Public Comment

Anybody who is unsure about the concept of social engineering should take note: there is an excellent opportunity to see it in action tonight (Tuesday) at the so-called “Community Workshop” on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), sponsored by our city’s Transportation Commission. The announcement for the event states that the commission “welcomes [our] participation,” and then instructs us to “come prepared to engage in a respectful, consensus-building process about the future of Bus Rapid Transit in Southside area of Berkeley.” That all sounds pretty good—after all, who could be against respectful dialog and consensus-building? Well, the members of the Transportation Commission, for starters. It turns out that they do not want any dialog about the most important issue regarding BRT: Do we think it is worth the tremendous disruption to our streets, homes, and businesses to have it here at all? Nor are they interested in the true nature of consensus-building, which involves an honest assessment of the range of community opinion at the very start of the process. 

So, what do they want us to discuss at the meeting? The announcement lists the following: “Route Alignment, Service Features, Station Locations, Station Features, Mitigations, and Joint Benefits.” Whoa, Nellie! In other words, they want us to participate in the workshop as long as we agree with all of their assumptions about the value and necessity of BRT, and we want to help decide the best way to implement it. And then later, they will use this meeting and others to claim that they have done adequate community outreach and the public agrees with them! This is like the sheriff who gives the condemned prisoner a choice of execution methods for his sentence, but neglects to allow him to have a trial on the charges. It is fundamentally unfair. 

If you haven’t been following this issue, you may assume that a vigorous debate must have occurred about BRT—perhaps sponsored by our City Council or AC Transit or an independent group such as the League of Women Voters. Well, it hasn’t. AC Transit planners and city officials have never encouraged any serious discussion of the merits and detriments of this massive and expensive transportation system. And the Transportation Commission has been one of the worst violators of public responsibility in this regard. Indeed, they have practiced their own version of “Decide, Announce, Defend” in handling the issue. They have been unabashed advocates of BRT from the very start, without inviting any community input. Some of them have even been so disingenuous as to claim repeatedly that BRT is a “done deal”: it will be built in Berkeley, they say—the City Council has already agreed to it and there is no way to stop it. This is simply not true. And equally important, their behavior goes against all the traditions of democratic participation in Berkeley.  

In fact, opposition to BRT is growing daily, in part because the Environmental Impact Report shows that it will encourage very few automobile drivers to switch to public transit, and will do little or nothing to help reduce greenhouse gases. Even so, these facts don’t seem to stop supporters from repeating false claims about BRT’s environmental benefits. So, we need to show up at meetings like the one tonight and express our views on the whole BRT question—not just on the narrow terms that the Transportation Commission has set out for us. 

I have taken this opportunity to write the announcement that should have been written for the event, one that favors democratic participation rather than social engineering: 

Bus Rapid Transit: Focus on Southside Berkeley 

Community Workshop 

6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 24.  

2362 Bancroft Way 

Your participation is welcome at our Community Workshop. Please come if you are a resident of Berkeley who cares about this issue, because it will have significant impacts on the entire city. In particular, if you live or own a business in the Southside area, we want you to express your concerns and ask questions. Our primary goals are to increase community awareness about BRT, listen to the views of residents and merchants, and present information about the current state of planning for this system. Everyone is encouraged to attend this event, and there will be substantial time for public comment. 

I hope to see you there. 

Doug Buckwald is a Berkeley activist.