Opinion

A fellow who covered Berkeley city politics back in the day (in the 1990s) used to talk, not without a certain smirk, about the Berkeley 200. That would be that hardy little band of citizens who actually cared about what happened to the city and were willing to tolerate endless meetings in order to make sure that important issues were not just swept under the rug. -more-

PROP. 1A -more-

Berkeley residents may not know it, but over the next several weeks, the Berkeley City Council is poised to vote on competing visions and plans for Berkeley’s downtown. One is the compromise vision adopted by a community-based, multi-stakeholder committee, the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC). This vision was crafted over an intensive two-year process, and included extensive expert testimony and presentations, constant public comment, numerous public hearings, ongoing subcommittee workgroups, and continual iterations and modifications to the final plan, to develop a thoughtful, careful compromise that could be acceptable to a wide range of citizen and community interests. -more-

On Tuesday, May 5, the Berkeley City Council unanimously approved its Climate Action Plan and consequently moved one step closer to becoming one the first governments in the country to address climate change by developing a more local, sustainable food system. -more-

According to report in the May 8 New York Times, reporter M. Wald indicates that Secretary of Energy Steven Chu has claimed hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles will not be given federal funding, being too far down the road—obviously very far down the road without that funding. -more-

I share James McVaney’s enthusiasm for a Berkeley Ferry, but in his letter of May 5 I believe he has a few very important things wrong. -more-

The Berkeley Public Library’s two-year budget is on the trustees’ May 20 meeting agenda. This is an opportune time to inform the trustees of our dissatisfaction with, and the dysfunction of the radiofrequency (RFID) self-checkout system. -more-

Berkeley Public Library’s own records show persistent problems with its Checkpoint Systems, Inc. radio frequency identification (RFID) checkout and security system. -more-

Over the last year, I’ve written several commentaries about AC Transit’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) proposal, the dedication of lanes on Telegraph for the 1R bus. I predicted that AC Transit could not afford to operate BRT without impacting other bus routes, and that prediction has come true sooner than I expected. It is now painfully clear that AC Transit can’t even afford to operate the 1R bus without cutting service on other routes. -more-

If there was one simple thing you could do that would reduce greenhouse gases, make neighborhoods safer and more livable, ease congestion on the streets, reduce your stress and your cholesterol, get rid of unwanted flab, all while saving you money, would you do it? Would you leave your car at home and hop on a bike? -more-

The Green Party of Alameda County urges you to vote no on all items on the ballot in the May 19 special election. We are opposed, of course, to the cuts in transportation, education, social services, and the rest, that are part of the budget deal which led to this special election. We oppose this deal even though the politicians tell us that great hardship will result if they don’t get their rotten deal passed. And it may even be true. But we are even more opposed to the process which concluded by offering us the “choice” of being shot in the leg or shot in the arm but did not offer us the choice of using our collective wealth to meet human needs. -more-

Recently WBAI management did not pay their rent for four months and received a Three Day Notice to pay or be subject to eviction. This was not promptly communicated to the financial or executive management of Pacifica. WBAI has been losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for several years and currently owes Pacifica over $1,000,000.00 in back central services contributions. Each station contributes 20 percent of its listener-generated revenue to run the Foundation. When one station isn’t making its contribution the results are that the Foundation is short on money or the other stations have to pay more. This several year problem at WBAI and the current economic downturn has caused serious financial problems for Pacifica. The current Pacifica National Board (PNB), elected in January, gives hope for the survival of Pacifica. -more-