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Open Letter to the Berkeley City Council (Public Comment)

Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club

Thursday May 21, 2015 - 10:11:00 AM

Proposed Level of Community Benefits for Large-Scale Downtown Buildings

The Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club is concerned that the significant community benefits to be provided by developers of large developments in the downtown, as proposed by Mayor Bates and Councilmember Capitelli for consideration at the Council’s May 26 meeting, are inadequate and require unacceptable tradeoffs between needed labor practices and affordable housing.

We appreciate the efforts of the council to allow community input into setting a City standard for significant community benefits, rather than allowing developers to offer these on a case-by-case basis.

However, we believe that a pro forma economic analysis should be performed for each proposed large project that exceeds usual heights. Each project will impact the community differently and each will garner different amounts of profit from the City-granted planning permission to build above current height limits. For example, the project at Harold Way will impact valuable cultural resources; this impact should be mitigated before application of the community benefits formula. The economic analysis accompanying the Downtown Plan indicates that a project at the corner of Shattuck and Allston (across the street from the proposed Harold Way project) could feasibly support $33,000 in community benefits per unit – nearly $10 million -- in addition to 20% affordable housing. -more-

Fund Affordable Housing with Windfall Profits Tax on Rising Rents (News Analysis)

Stephen Barton

Wednesday May 20, 2015 - 03:06:00 PM

Cities around the Bay Area desperately need money for affordable housing and there is a potential source of funding that is right in front of them. Rents in the San Francisco Bay Area are among the highest in the country and are likely to keep going up for the foreseeable future, creating an affordability crisis for tenants. The only way off the treadmill is to build or buy housing that will be owned by non-profit organizations, land trusts and limited-equity cooperatives. And that takes money, a lot of money. So let’s tax the rising rents that increase the need for affordable housing in the first place. -more-

Page One

Forums Will Focus on San Pablo Avenue Development

Toni Mester

Friday May 15, 2015 - 03:09:00 PM

Two upcoming free forums will examine recent development trends and projects on San Pablo Avenue. -more-

Public Comment

ABAG and its "Footprint"

Steve Martinot

Thursday May 14, 2015 - 07:48:00 AM

Initials

"PDA." Remember those initials. They may sound innocent enough, but they can be deadly – not necessarily to people, but to a style of life, and to the culture of a community itself.

PDA stands for “Priority Development Area.” Think of bulldozers, clouds of dust from crushed old concrete, the endless beep of trucks backing up. PDA stands for “target area”, for tearing down what is there, and replacing it with something else.

And as the dust collects everywhere, think of the initials "ABAG." ABAG stands for the Association of Bay Area Governments, and it is responsible for planning the PDAs for bay area cities, and indeed, for inventing the term.

They will tell us that "PDA" stands for progress, new buildings along major avenues, downtown renovation, new housing, and especially new affordable housing. And lord knows, we need affordable housing. But suppose the "progress" is only for financiers, the new buildings simply for construction corporate profit, and new housing being only “market rate” housing (which is un-affordable for most of us these days). Hint: don’t bet against this supposition.

I have spoken about the PDAs planned for Berkeley in a previous article. But here is some new information. -more-

Berkeley Needs a Moratorium on High-Rent Units

Rhiannon

Friday May 15, 2015 - 03:25:00 PM

According to City of Berkeley Housing Elements (past, current and proposed), from 2001-2006 Berkeley provided 166% of its regional housing unit needs (RHNA) for above median income housing (120% of median income +) or 757 units for its 455 requirement. That left us 302 units ahead of our fair share for that time period. The Housing Element 2007-2014 saw Berkeley's RHNA grow to 1130 above median units with 1005 units of high end housing already under Permit leaving a 'deficit' of 125 units but, since high end units were already ahead by 302 units, Berkeley had exceeded its requirements for above median income units by 177 units when the latest Housing Element was drafted in early 2014. -more-

Unequal Justice

Tejinder Uberoi

Friday May 15, 2015 - 03:17:00 PM

With prosecutions of whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Thomas Drake, John Kiriakou and others, Federal prosecutors have charged more public servants for leaking classified information to journalists than all previous administrations. However, leaking classified information to the Press to advance self-serving political agendas is fairly common.

It can be argued that many whistleblowers seem to have been motivated by genuine concerns of the unlawful actions of our government such as spying on its citizens and torture. The sinister activities of the National Security Agency and the abuses of the Patriot Act would not have been possible without the courageous revelations made by Snowden. -more-

Class, Power, and Vaccines

Harry Brill

Saturday May 16, 2015 - 09:34:00 AM

All of us know from our political experience that the maldistribution of economic resources often coincides with the maldistribution of power. But it may be surprising to realize that this principle even applies to the vaccination of school age children. -more-

Texas Shooting Decried

Ramlah Malhi

Friday May 15, 2015 - 03:19:00 PM

The tragedy which occurred in Texas at the Muhammad Cartoon drawing event is saddening not only as an American but more so as a Muslim. Prophet Muhammad never taught violence. He led by example and taught his companions to not even raise their voice against anyone who humiliated the Prophet. Patience, a virtue which extremely emphasized in his teachings. The extremists who opened fire at that event are going against the core teachings of the Prophet. Prophet Muhammad taught his followers that everyone is equal. No human being has superiority over the other. Therefore, this tragedy can never be justified especially not under the light of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. -more-

Editorial

Bill Does Berkeley:
De Blasio on the Road

Becky O'Malley

Friday May 15, 2015 - 02:08:00 PM

The De Blasio Express blew into Berkeley yesterday, and if I were inclined to mix metaphors I might opine that the newly-minted Mayor of New York is gunning for bigger game. If you believe the New York Times, some of his constituents think so too. And they’re not too happy about it: Mayor de Blasio’s Days on the Road Fuel Criticism at Home.

He appeared at a one-hour show-and-tell at Berkeley’s Freight and Salvage Coffee House, hastily organized but lightly publicized by U.C.’s Goldman School of Public Policy. On the dais with him as interlocutor was Prof. and Old Pol Robert Reich, who probably spearheaded the performance. It provided a great photo-op for filmmaker Jake Kornbluth (brother of Josh, who was there too.) Attendees were warned that they’d be captured on the video cameras that were around the room. Jake produced the film Inequality for All, which starred Reich, and it’s not unreasonable to assume that yesterday’s footage was being shot for the sequel. In fact, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the whole event was staged for the next film—and there’s nothing wrong with that, is there?

Perhaps because of the last minute nature of the program, or because it took place in the middle of the work day and during U.C.’s exam period, the house was only about half full. (The opera I attended there recently filled all the seats.) Most of the younger audience members seemed to be from the Goldman School—two of them at the door held big buckets seeking donations for their institution (which seemed tacky to me—the Goldmans were still pretty well off last time I checked.) There was only one African-American in the audience, who looked like a grad student.

The first half hour was devoted to articulating what seems to be a new PR push by self-identified Progressives (disclosure: I’m one) to get their message out in simple form. Reich is good at this, generating a seemingly endless stream of easily digested sound bytes for all media. The bullet points in de Blasio’s presentation were really no more than what we called in my youth (which preceded his youth) the Standard Liberal Position, but de Blasio embraced the Progressive brand for his ideas with enthusiasm, and Progressive does sound more au courant than plain old Liberal. However more than once he invoked the sainted images of Roosevelt and Fiorello La Guardia, plain old Liberals both and one even a Republican. -more-

The Editor's Back Fence

Bates/Capitelli Slush Fund Proposed

Wednesday May 20, 2015 - 03:02:00 PM

Council Action Items -more-

Now Hear This

Tuesday May 19, 2015 - 11:13:00 PM

Don't 'Sanitize' How Our Government Created Ghettos

-more-

Guess What? Now It's Open Sesame for Promoters in Berkeley!

Friday May 15, 2015 - 03:49:00 PM

Now you see it, now you don't. The "Authorized Personel Only" sign which used to be here has vanished.

At the Zoning Adjustment Board meeting last night, attendees were mightily amused to discover that the "Authorized Personnel Only" sign which formerly graced the door of the private offices behind the dais where the Berkeley City Council holds court had been removed. Is it possible this had something to do with the fact that developer Joseph Penner's front man Mark Rhoades, a former City employee, was photographed at the last council meeting talking to a councilmember in front of said door and seen going behind it a couple of times? Are lobbyists now authorized to go into the back room? -more-

Don't Miss This

Thursday May 14, 2015 - 07:58:00 AM

The false promise of regional governance, by Zelda Bronstein -more-

Columns

THE PUBLIC EYE: Hillary Clinton: First Impressions

Bob Burnett

Thursday May 14, 2015 - 07:38:00 AM

On May 6th, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held her first two fundraising events in San Francisco. I attended an afternoon event, featuring a confident, positive Clinton. While Hillary didn’t address all of the questions that liberals might have asked, she gave enough specifics to win over most, if not all, Clinton skeptics. -more-

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Living Independently With a Disability

Jack Bragen

Friday May 15, 2015 - 02:28:00 PM

If you live the life of a dependent person, your destiny is determined by other people. For example, I once knew a man in his forties who lived with his parents. I would have lived with parents if I could, but they wisely kicked me out at twenty-four. -more-

Arts & Events

FILM REVIEW: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

Gar Smith

Friday May 15, 2015 - 03:12:00 PM

Opens May 15 at the Rialto Cinemas Elmwood (Rated R)

If you loved the movie Forest Gump, you'll adore The 100-Year-Old Man. And, if you've never seen Gump, you'll love this film even more. In any event, prepare to be bowled over by an inventive, original, and picaresque (dare we say "gumpish") screenplay that gives a good Nordic spin to a globe-hopping, time-traveling tale.

Based on a best-selling novel, 100-Year-Old Man, went on to become the top-grossing film in Swedish history thanks, in large measure, to the inspired, wacky genius of director, screenwriter, producer, and actor Felix Herngren.

-more-

Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra Will Present Verdi’s Requiem in June

Jan Murota

Thursday May 14, 2015 - 07:42:00 AM

The Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra (BCCO) will bring Giuseppe Verdi’s dramatic Messa da Requiem to Hertz Hall at UC Berkeley in its spring concert series. -more-