I have been reading with great concern in the Planet of the City's fast moving plans to build on Civic Center (aka Provo or MLK) Park.

Please note that Measure L requires approval of the voters before any City Park or open space can be used for other purposes.

Measure L - The Parks and Open Space Ordinance, was adopted by Berkeley voters in November 1986 by a vote of 21,946 to 18,854. This was the question on the ballot:

"Shall an ordinance be adopted to require voter approval of non-recreational uses of parks or open space and require acquisition of open space controlled or leased by the City if acquisition is the only means of preserving the open space?" -more-

The San Francisco Chronicle recently published an article detailing the harassment of black workers rs by white workers and supervisors in the construction industry. The harassment is not just wrong and inappropriate. It is vicious. One African worker reported finding on more than one occasion a noose at his workplace, In a lawsuit by some black workers they complained that supervisors referred to them as “undesirables”,” lazy, and” dumb n******s”. They were even subjected to racist jokes,

Moreover, complaining to the higher levels of management brought no results. Nor has their local unions, whose function is to protect its members regardless of race, been helpful. Not surprisingly, African American rarely are promoted even if they have seniority..

Although the article was informative, what was missing is the very important issue of wages. Its absence gives the wrong impression that the wage issue is not a serious problem. However, it is a major problem. The black construction workers could not expect to earn more than 75 percent of white workers. In other words they are underpaid.

Moreover, it is important for us to understand that the humiliations the African American workers experience is closely linked to the wage problem. The derogatory comments are not only insulting. The remarks provide a justification for economically exploiting these workers. If these workers are seen as lazy or dumb and in other ways as inadequate, they don’t deserve higher wages.

One important attempt to protect low wage workers has been the prevailing wage laws. These laws are important. Like minimum wage laws they narrow the gap between low wage and high wage workers. But they certainly do not eliminate the difference. In fact, in many instances it has led to higher wages at the top, which as a result has done little to narrow the gap. -more-

Hello Berkeley. A question, please.

Do you think that a family that earns $120,000 a year should still qualify for affordable housing?

That’s a real question. Because the way the city now refers to affordable housing for its Adeline Corridor Plan, a family earning $120,000 would qualify.

If you earn $120,000 a year, and you pay rent at the level set by HUD for affordable housing (which is a maximum of 30% of your income), you would end up paying $3000 a month. $3000 is roughly comparable to market rate.

What kind of corruption is this? The demand for affordable housing made by the low income neighborhoods is in response to the huge displacement of families that can't afford market rate housing. It is for them that the entire issue of affordable housing is and has been raised, not for those who earn $120,000. But the city, in its Adeline Corridor Plan, sees fit to open its planned affordable housing units to families earning $120,000 a year. If they take one of the available affordable units, then a low income family that could have taken that unit will be out in the cold. -more-

Our ballots should start arriving this coming week and since we do not live in a city or state with heavy voter suppression, we can take a little longer and drop them in the ballot collection box by city hall. I still intend to get mine in early but not until after the BNC (Berkeley Neighborhood Council) Mayor forum[1] on Saturday, October 10, at 10 am to 12 noon. There is a lot to evaluate. I have done a complete turn in my position on Berkeley Ballot Measure JJ – Charter Amendment: Mayor and Council Compensation (majority vote).[2] -more-

Editor's Note: The latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times is now available.

You can view it absolutely free of charge by clicking here . You can print it out to give to your friends.

Grace Underpressure has been producing it for many years now, even before the Berkeley Daily Planet started distributing it, most of the time without being paid, and now we'd like you to show your appreciation by using the button below to send her money.

This is a Very Good Deal. Go for it! -more-

So have you ever been in a grocery store with a 2 ½ year old who spots a lollypop next to the checkstand? And he’s missed his nap? So he starts crying. He screws his little face up. It turns red. And then he falls to the floor and starts kicking and yelling bloody murder: “I WANT A LOLLYPOP!” You wish you were anywhere but there.

Or, perhaps, if you’re a grandmother and you’re kind, and he’s not your little boy, perhaps you can say reassuringly to his poor mother: “He must be 2 ½. That’s how they all act at that age. He’ll grow out of it, don’t worry.”

That’s what it was like to watch Donny Trump on Tuesday night—except that he’s not 2 ½. And it’s way too late to expect him to grow out of it. The bemused smile that played across Joe Biden’s kindly face for much of the time seemed to me to express the same embarrassment his fellow Americans felt when they remembered that it was their president having that childish 90-minute temper tantrum. Like all parents do occasionally, Joe lost his cool, just for a moment, and told the screaming kid to shut up. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Now it’s long past time for the adults , politely but firmly, to pick Donny up and remove him from the public space.

Our family was texting back and forth as we watched the “debate” in horror. My two sons-in-law, the most patient of fathers when their own were toddlers, agreed that Biden should just slap Trump down. The boy’s just too big to act like that. The third male partner couldn’t even watch for more than 30 seconds.

But I must say that I realized with pride that our immediate kin on the text stream adds up to eleven votes including the grown granddaughters. And not a Republican among them.

Now, it seems, the big baby has gotten his just desserts. I know, I know, de mortuis nil nisi bonum, but he’s not dead yet. We might join Nancy and Joe in praying for his survival, at least until election day, so the grown-ups can teach him a lesson at the polls. Maybe after he’s been sent to his room for two weeks he’ll know how to act. But I’m not counting on it. -more-

On the heels of a fractious presidential debate came the news that Donald Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. Where does this leave the presidential contest? There were ten takeaways from September 29 debate: -more-

For a person with a severe psychiatric illness, empowerment doesn't mean finding a miracle cure that eliminates the need for treatment. It doesn't mean we are denying the existence of the condition, believing we were misdiagnosed, or trying in some other way to fight against facts. (This means you.)

If you believe your psychiatrist is wrong and you're right about the causes of your problem, presumably one that led to psychiatric intervention, you need to get a second opinion from another M.D. psychiatrist. You can't just dismiss all psychiatry.

If you think taking a street drug induced your problems, you must be straightforward with treatment professionals and tell them what you took, how much, and when. If you fail to do that, it is a lot harder for them to make a fair assessment of whether drugs caused your symptoms, or your brain did this on its own.

While psychiatrists may appear to be villains, they are highly trained and educated villains. They may have things to say to you that are unflattering or that get you upset. They may enact orders that seem unfair or even oppressive. -more-

Trump and the First Lady have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Trump is now a patient at the Walter Reed medical center; the First Lady is quarantined at the White House. -more-

After the first five minutes of the Presidential Debate Debacle, I switched off the telly and went out for a bracing three-mile walk. CNN Anchor Jake Tapper later nailed it with this description: "That was a hot mess. Inside a dumpster fire. Inside a train-wreck. That was the worst debate I have ever seen. It wasn't even a debate. It was a disgrace. And it's primarily because of President Trump."

There was an obvious solution to turning down the rhetorical heat in future Biden-Trump rumpty-dumps: Turn down the volume of the vitriol—i.e., whenever a candidate insists on speaking out of turn, mute his mike.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (aka boldprogressives.org) immediately posted a petition to do just that and the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) quickly announced plans to mute interruptions during future debates.

Here's another suggestion: Along the bottom of the screen, post a running count of how many fibs and falsehoods each candidate tries to fob off on the viewing audience. Detailed reports on each mistruth would be available online. In the first debate, fact-checkers at the New York Times found Trump uttered 16 falsehoods, lies, and misleading statements while Biden made just one false claim.

There's one last suggestion I'd offer to the CPD: install a large monitor visible to both candidates that clearly displays the number of lies being racked up during the debate. It would drive Trump crazy. Instead of being able to lie with impunity, he would finally be held to account, watching helplessly in real time as the numbers mount. -more-

Worth Noting:

The two most important events/meetings this week are the Mayor Forum sponsored by Berkeley Neighborhood Council (BNC) Saturday from 10 am – 12 pm https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/97241233902 and T1 which is about what gets fixed. There is also a 3^rd meeting to check Thursday morning, Budget and Finance. T1 is important as the Mayor and Council through recent votes on the Civic Center Plan demonstrate greater interest in building themselves new chambers than fixing streets and sidewalks.



Measure T1 Community Meetings are every Thursday in October from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Note that every Thursday evening except October 29^th T1 will conflict with at least one normally scheduled Board/Commission meeting that starts at 7 pm.

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/MeasureT1Events/



Tuesday the Mayor will do the self-promoting State of the City – the zoom meeting link is still not posted. And, the Mayor and Council are finally doing the City Manager evaluation behind closed doors which is about 4 years overdue.



The agenda for the October 13 Regular City Council meeting is available for comment.



Sunday, October 4, 2020

No City meetings or events found



Monday, October 5, 2020

City Council Public Safety Committee, 10:30

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Public_Safety.aspx

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89922921893

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 899 2292 1893

Agenda: 2. Improving Hate Crimes Reporting and Response, 3. Introduce and Ordinance permanently banning use of less lethal weaponry, chemical irritants, smoke projectiles, acoustic weapons, directed energy weapons, water cannons, disorientation devices and ultrasonic cannons used by police on civilians.



Civic Arts Commission Public Art Subcommittee, 1 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CivicArtsCommissionHomepage/

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83392008428

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 833 9200 8428

Agenda: 4. Pre-qualified Public Art Consults List and FY 2021 public art budget



IRA/AGA/Registration Committee Meeting, 5 pm,

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/rent/

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/92752447419?pwd=QVh2dlY0WVJBWUVXQlNmR3pLRkF2UT09

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 927 5244 7419 Passcode: 376831

Agenda: 5. Discussion regarding Board’s ability align Rent Ordinance BMC13.76 with Tenant Protection Ordinance BMC 13.79.060, 6. Discussion proposed changes to City’s housing code, 7. Golden Duplexes evidentiary standard BMC 13.76.050F and H and auto-renewal lease issues.



Tuesday, October 6, 2020

City Council Closed Session, 2:30 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2020/10_Oct/City_Council__10-06-2020_-_Closed_Meeting_Agenda.aspx

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81726473970

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 817 2647 3970

Agenda: Performance Evaluation – City Manager



Rent Board Eviction / Section 8 / Foreclosure Committee Meeting, 5:30 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/rent/

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/97222335829?pwd=Vk44a041ckdGTmg5dDlWUk9WcTB6Zz09

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 972 2233 5829 Passcode: 515557

Agenda: 6. Discussion – possible action distressed properties report, 7. Discussion - possible action Ellis Bill report.



Mayor – The State of the City, 6 pm

https://www.jessearreguin.com/sotc

Videoconference and Teleconference: not available check website for link/update

-more-