hills in the event of a major earthquake, trapping lab employees. 

“Would any major corporation or institution site an important or potentially hazardous lab in the Berkeley Hills?” he asked. 

Pamela Shivola passed out a map listing all the known faults within the lab’s perimeter. 

 

Commissioners speak 

Next up were members of Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), with Lesley Emmington leading off with praise for Marks’s report. 

The LPC last week adopted a resolution faulting the EIR for its failure to recognize Strawberry Canyon as a historical resource and the lack of any proposed mitigations or alternative sites. 

Emmington said the canyon and its water supply were the primary reasons the university located at its present site and urged the lab to relocate its planned development. “It doesn’t have to be in Berkeley,” she said. 

Marcy Greenhut, chair of the Transportation Commission and its only representative at the hearing, said her panel’s main concern was that the lab should spell out alternatives forms of transportation. 

Then it came down to the Planning Commission, with Helen Burke proposing the motion which was eventually unanimously adopted with some modification.  

The commission called for: 

• A stronger transportation demand management plan, including an eco-pass program providing for assistant with mass transit fares and the imposition of a charge for parking; 

• Permeable paving surfaces to reduce runoff; 

• Greater detail in plans for storage and handling of hazardous materials; 

• Spelling out alternative locations on UCB property; 

• Greater detail in sections detailing responses to earthquakes and wildland fires; 

• Minimal destruction of the natural environment, and 

• More detail on the impacts on housing and the community.


‘Commons for Everyone’ Excludes Homeless, Some Charge

By Judith Scherr
Friday March 16, 2007

Mayor Tom Bates’ proposal to crack down on people engaged in “prolonged sitting” or yelling in public spaces near businesses got Berkeley City Council approval (5-2-1) in concept Tuesday night—and sharp condemnation from the several dozen residents who came to the meeting to demand that the council not criminalize homelessness and drug addiction. 

Councilmembers Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington voted against the plan the mayor calls the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative; Council-member Max Anderson abstained. 

“The idea is to not penalize any particular group,” Bates said at the meeting. “We need to deal with the social deterioration on our streets.”  

The proposal—which points to homeless, acting-out and loitering people as a major factor in business decline—would create a consistent set of laws throughout the city’s commercial districts and provide police with “clear enforcement mechanisms” to address violations, such as yelling, smoking and selling drugs near businesses.  

A key goal, according to the Commons for Everyone staff report, would be keeping sidewalks “free from obstruction.”  

Noting there is presently no funding source for the measure, Bates underscored that the plan is to balance police enforcement with services that would include increased mental health assistance, cleaner sidewalks and a program to channel donations to nonprofits rather than panhandlers.  

With council approval, Bates’ proposal, championed by the Chamber of Commerce, now goes for refinement to the city manager, city staff and various commissions before coming back to the council in May with more specific recommendations. 

Most the public speakers addressing the council before the vote expressed strong opposition to the measure. 

“Public Commons for Every-one—How Orweillan doublespeak can you get?” asked Bob MacLaren.  

Referring to people who hang out on the streets, MacLaren said: “They’re people too. They have the light of the Christ within them.” 

Another speaker who did not give her name also used a religious reference: “Jesus Christ was homeless all his life,” she said. “How the fuck are you going to say it’s against the law to be homeless. Do you really want that power?” 

Speaking after her was attorney Osha Neumann who often represents homeless and impoverished people. “I prefer the language we just heard to the pretentious and deceptive language of the Public Commons for Everyone,” he said. “It’s not fair and balanced to give somebody a hug and then smack ‘em. It’s not fair and balanced to offer people a few services then smack them with criminalization.” 

Police enforcement causes desperation among the targeted groups, Neumann said, further noting in a letter to the council [reprinted in full on page 9] that selling drugs and smoking within 20 feet of businesses is already illegal.  

Enforcement may violate First Amendment rights, he wrote, asking: “Are police going to be walking their beats with decibel meters?”  

As for “prolonged sitting,” Neumann wrote: “Are we going to have police putting chalk marks on homeless people like the parking enforcement officers do on tires?” 

By signaling out the homeless and mentally ill, the proposal attacks minority populations, Michael Diehl, chair of the Mental Health Commission, told the council. “It’s a civil rights issue,” he said. 

Speaking in opposition to the proposal for the Berkeley-Albany-Richmond-Kensington chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, attorney Jim Chanin said the organization “opposes laws that criminalize poverty.”  

He further contended: “The deterioration of Telegraph Avenue has little to do with homeless people asking for money.” 

The business community disagreed. Deborah Badhia, executive director of the Downtown Berkeley Association, praised the proposal’s two-pronged mental health service-police enforcement approach and underscored the measure’s aim at protecting the business community. 

“The city’s public streets are the front doors for business owners,” she said. “We do not approve of inappropriate street behavior as the business community, and we do not accept foul and abusive language and aggressive behavior.” 

Downtown business owner Alan Kropp also weighed in saying the proposal “will help to make a safe, humane experience for someone who needs help if they’re looking for food or housing; and it’s a safe and humane way for somebody who’s visiting downtown if they want a good shopping, dining or theater experience.” 

Also supporting the measure, Tom Gorham told the council that it took the “stick” approach to get him off drugs and alcohol and into treatment. “It took a trip to the county jail to get sober enough to see people were trying to help me,” he said. 

Councilmembers supporting Bates’ plan pointed to the success of Options for Recovery, a drug and alcohol treatment program, some of whose clients come through court referrals. “I’ve been to many Options graduations,” said Councilmember Linda Maio. “[Options] saves people’s lives.” 

Councilmember Laurie Capitelli agreed, saying for some people a “carrot” approach works and for others you need “a bit of a stick.” Referring to a court program, where people can choose between treatment or jail, he noted many chose treatment and some get off drugs as a consequence. 

Councilmember Max Anderson agreed – in part. “The programs lauded tonight are worthy of encouragement,” he said. Options for Recovery, however, “is successful without draconian laws on the books.” 

Calling the proposal a diversion from doing the real work needed to help small business, Worthington said that one solution to drug and alcohol problems would be “detox on demand” in Berkeley. And installation of port-a-potties would resolve the problem of public urination and defecation, he said. 

Worthington further vowed that, if the ordinance passed in May, “Those laws are not going to go into effect.” Berkeley progressives will gather the signatures needed to stop “another oppressive attack on homeless people,” he said. 

 

 


City Council Agrees to Limit Commissioner Terms

By Judith Scherr
Friday March 16, 2007

Berkeley City Counclimember Laurie Capitelli said an ordinance approved 6-3 Tuesday night to limit the time commissioners can serve on key commissions and to restrict service to just one of these commissions at a time is good government. 

But others argued that limits placed on those serving the city as commissioners unfairly restricts councilmembers’ ability to select commissioners. 

In other matters the council approved two of the three proposals from the Community Environmental Advisory Commission aimed at reducing emissions from Pacific Steel Castings, supported litigation that calls former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld a war criminal, and opposes military action in Iran. 

Councilmembers Dona Spring, Kriss Worthington and Max Anderson opposed the ordinance that imposes an eight-year lifetime limit for people appointed to the Housing Advisory Commission, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Planning Commission and the Zoning Adjustments Board. The law also limits commission membership to one of those four quasi-judicial commissions. It lifts term limits for service on other commissions. 

A clause that would have prevented commissioners from serving on one of the four key commissions and also serving on the school board, rent board, library board or the housing authority was withdrawn by Councilmember Laurie Capitelli. The notion had not been raised in public council discussions during which the council approved the ordinance in concept and it was not noted in the staff report accompanying the ordinance.  

Worthington argued against the way the ordinance was changed, saying the clause adding the rent, library, housing and school board to the mix was “snuck in here,” and “buried in the ordinance.”  

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque told the Planet during a break in the council meeting that she added the clause because she thought it was consistent with the council intent to limit commissioners from sitting on more than one key board or commission. 

Addressing the part of the ordinance that limits a commissioner to sitting on only one key commission, Worthington said it disproportionately affects minorities and students. “This is not remotely good government,” he said. 

These limits, that won’t kick in until July, will affect two commissioners, both minorities and students: Jesse Arreguin, a Latino serves on the HAC and the ZAB, and Nicholas Smith, an African American, serves on the Labor Commission as well the Housing Advisory Commission.  

Capitelli said the term limits portion of the ordinance simply cleans up a loophole in the current term limits law, preventing commissioners from quitting a commission a couple of months short of eight years, then getting back on the commission to begin a new eight-year term, but Councilmember Dona Spring said she believes the measure targets specific commissioners: Planning Commissioner Gene Poschman and Zoning Adjustment Board Commissioner Dave Blake. It will also impact Susan Wengraf, Councilmember Betty Olds’ aide and her appointment to the Planning Commission. 

Worthington argued that if changes on the commissions were warranted, Maio, who had appointed Blake, could have removed him and Spring could have removed Poschman.  

“If it weren’t for Gene Poschman, we wouldn’t have the General Plan today,” Spring said. 

“People hope to limit choices of other people,” Steve Freedkin, chair of the Peace and Justice Commission, addressing the council on his own behalf in opposition to the measure. 

But Councilmember Betty Olds argued on the side of the majority: “We need fresh, new ideas,” she said.  

 

Mayor seeks Housing Authority board members 

Mayor Tom Bates announced at the meeting Tuesday that he is seeking volunteers for the new Housing Authority board. The board that oversees the city’s low-income housing now consists of the City Council and two tenants, but is slated to change governance and become a board appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council. 

Those interested in the volunteer position can call Bates’ office at 981-7100. 

 

Council supports citizens on Pacific Steel – in principle  

The City Council seemed to hear the citizens’ outcry over Pacific Steel Castings emissions and approved 8-0-1, with Worthington abstaining, two of three recommendations from the Community Environmental Advisory Commission: one would approve a sampling study of lead and other heavy metals deposited on surfaces near PSC and the other would direct staff to look at the city’s current zoning laws—and to hire outside counsel to write new codes—to force PSC to reduce its emissions or loose its permit to operate. 

Simply approving the CEAC recommendation, however, doesn’t get the job done.  

“Basically, what the City Council did was punt till June,” Worthington told the Planet on Thursday, explaining that following through on the CEAC recommendations depends entirely on whether the council is willing to fund the study, an analysis of the study and an outside attorney to write new laws to address Pacific Steel Castings emissions. 

The council will receive a report from the city manager in May with an estimate of costs to fund the CEAC proposal; the report will then recommend that the issue be addressed during budget sessions in June. 

Community outcry against noxious emissions from northwest Berkeley’s Pacific Steel Casting has been mounting over several decades. While the plant has installed equipment to limit potentially-hazardous emissions, plant neighbors say they continue to smell odors coming from the plant and to experience asthma, skin irritations and other health-related problems they attribute to the plant. 

“This has gone on for too long,” said CEAC Chair Jason Kibbey, addressing the council.  

While staff had recommended the commission wait for a Health Risk Assessment to be released next month, Kibbey argued that the odor issue was sufficient to act immediately. “There is no need for more data,” he said. “This is a quality of life issue.” 

Commissioner Michael Wilson added that PSC publicly reported to the state in 2004 that it disposed of 76 tons of toxic air pollution into Berkeley’s air, about 420 pounds per day. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, charged with regulating the emissions, is “overly constrained in its capacity to protect public health in Berkeley,” he told the council, noting that the district granted the plant’s request to increase its emissions. 

He added that the district has never used a Health Risk Assessment, except for the dry cleaning industry, to compel any Bay Area industrial polluter to reduce toxic emissions. 

Some two dozen community members stayed at the meeting past midnight to address the council on the issue. 

 

Berkeley endorses lawsuit naming Rumsfeld  

The federal government is unlikely to demand the prosecution of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other high-ranking U.S. officials for war crimes—the Bush Administration got congress to pass the Military Commissions Act that protects U.S. officials from prosecution for war crimes in U.S. courts—but Berkeley has no such reservations. 

At just before 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, the council, with six members still present, voted unanimously to support a resolution from the city’s Peace and Justice Commission that endorses a Center for Constitutional Rights’ complaint filed in Germany charging Rumsfeld, Attorney General Albert Gonzalez and other high-ranking Bush Administration officials with war crimes. Councilmembers Laurie Capitelli, Betty Olds and Gordon Wozniak had left the meeting by the time the item came to a vote. 

The commission had originally asked the City Council to join the lawsuit as a “co-plaintiff,” but city staff opposed that, arguing there could be unknown costs and unintended legal consequences from joining a lawsuit in another country. 

The resolution approved by the council says the U.S. “planned and knowingly engaged in torture and war crimes in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay … and those policies have been authorized and executed by the defendants named in the … complaint.” 

The complaint was filed last year on behalf of 12 torture victims by the New York City-based Center for Constitutional Rights in order to request that the German Federal Prosecutor open an investigation that would lead to criminal prosecution of U.S. officials for authorizing war crimes in the context of the “war on terror.”  

In other actions, the council:  

• condemned the Immigration and Custom Enforcement raids on undocumented immigrants; 

• opposed U.S. military intervention in Iran; 

• supported Rep. Barbara Lee’s TRUTH act, urging congress to investigate human rights abuses in Haiti since the ousting of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide 

After a plea to the council from Henry Wellington, Berkeley Police Association president, not to support a state assembly bill that would keep police complaint hearings open to the public—Wellington says complaints against the police are private personnel matters—Councilmember Gordon Wozniak pulled the item from the council agenda, asking for it to be discussed in April. 

 

 


Peralta Trustees Approve ‘Concept’ of $10 Million Laney Complex

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday March 16, 2007

The ghost of construction deals past stalked the Peralta Community College District trustees meeting this week, with a sometimes-bitter clash between trustees and district staff over a $9.7 million proposal to build a new physical education complex on the Laney College campus. 

Trustees voted unanimously to go forward with the proposal—pointedly “in concept” only, and not approving the proposed budget—but only after several trustees expressed concern that they had not seen or heard anything of the project until they got their packets for Tuesday night’s meeting.  

The debate included a heated exchange between trustee Linda Handy and Peralta Chancellor Elihu Harris over whether the handling of the physical education complex proposal resembled the way Peralta handled the controversial aborted Alan Dones development deal two years ago.  

The debate came over a proposal by Laney College President Frank Chong that the district build a new women’s softball field, a new men’s baseball field, a field house, and a small parking lot to accommodate them all on the downtown Oakland campus behind the current Laney football field in the area bordering the corner of East 8th Street and the Lake Merritt Channel. 

Chong called it “a very exciting proposal to finish unfinished business at Laney College.” 

Chong said he recommended Sugimura Architects to do the initial design and budgeting “because of their experience in athletics and who they have worked with in the past.”  

The Laney president said he consulted with Chancellor Harris and Vice Chancellor Ikharo before choosing Sugimura. 

The Laney athletic project was discussed and approved at a March 9 board Facilities Committee meeting. However, the posted agenda for the meeting does not list the Laney athletic proposal, but only notes “Board Agenda Items for March 13, 2007 Board of Trustees Meeting.” 

The project is being proposed under California’s five year old education district design-build concept, authorized in 2002 by state law AB1402, in which “school districts select a design-build entity to provide design and construction services under one contract,” according to the state guidelines explaining the method. 

Under the old pre-AB1402 system, under which Peralta’s Berkeley City College, for example, was built, state education institutions first hire an architect to design a construction project and later hire a separate construction firm to manage the construction of it. 

The Berkeley City College construction was delayed by several disputes between the architect and the construction manager, and was the subject of numerous change orders that eventually led the board of trustees to revise the method in which construction change orders were approved by the chancellor’s office and submitted to the board.  

In answer to a trustee’s question Tuesday night, however, Peralta Vice Chancellor of General Services Sadiq Ikharo said that building under the design-build combined architect and project manager procedure would not eliminate change orders entirely. And, in fact, the state guidelines for AB1402 note specifically that design build is not “a method to eliminate change orders or risks not properly allocated in the contract.” 

Sugimura Architects has been working on the proposal for several months at the request of Laney President Chong, and produced an 8-page full color brochure on the project for Tuesday’s meeting, as well as a projected budget. 

The estimated cost for the Laney athletic project was listed at $7.5 million in the trustee meeting agenda packet, but a new projected budget submitted by Sugimura Architects to trustees at Tuesday’s meeting put the costs at $9.7 million. In addition, Peralta Vice Chancellor of General Services, Sadiq Ikharo, said that the costs could balloon if unexpected problems occur in putting down the fields and building in the wetland area along the Lake Merritt Channel. 

The money for the project is expected to come out of the recently-passed Peralta Measure A facilities bond. Once a contract is signed with either Sugimura Architects or some other project manager, construction of the fields and athletic building is expected to take between 18 and 24 months to complete. 

The request for the new Laney fields and athletic facilities began with emotional presentations by several Laney athletes and team coaches, who complained about unsafe and unsanitary conditions in the present fields and buildings, as well as a noncompliance with U.S. Title IX guidelines that require nondiscrimination against female athletes. 

“We have had softball teams refuse to play us because of the condition of the Laney softball field,” softball play Ashley Harley said.  

With players and coaches complaining about bad drainage at the current field and geese that defecate in the grass or rabbits that dig holes, Harley called playing on the field a danger, noting that “it’s hard to worry about your game when you have to worry about your body.” 

Assistant Women’s Softball Coach Charles Hayes said that the “antiquated” conditions on the field “makes it difficult to recruit quality athletes for our women’s softball team.” And citing the Title IX difficulties, Head Track Coach Curtis Taylor said that building the new field house “will allow girls to go in and change and use the restroom immediately adjacent to the field, instead of having to go all the way across campus as they now must do.” 

And Laney women’s track team member Crystal Sensabaugh said that the only training room currently available for women’s field sports at Laney is in the men’s locker room. “It’s awkward for women to go in there when we have to see the trainer,” Sensabaugh said. 

While trustees at Tuesday’s meeting universally said they approved the concept of the new athletic fields and field house for Laney, several were disturbed by what they called the “procedure” by which it came before them. 

Trustee Bill Riley, who sits on the board’s facilities committee, said that “this is the first time I heard of this. Normally, this comes to the board first for discussion.”  

And saying that “I hope the students don’t think I’m stalling, but this just came before me tonight,” student trustee Reginald James said that “it just doesn’t seem like the process was well thought-out.”  

Trustee Marcie Hodge said that the proposal was “more than just a concept. You’re bringing us numbers. I support the concept. The students do need this facility. But I do agree there are problems with the process.” 

Newly elected trustee Abel Guillen said he was concerned that the proposal had jumped by some $2 million from the time it went before the board’s facilities committee to the time it was presented to the full board. “I want to make sure this project remains within 10 percent of the projected cost,” Guillen said. 

And trustee Cy Gulassa said he was “astonished when I saw the proposal while I was preparing for this meeting. What I’d like is that when we have a scope of project this large, we be informed in advance what is being worked on.” Gulassa said that he would recommend a change in board procedures so that board members could be kept informed of large-scale projects in the works before they are initially presented to the board for approval. 

In answer, Laney President Chong said that “I totally respect the board’s concerns about the lack of consultation.”  

And trustee Nicky Gonzalez Yuen, the chair of the board’s facilities committee which approved the Laney project and one of the fiercest critics of the earlier Dones deal, tried to smooth over the differences, asking “everyone to step back and take a breath and calm down. We’re experimenting. We’re trying to do something new. We’re trying to work our way into the design build process. We’re not actually approving a contract, here. We’re approving a concept. If there’s some confusion about the process, I’d like a little forbearance while we’re working on something new. I’d like us to trust staff to come back with a more fully costed-out project.” 

The most heated objections came from trustee Linda Handy, who said that “I have a lot of difficulties with this. No-one told us about this during our meeting two weeks ago, even though this project was being worked on by the architect. I feel we’re being set up to be the bad guys, to question something that the students want and everyone feels is needed. The students already knew about this, and were brought out to the meeting to lobby for it. I think this is a beautiful project, but why did you not go through the correct process?” 

When Chancellor Harris said that “this was an unsolicited proposal” which was not generated by his office, Handy replied “that’s exactly what Alan Dones did, and we’re still hearing about that two years later. If it was bad two years ago, why is it good now?” 

The reference was to a controversial proposal by Oakland developer Alan Dones to create a commercial development plan for some of the same Laney College land now being proposed for the athletic fields and field house.  

The Dones proposal was approved in concept by the Peralta trustees but under fire from Laney faculty and students and community residents, a contract between Dones and the district was never entered into, and Dones eventually voluntarily dropped the plan. The abortive Dones deal is currently the subject of an investigation by a federal grand jury looking into corruption in Oakland politics. 

Harris differed sharply with Handy on the Dones comparison, saying that the Laney athletic proposal was different from the Dones proposal because “this came from the college itself. It didn’t come from a private individual. The Dones project was rejected by the college.” A clearly-agitated Harris said that “we’re bringing this before you [trustees] for your approval. If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. But I don’t think bringing it before you is out of order.” 

Handy also complained that the Campbell-based architectural firm that has been working on the project for several months and that made a presentation at Tuesday’s meeting—Sugimura & Associates Architects—is not on the list of Peralta Community College District Board Approved Architects.  

The two-term trustee said that the district was going to have trouble explaining to architects on that list why they were not picked to do the initial workup, and said that the choice of Sugimura to do that work would discourage other architects from bidding on the full contract in the belief that it was a “done deal.” 

Following the meeting, President Chong said he expected that a complete contract proposal could be ready to be brought before trustees within two months. Meanwhile, saying that the problem with women athlete’s equal access to trainers should not wait two years for the completion of the project, trustee Riley got assurances from district staff that a quicker solution to that problem would be found. 

 

What is being proposed 

14,728-square-foot Athletic Fieldhouse, including men’s and women’s weight room, men’s and women’s training room, football locker room, baseball locker room, men’s and women’s showers, team meeting rooms, and coaches and athletic director offices; Men’s Baseball Field; Women’s Softball Field; adjacent 138 car parking lot 

 

Who is proposing it 

Laney College President Frank Chong 

 

Architects 

Sugimura & Associates Architects of Campbell, California 

 

Projected cost 

Building cost: $3.7 million 

Athletic fields: $3.8 million 

Parking lot: $499,000 

Soft costs: $1.2 million 

Contingency costs: $500,000 

Total price: $9.7 million 

 

Funding source 

Peralta Measure A Facilities Bond 

 

 

Photograph: Courtesy Sugimura & Associates Architects 

An artist’s rendering of the proposed expansions of the sports facilites at Laney College 


Planners Pick New Chair, Hear Economic Report

By Richard Brenneman
Friday March 16, 2007

Berkeley’s Planning Commission gained a new chair Wednesday night, when incumbent David Stoloff, elected in a controversial coup in February, resigned the post and declared James Samuels his replacement. 

Stoloff’s election sparked bitter controversy, including accusations by ousted Chair Helen Burke that he had lied about his intentions of seeking the office. 

In resigning, Stoloff said he believed he would be more effective as a commission member than as an officer—exactly the reverse of what he’d said the day after his election. 

“I wanted to be chair because I have a vision of what the Planning Commission can do, and I believe I can be the most effective in implementing it,” Stoloff said at the time. 

But Wednesday night, he said that “at this time, I believe I can be more effective as a member than as one of its officer. I resign effective at the end of the meeting ... I expect that Jim Samuels will become chair.” 

Harry Pollack immediately moved for confirmation of Samuels, seconded by Larry Gurley. 

Commissioner Michael Sheen objected, saying he felt that an election shouldn’t be held until the commission’s next meeting because the item had been noticed in the agenda only as “Reconsideration of election of Commission officers” and not as an election. 

Stoloff said that because resignations weren’t covered in the city’s handbook for commissioners, the procedures dictated by Robert’s Rules of Order applied, and no notice of an election for vice chair was required. City Planning Manager Mark Rhoades agreed. 

“To avoid an ambiguity,” Pollack made a motion to formally elect Samuels to the position. When Commissioner Gene Poschman objected, Rhoades again backed the outgoing chair. Sheen objected again, and Pollack responded, “I made the motion, we’ll see what happens. Let’s vote and e done with it.” 

Sheen responded with a substitute motion to install Samuels as interim chair pending a new election for both positions. Poschman made the second, but the motion failed 6-3, with only Burke joining in. 

Pollack’s motion to confirm Samuels passed 6-3. 

“Gene, thanks for the vote of confidence,” said Samuels. 

“It’s better than you got at DAPAC,” Poschman responded, referring to a vote at the last meeting of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee where Samuels’ nomination by Chair Will Travis to serve on a joint subcommittee of DAPAC members and representatives of the Landmarks Preservation Commission was rejected by members—though the actual appointment is up to the City Council. 

The vote for vice chair was closer. Larry Gurley beat out Sheen on a five-four vote, with Roia Ferrazares—who nominated Sheen—joining Burke, Poschman and Sheen on the vote. 

 

Economic report 

Acting Director Michael Caplan and Dave Fogarty of the city Office of Economic Development briefed commissioners on their efforts to chart a more accurate picture of the state of Berkeley’s retail environment. 

Initially, efforts with the city’s Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) will plan the nature, location and size of business downtown and along Telegraph Avenue, with efforts spreading to the city’s three other BIDs and eventually throughout the city. 

Citywide, sales tax revenues for the 12-month span ending Sept. 30 of $13.2 million were up for the first time since the post-9/11 economic downturn, Fogarty said. Adjusted for inflation, the 3.2 percent increase from 2001 translates to a much less impressive one percent. 

By contrast, city officials in 2001 had predicted a figure of $16.67 million for 2006. 

“Restaurants are the only sector showing any tendency for increase, Fogarty said, and compromise the city’s dominant retail sector.  

“We have double the proportion of restaurant sales you would expect for a city of this size,” Fogarty said, and with 300 eateries with Berkeley city limits, that works out to about one restaurant for every 300 citizens. 

“Miscellaneous retail,” a category that includes most items but has been dominated in Berkeley by bookstores, is weak, with Internet sales eating heavily into the traditional bricks-and-mortar trade. 

“Bookstores used to be our strongest single sector, and Berkeley accounted for 80 percent of the book sales in Alameda County,” Fogarty said. “But bookstores are one of the most vulnerable sectors of the economy.” 

Another strong sector was recorded music, but it too is being heavily impacted by the availability of music online, he said. But two Berkeley chains are doing well, Amoeba and Rasputin’s, though the owners of both complain about conditions on Telegraph Avenue, he said. 

Employment is still two percent below 2001 levels, though the total number of jobs in the city—including self-employment—is about 79,000, though not all of the positions are filled by Berkeley residents. 

The hardest-hit sector is manufacturing, where employment is down 22 percent from 2001 level, “a striking loss,” Fogarty said. 

One of Berkeley’s strengths is that of the five largest employers, four are public institutions, ranking in order from UC Berkeley, to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to the city itself and the Berkeley Unified School District. 

The first private employer to make the list comes in fifth, Summit Alta Bates Medical Center/Herrick Hospital.  

“The other sector that’s doing well is construction products,” he said, while new car sales have declined—part of a national trend. 

Entertainment, one of Berkeley’s strongest economic sectors, yields almost no sales tax revenues, Fogarty said, because play and film admissions aren’t subject to the sales tax. 

Even then, Berkeley’s movie theaters have been impacted by another new phenomenon, the 16-screen AMC Bay Street multiplex in Emeryville, which has “overwhelming dominance” in the film trade.  

“It has totally eclipsed the theaters in Jack London Square and even the older” 10-screen United Artists multiplex in Emeryville. 

Dismissing Berkeley’s United Artists seven-screen Shattuck Avenue multiplex— “no one goes there but high school students”—Fogarty said Berkeley’s Landmarks-owned theaters are doing better because their fare, weighted heavily toward independent and foreign offerings, appeals more to Berkeley adults.


BUSD Reviews Summer School Program Options

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday March 16, 2007

The Berkeley Board of Education approved the 2007 Summer School Program on Wednesday. 

Over the past few years, the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) has been trying to define its summer school program by introducing a variety of models to improve the academic performances of students not meeting grade standards. 

In a report to the school board, Neil Smith, assistant superintendent of educational services, said, “Research indicated that the traditional summer school remediation program was not particularly effective in increasing student achievement. Therefore, many of the principals have led their school governance councils in exploring site specific interventions to address the needs of their students that are alternatives to summer schools, such as Saturday School at King and extended day classes at Longfellow.” 

Smith added that schools were also designing strategic summer programs to meet student needs. 

The Pre-K Bridge Program—funded by the First 5 Alameda County—is in the works for students entering kindergarten in Berkeley Unified who have never attended a pre-school program. Thirty-six students will be enrolled in the five-week program (June 19-July 20) which will be held at Rosa Parks School.  

Parent training, health and dental screening for students and literacy support will be included. 

At the elementary school level, an extended year is being planned at Cragmont, Rosa Parks and Thousand Oaks. Scheduled to run for six weeks (June 20-July 27), the Cragmont Program is an all-day program that will provide academic support and enrichment for students. 

Thousand Oaks will host a program for Special Education students while Rosa Parks will offer a two-week summer school program (June 18-June 29) for professional development to 20 students. 

Students participating in all three K-5 programs will be taught by teachers familiar with the students’ academic strengths and weaknesses and the focus will be on individual attention. 

Each of the three BUSD middle schools will offer students a four-week program from June 20 through July 18. 

Students who have failed English and mathematics will be offered four hours of daily instruction in these subjects from middle school teachers. 

Middle school Cal Scholars will also be offered a program by Longfellow. 

Since, BUSD provides high school students a chance to make up the credits needed for graduation, Berkeley High will offer students who are not making adequate progress the same program as it has in the past. Four and one half hours of instruction will be provided daily for six weeks (June 20-July 27) which will allow students to take up to two semester courses. 

 

Math Achievement 

The board also approved the District Plan for Math Education which would help improve student achievement in mathematics. 

BUSD worked with a core group of mathematicians, principals, secondary math department chairs and math teachers in the last few months to come up with a plan whose specific goals are: 

• To increase math achievement for all students 

• To narrow the achievement gap in math for undeserved students, and 

• To increase enrollment and success in college prep math courses at BHS. 

Approximately $870,400 from Measure A, TItle I and Title II funds have been proposed to meet these goals, which will be met by appointing additional teachers to lower middle school class size, math teacher coaches who will promote reflection, collaboration, inquiry and action and a summer institute to help improve the knowledge of teachers. 

 

Elimination of Grade 6 at BAM 

The board also discussed the elimination of the sixth grade at Berkeley Arts Magnet (BAM). Although 50 students are enrolled in fifth grade at BAM, only six have requested to stay at BAM for the sixth grade. 

BAM is the only elementary school in the district which offers a sixth grade. 

 

BAMN Rally for Cesar Chavez Holiday 

Carrying posters and wearing brown ribbons symbolizing solidarity, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action & Integration And Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) rallied in front of the school board building at Martin Luther King Jr. Way Wednesday. 

Bay area students and community members taking part in the picket demanded that Berkeley schools remain closed on March 30 in honor of California’s Cesar Chavez Holiday. 

“BUSD honors Martin Luther King’s and Malcolm X’s birthdays along with all the other national holidays. But it does not honor the Cesar Chavez Holiday, which is state law in California,” said Eyvette Felarca, west coast co-ordinator for BAMN. 

According to Felarca, the Chavez Holiday legislation—sponsored by Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles—was created specifically to give students from elementary school through college the day off from school. 

“The Latino community will not remain invisible. We will boycott school on March 30 to honor and respect this holiday,” she said. 

BAMN requested the school board at the meeting to recognize the holiday. Oakland Unified and San Francisco Unified are closed for Cesar Chavez Day. 

 

 

 

 

 


Hawking Inspires Students at UC Lecture

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday March 16, 2007

Physics was what 17-year-old Katy Forte had always wanted to pursue in college. That was until she started school at UC Berkeley last fall. 

“I had to give up the idea,” she said. “All the smart people on campus intimated me and I was too scared to pursue it.” 

But that was last semester. Things changed when Katy heard renowned physicist Stephen Hawking speak on the “Origin of the Universe” during the Physics Oppenheimer Lecture at the Zellerbach Hall Tuesday. 

“It definitely inspired me to go back and take some general classes in physics and see what’s out there,” she said. “Hawking was awesome. The whole lecture was presented in a way that would make perfect sense to anyone.” 

That in itself, as UC Berkeley theoritical physicist Marvin Cohen told the Planet, was the very purpose of the Oppenheimer Lecture. 

“We want to bring world renowned physicists to Berkeley who would give lectures that the public, especially students, would enjoy,” he said. 

Earlier lecturers have included Nobel laureates Murray Gell-Mann, Frank Yang and Robert Laughlin. 

The journey to bring Hawking—who is Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, England—to Berkeley, began four years back. Hawkin, who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of 21, has a limited traveling schedule. 

“I had just flown into Heathrow from a conference in Edinburgh and was complaining to my wife about how tired I was,” Cohen said. “Then I saw Stephen Hawking waiting in the Virgin Atlantic lounge en route to China. I thought it was a good time to tell him that if you can go to China you can come to Berkeley.” 

And thus began an exhaustive effort to extract a few days from Hawkin’s schedule that would allow him to come to Berkeley. 

E-mails between Cohen and Hawking went back and forth, and once Marjorie Shapiro, the physics department chair, gave her consent, the date was set. 

“What makes Hawking so popular with all students is his wit,” said Cohen. 

Sure enough, in-between explaining the myth of the creation of the universe from the confines of his chair, Hawking slipped in these lines: 

“What was God doing before He made the world? Was he preparing Hell for people who asked such questions?” 

And later, “At a conference on cosmology in the Vatican, the Pope told the delegates that it was OK to study the universe after it began, but they should not inquire into the beginning itself, because that was the moment of creation, and the work of God. I was glad he didn’t realize I had presented a paper at the conference, suggesting how the universe began. I didn’t fancy the thought of being handed over to the inquisition, like Galileo.” 

For some students outside the ream of physics on Tuesday, Hawking, who was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death, has something of a rockstar status. 

“He’s been on the Simpsons, and has appeared on Star Trek. And if that’s not enough, he’s going on a zero-gravity flight on his 65th birthday. It doesn’t get any cooler than that,” said Robert Hui who had come from Stockton to see Hawking. 

Initial excitement for the event made Cohen realize that the lecture was not going to be just another physics seminar. 

“The Oppenheimer usually fills one of the physical sciences hall. But for this we needed a very big hall,” he said.  

“Sometimes there are situations and personalities that have very general interest. In this case, there is a personality involved who has had a very unusual life and overcome obstacles. Hawking can hear you and see you. But if you waited for an answer, it would take a minimum of twelve minutes. I don’t think people were there to interact with him, they just wanted to be in his presence.” 

Students, alumni, faculty and the general public filled 2000-seat Zellerbach Auditorium and the 700-seat Wheeler Auditorium—for the live video simulcast—in a matter of time Tuesday. 

“The students are attracted by the prospect of being in the same room with the Albert Einstein of our generation. They may not have an interest in physics, but they all want to witness this phenomenon,” said Joe Yang, spokesperson for Cal Performances, which co-produced the event. 

Hawking’s research with black holes (first proposed by Robert Oppenheimer, after whom the Oppenheimer Lecture is named) and “space-time singularities” led to ground-breaking work on the theory of the universe. It also led to the publication of Hawking’s best-selling book A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes in 1988. 

Incoming Cal freshman received its 2005 sequel A Briefer History of Time in their dorms last November as part of the new “On the Same Page” program established last year by the College of Letters & Science. 

“This time the books will go out much earlier. The idea is to get them to read a book that has changed the way we view the world,” said Cohen.  

“We want students to interact with the book’s author as well as faculty. Students need to know that physics is nothing to be afraid of. You don’t need to reach the greatness of Einstein to contribute to physics. You can do it in your own way.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Weekend of Anti-War Events

By Judith Scherr
Friday March 16, 2007

On the fourth anniversary of the war on Iraq, people need to show their opposition to the war, says Phoebe Anne Sorgen, member of the city’s Peace and Justice Commission and active with Code Pink, among other organizations. 

“Decision makers are influenced by public opinion,” she told the Planet, adding that it appears that the U.S. is “on the eve of war on Iran that risks to be even more devastating than the war on Iraq.” 

Sorgen is among the endorsers of Sunday’s San Francisco anti-war march sponsored by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. The march begins at noon at Justin Herman Plaza, followed by a march to Civic Center.  

In Berkeley, some people are meeting at the North Berkeley BART station at 11:15 a.m. Sorgen said. 

Chris Banks is organizing East Bay youth to march together on Sunday. They will gather at the West Oakland BART station at 10 a.m. Banks said that some people thought that the Democrats would move to end the war. “Their vote for Democrats was a repudiation of the Bush administration,” he said Tuesday in a phone interview from the A.N.S.W.E.R. offices in San Francisco.  

“Instead we’ve seen an escalation of the war,” he said. Youth see resources that should go to their education “used to conquer another country.” 

Other events opposing the war on its fourth anniversary include: 

 

Friday, Candlelight Vigil, 7:30 p.m. Lakeshore Ave. Baptist Church, 3534 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Rep. Barbara Lee to speak 

 

Saturday, 11 a.m. Walnut Creek march and rally. Walnut Creek BART parking lot to Civic Center 

7 p.m. Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. 

Film: Ground Truth 

 

Monday, Noon, 450 Golden Gate Ave. 

Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco district office to urge Pelosi to deny White House war funding.


Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Ending the War and Beyond

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Sunday was a beautiful Northern California spring day, sunny in the afternoon but not too hot for long walks out of doors. In San Francisco, as in many other cities, lots of people combined their desire to take walks with their commitment to putting a halt to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and judging by the pictures a good time was had by all. Peace marches in the springtime are an American tradition going back at least 40 years in our own subculture, and they have much to recommend them. Especially for those of us who lived in the Midwest 40 years ago, it was a genuine pleasure, in spite of the underlying reason, to go to Washington as the cherry trees were breaking into bloom and walk out of doors carrying signs and pushing the kids in strollers. And it eventually worked—Americans caught on to the waste and carnage in Vietnam and withdrew, though not nearly soon enough. 

Four years ago we were proud to have our whole immediate family, three generations, 11 strong, marching in San Francisco to tell America that we opposed the invasion of Iraq. None of us believed any of the propaganda about the weapons of mass destruction and the Saddam-al Qaeda plots which were being repeated as fact on the front pages of the reputable newspapers we all read for guidance. We thought that if Americans could only be told the truth they’d make better decisions, and we were about to launch the revived Daily Planet to help in that effort.  

One of our first big stories, soon afterwards, was about the major San Francisco daily firing one of its reporters for participating in an anti-war demonstration. We did indeed provide a forum, both locally and on the Internet, in which the truth could safely be told, but much to the chagrin of everyone who’d known the truth about Iraq from the beginning, “truthiness” continued to triumph over truth in most national media outlets. Truthiness proved to be the vehicle which ensured the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004 and the continuation of the failed war. 

Today (Tuesday), the fourth anniversary of its beginning, we and others like us are more than ever convinced of the utter folly of this war, but we are less sure what’s the best way to stop it. A quick poll of friends and family on Sunday produced no one who went into San Francisco to march this time, even though the weather was perfect. There were reports of seventy-five or a hundred thousand marchers in San Francisco in 2003, many fewer this year. But 3,000 people did show up, and, unlike in 2003, there were also substantial crowds in other parts of the country, even in places where there had been strong backing for the invasion in 2003. The San Francisco paper which had fired its reporter for joining the 2003 demonstrations had sympathetic reporters at some of the suburban demonstrations this year.  

In the Sunday New York Times, columnist Frank Rich put together a chronology of all the press reports about problems with the Iraq invasion which ran around the time the war started. Most of them were not from the Times itself. In 2003 the Times was busy spotlighting the totally bogus reports of Judith Miller and Michael Gordon about those aluminum tubes which anonymous sources said were WMD material. Not seeming to learn much from its mistakes, however, the Times allowed Gordon, just this February, to do yet another story based completely on unnamed sources, this one about what’s supposed to be going on in Iran, which might eventually be used to justify invading another country. So we still won’t count too much on the Times to print the whole truth, except for its excellent columnists. 

One problem in politically sophisticated San Francisco was that the peace march was sponsored by A.N.S.W.E.R., a complex organization which has many causes in addition to ending the war in Iraq. One friend told me that he’d seen an A.N.S.W.E.R. poster which espoused solidarity with North Korea, something he had trouble endorsing with his presence at the march. Others, even some Jews who happily criticize Israel, said they were uncomfortable with the group’s outspoken partisanship for the Palestinian cause. Many of the demonstrations in outlying areas had more broad-based sponsorship and were limited to protesting the Iraq war. 

But if marches alone no longer seem likely to change the course of events, what else can we try? Code Pink, a cheery direct action group, is camping out at Nancy Pelosi’s house this week. Die-Ins are popular. Move-On, still trying to swim in the mainstream, sponsors neighborhood vigils. Those who enjoy big bets are going for impeachments, with many available villains; the more cautious are simply hoping for indictments. It’s all good. But is it enough?  

The time for changing the hearts and minds of the American people has come and gone, thank goodness. They’ve gotten the message. Right after the war started, according to New York Times/CBS polls, 72 percent thought it was a good idea. That’s down to 39 percent now.  

Politicians are trying hard to play catch-up, but only some are succeeding. Many Democrats who should know better are tempted to lag behind the facts and even behind popular opinion because of their fear of some mythical silent majority.  

The big effort at this moment should be shoring up their resolve and looking for replacements for those who just don’t get it. That means the often tedious route of conventional party politics, but it also means not yielding to the adolescent temptation to thumb one’s nose at any and all the Democratic candidates.  

I don’t like Hillary Clinton any better than anyone else I know does, but if she’s nominated for president in 2008 I’ll support her. (And no, that YouTube video making fun of her isn’t particularly cute. I would be amazed to learn that it wasn’t fielded by Republicans.) Or any of the others, except of course Lieberman, who’s no longer a Democrat anyhow.  

My mail last week contained an envelope with Jerry McNerney’s name on it. I haven’t opened it, but I did put it in the pile with the bills to pay. That’s our most important job looking past the next election, making sure that McNerney and people like him who just squeaked through in 2006 are returned to Congress in 2008. After they end the war in Iraq, they need to get a real shot at straightening out the mess this country has become because the whole GNP has gone to paying off Halliburton and the other Bush crony corporations. That promises to be even harder than ending the war. 

 


Editorial: Berkeley Businesses Need to Accentuate the Positive

By Becky O’Malley
Friday March 16, 2007

A young friend told me that she’d made the mistake of watching the city council on cable on Tuesday night. Her verdict? “Pathetic!” she said. “Most of the time they didn’t even seem to know what was going on.” Sadly, I agree. 

I hadn’t planned to go to the meeting myself, or even to watch it online as I occasionally do when I’m feeling masochistic. But on the way back from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Freedom of Information awards dinner in San Francisco, I made the mistake of turning on the car radio to see what was happening. Big mistake. 

A representative of a business association (which the Planet belongs to) was carrying on at length about how some people are afraid to go to Berkeley’s two genuinely urban commercial zones, Telegraph and Shattuck Downtown, because of the presence of other people on the streets who act weird.  

Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration of what was being said, but Hey You Guys! This is no way to improve the business climate in town. I was so struck by the foolishness of it all that instead of going home I went to the meeting to throw in my two cents worth before public comment closed on the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative, whose name seems to come from 1984 (Orwell’s novel, not the year).  

There I heard one business association leader after another repeat the same refrain, which was eagerly taken up by Hills councilmembers. Some people who live in the Berkeley hills are afraid to go to downtown Berkeley and Telegraph Avenue. Some are even afraid to leave their homes. I’m sorry for them, but perhaps they should take to heart what Franklin Roosevelt said in his first inaugural address: “[T]he only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” 

There are still, as there have been in the 34 years since we came back to Berkeley, people on the streets who are obviously in mental distress who could benefit from some help. There are still young people on the street who have come here expressly for the purpose of displaying their alienation from conventional society by their dress and demeanor. There are even still some drug users and sellers, though fewer in number compared to past years, or to parts of Oakland, Richmond or even San Francisco.  

But should privileged hill dwellers be afraid to come downtown because of them? Of course not. The commercial streets are crowded with people going about their business at least until midnight most days. Walking along Telegraph and Shattuck is safer than walking through the deserted streets of expensive residential areas at night. 

And there are plenty of laws already on the books to prohibit genuinely antisocial behavior. The last thing the city of Berkeley needs to spend its money on is yet another round of redundant and probably unconstitutional attempts to solve social problems with police action.  

We do have real problems here, by the way.  

The lively neighborhood where the Planet office is located has been plagued by armed robberies of patrons on their way to BART from our beloved Starry Plough and La Pena late at night. Residents a bit farther away, near Sacramento and Oregon, are justifiably frightened because of gunfire in their neighborhood. If there are extra police funds available, we’d appreciate a little more help in South Berkeley—using our police force to roust drunks downtown instead would be a real waste of money  

And the mayor’s final rambling diatribe was the worst of all. He seemed to have just noticed that some Berkeleyans have been going to El Cerrito Plaza to shop instead of shopping on Shattuck, and he seemed to be blaming it on street behavior. Maybe our mayor’s not a shopper, and he certainly hasn’t been in business for most of his life, but there two words he might think about when he ponders what might be wrong with shopping downtown: Parking and Stores.  

Yes, yes, I know transit advocates insist that there are plenty of buses which go there, and that there are even some garages if you can find them. But this is America, and California to boot, and nine out of every ten shoppers still expect to find a free parking space right in front of the store of their choice, as they can in El Cerrito Plaza. Sad but true.  

And that’s the main reason the retail stores have largely departed from downtown Berkeley, both Telegraph and Shattuck, and will continue to depart. Every national chain brought in by Berkeley’s clueless doctinaire planners has demonstrated the problem: Barnes and Noble, Eddie Bauer, the Gap. As we add more and more luxury student condos and their associated autos to the mix, it’s only going to get worse for in-town retail. Pizza, beer and t-shirts will do well, but other kinds of stores will continue to depart for greener pastures. 

Like Fourth Street. I might have missed it, but I didn’t hear anyone from Fourth Street in the lineup of complainers at the hearing-- this despite the fact that when I was last at my excellent optometrist on Fourth Street I encountered three (polite) requests for funds on the street in the (short) distance between my car and the shop. Denny Abrams, the tsar of Fourth Street, has mastered the technique recommended by the Andrews Sisters in their World War II hit: “Ac-centuate the Positive, E-liminate the Negative, Latch On to the Affirmative, and Don’t Mess with Mr. In-B-Tween.” Fourth Street, love it or hate it, has Parking and it has Stores, just like El Cerrito. Retailers that can’t cut the mustard are politely but firmly asked to move on, to be quickly replaced by better competitors. Spare-changers on the street don’t seem to bother the crowds of happy shoppers I threaded my way through.  

There’s plenty of positive to accentuate in downtown Berkeley these days despite retail’s slump. Downtown, the restaurant run by the current Downtown Berkeley Association president, has good food and good music, a winning combination. Good music can also be found at Anna’s Jazz Island, and of course there’s all the lively theater at Aurora, not to mention the movies. And there are more good food establishments, some less expensive than Downtown, like Angeline’s, the newish New Orleans restaurant which has taken over part of the space vacated first by Huston’s Shoes and then by Gateway Computer. Dollars contributed to the DBA would be better spent pointing up what’s working than complaining about what’s not. 

And that goes for Telegraph too. In the midst of the whining from their peers, some businesses on Telegraph are just doing what they do, and doing it well. The very civilized Le Bateau Ivre has just celebrated its 35th anniversary by adding a live music night every Monday, and the ones we’ve been to have been packed with eager music lovers. Rasputin’s Records continues to thrive despite internet competition. Adagia, the new restaurant in the historic Ratcliff-designed Westminster House building on the corner of Bancroft and Telegraph, is buzzing, as are many less pricey ethnic restaurants on Telegraph itself. Peet’s new store in another historic building is well-lighted and full late into the night. 

Council members on Tuesday praised the efforts of programs which help people in distress despite being chronically under-funded. Perhaps what’s needed now is some kind of twelve-step program for Berkeleyans imprisoned in their isolated homes by their own irrational fear of Downtown. Maybe those of us who enjoy the Downtown experience, both Shattuck and Telegraph varieties, could sign up to take the fearful folks, one-on-one or in groups, on tours of our favorite hotspots of an evening. There’s no reason for them to be paralyzed by unreasoning, unjustified terror. 


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday March 20, 2007

NO TEARS FOR BARNES AND NOBLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In your article about the closing of the Barnes and Noble store, statements were attributed to me that I did not make (I was not interviewed for the article). If I had been asked, I would have made a few specific points: 

Barnes and Noble opened that store, a dozen years ago, solely and specifically to be as close to Cody’s as they could get. Because the chain store model does not require that any individual location be profitable, Barnes and Noble were able to open in an unpromising location and keep their doors open as long as it took to wear out the competition, which by contrast does need to be profitable in order to exist. Meanwhile, they were building two bigger stores a few miles a way against the day when they could abandon downtown Berkeley. Et voila, Cody’s closes, mission accomplished. (In San Francisco, Borders has opened a second huge store about five minutes away from their first huge store—the second store being coincidentally just down the street from Cody’s on Stockton.) Don’t’ shed tears over Barnes and Noble closing a store—they sure didn’t. 

Because of the Internet, the physical bookselling world has lost a big chunk of business over the years. Even in Berkeley there isn’t enough trade for the number of booksellers that used to be able to coexist here. That’s just a fact. If someone had to bow out, I am glad that it wasn’t us, and for a minute I get to be gleeful that it was a chain store. And then it will be back to business for us, keeping the shelves filled, keeping staff in medical benefits and reading copies, keeping the landlord sweet, and keeping the idea of a lively, vibrant bookstore alive for another score of years or so. 

And I would have like to see, just once, the headline from my dreams: “National chain retailer blames store demise on the strength and diversity of local independent booksellers.” 

Amy Thomas 

Owner, Pegasus and Pendragon Books 

 

• 

THANKS FROM MOE’S 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Hello to the good people of Berkeley, 

Thank you so much for your kindness and warmth. 

Since spring 2006, when the rumors of the crisis on Telegraph Avenue came into focus, we at Moe’s have felt an overwhelming warmth and affection from our friends. People have come from all over to see that we are well. We have smiled and said “Thank you.” It has meant so much to us. 

Independent book selling is at risk in the world. Internet machines like Amazon have changed the way that people buy books. Retail stores, like Moe’s, need to find a balance between the real and the online world. 

Because of the nature of our stock—we have hundreds and thousands of titles, used and new—we are confident that we can survive in this new environment. We plan to thrive. 

We are also confident that there are book lovers everywhere who will soon remember that the experience of a great bookstore is a pleasure not to be missed. 

Thanks again to the good people of the East Bay for supporting Telegraph, the heart of our history, and being here with us at Moe’s. 

Doris Moskowitz 

Moe’s daughter 

 

• 

ABAG, PANORAMIC INTERESTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In Kathleen Cha’s letter defending ABAG’s funding of the Pentagon, she says that $78 million of ABAG financing has gone to projects in Berkeley. A quick look at the ABAG website (www.abag.ca.gov/services/finance) reveals that $72 million of the $78 million has gone to Patrick Kennedy/ Panoramic Interests, a commercial for profit developer. Is this the type of financing that the voters and taxpayers of the Bay Area really intend for ABAG to do? The name of the ABAG service is the ABAG Finance Authority For Nonprofit Corporations. The questions raised in the original Planet article (Feb. 27) still have not been answered. Maybe our elected officials would like to chime in. 

Anne Wagley 

 

• 

HOUSING AUTHORITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to personally thank you for carrying news about the Berkeley Housing Authority saga. 

It means a lot to me to know what is going on with BHA because I am on Section 8. I can’t that news anywhere else. 

Thank you. 

Wilma Tichy 

 

• 

FACT CHECK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Today Douglas Allen-Taylor wrote that Franklin Roosevelt ran for a third and fourth term in the midst of war. Roosevelt ran for his third term in 1940, more than a year before the United States entered World War II. 

John McDougall 

 

• 

FIRST PERSON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In your March 13 edition you ran something with a subheading of “First Person,” which I gather is a feature where you simply let whoever it is write whatever they want about themselves. To say that the piece you ran in your March 13 edition was offensive is not quite it. Unaware comes to mind, bad thinking comes to mind, repulsive comes to mind, but what I really want to say is that I hope you give a child psychologist equal time to comment on what this person seems to think is wonderful behavior for a mother. As his justified reaction shows, the only grown-up in the story was the young boy who was so recklessly intruded upon. 

Dennis White  

 

• 

AC TRANSIT BUSES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

About the recent letters on bus transit: Is there any reason AC transit doesn’t use Gillig buses? Why not buy local as well as American? 

Howard Carrington 

El Cerrito 

 

• 

OAKLAND WATERFRONT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for having the courage to print the March 16 commentary by Akio Tanaka (“Oakland’s Waterfront Deserves a Better Plan”). His passion for the First Amendment rights of American citizens is real, and he is committed to giving the voters of Oakland an opportunity to decide on the future of their waterfront. 

Those who have worked so hard to keep the voices of people from being heard will one day ask the voters of Oakland to support them in their next political endeavor—Mr. Perata, Mr. de la Fuente, Ms. Kernighan, Mr. Russo, are you listening? Remember, all these citizens asked was to put the proposed development before the voters, and you very casually discarded their request. Twenty-five thousand and sixty-eight voters will not forget. 

Pamela Weber 

Oakland 

 

• 

GET OUT OF THE WAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Republicans make what appears to be a strong argument against even setting a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. They say that approval of a withdrawal plan would tell the terrorists that the United States doesn’t have the political will to support Iraq’s fledgling democracy. I think this is yet another framed argument. Some justified going to Iraq, expecting to be greeted by a fledgling democracy, in a scene like the 1945 liberation of Paris, once Saddam Hussein was deposed. The Iraq democracy isn’t “fledgling;” I don’t think it’s even a fertilized egg. The welcoming party for the coalition’s liberating armies was the insurgent terrorists with their roadside bombs and their sectarian strife. I think our continued occupation makes a bad situation worse, because the fighting factions in Iraq can point to a common enemy. If we leave, they have a choice of working together, or completing the destruction of their country. We Americans really don’t want the job of settling all the ancient Mesopotamian disputes, even if we could actually do so. What we need to do is get out of the way. 

Steve Geller 

• 

KUDOS TO POLICE DEPARTMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to publicly express my admiration for the Berkeley Police Department. I was one of three people who witnessed an arrest on Sunday, March 18. The arresting officers acted with incredible restraint under difficult circumstances. The person they were arresting fought them aggressively and bit one of the women officers. The cops did not use their batons, fists or pepper spray. I cannot imagine the anger, fear and adrenaline one would feel if they were bit by someone with unknown health status, yet as I said, the cops remained incredibly restrained.  

My heart also goes out to the person arrested, who must have been extremely desperate, crazy, tripping, or drunk. But the thing that has stuck with me is that BPD has some of the bravest, best trained people I have ever met. I don’t know how you guys do it. 

Kevin Farrell  

 

• 

BEST FOR LAST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I always look forward to reading the Daily Planet, and save the back page for last. It’s always a special treat, whether “Coots, Hawks and Gulls” or a series on local trees. 

Thank you. 

Carol Bleth 

 

• 

STREET PEOPLE MYTHS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I enjoyed reading your editorial regarding the pessimistic outlook of businesses and patrons in Shattuck and Telegraph avenues. I don’t think that street people really deserve the reputation they are often given. Maybe anti-homeless advocates exaggerate to make their point, but I think their perspective is not entirely factual. I don’t think that many of them commit the violent crime that would make people fearful, and not very many of them even ask for spare change; most of them have a sign and don’t really do more than sit there so that people read the sign. Despite what some say that they choose to live without a home and/or money, I doubt that many of them prefer to spend their nights outside in the cold weather of Berkeley, or enjoy having very little money to spend. Many complain that homeless people are becoming a disturbance at Willard park and making the bathrooms unclean, not only is it hard to say that the homeless are responsible for messing up the bathroom (which is cleaned and sanitized daily), I think the greatest sanitary problem at Willard is the dog urine one can smell at almost every tree and post and the occasional pile of feces which are normally not caused by homeless people (no one seems to be complaining about that). Additionally, a myth is that homeless people are harming business at Telegraph Avenue, I find that hard to believe, especially when, to paraphrase Kriss Worthington on KPFA, the four blocks of Telegraph generate more revenue than any other four blocks in the East Bay. I think that these myths and irrational fears surrounding homeless people amount to nothing more than old-fashioned scapegoating.  

Nicholas Russell 

 

• 

REPEAT? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While walking across the UC Berkeley campus, I found a plaque commemorating a great president from the 1960s or ’70s.  

Building plans for the library were changed, a grove of old trees were preserved, and the grove was re-named and dedicated to Chancellor Roger Heynes. 

Can history be repeated for the oak grove? 

Mitch Cohen 

 

• 

IMPEACHMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Just this Wednesday, March 14, members of a Bay Area impeachment coalition met with Sandra Andrews of Barbara Lee’s staff and Jo Casenave of Pete Stark’s staff to lay out our position on impeachment. Both Stark and Lee’s offices called us to set up the meeting on a last-minute basis. Could this be a stirring of interest from the top? Impeachbush-cheney.com feels, as do many, that the last two years of this administration could be more disastrous than anything we have seen so far. Imagine what they will do when they no longer worry about re-election.  

We at www.impeachbush-cheney.com believe that not only will impeachment strengthen the political legitimacy of the party or politician that takes it up, but impeachment will be the best tool that person or party has to truly win battles in congress. Currently soft appropriations bills do little to affect real action or sway over the situations in Iraq and Iran. Resolutions voted into law matter little to an administration that is clearly willing to disobey the law and act with impunity.  

Impeachment should be reintroduced to the public not as a quagmire or an uphill battle. Rather, we believe that impeachment is currently becoming the best and most comprehensive way to battle all the battles that this administration has us fighting both home and abroad. In other words why chase after brush fires when there’s a guy standing there with a blowtorch. We also feel that though impeachment is rumored to be costly, it can hardly be any more costly than allowing this administration to continue unabated. Never in the history of impeachment has the evidence been more abundant and utterly convincing.  

For information, visit us on the web, come to our events and join our action team. We are urging for higher level meetings and more action to combat this administration.  

Evan Raymond 

 

• 

OVERDUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

That this administration has not been held accountable for either this illegal war or for having broken both constitutional and international law is shameful. Impeachment proceedings are way overdue. 

David Melloy 

Oakland 

 

• 

MISQUOTED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Richard Brenneman misstated my comments at the special Planning Commission meeting held to discuss the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s Long Range Development Plan, draft environmental impact report (DEIR) (“City Concerned Over UC Lab, Campus Plans,” March 16).  

Speaking as a member of the Community Health Commission (CHC), I stated the CHC was concerned about the health effects of particulate matter from diesel combustion produced by trucks and generators used in support of demolition and construction activities. I noted that the CHC had submitted similar comments in response to the proposed demolition of the Bevatron (Building 51) for which a separate DEIR has been published. The lab’s DEIR notes that the potential exposure to particulate matter is “significant and unavoidable” when its activities and those proposed in the university’s LRDP 2004 are aggregated. The lab’s DEIR states: “Even though cumulative emissions of toxic air contaminants would decrease, implementation of the LBNL 2006 LRDP, in combination with other potential contributing projects, would contribute to cumulative emissions of toxic air contaminants that result in an excess cancer risk that exceeds, and would continue to exceed, 10 in one million. (Significant and Unavoidable) (Pages IV.B-48-50). 

Speaking as a resident, I noted my concerns about the lab’s development plans in light of the city and state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The lab plans to add 1,000 employees, 660,000 square feet of new buildings, and 500 free parking spaces in the fragile and wonderful Strawberry Creek Watershed at the same time that plans are underway to accept $400 million from an oil company to create genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that will be used to develop new biofuels. My point was that I find it ironic that the lab’s development plans will add to the very problem that the oil money will probably not solve. While climate-altering GHGs (which are not considered in the DEIR) will rise considerably if the projects in the lab’s LRDP are implemented, the research and development of GMOs is risky, contentious, of uncertain value to GHG reductions, and for many in this community, unwelcome. 

Finally, I pointed out that, should a major oil company take up residence in our community where it would be aligned with the university and the lab, the city is likely to experience even greater political and economic pressures than are already exerted by the existing institutions. Such a powerful triumvirate, held together with free flowing oil profits, may be a bit more than our raucous, engaged Berkeley democracy can handle. I say “thumbs down” to that deal. 

Tom Kelly 

 

• 

LIBERALS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The “Ten Maxims for a Liberal Foreign Policy” by Bob Burnett (March 6) warrant a response. There are two types of liberal policy. Classical liberals favor liberty in all areas of life, in contrast to liberals like Burnett who favor a large authoritarian role for government. Authoritarian liberals seek to limit free markets and democracy, even though economies with more economic freedom have developed rapidly, while those with little economic freedom have remained poor or even gone backwards. Authoritarian liberals, in opposing free markets, favor policies that keep most folks poor and under the rule of elites. The viewpoint that folks in the third world are not ready to have freedom reflects the colonialist mentality of authoritarian liberals. Classical liberals favor free markets because there is no moral justification in forcibly preventing poor folk from working, getting educated, and being in charge of their own communities. 

Fred Foldvary 

 

• 

EXTREMISTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bush promises immigration compromise. Compromise with racists, bigots and right-wingers who are pushing the anti-immigrant debate? Can you negotiate with extremists? 

Ron Lowe  

Grass Valley  

 

• 

OCEAN OF PLASTICS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A plethora of plastic is filling our oceans, from drinking bottles, plastic bags to toy soldiers. I’m referring to the Eastern Garbage Patch, a sea of trash floating around in the Pacific Ocean. This area is known as the North Pacific Gyre where currents move in a circular motion drawing in waste material. Over the years, massive amounts of plastic debris accumulated creating plastic waste twice the size of Texas! 

So not only is our ocean being polluted, but animals are dying mistaking the plastic debris as food. Albatross fly miles in search for food for their young and their path leads them to the garbage patch. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, their studies show that chicks died from plastic in their stomachs as well as those that died from other reasons. The garbage floating in our ocean is toxic to the birds and other sea life, something has to be done! 

What can we do? The easiest thing anyone can do is recycle! Another solution is switching to biodegradable plastic, plastic that decomposes in the natural environment. If we can push for the use of biodegradable plastic for restaurants, packages, and so forth, then it would be a huge step forward in reducing the amount of plastic debris that gets swept away into our oceans. It is a duty for everyone to protect our ocean and prevent the demise of the creatures of the sea. 

Min Song 

 

• 

BETRAYAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

By being instrumental in supporting torture, spying on U.S. citizens, lying to get our country into an unnecessary and illegal war, Bush and Cheney betrayed the principals this country were founded on. 

Joanna Katz 

 

• 

OUSD LAND SALE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing regarding Oakland School Board Member Dan Siegel’s assertion that the proposal to sell OUSD surplus property failed, in part, because of my leaving office, implying my support or acquiescence of the proposal. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

In fact, when the proposal was made I wrote and spoke to California Superintendent of Education Jack O’Connell to share by concerns with the educational and economic viability of the plan. I made it clear that unless the process was transparent and made sense for students, parents, teachers and the community, I would oppose it. Without community buy-in and lack of detailed financials, it is not surprising that it did not go forward.  

Wilma Chan 

Assemblywoman, 16th District (retired) 

 

• 

KEEP IT UP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for continually interesting, informative, useful and concise news and commentary. Keep up the good work! 

Brian Lipson 

 

• 

NORTH AND SOUTH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just got my purse stolen—again—down here in South Berkeley, where every day can be taut, a jangled nerve. How wonderful it must be to live or work in a neighborhood like North Berkeley where a really big issue apparently is fussing with one another over whether they should allow themselves a nice, grassy European-style piazza. 

Susan Leonard 

 

• 

AC TRANSIT SIGNS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On the subject of AC Transit, I’d like to mention the electronic signs that are supposed to tell us when the next bus is coming in “real time.” Maybe in a parallel dimension it’s the real time, but here in the East Bay the signs are inaccurate and a waste of our money. I would like to know how much money is spent on this system and also why it doesn’t work. 

A.B. Fane 

 

• 

ROUNDABOUTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to Scott Prosterman’s letter on roundabouts from a few weeks back: Having attended two conferences on roundabouts, I can speak with some authority on them.  

According to a Nov. 27, 1996 article in the Los Angeles Times, Vail, Colorado had a diamond interchange similar to the I-80 Gilman interchange. Traffic was backed up half a mile and five policemen were needed to direct traffic. 

Afterward, the congestion was gone and the policemen were put elsewhere. 

Seattle has several hundred small circles at what used to be four-way stop intersections. They say that accidents have been reduced by 90 percent. 

The reason is that the number of conflict points are reduced from 32 at a four-way intersection to eight on roundabouts. 

The University of California Institute of Transportation Studies published Tech Trans No. 58 on Roundabouts. They will send readers a copy if readers phone 231-9590. 

Roundabouts are being used all over the world to make traffic safe and better. 

Charlie Smith 

 

 

 


Commentary: Pros and Cons of New South Berkeley Library

By Christopher Adams
Tuesday March 20, 2007

In April 2002 Berkeley’s handsome Central library at the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Kittredge reopened with a splendid party attended by more than 7,700 people. It had been completely renovated and almost doubled in size. Support for this project came from citizens of Berkeley, who passed a bond measure to pay for the building, and from private donations, funneled through the Berkeley Public Library Foundation, which paid for new furniture, equipment, and refurbishing of the original furnishings of this historic structure.  

The Board of Library Trustees hoped to continue this program of expansion and renovation at the other library branches, and in 2000 Berkeley voters approved a bond measure which would have provided city funds to match a state grant for the renovation and enlargement of the West Branch. While Berkeley’s proposal was rated very high, it did not receive any funds in the first, and very competitive, round of grants. Sadly, because of the failure of the state library bond in the 2006 general election (not in Berkeley, but statewide), there are no new funds to do another round of grants, and thus the West Branch project is on indefinite hold. The Board of Library Trustees is turning to other ways of moving forward in order to renovate the Berkeley Public Library branches.  

Near the Ashby BART Station in South Berkeley is the South Branch, now housed in a concrete and redwood building on Martin Luther King Way at Russell Street designed by the late Berkeley architect, Hans Ostwald. Even if you have not checked out a book at this branch, you may know the Tool Lending Library, which is located there and provides a unique service to Berkeley residents. At 5,000 square feet the South Branch is the smallest library in the city, with little room for a teen section and a small and overcrowded children’s reading area. South Branch is not functioning well as a modern library. Its concrete floor and low roofline make it extremely difficult to bring it up to date for modern library and computer needs—there is just no place to install the necessary wiring. Preliminary studies have shown that it would be extremely difficult to expand on the library’s small site without essentially destroying the original building.  

A few blocks southeast of the present South Branch the Ed Roberts Campus will be under construction later this year over part of the parking lot east of the Ashby BART station. The campus will be built by a consortium of many of Berkeley’s nationally known organizations founded by and for the disabled. It will include the Center for Independent Living, whose founder, Ed Roberts, will be memorialized by the name of the new campus building. The design of the ERC took over 10 years, with much work done to make the project respect the tree shaded streets and older houses of the surrounding neighborhood. In addition to the many groups whose focus is on service to the disabled the Campus will include a café open to the public and, at ERC’s invitation, perhaps a new South Branch public library. Locating the library in the ERC not only offers the possibility of a synergy with other ERC partners such as the center for Accessible Technology, but its location next to a BART station offers the possibility of a unique service to commuters. Imagine putting in a book order at a kiosk on your way to BART and picking up the book from the same kiosk on your way home. For the library another of the attractions of the ERC is that there would be enough space to increase the size of the branch. Because the library would be only a small part of a larger structure, building costs would appear to be much less than for a new or renovated stand-alone building. ERC is excited at possibly including the library in its building; the library trustees are excited at a possible solution to the needs of the South Branch; and last, but not least, the Berkeley Public Library Foundation is excited about the prospects of this project as a focus of fundraising, as well as supporting other capital improvement campaigns for the other three branches. But of course there are many issues still to be resolved. The Board of Library Trustees commissioned a study of South Berkeley needs which indicates a lot of positive feelings about such a move, but there are certainly those who want the branch to stay where it is. Others will be very concerned about what will happen to the Tool Library. The preservation community will be understandably concerned about what happens to the existing Ostwald building if the library moves. ERC’s neighbors will want to be sure that including a branch library does not create unanticipated problems of parking and traffic. Residents of South and Southwest Berkeley, both those using the library now and those among communities which use it very little such as the Latino community, need to become more involved.  

In order to examine all the pros and cons, the library trustees established a discussion group to consider how better to serve South Berkeley and whether the Board of Library Trustees should formally initiate a move to the ERC. Two trustees, Terry Powell and Ying Lee, library director Donna Corbeil, Community Relations Librarian Alan Bern, and myself, the foundation’s vice president, have been meeting with ERC staff members and South Berkeley community leaders. Nothing has been decided and no commitments have been made. The discussion group has expanded to include a Library Staff Task Force, which will conduct further research around the various possibilities. The discussion group hopes to hold a public meeting this spring so that those who have not yet been heard from can make their views know. The library trustees are also working with community leaders throughout southwest Berkeley to determine how better to serve this part of the city. In the meantime, South Berkeley residents and library users should not hesitate to contact the library with their ideas and comments. You can write to the Board of Library Trustees c/o the Berkeley Public Library or send an e-mail to the library director at director@berkeleypubliclibrary. org.  

 

Christopher Adams is the vice president of the Berkeley Public Library Foundation.


Commentary: Farewell to the Local Labor Community

By Nicholas E. Smith
Tuesday March 20, 2007

As my final meeting as chairman of the City of Berkeley’s Commission on Labor draws near, I thought I’d to take a minute to give my farewell to the local labor community and to Berkeley residents. 

This all began for me exactly three years ago when I was appointed by Councilmember Kriss Worthington to the city’s Labor Commission in March of 2004. I must confess that Councilmember Worthington took a leap of faith in appointing me, a Berkeley freshman at the time, to this policy body. I maintain infinite thanks for this honor.  

Since my appointment, my colleagues and I have been involved with a wide array of labor activism, legislating, and in contact with in the labor community.  

In brief, my initial foray into the wider struggles of labor came with the dispute between employees and management at the Claremont Resort and Spa. The dispute was contractural in nature, as are many others, including those at the Berkeley Honda, the Shattuck Cinema and Hornblower Cruises. I saw then and continue to see employees who put in many hours on the job only to see little to nothing left at the end of their pay periods for savings. We all know that access to well-paying jobs with adequate benefits should not be optional for anyone in this city, state, or country and it is our responsibility to stand up and speak out. I’ve said before that it’s frustrating to see the increasing number of disputes that divide employees from employers, but I’m made optimistic by the fact that even when one is disadvantaged, the community mobilizes in support of fairness.  

One of the interesting lessons I’ve learned is that although some like to divide the labor and business communities as inherently liberal versus conservative, it is important not see them strictly this way. I prefer to see union organization as employees taking more ownership in their destinies. At the same time, it is important to congratulate companies who engage in positive business practices becasue there are those who do not. 

In addition to supporting fair practices of those related to the previously mentioned disputes, the Commission has recently passed two significant ordinances for City Council consideration. The first is the “Sweatshop Free Berkeley Ordinance,” which if passed by the City Council, would ban government from purchasing garments and other items from organizations (and their subsidiaries) that engage in sweatshop labor. Secondly, the commission passed a “Right-to-Know Ordinance” which protects consumers by stating that local hotels are to notify their customers of a work stoppage (such as a strike) in that could result in hardships of some type. The latter policy emerged as a result of issues surrounding the Claremont Resort and Spa campaign. 

I see these actions as a continuation of Berkeley’s tradition of speaking for those without a voice, and for diversity. No one should be ashamed of this fact. These actions also carry on the legacy of a Berkeley legend, Maudelle Shirek, who was instrumental in creating the Labor Commission and politically inspiring those such as mayor and former Congressman Ron Dellums, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee and even me. She would be proud to note that the commission is one of the most diverse in the city with two African Americans, two Hispanics, and four students.  

Maudelle would want us all to continue to stand up and speak out. So although this is a farewell of sorts, I’m well aware that there is much more work to be done. So, I’ll see you around. Thank you Berkeley! 

 

Nicholas E. Smith is the outgoing chairman of the Commission on Labor, a member of the Housing Advisory Commission, and a Cal Berkeley senior. 


Commentary: Santa Cruz Ordinances Are Divisive, Unfair

By Tracie de Angelis Salim
Tuesday March 20, 2007

According to wikipedia.org déjà vu is “the experience of feeling that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously.” 

I am a resident of Oakland, but an avid reader of the Daily Planet. I read Judith Scherr’s article about Mayor Tom Bates “Public Commons for Everyone” initiative and experienced an eerie sense of déjà vu. After having lived through and witnessed a set of similar ordinances passed by the Santa Cruz City Council in the 1990’s, I never thought another city would adopt such draconian measures in an effort to push particular groups of people from a city.  

In the 1990s Santa Cruz City Council passed several ordinances designed to shape the community to remove a particular population. It was disguised as an attempt to make the people safer. The real reason behind this design was to support the Downtown Business Association of Santa Cruz located on the Pacific Garden Mall in downtown. Such ordinances as “No Display Devices” in public places were written. This meant that anyone who wanted to set up a table or rack, chair, box or display would be in violation of a city ordinance; where “Display Devices” were allowed, people could not remain in the same space for more than one hour.  

They also passed a “No Aggressive Solicitation” ordinance, which basically boiled down to a “No Panhandling” rule. This meant that a verbal (or non-verbal) request, such as a sign, seeking donations of food, money, cigarettes or any item of value would subject a person to a fine and/or arrest. In addition, any “Aggressive Solicitation” done before or after sunset would be in violation of the ordinance. 

In Santa Cruz, you cannot sit or lie down on a public sidewalk or sidewalk curb in designated city zones; this was harshly enforced especially on the Pacific Garden Mall which is where a great deal of income for the city is generated. In some designated city zones, you cannot sit within 14 feet of an entry or exit to a building, a building window, a drinking fountain or public phone, an open air cafe and you cannot sit or lie down within 50 feet of an ATM machine.  

If you walk, sit upon or stand on any public monument, decorative fountain, bike rack, trash receptacle, fire hydrant, or street tree planter, you would be in violation and subject to punishment. It gets better. People in designated areas of Santa Cruz cannot place backpacks, boxes, luggage, or bikes on public streets, sidewalks roadways, pedestrian ways or bike paths in the city. Finally, the “No-Camping” ordinance was an out and out push to force the homeless population out of the city. There is no sleeping between the hours of 11:00 PM and 8:30 AM outdoors with or without bedding, tent or hammock, no sleeping is allowed in a car, bus, van, or on or in any structure not intended for human occupancy. All of these ordinances can be found at www.huffsantacruz.org. 

Folks, this “Public Commons for Everyone” is a slippery slope. I witnessed it in Santa Cruz and it created a huge rift between the city population and law enforcement, between the city population and city council and between the different types of people living in Santa Cruz. It is not good for the city of Berkeley to begin looking at ways to further disenfranchise an already dispossessed population. And, in some cases, the people that this will affect could be any of us.  

Yes, these two cities have other things in common. Santa Cruz and Berkeley are both university towns; they both have wealth. A great deal of income in both places is generated by education and tourism. Another commonality of both cities is their long histories of social activism. The one thing that is different are the demographics are in the two cities; the census reported in the year 2000 that Santa Cruz had a population of approximately 55,000 and Berkeley had 102,000. People have historically been drawn to Berkeley and Santa Cruz for the beauty, the education and the open attitudes. People could find comfort in being themselves in Berkeley or Santa Cruz. 

It stupefies me to hear that Berkeley is planning to follow in the footsteps of another historically great place to live; places that allowed for a variety of opinions and expressions to flourish, have now become a place where homelessness and mental illness are criminalized, ignored and pushed aside. Déjà vu. I think I have been here before. 

 

Tracie de Angelis Salim is a former Santa Cruz resident. 


Letters to the Editor

Friday March 16, 2007

COMMISSIONERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for an excellent editorial on the effort to dislodge non-partyline commissioners. If Berkeley voters would begin a gentle chant, “term limits for councilmembers” every time this power play against knowledgeable commissioners was suggested, it would suddenly never be mentioned again. Politicians who refuse to allow diverse perspectives even to be voiced from advisory, relatively powerless commissions, don’t belong in office. 

Carol Denney 

 

• 

COMMISSION TERM LIMITS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Everyone knows that the current struggle over further limits on the terms served by city commissioners is no more than a squabble between rival factions. That shouldn’t prevent the rest of us from considering the matter objectively—rather than sardonically, as Ms. O’Malley does with her remark “as if there were a huge citizen demand to attend tedious meetings.” She may have it backwards, and any alleged shortage of volunteers could well be explained by the number of commissioners who appear to be permanently entrenched. 

Common sense tells us that if commissioners can serve on one body for no more than eight years out of ten (voiding their present ability to leave briefly and later be re-appointed), more citizens can serve. On the one hand this is inherently more democratic, and on the other it still allows a significant period of service in which to build expertise.  

Revan Tranter 

• 

SUSTAINABLE BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The March 9 article on Sustainable Berkeley has several corrections that might be misleading to your readers.  

1. Sustainable Berkeley is a voluntary collaborative; it is not a not city commission. It does not govern or regulate. It formed in response to a report that identified that the city does not have capacity to lead our community to meet major goals such as zero waste and carbon neutrality, that the changes necessary to reach ambitious goals require a collaborative including all segments of society.  

a. The Sustainable Berkeley Steering Committee was self generated by environmentalists, businesses and academia to work together voluntarily to make Berkeley a green city; the steering committee was not selected by the city or mayor.  

b. Sustainable Berkeley does not claim to be fully representative of the community. We hope to continue to become more inclusive, since everyone in Berkeley needs to realign their homes and businesses to reach Berkeley’s goal to be the greenest city in America and to reduce GHG by 80 percent by 2050. 

2. Sustainable Berkeley is unincorporated since it is so new; it uses Community Energy Services Corporation (CESC) as its fiscal agent. The Berkeley Energy Commission is the governing board of CESC, they support creation of Sustainable Berkeley and an Energy Commissioner plans to join the steering committee. 

3. Sustainable Berkeley hired Timothy Burroughs to convene the community and create a GHG Reduction Plan. This process will be inclusive, transparent and posted on the Sustainable Berkeley and City of Berkeley website once it is developed. The Steering Committee and Mayor Bates will not have editorial control over the plan. Sustainable Berkeley has a city contract to deliver the plan to the city manager and mayor in December 2007. 

4. Timothy Burroughs was hired as a by Sustainable Berkeley without a recruitment process since he is a nationally recognized expert in GHG Reduction and the position is temporary through December 2007. 

5. Cisco De Vries is not an employee of Sustainable Berkeley; he is the mayor’s chief of staff working half-time for the city on GHG Reduction. We look forward to continued leadership and support from Mayor Bates. This spring, Mayor Bates will help us convene a meeting to inspire our top 100 commercial energy users to take action to reduce their emissions while saving money and helping make downtown green.  

Joel Kreisberg 

Chair, Sustainable Berkeley 

 

• 

BESIDE THE POINT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley citizens on the losing side of a decision at the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB), a citizen commission or the City Council often complain that the deciding body acted in an “undemocratic” manner. Usually this is said to occur because the government entity failed to recognize the predominant number of supporters for one side that was present at the meeting, where “almost everyone” publicly favored the outcome that lost. 

While this complaint is technically accurate, it is also beside the point. Berkeley has a representative form of government and is not a direct democracy. We choose people to make our decisions for us based on all the information they can gather, and we don’t take the votes of the attending citizens at these public meetings. The purpose of a public hearing or meeting, therefore, is not to count heads for or against something but to try to ensure that all points of view have been heard and that all relevant information is available. From that perspective, it shouldn’t matter if the same opinion is presented once or a hundred times, as long as it’s clearly understood. Deciding commissioners or councilmembers should act based on their consideration of all the relevant points of view, not just the views of those who may have packed the meeting with their supporters. 

As Warren Buffett once said about the stock market, Berkeley commissions and councils shouldn’t act as voting machines, they should act as weighing machines—weighing all opinions, not counting heads physically present. 

Our representative form of government is important in a town where most citizens simply don’t have the time or physical stamina to attend public meetings that often run into the late hours. We have decided to trust others with the task of making our civic decisions for us, based on all the input they can gather. And that’s precisely why organizations like Kitchen Democracy were formed—to give voice to those who cannot physically attend all the meetings all the time. While Kitchen Democracy does record opinions, its main value is facilitating the weighing of arguments for and against, and the opinions presented in writing. We should ask our civic representatives to read those opinions, and not just to vote according to the majority recorded there; Kitchen Democracy votes could be “packed” as readily as the audience at ZAB meetings.  

The relevant word in this discussion is “trust." Those who cannot trust their representatives to make fair decisions should indeed exercise their democratic rights—but that happens directly only at the ballot box, not at a late-night public meeting. 

Alan Tobey 

 

• 

TELEGRAPH AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am glad the Berkeley City Council has time for foreign policy (“City Backs Action on Rumsfeld”). However yesterday I went for a walk on Telegraph Avenue near the Berkeley campus. Is there another college town street in America more ugly and depressing than this? Why do the students rush along like they are afraid to even walk there? Why have I never seen any policeman or woman on the street walking or on bicycles? What right do the pan handlers have for violent stares that seem to imply that if you don’t give them money they might kill you? 

And finally, why was I the only guy with gray hair to be seen? I will tell you why: The street is scary. And there is nothing so ugly and depressed near a major university coast to coast. Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley is a disgrace to every Californian and American. The city political workers should take a look in their own back yard. What was once a wonderful college town neighborhood is one more store closing away from becoming a total urban disaster zone. 

Ken Vermes 

San Rafael 

 

• 

VAN HELL BUSES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m thrilled with the Planet’s coverage of AC Transit’s misguided plans to purchase 50 new Van Hool busses. I’m neither senior nor disabled but as an AC Transit bus rider, I very much agree with the “Van Hell” moniker. Thanks to you, I now know the extremely fishy circumstances behind their purchase from a Belgium company on a sole source contract. I also learned that Mayor Tom Bates asked to “inspect” one of the busses because he’s never ridden in one! Gee, I wonder why not?  

This past summer, when the Berkeley City Council discussed initiatives to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Mayor Bates declared, “It is time for the politicians and the people to catch up to the scientists and make the necessary changes in policies and behaviors.” I’m sure Mayor Bates knows that fossil fuel combustion is by far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and using public transportation is one of the “necessary changes” that is needed. It’s time you walked, er, rode your talk Mr. Mayor.  

I propose that Mayor Bates go beyond inspecting the Van Hool’s and actually try to conduct his normal activities using public transportation for one week in the Bay Area. I hope that all of the MTC commissioners do the same. You’ll soon learn some inconvenient truths about the public transit in our region. Sadly, the Van Hool’s are just one of many problems. The Daily Planet’s account of the Mayor’s adventures on public transportation could be quite amusing. Meanwhile, please continue to monitor the concerns of bus riders and the response of elected officials who serve on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. 

Martha Wallner  

Albany 

 

• 

SIERRA CLUB IN BED WITH  

DEVELOPERS, SMART GROWTHERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Sierra Club, which found itself dug deep into political quicksand and internal rancor over immigration and population control, appears to be backing thoughtlessly into another unwinnable, charged battle, this one aligning with a newly minted, polarizing developer front group in North Oakland called Urbanists for a Livable Temescal-Rockridge Area (ULTRA). 

ULTRA was formed to shill for condomania—Oakland’s belated, Jerry Brown era-effort to jump onto the development bandwagon, as his response to the public clamor for retail. Oakland’s version of condomania is especially developer-friendly—no impact fees, no environmental review or study of cumulative impacts prior to approvals, variances handed out like candy, no attempt to save decent and affordable, often historic housing, no respect for the neighbors’ loss of views and sunlight, a rubber stamp Planning Commission whose only concern is apparently that projects aren’t high enough or parking inadequate enough. 

Newspeak rules: Ultra, in a press release announcing the forum, claims that “higher density development along main commercial and transportation corridors” will actually create “more green open spaces,” “support local public schools,” promote “economic and cultural diversity,” and “healthy community interaction.” 

These $500,000-$800,000 condos are designed for single yuppies or perhaps childless young couples and are actually more expensive than many single family homes with yards and garages for sale in the same area. How can they truly support the schools, represent diversity, or justify any of the other ULTRA claims? 

The truth is that these projects are impacting affordable, rent-controlled multifamily units (condos are exempt from local rent control by state law). They create more strain on local police and fire departments already overburdened, not to mention other suffering infrastructure like streets, sidewalks, street trees, and parks. And the trashing of livable neighborhoods with looming ultramodernist condos whose residents further clog the streets (yes, they WILL drive cars!) will push more people OUT of cities. This will defeat what one assumes is behind the Sierra Club’s clueless participation in pushing condomania--saving farmland and open space. 

The Sierra Club is co-sponsoring the ULTRA forum from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, March 17 at the North Oakland Senior Center, 5714 MLK Jr. Way at 58th Street. Concerned Sierra Club members might contact the organization regarding its alliance with ULTRA.  

Robert Brokl 

 

• 

ABAG AND THE PENTAGON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Feb. 27 article, “Association of Bay Area Governments Helps Fund Pentagon Program,” demonstrates obvious confusion about ABAG’s Financial Services Department and how we serve as a conduit to secure financing that will fund a variety of projects in the Bay Area and other parts of California. The program offers such cost-effective financial services for cities like Berkeley that it is important to clear up any misunderstanding about how the program works. We help local governments and others gain access to tax-exempt debt financing and save considerably on public financing costs.  

In response to concerns raised in the article, ABAG itself doesn’t give or lend money to projects. We do provide a full range of cost effective financing services, expertise, and finance program options to local governments, non profits, schools, private universities, special districts, housing partnerships, hospitals, and healthcare organizations. Through various financial programs, we help them gain access to inaccessible financing. Note that these financial services are focused primarily in the greater Bay Area, with only 30% of debt financed secured for other projects outside our region.  

ABAG Finance Authority for Nonprofit Corporations, an ABAG finance program, cited in the article has helped nine projects in the City of Berkeley alone gain access to funding and lenders. This has translated into securing $78,600,000 to finance the construction of multiple apartments/mixed use facilities, multi-family rental housing, and a community health center; seismic upgrades and building improvement; and the refinancing of multifamily housing revenue bonds.  

I invite you to go our website at www.abag.ca.gov/services/finance/ for a full description of the financial services programs and ways they are serving the Bay Area during these critical times of limited state and local budgets and restricted funding sources.  

Kathleen Cha 

Senior Communications Officer 

Association of Bay Area Governments 

 

 

• 

SOUTH BERKELEY NEEDS HELP! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m new to Berkeley, and have lived in South Berkeley for about three years now. In that time frame I have been consistently shocked and saddened by the lack of concern that both the mayor and our City Council, namely Councilmember Max Anderson, have shown towards truly addressing violence and presenting solutions for our community. Sunday night there was more gang activity one block from my home. My neighbors and I are trying to do our part to build community and live our lives, but we can’t when we feel that a few bad individuals are permitted to cause fear on our streets. My neighbors and I are asking for real change to happen. I’m not sure what the solutions are, but a real dialogue must happen. Several neighbors have suggested the installation of surveillance cameras at the corner of McGee and Oregon, as well as at the youth park on Oregon Street. Others have suggested more police foot traffic. My neighbors and I have been open to this discussion for awhile. What we really need though is some action. 

Don Mack 

 

• 

MOLLY IVINS WAS A PLAGIARIST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It’s sad that the Berkeley Daily Planet has been doing a tribute to a journalist (Molly Ivins) who repeatedly has been caught plagiarizing the work of others. The most widely publicized instance was when she lifted most of a column from Southern humorist Florence King in 1995. Here’s how Ivins’ victim described the theft: www.taemag.com/issues/articleID.16894/article_detail.asp.  

But she continued to steal from other people after that. In 2003, she plagiarized Australian writer Clive James (http://timblair.spleenville.com/archives/005528.php). If journalists were intellectually honest, they would have kicked her out of their profession years ago. But by doing a tribute to her, the Daily Planet is endorsing her ethics. 

Bob Gamboa 


Commentary: New-Speak Comes to Berkeley — Guess Who’s the Target?

By Osha Neumann
Friday March 16, 2007

There is a lot that’s troubling about the mayor’s “Public Commons For Every One Initiative,” beginning with the name. I really regret that new-speak has made its way from our nation’s capital to Berkeley. A more accurate name for this initiative would be the “Get Homeless People Off the Streets of Berkeley Initiative.”  

Of course such a naked avowal of intent is unseemly, so the initiative follows a pattern of sweetening the pill with provisions for increasing referrals to largely nonexistent services; stepped up activity by the Mobile Crisis team (often viewed on the street as an arm of the police); and no reduction in homeless services, without, however a commitment to any increase in funding for those services. There is still no daytime youth drop-in center in Berkeley and no detox. 

At the core of this initiative is yet another push for new anti-homeless laws. The implication of the proposal is that there are currently not enough laws to do the job. The fact is that when the police get their marching orders they are perfectly capable of rousting just about anybody using threats, intimidation and the laws that are on the books right now. 

The proposal calls for “creating consistent community standards for public behavior,” evoking images of Taliban-like patrols monitoring the conduct of citizens, although of course the only citizens whose conduct would be monitored would be the poor and the homeless.  

The problematic street behaviors identified in the proposal are “prolonged sitting and smoking in front of businesses, yelling at people as they walk along the corridor, and/or selling or consuming drugs.” Selling or consuming drugs is already illegal. Smoking in the commercial corridor is likewise for all practical purposes illegal under the current ordinance that prohibits smoking within 20 feet of a doorway or air intake. That leaves “prolonged sitting” and “yelling at people.” 

So seriously, are we going to have a “no yelling” ordinance? Are police going to be walking their beats with decibel meters? And really, is every happy-go-lucky yeller going to be cited or is it only going to be homeless yelling that gets the attention of the police. And do we really think this can be enforced without running afoul of the First Amendment? And have we forgotten that there is already a Berkeley ordinance that makes it unlawful “for any person to solicit another in any public place . . . ”in any manner which coerces, threatens, hounds, or intimidates the person solicited.” (BMC 13.37.020.) 

If we agree a “no yelling” ordinance should be a nonstarter that leaves the terrible social problem of “prolonged sitting.” How exactly would this one work? Are we going to have police putting chalk marks on homeless people like the parking enforcement officers do on tires? And if the person moves does the clock start again?  

We don’t need to go down this road. We’ve been here, we’ve done that, it doesn’t work, and it does us little credit. Criminalizing homelessness only increases the quotient of desperation in our community. It might be possible to sweep that desperation out of sight, but it will still be there to haunt us. 

There is a better way. 

 

Osha Neumann is a local attorney and artist.


Commentary: Public Space Should Be Enhanced, Not Closed Off

By Teddy Knight
Friday March 16, 2007

Weasel words and spin doctoring in Berkeley! A public commons is a place where people can sit, sleep, feed the geese, talk, and generally rub shoulders, dance, make music, and interact with all sorts of people. Putting laws in place which target the very people most in need of a relaxing space is the very opposite of “public” or “commons.” The old guys sitting on the park benches or on the barrels on the porch of a general store could be annoying, as could the chorus in a Greek play, but they were the essence of the public, the whole picture, the alternative views, the different values in life.  

I can foresee the whole thing going down in costly legal flames over the issue of differential enforcement. If I, a sweet old lady, not begging, sit for three or four hours and talk to everyone who wants to talk with me, and the guy two benches over is chased because he has been there for three hours and is talking to everyone in earshot, where is the justice? We will, in effect, have a closed area where only those who are taking part in a commercial transaction or are picturesque will be welcomed.  

Since the retailers in Berkeley have fought every well intentioned and well thought-out proposal to put in public spaces, in favor of parking and congestion, why do they deserve extra consideration because they have made our existing public spaces intolerable? People with the good of Berkeley in mind have been trying to get Telegraph, between the University and Dwight, closed for all but emergency and commercial deliveries for years, so that people can walk, talk, and shop with lots of attractive, common, public space around them. Who shoots this idea down every year? The merchants. One of those parking spaces might be taken by a customer who wouldn’t walk half a block from a parking garage, but who would circle the block for an hour waiting for that space. Again, the idea that delivery trucks only show up at designated times, and don’t double park, blocking traffic, is opposed by the merchants, even though that is even more destructive of casual automobile shopping trips than having to use a parking garage.  

We see the same reflex, cars good, people bad, reaction from the merchants on North Shattuck, who want their clumsy, badly designed and dangerous intersections preserved because a more sensible layout which encourages people to walk around might remove a few parking spaces.  

When I see the Telegraph (and Shattuck and University Avenue) merchants putting out benches for people to sit on, putting out trash cans, putting out tubs of trees and flowers and maintaining them, similar to what is on Fourth Street, then I will believe they care about public spaces. Until then, I see them as exploiters of what should be public spaces for their private gain.  

Mayor Bates’ regressive, anti-public, anti-common good proposal to stigmatize or criminalize ordinary people who use the streets needs to be shot down. Going from reasonable proposals to make North Shattuck and, at the opposite end of Shattuck, the Adeline intersection, more inviting public spaces to a proposal to harass people using existing public spaces, shows a schizoid type of fragmented reality in our public planners and other officials which does even more than the street people to make Berkeley deserve its international reputation as the “open ward.”  

 

Teddy Knight is a Berkeley resident.


Commentary: Oakland’s Waterfront Deserves a Better Plan

By Akio Tanaka
Friday March 16, 2007

Last June I attended an Oakland City Council meeting at which the would-be developer for the Oak to Ninth project was comparing the proposed development to other urban waterfront projects including Chicago’s Millennium Park. 

I am from Chicago and, as anyone who has visited Chicago knows, its entire lakefront is one continuous park, and Millennium Park in downtown is indeed a jewel for all citizens of Chicago to use and enjoy—with many venues and easy public access.  

The Oak to Ninth also could be a dazzling world-class waterfront, but the current plan blocks off much of waterfront park making it accessible only by the residents of the proposed condominium towers. 

The project not only sets aside the well-considered Estuary Policy Plan that was approved unanimously by the then sitting City Council, it is a “public rip-off of historic proportions.”  

These are the reasons that a group of citizens mobilized to exercise their first amendment rights to petition for a referendum. Twenty-five thousand signatures were collected in opposition to the ordinance approving the sale of this public land.  

The signatures were triumphantly turned in Aug. 17. However, instead of respecting the rights of the citizens of Oakland to challenge this ill conceived ordinance, City Attorney John Russo sided with the developers and disqualified the petitions claiming that it did not include the proper ordinance—even though the ordinance that petitioners used was the one that had been approved by the city council.  

The petitioners sued to have the signatures counted; however, John Russo joined the developers’ attorneys to engage the citizen groups in costly legal battles bound to strain their financial wherewithal and therefore their First Amendment rights. 

In opposing the petition, the attorneys for the developer cite many significant differences between the final ordinance and the ordinance the petitioners took from the city website per instructions of the city clerk’s office. 

The City Charter obligates the city to have the ordinance available to the public on the day that it is passed. The State’s Brown Act calls for citizens to be apprised of what is being passed by the City Council. If the final ordinance shows significant differences from what the city provides its citizens then it would appear that the city did not follow its own charter and the Brown Act in passing the ordinance. If that is the case the John Russo has the obligation to void the ordinance.  

City attorney spokesperson has stated that ‘We’re trying to uphold state law. We can’t pick and choose what laws we want to uphold’. 

Becky O’Malley wrote in her 8/18/06 Berkeley Daily Planet editorial: “[Mayor Dellums] would be well-advised to bring all parties back to the drawing board to see if they can’t do a lot better by what everyone agrees is a world-class opportunity. It’s such a good site that it merits a seriously big-time international design competition, instead of just another routine Big Ugly Box condo development on steroids.” 

I urge John Russo and Mayor Dellums to step forward in defense of Oakland’s people and its amazing potential as a waterfront city to achieve what it deserves rather than this ill-conceived giveaway to a developer.  

Once the waterfront is gone it will be gone forever. 

 

Akio Tanaka is an Oakland resident.


Commentary: The Inconvenient Few

By Nancy Carleton
Friday March 16, 2007

Luckily for our democracy, even in our nation’s darkest hours there have always been a courageous few willing to speak truth to power. They may start out as mavericks with powerful enemies out to silence them, but they often go on to become inadvertent heroes, as the rest of the country finally catches up. 

Something similar may be happening in Berkeley. While the kind of personality willing to delve deeply into the details of Zoning code and Planning documents hardly seems likely to spark a movement à la Mario Savio or Barbara Lee, a handful of our local truth sayers have become the targets of a bald attempt to silence their participation in the often boring but significant arena of land use. 

Those who pay close attention to city politics are already aware of the realignment of political factions taking place over the past four years. Mayor Bates, elected as a progressive, has regularly built a City Council majority composed of several councilmembers who are anything but. 

This past Tuesday, a council majority of Bates, Wozniak, Capitelli, Olds, and Moore adopted the first reading of an ordinance aimed at eliminating a number of community members serving on Zoning, Planning, Landmarks, and Housing commissions by enforcing term limits of eight years and prohibiting these land-use commissioners from serving on any other commissions. 

While the original proposal referred to the city attorney in January attempted to masquerade as a good-government measure, promising to close loopholes in an earlier attempt at limiting terms for all commissions, when the council referral was stripped down to its bare bones—targeting only land use and eliminating term limits for other commissions—the mask began to slip. And when the city attorney (who certainly didn’t come up with the idea by herself) added a provision, unmentioned in the council referral, prohibiting members of the Rent Board, School Board, and Library Board from serving on land-use commissions, the mask fell away altogether. There has hardly been a rush of School and Library Board members clamoring to spend yet more hours in meetings! But two of the community members targeted by the ordinance (progressives Dave Blake and Jesse Arreguin) recently won four-year terms on the Rent Board; this provision would have effectively removed them from decision-making roles on land use for years to come. 

Enough protest surfaced to pressure the council into removing language related to the three elected boards, but too late to replace the mask. The council majority had no better rationale to offer as they passed the remaining part of the measure (terms limits and prohibitions on simultaneous service) than that given in the weakly worded staff report: “diversity” and the need for “fresh viewpoints.” It’s particularly ironic to make this change in the name of diversity. Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who will have the most commission appointments affected by this legislation (a number of his land-use appointees serve on second commissions, including the chair of Public Works), has a record of diversity in his appointments far above average, and one of the commissioners targeted, Jesse Arreguin, is Latino—a member of one of the most underrepresented minorities on city commissions and a rising political star deserving of progressive support. 

As I wrote in a letter to councilmembers, term limits are by nature antidemocratic: They arbitrarily deny us the best service from the best people available. While it’s good that this ordinance removes term limits for most city commissions, it’s even more important that term limits be eliminated for land-use commissions, where expertise matters most. We especially need the institutional memory of long-time land-use commissioners when they are willing to serve. How can Mayor Bates, who challenged term limits up to the U.S. Supreme Court, even consider such a proposal? 

In addition, under the Fair Representation provisions passed by Berkeley voters, every one of our elected councilmembers deserves the right to appoint the best person s/he feels fit. If individual councilmembers don’t wish to appoint people to more than one commission, they’re free not to, but why does the council majority feel it has the right to limit the choices of other councilmembers? 

As someone who once served simultaneously on two commissions (Zoning and Parks & Rec), I believe the city only gains when people are willing to volunteer to this extent, and suffers when councilmembers are denied the right to represent their constituents with the best possible commissioners available. Simultaneous service should be up to the councilmembers and commissioners involved; there’s no need for legislation to address this non-problem! 

But good government was never the intent of this legislation. Instead, the ordinance targets a handful of commissioners whom powerful interests (many of them deep-pocket campaign contributors) find threatening. I have watched with dismay as some land-use commissioners have strayed from strong interpretations of our Zoning Code and Area Plans in favor of politically expedient choices. I have to question why anyone would target a handful of citizen volunteers with outstanding knowledge of Berkeley’s land-use code. Removing experienced voices is, in fact, the antithesis of good government. 

So what was this legislation really intended to accomplish? Consider the effect term limits have had on the State Assembly and Senate: Professional lobbyists and long-term Sacramento staff get more power, while legislators are removed just as they are amassing enough experience to be effective. 

I don’t always agree with the commissioners targeted by this purge, but I know them to be people of integrity who do their best to call the attention of their appointed boards to the law as it is written and to apply it fairly. Good government when it comes to land use means enforcing the Zoning Code and Area Plans evenhandedly and without prejudice. Isn’t it time we all started to listen to the voices who call our attention to the facts, however inconvenient they may be to powerful interests in this City? 

Councilmembers will have a chance to redeem themselves at a second reading of the ordinance next Tuesday. 

 

Nancy Carleton is a long-time community activist and life-long progressive who served as chair of the Zoning Adjustments Board (Maio appointee) at the same time she was vice-chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission (Worthington appointee). Berkeley, amazingly, still stands. 


Commentary: Independent Study Program at Risk

By Wendy Walker-Moffat
Friday March 16, 2007

The Berkeley Independent Study program is an exemplary educational program that currently educates 140 high school students. However, because it is so well run, Berkeley Independent Study is rarely in the news. And like many quietly successful programs, Berkeley Independent Study is at risk of losing the essential element that lends to its success, its proximity to Berkeley High School. Located on Derby and Martin Luther King, it is a 10-minute walk to the main Berkeley High campus and it is immediately adjacent to the Alternative High School. 

As an independent college advisor and educational consultant, I work with students throughout the United States to help them make the best possible decisions with regard to high school and college. One of the groups of students that I specialize in includes students who need an independent study program because of the rigorous demands of their sport or performing art. Two ballet dancers and 12 alpine racers are among my current students. What distinguishes Berkeley Independent Study from the other independent study programs is its location. Because of its close proximity to Berkeley High, the parent campus, BIS students can take up to two courses a semester at the regular high school and participate in athletics, clubs and other large school activities easily, without having to overcome a social hurdle. Combined with a wide breadth of academic course offerings and highly motivated teachers in the Independent Study program, this enables Berkeley Independent Study students to take the most challenging courses possible. In comparison, most independent study programs that I have looked at throughout northern California offer few AP and honors courses, and their students have fewer choices and less chance of attending highly selective colleges as a result. 

Beyond academics, the problem of isolation and alienation cannot be underestimated. In my experience, it is the number one problem of students on independent study. Regardless of personality type, the structure of independent study lends to loneliness, and loneliness in adolescents can be destructive. At Berkeley Independent Study the proximity to the high school and the Alternative High School allows students to interact with others at lunchtime, after school, or meet in the library, in addition to attending regular classes. 

The faculty, administrators, parents and, most importantly, the students, are happy with the location of Independent Study Program. Yet, it appears that the Berkeley Unified School District cannot leave well enough alone. Currently, the plan is to move the independent high school students out of the current location, possibly to Willard Middle School, in order to move 7th and 8th grade students who are at risk into the Independent Study Program space. This does not make sense—moving high school students out, possibly to a middle school site, in order to move middle school students into the high school site. Few studies suggest that middle school students benefit from being integrated with older students. Moving the high school students out to a middle school, or removing them from walking distance to the high school, will be detrimental to their education. Students will be unable to take AP Biology, AP Chemistry or photography, which are not offered in the Independent Study Program. What would make more sense would be to educate middle school students with other middle school students and allow the Berkeley Independent Study program to remain at its home site where it has a compatible and healthy relationship with the Alternative high school. Adding mobile classrooms could resolve the space issue. 

In 2002 the Berkeley Daily Planet reported that Superintendent Michele Lawrence recognized that her original proposal to move the independent study program to the adult school was not a good idea, in part because of concerns about “the wisdom of putting young children alongside adult students.” Yet, this suggestion has been bandied about more recently for reasons that do not reflect the best interests of the students. It is still not a good idea. Hans Barnum, a 2005 graduate from the Alternative High School, wrote in the Jan. 14, 2005 Daily Planet “Alternative High School and Independent Study students, who share a campus a few blocks from Berkeley High School, have worked hard to survive and thrive in school, expecting to graduate at the Greek Theatre graduation ceremony, attend junior and senior prom, have access to needed services on BHS campus, and be welcomed to attend rallies, games and have other opportunities that are available to their peers at BHS.” The new baseball field on Derby across from the Alternative High School and Independent Study program will contribute to the students feelings of belonging. Nothing is more important for teenagers.. Berkeley Independent Study is a program that the Berkeley Unified School District, Administrators, School Board members and the community can take great pride in. Surely there is a better solution than jeopardizing a successful program by forcing it to move away from where it is thriving, isolating it, and the students. 

 

Wendy Walker-Moffat is a Berkeley resident.


Commentary: What We Can Do to Stop an Attack on Iran

By Cynthia Papermaster
Friday March 16, 2007

Becky O’Malley’s March 2 editorial on Seymour Hersh’s New Yorker article asks “Can we do anything to stop this insane plan from here?” Yes, as a matter of fact, there are many things each of us can do right here, right now to stop the Bush Regime’s plans to attack Iran and continue the Iraq war. Here in Berkeley we can live up to our heritage as leaders of progressive social movements. We can write to Congress, occupy offices of congresspeople, work for impeachment, and sue Cheney and Bush. Many people are doing these things; why not join them, take action, have hope, and read on? You’ll be happy you did something. 

A good start is getting Cheney to resign. There are many signs pointing to his imminent resignation—he’s being hounded by the press, he’s fighting with Bush and others in the administration, he’s loosing his mind (New York Times’ Frank Rich said he was cracking up), his heart is weak, and he’s facing a Congressional investigation and protests wherever he goes. Rumsfield, Ashcroft and others who gave the Bush Administration bad press have left. Cheney’s resignation will help stop the war plans. So let’s act quickly to get him out, while Congress and the media are focused on the Libby verdict. 

In February I attended the U.S. v. Libby trial where I saw the prosecution prove that Dick Cheney committed perjury, obstructed justice, and broke the law in directing the outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame. Everyone knows Cheney is guilty. Now that Libby has been convicted, DOJ Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald can bring criminal indictments against Cheney if Congress asks him to. Some Congressmembers want to subpoena Fitzgerald and hold hearings on the evidence establishing Cheney’s guilt: Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., Chair of the Armed Services Committee; Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Congressman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.; Chair of the Government Oversight Committee; Congressman John Conyers, D-Mich., Chair of the House Judiciary Committee; Congressman Maurice Hinchey, D-NY. Hinchey said “ Vice President Cheney, must be held accountable.... This case doesn’t end with Mr. Libby’s conviction. Testimony in the Libby trial made it even clearer that Vice President Cheney played a major role in the outing of [covert CIA operative Valerie Plame] Wilson’s identity. It is time to remove the cloud hanging over Vice President Cheney and the White House that Special Counsel Fitzgerald so aptly described in his closing remarks, and expose all of the lies that led to the outing of Mrs. Wilson’s identity.” Let’s Congress to investigate NOW! Contact Pelosi, Barbara Lee, or any member of Congress and ask them to hold hearings NOW. They can interrogate Cheney and impeach him or force him to resign! 

Additionally, the East Bay group IBC (Impeach Bush-Cheney) is actively working to oust Cheney and Bush. Go to www.impeachbush-cheney.com to get involved. Attend the “We the People” event in Berkeley on March 24 at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, Cedar @Bonita, with Elizabeth De La Vega. 

Peace groups CodePink (www.codepinkalert.org), Creative Voices for Nonviolence and others, regularly occupy Congress members’ offices in the San Francisco Bay Area to request a NO vote on the supplemental appropriation, impeachment, and more. Nancy Pelosi’s office is occupied every Wednesday at noon. Contact CODEPINK Occupation Project, Janet Weil, Bay Area Code Pink, (925) 212-7477, weiljs@yahoo.com 

MoveOn.org has letter writing campaigns to de-fund the war, impeach Cheney and Bush, and more. Join them and spend a little time ending the war and ousting the Bush Crime Mafia. 

Finally, I am lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit, People of the United States v. Richard B. Cheney and George W. Bush. Everyone, especially those with legal backgrounds, can assist with the lawsuit. Nothing in the Constitution prohibits suing a sitting Vice President and President for harm done to citizens of the United States. The suit includes numerous causes of action, including wrongful death and economic and emotional harm resulting from going to war based on false and misleading intelligence, war profiteering, and trampling constitutional rights. Please contact me at c_papermaster@yahoo.com. 

So take hope, Berkeley. Better still, take action now. You’ll feel so much better if you stand up and do something about the situation. Martin Luther King Jr. said “our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man and woman of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.” 

 

Cynthia Papermaster is a Berkeley resident, law librarian, and peace activist. She, her daughter, and their little dog Jimminywinks went to DC for the giant peace Rally on Jan. 27.


Columns

Column: The Public Eye: The Threat of Nuclear Terrorism in the United States

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Opening his memorable Graceland album, Paul Simon sang: 

 

It was a slow day, 

And the sun was beating 

On the soldiers by the side of the road. 

There was a bright light, 

A shattering of shop windows 

The bomb in the baby carriage 

Was wired to the radio. 

 

It’s been five and a half years since 9/11. With each passing day, it’s more likely the United States will suffer from a “bomb in the baby carriage ... wired to a radio.” More probable this attack will involve nuclear terrorism. 

Americans fear our imminent encounter with a suicide bomber or a remotely controlled explosive device. For good reason. As the Iraq war grinds on and terrorist incidents surge worldwide, it’s clear George Bush’s “war on terror” has backfired; rather than reduce the threat of savage assaults on civilians, the opposite has occurred: the average number of terrorist attacks has increased sevenfold. Nonetheless, the Bush administration does little to guard against these attacks. Particularly those involving “radioactive dispersal devices”—dirty bombs. 

At a recent San Francisco gathering, Illinois Senator, and Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama remarked that, after Iraq, his number one foreign policy objective is control of nuclear weapons and radioactive material. Obama believes the Bush Administration hasn’t paid enough attention to the problems of worldwide stockpiles of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and radioactive debris. 

Writing in the current New Yorker, Steve Coll discussed what’s being done to safeguard America from nuclear terrorism. The good news is the possibility of terrorists getting their hands on an atomic bomb seems extremely low. The bad news is “the world ... is awash in uncontrolled nuclear material.” Much of the contaminated detritus could be used in a dirty bomb: a conventional explosive device surrounded by radioactive material. Coll observes, “The Bush administration has not assigned the same urgency to the dirty-bomb threat that it has to the threat of a terrorist attack using a fission weapon.” 

What should be done to protect the United States from nuclear terrorism? Republicans and Democrats agree that our borders ought to be closely monitored to make sure bad guys don’t sneak radioactive materials into the United States. A necessary component is more money; the Democratically controlled Congress is ready to allocate more funds for this purpose. However, the United States has to have the right technology: radiation detectors able to detect nuclear material slipping across our borders. There’s controversy about the efficacy of the sensors being deployed. Unfortunately, experts agree on one critical point: detecting highly enriched uranium is beyond the capability of the current generation of radiation detectors. 

On Dec. 5, 2005, the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, the public-interest group that followed the 9/11 Commission, issued a status report on the efforts of the Bush Administration to prevent another terrorist attack. They concluded, “We are not as safe as we need to be ... there is so much more to be done ... Many obvious steps that the American people assume have been completed, have not been ... Some of these failures are shocking.” The group’s Republican chair, Thomas Kean, observed, “We believe that the terrorists will strike again. So does every responsible expert that we have talked to ... If they do, and these reforms that might have prevented such an attack have not been implemented, what will our excuses be?” 

A particularly disturbing finding was the “administration’s woeful record in strengthening global counterproliferation efforts to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists.” In November of last year, MIT Professor Stephen Van Evera reported, “Amazingly, in the two years after 9/11 no more loose nuclear weapons and materials were secured than in the two years prior ... This policy lapse is among the worst failures of government in modern times.” The White House isn’t effectively addressing the threat of nuclear terrorism. 

On March 29, 2006, Democratic leaders unveiled their national security strategy, “Real Security: The Democratic Plan to Protect America and Restore Our Leadership in the World.” They promised that Democrats will “secure by 2010 loose nuclear materials that terrorists could use to build nuclear weapons or “dirty bombs.” Realistically, Congressional Dems can do little beyond holding hearings and authorizing the appropriate expenditures. 

Given that we are stuck with Bush and company for 22 excruciating months, three actions seem obvious: The first is for progressives to continue to point out how ill-advised Bush’s foreign policy is. How taking our eye off of Al Qaeda and invading Iraq detracted from the primary objective of Bush’s “war on terror”: making America safer. The second point is for all presidential candidates, not just Barack Obama, to make control of nuclear weapons and radioactive material their highest priority foreign policy objective and present their plan. The third is for the Bush Administration, and the next Presidency, to shift their emphasis from nuclear weapons to nuclear debris. To take seriously the possibility of nuclear terrorism, the chilling possibility that the next “bomb in the baby carriage ... wired to a radio” is likely to be a dirty bomb. 

 

 

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


Column: Two Days in East Oakland

By Susan Parker
Tuesday March 20, 2007

I had a few job interviews, and by doing so, I learned a thing or two. I discovered, too late, that one should not mention in an interview that what interests one most about the position is its part-time status and proximity to one’s home. I also learned that I should have a better idea of what kind of work I want. Employers do not like to hear that the interviewee is still trying to find herself, especially when the interviewee is 54, almost 55, and closer to retirement age than career-making status.  

While answering an ad for tutoring in the Oakland Public Schools, I learned that my interviewer was also in charge of filling the Archdiocese of Alameda County substitute teaching staff. I put in an application. I went down to West Oakland and got fingerprinted. I searched through my old papers and found my college transcript and CBEST results. I swore that I had never been arrested for a felony, that I was not on parole or probation, that I was a citizen of the United States, and that I was available five days a week, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 11 p.m. I told the interviewer that I was not a sex offender. No one asked me if I liked children, but I stated that I did, just in case someone might want to know.  

I was relieved to learn that the CBEST test I had taken over 12 years ago was still valid. In fact, it is valid forever. I had taken the test at nearby Oakland Tech. I’d sweated for a few weeks while I waited for the results. I wasn’t worried about my reading comprehension or writing ability, but I was concerned that my math skills weren’t up to par. I was disappointed when the documents finally arrived. I had passed every section with flying colors except the essay portion. I had passed that section too, but barely, getting the lowest possible score that still allowed me access to the state’s public school population.  

Off and on for a dozen years I have thought about returning to teaching. Years ago I attempted to contact several school districts, but I didn’t have much success. I could not get past the Berkeley Unified School District phone system in order to speak with a real person. In Oakland, I got beyond the multiple recorded messages and made an appointment for an interview, but when I arrived at the school board offices, no one knew who I was or why I was there. I decided subbing was not in my future.  

A dozen years later, I’m willing to give teaching another try.  

Last week I spent two days in a fifth-grade East Oakland classroom. Located only a few minutes from the Coliseum, around the corner from International Boulevard, and across the street from a Jack in the Box, several liquor stores, and a check cashing joint, I found myself sharing a small, stuffy room with Carlos, Elena, Javier, and their classmates. They were excited to tell me about themselves, to show me how they could multiply and divide, spell three syllable words, jump rope and kick a soccer ball. They eloquently expressed themselves in two languages, but in deference to me they spoke English, the only language I know.  

I could not have asked for a more gracious, welcoming experience. I’ve read the articles in the local newspapers, and listened to the talking heads on television. I know from their reports that this country’s schools are in trouble, that our children are not learning, that the system is failing. But I also know now that in a funky little classroom within a few feet of the roaring traffic on East 14th, the future is anxiously waiting. Despite what you may read and hear in the news, these children are eager to learn, to share, to participate, and to prove the media wrong.  


Wild Neighbors: Thinking About Breakfast: The Mind of the Jay Revisited

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Nicola Clayton and her scrub-jays have been at it again. Clayton, as you may recall, is the Cambridge experimental psychologist who keeps making startling claims about the cognitive abilities of the western scrub-jay, a bird she met while at UC Davis. (It’s the most widespread of three closely related species of crestless blue-and-gray jays; the others, the Florida scrub-jay and island scrub-jay, have limited ranges). 

It was Clayton who contended that scrub-jays demonstrated episodic-like memory, thought to be a human exclusive: they could recall what they had done where and when, specifically where they had stashed perishable waxworms and more durable peanuts. In the wild, the birds cache and retrieve acorns. They’re not as good at refinding stored food as their corvid relatives the pinyon jay and the Clark’s nutcracker; as Joseph Grinnell observed back in 1936, the acorns the scrub-jays miss may become the next generation of oaks.  

It was also Clayton who found evidence for a “theory of mind” in scrub-jays, the ability to think of what others might be thinking. In that case, jays prone to pilfering other birds’ caches returned to move food that they had been observed hiding. The line of thought would be: “If I had seen Ralph hiding that acorn, I’d go steal it; and since he saw me hiding mine…” 

Critics objected to both claims, of course, but Clayton’s ingenious experiments made a strong case. Now she’s back, in a recent issue of Nature, with a new study that suggests scrub-jays can plan for the future—again, something only the higher primates, humans and great apes, were supposed to be able to do. 

Granted, many animals do things that appear purposeful: they fly north for the spring and south for the winter, swim to Ascension to mate, seek out caves or dens for hibernation, store acorns. But it’s assumed these behaviors are hardwired responses to seasonal cues: the animals are programmed to act in pre-set ways with changes in temperature or daylight. 

With Clayton’s jays, something different seems to be going on. Her experiment this time exploited the birds’ caching compulsion. 

She designed a three-chambered setup. The jays were kept overnight in the central space, with powdered pine nuts to snack on. In the morning they were moved into one of two adjoining spaces, one with food, the other without. 

On their second night in the experimental cages, the jays were given a supply of pine nuts and each side room had a sand-filled ice-cube tray for caching. The birds that had previously missed out on breakfast cached three times as many nuts in the “no-breakfast room” as in the “breakfast room.” They seemed to remember whether they had spent the previous morning in a cozy B & B or in a Motel 6.  

What could this be, asks Clayton, but a kind of mental time travel? 

“If I thought I’d end up in a grotty motel with no breakfast, I’d take provisions with me”, she told a reporter. (Yes, she’s the kind of person who still says “grotty.” She comes off as a tad eccentric; she is described as somewhat birdlike, and her Cambridge students have classified her as Claytonia professorii. But her experiments are rigorous, and her results have won grudging acceptance among many behaviorists.) 

She has had to defend corvid intelligence against her husband and research collaborator Nathan Emery, who worked with primates. She accuses him of making “ape-ist remarks” about his subjects’ supposedly unique abilities, which she saw echoed in her jays. 

Clayton, who has also studied the rook, a European crow relative, notes that corvids are among the brainiest of birds: a jay’s brain is proportionally larger than a chimp’s. Size may not be all that important, if cognitive sophistication turns out to be more a function of how the brain is wired. As Bernd Heinrich and other scientists have pointed out, jays, crows, rooks, and ravens have rich social environments, with a myriad of individuals and relationships to keep track of—the same kind of setting that may have driven the evolution of intelligence in us primates. 

Although some remain skeptical, it does seem possible that scrub-jays can visualize and plan for the future—at least, a future without breakfast. As far as I know, though, no one yet has approached a jay about life insurance.  

 

 

Joe Eaton is a former professional gardener and arborist. His “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column.


Column: Dispatches from the Edge: A Tale of Malice and Mold

By Conn Hallinan
Friday March 16, 2007

“It’s the same the whole world over 

It’s the poor wot gets the blame 

It’s the rich wot gets the gravy 

Ain’t it all a bleeding shame.” 

 

World War I British soldiers sang that little ditty as they marched off to the horrors of the Marne and Flanders. The wounded vets in Walter Reed Hospital—living in run-down rooms infested with rodents, cockroaches and mold—could chime in with their own version of a “rich man’s war, poor man’s blood.” Because the current scandal is not about Bush administration incompetence, it’s about a simple trade-off: profits over bandages. 

When Secretary of Defense Robert Gates fired Army Secretary Francis Harvey following the Washington Post’s devastating revelations, Gates said he did so because the Army has shown “not enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems.” 

But “addressing” the problem will require jettisoning former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s high-tech subsidies to the nation’s arms makers at the expense of the grunts, as well as the White House’s mania for privatization. 

Harvey was brought in by Rumsfeld specifically to reduce the federal work force and, as he said in a speech last year, “improve efficiency.” A former executive for the one of the nation’s leading arms producers, Westinghouse, Harvey hired IAP Worldwide Services—run by two former Halliburton executives—which promptly reduced the number of people providing service at Walter Reed from 300 to 60. The cutback and resulting increase in workloads kicked off an exodus of trained personnel, which an in-hospital study just released by the House Committee on Oversight and Governance found could lead to “mission failure.”  

While President Bush has railed about “red tape” and “bureaucracy” as the source of the problem—Republican metaphors for government—the administration has actually allowed veterans’ health care to lag behind civilian care. And more cuts, plus a funding freeze by 2010, are on the boards.  

In contrast are the way the “Big Five” arms companies, Lockheed Martin. Northup Grumman, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Raytheon are treated. The first three of the above “Five” will corner one out of every four dollars in the $481.5 billion military budget. 

In turn, the companies pony up tens of millions in contributions by Election Day. Since 2000, Lockheed Martin, Northup Grumman and General Dynamics have poured $62.5 million into the election cycles, favoring Republicans at a rate of a little more than two to one. 

Someone always has to pay for these handouts, and in this case it’s the vets. Take the disability scandal.  

A recent study by Army Times found that the Army is systematically shortchanging wounded soldiers by keeping their disability ratings low. According to the Government Accountability Office, the number of soldiers approved for full disability benefits fell from 642 in 2001 to 209 in 2005, in spite of a huge influx of wounded and disabled from the Iraq War.  

If soldiers are rated 30 percent or more disabled they are entitled to disability retirement pay, medical benefits and commissary privileges where prices for goods are significantly lower than in the civilian market. A rating below 30 percent means they get severance pay and no benefits. 

What the Army (and Navy, Marines and Air Force) are doing is deliberately low-balling the disability ratings and then throwing up roadblocks to force soldiers into the Veterans Administration (VA). While the VA does generally raise the disability ratings, the Army saves money because the VA designation does not come with commissary and exchange privileges, or military health care. 

In one case, a Marine was discharged for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 10 percent disability. Using the same information that was used in the Marines Corps’ determination, the VA rated him at 50 percent disability. 

If the Army rates soldiers lower than 30 percent, and those soldiers develop disabling conditions after they are discharged, tough. They can go to the VA, but besides their severance pay, they get no more money from the Army. 

This is not about big bucks. In 2004, the Army paid out $1.3 billion in disability benefits to some 90,000 soldiers. The current war in Iraq is costing approximately $8 billion a month. 

What Army Times found was that soldiers, uninformed that they could appeal their disability rating, accepted the first rating they were offered. “Soldiers are trained,” says Ron Smith, deputy general counsel for Disabled American Veterans. “When the evaluation board says, ‘this is what you get,’ the soldiers say, ‘Yes sir.’ A lot of people don’t appeal.” 

Indeed, only one in 10 challenge their assigned rating. 

What the boards are very eager to do is put soldiers on “temporary disability retirement” that reduces their basic pay and tosses them out of hospitals. That category has jumped four-fold between 2001 and 2005.  

Most of these vets go home—they are on “temporary disability” for 18 months before they are reevaluated again—to find there are either no services available for them or that such services are hundreds of miles away. According to an Associated Press study of soldiers killed in Iraq, almost 50 percent come from towns of fewer than 25,000, and 20 percent from towns of less than 5,000.  

Not only are these towns small, they are poor. Almost 75 percent of the dead came from towns whose inhabitants earned below the mean per capita national income, and more than half from towns where poverty rates topped the national average.  

When veteran advocates complained about the disability issue, Pentagon spokesperson Marine Major Stewart Upton responded with the verbal equivalent of the “fog of war”: “We are in the midst of a business-process review that will generate improvements to the program effectiveness, including timeliness goals for processing cases and standard definitions of start and end points as well as other metrics to ensure that progress can be accurately measured over time against common metrics.”  

Squalor and disability rip-offs are just a part of the way that the Pentagon is shortchanging vets. According to findings released by the American Psychological Assn., the military’s mental health system is so overwhelmed that returning vets and their families are not getting the help they need. 

While more than three out of 10 returning solders from Iraq and Afghanistan have a “mental disorder,” a special task force found there was “no evidence of a well-coordinated or well-disseminated approach to providing behavioral health care to service members and their families.”  

Some 40 percent of the psychologist slots in the Army and Navy are unfilled, which not only means vets and their families don’t get seen, but that the psychological staff on the job is overwhelmed. According to the study, 33 percent of the mental health staff is burned out, and another 27 percent reports “low motivation for their work.” 

When the vets go home, there are even fewer mental health resources, and between 80 to 90 percent of the caregivers are not trained to deal with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “I know guys who are dealing with doctors who have no concept of PSTD,” Russell Terry, chief executive officer of the Iraq War Veterans Organization told the Houston Chronicle. 

Screwing the vets isn’t incompetence; it’s a trade off. If someone gets the gravy, someone gets the shaft. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Column: Undercurrents: Taking on Don Perata’s Take on Term Limits

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday March 16, 2007

One of the least likeable things about California State Senate President Don Perata is that even on issues where you support him in principle, the Oakland Democrat often does it in such a backhanded, underhanded, and throw-a-brick-and-hide-your-hand-handed kind of way that you end up having to oppose him because of the particularly unprincipled way he goes about trying to apply those principles. 

So it is with Mr. Perata’s attempts to modify legislative term limits in California in order for Mr. Perata to be able to run for another term in the State Senate. 

Some background, for those who have been busy with other concerns. 

Legislative and executive term limits have distinctly different backgrounds. The idea for executive term limits can be traced directly back to the period of the American Revolution and the writing of the Constitution, in which many American revolutionary leaders and thinkers were worried that the country would slide into a New World monarchy to replace the British one so recently overturned. The concern was that an elected executive—a president, for example—would be able to consolidate so much power in the office that un-electing him or her would eventually become a practical impossibility, and a virtual “democratic dictatorship” would be established. George Washington alleviated those fears by voluntarily limiting his time in the presidency to two four-year terms. American presidents down through the years followed that lead until Franklin Roosevelt, who ran for a third and fourth term in the midst of war. Congress reacted by passing the 22nd Amendment that constitutionalized the two-term presidential limit and gave future presidents no choice in the matter. 

Legislative term limits have never had the same push or popularity in America, perhaps on the theory that no single legislator can amass the dangerous kind of power that an executive can, and absent that danger, the right of people to choose whomsoever they want to represent them in the Legislature or Congress should not be unnecessarily disturbed. But in recent years our conservative friends—who sometimes tend to loudly proclaim their support for America’s democratic ideals only until they find the results of that democracy inconvenient to their other goals—have complained that the Legislature is bad because the legislators stay there too long and, so, in 1990, they induced California voters to pass Proposition 140. This was a bare-bones measure, simply-written and easily-understood, which limited the terms of California legislators to three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate. 

Except, that is, in the case of Mr. Perata, who plays a different sort of game, with rules he makes up as he goes along, and gets himself judged by friendly umpires if anyone complains that he’s cheating. 

More details. Mr. Perata was originally elected in November of 1998 to serve out the last two years of Barbara Lee’s District 9 State Senate term after Ms. Lee moved up to Congress. Mr. Perata was re-elected to a full four-year term in 2000. Since one of the provisions of Prop. 140 was that the two-term Senate limit applies to partial terms as well except for “any unexpired term to which a person is elected or appointed if the remainder of the term is less than half of the full term,” and since Mr. Perata was elected to serve out the full second half of Ms. Lee’s term, it was assumed by most observers that Mr. Perata’s time in the State Senate would legally come to an end in 2004. 

The ambitious Mr. Perata, however, got an opinion by then-California Attorney General Billy Lockyer and a ruling by a California Superior Court Judge that he was eligible for a third term under Prop 140 because even though Mr. Perata was elected before the beginning of the second half of Ms. Lee’s full term, he did not actually report for duty until a couple of days after the term had begun. Call it the “slacker rule,” in which you win if you don’t report to work on time. 

And so Mr. Perata was able to extend his term through the 2008 season after which, presumably, the California Constitution required that the State Senate game was up for him. 

But politicians often find it hard to give up the perks of office after they have gotten so used to them. And so Mr. Perata now seeks to continue his tenure in Sacramento’s upper house by scrambling next year’s elections all to hell. 

The easiest, cleanest, simple way to accomplish this would have been to put before voters a new initiative to abolish legislative term limits altogether, therefore allowing Mr. Perata or anyone else to continue to run for the Legislature and win until the voters got tired of them. There being no identifiable statewide sentiment to pass such a voter initiative, however, Mr. Perata and his supporters had to go the modified, limited route, to paraphrase a term of comparable sleaze from the Nixon years. 

Stick with me, friends, because here it gets quick and complicated. 

Because current state law under Proposition 140 prohibited termed-out from running in the June, 2008 Democratic and Republican primaries for nomination to their positions, placing a modification of the term-limit law on the June ballot would come too late and would not help Mr. Perata retain his seat in the state Senate past the 2008 term. Thus, he had the need for an earlier election in 2008, fulfilled neatly when the Legislature recently passed a bill to establish a February Presidential primary, which could, conveniently, host other ballot measures as well. But that meant that the state would have to hold two spring elections next year—Presidential primary in February, regular primary in June—with the Legislature leaving it to the counties to come up with the money to pay for all of this (our Republican friends in the Legislature, to their credit, voted against the double-primary because it didn’t provide state money to the counties to fund the February affair). 

That left the way open for term limit opponents to draft a term-limit modification referendum for the February ballot in time for Mr. Perata to be able to run on the June ballot. In mid February, the San Leandro public interest law firm of Remcho, Johansen & Purcell submitted to the California Secretary of State’s office in advance of being disseminated to the public for petition signatures and ballot qualification. 

But here comes the “oops” factor that revealed that this was less a term-limit-limiting initiative than it was a keep-Mr.-Perata-in-office drive. 

A month ago, in a blog posting on his California Progress Report entitled “Drafting of Initiative on Term Limits May Prevent Perata, President pro Tem of California Senate, from Running for Re-election Next Year,” Oakland Democratic Party activist Frank Russo reported that “the problem for Perata and the other Senators is with [one of the] proposed [amendments], which provides that one cannot run for the Senate or Assembly if the ‘service of the full term of office’ to which you are seeking be elected ‘would exceed the maximum years of service permitted’ of 12 years. By my count,” Mr. Russo concluded, “if Perata were re-elected in 2008, he would have 14 years at the end of that term and therefore would not be able to do so.” 

A day later, Mr. Russo wrote that “Robert Salladay of the LA Times ‘Political Muscle’ blog has reported in an update to ... that: ‘Citing an "abundance of caution," attorneys for the initiative filed an amendment this afternoon removing the disputed section. Whew! Don Perata can enjoy the long weekend now.’"  

Beyond Chron reporter Paul Hogarth wrote late last month that in order to save Mr. Perata’s job for another term, the amendments to the original initiative “added that if a legislator served less than half of a full term (i.e., Don Perata’s service from 1998-2000), that time would not be counted towards the 12-year cutoff. In other words, the amendments were designed so that Don Perata could serve as State Senate President until 2012.” (And much thanks to Paul Hogarth’s Beyond Chron posting for originally alerting us to this scam.) 

I was opposed to legislative term limits in California when they were first passed by voters in 1990. I’m opposed to them now. The California State Legislature is too often a broken institution, with power concentrated in a small circle of policymakers at the expense of the rest of the people of this state. Term limits have not broken up that concentration, however, they have only changed some of its names and faces involved, and merely transferred a lot of the power from the politicians themselves to staffmembers—who have no term limits and can be passed on from legislator to legislator—and to corporate and other big-interest lobbyists. For the average person sitting in Berkeley or Oakland, we are as far removed from influencing that power as we are in walking distance from the Bay Area to Sacramento. 

But fiddling with state law merely to make sure Mr. Perata has a job in two years is not the way to reform that system, particularly when it comes at the expense of California counties who will have to cut other services in order to satisfy this exercise in dual primaries. My guess is, voting down the Perata Proposal will let the state’s politicians know we’d prefer a better way to do this. 


East Bay Then and Now: Guy Hyde Chick, the Man Behind the House

By Daniella Thompson
Friday March 16, 2007

Guy Hyde Chick is the kind of name one doesn’t forget easily. In addition to its catchy concatenation of consonants, the name stands for one of Bernard Maybeck’s most famous houses. But what of the man who built the house? This shadowy figure, now all but forgotten, once played a visible role in Berkeley’s public life. 

Guy was born in 1868 in California to George Chick and Florence Hyde. His father hailed from Maine, his mother from Wisconsin. Little is known about the father, a real-estate agent who was usually absent when the census takers came around (and in Seattle, where the family lived throughout Guy’s childhood and adolescence, they came around annually). Guy was the eldest of three Chick boys, all recorded as born in California. 

The Chicks first appeared in the Berkeley directory in 1889, when Guy was a UC engineering student. Mother and sons lived on Chapel Street between Bancroft and Allston Ways—current site of UC’s Spieker Aquatic Complex. By 1891, Florence had bought a house at 2611 Durant Ave. near Bowditch, on a site now occupied by the UC Berkeley Art Museum. 

Following graduation, Guy went to work for the city as superintendent of streets, a position once held by contractor A.H. Broad. Here he became close to the city engineer, Charles L. Huggins—so close, in fact, that when Guy married Cora Mott in 1899, the young couple moved into the Huggins home at 2313 Channing Way. 

They didn’t remain there long. Guy assumed a new position as manager of Anthony Chabot’s Contra Costa Water Company, Berkeley Branch, with an office at 2142 Shattuck Ave. The new job made possible a new home at 1833 Arch Street, between Hearst and Virginia. The only other house on the block was occupied by the well-known geologist and geographer Harold Wellman Fairbanks. 

The Northside around the turn of the century was a heady place dominated by the Hillside Club and its myriad cultural activities. That the Chicks became active members is evident from the club’s minutes for December 12, 1903, which report that Mr. Chick, along with Mr. Coxhead, Mr. Maybeck, and Mr. Arthur Bolton, was appointed to a committee to draw up plans for laying out the intersection of La Loma and Le Conte Avenues. 

The committee appointment was entirely appropriate. Chick was by then not only a civil engineer but the president of the Contra Costa Construction Company, which engaged in street and road building in Berkeley and far beyond. The secretary and treasurer was Cora Chick’s brother, George Morgan Mott, Jr. 

In October 1904, Chick joined his neighbor Harold Fairbanks and Daley’s Scenic Park developer Frank M. Wilson in a petition to ameliorate the steep grade of the 1800 block of Arch Street by dividing it into two roadways. Wilson, who had sold the hilltop property now occupied by the Pacific School of Religion to Phoebe Apperson Hearst, was planning to repurchase it and reopen Daley Avenue (now Ridge Road) through to Arch Street. The petitioners’ request went nowhere; Ridge Road still ends at the top of Holy Hill, and pedestrian access to Arch St. is provided via a double stairway hugging a lion’s head fountain (now dry). 

Two months following the petition, Chick almost lost his life, tumbling down a 15-foot sewer ditch while supervising the laying of the 25th Street sewer in Oakland. Fortunately, the accident occurred near Fabiola Hospital, where Chick’s broken foot was treated. 

When the Hillside Club contemplated the construction of a clubhouse in September 1905, Chick was appointed to a five-member committee that would select a suitable site. To finance the building, the club intended to form itself into a corporation, with each of the 125 members purchasing stock. The committee dispatched its business so rapidly that a mere two months later, a lot had already been purchased, Maybeck had perfected the building’s design, and the newspapers were reporting that construction was soon to begin. 

Another committee in which Chick participated was an investigative body headed by John Galen Howard that analyzed the damaged Berkeley High School in June 1906. 

The San Francisco earthquake and fire drove many refugees into the East Bay, sparking a real-estate boom. Chick took advantage of the opportunity by forming the Chick, Sittig & Co. real-estate firm. Cora’s father and brother were treasurer and secretary, respectively. The newly built houses Chick, Sittig & Co. listed were often touted as available with “sidewalks and street work done.” 

By 1910, Chick and the two Motts had founded a third company, Contra Costa Building Materials Co., which they ran concurrently with the construction company. Flush with success, Chick and his brother-in-law turned their attention to building adjacent dream homes. In May 1913, George Mott, Jr. purchased close to two acres in Kellersberger Plot 72, Oakland Township, from Catharine Janssen Heimbold, widow of Julius Heimbold, who had bought the land from the Hibernia Savings & Loan Society in 1888. 

For the design of his new house, Chick naturally turned to Hillside Club guru Maybeck. The location, at 7133 Chabot Road, was a canyon upslope abounding in ancient oaks. The architect positioned the house parallel to the hillside, between terraces above and below. The shingled building is crowned with a broad, generously trellised gable roof. Enormous glass doors bring the outdoors into the elegant ground-floor rooms, where zen views delight the eye at every turn, and grand spaces are arranged for flowing connectivity. 

According to the building permit of Sept. 22, 1914, the house was built by Chick’s Contra Costa Construction Company. The architectural firm of Maybeck & White provided six pages of typed specifications plus a handwritten page of detailed color specifications. The plaster ceiling porch of kitchen was to be blue; the rafters, red; the roof corbels, green; roof soffits, yellow; bay and balcony soffits, red; four-by-tens, green; board-and-batten at the rear entrance, red and varnished, front door, Prussian blue. Cora Chick was doubtful about the color combination, finding it too bright, but Maybeck assured her that “in twenty years it will be beautiful.” Ninety-two years later, it still is. 

The Chicks and their five children enjoyed their house for a mere half-dozen years. Construction contracts signed before the US entry into World War One came due after the war. Prices had shot up in the interval, forcing the Contra Costa Construction Company out of business. Both Chick and Mott Jr. sold their Chabot Road properties and moved out of town. Mott Sr. retained the building materials firm and his house at 1516 Hawthorne Terrace. 

George Mott, Jr. moved to Rio Linda in northern Sacramento County and became a fruit farmer. He is remembered as “the father of the Rio Linda Fire Department” for helping to form the Rio Linda Fire District in May 1923. A few months later, his father’s Hawthorne Terrace house turned to ashes in the Berkeley fire, and Mott Sr. retired to his Nevada City country house. 

The Chicks relocated to Napa, but homesickness got the better of them. Within a couple of years they returned to the East Bay, settling at 6437 Colby Street. Guy established a real-estate and insurance company at 2140 Shattuck Ave., which he later moved to the Hutchinson Bldg. at 1706 Broadway, Oakland. 

Guy Hyde Chick was last listed in the directory in 1933. The following year, Cora was listed as his widow. She lived until 1950, spending her last decade at 3016 Avalon Ave., a fine house designed by Henry Gutterson in 1915. Upon her death, it passed to her son Gilbert, who owned it until his death in 1968. 

The former Chick house on Chabot Road changed hands many times. Since 1979, it’s been the home of art dealer Foster Goldstrom, who takes delight in generously sharing it with architecture lovers. The house almost came to perdition during the Oakland Hills fire of 1991. It was saved through the efforts of three firemen, who had to choose one house to protect. They chose very well indeed. 

 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

 

 

Photograph by Daniella Thompson. Quatrefoils on the balcony over the rear entrance at 7133 Chabot Road, Oakland. 

 


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday March 16, 2007

Too Many Valves? 

 

Since Contra Costa County passed the ordinance requiring the installation of automatic shut-off valves in homes being sold (in unincorporated areas), I have heard from a good number of Realtors and homeowners who are complaining that the County went overboard.  

The controversy? The County requires a valve at the outside meter, either of the seismic, or “shaking” variety, or the “excess flow” type valve. Either one will do a fine job of turning off the gas to a home during a serious quake—although they act in different ways. This makes sense to everyone. The County, however, also requires excess flow valves on every gas appliance inside the home (fireplaces excepted). This is redundancy and will cost homeowners much more than just having an outside valve put in.  

Companies like us stand to make more money from this—but we can’t help but wonder: is this over-kill? How is this relevant in Berkeley? I predict that Contra Costa County is just the first governmental entity in the Bay Area to do this: more will follow. Hopefully, the Berkeley City Council will enact a similar ordinance, but without the redundancy of valves.  

 

 

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service. Call him at 558-3299, or visit www.quakeprepare.com.


About the House: Ask Matt: How to Find Ways to Lift Your Spirits

By Matt Cantor
Friday March 16, 2007

Mr. Cantor, What do you think about lifting the shell of a house and building a new first floor under it? 

Our home needs a new foundation, and if it needs to be lifted three inches for that process, why not lift it ten feet and three inches? Our floor plan is already buggered up, and there is room for a stairway. Are there zoning issues? Height limits? I think the current footprint is pretty close to the property line. As a related aside, how does one find out the basic rules for additions in Berkeley vis-a-vis setbacks, pop-ups, etc. It seems to vary from job to job. 

Thanks, 

Anonymous 

 

Dear Anonymous, 

Did you hear about the woman who added a story to her liquor store? Yea, she wanted to lift her spirits! 

Thanks for the great question. My readers are so darned smart. It’s most gratifying (and saves me the trouble of thinking up subjects). 

It’s interesting that the lifting of a house for foundation replacement isn’t very different from lifting a house for the addition of another level of living space. There is some cost difference but it’s not significant, perhaps $5,000 for a smallish house but that’s not much when you consider the real and financial impact of a job of this import. It may seem surprising but the task of lifting a house 3 inches isn’t much less work that lifting a house 10 feet. 

When we’re faced with the sad reality of having to replace a foundation, it’s always worth asking whether the replacement should include elevating the house. Now, all houses aren’t well suited to this exercise but many are. And the first question in determining which is the case is to look at the issue of density. 

Yes, I am dense but that’s not the issue. It’s the density of our neighborhoods that we should be looking at. Neighborhood density has been a political hot-button issue for as long as city councils have been sitting on their exasperating little demi-thrones and our fairest of cities is no exception, meters and all. 

Nonetheless, I do consider city and neighborhood density to be an important consideration and I’ll be frank. I favor higher density. Berkeley, as one example has held to a very low density (by urban standards) for many years and while I can understand the desire to preserve older buildings and to control parking mayhem, there are ways to manage these issues while increasing density. If we don’t we’re consigned to ever increasing urban sprawl and the loss of wild undeveloped land. Also, higher density is green, assuming you do it properly. New York City is one of America’s greenest cities precisely because of its very high density and the low number of cars per capita. But I digress. 

Adding a story means that you will be greatly increasing the square footage of your home and in many cases, doubling it. Your local zoning department should be consulted before you’ve invested very much thought in such a project and also well in advance of your foundation replacement. If you do not currently have proper setbacks (the distance from your house to the fences and sidewalk boundaries), you may be considered to be “existing non-conforming” by your zoning official (you should in response call them “exasperating non-comforting” but never to their faces). 

This designation can mean that the normal allowances for expansion may be withheld in your case but these issues are often complex and negotiations are often successful within some limits. The important thing is to open and maintain a conversation with your zoning official. All joking aside, the zoning official can be exceedingly helpful and most are quite reasonable within the strictures of their department rules, so it’s a good idea to be friendly and play ball. 

I’ll even go a step further and suggest that you come to this expert with a very rough plan and ask them how they would approach the expansion process, particularly if there are non-conforming features to contend with. If you give them a little elbow room, you can get amazing help and sometimes even free design advise. Now, I’m not suggesting that you give away the farm but a little open-mindedness in the early stages can be a great asset. 

If your property is zoned to allow for significant expansion and you have the go-ahead for an enlargement, it’s best to proceed with drawings produced by an architect. 

In fact, the last bit regarding zoning negotiations can also be done by an architect and many know the ropes better than thee or me and can save some tears. That said, the exploratory phase can be undertaken by any sturdy individual. Remember, don’t argue. Ask, negotiate, explore but don’t fight. These folks get a lot of squabbling and you’ll gain nothing by losing your temper. 

If there are questions about the amount of square footage that can be added to the dwelling given lot size and the site zoning limit, the new lower floor can sometimes be apportioned to non-habitable functions such as parking or storage. 

Many a house has been given a garage through this lofty upgrade and sometimes it allows the addition an apartment when lack of parking has been the constraining condition. I recently saw a house-jacking (no, they didn’t steal it) where two garages were being added to the front lower level and it was clear that this was part of a second unit addition. Again, the zoning needs to allow these changes but this can be a way to increase density and income. 

In the case noted above, some special seismic modifications also needed to be included since most of the front wall of the, now two-story building was tossed away and the loss of “shear” or resistance to bending needed to be augmented in that front wall. The point one can take from this observation is that lifting houses often involves some re-engineering or other complication; i.e., there is no free lunch. 

However, lifting a house when the foundation needs to be replaced is an awful lot like a free lunch. You can often get a two-for-one through this process, especially if you think out the requirements and your needs in the process. 

There are a few wonderful things about this project. One is that you don’t need two roofs for the two stories you’ll now have (assuming your lifting a one-story house), the one you have will be just fine.  

Another is that the fine details often seen on older houses get to be thrust upward to greater notice while the simpler details often found in newer construction (which are easier to effect) can be placed closer to the ground. 

Good architectural practice is to place the small, more complex and finer details higher up and simpler, weightier details closer to the ground. This is often referred to as “grounding.” 

People sometimes ask if one can live in a house during this process and the answer is yes, with some serious provisions. First, I would never stay in the house during the lifting process and secondly, plumbing connections are broken and must be temporarily reconnected once the house has been elevated, so a delay should be expected (most electrical systems remain where there are at least for the short-term since they tend to connect by long flexible “drops” from the street. 

Eventually the main panel will have to be relocated). Lastly, when a house is pushed up in the air, access becomes something of an issue and new stairways are needed to provide access. It may be best to allow for some construction to be completed prior to reinhabiting the dwelling. If you’re lifting a house a short distance for a foundation replacement without adding a story, it’s virtually always fine to stay in the home. 

So there are a few thoughts on this most fruitful of building adventures. Naturally, there’s a great deal more to say about any specific project but I do feel that these are worthwhile gains to seek when the arduous and expensive undertaking of foundation replacement is needed.  

A tip I would like to offer is that if you are ever faced with a foundation replacement and consider the addition of a story out of reach for the time being, it’s a really good idea to have your contractor install two-story foundation anyway. That way, when you or the next owner is ready to push the building up and add that extra space, the foundation won’t have to be replaced again (foundation being size for the number of floors they support). 

I would also like to say to all my dear neighbors that I hope that you will support these projects as you would expect other to support yours and not opposed growth or construction on principle. 

Berkeley was once farmland and before that a wild home for Olone, birds and beasts. Growth came and it looks pretty good. I believe that our Urbanness is exciting and lively and that thoughtful, intelligent growth can make us greener. Perhaps we can get dense enough to bring those trolley cars back. Now wouldn’t that be progress! 

 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net.


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Tuesday March 20, 2007

TUESDAY, MARCH 20 

CHILDREN 

Magician and Comedian Timothy James at 6:30 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. For ages 3 and up. 524-3043. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“City of Walls, City of People” The urban experience in Oakland, CA, and Venice, Italy, a collaboration with California College of the Arts, and Istituto Universitario di Architettura, Design e Arti, in Venice, on display at Pro Arts, 550 Second St., Oakland. 763-9425. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

David Batstone discusses “Not For Sale: the Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It” at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $10. 559-9500 

Joe Boyd reads from “White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Zydeco Flames at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Athena Tergis, John Doyle & Mick Moloney at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Beep at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Terrence Brewer at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 

EXHIBITIONS 

Youth Arts Festival Annual exhibition of artwork from Berkeley’s K-8 public school students at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. 644-9873. 

Honoring César Chavez Poster Exhibition on display at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., Through April 23. 981-6100. 

FILM 

Film 50: History of Cinema “Persona” with a lecture by Marilyn Fabe at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Asian America Film Festival “Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors” with director Hong Sang-soo in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is TBA. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kemble Scott introduces his new novel “SOMA” set in San Francisco, at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Cafe Poetry and open mic, hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Berkeley Poetry Slam on the Jewish Diaspora at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Whiskey Brothers Old Time and Bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

UC Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Orquestra Bakan at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Matt Lucas at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Justin Hellman Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Greg Brown at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $35.50-$36.50. 548-1761.  

Francisco Aguabella at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. 

THURSDAY, MARCH 22 

EXHIBITIONS 

“A Rose Has No Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s” Guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

“Somebody” The New World of Figurative Art Works by seven artists exploring the human form at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. 

FILM 

Women’s HerStory Film Series “Water” at noon at 4 p.m. at Laney College Forum, 900 Fallon St. http://laney.peralta.edu/womensherstorymonth 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Homelands: Women’s Journeys Across Race, Place and Time” reading with Patricia Tumang and Jenesha de Rivera at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568.  

Spoken Word Swap Meet at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Megan Seely discusses “Fight Like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Susannah Patton and Laura McPhee describe Flaubert’s Normandy and Matisse’s South of France at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Rebecca Chiyoko King-O’Riain on “Pure Beauty: Judging Race in Japanese American Beauty Pageants” at 4 p.m. at Center for Race & Gender, 642 Barrows Hall #1074, UC Campus. 643-848. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

New Century Chamber Orchestra at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $28-$42. 415-357-1111. 

Jewish Music Festival “Aires de Sepharad” at 8 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St.. Tickets are $20-$25. 800-838-3006.  

“The Josquin Singers” Lenten Music from the Byzantine and Slavic traditions at 7:30 p.m. at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension, 4700 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $15. 868-0695.  

The KTO Project and Aluna at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. 

Peter Mulvey at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Pete Yellin Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ.  

YBSC, Latin jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Los Nadies, Seth Newton, Luke Newton at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Rico Pabon, CD release party at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Mundaze at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Headnodic & Raashan Ahmad at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

The Music Lovers, The Hot Toddies, at 8:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146.  

Rachelle Ferrell at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $26-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, MARCH 23 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” Fri and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 1. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep “To the Lighthouse” at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. and runs through March 25. Tickets are $45-$61. 647-2917. 

Central Works Theater Ensemble “Lola Montez” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. through March 25. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company “unconditional” A movement/theater piece Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$20 sliding scale for adults and $6 for youth under 18. 597-1619. www.destinyarts.org. 

Shotgun Players “Blood Wedding” opens at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., and runs Thurs.-Sun. through April 29. Tickets are $17-$25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

“The Apple Tree and Other Forbidden Fruits” musical and dramatic vignettes Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 1 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $15-$20. 525-0302, ext. 309.  

Virago Theatre “Orphans” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at BridgeHead Studio, 2516 Blanding Ave, Alameda, through March 31. Tickets are $10-$15. 415-439-2456. 

FILM 

LunaFest Film festival by and about women at 7 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St. Oakland. Part of Women HerStory Month. Cost is $7-$12. http://laney.peralta.edu/womensherstorymonth 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland East Bay Symphony at 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m.. Tickets are $15-$62. 652-8497.  

Shen Wei Dance Arts at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$46. 642-9988.  

UCB/UCLA Contemporary Jazz Collaborative at 2 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. 642-9988. 

Jeff Chandler and Allegro Ballroom “Top Hat Club” at 8 p.m. 5855 Christie Ave. Tickets are $35, or $50 with dinner. 655-2888. 

Lloyd Gregory & Friends, jazz, blues, R&B, at 8 p.m. at Everett and Jones, 126 Broadway, Oakland. 663-2350. 

Sandy Cressman & Her Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Tempest, Golden Bough and Caliban, Irish rock, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. 

Judy Wexler, jazz vocalist, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Claudia Schmidt at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Erin English & Joe Ridout, Nick Zubel at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Mirthkon, Fuxedos, Fuzzy Cousins at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Set it Straight, Dance for Destruction, Bright White Noise at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Sol Spectrum at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Eleven Eyes at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Rachelle Ferrell at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $26-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 24 

CHILDREN  

East Bay Children’s Theater “Rumplestiltskin” at 10:30 a.m. at 1 pm. at James Moore Theater, Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. Tickets are $7, children under 2 free. 655-7285. 

“Strega Nona Festival” A play based on the characters from Tomie dePaola’s books at 3 p.m. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison at 27th., Oakland. Tickets are $10 adults, $5 children 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Ingrid Noyes & Paul Shelasky at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Silly Symphonies” film screening with author Russell Merritt in person at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

SF Circus Center Clown Conservatory “Experiment! The Excitement of Science” at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $5-$8. 925-798-1300. 

Buki the Clown celebrates National Reading Month Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. 452-2259. 

THEATER 

Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company “unconditional” A movement/theater piece at 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$20 sliding scale for adults and $6 for youth under 18. 597-1619. www.destinyarts.org 

Playback Theater in Celebration of Women at 8 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Cost is $8-$18. For reservations call 595-5500, ext. 25. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Native American Artist Spencer Nutima from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 1573 Solano Ave. 528-9038. www.gatheringtribes.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse Young Performers’ Night, in coordination with Berkeley Arts Center’s Youth Arts Festival, at 7 p.m. at 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts., behind Live Oak Park. 644-6893.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

American Bach Soloists Early Cantatas at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $16-$42. 415-621-7900 americanbach.org 

Trinity Chamber Concerts “The Sorrowful Mysteries” music of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. 

Shen Wei Dance Arts at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$46. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“One Soul Sounding” Spring Equinox Concert at 7:30 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$22. 654-3234. 

Jeff Chandler and Allegro Ballroom “Top Hat Club” at 8 p.m. 5855 Christie Ave. Tickets are $35, or $50 with dinner. 655-2888. 

A Night of Cuban Folkloric Music hosted by Jesus Diaz, featuring Sandy Perez, John Santos, Eric Barbera, Colin Douglas and Chris “Flaco” Walker at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Robin Gregory & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Martin Pendergrast and Friends at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

West African Highlife Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054.  

Agualibre at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10-$15. 548-1159.  

Jai Uttal & Donna DeLory at 7:30 p.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th St. Tickets are $25. 496-6047. www.Rudramandirtickets.com  

Mariospeedwagon and Lemon Juju at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Equal Opportunity Employment at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Ramblin’ Jack Elliot at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761.  

Michael Wilcox & Friends at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373.  

Project Move, Jern Eye, Kristo at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. 

Nicole McRory at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Dale Miller & Friends, folk at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Montana, The Oceans of Fire, Halcyon High at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. 

Elysia, A.G.A.T.G., Moria at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 25 

CHILDREN 

“Strega Nona Festival” A play based on the characters from Tomie dePaola’s books at 3 p.m. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison at 27th., Oakland. Tickets are $10 adults, $5 children 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

SF Circus Center Clown Conservatory “Experiment! The Excitement of Science” at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $5-$8. 925-798-1300. 

THEATER 

“Exit Cuckoo” Lisa Ramirez’s one-woman show on motherhood at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $32-$52. 925-798-1300. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Socially Responsible Shopping with authors Ritchie Unterberger, Ellis Jones and Allan Holender at 6 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Poetry Flash presents Carl Dennis at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Prometheus Symphony Orchestra at 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Free, donations accepted. www.prometheussymphony.org  

Dvorak and the American Indianists Piano Concert with Seth Montfort, at 5:30 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $15. 415-362-6080. 

Chora Nova “Romance and the Part Song” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational CHurch of Berkeley, Dana and Durant. Tickets are $10-$15. www.choranova.org 

Jewish Music Festival Community Music Day at 8 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $7-$24. 800-838-3006. www.jewishmusicfestival.org 

Gilberto Gil, Brazilian pop music, at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$62. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Gillette & Mangsen at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Brazillian Soul at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Emma’s Revolution & Jon Frommer, labor songs, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Rova Saxophone Quartet at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Skatalites at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Lion of Judah, Never Healed, Justice at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, MARCH 26 

FILM 

“Jazz on a Monday Afternoon” Films and discussion on Jazz Vocalists at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., 3rd flr. 981-6100. 

Japanese Anime: Women as Heroines Multi-media presention at noon at Laney Tech Center, F170, 900 Fallon St. Oakland. Part of Women HerStory Month. Cost is $7-$12. http://laney.peralta.edu/womensherstorymonth 

LunaFest Film festival by and about women at 7 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St. Oakland. Part of Women HerStory Month. Cost is $7-$12. http://laney.peralta.edu/womensherstorymonth 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend discusses “Failing America’s Faithful” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $10. 559-9500. 

Edmund Zimmerman and Rick Prelinger read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Ira Nowiski shows slides and talks about his book “Ira Nowiski’s San Francisco: Poets, Politics, and Divas” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Cathryn Jakobson Ramin talks about “Carved in Sand: When Attention Fails and Memory Fades in Midlife” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Poetry Express open mic theme night on “grandmothers” at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Musica ha Disconnesso, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Michael Chapdelaine at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Rachel Z and Z Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

 


Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay

Tuesday March 20, 2007

‘CITY OF WALLS, CITY OF PEOPLE’ 

 

California College of the Arts, in collaboration with the Istituto Universitario di Architettura, Design e Arti, will present “City of Walls, City of People,” an exhibit depicting the urban experience in Oakland, Calif., and in Venice, Italy, at Pro Arts, 550 Second St., Oakland. 763-9425. 

 

EAST BAY SYMPHONY AT THE PARAMOUNT 

 

The Oakland East Bay Symphony will perform Rimsky-Korsakov’s bright, melodic  

Scheherazade and one of the orchestral suites of  

Shostakovich at 8 p.m. Friday at the Paramount Theater. The concert will be preceded by a lecture at 7 p.m. $15-$62. 2025 Broadway, Oakland. 652-8497. 

 

CLASSIC CINEMA AT NILES ESSANAY MUSEUM 

 

The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum will screen the 1922 version of Oliver Twist, starring Lon Chaney and Jackie Coogan, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday as part of its ongoing series of Saturday silent classics. The feature will be preceded by two shorts: Modeling (1921), featuring Koko the Clown, and Ring Up the Curtain (1922), starring Harold Lloyd. Live piano accompaniment will be provided by Frederick Hodges. The museum preserves the legacy of the Essanay film studio that was located in what used to be the town of Niles. The East Bay studio was the home of western star Bronco Billy Anderson and, for about a year, Charlie Chaplin. $5. 37417 Niles Blvd., Fremont. www.nilesfilmmuseum.org.


Berkeley Art Museum Spotlights Bruce Nauman

By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet
Tuesday March 20, 2007

If we think of Picasso and Duchamp as the two opposing poles in 20th century art, the Berkeley campus at present displays significant work by their successors. Fernando Botero’s series of paintings and drawings, documenting the torture at Abu Ghraib, has been perceived as a contemporary Guernica.  

Bruce Nauman’s concept, that art is what the artist does, goes back to Marcel Duchamp and his ready-mades, as does the use of words as an integral part of the work. Nauman’s well-known photograph, Self-Portrait as a Fountain (1966-67 / 1970) in which the artist is seen spewing water, might be compared to Duchamp’s famous up-ended urinal entitled Fountain of some 50 years earlier. 

The exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum covers the artist’s seminal work as a young man: the years 1964-1969, the years when he was a student at UC Davis and then working in San Francisco. UC Davis at that time had on its art faculty a number of innovative maverick artists, including Robert Arneson, William T. Wiley, Manuel Neri and Roy de Forest, whose unconventional irreverent work has been designated as “Funk,” which does not apply to Nauman’s work, which tend to be more cerebral.  

This is exemplified by A Rose Has No Teeth, a lead plaque, which was affixed to a tree where it would eventually disappear. The words are taken from Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations , in which the philosopher used this phrase to show logical absurdity: the sentence is grammatically correct, but meaningless. Nauman was fond of misleading the public. 

There is a 1966 piece, Wax Impressions of the Knees of Five Famous Artists. The material only looks like wax. It is actually fiberglass and polyester resin and the knee impressions are all his own. 

This work, like his Fountain, also exemplifies his involvement with his own body. As Bruce Nauman exerted enormous influence on younger artists, has attention to his own body did lead to a regrettable pursuit of self-indulgent art, which prevailed in the 1980s and ’90s. 

Nauman’s own physical pieces remain fascinating. There is, for example, a work entitled Hand to Mouth (1967). He uses the idiomatic expression to show a disembodied long arm, which connects his hand to his mouth, done in wax over cloth. Or a color photograph showing the artist from the back and tied up with a rope. It is called Bound to Fail (1966-67 / 1970). 

There is also a series of the equally eponymous screenprints, Studies for Holograms (Squeezed Lips; Pulled Cheeks; Pinched Lips; Pulled Neck; and Pulled Lower Lip) (1970). I found this piece so intriguing that I acquired it for the Berkeley Art Museum the year it was done. The exhibition also shows early 16 mm films in which we see the artist walking, leaning, bending, and crouching. In Sound Effects for Manipulating the T Bar (1965) there is actually no sound, but in the film we see the artist struggling with two plumbing pipes joined in the form of a T. This was originally done with a cheap movie camera and foreshadows Nauman’s prodigious work in video in the years to come. 

In a 1968 video, he performed Slow Angle Walk (Beckett Walk). Constance Lewallen in the excellent catalogue for the show points out “Literature (Samuel Beckett, Vladimir Nabokov, Malcolm Lowry, and Alain Robbe-Grillet, in particular) and Gestalt psychology played into his art-making.” 

Similarly in the film Walking in an Exaggerated Manner Around the Perimeter of a Square (1967-68) the artist slowly places one foot behind the other in a laborious motion. The walking impulse is impeded. The action is frustrated and the motion useless. Yet he must go on. 

 

 

A ROSE HAS NO TEETH: 

BRUCE NAUMAN IN THE 1960s 

11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday through Sundays and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays through April 15 at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. $5-$8. Admission free first Thursday of each month.  

 

Image: Self-Portrait as a Fountain, on display through April 15 as part of the Bruce Nauman exhibit at the Berkeley Art Museum.


Wild Neighbors: Thinking About Breakfast: The Mind of the Jay Revisited

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday March 20, 2007

Nicola Clayton and her scrub-jays have been at it again. Clayton, as you may recall, is the Cambridge experimental psychologist who keeps making startling claims about the cognitive abilities of the western scrub-jay, a bird she met while at UC Davis. (It’s the most widespread of three closely related species of crestless blue-and-gray jays; the others, the Florida scrub-jay and island scrub-jay, have limited ranges). 

It was Clayton who contended that scrub-jays demonstrated episodic-like memory, thought to be a human exclusive: they could recall what they had done where and when, specifically where they had stashed perishable waxworms and more durable peanuts. In the wild, the birds cache and retrieve acorns. They’re not as good at refinding stored food as their corvid relatives the pinyon jay and the Clark’s nutcracker; as Joseph Grinnell observed back in 1936, the acorns the scrub-jays miss may become the next generation of oaks.  

It was also Clayton who found evidence for a “theory of mind” in scrub-jays, the ability to think of what others might be thinking. In that case, jays prone to pilfering other birds’ caches returned to move food that they had been observed hiding. The line of thought would be: “If I had seen Ralph hiding that acorn, I’d go steal it; and since he saw me hiding mine…” 

Critics objected to both claims, of course, but Clayton’s ingenious experiments made a strong case. Now she’s back, in a recent issue of Nature, with a new study that suggests scrub-jays can plan for the future—again, something only the higher primates, humans and great apes, were supposed to be able to do. 

Granted, many animals do things that appear purposeful: they fly north for the spring and south for the winter, swim to Ascension to mate, seek out caves or dens for hibernation, store acorns. But it’s assumed these behaviors are hardwired responses to seasonal cues: the animals are programmed to act in pre-set ways with changes in temperature or daylight. 

With Clayton’s jays, something different seems to be going on. Her experiment this time exploited the birds’ caching compulsion. 

She designed a three-chambered setup. The jays were kept overnight in the central space, with powdered pine nuts to snack on. In the morning they were moved into one of two adjoining spaces, one with food, the other without. 

On their second night in the experimental cages, the jays were given a supply of pine nuts and each side room had a sand-filled ice-cube tray for caching. The birds that had previously missed out on breakfast cached three times as many nuts in the “no-breakfast room” as in the “breakfast room.” They seemed to remember whether they had spent the previous morning in a cozy B & B or in a Motel 6.  

What could this be, asks Clayton, but a kind of mental time travel? 

“If I thought I’d end up in a grotty motel with no breakfast, I’d take provisions with me”, she told a reporter. (Yes, she’s the kind of person who still says “grotty.” She comes off as a tad eccentric; she is described as somewhat birdlike, and her Cambridge students have classified her as Claytonia professorii. But her experiments are rigorous, and her results have won grudging acceptance among many behaviorists.) 

She has had to defend corvid intelligence against her husband and research collaborator Nathan Emery, who worked with primates. She accuses him of making “ape-ist remarks” about his subjects’ supposedly unique abilities, which she saw echoed in her jays. 

Clayton, who has also studied the rook, a European crow relative, notes that corvids are among the brainiest of birds: a jay’s brain is proportionally larger than a chimp’s. Size may not be all that important, if cognitive sophistication turns out to be more a function of how the brain is wired. As Bernd Heinrich and other scientists have pointed out, jays, crows, rooks, and ravens have rich social environments, with a myriad of individuals and relationships to keep track of—the same kind of setting that may have driven the evolution of intelligence in us primates. 

Although some remain skeptical, it does seem possible that scrub-jays can visualize and plan for the future—at least, a future without breakfast. As far as I know, though, no one yet has approached a jay about life insurance.  

 

 

Joe Eaton is a former professional gardener and arborist. His “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column.


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday March 20, 2007

TUESDAY, MARCH 20 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Martin Luther King Regional Shoreline. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Sunshine Ordinance for Berkeley Workshop on open government at 5 p.m. at City Council Chambers 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. The public will have time to comment. 981-7170. 

Traditional Ringing of the Berkeley Peace Bell at noon at City Hall. Bring your own bells! 

César Chavez Commemoration with a showing of “No Grapes” at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

Berkeley Garden Club “Brighten Your Garden with Birds” presented by local birding author Pat Bachetti at 2 p.m. at Epworth Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 845-4482. 

Spring Equinox Gathering at the Solar Calendar at 6:30 p.m. in Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. www.solarcalendar.org 

“Slow Is Beautiful: New Visions of Community, Leisure, and Joie de Vivre” with author Cecile Andrews at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. www.hillsideclub.org 

“Food Safety in Oakland” A public hearing with the Food and Drug Administration on recent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses associated with microbial contamination of fresh produce, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Federal Building, 13th St., at Clay, Oakland. 202-314- 4713. isabelle_howes@grad.usda.gov 

“Not For Sale: the Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It” with author David Batstone at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $10. 559-9500. 

“How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US” at 4 p.m. at the IEAS Conference, 2223 Fulton St. 642-2809. 

Free Diabetes Screening from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center. Do not eat or drink anything for 8 hours beforehand. 981-5332. 

“Your Favorite Stress Busters” Discussion at noon at the Herrick Campus of Alta Bates Medical Center, 2001 Dwight Way, Mafly Auditorium. 644-3273.  

“Hiking the Camino de Santiago” Susan Alcorn will show slides of her 400-mile trek along Spain’s ancient pilgrimage route at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Elder Co-Housing presentation at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Oreintation from 6 to 8 p.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 594-5165. 

Discussion Salon on “Nucular” Deterrence at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut.  

ADD & Autism with Dr. Thauna Abrin of Defeat Autism Now at 7:30 p.m. at 828 San Pablo Ave. Ste 115C. RSVP to 282-2104. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 

Teach-In and Vigil Against American Torture every Wed. at noon at Boalt Hall, Bancroft Way at College Ave.  

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds, at 3:15 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Walk, Talk, Buck the Fence What’s at stake in the Ecology of Berkeley’s Strawberry Canyon A walk at 5 p.m. every Wed. with Ignacio Chapela and expert guests to discuss what is at stake in the proposed steps for the filling of the Canyon by the UC-LBL Rad-Labs, and now British Petroleum. http://canyonwalks.blogspot.com  

Spring Hike in Briones from 1 to 4 p.m. to see wildflowers, lagoons, vistas and black oaks. Meet at the Bear Creek Staging Area. 525-2233. 

“Media Bias in the Middle East” with Khaled Abu Toameh, a Jerusalem Post writer, who also wrote for the Palestinian newspaper, at 7:30 p.m. at 60 Evans Hall, UC Campus. 818-419-6500. 

Fund-raiser for Ann Hershey's documentary-in-process “A Heart in Action” about San Francisco writer Tillie Olsen” at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $5-$500. 843-8714. 

Free Diabetes Screening from 9 to 11 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Do not eat or drink anything for 8 hours beforehand. 981-5332. 

Albany Library Evening Book Club meets to discuss “Tortilla Curtain” by T. Coraghessan Boyle at 7 p.m. at The Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

New to DVD: “Casino Royale” at 7 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. Discussion follows. 848-0237. 

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 and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at t6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART Statioon. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 22 

Dedication of the Maudelle Shirek Building at 4:30 p.m. at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. 981-7008. 

“Is BP’s Biofuels Project Good for the Environment?” A forum sponsored by the Sierra Club of Northern Alameda County at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $5. 

“Stopping the Destruction of Our Sierra Nevada Forests” at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Banff Mountain Film Festival Thurs. and Fri. at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $13-$15 available from REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Women’s History Month “Legacy of Visionaries” a lecture on the women who helped form the East By Regional Park, Save Mount Diablo and Save the Bay at 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Registration required. 636-1684. 

“Homelands: Women’s Journeys Across Race, Place and Time” with Patricia Tumang and Jenesha de Rivera at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Raising Media Savvy Kids” A workshop for parents at 7 p.m. at Windrush School, Multipurpose Room, 1800 Elm St., El Cerrito. Free. 970-7580. http://windrush.org  

Easy Does It Emergency Services Board of Directors Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. 

Great Books Discussion Group meets to discuss “Billards at Half-Past Nine” by Heinrich Boll at 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3700, ext. 16. 

Family Story Time for children ages 3-7 at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, North Branch, 1170 The Alameda, at Hopkins. 981-6107. 

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, MARCH 23 

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 Dr. Anna Barbara Moscicki on “Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925.  

“Hybridizing Irises” Larry Lauer will discuss his breeding program and new seedlings at the Sydney B. Mitchell Iris Society meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Free. 277-4200. 

“Impacts of War, Paths to Healing” Panel discussion with experts to help service members better manage their return from combat, at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Free to veterans and their families, $10 suggested donation for others. Daylong workshop for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their families follows on Sat. 415-387-0800. www.cominghomeproject.net 

“50 Years Is Enough” with Sameer Dossani speaking on the IMF, War, Class, and Migration in U.S. foreign policy at 7 p.m. at the Connie Barbour Room, upstairs at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1606 Bonita. 525-5497. 

Film Festival for Diversity “That’s a Family” at 6:30 p.m. in the Longfellow Middle School Auditorium, 1500 Derby at Sacramento. Free, including dinner and child care. Presented by the Berkeley PTA Council. 644-6320. 

“Homeland” A film on the Native American struggle to preserve their resources at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

Banff Mountain Film Festival at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $13-$15 available from REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Are We Winning the War Against Colorectal Cancer?” at 6:15 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit, 450 30th St., Room 2810, Oakland. Free, but RSVP requested. 869-8833. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

Kol Hadash Humanistic Judaism Family Pot Luck at 6 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Please bring dinner food appropriate for children, and non-perishable food for the needy. 428-1492.  

SATURDAY, MARCH 24 

Open the Little Farm Join us to greet the animals in the morning and help the farmers with their chores at 9 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Berkeley History Center Walking Tour “The Rise and Fall of Telegraph Ave” led by Steve Finacom at 10 a.m. Cost is $8-$10. For information on meeting place and to register call 848-0181. 

Spring Equinox Meditation Walk from 9 to 11 a.m. in Tilden Park. Meet at the Tilden Nature Area. 525-2233. 

Neighborhood Peace Rally from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the corner of Acton and University, sponsored by Strawberry Creek Lodge Tenants Association. 841-4143. 

Spring in the Ponds Put on your rubber boots and come explore the underworld of the fresh water ponds, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Cerrito Creek Work Party” Join Friends of Five Creeks to help remove invasive weeds to restore a creekside willow grove. Wear shoes with good traction and clothes that can get dirty. Meet at 10 a.m. at Creekside Park, south end of Santa Clara Ave., El Cerrito. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org  

Mt. Wanda Bird Walk Join a Park Ranger for a walk in the hills. Terrain is steep, wear walking shoes and bring water and binoculars. Rain cancels. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Cal-Trans Park and Ride lot at the corner of Alhambra Ave. and Franklin Canyon Rd., Martinez. 925-228-8860. 

Townhall Meeting with Congresswoman Barbara Lee Topics of discussion will include legislation to bring the troops home and end the war, efforts to stop a U.S. preemptive strike on Iran, and what you can do to end the war and work for peace, from 10 a.m. to noon at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. 452-3556. 

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant 25th Anniversary at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Free, but donation accepted. www.eastbaysanctuary.org 

“Impeachment How To” Presentation and Planning Session with Carol Wolman at at 6:15 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. Suggested donation $10. 845-4154. 

“Brainiacs” Interactive neural anatomy lesson for children at Hall of Health, 2230 Shattuck Ave., lower level. Program for grades K-2 at 1 p.m., and for grades 3-6 at 2:10 p.m. Cost is $5. 705-8527. 

“Pirate Radio USA” a documentary about the underground world of illegal radio in America at 6 p.m. at the Long Haul Infshop, 3124 Shattuck. 540-0751. 

East Bay Baby Fair Information for new and expecting parents from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. 540-7210. 

Study Medicine in Cuba Information Fair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon St., Oakland, Room 401 A and B. 219-0092. 

“Karma & Dharma” with Dr. Toshikazu Arai of SOAI Univ., Japan, at 10 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. at the Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant at Fulton. 809-1460. 

Hopalong Animal Rescue Come meet your furry new best friend from noon to 3 p.m. at 2940 College Ave. 267-1915, ext. 500. www.hopalong.org  

Produce Stand at Spiral Gardens Food Security Project from 1 to 6 p.m. at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon St. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

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.  

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, MARCH 25 

Shoreline Discovery Walk along Wildcat Creek Regional Shoreline with Bethany Facendini, naturalist, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Call for meeting place. 525-2233. 

Family Hike in Miller Knox to discover life on the rocky shore, from 10 a.m. to noon. Meet at Ferry Point. 525-2233. 

“Open Garden” Join the Little Farm gardener for composting, planting, watering and reaping the rewards of our work, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cancelled only by heavy rain. 525-2233. www.ebparks.org 

Garden Spring Start Day Help start the People’s Park Community Garde from noon to 4 p.m. Organic gardening demonstration at 2 p.m. 658-9178. 

Permaculture Bike Tour of gardens involoved in the Food and Environmental Justice movement in West Oakland, featuring examples of urban farming, remediation of toxic soil, green and natural building, graywater systems, neighbor cooperation, and community activism. Meet at 1 p.m. at the West Oakland BART Station. 295-2641. isisferal@yahoo.com 

Forum on the City Budget hosted by Berkeley Citizens Action with Mayor Tom Bates at 4 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 549-0816. 

“Women’s Global Agenda: Peace-builders and Activists” A conference hosted by the United Nations Association - USA East Bay Chapter with Charlie Toledo, Chairman of the Women’s Intercultural Network at 2 p.m. at theCommunity Center at Harbor Bay Isle, 3195 Mecartney Road, Alameda. For more information visit www.unausaeastbay.org 

Spring Equinox Celebration at 2 p.m. at Dream Institute, 1672 University Ave. Cost is $10-$20. 845-1767. 

Berkeley City Club Tour of the “Little Castle” designed by Julia Morgan at 1:15, 2:15 and 3:15 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. 883-9710. 

Socially Responsible Shopping Habits and Business Practices with Richie Unterberger at 6 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Berkeley Cybersalon “Life After TV” with execs from Dabble, Brightcove, Fiber-to-the-Home Council, and MobiTV, at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St.Cost is $10. www.hillsideclub.org 

“Rumi: Preposterous Paths to Joy, Service, and Facing Death Without Fear” with Victoria Lee at 9:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Community poetry reading at 1 p.m. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Barr Rosenberg on “Longchenpa’s Teachings about the Bodhisattva Way” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

“Symbolism of the Passover Seder Plate” with Rabbi Chaim Mahgel-Friedman at 11:30 a.m. at Afikomen Judaica, 3042 Claremont Ave.  

MONDAY, MARCH 26 

Women’s Health Issues Lecture and discussion at 1 p.m. at Laney College, Classroom B210, 900 Fallon St. Oakland. Part of Women HerStory Month http://laney.peralta.edu/womensherstorymonth 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

Tax Help at the Berkeley Public Library Sat. from 11:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the South Branch. Call for appointment. 981-6260. Also every Tues. and Thurs. at the West Branch from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. Call for appointment. 981-6270. 

Berkeley Youth Alternatives Girls Basketball Age 15 and under league begins April 11 and 18 and under begins April 13. From 5:30 to 8:30 at Emery High School, 1100 47th St. Emeryville. Cost is $175 per team. 845-9066.  

CITY MEETINGS 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., March 21, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6601.  

Commission on Aging meets Wed., March 21, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5344.  

Commission on Labor meets Wed., March 21, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center.981-7550. 

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission meets Wed. March 21, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7487. 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., March 21, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5427.  

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., March 21, at 7 p.m. at South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. 981-6195.  

Mental Health Commission meets Thurs., March 22, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., March 22, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410.


Arts Calendar

Friday March 16, 2007

FRIDAY, MARCH 16 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Through Women’s Eyes” featuring works by Frances Catlett. Reception at 6 p.m. at the Prescott Joseph Center for Community Enhancement, 920 Peralta St., Oakland. Exhibition runs through May 3. 835-8683. www.rescottjoseph.org 

Paintings of Michael Murphy Reception for the artist at 5 p.m. at The LightRoom, 2263 Fifth St. Exhibition runs through April 13. 649-8111. 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” Fri and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 1. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Seldom Seen Acting Company, a group of homeless actors who share their life stories through theater perform at 10:30 a.m. at The SVdP Downtown Services Center, 675 23rd St., Oakland. To RSVP call Christine at 636-4255.  

Berkeley Rep “To the Lighthouse” at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. and runs through March 25. Tickets are $45-$61. 647-2917. 

Central Works Theater Ensemble “Lola Montez” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. through March 25. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Virago Theatre “Orphans” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at BridgeHead Studio, 2516 Blanding Ave, Alameda, through March 31. Tickets are $10-$15. 415-439-2456. www.viragotheatre.org 

FILM 

Asian America Film Festival “American Zombie” with director Grace Lee in person at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is TBA. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Alfred Brendel in Conversation on Music and Culture with Prof. Anthony J. Cascardi at 5 p.m. at the Bancroft Hotel, 2680 Bancroft Way. 643-5694. 

Ruth Wilson Gilmore introduces her book “Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California” at 6 p.m. at Uptown Body & Fender, 401 26th St.., Oakland. 444-0484. 

Kate Greenstreet and Janet Holmes read from their poetry at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

A Talk with Valentino Achak Deng one of Sudan’s “Lost Boys” at 7:30 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera Company “The Seraglio” at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300.  

Music from Iraq with Rahim Alhaj, part of the Beyond Walls, Beyond Wars series, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$18. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Remembering Rachel Corrie concert with the Georges Lammam Ensemble, Huwaida Arraf & Francisco Herrera at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship, Cedar and Bonita. Donation $10-$20. 236-4250. 

Music that Cooks with singer/songwriters: Jamie Jenkins, Chris Berkner, Sharon Michelle, to raise funds for meals for the less fortunate at 7:30 p.m. at College Avenue Presbyterian Church, 5951 College Ave. Donation $5-$10, all ages welcome. 

Stomp the Stumps benefit for Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters with Workingman’s Ed, Funky Nixons and Gary Gates Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$15. 525-5054.  

Lady Bianca CD Release Party at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Free Jazz Fridays with The Troublemakers Union at 8 p.m. at 1510 Eighth St. Performance Space, Oakland. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 415-846-9432. events@thejazzhouse.com 

Lost Trio CD release party at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373.  

Adrianne, singer/songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave.. 548-5198.  

Black Brothers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The B Stars, Real Sippin’ Whiskeys, The Cowlicks at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Spectacle, Ultra Gypsy, Zoe and others at 9:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $30. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Mario DeSio and Alex Walsh at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Dave Matthews BLUES Band at 8 p.m. at The Warehouse, 402 Webster St., Oakland. 451-3161. 

This is My Fist, Love Songs, Final Fight 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. 

Wayward Sway at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Roots Reggae from St. Croix at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $25-$28. 548-1159.  

Swoop Unit at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Randy Weston’s African Rhythms Quartet, featuring Billy Harper at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $16-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 17 

CHILDREN  

St. Patrick’s Day Songs with Tara Reinertson at 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Part. 525-2233. 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Gary Laplow at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Jacqueline Lynaugh as Lady Emerald celebrates National Reading Month Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. 452-2259. 

THEATER 

“Thieves in the Temple: The Reclaiming of Hip Hop” by Aya de Leon at 8 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St. Oakland. Part of Women HerStory Month. Cost is $10-$15. http://laney.peralta.edu/womensherstorymonth 

“Chin-Checked” The magician Chin-Chin at 8 p.m. at Willies Mays Skybox Lounge, 6005 Shellmound St., Suite 200, Emeryville. Tickets are $25. www.chin-chin.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Bad Intentions” Counterculture expressed though painting, music and film, a collaboration by Scott J. Taylor and Clayton Glinton. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Float Gallery, 1091 Calcot Place, Unit # 116, located in a store front loft of the historic cotton mill studios, Oakland. 535-1702. www.thefloatcenter.com 

“Ancient and Modern Tatoo Art” opens with a reception at 6 p.m. at Expressions Art Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. 644-4930. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Cultural Exchanges Along the Silk Road An academic conference at 2 p.m. at Hertz Hall. Free. 642-3691.  

“Luck: How it Applies to the Writing Process” with Cheryl Dumesnil, and announcement of the winning poems, at the 81st Annual Poets’ Dinner, at noon at Francesco’s in Oakland. Tickets are $26-$27. For reservations call 235-0361. 

“Berkeley One and Only” with photographer Jon Sullivan at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Schola Cantorum San Francisco “In Exitu Israel” at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $12-$20. www.scholasf.org 

Cantare Con Vivo perform Maurice Durufle’s “Requiem” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $25. 925-798-1300. 

Norma Gentile, soprano, sings the songs of Hildegard von Bingen at 8 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Tickets are $15-$20. 528-8844. 

Ensemble Masques “Mensa Sonora: Biber and his Contemporaries” at 8 p.m. at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College at Garber. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Jewish Music Festival “Tribute to Tzadik Music” at 2 p.m. at the Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St.. Tickets are $5-$10. 800-838-3006. www.jewishmusicfestival.org 

Jewish Music Festival “Pharaoh’s Daughter” at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $20-$25. 800-838-3006. www.jewishmusicfestival.org 

St. Patrick’s Day Celebration all day at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

Martin Carthy in Concert at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Juan del Gastor, Luis Pena, Lakshmi, gypsy flamenco, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $30-$40. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Lisa B. & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com  

The Venezuelan Music Project at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Roots Reggae from St. Croix at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $25-$28. 548-1159.  

Katie Knipp and Buxter Hoot’n at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

The Cave Painters at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

Melanie O’Reilly & Aisling Gheat at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Frank Martin Group at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Blind Duck, Irish music, at 7:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Sweet Crude Bill and Fun with Finnoula St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Joey Lent & Chuck Steed, folk rock, at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Spectacle, Ultra Gypsy, Zoe and others at 9:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $30. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

The Jury at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Resistant Culture, Naked Aggression, Mouthsewnshut at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 18 

CHILDREN 

Celebrating 100 Families Oakland and make art with others from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“A Rose Has No Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Growing Hunger: The Struggle of Small Farmers in the 21st Centruy” Artist talk at 2 p.m. in the 3rd flr Community Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. through April 18. 981-6241. 

Michael Kammen, author of “Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture” will talk and show slides at 5 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“California Landscape” Paintings by Jeff Levitch Artists Talk at 3 p.m. at ASUC Art Studio Gallery, Lower Spoul Plaza, UC Campus. 642-3065. 

Sylvia Boorstein, author of “Pay Attention for Goodness’ Sake: The Buddhist Past of Kindness” and Edie Hartshorne, author of “Light in Blue Shadows” in conversation with Arisika Razak, and Betsy Rose at 7 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Clare Langley-Hawthone reads from her mystery novel “The Consequenses of Sin” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera Company “The Seraglio” at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300.  

“Jazz at the Chimes” with John Calloway at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave. Oakland. Tickets are $10. 228-3218. 

Chamber Music Sundaes, San Francisco Symphony musicians and friends, at 3 p.m. at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $18-$22. 415-753-2792. www.chambermusicsundaes.org  

Jeanne Stark-Iochmans, pianist, at 4 p.m. at Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Tickets are $30-$40. 601-7919. www.fourseasonsconcerts.com 

“Spirituals and the African/ 

American Experience” with soloist Marilyn Reynolds at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway, Oakland. Suggested donation $10. 444-3555. 

Ricks Knudson, piano, works by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, Rachmaninoff at 4 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Free. 849-2103. 

Univ. of Chicago Motet Choir Concert at 7:30 p.m. at Lakeshore Babtist Church, 3534 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Free. 893-2484. 

Cantare Con Vivo perform Maurice Durufle’s “Requiem” at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $25. 925-798-1300. 

Classic Jungle Jazz Piano Concert with Seth Montfort, at 5:30 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $15. 415-362-6080. 

Cantabile Chorale Rachmoninoff’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $6-$25. 650-424-1410. www.cantabile.org 

Alfred Brendel, piano, at 5 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $38-$76. 642-9988. 

Jewish Music Festival “Diaspora Blues” with Steven Bernstein and Peter Apfelbaum at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $20-$25. 800-838-3006. www.jewishmusicfestival.org 

Jewish Music with Baguette Quartet members Odile Lavault, accordion and Rachel Duling, violin, at 1 p.m. at Afikomen Judaica, 3042 Claremont Ave. 

Fundraiser for Young People’s Symphony Orchestra with Phil Lesh at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $75. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Robin and Linda Williams at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Claudia Gomez & Her Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 19 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

PlayGround Six emerging playwrights debut new works at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $18. 415-704-3177. 

Allan Brandt describes “The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Page to Stage A conversation with playwright Adele Edling Shank at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. 647-2949. 

Bill McKibben and Michael Pollan in Conversation on McKibben’s new book “Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and The Durable Future” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$12. 415-255-7296, ext. 253. w 

G.P. Skratz and Summer Brenner read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Jacob Needleman talks about “Why Can’t We Be Good?” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Poetry Express with Lenore Weiss at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Katherine Heater and Friends, viola de gamba and harpsichord at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

Palor Tango at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

West Coast Songwriters Showcase at 7:30 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5. 548-1761  

Ralph Alessi & This Against That, featuring Ravi Coltrane, Ben Street, Andy Milne and Gerald Cleaver at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, MARCH 20 

CHILDREN 

Magician and Comedian Timothy James at 6:30 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. For ages 3 and up. 524-3043. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“City of Walls, City of People” The urban experience in Oakland, CA, and Venice, Italy, a collaboration with California College of the Arts, and Istituto Universitario di Architettura, Design e Arti, in Venice, on display at Pro Arts, 550 Second St., Oakland. 763-9425. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

David Batstone discusses “Not For Sale: the Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It” at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $10. 559-9500 

Joe Boyd reads from “White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Zydeco Flames at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Athena Tergis, John Doyle & Mick Moloney at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Beep at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Terrence Brewer at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

 

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 

EXHIBITIONS 

Youth Arts Festival Annual exhibition of artwork from Berkeley’s K-8 public school students at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. 644-9873. 

Honoring César Chavez Poster Exhibition on display at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., Through April 23. 981-6100. 

FILM 

Film 50: History of Cinema “Persona” with a lecture by Marilyn Fabe at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Asian America Film Festival “Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors” with director Hong Sang-soo in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is TBA. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kemble Scott introduces his new novel “SOMA” set in San Francisco, at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Cafe Poetry and open mic, hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Berkeley Poetry Slam on the Jewish Diaspora at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Whiskey Brothers Old Time and Bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

UC Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Orquestra Bakan at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Matt Lucas at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Justin Hellman Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Greg Brown at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $35.50-$36.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Francisco Aguabella at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, MARCH 22 

EXHIBITIONS 

“A Rose Has No Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s” Guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

“Somebody” The New World of Figurative Art Works by seven artists exploring the human form at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. 

FILM 

Women’s HerStory Film Series “Water” at noon at 4 p.m. at Laney College Forum, 900 Fallon St. http://laney.peralta.edu/womensherstorymonth 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Homelands: Women’s Journeys Across Race, Place and Time” reading with Patricia Tumang and Jenesha de Rivera at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Spoken Word Swap Meet at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Megan Seely discusses “Fight Like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Susannah Patton and Laura McPhee describe Flaubert’s Normany and Matisse’s South of France at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Rebecca Chiyoko King-O'Riain on “Pure Beauty: Judging Race in Japanese American Beauty Pageants” at 4 p.m. at Center for Race & Gender, 642 Barrows Hall #1074, UC Campus. 643-848. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

New Century Chamber Orchestra at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $28-$42. 415-357-1111. 

Jewish Music Festival “Aires de Sepharad” at 8 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St.. Tickets are $20-$25. 800-838-3006. www.jewishmusicfestival.org 

“The Josquin Singers” Lenten Music from the Byzantine and Slavic traditions at 7:30 p.m. at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension, 4700 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $15. 868-0695. www.bayareabach.org 

The KTO Project and Aluna at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Peter Mulvey at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Pete Yellin Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

YBSC, Latin jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Los Nadies, Seth Newton, Luke Newton at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Rico Pabon, CD release party at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Mundaze at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Headnodic & Raashan Ahmad at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

The Music Lovers, The Hot Toddies, at 8:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Rachelle Ferrell at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $26-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 


Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay

Friday March 16, 2007

MAGICIAN CHIN-CHIN IN EMERYVILLE 

 

Chinese-Korean-American magician Chin-Chin sports a fire-red hair-do (both the hair and red are good luck to Chinese), white vinyl tails as formal wear and performs his magic to electronic music and hip-hop, featuring his florescent red birds. At 25, Chin-Chin is the only competitor ever to win three Stage Magician of the Year awards from SF Conjurors. The Montclair resident also placed in the top 10 at the International Brotherhood of Magicians convention in Miami. He’ll open his show, Chin-Checked, 8 p.m. this Saturday at the Willie Mays Skybox in Emeryville. 21 and over only. Tickets and information are available at www.chin-chin.com. 

 

‘ALL ABOUT EVE’ AT THE CERRITO THEATER 

 

Bette Davis stars in All About Eve this weekend as part of the Cerrito Theater’s classic film series. The film, written and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, won the Best Picture Academy Award in 1950. 6 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday. x 10070 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. www.picturepubpizza.com.  

 

FREE-JAZZ FRIDAYS AT THE JAZZ HOUSE 

 

The Troublemaker’s Union performs today (Friday) as part of the Jazz House “free jazz” series on the first and third Friday of every month. The show is 8 p.m. at 1510 8th St., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$15 sliding scale. The show is a tribute to Women’s History Month, featuring an experimental mix of Caribbean, South American, African American and north and west African sounds, deconstructed and reformulated as free jazz. For details, www.TheJazzHouse.com


Jazz Legend Randy Weston at Yoshi’s

By Ira Steingroot, Special to the Planet
Friday March 16, 2007

Randy Weston—jazz pianist, composer, bandleader—turned 80 last year. Along with a few other generation be-boppers, such as Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones, Jimmy Heath and Benny Golson, he is one of the last survivors from the halcyon days of what was then being called modern jazz. 

Weston studied with Thelonious Monk at Monk’s apartment in the late ’40s. He sat and listened for three years while Monk played his eccentric, boppy, poignant style of Harlem stride piano. He remembers that Monk had a photo of Billie Holiday on the ceiling above his piano that served the purpose of a Greek Orthodox icon. From Monk he learned that conventional virtuosity was not all there was to playing jazz piano.  

Weston’s piano style is closer to Monk’s manner than any other jazz pianist, but with his own personal rhythmic and harmonic take on that style. He is like a Monk from an alternate universe or the son of Monk. He also learned from Ellington, Basie, Nat King Cole and Art Tatum. From Tatum he learned that conventional virtuosity was still a part of playing jazz piano. 

Weston’s task, and that of the whole second generation of boppers, was to synthesize and give system to the mercurial innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Sonny Rollins and Max Roach, Charlie Mingus and Sun Ra all responded to this task in their own unique ways. All of them, and many other jazz musicians throughout the history of this music, have shown an interest in the music of Africa. For the last 45 years Weston has applied what he received from Monk, Diz and Bird, especially Monk’s practice of thematic improvisation, to his study and work with African music and musicians.  

He first went to Africa in 1961 when he played in Lagos, Nigeria. He returned to Lagos two years later and in 1967 took his sextet across the whole continent. The next year he settled in Rabat, Morocco playing an increasingly African influenced music with his trio in a nightclub he ran through 1972.  

He learned that the piano, besides being capable of playing the harmonic and melodic complexities of a Mozart sonata, could also be a drum, a pitched percussion instrument. A wealth of classic compositions, including such jazz standards as Little Niles, Berkshire Blues, The Healers, Blue Moses and Hi-fly, were the fruit of that knowledge. Among a wealth of brilliant recordings, he has summed up his American roots with beautiful tribute albums to his heroes, Monk and Duke Ellington. Last spring, to celebrate his 80th birthday, he brought the Gnawa Master Musicians of Morocco with him for the SFJAZZ Festival, combining the power of Islamic Sufi mysticism with the jazz musicians’ voodoo mysticism.  

For his current gig, he is joined by tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, a long-time colleague. Harper has also worked extensively with Art Blakey, Max Roach and Elvin Jones, all of whom had a deep interest in African rhythms and percussion. Although Weston has played in concert in the Bay Area not infrequently over the last few years, this will be his first club date locally in a long time. The combination of Weston with a hard-edged reed player like Harper in the intimate setting of a jazz nightclub harks back to the good old days when hard bop was heard every night in Lower Manhattan at places like Slug’s and the Five Spot. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear and don’t miss this modern jazz master. 

 

 

Randy Weston, along with tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, will perform two shows daily Friday through Sunday at Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. For more information, call 238-9200 or visit www.yoshis.com. 

 

Photograph: Jazz legend Randy Weston is one of the last survivors of the halcyon days of modern jazz. He performs this weekend at Yoshi’s in Oakland.


Berkeley Opera Reinvents ‘Seraglio’ at Morgan Center

By Olivia Stapp, Special to the Planet
Friday March 16, 2007

Mozart purists should not expect Berkeley Opera’s new production, Seraglio, to have much resemblance to the renowned opera The Abduction From The Seraglio. Nothing in this rendition follows the original except the music.  

The opera has been pushed across genre boundaries and become an immiscible dichotomy of clashing forms. Mozart’s plot is reinvented, updated, and made “relevant” by the use of street slang and hip lyrics. Characters are added: an invisible dog and a “cheeky” child. The directors, carried away by their own unconstrained enthusiasm, have taken a musical creation that reflects the rationality and elegance of the Enlightenment and superimposed upon it a text and plot that relies too heavily on chaos and vulgarity.  

Jonathan Khuner, Ross Halper, and Amanda Moody set about to “reinvent” the master’s work, reframing the characters, the period, and the locale. Granting that the original, though musically superb, has a libretto that, for our modern sensibilities, seems stilted and boring, still, how far should one go in trying to spruce it up?  

Here, the seraglio is not a harem but a whorehouse; the time is in a future post-petroleum world in which “oil is over, money is over, gold is over.” The characters reflect a bleakness usually associated with the rough Brechtian style. They are caught in a futureless trap in which the only remaining currency is pleasure. Yet here no one smiles and the Prima Donna is perpetually stoned. The Primo Tenore, the romantic lead, is the food editor of a defunct national newspaper. The cast looks like scrappy leftovers from The Three Penny Opera spouting a text that would be more appropriate in a Mel Brooks movie.  

Each disparate element by itself has some degree of value: The music remains, of course, a triumph of logic and equipoise, the text is at times indeed witty, and the plot certainly uniformly weird. The zany confusion onstage is augmented by an imaginary dog that eats drinks and defecates (imaginary stuff) onstage. Osmin scoops the excrement in a plastic bag, and flings it about, at one point looking like he is aiming it squarely at the conductor’s head!  

Saddled with this juvenility the performers nevertheless give their all. Maestro George Thompson, a top notch conductor, kept the performance under control with a firm hand. After a rough start, the orchestra pulled it together, and the Maestro was able to evince poised rhythms, especially important for the great bravura arias of Connie and Osmin. The cast was uniformly good. Soprano Sheila Wiley, as Connie, the journalist being held prisoner in the Seraglio, displayed a clear well articulated voice.  

Blondie (Ann Moss), described in the program as “a seraglio kitten,” sang and acted with verve: her agility and high voice impressive. Andrew Truitt, Brian Thorsett, and Roger McCracken, (Beau, Pedrillo and Osmin, respectively) displayed vocal assuredness and theatrical know-how. All in all it was a strong lively cast. One can only lament not being able to listen more attentively, given the incessant distraction of the flood of unexpectedly pungent surtitles.  

The excellent actor Armand Blasi played Gorgeous Jerome, described in the program as “previously a CEO of an international oil firm … now the feared boss of the oldest trade on earth … including other amusements, at his own establishment, The Seraglio.” Bald, wearing a long red robe, with white satin pants and a lace collar, he was a convincingly depraved figure. His blank faced cynicism was reminiscent of a Christopher Walken character.  

 

SERAGLIO 

Presented by the Berkeley Opera at 8 p.m. Friday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the  

Julia Morgan Center, 2640 College Ave. 

(925) 798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org.


The Theater; Virago Theatre Brings Kessler’s ‘Orphans’ to Alameda

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday March 16, 2007

Phillip and Treat are orphans, abandoned by their father when little, bereaved by their mother’s more recent death. But they still constitute a kind of nuclear family, however abbreviated and dysfunctional: Treat’s the breadwinner, a petty criminal who watches out for his little brother by keeping the allergic couchpotato Phillip indoors in their North Philadelphia tenement row house, with windows shut, subsisting mostly on tuna sandwiches (Phillip’s a gourmand of mayonnaise).  

One night, Treat brings home a middle-aged drunk, an attache-case-wielding businessman, apparently quite a character, who sees in Treat a new edition of The Dead End Kids that Harold (the drunk) used to watch in movie matinees as a kid in Chicago. Finding a wad of stock certificates in the case, Treat decides to keep Harold on the premises and ransom him through his associates. But the morning after proves more than a hangover: it turns out that Treat’s abducted a King Orphan, more streetwise—and just wise, in every sense—than the feral Philly boy. The tables are turned, and Harold sets about making an orphans’ home out of his seeming prison and captors, part of his project to orphanize the world. 

That’s the set-up to Lyle Kessler’s Orphans, which Robert Lundy-Paine has directed for Virago Theatre Co. at BridgeHead Studio, right off the Park Street Bridge in Alameda—a funny, perceptive, eerily engrossing chamber play. 

The claustrophobic little utopia that develops is a true Platonic republic, but standing on its head, kind of Sociology 101 upside down. Many are the lessons and the rewards the brothers are subject to—including Pierre Cardin suits (“Peer Card-In,” in Treatspeak), pale yellow loafers, bouillabaise (“I speak the French language now,” avers Phillip) and, more homey, “a slice” of corned beef, suitable for a Dead End Kid, Harold’s model citizen. 

But there are tests and trials as well. Treat’s violent streak casts a shadow over developments, and Harold runs him through the wringer to squeeze his sense of injured pride and thwarted justice out of him, so he can attain the poise necessary to be a businessman in Harold’s shadowy dealings. 

Robert Hamm, a familiar face on East Bay stages, is just the guy for the role of Harold: the kind of actor who consistently brings unusual, divided characters to life. He maintains Harold’s strange incognito best in moments of reminiscence, of openness and professed identity with the clueless boys who hold him—whom he holds. There are wry moments, half tender, half absurd, as when Harold teaches shut-in Phillip what a shoehorn is. 

Alec Mathieson plays Phillip with the naturalness of a kid who has only known the unnatural, only knowing of the world through late night TV. An eighth grader in Alameda, he already has a background in opera and musical theater, undoubtedly a reason why his portrayal of Phillip beginning to discover what’s outside the row house is such a mature one, capturing the precocious young man who’s as inexperienced as a little boy. 

As Treat, Kenneth Sears is intense, menacing—and terribly funny, making his character at times into an almost slapstick crook from those old serials Harold keeps recalling. His emotional outburst, a first for Treat, at the conclusion, is prolonged nicely, bringing the play back to reality yet skirting the sentimentality the script approaches at that crucial point. 

Virago specializes in making a sort of site-specific production; last year’s revival of The Threepenny Opera, gained much of its offbeat charm from the toe-to-toe audience contact and the archival oddity of the old upstairs fraternal hall (also in Alameda) it was played in. Orphans capitalizes on its location, too; spectators feel they’re somewhere just out of town, in the rundown fringe, a nearby but half-forgotten world.  

 

ORPHANS 

Presented by the Virago Theatre at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through March 31 at Bridgehead Studio, 2516 Blanding Ave., Alameda. $10-$15.  

(415) 439-2456. www.viragotheatre.org.


East Bay Then and Now: Guy Hyde Chick, the Man Behind the House

By Daniella Thompson
Friday March 16, 2007

Guy Hyde Chick is the kind of name one doesn’t forget easily. In addition to its catchy concatenation of consonants, the name stands for one of Bernard Maybeck’s most famous houses. But what of the man who built the house? This shadowy figure, now all but forgotten, once played a visible role in Berkeley’s public life. 

Guy was born in 1868 in California to George Chick and Florence Hyde. His father hailed from Maine, his mother from Wisconsin. Little is known about the father, a real-estate agent who was usually absent when the census takers came around (and in Seattle, where the family lived throughout Guy’s childhood and adolescence, they came around annually). Guy was the eldest of three Chick boys, all recorded as born in California. 

The Chicks first appeared in the Berkeley directory in 1889, when Guy was a UC engineering student. Mother and sons lived on Chapel Street between Bancroft and Allston Ways—current site of UC’s Spieker Aquatic Complex. By 1891, Florence had bought a house at 2611 Durant Ave. near Bowditch, on a site now occupied by the UC Berkeley Art Museum. 

Following graduation, Guy went to work for the city as superintendent of streets, a position once held by contractor A.H. Broad. Here he became close to the city engineer, Charles L. Huggins—so close, in fact, that when Guy married Cora Mott in 1899, the young couple moved into the Huggins home at 2313 Channing Way. 

They didn’t remain there long. Guy assumed a new position as manager of Anthony Chabot’s Contra Costa Water Company, Berkeley Branch, with an office at 2142 Shattuck Ave. The new job made possible a new home at 1833 Arch Street, between Hearst and Virginia. The only other house on the block was occupied by the well-known geologist and geographer Harold Wellman Fairbanks. 

The Northside around the turn of the century was a heady place dominated by the Hillside Club and its myriad cultural activities. That the Chicks became active members is evident from the club’s minutes for December 12, 1903, which report that Mr. Chick, along with Mr. Coxhead, Mr. Maybeck, and Mr. Arthur Bolton, was appointed to a committee to draw up plans for laying out the intersection of La Loma and Le Conte Avenues. 

The committee appointment was entirely appropriate. Chick was by then not only a civil engineer but the president of the Contra Costa Construction Company, which engaged in street and road building in Berkeley and far beyond. The secretary and treasurer was Cora Chick’s brother, George Morgan Mott, Jr. 

In October 1904, Chick joined his neighbor Harold Fairbanks and Daley’s Scenic Park developer Frank M. Wilson in a petition to ameliorate the steep grade of the 1800 block of Arch Street by dividing it into two roadways. Wilson, who had sold the hilltop property now occupied by the Pacific School of Religion to Phoebe Apperson Hearst, was planning to repurchase it and reopen Daley Avenue (now Ridge Road) through to Arch Street. The petitioners’ request went nowhere; Ridge Road still ends at the top of Holy Hill, and pedestrian access to Arch St. is provided via a double stairway hugging a lion’s head fountain (now dry). 

Two months following the petition, Chick almost lost his life, tumbling down a 15-foot sewer ditch while supervising the laying of the 25th Street sewer in Oakland. Fortunately, the accident occurred near Fabiola Hospital, where Chick’s broken foot was treated. 

When the Hillside Club contemplated the construction of a clubhouse in September 1905, Chick was appointed to a five-member committee that would select a suitable site. To finance the building, the club intended to form itself into a corporation, with each of the 125 members purchasing stock. The committee dispatched its business so rapidly that a mere two months later, a lot had already been purchased, Maybeck had perfected the building’s design, and the newspapers were reporting that construction was soon to begin. 

Another committee in which Chick participated was an investigative body headed by John Galen Howard that analyzed the damaged Berkeley High School in June 1906. 

The San Francisco earthquake and fire drove many refugees into the East Bay, sparking a real-estate boom. Chick took advantage of the opportunity by forming the Chick, Sittig & Co. real-estate firm. Cora’s father and brother were treasurer and secretary, respectively. The newly built houses Chick, Sittig & Co. listed were often touted as available with “sidewalks and street work done.” 

By 1910, Chick and the two Motts had founded a third company, Contra Costa Building Materials Co., which they ran concurrently with the construction company. Flush with success, Chick and his brother-in-law turned their attention to building adjacent dream homes. In May 1913, George Mott, Jr. purchased close to two acres in Kellersberger Plot 72, Oakland Township, from Catharine Janssen Heimbold, widow of Julius Heimbold, who had bought the land from the Hibernia Savings & Loan Society in 1888. 

For the design of his new house, Chick naturally turned to Hillside Club guru Maybeck. The location, at 7133 Chabot Road, was a canyon upslope abounding in ancient oaks. The architect positioned the house parallel to the hillside, between terraces above and below. The shingled building is crowned with a broad, generously trellised gable roof. Enormous glass doors bring the outdoors into the elegant ground-floor rooms, where zen views delight the eye at every turn, and grand spaces are arranged for flowing connectivity. 

According to the building permit of Sept. 22, 1914, the house was built by Chick’s Contra Costa Construction Company. The architectural firm of Maybeck & White provided six pages of typed specifications plus a handwritten page of detailed color specifications. The plaster ceiling porch of kitchen was to be blue; the rafters, red; the roof corbels, green; roof soffits, yellow; bay and balcony soffits, red; four-by-tens, green; board-and-batten at the rear entrance, red and varnished, front door, Prussian blue. Cora Chick was doubtful about the color combination, finding it too bright, but Maybeck assured her that “in twenty years it will be beautiful.” Ninety-two years later, it still is. 

The Chicks and their five children enjoyed their house for a mere half-dozen years. Construction contracts signed before the US entry into World War One came due after the war. Prices had shot up in the interval, forcing the Contra Costa Construction Company out of business. Both Chick and Mott Jr. sold their Chabot Road properties and moved out of town. Mott Sr. retained the building materials firm and his house at 1516 Hawthorne Terrace. 

George Mott, Jr. moved to Rio Linda in northern Sacramento County and became a fruit farmer. He is remembered as “the father of the Rio Linda Fire Department” for helping to form the Rio Linda Fire District in May 1923. A few months later, his father’s Hawthorne Terrace house turned to ashes in the Berkeley fire, and Mott Sr. retired to his Nevada City country house. 

The Chicks relocated to Napa, but homesickness got the better of them. Within a couple of years they returned to the East Bay, settling at 6437 Colby Street. Guy established a real-estate and insurance company at 2140 Shattuck Ave., which he later moved to the Hutchinson Bldg. at 1706 Broadway, Oakland. 

Guy Hyde Chick was last listed in the directory in 1933. The following year, Cora was listed as his widow. She lived until 1950, spending her last decade at 3016 Avalon Ave., a fine house designed by Henry Gutterson in 1915. Upon her death, it passed to her son Gilbert, who owned it until his death in 1968. 

The former Chick house on Chabot Road changed hands many times. Since 1979, it’s been the home of art dealer Foster Goldstrom, who takes delight in generously sharing it with architecture lovers. The house almost came to perdition during the Oakland Hills fire of 1991. It was saved through the efforts of three firemen, who had to choose one house to protect. They chose very well indeed. 

 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

 

 

Photograph by Daniella Thompson. Quatrefoils on the balcony over the rear entrance at 7133 Chabot Road, Oakland. 

 


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday March 16, 2007

Too Many Valves? 

 

Since Contra Costa County passed the ordinance requiring the installation of automatic shut-off valves in homes being sold (in unincorporated areas), I have heard from a good number of Realtors and homeowners who are complaining that the County went overboard.  

The controversy? The County requires a valve at the outside meter, either of the seismic, or “shaking” variety, or the “excess flow” type valve. Either one will do a fine job of turning off the gas to a home during a serious quake—although they act in different ways. This makes sense to everyone. The County, however, also requires excess flow valves on every gas appliance inside the home (fireplaces excepted). This is redundancy and will cost homeowners much more than just having an outside valve put in.  

Companies like us stand to make more money from this—but we can’t help but wonder: is this over-kill? How is this relevant in Berkeley? I predict that Contra Costa County is just the first governmental entity in the Bay Area to do this: more will follow. Hopefully, the Berkeley City Council will enact a similar ordinance, but without the redundancy of valves.  

 

 

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service. Call him at 558-3299, or visit www.quakeprepare.com.


About the House: Ask Matt: How to Find Ways to Lift Your Spirits

By Matt Cantor
Friday March 16, 2007

Mr. Cantor, What do you think about lifting the shell of a house and building a new first floor under it? 

Our home needs a new foundation, and if it needs to be lifted three inches for that process, why not lift it ten feet and three inches? Our floor plan is already buggered up, and there is room for a stairway. Are there zoning issues? Height limits? I think the current footprint is pretty close to the property line. As a related aside, how does one find out the basic rules for additions in Berkeley vis-a-vis setbacks, pop-ups, etc. It seems to vary from job to job. 

Thanks, 

Anonymous 

 

Dear Anonymous, 

Did you hear about the woman who added a story to her liquor store? Yea, she wanted to lift her spirits! 

Thanks for the great question. My readers are so darned smart. It’s most gratifying (and saves me the trouble of thinking up subjects). 

It’s interesting that the lifting of a house for foundation replacement isn’t very different from lifting a house for the addition of another level of living space. There is some cost difference but it’s not significant, perhaps $5,000 for a smallish house but that’s not much when you consider the real and financial impact of a job of this import. It may seem surprising but the task of lifting a house 3 inches isn’t much less work that lifting a house 10 feet. 

When we’re faced with the sad reality of having to replace a foundation, it’s always worth asking whether the replacement should include elevating the house. Now, all houses aren’t well suited to this exercise but many are. And the first question in determining which is the case is to look at the issue of density. 

Yes, I am dense but that’s not the issue. It’s the density of our neighborhoods that we should be looking at. Neighborhood density has been a political hot-button issue for as long as city councils have been sitting on their exasperating little demi-thrones and our fairest of cities is no exception, meters and all. 

Nonetheless, I do consider city and neighborhood density to be an important consideration and I’ll be frank. I favor higher density. Berkeley, as one example has held to a very low density (by urban standards) for many years and while I can understand the desire to preserve older buildings and to control parking mayhem, there are ways to manage these issues while increasing density. If we don’t we’re consigned to ever increasing urban sprawl and the loss of wild undeveloped land. Also, higher density is green, assuming you do it properly. New York City is one of America’s greenest cities precisely because of its very high density and the low number of cars per capita. But I digress. 

Adding a story means that you will be greatly increasing the square footage of your home and in many cases, doubling it. Your local zoning department should be consulted before you’ve invested very much thought in such a project and also well in advance of your foundation replacement. If you do not currently have proper setbacks (the distance from your house to the fences and sidewalk boundaries), you may be considered to be “existing non-conforming” by your zoning official (you should in response call them “exasperating non-comforting” but never to their faces). 

This designation can mean that the normal allowances for expansion may be withheld in your case but these issues are often complex and negotiations are often successful within some limits. The important thing is to open and maintain a conversation with your zoning official. All joking aside, the zoning official can be exceedingly helpful and most are quite reasonable within the strictures of their department rules, so it’s a good idea to be friendly and play ball. 

I’ll even go a step further and suggest that you come to this expert with a very rough plan and ask them how they would approach the expansion process, particularly if there are non-conforming features to contend with. If you give them a little elbow room, you can get amazing help and sometimes even free design advise. Now, I’m not suggesting that you give away the farm but a little open-mindedness in the early stages can be a great asset. 

If your property is zoned to allow for significant expansion and you have the go-ahead for an enlargement, it’s best to proceed with drawings produced by an architect. 

In fact, the last bit regarding zoning negotiations can also be done by an architect and many know the ropes better than thee or me and can save some tears. That said, the exploratory phase can be undertaken by any sturdy individual. Remember, don’t argue. Ask, negotiate, explore but don’t fight. These folks get a lot of squabbling and you’ll gain nothing by losing your temper. 

If there are questions about the amount of square footage that can be added to the dwelling given lot size and the site zoning limit, the new lower floor can sometimes be apportioned to non-habitable functions such as parking or storage. 

Many a house has been given a garage through this lofty upgrade and sometimes it allows the addition an apartment when lack of parking has been the constraining condition. I recently saw a house-jacking (no, they didn’t steal it) where two garages were being added to the front lower level and it was clear that this was part of a second unit addition. Again, the zoning needs to allow these changes but this can be a way to increase density and income. 

In the case noted above, some special seismic modifications also needed to be included since most of the front wall of the, now two-story building was tossed away and the loss of “shear” or resistance to bending needed to be augmented in that front wall. The point one can take from this observation is that lifting houses often involves some re-engineering or other complication; i.e., there is no free lunch. 

However, lifting a house when the foundation needs to be replaced is an awful lot like a free lunch. You can often get a two-for-one through this process, especially if you think out the requirements and your needs in the process. 

There are a few wonderful things about this project. One is that you don’t need two roofs for the two stories you’ll now have (assuming your lifting a one-story house), the one you have will be just fine.  

Another is that the fine details often seen on older houses get to be thrust upward to greater notice while the simpler details often found in newer construction (which are easier to effect) can be placed closer to the ground. 

Good architectural practice is to place the small, more complex and finer details higher up and simpler, weightier details closer to the ground. This is often referred to as “grounding.” 

People sometimes ask if one can live in a house during this process and the answer is yes, with some serious provisions. First, I would never stay in the house during the lifting process and secondly, plumbing connections are broken and must be temporarily reconnected once the house has been elevated, so a delay should be expected (most electrical systems remain where there are at least for the short-term since they tend to connect by long flexible “drops” from the street. 

Eventually the main panel will have to be relocated). Lastly, when a house is pushed up in the air, access becomes something of an issue and new stairways are needed to provide access. It may be best to allow for some construction to be completed prior to reinhabiting the dwelling. If you’re lifting a house a short distance for a foundation replacement without adding a story, it’s virtually always fine to stay in the home. 

So there are a few thoughts on this most fruitful of building adventures. Naturally, there’s a great deal more to say about any specific project but I do feel that these are worthwhile gains to seek when the arduous and expensive undertaking of foundation replacement is needed.  

A tip I would like to offer is that if you are ever faced with a foundation replacement and consider the addition of a story out of reach for the time being, it’s a really good idea to have your contractor install two-story foundation anyway. That way, when you or the next owner is ready to push the building up and add that extra space, the foundation won’t have to be replaced again (foundation being size for the number of floors they support). 

I would also like to say to all my dear neighbors that I hope that you will support these projects as you would expect other to support yours and not opposed growth or construction on principle. 

Berkeley was once farmland and before that a wild home for Olone, birds and beasts. Growth came and it looks pretty good. I believe that our Urbanness is exciting and lively and that thoughtful, intelligent growth can make us greener. Perhaps we can get dense enough to bring those trolley cars back. Now wouldn’t that be progress! 

 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net.


Berkeley This Week

Friday March 16, 2007

FRIDAY, MARCH 16 

Interfaith Candelight Prayer Vigil for the 4th Anniversary of the US occupation of Iraq at 5 p.m., at First Congregational Church lawn on Dana St. 

“Killowat Ours” a documentary on our use of electricity, and “The Vineyard Energy Project” at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., midtown Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

“Blowin’ in the Wind” A documentary on depleted uranium by David Bradbury at 5 p.m. 215 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. 415-485-9528. http://ucnuclearfree.org 

“Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California” with author Ruth Wilson Gilmore at 6 p.m. at Uptown Body & Fender, 401 26th St., Oakland. 444-0484. 

Rakkasah West: Middle Eastern Folk Festival from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Richmond Auditorium, Richmond. Tickets are $12. Festival continues all day Sat. and Sun. www.rakkasah.com/west 

Seldom Seen Acting Company, a group of homeless actors who share their life stories through theater perform at 10:30 a.m. at The SVdP Downtown Services Center, 675 23rd St., Oakland. To RSVP call Christine at 636-4255.  

Free Diabetes Screening from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center. Do not eat or drink anything for 8 hours beforehand. 981-5332. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Fed Collignon on “Famous Berkelyans in the Arts” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“Who Killed the Electric Car?” a documentary followed by discussion at 6:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. 

“Globalization in Africa: The Catholic Church’s Response” with Rev. Dr. Patrick Kalilombe from Malawi at 7 p.m. at JSTB, GTU, 1735 Leroy Ave. Followed by symposium on Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 549-5028. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 17 

Unclothed Oak Grove Photo Shoot with photographer Jack Gescheidt at 10 a.m. at the Memorial Oak Grove. All welcome. for more information on the photographer see www.treespirit.com www.saveoaks.com 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (BANA) meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Sproul Room, 2727 College Ave. All welcome.  

Discussion on Health Care Reform with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, Assemblymembers Loni Hancock, Fabian Nuñez, Sandre Swanson and others at 9:30 a.m. at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza. 

St. Patrick and the Snakes Learn the story of St. Patrick and meet our snake at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Canoe at Arrowhead Marsh in Oakland with Save the Bay. From 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Cost is $30-$40. To register call 452-9261, ext. 109. 

Tinkers Workshop Spring Used Bike Sale at 84 Bolivar Drive, West Berkeley. All types of bikes available, and proceeds benefit Tinkers Workshop programs form youth. www.tinkersworkshop.org 

“Starve War, Feed Peace” Fourth Anniversary March and Rally Against the War, in Walnut Creek. Progressive Democrats of the East Bay will meet at 11 a.m. at the Walnut Creek BART and march to Civic Park, Civic and Broadway, for a noon rally. 925-933-7850. 

Mt. Wanda Wildflower Walk Join a Park Ranger for a walk in the hills where John Muir took his daughters. Terrain is steep, wear walking shoes and bring water. Rain cancels. Meet at 9 a.m. at the Cal-Trans Park and Ride lot at the corner of Alhambra Ave. and Franklin Canyon Rd., Martinez. 925-228-8860. 

81st Annual Poets’ Dinner and Awards with Cheryl Dumesnil, at noon at Francesco’s in Oakland. Tickets are $26-$27. For reservations call 235-0361. 

“The Ground Truth” Iraq war documentary at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. 528-5403. 

Lead-Safe Painting and Remodeling A free class on how to detect and remedy lead hazards in the home, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“Developing Livable Communities” A forum sponsored by Urbanists for a Livable Temescal Rockridge Area, The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and The Sierra Club, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at North Oakland Senior Center, 5714 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, entrance at parking lot at 58th St., Oakland. Please bring a brown bag lunch. Pastries, drinks and other snacks will be provided. 925-376-0727. www.ultraoakland.org 

California Writers Club meets to discuss “A Celebration of Local Color” with Annalee Allen, at 10 a.m. at Barnes and Noble, Jack London Square. 272-0120. 

Rakkasah West: Middle Eastern Folk Festival from 11 a.m to 11 p.m, Sun. from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Richmond Auditorium, Richmond. Tickets are $15. www.rakkasah.com/west 

African Dance Class at 11 a.m. at Black Repertory Group, (Purple Bldg.), 3201 Adeline St. Open to all. Cost is $11. 368-2475. www. 

youmustdance.blogspot.com 

Celebrate Women’s History Month on the USS Hornet Events from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.. Tickets are $6 for children, $14 for adults. The Hornet is berthed at 707 W Hornet Ave., Pier 3, Alameda. 521-8448, ext. 237. 

Kids Garden Club for ages 6-9 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

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 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

SUNDAY, MARCH 18 

Shoreline Discovery Walk along Lone Tree Point Regional Shoreline with Bethany Facendini, naturalist, from 3 to 4 p.m. Call for meeting place. 525-2233. 

First Signs of Spring A five mile hike in the Crockett Hills from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Meet at the Crockett Ranch Staging Area. Bring water and a lunch. 525-2233. 

“Open Garden” Join the Little Farm gardener for composting, planting, watering and reaping the rewards of our work, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cancelled only by heavy rain. 525-2233. www.ebparks.org 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m., Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby and Stuart. Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. Rain cancels. 526-7377. 

“Dancing Through My Spiritual Journey” with Roger Dillahunty at 9:30 p.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 “Opening to Kum Nye” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 19 

Iraq War Anniversary Vigils at 5:30 p.m. at the Rockridge BART, at 6 p.m. at Live Oak Park, and at University and San Pablo, and at Shattuck and Cedar, and at 7 p.m. at The Alameda btwn Solano and Marin. 

Berkeley Partners for Parks presents a panel of local grant-givers to help aspiring activists start and fund community projects at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Works Green Room, 1326 Allston (below Acton). 848-9358.  

Bill McKibben and Michael Pollan in Conversation on McKibben’s new book “Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and The Durable Future” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$12. 415-255-7296, ext. 253. www.globalexchange.org 

Women for Peace with Loulena Miles, staff attorney for TriValley CAREs at 10 a.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. 

“The Story of Rosa Parks” video at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 6 to 7 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com (code UCB) 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 20 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Martin Luther King Regional Shoreline. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Sunshine Ordinance for Berkeley Workshop on open government at 5 p.m. at City Council Chambers 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. The public will have time to comment. 981-7170. 

Traditional Ringing of the Berkeley Peace Bell at noon at City Hall. Bring your own bells! 

César Chavez Commemoration with a showing of “No Grapes” at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

Berkeley Garden Club “Brighten Your Garden with Birds” presented by local birding author Pat Bachetti at 2 p.m. at Epworth Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 845-4482. 

Spring Equinox Gathering at the Solar Calendar at 6:30 p.m. in Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. www.solarcalendar.org 

“Slow Is Beautiful: New Visions of Community, Leisure, and Joie de Vivre” with author Cecile Andrews at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. www.hillsideclub.org 

“Food Safety in Oakland” A public hearing with the Food and Drug Administration on recent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses associated with microbial contamination of fresh produce, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Federal Building, 13th St., at Clay, Oakland. 202-314- 4713. isabelle_howes@grad.usda.gov 

“Not For Sale: the Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It” with author David Batstone at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $10. 559-9500. 

“How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US” at 4 p.m. at the IEAS Conference, 2223 Fulton St. 642-2809. 

Free Diabetes Screening from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center. Do not eat or drink anything for 8 hours beforehand. 981-5332. 

“Your Favorite Stress Busters” Discussion at noon at the Herrick Campus of Alta Bates Medical Center, 2001 Dwight Way, Mafly Auditorium. 644-3273.  

“Hiking the Camino de Santiago” Susan Alcorn will show slides of her 400-mile trek along Spain’s ancient pilgrimage route at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Elder Co-Housing presentation at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Oreintation from 6 to 8 p.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 594-5165. 

Discussion Salon on “Nucular” Deterrence at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut.  

ADD & Autism with Dr. Thauna Abrin of Defeat Autism Now at 7:30 p.m. at 828 San Pablo Ave. Ste 115C. RSVP to 282-2104. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 

Teach-In and Vigil Against American Torture every Wed. at noon at Boalt Hall, Bancroft Way at College Ave.  

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds, at 3:15 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Walk, Talk, Buck the Fence What’s at stake in the Ecology of Berkeley’s Strawberry Canyon A walk at 5 p.m. every Wed. with Ignacio Chapela and expert guests to discuss what is at stake in the proposed steps for the filling of the Canyon by the UC-LBL Rad-Labs, and now British Petroleum. http://canyonwalks.blogspot.com  

Spring Hike in Briones from 1 to 4 p.m. to see wildflowers, lagoons, vistas and black oaks. Meet at the Bear Creek Staging Area. 525-2233. 

“Media Bias in the Middle East” with Khaled Abu Toameh, a Jerusalem Post writer, who also wrote for the Palestinian newspaper, at 7:30 p.m. at 60 Evans Hall, UC Campus. 818-419-6500. 

Free Diabetes Screening from 9 to 11 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Do not eat or drink anything for 8 hours beforehand. 981-5332. 

Albany Library Evening Book Club meets to discuss “Tortilla Curtain” by T. Coraghessan Boyle at 7 p.m. at The Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

New to DVD: “Casino Royale” at 7 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. Discussion follows. 848-0237. 

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 and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

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 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 22 

Dedication of the Maudelle Shirek Building at 4:30 p.m. at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. 981-7008. 

“Stopping the Destruction of Our Sierra Nevada Forests” at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Banff Mountain Film Festival Thurs. and Fri. at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $13-$15 available from REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Women’s History Month “Legacy of Visionaries” a lecture on the women who helped form the East By Regional Park, Save Mount Diablo and Save the Bay at 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Registration required. 636-1684. 

“Homelands: Women’s Journeys Across Race, Place and Time” with Patricia Tumang and Jenesha de Rivera at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Easy Does It Emergency Services Board of Directors Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. 

Great Books Discussion Group meets to discuss “Billards at Half-Past Nine” by Heinrich Boll at 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3700, ext. 16. 

Family Story Time for children ages 3-7 at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, North Branch, 1170 The Alameda, at Hopkins. 981-6107. 

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 

ONGOING 

Tax Help at the Berkeley Public Library Sat. from 11:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the South Branch. Call for appointment. 981-6260. Also every Tues. and Thurs. at the West Branch from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. Call for appointment. 981-6270. 

Berkeley Youth Alternatives Girls Basketball Age 15 and under league begins April 11 and 18 and under begins April 13. From 5:30 to 8:30 at Emery High School, 1100 47th St. Emeryville. Cost is $175 per team. 845-9066. www.byaonline.org 

Medical Care for Your Pet at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society low-cost veterinary clinic. 2700 Ninth St. For appointments call 845-3633. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. March 19, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Homeless Commission meets Mon. March 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426.  

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon. March 19, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., March 21, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6601.  

Commission on Aging meets Wed., March 21, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344.  

Commission on Labor meets Wed., March 21, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550. 

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission meets Wed. March 21, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7487. 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., March 21, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5427.  

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., March 21, at 7 p.m. at South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6195.  

Mental Health Commission meets Thurs., March 22, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. Harvey Turek, 981-5213.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., March 22, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410.