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Mando, one of the last four tree-sitters to come down last week, talks to reporters during a Wednesday morning press conference.
By Richard Brenneman
Mando, one of the last four tree-sitters to come down last week, talks to reporters during a Wednesday morning press conference.
 

News

In Busy Night, Council Tackles Condominium Conversion, Wood Smoke, And Recreation Fees

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Wednesday September 24, 2008 - 03:03:00 PM

It was a busy, eclectic night at Berkeley City Hall Tuesday, with the Berkeley City Council moving forward on a range of issues, including changing the city’s condominium conversion mitigation fees, establishing citizen nuisance wood smoke abatement procedures, and raising recreation fees. 

In addition, the council halted further consideration of blanket deferrals of building permit fees for new construction in the city, while asking staff to come back with recommendations for possible deferral of sewer hookup permit fees. 

The thorniest issue was condominium conversion, where the council considered a complicated staff recommendation for revisions in the amount of fees charged to convert dwellings to condominiums, as well as the process by which those fees are determined.  

The purpose of the condominium conversion fee—set by the Council in 2005 at 12.5 percent of the sale price of the unit to be converted—is both to help the city add back affordable rental housing that was lost in the condominium conversion, as well as to give the city a share in some of the windfall accrued by new condominium owners for the raise in property values caused by the conversion. 

There was general agreement among the council, staff and residents speaking at the meeting that the current conversion fee is probably too high and that the city approval procedures are too complicated. But there was little agreement on how much to charge, or exactly what parts of the procedure to streamline or change. 

In the end, the council agreed to submit for staff consideration several issues suggested by Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, including cutting the conversion mitigation fee to 8 percent and putting aside some of the funds for first-time homeowners assistance. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz said that staff would bring the new set of recommendations back to the council sometime in October. 

 

In other action on Tuesday, the Council: 

• Approved on first reading an ordinance setting up a conflict resolution system for residents with complaints about neighbors’ wood smoke. 

Under the new ordinance, direct neighbors within 120 feet of the source of wood smoke who complained of a problem would be allowed to go through a procedure of mediation and binding arbitration and then, if necessary, litigation in Superior Court. 

Staff said it receives between 30 to 40 complaints each year about problems with neighbors’ wood smoke. 

• Raised fees at City of Berkeley camps—including Berkeley Tuolumne, Echo Lake, Cazadero Arts, and Berkeley Day—to pay for a new online camp registration system and increased maintenance costs due to code compliance issues at Echo Lake and Tuolumne.  

Under the new structure, one-week day camp youth camp fees for Berkeley residents would rise from $99 to $135, while daily family camp fees at Tuolomne would rise from $88 to $96 for adults, $60 to $65 for youth 7 to 14, and $45 to $49 for children.  

Staff said recommendations for fee raises for other Berkeley recreation programs will be submitted later this council session.  


Community Crime Meeting Reveals Sharp Tensions

By Richard Brenneman
Wednesday September 24, 2008 - 01:11:00 PM

Beneath the heated rhetoric and sharp divisions, one fact emerged from a Monday night meeting between Berkeley police, city officials and residents: The desire for a police force that is engaged with the community on a day-to-day basis. 

A standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 packed the community room at San Pablo Park’s Frances Albrier Community Center both to hear from officialdom and to vent their frustrations in the wake of a pair of murders and a rash of subsequent shootings in southwest Berkeley. 

While many of the complaints fell along racial fault lines, the common thread in the concerns was anxiety about personal safety, with threats perceived both from young men often connected with gangs and the drug trade and from law enforcement officers themselves, viewed with distrust as an occupying force. 

There was a heavy police presence both at the meeting and during the candlelight vigil and march that preceded it down the streets from a sidewalk-side shrine for one of the dead shooting victims on Derby Street near the corner of Sacramento Street to the gathering place in the park. 

But of the seven uniformed police at the front of the room, only one was African American, a point noted by more than one speaker. 

Four city councilmembers attended, though only three—area representatives Max Anderson and Darryl Moore along with Mayor Tom Bates—sat at the speakers’ table, while Gordon Wozniak watched from the audience. 

The immediate cause for Monday’s meeting was the exchange of gunfire on Derby Street in the opening minutes of Thursday morning that left Kelvin Earl Davis, a 23-year-old Berkeley man, mortally wounded along the curbside and 42-year-old Oakland resident Kevin Antoine Parker dead nearby behind the wheel of his wrecked car. 

Berkeley Police Chief Douglas Hambleton said the department’s “very strict policy” barred the release of detailed information about the results of an ongoing investigation, but Lt. Andrew Greenwood offered some details both about the double killings and the shootings that have followed. 

Greenwood said police had arrived at the scene within three minutes of the first 911 call, and that upwards of 40 officers responded in the early phases of the case. 

“Our sense is that these two people were the focus of an attack. That essentially defines where we’re at,” he said. 

Three hours later, a neighborhood house was hit by at least one bullet. “We are unclear whether it was purposefully hit,” he said, or whether it was struck incidental to another event that may have been happening on the street. 

The next shooting followed at 10:15 p.m. Thursday night, when a woman taking out the trash from her residence across the street from the scene of the double murders was shot in the abdomen. Though seriously wounded, she is expected to recover, Greenwood said. 

More than 20 officers responded in that incident, with the first arriving within two-and-a-half minutes of the first call, he said. The target in that incident may have been the crowd that had gathered around the memorial where Monday night’s march began. 

Yet another shooting followed at 9:04 a.m. Friday in the 1400 block of Russell Street. Greenwood said no one had yet come forward to offer information about that shooting. 

 

Citywide crisis 

“This is a citywide problem,” said Max Anderson, who represents western South Berkeley. “In the early part of the ‘90s there was a fire in the hills that was threatening our community,” he said. “Now there’s a fire in the flatlands that’s threatening out community. We need to extinguish that fire. We need to find some solutions.” 

“We want to take back the streets,” said Moore, who represents southern West Berkeley. 

“Two homicides is two too many,” said the mayor. “We also can’t tolerate not being safe on the streets.” 

Hambleton said the department is “trying to make the city as safe as possible” buy adding additional patrols and overtime to patrol the area while encouraging officers assigned to other areas of the city to come to the troubled neighborhoods when they need to spend time writing their reports or when otherwise able to spend time in the area. 

The chief said that because of “the direct connection between violence and drugs,” the department has 13 officers and support personnel assigned to the department's drug unit and has been implementing neighborhood watch programs. 

One strong area of divisions emerging from the public discussion was the response to the impromptu memorials that are erected along the streets in the wake of shootings. The tableaux that result often feature empty liquor bottles and gang graffiti, and Hambleton said he was also concerned because of drinking that occurs among those who gather at the site. 

Police policy is to order the removal of the objects after 48 hours if they’re on public property—or sooner if complaints arise. “But we don’t have jurisdiction over private property,” he said, adding that police had recently worked with property owners over several memorials in the area. 

While some in the audience urged a strict no-memorial policy, others agreed with a woman who called out, “We need our memorials!” 

One 12-year resident of the same block that had seen the two murders and the shooting at the memorial said she had attended a very similar meeting five years earlier, called after a neighborhood boy “was shot off his bike.” 

“Each time there’s a meeting, there’s this great promise there’ll be extra police,” she said. She said she was also concerned “because there’s drug dealing going on all over Sacramento Street,” with no police action even though both officers and community members are aware of it. 

But another man said police “just don’t treat the young men with respect,” adding to the officers on hand, “Don’t be racist pigs.” Still, he said, he had seen “a lot of progress” in police attitudes. 

While much of the discussion followed racial lines, there were no hard and fast rules, as indicated by the remarks of two African American woman who spoke in succession. 

The first, who identified herself as the aunt of one of the murder victims, said she had been repeatedly harassed by police, as had her nephew, telling officers, “I blame you all for my nephew’s death.” 

But she was followed by another woman, also African American, who said, “Nowadays we are afraid of our own children.” 

Angry shouts and loud applause punctuated the meeting as speaker after speaker rose to address the crowd, and at one point Bates literally tried to call “Time out! Time out!” 

One of the most poignant comments came from a young African American man who said he had been raised in a house police designated a crack house by a mother who was hooked on the drug. Describing himself as a “terror” during childhood, he said he was rescued by the mother of a classmate—“a white lady from the Berkeley Hills.” With her help, he said, he had turned his life around, graduating form high school with honors and going on to win a psychology degree from Tuskegee. 

And the one clear consensus emergency from the meeting was the call for a police presence that was constant, trustworthy and familiar—and not just a surge dispatched to fight the emergency of the moment, as well as the need for a deeper and ongoing communication between members of a deeply divided community struggling with the specter of rising violence. 

Berkeley has seen so many homicides this year that police press releases have stopped offering a year-to-date total. 

In the years since 1998, the highest number of homicides for the city until this year was logged in 2002, when seven people died at the hands of others. The lowest number was recorded in 2001, with a single homicide listed by the FBI. The total for 2007 was five. 

The 2002 figure had been matched by the end of May—or exceeded by one if an officer-involved fatal shooting is added to the total. There have been three murders since. 

 

 

 

 


Berkeley Thai Temple to Ask ZAB to Allow Year-Round Sunday Brunch

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday September 23, 2008 - 02:16:00 PM

Wat Mongkolratanaram will be back Thursday at the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board meeting to request a use permit modification which will allow the 33-year old Buddhist temple to serve its disputed yet exceedingly popular Sunday brunch throughout the year. 

The current permit, issued in 1993, limits the temple at 1911 Russell St. to serving food only three times annually. 

When the temple’s volunteers approached the zoning board in April for a permit to build a new Buddha shrine, a group of neighbors complained that the Thai Temple was running a commercial restaurant business in the guise of serving meals to its followers, bringing trash and congestion to the area. 

The monks at the temple responded that the Sunday brunch ritual was a centuries-old Thai tradition, in return for which they often asked for donations. 

After investigating the allegations, zoning officials announced in June that the Berkeley Thai Temple had repeatedly exceeded the number of events allowed by its use permit. 

Although no one was able to ascertain just how long the temple had been violating its permit, the board agreed to give the temple a chance to modify the original permit and address neighborhood concerns. 

Board members also suggested mediation, the most recent of which was held on Aug. 6. 

Thai Temple volunteers and Oregon, Ward Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way residents met with Victor Herbert of East Bay Community Mediation three times since June, following which they came to an agreement only about the entrance to the new sanctuary. 

No common ground was achieved over the frequency of the brunches or the crowds they attracted, Herbert said. 

The temple has addressed concerns of some neighbors about the early morning cooking by starting at 8 a.m. It has also cut down on the brunch hours, starting now at 10 a.m. instead of 9:30 a.m. and closing the food stalls an hour earlier than before, at 1 p.m. 

“It was the best kept secret in town, or maybe the worst kept secret,” Herbert said of the Thai Temple’s Sunday festivities. “This is a situation that affects a large number of neighbors, some of whom enjoy the availability of food, and some of whom oppose it, and some of whom may be indifferent. Ours was an attempt to see if there were grounds for mutual accommodation.” 

Among the list of 19 neighbors who signed a petition demanding that the zoning board shut down the Sunday brunch was Tom Rough, whose house abuts the temple boundaries. 

In an e-mail to project planner Greg Powell, Rough quoted from recent reviews of Wat Mongkolratanaram’s weekend brunch on yelp.com, which described “ridiculously long lines” and “super packed” tables on Sundays, to argue that the temple’s efforts to scale down its operations had been ineffective. 

“The neighbors have complained,” Rough wrote. “They have put forth a good faith in mediation. With the temple’s failure to change their food service sufficiently to satisfy our complaint, the city has a responsibility to act.” 

On a recent Sunday afternoon, more than 50 people were turned away because the temple ran out of pad Thai and mango sticky rice almost an hour before the monks declared brunch officially over. 

The remaining 200 who got to stay squeezed into every nook and cranny possible inside the temple, at times spilling over into the adjacent South Berkeley Library lawns to feast on what some described as “the best Thai food ever.” 

“It would be a shame if it shut down,” said Cindy Hann, who has been coming to the Thai Temple for the past two years from Moraga. “I think the temple is really trying to be a good neighbor.” 

Thai grandmothers in faded gray aprons ladled out soup and red curry chicken to Cindy’s daughter Ellen and then helped 10 other people in less than five minutes. 

In the next canopy, Thai youngsters performed a Thai folk dance in pink and purple sarees, their parents bustling around to applaud their performance. 

Sakchai Himathongkham, a volunteer at the Thai Temple, said there was no way of telling how many people turned up at the temple every Sunday. 

The donations from the brunch sponsored teachers from Thailand who came to the United States to teach Thai and also subsidized tuition for locals who came to learn Thai at the temple school, he said. 

“The cost of airfare alone from Thailand to the U.S. is $1,5OO,” he said. “Then there’s cost of living on top of that.” 

Siwaraya Rochanahusdin, who teaches intermediate and advanced Thai to children and adults at the temple, said a large number of Thai Americans from the East Bay sent their children to the temple school to learn Thai and traditional music and dance. 

“The older generation of Thais who settled in America long ago want their grandchildren to be culturally sensitive,” she said. “They want to speak to them in Thai. We all want this issue to be resolved as quickly as possible. We don’t see it as the neighbors versus the temple. We are all part of the community together.” 

Himathongkham described the Temple as a place for people from different walks of life to come together over food. 

“It’s like the Berkeley Bowl or the Saturday Flea Market,” he said. “I think of this as a good opportunity for the city to look at the conditions of an urban neighborhood. To look at how we can come together and work on traffic flow and improving dialogues with each other. There’s a lot of misunderstanding since we speak a different language and come from a different culture. But we are working together to make things OK.” 

Helge Osterhold, a neighbor, lined up at one of the stalls to exchange dollar bills for red and green tokens, the preferred form of currency at the temple. 

“Most people love the Thai temple,” he said. “It’s a place of integration. I come here every other week and just love it. It brings stability to our neighborhood. Just a few blocks down there’s gangs and drug dealers hanging about. I think some neighbors are just blowing this out of proportion.” 

The ZAB will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.


Off-Campus Hazing Escalates at Berkeley High

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Monday September 22, 2008 - 09:21:00 PM

It’s called the case of the “Freshman Fridays” at Berkeley High: Seniors tossing eggs at ninth-graders when they leave school or sports practice, sometimes hitting them in the face. 

Old timers refer to it as an “unfortunate tradition,” but most victims and their parents call it assault. 

The sudden rise in off-campus hazing this fall prompted Berkeley High School Principal Jim Slemp to send an e-mail to the community on Sept. 15 advising students to remain alert when they leave campus or simply stay put at school during lunch. 

“The number of incidents of older students hazing freshmen by throwing raw eggs at them on Fridays seems to be on the increase off of our campus,” Slemp’s message, sent out on the district’s e-tree, said. “Parents should be aware that hazing is not tolerated on the Berkeley High campus. Unfortunately, we do not have control over what happens off campus ... I have addressed the student body at Berkeley High on this issue. Our security officers are alert to the problem.” 

School officials, Slemp’s e-mail said, had heard reports of students “being egged” on Shattuck and Solano avenues and Marin Circle. 

“We also have no influence over students from other schools—such as those from Albany and Piedmont high schools who were recently caught by the Berkeley Police throwing eggs at our students,” Slemp wrote. 

Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Andrew Frankel told the Planet he was not aware of hazing incidents off campus, involving either Berkeley High students or those from different schools. 

“This is the first I have heard of it,” he said. “The sergeant in charge of youth services hadn’t heard of it either. One of our patrol officers might have taken the students back to the school and maybe that’s why we never heard anything. We don’t have a policy for incidents like this. We deal with them on a case by case basis. But we will definitely investigate it if it involves physical abuse.” 

Piedmont High School Principal Randall Booker said he did not know that his students were involved in hazing incidents directed at Berkeley High students. 

“The first time I heard about it was when someone alerted me to Slemp’s e-mail,” he told the Planet on Friday. “I asked him to forward me names of the students who were caught, but I haven’t got anything so far. I did get a call from Berkeley High’s Dean of Students Alejandro Ramos but he wasn’t able to provide any names either.” 

Booker said he had not heard of any hazing incidents at Piedmont High since he took over as principal six years ago. 

“It’s a small school and people know each other,” he said, explaining that the high school had a population of 800. 

Calls to Slemp, Ramos and district superintendent Bill Huyett for comment were not returned. 

Mark Van Krieken, president of the Berkeley High Parent Teacher and Student Association, said the problem worsened last fall, and in some cases included victims that were beyond freshman year. 

“Last year around this time there was a huge increase,” he said. “Kids were going after the freshmen on Fridays. Eleventh-graders were going after the 10th-graders. This year it seems to have jumped up again. At east one 10th-grader has been attacked multiple times when he comes out of cross country team practices. There are kids hanging outside to get at him.” 

In his e-mail, Slemp directed students and parents to call the campus intervention officer or the Berkeley Police Department to report future incidents. 

Multiple postings on the Berkeley Parents Network complained about the incidents and called on school authorities to take action against it. 

“My daughter is a new freshman at BHS, and she reports that ‘how to avoid eggs’ is the major topic of conversation,” wrote “Disappointed in BHS.” 

“What a waste of time and energy,” the parent wrote. “Sounds to me like unnecessary hazing, adding to the general stress caused by unresponsive counselors and incorrect schedules. Also, an egg was thrown at me once on a Berkeley street (I’m an adult) and it really hurt. Berkeley High administrators should crack down.” 

Another parent wrote that while her son occasionally indulged in private “food-throwing hijinks” with his friends at high school, “organized humiliation targeting specific people” was bullying. 

“Look at the lessons these senior bullies are teaching,” she wrote. “That it’s OK to target specific people for ridicule and exclusion, it’s OK to act like a thug if you are in a superior position, and if a superior targets you, you have to take it.” 

Berkeley Board of Education chair John Selawsky said he had witnessed students getting egged. 

“It was just last week,” he just. “The egg ended up on a car. But it’s not just this year or last year, It’s been going on for years. But it’s hardly harmless. On some level it can be viewed as an assault. Students suffer because of this.” 

The mother of a Berkeley High freshman who wanted to remain anonymous because she feared retaliation said someone threw a raw egg at her son while he was getting off the AC transit Bus 65 on Grizzly Peak. She said that she was frustrated that just because the incident happened on a public bus the district says its hands are tied and can’t respond. 

“There was egg all over his pants,” she said. “My son just said it was another example of inhumanity. My husband and I think it’s assault and bullying.” 

 

 

 

 


Two More Shootings Near Site of Double Homicide

By Bay City News
Friday September 19, 2008 - 10:36:00 PM

Berkeley police are conducting extra patrols in a south Berkeley neighborhood where there have been two more shooting incidents after two men were shot to death early Thursday, Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said tonight. 

"There's some real tension in a small area," Kusmiss said. 

Kelvin Earl Davis, 23, of Berkeley and Kevin Antoine Parker, 42, of Oakland were shot and killed in front of a small apartment complex at 1436 Derby St. in Berkeley about 12:15 a.m. Thursday, according to Kusmiss. 

Kusmiss said a woman who lives across the street from the apartment complex was shot about 10:15 p.m. Thursday night as she was putting out her trash after she and her son returned from running errands. 

Kusmiss said a witness told police that she saw a muzzle flash coming from a group of about a dozen people, mostly men, who had gathered at a memorial at the spot where Parker and Davis had been killed. 

The woman screamed after she was shot and was rushed to Highland Hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery for internal bleeding, according to Kusmiss. 

The woman is still in intensive care but is expected to recover, Kusmiss said. 

Kusmiss said it appears that the woman wasn't targeted but instead was the random victim of "a worst case scenario in which a stray round struck someone." 

She said witnesses couldn't identify the person who fired the shot that struck the woman because it was dark and the shot came from a large group. 

The group scattered after the shot was fired, according to Kusmiss. 

Another shooting occurred several blocks away in the 1400 block of  

Russell Street about 9:05 a.m. today, she said. 

Kusmiss said no one was hit but police found three shell casings at the scene. 

She said witnesses said the shots were fired by the driver of a red Honda del Sol with oxidizing pink paint who sped from the scene, first going west on Russell Street and then going south on Stanton Street. 

Kusmiss said a man had been walking on the sidewalk near the shooting scene but it's unclear if he was the intended target of the shooting. 

She said no arrests have been made in the shooting deaths of Davis and Parker and no motive has been established. 

Kusmiss said Davis had been well-known to Berkeley police since he was a juvenile but she didn't elaborate. 

 


UC Berkeley Drive Seeks $3 Billion

By Richard Brenneman
Friday September 19, 2008 - 04:01:00 PM

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau kicked off the public phase of a $3 billion fund-raising drive Friday, seeking funds for scholarships, campus improvements, faculty salaries, research—and $600 million for buildings. 

Talking to reporters in the conference room at California Hall, Birgeneau said the most critical part of the fund drive will raise $640 million for endowing financial aid for undergraduate and graduate students. 

“We are extraordinarily pleased with how well the community, alumni and friends of the university have contributed so far in the silent phase of the campaign,” said Birgeneau. 

The university wants to raise $1.7 billion over the next years, using the theme “Thanks to Berkeley” to highlight contributions the university has made to the lives of its graduates. 

A primary emphasis will be to raise funds for scholarships for California students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, he said. 

“African American and Chicano American students at Berkeley are disproportionately from poor backgrounds” compared to Caucasians and Asian Americans, he said, comprising about two-thirds of the African American students and “little more than half” of the Chicano Americans. 

The chancellor said he hoped that alumni who attended in the days when fees topped out at $150 a semester will open their wallets to help pay for the education of students faced with today’s much higher costs. 

And while the university’s state funding has remained relatively constant in the face of recent rounds of budget cuts, Birgeneau said it hasn’t kept pace with cost of living increases. 

Part of the funds will come from a $113 million Hewlett Foundation challenge grant announced last September, the largest single gift ever made to Cal. 

“We anticipated it would take seven years” to raise the matching funds, Birgeneau said, “but after one year we already have more than 50 of the 100 shares matched and we are in advanced discussions on another 30.” 

“The psychology is that people love a match,” he said, and the university is looking for more matching grant funders. 

The chancellor said little of the money will come from corporations, with most funds derived from individuals and foundations. 

Faculty salaries and support will account for $390 million of the total, with research funding taking another $450 million. 

“In order to have the best faculty and staff, you have to pay higher salaries,” Birgeneau said.  

The university is facing challenges from private institutions like Yale, which has an endowment of $23 million and Harvard, which reported that its endowment has reached $36.9 billion as of June 30, the Boston Globe reported. 

Closer to home, Birgeneau said the funds Stanford receives as interest on its endowment top by $300 million Berkeley’s funding from the state. Stanford reports on its website that the university has an endowment totaling $17.2 billion. 

By contrast, Berkeley endowment stood at $2.9 billion at the end of last year. 

Funds already raised have almost reached the total accumulated between 1993 and 2000, the period of the university’s last major fund-raising drive. 

The Campaign for Berkeley, as the new drive is formally titled, began on July 1, 2005, with the start of the so-called “quiet phase,” and the drive will end on June 30, 2013. 

Birgenau said the name of the not-so-quiet phase, “Thanks to Berkeley,” came after hearing the phrase repeated over and over during consultations with alumni. 

The official kickoff of the new phase was anything but quiet, with the Cal marching band and cheerleaders on hand to inaugurate the drive and the unveiling of a 72-foot-long photo mural in Dwinelle Plaza featuring the faces of more than 400 students, faculty, staff and alumni. 


Commissioners Add Two New High-Rises To Downtown Plan Environmental Study

By Richard Brenneman
Friday September 19, 2008 - 01:32:00 PM

Berkeley Planning Commission members, missing two of their most outspoken dissenters Wednesday night, boosted by 50 percent the number of 120-foot buildings to be included in the environmental study for the new downtown plan. 

While the move doesn’t guarantee that the two additional high-rises would be built, it does ease the approval process by potentially eliminating the need for separate environmental impact reports for the added high rises. 

Two of the buildings would be located on university-owned downtown sites, with the other four on private property. 

Commissioners are working through the plan, prepared over the course of two years by the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee, to have their own proposed revision ready for the City Council, which must approve it by May or risk the loss of some of the university funds promised the city as mitigation for 800,000 square feet of new construction by 2020. 

In addition to the increased number of 120-footers, City Planning and Development Director Dan Marks said the EIR will also include four 180-foot point towers and two 220-foot hotel towers. 

But just because the tall buildings are included in the environmental review, Marks said it is “extremely unlikely” the full number would be built in the plan’s 20-year time frame. 

While DAPAC members had repeatedly resisted staff suggestions that they welcome so-called “point towers” to the downtown skyline, the committee eventually compromised on four 120-foot-tall buildings and two taller hotel towers. A proposal to include two additional point towers failed by a single vote. 

But DAPAC executive director Will Travis, who was sitting in on the Planning Commission as a temporary member along with Teresa Clark, said he hadn’t thought the limit of four applied to the university property, then suggested adding a fifth. 

It was Commissioner James Novosel, an architect who has designed several downtown Berkeley buildings, who proposed adding another, bringing the total to six, with two of them on university property. 

UC Berkeley Planner Jennifer McDougall said the university might be interested in the future in locating one high rise near the intersection of Hearst Avenue and Oxford Street, and said another possible site might be adjacent to University Hall on Oxford. 

“God knows with this economy, but the university could be moving forward with some big project sooner or later and we don’t want it to come as a big surprise” to the community, she said. 

The school is looking for partnerships with commercial developers as well, she said. 

When it came to questions of building massing—how much of the potential volume of the site a structure would occupy—commissioners loosened DAPAC standards for purposes of the EIR, raising by 10 feet, to 85 feet, the height at which taller buildings would have to be stepped back from the lot line to allow solar access to nearby property and for the aesthetics of the streetscape. 

Travis suggested eliminating setbacks and leaving the final building configuration to the design review process, but Marks said that would produce an EIR with “buildings that look like the Great Western building, and I’m pretty sure that in Berkeley, we don’t want that.” 

The Great Western Building—most recently called the Power Bar building—is the cheese-grater-like structure at the southwest corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street. 

Commissioner David , himself a former UC Berkeley planner, called a requirement for setbacks at any height below 120 feet extreme, which was music to McDougall’s ears. She said said the school didn’t want any setbacks for its 120-footers, and if the city wanted to prepare an EIR with the setbacks, “it would have to be clear that this was something the university wasn’t going along with.” 

Marks said the plan could be made “a little more flexible”—a phrase repeated several times in the course of the meeting.  

Another source of flexibility, commissioners suggested, could come from reducing the package of mitigations DAPAC wanted from developers as a price for building structures higher than most committee members had wanted. 

The commissioners ultimately approved a study that will include setbacks at 85 feet. 

Tackling chapters 

Commissioners finished their proposed revisions of the chapters on housing and health services, then worked more than halfway through the section on environmental sustainability.  

Commissioner Chair James Samuels, another architect, who represented a minority on DAPAC but the majority on the commission, said he was unhappy with a section of the housing chapter that calls designation of the city-owned parking lot on Berkeley Way west of Shattuck Avenue as an opportunity site for building housing for the homeless that also would serve as a demonstration project for green “zero-carbon” building technology. 

“I’m not really sure I agree with going there,” he said. 

Commissioners eventually agreed to make it an either/or site—either a homeless housing and services project or a green demonstration building. 

The tension over DAPAC proposals to require developer mitigations for taller buildings resurfacedwhen Samuels cited the commission-sponsored feasibility study carried out against DAPAC’s express wish. That study, conducted by private consultants, had concluded that 120-foot buildings weren’t economically feasible, and that only point towers would work—and those only as condos, and then only if the plan reduced the proposed level of mitigations, including fees paid to the housing trust fund in exchange for exclusion from the requirement to set aside units for those unable to meet market rates. 

Commissioner Larry Gurley asked if the plan wasn’t designed to prevent all taller buildings, and Travis said the majority of DAPAC “felt there was something inherently negative about tall buildings,” with mitigations necessary if they were to be approved. 

Samuels said that if commissioners felt the mitigations would have adverse impacts on development of new buildings, “we should say so to the City Council.” 

“I support our chair,” said Stoloff. “Attitudes toward density need to change.” Stoloff, himself now a developer, said increased urban density was needed to combat global warming. 

“I agree,” said commissioner Harry Pollack, an attorney who often represents developers.” 

But Marks urged the commission not to rely too heavily on the feasibility study.  

“It is time-dependent,” he said, reflecting current but not necessarily future conditions. The study was completed before the current housing finance crisis was fully underway. But he told commissioners staff could include “softening language” for the commission’s own plan draft. 

The commission also sailed through the first half of the environment chapter, from which planning staff had removed large sections, many as “too specific” and others as proposals which should be considered on a city-wide basis and not for a specific area plan. 

Planners will be tackling the downtown plan again at their Oct. 1 meeting, while the proposed city Climate Action Plan will be up for discussion Oct. 15. 


Two Die in Midnight Shootings; Victims from Berkeley, Oakland

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 11:08:00 AM

Two men died in a blaze of gunfire on Derby Street early Thursday which left a 26-year-old Berkeley man dead along the curb and a 45-year-old Oakland man behind the wheel of his crashed car. 

Berkeley Police Officer Andrew Frankel reported in a press statement that emergency operators received multiple calls at 12:15 a.m. reporting shots fired near the intersection of Sacramento and Derby streets. 

Frankel said both victims had been identified, “but names have not been released pending notification of next of kin.” 

Homicide detectives are asking for the public’s help, and are asking anyone with information about the crime to call the Homicide Detail at 981-5741 or through the dispatcher’s line at 981-5900. 

Anonymous tips can be made to the Bay Area Crime Stoppers Line at 1-800-222-8477. 


Tree-Sitters Recall Battle Over Grove

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:18:00 AM
Mando, one of the last four tree-sitters to come down last week, talks to reporters during a Wednesday morning press conference.
By Richard Brenneman
Mando, one of the last four tree-sitters to come down last week, talks to reporters during a Wednesday morning press conference.

Berkeley tree-sitters and their supporters returned Wednesday morning to the site of their 648-day vigil to reflect on their ultimately doomed battle to save the grove. 

On hand were three of the final four occupants of the grove, along with the first of the tree-sitters and one of their most high-profile members, as well as a small crowd of print and television reporters and camera operators. 

Behind them, draped on the walls of Memorial Stadium, banners declared the university’s agenda: Building, as in “Building Dreams,” “Building Spirit,” “Building Leaders” and “Building the Future.” 

The air was redolent with the heady scent of sap emanating from the mounds of wood chips that had once been 41 coastal live oaks, a redwood and an assortment of other trees hacked down to make way for the Student Athlete High Performance Center—a four-level high-tech gym and office complex that will occupy the site along the stadium’s western wall. 

The struggle ended Aug. 9 when a contract crew hired by the university surrounded their final redoubt with a scaffold that rose throughout the morning and early afternoon to reach the protesters’ platform high in the last tree designated to fall, the same redwood that Zachary Running Wolf has ascended 21 months earlier to begin the arboreal occupation. 

“We didn’t really expect a staircase all the way up the tree,” said Nesto (Ernesto Trevino), one of the last four tree-sitters, as he recalled the final hours when sections of prefabricated staircase rose with the scaffolding ever closer to their perch. 

“Higher education finally comes through,” quipped Huck (Raul Colocho), the last tree-sitter to surrender. “Those guys were pretty awesome,” he said of the crews who built what was, in effect, a siege tower. Also awesome, he said, is Huckleberry Finn, from whom he took his tree-sitter name. 

Nesto, who was born in Mexico and grew up in Las Vegas, went up into the redwood in May. At 18, the youngest of the final four, he had been visiting in the Bay Area and learned of the tree-sit when he came to the East Bay to visit a friend. 

Mando (Aremando Resendez), who is 20, said he had joined the tree-sit because he consider the action a part of the struggle for the rights of indigenous peoples, but when he saw the scaffolding rise, “I knew it was time to leave. Originally from California, he had been “traveling up and down California, and eventually found this place.” 

All four of the last tree-sitters spent the weekend in jail, where one, Shem, remained as of Wednesday morning in lieu of $15,000 in bail. Also known as Fresh, he was saddled with $22,000 in outstanding warrants at the time of his surrender. 

Ayr (Erik Eisenberg), who coordinated support for the tree-sitters from the ground, said that “while it’s obviously disappointing that the trees are gone, we’ve inspired people across the globe,” including the hundreds who climbed into the trees at some point during the protest. 

Running Wolf, who describes himself as a “Native American leader, an elder and now a mayoral candidate,” repeated a charge also made by the tree-sitters and some tribal members that the building site is also the location of an Ohlone burial ground.  

While the university contests the evidence cited by tree-sit supporters, spokesperson Dan Mogulof has said the first action planned before construction is an archaeological survey. 

Running Wolf said the Ohlones are asking the university to hire another consultant than the one currently under contract, who, he said, is not regarded by many tribe members as a suitable pick for the survey. 

“We continue to fight” the university on different issues, he said, with animal rights leading his list. 

Dumpster Muffin (Amanda Tierney), who became one of the most high-profile members of the tree-sit, was teary-eyed as she read a prepared joint statement on behalf of all the tree-sitters, and then recalled with fondness the days “I lived up there with my friends.” 

Also on hand was Buck, a supporter who was arrested for misdemeanor battery on a police officer on the final day of the arrest. He had opened the session holding a striking black and white photo of the grove as it had been before the fences went up and the chainsaws fired up. 

While the tree-sitters faulted the university for sending up contract arborists who attempted to dislodge them during their protest, their harshest words were directed at Vice Chancellor Nathan Brostrom, who they said had reneged on a promise to form a committee composed of university and city officials as well as community members to vet future land-use planning decisions by the school. 

Brostrom and Mogulof have denied that any such promises were made. 

For the time being, the tree-sitters are sharing a community house in Albany as they prepare for their battles with the criminal justice system and plan their next efforts to challenge, in the words of their joint statement, an “economic system (that) is poisoning everything we need to survive.” 

“Today,” they said, “the answer is, ‘Keep loving, keep fighting.’ ”


Civil Rights, Liberties Challenged by Long Haul Raid, Say Lawyers

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:17:00 AM

Lawyers representing two civil liberties groups are preparing to wage a legal battle over the Long Haul raid, and other constitutional rights groups are paying close attention. 

Campus police, the FBI and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department raided the anarchist collective Aug. 27 and seized every computer in the building in search of the sender or senders of threatening e-mails to UC Berkeley scientists who experiment on animals. 

“Attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild are working on a legal response with non-guild attorneys to respond legally,” said Carlos Villarreal, executive director of the guild’s Bay Area chapter. Joining with the guild are attorneys for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which specializes in civil liberties issues arising from the cyber world.  

Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, said the Long Haul raid raises a number of troubling issues, and Villarreal agreed. 

“We definitely think that the search was excessive and that the warrant and statement of probable cause were insufficient,” said Villarreal, who noted that police entered the building with drawn pistols. 

The search warrant affidavit UCPD Detective Bill Kasiske used to obtain judicial approval for the raid failed to mention that the building housed an alternative quarterly newspaper—an institution entitled to special protection under federal law, something that troubles Scheer and the attorneys. 

“Slingshot is a quarterly, independent, radical, newspaper published in the East Bay since 1988 by the Slingshot Collective,” declared the publication’s website, adding that “[g]overnment seizure of Slingshot collective computers is a direct attack on freedom of the press and in particular, the independent, non-corporate, alternative press.” 

“There could be problems under the federal Privacy Protection Act, a federal law which makes it harder to seize computers belonging to organizations in the business of disseminating information,” Scheer said. 

Nothing in the search warrant indicated to the judge that police might seize a publication’s computers. The warrant also failed to mention that a number of groups were housed under the same roof. Officers also confiscated an unattached computer hard drive that contains the files of another news medium, Berkeley Liberation Radio. 

In his affidavit, Kasiske specifically mentions that the Long Haul website “advertises that they offer a computer room with four computers for ‘activist-oriented access.’ ” He didn’t mentioned that the site’s home page specifically refers to the other groups, including Slingshot. 

“I question whether the raid would have happened in the same way if the building housed a larger newspaper like the Daily Planet or a corporate medium like the San Francisco Chronicle, or even a business like Kinko’s where there are public computers,” Villarreal said. 

Scheer said he wondered what police would have done had the e-mails been sent from the offices of Pacific Gas & Electric. “Would they have seized all the computers, say 500 of them? I don’t think so,” he said. 

Scheer said he was particularly troubled that the affidavit made no mention of the publication, which federal law states must be treated differently. 

“The fact that there’s a publication there doesn’t make it immune, but the federal statute does require” that police provide additional information “specific to that publication,” he said. 

“If the rule is that all computers with the same Internet address are fair game, someone needs to announce that, because the public isn’t aware of it. It’s not intuitive,” Scheer said. 

The issue could become even more complex if someone should send e-mails through an unsuspecting third party’s wireless [wi-fi] Internet connection, he said, something that could be done by a passing pedestrian or a neighbor. 

In addition to the publication, other groups working out of the Long Haul include East Bay Prisoner Support, the Long Haul itself, the Anarchist Study Group and bicycling advocates Cycles of Change. 

Villarreal said the seizure of the computers used by a number of activist groups “has a widespread chilling effect on other media, on others working in prisoner support and on people working on campaigns involved with law enforcement issues.” 

The guild attorney said that in addition to the First and Fourth Amendment issues involving freedom of the press and freedom of association, the guild is working with individuals who might be targeted for prosecution because of the raid. 

“There are also issues about getting the property returned,” he said, “as well as the potential for a civil rights lawsuit.”  

On the day of the raid, Berkeley civil rights attorney James B. Chanin—whose office is a block north of the Long Haul on Shattuck Avenue—said he couldn’t imagine the judge “knew that the building housed many different organizations. It would shock me if the judge knew that.” He said a warrant targeting a specific group wouldn’t let police “go into a building and seize everybody’s stuff. But that’s what I believe happened, and that’s not right.” 

Chanin hadn’t seen the affidavit at the time, but his comments proved prescient after the affidavit was filed with the court Sept. 8. 

While Kasiske’s affidavit said nothing of the different organizations that are housed under the Long Haul’s roof and are mentioned at the organization’s website (http://thelonghaul.org), he did mention that the site “advertises that they offer a computer room with four computers for ‘activist oriented access.’ ” 

Those terminals were housed in a separate part of the building, a loft level at the rear of the building isolated from the other computers police seized. They were also the only computers cited in the affidavit. 

Some of the computers seized were housed behind padlocked doors in separate rooms, and police neatly removed the locks and hasps, taping them on the walls or doors next to their former locations.  

Slingshot posted a message to staff and supporters after the raid: “Most of the computer data lost was backed up. We do not think that the police got a copy of our mailing list or distribution address list (which are maintained at another location on a different computer) and we wanted to re-assure our volunteer distributors that we do not think the police have your address.” 

Villareal said that in addition to efforts on the legal front, “there should also be a political dimension” to the community’s response.  

“In the long run,” he said, “that’s even more important.” 


Cyber-Stalking of UC Animal Researcher Cited As Rationale for Raid

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:17:00 AM

UC Berkeley police, joined by federal and county law enforcement, raided the Long Haul Infoshop Aug. 27 in search of the source of threats to university researchers who experiment on animals. 

The affidavit filed with Alameda County Superior Court Judge Judith Ford on Sept. 8 revealed that the search resulted from e-mails reportedly sent from the Infoshop’s computers in March and June. 

Two civil liberties organizations are working with the Long Haul to challenge the warrant: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Lawyers’ Guild. 

The search warrant affidavit, written by UCPD Detective Bill Kasiske and signed the day before the raid, followed previous warrants served on Santa Rosa-based Internet provider Sonic.net by fax on March 20 and July 22 and on e-mail provider Google on June 16. 

According to Kasiske’s affidavit, many of the e-mails targeted Yang Dan, a professor of neurobiology specializing in the study of brain circuits used in the processing of visual information. 

Her research figures in one website targeting 27 campus faculty involved in animal research, while a second website identifies her as the first among the six faculty members included in the “UC Berkeley Hall of Shame” for “stupid research on animals.” 

Police seized six computers from the Infoshop Internet room and nine other computers from offices in the building, including several taken from padlocked rooms, including one used by the nonprofit East Bay Prisoner Support. 

Also taken were two freestanding hard drives—including one that belonged to Berkeley Liberation Radio—as well as an assortment of CDs and cassettes and one plug-in flash drive. 

According to the warrant, “Since September 2007, UCPD has documented at least nine separate incidents when animal rights activists have targeted” Dan’s home. 

Kasiske’s affidavit cited one specific incident of vandalism at the residence on March 10, when city and campus police were called to her home in the Berkeley hills at 9:17 p.m. after a garbage can lid was thrown onto her roof and a window was broken. 

Investigators found chalked messages and stickers “relating to animal rights,” Kasiske declared. 

According to campus police records, a second incident of vandalism against another researcher had been reported four minutes earlier at the home of Professor Stephen Glickman, targeted because of his research involving female hyenas. 

At 8:30 p.m. that same evening, police had been called to the home of a third targeted researcher, Professor Jack Gallant, who has conducted research using Macaque monkeys. 

Dan had also been the target of one of two animal rights demonstrations held on Jan. 27, where Kasiske stated he had heard one of the protesters warn, “We are the friendly, above-ground activists. The next visit may not be so pretty.” 

The detective also said that protesters invoked the initials ALF, or Animal Liberation Front, a leaderless international organization that has raided labs to free animals and has targeted researchers with protests and graffiti. 

The group’s initial were painted on the walls of the UC Davis John E. Thurman Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in 1987 after a $4.5 million blaze demolished the building. No arrests were ever made in the incident. 

In the 12 months ending in July 2008, UC Berkeley officially reported “more than 20” incidents of damage to the homes and cars of campus researchers. 

A UCLA researcher’s home was firebombed on Feb. 7, less than four months after the house had been flooded with a garden hose, and a van used to transport faculty was burned June 3, with the ALF taking credit in that incident. 

The most recent acts of violence aimed at California academics doing animal research came in Santa Cruz on Aug. 2, when a firebombing destroyed one researcher’s car followed by a second incendiary attack on the home of another, which forced the family to flee the house through a second floor window. The ALF claimed responsibility for both attacks. 

The ALF website lists incidents for which affiliates have claimed responsibility. See www.animalliberationpressoffice.org/ for details. 

For more on the UC system’s approach to animal research protests and violence, see www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/animalresearch. 

 

E-mails 

According to Kasiske’s affidavit, several researchers were sent abusive e-mails between March 19 and 25, using fake accounts set up in the researchers’ own names. 

“The messages had subject lines such as, ‘Hey animal killer,’ and ‘Why do you torture and kill animals?’” Kasiske wrote. He cited one example of what he described as the “obscene comments” contained in the e-mail texts: “The blood is on your hands you speciesist scum. They die. You profit. Sick motherfucker.” 

Kasiske traced the source of the message to an Internet address assigned to Sonic.net, and the subsequent warrant identified the source as the Infoshop. 

In his affidavit, the detective said he knew that the Long Haul “is a resource and meeting center for radical activists. I know that animal rights activists have held meetings at the Long Haul.” 

On June 15, Dan forwarded six more e-mails to the detective, sent to her the day before between 6:10 and 7:16 p.m. 

According to the affidavit, the first declared “im a crazy fuck and im watching YOU ... YOU HAD BETTER STOP KILLING THOSE FUCKING ANIMALS OR I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT I HAVE IN STORE [redacted] AND IT AIN’T FUCKING PRETTY.” 

The subsequent e-mails warned that the sender knew her credit cards numbers, the movies she had rented, and where she shopped. 

The fourth message asked “havent you been paying fucking attention to the news and what is happening at UCLA ... quit torturing animals or you’re next to receive that and MUCH worse you fucking murderous scum.” 

The final message demanded she publicly renounce animal experiments: “EITHER YOU DO THAT OR I WILL FUCK YOUR LIFE UP,” the anonymous sender declared. 

Kasiske cited the e-mail texts as the basis of his determination that the sender had violated section 646.9(a) of the state Penal Code, which declares: “Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or willfully and maliciously harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of his or her immediate family is guilty of the crime of stalking.” 


California Hotel Residents Fight to Save Their Home

By Kristin McFarland
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:19:00 AM

On June 20, the residents of the California Hotel in Oakland received notice that they would be required to vacate the building by July 15. The 250 residents, many disabled, some with families, all low-income, were given three weeks’ notice that they would have to find new affordable housing. 

Now, nearly three months later, the hotel, at 3501 San Pablo Ave., remains open by the grace of an Alameda County judge, without management or city support. The residents take shifts as security at the front desk, maintain their own facilities and pay their rent to a court-appointed trustee. 

This independence is against the inclinations of the building’s owners, nonprofit housing developer Oakland Community Housing, Inc. (OCHI), and Cahon Associates, Inc., a division of OCHI. OCHI and Cahon Associates are both, for all practical purposes, broke, having spent both $5.1 million given by the city 20 years ago to buy and manage the hotel, and $1.5 million given to clear its debts. 

Residents of the hotel sued the management companies for damages and for closing a low-income residence that, according to the city’s original grant, should have been open for at least another 10 years.  

The tenants’ lawsuit also claims that the city aided the management companies in 2007 by ordering them to stop leasing units as they emptied.  

Robbie Clark, a representative of Just Cause Oakland, the organization helping the tenants to self-organize, points out that the building became half-vacant after this order, preventing the hotel from generating all possible income. 

But the City of Oakland was also victimized by OCHI’s mishandling of the given money, said Anne Omura, one of the tenants’ lawyers and executive director of the Eviction Defense Center, a non-profit law corporation in Oakland. The millions of dollars given by the city to OCHI to run the building have gone into a black hole, and now the city is deprived of affordable housing, a necessity in Oakland. 

In July, an Alameda County judge ordered OCHI and Cahon Associates to keep the building open and temporarily pay the bills. But the 53 remaining tenants self-organized, refusing to leave, and began managing the building on their own. 

Lawyers for the management companies maintain that the building requires intense repairs, without which it is dangerous and uninhabitable. 

But Omura, who began volunteering to aid many of the California Hotel residents on the verge of displacement, said that the residents are running the building very effectively. 

“They’re really doing an amazing job,” she said. “The hotel is clean, it’s organized, they’re taking turns running security. It seems to be working.” 

At the Aug. 27 hearing, Judge Richard Keller upheld the tenants’ self-organization, at least for the time being. He appointed Omura as trustee to collect the tenants’ rent and oversee the building’s maintenance from that money. 

According to Omura, allowing the tenants to stay and paying the bills out of their rent are sustainable to a degree, but more money will be required to make the major repairs that are needed to bring in more residents and keep the building safe. 

“If the other [empty] rooms were fixed up, the place could be sustainable,” Omura said. “We need to get more money into the building.” 

None of the responsible parties can be ordered to help, since both OCHI and Cahon Associates are defunct. 

“Everyone’s pointing their fingers, saying, ‘You should pay,’ but only the tenants are paying now,” Omura said. 

Judge Keller pointed out that ordering Cahon Associates and OCHI to fulfill their end of the contract would be a Pyrrhic victory, since both companies are out of funds. 

“How do I ensure that the tenants of the California Hotel get what they’re entitled to?” Keller asked.  

The judge proposed leaving the building open temporarily, but suggested that the owners of the building work to sell the building and use the money to move the tenants. 

“From a practical standpoint, the only solution is to get some money from the property,” Keller said.  

Judge Keller called the hotel “a shell game from the beginning,” allowing Cahon Associates to transfer tax benefits— but none of the liability—to its investors. But now, the investors and their money have fled, leaving the tenants to fend for themselves. 

The California Hotel is just one of seven Bay Area low-income residences facing closure. Tenants of Nueva Vista, Drasnin Manor and Marin Way Court have joined hotel residents in fighting for their homes. 

According to Clark of Just Cause Oakland, the Oakland City Council contracted nearly $1 million to help relocate the tenants. He said the city knew before the residents that they would be forced to relocate. 

Although money was allocated by the city to Eden Information and Referral, the company providing relocation services to help the tenants move, the tenants and their advocates argued that the relocation services were inadequate, lacking resources to move disabled residents or residents with families. 

Many of the tenants were told that their best option would be to move to transitional housing, also known as homeless shelters. Closing the building would create a greater need for the type of housing the California Hotel provided, Clark said. 

“What they’re doing seems so illogical,” he said. “The only logic that they’re showing is wanting to get rid of this type of population ... How are they expecting low-income folks to even live or survive?” 

Though Judge Keller suggested that the best final solution is to demolish the hotel and sell the property, this option is unpalatable to many community members, who regard the hotel as a landmark in the black community. 

The California Hotel served as one of the premier African-American entertainment spots in the East Bay in the 1950s and 1960s, rivaling Slim Jenkins’ place in West Oakland. Dancer Ruth Beckford performed at the hotel’s Zanzibar Club, as well as such rhythm and blues singers as Little Richard, Sam Cooke and gospel great Mahalia Jackson. 

“How creatively can we keep these people from being homeless?” Omura asked. “I’m open to suggestions.” 

The next scheduled hearing on the fate of the California Hotel will be held at the Alameda County Courthouse in Hayward on Wednesday, Oct. 29. 


Proposed Laws Regarding Noise, Sidewalks Spark Fears Of First Amendment Abuse

By Judith Scherr
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:20:00 AM

Some two dozen people, including street preachers, homeless advocates and union activists, came to Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting, the first of the 2008-2009 session, to condemn proposed noise and use-of-sidewalks laws they said would limit free speech. 

The council voted unanimously to delay action on the laws and to hold a workshop on the question. 

One of the proposed laws would regulate placement on the sidewalk of “objects used for noncommercial expression.” The applicant would have to get a permit from the city’s traffic engineer in order to place objects such as books, printed literature, CDs, DVDs, posters, bumper stickers and buttons on the sidewalk. 

The purpose of the law, says the draft ordinance, “is to balance the public interest in free speech with the public interest in attractive, safe and accessible sidewalks and a vital and sustainable local economy, by permitting distribution and display of goods or objects that are inextricably intertwined with noncommercial expression, but limiting the type of such goods to those that themselves essentially constitute speech and do not unduly interfere with other public uses or the general aesthetic appearance of the sidewalk.” 

The second law in question relates to amplification of music and speech. It continues to limit amplified sound with a permit to 65 decibels, but adds a complaint process to the mix. It also limits noise permits to nine for a given public space over the course of one year.  

Councilmember Max Anderson expressed alarm, asking whether the laws might violate the First Amendment. “Did you seek input from the ACLU or Meiklejohn [Civil Liberties Institute]?” he asked. 

Staff said they had not. 

Lawrence Rosenbaum and others from SOS Ministries—the group that has been preaching and singing with amplification on Telegraph Avenue for some two decades—addressed the council, saying he thought his group was targeted by the ordinance. 

“It appears to make our Christian outreach impossible,” he said. “It’s designed to stop our Christian outreach.” 

Business owners, employees and residents living and working near the Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street site, where the group sets up almost weekly, have complained about the noise and petitioned the council to take action. 

Labor activist and author Harry Brill said the new restrictions on amplified speech—which include requirements of a permit for the use of bullhorns—would affect labor rallies, such as the months-long picket at Berkeley Honda.  

“It abolishes the community’s right to be heard,” he said. 

Civil rights activist and homeless advocate Michael Diehl asked the council not to pass the ordinance that night. “It’s a lousy public process,” he said. “The public did not know about this.” 

Only representatives of the business community spoke in favor of the draft ordinances. 

Deborah Badhia, executive director of the Downtown Berkeley Association, said demonstrations at the downtown Marine Recruiting Center have disturbed adjacent businesses.  

“With the current economy, the businesses are more fragile than ever,” she said. “Amplified sound has a huge impact on businesses.”  

Speaking in favor of a strong noise ordinance, Roland Peterson, executive director of the Telegraph Avenue Business Improvement District, called for a “meaningful complaint policy [with] enforcement that has teeth.” 

No date has been set for the council workshop on the ordinances. 

 

Other items 

At Tuesday’s meeting the council also:  

• Unanimously adopted the formation of a “Sustainable Energy Financing District” with a ceiling of $80 million in indebtedness. This will allow homeowners to borrow funds to install solar panels—or other energy-saving devices in a second phase—and pay for the devices over 20 years through their property taxes.  

Opting into the district and borrowing the funds is voluntary. Staff is continuing to look for a financial institution to partner with and to work out the details of the proposal.  

• Appointed Councilmember Gordon Wozniak to the Waste Management Authority, despite criticism by some 20 people who came to the meeting to support the appointment of Councilmember Kriss Worthington to the post, left vacant by the death of Councilmember Dona Spring.  

Worthington is the alternate to the waste authority. Councilmembers Laurie Capitelli, Linda Maio and Darryl Moore all said they were also interested in the appointment. The vote was 6-1-1, with Worthington voting no and Councilmember Max Anderson abstaining. 

• Unanimously approved a calendar for 2009 with 22 city council meetings. 

• Unanimously approved a contract with the city’s service workers for a 13 percent raise over four years; the contract includes the part-time recreation workers and gives a 3 percent bonus to workers with the city for 25 years or more. 

 

Stanton Street pavement 

Gregory Harper, an attorney who lives on Stanton Street between Ashby Avenue and Prince Street, brought letters from his neighbors complaining that his street had not been paved since 1976 and did not appear on any list of streets to be paved in the future.


UC Shuts Down CampusLink’s Free Public Internet Access

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:22:00 AM

UC Berkeley’s CampusLink computer terminals, which provide free public Internet access at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union across from Sproul Plaza, were abruptly shut down by the university, CampusLink officials said Wednesday. 

Bill Haynor, CEO of CampusLink, said that university officials had refused to let CampusLink representatives fix a couple of broken computers around Labor Day weekend and had expressed concern about nonstudents using the technology. 

“I am in discussion with them to try to get this resolved,” he said. “One of the issues was that it’s a public open space being used by nonstudents who tend to sit there and take up a lot of time on the computer. I think the university was not happy with that. We have been at UC Berkeley for seven years, but this is the first time they shut us down.” 

The university recently raided the Longhaul Infoshop—which also has free public Internet access—on Shattuck Avenue, and seized 15 computers in search of the source of threatening e-mails targeted at UC Berkeley researchers experimenting on animals. 

Haynor said the university had not elaborated on its decision to shut down the CampusLink computers but had hinted that students were using them to surf pornography sites. 

“They just were not specific,” he said. “One of the things they have asked us is to provide more security for our computers so students can’t access porn. We were going to install a whole new security system. It still allows free Internet access but blocks spam.” 

Calls to Nad Permaul, director of the Associate Students of the University of California Auxiliary, and Officer Mitch Celaya, spokesperson for the UC Berkeley Police Department, were not returned by press time. 

The university, Haynor said, had also expressed concerns about “vagrants” coming in and vandalizing the second floor of the MLK Jr. Student Union, where the terminals were located. 

“They said that homeless people were urinating and stuffing their duffle bags in there,” he said. “We have a contract with the school. Our advertisers pay for the units, and we pay rent to the university for the space. I told the university that they need to have some kind of control over the space. That’s when they brought up the issue about nonstudents using the space. It’s hard say what the university is trying to accomplish here. This is the only school we have had a problem with so far.” 

CampusLink has centers in over 30 private and public college campuses all over the country—including UCLA, the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University and Purdue—where students and visitors can surf the Internet, check e-mail, pick up newspapers and brochures, sample products and learn about promotions and events sponsored by their school and CampusLink partners. 

CampusLink advertisers and sponsors—which include numerous local businesses in Berkeley and around the Bay Area—provide discounts to students, who can call the merchants free of charge from the terminals. The San Francisco Chronicle—which has its masthead embossed on one of the terminals in the Student Union Building—has also sponsored the service in the past, Haynor said. The free Internet is provided by CampusLink. 

“I wanted the units up and running before students came back,” Haynor said. “I am upset, because we want to provide the service to people. We want to be there. We still have a contract with the university, It needs to do something about this.” 

Haynor isn’t the only one who’s disappointed by the university’s actions. 

James Reagan, a homeless advocate who frequents nearby People’s Park, said he was suprised to find that he couldn’t access his e-mails on CampusLink anymore. 

“For myself and others, it was a quicker way to look up something without trudging down to the library,” he said Tuesday. “The terminals at the Student Union Building are for everyone, and one person has made that decision to shut them down ... I think the advertisers are being misrepresented.” 

Reagan said he believed that the university had shut down CampusLink during the summer to prevent a handful of gamers who were able to “override the system” and play computer games for a longer time than allowed by the 20-minute time period programmed for user access. 

Reagan, who now uses the Bear Facts Terminal in Sproul Hall, said the university had put up a sign warning gamers that the computers at Sproul Hall were for UC Berkeley students, prospective students and their parents only. 

“But the masses found their way to Sproul Hall and continued to utilize these computers for their gaming pleasure,” he said. 

Calls to the university’s IT department and Peter J. Quintin, director of the MLK Student Union, part of the Associated Students of the University of California Auxiliary, were not returned. A campus spokesperson told the Planet that the IT department was dealing with campuswide computer problems Wednesday. 

Not too many students, however, seemed bothered that CampusLink had stopped working. 

“Most people play video games on them anyway,” said Torab Torabi, a UC Berkeley sophomore who was studying across from the CampusLink terminals Tuesday afternoon. “No one’s being deprived of their human rights.” 

For more information on CampusLink visit: www.campuslink.org.


Berkeley Sea Scouts Leader Gets 6 Years for Misconduct

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:22:00 AM

Eugene Evans, the Berkeley Sea Scouts leader convicted of two counts of child molestation in July, was sentenced to a total of six years in state prison by an Alameda County Superior Court judge on Tuesday. 

Judge Morris Jacobson ruled that Evans, 65, would be incarcerated for three years for each of two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior with minors, in what prosecutors described as “an atmosphere of secrecy,” and ordered him to be registered as a sexual offender for the rest of his life under Penal Code 290. 

Tuesday’s sentencing should have brought to an end months of doubt by some members of the Berkeley Sea Scouts about the allegations and subsequent charges against Evans, since he admitted in open court that he had sexually abused minors for the last 30 years. 

About 20 supporters of Evans, mostly former and current members of the Berkeley Sea Scouts, along with family and friends of the victims, turned up at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland around 2 p.m. to hear the sentencing. Some of them wore T-shirts with the scout ship’s name, “Farallon.” 

Morrison said he had received 35 letters in support of Evans as well as letters from his victims, who had pressed for a more rigorous sentencing. 

Evans’ sentence was reduced to six years under a plea deal with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. 

Susan Torrence, the deputy district attorney prosecuting Evans, said the police had been alerted to the case “by a very brave young man who dared to make a phone call.” 

Police arrested Evans on six counts of sexual abuse in December, including lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14, authorities said. 

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office added more sexual abuse counts later, charging him with ongoing acts with four youths. 

His victims’ ages ranged between 13 and 17, authorities said, and the crimes were reportedly carried out on the S.S.S. Farallon, the troop’s ship, after scout meetings.  

Evans was rearrested in May when additional victims came forward and pornographic material was found on his boat. Evans was charged with molesting three minors and exposing four others to pornographic material.  

At least 18 charges, including exposing minors to pornography, sexual penetration and continuous sexual abuse, were dropped. 

“He [Evans] was extremely devoted to the Sea Scouts,” said Phil Schnayerson, Evans’ attorney. “He got quite close to the boys in his program ... He does not lack accountability of his behavior. The accusations against him go back several years, and he recognizes the need for treatment.” 

Torrence said Evans’ supporters described him as “generous, loyal, a father figure and one of the most influential people in their life.” 

“I think those people’s perceptions are true and that’s why he’s getting a lower sentencing than he should,” she said. “There are many people at this point who feel he has not committed the crime he has been charged of committing.” 

Torrence read aloud from a letter by one of Evans’ supporters, who wrote: “I believe that justice would be served if my mentor is able to reclaim his name.” 

“These people have not read the police reports,” Torrence continued. “They have not talked to the victims. At his age it is not right to treat women as objects as they are portrayed in the voluminous amount of pornography that he displayed to all the men on the boat. It is apparent that his entire behavior is a model of secrets on the boat, that ‘what happened on the boat should stay on the boat.’ He created a system.” 

Torrence said that Evans picked on the most vulnerable of the Sea Scouts to keep his “ultimate secret.” 

She described in graphic detail how Evans interacted sexually with his victims, then called on him to speak about what he did in open court: “I would like him to admit that he did this and that the victims are not lying. I want him to tell these people shaking their heads that he is in fact guilty and that justice has been done and that people must struggle with the truth.” 

When Morrison asked Evans if he was guilty of the charges, Evans replied, “Yes, your honor.” 

Morrison read aloud from victims’ letters, one of whom called Evans “a vile and disturbing human being” who would crack homophobic jokes and make racial slurs on the boat.  

Torrence later told reporters that Evans’ homophobic jokes were a facade to persuade people that he was “not interested in same-sex behavior.” 

Another victim said that Gene had warned the scouts not to “snitch” and had told them that “what happened on the boat stayed on the boat.” 

“I became depressed and had epileptic seizures,” the young man wrote. “I feel he should serve more time because of the stress he inflicted on me from the sexual assaults.” 

The parents of another young victim recounted the pain and trauma their family had gone through because of Evans’ actions. 

“We believed he was an ethical and moral person and trusted him with our son,” they said in their letter. “He deceived us. We threw our son into the hands of a sexual predator. It is sick to think that he has got away with this for so many years. Please keep him away from children for as long as possible.” 

Outside the courtroom, Schnayerson, Evans’ attorney, told reporters that the judge had made the right decision. 

“For an enormous number of people he has done some important work,” he said, adding that Evans was a veteran of the Vietnam War and had taught at Encinal High School in Alameda for 32 years. “He’s a good guy, a good man. There were people who benefited from him and people who were damaged by his actions.” 

Evans sued the City of Berkeley some years ago after it denied the Sea Scouts a free dock at the Berkeley Marina because of its parent group’s ban on gays and atheists. 

When the scouts lost their case in the U.S. Supreme Court, Evans himself paid $500 every month to rent the berth. 

Erik Coker, executive officer of the Farallon’s corporate board, said a scandal-scarred Berkeley Sea Scouts was trying its best to move on. 

“I have faith in the justice system,” he said. “I am glad it’s over, and I hope everybody can go on with their life from here. I want everyone to know that even after today I would allow Gene with my children. That’s how much trust I have in him.” 

David Warren, the grandfather of a Berkeley Sea Scout, described the ruling as fair. “Justice was served,” he said.


School Board Approves Plan to Sell Hillside School

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:23:00 AM

The Berkeley Board of Education last week unanimously approved a plan to put the historic Hillside School at 1581 Le Roy Ave. up for sale. 

Oxbridge Development, the consultants hired by the Berkeley Unified School District to determine whether the district should sell or lease the property, recommended the move at the board’s meeting on Wednesday. 

The school district said it does not have a buyer for the site at this time. 

Built in 1925 after the original Hillside School on Virginia Street burned down in the 1923 Berkeley fire, the building is a split-level three-story wood-frame Tudor designed by Walter Ratcliff. The school closed down in 1983 due to declining enrollment. 

Its main building straddles a trace of the Hayward Fault, which makes it unsuitable for public use, district officials said. 

The building was designated both a city and a national landmark in 1982 and the district subsequently rented out its rooms to artists and nonprofits, including the International Child Resource Institute, the Berkeley Chess School, the Berkeley Alumni Association—which organizes reunions for past students of Berkeley Unified—and iPride, a bi-racial and multi-ethnic children’s organization. 

The board in 2005 formed a citizens’ advisory committee to review whether the district should sell the site, and in December 2006 the committee recommended surplussing the property, explaining that it was not suitable for public school function because the Field Act prohibited classroom structures on seismic fault sites. 

The committee also reported that district officials had said that the site was not appropriate for administrative use and added that the property had deteriorated due to a lack of maintenance since it stopped functioning as a public school more than two decades ago. 

In August 2007, under recommendation from the committee and district administration, the board paid Oxbridge Development $32,000 to assist the district in deciding the fate of the Hillside property. 

Several organizations that rent space within the 2.85-acre property from Berkeley Unified told the school board at the public meeting last week that they were interested in leasing the site long term. 

Elizabeth Shaughnessy, founder and executive director of the Berkeley Chess School, which moved into the Hillside School several years ago, asked the board to allow the property to be listed for sale and long-term lease simultaneously. 

Ken Jaffe, executive director of the International Child Resource Institute, said that a number of tenants at the site were interested in long-term leases and possibly even buying the property. 

Peter Lydon of the Hillside Neighbors Association said Hillside residents wanted to save the building and the playground. 

“There will be a better outcome for Berkeley Unified if you continue dialogue with neighbors,” he told the school board. “We think it’s an important open space and we think it’s possible to get good lease offers.” 

Freya Read, another Hillside neighbor, stressed that some residents were concerned about seismic and fire safety upgrades. 

“We tenants share a common vision,” said Kathleen Frumkin, another lease-holder. “We want long-term leases so that we can continue our work.” 

Jones told the board that Oxbridge Development had not found a “substantial proposal for leasing.” 

“There were several reasons behind why Oxbridge recommended selling the property,” Jones told the Planet after the meeting. “It was hard to find a long-term lease holder who would say I will put up $10 million to rehabilitate the building. The place needs a lot of work. The consultants talked to a couple of developers but found no interest at that level.” 

District Superintendent Bill Huyett said it was in the best interest of the school district to sell the property because of liability issues. 

Jones said the property would be appraised, after which the district would negotiate with public entities about its sale. 

“If no public entity expresses interest, then private entities, such as the Berkeley Chess School can bid for it,” Jones said. 

Both Jaffe and Shaughnessy said they had offered on several occasions to lease the property longterm and even buy it, but that their requests had been ignored by the school district. 

Jaffe said he had put in a proposal for long-term lease two years ago but had not heard back from the school district. 

“This has been our home for many years and we want to develop good leases at reasonable terms,” he said. “We showed clear interest, but somehow that was not conveyed to the school district effectively.” 

Shaughnessy, a former school board member, said she had submitted a proposal nine months ago, but it was ignored. 

“Our proposal had an option to buy,” she said. “I submitted another one a couple of weeks ago, and that was ignored as well. It would be nice if they would sit down and talk to us. We have been here for three years now, and the district is doing nothing to keep the building from falling down. We used to hold chess tournaments in the auditorium, but we can’t anymore. I understand the Fire Department requires a firewall there before people can use it. Making it not usable means letting damp get in there.” 

Jones said he had not had a chance to review the requests. “Former Deputy Superintendent Eric Smith looked at them, and as far as I remember told me that ‘there were no legs behind those proposals,’” he said.


Berkeley School Employees Rally for New Contract

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:23:00 AM

Workers marched from Berkeley Technology Academy to school district headquarters last week to demand contract renewals and pay raises. 

More than 150 workers from the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees (BCCE) and their supporters filled the Old City Hall lawn and chambers on Sept. 10 to rally for contract renewals and demand pay raises for the Berkeley Unified School District’s classified unions. 

School secretaries, bus drivers, gardeners, computer technicians and several dozen classified workers, angry over the lack of progress in talks with district officials, marched from Berkeley Technology Academy to the district’s headquarters at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way shouting, “No Contract, No Peace!” 

“Escucha, escucha, estamos en la lucha” (“Listen, listen, we are in the struggle”) filled the air as the angry marchers waved signs and walked past Berkeley High School around 6:30 p.m., drawing honks and shouts of approval from passing cars. 

Among those who took part in the rally were the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 39, the Berkeley Firefighters’ Local 1227 and the Berkeley Federation of Teachers. 

“Our last pay raise was for the 2006-07 school year,” said BCCE President Tim Donnelly, speaking on behalf of his union. “Our expenses have not frozen with our salaries. We need a salary offer and we need the cost of 1 percent. We are without a contract and we have spent over 40 hours in negotiations and the only thing they have agreed upon is to give a one day holiday before Thanksgiving.” 

District Superintendent Bill Huyett said that, although the district had not come to an agreement about a new contract, it continues to honor the previous one. 

“I want classification workers to be treated fairly, and I, for one, have always called them educators,” he said. “We have had differences about compensation but we should never lose sight of their work. These are tough economic times for everyone. Tough for the school district and tough for our employees. We do not have all of the students we projected this year and we will be reducing our budget in the fall.” 

Huyett said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger—who had proposed budget cuts for state education funds earlier this year—had yet to announce a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. 

“There’s no budget on the horizon, and there may not be a budget for a year,” he said. “We will know more in two to four weeks.” 

Donnelly said BCCE presented contract proposals to the Berkeley Board of Education in October 2007, following which the district returned with an “extremely vague document indicating which sections of the contract they would negotiate.” 

Starting on Dec. 6, union members met 12 times with the district’s bargaining team. 

“Specific proposals from the district’s team were presented one or two at a time,” Donnelly said. “Many were sloppily prepared. There were times when the district team had no proposals or counter-proposals at all. We asked all along for a salary offer. None came. In June we declared impasse. And for the second time in two years, a mediator was appointed by the State of California.” 

Union representatives and BUSD officials met with the state mediator on July 28, and the session, Donnelly said, was spent “catching up.” 

A second mediation session was held Sept. 4. 

“We agreed to meet five weeks later, so that the district could bring us financial data,” Donnelly said. “They didn’t have the data and didn’t bother to notify us about it.” 

BCCE filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge this week in response to this. 

Kris Amaral, a business representative with Local 39, the union which represents carpenters, safety officers, food service workers and other skilled trade employees in the district, said that the classified unions were hoping for a multi-year contract which would provide workers with some stability. 

“We are all working for the same employer, which keeps telling us they can’t give us any budget numbers until the governor signs the budget.” 

“Our union members are the lowest paid in their classification in the Bay Area.” 

Amaral said some part-time food service workers made only $12 to $14 an hour. 

“It’s hard to raise a family here on that kind of money and most take up two jobs,” she said. 

Most of the union workers said the rising price of gas and health insurance made it difficult for them to make ends meet. 

“We feel like we are being ignored,” said Deborah Howe, a library media technician at Rosa Parks Elementary School. 

“We are the backbone of the district, and we feel we are being taken for granted. I think people will be shocked to hear how much we do get paid. We don’t work in the summer, so it’s even more hard for us.” 

Johnny Billups, who has driven schools buses for Berkeley Unified since 1972, said wages for the district’s bus drivers started at $16 per hour and topped at $21 per hour. 

“We are not an add-on, we are not an afterthought,” he said. 

“We have built this district from the foundation up. We have families, we have desires. We like to go out and eat, maybe twice a year. We have not kept up with the inflation. We have not kept up with the times. I will not be relegated to an administrative role in the district while managers grow fat and prosperous.” 

Paula Phillips, an administrative assistant to the district’s Personnel Commission who is also running for BCCE president this year, stirred the crowd with her speech to the school board. 

“You may ask who we are,” she began, prompting the marchers sitting in the council chambers to stand up one by one. 

“We are the bus drivers and mechanics who ensure the safety of your child ... We are the secretaries who greet the parents every day, the food service employees who prepare your children’s meals, the custodians who clean your schools everyday, the safety officers who ensure a safe haven for everyone ... Collectively we are the present but invisible force, and without us you cannot function.” 

Several union workers complained about the district’s inability to finish the classification study and urged their peers to stop working extra hours. 

“I have put in more time than I am paid for, but today I am telling myself and you ‘do not put in more hours than you get paid for,’” said Ann Marie Callegari, another union worker. 

The district’s Assistant Superintendent Lisa Udell said a consultant was working on a classification study which helps to provide date on comparable salaries for union workers. 

 

 

 


$15 Million West Campus Rehab For BUSD Headquarters Gets OK

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:23:00 AM

West Campus neighbors won a major victory last week when the Berkeley Board of Education approved plans to rehabilitate the former Berkeley Adult School building on Bonar Street in order to relocate Berkeley Unified School District’s headquarters from the seismically unsafe Old City Hall at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The district had previously decided to construct prefabricated modulars at the site, evoking criticism from community members, who contended that refurbishing an existing red-brick building would be more sustainable and eco-friendly. 

Berkeley Unified officials and school board members listened to the community’s concerns at several meetings over the past few months and decided to give rehabilitation a chance. 

“We really appreciate the community’s interest,” said district Director of Facilities Lew Jones at the Sept. 10 meeting. “It definitely helped.” 

Jones worked closely with Superintendent Bill Huyett and Baker Vilar Architects, the firm hired by Berkeley Unified to design the project, and came up with a design that would utilize all three floors of the Bonar Street building for administrative as well as teaching purposes. 

“I think this is a good example of the school district listening to the community and taking a second look,” Huyett said. “It’s a good reuse of a facility, and I am very excited about it.” 

Estimated to cost $15 million, the proposed project would also enhance the otherwise derelict campus by spending a quarter of a million dollars on landscaping Bonar, Addison and Browning streets and refurbishing the campus cafeteria. 

Jones said the board had not approved a plan to rehabilitate the entire cafeteria building, which also houses a kitchen, but added that the one remodeled room could be used for future school board meetings. 

The school board currently holds its meetings in the City Council chambers at the Maudelle Shirek Old City Hall building. 

The district is set to lose its lease with the city for the building at the end of 2009. 

Jones said construction for the West Campus project would begin around April 2010 and that the building would be habitable by July of 2011. 

“We know that our lease with the city will run out in 2010 but the city has indicated that it’s not a big deal,” Jones said. “However, we haven’t had any formal talks about it yet.” 

In exchange for the Old City Hall building, the city leases property on Sixth Street from Berkeley Unified, which is home to the health center Lifelong Medical Care. 

According to a report to the school board by Baker Vilar, the new design aimed to create a space that would “maximize efficiency and foster collaboration” between the different departments in the district. 

The majority of the district’s public functions would be located on the first floor, including admissions and student support, the Berkeley Public Education and Volunteers, the Berkeley Alliance, video and film library rooms and human resources. 

Four classrooms for the Berkeley Adult School, which has its own campus a block away on San Pablo Avenue, will also be built at the site. Conference, copy and break rooms will be on the second floor along with the technology and accounting departments. 

The superintendent’s office will be located on the southeast portion of the third floor, and offices for special education, professional development, and state and federal programs will be concentrated around the elevators and the stairs for easier public access. 

Jones said the building would be separated from the auditorium on campus and that new fire alarms and elevators would be installed to make the project comply with the Division of the State Architect’s accessibility standards. 

The building’s exterior would also be getting a facelift, including fresh paint, new glass windows and a sunscreen, and the entire structure would be seismically retrofitted. 

Berkeley Unified explored the possibility of retrofitting West Campus in 2006, but abandoned the plan after it went substantially over budget. 

“The finances changed quite a bit this time,” said school board President John Selawsky. “Our bids are coming in under our estimates because construction costs are going down, and we are saving money. I think the community input for the rehabilitation was important, but we wouldn’t have been able to do it if we went over budget again.” 

The current project would be exempt from the city’s zoning laws, since it includes classrooms, Jones said, but would be reviewed by the Division of the State Architect as mandated by the Education Code. 

For more information on the West Campus project see www.berkeley.net/board-meeting-information. 


Zoning Board Demands Gaia Building Cultural Events Within Six Months

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:25:00 AM

When is a cultural event not a cultural event? That seemed to be the dilemma the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board grappled with last week at a public meeting while reviewing whether the Gaia Building—now owned by real estate magnate and Tribune Co. proprietor Samuel Zell—was violating its use permit. 

In the end, the board, at the request of Zell’s Equity Residential corporation, decided to give owners 180 days to hire a marketing firm to promote the Gaia Arts Center for cultural events. 

A towering presence amid a string of low-rise buildings in downtown Berkeley, the building has been mired in controversy since the city approved the project almost a decade ago and granted developer Patrick Kennedy two additional residential floors over the zoning limit in exchange for 10,000 square feet of “cultural use,” in the form of the Gaia Bookstore and community center. Since Equity bought the building, Kennedy’s firm has leased the space on the lower “culture” floors and rents it out for various events. 

After the bookstore went out of business, the zoning board in May 2002 modified the use permit to allow performance spaces, galleries and a cafe on the first floor of the building and offices on the mezzanine level. 

Berkeley City Planner Wendy Cosin told the board last Thursday that the Planning Department had accepted what she called a “performance standard” allowing some incidental non-performance cultural uses, based on a series of letters exchanged between then-Planning Director Carol Barrett and Anna de Leon, who owns Anna’s Jazz Island, a first floor Gaia building tenant of Kennedy’s firm. 

De Leon, an attorney, represents three Berkeley citizens who this spring won a lawsuit alleging that Kennedy’s current use of the space did not conform to the conditions on his original use permit, and that the city council had improperly allowed this use without getting ZAB to approve modifications to those conditions. 

“There are different recollections of what the Barrett letters meant,” Cosin told the board. “The Barrett letters state that non-cultural uses would also be allowed ... This is where Ms. de Leon and I differ.” 

De Leon told the board that Barrett had clarified to her in an e-mail in November 2006 that only cultural use would be permitted. 

“We never discussed any unlawful non-cultural uses for the place,” she said. 

Cosin said that the same e-mail thread also included a letter from Barrett that said the cultural bonus was granted when the use was the Gaia bookstore—a retail use with occasional performances such as readings. 

Barrett, Cosin said, had also added that she had “never expected only cultural uses,” the interpretation which DeLeon and her clients dispute. 

The zoning board had previously decided that Barrett did not have the authority to approve such a performance standard, and, in the absence of a use permit modification request from the then-owners, the ZAB asked staff to set a hearing for possible use permit revocation. 

A month later, the Berkeley City Council voted that city staff did indeed have the authority to approve performance standards and incidental uses, and the pending revocation proceedings before ZAB were suspended. 

In December 2006 the council voted to establish rules for the cultural space as per the planning staff’s interpretation of the Barrett letters, and DeLeon’s suit followed. 

The Alameda County Superior Court sided with de Leon’s clients and issued a writ of mandate in March 2008 ordering the City Council to rescind the resolution, which it did at a public meeting two months later. 

“The project meets minimum performance standards but it’s not what we expected,” Cosin said on Thursday about the Gaia Arts Center’s failure to become a hotbed of culture. 

“It’s showing DVDs and has art galleries but very little theatre, which is a big disappointment. The new owners are coming in with a more clean slate and have offered to do more than the previous applicant.” 

A staff report asserted that the Gaia Arts Center has nonetheless met the basic standard for providing cultural use. 

The report lists the cultural events in the building as a total of 50 free movies projected from DVDs, seven performances and 15 rehearsals by the Berkeley Rep and Wilde Irish Theater Group, 10 playwriting classes sponsored by the Berkeley Rep and 12 private events. 

Jim Meeder, the attorney representing Equity Residential, said his clients believed that their tenants were in compliance with the cultural use requirements. 

“The DVDs are shown on Tuesday night. They are free classic movies, and we believe film is a cultural art,” he said, adding that he could not provide records of any attendance. 

“Nevertheless, if it’s possible, we would like to find out whether there’s more cultural use out there and promote the use of the Gaia Arts Center,” he said. 

The Gaia Arts Center is rented for wedding and receptions, but these are not considered cultural use. 

Board Chair Rick Judd wondered aloud about the Sunday services held in the building by Christ Church of Berkeley and Mosaic, a religious community: “My understanding is that we have churches there, are we allowed to have churches under this use permit?” he asked Cosin. 

“We have not considered that,” she replied. 

De Leon complained that showing movies from DVDs without a public performance license from the copyright owners was a violation of the copyright law. 

“Showing illegal movies is not cultural use,” she said, adding that no one ever turned up to watch them. “Theaters have told me they would love to rent the space, but weddings and bar mitzvahs obviously generate a lot more money.”


Nadel Says Violence Diminished in Wake of Raids

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:26:00 AM

Oakland City Councilmember Nancy Nadel says that she was “very concerned” about charges made by Nation of Islam Oakland Mosque Minister Keith Muhammad about problems with this summer’s Oakland police “Operation Nutcracker” raids of the Acorn Housing Project, but says that police officials have assured her that the raids were properly conducted and have had the desired result. 

“Violence has definitely diminished” in the vicinity of the West Oakland housing project, Nadel said by telephone last week. She said that there was a brief flare-up of violence in the area following the raids, which she understood was caused by “some younger folks in the area who were paranoid about anyone new coming in” who they feared might be trying to take over the drug trade in the Acorn project area. 

“There was distrust of anyone showing up who wasn’t known,” Nadel said. She added that the violence resulting from that situation has since dissipated. “It’s very encouraging,” the councilmember added. “We hope it continues.” 

Nadel represents Oakland’s City Council District 3 where the Acorn Housing Project is located. 

More than 400 officers from the Oakland Police Department as well as several other local, state, and national police agencies participated in the June 17 Acorn project raids, which OPD says netted 34 arrests, several firearms, and large amounts of drugs. Another 20 individuals were arrested in the days prior to the June 17 raids, which Oakland police now say have “dismantled the infrastructure” of the Acorn gang, a group OPD says was responsible for much of West Oakland’s violence. Since that time, however, Muhammad has made public charges that the June 17 raids were “a heavy-handed use of force” that terrorized innocent residents of the Acorn projects, and that most of the 54 total arrests resulted in releases without charges. 

Nadel said she contacted Area One Captain Anthony Toribio to follow up on the charges made by Muhammad in his presentation at open forum at a July 15 City Council meeting. Muhammad had said that “concussion grenades” during the raids had burned carpets and caused danger to residents. Nadel said she was told by Toribio that police used what they called “flash-bang” grenades which cause “noise and bright lights and are meant to distract” while officers enter. “Captain Toribio informed me that officers are instructed that they have to visually see where the grenades are being tossed, and they cannot be tossed in the direction of people,” Nadel said, adding that she was told by Toribio that “no one was hurt” in the Acorn raids. 

Nadel said that according to Toribio, only two of the 54 persons arrested under Operation Nutcracker have not been charged with crimes. 

The Daily Planet has not been able to verify Toribio’s assertion on the numbers of individuals who have actually been charged. 

Nadel said that she passed on Toribio’s information to Muhammad earlier this summer. 

The District 3 Councilmember also said that in response to neighbors’ concerns growing out of the raids, the City of Oakland and representatives of her office held several meetings with residents in the Acorn area during the summer.


Dellums Administration Rolls Out Public Safety Strategy to Skeptical Community

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:26:00 AM

The administration of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums introduced its long-awaited public safety strategy to selected members of the Oakland public last week to a pointedly skeptical reaction, outlining an ambitious program in which each of Oakland’s neighborhoods would be organized for citizen participation, work on local public safety problems would be filtered through area public safety coordinating councils made up of city officials, police representatives, and neighborhood groups, and a citywide public safety policy council would oversee city goals and strategies. 

But representatives of the city’s Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils and other invited citizens told city representatives at Lake Merritt’s Garden Center on Thursday that the mayor’s proposed new strategy was top-heavy, was too time-consuming to attack neighborhood problems, and did not provide for enough input from the city’s youth community and residents. 

“You need to quit calling out the community to come and partner with the administration,” said Gloria Jeffrey, co-chair of NCPC Beat 32Y on the MacArthur Corridor in Deep East Oakland. “The administration needs to come out and partner with the community. That’s the problem, so don’t come out here and preach to us about what we need to be doing. We’ve already been working on the problems.” 

A visibly angry Jeffrey and several members of her group walked out of the meeting early. 

Dellums’ interim Public Safety Director Arnold Perkins told meeting participants that the suggestions and criticisms would be considered for incorporation into a final public safety plan, which he said the mayor wants to sign off on within the next two weeks. Perkins said the plan would also be floated to a number of other community-based organizations (including faith-based groups ) and to county representatives and “other stakeholders” before beginning implementation in October. 

Outlines of the proposed Dellums Public Safety Plan have been around for more than a year now. It is based on an expanded theory of community policing, in which public safety grows out of a partnership between city agencies, the police department, and organized neighborhood residents. Under the proposed plan, all city services would be divided up into the three geographical divisions (North and West Oakland to the lake, Lake Merritt to High Street, and High Street to the San Leandro border) that have been set up for the Oakland Police Department. Each area would set its own public safety goals and strategies through a Public Safety Coordinating Council, and would carry out those strategies through Service Delivery (SDS) teams divided between police, city attorney, and city administrative personnel. 

The heart of the Dellums public safety strategy—and perhaps its most controversial component—is developing the current NCPCs (Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils) into the representative organizations for each Oakland neighborhood for the delivery of all city services. Under the category “strengthened community engagement,” the proposed Dellums plan passed out at Thursday’s meeting advocates “expanding [the] scope of Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils beyond crime prevention to function as Neighborhood Councils that address a broader range of neighborhood issues.” 

Assistant to the City Administrator Jeff Baker, the city’s Measure Y violence prevention coordinator, told meeting participants that, in order to have “parity” among the NCPCs, the administration is proposing undertaking extensive training of residents in how to run meetings, organize their communities, and solve community problems. 

Comments from the audience showed that the community public safety activists present were not yet convinced. 

When Perkins urged meeting participants to help with the implementation of the mayor’s plan, saying, “I need for each of you to help make this work,” shouts came back from the audience, “It’s not us. We’ve been working. It’s the city that’s not doing it.” 

As for the plan itself, which included an elaborate flow chart from the NCPCs, the City Council, and city agencies down through the SDS teams, the Public Safety Coordinating Councils, and the Citywide Public Safety Policy Council, a board member of Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) called the proposed organization “structure heavy.” 

That comment was echoed by Jeff Collins, formerly a member of Oakland’s Community Policing Advisory Board, who told city officials, “I’m afraid we have too much structure here. I think we have too many layers to go through.” 

Commenting on one statement that the structure would facilitate the mayor getting reports on what is needed in the community, Collins added, “I don’t think we need to get more reports to the mayor. I think the mayor needs to come out and meet with the NCPCs.” 

Several participants said that the proposed structure left out young people, who were among the principal victims and many of the perpetrators of Oakland’s violence. 

“Young people are asking, why aren’t these meetings announced on MySpace or advertised on KMEL?” said Youth Uprising outreach worker Martina Hardaway, noting that these were the outlets the city ought to use to attract more youth. Hardaway added that there needed to be more action on solving the problems and less talk about setting up new structures. 

“This is a strategic meeting,” she said. “I want to know when you’re going to stop strategizing and start doing something.” 

Others wondered why the various “interest groups” were getting a chance to review the mayor’s proposal separate from the NCPCs and other public safety neighborhood groups, and asked for the plan to come back to the NCPCs after any proposed changes before going into the implementation phase. 

Following the staff presentations, meeting participants met in groups for a half an hour to discuss the proposal, presenting staff with several recommendations for modifications. Perkins said the suggestions would be considered and some of them may make it into the final public safety plan. 


Both Sides Claim Victory in Lab Long Range Plan Lawsuit

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:27:00 AM

Both sides were claiming victory in a legal battle over Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s long range plans for building 980,000 square feet of new construction by 2026. 

But while an Alameda County Superior Court judge has ruled that LBNL must recirculate part of the environmental impact report for its massive expansion plans, he rejected other legal challenges to the project raised by a coalition of citizens. 

Judge Frank Roesch ruled that the university failed to provide for adequate public participation for the final review of the Long Range Development Plan environmental impact report (EIR). 

The lab held only one hearing on the document and failed to notify the public that it could comment in writing or at the hearing, “announcing with finality that ‘[t]he final EIR is now complete and will be considered for certification by the UC Regents . . .” 

The lab also failed to file a legal notice in local newspapers, another requirement. 

But the only basic difference between the draft and final EIRs was a section on the projects’ potential impacts on climate change—ironically the centerpiece of the lab’s publicity efforts and of much of the research now underway at facility, which operates under the aegis of the Department of Energy. 

Accordingly, he ruled, the lab will be required to recirculate the climate change section of the document, which lab spokesperson Dan Krotz said consists of four pages of the massive final document. 

The action was brought by Lesley Emmington, Henry M. Gehman, Sylvia McLaughlin, Janice Thomas and Daily Planet Arts and Calendar Editor Anne Wagley. 

Roesch rejected most of their claims on the ground that they had not been presented during the environmental review process, not because they were necessarily invalid. 

Among those claims were allegations that the EIR failed to: 

• Properly apply Bay Area Air Quality Management District standards for assessing air pollution impacts caused by increased employment in Berkeley and Oakland. 

• Analyze impacts from diesel exhaust and noise generated by trucks traveling to and from the lab’s hillside site. 

• Apply quantifiable standards to verify claims concerning impacts to water quality to the watersheds of Strawberry, Schoolhouse and Lincoln creeks. 

• Adequately address impacts to the habitat of the endangered Alameda whipsnake. 

“There are several issues still hanging,” said Michael Lozeau, who represented the plaintiffs, “including the fact that there will be a whole bunch of trucks spewing toxic diesel exhaust on Berkeley streets, some of them within 30 feet of residences.” 

He said no one has addressed the cumulative effects of all the construction projects on the main campus and at the lab on the hillside above. 

“Berkeley Lab is very pleased with the ruling,” said lab spokesperson Dan Krotz. “On nearly every point, the court ruled in the University of California’s favor. The court held that the lab is required to recirculate for public comment its analysis of the impact of implementation of the 2006 LRDP on climate change.” 

Asked whether the plaintiffs will appeal Judge Roesch’s decision, which was filed Sept. 5, Lesley Emmington said, “We are currently contemplating our next move.” 

In a prepared joint statement, the plaintiffs said, “The irony is that although the Long Range Development Plan includes construction of energy research facilities, the lab did not consider the global warming impact from their proposed development.”  

They also noted that just one of the projects included in the LRDP, the Helios building, which will house the BP-funded Energy Biosciences Institute, requires removal of 140 trees from the site. 

That project and another proposed building are targets of separate lawsuits filed by Oakland attorney Stephan Volker on behalf of the nonprofit Save Strawberry Canyon.


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:27:00 AM

Weekend fire demolishes Berkeley hills home 

A spectacular early morning three-alarm fire visible from miles away demolished a Berkeley hills home on Sept. 6 and brought in crews from fire departments in Oakland, Albany, Alameda County and the East Bay Regional Parks District. 

Berkeley Fire Department Deputy Chief Gil Dong said the city’s emergency switchboard was flooded with calls starting at 1:44 a.m. 

“The fire was so visible that we were getting calls from the Berkeley flats, and you could see it from Highway 24,” he said. 

When the first crew of firefighters arrived four minutes later, they found heavy smoke and flames pouring from the two-story dwelling in the 1000 block of Creston Road, which is located just east of Grizzly Peak Boulevard. 

Firefighters immediately sounded a second alarm because nearby vegetation had caught fire and the flames were threatening adjacent homes on either side of the burning building. 

Soon, they sounded a third alarm. 

While Berkeley firefighters fought the flames, crews from the other agencies covered the gaps left in the city’s own coverage, while the parks district firefighters patrolled the nearby streets looking for flare-ups caused by burning embers. 

“We found ember burns to the rear canopy of an adjacent home.” said the deputy chief. 

Two of the home’s three occupants were away at South Lake Tahoe and the third was visiting a friend. 

One firefighter sustained a knee injury during the blaze and received emergency room treatment at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. 

Both the home and its contents were totally consumed, and damages have been estimated at $1.5 million. 

Deputy Chief Dong said the fire began in vegetation near the rear of the dwelling, ignited by improperly discarded smoking material. “It probably smoldered for a while,” he said. 

A total of 10 fire engines and trucks and their crews along with two ambulances and four chief officers took part in fighting the flames, which were controlled at 3:42 a.m. 

School arson 

Students were evacuated from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School on the morning of Sept. 10 after someone set fire to the contents of a trash can in a second floor bathroom. 

Deputy Chief Dong said the blaze had been extinguished before emergency crews arrived shortly after 11:30. 

No one was injured in the incident and students were allowed to return to class. 

The deputy chief said the fire had been intentionally set. 

Tree relief 

Besides battling blazes, Berkeley firefighters were also on hand for last week’s showdown at Memorial Stadium that ended with the removal of the last four tree-sitters on Sept. 9, said Deputy Chief Dong. 

“We had am ambulance, an engine company and a chief officer on hand in case anyone fell or was otherwise injured,” he said. 

 


Fall Series of Historical Walking Tours Starts Saturday

By Steven Finacom Special to the Planet
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:30:00 AM
	Individual tours cost $8 for members of the Berkeley Historical Society; nonmembers pay $10. Members can also purchase a “season pass” to all the tours for $30. You can join BHS and sign up for the discounted tours at the same time.
              	For reservations call 848-0181 and leave your contact information, the dates of the tours you’d like to attend, and the number of tickets you would like for each tour. The tours tend to fill up, so it is important to have reservations. Once you’ve registered, you’ll be informed of the starting point for each tour you’re attending.
              	The Claremont, north hills, and Nut Hill walks traverse in hilly terrain and, in some cases, off street paths, and may not be suitable for those in wheelchairs.
Steven Finacom
Individual tours cost $8 for members of the Berkeley Historical Society; nonmembers pay $10. Members can also purchase a “season pass” to all the tours for $30. You can join BHS and sign up for the discounted tours at the same time. For reservations call 848-0181 and leave your contact information, the dates of the tours you’d like to attend, and the number of tickets you would like for each tour. The tours tend to fill up, so it is important to have reservations. Once you’ve registered, you’ll be informed of the starting point for each tour you’re attending. The Claremont, north hills, and Nut Hill walks traverse in hilly terrain and, in some cases, off street paths, and may not be suitable for those in wheelchairs.

Noted Berkeley neighborhoods, prominent parks and schools, and architectural masterpieces—both secular and spiritual—are all featured during the fall 2008 Berkeley Historical Walking Tour series, which begins Saturday, Sept. 27. 

The walks range from Berkeley’s Bay edge to the Kensington border. All are led by local, volunteer guides and take place on Saturday mornings during the fall, from 10 a.m. to noon. You can go on one tour or several. 

Berkeley’s “Nut Hill” neighborhood and Bernard Maybeck’s architecture will be a highlight of the first walk, Sept. 27, led by Robert Pennell, “long-time friend of the noted Bay Area architect’s family and resident of this unique North Berkeley neighborhood.” 

This excursion wanders through the hillside residential district north of the UC campus, observing not only Maybeck masterpieces including the architect’s own studio and home, but houses by other notable Berkeley designers. 

On Oct. 11, Paul Grunland, who moved to Berkeley as a child in the 1930s and is an expert on many local neighborhoods, will lead one of his redoubtable tours. This north hills “boundary walk” explores the border between Berkeley and adjacent Kensington that has also been the dividing line between Alameda and Contra Costa counties since 1853.  

The walk, on both city streets and off-street public pathways, will take in the upper reaches of Codornices Creek and pass the home of early Berkeley historian Louis Stein, who collected many of the Berkeley photos now in the collections of the Historical Society. 

Sandy Friedland, past president of the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, guides a “Claremont Paths” walk on Oct. 25 through the romantic Claremont residential tract in southeast Berkeley. Developed just southwest of the Claremont Hotel by the Mason-McDuffie Company, starting in 1905, this was and is a quiet upper-class residential suburb.  

Its tranquil, winding streets contain some of Berkeley’s most beautiful and picturesque homes and residential settings, small parks, and Harwood Creek meandering through front yards. The walk will include stops at the historic Star Grocery on Claremont Boulevard and the nearby Craftsman Home, which sells Arts and Crafts furniture, art, and decorative objects. 

Daniel Coit Gilman, second president of the young University of California, emphasized in his 1872 inaugural address that, while the state institution was, unlike the private colleges of New England, secular and not an “ecclesiastical college,” he would welcome religious establishments serving the campus “on the slopes of Berkeley.”  

Gilman pointed to the wide array of religious beliefs among California’s settlers, ranging from missionary Roman Catholicism to “nearly all the various forms of Christian faith which … the churches of the Reformation have professed,” plus “many among us … who look for a Messiah yet to come,” as well as “the children of Confucius and the worshipers of the unknown gods.” 

On Nov. 6, author and architectural historian Susan Cerny leads a walk illuminating the first large concentration of religious establishments in Berkeley that came about as a result of Gilman’s encouragement and the spiritual affiliations of the early residents of the town of Berkeley. 

These were, and are, the churches of the South Campus, primarily established in the last quarter of the 19th century, and most still surviving as active institutions. The neighborhood features several notable church buildings and complexes, including Berkeley’s only National Landmark structure, the First Church of Christ, Scientist; an early landmark church in rustic brown shingle design; several towering edifices of the 1920s and ’30s; and tiny, often overlooked, sanctuaries. 

The tour will visit as many church interiors as possible; all are interesting, and some are quite strikingly different from their more familiar exteriors.  

It will also note remnants of the early residential Southside and conclude with refreshments at the landmark McCreary Greer house on Durant Avenue. 

Berkeley’s bay shore south of University Avenue once began not far south of University Avenue just west of the railroad tracks. There, on the beach near the foot of Dwight Way, on Aug. 27, 1933, a Berkeley policeman spotted three nude men “cavorting on the sands. They would dash along the beach, fling their arms in the abandon of the ‘chase,’ lightly toss a handful of sand in the air and then with a toss of their heads dash into the surf.” 

Such were the rustic delights of Berkeley’s shoreline in days gone by. But it was not long thereafter that civic leaders, given opportunity by the construction of the East Shore Highway, which enclosed a long area along the waterfront, including that former beach, secured Federal WPA funds to create a place for more formal outdoor activities. The result was what Mark Liolios calls “an elegant regional destination for aquatic recreation,” Aquatic Park. 

Liolios will lead a Nov. 22 tour of the Park, Berkeley’s largest. Today it accommodates peaceful lagoons, migrating shorebirds, water skiing and kayaking. Liolios is the head of Aquatic Park EGRET, a volunteer group dedicated to improving the park and uncovering its treasures, including the much-neglected model sailboat basin. 

On Dec. 13, the series will end with the traditional BHS “Bonus Tour,” available free to those, BHS members or not, who have paid for at least three other tours in the series.  

This season, the bonus tour explores Berkeley High School at the edge of downtown, including both its venerable old and its notable new buildings. 

Individual tours cost $8 for members of the Berkeley Historical Society; nonmembers pay $10. Members can also purchase a “season pass” to all the tours for $30. You can join BHS and sign up for the discounted tours at the same time. 

For reservations call 848-0181 and leave your contact information, the dates of the tours you’d like to attend, and the number of tickets you would like for each tour. The tours tend to fill up, so it is important to have reservations. Once you’ve registered, you’ll be informed of the starting point for each tour you’re attending. 

The Claremont, north hills, and Nut Hill walks traverse in hilly terrain and, in some cases, off street paths, and may not be suitable for those in wheelchairs. 


Correction

Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:24:00 AM

An item in the Sept. 4 Police Blotter incorrectly reported the location of a shooting. A shooting on the 2900 block of Sacramento Street on Sept. 2 did not occur at Johnson’s House of Style but at another address on that block.


Opinion

Editorials

Election Fever and the All-Alaska Pig Races

By Becky O’Malley
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:33:00 AM

On Sunday we took our grandkids to the Santa Cruz county fair in Watsonville, a cornucopia of old-fashioned delights and some new ones too. The animals proudly displayed by the 4-H club members who raised them are hands-down favorites, especially the competition for dressed-up goats, perhaps a unique specialty found only in Watsonville. It inevitably reminded some of the adults in the group of the recent lipstick-on-a-pig discussions in the national political arena. If you put a tutu on a goat, does that make her a ballerina, or is that a sexist question aimed at poking fun at Sarah Palin?  

As we were dragging the kids out the gate after an exhausting morning of excitement, we happened upon the event that best evokes the pre-election frenzy, the All-Alaska Pig Races. Who knew?  

My Santa Cruz family tells me that this is not an election year anti-Palin satire. These races been held at every Watsonville fair for years now. Why All-Alaska? Who knows? 

This is how it works: Spectators crowd around a miniature race track. A barker with a microphone in the center of the ring works the crowd, mostly kids, into a competitive frenzy. Then four little piglets, uniformly cute, identical-looking except for different-colored vests, appear in the starting gate. (None of them seemed to be wearing lipstick this time.) 

A gong sounds, the gate lifts, and the piggies trot off eagerly around the short horse-shoe track, and are rewarded with a nice bowl of food at the end. One, of course, gets there first, and is declared the winner. There are several elimination rounds, all virtually alike, with a final round where the kids in the audience are divided by the barker into cheering sections for the finalists, who are named after counties in Alaska.  

(Aside to animal activists: This is more fun than most pigs, who sad to say are only bred to be slaughtered, get in a lifetime. Pigs are smart, and their ordinary lives are often boring.) 

In the last week, as it happens, I’ve made cameo visits to a couple of candidates’ forums featuring the contenders in the Berkeley race, and comparisons to the All-Alaska Pig Races are inevitable. There too, all the contestants seem similar or even identical at first glance. All favor diversity, affordable housing, mass transit and greenishness (a close relative of truthiness). All oppose earthquakes. All claim to have opinions about homelessness and panhandlers, though it would be difficult for the casual observer to detect exactly what those opinions might be.  

But the two meetings I caught were dramatically different in format. One was sponsored by a big pan-Eastbay Democratic club named after the late Paul Wellstone, and it was a contest to see who could claim to be more progressive than thou. Invited candidates were permitted to speak for a soundbyte of what seemed like about two minutes, and then their passionate supporters had a chance to cheerlead for a few more measures, kind of like the kids at the All-Alaska Pig Races. The hundred or so Wellstoners, though, weren’t kids—they looked like a sea of indistinguishable uncoiffed grey heads from the back of the room where I stood. 

Progressiveness, like greenishness and truthiness, abounded. It was remarkable to hear Susan Wengraf, for 16 years aide to reliably-moderate Councilmember Betty Olds, deliver a speech in which “I’m progressive” must have occurred six times in two minutes.  

But all was not sweetness and light. Very little of it was, in fact.  

As I walked in, a supporter of Terry Doran, who speedily entered the race for Berkeley’s District 4 seat the moment Dona Spring was dead, was saying that really Dona hadn’t been “all that responsive,” so the fact that Jesse Arreguin was endorsed by most of Dona’s old allies should be taken with a grain of salt. Up jumped one of said allies to remind the audience that Dona had been re-elected the last time with 71 percent of the vote. Much of the discussion while I was there was on a similarly elevated level. 

Another notable exchange took place when a substitute spoke on behalf of District 5 candidate Sophie Hahn, an officer of the King School PTA, who had a conflicting event with the parents’ group on the same night. The surrogate mentioned that Hahn supports rent control, among other motherhood-and-apple pie progressive causes.  

This time it was anointed state Assembly candidate Nancy Skinner who leaped into the fray on behalf of the District 5 incumbent, realtor Laurie Capitelli, a reliable player in the Bates organization’s City Council lineup. I’ve known Sophie Hahn for five years, Skinner said, and she’s never mentioned rent control to me! It wasn’t clear whether or not she intended to call the previous speaker a liar or not.  

The whole evening, or at least as much of it as I could stomach, went like that. Many Wellstoners are battle-scarred veterans of the left sectarian wars of the 20th century, and they carry on as if they were still in the cafeteria of the City College of New York in the 1930s. Candidate Arreguin (20-something) was the only under-40 person I spotted in the room.  

There seems to have been a whole teapot-tempest about whether it was proper for candidates to recruit supporters to join the club, following all the published rules of course, prior to the endorsement meeting. That’s a time-honored tradition with political clubs in most places, including Berkeley, but I gather that some Wellstoners think it’s politically incorrect. I was lucky enough to miss most of that part of the program, though I heard more than I cared to about it from the inevitable pre-and-post-meeting e-mail CC circuit. Evidently at least Hahn, Arreguin and Phoebe Sorgen in District 6 had signed up some new folks for the Wellstone club, and some of the old folks were outraged. 

Not surprisingly, attendees couldn’t manage to agree on whom to endorse in any of the races. Berkeley voters will just have to make up their own minds, I guess. 

The other candidate appearance I checked out was the forum the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce sponsored at the ungodly hour of 8 a.m. on Monday. All of the candidates were invited to that one, unlike the pre-screened field at the Wellstone event. Most of them showed up. Candidates, handlers and newsies seemed to outnumber audience members. This one was super-genteel, each speaker given at least three minutes and more to start, with no endorsement vote on the program.  

Again, however, there was little ostensible disagreement. Wengraf did say that Betty Olds has been her mentor, and she didn’t mention “progressive” at all. The only audience question I heard (I left about 10 minutes before the end) produced the only real conflict of the morning. It was from someone who’d just moved here from Massachusetts.  

He wanted to know what the candidates could tell him about the measures on the ballot, but they largely tiptoed around the topic. The only clash was when Laurie Capitelli spoke up for a yes vote on Measure LL, which would ratify a proposed new watered-down developer-sponsored historic preservation ordinance. It was passed by the Bates majority on the City Council, but was then stopped by a voter-initiated referendum. Hahn and District 4 candidate L A Wood both delivered eloquent remarks in favor of retaining Berkeley’s long-standing Landmarks Preservation Ordinance instead, which is what voting no on Measure LL would accomplish. 

This candidates’ forum, like the Wellstone club meeting, was strongly reminiscent of the All-Alaska Pig Races. All the candidates, like the piglets, managed to look a lot alike as they came out of the starting gate. As someone who’s been following them in the news columns, though, I happen to know that they’re actually pretty far apart on several issues I think are crucial to what will happen in Berkeley in the next few years. More on that later.


Cartoons

Arnold's Club

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday September 19, 2008 - 08:56:00 AM


Scandal in the Interior Department

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday September 19, 2008 - 08:55:00 AM


One-Way Wall Street

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday September 19, 2008 - 08:53:00 AM


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Monday September 22, 2008 - 10:55:00 PM

 

 

TAXIBUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The solution to the wars about busses, routes, and Bus Rapid Transit is "TaxiBus." 

Google it and learn a real solution based on an intelligent combination of technology and existing van/taxi drivers. 

It will be opposed by bus manufacturers, the mechanics union, the bus drivers' union, and contractor's associations, since it involves none of them in corrupt government contracts. 

Push a dedicated button on your cell phone, select or punch in your destination. Your destination and time of arrival are displayed. Wait three minutes or so and the mini-van pulls up to your door. No money exchanged, it's billed to your cell account, 

and it delivers you to your destination with the driver guided by on-screen instructions. There are usually other passengers. 

Security is guaranteed by records of route and passenger. Para-transit is a subsystem. Kiosks handle new members. 

You no longer need a car. Or buses. Or routes with empty buses. Or BRT or light rail. It's being done. Look it up. 

Ormond Otvos 

Richmond 

 

• 

STANDARD QUESTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When the proposed increases—effective within two weeks—in patients' city clinic fees came before the City Council Sept. 16, it had appeared on the agenda. At the staff table in support were three highly paid city employees presumably prepared to discuss and respond to questions. Not one could provide an answer to a councilmember's finite query, "What percent of the clinics' budget do the patients' fee represent?"—which, by the way, is a standard criterion question used to evaluate charities. Moreover, none offered to get the information and provide it later. 

Helen Rippier Wheeler 

 

• 

PALIN AND CENSORSHIP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In regards to Hansen's letter, from Minnesota no less: It is he who needs to do some fact checking or read more carefully. 

True as Snopes said: There was no list of books Sarah Palin to be censored. True as Ralph Stone wrote, the librarian was asked three times if she would consider censoring books. Source: Anchorage Daily News (www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/510219.html). 

Judi Sierra 

 

• 

OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The last time there was sustained progressive legislation comparable to FDR’s New Deal was from 1966 to 1977, when Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter heeding the advocacy of Ralph Nader, signed into law the following (among many others): 1966 Freedom of Information Act, 1970 EPA, 1970 Clean Air Act, 1970 OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), 1972 Consumer Product Safety Act, 1973 Endangered Species Act, 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act, 1977 Clean Water Act. 

However, the Democrats started to go after corporate money during 1980s, with predictable results. The president who reversed much of FDR’s New Deal was a Democrat, President Bill Clinton: 1996 Welfare Reform Act, 1996 Telecom Act which led to media consolidation, 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act which weakened Habeous Corpus, 1999 Banking Reform Act which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act precipitating the current financial crisis, and of course the 1993 NAFTA and 1995 WTO that ravaged ordinary workers and the environment. 

The current Democratic contenders, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, vassals of banking and credit card companies, say they are the "change we can believe in." 

While Obama and Biden campaign ask you to believe, Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez ask you to think. 

The most powerful way to strengthen our democracy is to study the suggestions and ideas of Ralph Nader and his running mate Matt Gonzalez at www.votenader.org and become a part of the "credible threat from the left." The alternative, as Gore Vidal ruefully observes, is "the corporate America, which has two right wings." 

Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez will be at Grand Lake Theater in Oakland Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. 

Akio Tanaka 

Oakland 

 

• 

CIVICS EDUCATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In a recent op-ed, co-authored by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and former Indiana Congressman Lee H. Hamilton (Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 18), the writers decry the lack of civic learning in our society and call for educational proficiency in the elements of our democratic system. They site studies revealing that fewer than a third of eighth graders know the historical importance of the Declaration of Independence and fewer than one fifth of high school seniors are able to explain how civic participation benefits democracy. 

Politics has always been divisive, but in my baby-boomer lifetime, it seems to have reached new heights of hatred, fueling cycles of outrage and tit for tat. This is not healthy. People from all walks of life see toxic politics as reason to wonder why they should care about our government and institutions. 

We can push back against these trends, and not by becoming all warm and fuzzy all the time. We can listen to our leaders calmly, and disagree with them and their supporters respectfully without demonizing them. We can offer opinions about and solutions to current problems without including the acrimony that feeds bitterness and apathy. 

I cringe to see the two presidential candidates starting to sling mud as the election gets closer and the race tightens. Both Barack Obama and John McCain are men of integrity and there are things to admire and support in what both of them stand for. I am cautiously optimistic that whoever wins will model a renewed level of civility and respectful, non-polarizing, discourse in public life. 

Proficiency in civics should be tested right along with math, science and reading. An engaged citizenry needs this knowledge to understand and value the strengths of the republic for which that flag we fly stands. Or the republic will fall and our way of life with it. 

Marilyn McPherson 

 

• 

REMOVE THE ENABLERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

"This is a crisis of confidence," President Bush intoned from the Rose Garden, and this time he got it right! Confidence and trust are the fiber of the financial system. People don't sign contracts if they think they won't be honored. Lenders won't lend money if they think the borrower won't repay. But there are some people who try to cheat the system, who break the trust. That's why rules, regulation, and enforcement are needed in the marketplace. Most importantly in this era of complex financial products like repackaged "mortgage securities," truthful reporting of what they are, and what are the risks, is essential for confidence in the market. 

George Bush's administration, and its enablers like John McCain, have worked to remove market regulation and reduce its enforcement. Their career-long philosophy is to let business operate without government "interference." As a result, the cheaters took over. They lied on their balance sheets, they misled security ratings, and they created products of deceptive value. Honest brokers couldn't compete for profits that looked too good to be true, and they joined in. The result, we now see, is a collapse of an untrustworthy market. 

The critical step toward rebuilding confidence in our economy is to remove the cheaters, liars, and thieves, and their political enablers. Responsible government regulation must protect its citizens, and accordingly, the markets themselves. Game over for Bush, McCain, and the Republican administration. 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

 

• 

COUNCIL AGENDA, ITEM 11 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Looking at the City Council agenda for Sept. 23, I see an item to reimburse Councilmember Darryl Moore up to $725 for round-trip airfare to the League of California Cities Conference in Long Beach next week. 

Given that the city is seeking to reduce its carbon emissions—for example, through the solar bond financing in agenda item 3—why is Moore flying, which would result in around a third of a ton of CO2 emissions, instead of taking Amtrak, which would reduce emissions by 65 to 85 percent? 

Robert Lauriston 

 

• 

LONG HAUL RAID 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If you let people use your computer to send vicious threats, you shouldn't be surprised when the police come to talk to you about it. If these people have a history of violence—say, firebombing occupied houses—you shouldn't be surprised if the police arrive prepared for a violent confrontation. 

Dick Bagwell 

 

• 

WATER SHORTAGE? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We don't have a water shortage. We have a population surplus. The amount of rainfall in Northern California has substantial variation year to year and from month to month. For example, during January 2008, in the San Francisco area, 25 inches of rain was recorded in contrast to the monthly average of 11 inches. Yet from March to April 2008, we had the driest period since 1879. Rainfall is likely to become even more erratic with climate change. What is not changing is the constant upward pressure of increased population. The average household uses 60 gallons of water per person per day. There were approximately 300,000 new residents in California in 2007, primarily a result of the high birth rate among immigrants. In theory, controlling birth rate should be easier than controlling climate. We should address the so-called water shortage in that light. 

Robert Gable 

 

• 

GOODBYE AND GOOD LUCK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the unfolding economic debacle, I would like to make some suggestions to the citizens of this country. Cease all mortgage payments forthwith. Those of you who are threatened with foreclosure, refuse to leave your home. Freely squat on any unoccupied property. Next April, pay all due federal taxes to the state instead of the federal government. Resist with all force necessary, any attempts by law enforcement to bully and oppress you further.  

I am a recent immigrant from the U.K. and I am staggered at both the brazen actions of your government and the utter apathy of the population. When are you going to get angry enough to act, instead of moaning into your neckties? You have all had a good laugh for 20 years at the purported failure and collapse of the Soviet Union and socialism in general. How much more evidence do you require before you apply the same judgment to the sacred cow of "free market capitalism"? You worship the slash-and-burn robber barons on Wall Street and continue to labor under the absurd notion that they're all working to make sure you can retire with dignity. You allow the federal government to act without restraint by wasting your money on bogus wars, failing to take care of the citizens' health, allowing an irretrievably huge trade imbalance with gross polluters like China, allowing your jobs to be sold out overseas with no remedial action to redress the balance, facilitating tax cuts or non-payment for the super-wealthy and corporations, continuing to pay ridiculous subsidies to businesses which favor their political party, and now the unprecedented bailing out of the supposedly rabidly independent and doctrinaire financial services "industry," all of whom would start chanting capitalist slogans if such favors were placed elsewhere. This is not to mention the huge amounts of profit these same people have been socking away in the Cayman Islands for decades, largely free of any tax burden.  

This government is pursuing to completion a single-minded policy to bankrupt the public sector to allow it to remove any semblance of social services upon which the majority depend. There is still only a murmur of discontent. Well, I have figured out a solution for myself: I'm going to leave you all to your fate and re-emigrate to another country far from here. Having spent most of my life dreaming of living in this country, now I can't wait to go.  

Good luck everybody. 

Richard Chorley 

 

• 

SOCIALISM? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There have been all too many ironic allusions to the anti-big government Bush administration’s intervention in the financial market meltdown as “a kind of socialism.” The use of the word “socialism” in that way distorts any meaningful definition of the word. It harkens back to Mussolini and Hitler calling fascism “national socialism.” The two terrorist dictators used that phrase in order to imply that the merger of finance and corporate capital with the State itself was in the interest of all (i.e. uber alles, you sweat and be exploited, but the State’s aggression will lead to a lot of trickle down profits to ya all—economically, culturally, chauvinistically.)They gave “solidarity forever” a new definition under the rubric of working class unity with capitalists in power to increase efficiency and compliance with the machinery of “patriotic” aggressive wars coupled with internal police state oppression). But it’s a big stretch to compare today’s propping up of financial speculators and the stock markets around the world via a trillion-dollar bailout with our public money, to any other definition of socialism. Five million people are kicked out on the street, and there is a growing army of unemployed. These millions get nothing—other than some Republicans trying to kick them off voter roles for not living in the homes they are registered at. Socialism? Certainly under any form of socialist government we’ve seen (fascism not included) the stock markets (particularly the speculation and accumulation of vast wealth at public expense) would either be outlawed or severely restricted to the necessary intercourse of a mixed economy; and housing would be subsidized. This government-ordered 10-day halt to “selling short” in some sectors of finance is a biding-time joke. That’s intervention? Stock markets rebounded firmly on the bailout news because the entire debt of the finance speculators had been forgiven by the taxpayers. Moreover, the political class has signaled, for now, that speculative plunder remains generally legal and sanctioned. There are two kinds of “confidence” there, man. It’s a continuation of the theme of years of deregulation. Unless they change a lot of rules and start putting a whole lot of people in jail (but remember Scooter Libby), nothing fundamentally changes—the collapse of worldwide capitalism is slowed but the process remains independent of market confidence because the circulation of trillions of dollars and profitability itself is already so highly dependent upon the marketing of speculation rather than the sales of goods and services.  

Marc Sapir 

 

• 

DOES IT OR DOESN'T IT? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Doesn't the California state law (Vehicle Code §23123) that went into effect July 1 of this year apply to all drivers including City of Berkeley personnel? 

Friday, Sept. 19 around 9:30 a.m., as I drove toward Solano Avenue southbound on The Alameda, a driver in a City of Berkeley pick-up in the northbound lane—without signaling—made a left-hand turn towards Capistrano. He sliced directly and closely in front of me. Poor driving alone was reason enough to question city driving protocols. 

Worse, the driver was using a hand-held cell phone at the same time. 

Without exception, every day when I am doing errands, I see at least one driver (usually two or three) using a hand-held cell phone. While the law allows for emergency hand-held use, none of the drivers I have seen seem to be in a life-and-death situation. Rather, they appear to be chatting frivolously, oblivious to traffic and pedestrians. 

This law was adopted for a reason: to improve automotive safety. It must be vigorously enforced by law enforcement personnel.  

Barbara Witte 

 

• 

KPFA CRISIS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for your coverage of the multi-faceted KPFA crisis. I first became aware of renewed problems at KPFA a few years ago when Bill Mandel was denied a regular show. Everything I have since heard about the problems of getting community programming and community input into station operations rings true, even leaving out KPFA's calling the police on Nadra Foster, and subsequent policy updates upholding using the police. For these reasons, it particularly galling to read the letter "Healing KPFA" from management and some staff saying that those concerned about these issues are self-serving. Either this is cynical or delusional, but it's unacceptable either way. These issues aren't going away. 

Michael Lyon 

San Francisco 

 

• 

ELECTION FEVER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A small clarification. Your Sept. 18 editorial, “Election Fever,” quotes Nancy Skinner, candidate for state Assembly, District 14, stating at the Wellstone Club that she has “known Sophie Hahn for five years” and that she has been in conversation with me about substantives issues. In fact, I met Ms. Skinner recently—no more than six months ago—and have only shaken her hand. We have never had a conversation on any subject.  

Sophie Hahn 

Candidate, Berkeley City Council, District 5 

 

• 

A MODEL PRESIDENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Which future president will speak up for the poor and the needy As of now having money is valued more than sharing. Some of us flaunt our wealth while others go to bed hungry. We need a president who can set an example of modest living. We dwell on the one earth. Can we find a way of helping those who are struggling to survive? Let us have a president who sets an example of unselfishness and magnanimity. 

Romila Khanna 

Albany 

 

• 

NEVER AGAIN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Democratic leaders must take control and demand that fresh, strong economists look at the "financial meltdown disaster capitalism stories" Paulson and Bernanke are selling and they must not allow themselves to be rushed into passing legislation like they did when they allowed Bush to take us into war. 

Any legislation passed must instead directly assist American homeowners who are ultimate victims of the mortgage and housing economic problems facing America, for that is the real and only way to save the banks. 

We are watching leaders of Congress. We remember how they failed us before the Iraq war and we won't let it happen again. 

John Powell 

San Pablo 

 

• 

MEASURE KK MISINFORMATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Misinformation: It does a campaign good. At least that’s what the campaigns of Berkeley Ballot Measure KK and John McCain seem to think. Gale Garcia’s Sept. 18 Daily Planet commentary supporting Measure KK is a case in point. When the truth won’t work, just make it up; and whatever you do, don’t muddy the waters by checking your facts!  

How can we take someone seriously who states, as Garcia did, that Berkeley is the only city in which BART is underground? What is worrisome is that there are people who believe what they see in print, and will believe Garcia because they don’t ride BART. But for those of us who actually use BART, we have traveled in the underground tunnel through downtown Oakland and parts of San Francisco.  

How can anyone interested transportation issues take Garcia and the Measure KK Campaign seriously? This is the woman who collected signatures to get Measure KK on the ballot at the Farmers Market for weeks. 

What about Garcia’s first sarcastic sentence in her piece, that Friends of BRT “membership soars into the single digits.” In fact, Friends of BRT membership stands at over 120 individuals, in addition to the entire Sierra Club, a large membership organization most readers probably have heard of, whose members number into the thousands. 

If you prefer to base your electoral decisions on factual information, as many of us do, you would do well to research Bus Rapid Transit before taking Measure KK supporters’ statements seriously. Here are a couple websites to get you started: www.gobrt.org, www.berkeleybrt.blogspot.com, and to set the facts straight, www.friendsofbrt.org/MythsAndFacts.pdf 

As witnessed in the Republican Party McCain-Palin Campaign, misinformation is a desperate last resort when the facts don’t favor your cause. Berkeley’s Measure KK Campaign must think that’s a smart tactic. Why else would they continue a campaign of misinformation? 

Marcy Greenhut 

 

• 

TWO-PARTY SYSTEM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Most people could stay in their homes if their loans were restructured, but this would not make money for the big boys, would it? 

The corrupt two-party system can always find money for a war to enrich its profiteer friends or a bail out that socializes the losses for the hapless taxpayer. 

What about money for health care—the same system for every citizen that they supply for all Congresspersons! 

Mary Bess 

 

• 

MEASURE KK BACKERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There were a couple of opinion pieces responding to my piece about Measure KK, the anti-transit initiative, and they simply show that that the measure's supporters are in denial about the facts. 

Both responses talked only about AC Transit's current Bus Rapid Transit proposal. They ignored a point that I made at length: This initiative will apply to any future light rail or BRT proposal. It will cost the city up to $1.2 million for the election on the current project, and the cost is sure to go up on any later projects. Measure KK backers apparently care only about this project, and have not thought about the future of light rail and BRT in Berkeley. 

One response said that, by law, the project in the final EIR must be the same as the project in the draft EIR. In reality, the final EIR gives several alternative routes for three different corridors in Berkeley, and no one knows which alternative the city will choose for analysis in the final EIR. Also, no one knows what mitigations will be in the final EIR to replace removed parking, to protect neighborhoods from spill-over traffic, and to deal with other impacts. Clearly, the final EIR can add mitigations for impacts identified in comments on the draft EIR. Measure KK backers are irresponsible to try to kill this project before we know what its final design is. 

One response compared this initiative with Berkeley's vote to underground BART. But that measure raised extra money to improve BART, while Measure KK would spend extra money on an election where the voters could only approve or reject Bus Rapid Transit. Only in the unreal world of Measure KK backers could this vote to stop transit be compared with the BART vote to improve transit. 

Finally, one response repeated a lie that measure KK backers have told before: that Friends of BRT has membership in the single digits. In fact, Friends of BRT is a Berkeley group with about 120 members. The current BRT project is also strongly supported by the Sierra Club, which has thousands of members in Berkeley. Here is an even better indicator of public sentiment: A majority of Berkeley councilmembers have already publicly opposed Measure KK, and not a single councilmember has publicly supported it. 

This big lie about the number of members in Friends of BRT shows exactly how trustworthy Measure KK backers are. They have no factual knowledge at all about this number, so they invented a fiction and repeated it over and over again. If they make this statement about Friends of BRT with no factual basis at all, then how can we trust anything they say? 

Charles Siegel 

 

• 

MEASURE N'S HIDDEN CHARTER SCHOOL TAX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If you read the following statement from the Alameda County Voter Registrar you would have no idea that Oakland, parcel tax, Measure N includes a hidden 15 percent parcel tax for charter school programs.  

Alameda County Registrar statement: “OUTSTANDING TEACHERS FOR ALL OAKLAND STUDENTS ACT. 

"Measure N: To attract and retain highly qualified and credentialed teachers for Oakland’s District-run public schools, and to support successful educational programs at Oakland’s public charter schools, shall Oakland Unified School District levy $10 per parcel per month ($120 per year) for 10 years with an exemption for low-income residents, mandatory annual audits, an independent citizens’ oversight committee, and all money spent to benefit Oakland Schools and all Oakland students? (2/3 vote required for passage.)” 

Voters that do not read the long version of Measure N will not understand that 15 percent of the parcel tax will go to charter school programs. Nor would voters reading the title of Measure N, “OUTSTANDING TEACHERS FOR ALL OAKLAND STUDENTS ACT," be likely to understand that the 15 percent of the parcel school tax is for charter school programs and not for charter school teachers’ pay. The title misleads voters into thinking that all the Measure N tax will go toward teachers’ salaries. 

I believe Measure N was written to mislead voters into thinking that this tax is entirely for teachers’ salaries. Furthermore, the short version of Measure N is written in an attempt to hide the fact that 15 percent (approximately $1.8 million yearly) is a tax to support charter schools. 

Jim Mordecai 

Oakland 

 

• 

BHA FRAUD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For me the question is why the City of Berkeley allows the corruption at the BHA to continue—do they worship the almighty dollar for fear of a potential SEIU lawsuit? The city’s bailout rewarded the BHA $150,000 and there is no one minding the shop. Twenty-five million dollars was given to the BHA and a few million of it was squandered. There should be a class action suit against the BHA. 

Diana Arsanis Villanueva 

 

• 

ALBANY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Do we want Albany to become another Berkeley? 

How could it happen? If we elect people who place loyalty to special interests above first loyalty to Albany. Only by electing three new pro-Albany candidates can we avoid a 5-0 special interest majority with no one who will place Albany’s interests first. 

How do we prevent it? We must change the current 3-2 special interest City Council majority into a 3-2 pro-Albany majority. How? 

1. Defeat Mayor Bob Lieber’s reelection bid. 

2. Defeat his directly elected mayor amendment Measure Y to extend Council terms up to 16 years. Bob could be your mayor until 2020! 

3. Elect three candidates (Peggy Thomsen, Farid Javandel, and Nick Pilch) whose first allegiance is to Albany, not to special interests such as the Sierra Club, Save our Shoreline (SOS), etc. These three candidates support open space and environmental issues but first support Albany's interests.  

I am asking you to vote against the incumbent majority I helped elect to office! 

I’m shocked that all three I strongly supported are taking Albany in the direction of becoming another Berkeley. They vote as a block about 95 percent of the time. They are now trying to radically change Albany via their directly elected mayor amendment Measure Y. 

Bob Lieber forced Measure Y on to your ballot. Your Charter Review Committee examined and voted against Bob’s measure three separate times because 84 percent of cities Albany’s size use the same system Albany has used since 1927. 

Measure Y creates entrenched 16-year council terms with unlimited outside special interest funding. 

The people who first changed Albany from a working-class to a professional town were Berkeley refugees in the 1960s. They told me that up to the mid-1950s Berkeley was a civic treasure nicer than Palo Alto. But they lost it. 

Why risk Albany? Vote against Measure Y and elect Thomsen, Filch, and Javandel to place Albany’s interests first. 

James D. Cleveland 

 

• 

ZONING BOARD AND ANTENNAS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A Sept. 4 letter in the Berkeley Daily Planet, "Zoning Board and Antennas," revealed a fatal flaw about the City of Berkeley's meeting procedures. The writer stated: "The ZAB keeps telling the public that they cannot deny a permit to the applicant." Such a "denial" by the Zoning Adjustments Board, is due to a long-held misunderstanding of the language of federal statutes. 

Explanation:  

It is generally acknowledged that we need an effective "Sunshine Ordinance." However, there should be a Total Prohibition against "legal fictions"—legal terms that mean other than what is normally meant by words having the same spelling, or by words that are capitalized. Such cunning terms lurk in "State" and federal legislation, and have unsuspected meanings. The Supreme Court warned about such legal fictions as early as 1797, describing them as "very dark notions of law and liberty"—- Maxfield's Lessee vs. Levy, 4 Dall. (4 U.S. 330). 

By the unannounced use of these, the concerned public at crucial meetings (though held in bright natural or artificial light), are "kept in the dark" about the meaning of the FCC's regulations. 

Two sections of the Telecommunications Acts (both 1934 and 1996), say: "No State or local government or instrumentality thereof may regulate the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the Commission's regulations concerning such emissions." 

The Telecommunications Acts define the legal term "State" in this way: ' "State"—The term "State" includes the District of Columbia and the Territories and possessions.' However, the word "includes" is "A term of limitation."—(Ex parte Martinez). Accordingly, the recent case of "Sprint Telephony PCS v. County of San Diego" (Sept. 11, 2008) upholds the right of local governments to influence "the location, size, design and operating characteristics" of such wireless facilities. 

The "ZAB" (which meets again on Sept. 25), is hereby notified that to NOT reveal the actual meaning or definition of a legal term (such as "State"), constitutes an "obstruction of justice". This could be knowingly making a false statement with intent to mislead, and—so far—has been what has happened at the ZAB meetings where the Telecommunications Acts are concerned.  

Arthur Stopes, III 

Director, Center for Unalienable Rights Education. 

 

• 

NO ON TAX MEASURES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What works in Berkeley? Berkeley is a small city, but it tries to be the caretaker for an entire region. We don’t do a good job of providing city services nor regional services because our city has a limited budget. 

It’s wonderful to share. I’m glad that our library system is so much better than others, that 40 percent of library cardholders are not Berkeley residents. Anyone who has ever had a child at Berkeley High knows that at least one-third of those students are out of district. A couple of years ago, the dog park petition showed that one-third of the 500 weekly users were from outside of Berkeley. Can we afford to keep doing this? Basic services do not get covered, and we are taxed extra for basics. This November, there are ballot measures for extra taxes for the basic services of the library, fire services and parks. 

Our high tax rate has driven away diversity. Young families, especially middle class blacks and Hispanics families cannot afford to live here. It is not sustainable to maintain regional services without regional financing. 

With the upcoming elections in Berkeley, it is time for a full and honest discussion of our tax system. And it has to be grounded in what we can afford. Berkeley taxpayers alone cannot be asked to pay for regional services. If our mayor and City Council want to maintain regional services, then they need to make up the financial shortfalls with regional funding. If they cannot find regional funding, then maybe it is appropriate to rethink how and what we spend our money on, rather than to keep asking for more, and spending more. Taxpayers should not be asked to pay extra taxes for basic services. City government should use our basic taxes in the general fund for fire, libraries and parks. Vote no on ballot measures for taxes. 

Yolanda Huang 

 

• 

LIBRARIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Peter Klatt states in his Sept. 11 Daily Planet commentary that he wants to make people pay at the door to use the public library. 

Scotty! Beam Peter Klatt back to the 14th century, before the printing press, back when only a select few ever saw a book. One reason people created public libraries was the belief that everybody deserves to see books, hold them for the tactical experience, soak in their smell of print, and scan the shelves for a panorama of a whole subject and take the best home, for free. Modern libraries have added children's, music and art sections, as well as shelves for new books, that some peruse to see what they want to buy on the Internet. 

Klatt believes the Internet has made books obsolete. But without books we have only an Internet in its 14th century. A small minority has top-rate Net service. Someday, a revolution may give every human full access at home, yet even then the masses will want books, mags, CDs, DVDs, etc And meanwhile, the library has the printed word and also free access to the splendor of the net at its best—just sign up. 

Klatt is anti-public services in general, as exposed in his endorsement of Barbara Gilbert’s Daily Planet piece arguing against the November ballot measures for public services 

History shows (via Net or print), that the collapse of Rome and the end of ancient civilization marched step by step with the end of it s public roads, harbors, halls, theatres, libraries, parks, fire and police departments, water and sewer systems, etc. Peter Klatt and Barbara Gilbert may want to live together in a walled Berkeley hills castle with private firemen and police and a 10-foot Internet screen. But the viewing will be boring, because so few youngsters will be going to school that the needed creativity of youth will be zilch. 

Ted Vincent 

 


Letters to the Editor

Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:33:00 AM

BHA FLOUTING THE LAW? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Why is Tia Ingram of the Berkeley Housing Authority flouting the sunshine or transparency laws by refusing to post exactly how the BHA figures the often inflated rents for Section 8 tenants? And why does City Attorney Zach Cowan, the Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission and the Section 8 committee of the Rent Stabilization Board put up with it? This flouting of the law is what caused the probationary status of the BHA in the first place; the threatened lawsuit, the special HUD investigation, the forced resignation of top BHA staff, and the shake-up of Berkeley commissions which helped force out of office the previous city attorney.  

John L. Butler 

Berkeley Citizens for Fair Housing  

 

• 

THE VICTORY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is never glorious, never a victory, when great trees fall. But although the tree-sitters failed to preserve the grove, all of us—and I include those offering “free firewood” to passers-by—owe something big to them. They accomplished what a decade of Freedom of Information Act requests could not have done. They have brought before the eyes of a star-struck public a key part of the nature of the Yoo-niversity in the hills. Now we know it better for what it is: how close to the surface, and how near to hand, are the interrogation lights, the helicopters, the paranoia- and fear-tactics, the food-deprivation, the spying, the surveillance, the double-crossing, the press-office psy-ops. 

All necessary knowledge for those of us who care about the Bay Area, because working for its good in the future will often enough mean going up against the big Yoo. 

Even if you didn't like the tree-sitters’ looks or personal deportment, think of them as a P.I.A.—“People’s Intelligence Agency.” 

Juan F. García 

 

• 

BRAVE TREE-SITTERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to thank the brave tree-sitters from the bottom of my heart for risking their lives so that the oak grove might live. Let us hope that the animals who lost their habitat in the grove somehow manage to find new homes.  

Harriet Jones  

 

• 

NEW SEWER LINES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Congratulations to Berkeley’s public works efforts to give the city new sewer pipes. Not exactly a glitzy project, but basic and necessary to keep the fluids moving underground. The team of workers on our block were efficient, professional, friendly, and diligent. It was a pleasure to watch them do the job. And they did their job extremely well—the temporarily torn up sidewalk blocks and the openings in the street were all smoothed over and neat when the work was over. Good job done by all. 

Joan Levinson 

 

• 

UNIVERSITY ETHICS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Years ago I took a law course for non-lawyers at Berkeley. About all I remember from it was the claim that if something was legal, it was prima facie ethical. Recently, the university required all its employees to take an on-line ethics training course. The course covered the responsibilities and the rights of employees. An employee cannot charge non project-related work to a project account. An employee has the right to be recompensed for any job-related work that they perform. My supervisors saw no contradiction in stating that I should bill the time required to complete the ethics course to whatever project account I currently had access to.  

Free speech, or perhaps just tenure, trumps outrage. John Yoo appears to be in no danger of losing his job. Memorial Stadium was built in honor of the veterans of World War I. Many people have expressed anguish at the removal of the oak grove by the stadium, but the university claims it has the legal right to do so. Compassion, and respect for others, are not a legal, and by implication, ethical requirement. 

Presumably no one will be surprised that the university is urging its alumni to sign up for updates on university issues so that they can lobby their legislators. Ethics is money.  

Robert Clear 

 

• 

BLOWBACK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Given the university’s recent chopper campaign against oaks on a fault, the fantasy SWAT segue for returned soldiers, and the chanting ROTC drills outside of classrooms—it looks like we’re living the latest version of federal policy blowback. If we divert much of our national education budget to training our small town kids to police our foreign lands and prisons, our investment is also bound to create a need for more militarized urban securitization here in our home lands. We need to change more than our figureheads. 

Jeff Jordan 

 

• 

TRUTH ABOUT PALIN  

BOOK BAN RUMORS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In your letters to the editor for Sept. 8, you have one entitled “Sarah Palin and Censorship” by Ralph Stone, who rambles on about the alleged demands by Sarah Palin that the library remove certain books, and then asks the question why this isn’t being brought up in the media. The simple answer to that question is because it never happened! 

A quick search for Palin and library on snopes.com produces the following results: www.snopes.com/politics/palin/bannedbooks.asp. 

It is also important to realize that the list being circulated include numerous books that had not even been published at the time this alleged attempt at book banning took place. 

Please, when evaluating letters to publish, be sure to check what is being presented as being factually correct rather than more nuttiness for Berkeley’s moonbats. 

Todd C. Hansen 

Northfield, Minnesota 

 

• 

OAKLAND’S MEASURE N 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Why are Oakland teachers voting no on Measure N when it could provide for a pay raise? 

a. Measure N includes charter school tax of 1.8 million for next 10 years. 

b. Elected Oakland School Board voted 6 to 1 to reject flawed Measure N. 

c. State Superintendent O’Connell used his state take-over power to force Measure N on the ballot. 

d. Jack O’Connell was awarded “charter schools supporter of the year” for 2008. 

e. Homeowners in today’s economy can ill afford $120 addition parcel tax for 10 years. 

f. All of the above. 

Answer: f 

Jim Mordecai 

Oakland teacher 

 

• 

O’MALLEY VS. PALIN REVISITED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Comments contained in the last paragraph of my recent letter to the Daily Planet were less than objective, indefensible, purely reactionary, simply irrational, inappropriate, a grievous error in judgment...and just a wee bit satirical, though I wouldn’t claim to match the New Yorker’s skill at rendering satire after their July 21 cover depicting the Obamas in the Oval Office. 

In choosing to publish my letter, Mrs. O’Malley aptly demonstrates her open-mindedness and underscores the need for the Berkeley Daily Planet to remain as a beacon of truth regardless of the outcome of this election. 

Becky, what makes you think America won’t need you more than ever after Sarah Palin becomes your next VP? Stay here venerable editor, stand and fight for your American ideals, there’s nothing to do in Canada, and Venezuela is already a lost cause. 

Brian Gabel 

Oakland  

 

• 

BERKELEY UNIFIED  

SCHOOL DISTRICT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What’s going on with Berkeley Unified School District? Why are they not able to keep their science teachers? Four of our elementary schools in Berkeley are without science teachers for their fourth and fifth graders. The four schools; Le Conte, Emerson, Berkeley Arts Magnet, and Washington are doing a disservice to their fourth and fifth graders, which will manifest in lower test scores on the science portion of their STAR tests this coming spring. 

We live in one of the most science rich communities in the nation, and Berkeley Unified is obligated to provide our students with teachers (not subs) in schools who are qualified and experienced in teaching this subject. Because science (and math) are the most difficult positions to be filled, the district has an additional responsibility to retain these specialized teachers and to value them as they do classroom teachers. 

Why is Berkeley Unified not working harder to keep science teachers? Is the superintendent even aware of the situation? Does he just hand it off to Human Resources? Who is in charge of making the district a desirable employer to work for? 

Science is a comprehensive and specific curriculum that is just as important as math and English. If our district, which can so proudly laud it’s ability to offer our schools curriculum in non-academics such as cooking, gardening, music and dance (as well as organic food) then why oh why can’t they figure out how to keep their science teachers? I notice that there are no district vacancies for cooking and gardening instructors, but three for science. 

Are parents of fourth and fifth graders at Le Conte, Washington, Berkeley Arts Magnet, and Emerson upset about this situation? Do they find this acceptable? Let’s let the superintendent and the school board know of our displeasure about this and receive some answers. The district serves the public as well as our children. I’m sending this letter to the school board as well. Students at four schools have already missed two weeks of science. Would we remain complacent if it were two weeks of math or English? 

Joseph Davis 

 

• 

MISLEADING STATEMENTS FROM BRT SUPPORTERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Charles Siegel’s Sept. 11 commentary “False Claims in Anti-Transit Initiative Ballot Argument” is extremely misleading. He claims that Bus Rapid Transit will achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gases, presumably by saving the 690 gallons of gasoline per day hoped for by AC Transit. How can 690 gallons per day, for a $400 million cost, possibly be considered significant? The same $400 million could be used as $4,000 rebates to encourage 100,000 motorists to turn in their gas-guzzlers and buy a fuel-efficient car. That could save upwards of 100,000 gallons of gasoline every day, 150 times as much as BRT. I challenge Mr. Siegel to explain how BRT’s greenhouse gas reductions can be significant, when they are less than 1 percent of the savings that might be achieved by using the same $400 million for fuel efficiency rebates. And maybe he can explain the statement by AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson that even the 690 gallon estimate may be completely unrealistic: “If we put this dedicated lane in and people continue to drive, then the opponents are probably right. It will lead to more pollution.” 

Mr. Siegel also claims that the average bus trip will be 15 to 30 percent faster with BRT. But AC Transit’s heavily used 51 bus, which runs on College Avenue, will be stuck in the same BRT-induced gridlock as the cars and trucks on College. Anyone who rides the 51 will see the service get a lot worse. And if the 51 takes twice as long to crawl through traffic after BRT is constructed, each 51 bus will only be able to make half the number of trips as they do now. So people will have to wait twice as long for a 51 bus to even show up. During that longer wait, twice as many riders will have accumulated and there won’t be space on the 51 to hold everyone. Maybe Mr. Siegel can explain to the riders of the 51 why their service will be sacrificed as part of BRT. 

Finally, counter to Mr. Siegel’s claims, I do understand that Measure KK would apply to “every street in Berkeley.” I think that is wonderful. If Measure KK passes, no one who lives in Berkeley will ever have to waste their time defending their neighborhood against a carpetbagger like AC Transit again. The people of Berkeley will be empowered to select the kind of real improvements in public transit that we need, instead of being forced to accept AC Transit’s useless and dangerous pet project. Vote yes on Measure KK in November! 

Russ Tilleman 

 

• 

CORRECTING THE GERMAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In her Sept. 11 editorial, Becky O’Malley wrote, “Non-liberal-arts majors took offense at my previous use of a German word, liebensraum, to describe the university’s rapacious desire for territorial expansion, just because Hitler had previously used it.” 

Had Hitler been motivated by a desire for Liebensraum, there would have been no World War II and no Holocaust. Had the University of California practiced the policy of Liebensraum, the Memorial Stadium oak grove would still be standing. 

Unlike Lebensraum (living space), Liebensraum means “loving space.” (And unlike English nouns, German nouns still take initial capitals.) 

Daniella Thompson 

 

• 

LOVING AND LIVING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a liberal arts major myself, I nonetheless take strong exception to Professor O’Malley’s injudicious attempt to equate the university’s land grab of the oak grove with Hitlerian expansionism by evoking the term, “liebensraum” [sic]. If there were such a word in German (which there isn’t), it might mean something like “room to love” or maybe “love room.” That sounds more like a Summer of Love term than something we might associate with Nazi Germany. Unless you take seriously Norman Mailer’s deeply demented last novel, The Castle in the Forest, it seems doubtful that a kinky concept like “liebensraum” has much to do with Hitler or his supposedly incestuous origins. I suppose the German word, Liebe, or “love” could be compounded into a more sinister form. For example, fans of Stanley Kubrick’s classic Dr. Strangelove may recall a whispered scene in which we learn that the “Kraut,” Dr. Strangelove, formerly worked for the Nazis as a weapon’s expert under his original name, “Dr. Merkwürdigliebe.” 

Perhaps the German word-phrase, Professor O’Malley was looking for here was “Lebensraum”? I guess her “excellent education at what we used to call Cal” did not sufficiently distinguish between “liebensraum” and “Lebensraum” or that fact that in German, all nouns, “proper” or otherwise, are customarily capitalized (at least in German orthography). 

But this apparent confusion of Professor O’Malley while trying to appear worldly and learned (unlike that rube Palin?), points to a larger credibility gap in the Planet’s so-called news coverage. For example, the front page of the Sept. 11 issue includes a breathless profile and interview with one of the oak grove heroes, “Dumpster Muffin,” who is described as a “21-year-old activist from Iowa,” but only a few paragraphs below she is quoted as saying, “I’m from Ohio...” So which is it? Iowa or Ohio? Or did we somehow get our geography confused like some parochial small town rube from Alaska might? Based on a careful reading of the Planet for several years, it would seem that all too often the reports are filled with misstatements, inaccuracies and confusion (not to mention typos) and the attributed quotes filled with outright lies which no one bothers to fact check or verify. So, in a nutshell, you have the Planet: A series of inaccurate or false statements immediately contradicted by a (lying?) quotation all within the same paragraph or two! In truth, Berkeley fully deserves the newspaper it now has which accurately reflects both its hubris and dementia. 

Edna Spector 

 

• 

LOW-FLOW TOILETS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

People who read Matt Cantor’s article on toilets might be interested to know that if they replace an older (3.5 gallons per flush) toilet with a qualifying “High-Efficiency Toilet” (1.28 gallons per flush) they can get a $150 rebate from EBMUD. 

Michael Babcock 

 

• 

LeCONTE API GROWTH  

OVERLOOKED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In her Sept. 11 article “District, State Show Growth in API Scores,” Riya Bhattacharjee neglected to mention another Berkeley elementary school that saw dramatic growth in 2008: LeConte. LeConte’s API improved 55 points from 2007 to 2008. Among the district’s eleven elementary schools, only Washington made more growth—68 points.  

LeConte made some big changes last year, restructuring our fourth and fifth grade program to build a more collaborative professional learning community and, like the rest of the district, focusing heavily on our writing instruction. We are proud of the results we are seeing, and we are disappointed to be overlooked by the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

Jen Corn 

Fourth grade teacher and literacy coach 

LeConte Elementary 

 

• 

TOTLAND EQUIPMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Tuesday, Jan. 22, my son and I requested (here) a “baby changing table” at the Totland playground. I would like to thank whoever organized its facilitation—it sure makes life easier. 

Phil and Fionn Rowntree 

 

• 

SOLUTION TO BRT CONTROVERSY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The solution to the Bus Rapid Transit controversy is not just to forget about BRT, but to forget about “fixed-route” mass transit completely. 

Read the information at www.taxibus.org.uk and be enlightened. Simply put, it looks like this to the consumer: you call and give your destination to the central computer. 

Within three minutes, a 12-passenger minibus, such as a Dodge Sprinter high van, will pick you up, and take you to your destination, picking up and dropping off passengers efficiently as it goes, the driver instructed by a little Garmin-style computer which turns to take, and the system run from a central computer. Drivers would drive smaller vehicles, and buses wouldn’t roar through your neighborhood with one passenger. 

That’s it. In order to work efficiently, it needs 10 taxibuses per square mile. It would remove half the vehicle traffic in a dense city such as San Francisco or Oakland, even Berkeley, speeding up its own travel to where it would be faster, if finding parking were included, than driving your own personal car. Weather would not matter, video surveillance and recorded routes and passenger ID would provide security, pollution from vehicles decreased. 

Break out of the argument about which fixed route behemoth Van Hools should take. They shouldn’t even exist. What you want to do is go from one place to another on demand. Taxibuses are a far better solution to that problem. 

Ormond Otvos 

Richmond 

 

• 

NO ON PROPOSITION 8 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to encourage your readers to vote no on Proposition 8. The freedom to marry is a fundamental individual right and should be guaranteed in our society. I want to secure the right to marry not only because I am a gay man in a committed relationship but—more fundamentally—because I am a citizen committed to human rights for all. We will never truly be a great nation until we recognize the basic right for each person to be treated fairly and to have the opportunity to live the fullest life possible. Discrimination against same-sex couples is discrimination—bias any way it is cut. We must protect the right to marry for every citizen and know that in doing so we help this nation reach its greatest potential. 

John Frazier 

Oakland


Re-Thinking the Idea of Free Libraries

By Peter Klatt
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:34:00 AM

I read Barbara Gilbert’s commentary (Sept. 11) with great interest and I second her opinions wholeheartedly. 

I would like to expand on Ms. Gilbert’s comments specifically with respect to the Library Bond measure FF. I concluded some years ago that the public libraries should to a significant degree, become user-funded, as are so other many city, county and state services. While the city has managed to spin off much of the library budget from the city core budget onto the property taxpayers, the actual users of libraries get off scot free, which is most irritating, especially in view of the fact that “half of the library usage is by non-Berkeley residents.” 

The concept of free public libraries once made sense as a means to help achieve general literacy and provide information to a wide spectrum of citizens (of course that information was mostly ink on paper a century ago.) However, since the days of Andrew Carnegie, the need for free public libraries to promote literacy has greatly diminished. Like the Correctional Peace Officer’s Union, the library establishment and its lobby have always sought ways to expand their mission and enlarge their budgets, even to go to the absurdity of creating a Tool Lending Library at a time when most people (who wanted to) could already read, even though they may not have owned a hammer or a screwdriver. That said, I must admit that I have used the tool “library” a couple of times, because it was convenient and I was being cheap, but I felt justified in view of the large library tax that appears on my annual property tax bill. 

I pay nearly as much for those darn “free” libraries as I do for public schools and that is not right! This is the 21st century. People can and do get most of their desired information via the Internet from Google and Wikipedia and a jillion other places. In a way, free public libraries are just as obsolete as Cody’s or Black Oak book stores. These old media purveyors have either disappeared from the scene or are hanging on by their teeth. Books and the ability to read are no longer a necessary public goal. That erstwhile goal has been achieved, but still the free public library establishment demands increasingly larger budgets from rate payers. 

Reading books can be a cultural life-enhancement, perhaps entertainment, but it is not a pursuit that should be fully tax supported. Some may consider this heresy, but I think it is high time that library users step up to the plate and share in the cost of this public service. The annual fees for library cards should have a multi-tier structure: for example, Berkeley youth, adult Berkeley residents, all non-residents and perhaps resident seniors and/or disabled or low-income, etc. But the fees should be significant enough to make a significant budget impact after the cost of implementation and collection. Keeping in mind that just a movie ticket can set one back the better part of a $20 bill. 

Modern computerized library management systems can be programmed to achieve such an objective. If the imposition of such fees should happen to also curtail the number of users, then a case can be made to downsize, re-organize and even shut down the system of branch libraries and to reduce library staff. Heresy? I think not. It is simply time to face reality, just as the Postal Service is addressing its own reality. There is no longer a mail drop at every street corner and there is talk about going to a five-day delivery from six. And guess what? Postage rates escalate all the time. But the public libraries are free! 

Don’t get me wrong. I am an avid reader. I love books. I buy books. I keep books in my library. I borrow books from friends and I lend books to friends. I also love music, which deserves every bit—or more—ratepayer support than libraries do. Music in our schools not only develops cultural appreciation and beauty but music also stimulates learning ability in young students. But our school music budgets are minuscule, almost non-existent. Can we have some equity there, please? But let’s not perpetuate the free library thing any longer. Enough is enough! 

Peter Klatt has been a Berkeley resident since 1956.


Hard Times Call for More Than Slick PR

By Sally Hindman
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:35:00 AM

This week our household received a slick and colorful PR brochure from Phil Kamlarz, our dear city manager, describing what Berkeley is doing to improve its infrastructure and how much the city cares about its residents (was that the upshot, I wasn’t quite sure). With all due respect (luv ya Phil, no offense) to the city manager’s office, and whoever conceptualized this mailing, a fancy brochure is not what our households need in these rough economic times. 

Instead, we should be using that money and staff time (and perhaps also the $18,000-plus the police spent paying rent on their empty building at 3192 Adeline St. last year, so to speak), with Phil and his people holding emergency weekend workshops to help neighborhood residents in South and West Berkeley figure out how to simply make it through this difficult period without having to face foreclosures and resulting potential relocation, or worse, homelessness. 

I’m not looking for Phil’s face on a slick brochure in these times. Instead, I want to see him on Sunday afternoons at St. Joseph the Worker or Progressive Baptist Church sitting at a table after the coffee hour with his sleeves rolled up and his calculator out! 

When the recession ends and we Berkeleyans come out from under our dining room tables to look around outside, this community will be aghast at the exodus of low-income African American and Latino families from South and West Berkeley as a result of this economic crisis. Even before the recession hit, a South Berkeley neighbor of ours speculated that African American’s were leaving South Berkeley’s Lorin neighborhood at a rate of 5 percent per year. Does anyone know the actual statistics, five years ago and now? 

Whatever the figures, our community cannot quantify the loss that the flight of long time residents is having and will have on our cultural fabric, our diversity, our richness, our spunk, the feeling of community here!  

When a truck pulls out and a Berkeley family or single adult here since the 1940s moves to Antioch or Brentwood, or in with relatives in Oakland because it’s too expensive to survive here, it’s not because they are “cashing out” as one developer I know put it in better economic times. It’s because they’re bleeding on their door steps and can’t find a way to pencil out staying and making ends meet. For all of us the loss is simply giant. 

In the same way that many in this community can now recite the achievement gap stats describing the dichotomy between African American test scores and those of Latinos and other groups and are coming together to tackle this challenge; or the way we now can name the 20-year difference between the life spans of African Americans from the flats and those of their white counterparts living in the Berkeley hills, and are working together to bridge that health disparity gap, we need to gather the true statistics and collectively face our denial of Berkeley’s “black and brown flight,” exacerbated by the recession before us, and work aggressively to stop it, both at a systemic level and locally as a community. 

Sally Hindman is a Berkeley resident.


Yes on Measure FF and Why it Matters

By Terry Powell, Winston Burton and Amy Roth
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:35:00 AM

The City Council voted unanimously to put Measure FF on the ballot after reviewing the city’s report on the unacceptable state of Berkeley’s four branch libraries, which are seismically unsafe, cramped and in need of repair. They did so because time is of the essence. It is critical that we renovate all our branches to ensure they are safe, modern buildings that will serve our community now and into the future. We can’t afford to wait one more day. When it comes to public safety, there is no time to waste.  

Most of Berkeley’s neighborhood branch libraries have not been renovated in more than 30 years; some have not been renovated in more than 70 years. With more than 900,000 visits during the year, our branches need substantial upgrades to ensure a safe environment and efficient operating system. 

The revenue from the bond will bring the buildings up to current code standards; meet seismic requirements; make all of the branches fully accessible to Berkeley’s diverse population; provide environmentally sustainable “green” operations; and create adequate space for the Tool Library and the adult literacy program, Berkeley Reads. Renovations will include the restoration and preservation of historic features at the branch libraries. 

Each branch library is an essential part of the neighborhood it serves, and of the community-at-large. The city’s library system provides more than 500,000 books, videos, DVDs, cassettes, CDs, books on tape, phonograph records, and microfilm for our residents, children and adults alike. Libraries create a level playing field for all by providing free access to books, computers and information regardless of income, gender or race. They also create a neighborhood anchor for communities to build around and provide a haven for children, families and the elderly to read and learn. 

It’s important that the community know that funds from the bond will not be used to support the Library’s day-to-day operations or purchase books and materials.  

Anyone who felt the 4.0 earthquake two weeks ago should appreciate that upgrading the branches cannot come soon enough. Measure FF lets us take care of the assets we have and ensure their use for generations to come.  

Terry Powell, Winston Burton and Amy Roth are members of Neighbors for Branch Libraries. Powell is president of the Board of Library Trustees; Burton is a boardmember for the Berkeley Public Library Foundation; Roth is president of Friends of the Berkeley Public Library. 

 

 


Why the Democrats Always Lose

By Paul Glusman
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:37:00 AM

Democrats always bring a knife to a gun fight. They believe that “the issues” should predominate in their campaigns (even though they often cave on them—see offshore drilling). Republicans always set up the same ambush, every four years, and the Democrats walk into it, like Charlie Brown kicking Lucy’s football. 

Democrats could fight back—but it’s not in their nature. 

Remember the theme of the Republican convention, “Country First?” Well the Republicans nominated a vice president who literally sleeps with and cooperates with secessionism. 

A few months before Palin spoke to the Republican convention, she addressed another party’s convention: the separatist Alaska Independence Party which wants to take Alaska out of the United States. That party’s slogan isn’t “Country First” but “Alaska First—Alaska Always.” Palin’s husband Todd is a long-time member of that party. Joe Vogler, the founder of that secessionist party, said (before he died in a plastic explosives transaction gone bad—I’m sure there are lots of good civilian reasons for a separatist to be buying plastic explosives) “I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions.” The Alaska Independence Party trumpets those words on its website, right above the introduction to the party. You can see that at www.akip.org/introduction.html. 

The Democrats won’t attack this. 

David Axlerod, chief strategist for the Obama campaign, told Fox News that, “We are not running aginst Gov. Palin.” Gov. Palin is sure running hard against them. Recent opinion polls show McCain has taken the lead from Obama. 

Once more in a presidential race the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, lands in a ditch by the side of the road, after an ambush, keeping company with Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, and John Kerry. (Yes, Clinton won, but in 1992 he received only 43 percent of the vote and prevailed only because Ross Perot took votes from President Bush.) Who could have seen that Republican ambush coming? It’s only been same one for more than a quarter century.  

Democrats have run focus groups and those focus groups have told them that Americans are tired of negative campaigning. Focus groups are very good at figuring out what you want to hear and parroting that back. But Americans vote for the party that aggressively attacks the other one, and that’s always the Republicans. Karl Rove and the late Lee Atwater have proven that, over and over again. The Democrats hire the most experienced campaign managers. They got that experience losing elections. 

Imagine, for a moment what the Republicans would do if Barack Obama had addressed an African-American—or even an Illinois—separatist party. Imagine further that Michelle Obama was a long-time member of such a party. Just a few months ago all we heard about was the Obamas’ over-the-top preacher, Michelle’s not being sufficiently proud of America, and Barack’s supposedly inexcusable failure to wear an American flag pin on his lapel. Yet Democrats won’t attack for far worse. 

One might ask, if the Democrats attack Palin’s connections to the Alaska Independence Party, won’t it be acting just like Rove and the Republicans? Well, yes, if you mean winning the presidency. No, if you mean not telling the truth. 

The facts: Todd Palin, Sarah’s husband, was a member of the Alaska Independence Party from 1995-2002. In 2002 Sarah Palin first ran for statewide office as a Republican. I may be cynical, but it is not beyond reason to assume that Todd left his secessionist party in order to help Sarah’s career. Todd Palin never has renounced his views that Alaska should be an independent country, free of the United States. 

But what about families being off limits? That didn’t faze those who have been attacking Michelle Obama steadily for months now. Sarah Palin has paraded Todd (the “First Dude”) in front of the crowds at the Republican Convention, and on the campaign trail. Todd is very involved Sarah’s Alaska administration. He is neck deep in the Troopergate investigation having been subpoenaed to testify on it. Todd was the person who pressured to have his sister-in-law’s ex-husband fired from the state troopers. Todd sat in on and participated in official meetings. Todd hired an investigator to sic on his ex-brother in law, according to the Sept. 6 Times of London. He can’t be a prop for his wife’s administration and campaign for her without being questioned about his Alaska separatist positions. 

Sarah Palin, although a Republican, addressed the Alaska Independence Party Convention in Fairbanks, through a video, in April, less than five months before she was nominated to become vice president of the United States. Palin told the secessionist AIP that she shared that party’s vision of upholding the constitution of Alaska. She wished the AIP a successful and inspiring convention. She told them to, “Keep up the good work.” Since creation of an independent nation of Alaska is the AIP’s work, her praise of their good work is self-explanatory. (See www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZwvPNXYrIyI.) 

What Sarah Palin did not say to the AIP is as informative as what she did say. Palin never mentioned the United States Constitution, only Alaska’s. Palin did not suggest that the AIP might want to include upholding the U.S. constitution in its program. Nor did she say that she has any area of disagreement with the AIP on its central aim, secessionism. 

The AIP spells out on its website (www.akip.org) that it seeks a vote on independence: “The call for this vote is in furtherance of the dream of the Alaskan Independence Party’s founding father, Joe Vogler, which was for Alaskans to achieve independence under a minimal government, fully responsive to the people, promoting a peaceful and lawful means of resolving differences.” Joe Vogler was the guy killed with plastic explosives who said he had no use for America or its institutions. 

So why don’t the Democrats attack this? Shouldn’t they demand that Sarah Palin and her husband, who campaigns for her, both renounce secessionism? Shouldn’t they demand that she live up to the pledge she gave when installed as governor to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States? After all, the founder of the Republican party, Abraham Lincoln opposed secessionism and led a war to defeat it, while the founder of the AIP supported taking Alaska out of the United States. 

At least, questioning the Palins’ patriotism is reality-based, unlike the swift-boating of Kerry four years ago. 

Wouldn’t it be fun for the Democrats to turn the tables and call the Republicans unpatriotic? I can think of nothing more enjoyable than watching the Republicans cringe and be defensive and cry that it is so unfair. This will hit the Republican base hard, but more importantly will drive moderates away from the Republicans. And, it will stun the Republicans like they haven’t been stunned since Lyndon Johnson portrayed Barry Goldwater as likely to start World War III back in 1964. 

The Democrats won’t do it. They are doomed to repeat the same mistakes every election cycle. They are the kid in class with the “kick me” sign someone has taped to his backside. And they will lose a race they could have won once again. 

Paul Glusman is a Berkeley attorney.


The Facts of Bus Rapid Transit

By Jim Bullock
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:38:00 AM

Charles Siegel apparently put on green-tinted blinders before examining AC Transit’s BRT proposal and the arguments for measure KK (last week’s Daily Planet). With these blinders on, any proposal with “bus” in the title looks good, regardless of the cost or the projected benefits. With his blinders on, Mr. Siegel can’t see the difference between a $250 million boondoggle and a well-crafted proposal to improve rapid transit in the East Bay. I urge Mr. Siegel to take off his blinders and take a hard look at the current AC Transit proposals. If he does a thorough, clear-sighted assessment of what’s being proposed, I think he will come to the same conclusion that I have: BRT as proposed is a foolish waste of precious transit funds. 

The only place Mr. Siegel can go to find out about the current BRT proposals is AC Transit’s draft environmental impact report (EIR). Mr. Siegel dismisses the draft EIR as not a good source of data. Measure KK backers, he says “do not realize that a draft EIR is a first draft” and that “projects are changed based on public comments on the draft EIR...” What Mr. Siegel doesn’t understand (or doesn’t want to acknowledge) is that by law the subject project of a draft EIR cannot be substantially changed when the final EIR is issued. If an agency wants or needs to significantly change a proposed project, they must change the draft EIR and recirculate it. 

Bottom line: What we see in the draft EIR is basically what we’re gonna get. To borrow a phrase from the presidential candidates, AC Transit has four pigs in the draft EIR. They’re gonna put lipstick on one of them in time for the final EIR, but it will still be a pig. 

The facts from the draft EIR, which Mr. Siegel and other BRT proponents would like us to ignore, are these: 

The cost of the BRT project will be at least $250 million. 

None of the proposed alternatives will even moderately affect transit usage in the East Bay. The most successful, if you call it that, of the alternatives is projected to increase transit usage by fewer than 5,000 people per day. That is an approximate 1.4 percent increase over the proposal to do nothing. 

None of the proposed alternatives will have an impact on the levels of carbon monoxide, reactive organic gas, nitrogen oxides, or particulates in East Bay air. 

None of the proposed alternatives would save energy. (“The energy impacts of the Build Alternatives as compared to the No-Build Alternative would be negligible.” Draft EIR, p. 4-152.) 

BRT would eliminate between 1,000 and 1,600 parking spaces along its entire route, including 75 percent of the parking on Telegraph between Dwight Way and the Berkeley border. As if things weren’t tough enough for the small businesses in that area! 

Mr. Siegel quotes the draft EIR (how ironic!), which says that BRT would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six million pounds. Six million is a big number and it sounds impressive. According to the Nature Conservancy, however, the average two-person American household emits 53 million pounds of CO2 per year. Mr. Siegel would have us spend $250 million to eliminate the CO2 that is generated by two people in about six weeks. How can he possibly think this is a wise use of transit funds? 

Despite these facts, AC Transit, Mayor Tom Bates and, it appears, many members of the Berkeley City Council, would like to proceed with the next step of BRT implementation. Who knows what their motivation is? It is certainly not based on their concern for the environment. 

This is why a group of concerned citizens worked so hard to put measure KK on the ballot. Mr. Siegel implies that KK proponents are anti-transit. Nothing could be further from the truth. All of us would happily and heartily support meaningful transit improvements in Berkeley and the East Bay. Based on the facts in front of us today, however, the current BRT proposals fall far short of “meaningful improvements.” The fact that AC Transit and some members of the City Council want to ignore this fact and push ahead with BRT means we can no longer trust those people to make sensible transit decisions. 

There is historical precedent. In 1966, Berkeley citizens bucked transportation planners and government officials to prevent a project that would have scarred Berkeley for generations. BART was originally designed to be above ground through Berkeley. The Alameda County Supervisors had approved the design. Construction had already begun on other parts of the system. Berkeley citizens rose up and said “Hell, no!” Our parents and grandparents voted to tax themselves in order to put BART under ground through Berkeley. Would anyone argue today that Berkeley would be better off if we had listened to the planners and the officials who were so wrong on this issue? 

Given the chance, Berkeley citizens will again make a better transit decisions than transit officials and government bureaucrats. That’s why we support measure KK. 

Jim Bullock is a Berkeley resident.


Healing KPFA

By KPFA Staff
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:39:00 AM

Thank you for your sober, detailed coverage of the police incident at KPFA (“Rough Arrest at KPFA Stuns Station, Community,” Sept. 4). 

KPFA has work to do to become a better institution. (To see what we are doing, check out kpfa.org/august20.) It is clear to us that KPFA needs to review and update its procedures for securing the safety of its staff, de-escalating internal conflicts, and monitoring the police if and when they do enter the station. To do that, what KPFA needs is dialogue and healing: We need frank conversations about the internal conflicts we’ve had, and how our policies and actions live up to our ideals. 

What we don’t need is civil war. The police incident was bad enough. What has made it worse is that opportunistic individuals have sensationalized the incident for their own ends. 

KPFA is facing hard economic times and stagnant audience numbers—we can only turn things around with new programming and institutional change. And the loudest shouting over the police incident has come from those entrenched programmers at the station who stand to lose the most from a revitalization of KPFA. 

They have used KPFA’s airwaves to launch sensationalized reports that are both false (reporting a sprained arm as a broken one, and a pregnancy that did not exist), mistargeted (calling for the resignation of two managers who had nothing to do with the decision to call the police), and self-serving (concluding one on-air segment with a demand for a regular show). 

When KPFA is used in that fashion, it takes the airwaves we hold in public trust, and turns them into a bully pulpit for pressing an internal political campaign. That’s a breach of our duty to deliver the information our listeners turn to us for—insight into the occupation of Iraq, the rapidly-escalating situation in Afghanistan, the emergence of a new Cold War with Russia, the hurricanes battering the Gulf Coast, the erosion of civil liberties, the food, healthcare and housing crises in our communities, and the watershed presidential election set to take place in November. 

That work—our journalism—is bigger than any of us in KPFA, or our internal conflicts. By the time your readers see this, KPFA will be entering its fall fund drive. We do fund drives because tens of thousands of people rely on KPFA for information and inspiration, and we have an obligation to them to do what it takes to keep KPFA’s microphones on and doors open. We hope you understand that, despite its conflicts, KPFA is an important institution, one whose work has real value in these times, and one worthy of support even as it works through its internal crises. 

We’re calling on KPFA’s extended family—its staff and volunteers, boardmembers and supporters, allies and comrades past and present—to address the current crisis in the spirit of healing and progress, and to challenge those who would point the guns inward to re-focus their energy on engaging the much greater crises of our times, the crises that we all, for the past 59 years, have counted on KPFA to shed light on. 

Amelia Gonzalez-Garcia, Director of Arts, Humanities, and Public Affairs; Aileen Alfandary, News Co-Director; Mark Mericle, News Co-Director; Luis Medina, Music Director; Gary Niederhoff, Subscriptions Director; Andrea Turner, Chair, KPFA Local Station Board; Sherry Gendelman, Chair, Pacifica National Board; Conn Hallinan, Vice-Chair, KPFA Local Station Board; Brian Edwards-Tiekert, Staff Representative and Treasurer, KPFA Local Station Board; Warren Mar, Listener Representative, KPFA Local Station Board. 

 


A Response to False Claims About Measure KK

By Gale Garcia
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:40:00 AM

The “Friends of BRT,” whose membership soars into the single digits, are adroit at pulling the wool over their own eyes. Charles Siegel, one of the most ardent of the “Friends,” in his Sept. 11 commentary, makes a laundry list of false statements to attack the ballot argument for Measure KK. 

Berkeley Measure KK would simply require voter approval before traffic lanes could be removed from general use for the exclusive use of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). 

The ballot argument for Measure KK accurately addresses AC Transit’s “current proposal” for Telegraph Avenue. Of course, AC Transit can change its proposal. That is one of the reasons why we need “voter approval” for transit plans involving dedicated bus lanes. We cannot trust an irresponsible agency like AC Transit to dictate Berkeley’s future.  

AC Transit’s BRT proposal seems tailored to fit the funding rather than to provide good bus service. Funds from a variety of government sources are available for BRT with dedicated lanes, which has been the favored transit scheme of the Bush administration for several years. AC Transit is desperate for the money—the estimated $250 million it could acquire—if the cities of Berkeley, Oakland and San Leandro go along with its plan to take over parts of our streets. 

Mr. Siegel complains that the ballot argument for Measure KK is based upon the draft environmental impact report (EIR), stating that it’s only a “draft.” But the draft EIR is the only study that has been performed to date on the proposal. Everything else is merely conjecture. Siegel looks forward to AC Transit calculating time savings for BRT, but such “calculations” would be nothing more than speculation from the very agency that stands to acquire the millions. 

Transit projections are notoriously inaccurate. They tend to overestimate ridership and time savings, and underestimate costs. 

An August 2007 study by the Federal Transit Administration entitled “Contractor Performance Assessment Report” compared average weekday boardings for completed projects with the predictions made during the EIR process. Of 19 New Starts projects (mostly light rail), 16 had boardings below the forecasts, with some as low as 20-30 percent of forecast figures. 

Ridership forecasts for busways performed even more poorly, according to the report, where “none of the available busway forecasts proved to be accurate. It appears from the limited sample that forecasts of ridership on busway projects . . . will not exceed 41 percent of the forecasts.” 

I would not trust any predictions offered by AC Transit on ridership, time savings or costs. 

Once before in Berkeley’s history we were threatened with a flawed plan for massive construction by a regional transit agency. In 1964, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District was planning aerial rails through Berkeley for BART, effectively dividing the town. Berkeleyans wanted a better plan—underground tracks—and put it to the vote in 1966. That’s why Berkeley alone has BART underground, while the rest of the East Bay has noisy, unsightly BART rails screeching through town. 

Of course, we wouldn’t have to worry about AC Transit’s ill-conceived plans if we had a City Council that cared about the citizenry—currently the decision of whether to give up the lanes is theirs. But Mayor Bates thinks BRT is a great idea, because it would encourage increased development along the route (in part because of state legislation authored by himself), and he always seems able to muster four council votes to go along with him. BRT alone should be reason enough to vote Bates out of office. 

The extent of Bates’ enthusiasm for BRT was revealed at the City Council meeting where the extremely misleading ballot question for Measure KK was chosen (sadly, City Council gets to chose the ballot question, and they don’t have to be strictly truthful). Bates revealed that he’s planning BRT for University and Solano Avenues in addition to Telegraph and Shattuck Avenues. 

Supporters of Measure KK are very much pro-transit. We want improved bus service and cleaner buses. We’re simply against really bad transit and against wasting vast sums of money on unneeded infrastructure. 

Vote yes on Measure KK. 

Gale Garcia is working on the Yes on Measure KK  

campaign. 


Is the Parens Patriae Power Dead at UC Berkeley?

By Sheila Holderness
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:41:00 AM

I live on the 2600 block of Benvenue Avenue, southside of campus. Most students who cause hell in our neighborhood seem to be young men who think it their right to live here for their undergrad years and drink, dope, play loud music, dump their raw garbage on the sidewalk, have parties that spill onto the streets. Frequently, they are in an athletic program at Cal. 

For example, a house on my block was rented to Cal crew team members last year. Their rationale for loud parties, obnoxious behavior, and slobbiness (all of which crept onto our sidewalks, street and homes)? “We have to get up early to practice crew; then we go to class, then come home to sleep—so on weekends and some evenings, we get to party. Deal with it.” 

Rumor has it that these young masters of the future left five-digit damages to their rental house. Not a rumor—but a fact—is that they used a pellet gun (a felony in California) inside and outside the house until Berkeley police were informed. 

What these young masters don’t factor into their reasoning is that most in the neighborhood work for a living, raise their families, are pretty tired after midnight and don’t have the luxury of partying on weekends. 

Do the young masters realize that not all of us are strapping, healthy young people? Do they even consider that some of us are elderly? Some of us are ill? Some of us have young children? 

Can we persuade Cal to establish a serious program for all student off-campus living issues? Can we rely on Cal to inform these immature young people that it is not OK to act immaturely while they are at Cal? 

Yes, we can. 

Can Berkeley bill the university for the colossal mess these students create? (Many of the permanent—and elderly—residents who live on my block sweep the sidewalk, pick up liquor bottles, hose off the vomit and pee left by the students after one of their parties, as well as pick up their everyday litter.) 

Yes, we can. 

Can we file to collect documented damages in small claims court—against the absentee landlords who say, “There is nothing I can do”? 

Yes, we can. 

Can we get the Health and Safety department’s ear to help with absentee landlords? (I’ve seen four-legged rats eating spilled garbage in front of a couple of Benvenue houses.) 

Yes, we can. 

Do students ever consider that the concern of campus neighbors extends beyond our personal plaints? That a lot of us cringe at the dangers that might befall these students, or because of these students? 

We regularly see underage kids reeling around Benvenue and nearby streets—dead drunk. We’ve seen them get behind the wheel. We’ve seen very young girls, inebriated, alone, crying, confused. We have seen fights. 

Because we live in Berkeley, near the UC campus, must we neighbors stifle our yearning for a clean, peaceable, respectful living environment? Must we not question student behaviors and UC’s responsibility? 

I had a daughter. She was in a grad program at UCLA. She went to a rooftop brunch a couple of years ago. I cautioned her—that morning—to not drink and drive. She said she was walking. (I had become inured over the years to the notion that alcohol and young adults go together—are the norm—or maybe I would have said more.) 

A Berkeley police officer rang my doorbell that night. He was there to inform me that my daughter had fallen backwards from a five-story rooftop and died that afternoon. 

Did I ask the coroner what her blood-alcohol level was? No. It might have been high, or it might have been low. I don’t care. Once your beloved child is dead, there is no reason to ask any questions. 

Sheila Holderness lives in Berkeley’s Southside neighborhood.


Columns

Undercurrents: Awards for Worst Blogs, Column Items in East Bay

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:32:00 AM

Keith Olbermann’s Countdown has its Worst Person In The World award each night. Today we present the Worst Blog or Column Entry in the East Bay. 

Worse: The Blogger Calling Himself/Herself (Themselves) East Bay Conservative  

In an Aug. 18 entry called “Memo To Allen-Taylor: Dellums’ Police Plan Insufficient,” the Blogger Calling Themselves East Bay Conservative provided three items for today’s list.  

The main portion of the blog refers back to an Aug. 14 UnderCurrents column in which I pointed out that San Francisco Chronicle columnist Chip Johnson (he’ll show up again in a second) was opposing Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums’ parcel tax measure to hire more police, even though Mr. Johnson had spent the last half of 2007 loudly proclaiming that the mayor needed to hire more police. In his/her blog, East Bay Conservative tries to explain why Mr. Johnson is not being inconsistent.  

“The problem is,” East Bay Conservative writes, “that Johnson called for this kind of action nearly a year ago. The mayor did literally everything he could to ignore the issue and even blame it on the law-abiding citizens of Oakland for having such a big problem with criminals. … Dellums’ plan, while nice in that it shows he’s finally acknowledged the issues we had in 2007, completely fails to account for the realities of 2008.” 

The realities of 2008, as I see it, are that many of the mayor’s critics found a new issue to criticize him on—ethics—which they picked up in substitute for the previous issue they were criticizing him on—public safety. So maybe East Bay Conservative is right, and there’s no inconsistency in Mr. Johnson’s changing positions on these issues, because the important thing is not the issues themselves, but simply to use them as a way criticize Mr. Dellums. 

In her/his Aug. 18 blog entry, East Bay Conservative also refers to the part of my Aug. 14 column in which I note that Councilmember Desley Brooks is using members of the Nation of Islam’s Fruit of Islam as security for their annual series of free music concerts at East Oakland’s Arroyo Viejo Park. “Does it make anyone else a little worried that the Nation of Islam is policing these events?” East Bay Conservative writes. Why should that worry East Bay Conservative? Because they are Muslim? Because they are African American and Muslim? Or is this one of those wink-wink, hint-hint backhanded slurs that some people easily get, but pass over other folks’ heads? 

Finally (we said this was a three-fer), East Bay Conservative concludes his/her Aug. 18 blog entry by asking “what’s the deal with Allen-Taylor spilling so much ink about Brooks and Dellums—Oakland’s top black politicians? Is this some sort of racism at work?” Now I’m thoroughly puzzled. Is East Bay Conservative saying that an African American columnist shouldn’t be writing about African American officeholders “so much?” Or is East Bay Conservative saying that “racism” (that is, Black Folks talking good about Black Folks only because they’re Black) is the only reason an African American columnist could have a couple of good things to say about a couple of African American officeholders? I’m curious. 

 

Worser: East Bay Express Contributor Chris Thompson 

You might have been understandably worried as you began read one of Mr. Thompson’s Sept. 16 items in the Express’ 92510 blog, which is headlined “Crazed Bikers To Storm Oakland Council Chambers Tonight!” Mr. Thompson’s item begins “Attention Oakland parents! Lock up your daughters! Members of Oakland motorcycle gangs plan to pop wheelies, beat bystanders with chains, and snort meth off their old ladies’ boobs tonight at the Oakland City Council Chambers!” Mr. Thompson then goes on to explain that this is just a joke, and that the “biker gangs” are coming to City Council “to politely ask for a special hearing on how to comply with large party permit requirements.” 

I guess I just don’t get the joke, but then, Mr. Thompson has a different sense of humor than I have. In 2003, when the East Bay Express ran the has-been African American child comedy actor Gary Coleman as a joke candidate in the California gubernatorial recall election, Mr. Thompson thought the plight of California African Americans was hilarious. “Although Gary Coleman calls himself ‘the whitest black man in America,’” Mr. Thompson wrote at the time, “we’re pretty sure he’s got the black vote tied up in October. After all, who else are blacks gonna vote for—Bill Simon? ... And while most voters will probably sit out the recall election, black voters will finally have a chance to vote for someone they can believe in and will turn out in droves. Our analysis: Coleman wins big in Oakland and Richmond!” I didn’t think what Mr. Thompson wrote was funny then. I still don’t think it’s funny now. 

The large group of bikers that came to Oakland City Council Tuesday night to speak at open forum was a coalition of African American motorcycle clubs—they made the point that that they are not “gangs”—that includes the East Bay Dragons and the Syndicate Motorcycle Club. Many of them are doing volunteer work with youth and community rehabilitation in many of Oakland’s roughest neighborhoods. The Syndicate MC held an all-day Save Our Youth Picnic & Basketball Game at West Oakland’s DeFremery Park in early August, for example, and I’ve written more than once about the Dragons’ community block parties at their 88th and International clubhouse in East Oakland. In a city where many flatlands neighborhoods are neglected, youth are ignored, and violence is flaring, such volunteer work is deeply needed and should be widely appreciated. Instead, group representatives told Councilmembers on Tuesday that they are having difficulty getting permits to hold large events in Oakland because the city is requiring them to pay for large numbers of police officers for security purposes, even though their events promote peace and nonviolence and they provide their own security. 

And as one Syndicate MC representative told the Councilmembers, they’re not asking the city for much. “We’d like to be able to partner with you,” he said. “We’re not begging you or asking for money. We’re just asking you not to put shackles on us as we step up to our civic duty.” 

So why would Mr. Thompson misrepresent the motorcycle clubs in his blog, just for the sake of making a cheap joke, and why would the Express editors go along with the “joke” by describing them as “crazed” in the headline? Can’t answer that. Meanwhile, we still don’t know if Mr. Thompson writing his blog entries from the East Bay, or is simply emailing them in from afar. 

 

Worsest: San Francisco Chronicle East Bay Columnist Chip Johnson 

Some weeks ago at the height of the Oakland takeover robberies, Chronicle East Bay columnist Chip Johnson was asking that the city do something about it. Well, actually, “asking” is far too mild a word. 

In late August, after North Oakland’s Nomad Café was hit on Friday night and East Oakland’s Full Moon Seafood House and the World Nails Salon on Telegraph Avenue were struck two days later, Mayor Ron Dellums and Oakland police officials held a press conference in which they asked Oakland residents to help find the perpetrators, offering a $50,000 reward for information. 

“I believe that people in Oakland know who these people are,” Mr. Dellums said. “We need people to look at any suspicious activity, write down license plate numbers and work with the police.” 

But Mr. Johnson went ballistic, saying that this was not enough. 

In an Aug. 26 column entitled “With Oakland Under Siege, Mayor Just Talks,” Mr. Johnson wrote, “As usual, the city’s top officials held a news conference [in response to the recent crime wave] but didn’t propose a single solution. Their message, whether intended or not, is implicit: We’re on our own. … Dellums gave another angry man speech, promising an end to the mayhem and encouraging merchants to take precautions. As usual, he failed to offer a single proposal on how the city would address the problem. It was just more of the same old stuff.” 

Three days later, in a followup column called “Dellums Needs To Show Up And Step Up,” Mr. Johnson was at it again. “Oakland’s Quiet Mayor speaks to the press—and the citizenry—only when circumstance and necessity scream for an official response, and even then his sound bites are awkward and more often than not completely miss the mark,” Mr. Johnson wrote. “At a Monday news conference, Dellums stood alongside Police Chief Wayne Tucker to announce what everybody thought would be a plan to address a string of holdups at four Oakland restaurants in a three-day crime spree. Instead, Dellums exhorted the community to step up and provide information to the Police Department, which has offered $50,000 reward for information on the suspects. That’s not a plan, it’s a Hail Mary toss, and doesn’t amount to diddly from the city’s two most important government institutions.” 

Mary, apparently, was listening, and caught the ball. 

A week after the press conference in which the $50,000 award was offered—and four days after Mr. Johnson was writing that the reward offer “doesn’t amount to diddly”—Oakland police and the mayor held a second press conference to announce that three suspects had been arrested in the most serious of the restaurant takeover robberies. Deputy Police Chief Jeff Israel said that the suspects were caught in part “based upon tips gained from the public” that had come in since the earlier press conference and reward offer. (It should be noted, of course, that these are suspects, only, and the court process will have to sort itself out before it can be determined if they are the actual restaurant takeover robbers.) 

Since that Sept. 3 press conference, Mr. Johnson has written three more columns, one criticizing Mr. Dellums about having his wife volunteering at City Hall (“Oakland Mayor’s Wife Now His Top Adviser,” Sept. 5), one advising Mr. Dellums to step aside and let someone else run the city (“Time For Dellums To Hire Bobb,” Sept. 9), and one criticizing Mr. Dellums—you see a pattern here?—for not responding properly to the city’s pending budget shortfall (“How Will Oakland Handle Fiscal Crisis?” Sept.12). In none of these does Mr. Johnson acknowledge that he was wrong, and something was being done about the restaurant takeover robberies, and that suspects were caught. 

I was always taught that if you asked for something and got it, you acknowledged what you got and thanked the giver, both out of politeness and to ensure you’d get something else the next time you asked. But perhaps Mr. Johnson was raised different.


The Public Eye: Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice

By Bob Burnett
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:29:00 AM

A familiar American aphorism is “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” In 2000, Karl Rove convinced Americans that a relatively unknown Texas governor could be a competent president. In 2008, John McCain’s Rove, Steve Schmidt, argues that an even more obscure Alaska governor will make a credible vice president and likely 45th president. Are Americans about to be fooled again? 

In 2000, Rove ran a Republican presidential campaign based upon personality rather than issues. His candidate, Texas governor George Bush, was affable, able to deliver a simple speech with conviction, and a born-again Christian. Even though he was the son of a former president and had a long connection with national politics, Bush was packaged as an outsider: someone who could come to Washington, reach across party lines, and get America back on track. 

In 2008, Schmidt also runs a Republican campaign based upon personality. Recently a McCain spokesman acknowledged: “This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates.” Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is affable, able to deliver a simple speech with conviction, and a born-again Christian. Even though she’s running with John McCain, who’s been in Washington for 26 years, McCain-Palin are being packaged as outsiders, “mavericks”—people who can come to Washington, reach across party lines, and get America back on track. 

The Rove-Schmidt strategy is targeted primarily at hard-core, born-again Christians—somewhere between one-quarter and one-third of the U.S. electorate and a key component of the Republican base. Although in the past three years he’s learned to walk and talk like a born-again, John McCain hasn’t convinced the Republican faithful that he is a true believer. The selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate is designed to win them over. 

In 2000, George Bush came out as a born-again Christian. In 2008, Sarah Palin also advertises her identity as a born-again. Bush and Palin believe the Bible is literally true and God intervenes in worldly affairs. Bush said, “God told me to invade Iraq.” Palin says the Iraq war is a “task that is from God.” Both believe life begins at conception and abortion is a mortal sin; therefore, Bush and Palin insist that the federal government intervene in what most Americans regard as a private family medical decision. Both believe homosexuality is “a lifestyle choice”—Palin believes homosexuality can be “cured” through prayer. In 2000, Bush said there was insufficient evidence that global warming is man made; in 2008, Palin agrees. Both argue that creationism should be taught in the schools. 

In 2000, many claims that George Bush made about his bona fides were later found to be false. He said he had been a successful CEO, but his businesses were failures. Bush said he had been a pro-environment governor, but Texas was notorious for unregulated pollution. In 2008, many claims that Sarah Palin has made about her credentials are also false. She says she was a successful mayor, but she actually left her town deeply in debt. She claims to be against “pork barrel” projects, but she lobbied for them as mayor and governor, most famously the “bridge to nowhere.” 

Eight years after the great hoax of 2000, many political observers fear that Sarah Palin’s celebrity-buzz will propel the Republican ticket to victory and saddle the United States with four more years of failed Republican policies. Democrats want to know what the Obama campaign should do to counter this onslaught. First they need to understand what Sarah Palin represents.  

University of California Linguistics Professor George Lakoff explains the nature of Palin’s appeal: She’s “the mom in the strict father family, upholding conservative values. Palin is tough ... She is disciplined: raising five kids with a major career. She lives her values... She has the image of the ideal conservative mom: pretty, perky, feminine, Bible-toting, and fitting into the ideal conservative family.” 

Lakoff argues that to combat this evocative symbol, a GOP campaign based upon personality rather than upon substance, the Obama campaign needs to attack McCain and Palin on their values and symbolism: “Democrats ... need to call an extremist an extremist: to shine a light on the shared anti-democratic ideology of McCain and Palin, the same ideology shared by Bush and Cheney. They share values antithetical to our democracy.” 

But this won’t be sufficient. If Americans are to avoid being fooled again, the Obama campaign should attack on three fronts between now and Nov. 4: First, they must keep talking about the economy and tie McCain-Palin to failed Bush policies that have produced an economic recession. Second, they should use the L word; repeatedly point out that McCain-Palin have lied about their records and key elements of their political personas—emphasize they are not “mavericks,” but rather “scoundrels.” Finally, Dems must seize the moral high ground: Emphasize key American values such as equity, empowerment, and personal responsibility and make it clear that McCain-Palin’s values are un-American. 

 

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


The Soul of a New Museum: the Academy of Sciences

By Joe Eaton Special to the Panet
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:58:00 AM
Good, informative expositional display: Darwin’s finches.
By Ron Sullivan
Good, informative expositional display: Darwin’s finches.

Natural history writers don’t get a lot of perks. But the California Academy of Sciences, which reopens Sept. 27, did invite a bunch of us ink-stained wretches to a mid-afternoon buffet at the newly reconstituted museum in Golden Gate Park on Sunday (tasty microcheeseburgers, samosas, and chicken-on-a-stick) and let us wander among the exhibits, 

Our responses (Ron came with me) were mixed. I’m not an architecture critic, so I won’t take on Renzo Piano’s building. The new exhibits were technically impressive, especially the big showpieces like the Philippine coral reef. However, we both felt that occasionally content had taken a back seat to design, that the exuberant variety of the old museum was gone, and that the dumbing-down process that has afflicted too many American museums had left its mark. 

The tropical rainforest exhibit, our first stop, was not quite together. The trees are in place, but other plants inside the Biosphere-like dome were still crated. We did spot some of the brightly colored tropical birds—mostly tanagers and honeycreepers-from ground level. If the Academy pulls it off, this one will be spectacular. 

We were also impressed by the first-floor gallery presenting evolution, biodiversity, and field research through the prisms of Madagascar and the Galapagos Islands. Evolution, properly, was right up front. One exhibit showcased Peter and Rosemary Grant’s multi-decade studies of how climatic shifts affect seed availability and beak size and shape among the Darwin’s finches-evolution in real time.  

The Living Roof reminded Ron of the bluffs at Outer Point Reyes: many of the same plant species, including California aster (now a Symphiotrichum), tidy tips, and thrift, covering hummocky terrain. All were low-water California natives. Bumblebees, honeybees, beeflies, and a lone butterfly—a West Coast lady—joined us on the roof. A docent told us the first volunteer plants had shown up as well, suggesting the need for weeding down the road. 

Downstairs, there are some old familiars: the recreated Swamp, featuring a new white alligator, and the African Hall, which now houses the penguin colony. We noticed subtle shifts there, with more emphasis on ecoregions, a few alcoves for live reptiles and fish, and even models of plants like the bizarre welwitschia. The Foucault Pendulum still swings near the evolution exhibit, and some of the Bufano sculptures are still on the grounds. 

The Steinhart Aquarium occupies the lowest level, with tanks set in rippling seablue walls. We stopped to rest at the coral reef where 1600 fish, according to another docent, swarmed the reef face. This huge tank’s acrylic wall had been fired in a specially built circular oven in Colorado, then hauled to California at a maximum speed of ten miles an hour. Other huge tanks housed fish of the California coast and formed the ground floor of the rain forest exhibit, with monster arapaimas and catfish cruising under the trees. It would be a great spot for a manatee. 

We met more old friends downstairs, like the giant Pacific octopus (who had wedged himself into a crevice and refused to come out) and the massive alligator gars. Apart from the reef and California coast, exhibits were organized around behavior rather than geography or taxonomy: how sea creatures move, feed, reproduce, defend themselves. 

One really cool touch was a small display of Curators’ Favorites: oddities like insectivorous plants, electric-blue day geckos, and objects found in the stomachs of tiger sharks, including a license plate, an unopened can of Spam, and two apparent Barbie dolls. On the other side of the ledger, the aquarium devoted a lot of floor space to kid-level interactive exhibits. 

Some absences were striking: no fossils except for the iconic Allosaurus near the entrance; no cultural objects; no rocks and minerals. If there was a turf war for display space, the fish and reptile people clearly won.  

And the Museum Store was a disappointment. The tchotchke-to-book ratio was high, and the books were the standard field guides you could find at Barnes & Noble. The old store stocked scholarly treatises on bird song, East African reptiles, and the art of the Mound Builders. I hope they will return. 

Still, the Academy kept the Latin names on labels (unlike some recent exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium) and has made an effort to present complex ideas in accessible ways. And the place is full of nice subtle touches, like the wall in one of the upper floors with embedded ammonite sections, pyrite crystals, and leaf imprints. 

We didn’t see the scientists’ shiny new offices. That’s another kind of loss: the old Academy backstage had acquired a funky charm, with skulls perched atop specimen cabinets and Gary Larson cartoons everywhere. It wasn’t the Gormenghastly maze Richard Fortey describes in his new book on the British Natural History Museum, but it was getting there. It will take the inhabitants of the new Academy years to reconstruct the clutter. 


East Bay: Then and Now—On the Trail of Zimri Brewer Heywood’s Residence

By Daniella Thompson
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:46:00 AM
Known as the Heywood-Ghego House, this city landmark at 1809 Fourth St. was never owned or occupied by any Heywood.
Daniella Thompson
Known as the Heywood-Ghego House, this city landmark at 1809 Fourth St. was never owned or occupied by any Heywood.
The Charles W. Heywood House, a landmark at 1808 Fifth St., was owned and occupied by the Young family when the neighbor’s children posed for this photo about 1902.
BAHA archives
The Charles W. Heywood House, a landmark at 1808 Fifth St., was owned and occupied by the Young family when the neighbor’s children posed for this photo about 1902.
The Ghego house in 1978, before rehabilitation.
BAHA
The Ghego house in 1978, before rehabilitation.

Legendary lumberman Zimri Brewer Heywood (1803-1879) left behind many legends. Retracing his history through original 19th-century documents (see “Zimri Brewer Heywood: Separating Fact From Myth,” Sept. 4, 2008) reveals that while some of the oft-recounted stories have no basis in fact, there are others, largely unknown until now, that are just as absorbing as the myths. 

No one knows the exact date or even the year that marked Heywood’s arrival in the Bay Area. A reliable secondary source—an article in the California State Library titled “Statesmen of California” (Jan. 1, 1885)—pinpoints the birth date of his eleventh child, Walter Minturn Heywood, at Nov. 20, 1854, and the birthplace as San Francisco. The article further states that Walter’s “early childhood was passed in the city,” information that is bolstered by his father’s presence there when the 1860 and 1870 U.S. censuses were recorded. 

Zimri made his first appearance in an East Bay directory in the early 1870s. The 1872 Oakland directory listed him as a San Francisco resident and partner in Heywood & Jacobs, lumber dealers, office with Grosso & Wilcox, west side of Broadway between Ninth and Tenth Sts., Oakland. (Grosso & Wilcox were importers and dealers of hardware and agricultural implements.) His partner, Captain James H. Jacobs, was listed as a resident of Ocean View, “five miles north of Broadway R.R. station.” 

Zimri’s fourth son, Samuel Heywood (1833-1903), was the first to settle in Berkeley—probably when his father established the partnership with Captain Jacobs. The 1870 census located Sam, then 37, in Jacobs’ house (location given only as “Oakland”), along with the Jacobs family and four laborers—three Scandinavians and a German. Both Sam and Jacobs were listed as lumber merchants, suggesting that they co-managed the Heywood & Jacobs business. 

Sam did not appear in the Oakland directory until 1876. His listing was “lumber, brick, lime and general building material, Second between Delaware and Bristol, West Berkeley.” By then, Jacobs had retired from the business, and Sam was now sole manager. His older brother, Charles Warren Heywood (1831-1913), worked for him as a salesman. Earlier, Charles had engaged in the dairy business, as recorded in the 1870 census. Might he have run his father’s Ramsey ranch in the North Berkeley hills? No record has emerged to confirm his exact whereabouts. 

By 1877, the company formerly known as Heywood & Jacobs had reincorporated as Z.B. Heywood & Co., and no fewer than five Heywood sons were associated with it and living in West Berkeley. 

In those days, house numbers had not yet been introduced, so directory listings were necessarily vague about addresses. Zimri’s eldest living son, William B. Heywood (1830-1915) probably had a managerial role at Z.B. Heywood & Co., since his position was not listed. In the 1877 Oakland directory, his residence was given as the northeast corner of Bristol (now Hearst Ave.) and Fifth Street. The Sanborn fire insurance map of 1903 shows no house on that corner, but there were dwellings just off the corner, at 1825 Fifth and 809 Bristol. 

Charles, now a teamster with Z.B. Heywood & Co., resided on the northwest corner of Fourth and Delaware. Again, there was no house on that corner in 1903, but a house stood just west of the corner, at 709 Delaware. Samuel, a foreman at Z.B. Heywood & Co., was listed as residing on the east side of Second St. between Delaware and Bristol. The residence, whatever it might have been (the 1903 map shows only a tenement on Bristol, east of Second St.), was located within the lumber yard. 

Franklin Heywood (1837-1903), also without a specific job description in the company according to the 1877 directory, was likely another manager and lived with Charles. Walter M. Heywood (1854-1924) was a clerk at Z.B. Heywood & Co. and lived on the north side of Delaware between Third and Fourth Streets, a location that matches 709 Delaware exactly. Zimri himself lived at 1519 Polk St., San Francisco. 

None of the buildings that housed the Heywood brothers in 1877 remain standing. The reason for investigating them will reveal itself shortly. 

By the following year, great changes had taken place in the Heywoods’ activities. They leased the lumber yard to John F. Byxbee, who renamed it the West Berkeley Lumber Yard. The brothers were now free to pursue their own enterprises, and the 1878 directory listed all but one of them as capitalists. The exception was Samuel, listed as lumberman and still resident on the lumber yard property. 

For the first time, Zimri was living in Berkeley, his address given as the corner of Fourth and Delaware, where Charles and Franklin also lived. The only son who had moved since the previous year was William, listed in 1878 on the west corner of Fourth and Folsom (now Virginia). Curiously, there were no houses on Folsom west of Fourth Street. In 1903, only one house stood on Folsom St. between Third and Fifth—it was on the north side of the street, and closer to Fifth than to Fourth. In the Sanborn map it was marked “cheap.” 

This long enumeration of addresses leads to the point of the investigation.  

There are four designated City of Berkeley Landmarks associated with the Heywood family, two of them located back-to-back in West Berkeley: one facing Fourth St., the other facing Fifth. About 1808 Fifth St. there’s little doubt: it first appeared as an improved property in the 1879 tax assessments, and it was owned by Charles W. Heywood, whose directory listing placed him on the west side of Fifth near Delaware. 

The landmark at 1809 Fourth St. is another matter. Known as the Heywood-Ghego House, it bears a plaque announcing that the house was built in 1877 by the Zimri Brewer Heywood family. The landmark application for this building ascribes the house to William B. Heywood. 

William, however, was never listed at this address, nor was any other Heywood. In the 1870s, Zimri Heywood owned the land on which it stands, but there was never a house on this lot while it was owned by the Heywoods. The lot remained unimproved until 1907 or ‘08, when John Young, a street-paving cement worker and former miner, bought it. 

The Irish-born Young, previously of San Francisco, was first listed in the Berkeley directory in 1902. Around that time, he acquired the former Charles W. Heywood house at 1808 Fifth Street. In late 1902, Young also purchased a San Francisco property near Golden Gate Park from Franklin Heywood. 

1808 Fifth Street was available owing to Charles’s divorce from his wife, Mary. A childless couple, they adopted Bertha Ball (1881-1948), but the child apparently could not cement the marriage. Charles was last listed at this address in 1887, and Mary remained there only another year, although she continued to own the property until 1902. 

Between 1899 and 1903, the house was let to tenants. The first renters were the window Beulah MacCargar and her daughter Adaline, who held a short-lived position as Southern Pacific’s West Berkeley agent. In 1900, while Charles Heywood was living with his brother Franklin in San Francisco and Mary was living with Bertha (aged 19 and listed as a dentist) in Oakland, their Berkeley house was rented by Clara McDonald, a Scottish widow and music teacher, who lived here with her four children and two boarders. Mrs. McDonald’s daughters, Agnes and Stella, taught dancing at Sisterna Hall. 

John and Jane Young had five children and made ample use of the large house and its double lot. Although Young was a hired laborer, thrift (or shrewdness) enabled him to increase his holdings. In 1907 or ‘08, he doubled the size of his homestead by acquiring an adjacent lot on Fifth St., as well as the lot behind his house, which faced Fourth Street. In 1908, Young was assessed for the Fourth St. lot, with the improvements valued at $400 (his Fifth St. house was assessed at $1,200). As shown in the 1911 edition of the Sanborn fire insurance maps, this improvement consisted of a rectangular two-story building containing a pair of flats, numbered 1809 and 1811 Fourth Street. 

Since the building is too old to have been constructed in 1908, Young obviously moved it here from another site. Its original location remains to be discovered. 

A decade after the Youngs moved to Berkeley, their marriage, too, ended in divorce. Jane moved out with the children, leaving John alone in the big house on Fifth Street. Around 1914, he started a dairy business and was still engaged in it in 1920. Three of the Young daughters became public school teachers. 

The Fourth Street flats were sold to the Italian immigrant Luigi Quartucci, who sold it a decade later to Peter and Pauline Ghego (or Ghigo). 

If the Heywoods never lived at 1809 Fourth St., where was their home in 1878? I place my bet on 709 Delaware, which lay mid-block between Third and Fourh Streets, half a block away from the Heywood lumber yard. In 1878, the entire north side of Delaware St. between Third and Fourth belonged to Zimri B. Heywood. There was only one house on that stretch, and it was assessed at $1,500. An additional assessment of $200 for personal property indicates that the house was occupied by its owner. This assessment was repeated in 1879, the year of Zimri Heywood’s death. This house was the home of Zimri, Charles, Franklin, and Walter. 

William’s assessment record for 1878 shows that he owned many lots on the west side of Fourth St. between Delaware and Folsom. A personal property assessment indicates that he lived on one of those lots, but the only house on the block other than 709 Delaware stood directly behind it to the north. Across the street, on the south side of Delaware, there were two saloons, and the Chicago Hotel and Bar was a neighbor on the northwest corner of Delaware and Third Street. 

709 Delaware (but not the house behind it) still stood, albeit altered, in 1911, after Third Street had become a channel for the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. The SP depot stood on the southeast corner of Third and Delaware, the Chicago Hotel was now vacant, and the saloons had become stores. 

By 1929, the house was gone altogether, and SP tracks and facilities had eaten into the block. In 1950, General Motors owned the entire block, and a Buick auto parts warehouse stood on the north side of Delaware. The same location is now part of the thriving Fourth Street retail Mecca. The old Heywood home site is occupied by Café Rouge. 

This is the second in a series of articles on the Heywood family. 

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


About the House: Living in Houses Made of Vegetables

By Matt Cantor
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:57:00 AM

I built my house from barley rice 

Green pepper walls and water ice 

Tables of paper wood, windows of light 

And everything emptying into white. 

—Cat Stevens 

 

Forgive my g-g-generation but that’s a favorite song of mine. In fact, we were struggling through it at music night last week with special efforts made by our local tax expert, Peetnik and rockstar, Woody Bolton (our latest addition to Saturday night “Warble and Plunk”). Cat’s music isn’t simple and Woody made a mighty effort. 

I begin with these lyrics because in thinking about my subject, they seem strangly apt, though I’m sure they were never intended as a treatise on real construction and were, instead, a fantasy of how one might, in some Beatrix Potter sort of world, build a home. 

In fact, these words are not far from the truth. We do live in houses of barley rice, or at least some similar vegetable. Trees, are after all, vegetables if you’ll forgive some unfortunate botany. They can be eaten by someone large enough (or small enough) and if steamed or boiled long enough, they can be eaten by us. Lots of tree parts (including fruit) get eaten by us. So, while not all parts of a house (or all houses) are made from trees, many are and these are ultimately food. One might as well carve out a potato and move inside. 

I find this funny because it is such a sweet counterpoint to the illusion of our power over nature and the pretense of our noble place in the universe. We are mutable, transient creatures flying through space inhabiting vegetable houses covered with sand and clay. That last part is fun too. Our vegetable houses get served on china footings and clad with armor of mud and rock.  

We tend to look down our noses at the natives who inhabit mud huts or once lives in homes of wattle and daub (I’ll come back to this) but there are far fewer differences between today’s residential construction the construction of these 10,000 years old forms than one might think. 

Wattle and daub is the practice of weaving sticks into the shape of a wall and smearing said lattice with whatever one has about; in most cases, clay or mud with straw. Though this is one of the earliest methods we know of to build a wall, it’s only slightly different from lath (wattle) and plaster (hydraulic daub) and a short skip and a jump to drywall, wherein the wattle has been replaced by a layer of paper on either side of the daub. Whether that’s an improvement or not is, in my mind, very much in question.  

That last part, plaster (or gypsum plaster), might actually be something modern. Lime plaster is an amazing thing and I’m not quite sure how we arrived at it but it seems likely to have been an accident involving a fire-ring of limestone, and a large fire, followed by the application of water (dousing the fire?). Plaster is at least 5,000 years old having been found at sites like the Tarxian Temples of Malta (2800 BC) but is likely much older. 

Concrete is not much different from plaster and relies upon a very similar composition to lime plaster for it’s core ingredient, portland cement. Again, these are clearly the results of limestone having been inadvertently heated and mixed with water to create a rock-hard material some thousands of years ago. Today, concrete is the worlds primarily building material (and the manufacture thereof, one of its primary energy consumers). In the end it’s just more rocks that we’re making so our built world is rocks and veggies. Now isn’t that a bit funny. In this world of LCD screens and Roombas on Mars, we’re living in rocks and vegetables. 

A prehistoric roof might have been made up of local leafed branches arrayed across a framework of sticks and with sufficient layers might have lasted several years. With maintenance, perhaps a decade. Thatching, still practiced in some parts of the world is simply a finer version of this and was apparently quite popular with many of gods creatures, being a good home for both bird and beast. 

Modern asphalt shingles are not as far from this as we might like to think being made mostly of paper (pulped wood), dipped in tar and rolled in crushed rock (would you care for pepper with that sir?). If it weren’t for the two latter ingredients, I’m sure it would be on someone’s menu but, alas, it is the sun that takes these to the grave. Nevertheless, the point stands that these are very simple natural materials and not any sort of technological marvel. Economics being at the bottom of almost any process, we tend to use what we have. Trees, rocks, grass, sand, clay and water. 

Bugs know that our houses are mostly vegetable matter because they’re eating them as we speak and I’m not just talking about termites. Fungi, including molds and mildew are also having lunch as are bacteria (they finish what others left on the table as well as the diners themselves). It’s a veritable feast, so check the duration of your mortgage because what you’re buying is fast becoming food for powder post beetles, carpenter ants, carpenter bees and other xylophagous organisms (wood eaters).  

The grindings and pulps of trees are a major part of what we’re living in, from the skin of drywall to the backing on pergo, much of what goes into houses is paper or chipped up bits of wood or bamboo. This includes the cabinets in your kitchen. The Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) trim on your modern house (pulp), the fiber-cement siding on your house (pulp and portland cement) or the microlam beam that hold up the floor (small chips of wood and lots of glue). For some of these materials, especially the pulped or chipped ones, fungi are elbowing one another aside to get to dinner because these are essentially predigested and quicker to consume. Plank wood, on the other hand is compartmentalized with various membranes that make digestion harder and more dependent upon first tier xylophages such as termites. 

Good construction and maintenance practices may inhibit these ecologists from their duly appointed browsing but it’s all short term from a geotemporal perspective so make “hay” while the sun shines and enjoy the “fruits” of your construction because they will not last (and given what they’re building these days, I say “bon appetite”). 


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:42:00 AM

THURSDAY, SEPT. 18 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Love Never Fails” Works by Kelvin Curry. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at the Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, State of California Office Building - Atrium, 1515 Clay St., Oakland. 622-8190. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Unni Wikan reads from “In Honor of Fadime: Murder and Shame” at 6 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. www.universitypressbooks.com 

Susan Dunlop reads from “Hungry Ghosts” the second installment in her Darcy Lott mystery series, at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Jeff Conant discusses his new book “A Community Guide to Environmental Health” at 7 p.m. at Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-3402. www.ecologycenter.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kent Nagano: Celebrating 30 Years at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$60. 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org 

Willy Porter at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Gerald Beckett Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Berklee Latin Jazz All-Stars at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

The Dance, Dorado, Sean Hodge with High Heat, funk, rock at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tracy Sirota at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

The Gibson Brothers, Homespun Rowdy at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

“Encuentros 2: Dispatches from the Queer Borderlands” at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Sacred Profanities at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Bill Evans & Megan Lynch Bluegrass & original music at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Revolutions Record Shop and Cafe, 10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. All ages, free admission. 

Kanda Bongo Man at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 19 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “The Best Man” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through Sept. 28. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep “Yellowjackets” by Itamar Moses, a Berkeley resident, set at Berkeley High School, Tues.-Sun. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through Oct. 12. Tickets are $27-$71. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

California Conservatory Theatre “They’re Playing Our Song” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., 2 p.m. on Sat. and Sun. at 999 East 14th St, San Leandro City Hall Complex, near BART, through Oct. 12. Tickets are $20-$22. 632-8850. www.cct-sl.org 

Impact Theatre “Ching Chong Chinaman” Thurs.-Sat at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, to Oct. 11. Tickets are $10-$17. 464-4468. impacttheatre.com 

Masquers Playhouse “The Petrified Forest” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through Sept. 27. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Oakland Public Theater, “Before the Dream: The mysterious death (and life) of Richard Wright” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Noodle Factory Performince Arts Center, 1255 26th St., corner of Union, Oakland, through Oct. 5. Tickets are $9-$20. 534-9529. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Rough and Tumble “Candide” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun at 7 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. through Sept. 21. Tickets are $16-$22. 499-0356. www.randt.org 

Shotgun Players “Vera Wilde” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $17-$25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Portraits of Diversity” Works by Rita Sklar. Reception at 4 p.m. at LunchStop Cafe, Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter, 101 Eighth St., Oakland. 817-5773. www.ritasklar.com 

“And Thus ... Accordingly” Works from found materials by Robert Armstrong on display from 1 to 5 p.m. Fri.-Sun. at Garage Gallery, Berkeley Outlet, 3110 Wheeler St. near Ashby and Shattuck. 549-2896. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Mark Richardson reads from “Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

“Sex for America” An anthology of erotica inspired by Capitol Hill with Stephen Elliott, Daphne Gottleib and Sarah Fran Wisby at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Lantana Koto Ensemble, Japanese and American ensemble in a concert of contemporary works composed and arranged for the traditional Japanese instruments at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $10-$15. 845-1350. www.hillsideclub.org/concerts.htm 

Schola Cantorum San Francisco “Western Wind, When Will Thou Blow?” at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $12-$15, 18 and under, free. www.scholasf.org 

11th Annual Music for People & Thingamajigs Festival Artists working with made/ 

found objects, at 8 p.m. at 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15 sliding scale. 444-1322. reserve@thingamajigs.org 

Andrew McKnight, guitar, accompanied by bassist Sean Kelly at 7:30 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Suggested donation $10-$20. 528-8844. 

Chad Manning, Jody Stecher & Keith Little at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$18. www.utunescoffeehouse.org 

Otmaro Ruiz Group at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Pamela Rose & Her Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Entrenos, Aquarela, Brazilian, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tamra Engle at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Steve Seskin, Allen Shamblin & Chuck Jones at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Patrick Winningham Band, Glider, Aiden Hawken at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $15. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Sabertooth Zombie, Zann, Graf Orlock at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

The PPL at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Anthony B, Rootz Underground, reggae, at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $20-$25. 548-1159.  

Amel Larrieux at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 

CHILDREN  

“Aesop’s Fables” at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $6. 452-2259. www.fairyland.org 

FILM 

Jewish Film Series “Two Minutes from Faradis” at 7 p.m. at Temple Israel, 3183 Mecartney Rd., Alameda. Cost is $10. 522-9355. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Pro Arts New Visions 2008 Group Show Artists’ Talk at 1 p.m. at Pro Arts Gallery, 550 Second St., Oakland, and runs through Oct. 24. www.proartsgallery.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tim Porter describes “Organic Marin: Recipes from Land to Table” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Grosse Abfahrt with Tom Djll, Fred Frith and others at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www.trinitychamberconcerts.com 

“In Magdalene’s Garden” A vespers benefit for Katrina Tree Recovery at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. Proceeds will go to planting trees in the Gulf region devastated by the hurricane. 653-7196. www.sagrada.com 

Hillbillies from Mars at 3 p.m. at Wisteria Ways, outside venue, 383 61st St., Oakland. Bring something to sit on. Donation $15-$20. RSVP to info@WisteriaWays.org 

Grupo Araucaria in a celebration of Chilean Independence Day at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Robin Gregory & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Samba Ngo at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Josh Jones Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Lost Weekend at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Joseph Israel, Lafa Taylor at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Jazz Fourtet at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Amel Larrieux in a benefit for La Clinica de La Raza at 6:30 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Phobia, In Disgust, Semetex Vest, Godstomper at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 21 

CHILDREN 

Gallery of Thingamajigs Explore sounds produced by unusual instruments created from found materials, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10 and Oak, Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Albany at 100” Photographs by Dorothy Brown. Opening reception at 4 p.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave., Albany. Exhibit runs to Dec. 21. 526-7032. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

11th Annual Music for People & Thingamajigs Artists working with made/found objects, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. 444-1322. reserve@thingamajigs.org 

Rudolf Buchbinder, piano, at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $46. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Art Song Recital with Angela Arnold, soprano, and Jeffrey Sykes, piano at 2 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. Free. 848-3696.  

Jazz at the Chimes featuring Vive Le Jazz at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15 at the door. Children under 12 free. 228-3218. 

Terroritmo, música latina cumbia, salsa, reggaton, at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5-$7. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Alexa Weber Morales Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Kim Nalley at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Americana Unplugged at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Chirgilchin, Tuvan throat singing at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus of Dreams at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

MONDAY, SEPT. 22 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Piece to Piece: Works from Kala Art Institute” Reception at 6 p.m. at Downtown restaurant. www.kala.org 

“Games People Play” Paintings by Tom Clark at Fertile Grounds Cafe, 1796 Shattuck Ave. 548-1423. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Itamar Moses talks about his new play “Yellowjackets” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

Aurora Theatre Script Club Aristophanes’ “The Frogs” at 7:30 p.m. at Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Lee Slonimsky and Katherine Hastings read their poetry at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with Kirk Lumpkin at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Acoustic Mandolin Ensemble at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Richard Julian and Bhi Bhiman at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $14.50-$15.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Downtown Jam Session with Glen Pearson at 7 p.m. at Ed Kelly Hall, Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. Cost is $5. www.opcmucsic.org 

Barbara Dennerlein at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $5-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, SEPT. 23 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Contemporary Photography in Japan” Gallery talk by curator Mika Kobayashi at 6 p.m. at Kala Art Institute. www.kala.org 

Larry Beinhart reads from “Salvation Boulevard” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Dave Zirin presents his new book “A People’s History of Sports in the United States” at 6:30 p.m. Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge at Shattuck, in the 3rd floor Community Room. 981-6233. 

Poetry Workshop on La Paya with Eduardo Peralta y Manuel Sanchez at 7 p.m. at La Peña. In Spanish. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $4.50-$5.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kal, traditional and contemporary Romani music, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Trombonga at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jose Gonzalez at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $25. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 24 

THEATER 

San Francisco Mime Troupe “Red State” at 7 p.m. at Chabot College, Hayward. Free, donations accepted. 415-285-1717. www.sfmt.org 

FILM 

Chilean Filmmaker Carlos Flores will give a workshop and show film clips from the work of young Chilean filmmkakers today at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Chicago 10” Brett Morgan explores the buildup to, and unravelling of, the Chicago conspiracy trial after the 1968 Democratic Convention, at 6 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10 and Oak, Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Barbara Epstein reads from “The Minsk Ghetto 1941-1943: Jewish Resistance and Soviet Internationalism” at 6 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. www.universitypressbooks.com 

Thomas Frank discusses “The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Ruin It All” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Cost is $12. 848-6767, ext. 609. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with Angela Arnold, soprano, and Jeffrey Sykes, piano, at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Music on the Main with Greater Richmond Interfaith Program at 5 p.m. in the parking lot at the corner of Macdonald Ave. and Marina Way, next to the Richmond BART station. 236-4049.  

UC Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $6. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Lloyd Brown with 7th Street Sound at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Orquestra Borinquen 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.  

Rebecca Griffin at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Richard Shindell at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jose Gonzalez at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $25. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 25 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Traje de la Vida” Maya textiles of Guatemala. Opening reception at 7 p.m. at The Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Gallery and Patio, 103 Kroeber Hall. RSVP to 642-3682. http://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Robert Fisk reads from “The Age of Warrior” a collection of his essays on the Middle East and other topics at 7 p.m. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Benefits the Middle East Children’s Alliance. Tickets are $20. 548-0542. www.mecaforpeace.org. 

Cecile Pineda reads from “Redoubt” and “Bardo 99” as part of Ethnic Studies Department 40th Anniversary Author Series at 6 p.m. at 30 Stephens Hall, UC Campus. 642-3947. 

“Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising” A dramatic reading Thurs.-Sat. at 7:30 p.m. at the Justice and Witness Ministry, Plymouth United Church of Christ, 424 Monte Vista Ave., Oakland. Cost is $13 at the door. 654-5044. www.clarencedarrowgaryanderson.com/lucasville.html 

Sixteen Rivers Press 10th Anniversary Poetry Reading at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Ai Weiwei and Uli Sigg Gallery Talk on “Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection” at noon at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mark Morris Dance Group “Romeo & Juliet” through Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $42-$94. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Slaid Cleaves at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jenny Farris presents Cy Coleman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Evie Ladin & Evil Diane at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

The Blind, Walty, The Soft White Sixties at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Speak the Music, beat boxing with Butterscotch, Soulati, Infinite, and others at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

John Seabury at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Ashkenaz Dead Night at 10 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

The Duhks at 8 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 26 

THEATER 

“A Visit with Julia Morgan” Miss Morgan appears with the assistance of architectural historian Betty Marvin at 7:30 p.m. at College Avenue Presbyterian Church, 5951 College Ave., Oakland. Minimum donation $10. Benefits the restoration of CAPC’s organ. 658-3665. 

Altarena Playhouse “Bat Boy: The Musical” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Nov. 1. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Aurora Theatre “The Best Man” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through Sept. 28. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep “Yellowjackets” by Itamar Moses, a Berkeley resident, set at Berkeley High School, Tues.-Sun. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through Oct. 12. Tickets are $27-$71. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

California Conservatory Theatre “They’re Playing Our Song” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., 2 p.m. on Sat. and Sun. at 999 East 14th St, San Leandro City Hall Complex, near BART, through Oct. 12. Tickets are $20-$22. 632-8850. www.cct-sl.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Witness for the Prosecution” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through Oct. 19. 524-9132. www.ccct.org  

Impact Theatre “Ching Chong Chinaman” Thurs.-Sat at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, to Oct. 11. Tickets are $10-$17. 464-4468. impacttheatre.com 

Masquers Playhouse “The Petrified Forest” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through Sept. 27. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Oakland Public Theater, “Before the Dream: The mysterious death (and life) of Richard Wright” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Noodle Factory Performince Arts Center, 1255 26th St., corner of Union, Oakland, through Oct. 5. Tickets are $9-$20. 534-9529. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Shotgun Players “Vera Wilde” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Oct. 19. Tickets are $17-$25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

FILM 

Berkeley Video & Film Festival Continuous screenings through Sun. at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Ave. Program info 843-3699. Tickets 464-5980. 

“U-Carmen e Khayelitsha” with actor Pauline Malefane and novelist Ngugi wa Thiong’o in person, at 8:10 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

EXHIBITIONS 

“And Thus ... Accordingly” Works from found materials by Robert Armstrong on display from 1 to 5 p.m. Fri.- Sun. at Garage Gallery, Berkeley Outlet, 3110 Wheeler St. near Ashby and Shattuck. 549-2896. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

African and Afro-Caribbean Performance Conference Fri.-Sun., with speakers and performers including Gerard Aching, Pauline Malefane, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Tejumola Olaniyan. For details see www.berkeleytdps.org 

Walter Medeiros and S.G. Scott read from their new books at 7 p.m. at Regent Press Gallery, 4770 telegraph Ave., Oakland.  

Tariq Ali discusses “Pakistan, Afghanistan and American Power” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Cost is $12-$15. 848-3696. www.kpfa.org 

“Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising” A dramatic reading Thurs.-Sat. at 7:30 p.m. at the Justice and Witness Ministry, Plymouth United Church of Christ, 424 Monte Vista Ave., Oakland. Cost is $13 at the door. 654-5044. www.clarencedarrowgaryanderson.com/lucasville.html 

Larry Nolan reads from his short story collection “Perpetual Care” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Zahid Sardar and Marion Brenner introduce their new book “New Garden Design: Inspiring Private Paradises” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Jewish Violin” with Donna Lerew, violin and Skye Atman, piano, at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington. 524-5203. www.uucb.org 

Point Richmond Summer Music with Resin 7 and Mucho Axe at 5:30 p.m. outdoors at Park Place in downtown Point Richmond. www.pointrichmond.com 

VidyA, jazz and South Indian, at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $10-$15. 845-1350. www.hillsideclub.org 

Eduardo Peralta and Manual Sanchez, Chilean paya at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mark Morris Dance Group “Romeo & Juliet” through Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $42-$94. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Tiffany Joy at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Carla Zilbersmith & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Chiwoniso, contemporary Zimbabwean music, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Omar Mokhtari at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Lucy Kaplansky at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Or the Whale, The Mumlers, The Porchsteps at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

3rd Date at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Macabea at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Dave Holland Sextet with Robin Eubanks, Eric Harland, Antonio Hart, Steve Nelson and Alex Sipiagin at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $16-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 27 

CHILDREN  

“Harvest at the Lake” Native American stories at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $6. 452-2259. www.fairyland.org 

FILM 

Berkeley Video & Film Festival Continuous screenings through Sun. at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Ave. Program info 843-3699. Tickets 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising” A dramatic reading Thurs.-Sat. at 7:30 p.m. at the Justice and Witness Ministry, Plymouth United Church of Christ, 424 Monte Vista Ave., Oakland. Cost is $13 at the door. 654-5044. www.clarencedarrowgaryanderson.com/lucasville.html 

Rhythm & Muse spoken word and music open mic, featuring poets May Garsson and Alice Templeton at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St behind Live Oak Park. 644-6893. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mark Morris Dance Group “Romeo & Juliet” at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $42-$94. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

David Crosby & Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and others in a benefit for Seva Foundation at 8 p.m. at Oakland Paramount Theater. Tickets are $75-$125. 845-7382, ext. 332. www.seva.org 

Liche Oseguera, Julio Domínguez, Los Camperos de Valles, Artemio Pasadas, Mexican son, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Kenny Washington & His Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $15. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Baba Ken & Kotoja at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

House Jacks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Karen Monté Group at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

David Jeffrey’s Jazz Fourtet at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Charlie Wilson’s War at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

The Revtones, Los High Tops at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Wil Blades Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 28 

EXHIBITIONS 

“No Boundaries” Art show and music from Sonic Safari from noon to 6 p.m. at Sculpture Garden, 3618 Peralta St., Emeryville. 655-7374. 

FILM 

Berkeley Video & Film Festival Continuous screenings from 1 p.m. at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Ave. Program info 843-3699. Tickets 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Roundtable of Music and Discussion with Eduardo Peralta and Manuel Sanchez from Chile, and Liche Oseguera and Julio Dominguez from Mexico, and Fito Reinoso from Cuba, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at La Peña. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Gods Who Hear Prayers, Personal Piety in Ancient Egypt”with Cindy Ausec, PhD candidate, at 2:30 p.m. at Barrows Hall, Room 20, UC Campus. 415-664-4767. 

Katie Hafner will discuss her new book, “Romance on Three Legs” the story of Glenn Gould’s beloved Steinway, at 2 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Three young pianists will illustrate her talk with recitals of Bach. Free. www.hillsideclub.org 

Julia Morgan’s “Little Castle” The Berkeley City Club, docent led tour from 1 to 4 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Sweet Temptations” Highlights of Berkeley Opera’s upcoming 30th anniversary season at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave. Tickets are $25-$50. 800-838-3006. www.brownpapertickets.com 

Clerestory “Explorations” men’s a cappella ensemble performs music of LeJeune, Gesualdo, Milhaud, Vaughan Williams and Bay Area composers at 5 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bancroft at Ellsworth. Tickets are $10-$20. 415-331-5544. www.clerestory.org 

“hahn/huhn” performance by Tris Vonna-Michel, in conjunction with the exhibition “Bending the Word” at 3 p.m. at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum Theater, 2626 Bancroft Way. Admission is $3-$8. 642-0808. 

Martha Toledo, songs from Oaxaca, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $16-$18. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Jazz Idiom” Al Young & Charles Robinson at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Americana Unplugged at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Flamenco Open Stage at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Doug Beavers Rovira & Nine “Two Shades of Nude” at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

The Ravines at 3 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. 558-0881. 

 


‘Before The Dream’

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:44:00 AM

Richard Wright, the great African-American writer, whose novel Native Son (a deliberate black perspective to parallel Dreiser’s “Great American Novel,” An American Tragedy) and autobiographical book Black Boy have been taught in schools and colleges for generations, is featured at his centennial as the main character in Richard Talavera’s original play, Before the Dream: The Strange Death (and Life) of Richard Wright, staged by Oakland Public Theatre this weekend at the Noodle Factory in West Oakland, before a San Francisco run at Teatro de la Esperanza in the Mission District. 

The play concentrates on Wright’s final years, in the black American expatriate literary scene in France. Commenting on the title and the foreign setting of the play, Talavera said, “Before the Dream refers to what was going on before the height of the Civil Rights Movement, before the March on Washington and King’s famous speech. For those who are familiar with Native Son and Black Boy, it may seem surprising that the play’s action is in postwar Paris, among black expatriates. But that is where Wright—and the others—chose to live and where all the struggles and contradictions in his earlier life and books got discussed, argued over—and came to a head.” 

Researching Wright’s life, Talavera read of encounters between Wright and other expatriate writers, such as Chester Himes, who recounted them in his memoirs. “Himes’ voice is so different from Wright’s,” said director Norman Gee, “but he was there—and gave detailed descriptions of what went on.”  

The discussions and arguments Himes said he witnessed suggested scenes. “I knew there was a play there,” Gee said. Following up with other memoirs and biographies, a method of storytelling was suggested, too, by the different points of view of the various writers and participants, different interpretations, even diametrically opposed testimonies.  

Narration by different voices, representing the different points of view, sets the scene for dialogue and for soliloquy by Wright and other characters, including novelist James Baldwin, Ollie Harrington and the great poet Langston Hughes—who, meeting Wright after years apart, just before his still-puzzling death, was taken into his bedroom, where Wright was resting in a suit and tie, “looking like he was already lying in his coffin.” 

“We present the different remembrances of events,” said Talavera, “and let the audience put the pieces together.” 

Gee, of Oakland Public Theater, began working with Talavera early on in the project, with a background in staging narrative work in his own productions and with other troupes, like Word for Word. Gee found actors for a fascinating series of readings, which took place over much of the past year at Oakland Main Library, San Francisco Public Library and other venues, like Teatro de la Esperanza. The readings covered the different eras and work in Wright’s life, including his involvement with activism, the Communist Party, the African American community and churches, as well as with other writers. 

Wright’s death, reported as a heart attack in a Paris hospital, was preceded by Wright’s prediction of the possibility of his own demise, referred to cryptically. Various speculations about complicity include American intelligence services—who did have an interest in surveiling the expatriate black Americans—and Soviet agents. A mysterious woman visited Wright in his room shortly before his death, and Harrington was called, urgently asked to “get right over here!” All of this happened while Wright’s family was out of town.  

“There are a lot of questions,” Talavera remarked, “and Wright was paranoid. We show that. But there were forgeries in newspapers, false accounts of what he said—reasons for him to be paranoid, too.” 

Gee mentioned the casting of two of the principal actors. “In the beginning, I wasn’t worried about casting, just finding actors who’d do a good job with the text for the readings,” he said. “Reg Clay was somebody I’d known for a while, and knew he could do that. But at soon as he read, I could hear similar cadences, that he expressed himself in similar ways to Wright. Other actors moved around from part to part, reading to reading. But Reg was always Richard Wright.”  

And for the young James Baldwin, Gee picked Thanidiwe Thomas DeShazor, “who I met in downtown Oakland and first talked to about jazz, and found out he was a solo performer. Later, it became obvious he was right for Baldwin—his youthful energy, and that he loved Baldwin’s love of language.” 

The play also features Wright’s aphoristic haikus, unpublished during his lifetime.  

“They became a punctuation in the play,” said Gee. “I started thinking of them as snapshots, as commentary about different moments in his life.”  

One is allusive of much of his work: “In the falling snow/ a laughing boy holds out his palms/ until they are white.” Another, read by his daughter Julia at his memorial service (she commented, “That’s Daddy!”), proved personally elegiac: “Burning out its time/ and timing out its burning/ one lonely candle.” 

Before the Dream: The Mysterious Death (and Life) of Richard Wright 

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday at the Noodle Factory, 1255 26th St.,  

Oakland. $9-20. 534-9529.  

www.brownpapertickets.com. 

 


Cal Shakes Stages the Bard’s ‘Twelfth Night’

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:44:00 AM

“How have you made division of yourself?” Twelfth Night, or What You Will, now onstage outdoors at CalShakes’ Bruns Amphitheatre in Orinda, like other Bardic comedies, realizes some of its many confusions from love and some from questions of identity.  

Taking the conceit of shipwrecked and separated twins thrown into a scene of unrequited and triangular affairs of the heart from the romances of antiquity, Shakespeare plays with basic assumptions and questions of existence and meaning, multiplying the scene of recognition from conventional romantic comedy and tragedy and reflecting it in a series of sideshow mirrors, amid much festive jocularity, clownish trickery and revelry at winter holiday’s end. 

Often considered the cream of his elusive, sometimes bittersweet comedies on love, Twelfth Night, as “La Nuit des rois” (after the three kings, the wise men of Epiphany), proved, in its stylized but simplified staging by Jacques Copeau, one of the seminal productions of early 20th century drama, a point of departure for French modern theater and a touchstone for much of the movement-oriented “physical” theater that was to follow. 

The sense is carnivalesque. The subtitle (often the allegorical “caption” blazoning Elizabethan plays) is reminiscent of the inscription above the door of Rabelais’ Abbey of Theleme: “Do What You Will.”  

The antics are all over the map, and director Mark Rucker throws the kitchen sink at the text and the stage, decorated by David Zinn in hot, clashing colors, with a big, glossy foreground photo of a tropical beach at sunset, bright foam couches and roll-around wet bars scattered across it like an airport lounge, under the backdrop of an enormous, tangled grid, sometimes pulsing with light. 

A cage in the corner holds pink rabbit-eared Fabian (Liam Vincent), others passing him drinks, long before he enters the action speaking in a ditz German accent. Feste the clown (Danny Scheie) is on rollerskates, an old Scheie-ism, decked out in bathing suits, seashell bras, whatever.  

The overloading cloys at first, then makes the production go flat. Speaking of the conflation of painting and writing in certain Impressionist novels, V. S. Pritchett wrote, “The confusion ... need not be coloured; indeed ... if the parts are too prismatically brilliant, the whole will become grey instead of luminous.” Twelfth Night is a luminous comedy, with rich, very dense language and (speaking of painting) a Manneristic sense of perspective that brings different sensibilities, different planes of human existence, into focus simultaneously, with all resultant ambiguity surrounding the stage—and every word, every movement or gesture on it—like a halo. 

At the close of the holiday season, and of the comedy, marriage celebrates the union of opposites discovered out of the comic confusion. In too many ways, the CalShakes production exhausts itself along the way, subjecting what could be good performances if they were in a more coherent setting to a kind of entropy. Alex Morf, who debuted in Pericles earlier this summer, is particularly interesting, playing both shipwrecked sister Viola (who is disguised as a man and unwittingly wins the heart of melancholy Olivia [Dana Green, also new to CalShakes]) and brother Sebastian, though this doubling is not an original notion. Sharon Lockwood, cross-dressed (and gartered) as Olivia’s Puritan majordomo turned absurd suitor, Malvolio, turns in a well-delineated performance but seems out of place, or muffled.  

Associate artists like Andy Murray, Catherine Castellanos and Dan Hiatt, and comic favorites like Howard Swain, strive mightily but either seem constricted by the mix ’n’ match, mish-mash concept, or sidelined without much to do of importance—a problem in one or two other shows this season. 

“In Shakespeare,” Herman Melville wrote, “Truth is like a white doe in the woodlands,” flying from tree to tree, never visible except as a flash of whiteness—not sunbursts. The overtones are nipped in the bud. Performed at the close of summer in a riot of color, this Twelfth Night conceals a rare winter flower, unable to unfold.


Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Announces Fall Program

By Ron Sullivan Special to the Planet
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:46:00 AM

This might be better than AARP. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute has re-launched its Berkeley center in association with UC Berkeley. 

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is a national network for “older learners”—50 and older—with 119 program centers across the U.S. and a central resource point at the University of Southern Maine.  

The local OLLI program uses space on the UC Berkeley campus and surrounding neighborhoods, all BART-handy and close to public parking.  

Membership at $50 a term and $100 for an academic year gives access to some 50 courses each year; course fees are an additional $75 to $160. (If that sounds expensive, consider that UC Berkeley Extension courses in comparable subjects apparently start at over $400 asemester.) Financial assistance is available, too. Courses run for six weeks.  

OLLI runs inexpensive lecture series and one-time events, too, at $5 each or free to members. 

This fall’s lecturers on “Politics and Science” include Rita Maran (Oct. 20: International Law, Human Rights, and Torture), David Presti (Oct. 27: Mind, Brain, and Consciousness), Michael Omi (Nov. 3: Racial Identity and the Census), and Lynne Elkin (Nov. 10: Rosalind Franklin and the Discovery of DNA).  

OLLI taps the locally plentiful resources of senior brains and UC and other local universities. Promising courses include Charles Darwin: His Life, Times, and Science taught by lecturer/curator John Dillon; Bay Area Documentary Filmmakers, by film critic Michael Fox (also host of the Mechanics’ Institute’s Friday night CinemaLit series); Psychology and Opera: Verdi’s Human Dilemmas, by research psychologist Gerald Mendelsohn; and Remembering History, by the stellar writer Susan Griffin.  

One special year-long course with Robert Cole will comprise discussions led by Cole or a guest on the Thursdays before six each of Cal Performances’ music and dance series, and discount tickets (sold separately) to those. Cole is retiring after directing Cal Performances for 23 years.  

Classes and lectures take place daytimes and evenings. Registration is happening now and right up to the start of classes on Oct. 1, but some courses will fill quickly.  

For more information, see http://olli.berkeley.edu, call 642-9934 or write to the office at 1925 Walnut St., No. 1570, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-1570 to ask for this semester’s brochure.  


Berkeley Video and Film Festival Showcases the Indie Spirit

By Justin DeFreitas
Wednesday September 24, 2008 - 11:26:00 AM
The 17th annual Berkeley Video and Film Festival features its usual eclectic mix of independent cinema, from The Road to Bonneville, a documentary about hot rod racing in the salt flats of Utah, to George Aguilar’s virtual cinema-poems, with avatar Cecil Hervi roaming the world of Second Life, to California King, a simple tale of budding romance in a mattress showroom.
The 17th annual Berkeley Video and Film Festival features its usual eclectic mix of independent cinema, from The Road to Bonneville, a documentary about hot rod racing in the salt flats of Utah, to George Aguilar’s virtual cinema-poems, with avatar Cecil Hervi roaming the world of Second Life, to California King, a simple tale of budding romance in a mattress showroom.

Time and time again we’ve seen the word “independent” co-opted by the very corporate forces the independents claim independence from: “indie” record labels engulfed by a corporate parent; “indie” film festivals that draw Hollywood’s A-List roster to remote Western boomtowns. 

Well, there’s at least one independent film festival that has not only retained its true indie character, but prides itself on a “celebrity-free” environment. 

East Bay Media Center’s 17th annual Berkeley Video and Film Festival starts Saturday at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas in downtown Berkeley, running Friday through Sunday and screening more than 50 films. Shows start at 7:30 p.m. Friday and at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and continue to nearly midnight each night. 

This year’s program features the usual eclectic blend of wide-ranging fare, from student films to experimental short subjects to feature-length films with a high-gloss sheen—all of them truly independent and all of them unlike anything showing at your local megaplex. 

Things get off to an offbeat start Friday with Emma Strebel’s 45-second Self Portrait, an art project she says developed from “a radical intervention to remedy my head lice.” Get your popcorn early. 

Next up is Eli Akira Kaufman’s California King, a surprisingly moving tale of a mattress salesman who uses his lofty position to bed his more attractive female customers. That is, until he meets one that stirs more than his libido. Like a minimalist short story, the 22-minute California King manages to convey much about its characters with little or no background information; we know their states of mind without needing to know the details. It’s a pared-down love story, with no frills and really no surprises; it simply tells a simple story well. 

Another short subject, Attila Szasz’s Now You See Me, Now You Don’t (30 minutes), takes us in another direction entirely with a story that employs a touch of science fiction in a sort of dark parable of marriage and parenthood. When a work-a-holic scientist uses a formula to make his son invisible, he widens the rift between father and mother and child with tragic results. 

Screening between those two short films are two even shorter films, together adding up to just five minutes, but which open up a brand new world of filmmaking. George Aguilar, who created one of the best films in last year’s festival (The Diary of Niclas Gheiler), returns with two examples from his series of virtual films. Aguilar has immersed himself in the online world of Second Life and has used his avatar, an artist-borg by the name of Cecil Hirvi, to create a series of cinematic poems. The first film, Virtual Starry Night, shows Hirvi stepping into a 3-D world constructed by Second Life users based on the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh. The second film, First Love of a Borg, consists of camera movements that sensually trace the contours of a metallic sculpture of a ballerina on display in a virtual museum. 

Festival director Mel Vapour may have to put an asterisk behind his “celebrity-free” claim this year when poet Michael McClure makes an appearance Friday night. McClure will be on hand to answer questions following a screening of Rebel Roar: The Sound of Michael McClure, a 34-minute film that features that Beat Generation poet reading his own work and offering perspectives on his contemporaries. 

The festival’s opening night concludes with Fix (93 minutes), a feature by Tao Ruspoli. Shawn Andrews carries the film with a charismatic performance and a devilish grin that conveys love and arrogance and dissipation all at once. The film’s conceit—a cinephile films every aspect of his life, even as he ventures to Los Angeles to bail his drug-addict brother out of jail and get him into rehab—wears thin after a while, as the device of the first-person camera requires that much screen time be spent defending and justifying it. And the technique lends far less sympathy to the characterizations than Ruspoli probably hoped for. But when it works it strikes an almost voyeuristic tone that makes some scenes come to life. 

Saturday’s screenings include two documentaries. The first, Road to Bonneville (60 minutes), follows two hot-rod builders as they trek across the country in their homemade vintage race cars to the salt flats of Utah, spouting homespun, geeked-out hot rod jargon all the way. Documentaries can bring us into close contact with subcultures we might never otherwise encounter, and Road to Bonneville does just that, giving us a glimpse of a unique and highly specialized world. 

Stop the Presses (80 minutes) is another kind of documentary, giving us an extensive cataloging of a vexing societal problem, in this case the slow-motion death spiral of the newspaper industry. Mark Birnbaum and Manny Mendoza traveled the country and conducted more than 100 interviews to produce this examination of the shifting American media landscape and what it portends for the future, for an informed citizenry, and for the First Amendment. It’s hardly news to news industry insiders of course, but it elucidates for the uninformed the ramifications for democracy once the watchdogs have been put down. 

Tate Taylor’s feature Pretty Ugly People (100 minutes) closes out the festival’s second night. An animated prologue introduces us to Lucy, an overweight woman who undergoes gastric bypass surgery and stages a dramatic reunion to surprise her friends with her new body. But while attempting to enjoy the good and svelte life with them on an extended camping trip, a series of encounters with each friend’s dark side shows her that life isn’t necessarily all that better for the trim and fit. 

Also included in this year’s program are two Chilean features. Just to make things confusing, Sabado screens on Domingo, depicting a real-time drama of a marriage that falls apart just as it is about to begin. The film, with the exception of a single edit, appears to be shot in real time, using its 63 minutes to follow a would-be bride as she discovers her fiancé’s secret, confronts him with it, and then concocts a plan for moving forward, documenting it all with the help of a student cameraman. As with Fix, the first-person camera can be trying at times, and again the script and actors are called upon to continually justify its presence, but it adds up to a fun little experiment in cinema verite. 

The best feature film of the festival is also the strangest. Malta con Huevo is another Chilean entry and it’s quirky from the start as Vladimir, a sketchy cad-about-town, wakes up to find that he has somehow jumped ahead in time a few weeks. Yet when he sleeps and wakes again, he’s back where he began, and no one seems to know what he’s blathering about. We suspect early enough that his signature beverage of malt beer and raw eggs is playing tricks on his mind, but soon enough the film takes a stark left turn as a more nefarious and absurd comic-horror plot reveals itself. 

 

 

BERKELEY VIDEO AND FILM FESTIVAL 

One-day passes ($13, $10 for students and seniors) are available starting Friday at the Shattuck Cinemas box office, 2230 Shattuck Ave. 464-5980. One-day and three-day passes ($30) are available in advance at East Bay Media Center, 1939 Addison St. 843-3699. www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org.


East Bay: Then and Now—On the Trail of Zimri Brewer Heywood’s Residence

By Daniella Thompson
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:46:00 AM
Known as the Heywood-Ghego House, this city landmark at 1809 Fourth St. was never owned or occupied by any Heywood.
Daniella Thompson
Known as the Heywood-Ghego House, this city landmark at 1809 Fourth St. was never owned or occupied by any Heywood.
The Charles W. Heywood House, a landmark at 1808 Fifth St., was owned and occupied by the Young family when the neighbor’s children posed for this photo about 1902.
BAHA archives
The Charles W. Heywood House, a landmark at 1808 Fifth St., was owned and occupied by the Young family when the neighbor’s children posed for this photo about 1902.
The Ghego house in 1978, before rehabilitation.
BAHA
The Ghego house in 1978, before rehabilitation.

Legendary lumberman Zimri Brewer Heywood (1803-1879) left behind many legends. Retracing his history through original 19th-century documents (see “Zimri Brewer Heywood: Separating Fact From Myth,” Sept. 4, 2008) reveals that while some of the oft-recounted stories have no basis in fact, there are others, largely unknown until now, that are just as absorbing as the myths. 

No one knows the exact date or even the year that marked Heywood’s arrival in the Bay Area. A reliable secondary source—an article in the California State Library titled “Statesmen of California” (Jan. 1, 1885)—pinpoints the birth date of his eleventh child, Walter Minturn Heywood, at Nov. 20, 1854, and the birthplace as San Francisco. The article further states that Walter’s “early childhood was passed in the city,” information that is bolstered by his father’s presence there when the 1860 and 1870 U.S. censuses were recorded. 

Zimri made his first appearance in an East Bay directory in the early 1870s. The 1872 Oakland directory listed him as a San Francisco resident and partner in Heywood & Jacobs, lumber dealers, office with Grosso & Wilcox, west side of Broadway between Ninth and Tenth Sts., Oakland. (Grosso & Wilcox were importers and dealers of hardware and agricultural implements.) His partner, Captain James H. Jacobs, was listed as a resident of Ocean View, “five miles north of Broadway R.R. station.” 

Zimri’s fourth son, Samuel Heywood (1833-1903), was the first to settle in Berkeley—probably when his father established the partnership with Captain Jacobs. The 1870 census located Sam, then 37, in Jacobs’ house (location given only as “Oakland”), along with the Jacobs family and four laborers—three Scandinavians and a German. Both Sam and Jacobs were listed as lumber merchants, suggesting that they co-managed the Heywood & Jacobs business. 

Sam did not appear in the Oakland directory until 1876. His listing was “lumber, brick, lime and general building material, Second between Delaware and Bristol, West Berkeley.” By then, Jacobs had retired from the business, and Sam was now sole manager. His older brother, Charles Warren Heywood (1831-1913), worked for him as a salesman. Earlier, Charles had engaged in the dairy business, as recorded in the 1870 census. Might he have run his father’s Ramsey ranch in the North Berkeley hills? No record has emerged to confirm his exact whereabouts. 

By 1877, the company formerly known as Heywood & Jacobs had reincorporated as Z.B. Heywood & Co., and no fewer than five Heywood sons were associated with it and living in West Berkeley. 

In those days, house numbers had not yet been introduced, so directory listings were necessarily vague about addresses. Zimri’s eldest living son, William B. Heywood (1830-1915) probably had a managerial role at Z.B. Heywood & Co., since his position was not listed. In the 1877 Oakland directory, his residence was given as the northeast corner of Bristol (now Hearst Ave.) and Fifth Street. The Sanborn fire insurance map of 1903 shows no house on that corner, but there were dwellings just off the corner, at 1825 Fifth and 809 Bristol. 

Charles, now a teamster with Z.B. Heywood & Co., resided on the northwest corner of Fourth and Delaware. Again, there was no house on that corner in 1903, but a house stood just west of the corner, at 709 Delaware. Samuel, a foreman at Z.B. Heywood & Co., was listed as residing on the east side of Second St. between Delaware and Bristol. The residence, whatever it might have been (the 1903 map shows only a tenement on Bristol, east of Second St.), was located within the lumber yard. 

Franklin Heywood (1837-1903), also without a specific job description in the company according to the 1877 directory, was likely another manager and lived with Charles. Walter M. Heywood (1854-1924) was a clerk at Z.B. Heywood & Co. and lived on the north side of Delaware between Third and Fourth Streets, a location that matches 709 Delaware exactly. Zimri himself lived at 1519 Polk St., San Francisco. 

None of the buildings that housed the Heywood brothers in 1877 remain standing. The reason for investigating them will reveal itself shortly. 

By the following year, great changes had taken place in the Heywoods’ activities. They leased the lumber yard to John F. Byxbee, who renamed it the West Berkeley Lumber Yard. The brothers were now free to pursue their own enterprises, and the 1878 directory listed all but one of them as capitalists. The exception was Samuel, listed as lumberman and still resident on the lumber yard property. 

For the first time, Zimri was living in Berkeley, his address given as the corner of Fourth and Delaware, where Charles and Franklin also lived. The only son who had moved since the previous year was William, listed in 1878 on the west corner of Fourth and Folsom (now Virginia). Curiously, there were no houses on Folsom west of Fourth Street. In 1903, only one house stood on Folsom St. between Third and Fifth—it was on the north side of the street, and closer to Fifth than to Fourth. In the Sanborn map it was marked “cheap.” 

This long enumeration of addresses leads to the point of the investigation.  

There are four designated City of Berkeley Landmarks associated with the Heywood family, two of them located back-to-back in West Berkeley: one facing Fourth St., the other facing Fifth. About 1808 Fifth St. there’s little doubt: it first appeared as an improved property in the 1879 tax assessments, and it was owned by Charles W. Heywood, whose directory listing placed him on the west side of Fifth near Delaware. 

The landmark at 1809 Fourth St. is another matter. Known as the Heywood-Ghego House, it bears a plaque announcing that the house was built in 1877 by the Zimri Brewer Heywood family. The landmark application for this building ascribes the house to William B. Heywood. 

William, however, was never listed at this address, nor was any other Heywood. In the 1870s, Zimri Heywood owned the land on which it stands, but there was never a house on this lot while it was owned by the Heywoods. The lot remained unimproved until 1907 or ‘08, when John Young, a street-paving cement worker and former miner, bought it. 

The Irish-born Young, previously of San Francisco, was first listed in the Berkeley directory in 1902. Around that time, he acquired the former Charles W. Heywood house at 1808 Fifth Street. In late 1902, Young also purchased a San Francisco property near Golden Gate Park from Franklin Heywood. 

1808 Fifth Street was available owing to Charles’s divorce from his wife, Mary. A childless couple, they adopted Bertha Ball (1881-1948), but the child apparently could not cement the marriage. Charles was last listed at this address in 1887, and Mary remained there only another year, although she continued to own the property until 1902. 

Between 1899 and 1903, the house was let to tenants. The first renters were the window Beulah MacCargar and her daughter Adaline, who held a short-lived position as Southern Pacific’s West Berkeley agent. In 1900, while Charles Heywood was living with his brother Franklin in San Francisco and Mary was living with Bertha (aged 19 and listed as a dentist) in Oakland, their Berkeley house was rented by Clara McDonald, a Scottish widow and music teacher, who lived here with her four children and two boarders. Mrs. McDonald’s daughters, Agnes and Stella, taught dancing at Sisterna Hall. 

John and Jane Young had five children and made ample use of the large house and its double lot. Although Young was a hired laborer, thrift (or shrewdness) enabled him to increase his holdings. In 1907 or ‘08, he doubled the size of his homestead by acquiring an adjacent lot on Fifth St., as well as the lot behind his house, which faced Fourth Street. In 1908, Young was assessed for the Fourth St. lot, with the improvements valued at $400 (his Fifth St. house was assessed at $1,200). As shown in the 1911 edition of the Sanborn fire insurance maps, this improvement consisted of a rectangular two-story building containing a pair of flats, numbered 1809 and 1811 Fourth Street. 

Since the building is too old to have been constructed in 1908, Young obviously moved it here from another site. Its original location remains to be discovered. 

A decade after the Youngs moved to Berkeley, their marriage, too, ended in divorce. Jane moved out with the children, leaving John alone in the big house on Fifth Street. Around 1914, he started a dairy business and was still engaged in it in 1920. Three of the Young daughters became public school teachers. 

The Fourth Street flats were sold to the Italian immigrant Luigi Quartucci, who sold it a decade later to Peter and Pauline Ghego (or Ghigo). 

If the Heywoods never lived at 1809 Fourth St., where was their home in 1878? I place my bet on 709 Delaware, which lay mid-block between Third and Fourh Streets, half a block away from the Heywood lumber yard. In 1878, the entire north side of Delaware St. between Third and Fourth belonged to Zimri B. Heywood. There was only one house on that stretch, and it was assessed at $1,500. An additional assessment of $200 for personal property indicates that the house was occupied by its owner. This assessment was repeated in 1879, the year of Zimri Heywood’s death. This house was the home of Zimri, Charles, Franklin, and Walter. 

William’s assessment record for 1878 shows that he owned many lots on the west side of Fourth St. between Delaware and Folsom. A personal property assessment indicates that he lived on one of those lots, but the only house on the block other than 709 Delaware stood directly behind it to the north. Across the street, on the south side of Delaware, there were two saloons, and the Chicago Hotel and Bar was a neighbor on the northwest corner of Delaware and Third Street. 

709 Delaware (but not the house behind it) still stood, albeit altered, in 1911, after Third Street had become a channel for the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. The SP depot stood on the southeast corner of Third and Delaware, the Chicago Hotel was now vacant, and the saloons had become stores. 

By 1929, the house was gone altogether, and SP tracks and facilities had eaten into the block. In 1950, General Motors owned the entire block, and a Buick auto parts warehouse stood on the north side of Delaware. The same location is now part of the thriving Fourth Street retail Mecca. The old Heywood home site is occupied by Café Rouge. 

This is the second in a series of articles on the Heywood family. 

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


About the House: Living in Houses Made of Vegetables

By Matt Cantor
Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:57:00 AM

I built my house from barley rice 

Green pepper walls and water ice 

Tables of paper wood, windows of light 

And everything emptying into white. 

—Cat Stevens 

 

Forgive my g-g-generation but that’s a favorite song of mine. In fact, we were struggling through it at music night last week with special efforts made by our local tax expert, Peetnik and rockstar, Woody Bolton (our latest addition to Saturday night “Warble and Plunk”). Cat’s music isn’t simple and Woody made a mighty effort. 

I begin with these lyrics because in thinking about my subject, they seem strangly apt, though I’m sure they were never intended as a treatise on real construction and were, instead, a fantasy of how one might, in some Beatrix Potter sort of world, build a home. 

In fact, these words are not far from the truth. We do live in houses of barley rice, or at least some similar vegetable. Trees, are after all, vegetables if you’ll forgive some unfortunate botany. They can be eaten by someone large enough (or small enough) and if steamed or boiled long enough, they can be eaten by us. Lots of tree parts (including fruit) get eaten by us. So, while not all parts of a house (or all houses) are made from trees, many are and these are ultimately food. One might as well carve out a potato and move inside. 

I find this funny because it is such a sweet counterpoint to the illusion of our power over nature and the pretense of our noble place in the universe. We are mutable, transient creatures flying through space inhabiting vegetable houses covered with sand and clay. That last part is fun too. Our vegetable houses get served on china footings and clad with armor of mud and rock.  

We tend to look down our noses at the natives who inhabit mud huts or once lives in homes of wattle and daub (I’ll come back to this) but there are far fewer differences between today’s residential construction the construction of these 10,000 years old forms than one might think. 

Wattle and daub is the practice of weaving sticks into the shape of a wall and smearing said lattice with whatever one has about; in most cases, clay or mud with straw. Though this is one of the earliest methods we know of to build a wall, it’s only slightly different from lath (wattle) and plaster (hydraulic daub) and a short skip and a jump to drywall, wherein the wattle has been replaced by a layer of paper on either side of the daub. Whether that’s an improvement or not is, in my mind, very much in question.  

That last part, plaster (or gypsum plaster), might actually be something modern. Lime plaster is an amazing thing and I’m not quite sure how we arrived at it but it seems likely to have been an accident involving a fire-ring of limestone, and a large fire, followed by the application of water (dousing the fire?). Plaster is at least 5,000 years old having been found at sites like the Tarxian Temples of Malta (2800 BC) but is likely much older. 

Concrete is not much different from plaster and relies upon a very similar composition to lime plaster for it’s core ingredient, portland cement. Again, these are clearly the results of limestone having been inadvertently heated and mixed with water to create a rock-hard material some thousands of years ago. Today, concrete is the worlds primarily building material (and the manufacture thereof, one of its primary energy consumers). In the end it’s just more rocks that we’re making so our built world is rocks and veggies. Now isn’t that a bit funny. In this world of LCD screens and Roombas on Mars, we’re living in rocks and vegetables. 

A prehistoric roof might have been made up of local leafed branches arrayed across a framework of sticks and with sufficient layers might have lasted several years. With maintenance, perhaps a decade. Thatching, still practiced in some parts of the world is simply a finer version of this and was apparently quite popular with many of gods creatures, being a good home for both bird and beast. 

Modern asphalt shingles are not as far from this as we might like to think being made mostly of paper (pulped wood), dipped in tar and rolled in crushed rock (would you care for pepper with that sir?). If it weren’t for the two latter ingredients, I’m sure it would be on someone’s menu but, alas, it is the sun that takes these to the grave. Nevertheless, the point stands that these are very simple natural materials and not any sort of technological marvel. Economics being at the bottom of almost any process, we tend to use what we have. Trees, rocks, grass, sand, clay and water. 

Bugs know that our houses are mostly vegetable matter because they’re eating them as we speak and I’m not just talking about termites. Fungi, including molds and mildew are also having lunch as are bacteria (they finish what others left on the table as well as the diners themselves). It’s a veritable feast, so check the duration of your mortgage because what you’re buying is fast becoming food for powder post beetles, carpenter ants, carpenter bees and other xylophagous organisms (wood eaters).  

The grindings and pulps of trees are a major part of what we’re living in, from the skin of drywall to the backing on pergo, much of what goes into houses is paper or chipped up bits of wood or bamboo. This includes the cabinets in your kitchen. The Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) trim on your modern house (pulp), the fiber-cement siding on your house (pulp and portland cement) or the microlam beam that hold up the floor (small chips of wood and lots of glue). For some of these materials, especially the pulped or chipped ones, fungi are elbowing one another aside to get to dinner because these are essentially predigested and quicker to consume. Plank wood, on the other hand is compartmentalized with various membranes that make digestion harder and more dependent upon first tier xylophages such as termites. 

Good construction and maintenance practices may inhibit these ecologists from their duly appointed browsing but it’s all short term from a geotemporal perspective so make “hay” while the sun shines and enjoy the “fruits” of your construction because they will not last (and given what they’re building these days, I say “bon appetite”). 


Community Calendar

Thursday September 18, 2008 - 09:29:00 AM

THURSDAY, SEPT. 18 

Berkeley Path Wanderers Association Annual Meeting with keynote speaker will be earthquake expert Katherine Stillwell on “The Hayward Fault: Living on the Edge.” The program will include a tribute to retiring council member Betty Olds, a longtime champion of Berkeley’s paths. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for our spider friends from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will search for spiders from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Urban Bicycle Safety Class Learn how to share the road with cars on busy streets of the East Bay, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at Kaiser Oakland Meidcal Center. Sponsored by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. Free. For information see www.ebbc.org/safety 

“Tracking Bay Area Birds with the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory“ by Stephanie Ellis at 7 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, between Solano and Marin. Sponsored by Golden Gate Audubon Society. 843-2222. 

“A Community Guide to Environmental Health” with author Jeff Conant at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. 548-3402. www.ecologycenter.org 

Researching and Conserving Pumas from California to Patagonia. A program on the Bay Area Puma Project and the Patagonia Puma Project at 7 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Rd., Knowland Park, Oakland. Cost is $12-$20, sliding scale. 632-9525. 

“A Jihad for Love” Film and conversation on issues of faith and sexuality at JCC of the EAst BAy, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Berkeley Public Library Master Plan discussion at 6:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. Plan available on-line at www.berkeleypubliclibaray.org 981-6195. 

The LeConte Neighborhood Association meets at 7:30 p.m. at the LeConte School, Russell St. entrance. Agenda items are welcome. Please contact karlreeh@aol.com 

Asian American Donor Program Marrow/Stem Cell Drive 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Upper Sproul Plaza and Campanile Esplanade, UC Campus. 800-593-6667. www.aadp.org 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. Bring photo ID and two references. 644-8833. 

Green Chamber of Commerce Business Mixer at 5:30 p.m. at Mechanics Bank, 801 San Pablo Ave. 558-2330. Cost is $10-$20. RSVP at www.greenchamberofcommerce.net 

Baby & Toddler Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Three Beats for Nothing South Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Thurs. at 10 a.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ellis at Ashby. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters Club meets at 6:45 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline at Alcatraz. Free, all are welcome. namaste@avatar.freetoasthost.info  

FRIDAY, SEPT. 19 

Volunteer in Berkeley Youth Alternatives Garden Tasks may include weeding, bed preparation, sowing, transplanting, and harvesting. Meet at 10 a.m. at Bancroft Way, between Bonar and West. 647-0709. www.byaonline.org 

Iraq Moratorium Day and Vigil to Protest the War from 2 to 4 p.m. at the corners of University & Acton. Sponsored by Strawberry Creek Lodge Tenant’s Assoc & Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Becoming a Certified Green Business in Alameda County Information session to learn about what the required steps are for certification, hear from businesses who have already been through the process and learn about funding opportunities, at 11 a.m. at Greenlining Institute, 1918 University Ave. RSVP to 559 -1406. www.greenbiz.ca.gov 

“Special Circumstances” A film about confronting the legacy of Pinochet and US intervention in Latin America, at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Conscientious Projector Film Series “The New Deal” at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar at Bonita.  

“Walking Each Other Home” Film and discussion on race at 6 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. www.walkingeachotherhome.com 

“1968: A Discussion On The Lessons and Vibrant Legacy Of The Year That Shook The World” with Robert Hillary King, Immanuel Wallerstein, Staughton Lynd, Andrej Grubacic, Paco Ignacio Taibo II, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $10 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

“Flow” A documentary by Irena Salina on the world’s water crisis at showing at Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $8-$10. 464-5980. www.flowthefilm.com 

Cancer Prevention and Survival Cooking Course meets for four Fri. from 6 to 8 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit Cardiac Rehabilitation, 3030 Telegraph Ave. Free, but registration required. 869-6737.  

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for our spier friends from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Meg Burke on “Exploring the Exciting and Unique New Home of the California Academy of Sciences” 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 524-7468. www.citycommonsclub.org 

Scottish Dance Party All dances taught, no experience or partner necessary, at 8 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. 653-7507. 

“Buddhism: Downloadable Dharma” with Clark Strand at 7 p.m., Center for Buddhist Education at the Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave., at Fulton. Free or by donation. 809-1460. www.cbe-bca.org  

Walk the Line & Connect to the Home Front Walk the line of history and the keel of a victory ship, and learn about the men and women who contributed to victory on the home front during World War II, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. followed by optional 45 min. Bay Trail stroll. Meet park ranger at memorial by main parking lot at Rosie the Riveter Memorial, Marina Bay Park, Melville and Regatta, Richmond. 232-5050. www.nps.gov/rori/ 

All Hands on Deck: Building the Ships that Kept Democracy Afloat Learn about the 747 ships built at the Kaiser shipyards and the people that built them, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Historic Shipyard No. 3, 1337 Canal Blvd., Berth 6A, Richmond. Park outside SS Red Oak Victory gate. 232-5050. Directions to shipyard 237-2933. www.ssredoakvictory.com/contact.htm 

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. 

Three Beats for Nothing Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Fri. at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst at MLK. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 

California Coastal Clean-up Day from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Berkeley: Behind the Seabreeze Market at the corner of University and Frontage Rd. 981-6720; Emeryville at Emeryville Fire House at 2333 Powell St. 596-3728; Albany at the foot of Buchanan behind the Golden Gate Fields race track, by the big bench; Richmond at Shimada Friendship Park, Marina Bay Pkwy off 580. 374-3231. Point Pinole Regional Shoreline. 525-2233. For other sites see www.coastforyou.org 

West Berkeley Senior Center BBQ, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1900 6th St. at Hearst. Cost is $10.50-$15. 981-5180. 

Walking Tour of the Dimond District A walking tour sponsored by Oakland Heritage Alliance. Meet at 10 a.m. at the Boy Scout hut in Dimond Park. Cost is $10-$15. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Alternative Energy Options including solar power and solar tubes for homeowners from 9 to 11 a.m. at Truitt & White conference room, 1817 2nd St. Free, but registration required. truittandwhite.com 

Tri-City Safety Day Meet public safety agency representatives from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at El Cerrito Plaza, San Pablo and Fairmount Ave., El Cerrito. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class Demystifying Tofu and Tempeh Learn to make Tofu Benedict, Sweet and Sour Tempeh, Noodle Kugel, Chocolate Mousse and more from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $50, plus $5 food and material fee. Advance registration required. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com 

Shawl-Anderson Dance Center 50th Anniversary Gala from 5 to 10 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $75-$125. 654-5921. www.shawl-anderson.org 

Friends of the El Cerrito Library Books Sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sun. from noon to 4 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. 526-7512. 

Adopt A Special Kid Information workshop, in English and Spanish at 10 a.m. at 8201 Edgewater Dr. Suite 103. 553-1748 ext 12. www.aask.org 

Shu Ren International School Open House, a new Chinese (Mandarin) immersion school in Berkeley, Tour at 4 p.m. at 1333 University Ave. Please RSVP to Ping.Xie@ShuRenInternationalSchool.com 

Taste of Bay Street with music, food samples and Apple Fest from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Bay Street, Emeryville. 655-4002. www.baystreetemeryville.com 

California Writers Club meets to discuss “Are You Good Enough To Be Published?” with Alan Rinzler at 10 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square. 272-0120. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

Jewish Literature and Discussion Series meets to discuss “A Simple Story” by S.Y. Agnon at 2 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Deva Primal and Miten Voice Workshop from 4 to 7 p.m. at Rudramandir at 830 Bancroft Way. Cost is $60. 486-8700. www.rudramandir.com 

Meditation Class at noon at 7th Heaven Yoga Studio, 2820 7th St. Free. 665-4300. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 21 

Run for Peace 5/10K walk/run at 9 a.m. at Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. Sponsored by UNA-USA East Bay. to register see www.run4peace.org 

Take a Stand, Sit for Change Ait-A-Thon from noon to 5 p.m. at MLK Civic Center Park, MLK at Center St. Admission by donation/pledges, no one turned away. 549-3733. urbanpeace.org 

Berkeley Community Gardens Garden Party from 2 to 6 p.m. at Peralta Community Garden, Ohlone Greenway at Peralta near Hopkins. Learn about native plants and habitat restoration, and Eco-house and the Ohlone Greenway Project.  

“Climate Change and Peace” with Daniel M. Kammen, UC Prof., Energy and Resources Group, at 3 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Sponsored by United Nations Association East Bay. 849-1752. www.unausaeastbay.org 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby and Stuart. Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. 526-7377. info@eastbaylabyrinthproject.org  

East Bay Atheists Annual Picnic from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Big Leaf Picnic Area, Tilden Park. 222-7580. eastbayatheists.org 

Lawrence Hall of Science Community Day with ice cream making, bubbleology, and the science show “Flames, Flares, and Explosions” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at LHS, Centennial Dr. 642-5132. www.lawrencehallofscience.org 

“Local Medicinal Herbs and Your Health” Learn the benefits of herbs and their use in western herbal medicine from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at EcoHouse, 1305 Hopkins St., enter via garden entrance on Peralta. Cost is $15, plus $5 materials fee. To register call 548-2220 ext. 242. 

Bike Tour of Oakland Meet at 10 a.m. at the 10th St. entrance of the Oakland Museum of California. Bring your bike, helmet and repair kit. Reservations required. 238-3514. 

Dynamite History Walk Discover the park preserved by dynamite on an easy-paced 3-mile walk, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. along Point Pinole Regional Shoreline. For meeting place call 525-2233. 

Walking Tour of Hidden Haddon Hill A walking tour sponsored by Oakland Heritage Alliance of a neighborhood of Mediterranean-style homes. Meet at 10 a.m. at the triangle at Kenwyn Rd. and McKinley Ave. Cost is $10-$15. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Friends of the El Cerrito Library Books Sale from noon to 4 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. 526-7512. 

Jewish Coalition for Literacy Training for volunteer tutors arom 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 300 Grand, Oakland. Register at www.jclread.org 

Personal Theology Seminar with Ruth Gendler on “An Invitation to Beauty” at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Gallery of Thingamajigs Explore sounds produced by unusual instruments created from found materials, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10 and Oak, Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Tom Mead on “Bringing Balance and Creativity to the Workplace” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 4 to 8 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Also on Fri. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

MONDAY, SEPT. 22 

How Will They Represent You? with the candidates for Berkeley City Council District 5: Sophie Hahn and Laurie Capitelli, and District 6: Phoebe Sorgen and Susan Wengraf, at 7:30 p.m. at Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck Ave. 486-8010. 

Autumnal Equinox Gathering at 6:15 p.m. at The Solar Calendar, Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. Dress warmly. www.solarcalendar.org 

“Buildings That Think Green: The Next Generation of Smart Energy Technologies” with Arun Majumdar, LBNL, at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. 486-7292. 

Kensington Library Book Club meets to discuss “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group, for people 60 years and over, meets at 9:45 a.m. at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave, Albany. Cost is $3.  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth Mon.-Wed. from 3 to 7 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

TUESDAY, SEPT. 23 

New Deal Film Festival “WPA Theater Mark Blitzstien’s : The Cradle will Rock!” at 1 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

“Engage Her” A documentary by Victoria Ponce exploring why more than 30 million minority women in the U.S. do not vote, at 7 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $15. 388-8932. www.hillsideclub.org 

“What We Say Goes: Pakistan, Iran & U.S. Foreign Policy” with David Barsamian at 7 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Suggested donation $8-$25. 251-1332 ext. 105. www.radioproject.org 

Exploring Patagonia’s Northern Lake District, and opportunities for hiking, biking, horseback riding and more at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Political Theater for Everyone! A class in experimental political/street theater technique at 6 p.m. at Rock-Paper-Scissors Collective, Telegraph at 23rd St., Oakland. http://rpscollective.com/new.php 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. Bring photo ID and two references. 644-8833. 

 

 

 

 

 

”Buddhism: “Tendai: Its Usefulness and Relevancy Today” with VK Leary Keisho at 7 p.m., Center for Buddhist Education at the Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. Free or by donation. 809-1460. www.cbe-bca.org  

“Revolutionary Communism at a Crossroads: Residue of the Past or Vanguard of the Future?” Discussion at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

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 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Sing-A-Long Group from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. 524-9122. 

Yarn Wranglers Come knit and crochet at 6:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 24 

Be Ballot-Wise in November! with facts from Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington and other community activists at 1:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, corner of MLK. Sponsored by the Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

“The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Ruin It All” with author Thomas Frank at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Cost is $12. 848-6767, ext. 609. 

Golden Gate Birding Walk at Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park with Hilary Powers and Ruth Tobey. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large spherical cage near Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevue. 549-2839. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

Appreciating Diversity Film Series “Unnatural Causes: In Sickness and in Wealth” Film showing followed by discussion at 7 p.m. at Ellen Driscoll Theater, Frank Havens School, 325 Highland Ave., Piedmont. 835-9227. diversityfilmseries.org 

Chilean Filmmaker Carlos Flores will give a workshop and show film clips from the work of young Chilean filmmkakers today at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Chicago 10” Brett Morgan explores the buildup to- and unravelling of- the Chicago conspiracy trial after the 1968 Democratic Convention, at 6 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10 and Oak, Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

“The Story of Stuff” A short film by Annie Leonard on the underside of our production and consumption patterns, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

Spanish Conversation Classes Wed. and Thurs. at 9:30 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. 981-5190. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

Berkeley CopWatch Drop-in office hours from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, SEPT. 25 

“The Age of Warrior” with Robert Fisk on his new book of essays about the Middle East at 7 p.m. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Benefits the Middle East Children’s Alliance. Tickets are $20. 548-0542. www.mecaforpeace.org. 

Berkeley Public Library Master Plan discussion at 6:30 p.m. at West Branch, 1125 Univesrsity. Plan available on-line at www.berkeleypubliclibaray.org 981-6195. 

Conscientious Projector Film Series “What a Way to Go: Living at the End of Empire” at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar at Bonita.  

“Pursuit of Equality” A documentary and discussion about marriage equality at 7:15 p.m. at Rialto Cinemas Elmwood, 2966 College Ave. at Ashby. Cost is $20. Benefit for No On 8 / NCLR Social Justice Fund. 433-9730. 

Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative Potluck with speakers and garden tour at 6 p.m. at Arts Magnet School, 1645 Milvia St. Enter playground off Virginia St. 883-9096. 

Easy Does It Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at EDI office, 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. www.easydoesitservices.org 

Baby & Toddler Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Three Beats for Nothing South Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Thurs. at 10 a.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ellis at Ashby. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 26 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Lisa Margonelli on “Oil on the Brain: Petroleum’s Long, Strange Trip to Your Tank” 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 524-7468. www.citycommonsclub.org 

“Pakistan, Afghanistan and American Power” with Tariq Ali at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Cost is $12-$15. 848-3696. www.kpfa.org 

mio: made in oakland The launch of Unity Council’s social venture enterprise to bring sustainable sewing manufacturing to Oakland. Workshop from 3 to 5 p.m at 3301 East 12th St., suite 201. Launch party at 5:30 p.m. at 3411 East 12th St., Suite 90. 384-3146. 

Walk the Line & Connect to the Home Front Walk the line of history and the keel of a victory ship, and learn about the men and women who contributed to victory on the home front during World War II, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. followed by optional 45 min. Bay Trail stroll. Meet park ranger at memorial by main parking lot at Rosie the Riveter Memorial, Marina Bay Park, Melville and Regatta, Richmond. 232-5050. www.nps.gov/rori/ 

All Hands on Deck: Building the Ships that Kept Democracy Afloat Learn about the 747 ships built at the Kaiser shipyards and the people that built them, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Historic Shipyard No. 3, 1337 Canal Blvd., Berth 6A, Richmond. Park outside SS Red Oak Victory gate. 232-5050. Directions to shipyard 237-2933. www.ssredoakvictory.com/contact.htm 

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. 

Three Beats for Nothing Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Fri. at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst at MLK. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 27 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour of Nut Hill in the heart of “Bernard Maybeck country” of North Berkeley, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. For reservations and starting point call 848-0181. 

Walking Tour of Oakland’s Walkway & Streetcar heritage A walking tour sponsored by Oakland Heritage Alliance trhough Trestle Glen to Grand Lake. Reservations required. Cost is $10-$15. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Spiders in September Discover orb weavers, jumping spiders, wolf spiders and more form 10:30 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Witness Against War: the Iraqi Refugee Crisis” with Kathy Kelly, founder of Voices for Creative Non-violence and Voices in the Wilderness at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, Sacramento and Cedar Sts. Donation $5-$35, no one turned away. 

Northern California Family Center Foster Parent Orientation for individuals who are interested in becoming a foster parent from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 925-370-1990. 

Make a Box Sculpture with Emily Kuenstler from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. All ages welcome. Cost is $45. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Introduction to Golf from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Tilden Golf Course. Golf balls and loaner clubs are provided. Cost is $50-$56. Participants will also receive a free $20 range card for use at the driving range and $20 off a future class at the golf course. Registration required 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Walk the Line & Connect to the Home Front Walk the line of history and the keel of a victory ship, and learn about the men and women who contributed to victory on the home front during World War II, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. followed by optional 45 min. Bay Trail stroll. Meet park ranger at memorial by main parking lot at Rosie the Riveter Memorial, Marina Bay Park, Melville and Regatta, Richmond. 232-5050. www.nps.gov/rori/ 

All Hands on Deck: Building the Ships that Kept Democracy Afloat Learn about the 747 ships built at the Kaiser shipyards and the people that built them, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Historic Shipyard No. 3, 1337 Canal Blvd., Berth 6A, Richmond. Park outside SS Red Oak Victory gate. 232-5050. Directions to shipyard 237-2933. www.ssredoakvictory.com/contact.htm 

Mooncake Festival at Habitot Children’s Museum with activities celebrating the Asian harvest festival from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

Sushi for the More Adventurous from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center. Parent participation required for 8-10 year-olds. Cost is $25-$49. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Benefit for Girls Inc. of Alameda County from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. Tickets are $75-$125. 357-5515, ext. 219. www.WomenofTaste.org 

Meditation Class at noon at 7th Heaven Yoga Studio, 2820 7th St. Free. 665-4300. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 28 

“How Berkeley Can You Be?” and Art Car Parade at 11 a.m. at California and University, followed by festival in Civic Center Park. www.howberkeleycanyoube.com 

Taste of El Cerrito with food samples, silent auction and music from 5 to 9 p.m. at El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane at Ashbury Ave. Cost is $10-$20. www.tasteofelcerrito.com 

Little Farm Open House Come grind some corn to feed the chickens, pet a bunny or groom a goat, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Little Farm at Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Berkeley Partners for Parks Afternoon Fundraiser with food, drinks and music from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at Halcyon Commons, on Halcyon Ct between Webster and Prince. Suggested donation $30. 

Walking Tour of Richmond Blvd A walking tour sponsored by Oakland Heritage Alliance along Glen Echo Creek, a residential neighborhood built between 1895 and the 1920s. Meet at 10 a.m. at Pergola, Croxton Ave. and Richmond Blvd. Cost is $10-$15. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

The Art of Solar Cooking Learn the use, design, and practical applications of solar cookers nad solar water pasteurization, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $15 sliding scale, plus optional $5 materials fee. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Medicine Take-Back Day Bring unwanted medication, in orginal containers with personal information marked out, for safe disposal between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Jack London Square, 450 Water St. at Broadway. Sponsored by San Francisco Estuary Project and Teleosis Institute. 622-2452. 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Clinic Learn how to repair a flat, from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Bring your bike and tools. 527-4140. 

UC Botanical Garden Fall Plant Sale from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“Iran (Is Not the Problem) Film and discussion with producer Aaron Newman at 6:30 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Personal Theology Seminar with Rebecca Parker on “Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of this World for Crucifixion and Empire” at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “Light of the Buddha and the Modern World” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Jewish High Holidays Pot-luck and Discussion at 6:15 on Sat. and Sun. at JGate, near the El Cerrito Bart Station. RSVP to rabbibridget@jewishgateways.org 

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 4 to 8 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Also on Fri. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7415.  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6950.  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 18, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7010. 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., Sept. 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5158.  

Zero Waste Commission meets Mon., Sept. 22, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. 981-6368.  

City Council meets Tues., Sept. 23, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Sept. 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Sept. 24, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., Sept. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Sept. 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Sept. 24, at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Mental Health Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 25, at 6:30 p.m. at 26