This flyer, spotted and photographed by a reader, was posted in West Berkeley.
This flyer, spotted and photographed by a reader, was posted in West Berkeley.

Extra

SB 50 - The More HOMES Act

Liat Zavodivker
Wednesday May 22, 2019 - 04:42:00 PM

I am 35 years old and I still live in a rental unit because I graduated into a recession and can not afford the financial risk of home buying. My rent controlled, seismically questionable unit built in 1966 was market rate and is now it is renting for $3000. Year over year of doing nothing has caused the rents to exceed inflation, and the next set of wildfires in California will make this problem even more dire. I have seen many affordable projects get scrapped or delayed due to local control and it's heartbreaking. We must tell exclusionary cities such as Beverly Hills, Palo Alto, and La Cañada-Flintridge to build more homes. It is time to end the era of expensive, luxury single family homes being the dominant type of structure in California and to embrace characters and not neighborhood character. We can not move forward in California or take any leadership in progressive movements until we have ensured a future for the younger people growing up in California. That means increasing the capacity to build affordable and market rate homes near transit. I hope Senator Atkins can bring SB50 to the floor without any more delay so that we can build more homes. -more-


On Working With and Working Against – Open Letter to the Mayor and City Counci

Steve Martinot
Wednesday May 22, 2019 - 04:02:00 PM

Somehow it seems that when we (the people) attempt to participate in making policy for this city, and we point out things that are not quite kosher, or that seem to impose something extraneous, or even perhaps nefarious, something that doesn’t seem to arise from the lives of city’s residents, someone in government will say to us, “Don’t work against us, work with us.” Do you have any idea how hypocritical that sounds? -more-


Berkeley's KPFA is a Private Radio Club

Doug Buckwald
Wednesday May 22, 2019 - 04:37:00 PM

The program hosts at KPFA (94.1 FM) in Berkeley are in the midst of another fundraising drive. They aren't doing well; they are still hundreds of thousands of dollars short of their goal with only a few days left. So, their calls for donations are becoming more strident. -more-


Response to UC Berkeley's People's Park Development Update

Thomas Lord
Tuesday May 21, 2019 - 03:54:00 PM

These criminals must be stopped. Their deceit should not be allowed to stand.

Lizardo glosses over, here, the fact that (like Blackwell Hall), the student housing they hope to build will be privately developed and operated for profit. In other words, they plan a theft of public land and a perpetual gouging of students.

The not-for-profit component Lizardo mentions -- "supportive housing" -- will apparently be by a conventional non-profit developer using low income tax credits. That is a slippery way of saying that the supportive housing will ALSO be a theft of public land to provide perpetual private profit (to the tax credit bond holders and lenders). -more-


People's Park Development Update

Ruben Lizardo, Director, Local Government and Community Relations, Office of the Chancellor
Tuesday May 21, 2019 - 02:02:00 PM

At the Le Conte meeting & forum held last Autumn, I mentioned that the campus efforts at People's Park would pick up with the hiring of several leaders in our Capital Strategies Group and subsequent steps they will take identify and secure our development partners.

Michelle Starratt, who has a lot of experience working on affordable housing in the Bay Area through the Alameda County Housing and Community Development, was hired to serve as our Director of Housing Development and Leasing. She is taking the lead on all the housing projects that were identified in the Student Housing Task Force Report the campus released about two years ago. As such she will be the principal leader of the development project at People's Park.

One of the first steps in all of this to identify and select a Non-Profit Developer that will partner with university on the development of the Supportive Housing Component of the multi-faceted development project at People's Park. See the attached the RFQ for more details of the role the Non Profit Developer will play.

The public planning process for the Supportive Housing Component and the other elements of project (smaller park, student housing, commemoration of the park's history) will be get underway once the NonProfit Developer is on board. As I mentioned at the forum, the campus planning process for development projects will include opportunities for community input and review by city staff and leaders.

(Please direct any replies directly to Ruben via email or phone.)

Ruben Lizardo

Director, Local Government and Community Relations
Office of the Chancellor
510-643-5296 Office
-more-


Good Samaritan faces 20 years in prison

Tejinder Uberoi
Tuesday May 21, 2019 - 12:47:00 PM

On 17 January 2018, US Border Patrol agents arrested Dr. Scott Warren, a 36-year old Human Rights Defender and humanitarian aid volunteer with an organization called “No More Deaths.” His crime - coming to the rescue of two undocumented migrants providing them with humanitarian aid in the desert town of Ajo, where he lives. He faces up to 20 years in prison, if convicted on all charges. The arrest came hours after the release of a report documenting the willful destruction by border agents of humanitarian aid supplies at the USA–Mexico border areas. His trial begins on 29 May 2019. I ask concerned readers to demand all criminal charges be dropped and the immediate release of this Good Samaritan so he can continue his vital humanitarian work. Please send an email to Mr. Michael Bailey, United States Attorney, District of Arizona, United States Courthouse 405 W. Congress Street, Suite 4800 Tucson, Arizona 85701 - Email Michael.bailey@usdoj.gov -more-



Page One

Measles Exposure at Berkeley Bowl

Annie Steuart (BCN)
Sunday May 19, 2019 - 09:51:00 PM

The city of Berkeley announced Friday that a resident has contracted measles.

While the person is no longer contagious, city officials have advised anyone who visited Berkeley Bowl at 2020 Oregon St. May 7 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. who is not immune to look for the first stage of symptoms: runny nose, red eyes, cough, and fever. -more-



Public Comment

Save Our Historic Downtown

Carol Denney
Sunday May 19, 2019 - 08:20:00 AM

"Signs are an extremely visible part of the streetscape, and should reflect the quality of goods and services begin offered Downtown. They should communicate an image of excellence, distinctive craftsmanship, and creativity, and should reinforce the unique and historic character to Downtown." --City of Berkeley Sign Ordinance

The city's sign ordinance is a monument to an earlier commitment to avoiding garish flashing, blinking, ugly signage warring with an historic downtown. Which is why Mayor Jesse Arreguin decided to exempt the IKE "wayfinding" digital kiosks from the entire ordinances careful restrictions and design review. They look like giant cell phones, taller than a human being, they require ripping up the sidewalks wherever they are installed, it takes two years to "uninstall" them by contract if merchants are unhappy with them, and your only opportunity to "provide input" regarding their placement is next Thursday at 11:00 am at the Brower Center, a time when most merchants, workers, and residents are otherwise occupied.

Write to the city manager and express concern (manager@cityofberkeley.info) if tearing up the sidewalks is not your idea of an appropriate use of scarce public funds. We're supposed to have a say in the location of these monstrous giant flashing cell phone-like monoliths, and my personal request is the 4th Street Denny Abrams plan - just say no. Apparently the city has decided to agree to leave 4th Street out of this electronic, data-mining imposition. Speak up for your downtown and your nearby commercial district and ask for the Denny Abrams plan. In the meantime consider that, for instance, in the historic town of Raleigh, North Carolina, the citizens just flatly said no. Other towns did the same, for aesthetic reasons or because data- mining is just, well, at least rude.

And if a sizeable amount of us are honestly so lost that we require (despite having a lot of cell phones around) "wayfinding", I would suggest a magical technological innovation: a map. -more-


The Immigration Issue & The Politics of Deceit

Harry Brill
Sunday May 19, 2019 - 08:14:00 AM

It is certainly a challenging problem for progressives on how to address the gap between themselves and conservatives. The difficulty is not just due to the immense ideological differences. Progressives have to confront the considerable deception employed by many conservatives. -more-


Editorial

Barr and Comey: an Odd Couple of Peas in a Pod

Becky O'Malley
Thursday May 02, 2019 - 04:18:00 PM

The Internet age has made “I told you so” a lot easier to say.

Case in point: the whiney, self-serving op-ed by James Comey which appeared in my Thursday New York Times.

Title and subtitle: James Comey: How Trump Co-opts Leaders Like Bill Barr: Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive this president.”

The piece, published just in time to pile on with the Democrats’ fully justified disgust at Barr’s mendacious performance before a Senate committee the previous day, is a wordy description of how virtuous men like Bill Barr and Rod Rosenstein [and Jim Comey?] are gradually compromised by sucking up [he uses fancier words] to Donald Trump. The ending is especially stirring:

“…to stay, you must be seen as on his team, so you make further compromises. You use his language, praise his leadership, tout his commitment to values.

“And then you are lost. He has eaten your soul.”


There’s just one problem. If you look back on the public history of both Barr and Comey, you’ll discover that they deserve each other. People who’ve known them before have predicted what they’re doing now. They’re not exactly cut from the same cloth: Barr has always been an unprincipled schemer, whereas Comey has specialized in self-deceptive self-aggrandizement. But both of their souls have long since been off the menu. -more-


The Editor's Back Fence

Planet Vacation Continues

Becky O'Malley
Sunday May 19, 2019 - 08:37:00 AM

We're still on break here, but some valued contributors have sent good things, so I've posted at least some of them. See you soon! -more-


Columns

SMITHEREENS: Reflections on Bits & Pieces

Gar Smith
Sunday May 19, 2019 - 09:18:00 PM

PG&E Profiteering

California Public Utility Commissioner Michael Picker and CPUC spokeswoman, Terrie Prosper recently laid down some bad news: If PG&E is allowed to burden customers with the estimated $30 billion in liability costs for the 2017 wildfires linked to the company's equipment failures, we can expect average utility rates to rise by $25 per month.

Here's why: In the aftermath of the company's declaration of bankruptcy, many PG&E stockholders are starting to move their investments elsewhere. So, in order to "encourage investors" to provide PG&E with more capital, the CPUC has proposed raising the guaranteed return on equity to stockholders from 10.25% to 16%. To many, it looks like more evidence that the CPUC is in the pocket of PG&E. -more-


ECLECTIC RANT: State Anti-Abortion Laws

Ralph E. Stone
Sunday May 19, 2019 - 08:24:00 AM

Alabama became the eleventh state to pass anti-abortion legislation. Now eleven of the 22 states with both a Republican governor and legislature have passed anti-abortion laws. I expect it to be eventually 22 of 22. -more-


ON MENTAL ILLNESS: What it Feels Like to Take Antipsychotics for 35 Years

Jack Bragen
Sunday May 19, 2019 - 08:16:00 AM

In my first months of taking antipsychotic medication, in 1982, the side effects made me incredibly miserable. I took Stelazine and then Prolixin. The dosages at the time were not huge, yet, it was bad enough that it resembled a chemical straitjacket. -more-


Arts & Events

Peter Sellars & Los Angeles Master Chorale Present Orlando di Lasso’s LAGRIME DI SAN PIETRO

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Sunday May 19, 2019 - 08:29:00 AM

Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) was a prolific and renowned composer in the international style of Renaissance polyphony. So international was this style that Orlando di Lasso himself was known by several versions of his name: He was called Roland de Lassus in French, Orlando di Lasso in Italian, and Orlando Lassus in Latin. Born in what is now Belgium, he seems to have traveled to Italy early in life; and in his early twenties he worked for Ferrante Gonzaga of Mantua, traveling with his patron to Sicily and Milan. He also worked in Naples and Rome, serving as maestro di capella in Rome’s St. John Lateran Church in 1555-6. Then he went to Munich, where he resided at the court of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria, whose family he served as a singer-composer for over thirty years. -more-


Events

The Berkeley Activist's Calendar, May 19-26

Kelly Hammargren, Sustainable Berkeley Coalition
Sunday May 19, 2019 - 08:07:00 AM

Worth Noting:

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY - Himalayan Fair – CANCELED DUE TO RAIN

Monday Malcolm X is a City Holiday. The rest of the week is packed.

Tuesday evening – At 7 pm two meetings Wildfire Preparedness at Northbrae Church and Adeline Corridor Plan Presentation at South Berkeley Senior Center

Wednesday evening – 5 pm Redesign of the Transfer Station (Recycling Center) and I-80 Interchange at 6:30 pm

Thursday afternoon – 2 pm City Council Budget and Finance Committee – proposed budget FY 2020 & FY 2021

Saturday afternoon – 2 pm, If you missed the May 14 presentation on Fire Evacuation, it is repeated May 25.



Sunday, May 19, 2019

Himalayan Fair – CANCELED DUE TO RAIN

Roses in Bloom Acoustical Series, 3 – 5 pm at Rose Garden – no notice of cancellation yet

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventMain.aspx?calendarEventID=16112

Monday, May 20, 2019 – Malcolm X Day City Holiday

Tax the Rich Rally, with music by Occupella, 5 – 6 pm at the Top of Solano in front of the Closed Oaks Theater, Rain Cancels

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

The Editor's Back Fence

Planet Vacation Continues 05-19-2019

Public Comment

Save Our Historic Downtown Carol Denney 05-19-2019

The Immigration Issue & The Politics of Deceit Harry Brill 05-19-2019

News

SB 50 - The More HOMES Act Liat Zavodivker 05-22-2019

On Working With and Working Against – Open Letter to the Mayor and City Counci Steve Martinot 05-22-2019

Berkeley's KPFA is a Private Radio Club Doug Buckwald 05-22-2019

Response to UC Berkeley's People's Park Development Update Thomas Lord 05-21-2019

People's Park Development Update Ruben Lizardo, Director, Local Government and Community Relations, Office of the Chancellor 05-21-2019

Good Samaritan faces 20 years in prison Tejinder Uberoi 05-21-2019

Measles Exposure at Berkeley Bowl Annie Steuart (BCN) 05-19-2019

Columns

SMITHEREENS: Reflections on Bits & Pieces Gar Smith 05-19-2019

ECLECTIC RANT: State Anti-Abortion Laws Ralph E. Stone 05-19-2019

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: What it Feels Like to Take Antipsychotics for 35 Years Jack Bragen 05-19-2019

Arts & Events

Peter Sellars & Los Angeles Master Chorale Present Orlando di Lasso’s LAGRIME DI SAN PIETRO Reviewed by James Roy MacBean 05-19-2019

The Berkeley Activist's Calendar, May 19-26 Kelly Hammargren, Sustainable Berkeley Coalition 05-19-2019