Public Comment

MISS CORRUPTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The proof that McCain lacks judgment is his choice of running mate—Sarah Palin. Probably the only thing worse for the nation than George Bush is Miss Corruption. 

But there’s more. To LOWER taxes on the rich (he wants to eliminate the capital gains tax), when the country is deeper in debt than ever before, is insane. The biggest cause of that debt is the Iraq War. But instead of ending it, McCain wants to keep tilting at that windmill, putting us even deeper in debt! Then he wants to give everyone $5,000 for health care. Where is that money going to come from? 

It’s perfectly clear that McCain would continue Bush’s legacy of spending money that we don’t have. And he has the gall to call Obama a “big spender”?! 

Michael J. Vandeman 

San Ramon 

• 

ZACHARY RUNNING WOLF 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While Zachary Running Wolf offered a thoughtful critique of the abysmal performance record of Tom Bates and the questionable motives of Shirley Dean, that does not make him qualified to be Mayor. He’s not capable of keeping UC or anyone else accountable, as he alleges. 

Running Wolf has lived in Berkeley long enough to know how to grandstand on issues that make most Berkeley citizens genuflect. Of course Tom Bates and Linda Maio do that too, but that doesn’t qualify them to hold office either. Some people have tried to make Running Wolf into a folk hero, but there is nothing heroic about him. Berkeley seriously needs new political blood. Some of the counsel candidates challenging incumbents have promise for integrity and better government. “Lesser of Evils?” You betcha. That would be Shirley Dean for now. 

In the process of working on the Council campaign for District 2 Candidate Jon Crowder, I’ve observed some disturbing elements in the endorsement process for influential groups like the Sierra Club. This is troubling because, while I do not currently hold membership, my family has been active in the Sierra Club in different parts of the country all of my life. The Sierra Club is known for being the guardian of all the important environmental issues. Why then, do they endorse Tom Bates for Mayor and most of his lackeys on the current Berkeley City Council? Their flyer attributes many great green accomplishments to Bates, some of which he initially resisted or had minimal involvement. They give him credit for “expanding the green economy.” Huh? He happened to be in office when it occurred, and did very little to prompt it. Bates deserves no more credit for this development that Reagan does for the fall of the Soviet economy. Are we now creating liberal myths to compete with conservative myths? 

More to the point, the local Sierra Club has been brutally exclusionary in inviting ONLY INCUMBENTS to its endorsement inquiries and public forums. They have not even given many worthy candidates a chance to be heard by their endorsement panels. So how can they even KNOW they’re endorsing the most qualified candidate? Unlike the USA, the Peoples’ Republic of Berkeley is NOT dominated by the two-party system. There are many new faces running for City Council who represent a badly needed change in Berkeley. None of them were even HEARD by the Sierra Club, so they endorsed the Bates slate. (District 4 has no incumbent, but they didn’t even allow candidates Asa Dodsworth or L.A. Wood to be interviewed, or participate in their televised panel.) 

Tom Bates has been a disgrace to City of Berkeley. He talks green but all his actions are brown. He’s been unwilling to rid this city of its most constant polluter, Pacific Steer Casing, or actually enforce the new “No Smoking” ordinance. He talks about bicycle safety, but does nothing about it. Bates and each of his council colleagues endorsed by the Sierra Club, have demonstrated an abysmal record of constituent communications. None of them can find their reply buttons or find time to return a phone call. They all protect a deeply corrupted system by which they benefit. Local government is about responsiveness to constituent needs and communications, not secret meetings with private development interests. Local government is about open meetings, not a cavalier and arrogant mayor manipulating the council agenda to shut out his disloyal opposition. 

The Sierra Club should rescind all of its endorsements and re-open their interview and evaluation process. Thus far, they’ve done nothing but rubber stamp a tired, stale and corrupt administration. Muir and Audubon are rolling over. Berkeley deserves better and so do the legacies of these two great men. 

H. Scott Prosterman 

• 

JOE THE PLUMBER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John McCain keeps spreading the falsehood that Barack Obama wants to spread Joe-the-Plumber’s wealth to the undeserving poor. I’d be mad about that too, except it’s not true. Obama wants the undeserving rich, those who received millions for driving our economy into the ground, to pay their fair share of taxes. Currently, the Bush tax cuts give the mega-rich and their corporations a lower tax rate than the rate paid by hard-working middle-class folks like Joe.  

As long as Joe believes McCain, he’ll be supporting a system that’s got him paying more taxes, to make up for McCain and Bush’s tax breaks. Obama wants those guys to pay their fair share of the cost of maintaining our roads, schools, defense, and health care, so guys like Joe can pay less.  

Hey Joe, wake up! 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

• 

VOTING FRAUD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

With John McCain publicly leading, the Republican Party has blasted the accusation of voting fraud by the Democrats and the ACORN organization all over talk radio. This is ground fire to cover Republican efforts at vote suppression—to legitimize their caging enterprise and massive challenges against urban voters’ right to vote. Even if ACORN had paid hundreds of people to intentionally fill out many thousands of voter registration cards in the names of non-existent people—which is highly unlikely—that fraud could not be readily turned into votes at the polls. There would first have to be specific lists of the non-existent people kept and the lists would have to be turned over to the Democrats. And the Democrats would then have to hire not hundreds, but tens of thousands of people to commit a Federal felony on election day, No, this is not a plausible scenario. But the noise serves as justification for why thousands of Republican party activists aroused by this nonsense will be sent to polling places with lists of caged names to intimidate and challenge on election day. For the uninitiated, an example of caging is when a mass mailer is sent to targeted groups of voters (e.g. inner city poor areas or foreclosed homes) and when mailers are returned undeliverable that forms a list of voters to be challenged. The return of a mailer however is not a legitimate basis to try and prevent American citizens from voting. And the targeting  

is designed to be discriminatory against selected communities. A court has ruled against this expanding Republican effort to remove registered voters from the roles in at least one state so far, but it is ongoing in many of the battleground states.  

Marc Sapir 

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RAPID BUS LANES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I live in San Leandro two blocks from the proposed route. It will not take me from my corner to my work corner, 12 miles down one street. In order to do that, the prices for the bus will go up on a trip that is already so expensive with four bus trips and two bart trips, that it is cheaper to drive. I cannot see for the life of me how they can fit Rapid Bus lanes down East 14th in San Leandro without tearing down the only historical building remaining in the downtown. The double buses are currently running with 0-3 people much of the time. If the district runs out of money, they will undoubtedly build the route and skimp on the buses, thus adding more pollution to my home. If they remove parking on East 14th, these cars will be on my street, where we already often find parking is only available hundreds of yards away. By speeding up the traffic on East 14th we will have more cars moving through meaning more pollution as well as a slowdown on the feeder streets where I live. So, again, Mr. Bair, no thank you. Don’t do me any ‘favors’. 

Debra J Sarver 

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100 PERCENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Let the record show: Obama is 50 percent White, 50 percent Black, 100 percent American, 100 percent Christian, 0 percent Muslim, 0 percent terrorist, and was raised 100 percent by his 100 percent White, 100 percent Mid-Western mother—these are 100 percent facts. He represents a 100 percent change from Bush, not McCain’s 10 percent, and although less than 100 percent of Republicans are racists, 100 percent of racists vote Republican—that’s the only reason Obama can lose. 

J. Andrew Smith  

Bloomfield, NJ  

• 

PROPOSITION 10 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Proposition 10 on the state ballot is a measure that is being promoted as an important step toward energy independence without raising taxes. The truth is that it will take nearly $10 billion of your tax dollars away from education, health care, public safety and other vital services with no long term benefit to the environment.  

Proposition 10 would authorize the sale of $5 billion in state bonds primarily to provide rebates to buyers of alternative fuel vehicles. It is heavily geared to rebates of up to $50,000 for heavy trucks and other vehicles using natural gas, a fossil fuel. The sponsor of this measure is the owner of a company that is a major supplier of natural gas for vehicles.  

Proposition 10 would cost the state nearly $10 billion in long term debt at a time when loans for debt repayment is expensive and hard to find. Repayment of the debt would come from the state General Fund, where it would compete with funding for critical state services that are already suffering cutbacks.  

Join the League of Women Voters in rejecting this special interest measure. Vote NO on Proposition 10.  

Jean Safir 

co-VP for Action,  

League of Women Voters of  

Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville 

• 

PROPOSITION 11 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

California voters need to approve Proposition 11 so that they can begin to hold their elected representatives responsible for what they do and do not accomplish in Sacramento. 

At present, virtually all legislators run in safe districts and are immune from being voted out of office. That is because they choose the voters who will be in their electoral districts, by defining the district boundaries. With Proposition 11, a panel of voters would define district boundaries based on non-partisan rules, including those contained in the Federal Voting Rights Act.  

Proposition 11 was created by California Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of California and AARP, and is supported by the ACLU of Southern California, a large number of local Democratic clubs and non-partisan community and business groups. 

The main opposition comes from the leaders of the State Democratic and Republican parties. They like the current system which they created and they control. Under this system, elected representatives are primarily responsible to their respective political parties, instead of being responsible to the voters. 

Unlike the current system, which is secretive and self-serving, Proposition 11 would put into place an open and transparent process. It explicitly states that “the commission must establish and implement an open hearing process for public input and deliberation that shall be subject to public notice and promoted through a thorough outreach program to solicit broad public participation … .” 

The initiative also states that new district boundaries, to be redefined after the 2010 Federal Census, must ensure that the new boundaries respect city, county and neighborhood boundaries, rather than seeking out pockets of like-minded voters wherever they can find them, as is presently done. 

In summary, Proposition 11 creates an independent commission of voters to redefine electoral districts, it provides clear criteria for how the district boundaries shall be drawn, and it requires an open and transparent process with opportunities for public input. It deserves your support. 

Jean Safir,  

co-VP for Action, League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville 

• 

JOIN THE CLUB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I live in Berkeley and along with owning my home I have a rental unit. I got an appeal letter from the Berkeley Property Owners Association asking me to support BASTA!, the group spearheading the defeat of local measures FF, GG, and HH on the November ballot.  

In considering how I’m going to vote on these measures, it’s important to me to look at the whole picture. These measures, supporting libraries, parks, and emergency services are about the quality of life for all of us. The bottom line is: if we all pay a little (I understand that the library bond measure FF would amount to $27 a year), we all benefit a lot. The letter also states: “You cannot pass tax increases through to your tenants,” as if owners are not charging rent, as if they are not allowed yearly increases by the rent board, and as if they have a right to their profit no matter what. 

What is BASTA!’s argument? If renting apartments is your business (especially if you don’t live in this community) then you have no interest in the quality of life of your tenants? That monetary self-interest of a few trumps quality of life for all of us? Sorry BPOA, I guess I’m just not selfish enough to join your club.  

Russell Kilday-Hicks 

• 

ONE PARTY SYSTEM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Is Berkeley becoming home to a one-party system, and if so, is that democratic … of 

and for the people, believing in and practicing social equality? 

Until the nineteenth century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his, or occasionally her, dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth and power of family members. A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election. Sometimes the term de facto single-party state is used to describe a dominant-party system where unfair laws or practices prevent the opposition from legally getting power. Some single party states allow subordinate allied parties to exist as part of a permanent coalition such as a popular front. 

The contention that the one party system is more efficient [than what?, one wonders], greener (!) whatever is spurious. 

Helen Rippier Wheeler 

• 

REPAINT HANDRAILS? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Now that Berkeley has spent a couple hundred thousand dollars to adorn the bike and pedestrian bridge with the second ugliest statue in the city, could they perhaps spend a few thousand dollars to repaint the handrails on the approach ramps before they completely rust away? 

Jef Poskanser 

• 

BERKELEY BIG PEOPLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The sculpture, entitled Berkeley Big People at the pedestrian bridge over I-80 is a work of insipid banality. As Kenneth Baker, the SF Chronicle's art critic, reminds us, excellent public art by fine sculptors, such as Richard Serra, Claes Oldenburg and Berkeley's own Stephen de Staebler have been commissioned across the Bay. There is a dearth of good public sculpture in this city. At the Berkeley Campus a faculty committee managed to commission a discreet but affective work by Mark Brest van Kempen ON Sproul Plaza to commemorate the Free Speech Movement . The sculptures in downtown Berkeley, however, are hardly noteworthy. At the Marina we have the loathsome Guardian. And now there is this new retrograde piece of work which might appeal to the aesthetic sense of Sarah Palin, who agitates against elitism and should not have a place in progressive Berkeley. 

Peter Selz 

• 

MEASURE WW  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While voters face many ballot issues this fall that seem to tug at their pocketbooks, Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP) urges them to support Measure WW — the EBRPD bond measure extension and here’s why: our children and their children’s future. 

While many of us grew up ‘playing’ outside—swimming in the surf, building a tree house or a just lying in the grass watching the flight of dragonflies—Kids today don’t share those experiences. Many are afraid to go outside and others “experience” nature through the television or computers. 

As described in Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods–Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, “free play” is most beneficial to the mental development and safety of children in the modern world. 

“Natural play strengthens children’s self-confidence, and arouses their senses–their awareness of the world and all that moves in it, seen and unseen.” 

What better way to facilitate “play” for local children (of all ages) than to support and expand our wonderful regional parks and trails? 

CESP strongly supports the continuation of a modest tax that has been in place for 20 years. In the face of a growing population, determined developers, and a demand for parks and open space, Measure WW is vital to preserving the East Bay’s precious shoreline and wildlife habitat for our children. 

Patricia Vaughan Jones 

Executive Director 

Citizens for East Shore Parks  

• 

REQUIRED READING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The two excellent Daily Planet articles on the public safety and history of California Memorial Stadium (Oct. 16–22) should be required reading for any thinking Berkeley person who cares to grasp the stadium issue, beyond the late grove of trees. After the extensive fuss about tree-sitters, is it going out on a limb to point out that it never was primarily about the trees? Instead, it’s been about human safety: for stadium users, its neighbors, and our entire city.  

Berkeley’s ability to respond to an emergency in or near the stadium, in the most inaccessible part of town was key to the city’s lawsuit. That’s why the city and we Panoramic Hill neighbors asked that UC first address the stadium structure, before building the adjacent student-athlete training center.  

UC plans in its “SCIP” (South-east Campus Integrated Projects) building proposals call for eight related major structures, all set within the congested, difficult to access, earthquake-centric south-east campus area. In superior court, UC claimed not to be bound by the Alquist-Priolo earthquake restrictive law, and they lost. The court ruled that state building restrictions do indeed apply to the University, confirming the centrality of the safety issues related to fixing up the huge decrepit structure, by far the largest on campus, built directly atop the state’s most dangerous fault. Recently UC announced that they’ve somehow found a unique way to engineer public safety into their stadium rebuilding plan. UC, through PR flack Dan Mogulof, asserts, “Our primary goal has always been saftey”. So, with their blinders firmly in place, fool-hardy UC planners will move forward. This leaves the question of just who’s going further out on a limb this time?  

Robert Breuer 

• 

MEASURE WW 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Pete Najarian writes that he doesn’t like the fenced-off meadows at the Berkeley Marina, and therefore he won’t be voting for measure WW to fund the East Bay Regional Park District. I don’t like the fencing either, but I have to point out a couple of things. First, that’s a state park, and EBRPD merely manages it and is not really responsible for the park’s design. Second, the one person most responsible for fencing off that area is Norman La Force, who as it happens is currently running for the EBRPD board of directors in Ward 1 (Berkeley and nearby cities). 

I plan to vote for anyone but Norman La Force, and I encourage Mr. Najarian to do the same. As for measure WW, I am happy to support the nation’s best urban park system. 

Jef Poskanzer 

• 

TROY DAVIS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The case of Troy Davis is a travesty of justice. Seven of the nine non police witnesses against him have recanted or contradicted their testimony. One of the remaining witnesses who did not identify Troy Davis as the shooter of the policeman until two years after the shooting and the other one is the alternative suspect in the murder. 

There is a remarkable history of innocent people who have spent time in custody, leaving the guilty person on the streets to prey on citizens. There is also a long history of innocent people who have been executed and 130 exonerations from death row in the United States in the past 35 years and innocent inmates who have been executed. 

The Georgia Board of prisons has refused to grant clemency, but it has discretion to revisit the case. If Troy Davis is executed, it may well turn out that another innocent man will have been killed by the State. 

Ilse Hadda 

• 

MEMORIAL STADIUM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

After having read Professor Curtis’ statement on the geologic conditions at the site of the Memorial Stadium project (Daily Planet, October 16th–22nd) I find my own skepticism of the project reinforced. The question remains: Though profitable or even legal to concentrate several thousands of people on a potentially active earthquake fault several times a year, is it prudent or even moral? There are alternatives to this project which may not be pleasing to all, but public safety must certainly be the prime consideration. 

Claude Stoller  

Emeritus Professor of Architecture  

• 

CONFUSION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The great mother and father of all confusions, perpetrated by the corporate dominated media through the years, has been the banal notion that the “middle way” is the best way. You know: “moderation is the best policy” or “I’m not left or right, I go right down the middle.” Or “there are always two sides to the question.” Or “the truth is always somewhere in the middle.” Or “Americans always seek the middle grounds.” And so on, ad nauseum. It tells us not to take a side. But when I’m able to listen, on rare occasions, to such people as Amy Goodman, or Howard Zinn, or Michael Parenti, etc.—people who represent the so called “radical left”—they make reasonable sense to me; plus, they’re not paid to talk. Ergo, we should cast off the false impulse to seek the “middle ground’ and listen to the truefull left. Therein wisdom lies.  

Robert Blau  

• 

RACIST RHETORIC 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I applaud Jesse Douglas Allen-Taylor’s column, “A Woman Fears Obama and McCain Misses a Moment,” Thursday, October 16, 2008, for agreeing with John Lewis, who recently voiced similar sentiments about the racist rhetoric the McCain camp has used. John Mc Cain had the gall to say that Barack Obama should repudiate Mr. Lewis for his remarks. Certainly, America cannot afford to forget its ugly racial past, and I’m glad Mr. Allen-Taylor had the foresight to remind us of our history. Because we, Americans, often forget or dismiss the lessons from our past, we end up repeating the same mistakes as our forebears. 

Lena Ampadu 

Baltimore, MD  

• 

BIKE BRIDGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Does anyone know if the old bike route across the freeway on University is still open? The one that takes you through the camp under the freeway, across the high speed off-ramp, up the steep steps to the overpass, past the end of another off-ramp and through the intersection with the frontage road? Someone has deposited a cockeyed raised platform precariously holding a faux bronze fiberglass thing at the end of our elegant pedestrian/bike bridge. I think I may have to revert to the old route just to avoid the sight of that object—especially since they seem to be preparing a place for a second one at the other end of the bridge. A big fly, maybe, to be pursued by those maniacal fly-swatter wavers? And the whole thing is done in metal-toned fiberglass. That’s plastic, folks. What we have here is heroic sculpture rendered in the stuff of Hyundai hubcaps. They should have chromed it, then it would be perfect. I’ve heard the title is “Berkeley Big People.” “Berserkely Forever,” maybe?  

Dave Coolidge 

• 

LOCALLY PREFERRED  

ALTERNATIVE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I agree that a ballot measure is a clumsy intrusion upon city policy. But my, what a consequence Measure KK has already had. City staff and elected officials have taken intense interest in BRT—from about the time we started gathering signatures for KK. Having waited for three prior years for the city to engage BRT on behalf of the citizens of Berkeley, I am sure that putting the flame under the city via measure KK was the right move. 

The city now claims to be choosing a “locally preferred alternative.” Wow, that sounds rational and politically cool. Trouble is, the city missed this bus. The time for “a locally preferred alternative” was BEFORE AC transit published the draft EIR. More than three years ago the Downtown Berkeley Association pleaded with mayor and city staff to temporarily hire a transit route designer to engineer route alternatives for Berkeley. But the mayor and the city were hearing different music, and took no heed. Now that the EIR is published, we are legally constrained to the “alternatives” therein. The given alternatives differ negligibly. All are fatally flawed. And hapless Telegraph Avenue is in the bomb sights of destruction in all of them. 

Perhaps a BRT can be devised which would actually benefit us, actually have environmental benefits, and actually increase overall bus ridership. But the present proposal is not it. Measure KK is Berkeley’s last chance to assert its right to choose. 

Bruce Wicinas 

• 

SAVING MOE’S 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For the sake of Moe’s Books, which is one of the most important parts of Berkeley, vote yes on Measure KK.  

Pete Najarian 

• 

TERRY DORAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Terry Doran, a City Council candidate for District 4 has the experience and track record to bring folks to the table, including residents, business representatives, and students to create workable solutions for this important commercial area of Berkeley. Nobody owns the table, but everybody should have a seat at the table. As an earlier eight year member of our Board of Education, he demonstrated his ability to build workable coalitions to address some of the pressing problems of our educational system. As a current member of the Zoning Appeals Board he actively supported efforts that resulted in bringing Trader Joe’s to Berkeley, and in providing for the building of 600 housing units along main transportation corridors in Berkeley, among other issues. Mr. Doran wants to progress and move forward on the important downtown issues. VOTE FOR TERRY DORAN! 

Hank Silver 

• 

BRT, UNLIKELY BENEFIT TO HUMANS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Oakland resident, Jonathan Bair, promotes Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in his October 16 article. He asks Berkeley residents to “consider the regional benefits of a dramatically improved transit corridor.” 

The proposed BRT route from San Leandro to Berkeley would be the same route that is now used by the 1R buses, “the most heavily used bus line in the East Bay” according to Mr. Bair. I don’t think he realizes just how underutilized the 1R buses are within Berkeley. While they may be heavily used in Oakland, we commonly see 1R buses arrive at the UC campus—entirely passenger-free. 

A 60-foot articulated 1R bus carrying no passengers, at 3.5 miles per gallon of diesel fuel, is just pollution on wheels — benefiting no one (except possibly the makers of asthma inhalers). 

There is no guarantee that any improvement would result from this illogical BRT plan. The only guarantee is that our city streets would be torn up, energy would be consumed to manufacture more concrete, and diesel exhaust would pollute the air while construction materials were hauled back and forth— increased greenhouse gas emissions during a lengthy and disruptive reconstruction process. 

Mr. Bair reminds us that there were streetcars on Telegraph Avenue. There were indeed, until about 1950. But they did not have dedicated lanes. They shared the road with all the cars, bikes and trucks, which is exactly what we want AC Transit buses to continue  

to do. 

Gale Garcia 

• 

SWIM HOURS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks to many letters of protest, the city has extended the lap swim hours at King pool during the weekend. It is now from 11:30 to 3:35, Saturdays and Sundays. Unfortunately, these hours will cease after Nov. 9, at which time the hours for lap swimming and for family swim will be only from noon to 1:30, a cut in hours that were in place for many years. Apparently, the city doesn’t seem to think the health of its children and adults doesn’t warrant more hours for swimming. 

Estelle Jelinek 

• 

OUTLANDERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I love to read your paper because there is no place else in the United States of which I’m aware where a political pitch like that of Mr. Runningwolf would be taken seriously (assuming anybody does that there). Keep it up, my dear old town, because you represent something that is basically entirely absent in the rest of the country…a willingness to be completely outside of the standard discourse. 

Fred O’Brien 

(A.B., California 1975) 

• 

YES ON GG 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In 1991 I helped to fight the Berkeley-Oakland hills fire. It was a horrible time for the Berkeley community as homes were lost, people were injured, a firefighter lost his life, and a beautiful part of Berkeley was scarred. 

After a careful review of the fire and of the fire fighting operations, the Grand Jury came back with several key recommendations. One of the most important, to not only firefighters, but to police officers and other emergency responders was the recommendation to upgrade communications equipment. And while it sounds benign, in an emergency my ability to communicate with other firefighters and other first responders is often the difference between life and death. 

Measure GG will enable our department to finally close the loop on making sure emergency personnel have the ability to execute an effective operation whether it be another wildfire in the hills; an earthquake and its related fires and rescue needs; a hostage situation involving injuries; or a fire in one of the campus dormitories where hundreds of people are depending on firefighters for their passages to safety. 

I’m hoping for the community’s support for Measure GG. 

Rick Guzman 

• 

MEN’S SHELTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for the article on the Berkeley Men's Shelter. I wonder if Riya would consider doing a kind of follow up article (perhaps for the web page) on homeless or daytime drop in services city-wide which will be affected by funding cuts, and how/where people can give money or donate goods (like a case of toilet paper, or towels, whatever they need) for specific programs. Perhaps the contact information for a City employee who could answer such questions is all we need. 

I appreciate the quality of the Planet. It keeps getting better and better, even though the news is often worse and worse. Keep up the good work! 

Lulu Winslow 

• 

STATE OF THE DISTRICT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It has been my pleasure to speak with so many of you about the state of the district and the future of the city. While I have received nothing but positive feedback from you all, I have not been able to muster the financial momentum to be competitive—$25,000 is the baseline amount needed to mount an effective campaign these days. Fortunately, there is another candidate with whom I share both political ideals and future goals. A candidate who has demonstrated his commitment to this City as well as to social justice issues throughout his life. A candidate who recognizes the need for everyone in the community to have a seat at the table and to have a voice in how we shape our city in the future. A candidate with a progressive vision for downtown that is both environmentally and economically sustainable, safe and exciting. This candidate who has earned my endorsement is Terry Doran. I ask you to look at his long history of progressive politics and commitment to the youth of our community, and you will see that this husband, father, and grandfather of district 4 residents is the best prepared to help lead our city forward. 

Jay Jockin