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Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates hailed the unveiling of the new Emeryville site for the $135 million Joint BioEnergy Institute. Photo by Richard Brenneman.
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates hailed the unveiling of the new Emeryville site for the $135 million Joint BioEnergy Institute. Photo by Richard Brenneman.
 

News

Ward Street Community Says No Antennas on UC Storage

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday October 23, 2007

Faced with some 60 neighbors opposing telecommunications antennas proposed for a building at Ward Street and Shattuck Avenue—and armed with signs calling for the recall of the mayor and stating “don’t sell us out”—the Berkeley City Council split Tuesday over whether to uphold the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) decision to deny permits for the antennas at 2721 Shattuck Ave. 

Nextel Communications and Verizon Communications have appealed the June zoning board decision, the second time ZAB has voted to deny Nextel and Verizon permits for the antennas atop the five-story UC Storage building. They have also filed lawsuits, saying the city’s denial violates the 1996 Telecommunications Act. 

The split vote on upholding the zoning board—with councilmembers Max Anderson, Dona Spring and Mayor Tom Bates in support of the ZAB decision, Councilmember Gordon Wozniak in opposition and Councilmembers Linda Maio, Darryl Moore, Laurie Capitelli, Betty Olds and Kriss Worthington abstaining—with no position having mustered the five required votes, buys the council 30 days to either uphold or deny the telecommunications’ companies appeal.  

If no five-vote position for or against the appeal emerges at the council’s Nov. 6 meeting—and no special meeting gets scheduled before the 30-day period is up at which the denial is reversed—the zoning board decision will stand. 

The council addressed the lawsuit in closed session meetings before and after the council meeting, but took no vote on whether to go forward with the suit, according to city spokesperson Mary Kay Clunies-Ross. The closed-door session was continued to Thursday at 5 p.m. The venue has not been set. 

“This is the first time the council has asked good questions,” the community group’s spokesperson Michael Barglow told the council, speaking for a second time at the end of the hearing. “The only reason we’re being taken seriously is because of the Verizon lawsuit,” he added. 

At the opening of the public hearing, Cory Alvin, speaking for Nextel, told the council that the company had reduced the number of antennas from 12 to six and noted that “a third-party review had determined that [the antennas] were necessary for coverage needs.” 

Alvin also underscored that the antennas were planned for a “commercial corridor,” as the city could deny them in a residential area. 

Community members, however, are quick to point out that UC Storage, owned by Piedmont resident Patrick Kennedy, abuts a residential neighborhood. Community speakers called on the city to locate the antennas away from the neighborhood, such as on the fire station, located on the west side of Shattuck Avenue at Derby Street. 

But Paul Albritton, attorney for Verizon, told the council: “There are no nearby sites for co-location.” He went on to ask the council to “look beyond the emotional appeals” of the community. 

Barglow, who lives near the proposed antenna site, spoke on behalf of the neighborhood. “Stand up and lead,” he told the council. 

Addressing the lawsuit, Barglow called on the city to spend the funds necessary to fight the telecommunications companies. He noted that while some city staff believe the lawsuit would cost about $250,000, the community thinks the cost would be less. 

Barglow added the campaign to recall Bates to the mix. The mayor, who was strongly supported by his neighbors in the last elections, lives close to the proposed project. His house was picketed Monday night by about 25 of his neighbors.  

“Some of us are doing the hard work of recalling the mayor,” Barglow said. 

While city insiders asking for anonymity have said Bates supports settlement of the Nextel/Verizon lawsuit, the mayor voted in favor of denying the appeal. 

Another neighbor of the proposed antennas, Christopher Restivo, addressing the council, pointed out that the antennas proposed atop UC Storage were not likely to serve the South Berkeley neighborhood. “If folks in the hills are using cell phones, what antennas are they using?” he asked. 

While allegations of adverse health effects from radiation emitted by the antennas cannot be included in criteria for approval or disapproval of the antennas, according the Telecommunications Act, it was on the minds of both council and community. 

“Could you put aluminum foil to shield their houses?” asked Wozniak, the only councilmember to vote against the ZAB denial of the antennas.  

“Metal blinds would block [the radiation],” the city’s consultant on telecommunications responded. 

Anderson, a registered nurse, who represents the area and made the motion to uphold the zoning board decision, targeted the federal Telecommunications Act’s prohibitions against addressing the health questions. 

“This issue strikes at the heart of our role in the federal government,” he said. “We’re told we have no right to speak out about our health—we’re told to shut up and go away. Nextel and Verizon are not in this city to promote public health.” 

The closed-door session was continued to Thursday at 5 p.m. in the 

Redwood Conference Room on the sixth floor of the city administrative 

building, 2180 Milvia St. The public will be able to address the 

council before the closed session. 


UC Scientists Unveil Emeryville Biofuel Lab

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday October 23, 2007

Scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) joined with officials from two cities and a leading developer Monday to unveil the site of a $135 million biofuel lab. 

Though announced months after BP declared Berkeley the winner of a $500 million corporate biofuel research program, the federal lab will be the first to commence tweaking genes in the drive to turn plants into fuel for planes, trains and automobiles. 

UC officials and officers of the British oil company have yet to sign a final agreement spelling out the details of the more lucrative pact. 

LBNL chemical engineer Jay Keasling, CEO of the new Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and a central figure in the BP program, served as emcee of Monday’s event at EmeryStation East, the new Emeryville building that will house the lab, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to turn plants into transportation fuels. 

Called Jay-bay by cognoscenti, the Emeryville lab will fuse the research efforts of two UC campuses, Berkeley and Davis, with the Carnegie Institution for Science and three UC Berkeley-administered federal energy labs—LBNL, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia.  

“This is a great moment for us,” said Keasling, who said the UC Board of Regents, the DOE and Wareham Development signed the contract for the 65,000-square-foot lab last week.  

The lab, which will open sometime in the spring, occupies the fourth floor of Wareham’s just-finished building at 5885 Hollis St. 

Keasling will also be a familiar figure on the building’s first floor, where his own privately held and patent-seeking biotech company—Amyris Technologies—has just leased a lab of its own. 

That company’s CEO is a former BP vice president hired while UC Berkeley was negotiating the half-billion-dollar Energy Biosciences Institute that the British oil company awarded to the university in February. The firm employs at least three other BP personnel. 

While most biofuel currently in use is corn-derived ethanol, Keasling said JBEI will focus on other plants, including rice straw, switchgrass and Arabidopsis, a plant in the mustard family. 

Keasling said work at the lab will focus on breaking down plant cellulose, drawing on research on microbes found in the gut of the common termite, where they break down wood into digestible sugars that fuel the termite’s ravenous rampages. 

DOE Under Secretary for Science Raymond L. Orbach, a former chancellor of UC Riverside, sent written congratulations, expressing his hope that the center “will become a crucible for transformational discoveries.” 

The George W. Bush administration made biofuel development a major effort of the DOE, declaring alternative energy a matter of national security. 

“I can’t think of a more profound privilege than to be associated with Jay-bay,” said Wareham founder Rich Robbins, whose company has dubbed the building a “center for noble and Nobel research.” 

“This is a very auspicious occasion,” said Emeryville Mayor Nora Davis. 

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates was also on hand, praising the new lab’s work as “a definitive partnership that’s going to be working together to make a difference.” 

Also on hand was the mayor’s City Council colleague, Gordon Wozniak. 

Keasling said the lab wouldn’t be working on corn, the primary source of ethanol—known in the old days as white lightning or corn liquor. 

A controversial crop derivative, ethanol isn’t as efficient as gasoline and can’t be transmitted through pipelines. 

Instead, he said, JBEI will be seeking ways to break down plant cellulose into fuels more similar to petroleum-derived gasoline. 

No lab efforts will focus on genetically modified crops, though the gene-engineering technology developed for working on microbes and on other technologies for breaking down plant cell walls could have later applications for altering plants, he said. 

While most of the research will occur at the Emeryville lab, crop testing is slated for fields at UC Davis, where the ground is more suitable for growing rice. 

The primary microbe slated for gene-tweaking is E. coli, which is found in the guts of most animals. 

Researchers will also be working on organisms found in the multi-chambered digestive systems of cattle, which are assembly lines for breaking down cellulose into food. 

Keasling acknowledged that there are potential conflicts of interests for researchers who have their own private biotech startup companies, and JBEI’s other lead figure, Chris Somerville, has a biofuel-seeking company of his own, Mendel Technology. 

“There are a lot of conflicts,” Keasling said, “and we have to manage those appropriately.” He said the new lab will use the same conflict-handling mechanisms now in place at the university. 

Keasling said the new lab wouldn’t need any significant measures to contain the altered microbes because production “won’t take place in this facility within that five-year period.”


Council Looks At New Hotel; Animal Shelter Likely Off The Agenda

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday October 23, 2007

Although building a second story atop the present animal shelter at 2013 Second St. is on tonight’s (Tuesday) City Council agenda, Councilmember Betty Olds, who served on a now-defunct committee searching for a new shelter, says she’ll ask the council to wait until early next year to make a decision. 

Olds believes a new site for the shelter has been found. She says she’s not ready to reveal the location. 

Also on the agenda for tonight’s meeting, which begins at 7 p.m., is approval of a four-year firefighter contract, hiring consultants for a feasibility study for a downtown hotel, the question of telecommunication antennas at UC Storage and more. 

At 6:30 p.m. the council will hold a work session on the pandemic flu with Dr. Linda Rudolf, head of the city’s public health division. 

 

Animal shelter 

Five years ago Berkeley voters approved a $7.2 million general obligation bond to build an animal shelter. A committee consisting of Councilmembers Betty Olds and Dona Spring, two members of the humane commission and city staff was charged with locating a site. 

“Every time we found some place, something was wrong with it,” Olds told the Planet on Monday.  

An animal shelter needs to be located where neighbors are not going to get upset by barking dogs. According to a city staff report, it should be near a place like Aquatic Park, where the animals can be walked. 

The problem with rebuilding on the site—adding offices and small animal rooms on a second story—is that the foundation at the site has to be raised three feet because of flooding. In addition,the animals will have to be temporarily relocated at a cost of about $1.5 million, Olds said. 

As for the new site, the councilmember added, “It’s not a done deal.” 

 

Firefighters’ contract 

The City Council will be asked to approve a four-year contract for firefighters retroactive to July 2006. If the contract is approved, at the end of the four years the firefighters will have received a 13 percent increase.  

Writing to the City Council, Barbara Gilbert asked the body to look at the effect the increase will have on other city workers. “As you are well aware, the domino effect will occur with the other unions who will be demanding comparable increases,” she wrote. 

Furthermore, Gilbert said in an interview with the Daily Planet on Monday, that she had requested comparative costs, but has yet to receive them. 

In a separate interview Monday, City Manager Phil Kamlarz said he was preparing those figures, which will indicate that the city pays a little higher than the median salary. (The comparative figures were not ready by late Monday afternoon.) 

Kamlarz said 13 percent over four years is the approximate growth in city revenues expected over four years.  

 

Public hearings: Nextel, Verizon 

The question of putting Verizon and Nextel telecommunication antennas atop UC Storage at 2721 Shattuck Ave. will be back before the council again. The zoning board has denied Nextel and Verizon requests for the antennas two separate times, with the applicants appealing the decision both times.  

Both Nextel and Verizon have filed lawsuits against the city on the question. 

 

The downtown hotel 

Tonight the proposed downtown hotel will be before council, which will be asked to accept funds from Carpenter and Company, the hotel developer, to pay for a “financial feasibility analysis and review of possible mechanisms to provide tax abatement or other subsidies to render the project feasible.” 

Councilmember Dona Spring told the Planet she is a proponent of a downtown hotel, but not in favor of giving the hotel millions of dollars in subsidies. There is a $30 million gap between estimated project costs and projected revenues necessary to make the project financially feasible, according to a staff report written by Michael Caplan, acting director of the city’s economic development division. 

Spring said she believes the developer wants to give the city the funds so the city can contract for the study “to show the council’s open to the idea” of public financing for the hotel. 

Caplan’s report calls on the city to accept the funds for the study. “Solid financial assessment and knowledge of industry standards will assist the city in negotiating a fair deal that protects the city’s financial interests,” the report said. Staff is asking for a sole source contract with Keyser Marston, “which specializes in doing feasibility assessments of hotel projects.” 

 

Other actions: 

The council will also be asked to address: 

• Increasing the allocation for the winter shelter program by $10,000 for the program at the Oakland Army Base, whose costs have increased. 

• Creating the position of transportation manager, who will head the transportation division in the Public Works Department. The salary will be in a range from $111,000 per year (plus about 50 percent benefits) to about $135,000 (plus benefits). 

• Putting a $25,000 award, which the city received from the National Organization on Disability, toward the purchase of a wheelchair accessible vehicle for City CarShare. Additional costs would be borne by City CarShare. 

• Developing a city “preferred alternative” on Bus Rapid Transit, which would dedicate traffic lanes to buses on Telegraph Avenue; 

• Becoming a city of sanctuary for conscientious objectors; 

• Reinstating $23,000 to Berkeley Food and Housing Project.  


Memorial Service Held for Slain Berkeley Boy

By Claire Trageser, Special to the Planet
Tuesday October 23, 2007

When a neighbor of Misti and Amir Hassan glanced out of his window last week, he saw Amir dressed in a cape and holding a rail spike in one hand. Amir peered over the balcony of his apartment and then tossed the spike, which was attached to a long rope, into the yard below.  

The neighbor went outside and asked Amir what he was doing.  

“I’m an elf, and I’m doing magic,” Amir replied.  

This story was one of the many examples of Amir’s creativity, wisdom, kindness and sense of humor shared by teachers, friends and family members at a memorial service Friday. Police found Amir, 9, dead in his apartment last Wednesday. Amir’s mother, Misti, has been charged with his murder and will enter her plea Nov. 16. 

More than 70 people gathered at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland for Amir’s service, which was hosted by Amir’s father, Chad Reed, and his family. Although a media frenzy accompanied Misti’s hearing on Thursday, only one photographer and one cameraman attended the ceremony. No one mentioned Misti or spoke about the circumstances of Amir’s death.  

Somber attendees, dressed mostly in gray and black, filed into the stone chapel just before 1 p.m. Several children attended the service, including one boy who wore a white T-shirt emblazoned with Amir’s photograph and the line, “In memory of Amir Hassan.”  

Each person received a program filled with pictures of Amir smiling, playing with toys, holding a soccer ball and playing a guitar. A poem Amir had written about himself with the lines “Who would like to see Ozzy Osbourne in Concert, the next Woodstock, the Police live and world peace” was printed on the back.  

Jazz music played by a live band accompanied the quiet chatter and occasional baby’s cry until Reverend Anthony Jenkins, dressed in a long, white robe, rose to deliver the opening prayer. Jenkins reminded the attendees that they were there not to be sad, but to “celebrate Amir’s life and begin to move forward.”  

Amir’s uncle, Carlos Reed, then displayed a slideshow, which began with pictures of Amir as a baby in a hospital bed and proceeded chronologically through his short life, while The Police’s “Every Step You Take” and Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower” played. In each picture, Amir wore a giant grin and a mop of curly brown hair that fanned out like a halo at least three inches above his head. Most pictures showed Amir by himself, although Chad Reed, Carlos Reed, his aunt Ayanna Reed and his younger sisters Maya and Bella Reed occasionally appeared with him. Only one photo showed Misti holding Amir as a baby and kissing the side of his head.  

The remainder of the service was filled mostly with personal reflections from any of the attendees who wanted to share a memory of Amir. Ten people rose to speak, including his neighbors, teachers, parents of his friends, his uncle, and Susan Hodge, the principal of Amir’s school, Emerson Elementary School.  

“Amir was only called to my office once,” Hodge said. “It was for making the ‘rock on’ hand signal in his class photograph.”  

Hodge held out her hand with her thumb and pinky finger extended to demonstrate while the other attendees laughed.  

“I remember there was a girl in Amir’s class who was being a bit of a bully,” Hodge continued. “We were talking about what we could do with his class and Amir said, ‘She just hasn’t been loved enough. If we love her more, that will help her.’”  

Others spoke about Amir’s intelligence and wisdom, commenting that talking to him often felt like talking to an adult.  

“A few weeks ago I saw him, and we were talking and got on the subject of toys,” said a man who introduced himself only as a friend of Amir’s uncle. “He told me, ‘You know, I don’t really like to shop at Toys ‘R’ Us or those other big stores. I like to shop in smaller stores that are more a part of the community.’”  

Jackson, the pastor, closed the service with a speech about how everyone needs to follow the example of Amir and love each other more.  

“The only thing that Amir gave was love,” Jackson said in a booming voice. “Let’s not leave here today without learning from him that we all need to give our love more. That’s what Amir did, and that’s the message we can take from his life.” 

 


PG&E Dedicates Building for YMCA Teen Center

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday October 23, 2007

The PG&E service center at 2111 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, empty for almost two years, was handed over to the Berkeley YMCA on Friday to be developed into a teen center over the next two years. 

The 8,000-square-foot building dedication to YMCA is PG&E’s largest corporate contribution to date. The building is valued at $2.1 million, according to a PG&E press release. 

The city will not lose property taxes from the transfer to the non-profit YMCA since PG&E is exempt from paying property taxes. 

The YMCA, which currently has less than 400 square feet of permanent space in downtown Berkeley for teen programs, is already making plans to double the number of participants in programs such as Y-Scholars, The Outsiders Club and YMCA Youth and Government, which address issues such as college preparation, employment and leadership development in communities. 

“We are delighted,” said Fran Gallati, executive director of the Berkeley-Albany YMCA. “PG&E and the Y are alike in a lot of ways. The Y’s business is investing in the energy for young people and PG&E is constantly looking for ways to improve energy efficiency in the community.” 

Although the center is scheduled to open in 2009, Gallati said that teenagers were already involved in different ways. “We are hiring teen leaders from Berkeley High and across the city to the newly formed Teen Task Force which will focus on the needs of young people.” 

The task force members will work with real estate developers, architects and teen program providers for the next 12 to 18 months to help design programs for the new center. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz said that the center would keep teenagers away from trouble. 

“Anything that helps them make more productive use of their time is welcome,” he said. “A facility dedicated to the needs of young people is a great idea.” 

Wil Hardee, director of public affairs for PG&E East Bay, said that PG&E was interested in providing training and employment opportunities for teenagers through the YMCA. 

“The benefits of educating the community about energy conservation and helping kids find jobs outweigh giving up the building,” he said. “We want to reach out to the community in new ways.” 

Mayor Tom Bates said including homeless youth would be a good idea. 

“I am trying to get them to be welcome here,” he said. “It will be a safe and interesting place to hang out and provide them with employment opportunities.” 

For some Berkeley High freshmen, the teen center meant safety.  

“It will give us something to do with our time apart from watching TV and playing on the computer,” said Berkeley High freshman Cynthia Nayola. “I am hoping for dancing classes, art classes and programs that will help us with school in general.” 

Councilmember Linda Maio said the building would be Berkeley’s first teen center dedicated entirely to the needs of young people. 

“We’ve done the research,” she said. “Three to six in the afternoon is when teenagers go around doing stuff they shouldn’t be doing. They get easily bored, and this will act as a haven for them. We’ve used school sites in the past but they have always had to share them with other groups.” 

School board member John Selawsky said, “It’s close to Berkeley High, the YMCA, the public library, City College and so many other resources. The kids can make use of the center right after school.” 

 

Photograph: Riya Bhattacharjee 

Berkeley High School freshman and Berkeley United in Action member Yesenia Espernoza and her friends, Monica Avales and Angelica Gonzalez, discuss future partnerships with the new YMCA Teen Center. All three teenagers participate in clean-up walks in Southwest Berkeley every week as part of Berkeley United in Action.


Report: New Police Policies Will Catch Problem Cops Early

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday October 23, 2007

In April 2006 former Berkeley Police Sgt. Cary Kent pleaded guilty to felony drug possession and grand theft charges stemming from his stealing illicit substances from the locked police evidence vault he was charged to guard.  

Early this year another officer left the Berkeley Police Department (BPD) after several months of paid administrative leave, charged with stealing the possessions and cash of people he had booked. The district attorney declined to charge him. 

After spending more than a year studying both incidents and looking at related police policies and practices, on Oct. 12 a Police Review Commission subcommittee released a report entitled “Police Review Commission Policy Report: Evidence Theft Within the Berkeley Police Department.” The report concludes: “The systemic failure of a department to identify and remedy major lapses in security, personnel management and administration must be addressed immediately.”  

The report can be found at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/prc. 

The full Police Review Commission will discuss the report Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. Police Chief Douglas Hambleton will be present to respond to commissioner questions.  

The commission will then finalize the report and send it to the City Council, which will be asked to approve the report and the subcommittee recommendations for changes in police policies. 

The subcommittee, made up of PRC Commissioners William White, Sharon Kidd and Sherry Smith, and community members Andrea Prichett and Jim Chanin, spent more than a year reviewing the 800-page police report on the Kent case, analyzing it and conducting interviews with the police chief and auditor. 

While the subcommittee had good access to the chief of police, the report notes that its investigation was constrained by the refusal of the police officers’ union to allow its officers to be questioned by the committee. “The subcommittee believes that not being able to interview officers concerning the incident was a major setback to the investigation,” the report says. 

Further, the report notes difficulties the subcommittee had in obtaining various documents and information it requested. For example, it had asked for but did not receive a report on the total inventory, including quantities, of missing drug evidence. It also was unable to obtain copies of information from the database into which officers enter the quantities of drug evidence, and results of any audits on the database concerning loss of evidence in BPD’s possession. 

The report underscores that the investigation is not aimed at particular officers, past or present, but targets the failure of policies and practices that would have alerted the police chain of command quickly to crimes committed within the department. 

The internal police investigation shows, according to the subcommittee report, that years went by without Kent’s bosses confronting him, while fellow police officers noted that Kent looked bad, acted abnormally and failed to complete job assignments.  

Among the questions driving the committee were:  

• When poor job performance and health issues were noticed by fellow officers and reported to superiors, why didn’t the information go up the chain of command to the chief?  

• While investigators noted there was tampering with 286 envelopes of drug evidence, why were these envelopes not weighed to see how much of the illegal substances was missing? (Many more envelopes had been tampered with than had been used to bring charges against Kent.) 

The report makes more than two dozen recommendations for change in procedures and policy in the police department, many of them concerning opening records of seized property and contraband to public scrutiny.  

Subcommittee member Prichett, also a member of Copwatch, underscored, however, in an interview with the Daily Planet: “No policy is going to substitute for the will of police officers to be professional.” 

Among the recommendations the report makes is that BPD should hire an outside auditor to examine the database where quantities of seized drugs are recorded. “Monthly asset reports should be made public,” the report says. 

The report further recommends the establishment of a workgroup that would include staff from the city manager, auditor, finance and police departments that would reconcile the quantity of seized assets with deposits into accounts, tracking individual cases including the status of court proceedings “to promote consistency and to enable members of the public whose assets have been wrongly seized to recover their assets with due process and efficiency.” 

Relating specifically to the Kent case, the report recommends that the department identify the exact quantity of drugs missing from the evidence room. It also recommends replacing officers who have current access to the evidence room who also had access to the evidence when Kent did. 

In addition, the report calls on police to revise the “early warning system,” which identifies problem officers early on and bars officers, when possible, from supervising family members or personal friends. 

Procedures should be developed mandating the reporting by officers of fellow officers they suspect of misconduct or drug abuse, the report says, recommending as well that drug-testing policies for officers be developed and implemented. 

Berkeley police adopted new operating procedures for the evidence room after an investigation by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, related to the Cary Kent case.  

The report recommends that the police chief report regularly to the City Council on its implementation. 

 


Marine Office OK, Says Manager

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday October 23, 2007

Does the Marine Recruiting Center in downtown Berkeley have a proper use permit? 

That question was raised by Councilmember Dona Spring two weeks ago at a City Council meeting. City Manager Phil Kamlarz responded Monday in a brief memo, stating that the former use was a photo shop, considered an “office use,” just like the present use. Therefore, only an over-the-counter permit was required. 

On June 6, said the memo, the Planning Department approved an over-the-counter permit for an “officer selection office.” 

In a phone interview Monday, Spring argued that the city should have the right to regulate recruiting downtown, just as it can regulate where to allow massage parlors and medical marijuana outlets. 

“Downtown isn’t an appropriate area for this type of service,” she said, noting that it doesn’t support the mix of retail businesses there.  

Kamlarz, however, said that the council “may not regulate land uses based on the identity of the applicant or the applicant’s viewpoint with respect to matters of public interest.” 

He goes on to write: “In addition, any prohibition of recruiting offices could be subject to challenge under the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution.”  

Kamlarz noted that, similarly, high school campuses must allow access to military recruiters. 

 


Alko Ready to Take On Staples, Owner Says

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday October 23, 2007

A 17,000-square-foot vacant commercial property in downtown Berkeley that most recently housed Barnes & Noble will soon have a new tenant, according to city Economic Development Division Acting Director Michael Caplan.  

Staples, which says on its corporate website that it “invented the office superstore concept in 1986,” will move into the building at 2352 Shattuck Ave. early in 2008, according to Staples spokesperson Mike Black. 

While the new store will make a small dent in downtown Berkeley’s total 114,000 square feet of vacant downtown retail space—amounting to a 12.8 percent vacancy rate in the downtown area—not everyone is celebrating. 

Gary Shows has owned Alko, the homegrown 99-year-old Berkeley office supply company, since 1984. While he does not welcome the competitor, with its more-than 1,900 outlets and $18.2 billion in sales in 2006, he says he’s prepared to go toe-to-toe with the international giant. 

Shows, whose store is at 2225 Shattuck Ave., said he’s done some investigation and found that Staples does not come in to a new venue and undercut other businesses, driving them out as he alleged WalMart does. 

Shows says that Alko’s prices are comparable to Staples’, and that his store stocks high-end stationery supplies, which Staples does not. 

Moreover, “We have a loyal customer base,” he said. “The only thing that Staples has is a parking lot and wider aisles.”  

What’s hurt his business in recent years, Shows said, was a UC Berkeley decision two years ago to buy office supplies from Office Max. “They signed a strict contract with them,” he said. “What has annoyed me most is the City of Berkeley—they give us almost no support,” he said. 

In July 2006, the City Council approved a three-year $1.65 million contract for office supplies with Office Depot. Alko did not offer sufficient online ordering, the city finance director told the Daily Planet at the time.  

“We’re really a Berkeley store,” Shows said. “We take care of our employees.” 

Caplan said he understands the concerns of competing small stationers, but given the large space, “it is almost inevitable that a large mini anchor” would move in, noting that commercial realtor John Gordon recruited Staples. 

Caplan added that Staples is much more than a paper-supply store. They also carry consumer electronics for which “most people now tend to go to Emeryville,” he said. “A lot of money flows out of Berkeley.” 

Speaking for Staples, Black said it chose the Berkeley location not just because of the university, but because of the city’s many small businesses.  

“In addition to carrying 7,000 products,” he said, “there are copy and print centers that offer business cards and signs” and services small businesses can use, such as in-store technicians who install computer software purchased at Staples, such as security software. 


Lower Expectations for Downtown Skyline

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday October 23, 2007

A dedicated group of six Berkeley citizen planners gathered Monday afternoon to decide how high, how dense and how soon. 

The Land Use Subcommittee of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) held its first meeting in a fast-paced rush to decide the hottest topic left for the first draft of Berkeley’s new downtown plan. 

Just how tall should Berkeley’s skyline rise, and how many new residents should their plan be designed to handle would prove tougher than the other question: How soon they had to have their answers. 

Huddled around a table in the second floor of the city’s Planning Department on Milvia Street, the group began by picking a chair. Seconds later, at the suggestion of Victoria Eisen, Rob Wrenn took the helm. DAPAC Chair Will Travis had named Eisen as his pick for chair last week, but a majority of subcommittee members insisted on electing from within. 

Then things slowed down as the subcommittee set out to tackle the task set out for them over the course of three—or maybe four—meetings before DAPAC takes up the subcommittee draft at its Nov. 17 meeting. 

 

Lower skyline 

The one near-certainty to emerge by the end of the session was that the shape of the downtown most members want is a lot lower than the version consistently pressed forward by city staff. 

The issues of height and density even pitted environmentalists against environmentalists. 

While Billi Romain, the city’s green building coordinator, and Timothy Burroughs, developer of Berkeley’s climate action plan, came to the meeting to urge high densities, KyotoUSA founder Tom Kelly and Juliet Lamont, Sierra Club activist and subcommittee member, said they were concerned that too much concentrated growth downtown could endanger Berkeley’s sense of community. 

Matt Taecker, the planner hired with UC Berkeley funds to shepherd the plan through the approval process, has consistently pushed for 16-story high-rise point towers, though he has lowered the number of those towers from the originally proposed 14 down to five, plus a BART Plaza area height limit of 12-stories for residential or office buildings. Taecker would also like to allow three other 120-footers, one each on the northern and southern sides of the plaza neighborhood. 

But most comments from subcommittee members involved lower heights, with Jesse Arreguin initially favoring a maximum of eight stories. 

Wrenn himself had worked with other DAPAC members, including Lamont and non-subcommitee members Helen Burke and Wendy Alfsen, in drafting a proposed three-story base expandable to eight floors in return for meeting a number of bonus height requirement, including affordable housing units or fees to build low-income units elsewhere and use of environmentally friendly building technologies and materials. 

Architect and subcommittee member Jim Novosel proposed a plaza-area limit of 12 stories, with an eight-floor maximum surrounding it, scaling down to a maximum of five floors along residential neighborhoods. 

Eisen said she shared the concerns about the impacts of taller buildings on the city center, especially because the plan so far has given relatively little consideration to design. 

But she said her concerns about height could be best illustrated by downtown’s two tallest architectural creation, one pleasant and the other not, the Wells Fargo Building and the Power Bar Building. 

Both are similar in height to the point towers urged by staff and Walker. 

“Height for height’s sake really isn’t the beginning point,” Eisen said. 

Walker stressed repeatedly that she believed that the only ways DAPAC would be able to fund the open spaces, plazas, new stores, affordable housing and other amenities embraced by other plan chapters already adopted by the full committee would be through more density than her colleagues deemed acceptable. 

Developer Ali Kashani sat through the meeting, taking notes, and city Planning and Development Director Dan Marks also sat through part of the session, while Calvin Fong, an aide to Mayor Tom Bates, sat through it all. 

Three planning commissioners sat in: Chair James Samuels, Gene Poschman and Helen Burke. All three are DAPAC members. Wendy Alfsen from DAPAC was also on hand, as was retired planner and preservationist John English. 

English and Poschman questioned the numbers of new residents and population densities on the alternatives sketched out on a series of maps prepared by Taecker—with figures ranging from a low of 1,300 units for the proposal by Wrenn and company to a maximum of 3000 units in Walker’s version. 

Poschman and English said they were concerned about the impact of the density bonus on the plan, a state law that allows builder to increase their size of their project by including units for lower-income tenants and buyers. 

The committee resolved that issue by a decision that all heights approved would be maximum figures including all available bonuses. 

By the end of the meetings, members had agreed to return for the subcommittee’s next session Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to noon, with an eye toward wrapping up their work at a session starting at 8 a.m. the following Monday, Oct. 29, with a backup final session set for 10 a.m. on Halloween. 

Thursday’s meeting will open with members offering their own proposed development districts and the proposed heights for each.


Marchers Decry Killing of Gary King at National Day of Protest

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday October 23, 2007

A small group of protesters rallied at Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall late Monday afternoon as part of a National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation. 

Protests were also scheduled on Thursday for New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. 

Speaking for the family of Gary King, Jr., who was shot and killed by an Oakland Police officer last month in North Oakland, Keith Shanklin, executive board member of ILWU, local 34, said that “the family of Oakland is bleeding the blood of injustice, stolen lives, and police brutality,” and promised that protesters demonstrating against King’s death would rally every Thursday afternoon at City Hall until further notice.  

Shanklin said that he wanted Sergeant Patrick Gonzalez, the Oakland police officer who shot King, to “surrender his badge and gun and report to the community so we can arrest him for his crimes.” 

Shanklin was flanked by several members of King’s family, but said they were not able to speak at the rally themselves about the case under the advice of attorneys. 

Some 75 demonstrators, some of them walking bicycles and one riding on a scooter for disabled users, marched the seven blocks from City Hall to the 7th Street headquarters of the Oakland Police Department and back again before beginning Thursday’s rally. 

Other speakers at the rally presented the cases of several residents killed in recent months by San Francisco Police Officers. 


Density Bonuses, Liquor Licenses on Planning Agenda

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday October 23, 2007

After nearly two years of work, Berkeley planning commissioners Wednesday will finally begin discussions of proposed local rules to govern the application of a controversial state law. 

The state-mandated density bonus—which allows developers to build bigger buildings in exchange for providing apartments or condos for lower-income residents—has served as a political football in the city. 

Because departing City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque has advised that the law allows even bigger projects than a simple reading of the statute might seem to prescribe, neighborhood activists have urged the city to adopt its own regulations to implement the statute. 

Many other cities throughout the state have taken similar actions. 

A joint subcommittee drawing on members of the commission and the Zoning Adjustments Board met for almost two years to hammer out language and tables that would make sense out of the statute. 

Though the panel was directed to end its work early this year, its efforts have languished on the shelf.  

“It’s been too long,” said Commissioner Gene Poschman. 

Commissioners are also scheduled to set the date for the first public hearing on a proposed new ordinance that would allow the city to permanently end the licenses of non-conforming liquor stores which have been closed for more than 90 days. 

The measure would also allow neighbors to file private actions against public nuisances, as well as giving the Zoning Adjustments Board greater flexibility when deciding on liquor license applications. 

The one item up for definitive action is an application to turn six apartments at 1821 Highland Ave. into condos. 

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


School Takeover Oversight Committee to Hold Hearings Early Next Year

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday October 23, 2007

In the wake of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto of a bill by Assemblymember Sandré Swanson that would have clarified the procedure for returning local control to the state-operated Oakland Unified School District, Swanson is moving forward with plans for oversight committee hearings for what the assemblymember says is “to study the effectiveness of California’s statutes governing state takeovers of school districts.” 

Swanson will be holding the hearings in his capacity as chair of the California Select Committee on State School Financial Takeovers, a newly formed position and committee established by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez earlier this year. 

Swanson said that the committee “will be looking at all of the state takeovers and in particular will be observing Oakland to make sure the progress continues.” 

In a press release issued shortly after the governor’s veto of Swanson’s AB45 Oakland school local control bill was announced, Swanson’s office said that hearings would begin early next year in Oakland and other cities around the state.  

A spokesperson for the assemblymember’s office said this week that the committee is not yet ready to release detailed plans, including a hearing schedule. 

Members on Swanson’s Select Committee include Julia Brownley (D-Woodland Hills), chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance; Gene Mullin (D-San Mateo), chair of the Assembly Education Committee; Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield); Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa); Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley); Juan Arambula (D-Fresno); Mervyn Dymally (D-Compton); and Bonnie Garcia (D-Coachella). Swanson, Evans, Hancock, Arambula, and Dymally all represent areas where local school districts have been taken over by the state. 

Besides Oakland in 2003, the State of California has taken over control of six other local school districts since 1990: Richmond/West Contra Costa (1990), Coachella Valley Unified (1992), Compton Unified (1993), Emery Unified (2001), West Fresno Elementary (2003), and Vallejo City Unified (2004). Of those school districts, only Oakland Unified and West Fresno Elementary remain under state control.


Testimony Concludes in Trial of Man Accused of Shooting Berkeley Officer

Bay City News
Tuesday October 23, 2007

Testimony concluded Monday in the trial of a six-time convicted felon from Berkeley who’s accused of attempting to murder Berkeley police officer Darren Kacalek on May 17, 2005.  

Jurors will return to court Wednesday morning for closing arguments in the trial of 38-year-old Howard Street, who’s also charged with first-degree residential burglary, carjacking and assault with a firearm in connection with a separate incident involving the robbery and shooting of a man in an Oakland motel room on May 5, 2005.  

Street admitted in testimony last week that he fired the shots that injured Kacalek, now 31, during a chase near Delaware and Sixth streets but claimed that he didn’t know he was shooting at a police officer at the time.  

Prosecutor Michael Nieto told jurors in his opening statement said that the incident began about 2:35 a.m. when two Berkeley police officers tried to stop Street when they saw him speeding in a stolen Ford Mustang at the intersection of Sixth Street and University Avenue near Interstate Highway 80.  

Nieto said Street didn’t pull over even though the officers, who were traveling in two separate cars, turned on their lights and sirens.  

The officers chased Street, but he managed to get away in the car, according to Nieto.  

In his testimony, Street laughed about ditching the police officer, saying they “were way back” after he sped up.  

“I was going as fast as that street could take,” Street said, referring to Sixth Street. Continuing to laugh, he said, “I was going fast enough to put them [the officers] three blocks back.”  

Street said he swore at and tried to attack an Alameda County Sheriff’s deputy in front of jurors during his trial because he thought the deputy had lied on the witness stand and was laughing at him.  

Street was shackled after the incident.  

Street’s lawyer, Andrew Steckler, told jurors in his opening statement that he believes the evidence in Street’s trial will show that Street believed he acted in self-defense when he fired at Kacalek.  

Steckler said he thinks the most serious charge Street should be convicted of is attempted voluntary manslaughter.


School Board Votes on Derby Field Project

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday October 23, 2007

The Berkeley school board will vote Wednesday whether to accept the completion of the Derby Field project Wednesday.  

The Berkeley High field hockey team practiced on the grass Monday afternoon, the first use of the new field. The field will be used by Berkeley High and Longfellow Middle School athletic teams. B-Tech (Berkeley Technology Academy) will also use it for physical education. 

The field will have one unlocked pedestrian gate, and community members can use the site for running or throwing a frisbee, said district spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

“Any kind of organized activity will require a permit from the school district,” he said. “Also, dogs are not allowed on the field. It will have the same rules that are applicable to all the other school fields.” 

 

Online grades and attendance 

The school board will discuss a plan to allow families of students at Berkeley High, B-Tech, King, Willard and Longfellow middle schools to view grades and attendance online. 

The district’s technology department is currently working with the high school and middle schools to make the information available online. 

The proposed plan states that the new technology will display the attendance and reporting period grade data for each student that is stored in the district’s Student Information System, thus making the data current and compatible with other reporting systems.  

It will also provide teachers a place to update or post news, calendars, assignments, tests and classroom assignments. 

The website, which school district spokesperson Mark Coplan said could start this school year, will cost Berkeley High School $3,636. 

 

West Campus 

The board will discuss plans to move the district’s administrative office from the old City Hall building (recently re-named as the Maudelle Shirek building) at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way to the West Campus by 2009. 

The staff will be moved to two pre-constructed modular buildings on the west side of the current parking lot at the West Campus. 

The proposed plan specifies six portables on the east side of the parking lot, use of the east side of the gymnasium for storage and two parking lots for staff. 

However, the maintenance department and the nutritional services warehouse will remain at the current site until appropriate locations can be found for them. There is also no proposed space for a board meeting room. 

Once a permanent structure has been built to house the administrative staff, the modular buildings will be used for child care. 


School Council Releases Draft Proposal

By Rio Bauce
Tuesday October 23, 2007

Berkeley High’s School Governance Council released a draft earlier this month of their proposal for an advisory program they plan to implement in fall 2008 for Berkeley International High School and Academic Choice students. 

The other small schools will have their own advisory program.  

The purpose of the advisory program is to help students create a vision of their future by getting them to develop a five-year plan.The desired outcomes of the program are outlined in the School Advisory Program Proposal, which Principal Jim Slemp plans to introduce to the Berkeley Board of Education as soon as Nov. 14. They are as follows: 1) To help students create a vision for their future by developing a five year plan by their junior year that will take them through graduation and into postsecondary education; 2) Students will understand how to access support services, set personal and academic goals and develop a plan to monitor and achieve their goals; 3) Students will demonstrate skills to manage conflict in a positive and productive manner; 4) Students will experience an adult advocate who knows and cares about them and can strategize ways to improve their success; 5) Students will be their own advocate and take responsibility for their own education; 6) Students will work together to develop a community of peers to support their personal and academic goals.  

Sherene Randle, advisory curriculum coordinator, as well as co-leader of Academic Choice and an English teacher, says that Berkeley High is in the process of refining the goals and outcomes of the advisory program. 

“There has been a lot of discussion regarding whether the classes should have students of all grades, or be broken up by grade, or have ninth- and tenth-graders in one class and eleventh- and twelfth-graders in other classes,” she said. “There are a lot of possible combinations.” 

Randle unveiled the proposed plan of a sample advisory period. On Tuesday, the first five minutes would be devoted to attendance, the next five minutes would be for announcements, for the 30 minutes after there would be a community building activity, and then the for last five minutes there would be an exit ticket (where teachers evaluate their students). On Wednesdays, there would be attendance and announcements for five minutes each, then there would be reflective writing, discussions, or tutorials for 25 to 30 minutes, and then the last five to ten minutes would be for another community building activity. 

“Of course, the teachers have some leeway in what they teach and could switch the schedules for Tuesdays and Wednesdays if they wish,” commented Randle. 

There has been discussion regarding how to incorporate an advisory time that fits into the master schedule. Initial ideas brought up included block scheduling, shorter periods, et cetera. However, the SGC decided that twice a week, there will be block scheduling with three periods a day and a 45-minute advisory period. Students will be given a pass or fail grade for the advisory.  

Students generally feel that the advisory program is beneficial, but are skeptical about block scheduling.  

“I guess that the advisory could be good, but it depends how it is done,” said junior Scott Johnston. “In general, I think that block scheduling is a terrible idea. Many departments would be adversely affected by the change in scheduling.” 

In this plan, Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays would follow the normal bell schedule, but on Wednesdays and Thursdays, there would be a modified block bell schedule. On Tuesdays, there would be periods one, three, and five (each one-hundred minutes long), with an advisory period between first and third periods (45 minutes) and a 40-minute lunch break between third and fifth periods. On Wednesdays, students would go to periods two, four, and six, with the advisory period and lunch break the same as Tuesday. 

Randle said, “The goal is to personalize the experience for students in this large urban school. Graduates tell me that the school is ‘large, overwhelming, and impersonal.’ We want to change that.” 

 

 


Pro-War Groups Square Off with Code Pink

By Judith Scherr
Friday October 19, 2007

Organized by KSFO radio personality Melanie Morgan, chair of Move America Forward, pro-war, anti-Islamic and anti-immigration demonstrators converged on the Berkeley Recruiting Center Wednesday, caravaning into town with their SUVs and Harleys decked out in American flags to face off with Code Pink, the anti-war group that has held vigils in front of the 64 Shattuck Square Marine Recruitment Office for three weeks. 

The mostly female demonstrators from Code Pink and their allies—Veterans for Peace, International Answer, Sing for Peace, the World Can’t Wait, Berkeley High students, the Ecumenical Peace Institute, Women in Black—mustered around 125 demonstrators, but their message spoken into handheld bullhorns was sometimes drowned out by the pro-war side’s superior sound system; the 250 or so mostly male counter-demonstrators clearly outnumbered Code Pink’s participants. 

The pro-war counter-demonstrators came from as far as Santa Rosa and as close as the UC Berkeley campus; they represented groups including the American Legion, the Gathering of Eagles, Eagles Up and the UC Berkeley College Republicans.  

When the pro-war side sang “God Bless America,” the anti-war people sang, “God Save America.” The pro-warriors called the protesters “commies” and the pro-peace folks called the counter-demonstrators “killers.” The pro-war people shouted “USA” and the anti-war people called out in response: “Out of Iraq.” 

As the crowd grew, the rhetoric of the two sides escalated, and some minor shoving ensued. Berkeley police separated the pro- and anti-war demonstrators, with the pro-war side, which held permits, allowed to remain on the west side of the street in front of the recruiting office and the anti-war side, which held no permits, guided firmly across the street. 

There were no arrests, but one demonstrator with The World Can’t Wait was cited for “throwing a flaming/glowing substance on public property,” according to Berkeley Police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, who further explained in an e-mail to the Planet that the demonstrator had burned a flag. 

One young man, who did not want to be identified, was yelling “Code Pink traitors,” along with a group of counter-demonstrators. Asked what he meant, he told the Planet that it was “because Code Pink is against what our country’s trying to do—to get freedom for people.” 

Nearby, Dan Baptista also supported the war. “We left in the first Gulf War without finishing the job,” he said. “If we don’t finish it, we’ll have to go back again in 10 years.” 

Several counter-demonstrators told the Daily Planet that the war in Iraq was necessary, because it was part of an ongoing fight against what they called “Islamo-fascism.” 

“Most the country doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on with militant Islam,” said counter-protester Robert Graves. “No one’s successfully negotiated with militant Islam, ever ... You’re going to have to conquer them. Otherwise we’re going to be like Israel, having someone constantly blowing us up. You need to put them on their heels to begin with, and then you have to civilize them, because they’re not civilized.”  

Across the street, Dennis Riley, a Vietnam vet with Veterans for Peace, said he had been in a fighter wing that bombed North Vietnam and Laos and hoped to stop other young people from joining the military.  

“The four years I served were the most shameful years of my life,” he said. “I don’t want to be thanked. Everything I did was wrong.” 

Berkeley High ninth-graders Niale Alimason and Nashla Acevado came to the protest during their lunch hour. “I support the peace,” Alimason told the Daily Planet. “Bush doesn’t care what we think.” 

“I think the war is wrong, and they should stop it,” Acevado added. 

Judy Christopher of Code Pink had brought her baby to the demonstration. “As a mother, I don’t want my son to grow up to kill people,” she said. 

As the demonstration wound down, Code Pink organizer Zanne Joi said she thought it had been a success. She took credit for the office not opening at all on Wednesday. 

“We’ve shut down the recruiting office,” she said.


Long-Time City Attorney Albuquerque Calls It Quits

By Judith Scherr
Friday October 19, 2007

While city insiders point to a number of accomplishments during the 26 years City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque has worked for the city, few tears were being shed Thursday at City Hall in response to the announcement of her November 30 retirement. 

Rumors had swirled around City Hall of Albuquerque’s possible departure, stemming from the aftermath of a scathing June 6 memo publicly naming the housing director, city manager and deputy city manager for problems at the housing authority, that, she alleged, stemmed from the manager’s refusal to follow her advice.  

Since that time Albuquerque’s taken many weeks of administrative, vacation and medical leave, fueling the rumors of her possible departure. 

Albuquerque was hired Oct. 15, 1981 as deputy city attorney and named city attorney Aug. 1, 1983. 

“I thank the council and the city manager and all the city councils and city managers with whom I have worked over these many years, for giving me the tremendous opportunity to serve this brilliant, visionary, idiosyncratic, sometimes quix-otic and endlessly stimulating and entertaining community,” Albuquerque wrote in a four-page letter of resignation, sent to city staff and forwarded to the Planet. 

Despite a strained relationship with the city attorney, Councilmember Dona Spring noted her defense of the public police-complaint-review process; the city’s mandate for workers at the Marina (on city-owned property) to be provided with a living wage; and the city’s position of withdrawing the Sea Scouts’ free berth at the Marina on grounds that the Boy Scouts, with whom they are affiliated, discriminate against gays and atheists. 

“I have to praise her for her many years of service,” Spring said. 

While Councilmember Gordon Wozniak said he didn’t always agree with Albuquerque—and even sued the city over her position that he should step off a commission—he also said that she “deserves to retire and have the time to spend with her grandchild.” 

He praised her especially for the way that, in closed session, she would inform the council of the many lawsuits it faces and the options it would have and possible consequences. “She is an outstanding strategist,” Wozniak said. “She has to make a lot of tough calls.” 

And, said Wozniak, “She has a really wicked sense of humor.” 

In a brief e-mail announcing Albuquerque’s departure, City Manager Phil Kamlarz said he had “long admired her passion, her intelligence, and her considerable energy.” 

While the departure of long-term city employees usually is noted with outpourings of regret, three department heads reached by the Planet refused to comment on the record, one expressing outright relief. 

While Spring had some kind words for Albuquerque, she told the Planet about her objections to “the city attorney’s ad hoc interpretation of the density bonus.” The density bonus defines space a developer can build beyond local limits, when they add features, such as low-income units, to their projects. 

Spring said that while a committee was appointed to look at writing a local density bonus ordinance, Albuquerque was among those who prevented its recommendations from coming to the council. (The issue will be before the Planning Commission next week.) 

Planning Commissioner Patti Dacey expressed concerns in a phone interview with the Planet, alleging Albuquerque “abused her discretion” in interpreting the density bonus for the Gaia Building on Allston Way. Dacey is the plaintiff of record in a lawsuit regarding the city’s handling of the permits for that building. 

About Albuquerque’s departure, Dacey said frankly: “It’s an excellent thing ... She advances the causes of whoever is in power,” rather than giving disinterested advice. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said he hopes a future city attorney will play the role of parliamentarian, which Albuquerque did not do.  

Worthington pointed out that the council had voted several times for the city attorney to prepare a Sunshine Ordinance, something she has not done. She also delayed the Zero Waste and Precautionary Principle ordinances, he said. When there’s a delay, “She says we don’t have staff,” such as in the proposed Campaign Finance Ordinance. “The Sweatfree Ordinance was delayed needlessly,” he said. 

The three councilmembers interviewed—Spring, Wozniak and Worthington—all said they thought the city should do a nationwide search for Albuquerque’s replacement. 

It would be important for a city attorney to recognize that “the council is your client,” Worthington said, noting the challenge city attorneys face: representing their clients rather than their own perspectives. 

“No plans have been set for her successor,” Kamlarz said in his statement.


Residents, Small Business Oppose West Berkeley Tax District

By Judith Scherr
Friday October 19, 2007

The councilmember who called Tuesday night’s town hall meeting in southwest Berkeley said in a postcard sent to some southwest Berkeley property owners that a tax assessment district proposal that was to be under discussion at the meeting had been withdrawn and that discussion should focus instead on ways to make the area cleaner, safer and less congested. 

But most of the 125 or so people who came to the event at Rosa Parks School made it clear that their main concern continued to be the West Berkeley Business Alliance (WBBA) proposal for a Community Benefits District.  

And that’s what they wanted to talk about.  

Even representatives of the WBBA said the assessment district proposal was still very much alive, although they were refashioning it, trying to eliminate as many homeowners from the district as they could. 

The district, as originally  

conceived by the WBBA, would stretch roughly from Univer- 

sity Avenue to the Oakland/ Emeryville border and from San Pablo Avenue to the bay. It would be formulated under a state law giving the largest property owners the biggest say in the district decision-making. The purpose is to generate funds to pay for services beyond those provided by the city, aiming at attacking crime, graffiti, illegal dumping and homeless encampments.  

Early drafts of the plan included lobbying the city around zoning issues—developers would like more flexible zoning in the area. But WBBA says it’s taken that out of the proposal. 

Rick Auerbach, as spokesperson for the West Berkeley Artisans and Industrial Com-panies (WBAIC), was given five minutes to address the meeting.  

Condemning the concept that large property owners would be the decisionmakers, he said: “A tiny minority of approximately 4 percent—15 property owners—can impose the assessment on the remaining 96 percent of the property owners. It violates the basic tenets of our country—one person, one vote—and validates the worst aspects of our society, where those who have the most wealth hold almost all the decision-making power.” 

Auerbach further lashed out at the small group that has been meeting for about a year to put together the district: community requests to participate in the WBBA meetings were ignored, he said, further pointing to widely divergent interests between residents and small businesses on the one hand and the large property owners on the other.  

“This group makes its living when properties change hands for ever-higher land values,” he said. “The present West Berkeley plan, the lifeblood for industries, artisans and the residential community, is seen by them as an impediment to these efforts.” 

Representing the Potter Creek Neighborhood Association, Sarah Klise also had five minutes to state the group’s concerns. Like WBAIC, Potter Creek residents fear that “our voices become quieted by the interests of the smallest few who also happen to be the largest landowners,” she said. 

Klise said she and her neighbors regard their neighborhood differently from the WBBA: “We will hear from city officials tonight [the police chief and representatives from various departments spoke after her] who say we live in a neglected, abandoned and crime-ridden neighborhood … To them I say we live in a diverse, rich, thriving, growing and artistic neighborhood that I call gloriously funky.” 

Klise went on to quote an article written by WBBA consultant Marco LiMandri, in which LiMandri said: “’We need to manage residential downtowns in totality, just as the mall companies manage a mall.’  

“Managing our funky Potter Creek neighborhood like a mall is ridiculous,” said Klise, who then took a poll among attendees on the question of an assessment district: 16 persons favored it, 68 persons opposed it, and 12 persons wanted more information.  

Although Councilmember Darryl Moore had written in the invitation to the meeting that the WBBA “has withdrawn its proposal to create a West Berkeley Community Benefits District”—and Michael Caplan, economic development division acting director had told the Daily Planet the same—Michael Goldin, one of the founders of the WBBA, made it clear that his organization was moving forward with the proposal, while changing it to eliminate residents to the degree possible. 

During his time to address the meeting, Goldin promised that as many of the residents as possible would be “lined out” of the final map and that those remaining would have a minimal tax to pay. 

“This is a legal issue, which we would leave to the consultants,” he said. “We believe that most of Potter Creek can be lined out as well as several other residential clusters in the district.”  

Further, Goldin said fears that the assessed funds would be used to advocate for a change in zoning are unfounded. “We will put in writing that the PBID will not address zoning issues.” (PBID refers to Property Business Improvement District, a common tax assessment district generally comprised of commercial property owners, such as the one operating on Telegraph Avenue. A Community Benefits District is a PBID that includes homeowners.) 

As for weighting the decision to form the district based on property size, “The vote is mandated by state law and there is nothing we can do about it,” he said. 

The crowd expressed anger at the lack of democracy in the proposal—and also, in the lack of democracy they perceived at the meeting, where only about half the number of people who wanted to speak were permitted to do so. Two sessions of public comment were scheduled. The first was cut off after thirty minutes by moderator Taj Johns and the second was stopped after only a few speakers, at exactly 9 p.m. 

At the outset, Moore had welcomed his constituents, saying: “It’s key for me to listen and for city staff to listen.” Johns cut the meeting off in consultation with Moore, citing the fact that some of the speakers had not followed the ground rules, going beyond the two minutes given to them.  

(In a phone interview Monday—and as reported in Tuesday’s Planet—Interim Economic Development Division Director Michael Caplan had said there would be ample time for the public to comment and that the meeting would run beyond the allotted two hours so that could happen.)  

More than a dozen members of the public were left lining up at two microphones, unable to comment when the moderator abruptly ended the meeting. 

During the public comment time that was permitted, a major concern raised by several speakers was that a tax assessment on property owners would be immediately passed through to the small businesses that rent their spaces. 

The question of gentrification was also raised by several speakers.  

“Ever since Tom Bates got into office, we have experienced constant pressure from developers to gentrify West Berkeley,” said John Curl, of WBAIC. “From the point of view of renters, it’s a power grab by a few property owners who want to gentrify West Berkelely and move us out of town.” 

Representatives from businesses speaking against the assessment included those from Inkworks, a printing collective, Pacific Coast Chemical and Urban Ore. 

A handful of people spoke in favor of the assessment district, including Chris Barlow representing San Rafael-based Wareham, which owns a number of West Berkeley properties.  

Developer Ali Kashani, who also owns property in West Berkeley, also spoke in favor of the district, arguing that people have to accept change.  

“Change is happening,” he said. “People don’t like change. The BID is a good idea.” 

Area resident Jack Von Euw was one of the last speakers. He offered practical solutions to the problems of crime and dirty streets: “One solution is to get to know your neighbors,” he said. “Tell them if you leave town.” 

As for clean streets, Von Euw said: “Get a broom.” Graffiti? “Get a gallon of paint.” 

 

 

 


DAPAC Moves On to Height, Density Issues

By Richard Brenneman
Friday October 19, 2007

The Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee members voted 20–0–1 to approve the previously controversial chapter on historic buildings and urban design. 

Only James Samuels, who also chairs the city Planning Com-mission, abstained. 

A second vote by members of the DAPAC produced a 20–1–0 show of hands in favor of the proposed plan section on open space and streetscapes. 

With those two sections out of the way, the next hot potato on DAPAC’s plate will be the land-use chapter—the section spelling out just how dense and how high downtown Berkeley will become. 

Because it’s certain to reveal the underlying tensions with the committee, “we’ve put it off to the last minute,” Samuels said Thursday afternoon. 

For months the tension on the committee has polarized the panel into two core groups. 

One faction—including environmentalist Juliet Lamont, planning commissioners Helen Burke and Gene Poschman, and neighborhood activists such as Patti Dacey, Wendy Alfsen and Lisa Stephens—has claimed narrow majorities on key votes, places more emphasis on preservation and argues for less density and a lower skyline. 

The second group—which includes Samuels, DAPAC Chair Will Travis, Samuels, retired UC Berkeley development executive Dorothy Walker, Jenny Wenk and UC Berkeley journalism lecturer Linda Schacht—has called for a denser civic center and favored fewer controls on new construction and less emphasis on preserving older buildings. 

On key votes, the advocates of less and lower density have prevailed, but narrowly. 

One irony is that the most dynamic members of the opposing factions—La-mont and Travis—are both appointees of Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, whose own policies align more with the views espoused by Travis. 

Just hours after Wednesday night’s meeting Travis emailed a lengthy position paper on arguing for more density and taller buildings to DAPAC members, drawing the lines for the battle ahead. It can be found in its entirety on the berkeleydaily.com web site. 

 

Division remains 

Samuels said the strong vote for the historic buildings and design chapter came only after ten committee members had registered their opposition to creating a historic district along Shattuck Avenue between University and Durant avenues. 

Lamont, who moved for approval of the chapter, accepted a proposal to change language stating that the Landmarks Preservation Commission should, rather than will, consider creating the district. 

The chapter had been passed by a unanimous vote of a subcommittee drawn from the ranks of DAPAC members—all from the pre-preservation side—and from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the only body with the power to designate a district. 

DAPAC’s newest member, Erin Banks, a planner in private practice and the spouse of former city Planning Manager Mark Rhoades, said that while the document did a good job at preserving historic structures, it offered a “very cautious vision” of the future. 

“Downtown Berkeley has never realized its potential,” she said. “I don’t think this is time for a cautious vision.” 

“Our emphasis continues to be on the past,” said Walker, who has consistently argued in favor of a higher, denser downtown. 

Samuels told the committee he thought the document didn’t give enough recognition to the people who own and work in downtown businesses and said the downtown has many buildings of little architectural value. 

An architect, Samuels said the chapter could limit the ability to create more interesting spaces in the city center. 

Jim Novosel, the committee’s other architect, said he recognized the committee’s schism “between people who love the historic buildings and people who are really trying to get something new.” The chapter crafted by the subcommittee strikes a good balance, he said. 

It was Lamont who moved for adoption, including minor language changes and the change in emphasis on the proposed historic district. 

 

Open space 

The open-space chapter was quickly adopted, with some last-minute changes drafted the night before. 

The one opposition vote came from Bruce Wicinas, a computer programmer who was attending his last meeting of the committee. 

“This chapter just keeps getting greener and greener,” he said. 

A former Palo Alto resident, Wicinas said one of the reason he’d come to Berkeley was because he liked its more urban feel. “Green spaces aren’t a fundamental component of an urban area,” he said. 

Dark at night—“black voids”—they would attract mischief unless activities were programmed to keep them busy, he said. 

Walker said more density and more people would offer the solution, and without more development and the funds it brings, the city wouldn’t be able to create the new green spaces in the first place. 

Then came time for the committee to begin to tackle the lan-use chapter. 

While subcommittees had tackled the other chapters, the only versions of the plan’s critical chapter had come from city staff, until a self-designated group coalesced around Rob Wrenn, a transportation commissioner and former planning commissioner. 

The staff plans have consistently pushed for 16-story “point towers” filled with apartments and condos to attract residents to the downtown, seen as critical for revitalizing the city’s ailing commercial core. 

But high-rises don’t sit well with neighborhood activists on the committee, and partly for that reason, the committee informally decided two weeks ago to create its own land-use subcommittee, and Travis presented his list of proposed members Wednesday night. 

While DAPAC agreed to the six proposed members, it was Lamont who first raised an objection to Travis’s designation of Victoria Eisen as chair. Though Travis was himself picked to be chair by Mayor Bates, Lamont pointed out that city policy calls for groups to name their own chairs. 

The committee agreed, leaving the new subcommittee—Lamont, Eisen, Jesse Arreguin, Novosel, Walker and Wrenn—to schedule its first meeting and get down to business. 

What’s next? 

With a Nov. 30 deadline, DAPAC will pass on its work to city staff and the Planning Commission, which Samuels said will take up the task in January after staff coordinates the chapters and removes redundancies and duplications. 

While the DAPAC version will go the City Council, which has the final say, planning commissioners may be making their own recommendations to the council to accompany the committee’s parallel recommendations, leaving the final decision to the council. 

“The council is looking for us to do that,” Samuels said. “They often defer to us on things they do not want to do themselves.” 

Four members of the commission will be well acquainted with DAPAC’s work, since they’ve all served on the committee: Samuels, Patti Dacey, Helen Burke and Gene Poschman. 

While Samuels is in the minority at DAPAC, he occupies the central position in the five-four Planning Commission majority. 

“The Planning Commission has different eyes and different opinions than DAPAC does,” he said.


Albany’s Golden Gate Fields Developer Runs Low on Cash

By Richard Brenneman
Friday October 19, 2007

What’s the future of Golden Gate Fields now that its corporate owner is shedding real estate to cover losses on its ailing horse racing business? 

The track’s principal owner has told investors that something major is afoot, despite last year’s withdrawal of a proposal for an upscale shopping center and housing complex on part of the site. 

“Well, Golden Gate is a sizable piece of land, and ... for what it returns, the value of the real estate—it’s just not in line,” said Frank Stronach, the Canadian auto parks magnate who holds a controlling interest in the track’s corporate parent, Magna Entertainment Corporation. 

“But we are working on that, and hopefully within half a year we will have a very good answer on that one,” he told investors during a conference call last month. 

“Good,” said Albany Mayor Robert Lieber Wednesday. “Hopefully, they will close it, sell off the land and bring in a developer who will create a project the community can support.” 

But just what’s in store for the Albany track remains an open question. “[I]t would be way too early that we could publicly comment on it until we have the solution firmly firmed up,” Stronach told investors. 

During that same Sept. 13 call to investors, Magna officials announced that the Albany track was among company holdings pledged as collateral for a bridge loan of up to $80 million needed to avert a financial crisis. 

According to the latest corporate earnings statement, covering the three months ending June 30, Magna continues to hemorrhage cash. 

At the time that report was released in August, Stronach said, “We recognize that immediate and drastic action is required and we have commissioned a strategic review of the company.”  

A month later came the announcement of the bridge loan and confirmation of plans for the sale of a significant part of the company’s assets. 

Lieber, an outspoken critic of Stronach’s earlier plans to develop a shopping mall complex on the track’s parking lot, said he is angry because Magna “has blown off their promise to the community to develop the Bay Trail through their property” and renounced a promised 10-year lease on the shoreline trail area to the East Bay Regional Park—offering instead only a one-year term. 

“That sounds to me like plain bad faith,” he said.  

 

Collateral pledge 

According to an 8-K Form filed with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission Sept. 18, the Albany track, Santa Anita Park in Los Angeles County and the site of a proposed track in Dixon in Yolo County are three of the five Magna properties pledged as collateral for the loan. 

In addition to the bridge loan, Stronach pumped another $20 million of his own money into the company through an investment trust he created to provide an estate for his heirs, former Magna CEO Tom Hodgson told investors and two East Coast journalists during the September conference call. 

“We were running out of cash,” Stronach said. Magna Chief Financial Officer Blake Tohana said the company had $54 million in obligations coming due by June 30, 2008. 

Defeat of the plans for an upscale outdoor mall and housing complex at Golden Gate Fields were abandoned after two project foes defeated a pair of supporters in a race for open seats on the Albany City Council last November, assuring a majority vote against the controversial super mall. 

More bad news came six months later, when voters in the western Sacramento valley town of Dixon voted down Magna’s plans for a track, retail and housing development there in a four-measure referendum in April. 

Magna’s first “For Sale” sign went up on the Dixon property, during Stronach’s announcement of the financial losses Aug. 9—when Hodgson announced that the company had given up their plans for the site. 

The company posted losses of $22.4 million for the three months ending June 30. 

“We are extremely disappointed with the second quarter results,” Stronach said in a statement to investors. “We recognize that immediate and drastic review is required and we have commissioned a strategic review of the company.” 

Then, during the September conference call, the company announced the loan along with plans for sale of real estate near Magna’s Gulfstream Park in Florida, Laurel Park in Maryland, and a site near Vienna, Austria where the company operates a track/casino—or Racino in Magna’s trademarked coinage. 

Magna’s efforts to install casinos and slot machine-like racing gaming machines at its tracks have met with limited success, with the efforts rejected in many jurisdictions.  

The company is also looking at plans to sell its joint shopping center and housing project adjacent to Santa Anita, now under development by Rick Caruso, the same L.A. shopping center magnate who was defeated in his plans for the Albany mall. 

A similar project with another developer at Gulfstream is also a candidate for sale. 

“I am 100 percent behind the debt elimination plan,” Stronach told his audience during the September conference call, later adding that “we will eliminate racetracks which were marginal or lost a little money.” 

 

Troubled past 

While Stronach became one of Canada’s richest men by shrewdly building up his auto parts company into a North American market leader, his passion for thoroughbreds has spawned controversy from the start. 

Once boasting of plans to build the world’s largest racing empire, he amassed the largest collection of tracks ever assembled in North America. But investors in the parts company weren’t happy with the tracks’ impact on the balance sheet and forced him to spin off the racing ventures as a separate company. 

Magna Entertainment has tried a variety of gambits to boost the bottom line in an era in which off-track betting has sapped track attendance, and other sports have commandeered the limelight from what was once hailed as the “Sport of Kings.” 

Magna has pushed to combine track operations with casinos and, most recently, Stronach has partnered with developers to build upscale projects on track-adjacent land. 

The Albany project planned with Caruso would have occupied parking lot space no longer needed because of the dropping attendance. 

Magna last week announced plans to sell off parts of its portfolio to stanch the cash hemorrhage, with the Santa Anita track in Southern California going on the block along with a proposed track site closer at hand in Dixon. 

When the Golden Gate Fields racing season opens Nov. 7, the track will be in better shape than ever for thoroughbreds thundering along the home stretch, thanks to a new track surface mandated by state racing commissioners. 

All California tracks with major racing seasons have been ordered to install new surfaces to prevent horses from breaking their legs—an accident that usually ends with a lethal injection for the injured animal. 

Magna chose the patented Tapeta system, which uses a wax-coated mixture of sand, rubber and fiber to cushion hoof-blows on the track. Horses were able to try out the surface for the first time when the track opened for training Oct. 7. 

Lieber said the resurfacing cost Magna about $10 million. 

Bay Trail flap 

Local environmental activists had challenged the resurfacing because they believed the project hadn’t received the requisite review mandated by the California Environmental Quality Act. 

Norman La Force, the attorney who chairs the Sierra Club’s East Bay Public Lands Committee, said the track had known about the project for eleven months before applying for a permit in April, yet had not conducted a thorough review of its potential impacts on the community and the sensitive bayside environment. 

Robert Cheasty, a former Albany mayor and chair of Citizens for Eastshore State Park, negotiated with track officials. 

In the end, he said, in exchange for the environmentalists withdrawing their objections, track officials agreed to give the Eastshore State Park a 10-year period of access so they could complete installation of the Bay Trail through the track’s property and open it to public access. 

“But once they got what they wanted, they blew off their promise to give the community the Bay Trail,” Lieber said. “Now they only want to give a one-year lease.” 

The change in mood at the track came about the same time Stronach began discussing possible new developments there. 

“We are very disappointed by the lack of progress on the Bay Trail,” said Cheasty. “To paraphrase the chain gang boss in Cool Hand Luke, we’re hoping it’s only a ‘failure to communicate.’ But if Golden Gate Fields doesn’t go through with the completion of the Bay Trail, then it will have broken words, its bond of trust with the community.” 

La Force of the Sierra Club said that henceforth community groups wouldn’t trust what track officials said “without a signed contract, and with enforcement penalities.”


Travis memo to DAPAC

Friday October 19, 2007

 

Within hours of DAPAC’s adoption of two key chapters governing historic buildings and open space in downtown Berkeley, committee Chair Will Travis sent members an impassioned plea calling for taller buildings in the city center. 

What follows are excerpts from his memorandum, entitled “Downtown Land Uses and Urban Form.” 

 

To: DAPAC Members 

From: Will Travis, DAPAC Chair 

Subject: DOWNTOWN LAND USES AND URBAN FORM 

My responsibilities (and authority) as DAPAC’s chair are largely limited to keeping track of who gets to speak next. As a result, other than asking questions to help speakers clarify their points and offering brief editorial comments, I’ve have had little opportunity to express my own views on the form and content of the plan we’re developing for Berkeley’s downtown. Now that we’re reaching the final weeks of our deliberations and are forging the most critical element of our plan––the one that deals with land use, building forms and heights––I’ve decided to take this opportunity to share some of my ideas in the hope that they’ll be helpful to my fellow members on DAPAC. 

Given the disparity of interests and perspectives represented on DAPAC, I believe we can all be justifiably proud of the amazing consensus we’re reaching on a wide variety of issues. The most contentious issue we’ve yet to settle is how many taller buildings we should have in our downtown and how tall they should be. As we all know, this is a complicated issue. But I think that if this issue is evaluated on an analytical basis and we rely on the previous decisions DAPAC has made, we should be calling for as many tall buildings as possible to be built.  

Why do I say this?  

First, we’ve settled on environmental sustainability as our overarching objective. To achieve this objective, we can draw on the abundant data and numerous studies demonstrating that higher density development results in lower per capita greenhouse gas emissions. The most recent, comprehensive and compelling documentation is provided in a new book entitled, Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change by the National Center for Smart Growth America, the Urban Land Institute and the Center for Clean Air Policy.  

The reason higher density development results in less per capita air emissions is both markedly simple and highly intuitive. Higher density development allows more effective use of public transportation systems––like those we have in downtown Berkeley––and accommodates enough workers and residents to support a wide variety of retail establishments and community facilities. In turn, the close proximity of these shops and services allows residents, workers and patrons to conveniently get around by walking or bicycling. This isn’t merely a matter of opinion. The authors of Growing Cooler found that “the link between urban development patterns and individual or household travel has become the most heavily researched subject in urban planning, with more than 100 rigorous empirical studies completed.” 

So if we truly want downtown Berkeley to be a model of sustainability, we must support more development downtown. 

Second, higher density development would advance our goal of making Berkeley a global leader in sustainability. The initial step in accomplishing this lofty goal would be to become a leader in our own region. Although ABAG’s housing production goals have been sharply criticized, it’s important to recognize that in setting these goals, ABAG’s objective for our region is the same as DAPAC’s goal for Berkeley: reducing greenhouse gases. We know that the largest source of greenhouse gases in our region is the private vehicle. To deal with this problem, ABAG would like to see more housing built in existing cities and near transit so fewer people have to rely exclusively on private vehicles for mobility. ABAG’s goals aren’t mandatory. Local governments can simply ignore them and forgo a portion of the State’s affordable housing funding. But if Berkeley and other cities with excellent public transportation shy away from accommodating this needed housing, it will likely continue to be built in more welcoming distant suburbs, and the new residents will continue to spend lots of time and emit lots of greenhouse gases commuting to and from jobs in Berkeley and other cities in the Bay Area’s urban core. 

The importance of thinking regionally when we act locally can be illustrated by an overly simplistic hypothetical example. Last year, Berkeley’s voters overwhelmingly supported Measure G, which sets a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Berkeley at least 80% by 2050. The easiest way to achieve this goal would be for 80% of Berkeley’s population to move somewhere else in the Bay Area, and the remaining 20% to continue with business as usual. Berkeley would achieve its goal even though greenhouse gas emissions in the region wouldn’t decline. (In fact, for a variety of reasons, they would probably increase.) As this example demonstrates, what happens in Berkeley affects the surrounding region, and what happens elsewhere in the Bay Area affects Berkeley. 

Third, DAPAC has agreed that all future development downtown must be of the highest design quality so that it enhances the experience of residents, workers, shoppers, students and visitors. Similarly, we also want a lot of amenities for the people of Berkeley. We want more parks, open space, clean streets, affordable housing, better social services, green construction, public restrooms, and improved transit. Good things all, but they cost money. And where, given the fiscal realities of California in this post-Proposition 13 era, will Berkeley get the money pay for the things we want? Largely through taxes, fees and other fiscal extractions that are derived from the approval and operation of new development. Thus, the more new development we have downtown, the more revenue the City of Berkeley will gain to provide the sort of amenities called for in our plan. 

To help us achieve our stated goals of environmental sustainability, global leadership, high quality community amenities and design excellence, members of DAPAC and our staff have presented several land use alternatives that would provide more new housing, accommodate more new workers, generate more revenue for the city and reduce cumulative environmental impacts. Yet, we have not yet endorsed any of these proposals. Why is this so? 

First, I believe it’s because none of these proposals include detailed design standards and other provisions that will provide us the assurance that the new development will, in fact, be of the highest quality. Absent these standards, we’re being asked to support development for the sake of development. The second reason we haven’t embraced higher density development is because we have properly decided that the shape and form of our downtown shouldn’t be based only on objective analysis. We understand that cities are more than machines that house people, provide jobs, accommodate movement and manage pollutants. Cities are expressions of who we are, what we value, what we aspire to be. In American city planning, the job of expressing community values and agreeing on public policies that reflect those values is usually handled by citizen representatives who serve on planning boards, commissions or committees like DAPAC. The job of a citizen organization like ours is to go beyond rational thinking in deciding what we like, what we dislike and what we want our community should look like.  

Each of us has been appointed to DAPAC to provide an expression of our values in defining a vision for downtown that will best meet the needs of Berkeley now and in the future. None of us has been elected to our posts, and, so far as I know, none of us has been appointed to represent a particular constituency. Thus, at the end of the day, each of us is representing no one but ourselves and what we believe future generations expect from us.  

As we try to decide the form we want downtown to take, it’s hard to ignore the comments and testimony we’ve heard about the evils of buildings––particularly tall buildings. We’ve been told that tall buildings create noise, cause high winds, result in dark shadows, and generally make cities unattractive, unhealthy and unpleasant places. There have even been a few suggestions (frivolous, I’m sure) that the two existing taller buildings downtown Berkeley should be razed, and that a community of mud huts is preferable to one with tall buildings. 

This disdain for tall buildings does not reflect my experience working in downtown San Francisco. There are scores of buildings in San Francisco, all much taller than those we’re considering in Berkeley, coexisting in a beautiful district served by superb public transit and filled with sunny plazas, fountains, ample trees, rich landscaping, great shopping, and excellent restaurants. This isn’t true only in San Francisco. Take a stroll through Vancouver, Portland or any number of other cities where a community has embraced well-planned density coupled with excellent amenities. 

The difference between my experience and the comments made at DAPAC meetings makes me wonder whether the people who attribute a variety of ills to tall buildings simply don’t like cities. At very least, they don’t believe that taller buildings have any place in downtown Berkeley. There is nothing wrong with this sentiment. But it’s important to recognize that it’s an expression of personal taste––and just that. More importantly, we need to recognize that embracing a vision of a downtown with small buildings and low density has costs, including the loss of the amenities we want, such as increased public space, affordable housing and cultural activities. 

It’s challenging to distill personal tastes into community values that should be reflected in our downtown plan. Most of us love spending time in beautiful natural areas, enjoy the tranquility of farm land and open space, find charm in villages and small towns, and relish our memories of Paris and the bustle of New York. But downtown Berkeley isn’t a national park, a farm, a village, Paris or New York City. It’s the heart of a dynamic city adjacent to one of the great universities of the world. Therefore, it would probably be unwise to incorporate ideas that belong in rural settings, villages or Paris into our downtown plan. In this regard, I’ll readily admit that my love of San Francisco doesn’t mean that Berkeley should try to replicate San Francisco in our downtown. 

Another of the community values we’ve heard expressed at our meetings is a desire that Berkeley remain pretty much the way it is now. I believe much of this resistance to change comes about because many of Berkeley’s residents have moved here from elsewhere. Often when someone chooses to move to a new community, they do so in large part because they find the new place attractive. It’s only natural that if they like a place the way it is, they don’t want it to change. This is resistance to change is common in towns across America, but in Berkeley this conservative tendency is often rooted in the rhetoric of historic preservation, environmentalism or just thoughtful skepticism.  

Despite all the efforts to stop change in Berkeley, there has been a lot of change during the 30 years I’ve lived here, and there will be more change in the future. Change is not only inevitable, it is desirable because great cities are dynamic places. The best cities embrace change and manage it positively. Our plan for downtown Berkeley shouldn’t try to prevent downtown from changing. Nor should we try to recapture a past that can never exist again. Some have called for preserving the historic character of downtown that they see. Others see a downtown that has no distinct historic character, but see instead an eclectic collection of structures of varying ages and design quality with some truly handsome historic buildings included in the mix. We need to find a way to respect both viewpoints, protect our historic heritage and welcome innovative new buildings into our downtown. 

To craft strategies for managing the change that will inevitably come to Berkeley, it’s helpful to look at our downtown in a much broader context. We have the good fortune of living in a region that’s highly prosperous and innovative. Our knowledge-based economy is producing many new jobs. Berkeley is one of the leading incubators in this job-creation process. Our region has also done an admirable job of protecting its natural resources, including the Bay, open spaces, farmlands and parks. Over three-quarters of the land in the nine Bay Area counties is undeveloped. These protected resources add much to the quality of life in our region and make the Bay Area a spectacular place in which to live.  

Our region isn’t growing very much (only about one percent a year), but even at this slow rate there isn’t enough housing being built in the Bay Area to accommodate all the workers and new residents who want to live here. The combination of low housing productivity and high demand has pushed Bay Area home prices up to the highest levels in the nation. In order to find affordable housing, increasing numbers of Bay Area workers are being forced to “drive until you qualify” for a home mortgage, often on a house in a subdivision at the far fringes of the region or beyond. 

As I’ve noted earlier, ABAG’s objective is to address this problem by encouraging more housing to be built within the existing urban core of the Bay Area. Some might argue that buyers who chose a suburban lifestyle wouldn’t be want to live in Berkeley––even if they could afford to do so. But changing demographic patterns and new lifestyle choices have created a demand for a wide variety of housing types. The major homebuilders are capitalizing on this new demand. For example, KB Home, a national builder usually associated with suburban houses, is increasingly shifting its focus to urban infill projects. An excess of new housing inventory in the Central Valley has resulted in a significant drop in the prices of new homes there, but the prices of KB’s infill homes have remained stable and, in one recent quarter, generated 90% of the profit for the company’s northern California division. 

Thus, the question isn’t whether there’s a demand for housing in downtown Berkeley. The question is: how much of this demand is DAPAC willing to meet? 

Even if we choose to meet this demand, we should be under no illusion that building housing downtown will lower the market price of homes in Berkeley. The simple truth about housing in Berkeley is that land is scarce and expensive, construction costs high and demand great. As a result, housing is expensive to build, and developers will charge buyers the highest price that the market will bear. Berkeley’s two most effective ways to increase the supply of below market-rate housing are: (1) investing public funds to build or subsidize affordable housing; and (2) requiring private housing developers to either offer some portion of their units at below market rate or pay in-lieu fees which can be pooled to support subsidized housing. Berkeley currently has precious little public funding to invest in affordable housing. Therefore, the only effective way to increase the supply of low-income and affordable housing is to encourage more market rate housing to be built.  

DAPAC owes its existence to a decision of the University of California to build 800,000 square feet of new buildings in downtown Berkeley. UC didn’t make this decision because it wanted to stimulate a lawsuit by the City of Berkeley or because it wanted to underwrite and participate in a lengthy new downtown planning process. UC made its decision because the university believes it has outgrown its campus park and needs to meet a portion of its future demands for education, laboratory and office space downtown. In addition to direct University expansion, there’s also a stream of bio-tech, consulting, green energy, technology and other start-up businesses that would love a home within walking distance of the campus. These entrepreneurs often find it necessary to launch their businesses in other cities or move away when they can’t find room to expand in Berkeley. 

Thus, the question isn’t whether there’s a demand for education-related new development in downtown Berkeley. The question is: how much of this demand is DAPAC willing to meet? 

DAPAC has been briefed on proposals for two large hotels and conference facilities. Another hotel is about to be built. A new grocery store has been approved just across the street from our downtown planning area. Proponents of these businesses have indicated that it’s now necessary for patrons looking for the type of services these businesses provide to go to other cities to meet their needs. For example, we’ve learned that if we want to buy a new computer or a television, there don’t seem to be any Berkeley retailers who sell them. 

Thus, the question isn’t whether there is a demand for hotel and retail commercial development in downtown Berkeley. The question is: how much of this demand is DAPAC willing to meet? 

Overall, Berkeley is in an enviable position when compared with other cities that have struggling downtowns. Berkeley doesn’t have to market itself to attract housing, office development or businesses so much as it simply has to decide how much of this development it wants and then craft planning policies and processes that will ensure that the desired growth will be well-designed and will enhance our downtown. 

In many ways, I think urban growth is like toothpaste. If you squeeze it at one place, it comes out somewhere else. If you accept this maxim, it’s entirely plausible that Berkeley’s existing planning policies and growth restrictions have helped create prosperous hotel, office and retail centers in El Cerrito, Emeryville and elsewhere. Of course, it’s more than just that. Not only could Berkeley also have accommodated much of that activity here, but we could have done it better––with far better transit access, far better design and with far more benefits for our community. 

This brings us back to the basic question we members of DAPAC have to face: will we take advantage of the demand to live, work and shop in Berkeley and sculpt a new downtown that meets the needs of the future? Or will we call for a continuation of the existing downtown planning policies, which have resulted in the demand for new development largely being met elsewhere? 

The job of DAPAC is to deliver a plan for the downtown of our city. To carry out our charge, each of us has to accept a simple truth: cities have buildings, and bigger buildings meet more of the demand for housing; accommodate more workers who patronize downtown businesses; help make transit systems run more efficiently; provide more space for growing enterprises; generate more city revenues needed to pay for public services; and better advance strategies to combat global warming. These many benefits to our community, our region and our planet shouldn’t be dismissed lightly and surely not just because any one of us feels a taller building “just doesn’t look right” or because we fear that others might question our decisions. 

Despite the many benefits of higher density, it’s important to recognize that all the land use alternatives we’re considering have been tempered to comport with the traditions of Berkeley. Any taller new buildings would be limited in number and, except for the hotel and conference center DAPAC has endorsed, would be restricted to being not much taller than the existing Wells Fargo and Great Western/Power Bar buildings. One of these structures (the Wells Fargo building) is a treasured historic resource with graceful proportions and pleasing details. The other has been the subject of much derision, not so much because of its height, but because it is markedly unattractive. Our experience with these two buildings underscores the importance of having good design guidelines in place and gives reason to believe that more taller building will be acceptable to our community if they are well-designed and phased-in gradually over time. 

I’m not advocating any particular land use or density alternative. My only objective is to ensure that DAPAC has a clear sense of the tradeoffs on the issues of height and density. If we accept a plan that sharply limits the capacity of our downtown to accommodate residents, workers, shoppers, students and visitors, we need to confront the tradeoff we’re making head-on. We shouldn’t pretend that such a choice can be made without paying the price of reduced amenities, poorer environmental performance, and lost economic and cultural opportunities. 

We have plenty of solid analytical information to help us determine which land uses and urban form will provide the greatest benefits to Berkeley. It will take great courage to put aside our preconceptions and become community leaders, rather than followers, as we forge our plan for the future. But if we don’t do so, we won’t be fulfilling the honor that has been bestowed upon us to craft public policies that will make downtown Berkeley a truly great place.  

 


Oakland City Attorney Announces Predatory Lending Fight

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday October 19, 2007

The Oakland city attorney’s office this week announced a stepped-up effort to combat what City Attorney John Russo and Mayor Ron Dellums are calling the “crisis” of predatory lending in Oakland. 

They are kicking off the efforts with a homeowner’s foreclosure prevention workshop this Saturday, including a hotline for distressed consumers and homeowners operating out of the city attorney’s office, door-to-door public outreach in the most effected communities, meetings with lenders and loan service organizations to encourage them to mitigate mortgage paying problems before they occur and proposed state legislation. 

The “Know Your Options, Know Your Rights, Protect Your Home” workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. this Saturday at Oakland City Hall. 

Flanked at a city hall press conference by members of a newly formed Oakland Fair Lending Coalition that included city and community leaders, Russo said that the city of Oakland had “worked too hard” over the last several years to increase home ownership and to attack the city’s growing problem of crime and violence.  

Russo said that not only do the foreclosures caused by predatory lending practices have a devastating effect on homeowners themselves that needs to be prevented, but that “we are not going to allow the city to slip backwards with a glut of abandoned houses that causes neighborhoods to de-teriorate and crime to flourish.”  

Members of the newly-formed Oakland Fair Lending Coalition include ACORN, Bay Area Legal Aid, the California Reinvestment Coalition, the Center for Responsible Lending, Centro De La Raza, the Consumers Union, the East Bay Community Law Center, the Eviction Defense Center, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, Lao Family Community Development, the Oakland NAACP, the Oakland City Attorney’s Office, Sentinel Fair Housing, the Urban Strategies Council and the Unity Council. 

Russo stressed that the coalition did not want to “interfere with the fair market,” and that it was also interested in protecting investors, who, he said, have also been hurt by the home-mortgage collapse crisis. 

The city attorney’s office defined predatory lenders as those companies that use “misleading and high-pressure tactics” to entice homeowners into loans the homeowners cannot afford, and then foreclose on those properties when the mortgages cannot be paid.  

Of particular concern, according to coalition members who spoke at Thursday’s press conference, were adjustable interest rates that continue to rise past the homeowners’ income levels. 

Maeve Brown, executive director of the Oakland-based nonprofit, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, the sponsors of Saturday’s workshop, said that nationwide, $110 billion in home-mortgage loans are expected to be adjusted upward in April of next year, more than the total in the first three months of this year.  

And a press release put out by the city attorney’s office said that there are currently 1,000 foreclosed, bank-owned properties in Oakland, and that “hundreds of default notices have been sent just this month.” 

Also appearing at the press conference and lending support to the effort were City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and Councilmember Larry Reid, whose Seventh District has some of the worst housing-mortgage default problems in the city. 

A city attorney’s office fact sheet passed out at the press conference noted that there were 337 foreclosures in Oakland in the first eight months of 2007, with the 94621 zip code in East Oakland—a heavily African-American and Latino area represented by Reid—having the highest foreclosure rate in the city, at 14.9 foreclosures per 1,000 homes.  

The fact sheet said that citizens of color were most likely to be victims of predatory lending practices, with African-American and Latino homebuyers 3.8 times more likely to have received a high-cost loan than whites, and neighborhoods of color 23.6 times more likely to get higher-cost refinance loans than white neighborhoods. 

Dorothy Hicks, a homeowner for 39 years in the Havenscourt community of East Oakland and an ACORN member, said at the press conference that she took out a mortgage on her home a year ago to raise money to start a business, but said that she was a “victim of a predatory lender” and now in danger of losing her home. 

“I told the lender I was making a certain income, but he put a higher income on the loan papers,” Hicks said. “They can put anything on those papers they want. I would not have signed those papers if I knew the payments would go up every two or three years. I was told that it would be one rate.” Hicks said that after she approached her lender to say that she was having problems with making her payments and needed help, “they told me I wasn’t making enough to keep my house. But a year ago, they told me I was making enough to get the loan.” 

The Oakland City Council passed an ordinance in 2001 to protect low-income and elderly citizens from predatory lenders, but a 2005 California Supreme Court ruling threw out that legislation. Russo said on Thursday that because the court ruled that state law pre-empted city ordinance in this area, Oakland cannot pass a modified measure. 

Instead, Russo said the coalition would lobby the state legislature for revised state law that provides “real protection against predatory lenders,” including “vigorous enforcement.” Russo urged support for one current bill, AB 512 (Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View) that would require mortgage contracts to be written in the language in which they are negotiated. 

Russo said that such law is currently in place in California for all contracts except mortgages, a situation he called “ridiculous” and a significant problem in a multi-lingual city like Oakland. 

The city attorney added that “if the legislature doesn’t have the guts to act” on the predatory lending issue, “they should end their pre-emption over municipal ordinance and allow the local jurisdictions to act on our own to protect our citizens.” 

State Senate President Don Perata did not appear at Thursday’s press conference, but an aide read a statement from Perata that said the senator “look[s] forward to working with the Coalition and reviewing their legislative proposals, as I am working with my Senate colleagues to develop legislation to help protect homeowners against foreclosure.”


Warm Water Pool Users, Multi-Pool Advocates Clash

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday October 19, 2007

Berkeley’s warm water pool users clashed at Wednesday’s disability commission meeting with members of Pools for Berkeley over the idea of a multi-pool complex. 

While members of the One Warm Pool Advocacy Group say they believe Berkeley voters will approve a bond for building a free-standing warm pool, Pools for Berkeley and some disability commissioners said it would only pass if the proposal included a multi-use pool, which would attract a wider group of users. 

The proposed warm pool on Milvia Street—planned by Berkeley-based ELS architects with input from the Warm Water Pool Task Force—is a one-story, 12,000-square-foot structure which includes a pool, deck space, lockers and equipment storage rooms.  

The price tag for construction is $10 million and could increase to almost $15 million when land and other design costs are included. 

The city hired ELS to design the relocation of the warm water pool after the Berkeley Unified School District approved the Berkeley High School South of Bancroft Master Plan in January, which proposed demolishing the landmarked Old Gym and its warm pool in order to build classrooms and sports facilities. The plan provided the city with an option to use part of the Milvia Street property to rebuild the pool. 

“Building a warm pool by itself will be difficult,” said Bill Hamilton, a member of Pools for Berkeley, which introduced the idea of a multi-pool complex almost a year ago. 

“We have tried to stay clear of what the One Warm Pool people have been doing, but now it’s at a point where we have to start working together. One way voters would pass a warm pool proposal is if it’s included in a wider constituency.” 

Deputy City Manager Lisa Caronna told the Planet that the City Council had never formally discussed the idea of a multi-pool complex or directed city staff to preview needs, feasibility and sites. 

For East Bay’s disabled community, the idea of a multi-pool complex is a threat to their proposed freestanding pool. 

“We have been working to design the pool for the last 15 years,” said Joann Cook, co-chair of the One Warm Pool Advocacy Group. “Any other plan would delay the process ... People should support a pool for the disabled whether or not there is something in it for them. People voted for the warm pool in 2000. Why would they not vote for it now?” 

Disability commission chair Dmitri Belser replied that the scenario had changed since the last bond measure had passed. 

“People were more willing to vote on bonds then than they are now,” he said. “If we are going for a $15 million parcel tax we have to make it attractive for people to vote on ... We don’t want to put a bond on the ballot and see it fail ... This kind of thinking will lead to a dry warm pool on Milvia.” 

Pool user Gary Marquard said that the new multi-pool idea seemed like another case of bait-and-switch. 

“People think we are weird because we are focused on ultra-special needs, but there’s a reason for that,” he said. 

Hamilton told the board that an indoor lap pool and an outdoor children’s recreational pool would attract all age groups to the facility. 

Urging the city to investigate the multi-pool proposal so that it could be put on the November 2008 ballot, he added that the outdoor pools located at the King and Willard elementary schools and the West Campus were in abysmal condition and could stop functioning altogether.  

All three pools are approximately 60 years old and suffer from pipe leaks, decaying concrete and faulty pumps.  

Berkeley residents approved a $200,000 bond measure to repair the pools at the last election, and the city is currently investigating costs for additional upgrades. 

Hamilton said that multi-pool complexes have been built in Newark and El Cerrito.  

“We need to present the facts to the City Council to look into the viability of a multi-pool facility,” he said. “We sympathize with the warm pool people. Outdoor swimmers do not want to compete with them, but one way of defraying costs is to build an attractive pool for kids with all the bells and whistles.” 

One Warm Pool Advocacy Group co-chair Juanita Kirby said that putting kids and disabled people in the same place would not be feasible. 

“They keep referring to children and waterslides, but what about disabled people bumping into them?” she asked. “The warm pool needs to be freestanding ... It needs to be in a special environment tailored to meet special needs. A lot of people prefer to go to neighborhood pools ... We were never considered a part of the other pools before. No one ever thought of us.” 

Mark Hendrix, another warm pool user, said that it was important to consider how many able-bodied swimmers there are in Berkeley before considering the idea of a multi-use pool. 

“We have statistics of how much the warm water pool gets used every week,” he said. “How many people would want to swim outdoors in winter? A lot of people don’t even want to swim anymore.” 

Hamilton said that an indoor pool would allow children to have lessons in winter. 

“A lot of people go to Oakland and El Cerrito during winter,” he said. “They need to come back to Berkeley to swim.” 

Disability commissioner Ann Silch said that allying with other pool users would attract parents, lap swimmers, aquatic and aerobics instructors to the ballot. 

“The commission strongly believes that a warm pool is a wonderful benefit for the community,” said disability commissioner Ed Gold. “What is in debate is the multiple ways of accomplishing it. We want to look at the best way to make it happen.” 

The board voted to set up a subcommittee to develop language that would ask the City Council to consider the best possible way to build a warm pool. 

Caronna said that the proposed plan would go before the council Nov. 6 along with the other potential bond measures for the 2008 election.


Sunday Hassan Memorial Moved to A Taste of Africa Restaurant

By Richard Brenneman
Friday October 19, 2007

The memorial potluck gathering to commemorate the life of Amir Hassan has been moved to A Taste of Africa, the restaurant at 3015 Shattuck Ave. where the 9-year-old boy was a frequent visitor.  

The potluck will be noon to dusk on Sunday. 

His 31-year-old mother, Misti Mina Hassan, was arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court Thursday on one count of murder. 

Police discovered the boy’s body Oct. 10 following a call from a family friend in San Jose who said the boy’s mother had just called to say her son was dead and she was injured. 

Police said they arrived to find the youth dead and his mother bleeding from minor and apparently self-inflicted wounds to her wrists, arms and neck. 

After being held on a hospital suicide watch, she was transferred to the jail at Santa Rita where she was formally charged Monday. 


Air District Releases Health Assessment of Pacific Steel

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday October 19, 2007

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District released Pacific Steel’s long-awaited health risk assessment report to the public last week and will be accepting comments until Jan. 31. 

Prepared by West Berkeley-based Pacific Steel Casting with assistance from environmental consulting firm ENVIRON, the report examines the effects of both current and future emissions on residents, and whether West Berkleyans need to be notified about health risks under air district guidelines. 

Pacific Steel released a statement, not yet approved by the air district, stating that the “the estimated cancer and non-cancer risks for all population, regardless of location” was found to be below the risk reduction level set by the air district. 

Diagrams in the report illustrate that of a million people near the facility, ten might be at an increased risk of developing cancer from the plant’s emissions. 

“Ten in a million may be acceptable for industrial areas but may not be acceptable for residential areas,” said Nabil al-Hadithy, the city’s toxic manager. “It looks to me that a couple of residential units are within the ten in a million risk. Whether ten in a million is acceptable in residential areas is open to interpretation. The city has hired Tetratech to analyze the report independently. We will be submitting our comments to the air district once that is over.” 

Elisabeth Jewel of Aroner, Jewel & Ellis Partners, the public relations firm representing Pacific Steel, said that the seventeen residential units that faced increased risk from cancer would be notified. 

“They are a mixture of office and live-work units belonging to The Tannery near the plant,” she said. 

Air district spokesperson Karen Schkolnick told the Planet that the agency had found the report to be complete and had sent it to the State Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) for an independent review. 

“We are required under the state Air Toxics Information and Assessment Act to ask for the health risk assessment report,” she said. 

“Before we make any kind of determination about whether the findings are accurate, we have to accept comments from OEHHA.” 

Environmentalists and community members remain skeptical about the report and have labeled it “whitewash.” 

“The so-called ‘health risk assessment’ released by Pacific Steel Casting is a self-serving document prepared by the very polluter that has emitted enormous amounts of noxious odors and toxic pollutants into the community for years,” said Bradley Angel, executive director, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. “The fight to protect the health of residents will continue.” 

Janice Schroeder, a volunteer for the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs, said that the report was a sham since the plant could tweak its equipment until emission numbers were abnormally low, then run official source tests which show numbers at or below allowable thresholds.  

After settling with the air district over a lawsuit last year, Pacific Steel installed a $2 million carbon absorption unit on Plant 3 that, Jewel said, had greatly reduced odor and emissions. 

However, complaints about headaches, nausea and chest tightness from exposure to the plant’s emissions continue. 

“Pacific Steel must minimize the community's exposure to its toxics by incorporating a comprehensive Toxic Use Reduction program which includes full transparency and community involvement in the entire process,” Schroeder said. 

Jewel said that the methodologies used to prepare the report were approved by the air district, and that the health analysis was guided by the California Air Resources Board. 

“Pacific Steel has made substantial improvements in the neighborhood,” she said. “We have spent millions in emission control equipment. We are a lot better than we were before.” 

Global Community member LA Wood, who performed air tests near the foundry with the help of air district funds, said that preliminary sampling suggested that manganese and nickel levels were higher than what was considered safe by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

“There are health concerns if you are within a third of a mile of Pacific Steel,” he said. 

“Drawing circles around the foundry and saying it’s a manufacturing area is nonsense...This part of West Berkeley may be designated as a manufacturing district, but time has radically altered the character of the area which now contains many residential housing units and schools. The new HRA [health risk assessment] avoids addressing this reality when it rationalizes lower regulatory concerns for public health.” 

 

The report can be viewed at www.baaqmd.gov. 

Comments can be submitted to Scott Lutz, Manager of Toxic Evaluation, BAAQMD, 939 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA 94109. Email: slutz@baaqmd.gov. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Will DAPAC Have Been Worth it After All?

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday October 23, 2007

We encountered many of our Elmwood neighbors at a recent party, most of them grumbling in typically articulate Berkeley style about the big new restaurant cum who-knows-what which is under construction near the corner of Ashby and College. The talk turned to general questions of development and density, and specifically to what might be in store for downtown Berkeley if the University of California gets everything it wants from the official progeny of the advice which is scheduled to be delivered in November by the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee.  

The conversational tone was very negative about the kind of ultra-densification via tall towers currently being promoted by a combination of true believers and shills for UC. But one person, a long-time guru on the music scene for whom I have the deepest respect and admiration, muttered to me sotto voce that he didn’t really see what was the matter with tall buildings. “People have to live somewhere,” he said. He allowed as how he was happy he’d bought his home in the hills 40 years ago, because he himself wouldn’t be happy living in a downtown condo, but he thought some might be. 

His comments came to mind on Saturday morning, when we dropped in on DAPAC’s public workshop about its latest draft of goals and policies after buying our tomatoes and peppers at the Farmers’ Market, conveniently located right near Berkeley High where the meeting was held. This proved to be another in a recent run of civic meetings where the inmates seem to be taking over the asylum, or at least it must appear that way to the public employees who’ve largely thought they had things under control until now. The same phenomenon has been observed at several other recent “workshops,” the polite name for gatherings where citizens are allowed to vent a bit if they follow the rules. Attendees are refusing to sit through any more vapid powerpoint presentations, declining to break up into small groups, insisting on having their say even if their words are not being recorded on butcher paper tablets for later disposal.  

The DAPAC workshop was attended by what looked like 100 or so citizens and perhaps 15 of the 21 DAPAC members, plus lots of paid staffers from the city of Berkeley and the University of California racking up comp time. Early on, before we got there, participants seem to have decided that they were going to use all of the scheduled three hours for public comment, with not much time devoted to staff’s scheduled rehash of the draft, which was available on-line with copies distributed around the room.  

By 10:30 or so, public participation was in full swing. At the rate of three minutes per speaker, more or less, about 50 Berkeleyans were able to contribute to the public discourse about what should happen downtown in the future. They were, for the most part, intelligent and well-spoken, and even the few presentations which seemed a bit—er—scattered had interesting nuggets embedded in them. The Planet didn’t have a reporter there, but we really didn’t need one, because most of the best speakers have already expressed their ideas in these pages in the past.  

And—are you surprised?—almost no one spoke in favor of a taller, denser downtown Berkeley. The retired UC development official and current small-time developer who is Mayor Bates’ appointee to the Planning Commission, David Stoloff, did say a few positive words about it—no surprise there. A couple of true believers spoke up. One is on the board of Livable Berkeley, the pro-growth lobbying group, and the other is the main member of Friends of Bus Rapid Transit. A planning student or two expressed a deep desire to get the chance to test the theories they’d been absorbing in their classes on our fair city, which they’d come to know and love at least since freshman year. That was about it. 

Just to be sure the public is fully informed, however, we have invited all and sundry to send their comments to opinion@berkeleydailyplanet.com. We’ll print as many as possible, and we’ll run the rest on the Web at berkeleydailyplanet.com. And our technical staff (i.e. the publisher) tells me that if we can get the tape of the meeting, it can also be posted there in audio form, in case anyone has three hours to listen to it. 

But the big unanswered question is what I think of as the J. Alfred Prufrock dilemma: Will it have been worth it after all? One of the best speakers, and a fresh face on the scene, was Bruce Kaplan, the proprietor of Looking Glass Photo [shameless plug for a Planet advertiser], who talked sadly about seeing Westwood, UCLA’s home neighborhood, converted into cement canyons. When the University of California is on the move, it seems that there is no force on earth that can stop it.  

In Santa Cruz, at least they’re trying. On Sunday we went to the opening of an art exhibit on the glorious campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz. A freelance graffiti artist had decorated the bathroom with his or her own artwork: “Stop the LRDP.” There’s a UC plan to destroy Santa Cruz too, with another Long Range Development Plan like the one threatening Berkeley.  

The difference is that the city of Santa Cruz sued challenging the environment impact report on UCSC’s plan, just as Berkeley did on UCB’s, but Santa Cruz stuck to its guns and won, in trial court at least, though UC might still appeal. The issues were the same: water, sewers, streets—who’s going to pay for all that when enrollment increases? Not to mention the impact of the for-profit biotech spin-offs that faculty and staff at both campuses lust after, which will pay little in the way of local taxes. 

The Berkeley City Council, the victim as usual of poor legal advice from its city attorney’s office, backed off, and topped off its surrender with a totally unnecessary agreement to go through the DAPAC process. The question, frequently repeated in these pages and at the workshop, is why our city has volunteered to surrender its excellent existing general plan before UC’s advancing army.  

A major problem is that for the large percentage of Berkeley citizens living in what are now million-dollar hillside homes, filling downtown Berkeley with towers will affect only a minor portion of their view. That’s true even of the best intentioned people like my musical friend. Some imagine teachers and policemen living in the market rate downtown condos they envision, but check the math. As many workshop speakers pointed out, these will have to be luxury dorms for wealthy students, not family homes for public employees. 

We’re tempted to run pictures of the pleasant homes of the most vocal members of the “smart growth” mafia, though that might seem tacky. The downtown condos they champion are for other people, by and large. Some refer touchingly to their grown children who have had to leave Berkeley to find single family homes they can afford, but I seriously doubt that said offspring will come back to live in downtown condo towers even if BRT materializes. Berkeley didn’t invent the real estate bubble, and we can’t solve it by cannibalizing our downtown.  

The answer to the Prufrock question might be the Macbeth answer: The protestations of those trying to preserve what’s best about Berkeley’s downtown might amount to not much more than “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Some predict that they might win the DAPAC battle but lose the war. 

Here’s a novel suggestion: Let DAPAC finish giving its advice, then file it and dare UC to do its worst. And though the city has blown its opportunity to follow Santa Cruz in asking for a better EIR, it still has the option of refusing water and sewer connections to excessive projects which will overwhelm city services. Does anyone on the City Council have the nerve—I can think of a more graphic Spanish synonym—to do that? 


Editorial: Last Chance for Downtown Opinions

By Becky O’Malley
Friday October 19, 2007

This week’s editorial is in a more traditional vein than most, and is much shorter than usual. That’s because the message to be conveyed is short and sweet: For those who care about what kind of Berkeley we’ll be passing along to those who come after us, there’s a meeting you’ve really got to attend this Saturday. It’s the last public forum of DAPAC, the Downtown Plan Advisory Committee, which is the slightly illegitimate offspring of the city’s settlement of its lawsuit challenging the environmental impact report on one segment of the University of California’s enormous expansion plans for the next decades.  

Why “slightly illegimate”? Well, there’s no good reason that the city should have invited UC’s planners into its tent at all. There are those who would make the argument that it’s safer for the city to let the university participate in a planning process which in non-UC cities would belong to the residents alone, since according to the state constitution the University of California, like the proverbial 2000-pound gorilla, can sleep anywhere it chooses. 

The only problem with this analysis is that UC has carefully reserved the right to disregard the outcome of the DAPAC proceedings if it feels like it. A further problem is that DAPAC’s recommendations have to pass both the Planning Commission, which has been shamelessly stacked with pro-development advocates by Mayor Tom Bates and his allies, and the City Council (a faint-hearted bunch, with a couple of exceptions) even before UC has its chance to ignore the results. 

The commentary section today devotes more space than usual to an excellent analysis of what DAPAC’s done until now, written by Rob Wrenn, one of DAPAC’s resident policy wonks. Wrenn was chair of the citizen-dominated Planning Commission which drafted our general plan, the one that UC plans to ignore as it feeds its edifice complex.  

And on Thursday morning, as this was being written, DAPAC members were receiving a 3,000-plus word missive from committee chair Will Travis. He says he’s expressing his own personal ideas, but his views might be taken as representing some sort of official position, since he was appointed as chair by Bates, contrary to Berkeley’s usual practice of letting commissioners elect their own chairs. Space does not permit us to reprint his opinion today, but he sums it all up in an early paragraph: “we should be calling for as many tall buildings as possible to be built.” 

Whether you agree or disagree with that conclusion, you should show up to weigh in if you care at all. Details: Saturday, Oct. 20, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Public Workshop, Berkeley High School Library (Allston and Milvia). Be there. 


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday October 23, 2007

WEST BERKELEY  

COMMUNITY MEETING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Tuesday night I attended a meeting sponsored by Councilmember Darryl Moore ostensibly about issues in West Berkeley, but precipitated by strong neighborhood opposition to the West Berkeley Business Alliance’s proposed Business Improvement District (BID). In addition to hearing from the WBBA and many concerned residents, there were also presentations by select city staff including City Manager Phil Kamlarz, Department of Public Works Director Claudette Ford, the police chief and a representative from Mental Health Services. 

Phil Kamlarz gave an update regarding property tax revenue, listing where the bulk of city expenses are allocated. Predictably, the theme was how little money is left over to address basic services like more than one evening beat cop for West Berkeley, graffiti abatement, illegal dumping and public works maintenance. He neglected to mention all the other sources of revenue the city receives—think business licenses, building permits and the traffic tickets and fines. He also did not address how money is managed or what commitment there has been to fiscal responsibility. 

The Department of Public Works director proceeded to concede they do the best they can with budget and resources they have. She then suggested we help out, by getting up on a Saturday morning to assist in cleaning out the storm drains. As I understand things, she was suggesting her customers get up and take care of a service they have already paid for! This after my neighbor shared with the audience her experience making 14 phone calls to get a street light changed. 

What is crystal clear is the fact that if every business in West Berkeley managed their finances the way the city does (especially labor costs) there would not be enough solvent business to even suggest a BID. 

Why doesn’t the city focus on a performance improvement plan before they jump on the CBD/BID bandwagon? Why should their average to poor performance be rewarded with more money and assistance from an outside entity? I would like to know how they intend to fulfill their commitments for general service before entertaining any “special” benefits. 

Maresa Danielsen 

 

• 

CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The 15 or so developers and property owners who, along with the City of Berkeley, recently launched an undemocratic power grab disguised as an “improvements district” in West Berkeley couldn’t have done it at a worse time. Telegraph and downtown Berkeley, ably represented by just such business improvement districts, are still pounding their high chairs over—you guessed it— homelessness, cleanliness, safety, and crime. 

I loved going to the fraudulent “town hall” meeting, however, to celebrate the citizens who noticed their city representatives were in bed with developers and educated the neighborhood, which, with relative courtesy considering what was being proposed, refused to be told by the city-paid facilitator that they were not allowed to discuss the outrageous attempted theft of their money and their right to a say over their own neighborhood and its future. 

You can’t have it both ways; city staff can’t tell one neighborhood that business improvement districts, or BIDs, are so ineffective that we need new anti-homeless laws to jail the poor, while telling another neighborhood that they are better than sliced bread. 

West Berkeley, the oldest, most economically productive neighborhood with the hottest art and the deepest roots, deserves more respect than this. City staff and politicians show up in our neighborhood to spread a facade of fake inclusion over a decision made long ahead of time in some private room. Maybe next time, instead of the stock speeches about how helpless they are due to budget constraints, etc., they should sit down, dial back their prejudiced facilitator, and listen to a neighborhood that really knows how to take an imperfect world and make it work. 

Carol Denney 

 

• 

RESPONSE TO COMMENTARY  

ON READING RECOVERY  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have been a volunteer literacy tutor with Berkeley schools over a span of thirty years. This experience, coupled with my skills and interests as a CPA, with an MBA from Berkeley, continue to make me particularly fascinated by the rigor of Reading Recovery’s data evaluation. The positive results continue to keep me involved with Reading Recovery students and teachers in Berkeley. Concerned by the misconceptions presented in the letter to the editor on Oct. 16, I am writing this response to provide links to help readers get the facts about Reading Recovery. 

Reading Recovery was evaluated along with other reading programs for early readers to determine what programs work best. The What Works Clearinghouse, a branch of the United States Department of Education, found that Reading Recovery was the most effective program that they reviewed. (www.readingrecovery.org/research/what_works/index.asp). 

Until another early literacy intervention is proven to be more effective, I’ll remain supportive of Reading Recovery.  

I regularly review the additional research links at the Reading Recovery Council of North America web site (www.readingrecovery.org). Following are some of these links, relevant to the Oct. 16 commentary. 

In North America 75 percent of the children who complete their series of lessons, 12-20 weeks, reach classroom averages (www.readingrecovery.org/reading_recovery/accountability/factsandfigures/index.asp). This was also our data in Berkeley last year even though most of the children served were poor and/or were English language learners. 

Reading Recovery helps to reduce the achievement gap by rapidly increasing the achievement of the lowest literacy performers. Results are similar across diverse settings and population attributes of gender, ethnicity and income (www.readingrecovery.org/pdf/reading_recovery/Closing_the_Gap_Brief-07.pdf). 

Reading Recovery’s sole mission is to provide high-quality intervention for the lowest first grade readers so they can catch up with their classroom peers in less than 20 weeks. Reading Recovery teachers take the children with the lowest literacy skills as required by the national Standards and Guidelines (www.readingrecovery.org/implementation/standards/index.asp). 

These facts, and the joy I get seeing the children who had the lowest literacy skills learn to read and write with enthusiasm, make me a strong advocate of Reading Recovery. 

Susan Lewis 

 

• 

ISLAMO-FASCIST AWARENESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week (IFAW) is coming to UC Berkeley, Oct. 22-26. In Orwellian fashion reactionary pundit David Horowitz claims this campaign is to promote “academic freedom” and “women’s rights.” As part of the actions for this week Horowitz has called for college Republicans to sit-in at Women’s Studies departments and demanded these departments sign on to his petition “Calling on Feminists to End Their Silence on the Oppression of Women in Islam.” 

Horowitz’s newfound concern about women brings to mind how the Bush Administration bamboozled some women’s rights organizations into supporting the invasion of Afghanistan because it would “liberate women” from oppression and the burqa. The result? In today’s Afghanistan fundamentalists fill parliament and the burqa is ubiquitous – women risk being beaten if they appear in public without it. And in Iraq, the brutal U.S. occupation has strengthened religious authority and honor killings are on the rise. If David Horowitz really cared about the status of women under Islamic fundamentalism, he would be protesting at the White House. 

Of course, David Horowitz has no problem with a Christian brand of fascism, nor do IFAW crusaders ex-Senator Rick Santorum, a Christian fundamentalist who opposes abortion, contraception, equates homosexuality with bestiality and promotes the teaching of intelligent design as science. Or Robert Spencer, author of Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn’t. Or Ann Coulter who says of Muslims, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” 

Contrary to wishful thinking, ignoring these people will not make them go away. Their campaigns have serious consequences. Horowitz’ spawned the “Students for Academic Freedom,” who take notes and record lectures to harass professors who stray from the status quo. Other activities are “games” like “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” on campus. Progressive professors Ward Churchill and Norman Finklestein were recent Horowitz targets who were first hounded and then fired. IFAW demonizes Muslims for the purpose of building support for the open-ended “War on Terror,” which is really an open-ended war for empire. IFAW lies that the only options we have are either Muslim fundamentalism or US imperialism. Another world and another way is possible. There is an urgent need to politically confront, and deeply expose IFAW’s heinous (and fascist) agenda, to defend real academic freedom and critical thinking, and to struggle for a world where all women and men can truly be liberated human beings. 

Reiko Redmonde 

Revolution Books 

Berkeley 

• 

DOWNTOWN BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Unfortunately, I could not attend Saturday’s public workshop in regard to future downtown development in Berkeley, but as a 12-year resident of this city, I feel obliged to voice some of my concerns. 

I have just read Mr. Will Travis’ letter/commentary to other DAPAC members, the subject of which is Downtown Land Uses And Urban Form, and I feel the need to voice some dissent. 

Yes, very tall buildings do create wind tunnels, cast shadows and generally limit light and access to sky-scapes. Many of us do find these human created tall structures to be problematic at times. Many of us would prefer to not live in neighborhoods that are dominated by their height. Many of us visit the financial district of San Francisco, marvel at the tall buildings, and return to our abodes, located in parts of Berkeley that reflect a more human scale. Many of us do not find urban parks sandwiched between skyscrapers to by much of an amenity. Yes, to some of us, maybe many of us, those tall buildings seem ugly. They seem cold. That is an aesthetic judgment made by some of us, maybe many of us, and it is a judgment that is certainly worthy of consideration. 

I walk a lot in downtown Berkeley, and when I see all the vacant and underutilized buildings that exist now, I have a difficult time in understanding the need to build more and more, bigger and bigger. And yes, I understand the concerns of creating more housing, especially more affordable housing in Berkeley. Yes, I understand the need to limit sprawl and develop workable transit systems that are not totally automobile dependent. I fully support plans to reduce waste, and minimize our collective carbon footprint. 

But there has got to exist a way in which to do that, that pleases our senses. Light and air, a sense of space and openness, many of us need this in order to flourish. Some of us even think that we can find this in some urban environments. Maybe if our mass transit systems were better developed throughout the entire region, the concept of density could be shouldered by all of our communities. Maybe downtown areas with beautifully designed and realized three or four story buildings would suffice. 

We need urban planning that meets this earth’s needs and meets our human needs. Not every urban environment must look like Manhattan, just as not every urban environment must look like Berkeley. 

I send a genuine thank you to all the citizens who have donated countless hours, attempting to envision our downtown of the future. I am sure that it has been an arduous task. But please do not dismiss the specific aesthetic concerns of some of us citizens, like myself, who are sensitive to the scale of our environments. 

Diana Rossi 

A Berkeley resident, artist and mother 

 

• 

PUBLIC COMMENT AT  

DAPAC WORKSHOP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

People are capable of great sacrifice for a higher purpose. All through history, there are examples of this phenomenon, whether the higher purpose is a religious or cultural ideal, or some seemingly moral value. Masses of people are known to make collective sacrifices and to do things that with hindsight, from the perspective of more enlightened times, are considered stupid, if not evil.  

At this moment in history, the bill of goods we’re being sold is that we have to sacrifice our city for global warming. We are suppose to accept two 19-story buildings, five 16-story buildings, multiple 10-story buildings, and unlimited eight-story buildings for the betterment of our world.  

But instead, there are a lot of other things that need to be done before we sacrifice our city. For example, we stand with other older, built-out, already high-density cities, e.g. Oakland and San Francisco, in being given unfair housing allocations by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). Pressure needs to be put upon ABAG to change the allocation formulas so that cities with vacant and highly underutilized land carry their fair share and increase production. There are other things as well that can be done, and need to be done, and haven’t been done. 

Rather than sacrificing our city, I think we need to make city life exceptionally appealing. 

And plunking down a cluster of towers in the middle of Berkeley is not appealing. A recent series of covers on the New Yorker magazine illustrated the human cost of such structures.  

A vertical design solution is no better, and instead far worse, than a plan more horizontal in dimension and design. For the life of me, I cannot understand why revitalization of the downtown does not include the very short distance between the Downtown BART station and the Ashby BART station. Investing horizontally and not vertically would mean rejecting out of scale development and instead revitalizing with human-scale, preservation-sensitive design. Such a plan would spread more equitably the housing and businesses that support community life.  

Any plan should be sensitive to the topography of the land to enhance our sense of where we are. People should be able to know where they are by looking east and seeing the Berkeley hills and looking west and seeing water. This is Berkeley. It is not Anywhere, USA.  

I want a Berkeley solution. I don’t want lazy thinking that adopts some other city’s solution because it has currency. I want us to figure this out.  

Janice Thomas 

 

• 

READING RECOVERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

How pleased I was to read about the use of the Reading Recovery Program in the Berkeley Schools. I became familiar with that program as a PhD student in early literacy development at USC in the ‘80s. What impressed me about the program, and was emphasized in your article was that it was applied very early with children struggling to learn to read rather that waiting until academic failure, social isolation, and discouragement have set in. Contrary to Jean Clyde’s Opinion comments (Oct. 19) that teaching “guessing” is detrimental to learning to read, I am convinced of the opposite. Namely, that “predicting” is the best tactic for learning to read. Try this little example: The dog went into his dogh_____. To “sound out” o-u-s-e is unnecessary, and children who learn to read by this kind of tight phonic approach get so slowed down that by the time they have sounded out the letters or a word they have forgotten the meaning of the first part of the sentence. No wonder so many children taught by a rigid phonics method “read” without comprehension! Another example: The d_g is chewing on a b___. One does not need to sound out d-o-g to know dog or to sound out b-o-n-e. Reading the word comes from the child’s knowledge of spoken language. I’m not saying don’t teach phonics. It is very helpful to know consonants (and relatively easy to learn). However, vowels (especially in English) for many children are a confusing hindrance. Reading requires the strategies of guessing/predicting AND some sound/letter knowledge. Another plus of the Reading Recovery Program is the one-on-one student/coach relationship it establishes. Not all children learn well in even a small group; some absolutely need one young beginning reader pared with an experienced reader side by side. As for economy, much better to invest the money now than later in years of far less successful remediation. 

Tedi Siminowsky 

 

• 

‘PRO-WAR’? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In regards to Judith Scherr’s Oct. 19 article I first must voice my objection to the use of “pro-war groups” to describe the people who were there to show their support for our troops and to keep the anti-war groups from future vandalizing the Marine Officer Selection Office which the Daily Planet keeps referring to as a Marines Recruitment Office. Everyone seems to think that the staff of this office is out to grab children off the street and force them to sign up for the Marines. If you go to the URL which is posted right on the window it will take you to the site that explains all about becoming an officer. The men and women that they are looking for are college graduates and post-graduates for Officer Candidates School, not high school students. These men and women are intelligent enough to make their own decisions on this matter without the interference of third parties.  

As one of the pro-troop supporters that were in attendance on Wednesday I am bothered by your reference to the comment that our group was mostly male. Although over 50 percent of the group was male there were a great many women......most being mothers and many being military mothers such as myself.  

I saw no mention in this article of the knife which was dropped by one of the anti-war people after they tried to infiltrate the pro-troop side which had been done repeatedly throughout the rally. Besides the one flag burning that you mention someone from the anti-war group also tore up a flag and threw it down on the ground plus another woman was carrying the flag upside down which is a sign of distress. I see no mention of the vulgarities and obscene gesturing that all these peaceful people were making. The men who were on the Harley-Davidson’s were all Vets...some were from the Patriot Guard Riders, a group which was started to keep demonstrators away from the funerals of our sons and daughters who have given their lives so that people such as those anti-war groups and reporters have the rights to do what they do. The gunning of the engines was done to drown out the profanity and insults from the anti-war groups side of the street. Code Pink organizer Zanne Joi took credit for the fact that that the Officer Selection Office was closed that day but no mention was made that they were at a Career Day function which had been scheduled well in advance of this protest. It would be wonderful if we lived in a peaceful world without war and no need for a military but as that is not now possible what does Code Pink, the other anti-war groups and the Berkeley Daily Planet think would happen if we didn’t have a military? I really I appreciate you must report the news but I would like to request that you do so fairly and unbiased as the news should be.....a source of information and not opinion.  

Debbi Dresser 

Hayward 

 

• 

JUST A DREAM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If the Daily Planet were a true tabloid, there would be a 32-point headline reading “Berkeley Central Planning sucker punches the DAPAC dreamers (again).” My thanks to Zelda Bronstein for bringing up this Tuesday’s City Council Item 33 for the city to accept as its own, a report written by and for the developer of the Downtown Convention Center and Hotel to justify a $15 million rebate of hotel taxes; funds earmarked for downtown improvements, and in particular to make Center Street more pedestrian-friendly.  

As my comments to the meeting focused on Neighbors for a Livable Berkeley Way’s efforts to reserve the ugly backside of the Golden Bear for family housing, I did not have time to mention the proposal from the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development Departments that is making its way through various Commissions to cap affordable housing in-lieu fees for all buildings over five-stories. These in-lieu fees were going to fund a few crumbs of affordable housing in the downtown and provided much of the ‘public benefit’ justification for not only the much reviled point towers, but even their evil little sister, the eight-story Gaia-like mid-rises.  

Hopefully these two proposals will cause some DAPAC members to reconsider their support for vastly increased density in the downtown. It has been inspiring to watch the DAPAC work earnestly to plan for a more livable and inclusive downtown livable downtown, but push has come to shove, and, surprise, development interests have decided that the cost to their profits is simply too high, and they have gotten their civil servants to remind us all that citizen plans are nothing but a mid-summer’s night dream when real money and power are involved. 

Stephen Wollmer 

 

• 

DON’T ASK, DON’T SMELL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your Oct. 19 article about Pacific Steel Casting was misleading and inaccurate, and failed to highlight the ongoing toxic emissions problems created by the notorious east bay polluter Pacific Steel Casting. Residents in Berkeley and Albany are still affected daily by the toxic emissions from PSC and have reported adverse health affects caused by the pollution. 

What your article didn’t say: 

1. The report was prepared by the company after they were allowed to conceal emissions with new equipment. 

2. The report’s questionable results are based in part on old data from 1989, and poorly estimated data rather than actual continuous source monitoring data. 

3. Rather than testing the air and fallout in the neighborhood, the report relies on limited company based tests and a computer model to guess at health risks. 

4. Every day PSC is in operation, they continue to release Arsenic, Benzene, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Formaldehyde, Flourene, Mercury, Nickel, Manganese, Phenol, and Toluene (page 22 in the report). 

5. PSC failed to do any community health survey, even though residents in Albany and Berkeley have reported health problems caused by the emissions. 

6. Recent independent air quality tests have shown unhealthy levels of Nickel and Manganese in the neighborhood. 

7. Mayor Tom Bates and Council Member Linda Maio have known about Pacific Steel Casting for more than a decade, and have failed to stop this notorious east bay polluter. 

8. Kids and older residents are most vulnerable to the toxic emissions produced by PSC. Within a few block of PSC are day care centers, parks, churches, and a senior center. 

Who are you going to believe? The company doing the polluting? Their PR firm? The politicians who are afraid to do anything? Or the people living and working in the area who have problems with their health? 

Pacific Steel Casting is a bad neighbor, a major East Bay polluter and cannot be trusted. We all wish they would stop hiding behind workers and start telling the truth. 

Andrew Galpern 

 

• 

THE LAW OF ATTRACTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It’s all too often that I read news reports of loss, tragedy, corruption and violence. The media seems to feed off these stories and their audience responds shaking their head and discussing the demise of the country and the world we live in. Even reading through the letters to the editor it seems the majority has a problem or some negative tone. Truth be told I believe the world is what we make of it. I recently had a discussion with my fiancé about how positive thinking yields positive results. We were on College Avenue shopping and the CAL fans were flocking to the stadium. She said to me “we’ll never find a parking space” but me being the eternal optimist, I assured her there would be a space and in fact it would be right next to the local merchant we were in route to see and that there would be change in the meter to pay for our visit. As we inched along College Avenue she said, “OK, I believe you.” Two doors down we found our spot just as described, change in the meter and all. So perhaps there is something to this Law of Attraction and we should all take the time to turn our focus to what is working and what is positive. So next time you’re ready to rip on someone for their inadequacies or blog about the horrible injustices of the world, just maybe you’ll pause and be reminded of what you’re thankful for.  

Jason Bradley 

 

• 

SOUTH BERKELEY CELL TOWERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We the members of BNAFU are asking the City Council and the mayor, in particular, not to sell out South Berkeley citizens. We ask, instead, that the Council uphold the decision of the Zoning Adjustments Board to deny Verizon’s application to install more antennas in South Berkeley. Twice the ZAB has opposed the installation of 12 additional antennas in our already inundated South Berkeley neighborhood.  

As a threat to the city, Verizon is suing in Federal Court to mandate 12 antennas at UC Storage, 12 antennas at the French Hotel in North Berkeley, and another group of multiple antennas in West Berkeley, at 2002 Acton St. The Verizon suit also demands the elimination of our city ordinance governing the installation of cell phone antennas throughout the city. 

BNAFU learned on Sunday that the City of Berkeley has yet to respond to the lawsuit filed by Verizon. Instead, Berkeley City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque and Kirk Trost, a Sacramento public interest attorney hand-picked by her, are working with Verizon attorneys, all of whom are pressuring the City Council to reach a “behind closed doors” settlement. Citizens, including BNAFU, are being kept out of this negotiation process entirely. This action could result in a mockery of the entire concept behind a public hearing, if before this hearing, decisions have already been negotiated for us.  

BNAFU is a group of approximately 150 citizens from all over Berkeley. Our group has spent the last two years educating ourselves about cell antennas and RF radiation. You may contact us at jllib2@aol.com. Following the “Precautionary Principle,” we are trying to slow down a city decision-making process so that an equitable and safe system of cell antenna placement can be developed. We ask the city to resist the intimation it is facing. We ask to be genuinely included in the city’s decision-making process.  

1. Please attend Tuesday evening’s Final Public Hearing, 7 p.m., at Old City Hall to support the ZAB and the neighborhood.  

2. Make three phone calls to three council members: Tom Bates (981-7100), Linda Maio (981-7110), Darryl Moore (981-7120). 

Tell your councilmembers not to sell out to Verizon, and not to sign off on any agreement without the full public participation and consent of Berkeley citizens. Legally, the City Council has until Nov. 6 to respond to the Verizon suit. We are asking councilmembers: Demonstrate your leadership! Show your independence! Don’t sell us out! 

Michael Barglow 

 

• 

SATURDAY PLANS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Are you busy Saturday? What am I saying? Of course you are. We all are. Who would we be if we weren’t busy? And there’s so much going on. Lemme see…you might have a soccer game, or need to go grocery shopping. You might need to work on the garden or the house. You might need to clean your place or do a wash. You might have a fall wedding or reunion or a party you were invited to. You might need to go down to Fourth street for something, or to the gym. Or take the kids to the movies. You might have to work too. Or study. I bet there’s also some garage sales or craft sales, and there’s the Ashby Flea Market and don’t forget the Berkeley Farmers’ Market! 

But if you didn’t make any plans to do anything yet, maybe you’ll be able to go to San Francisco for the anti-war demonstration at Civic Center. I understand if you can’t though. As I imagined, you’re probably busy or just plain run down from your week. Or maybe you have a young child and the wheel is broken on the stroller. Or maybe you don’t like to stand on your feet very long, or worse, stand on the BART. Maybe you don’t like crowds. 

Actually, maybe demonstrations just aren’t your thing. You don’t relate to the people there and you feel kind of vulnerable being ‘political’. Maybe your boss or company or hometown and parents are a bit more conservative than liberal you in the Bay Area. Maybe the war will just go away on its own. 

Also, if it’s really nice out, I imagine you were considering taking a walk, or a hike, or a drive to Napa, or maybe even making it a beach day! And if it’s not nice, and it’s rainy, you wouldn’t want to go to the demonstration anyway. You could get wet and sick, and you can’t afford to do that, you’re too busy to risk getting sick.  

So that’s cool. Don’t worry about it. Other people will go and you can maybe see it for a flash on the evening news. But one thing please, check out www.nomorevictims.org. Please, do that. 

Gala Blau 

 

• 

BERKELEY PUBLIC LIBRARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Berkeley Public Library really out did itself today! At their free noon concert in the Art and Music Room, they presented the Baguette Quartette, a San Francisco Bay Area group performing Parisian Cafe Music, music heard in Paris between 1920 and 1940 on street corners, in cafes, and in dance halls. Led by accordionist Odile Lavault, these talented musicians played valses musettes, tangos, fox trots, marches and familiar songs. The music was so infectious, one couple jumped up and performed a tango. Truly, we were all transported to Gay Paree, if only for 45 minutes. How lucky we are to have a library that continues to offer outstanding, imaginative programs—free. 

Dorothy Snodgrass 

 

• 

KSFO VS. CODE PINK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Melanie Morgan and KSFO vs. Code Pink. Sounds like some Friday night wrestling match up. Have you ever noticed how lost the far right and the far left would be without each other? Imagine each not having the other to hate, fear, and despise… 

For the rest of us who live somewhere in the living moving middle, we can, for example, respect and appreciate the military, and be strongly opposed to this war. We can respect, love, and appreciate this country, and be strongly opposed to its mistakes, excesses, and sins against others.  

Of course, for people on the edge, the far left or far right cliff of political persuasion, what I just said is proof of ignorance, or cowardice, or even worse, proof of being a traitor, either to this country, or to the earth or humanity. 

Thanks a lot, my sometimes extremist associates, for all the pain and fear and rage and occasionally simplistic certainties through which you see the world that we all share. 

OH, what’s that you say, I’m guilty of it too? Sure! That’s the point, see, we all are…got it? 

Michael Steinberg 

 

• 

THE HOMELESS PROBLEM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For 30 years I’ve been hearing all the worthless “solutions” to the homeless problem. None of them have worked. They’re all useless. The homeless problem continues to get worse and worse every year. So here’s another very obvious solution to the homeless problem that you probably haven’t read about in any of your fine Bay Area publications for the last 30 years. A solution that is guaranteed to inspire countless indignant letters to the editor in this fine publication (and be sure to mention all those knee-jerk buzzwords like “racism” and “xenophobia” and “etc.” that we’ve already heard a million times before): Let’s get the estimated 20 to 30 to 40 million illegal immigrants out of the American homes that they are presently illegally occupying. And let’s get American citizens into those homes. OK? There it is. And now, let your brilliant rebuttals begin.  

Ace Backwords 

 

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Many criticize AC’s operating large articulated 1R buses saying they are not needed for they see only a few riders using it. They do not realize that as buses approaches its terminus, for the 1R is Berkeley, generally the ridership begins to drop off. If one rode the 1R over the total route one will experience there are sections where the 1R has a full load and many times with standees. 

For AC, it is impossible to change the size and frequency of buses just for the public to see buses fully utilized along all sections of its route. In addition, the ridership also varies over the course of the day and as most know it has greater use during morning and evenings where riders are going or leaving work. 

It is difficult to accommodate this changing demand, so AC usually uses the bus that can carry the peak demand for the whole day without adding or changing size of buses. Changing size of bus requires a added fleet of buses that will be used part of the day is not only very costly but it also requires added property to store them. 

Adding or changing buses for peak periods raises another problem that many are not aware of, which is when a driver is called up and assigned to drive he/she is guaranteed a full 8 hour pay even if the work is just a few hours. This is why the agency operates large buses that serves the peak period through the whole day even though much of the off peak period the buses operate with few riders. 

Another often mentioned criticism is that AC BRT only duplicates BART since it parallels BART. It is known that many transit users are willing to walk up to half mile to access a transit system if the transit system is fast, frequent and reliable. Considering this as the basis, AC BRT having 5 times the number of stops will serve over 3,000 equivalent city blocks more than BART, excluding BART and AC BRT downtown stations. In addition, most other BART stations areas are not as fully developed as those where AC BRT Stops. Comparing the systems frequency, AC BRT will operate every 3.6 to 5 minutes versus, 15-20 minutes for BART. The EIR estimates that AC BRT will actually draw 2,000-5,800 riders per day away from BART. The reason is clear, since the AC BRT operates more frequently with reliability and speed, is more accessible and will be mostly for local trips. 

Roy Nakadegawa 

 

• 

FOUL PLAY? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Somebody might have done a foul play on copies of Berkeley Daily Planet in two newspaper racks next to French Hotel. I usually pick a copy from the newspaper racks immediately next to French Hotel. This morning I found both racks empty. Either your delivery crew forgot to put copies of the Planet in these racks, or someone has dumped them. People in Berkeley may have adopted the habit of dumping newspapers from the Mayor who did so years ago. 

Well, I see people post signs and posters around French Hotel, but they get removed quickly mysteriously. I believe that French Hotel does not like publicity due to the Verizon plan to put 12 antennas on the roof of this hotel. In Friday’s issue of the Planet, there is a long article about Verizon. So, someone may have decided to dump copies of the Planet available next to French Hotel to keep people uninformed. 

Please have your delivery crew put copies of the Planet in the two newspaper racks next to French Hotel. 

Helen Bautin 

 

• 

REGULATE GASOLINE PRODUTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Standing in the post office line, I overheard a woman confidently tell a friend, “Oh yes, gas prices will be $4 or $5 by Christmas.” How did she know, and why was she so blasé? My guess is that she heard this speculation on some talk shows or propaganda-posing-as-news programs. How did this idea get planted? My guess is that the oil companies are using slick public relations techniques to “inoculate” the public from a feeling of outrage as the prices go up, up, and up.  

Me? I am outraged at the high prices, and even more so at the craven profits these oil companies gouge out of our paychecks. Each quarter marks yet another record-breaking level of profit.  

Gasoline is needed for transportation. As such, it should be regulated as a public utility, just as bus service and subways are regulated, to control their prices and profits.  

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

• 

EDUCATING CHILDREN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I think the best way for us to solve the crisis in education is by bringing a group of people into the field who understand the reason many students are unwilling to learn. We have failed to motivate children to become self-learners. Today’s teachers don’t have the observational skills. They do not understand a child’s mind and they are not able to leave behind their worries at home to fully be available to the child. They don’t give ample time to children to express their needs. The absence of open attention from teachers results in classroom problems. 

I don’t like to see children doing any thing out of fear of punishment or the attraction of rewards. One child told me, “You don’t give us candy. And you don’t punish us, So we don’t have to do the class work.” I decided to ignore the comment and to see what the students would do next. To my surprise, slowly but surely they all wanted to do the artwork I had proposed. I asked them later why they refused first time. Four of them told me they go to bed late watching movies and they were tired. I am of the view that children need more sleep time. Teaching is not cramming information into students. Good teaching should not ignore the needs of the taught. Every child has a different style of learning. Each child needs a different kind of motivation and a different way to help improve his or her self-esteem. Each child needs quiet moments to think and reflect. 

Let us return to quiet observation of our students. Our awareness of how to guide them on their individual paths will arise naturally from our open and sympathetic attention. 

Romila Khanna 

Albany


Commentary: The Facts About Density and Development

By Neil Mayer
Tuesday October 23, 2007

It’s clearly battle time over the shape of Berkeley, most imminently over downtown’s height limits, with more battles to follow. Let’s arm ourselves for the upcoming showdown on density, development, and downtown with some basic facts. Where does Berkeley stand, in the spectrum of communities, in terms of people crowding into space?  

Happily, we can easily access reliable and consistent data, from a website called DataPlace created by mortgage giant Fannie Mae’s philanthropic arm, using data from the U.S. Census. DataPlace compiles population density data (residents per square mile) for every settlement—from small towns to big cities—in the nation. And it allows site visitors to request information about the ranking of a given city against others in the state or nation, organized if you wish by the size of communities.  

Here is the Berkeley story in a nutshell. We are already one of the most crowded communities in the country, large or small. And our few competitors in California are hardly places we want to imitate. The specifics: 

There are 25,150 “places” in the entire country. Berkeley ranks 172nd of all of them in density, at 9,823 people per square mile (in year 2000)—102,743 people living in just under 10.5 square miles. That means we are denser than 99.3 percent of all other places in the United States. That was our position already at the start of the decade, before the recent spurt in construction in the city.  

Berkeley’s population has increased by 3,500 between 2000 and 2006, according to the Census Bureau’s new American Community Survey. That pushes our density up another 335 people per square mile, to 10,158. 

Ah, you say, but Berkeley is a fairly large urban place in the midst of a major metropolis, expected to be denser than villages and towns. OK, let’s look at the 245 U.S. cities with 100,000 residents or more. Berkeley is after all among the very smallest of those. Our city ranked 20th in density among those major communities, ahead of 92 percent of the big cities including places such as Washington, D.C. and next-door neighbor Oakland. Oakland in particular had, amazingly, less than one third of Berkeley’s density in 2000. Forget about Jerry Brown and his 10K plan. Oakland could add 150,000 residents tomorrow and not reach Berkeley’s density level.  

Let’s then turn to our home state of California exclusively. Here Berkeley ranks eighth in density among all of the state’s communities of any size. Who are the seven “ahead” of us? At the front, East Los Angeles—a prototype for urban ills of every type, where low-income people, often recent immigrants, crowd multiple families into a single home or apartment in order to afford the rent. Second, Inglewood, another Los Angeles-area concentration of poor people—this time African Americans—rivaling in social problems largely Hispanic East L.A. What is notable and clear is that, in such places, higher densities are forced on people by their lack of resources and perhaps other factors including discrimination, not selected deliberately as matters of preferred municipal policy. Third in the density line, El Monte, East L.A.’s near neighbor. Fourth, Santa Ana, where 4.6 people are crowded into each housing unit, 75 percent more than in New York City or L.A. Next, Daly City—literally the living model for Malvina Reynolds’ song about “Little Boxes Made of Ticky Tacky.” Then Norwalk, the final ending place for three of the L.A. region’s busiest freeways. And seventh, San Francisco, where, if I may shift to a less scientific mode, we see a jewel whose treasured contours and bay and coastal vistas are being obliterated by Rincon Towers and more, where working families and African-American communities and households with children are disappearing in a sea of gentrification, and all of BART and Muni together can’t leave a parking space available or a moment between one 24-hour “rush hour” and the next.  

Are these the seven “models” we hope to “catch” by building more and higher? 

We are already a high-density city. What are we to gain from further density, when the competition looks so far from attractive? Apparently not what we’ve been promised. Proponents of more building say it’ll keep families in town. The facts: From 2000 to 2006 alone, in a period of booming housing construction, the number of Berkeley households with children under 18 fell by one seventh. Or, say pro-development folks, we’ll keep housing cost from skyrocketing. Nope: In the same six years median house prices nearly doubled, and rents—partly protected by rent control for continuing tenants—rose 38 percent. That rent increase was nearly half again faster than the average for the rest of the (non-controlled) country. Residents of more modest means might be retained, as part of our treasured diversity? Unh, uh. Family income in Berkeley, which exceeded the national median by 40 percent in 2000, was instead 50 percent higher than national levels by 2006, at $87,000. Our African-American population might hold on? Sorry. African Americans were nearly 14 percent of Berkeley’s 2000 population and down to less than 10 percent by 2006. 

Pounding away on Berkeley’s limited remaining living space is not going to change a housing submarket set in a burgeoning region 60 times its size. 

So we have to ask, for what reason are we to be headed toward more development and seemingly away from our values? We run the risk of ruining our community, where the wisdom of citizens’ commitment to resident diversity, historic preservation, human scale, local independent entrepreneurship, and care for all elements of the environment and open space have allowed us to accommodate richness of humanity, building, and space, at already high densities. Push beyond, where the downtown developers and pro-development folks want to take us, and we risk despoiling our own community. For society at large, we risk proving that density, rather than a part of the solution to global warming they want to pursue, is, as so many already fear, a path to be avoided.  

Let’s save the limited space we have left for dealing directly with our needs: for affordable housing, places for our kids and ourselves to play and learn, models of architectural mastery new and old, green commerce and innovation—none of which we can find trickling down from new masses of high end condos. Greater density does make sense in some places. How about if Berkeley lets Orinda, or for that matter Oakland, start catching up and husbands its own “space” for our top priorities? 

 

Neil S. Mayer was the founding director  

of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development.


Commentary: More About Density Downtown

By Will Travis
Tuesday October 23, 2007

I very much appreciate the Daily Planet posting the text of the memo I sent to my fellow members of DAPAC regarding downtown land use, building forms and heights. However, it’s a disservice to your readers for Becky O’Malley to suggest that my comments can be summarized by quoting the following single phrase: “We should be calling for as many tall buildings as possible to be built.” 

I respect the right of others to disagree with me, but it would be unfortunate if they do so because they believe my ideas on a complex issue like the planning our downtown are captured by a simple statement taken out of context for the purpose of being inflammatory. 

I hope that your readers read the entirety of my memo. However, I realize that not everyone has the time or interest to do so. Therefore, I’ve taken the liberty of doing what I had hoped the journalists at the Daily Planet would do, which is to quote the following several sentences that fairly capture the nuances of the challenge DAPAC is facing. 

“The most contentious issue [DAPAC has] yet to settle is how many taller buildings we should have in our downtown and how tall they should be. This is a complicated issue, but if this issue is evaluated on an analytical basis and we rely on the previous decisions DAPAC has made, we should be calling for as many tall buildings as possible to be built...[because] we’ve settled on environmental sustainability as our overarching objective. To achieve this objective, we can draw on the abundant data and numerous studies demonstrating that higher density development results in lower per capita greenhouse gas emissions.” 

“The reason we haven’t embraced higher density development is because the shape and form of our downtown shouldn’t be based only on objective analysis. Cities are more than machines that house people, provide jobs, accommodate movement and manage pollutants. Cities are expressions of who we are, what we value, what we aspire to be.” 

“DAPAC has agreed that...we want more parks, open space, clean streets, affordable housing, better social services, green construction, public restrooms, and improved transit. Good things all, but they cost money. And where...will Berkeley get the money to pay for the things we want? Largely through taxes, fees and other fiscal extractions that are derived from the approval and operation of new development. Thus, the more new development we have downtown, the more revenue the City of Berkeley will gain to provide the sort of amenities called for in our plan.” 

“I’m not advocating any particular land use or density alternative. My only objective is to ensure that DAPAC has a clear sense of the tradeoffs on the issues of height and density. If we accept a plan that sharply limits the capacity of our downtown to accommodate residents, workers, shoppers, students and visitors, we need to confront the tradeoff we’re making head-on. We shouldn’t pretend that such a choice can be made without paying the price of reduced amenities, poorer environmental performance, and lost economic and cultural opportunities.” 

“It will take great courage to put aside our preconceptions and become community leaders, rather than followers, as we forge our plan for the future. But if we don’t do so, we won’t be fulfilling the honor that has been bestowed upon us to craft public policies that will make downtown Berkeley a truly great place.” 

 

Will Travis is chair of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee.


Letter: Growing Populations

by Revan Tranter
Tuesday October 23, 2007

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’ve become accustomed to Gale Garcia’s increasingly strident NIMBY correspondence, and usually just let it go by with a sigh. But the complete inaccuracy of her claim that the population of Berkeley and surrounding cities has declined since the last census needs an answer. She refers to the U.S. Census Bureau, but the Bureau (unlike the California State Dept. of Finance) doesn’t make annual estimates. I hope she’s not relying on the Bureau’s Community Survey of 2005, which the Chronicle totally misinterpreted. Here are the State Finance Dept.’so latest figures (2000 and 2007 respectively) for the cities Ms. Garcia cites in her Oct. 19 letter:  

Berkeley: 102,743 and 106,347. 

Alameda: 72,259 and 75,254. 

Albany: 16,444 and 16,764. 

El Cerrito: 23,171 and 23,194. 

Oakland: 399,566 and 415,492. 

Piedmont: 10,952 and 11,055. 

San Leandro: 79,452 and 81,466. 

Every one of them has grown in size. 

Revan Tranter


Letters to the Editor

Friday October 19, 2007

ACTIVISTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This Nov. 1, a group of activists who, desperate about the continuing war in Iraq, and who have been committing civil disobedience on the first Thursday of every month since November a year ago, will be observing the first year anniversary of the Die In for Peace with a continuing Die In. 

Over the past 11 first Thursdays a total of 130 people have laid down in front of the doors of 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco. Each one of the protesters has been cited with a charge of “failure to comply with lawful order of a federal police officer” and to leave the doorways. Resisters face misdemeanor charges which carry a usual fine of $125. Some of the protesters have paid the fine, but the majority are asking for a hearing and would substitute community service or jail time for the monetary fine. 

There is a significant number of Berkeley residents among the 130: Ruth Maguire, Sally Hindman, Stephanie Miyashiro, Grace Morizawa, Ying Lee, Laura Magnani, Carolyn Scarr, Grace Shimizu (El Cerrito) and others.  

While the civil disobedience participants are blocking the doors, momentarily halting those entering the building but not blocking those exiting, another group reads the names of U.S. military as well as Iraqis who have died in this war. 

As the war continues into its fifth year many taxpayers are desperately dealing with their conscience over this war. Although the civil disobedience appears to be symbolic, it is the form that some citizens are taking to register their resistance to what they consider to be killing, executions, in their name.  

Ying Lee 

 

• 

THE CHARACTER OF  

THE DOWNTOWN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

One paragraph from Zelda Bronstein’s recent column on land use planning for the downtown bears repeating: “DAPAC should take its bearings from the first major goal of Berkeley’s 2002 General Plan: ‘Preserve Berkeley’s unique character and quality of life.’ Granted, downtown Berkeley needs more than preservation; it requires substantial improvement. But any change should honor—indeed, enhance—those aspects of its character that are worth preserving. Chief among such valuable attributes is the area’s moderate scale.” 

The high-rise downtown envisioned in the staff’s land use alternative would radically change the character of Berkeley’s downtown, making it much less human-scale. Furthermore, it would mean that much of downtown could be a construction zone for many years to come. 

I believe that a majority of Berkeley citizens favor a modest increase in allowable building heights in the downtown, as well as incentives for developers to incorporate environmental and other features that we hold important. That’s the land use vision that DAPAC should endorse. 

Steve Meyers 

 

• 

CORRECTING A  

MISCONCEPTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Ms. Zelda Bronstein wrote a Public Eye column about “Planners From Another Planet” the Oct. 12 issue of the Daily Planet. In the seventh paragraph of that article she says, “At the Oct. 3 meeting the staff proposal was supported by only three DAPACers. One was Jenny Wenk, who works at the downtown YMCA.” 

For most of us the phrase “works at” usually means a person who collects a salary from an employer. 

I am not now, nor have I ever been, an employee of either the Downtown Berkeley YMCA, or the Berkeley-Albany YMCA Association. I do volunteer at the Downtown Berkeley YMCA, and have done so for many years in a variety of roles. Presently I am in the final months of my term as the chair of our branch’s Board of Managers. In this role I do my best to listen to and represent as best I can the more than 12,000 members of our Y. 

Since our members come from every part of our community they do not always agree on every issue. Our board works hard to make sure that the people in our community with the greatest needs and the fewest resources are served with the same effort and devotion as our members who have great resources and fewer needs. The programs, such as Y Scholars, that serve people with low incomes and great dreams are why I volunteer at the Y. For me the Y is a “labor of love.” It’s not work. 

Jenny Wenk 

 

• 

MEMO TO MITCHELL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was amused by Mitchell Gass’ letter (“Memo to Zelda”) about “Green Manhattan” and the young couple who lived for seven years without a dishwasher, a lawn or a car. Most young couples have limited means, but how many of them continue an austere lifestyle after their incomes rise?  

There is no evidence that cramming buildings into Berkeley will lead to “vitality of commerce, artistic life, and opportunity.” In recent years, shops and restaurants have been closing, and the population of Berkeley has actually declined, despite the downtown construction feast delivered by ABAG and the Bates regime. 

It isn’t just Berkeley—the population has declined from 2000 to 2006 in Oakland, Alameda, El Cerrito, Albany, San Leandro and Piedmont, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. I’d wager that most of those municipalities (excepting Piedmont, where Patrick Kennedy and Dan Marks reside) have also been experiencing a building boom. 

How is Oakland’s boom doing these days? An Oct. 5 article in the San Francisco Business Times, entitled “Olson halts big Oakland condo project; Builders face glut of units,” reports that construction of the 252-unit “City Walk” project has been stalled since July. The two lawsuits and 23 mechanics liens filed against the property may keep it stalled for a while. Although the half-completed shell is a vision to behold, vitality might not be exactly what it adds to Oakland.  

I wonder if Mr. Gass lives within the urban density he finds so thrilling. Perhaps he would like to inform us which part of Berkeley’s urban core he inhabits. 

Gale Garcia 

 

• 

TO BE A VICTIM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Ellen Mates, in her Oct. 12 commentary, states: “I would have thought that in a supposedly enlightened city like Berkeley themes such as justice and advocacy for victims would be held in high regard.” 

Welcome to the long parade of ignored victims of robberies and violent crime in Berkeley that comprise the real “How Berkeley Can You Be” Parade. 

From hosts on KPFA radio, I have heard repeatedly that phrases like “anti-crime” and “advocacy for victims” are “code phrases for racism.” 

In a city where such commentary is accepted as sane, and officials and citizens dread being accused of “racism,” crime will not be a focus of serious attention. Your article will not even generate sustained discussion of the kind that appears in this paper on issues much less fundamental than the safety of our persons and property. 

I sincerely wish you success in your quest for justice (have you read Kafka’s The Castle?) in Berkeley. 

Al Durrette 

 

• 

POSTSCRIPT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you so much for publishing my letter of concern over the handling of the $1,500 grand theft of my daughter’s belongings at Berkeley High. If not anything else it was cathartic for us to write about it. I have gotten only phone calls and verbal statements of support although many have pointed out it is not politically correct to criticize our local institutions. I should state that my daughter and I love the teachers at Berkeley High who are dedicated and work many long hours. In contrast, having also been a formal student at Berkeley High myself, and having two other children pass through those halls, I have noticed a large sector, sometimes including administration (including the principal who never returned my e-mail a month after the theft) and security, seem to be amazingly non-accountable and consequently not behaving professionally. I received a call today from her fairly new vice principal apologizing for not returning my call—and even her I do not blame. She was unaware of the event last year. The principal should have been aware and accountable for this event. My friend got a personal call from the previous principal five years ago over a similar event. So, thanks again for empowering us or at least allowing us to feel that we are not alone or unjustified in our feelings of powerlessness.  

Ellen Mates 

• 

SCHOOL BOARD PARROT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I wish that your reporter Riya Bhattacharjee would do more than be a parrot for school board quotes. It would be most helpful if there was some independent information and research. John Selawsky’s comments that all Berkeley schools’ test scores are higher now than in 1999 is so patently inadequate. Easy checking on the California Department of Education website shows that the high school in 1999 tested at 729. Today, eight years later, with a doubling of local taxes, and over 10 percent increase in state funding, the high school has “improved” to 747. This is after the San Francisco Chronicle article stating how California’s standards were lowered to show “improvement.” Furthermore, Berkeley High School’s standing, in comparison to similar high schools has dropped 30 percent. In 1999, BHS was ranked in the top 10, now it’s down to the 70th percentile. These are very disappointing results for all this additional funding. I agree with the recent writer who suggested that the new superintendent should be someone with demonstrated experience and success in improving student learning. I wonder why we don’t hear this from school board members. Instead, they are proud that our high school has dropped 30 percent in comparison to other similar high schools. Berkeley has no excuse for not having one of the best high schools in the Bay Area. I would like to hear school board members tell us what they are doing to improve learning in Berkeley. 

Jenn Haven 

 

• 

READING RECOVERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read Donald Forman’s commentary on Reading Recovery and wondered just how many times a program has to be discredited before it is accepted as being discredited. 

Reading Recovery works no better in Australia than it does in Berkeley. In fact the one thing it does succeed in doing is making real and lasting remediation more difficult for both student and tutor. It teaches bad habits like “guessing” and consolidates the bad habit. For goodness sake, good readers don’t “guess,” they read. How has “guessing” ever become accepted as a so-called strategy? I never cease to be astounded by this state of affairs. 

This repeatedly discredited program is essentially more of the same classroom tactics that failed the student in the first place. How can it be helpful to set the student up for further failure down the track—and charge for the disservice? 

A simple traditional phonic approach, that achieves a great deal in a short space of time, for a fraction of the cost, is unfortunately unacceptable to the current educrat’s rhetoric on how (supposedly) children learn to read. They have much to learn. 

It is interesting to note that Reading Recovery is supported by the International Reading Association and all it’s subsidiary organizations around the globe. It promises to be an overwhelmingly difficult task that lies ahead simply to be permitted to teach that which works best. 

Jean Clyde 

Specialist teacher 

Tasmania, Australia 

 

• 

SLIPPING OUT THE BACK DOOR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In his Oct. 9 letter Ernest Grouns decries my diatribe of a week earlier (“Cheers to Edna”) as “human racism.” I think he misuses the word, as I denounced our entire species, in all its hues and creeds. He challenges me to stand, or die, by my convictions. I intend to. In my younger years my then wife and I produced two offspring, now productive college grads, and I am well beyond my breeding time. So long as my good health persists and I am able to walk North Berkeley pathways and make modest donations to the Nature Conservancy and the Natural Resources Defense Council, I will plod on; but when age or calamity threaten to make me a burden to my family or the health care system, I certainly plan to slip out the back door of this existence. 

He calls our minds “a miracle of evolution” and extols our “amazing advances in medicine, science, agriculture, technology, spirituality...” But I see a catastrophe of evolution in which millennia of simple toolmaking have suddenly mutated into the rampant and obsessive abuse of science and technology to exploit, pillage, and manipulate everything in or on the world’s crust, making us truly a cancer on the earth. As to spirituality, a grotesque flaw in our cultural evolution persuades ninety percent of us that we, unlike all other living things, are somehow immune from death. The deep congenital flaw in the human psyche is the pathological refusal to accept the great centering, liberating and obvious truth of our existence: we live a while in the sun, then we die. After that —nothing! No angels with harps, no virgins with sexual favors, no loved ones with welcoming arms—mere oblivion. 

Edna Spector slyly hinted at our future when she suggested a “No Child policy.” Population control will someday take the form of universal genomic testing, the issuing of parenting permits to those found to be good breeding stock, and the forced sterilization of those who don’t make the cut. Add this wonderful world of eugenics to those other “amazing advances.” 

Jerry Landis 

 

• 

IRRESPONSIBLE REPORTING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Just when I thought I had read the worst of the articles regarding Amir’s death, I stumble upon the Daily Planet’s Oct. 16 front-page article. I cannot stress how disappointed I am in the journalistic integrity of the gentleman who wrote this article. Quoting a neighbor of Misti, almost explicitly putting blame on Misti’s “boyfriend” for the death of Amir. I understand that journalists are frustrated that the family will not provide statements, but this is disgusting. Printing comments from people who have no close connection to Amir or Misti is completely irresponsible. The speculation of a neighbor doesn’t even come close to a reliable witness. And considering the situation I can’t believe for a second that Richard Brenneman couldn’t see the potential harm that his article could cause to the friends and family involved. Use your brain and your heart. Well, I guess it was worth it. Brennemen had a new twist to contribute. How hard is it to realize how stupid it is to publish a statement in your paper that places the death of a 9 year old boy on the mother’s “ex-boyfriend.” You should be ashamed and embarrassed.  

Benjamin Cukierman 

 

• 

FUNKY AIN’T JUST FINE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have lived in West Berkeley for over 27 years. My husband, Michael Goldin and I are raising our children here. I am a painter and Michael is a designer and architect. 

We are determined to make our neighborhood safer and cleaner. Last Tuesday night at the West Berkeley Town Hall meeting, I heard people say that West Berkeley is a little “funky” but just fine the way it is. 

I’m sorry, but where I live, fire and drugs and gangs and guns don’t make it funky. Cleaning up abandoned lots, the railroad tracks, preventing flooding and removing graffiti, don’t make it “gentrification,” they make it safer and cleaner. 

Like many other artists and designers in West Berkeley, Michael and I have a passion for preserving West Berkeley’s unique identity which still includes artist studios, warehouses and industrial spaces. We want to see the community improve so that West Berkeley can retain these businesses and not lose them as we lost Cliff Bar and Cody’s. 

Michael and I have put a lot of energy into solving problems in our neighborhood. One of my biggest concerns is fire. Illegal dumpsites and vacant buildings catch fire all too often down here. Three buildings burned down to the ground across the street from our house. 

When an illegal, unsafe nightclub starting throwing rave parties, which brought guns and alcohol to our block, we called the police and got it shut down. When heavy rains caused floods, we worked with the City to get the storm drains replaced at Fourth and Channing. We’ve planted over thirty trees in our area. And after years of neglect, we worked with Union Pacific railroad to clean the tracks and remove 50 tons of garbage. 

As concerned citizens, this is what you have to do to help your neighborhood. But at some point, you also need to work and take care of your family. That’s why the idea of the property-based improvement district (PBID) is so attractive to us. It’s a proven way to raise funds to address these issues in a long term and sustainable way. 

I believe that a PBID in West Berkeley could benefit us all. We would finally have the organization with the resources to partner with the city and deal with some serious issues. If we had a PBID in place we would have a powerful tool working on our behalf. 

Last night, a woman complained that she had to call the city 14 times to get a light bulb changed. Maybe the next time someone asks, “How many West Berkeley residents does it take to change a light bulb?”, we will answer “one” because we united and formed the improvement district. 

Deborah Oropallo 

 

• 

WEST BERKELEY COMMUNITY BENEFITS DISTRICT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A few questions I thought of too late to ask at the Oct. 16 meeting concerning the proposed West Berkeley Community Benefits District (WBCBD): 

If this district manages to be created (despite strong opposition), will that mean there will be someone I can call to dispose of the used condoms and condom wrappers I regularly find littering the sidewalk near my house? Or, if we become a WBCBD, does that mean we’ll have a security force patrolling our streets all night long in an effort to discourage the illegal dumping/graffiti-writing/car-sex, etc. that occurs then? 

Finally, if the City of Berkeley wasn’t spending thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of dollars on those completely unnecessary “calming circles” that have sprouted up all over town, instead putting the money toward crime prevention services in West Berkeley, would we even be having meetings about WBCBDs? 

A. Kassof 

 

• 

YES! MOM AND APPLE PIE  

FOR WEST BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A recent opinion piece in the Daily Planet dismissed a proposal from the West Berkeley business community to “handle a bunch of mom-and-apple-pie areas like neighborhood cleanliness and security.” 

I have worked in West Berkeley for over 18 years, and cleanliness and security are serious issues down here that can’t be dismissed. It’s hard for me to fathom how anyone could criticize the intentions of property-owners voluntarily planning to tax themselves nearly $600,000 a year to help make our neighborhood safer and cleaner.  

At a time when the city is strapped for cash, businesses and commercial property-owners in our neighborhood say they are willing to reach into their own wallets to improve public safety, clean up and remove graffiti, help the homeless, and fund a shuttle so area workers could ride public transit instead of driving. 

As I understand it, the proposed property-based improvement district, also called a PBID, does not intend to assess homeowners. The PBID would only assess commercial property owners and use the funds for direct services, and no PBID money would be spent to lobby for zoning changes. 

At the town hall meeting last night, I heard a lot of information from the city staff and the PBID consultant that made the benefits of establishing the PBID very clear to me and completely justified. 

The Berkeley Police Department only has one beat officer on patrol in most of West Berkeley at night. The PBID would fund an unarmed security team that would notify the police if they see anything suspicious during the night. 

The Public Works Department chief said they can’t keep up with the illegal dumping and graffiti. The PBID would hire a team of workers to pick up trash and paint out graffiti on the weekends. 

We’ve all seen the many homeless people camping in cars or on vacant lots. The PBID would match the city to fund a pilot program would direct services to people who are homeless. 

And workers in the area would be able to catch a free shuttle from BART to their workplace. Seems like no one should complain about people riding the shuttle instead of parking in front of your home or business all day, right? 

What are folks complaining about when the say we shouldn’t form this district? Do they have some better way of raising the kind of money we are talking about to take care of these serious endemic problems? And, as pointed out by the consultant on forming PBID’s, the district would be totally open to the oversight of the city council. There’s no “secret agenda” here folks. It’s about dealing with issues not complaining and offering nothing in return. 

Berkeley already has five successful improvement districts operating. I think we could use another $600,000 a year to make West Berkeley a safer, cleaner place to live and work.  

Steven Donaldson 

BGDi Strategic Brand Solutions 

 

• 

A GLORIOUS DEVELOPMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The showdown on Wednesday at the Marine recruiting center at Shattuck Square was a glorious development in our Iraq war narrative. As I arrived there and saw the street fiercely divided between Code Pinkers and other anti-war groups and the flag waving patriots on the other side, I immediately thought of what my mother had told me about what happened during the Vietnam War. 

She told me that everyone was talking about the war and taking sides. Wives and husbands split up, children and parents wouldn’t talk, friendships dissolved. Everyone, at least in NYC where my parents lived, had to explain where they were on the war. Were they for it or against it? 

Today’s passion and divided Shattuck pushed the ante up. It brought out people from their slumber. No one on either side wants anyone to die. In this, we are united. But the patriots don’t have much say beyond their rhetoric, indignation, and insults. 

Code Pink is doing Berkeley a great honor by focusing our energies on the recruiting center and creating greater passion and urgency around something that is a life and death issue; for the Iraqis, for the servicewomen and men, and for you and me. 

I ask everyone to choose between continuing violence in our names or a commitment to peace and the rebuilding of Iraq. Every life is precious. Show your support to bring the troops home on Oct. 27 in San Francisco. The Iraqis want us out, let’s not second guess them but get out. 

Ilona Sturm 

 

• 

RECRUITMENT CENTER PROTEST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have just come back to the sanctuary of my home after being exposed to the thuggery and fascistic behavior of U.S. citizens in front of the Marine Recruitment Center in downtown Berkeley. 

I went with peace in my heart and was pushed hard by a large, white male screamer and when I went over to the Berkeley Police Department representatives standing on the other side of Shattuck, I was told by two of them that these people had their right to free speech and when I tried to show them how I was pushed , I was asked if I wanted to be arrested. So much for police protection for an elder of 73, who was worried about her safety and the safety of others. 

Why I am surprised by all of this, I really don’t know. After reading a recent history of immigration struggles in this state (No One Is Illegal, by Chacon and Davis) I should know better about white thuggery and police protection given them as they bowed to corporate rulers. What was frightening was to experience it personally. As a Jewish American, I am well aware of how fascism began in Nazi Germany and now my fellow Berkeleyans and I have seen them with our very own eyes. Will you still not believe that we are in deep trouble in this nation? And ask yourself what you are willing to do to stop it before it engulfs us all. 

Sheila Goldmacher 

 

• 

BOTTLED VS. TAP WATER  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

At first glance it would seem straight forward to be on the tap water side of the current “tap vs. bottled water” debate, if only to diminish the increased energy use and pollution created by fabricating, shipping, and discarding the bottles that hold the 7 billion gallons that are consumed in the United States alone per year. Also avoiding the chemicals that leak into the water from the plastic bottles is an advantage. But drinking tap water forces me to swallow chloramines and fluoride. Neither of which can be filtered out, except with reverse osmosis, which produces a lot of waste water in the process. 

The fluoride issue is a big one for me. As stated by Dr. Peter Mansfield, a physician from the UK and advisory board member of the recent government review of fluoridation (McDonagh et al 2000): No physician in his right senses would prescribe for a person he has never met, whose medical history he does not know, a substance which is intended to create bodily change, with the advice: “Take as much as you like, but you will take it for the rest of your life because some children suffer from tooth decay. It is a preposterous notion.” The article by Paul Connet, “The Absurdities of Water Fluoridation,” has given me food for thought and concern as well. 

Now that cities are starting to think about having their employees drink “healthful water,” I wonder if they really think there is a healthful choice? Unless the practice of adding questionable substances to our drinking water is stopped, an informed choice seems to be one between a rock and a hard place.  

Helga Holtmann 

 

• 

DECLARE VICTORY AND GET OUT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Washington Post (“Al Qaeda In Iraq Reported Crippled,” Oct. 15) and ABC7/KGO-TV (“Can The U.S. Declare A Victory Over Al Qaeda In Iraq?,” Oct. 15) reported that many top U.S. generals believe that al Qaeda in Iraq has been devastated by the U.S. troop surge to the point that some want to declare victory. These reports remind me of the late Senator George Aiken’s advice to President Lyndon B. Johnson and President Richard M. Nixon to declare victory in Vietnam and get out. He gave this advice when things in Vietnam were going from bad to worse. Of course, both Johnson and Nixon ignored this advice and we know the result. 

Following Sen. Aiken’s advice, I suggest that President Bush put on his commander-in-chief uniform, declare victory, and announce the immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq. What are the chances? 

Ralph E. Stone 

San Francisco 

 

• 

A WEB OF LIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bush and Republicans are caught again in a web of lies and deception—this time about the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The president and GOP leaders claim SCHIP is a massive expansion of government-run health care. The $7 billion a year expansion of the program is minuscule compared to what the Bush administration is spending ($8 billion a month) on its war in Iraq.  

Bush and Republicans claim the new SCHIP proposal would cover higher-income children. Only so in one state, New York, where the cost of living is so much higher than the rest of the country. The GOP keeps digging itself a deeper grave with bogus and misleading rhetoric. 

Ron Lowe  

Grass Valley


Commentary: Planning for Downtown Berkeley’s Future

By Rob Wrenn
Friday October 19, 2007

After 45 general meetings and 44 subcommittee meetings over a two-year period, the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) is wrapping up its work of creating a new plan for downtown to replace the current plan adopted in 1990. 

Some important decisions have been made by DAPAC, but one major issue has yet to be resolved. Should the current development standards, which allow buildings of a maximum of four to seven stories depending on the specific area, be revised to allow some taller buildings? Downtown’s population is growing as more housing is being built. Do we want even more growth than is now occurring? 

A community workshop Saturday morning at the high school will allow Berkeley residents an opportunity to give their opinions about building heights and the many other policies and goals that will make up the new downtown plan. 

DAPAC has endorsed the new hotel and the UC museum proposed for Center Street between Shattuck and Oxford. It has also given its support to the closure of that block of Center Street to motor vehicle traffic to create a pedestrian plaza, which will help fill a strong need for publicly accessible open space downtown. A water feature, possibly derived from Strawberry Creek, which currently flows in underground culverts, could be a part of the new plaza. 

In addition to the Center Street Plaza, staff’s draft alternative proposes the creation of “Park Blocks” on Shattuck between Durant and Dwight. Space for cars would be reduced to allow for creation of an 80-foot wide green space in the median similar to South Park in San Francisco. There is broad support on DAPAC for adding lot’s more greenery and green space to downtown. 

 

Parking and transit 

DAPAC has also voted for adoption of a transportation or “access” chapter of the plan that contains many policies that will aid local businesses and reduce the downtown’s “carbon footprint.” 

More rational parking pricing policies called for in the draft plan will help to free up on-street parking spaces. Right now, it costs less to park in the more desirable on-street metered spaces right in front of local businesses than it does to park further away in a garage. As a result, on-street spaces are relatively hard to find while hundreds of garage spaces sit empty most of the time. And, a substantial number of on-street spaces are used by meter-feeding employees of downtown businesses. 

To encourage downtown employees to use transit, the DAPAC has also endorsed “Eco Pass” transit passes that would allow downtown employees to use transit for free. 

The Access chapter endorses improvements to transit service including Bus Rapid Transit, while identifying many issues related to design and implementation that must be resolved to optimize its benefits. 

 

Increased height limits? 

City staff’s Preferred Land Use Alternative, which was discussed at DAPAC’s Oct. 3 meeting, calls for allowing up to five high-rise buildings in a “BART Opportunity Area” surrounding the BART station, with a maximum height of 180 feet (about 16 stories if a residential building), with a height of up to 225 feet allowed for the hotel proposed for Center Street and for a second hotel tower that has been proposed by the owners of the Shattuck Hotel as an addition to their hotel. 

Any building in this BART area could be 120 feet or up to 10 stories, and three more buildings at this height would be allowed in areas beyond the BART Area. 

Staff have proposed that any portion of a building above five stories should be set back and should be slender, not bulky. DAPAC members seem to agree that having a wall of buildings of heights greater than 5 stories lining Shattuck or University would be undesirable. 

Shattuck Avenue from University to Durant could end up being part of a new historic district downtown. At its most recent meeting, DAPAC members also voted 20-0, with one abstention, to support the preservation and design chapter put together by a joint subcommittee of DAPAC and the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). The chapter welcomes development while also calling for preservation of existing historic buildings. 

While DAPAC members had already endorsed the proposed height for the Center Street hotel, it became clear at the Oct. 3 meeting that a majority of DAPAC members do not support an additional four buildings that would be as tall as the existing Wells Fargo and Great Western buildings downtown. 

What is the right maximum height? While a majority clearly opposes 16 stories or 180 feet, some DAPAC members seem to favor allowing some buildings at 10 stories, three stories taller than the current maximum, in some areas, especially in the BART area. Some of us have proposed eight stories as the maximum, with an exception for the proposed hotel. 

To put things in context, the number of housing units in the downtown has increased by 19 percent just since 2000 and, when projects now in the pipeline (such as Oxford Plaza housing at the construction site at Oxford and Kittredge) are finished, the number of units will have increased by about a third. Downtown’s population is growing. 

The debate is not more density vs. no growth. It’s a question of how much more density and growth is desirable and what form it should take. And it’s not just a question of height. More housing is good, but how much of it will be affordable? Two-bedroom units in new downtown building tend to rent for between $2000 and $2700 a month. And will that housing be “green,” using much less non-renewable energy than is currently the norm? 

Along with other members of DAPAC, I have proposed that the city’s Berkeley Way parking lot be designated as a site for the city’s first “zero-carbon” affordable housing project. Energy could be generated on site with photovoltaics and/or other technology. On the edge of the residential neighborhood north of downtown, with schools and parks and supermarkets not far away, it would be a good location for families, living in larger units in buildings of perhaps three- or four-stories with on-site green space. 

 

Pros and Cons 

There are benefits to having more housing in areas that are relatively well served by transit, such as downtown, which has BART, numerous bus lines, and the planned BRT service. It’s easier to live without owning a car downtown, especially with car-sharing for people who can get by without a car most of the time but need one now and then. And for households that do have a car, one car should suffice, unlike in suburban areas where two-car households are the norm. Lower rates of car ownership mean lower rates of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, which accounts for 47 percent of Berkeley’s emissions. 

In the downtown core (University to Bancroft between campus and MLK), a majority of current residents do not own cars. Lower rates of car ownership are common in the centers of cities, and, in Berkeley, this is reinforced by the fact that half or more of downtown residents are students, most of whom do not bring cars with them. A new downtown plan that facilitates “car-free” and “car-lite” lifestyles can set a framework for growth in population without growth in traffic and resulting emissions. 

More people living downtown can add vitality and create a broader customer base for local businesses. One can argue for taller buildings because they allow for more people to live downtown (assuming that the taller buildings are residential and not commercial buildings). 

However, taller buildings can have negative impacts. 

Taller buildings consume more energy per square foot, other things being equal, than buildings of five stories or less. This means more greenhouse gas emissions. Staff have proposed that buildings above five stories have higher energy efficiency standards and generate some of their own energy and achieve a LEED Gold green building rating. Below 5 stories, buildings would also have to exceed current standards, but not by as much. 

Taller buildings could cast shadows on nearby buildings, sidewalks and streets, reducing solar access. The exact location of any permitted taller buildings could make a big difference. Do we want to create a Center Street plaza or Park Blocks and then allow tall buildings nearby to shadow these new open spaces? 

Even if we resolve issues such as energy consumption and shadowing, and even if many new residents come without cars, there remains another set of questions. What will the visual impacts of taller buildings be? What will it do to the downtown skyline? What will it do to the feel and sense of scale of downtown? Do people living on the tenth floor have any real connection to the street? There are aesthetic considerations as well as environmental ones that need to be addressed. 

 

Rob Wrenn is a member of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission.


Commentary: It All Starts at the Top

By Laura Menard
Friday October 19, 2007

Thanks to reporter Riya Bhattacharjee (“All Visitors to Show Photo ID at Berkeley High”) and to parent Ellen Mates (“How To Be a Victim, as Taught by the Berkeley Police and Berkeley High”) for information about ongoing security failures at BHS. Since the school community suffers a virtual “news black out,” never receiving incident information or safety updates from our principal directly, we learn more in the Planet. 

I feel particularly qualified to comment for two reasons: I have been engaged in school safety reforms for over a decade, and last spring I filed a Uniform Complaint (UCP) for non-compliance with state requirements for Safe School planning. The resolution of the complaint resulted in BHS reconstituting a safety committee, quashed since 2004. So when Principal Jim Slemp tells us “The idea of having visitor IDs came from parents themselves,” I wonder who this group is and how they have assumed the role of the safety committee? 

Let’s consider some of the more important contradictions in Principal Slemp’s new security measure and its implications. First, Slemp’s single example focuses on securing campus from parents with restraining orders. This is important, however the goal cannot be satisfied by the recommended procedure: Parent volunteers do not have the authority to crosscheck confidential information of other parents. Second, we learn that Slemp “acknowledges that many of the security incidents on campus this year were due to non-students coming into the campus.” And his response dismisses recommendations made by police officers assigned to campus and downtown about the potential use of student ID cards. “I don’t want to repress anybody.” Is this just more pandering to students with an anarchist sensibility? Seems to me if Slemp is really interested in protecting kids explaining to the student body their role and responsibility in creating a safe and positive school culture is one step closer to realizing progress. When did the liberal rally cry lose meaning? “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” 

But what of the principal’s responsibility embedded in CA Ed Code, with its provisions of a “Duty to Protect” so clear that the school board should consider how vulnerable they are to legal liability. Legal precedent supports a parents’ right to sue if their child is the victim of crime while unsupervised in an area where a known danger exists. The number of incidents downtown supports such a finding. Where is the oversight from the superintendent or Board of Education? If Director Shirley Issel’s response is any indication, we are in big trouble: “I don’t want to hear about it, take it up with Slemp. It is his policy.” 

“Good news only” Slemp sidesteps all the tough issues and has purposely undermined the purview of the safety committee. Now he intends to handpick its parent representatives, while elections were allowed for other governance committees. Here is a list of some of tough issues continually ignored: 1) Closed or open campus? 2) ID cards, remove the power and privilege of anonymity by requiring students to show IDs when entering campus. 3) Assign campus supervisors downtown for lunch duty. 4) Obtain restraining orders against offenders who show up at campus intent on retaliation against an enrolled student. 5) Referrals for truancy intervention services. 6) Provide school community with regular reports of incidents data as per state law. 7) Curb drug sales and use on and around campus. How many non-students were actually stopped on campus last month, how many last year? The data is available, and by law data forms the basis for decision-making and the development of policy and practice by the safety committee. 

Last spring, same as every year, city staff organized a meeting with school staff and downtown merchants to discuss the impact of 3,000 unsupervised students downtown. It is nothing more than a political exercise and they have yet to progress to problem solving. Principal Slemp said he would not post campus safety officers or administrators downtown regularly. Instead he explained his responsibility was to protect the campus, but when asked he estimated only 10 percent of the student body remains on campus for lunch. Practically speaking, taxpayers are paying twice for reactive-only security measures. Consider 4-6 police officers assigned at lunch or after school roughly costing $100 per hour each, plus BUSD salaries for 10 campus safety officers and 9 administrators. 

To fellow parent Ellen and your daughter, I sympathize and I wish I could say your experience was an anomaly. It is not. While I am tough on Jim Slemp, I fully understand how many BHS staff members are really capable and talented people working in a broken system, and I would like to thank them. I wish I could be supportive of Principal Slemp’s leadership but that hope faded with experience. In my efforts to find any accountability, I have taken these issues to the superintendent, school board members and district supervisors. I wish their good intentions were enough. When I discussed concerns with Superintendent Lawrence, her response was, as always, “I agree, but you have to understand, the district is working on its operational readiness, we will eventually get there.” 

BPD is the same, the chief is more apt to make anecdotal comments suggesting incidents are up or down rather than present verifiable data, and the mayor accepts this as meaningful information. How does that improve service, support justice or manage the risk? It all starts at the top. I fully expect the BUSD public information officer Coplan or board members to respond here in the paper, and try and correct my statements, but just maybe this will motivate them to action. 

 


Commentary: Wellstone Club’s Questions for Democratic Candidates

By Jack Kurzweil
Friday October 19, 2007

America is awakening from the nightmare of the most dangerous and destructive right-wing government in our nation’s history. A majority has seen the failure of conservative policies, and they want a new direction.  

We need leadership from the Democratic Party. Progressives, who were key to the Democratic Party’s successes in 2006, must now act to ensure that elected Democrats carry through the changes this country needs. 

We believe that the California Primary Election will be crucial and that progressives have to make their weight felt in that election. 

The Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club has developed some policy benchmarks and questions that we will be posing to all of the Democratic Presidential Candidates.  

Please join us in this effort. 

 

1. Iraq, Peace, and American Foreign Policy. There must be a speedy and complete withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq. The cost in treasure, lives, and world standing is a burden this nation can no longer bear. Only when our military occupation ends and Iraq regains its sovereignty will its people be able to end their civil war and create the unity necessary to re-build their country. We need candidates who are committed to end our military presence now! 

Questions: 

• Are you committed to a speedy and total withdrawal of troops and contractors from Iraq? 

• Are you committed to leaving no bases in Iraq? 

• Are you committed to Iraq maintaining complete control over its oil resources? 

• How would you provide sufficient resources to Iraq to rebuild its country? 

• Will you pledge not to attack Iran without Congressional approval? 

 

2. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The constitutional safeguards that protect our liberties and our democracy must be restored. As commander-in-chief of an endless “war on terror,” George Bush has systematically undermined Congress’ constitutional role, created an all-powerful executive branch, and weakened our entire system of checks and balances. 

Never in the history of our nation has secrecy, invasion of privacy, and abuse of government power for narrow ideological and partisan political purposes been carried to such an extreme. Torture has been embraced while fundamental human rights have been disregarded. We need candidates who are unequivocally committed to restoring the rule of law in America. 

Questions: 

• Do you think that there is any way in which the Patriot Act increases our national security? If not, would you support its total repeal? Are there sections that you would keep? What, in your view, would create a safer America? 

• How will you restore the balance of powers mandated by the Constitution? 

• Will you restore the right of habeas corpus? 

• Will you promise not to use signing statements that negate the intention of legislation? 

• What will you do to make sure that every American has a full right to vote and have that vote be counted? 

 

3. Health Care. Americans need and deserve a medical system that is second to none. Our well-being and our economy can no longer afford to be held hostage to the interests of insurance companies, HMO’s, and the pharmaceutical industry. It is a disgrace that this wealthy and innovative nation, alone among industrial countries, does not provide free, universal, and quality care for all its people. We need candidates who have the courage to stand for the public good against powerful private interests.  

Questions: 

• Do you agree that eliminating any significant role for the insurance industry is the key to meaningful health care reform? 

• Will you support extending Medicare to all Americans?  

 

4. Renewable Energy, Global Warming. Just as the resources of government built our highway system, financed the microchip, and invented the Internet, government must now devote its resources to jump-starting a new, “green” industrial revolution in the United States. We need a crash program to develop wind and solar energy, create incentives for conversion to organic agriculture, and renew America’s aging infrastructure with eco-friendly designs and materials. It is time for a major reduction in the use of fossil fuels in transportation, energy, and agriculture. We need candidates who put forth a vision that can put America on the path to real sustainable growth.  

Questions: 

• What will you do to accelerate the switch to solar and wind generated electricity from dependence on fossil fuels? 

• What will you do to encourage the sustainable growing of food? 

• How will you reduce the dependence of transportation on fossil fuels? 

• What are your plans for generating new jobs based on a green economy? 

• Will you sign the Kyoto Agreements? 

 

5) Church, State, and Reproductive Rights. Conservatives seek to erase the Consti-tutional boundaries between Church and State. By denying women the right to control their own lives and bodies, they endow the faith of some with the power of law over everyone else. We need candidates who understand that without freedom of choice for women, there will be no liberty for anyone. 

Questions: 

• Will you lead the effort to restore the rights of women to control their own bodies? 

• Will you pledge to support the separation of Church and State? 

 

6. The Economy and America’s Future. Conservatives have cut taxes for the rich, reduced necessary services for the poor and middle class, and subsidized the transfer of industry and jobs abroad. As the rich get richer, America gets poorer. The interests of the few are served at the expense of the country as a whole. We need candidates who understand that investing in our own people and our own country holds the key to our nation’s future.  

Questions: 

• Will you end Bush’s tax cuts to the rich? 

• How will you make it easier for workers to join unions? 

• What will you do to stop the flow of good jobs abroad? 

• How will you restore America’s social safety net? 

• Do you agree to revise NAFTA and all other trade agreements to include protection for the environment and the rights of workers? 

 

7. Public Education. Conservative hostility to the principle of universal public education has been elevated to government policy by “No Child Left Behind.” Instead of being encouraged to transform itself to address the diverse needs of America’s children, public education has been under-funded and saddled with punitive testing. We need candidates who are committed to fully fund and support high quality public education for all of America’s children. 

Questions: 

• How will you fix “No Child Left Behind?” 

• Are you committed to major funding increases for public schools? 

 

Jack Kurzweil is a member of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club.


Commentary: Verizon Wireless vs. the City of Berkeley: The Final Act

By Michael Barglow
Friday October 19, 2007

The bell for the final round of “Verizon vs the City of Berkeley” will ring this Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. at the final public hearing, Old City Hall, 2134 MLK Jr. Way in Berkeley.  

Berkeley has not completed its administrative decision-making process regarding Verizon’s application to install antennas at UC Storage at 2721 Shattuck Ave. Yet Verizon is already suing the city in federal court. This suit asks the court to mandate the installation of the antennas at the South Shattuck location and also at two other flatlands locations: 1540 Shattuck (French Hotel) and 2002 Acton St. Beyond these requests, Verizon is demanding the elimination of our city ordinance governing the installation of cell phone antennas throughout the city. This ordinance was passed by a 7-1 City Council vote two years ago. It simply seeks to protect Berkeley citizens from unnecessary radio frequency radiation. 

The Berkeley City Council Public Hearing on Oct. 23 will be the last public meeting on the Verizon application to install antennas at 2721 Shattuck Ave. Verizon must get five votes in its favor at this meeting to overturn the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board, which has twice ruled in our favor.  

No one knows if continuous radiation emitted from cell phone antennas is safe. There are scientific indications that it is not. Yet, in 1996 the cell phone industry was able to make it illegal for any city to challenge cell phone antennas on the basis of its citizens’ health concerns. If there is any substantial chance at all that this radiation might be harmful, is it right for Verizon to impose this gamble on all Berkeley residents without their consent? 

Apart from health concerns, South Berkeley does not need nor want more cell antennas, particularly not at 2721 Shattuck Ave. To date, hundreds of residents in Berkeley who use Verizon and other cell phone companies have signed petitions attesting to the fact that their service in South Berkeley is excellent. Managers and employees of both Verizon and Nextel have shown us color coded maps of Berkeley indicating that customers in South Berkeley receive these companies’ highest ratings for excellent cell phone service.  

We ask for fair and equitable distribution of antennas sufficient to ensure telephone voice conversations. We in South Berkeley note that the high-impact image- and other data-processing that the telecommunications industry plans to bring to the public, going far beyond standard voice-carrier services, entails increasingly dense and polluting levels of radiation. We do not need nor want exposure to these endlessly increasing levels of radiation. We believe that it is unfair and undemocratic to expose Berkeley’s residents to these increases without our consent.  

We continue to ask these questions:  

1. South Berkeley currently has 14 antenna locations, North Berkeley has two, while the Berkeley Hills have none. Why does our part of town have seven times as many antenna locations as North Berkeley? We do not have anywhere near seven times the population, nor seven times the number of cell phone users. 

2. Why do the Berkeley Hills have no antenna locations? How do they ensure reception? 

Could it be because cell phone users in North Berkeley and the hills are able to use antennas already in place in South Berkeley?  

Please put Oct. 23 on your calendar. A big turnout at this meeting is crucial to encourage our city council members to stand up to Verizon. We will ask the City Council to insist on its right to local control over siting of RF antennas. We request that our government support the precautionary principle and the right of citizens to protect their health and safety. We request funding for further investigation of the health risks associated with wireless technology. 

 


Columns

Green Neighbors: Another Handsome Hazard: Chinese Tallow Tree

By Ron Sullivan
Tuesday October 23, 2007

Chinese tallow tree, Triadica sebifera, Sapium sebiferum or Croton sebiferum, is pretty, tough, and dons beautiful leaf colors in autumn. The small rounded kite-shaped leaves have a gentle green color before that, and dance engagingly in the breeze flashing their soft gray undersides, a little like aspen leaves.  

It really is Chinese—well, East Asian in general, including Japan—and it really does supply a sort of tallow. (It really is a tree, too, in case you were wondering.) The tallow is a waxy coating on the seeds. These, somewhat perversely, stay on the tree when its fruit, a capsule that starts out green, matures to black, and then falls away. The seeds’ coatings give them a subtle translucence that looks nifty in the sunshine; they’re round and tend to hang in threes, making some of us (OK, also perversely) think about teeny forest-elven pawnshops.  

Have I overdosed on Terry Pratchett again? 

The “tallow” covering the seeds is actually useful too. It’s gathered, not by leprechauns with tiny little vegetable peelers, but by ordinary humans who throw a load of seeds into a vat of hot water, wait for the wax to melt off the seeds and rise to the top, and then skimming it off.  

The stuff makes decent candles (with beeswax added) and soap. I’ve seen it proposed as a source for biodiesel. I’ve heard that it can be used as cooking oil, and I’ve heard that it’s a strong purgative. I’ve heard similar things about red palm oil; maybe it’s a matter of quantity or of individual susceptibilities. Either way, don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

Some birds like the seeds, and apparently whatever the intestinally controversial element for us is, it doesn’t bother them. In particular, birds that eat bugs—woodpeckers, for example—like the fatty coating; hardly surprising if you’ve seen them go for suet cakes. They eat the whole seed and, at whatever speed and interval, eventually excrete the working part along with a nice dose of guano fertilizer. And therein lies the rub. 

How rough a rub? Here’s a hint: In Florida, it’s illegal to introduce, release, move, or possess a tallow tree without a special permit. It’s on the Noxious Weed List there and in Texas, Georgia, Puerto Rico, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and it’s being strongly proposed for addition to the official list here in California.  

This, as such steps often are, is a bit of barn-door locking as the horse disappears over the horizon. Tallow tree is so entrenched in Florida that many people think it’s a native; it was offered by nurseries as “Florida aspen.” (It’s also “popcorn tree” because of the alleged resemblance of those white berries. Somebody’s evidently been making some nasty popcorn in the Southeast.)  

You can hear or read complaints about tallow tree from all those other states, too. You can also see it defended. No surprise, since individually it’s really charming, and since people seem to confuse garden-invasive with wildland-invasive or not even to know the latter category exists or matters. 

This tree is a perfect exemplar of the myopia problem. If its seeds fall into your garden and sprout a zillion little seedlings, you know it’s garden-invasive. It’s a problem in flowerbeds; less so, in lawns and tame meadows, because seedlings are easily controlled by mowing. So, if you see only your own garden and maybe the neighbors’ (That tacky old juniper hedge! That obsessive brickwork!) you won’t see any danger in a tallow tree; just that neat shape, those pretty “berries,” that gorgeous autumn color.  

When the flock of songbirds has had its picturesque fill and flown off, though, they’re going to be flying over and hanging out in places that people don’t mow, where the hundreds of myriads of other Earthlings must live and raise their offspring and eat and sleep.  

The tree that feeds those songbirds won’t necessarily have anything the other animals and plants can use—no oak leaves or acorns for the bugs that live on them, therefore nothing for the local species that live on those bugs, therefore no pollinators for the flowers that need something with those bugs’ particular habits ... 

No acorns for the acorn woodpeckers, who might relish a tallowseed snack but can’t store it against the needs of next spring’s breeding season. No oakleaf mulch for the native understory plants either. Tallowtree leaves, in fact, might be a bit toxic to other plants as well as animals. 

And tallow tree, like so many other invasives, can make a monoculture thicket that goes on for yards, and another like it just downstream, and in five years yet another downstream from that. For some species, that’s no better than paving. The catch is that we don’t know which species those will be, or who else depends on them.  

Dang. And I really like tallow tree; it looks good and feels pleasant to work on. Too bad.  

 

 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan  

Chinese tallow trees, these in the , Oakland hills, in fall color right now.  

 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Green Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in the Planet’s East Bay Home & Real Estate section.


Column: The Public Eye: More Pay for City Staff: Can the City Afford It?

By Zelda Bronstein
Friday October 19, 2007

Berkeley is in a fiscal crisis. The current budget was balanced only after the council made deep cuts in staff and services. The city has $160 million of unfunded liabilities. Meanwhile, our roads, sewers and drainage system (where there is a drainage system) are in bad shape; it looks as if the coming winter is going to be a wet one—good for the snowpack, bad for deteriorating infrastructure. This past spring, the council nickel and dimed basic services for the homeless, cutting $23,000 out of the respected Quarter Meal program run by Berkeley’s Food and Housing Project—50 percent of the program’s modest budget.  

The city’s 2008-2009 Budget Book opens with a May 8, 2007 cover letter from the city manager to the mayor and council. In a section entitled “Controlling Costs,” Mr. Kamlarz writes: “In the short term, the only method to effectively eliminate the City’s structural deficit is through cost reductions—primarily through controlling labor costs, since employee salary and benefits make up 77 percent of the City’s operating budget.”  

Accordingly, for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the book anticipated zero cost of living increases for the fire and police departments. For the city’s civilian employees, it designated a 5 percent cost of living increase in fiscal year 2008 and no increase at all for 2009. 

Yet now, merely four months since he wrote those words, Mr. Kamlarz—no doubt under great pressure—is asking the council to give Berkeley firefighters raises that, if approved, will likely be used to justify commensurate increases in the compensation offered to other city employees. Specifically, he is recommending that the firefighters get a salary raise of at least 13 percent for the period between July 2, 2006 (the contract is retroactive) and June 29, 2010. 

A 13 percent raise, spread over four years, may sound reasonable, until you remember that the city’s last contract with the Berkeley Fire Fighters Association, running from 2000 to 2006, raised firefighter salaries by 31.5 percent. If the council approves the manager’s recommendation, by 2010 Berkeley firefighter salaries will have risen 44.5% in a decade. When the manager’s recommended increases in benefits (medical, retirement) are factored in, the overall increase will be even larger. According to the current Budget Book, the fire department accounts for 16 percent of total General Fund expenditures of $282,481,673, second among city bureaus only to the police department at 34 percent.  

The firefighters’ contract originally appeared on the council’s Oct. 9 agenda but was pulled by the city manager and re-scheduled for the Oct. 23 meeting. The Oct. 9 staff report said that contract negotiations were guided by policies that included “assuring that the City’s salaries and benefit package are competitive with other Fire Fighters in the Bay Area.” In addition, “the settlement must also be within the City’s ability to pay based on projected revenue, as well as demands for services across the spectrum of programs the City provides to the community.” 

Those are certainly the right criteria. The city needs to pay its employees enough to ensure that it attracts quality personnel; it also needs to live within its means. Trouble is, there wasn’t a shred of corresponding data or analysis in the staff report to support the recommended increases. More trouble: The city manager’s annual report, sent out in late August, after negotiations with the firefighters union had been completed, said: “We will need a new tax to maintain and increase public safety services.” Yet the Oct. 9 staff report was silent about a new public safety tax. Even more remarkably, the item appeared on the council’s consent agenda, meaning that staff hoped to get it approved without any discussion. 

The numbers are huge. If the council okays the manager’s recommendations, “the City,” says the staff report, “will pay approximately $52.6 million for staffing and benefit costs over the four-year term of the contract.” And the firefighters’ new contract will set a precedent for the other union contracts with the city whose renewals are coming right up.  

After reading the Oct. 9 staff report, I sent Councilmember Spring a list of information that the council and the public need to evaluate the recommended increases in firefighter salaries and benefits. She forwarded that list to the city manager, asking that he provide the following data: 

• Compensation packages (salaries and benefits) of firefighters in other Bay Area cities 

• Percentage increases in Berkeley firefighters’ salaries, benefits, and total compensation packages from 2000 to 2006, and from 2006 to 2010 (proposed) 

• Number and percentage of Berkeley firefighters with a current base salary of $100,000 or more 

• Number and percentage of Berkeley firefighters whose base salary will be $100,000 or more if Item 12 is approved as proposed 

• Estimated size of the new public safety tax needed to accommodate proposed increases in firefighter compensation 

• Compensation to firefighters that city can afford without a new public safety tax 

Looking over this list, I realize that I left out some vital data: Berkeley firefighters’ average salaries and benefits at present and as proposed for 2006-2010. According to information provided to me last summer by Human Resources Director Dave Hodgkins, Berkeley firefighters’ average salary as of July 1, 2007 was $8,453, which works out to $98,292 a year. Fringe benefits, mainly medical and retirement costs, calculated at 46.83 percent of salaries, averaged $3,958 a month or $47,496 a year. What are the corresponding figures in the proposed new contract? 

The contract with BFFA appears as Item 12 on the draft agenda for the council’s Oct. 23 meeting. Let’s hope that when the final agenda is posted on the city’s website this Friday afternoon, an updated staff report includes the above-requested numbers. 

Let’s hope, too, that someone on the council has the wherewithal to pull the item from the consent calendar—yes, it’s on consent again—so that the issue of staff pay might get the in-depth consideration that it deserves. As the city manager explained in the Budget Book, the most effective, short-term way the city can close its gaping structural deficit is to control labor costs. Unless Berkeley firefighters are getting far less than their colleagues in comparable local jurisdictions, it’s hard to see how increases in their salary and benefits and/or a new tax can be justified. And even if there is some disparity, long-term fiscal prudence ought to be the ultimate standard. Otherwise, Berkeley will be caught in a fiscal arms race that spirals ever upward. The same considerations should apply to the packages offered to other city employees. 

That said, for the council to hold the line on employee compensation will take both political courage and conscientious oversight of city expenditures—two commodities that are in dismayingly short supply on the dais in Old City Hall. The most recent biennnial budget process was a disgraceful farce, as the council majority allowed itself to be led by its collective nose by the city manager and the mayor. Community input was negligible, in large part because in April 2005 the council abruptly eliminated the Citizens Budget Review Commission.  

But to gauge fully the council’s fiscal heedlessness, you have to consider not only the formal budget process and the union contracts, but also the numerous giveaways to big developers. Space permits mention of only the most egregious of these handouts: the 15-year, $12 million annual subsidy to the biggest developer in town, the University of California, for campus use of city services (fire, police and sewers), secretly brokered by Mayor Bates and then secretly approved by a 6-3 vote (Spring, Olds and Worthington voted no) in May 2005.  

For the sake of the city’s fiscal recovery, either the council needs to change its attitude, or Berkeley voters need to change the council. The disposition of the firefighters’ contract will do more to determine the city’s fiscal future than any other action the council will take this year. Mark it well, and then bear in mind that in November 2008, Mayor Bates and four councilmembers—Anderson, Capi-telli, Moore and Olds—will be up for re-election.  


Column: Undercurrents: Those Who Get Caught in the Back Wash of Past Discrimination

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday October 19, 2007

As the nation slowly—in some cases, very slowly, and almost always too slowly—does away with various practices of bias and discrimination in American life, we have begun to develop the phenomenon where members of a group which historically discriminated get extra props for ceasing the doing of something that never should have been done in the first place, while members of the group historically discriminated against get criticism no matter which way they turn. Call it a new twist on the old double standard. 

Consider the issue of single parenting, which has long been the almost exclusive province of women. 

If a man, not living in the same house as his child, says that he talks with the child by phone every week, has the child visit him over periodic weekends, remembers every birthday, and regularly sends money for support, it is generally considered that the man is doing right by his child, and doing his duty. 

If, however, the man goes beyond that traditional role and raises his child on his own, as a single parent, he is widely praised and lionized as one who has done the unexpected, and has gone above and beyond. 

If a woman raises her child as a single mom, she may get sympathy now and then, but no extra credit, as this is what a woman is expected to do. On the other hand, the woman who has given up custody of her child to the child’s father, and who talks to the child on the phone, allows periodic visits, etc., etc., is most often referred to—behind her back, generally—with phrases like, “Why did she give him up?” and “I wonder what’s wrong?” 

To paraphrase my old minister, cross, in other words, but no crown for the old victims. 

We see aspects of that phenomenon—a standard wherein the victims of past prejudice must work harder to overcome that prejudice, with little acknowledgement of the dilemma or the price paid—at work this year amongst our presidential candidates. Unless and until Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected president, we will probably never know what she will actually do as commander in chief to advance the nation’s defense, since a woman politician seeking the presidency must ever and always vote and speak while mindful of the perception among many voters that a woman does not have the cojones (the pun most certainly intended) to give the order to send American troops to their deaths. 

As it is with women running seriously for the presidency, so it is with African-Americans. 

To win the presidency, a candidate, first and foremost, must maintain their political base. White candidates are able to choose, at will, pretty much whatever initial political base they desire and can on occasion, if they want, completely reverse themselves mid-stream and cross over to the opposite bank, with little apparent repercussion. Thus Robert Kennedy started off his political career as a staffmember and admirer of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy—the great anti-Communist zealot—but later altered his politics to become a liberal-progressive icon, the darling and presidential choice of people who thought McCarthy the devil incarnate. Ronald Reagan went in the opposite direction, beginning as a New Deal liberal but turning to anti-Communism in the McCarthy years, thence to become—well, we all know what Mr. Reagan became. 

But those are white politicians, whose political base has some flex to it. 

The political base of African-American politicians, on the other hand, is first and foremost considered to be the African-American voting community. Those black politicians who successfully satisfy that base—and run in districts that are largely African-American—can stay in office for years and years while “speaking truth to power,” in the new phrase, or regularly “pissing off the white folks,” in the way it used to be said and still is, on some street corners and in some barber and beauty shops. 

The problem comes for all African-American politicians comes if and when they decide to run for office in a district that is not majority-black and therefore, by necessity, requires development of a significant non-black constituency. To win a significant number of non-black votes, an African-American politician must prove, in some way, that he or she is not completely beholden to black interests, and if elected will work for the larger community benefit, even if that direction is sometimes at odds with black opinion. But for every non-black vote a black politician gains in such a fashion, there is a cooling of support within the African-American community and a corresponding loss of some portion of the black vote. Call it the speed-of-light phenomenon, which cannot be reached by objects of greater-than-light mass under normal circumstances because the faster you go, the more you weigh and, therefore, the more power you must generate to push your mass faster and, therefore, the more mass you must carry in order to generate that power, until you reach a point where you just can’t win. Many African-American politicians reach such a dead-end point of winning non-black support beyond which the loss of black support becomes so great that political victory cannot be reached, no matter what. 

That may have been the main reason Jesse Jackson stopped being a presidential candidate after 1988. Mr. Jackson won 3.5 million votes in the 1984 Democratic primaries (21 percent of the total vote) while winning five primaries. That year, he received 77 percent of the African-American vote, 5 percent of the white vote. Four years later, Mr. Jackson almost doubled his vote total to 6.9 million and more than doubled his primary victories to 11, while winning increasing his black vote total to 93 percent and his white vote total to 13 percent. But to win a greater share of the white vote in 1984, Mr. Jackson ran a “Rainbow Coalition” campaign rather than a strictly black-oriented campaign, and while black voters supported him the second time around in greater percentage than the first, the campaign lost much of its black fervor as it embraced a larger view. 

In 1992, presidential candidate Bill Clinton thought he could solve the problem of appearing “too beholden” to black interests by creating his “Sista Souljah Moment,” picking a public fight with an African-American rapper by calling her a racist. Non-black voters were satisfied, and Mr. Clinton suffered no serious consequences within the African-American community. On the other hand, as the furor over the recent Bill Cosby remarks about African-American responsibility ought to indicate, an African-American politician making the same statement as Mr. Clinton would be pilloried in many sectors of the black community as a sellout and a race traitor and an apologist to the white folks, with that candidate’s African-American vote total dropping precipitously and dramatically as a result. 

And so we have the problems of Senator Barack Obama and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums in the current presidential campaign. 

Mr. Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and a white American mother, has chosen to live his life as an African-American, marrying an African-American woman and identifying himself with the African-American community and African-American causes. To win the presidency of the United States, however, he cannot run an African-American campaign and so, unlike the previous campaigns of, say, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or Congressmember Shirley Chisholm, if you did not know Mr. Obama’s race, you could take his campaign platform and positions and identify them as a Democratic liberal-progressive candidate, not necessarily as an African-American candidate. I don’t say that as a bad thing. He is presenting himself as he is, in the way he best believes will win him the nomination and the presidency. 

But even though Mr. Obama is not running a black campaign—cannot, in fact, run such a campaign if he hopes to win—some African-Americans have taken the position that the chance to elect a black president is so important, given the history of African-Americans in particular and America in general, that African-American politicians must endorse Mr. Obama as an act of race solidarity, and call such politicians race traitors when they do not. 

Typical was an Oct. 1 posting on skepticalbrotha.wordpress.com, a blog that regularly discusses African-American political issues (the blogger describes himself as a “black, 30-something, political junkie residing somewhere in the Carolinas,”, announced the Dellums-Clinton endorsement under the heading “Ron Dellums Sells Out.” And Zennie Abraham, Jr., an African-American Oakland resident who operates the Oakland Focus blog and writes for the Huffington Post, said of the Dellums-Clinton endorsement “Dellums apparently can’t bring himself to back a young black senator named Barack Obama. It’s funny with some older African Americans in Oakland. They’re so afraid of anyone black who can be in charge that they’d back someone white.” 

The latter is something of an odd charge to make about Mr. Dellums, who employed and sponsored, after all, the current congressional representative from Oakland (Barbara Lee), the currently legislative representative from Oakland (Sandré Swanson), and one of the two current Oakland members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors (Keith Carson). But that is not the point, is it? 

One problem is that had Mr. Dellums endorsed Mr. Obama—something he seemed to be seriously considering earlier this year—the mayor would have caught the flak from the other side, from commentators who would have said that the endorsement came not because of legitimate political reasons, but only because both men were Black. 

Meanwhile, the political differences between Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton—while magnified during the primary season—are actually so slight compared with their differences with the Republicans that given the choice of having their names, along with John Edwards, put in a bag and pulled out in a blind draw, almost every Democrat in this country would be tickled to death to have as the next president whoever’s name was drawn over the Republican nominee. That being said, white politicians are able to pick between endorsements the top three Democrats—Obama, Clinton, and Edwards—with some grumbling from the losing sides, but with little political fallout. Such it was with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who earlier this year endorsed Ms. Clinton. 

African-American politicians may seize that freedom when it comes to this presidential year, but only at some cost among a key component of their political base. Once more, the victims of past American discrimination are the main ones who continue to get caught in its backwash. 


East Bay: Then and Now: The Shattuck Hotel: Berkeley’s Once and Future Jewel?

By Daniella Thompson
Friday October 19, 2007

If Berkeley has a heart, it must be located on the 2200 block of Shattuck Avenue between Kittredge St. and Allston Way. This is the site that Berkeley’s founder, Francis Kittredge Shattuck, chose as his homestead. 

Although the Gold Rush lured him to California, Shattuck (1824–1898) made his fortune by other means. In 1852, he teamed up with George Blake, William Hillegass, and James Leonard to file a claim on a square mile in what is now central Berkeley.  

Since the land was part of José Domingo Peralta’s Rancho San Antonio, and Domingo defended his property rights vigorously in the courts, nothing came of the claim. Shattuck ended up buying his 160-acre tract in 1860 from French-born banker François Louis Alfred Pioche. Known as Plot 68, the tract was bounded by Addison St. to the north, Russell St. to the south, Shattuck Ave. to the east, and Grove St. to the west. The streets did not yet exist. 

Living in Oakland, Shattuck—with Hillegass as his partner—opened a livery stable and entered politics. Beginning in 1853 as clerk of the Board of Trustees and proceeding through the city council, he became mayor in 1859, later serving on the County Board of Supervisors. In the 1860 census, Shattuck stated the value of his real estate at $14,000 and his personal estate at $6,000. Ten years later, his real estate was worth $75,000 and his personal estate $50,000. By then he had also branched into farming, real estate, and coal mining in the Black Diamond area. 

In 1868, Shattuck built his first Berkeley house on Shattuck Ave. between Allston and Bancroft Ways. Mansard roofed and set back from the street, the house was surrounded by spacious gardens. Two blocks to the north, at the Shattuck-Addison intersection, Shattuck built the town’s first major commercial center and helped it grow by talking the Central Pacific Railroad into extending a branch line into Berkeley. Later he founded the Commercial Bank, which would become the First National Bank of Berkeley. 

In 1891, the old Shattuck home was joined by a new Queen Anne mansion, designed by W.H. Weilbye of Oakland. The childless Francis and Rosa Shattuck shared it with his nephew, John W. Havens, and her niece, Rosa M. Livingstone, future heirs of the Shattuck fortune. 

In September 1907, the San Francisco Call announced that Berkeley capitalists had formed a company to erect a million-dollar hotel on Mrs. Shattuck’s estate. The directors were A.W. Naylor, who succeeded Shattuck as president of the First National Bank; William E. Woolsey, who had married Rosa Livingstone and managed the Shattuck estate; Judge William H. Waste, John W. Havens; and B.F. Brooks. 

“Many years ago Francis K. Shattuck, a pioneer, planned to erect a magnificent hotel in the heart of Berkeley. His death stopped the project. His plans will now be carried out by others, the consent of Mrs. Rosa Shattuck to back the enterprise having been obtained. The Shattuck grounds are spacious and covered with shrubbery and trees, making an excellent setting for a great caravansary. The new hostelry will be known as the Hotel Berkeley,” informed the Call. 

The building was expected to cost $500,000, with the grounds valued at the same amount. The capital stock was to be divided into 10,000 shares of $100 each. The term of the corporation’s life was to be 50 years. 

An architectural competition was held, and five designs were submitted to the directors. Judge William Waste announced that the winning architect “will be given six months or longer to make the plans and will be allowed to travel to secure ideas to be incorporated in the structure.” The architect chosen was Benjamin G. McDougall, who had designed many public buildings in the San Joaquin Valley. He opted for Mission Revival style, featuring square corner turrets and arched windows. 

Rosa Shattuck died on Sept. 12, 1908, the wealthiest woman in Alameda County, leaving an estate of $2 million. The homestead property, bounded by Shattuck, Allston, Milvia, and Kittredge, was deeded to Rosa Livingstone Woolsey as part of her inheritance. In April 1909, the hotel plans resurfaced, with construction slated to begin at once on an initial $125,000 building, to be followed later by a grander edifice. The five-story, reinforced concrete building would extend 80 feet along Shattuck Ave. and 150 feet on Allston Way. 

Construction began in early July 1909, and the Oakland Tribune announced that “those interested in the project state that the hotel will be a reality by Christmas time.” As it turned out, the hotel did not open until December 1910. Money for completing the project may have been short, judging by a Sept 3, 1910 Tribune item disclosing that “W.E. Woolsey, owner of the new Shattuck Hotel …, has announced that he will proceed without any further delay to furnish the hotel and will assume all responsibility for running it … Noah W. Gray, at present manager of the Hotel Jefferson in San Francisco, will be in charge of the new hotel.” The tony W. & J. Sloane Co. of San Francisco supplied the furnishings and carpets. 

The hotel opened with much pomp to a full week of festivities. A society reception on Dec. 13 was followed by a sold-out Chamber of Commerce banquet two evenings later. The banquet’s 12-course menu fittingly concluded with “Grant’s Hygienic Crackers—Made in Berkeley.”  

Joaquin Miller, the Poet of the Sierras, was one of several celebrated speakers at the banquet. He prophesied that the cities around the bay would some day be one. He also managed to shock every real estate dealer present by describing his Oakland hilltop property, The Hights [sic], as being “of no great value, for there is a stone or rock of some sort for every foot of earth and there is a gopher or squirrel for every stone, and each gopher or squirrel seems to have a large and prosperous family.” The realtors “gasped with amazement,” for “they had never heard anybody make so derogatory a statement concerning a bit of land in Alameda County.” 

The hotel was a success from its first day, and soon the directors were deliberating whether to expand. They were encouraged to do so by a dry-goods merchant named John Frederick Hink, whose store was located in the Wanger Block, on the southeast corner of Shattuck and Kittredge. In Berkeley since 1904, Hink was ready to cross the street and become the anchor tenant in a block-long Shattuck Hotel. 

The 120-room hotel addition was built in 1913 and opened the following in anticipation of the Panama-Pacific Exposition. A newspaper ad published in January 1915 promised direct electric transportation from the hotel to the exposition grounds every ten minutes. “The Hotel Shattuck is recognized as the social and civic center,” boasted the ad. 

The J.F. Hink & Son department store occupied the ground floor of the addition for seven decades. Its standard entry in early city directories listed “Dry Goods, Notions, Fancy Goods, Draperies, Domestics, Etc.” Many Hink family members worked in the store, chief among them the founder’s son, Lester William Hink, who served as president of the company until 1976. The store was sold in 1978, a year after Lester’s death, and closed during the 1980s. 

Shortly after the hotel’s new wing was completed, Noah Gray left to manage the Claremont Hotel. His position at the Shattuck was eventually assumed by the former night clerk, William W. Whitecotton (1886–1933), who purchased the hotel in 1918, naming it after himself. Having also bought the Hotel Lankershim in Los Angeles, Whitecotton moved there in 1919. In 1926, he leased the Berkeley hotel to the newly formed Whitecotton Realty Company. Several months after his death in 1933, in the depth of the Great Depression, the company went into foreclosure. 

The bondholders reorganized a year later under the name Shattuck Properties Corporation, and in 1941 sold the hotel to Levi Strauss Realty Co., which in turn leased it to Wallace and Joan Miller of the Durant Hotel. Miller renamed it the Shattuck Hotel and moved the entrance from Shattuck Avenue to Allston Way. 

Since then, the hotel changed hands a number of times, undergoing periodic facelifts yet shedding its former glory. The current owner, BPR Properties of Palo Alto, is the latest operator promising to turn the faded dowager into a four-star hotel, but the promise comes with a price—a proposed 16-story tower in the rear. 

Berkeley watches and waits. 

 

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

 

Photogrraph: Daniella Thompson. 

The Shattuck Hotel today.


The Dilemma of a Pink Bathroom

By Jane Powell
Friday October 19, 2007

By Jane Powell 

 

Pink is not my favorite color. Perhaps it comes of being a redhead—while other little girls had pink frilly dresses, mine were always yellow. I do like many things that are pink: peppermint ice cream, cotton candy, flowers, and cat noses. But I do not care for pink tile. Unfortunately, pink tile, and sometimes pink fixtures, is found in many old houses, especially those built or remodeled between about 1925 and 1960. Pink is especially common in bathrooms, and that’s what I want to address here. 

In the late teens and early 1920s, color began to creep into previously all white, sanitary bathrooms. Initially it was only as a decorative border in the tile, and all else remained white. But the introduction of colored fixtures in 1926 (one of the colors was, of course, pink) ushered in an era of wildly colored tile and fixtures in bathrooms that lasted well into the 1950s. Some of these bathrooms were fabulous, with tile in colors like jadite green, lavender, peach, yellow, or black. Often featuring art tiles previously found only on fireplaces, or elaborate borders and combinations of three or four tile colors, some of which one would think could not possibly go together, make these some of the most fabulous bathrooms you’ll ever see.  

Some of them, however, were pink. Pink is actually okay with me, provided it is combined with another color, like green, or black. Even combined with blue it’s sort of okay. But in the 1940s and 1950s it was often combined with burgundy—doesn’t work for me. And by itself, yuck. The problem is, old tile was set on a mortar bed, and demolishing it is difficult, and not ecologically sound. (Archeologists don’t call ceramics pot shards for no reason—pottery really is forever.) And often the tile is actually in really good condition, and I hate to destroy stuff that’s in good condition, even if I don’t like it. So if you’re stuck with a pink bathroom, here are a few suggestions for dealing with it that don’t involve ripping the entire thing out. 

1. Go with it. Realize that pink does wonders for your skin tone. Get pink lightbulbs, pink soap, pink towels, pink bath rugs, pink accessories. Paint the walls a light tint of the tile color. Accessorize with pink flamingoes, pink elephants, pink poodles, or whatever else you can find. 

2. Hire a decorative artist to paint a very elaborate mural on the walls above the tiles- it should contain some pink to tie in, but it should be so elaborate that no one will even notice the tile. 

3. Add black. Some black towels, black bath rugs, a black border on the curtains, and some other black accessories, maybe the addition of an Art Deco style black porcelain sconce, and your bathroom has gone from merely pink to Art Deco fabulous. (I actually used this trick on a lemon yellow 1950s bathroom—it works.) 

4. If you can’t add black, try adding green. A pale green tint is the complementary color for pink, which is a tint of red (complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel). The green should help to tone down the pinkness a bit. 

 

5. If the fixtures are also pink, it is possible to have them “re-glazed.” Technically “re-glazing” is high-tech paint, and will last anywhere from five to fifteen years, but will eventually have to be re-done. There are several companies who offer this service, including Miracle Method, Porcelain Genie, and Mr. Bathtub (yeah, it’s MISTER Bathtub to you, bub). Look for companies in the Yellow Pages under bathtub refinishing. These companies can also change the color of the tile. Another option is a company called Re-Bath, which will cover your tub with an acrylic liner. “Re-glazing” will not work with a pink toilet- you’ll have to get a new one. Nor will it work on pink floor tiles. 

 

6. There is one kind of pink tile I find particularly obnoxious, and it was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. The worst part is, it’s still being made! The company that still makes it, B and W Tile, (www.bwtile.com) calls it Ripple. I call it scabrous. It’s a mottled, textured sort of tile, which comes in pink, yellow, light blue, or tan mottling on a white background, or the reverse, white mottling on pink or other colored backgrounds. It is beyond hideous, but not in a good way. It is the original tile in some mid-century houses (Eichlers, etc.), so I guess in those houses I could make an argument for leaving it. Otherwise, I give you permission to rip it out. 

 

Besides, there are things worse than a pink bathroom. I’ve seen bathrooms with fixtures that were pea soup green, and I’ve seen tile the color of refried beans. It makes pink seem tasteful. 

 

Jane Powell is a restoration consultant and the author of Bungalow Details: Interior. Contact her at hsedressng@aol.com 

 

 


Garden Variety: A Cultural Oasis in Southwest Berkeley

By Ron Sullivan
Friday October 19, 2007

I took it as a Sign when the postcard came to the surface last week as I was attempting to get the paper stack on the office floor into order: a postcard appeared on the surface. I’d probably picked it up at the big fat garden show in the Cow Palace last month. “Gardensia: Archipelago Designs” with a southwest Berkeley address.  

It’s in one of very few such neighborhoods we have left in town, part warehouses and the sort of activity that lands between art and manufacture, part homes in various states of overgrowth and gentrification, and an actual vacant lot or two. Very quiet on a football weekend. 

Joe and I were greeted in the best possible retail manner by Sekti Artanegara and Lisa Ho and, eventually, their engaging small daughter. By “best” I mean they allowed us to mosey around for a few minutes with just a “Let us know if you’d like help,” and a decent interval of privacy with their wonderful collection of artifacts.  

Ms. Ho appeared at my elbow just in time to answer the questions we’d accumulated. We’d seen lots of familiar South Asian Buddhas (including one with a bright lei) and stone dewis and frogs but were stopped cold before several wooden doors with wonderful carvings, including a small one fronted by a man rampant atop a water buffalo’s head and holding a rooster.  

No mistaking what that is about, and indeed it’s from a granary and is one of several fertility wishes gathered in the shop. If I were of childbearing age I’d’ve doubled my protection after the visit.  

There are enough Indonesian spirit houses from birdhouse-sized to over six feet and two stories tall, the latter with imposing toupees of black palm fiber and maybe a gilded crest on top. There are carved housepoles and demon guardians—I’m heading there if there’s a quake, as it must be the safest place in town—and crests from Dayak, Timorese, and other rarely seen cultures of the Indonesian archipelago and its neighbors.  

Joe likes the Dayak sculptures with hornbill motifs: “Hornbills, large-ish tropical birds, usually sport bony casques above their beaks, carved as “hornbill ivory.” Only Dayak warriors who had taken a head were allowed to wear hornbill-ivory earrings. 

“The Iban Hornbill Festival used to precede headhunting raids; nowadays it’s held during the rice harvest. Hornbills transport the souls of the Iban dead to heaven. The Barito Dayak group see the rhinoceros hornbill as the upperworld god who, collaborating with the underworld dragon, created of the Tree of Life. 

“Hornbills are known for their unorthodox nesting behavior. A female walls herself into a tree cavity with mud and other substances, leaving only a narrow slit to receive food from her mate, and stays there until her offspring are ready to fledge. I don’t know what the Dayaks made of that, if anything. Caution: this is not a metaphor. Just a bird.” 

I like the natural sculptures—polished freestanding lianas, tree-root bowls, and wonderfully eroded teak railroad ties stood on end.  

Evidently most of Gardenisia’s customers are landscapers and architects. Why let them keep it a secret? Go visit! 

 

 

Gardenisia: Archipelago Designs 

2820—A 8th Street, Berkeley 

665-5500 

www.gardenisia.com 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily


Quake Tip of the Week: A Big Quake and Your Phone

By Larry Guillot
Friday October 19, 2007

After the next big quake, if your phones work, use the phone and not your car! A few tips: 

• Change your voice mail message to state that you are safe  

• Before the quake, make sure that all your family knows a single relative or friend who lives outside California that you can contact to say you are fine. This way, fewer calls are needed on jammed “in-State”phone lines.  

• You may have to wait a bit longer for dial tone after a quake. Be patient. Don't just hang up and try again.  

• Keep change or a pre-paid phone card in your wallet. 

Make your home secure and your family safe. 

 

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: The Integral Urban House Book

By Matt Cantor
Friday October 19, 2007

Well, it’s happened! I’ve started a garden. Put up those slam-dancing shoes, shelved all the accouterments of an angry youth; frayed journal full of bad poetry (so bad), conga drums and King Crimson albums (in vinyl, yet!). I’m growing lettuce! 

Worse, I’m planning a chicken coop. This is not a joke. Punk rockers and American Otaku (geeks like me) everywhere will mourn. But fear not. I’m in the midst of a special sort of mid-life crisis. The resurgence of a youth mis-spent in eco-hippie-architecture school. Like a suppressed memory, all the things of my architecture wanna-be youngsterhood are coming back and it’s all Sim Van der Ryn’s fault. 

In 1969, Sim, now a professor of many years at U.C. Berkeley founded (along with urban gardeners Bill and Helga Olkowski among others) the Farallones Institute. Within a few years this long-haired band of eco-warriors had acquired a victorian in West Berkeley (5th Street near Jones if memory serves) and began a series of experiments in sustainable urban living. The toilet, a Clivus Multrum, was my favorite of the many living experiments.  

Sim had published a book on toilets (The Toilet Papers: Recycling Waste and Conserving Water Ecological Design Press) and their ecological problem in the 1970s and the ultimate emotional challenge to our conception of shelter was to toss the toilet back out of the house (it only made it inside about 60 years earlier). The Clivus was a composting toilet built largely of concrete block that would, over a course of months, turn human waste into useable compost, although they felt it best to use it in non-edible gardening. I have little doubt that the city inspectors were apoplectic over the installation of the Clivus. 

The house also featured bee keeping, chicken farming and a rabbit hutch. Food waste was used to feed animals and eventually, animals became food. This was much more than architecture. It was a revision in how we looked at city living. The idea that we could live rarefied existences, divorced of the impact of our actions, of the sources of our food, water and energy were tossed out. Social responsibility was brought home to roost, as it were. Of course, if you were Amish, this was no big deal. They and many like them had been doing this for a long time.  

Nonetheless, the ‘50s had taught Americans that we could consume as hungrily as we pleased and never look to see where the sewer dumped out. 

As one might imagine the house also featured intensive recycling, remodeling using scrap materials and water, heated with solar panels. Cooking was sometimes done with a solar oven and fish were grown in a small pond in the backyard, assisted by the wind through the use of a Savonius Rotor, a home-made wind turbine constructed from 55 gallon drums. I’ll stop but I think you get the point.  

A book was born alongside the house called, not surprisingly, the Integral Urban House (Sierra Club Books 1979). The book is currently out of print but enough calls to the publisher and I’m sure we can get it brought back. What’s particularly intriguing about this book is that it’s not just a study of ecological living, rather, it is a how-to, replete with diagrams on how to terminate a bunny, keep bees and build your own solar water heating panels. 

During these giddy years, Sim was elevated to the post of California State Architect by our then, Hippie-in-Chief, Governor Jerry Brown (‘75-‘83). 

Brown, a Jesuit seminarian at 20, dropped out, tuned in and turned onto politics, following in his father’s footsteps (“Pat” Brown) as the bleary ‘60s became the bold ‘70s.  

When Jerry became governor in ‘74 (succeeding Reagan, thank Lord Shiva), he brought with him a dedication to the environment and an fervor for democracy beyond anything this state had probably ever seen. Gov. Brown created an office of appropriate technology (yes, this is the past, not the future) and appointed James (“J”) Baldwin to run it.  

Baldwin was a student of Buckminster Fuller and an industrial designer who had made a name for himself in environmental design employing the new “alterative” energies of sun and wind. Baldwin also worked for Steward Brand’s Whole Earth Catalogue. Brand was plucked by Brown to function as special adviser in his administration, further psychedelisizing his already severely “Moon-beamed” gubernatorial oeuvre.  

As creator of the Whole Earth Catalogue and later the CoEvolution Quarterly, Brand sought to make information accessible to the masses at a time when “internet” was as yet unuttered by anyone. In fact, Brand was a founding member of the well (a very early electronic bulletin board), the first two letters of which mean … Whole Earth (the last two mean ‘Lectronic Link). Pretty cool, eh. 

These years were ones in which environmental standards, energy standards and handicapped standards for building took tremendous strides… but this is all 30 years ago. 

Though we continue to make progress on the backs of these important innovators, I’m concerned that consumerism and complacency have replaced zeal and moral drive. If we can set construction aside for a moment, let’s take a look at cars.  

I’m sure many of you have noticed that the excitement around improved gas mileage in the 1970’s has fallen fairly flat on it’s face. Every Hummer I see reminds me that Americans once again care more about the look-good than they do about the planet. 

Even the best of our leaders are forced to talk about “energy independence” or “energy security” as a way of inducing reforms, since it’s just too “moon-beam” (that’s what right-wingers called Jerry during his governorship) to say that we need to reduce our oil consumption for the longevity of the ecosphere. I guess that’s too sissy. 

Similarly, the Altamont Wind Farm, started under Brown, sat almost lifeless for most of the Deukmejian and Wilson administrations. Only now, are they once again being upgraded to larger, safer and more effective units, while Germany (6 percent wind power) and Holland (18.5 percent) kick our Eco-butts. How’s that for “energy security?”  

I tend to think that these countries are: a) very interested in the future of their people and b) invested in living on a planet with a similar ecosystem in 100 years. I’m pretty sure that these are not major objectives in the U.S. halls of power.  

But, as usual, I digress. Sim Van der Ryn and his earnest colleagues have moved on to other places now doing other things and sadly, the Integral Urban House is now… just a house. The experiment could not sustain itself and I guess we all had to take the blue pill and go back to making believe that everything would continue to be fine no matter how we lived, who we killed or how much oil we burned. (For those who’ve never seen The Matrix, the protagonist is offered the chance to wake up to the truth by taking a red pill or go back into his waking sleep by taking a blue one). 

Used copies of the IUH book can still be found (ISBN 0871562138) and it’s just about as exciting and challenging to our way of life today as it was 28 years ago. Copies are available at several of those nasty online places (I just checked) and, if you search, you might just find a local bookseller that’s got one as well. 

Our lettuce is coming up nicely and it’s surprising how touching and beautiful it is to pick some leaves from the garden, go upstairs and share a meal. The coop is still in design phase but it’ll come, as will the chickens. I’m not sure how I feel about bees but I like honey so I’ll have to think about it. This is adult stuff. Like G.W. says, it’s “hard work” and it takes time to bring myself to it.  

I’m lazy, scared and doubtful but I am certain that small acts do matter. So if you’ll excuse me, I need to find something to drink. These red pills are pretty nasty if you don’t have something to wash them down with. 

 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net.


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Tuesday October 23, 2007

TUESDAY, OCT. 23 

FILM 

“Free Radical: The Films of Len Lye” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

Arab Film Festival Leila Khaled: “Hijacker” Screening and panel discussion at 7 p.m. on UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$10. For details see www.aff.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Alta Ifland and Gary Young at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City College auditorium, 2050 Center St. 525-5476. 

Norman Soloman talks about his new documentary “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” and his new book “Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America’s Warfare State” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

“East Wind Melts the Ice: A Memoir through the Seasons” A conversation with author Liza Dalby at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

“The Ecstasy of Influence” Local writers try out new material at 7:30 p.m. at Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

Katha Pollitt talks about “Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mariza, Mozambique-born fado singer, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46. 642-9988.  

Swamp Coolers at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. 

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Harry Manx at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

George Cotsirilos Trio at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Dafnis Prieto Absolute Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival in Berkeley Wed., and Fri.-Sun. at California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $8-$10. www.aff.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

A.J. Jacobs describes “The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Donations accepted. 559-9500. 

“Writing Teachers Write” Monthly student/teacher reading series at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland East Bay Symphony Brass Quintet at noon at Oakland City Center, 12th and Broadway. www.oaklandcitycenter.com 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Susan Rancourt & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ.  

Bernard Anderson & the Old School Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Saoco at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Mysterioso at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Akosua at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Catie Curtis, Rachel Garlin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $21.50-$22.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Montclair Women’s Big Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$15. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, OCT. 25 

EXHIBITIONS 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

THEATER 

“By George, It’s War!” A musical satarization of the Bush administration by Dale Polissar at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Richard Schwartz describes “The Eccentrics of 19th Century Downtown Berkeley” at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Reception to follow. Tickets are $15. Sponsored by Berkeley Architectural Heritage Assoc. 841-2242.  

Gail Tsukiyama reads from “The Street of a Thousand Blossoms” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

“Words of Hope” A discussion led by Stop the Traffik featuring the book “Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Catie Curtis, Rachel Garlin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $21.50-$22.50. 548-1761.  

Bob Kenmotsu Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Laura Klein and Ted Wolff at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Redhouse, Ancient Mystic & the Real Far Band at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Antioquia at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

New York Voices at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, OCT 26 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave., through Nov. 17. For information call 525-1620. 

Altarena Playhouse “Morning’s at Seven” A family comedy by Paul Osborn, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Nov. 11. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Central Works “Every Inch a King” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through Nov. 18. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381.centralworks.org 

International Theater Ensemble A Propos of the Wet Snow” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Metal Shop Theatre, Willard Middle School, 2425 Stuart St. Tickets are $20-$30. 415-440-6163.  

Shotgun Players “Bulrusher” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. through Oct. 28. Tickets are $17-$25. For reservations call 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Women’s Will “Antigone” Fri.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. between Telegraph and Shattuck, Oakland, through Nov. 11. Tickets are $15-$25 sliding scale. 420-0813. www.womenswill.org 

Youth Musical Theater Company Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Longfellow Auditorium, 1500 Derby St. Tickets are $8-$15. 595-5514. info@ymtcberkeley.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

RIP.MIX.BURN.BAM.PFA Opening and performances at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival Berkeley Fri.-Sun. at California Theater 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $8-$10. www.aff.org 

“Canto a lo Poeta” A documentary about La Paya, a style of improvisational singing in Chile, at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Midnight Movies “Serenity” Fri. and Sat. at midnight at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lonny Shavelson and Fred Setterberg introduce “Under the Dragon: California’s New Culture” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

George Taber discusses “To Cork or Not To Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Wine Bottle” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Miami City Ballet at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$90. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Russian Patriarchate Choir at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Durant at Dana. Tickets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

martha and monica, cello-piano duet of Monica Scott and Hadley McCarroll at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $15. www.hillsideclub.org 

“Witches & Warlocks, Ghosts & Goblins” Opera scenes and art songs at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Alameda, 2001 Santa Clara at Chestnut, Alameda. Tickets are $12-$15, children 13 and under, free. 522-1477. www.alamedachurch.com 

University Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12. 642-9988.  

Crooked Road Tour, mountain music from Virginia at noon at Down Home Music Store, 1809b Fourth St. 204-9595. 

Angela Wellman Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Hot Hot Caribbean Nights with Steele in motion and other performers at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ron Thompson at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Wake the Dead at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761.  

Nomad and Alex Schumacher at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Plum Crazy, Shelley Doty at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $TBA. 841-2082.  

San Pablo Project at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Isul Kim Band at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, OCT. 27 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Amy Meyers Band at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“The Stone Flower” Puppet show Sat. and Sun. at 11 a.m., 2 and 4 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Halloween Happenings The art of Kim Bass, Ed Monroe and Kynthia. Opening reception at 7 p.m. at 4th Street Studio, 1717d Fourth St. Come in costume. 527-0600. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Ancient Roots/Urban Journeys: expressions for Dias de los Muertos” Gallery Talk at 2 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

May-Lee Chai reads from her new book “Hapa Girl: A Memoir” at 3 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

Diana Nyda and Bonnie Stoll introduce their new fitness DVD and book at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Janet Fletcher discusses “Cheese & Wine: A Guide to Selecting, Pairing and Enjoying” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Miami City Ballet at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$90. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Live Oak Concert “Harvest of Song” at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $12-$15. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Dr. Drew Mays, winner of the Van Cliburn Amateur Competition, Sat. and Sun. at 7:30 p.m. at the Interstake Auditorium, 4780 Lincoln Ave., Oakland, located just inside the entrance to the Mormon Temple. Free. 

Kensington Symphony with Daniel Glover, piano, at 8 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. Suggested donation $12-$15. 524-9912. 

An Afternoon of Chopin with Rebecca Trujillo, piano, at 4 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $20. 

University Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12. 642-9988.  

Unplugged, joined by Skylar and Mother of Pearl, at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. 704-9378. 

The Wild Magnolias at 1 p.m. at Down Home Music Store, 1809b Fourth St. 204-9595. 

Yancie Taylor Jazztet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Baba Ken & Kotoja at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Moment’s Notice, improvised music, dance and theater at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 8th St. Costumes welcome. Tickets are $8-$15. 992-6295. 

Land of the Blind and Anna Laube at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

The Stairwell Sisters at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Refuge Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Royal Hawaiian Serenaders at 9 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar & Grill, 984 University Ave. 548-9888. 

Murder Ballads Bash featuring 5Cent Coffee, Joe Rut, the Happy Clams at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Disappear Incompletely, the music of Radiohead, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, OCT. 28 

CHILDREN 

Colibri at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $5 for children, $10 for adults. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“Act in a Box” Owen Baker Flynn’s show of juggling, fire eating and more Sat. and Sun. at 10:30 a.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave. 452-2259. 

Spooky Stories in the Redwood Grove with Jean Ellisen and Bobbie Kinkead from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. Tickets are $3-$10. Come in costume and bring a blanket. 643-2755. 

THEATER 

“By George, It’s War” A musical satarization of the Bush administration by Dale Polissar at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Bill Evans describes “Banjo for Dummies” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. Concert at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. 559-9500. 

“The Harlem Renaissance” with Dennis M. Chester of Cal State East Bay, at 1 p.m., followed by a screening of the film “Their Eyes Were Watching God” at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6275. 

“The Pastor’s Family” A dramatized reading in English translation of the 1891 Finnish drama by Minna Canth, at 2 p.m. at Finnish Kaleva Hall , 1970 Chestnut St. Suggested donation $5. 849-0125. latoja86@hotmail.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Miami City Ballet at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$90. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Concert/Labyrinth Walk with musician Margie Adam and special guest, Lauren Artress, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant. Benefit for Berkeley Marina labyrinth installation. Tickets are $25-$30. 526-7377. www.margieadam.com 

Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, tabla artist at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $15. www.hillsideclub.org 

Dr. Drew Mays, winner of the Van Cliburn Amateur Competition in 2007, at 7:30 p.m. at the Interstake Auditorium, 4780 Lincoln Ave., Oakland, located just inside the entrance to the Mormon Temple. Free. 

Songs and Stories from Ukraine with Kitka at 7 p.m. at Oakland Metro Opera Theater, 201 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $20-$25. 444-0323. 

Grupo Falso Baiano at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Ron Thompson at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Americana Unplugged: Jeannie & Chuck’s Country Round-up at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Yaelisa, and flamenco open stage at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. 525-5054.  

Susan Muscarella Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373.  

Jody Stecher and Bill Evans “The Secret Life of Banjos” at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

William Beatty and The Unconditionals at 6:30 p.m. at The Mt. Everest Restaurant 2011 Shattuck Ave. at University. 665-6035. 

MONDAY, OCT. 29 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“New Media Art: In Search of the Cool Obscure” with Geert Lovink, Media Theory, Amsterdam University, at 7:30 p.m. at 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 643-9565.  

Joshua Henkin reads from his new novel “Matrimony” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Poetry Express theme night on “life and death” at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Project Attacca Children’s choral music at 7:30 p.m. at Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Free. Suitable for all ages. http://piedmontchoirs.org 

Yolanda and Ric, opera and lieder, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

Parlor Tango, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Tito y su Son De Cuba at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200.  


The Theater: Brilliant, Original ‘Apropos of the Wet Snow’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday October 23, 2007

An engaging man, neither young nor old, tries to convince us of mankind’s inability to perform the good, the rational, the self-interested. He takes us through a veritable sideshow hall of mirrors, acting out a reunion with his old school friends who spout banalities. He challenges them, only to be humiliated.  

Then, when all go to a brothel, he moralizes sternly to a young prostitute. But his plans backfire: his friends don’t take him seriously, yet the prostitute takes him too seriously, looking up to him as her savior—a role he’s not ready to fill. 

This is a thumbnail account of Oleg Liptsin’s remarkable production and performance of Apropos of the Wet Snow. Based on Dostoyevsky’s Notes From the Underground, the show is playing Thursday through Saturday for two weeks at the Metal Shop Theater, after a run of several weeks near Union Square in San Francisco. 

But no brief description—or any description, really—can do justice to the extraordinary manner in which Liptsin stages and performs this classic tale. 

He makes every second on the stage count, whether in his intriguing initial address to the audience or alone in a rapturous moment, wreathed with the bright image of snowflakes falling as he trails his umbrella behind him. He both narrates and acts out the cartoonish characters carousing and arguing at the reunion, as well as the protagonist engaging in the intimate yet wry dialogues with Liza, the prostitute. 

He’s joined by a fine young Taiwanese actress, Ai-Cheng Ho, a graduate of the Sorbonne and the Jacques Lecoq Theatre School in Paris, on her first visit to the states. She’s the perfect foil for Liptsin’s physical dynamism, often saying everything with her eyes or the slightest gesture, even as Liptsin will express his characters in a flash perfectly with body language or quick, mask-like facial expression. 

Here the third creative component of the show comes into its own, Kevin Quennesson’s prodigious interactive video artistry, which begins with images that expand on the narrator’s address to the audience, then captures in graceful arabesques the plastic image of Liptsin performing in the space onstage, a swirl of attitudes and expressions captured in a fresco of light. 

Those who saw Liptsin’s unusual adaptation of Beckett’s Happy Days at the Berkeley City Club, where he played Beckett’s heroine Winnie, will welcome a chance to see a brilliant actor and director playing his changes over the octaves of a scale with greater range, yet still set as intimate, captivating chamber theater. 

Liptsin is a protege of Anatoly Vasiliev, one of the great postwar figures in Russian theater. There’s been a great deal of talk in recent years about Russian theater and its legacy, from the great days of Stanislavsky’s realism and Meyerhold’s stylizations—but it’s usually talk or the work of students of academic approaches to the original techniques. Liptsin’s art comes from many years of staging exciting performances like Apropos of the Wet Snow around the world. It’s the sort of show usually seen only at international theater festivals, if you’re lucky.  

It touches on the deepest origins of drama, mime, vaudeville and commedia dell’arte in popular entertainment, and of that thing Francis Fergusson called “the Histrionic Impulse,” when (as Roland Barthes fleshed it out), one person changes his appearance and turns to face his community as if beyond the pale, telling or showing them the stories of their origins and of the quality of their soul. 

Liptsin and Ho do all this as they act out Dostoyevsky’s tale of the individualist caught in the web of his own thoughts and actions. I’m tempted to say it’s the most brilliantly original, most completely theatrical show I’ve seen in seven years of reviewing. I’m tempted to say you should go if you go to nothing else during this season that’s just opened—or next. But that’s just the measure of my own enthusiasm. I hope you do see it, and that we see Oleg Liptsin & Co. more often in the very near future. 

 

APROPOS OF THE WET SNOW 

8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through Nov. 3 at Metal Shop Theater, off Telegraph Avenue on Regent Street, behind Willard School. $30; $20 for senior and students. www.brownpapertickets.com or (415) 440-6163. For more information, see www.olegliptsin.


The Theater: ‘Every Inch’ an Outrageous Comedy

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday October 23, 2007

By KEN BULLOCK 

Special to the Planet 

 

The thunderous sound of a cane’s concussion on the old, hollow walls of an Inland Empire home in the San Gabriel Mountains ushers in Central Works’ funny, unnerving revival of its 2002 hit original, Every Inch a King, playing at the Berkeley City Club. Wielding the cane is rubber stamp king Reginald Leroy, facing his demise from a panoply of geriatric ailments and signaling his three daughters in the next room that he’s still kicking. 

As the title indicates, Gary Graves’ play has a special relationship to that great tragedy of age and familial disintegration, King Lear. What’s lifted from its forebears, though, is only the slightest pretext for outrageous comedy that might make Lear’s Fool blush. The three daughters, the acquisition and division of his kingdom, the loopiness and reported nudity of the old bastard are all there, but Central Works’ wild, bawdy tale fixes our bemusement on the daughters, not the unseen king of the hill. 

And the daughters are quite a trio: Gwen (Sandra Schlecter), spinster schoolmarm whose prologue to her kindergarten students only touches on her glass eye; entrepreneur and dynamo Rae (company co-founder Jan Zvaifler), steely-eyed and determined to turn over the old man’s property to Disney and reap the profits; and aspiring medicine woman Leah (Rica Anderson), baby sister and loose cannon, ready to burst into spirit dance and chant at the drop of an attitude. 

Through mutual recrimination, confessions, constant skirmishing and reflective moments of recollection, the three define, redefine and rip to shreds their sibling sorority, while the old bastard carries on, just out of our sight. 

There are offstage chase scenes as funny as silent film can be in the telling. And the smallest physical humor of the sisters-at-odds provokes explosions of laughter, as do even the mere crossing of paths and evil glances during parallel phone conversations. 

It’s a revival involving most of the original cast; only Jan Zvaifler, who directed the original run, is a newcomer in her role as Rae. This time playwright Graves directs, and very well, with Central Works’ signature stagecraft in the chamber theater of the Julia Morgan-designed City Club. Greg Scharpen is at his post with a panoply of sound effects, from storm to spooky visitations, and Chad Owens designed the set again, though the lights this time are by the author and the costumes are Tammy Berlin’s. 

It’s a showcase for the marvelous talents of a theater company that knows its business and never disappoints. 

 

EVERY INCH A KING 

8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 5 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 18 at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. $25-$29, sliding scale; Thursdays, pay-what-you-will. 558-1381. centralworks.org.


Green Neighbors: Another Handsome Hazard: Chinese Tallow Tree

By Ron Sullivan
Tuesday October 23, 2007

Chinese tallow tree, Triadica sebifera, Sapium sebiferum or Croton sebiferum, is pretty, tough, and dons beautiful leaf colors in autumn. The small rounded kite-shaped leaves have a gentle green color before that, and dance engagingly in the breeze flashing their soft gray undersides, a little like aspen leaves.  

It really is Chinese—well, East Asian in general, including Japan—and it really does supply a sort of tallow. (It really is a tree, too, in case you were wondering.) The tallow is a waxy coating on the seeds. These, somewhat perversely, stay on the tree when its fruit, a capsule that starts out green, matures to black, and then falls away. The seeds’ coatings give them a subtle translucence that looks nifty in the sunshine; they’re round and tend to hang in threes, making some of us (OK, also perversely) think about teeny forest-elven pawnshops.  

Have I overdosed on Terry Pratchett again? 

The “tallow” covering the seeds is actually useful too. It’s gathered, not by leprechauns with tiny little vegetable peelers, but by ordinary humans who throw a load of seeds into a vat of hot water, wait for the wax to melt off the seeds and rise to the top, and then skimming it off.  

The stuff makes decent candles (with beeswax added) and soap. I’ve seen it proposed as a source for biodiesel. I’ve heard that it can be used as cooking oil, and I’ve heard that it’s a strong purgative. I’ve heard similar things about red palm oil; maybe it’s a matter of quantity or of individual susceptibilities. Either way, don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

Some birds like the seeds, and apparently whatever the intestinally controversial element for us is, it doesn’t bother them. In particular, birds that eat bugs—woodpeckers, for example—like the fatty coating; hardly surprising if you’ve seen them go for suet cakes. They eat the whole seed and, at whatever speed and interval, eventually excrete the working part along with a nice dose of guano fertilizer. And therein lies the rub. 

How rough a rub? Here’s a hint: In Florida, it’s illegal to introduce, release, move, or possess a tallow tree without a special permit. It’s on the Noxious Weed List there and in Texas, Georgia, Puerto Rico, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and it’s being strongly proposed for addition to the official list here in California.  

This, as such steps often are, is a bit of barn-door locking as the horse disappears over the horizon. Tallow tree is so entrenched in Florida that many people think it’s a native; it was offered by nurseries as “Florida aspen.” (It’s also “popcorn tree” because of the alleged resemblance of those white berries. Somebody’s evidently been making some nasty popcorn in the Southeast.)  

You can hear or read complaints about tallow tree from all those other states, too. You can also see it defended. No surprise, since individually it’s really charming, and since people seem to confuse garden-invasive with wildland-invasive or not even to know the latter category exists or matters. 

This tree is a perfect exemplar of the myopia problem. If its seeds fall into your garden and sprout a zillion little seedlings, you know it’s garden-invasive. It’s a problem in flowerbeds; less so, in lawns and tame meadows, because seedlings are easily controlled by mowing. So, if you see only your own garden and maybe the neighbors’ (That tacky old juniper hedge! That obsessive brickwork!) you won’t see any danger in a tallow tree; just that neat shape, those pretty “berries,” that gorgeous autumn color.  

When the flock of songbirds has had its picturesque fill and flown off, though, they’re going to be flying over and hanging out in places that people don’t mow, where the hundreds of myriads of other Earthlings must live and raise their offspring and eat and sleep.  

The tree that feeds those songbirds won’t necessarily have anything the other animals and plants can use—no oak leaves or acorns for the bugs that live on them, therefore nothing for the local species that live on those bugs, therefore no pollinators for the flowers that need something with those bugs’ particular habits ... 

No acorns for the acorn woodpeckers, who might relish a tallowseed snack but can’t store it against the needs of next spring’s breeding season. No oakleaf mulch for the native understory plants either. Tallowtree leaves, in fact, might be a bit toxic to other plants as well as animals. 

And tallow tree, like so many other invasives, can make a monoculture thicket that goes on for yards, and another like it just downstream, and in five years yet another downstream from that. For some species, that’s no better than paving. The catch is that we don’t know which species those will be, or who else depends on them.  

Dang. And I really like tallow tree; it looks good and feels pleasant to work on. Too bad.  

 

 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan  

Chinese tallow trees, these in the , Oakland hills, in fall color right now.  

 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Green Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in the Planet’s East Bay Home & Real Estate section.


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday October 23, 2007

TUESDAY, OCT. 23 

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 Miller/Knox Keller Beach. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Oil, Gas, and Global Warming: Youth Confronting America’s Petroleum Addiction” with recent recipients of the Brower Youth Award at 6 p.m. at Free Speech Movement Cafe, Moffitt Library, UC Campus. 643-6445. 

“Party Planning for the Holidays” Benefit for Alameda County Community Food Bank with Barbara Llewellyn and Ron Morgan from 10 a.m. to noon at the Food Bank, 7900 Edgewater Drive, Oakland. Tickets are $20, plus a canned food donation, and includes continental breakfast and a guided tour of the facility. 635-3663. www.accfb.org 

“Who Are the Real Fascists?” a panel discussion on the assault on critical thinking at US universities at 8 p.m. at 145 Dwinelle, UC Campus. 848-1196. 

Berkeley High School Governance Council meets at 4:15 p.m. at Berkeley Community Theater Lobby. Topics include School Governance Council Officers, BSEP Officers, ELL Budget. 644-4803. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library. 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

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, OCT. 24 

Birding with the Golden Gate Audubon Society at Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park in Oakland. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large spherical cage near Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevue. 834-1066. 

Walking Tour of Jack London Waterfront Meet at 10 a.m. at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234.  

“Senior Housing Crisis: How to Fight Back” with Rae Mary, Berkeley Housing, and Jesse Arreguin, Housing Advocate, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, Corner of MLK. Sponsored by the Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative with guest speaker, Martin Borque, executive director of the Ecology Center, at 6:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Potluck. 548-2220. 

United Nations 62nd Anniversary Celebration at 6 p.m. in the I-House Auditorium, UC Campus. For cost and reservations contact larnie@berkeley.edu 

“Sabotaging Education” How workplace bullying and psychological abuse can undermine students’ education with William Lepowsky at 10 a.m. at Room G-209 at Laney College, 8th and Fallon Streets, Oakland. 464-3181. 

“From Seed to Supper with Mollie Katzen and Friends” at 6:30 p.m. at Windrush School, Multipurpose Room, 1800 Elm St., El Cerrito. Free. 970-7580. http://windrush.org 

“Nuestro Petroleo y Otros Cuentos” A documentary on the oil and coal industries in Venezuela at 8 p.m. at Long Haul Infoshop, 3124 Shatttuck Ave. www.thelonghaul.org 

“An Evening with Elvia Alvarado” Honduran human rights activist and peasant leader at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. at 27th, Oakland. Cost is $5-$20 sliding scale. 1-800-838-3006. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will have a nature scavenger hunt from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Black Cat Pocket Pals Crafts inspired by the book for ages 8 and up at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 4th floor, Children’s Department. 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223.  

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Day Open House from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the AIMC Berkeley, 2550 Shattuck Ave. at Blake. 684-2552. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets t 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. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 25 

Birding with the Golden Gate Audubon Society at the Albany Mudflats at Eastshore State Park, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. For meeting place call 540-8749. 

Oakland Bird Club with Allan Ridley and Helen McKenna-Ridley on “The Anatomy of Flying” at 7:30 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, Rockridge Branch, 5366 College Ave. 444-0355. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll have a nature scavenger hunt from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will have a nature scavenger hunt from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Halloween Stories and Songs for Preschoolers at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda, at Hopkins. 981-6250.  

Election 2008: Presidential Forum with representatives from the Clinton, Obama and Edwards Campaings at the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, at 6:45 p.m at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. 

“The Eccentrics of 19th Century Downtown Berkeley” with author Richard Schwartz at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Reception to follow. Tickets are $15. Sponsored by Berkeley Architectural Heritage Assoc. 841-2242. www.berkeleyheritage.com 

“Seeking Palestinian-Israeli Peace” A discussion with Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas, Women’s Centre for Legal Aid & Counseling, Jerusalem; Anan Attiri, Director, Nablus Governorate; Naava Eisin, Director of the Archives of Jewish Education at Tel Aviv Univ.; Molly Malekar, Director of Bat Shalom of the Jerusalem Link and Jessica Neuwirth, Founding President, Equality Now, at 5 p.m. at Goldman School of Public Policy, Room 150, LeRoy Ave. entrance near Hearst. 

DataCenter’s 30th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and Reception to honor the DataCenter and its partners at 6 p.m. at Historic Sweet’s Ballroom, 1933 Broadway, Oakland Tickets are $100 per person, $50 per grassroots organizer, RSVP required. 839-3100.  

“Words of Hope” A discussion led by Stop the Traffik featuring the book “Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

“Global Awakenings: Communities that Work for Everyone” An evening with Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, founder of the Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka, at Alta Bates Health Education Center, 400 Hawthone Ave., Oakland. Donation $10.  

“Behind the Scene Efforts to Recover Hostages in Iraq” with Colonel Gerald Schumacher at 7:30 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, UC Campus. Cost is $5. http://ihouse.berkeley.edu 

“Homeschooling 101” with parents and young people from Family Village, Berkeley, and Alameda Oakland Home Learners at 7:30 p.m. at Grace North Church, 1938 Cedar St. 895-2312. 

Easy Does It (EDI) Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. www.easyland.org 

FRIDAY, OCT. 26 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Camille Minichino, author of “Sister in Crime: Who Will Murder Whim, and How?” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll have a nature scavenger hunt from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

“Until When” a film by Dahna Abourahme which follows four Palestinian families living in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp at 7 p.m. followed by update & discussion with Jeanne Shaterian at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation requested, no one turned away. 841-4824. 

“10 Questions for the Dalai Lama” A documentary by Rick Ray, at 7:30 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Cost is $10. 528-8844.  

Community Dance/Barn Dance at 8 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. 650-365-2913. bacds@bacds.org 

Auction and Sale of Beardless Irises at 8 p.m. at the Lakeside Park Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Sponsored by the Sydney B. Mitchell Iris Society. Free. http://bayareairis.org. 

SATURDAY, OCT. 27 

Bat Show at 1 and 3 p.m. at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave., Kensington. For ages 5 and up. Free, but tickets required. 524-3043. 

Fall Fruit Tasting at the Saturday Farmers’ Market with appleas, Asian and European pears, and persimmons, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Center St. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way 

Fall Birdwalk in the UC Botanical Garden with Dennis Wolf and Chris Carmichael from 9 to 10:30 a.m., 200 Centennial Dr. Cost is $12-$15. Registration required. 643-2755. 

Haunted House and Pre-Halloween Party from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. at St. John’s Church, 2727 College Ave. For all ages, adjustable scariness. Wear costumes. Bring a book, food item or toy for a hungry or homeless child. Donations also welcome. Grades 6-12 invited to come at 3 p.m. to help set up the Haunted House. 845-6830. 

Halloween Celebration in Albany and Berkeley from 5 to 8 p.m. at Ray’s Pumpkin Patch, 1245 Solano Ave., Albany. 527-5358. www.SolanoStroll.org 

Celebrate Halloween at the Haunted Harbor Festival from 3 to 7 p.m. at Jack London Square. Safe and fun activities for children including live music, puppet show and costume contest.  

Jack O’ Lantern Jamboree A Halloween Celebration for the whole family Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Belleview Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8. www.fairyland.org 

Feast of the Angelitos Come build a “nicho,” and other arts and crafts and enjoy traditional sweets, Sat. and Sun. from 2 to 4 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Dias de los Muertos Procession, featuring Ernesto Olmos at 6 p.m. Free and open to all ages. 228-3207. 

“Demystifying the Tarot, It's in the Cards” with a Halloween Happening from 7 to 9 p.m. at 4th Street Studio, 1717d 4th St. 527-0600. 

Monster Bash Aboard the Aircraft Carrier USS Hornet from 7:30 p.m. to midnight at 707 W Hornet Ave., Pier 3, Alameda. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children. 521-8448, ext. 282. www.hornetevents.com 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around Preservation Park to see Victorian architecture. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of Preservation Park at 13th St. and MLK, Jr. Way. Tour lasts 90 minutes. For reservations call 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

3rd Not-So-Silent Church Auction with live music by jazz ensemble The House Band, at 7:00 p.m. at Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. at Napa. $10. 524-2921. www.epworthberkeley.org 

Berkeley Digital Media Conference “Current and Emerging Intersections” from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Haas School of Business, UC Campus. Organized by Berkeley MBA students and hosted by the Berkeley Digital Media and Entertainment Club. http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/haas/maps.html 

Computer Recycling from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200.  

Meet Your Friendly Firefighters For ages 3 to 7 at 10:30 a.m. Central Berkeley Public Library, 4th Floor, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223.  

Protest the War in Iraq from 2 to 4 p.m. on the corner of Acton and University. Sponsored by the Strawberry Creek Lodge Tenants Assoc. and Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 841-4143. 

“Uyghurs on the Silk Road” A celebration of people and culture, dinner at 6 p.m. followed by program at 7:30 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, UC Campus. Cost is $5, plus $9.25 for dinner. http://ihouse.berkeley.edu 

“Creating a Mixed Border for Year Round Color” with gardener Aerin Moore at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Ongoing Vocal Jazz Workshop at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin at the corner of Masonic, on Saturdays from 2:30 to 4 p.m. 524-6797. 

“Savvy Woman’s Guide to Buying a Home” at 2 p.m. at The Bellevue Club, 525 Bellevue Ave.. Oakland. 451-1000. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

SUNDAY, OCT. 28 

Oakland Heritage Alliance House Tour of the Historic San Antonio Neighborhood A self-guided tour of ten houses open from 1 to 5 p.m. Tour begins at 2002 10th Ave. Tickets are $25-$35. 763-9218. info@oaklandheritage.org 

Fall Colors of Briones Join a moderate 4 mile hike with naturalist Tara Reinertson to learn about the diversity of oaks. Bring lunch, sunscreen and water. 525-2233. 

Haunted Caves of the Environmental Education Center at Tilden Explore and learn the facts and fictions of Halloween at 1 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Cost is $3 for ages 3 and up. 525-2233. 

Spooky Tales in the UC Botanical Gardens at 1 p.m. at 200 Centennial Drive. Come in costume and bring a blanket. Cost is $3-$10. 643-2755.  

Dia de los Muertos Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on International Blvd., between Fruitvale Ave. and 40th Ave. with community altars, traditional dance, live music, children’s ativities, international food and more. 535-6900. www.unitycouncil.org 

Chabot Elementary School Fall Carnival with games, activities, refreshments and entertainment for all ages, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 6686 Chabot Rd. at Patton, Rockridge. www.chabotelementary.org 

Ghostwalk and Graveyard Tales from 7 to 9 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 228-3207. 

Free Market at Oak Grove Tree-Sit from 1 to 5 p.m. at Piedmont Ave. north of Bancroft. Autumn Ritual at 5:30 p.m. 938-2109. www.saveoaks.com 

Women of Color Resource Center 9th Annual Sisters of Fire Awards Ceremony at 11a.m. at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Center. Honorees are Assemblywomen Karen Bass, Ishle Park, Linda Tillery. Tickets are sliding scale from $45-$75. 444-2700, ext. 306. 

Ecumenical Peace Institute Annual Dinner with Dr. Joseph Gerson on “Empire and the Bomb, from Hiroshima to Iraq and Iran” at 6 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. Suggested donation $15-$35, no one turned away. RSVP to 655-1162.  

Tour of the Berkeley City Club, Julia Morgan’s “little castle” at 1:15, 2:15, and 3:15 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. Free, donations welcome. 883-9710. 

Alameda Architectural Preservation Society “Historic Wood Finishes” A presentation by John Dilks at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 2001 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda. Cost is $5 for non-members. www.alameda-preservation.org 

“The Question of the Supernatural” with Sarah Lewis at 10 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

“Marx’s Ecology” A discussion of Ralph Bellamy Foster’s book presented by Raj Sahani at 10 a.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave, Oakland. 595-7417. www.tifcss.org 

beatsitasana UrbanYoga Open House from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Center for Urban Peace, 2584 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. 866-732-2320. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Elizabeth Cook on “Sacred Places of the Buddha: Teaching the Dharma” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

“What is Humanistic Judaism?” with Rabbi Jay Heyman and Marcia Grossman from 10 a.m. to noon at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Avenue. Suggestion donation $5. To register call 428-1492. 

MONDAY, OCT. 29 

“Diaspora Talk with From Heart to Hand Teens” with film screening, at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. Free. 836-4649. 

Halloween Spooktacular! Join us for not so scary stories, songs, and a costume parade fro ages 3-8 at 6:45 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 4th Flr Children’s Story Room, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223.  

“Green and Healthy Homes” A presentation on indoor environmental quality and sustainable design at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

ONGOING 

Donate the Fruit From Your Fruit Trees We will gladly pick and deliver your fruit to community programs that feed school kids, the elderly, the homebound and the hungry. The fruit trees should be located in or very near North Berkeley and the fruit should be organic (no pesticides) and edible. This is a volunteer/grassroots thing so join in!! Please email northberkeleyharvest@gmail.com or 812-3369. 

Bay-Friendly Gardening Offers Discounted Compost Bins to Alameda County residents. In addition to the bins, they also offer free workshops, videos, brochures, and answers to your compost questions. To order a bin or for free information about composting, visit www.BayFriendly.org or call the compost information hotline 444-7645. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Oct. 23, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6601. 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484. 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Oct. 25, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213. 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Oct. 25, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7410.


Arts Calendar

Friday October 19, 2007

FRIDAY, OCT. 19 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave., through Nov. 17. 525-1620. 

Altarena Playhouse “Morning’s at Seven” A family comedy by Paul Osborn Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Nov. 11. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553.  

Central Works “Every Inch a King” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through Nov. 18. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. centralworks.org 

“A Shirtwaist Tale” on American labor history, American women’s suffrage, and American Jewish history, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Suggested donation $20. http://ashirtwaisttale.com  

Ragged Wing Ensemble “Alice in Wonderland” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Envision Academy, 1515 Webster St., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$30. 800-838-3006. www.raggedwing.org 

Shotgun Players “Bulrusher” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. through Oct. 28. Tickets are $17-$25. 841-6500.  

Women’s Will “Antigone” Fri.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St. between Telegraph and Shattuck, Oakland, through Nov. 11. Tickets are $15-$25 sliding scale. 420-0813.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

“Deadly Deviant” Mixed media exhibit celebrating Halloween and Day of the Dead. Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Eclectix Gallery, 7523 Fairmount Ave., El Cerrito. www.eclectixgallery.com 

FILM 

Midnight Movies “The Lost Boys” Fri. and Sat. at midnight at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Carl Bernstein discusses “A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Book. 559-9500.  

Tim Maleeny reads from “Beating the Babushka” at 5:30 p.m. at Dark Carnival, 3086 Claremont Ave. 654-7323.  

“Chinese Opera and the Life of Mei Lanfang” A symposium from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Institute of East Asian Studies, 2223 Fulton St. Free.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

John Ulloa, CD release party, at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568.  

Guangzhou Ballet of China at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$68. 642-9988.  

Medicine Ball Band at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

The Stir Ensemble of Chicago at 8 p.m. at Free-Jazz Fridays at the Jazz House, 1510 8th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$15. 415-846-9432. 

Reggae Angels, Mo’Rockin Project at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054.  

Sheldon Brown Group at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. 

The Rockits, Berkeley rock, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Reilly & Maloney at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761.  

Elizabeth August at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe. 595-5344.  

Fuzzy Cousins, Invincible Czars, Mojow & the Vibration Army at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Batch & Ras Attitude, Zioneers, Malika Madremana & The Greensphere Band at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $12-$15. 548-1159.  

Times 4 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

David Sanchez at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, OCT. 20 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Derique, the high tech clown, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568.  

“The Wizard of Ahhhhs” Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Celebrating Plein Air Landscape in California Works by 25 prominent Bay Area artists on display Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 848-3227. www.hillsideclub.org 

Tea Pot Show Works by members of the Potters’ Studio in celebration of their 35th Anniversary. Sat. and Sun. from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 637 Cedar St. 528-3286. 

Native American Doll Maker Mercilla Comacho displays her pow wow dancer dolls Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Gathering Tribes, 1573 Solano Ave. 528-9038. 

“Masks of Africa” from the collection of Hogan Edet and Judah Dwyer. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Float Gallery, 1091 Calcot Place, Unit #116, Oakland. www.thefloatcenter.com 

FILM 

“Seven Chances” with Judith Rosenberg on piano at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rajiv Chandrasekharan describes “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Mark Wilson on “Julia Morgan: Architect of Beauty” at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. RSVP to 228-3207. 

Alice Medrich describes “Pure Dessert: True Falvors, Inspiring Ingredients, and Simple Recipes” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Rhythm & Muse featuring poet Garrett Murphy at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Early Music Society The New Esterhazy Quartet performs A Haydn Quartet Dateline of Early America at 8 p.m. at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College at Garber. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Guangzhou Ballet of China at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$68. 642-9988.  

Oakland Ballet “Oakland Ballet Company Returns” at 2 and 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$50. 465-6400. 

The Palmer-Cogan Duo with flutist Kris Palmer and pianist Dmitriy Cogan at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864.  

Broceliande’s Autumnal Celebration House Concert at 8 p.m. in Piedmont. To RSVP and for location call 569-0437. 

Soul Summer Night at the Museum with Oakland School for the Arts, Renee Neufville, Stabe Wilson at 8 p.m. at Oakland Museum, 1000 Oak St. Cost is $25. 629-4139. 

Vicki Randle from the band of the Tonight Show benefit concert for the Pacific Center, a LGBT Community Center at 8 p.m. at Left Coast Cyclery, 2928 Domingo Ave. Tickets are $20. 204-8552.  

Skylar at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar. 704-9378. 

The KTO Project at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568.  

Ellen Robinson & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

The Unreal Band, Pat Quinn Tribute at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054.  

Mario DeSio, Daivid Gans and Ira Marlowe at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Lost Weekend at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Larry Stefl Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5. 843-2473. 

Eddie Marshall & Holy Mischief at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373. 

Zoyres, Samvega at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $TBA. 841-2082.  

Bag O’ Goodies at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Howdy, rockabilly, bluegrass, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

David Sanchez at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, OCT. 21 

THEATER 

“By George, It’s War!” A musical satarization of the Bush administration by Dale Polissar at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

Richard Whittaker and Rue Harrison Photographs and Drawings. Reception at 4 p.m. at The LightRoom, 2263 Fifth St. 649-8111. 

“Celebrating the Fabric of Our Lives” A presentation and exhibition of quilts from 2 to 4 p.m. at Salem Lutheran Home, 2361 East 29th St., Oakland. 534-3637. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Orhan Pamuk reads from “Other Colors: Essays and A Story” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Donations accepted. 559-9500. 

Asian American Poetry Now at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

An Afternoon with Danny Lyon, documentary photographer and filmmaker at 3:30 p.m., UC Campus. Cost is $12. For reservations see www.fotovision.org 

Leslie Piels and Ann Leyhe describe “Succulents for Containers” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Ayamanatara reads from “365 Days to Enlightenment” at noon at All About Eve, 862 San Pablo Ave., Albany. 559-9901. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Community Music Day at Crowden Music Center, with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. ccmc@crowden.org 

Live Oak Concert with Marvin Sanders, flute and Lena Lubotsky, piano, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

California Bach Society performs Handel “For the Duke of Chandos” at 4 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft at Ellsworth. Tickets are $10-$25. 415-262-0272. www.calbach.org 

Davitt Moroney, 16th Century English Keyboard music at 4 p.m. at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $20. 854-6830. 

Guangzhou Ballet of China at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$68. 642-9988.  

Otro Mundo & Agresi Boss in a benefit for Hurricane Felix survivors in Nicaragua from 4 to 7 p.m. at Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Suggested donation $10-$20. 644-0323. 

The Mo’Rockin Project at Jazz at the Chimes at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $10 for concert and reception. 228-3218. 

The Very Hot Club at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Crotty/Phipps/Corman Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Trick Kernan Combo at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Americana Unplugged: Claudia Russel at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

William Beatty and The Unconditionals at 6:30 p.m. at The Mt. Everest Restaurant 2011 Shattuck Ave. at University. 665-6035.  

CDQ+2 at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

MONDAY, OCT. 22 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Linda Spalding describes “Who Named the Knife: A Book of Murder and Mystery” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Patrick Durgin, Jen Hofer, Dolores Dorantes and Jesse Seldess read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with Steve Arntsen 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.  

Kurt Ribak, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

Barbara Morrison at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $16. 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, OCT. 23 

FILM 

“Free Radical: The Films of Len Lye” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

Arab Film Festival Leila Khaled: “Hijacker” Screening and panel discussion at 7 p.m. on UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$10. For details see www.aff.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Alta Ifland and Gary Young at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City College auditorium, 2050 Center St. 525-5476. 

Norman Soloman talks about his new documentary “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” and his new book “Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America’s Warfare State” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

“East Wind Melts the Ice: A Memoir through the Seasons” A conversation with author Liza Dalby at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

“The Ecstasy of Influence” Local writers try out new material at 7:30 p.m. at Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

Katha Pollitt talks about “Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mariza, Mozambique-born fado singer, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46. 642-9988.  

Swamp Coolers at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. 

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Harry Manx at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

George Cotsirilos Trio at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Dafnis Prieto Absolute Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival in Berkeley Wed., and Fri.-Sun. at California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $8-$10. www.aff.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

A.J. Jacobs describes “The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Donations accepted. 559-9500. 

“Writing Teachers Write” Monthly student/teacher reading series at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland East Bay Symphony Brass Quintet at noon at Oakland City Center, 12th and Broadway. www.oaklandcitycenter.com 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Susan Rancourt & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Bernard Anderson & the Old School Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Saoco at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Mysterioso at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Akosua at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Catie Curtis, Rachel Garlin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $21.50-$22.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Montclair Women’s Big Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$15. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, OCT. 25 

EXHIBITIONS 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

THEATER 

“By George, It’s War!” A musical satarization of the Bush administration by Dale Polissar at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Richard Schwartz describes “The Eccentrics of 19th Century Downtown Berkeley” at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Reception to follow. Tickets are $15. Sponsored by Berkeley Architectural Heritage Assoc. 841-2242. www.berkeleyheritage.com 

Gail Tsukiyama reads from “The Street of a Thousand Blossoms” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

“Words of Hope” A discussion led by Stop the Traffik featuring the book “Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. www.universitypressbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Catie Curtis, Rachel Garlin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $21.50-$22.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Bob Kenmotsu Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Laura Klein and Ted Wolff at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Redhouse, Ancient Mystic & the Real Far Band at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Antioquia at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

New York Voices at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com


The Theater: Murakami’s ‘After the Quake’ at Berkeley Rep

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday October 19, 2007

Beneath a massive red crossbeam spanning two posts like an arch, a young Asian man is telling a bright little girl a story—it could be a bedtime story—about “the all-time number one honeybear” in the mountains of Japan, as low music from a koto player and a cellist flows around and through their words. 

The little girl interrupts, inquisitively: So this bear’s different from the others?—and her storyteller agrees, adding that new wrinkle to the tale he seems to be shaping on the spot. 

But after the little girl’s gone to bed, her mother, old classmate of the storyteller, talks about her bad dreams since the earthquake, how she’s afraid of “The Earth-quake Man,” who wants to stuff her and everybody else in town into a box.  

The storyteller, who answers a question about his work with, “Like always, I write ’em, they print ’em, and nobody reads ’em—the short story’s on its way out, like the slide rule,” on finding himself alone, everybody asleep, immediately begins a tall tale about a frog, who quotes Hemingway and Conrad, enlisting a nondescript Shin-juku banker to help him fight a giant, angry worm in his lair beneath Tokyo, in a last-ditch attempt to save the metropolis from a fatal temblor. 

So the origami-like folds-within-folds of storytelling expand outward, accordion-like, plot flopping over and enveloping previous plots, as Frank Galati’s adaptation of raconteurish Japanese author Haruki Muri-kami’s whimsical yet pointed After the Quake spins out on the Thrust Stage at Berkeley Rep. 

As the bedtime tale of the honeybear begets a planned trip to the zoo to see a real bear, then jumps the tracks and merges, somehow, with the ongoing and cartoonish “Superfrog Saves Tokyo” improvisation, the third dimension is filled in with intermittent flashbacks from the storyteller’s autobiography. Appropriately, for a third line intersecting the other two, is the familiar tale of two dissimilar school chums in love with the same girl, whom the brasher one marries while the three remain fast friends.  

All three tales alternate, like syncopations in the background string duet, as the motifs from each become familiar in the others, accents shifting from fantasy to memory to the equally fictive story of the present. 

The adaptor, long a Steppenwolf Theatre Company associate (perhaps best known as co-author with Laurence Kasdan of the screenplay for The Accidental Tourist), directs the sharp, skillful cast with a light touch, rendering the spot-on timing necessary to keep the interlocking Chinese box puzzle of the plot moving never facile nor cloying, the changes between tales adroit, the switches of character fluid and unobtrusive. The word-for-word style self-narration of characters from the expository prose (like read-aloud stage directions) of the book is simple but dramatically viable as they act out, yet talk their way through, illusion and reality. 

Hanson Tse as Junpei the storyteller and Jennifer Shin as Sayoko and a nurse both do a fine, sensitive job portraying their characters, as does Gemma Madison Logan V. Phan, alternating with Gemma Megumi Fa-Kaji, as little Sala. Keong Sim as the bookending Narrator of the whole compound tale, as well as (just plain) Frog, and Paul H. Juhn as the brash jock-turned-cynical-city-desk-reporter as well as the colorless banker prove remarkable in both quick-change artistry and comic timing. 

Murakami’s story, taken from two episodes in his novel of the same name, comes off a little bit like a simpler version of Flannery O’Brien’s At-Swim-Two-Birds, a pioneer of self-cannibalizing tales about voracious narratives and their unassuming, escapist storytellers. 

Murakami, son of a pair of Japanese literature teachers, who describes refined Japanese prose as “a kind of bonsai,” was heavily influenced by the shiny surface of postwar American popular culture and its loner individualism. Galati and other non-Japanese adherents to his fiction seem to regard him a little bit like a postmodern J. D. Salinger, a Japanese group-conscious, overly socialized Everyman embroiled with his subconscious in translation to the literalistic, storytelling stage. 

James Schuette’s set adds to the sense of action and overarching reverie, just as the compositions of Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman underpin both moods and modes, as played by cellist Jason McDermott and Jeff Wichman on koto—though there’s maybe a little too much of “Norwegian Wood” as leitmotif, the title of one of Murakami’s books, as well as The Beatles’ knowing number. 

 

AFTER THE QUAKE 

Through Nov. 25 at the Berkeley Rep,  

2025 Addison St. 647-2900. 


The Theater: Woman’s Will Presents Wellman’s ‘Antigone’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday October 19, 2007

“It’s kind of Antigone In Wonderland,” said Erin Merritt, founder of Woman’s Will, the Oakland-based all-female Shakespeare and classics troupe (who nonetheless have staged Brecht-Weill’s Happy End and Oscar Wilde’s The Important of Being Earnest), about its Bay Area premiere of contemporary playwright Mac Wellman’s Antigone, opening this week at the Temescal Arts Center on Tele-graph in North Oak-land. 

Familiar to most from school, where Sophocles’ original tragedy ranks with his Oedipus Rex as probably the most fa-miliar of classic plays, Wellman’s version seems to be the least faithful—at least on the surface—to the ancient text of all the many adaptations (including those by Brecht, Anouilh and Cocteau) penned over the past two millenia.  

“From the audience, it looks totally different,” said Merritt. “The same classical structure is there, but the characters from the original are hardly ever glimpsed. Wellman has it as the Three Fates, like three schoolgirls, playacting Antigone’s story as they spin it out, using this play-within-a-play as the springboard for the Three Fates to become the Three Graces.” 

Wellman, also a novelist and poet, whose work has been characterized as “pulverizing the syntax of traditional theater” and not to be “summarized or translated into any other medium,” deals with logic and illogic and the shifting nature of ordinary language in trying to deal with the great questions of identity, community, law and justice, that sense of nonsense being another point of comparison with Lewis Carroll’s sublime dream-tale. 

“Most storytelling is horizontal,” Merritt said, “from point to point, episodes on a timeline. Wellman’s is vertical—it’s several stories, all at once, stacked on top of each other. Like in a dream, it makes sense while it’s happening, but it can be hard to decipher later. So we’re asking audiences to stay for a talkback after every show, to collaborate with us by telling what they saw. Everybody always sees things differently, anyway. It’s a really heady piece. Those who’ve taken philosophy classes will get references to the centuries-long logical arguments in the play, but everybody, including kids, will enjoy seeing it, just as a piece of fun.” 

He said crossword puzzle solvers and game players will love it.  

“It uses logic and illogic to create an alternative reality, to push past the ordinary into the wonderful—and we stage that by juggling different genres and metaphors,” he said. “We have sort of a rave aesthetic.” 

Besides the Fates, there’s a fourth character, the Shriek Operator, named after a typographical mark in philosophical discussions that resembles an exclamation point, “a unique, unrepeatable situation ... which yanks and jangles the Fates, pushing them into contradiction and out of it again.” 

Woman’s Will has a blog with rehearsal notes from some of the actors (http://womanswill.blogspot.com), one that compares the play to a production of Streetcar Named Desire, as if the characters would holler out “Stella!” 

“Our audiences are used to seeing our all-female casts infuse difficultly worded classics with references to modern day,” said Merritt. “This time, we simply take them farther down the rabbit hole with us to Wonderland. It’s a play for those full of curiosity to enjoy—about puzzles, not answers.” 

 

Antigone 

Woman’s Will 

Fri.-Sun. 8 p.m. 

Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St., Oakland 

$15-$25 

through Nov. 11 

420-0813, www.womanswill.org


The Good, the Bad and the Brilliant

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday October 19, 2007

Sergio Leone is often thought of as an ironic and humorous filmmaker, a mischievous genre deconstructionist. But though his films have plenty of humor and wit and mischief, they also contain great beauty and depth and insight. Though he may have worked most famously in a genre largely considered pulp—the Western—but Leone was one of the great cinematic artists.  

Pacific Film Archive is presenting seven of Leone’s best films, starting Saturday and running through Oct. 28.  

Leone is best known for his films with Clint Eastwood, the so-called “spaghetti westerns” in which the director deconstructed and built upon the traditions of a uniquely American genre. The “Dollars Trilogy” culminated in perhaps his most beloved film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967). But his masterpiece is Once Upon a Time in the West, (1968) a nearly three-hour epic that re-imagines the great myths and imagery of western expansion.  

Leone did not merely deconstruct and caricature the Western, he revitalized it, bringing a greater depth and mystery to its vistas and villains. He delved into the roots of the form’s archetypes, digging up the primal thoughts, emotions and characters that inhabited the landscape. And then he magnified it all; he distilled the genre to its essence and then spread it on thick in deep sepia tones.  

But it is the faces of his characters, even more than the dramatic Monument Valley backdrop, that provide Once Upon a Time in the West’s most enduring images. Leone deepened the impact of the close-up, juxtaposing and equating the rugged terrain of the landscape with the equally rugged terrain of the human face, each giving greater significance to the other. The eyes of his sweat-soaked, sun-scarred outlaws reflect the landscape and imbue it with meaning, and the landscape shapes the characters who survey it.  

Though the widescreen format is ideal for shooting vast panoramic landscapes, it poses problems for photographing people. Close-ups must crop the face above the eye, and still leave wide swaths of wasted open space on either side. Leone made use of these limitations brilliantly, however, bringing his camera in even tighter and expertly balancing close-up faces on one side of the frame with open vistas on the other.  

Leone’s masterful use of the widescreen format is particularly evident in the scene where Jill arrives at the McBain ranch to find the bodies of her husband and his children laid out on tables in the dooryard. The body of her husband, his head in the lower left corner of the frame, slants upwards across the frame to where Jill’s grief-stricken face is positioned in the upper right. Across the frame to the left of her is a group of attentive neighbors dressed in black, and behind them the rugged hills as backdrop. In one expertly composed image, Leone tells the whole story.  

Leone knew how to move his camera as well. One of the most stirring moments in any Western comes when Jill first arrives in Flagstone, hoping to find her new husband waiting for her at the train station. She waits and watches in vain as the throng of passengers moves past until she finally heads into the station office. And here begins a brilliant marriage of form and content: Leone’s camera follows her to the door and then watches through the window as she asks for directions from the station agent. The agent guides her through a door on the opposite side of the building as Leone lifts his camera above the window, up the wall and over the roof, and as the music swells we get our first look at the town, all construction and bustling activity. It is the birth of the West, and we encounter it along with Jill, who is soon to become its guiding feminine life force. Indeed, it is as if the town only comes to life once she lays eyes on it. It is a shot full of the promise, the legend, the myth and the glory of the West, achieved with simple but masterful technique. 

Claudia Cardinale, as Jill, is in fact the cornerstone of the film. Though the photogenic Italian’s voice was dubbed by an actress with a better grasp of English, Cardinale was not cast simply as eye candy, but for her expressive face and her ability to project a mix of weariness and determination. In the scene at the station and again toward the end of the film, when Harmonica walks into the house only to announce his departure, Cardinale demonstrates her talent in close-ups that see her effortlessly transition from happy anticipation to crestfallen disillusionment to iron-willed perseverance. Her face is beautiful yet damaged, once by the life she has escaped and again when the life she hopes to escape to is ripped from her grasp. And again Leone demonstrates his knowledge and faith in the terrain of the human face, patiently holding the camera’s gaze on Jill as the emotional change overtakes her features.  

As the New Orleans hooker turned pioneer homesteader, Jill may at first seem like a mere variation on a stock Western character. But Leone is after something else here. Throughout the film, Jill is consistently associated with water—the water that runs beneath the dream of a town that will be known as Sweetwater; the water that will fuel the heaving, churning steam train that represents progress; the water she heats for the weary Cheyenne’s coffee; the hot bath with which she renews herself after suffering the world’s degradations; and the water she brings to the thirsty railroad workers in the film’s closing shot. She is the life force of this brave new world, the madonna that gives birth to this new land. And though the moments when her clothing is torn or barely held together by flimsy string may seem at first like simple exploitation, there is greater significance in these images. For in the end it will be her strength and determination that shine through the dust and violence, just as it is her beauty and courage that are unleashed once her dandified city clothes are torn apart, the phony veneer of sophistication and respectability giving way to the earthy mother of the West.


East Bay: Then and Now: The Shattuck Hotel: Berkeley’s Once and Future Jewel?

By Daniella Thompson
Friday October 19, 2007

If Berkeley has a heart, it must be located on the 2200 block of Shattuck Avenue between Kittredge St. and Allston Way. This is the site that Berkeley’s founder, Francis Kittredge Shattuck, chose as his homestead. 

Although the Gold Rush lured him to California, Shattuck (1824–1898) made his fortune by other means. In 1852, he teamed up with George Blake, William Hillegass, and James Leonard to file a claim on a square mile in what is now central Berkeley.  

Since the land was part of José Domingo Peralta’s Rancho San Antonio, and Domingo defended his property rights vigorously in the courts, nothing came of the claim. Shattuck ended up buying his 160-acre tract in 1860 from French-born banker François Louis Alfred Pioche. Known as Plot 68, the tract was bounded by Addison St. to the north, Russell St. to the south, Shattuck Ave. to the east, and Grove St. to the west. The streets did not yet exist. 

Living in Oakland, Shattuck—with Hillegass as his partner—opened a livery stable and entered politics. Beginning in 1853 as clerk of the Board of Trustees and proceeding through the city council, he became mayor in 1859, later serving on the County Board of Supervisors. In the 1860 census, Shattuck stated the value of his real estate at $14,000 and his personal estate at $6,000. Ten years later, his real estate was worth $75,000 and his personal estate $50,000. By then he had also branched into farming, real estate, and coal mining in the Black Diamond area. 

In 1868, Shattuck built his first Berkeley house on Shattuck Ave. between Allston and Bancroft Ways. Mansard roofed and set back from the street, the house was surrounded by spacious gardens. Two blocks to the north, at the Shattuck-Addison intersection, Shattuck built the town’s first major commercial center and helped it grow by talking the Central Pacific Railroad into extending a branch line into Berkeley. Later he founded the Commercial Bank, which would become the First National Bank of Berkeley. 

In 1891, the old Shattuck home was joined by a new Queen Anne mansion, designed by W.H. Weilbye of Oakland. The childless Francis and Rosa Shattuck shared it with his nephew, John W. Havens, and her niece, Rosa M. Livingstone, future heirs of the Shattuck fortune. 

In September 1907, the San Francisco Call announced that Berkeley capitalists had formed a company to erect a million-dollar hotel on Mrs. Shattuck’s estate. The directors were A.W. Naylor, who succeeded Shattuck as president of the First National Bank; William E. Woolsey, who had married Rosa Livingstone and managed the Shattuck estate; Judge William H. Waste, John W. Havens; and B.F. Brooks. 

“Many years ago Francis K. Shattuck, a pioneer, planned to erect a magnificent hotel in the heart of Berkeley. His death stopped the project. His plans will now be carried out by others, the consent of Mrs. Rosa Shattuck to back the enterprise having been obtained. The Shattuck grounds are spacious and covered with shrubbery and trees, making an excellent setting for a great caravansary. The new hostelry will be known as the Hotel Berkeley,” informed the Call. 

The building was expected to cost $500,000, with the grounds valued at the same amount. The capital stock was to be divided into 10,000 shares of $100 each. The term of the corporation’s life was to be 50 years. 

An architectural competition was held, and five designs were submitted to the directors. Judge William Waste announced that the winning architect “will be given six months or longer to make the plans and will be allowed to travel to secure ideas to be incorporated in the structure.” The architect chosen was Benjamin G. McDougall, who had designed many public buildings in the San Joaquin Valley. He opted for Mission Revival style, featuring square corner turrets and arched windows. 

Rosa Shattuck died on Sept. 12, 1908, the wealthiest woman in Alameda County, leaving an estate of $2 million. The homestead property, bounded by Shattuck, Allston, Milvia, and Kittredge, was deeded to Rosa Livingstone Woolsey as part of her inheritance. In April 1909, the hotel plans resurfaced, with construction slated to begin at once on an initial $125,000 building, to be followed later by a grander edifice. The five-story, reinforced concrete building would extend 80 feet along Shattuck Ave. and 150 feet on Allston Way. 

Construction began in early July 1909, and the Oakland Tribune announced that “those interested in the project state that the hotel will be a reality by Christmas time.” As it turned out, the hotel did not open until December 1910. Money for completing the project may have been short, judging by a Sept 3, 1910 Tribune item disclosing that “W.E. Woolsey, owner of the new Shattuck Hotel …, has announced that he will proceed without any further delay to furnish the hotel and will assume all responsibility for running it … Noah W. Gray, at present manager of the Hotel Jefferson in San Francisco, will be in charge of the new hotel.” The tony W. & J. Sloane Co. of San Francisco supplied the furnishings and carpets. 

The hotel opened with much pomp to a full week of festivities. A society reception on Dec. 13 was followed by a sold-out Chamber of Commerce banquet two evenings later. The banquet’s 12-course menu fittingly concluded with “Grant’s Hygienic Crackers—Made in Berkeley.”  

Joaquin Miller, the Poet of the Sierras, was one of several celebrated speakers at the banquet. He prophesied that the cities around the bay would some day be one. He also managed to shock every real estate dealer present by describing his Oakland hilltop property, The Hights [sic], as being “of no great value, for there is a stone or rock of some sort for every foot of earth and there is a gopher or squirrel for every stone, and each gopher or squirrel seems to have a large and prosperous family.” The realtors “gasped with amazement,” for “they had never heard anybody make so derogatory a statement concerning a bit of land in Alameda County.” 

The hotel was a success from its first day, and soon the directors were deliberating whether to expand. They were encouraged to do so by a dry-goods merchant named John Frederick Hink, whose store was located in the Wanger Block, on the southeast corner of Shattuck and Kittredge. In Berkeley since 1904, Hink was ready to cross the street and become the anchor tenant in a block-long Shattuck Hotel. 

The 120-room hotel addition was built in 1913 and opened the following in anticipation of the Panama-Pacific Exposition. A newspaper ad published in January 1915 promised direct electric transportation from the hotel to the exposition grounds every ten minutes. “The Hotel Shattuck is recognized as the social and civic center,” boasted the ad. 

The J.F. Hink & Son department store occupied the ground floor of the addition for seven decades. Its standard entry in early city directories listed “Dry Goods, Notions, Fancy Goods, Draperies, Domestics, Etc.” Many Hink family members worked in the store, chief among them the founder’s son, Lester William Hink, who served as president of the company until 1976. The store was sold in 1978, a year after Lester’s death, and closed during the 1980s. 

Shortly after the hotel’s new wing was completed, Noah Gray left to manage the Claremont Hotel. His position at the Shattuck was eventually assumed by the former night clerk, William W. Whitecotton (1886–1933), who purchased the hotel in 1918, naming it after himself. Having also bought the Hotel Lankershim in Los Angeles, Whitecotton moved there in 1919. In 1926, he leased the Berkeley hotel to the newly formed Whitecotton Realty Company. Several months after his death in 1933, in the depth of the Great Depression, the company went into foreclosure. 

The bondholders reorganized a year later under the name Shattuck Properties Corporation, and in 1941 sold the hotel to Levi Strauss Realty Co., which in turn leased it to Wallace and Joan Miller of the Durant Hotel. Miller renamed it the Shattuck Hotel and moved the entrance from Shattuck Avenue to Allston Way. 

Since then, the hotel changed hands a number of times, undergoing periodic facelifts yet shedding its former glory. The current owner, BPR Properties of Palo Alto, is the latest operator promising to turn the faded dowager into a four-star hotel, but the promise comes with a price—a proposed 16-story tower in the rear. 

Berkeley watches and waits. 

 

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

 

Photogrraph: Daniella Thompson. 

The Shattuck Hotel today.


The Dilemma of a Pink Bathroom

By Jane Powell
Friday October 19, 2007

By Jane Powell 

 

Pink is not my favorite color. Perhaps it comes of being a redhead—while other little girls had pink frilly dresses, mine were always yellow. I do like many things that are pink: peppermint ice cream, cotton candy, flowers, and cat noses. But I do not care for pink tile. Unfortunately, pink tile, and sometimes pink fixtures, is found in many old houses, especially those built or remodeled between about 1925 and 1960. Pink is especially common in bathrooms, and that’s what I want to address here. 

In the late teens and early 1920s, color began to creep into previously all white, sanitary bathrooms. Initially it was only as a decorative border in the tile, and all else remained white. But the introduction of colored fixtures in 1926 (one of the colors was, of course, pink) ushered in an era of wildly colored tile and fixtures in bathrooms that lasted well into the 1950s. Some of these bathrooms were fabulous, with tile in colors like jadite green, lavender, peach, yellow, or black. Often featuring art tiles previously found only on fireplaces, or elaborate borders and combinations of three or four tile colors, some of which one would think could not possibly go together, make these some of the most fabulous bathrooms you’ll ever see.  

Some of them, however, were pink. Pink is actually okay with me, provided it is combined with another color, like green, or black. Even combined with blue it’s sort of okay. But in the 1940s and 1950s it was often combined with burgundy—doesn’t work for me. And by itself, yuck. The problem is, old tile was set on a mortar bed, and demolishing it is difficult, and not ecologically sound. (Archeologists don’t call ceramics pot shards for no reason—pottery really is forever.) And often the tile is actually in really good condition, and I hate to destroy stuff that’s in good condition, even if I don’t like it. So if you’re stuck with a pink bathroom, here are a few suggestions for dealing with it that don’t involve ripping the entire thing out. 

1. Go with it. Realize that pink does wonders for your skin tone. Get pink lightbulbs, pink soap, pink towels, pink bath rugs, pink accessories. Paint the walls a light tint of the tile color. Accessorize with pink flamingoes, pink elephants, pink poodles, or whatever else you can find. 

2. Hire a decorative artist to paint a very elaborate mural on the walls above the tiles- it should contain some pink to tie in, but it should be so elaborate that no one will even notice the tile. 

3. Add black. Some black towels, black bath rugs, a black border on the curtains, and some other black accessories, maybe the addition of an Art Deco style black porcelain sconce, and your bathroom has gone from merely pink to Art Deco fabulous. (I actually used this trick on a lemon yellow 1950s bathroom—it works.) 

4. If you can’t add black, try adding green. A pale green tint is the complementary color for pink, which is a tint of red (complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel). The green should help to tone down the pinkness a bit. 

 

5. If the fixtures are also pink, it is possible to have them “re-glazed.” Technically “re-glazing” is high-tech paint, and will last anywhere from five to fifteen years, but will eventually have to be re-done. There are several companies who offer this service, including Miracle Method, Porcelain Genie, and Mr. Bathtub (yeah, it’s MISTER Bathtub to you, bub). Look for companies in the Yellow Pages under bathtub refinishing. These companies can also change the color of the tile. Another option is a company called Re-Bath, which will cover your tub with an acrylic liner. “Re-glazing” will not work with a pink toilet- you’ll have to get a new one. Nor will it work on pink floor tiles. 

 

6. There is one kind of pink tile I find particularly obnoxious, and it was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. The worst part is, it’s still being made! The company that still makes it, B and W Tile, (www.bwtile.com) calls it Ripple. I call it scabrous. It’s a mottled, textured sort of tile, which comes in pink, yellow, light blue, or tan mottling on a white background, or the reverse, white mottling on pink or other colored backgrounds. It is beyond hideous, but not in a good way. It is the original tile in some mid-century houses (Eichlers, etc.), so I guess in those houses I could make an argument for leaving it. Otherwise, I give you permission to rip it out. 

 

Besides, there are things worse than a pink bathroom. I’ve seen bathrooms with fixtures that were pea soup green, and I’ve seen tile the color of refried beans. It makes pink seem tasteful. 

 

Jane Powell is a restoration consultant and the author of Bungalow Details: Interior. Contact her at hsedressng@aol.com 

 

 


Garden Variety: A Cultural Oasis in Southwest Berkeley

By Ron Sullivan
Friday October 19, 2007

I took it as a Sign when the postcard came to the surface last week as I was attempting to get the paper stack on the office floor into order: a postcard appeared on the surface. I’d probably picked it up at the big fat garden show in the Cow Palace last month. “Gardensia: Archipelago Designs” with a southwest Berkeley address.  

It’s in one of very few such neighborhoods we have left in town, part warehouses and the sort of activity that lands between art and manufacture, part homes in various states of overgrowth and gentrification, and an actual vacant lot or two. Very quiet on a football weekend. 

Joe and I were greeted in the best possible retail manner by Sekti Artanegara and Lisa Ho and, eventually, their engaging small daughter. By “best” I mean they allowed us to mosey around for a few minutes with just a “Let us know if you’d like help,” and a decent interval of privacy with their wonderful collection of artifacts.  

Ms. Ho appeared at my elbow just in time to answer the questions we’d accumulated. We’d seen lots of familiar South Asian Buddhas (including one with a bright lei) and stone dewis and frogs but were stopped cold before several wooden doors with wonderful carvings, including a small one fronted by a man rampant atop a water buffalo’s head and holding a rooster.  

No mistaking what that is about, and indeed it’s from a granary and is one of several fertility wishes gathered in the shop. If I were of childbearing age I’d’ve doubled my protection after the visit.  

There are enough Indonesian spirit houses from birdhouse-sized to over six feet and two stories tall, the latter with imposing toupees of black palm fiber and maybe a gilded crest on top. There are carved housepoles and demon guardians—I’m heading there if there’s a quake, as it must be the safest place in town—and crests from Dayak, Timorese, and other rarely seen cultures of the Indonesian archipelago and its neighbors.  

Joe likes the Dayak sculptures with hornbill motifs: “Hornbills, large-ish tropical birds, usually sport bony casques above their beaks, carved as “hornbill ivory.” Only Dayak warriors who had taken a head were allowed to wear hornbill-ivory earrings. 

“The Iban Hornbill Festival used to precede headhunting raids; nowadays it’s held during the rice harvest. Hornbills transport the souls of the Iban dead to heaven. The Barito Dayak group see the rhinoceros hornbill as the upperworld god who, collaborating with the underworld dragon, created of the Tree of Life. 

“Hornbills are known for their unorthodox nesting behavior. A female walls herself into a tree cavity with mud and other substances, leaving only a narrow slit to receive food from her mate, and stays there until her offspring are ready to fledge. I don’t know what the Dayaks made of that, if anything. Caution: this is not a metaphor. Just a bird.” 

I like the natural sculptures—polished freestanding lianas, tree-root bowls, and wonderfully eroded teak railroad ties stood on end.  

Evidently most of Gardenisia’s customers are landscapers and architects. Why let them keep it a secret? Go visit! 

 

 

Gardenisia: Archipelago Designs 

2820—A 8th Street, Berkeley 

665-5500 

www.gardenisia.com 

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily


Quake Tip of the Week: A Big Quake and Your Phone

By Larry Guillot
Friday October 19, 2007

After the next big quake, if your phones work, use the phone and not your car! A few tips: 

• Change your voice mail message to state that you are safe  

• Before the quake, make sure that all your family knows a single relative or friend who lives outside California that you can contact to say you are fine. This way, fewer calls are needed on jammed “in-State”phone lines.  

• You may have to wait a bit longer for dial tone after a quake. Be patient. Don't just hang up and try again.  

• Keep change or a pre-paid phone card in your wallet. 

Make your home secure and your family safe. 

 

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: The Integral Urban House Book

By Matt Cantor
Friday October 19, 2007

Well, it’s happened! I’ve started a garden. Put up those slam-dancing shoes, shelved all the accouterments of an angry youth; frayed journal full of bad poetry (so bad), conga drums and King Crimson albums (in vinyl, yet!). I’m growing lettuce! 

Worse, I’m planning a chicken coop. This is not a joke. Punk rockers and American Otaku (geeks like me) everywhere will mourn. But fear not. I’m in the midst of a special sort of mid-life crisis. The resurgence of a youth mis-spent in eco-hippie-architecture school. Like a suppressed memory, all the things of my architecture wanna-be youngsterhood are coming back and it’s all Sim Van der Ryn’s fault. 

In 1969, Sim, now a professor of many years at U.C. Berkeley founded (along with urban gardeners Bill and Helga Olkowski among others) the Farallones Institute. Within a few years this long-haired band of eco-warriors had acquired a victorian in West Berkeley (5th Street near Jones if memory serves) and began a series of experiments in sustainable urban living. The toilet, a Clivus Multrum, was my favorite of the many living experiments.  

Sim had published a book on toilets (The Toilet Papers: Recycling Waste and Conserving Water Ecological Design Press) and their ecological problem in the 1970s and the ultimate emotional challenge to our conception of shelter was to toss the toilet back out of the house (it only made it inside about 60 years earlier). The Clivus was a composting toilet built largely of concrete block that would, over a course of months, turn human waste into useable compost, although they felt it best to use it in non-edible gardening. I have little doubt that the city inspectors were apoplectic over the installation of the Clivus. 

The house also featured bee keeping, chicken farming and a rabbit hutch. Food waste was used to feed animals and eventually, animals became food. This was much more than architecture. It was a revision in how we looked at city living. The idea that we could live rarefied existences, divorced of the impact of our actions, of the sources of our food, water and energy were tossed out. Social responsibility was brought home to roost, as it were. Of course, if you were Amish, this was no big deal. They and many like them had been doing this for a long time.  

Nonetheless, the ‘50s had taught Americans that we could consume as hungrily as we pleased and never look to see where the sewer dumped out. 

As one might imagine the house also featured intensive recycling, remodeling using scrap materials and water, heated with solar panels. Cooking was sometimes done with a solar oven and fish were grown in a small pond in the backyard, assisted by the wind through the use of a Savonius Rotor, a home-made wind turbine constructed from 55 gallon drums. I’ll stop but I think you get the point.  

A book was born alongside the house called, not surprisingly, the Integral Urban House (Sierra Club Books 1979). The book is currently out of print but enough calls to the publisher and I’m sure we can get it brought back. What’s particularly intriguing about this book is that it’s not just a study of ecological living, rather, it is a how-to, replete with diagrams on how to terminate a bunny, keep bees and build your own solar water heating panels. 

During these giddy years, Sim was elevated to the post of California State Architect by our then, Hippie-in-Chief, Governor Jerry Brown (‘75-‘83). 

Brown, a Jesuit seminarian at 20, dropped out, tuned in and turned onto politics, following in his father’s footsteps (“Pat” Brown) as the bleary ‘60s became the bold ‘70s.  

When Jerry became governor in ‘74 (succeeding Reagan, thank Lord Shiva), he brought with him a dedication to the environment and an fervor for democracy beyond anything this state had probably ever seen. Gov. Brown created an office of appropriate technology (yes, this is the past, not the future) and appointed James (“J”) Baldwin to run it.  

Baldwin was a student of Buckminster Fuller and an industrial designer who had made a name for himself in environmental design employing the new “alterative” energies of sun and wind. Baldwin also worked for Steward Brand’s Whole Earth Catalogue. Brand was plucked by Brown to function as special adviser in his administration, further psychedelisizing his already severely “Moon-beamed” gubernatorial oeuvre.  

As creator of the Whole Earth Catalogue and later the CoEvolution Quarterly, Brand sought to make information accessible to the masses at a time when “internet” was as yet unuttered by anyone. In fact, Brand was a founding member of the well (a very early electronic bulletin board), the first two letters of which mean … Whole Earth (the last two mean ‘Lectronic Link). Pretty cool, eh. 

These years were ones in which environmental standards, energy standards and handicapped standards for building took tremendous strides… but this is all 30 years ago. 

Though we continue to make progress on the backs of these important innovators, I’m concerned that consumerism and complacency have replaced zeal and moral drive. If we can set construction aside for a moment, let’s take a look at cars.  

I’m sure many of you have noticed that the excitement around improved gas mileage in the 1970’s has fallen fairly flat on it’s face. Every Hummer I see reminds me that Americans once again care more about the look-good than they do about the planet. 

Even the best of our leaders are forced to talk about “energy independence” or “energy security” as a way of inducing reforms, since it’s just too “moon-beam” (that’s what right-wingers called Jerry during his governorship) to say that we need to reduce our oil consumption for the longevity of the ecosphere. I guess that’s too sissy. 

Similarly, the Altamont Wind Farm, started under Brown, sat almost lifeless for most of the Deukmejian and Wilson administrations. Only now, are they once again being upgraded to larger, safer and more effective units, while Germany (6 percent wind power) and Holland (18.5 percent) kick our Eco-butts. How’s that for “energy security?”  

I tend to think that these countries are: a) very interested in the future of their people and b) invested in living on a planet with a similar ecosystem in 100 years. I’m pretty sure that these are not major objectives in the U.S. halls of power.  

But, as usual, I digress. Sim Van der Ryn and his earnest colleagues have moved on to other places now doing other things and sadly, the Integral Urban House is now… just a house. The experiment could not sustain itself and I guess we all had to take the blue pill and go back to making believe that everything would continue to be fine no matter how we lived, who we killed or how much oil we burned. (For those who’ve never seen The Matrix, the protagonist is offered the chance to wake up to the truth by taking a red pill or go back into his waking sleep by taking a blue one). 

Used copies of the IUH book can still be found (ISBN 0871562138) and it’s just about as exciting and challenging to our way of life today as it was 28 years ago. Copies are available at several of those nasty online places (I just checked) and, if you search, you might just find a local bookseller that’s got one as well. 

Our lettuce is coming up nicely and it’s surprising how touching and beautiful it is to pick some leaves from the garden, go upstairs and share a meal. The coop is still in design phase but it’ll come, as will the chickens. I’m not sure how I feel about bees but I like honey so I’ll have to think about it. This is adult stuff. Like G.W. says, it’s “hard work” and it takes time to bring myself to it.  

I’m lazy, scared and doubtful but I am certain that small acts do matter. So if you’ll excuse me, I need to find something to drink. These red pills are pretty nasty if you don’t have something to wash them down with. 

 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net.


Berkeley This Week

Friday October 19, 2007

FRIDAY, OCT. 19 

Iraq Moratorium Friday March from the West Oakland BART Station to downtown Oakland. Meet at 2:30 p.m., march begins at 3 p.m. www.bayareacodepink.org 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon Speaker to be announced. Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“Designing California Native Gardens; The Plant Community Approach to Artful, Ecological Gardens” with Alrie Middlebrook and Dr. Glenn Keator at 7:30 p.m. at Builder's Booksource, 1817 Fourth St. 845-6874. 

“AIDS in the Black Community” A forum, with film screening, at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. Free. 836-4649. 

“An Unreasonable Man” Conscientious Projector Series documentary on Ralph Nader at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. 841-4824. 

Iraq Moratorium Action from 2 to 4 p.m. at the corner of University and Acton. Sponsored by the Strawberry Creek Lodge Tenants Assoc. and the Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

“10 Questions for the Dalai Lama” A documentary by Rick Ray, at 7:30 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. 528-8844. www.unityberkeley.org 

“Intro to Fearless Meditation: Practice of the Body” at 7 p.m. at Center for Urban Peace, 2584 Martin Luther King Jr Way. Suggested Donation $20 - $30, no one turned away. 549-3733. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

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, OCT. 20 

Berkeley Downtown Goals & Policies Workshop The community is invited to comment on the proposals for new Downtown Plan from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Berkeley High School Library, Allston and Milvia St. Draft chapters of the plan are available at www.cityofberkeley.info/dap 

Fall Harvest Walk Join the Berkeley Path Wanderers on an easy, level walk to Berkeley community and school gardens. Meet at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley BART station, just outside the gates. 528-3246. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Open The Farm Meet and greet the animals at the Little Farm in Tilden Park as you help the farmer with morning chores, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. 525-2233. 

Berkeley School of the Madeleine Fall Festival with a Haunted House, games, white elephant sale, food and live music from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1225 Milvia St. at Henry & Berryman streets. www.themadeleine.com 

Berkeley Historical Society Tour of Downtown Berkeley from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. To register and for meeting place call 848-0181. 

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/ 

walkingtours 

Chapel of the Chimes Historical and Botanical Tour at 10 a.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. RSVP to 228-3207. 

East Bay Native Plant Fair Sat. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sun. from noon to 3 p.m. at Native Here Nursery, 101 Golf Course Drive. Free.  

The New School of Berkeley Halloween Bazaar, with children's games, giant rummage sale, book sale, crafts, haunted house, and more from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1606 Bonita St. at Cedar. Proceeds support the New School’s scholarship fund. 548-9165.  

East Bay Regional Park District Ambassador Training from 9 a.m. to noon at the Trudeau Center, 11500 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. Registration required. 544-2206. cjohnson@ebparks.org 

Tibetan Association Celebrates the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to His Holiness the Dalai Lama at 6 p.m. at Golden Gate Fields, 1100 Eastshore Highway. Tickets are $50. RSVP to 390-6771, 206-0247. 

California Writers Club “Literary Voices from our Community” with Gurnam Brard and Anjuelle Floyd, at 10 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square. 272-0120. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

Ongoing Vocal Jazz Workshop Sat. from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Abany Community Center, 1249 Marin at the corner of Masonic, Albany. 524-6797. 

Free Car Seat Check from 10 a.m. to noon at the Allston Way Parking Garage, between Harold Way and Shattuck Ave. 647-1111. 

Fire Safety Day Meet a firefighter at 11 a.m. at Habitot Children’s Museum, 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. 

“Tropical Rainforests: Challenges and New Hopes” A forum from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $15-$30. For information call 415-321-8000.  

Chapel of the Chimes Historical and Botanical Tour at 10 a.m. at 4499 Piedmont Ave. RSVP to 228-3207. 

Old Oakland Outdoor Cinema “Babe” at sunset on Ninth St., between Broadway and Washington. Free, bring your own chair and blanket. 238-4734. 

Full Houses: Poker Tournament to benefit Impact Theatre at 7 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. $50 buy in, with unlimited $25 rebuys until 9 p.m. 464-4468. 

“Destination Studies Class on Eastern Europe” from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St. Cost is $10. 981-2931. 

“Restoring the Heart of Change” Daylong retreat with Kyodo Willilliams at Center for Urban Peace, 2584 MLK Jr Way. Cost is $25. 549-3733. 

“Spirit Never Dies” An evening of communing with those that have passed over at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Psychic Institute, 2018 Allston Way. Cost is $20. 644-1600 . 

SUNDAY, OCT. 21 

United Nations Day Celebration with a parade of the flags of the 193 member nations at 11:30 a.m. at Jack London Square, Oakland.  

Bike Tour of Oakland around Oakland’s Brooklyn neighborhood on a leisurely paced two-hour tour that covers about five miles. Meet at 10 a.m. at the 10th St. entrance to the Oakland Museum of California. Reservations required. 238-3514.  

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby and Stuart. Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. Rain cancels. 526-7377. 

Hope Walks Fundraiser A walk for all ages to benefit Global Strategies for HIV Prevention and Children of Grace in Uganda. Check in at 1 p.m., Walk from 2 to 4 p.m. at Faculty Glade, UC Campus. www.hopewalks.org/berkeley 

“Confronting Cambodia’s Wildlife Crisis” A presentation and discussion with Wildlife Alliance at 11:30 a.m. at Morgan Lounge, Room 114, Morgan Hall, UC Campus. RSVP to 202-223-6350. miller@wildlifealliance.org 

Greening Richmond Learn about global warming and what residents and business owners can do. Information tables on lighting, appliances, solar panels, tank-less water heaters, insulation and more. From 1 to 5 p.m. at DeJean Middle School, 3400 Mac Donald, Richmond. www.greenchamberofcommerce.net 

Green Sunday “Stem Cell and Cloning Research Controversies: Developing a Green Position” with Diane Beeson, and Tina Stevens at 5 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. 

El Cerrito Historical Society with Richard Schwartz on his new book “Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley” at 1 p.m. at the El Cerrito Senior Center, 6510 Stockton Ave. behind the El Cerrito Library. 526-7507. www.elcerritowire.com/history 

Holiday Gourd Crafting Learn the history of gourds, and how to create a fall centerpiece for your table from 1 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Cost is $20-$29. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Community Music Day at Crowden Music Center, with an instrument petting zoo, mini-concerts with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and more, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. ccmc@crowden.org 

Day of the Dead Community Celebration with music, dance, ceremonia, activities, and food, from noon to 5 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Reservations required. 238-2022. 

“Celebrating the Fabric of Our Lives” A presentation and exhibition of quilts from 2 to 4 p.m. at Salem Lutheran Home, 2361 East 29th St., Oakland. 534-3637. 

East Bay Atheists Annual Picnic from noon to 4:30 p.m. at Big Leaf Picnic Area, Tilden Park. Please bring a dish to share; we provide utensils, beer and soft drinks, and burgers and hot dogs. 222-7580. eastbayatheists.org 

Friends & Family Day at the Magnes from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. 549-6950. www.magnes.org 

“10 Questions for the Dalai Lama” A documentary by Rick Ray, at 7:30 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Cost is $10. 528-8844.  

Free Sailboat Rides from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club, Berkeley Marina. Wear warm, waterproof clothing and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. www.cal-sailing.org 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair Class Learn how to repair a flat. Bring your bicycle and tools. At 10 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Marx and the United States” with Urszula Wislanka and Ron Kelch at 10 a.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave, Oakland. 595-7417. www.tifcss.org 

“Activating Present-Moment Awareness” with Marion Pastor and David Curry at 10 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Elizabeth Cook on “Sacred Places of the Buddha: Birth of Enlightenment” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, OCT. 22 

“Viokence on the Streets” A law enforcement awareness forum, with film screening, at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. Free. 836-4649. 

“Frontiers in Climate Forecasting” with Bill Collins of LBNL at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St. 486-7292. 

Teen Chess Club meets at 3:30 p.m. at the Claremont Branch of the Berkeley Public Library, Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6280. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, OCT. 23 

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 Miller/Knox Keller Beach. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

“Oil, Gas, and Global Warming: Youth Confronting America’s Petroleum Addiction” with recent recipients of the Brower Youth Award at 6 p.m. at Free Speech Movement Cafe, Moffitt Library, UC Campus. 643-6445. 

“Party Planning for the Holidays” Benefit for Alameda County Community Food Bank with Barbara Llewellyn and Ron Morgan from 10 a.m. to noon at the Food Bank, 7900 Edgewater Drive, Oakland. Tickets are $20, plus a canned food donation, and includes continental breakfast and a guided tour of the facility. 635-3663. www.accfb.org 

“Who Are the Real Fascists?” a panel discussion on the assault on critical thinking at US universities at 8 p.m. at 145 Dwinelle, UC Campus. 848-1196. 

Berkeley High School Governance Council meets at 4:15 p.m. at Berkeley Community Theater Lobby. Topics include School Governance Council Officers, BSEP Officers, ELL Budget. 644-4803. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library. 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

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, OCT. 24 

Birding with the Golden Gate Audubon Society at Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park in Oakland. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large spherical cage near Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevue. 834-1066. 

Walking Tour of Jack London Waterfront Meet at 10 a.m. at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Senior Housing Crisis: How to Fight Back” with Rae Mary, Berkeley Housing, and Jesse Arreguin, Housing Advocate, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, Corner of MLK. Sponsored by the Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative with guest speaker, Martin Borque, executive director of the Ecology Center, at 6:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Potluck. 548-2220. 

“Sabotaging Education” How workplace bullying and psychological abuse can undermine students’ education with William Lepowsky at 10 a.m. at Room G-209 at Laney College, 8th and Fallon Streets, Oakland. 464-3181. 

“From Seed to Supper with Mollie Katzen and Friends” at 6:30 p.m. at Windrush School, Multipurpose Room, 1800 Elm St., El Cerrito. Free. 970-7580. http://windrush.org 

“Nuestro Petroleo y Otros Cuentos” A documentary on the oil and coal industries in Venezuela at 8 p.m. at Long Haul Infoshop, 3124 Shatttuck Ave. www.thelonghaul.org 

“An Evening with Elvia Alvarado” Honduran human rights activist and peasant leader at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. at 27th, Oakland. Cost is $5-$20 sliding scale. 1-800-838-3006. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will have a nature scavenger hunt from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Black Cat Pocket Pals Crafts inspired by the book for ages 8 and up at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 4th floor, Children’s Department. 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223.  

An Introduction to Marxism, a free class for beginners and students at every level from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 595-7417.  

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Day Open House from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the AIMC Berkeley, 2550 Shattuck Ave. at Blake. 684-2552. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets t 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. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

THURSDAY, OCT. 25 

Birding with the Golden Gate Audubon Society at the Albany Mudflats at Eastshore State Park, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. For meeting place call 540-8749. 

Oakland Bird Club with Allan Ridley and Helen McKenna-Ridley on “The Anatomy of Flying” at 7:30 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, Rockridge Branch, 5366 College Ave. 444-0355. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll have a nature scavenger hunt from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will have a nature scavenger hunt from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Halloween Stories and Songs for Preschoolers at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda, at Hopkins. 981-6250.  

Election 2008: Presidential Forum with representatives from the Clinton, Obama and Edwards Campaings at the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, at 6:45 p.m at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. 

“The Eccentrics of 19th Century Downtown Berkeley” with author Richard Schwartz at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Reception to follow. Tickets are $15. Sponsored by Berkeley Architectural Heritage Assoc. 841-2242. www.berkeleyheritage.com 

“Seeking Palestinian-Israeli Peace” A discussion with Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas, Women’s Centre for Legal Aid & Counseling, Jerusalem; Anan Attiri, Director, Nablus Governorate; Naava Eisin, Director of the Archives of Jewish Education at Tel Aviv Univ.; Molly Malekar, Director of Bat Shalom of the Jerusalem Link and Jessica Neuwirth, Founding President, Equality Now, at 5 p.m. at Goldman School of Public Policy, Room 150, LeRoy Ave. entrance near Hearst. 

DataCenter’s 30th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and Reception to honor the DataCenter and its partners at 6 p.m. at Historic Sweet’s Ballroom, 1933 Broadway, Oakland Tickets are $100 per person, $50 per grassroots organizer, RSVP required. 839-3100.  

“Words of Hope” A discussion led by Stop the Traffik featuring the book “Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

“Global Awakenings: Communities that Work for Everyone” An evening with Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, founder of the Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka, at Alta Bates Health Education Center, 400 Hawthone Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $10. www.bpf.org 

“Homeschooling 101” with parents and young people from Family Village, Berkeley, and Alameda Oakland Home Learners at 7:30 p.m. at Grace North Church, 1938 Cedar St. 895-2312. 

Easy Does It (EDI) Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. www.easyland.org 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ONGOING 

Donate the Fruit From Your Fruit Trees We will gladly pick and deliver your fruit to community programs that feed school kids, the elderly, the homebound and the hungry. The fruit trees should be located in or very near North Berkeley and the fruit should be organic (no pesticides) and edible. This is a volunteer/grassroots thing so join in!! Please email northberkeleyharvest@gmail.com or 812-3369. 

Bay-Friendly Gardening Offers Discounted Compost Bins to Alameda County residents. In addition to the bins, they also offer free workshops, videos, brochures, and answers to your compost questions. To order a bin or for free information about composting, visit www.BayFriendly.org or call the compost information hotline 444-7645. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission Community Workshop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Berkeley High School Library, Allston and Milvia. 981-7487. 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., Oct. 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5158.  

Zero Waste Commission Mon., Oct. 22, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. 981-6368.  

City Council meets Tues., Oct. 23, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6601. 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484. 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Oct. 25, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213. 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Oct. 25 at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7410.