Opinion

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. -more-

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. -more-

WEST BERKELEY -more-

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? -more-

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.” -more-

Editors, Daily Planet: -more-

ACTIVISTS -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-