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Alameda County Count Continues

Rob Wrenn

Tuesday November 10, 2020 - 10:13:00 PM

The county sales tax measure. Measure W, is now losing: NO -349.649; YES- 348,653, a margin of only 996 votes countywide. The margin for YES had been gradually shrinking. Today’s update does not change the outcome of any local Berkeley race.

Turnout countywide is up to 79.19% of a record number of registered voters, a higher turnout than in 2016. Probably about 60,000 votes have been counted in Berkeley so the county must be nearing the end of the count of Berkeley and countywide ballots. On Thursday, the Registrar is selecting batches for 1% manual tally which is set to take place on Monday Nov 16. Precinct results should be available a day or two after that, though, with Covid, they may not keep to their usual schedule.

Tuesday’s updated numbers here: https://www.acgov.org/rovresults/241/indexA.htm

Updated: Berkeley Elections: No Changes from Additional Counting

Rob Wrenn

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 02:14:00 PM

The Alameda County Registrar of Voters counted more ballots Saturday. Countywide ,570,000 ballots have now been counted as of the Saturday afternoon update.

Turnout

With a record 966,088 registered voters this year in the county, turnout from ballots counted so far is 59%. In 2016, the final turnout, from the 888,708 voters who were registered for that election, was 75.4%. So we can assume that there are still a lot of votes to be counted. Biden’s popular vote margin in California will continue to rise. Biden’s margin over Trump in California is now a bit higher than his national margin over Trump in the popular vote.

So far probably about 49,000 ballots have been counted in Berkeley. In 2016, a total 65,430 votes were cast in Berkeley. There are still thousands of votes to be counted here. The electorate in Berkeley is somewhat smaller this year due to covid, since UC dorms are housing many fewer students, and there are presumably fewer students occupying apartments and a higher vacancy rate. 83,778 people were registered to vote in 2016 in Berkeley. This year, according to the latest numbers, about 79,000 ballots were issued in Berkeley.

Rent Board

The Right to Housing slate nominated by this year’s Tenant Convention, which had a record attendance of over 700 people, has swept all five seats on the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board.

Incumbent commissioner Leah Simon-Weisberg, Directing Attorney of the Eviction Defense Collaborative, is the top vote getter, with 24,619 votes so far. Mari Mendonca, an appointed incumbent on the board, and the lowest vote getter on the slate, has 16,971 votes so far. She is 1646 votes ahead of Bahman Ahmadi, the highest voter getter on the Homeowners for Rent Board slate. Her vote margin over Ahmadi has increased as more votes have been counted.

Carole Marasovic is currently running seventh for the five seats. She had sought the Tenant Convention nomination and pledged on a candidate questionnaire not to run if she wasn’t selected as a member of that slate. She broke her pledge and ran as an independent. Some feared she would be a spoiler and cost the slate votes, but to the extent that she did, it was not enough to affect the outcome.

The lowest vote getter on the landlord slate, Soulmaz Panahi, received 8,948 votes. The spread between the highest vote getter and lowest vote getter on both slates was quite large this year and shows that many voters were not voting for a whole slate.

More than $136,000 in outside money from the National Association of Realtors Fund (NARF) and the oddly named “Committee for Ethical Housing” was spent supporting this slate, which was made up of five homeowners, four of them from District 6 hills and one from District 5.

At least three of them were also owners of rental property.

Independent expenditures from groups like NARF probably do candidates more harm than good. They spent money in support of mayoral candidate Laurie Capitelli in 2016 and that probably helped Jesse Arreguin more than it helped Capitelli.

Mayor and Council

Incumbent mayor Jesse Arreguin easily defeated animal rights activist Wayne Hsiung. In the count so far, Arreguin has 29,229 votes or 65%, and Hsiung has 10,522 or 23%, with 4148 votes, 9% for Aiden Hill. For the year through October 17, Hsiung, who has not held public office, or been involved in local politics beyond his animal rights advocacy, outspent Arreguin, $105,501 to $83,441.

Incumbent Councilmember were all easily re-elected by large margins with the exception of Cheryl Davila in District 2 (southwest Berkeley) who will definitely be replaced by Terry Taplin. In 2016 Davila won 31% of the first choice votes running against incumbent Darryl Moore who received 40%. In that election, Davila picked up most of the second choice votes of a third candidate, Nancy Armstrong Temple.

This year, so far, Davila has only 29% of the first choice votes, while challenger Terry Taplin has 40% and Alex Sharenko and Timothy Carter have 24% and 6% respectively. When the ranked choice count is done, Taplin gets the lion’s share of Sharenko’s second choice votes and easily defeats Davila with well over 60% of the vote. Taplin was endorsed by Mayor Arreguin and all her council colleagues, except for one who urged voting for both Taplin and Davila.

Ballot Measures

All Berkeley ballot measures passed this year except Measure HH, the utility tax increase to fund a Climate Equity Action Fund, which is failing 52.4% to 47.6%. This is a slight improvement compared to the initial count (52.5% to 47.5%), but not enough to offer realistic hope of its passing. Counting of additional ballots has not changed the results of any measure and none have margins small enough to make a change at all likely with further counting.

Measure HH’s failure may be related to the presence of multiple tax measures on the ballot. Voters did easily pass Measure FF, the firefighting/emergency response tax, (now leading 75% to 25%) and Measure GG, the Uber/Lyft rider tax (now leading 60% to 40%).

Measure MM, the rent control measure that limits exemptions for ADUs and allows for registration of partially exempt units has a 55% to 45% lead, slightly higher than the election night lead it had and will pass. Measure II, the measure to create a Berkeley Police Accountability Board has received more votes, pro and con than any other measure on the ballot. It currently leads 85% to 15%.

The countywide sales tax measure, Measure W is winning 51% to 49% and will probably hold on to its narrow lead, unless the remaining votes in the county are heavily from more conservative areas.

Elizabeth Echols defeated Norman LaForce for East Bay Regional Parks director and is winning in both Alameda County and Contra Costa County.

In Richmond, Richmond Progressive Alliance endorsed candidates Melvin Willis, Gayle McLaughlin and Claudia Jimenez are all leading by comfortable margins in their respective City Council districts.

Alameda County results can be found here: https://www.acgov.org/rovresults/241/indexA.htm

Opinion

Editorials

What's the Matter with California? Especially with Berkeley?

Becky O'Malley

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 12:34:00 PM

The giant whoosh you heard on Saturday morning was the citizens of Berkeley collectively expelling the breath they’d been holding until the results of the presidential election were officially blessed by the Associated Press and acknowledged by the Biden campaign.

This is, admittedly, a peculiar pivot-point. Exactly who is The Associated Press these days anyhow? The decisionmakers there, whoever they are, were not elected, nor were they appointed by any official body. But we trust them and wait for their pronouncements.

This is different from, for example, the situation with the results of Berkeley’s local elections, which are generally reported by the Alameda county clerk in a day or so. A much smaller number of Berkeleyans were holding their breath over these races.

But now that it’s over (even though the “certification” of the national results by state authorities doesn’t take place immediately) we can turn our worries to what’s going to happen in the near future.

First, we need to evict Trump, who is the only over-seventy who’s still in the grip of the terrible twos. As many parents have commented, the tantrum he’s having now over losing the game is like nothing so much as the two-and-a-half year old who thinks he’s playing checkers and erupts when he “loses”. We can only hope there are a couple of grown-ups in the room who can give Donny a time out at his golf course before he gets in more trouble.

Don’t count, however, on his budds Lindsey and Ted, who have already added their voices to his shrieking chorus.

What’s Trump got on these guys that he can suck them into his bad behavior?

A good guess, based on years of observation of American politics, is that it has something to do with sex. The most recent example of how sex gets pols into trouble was Democratic candidate Cal Cunningham in North Carolina, who unwisely exchanged seductive emails with a woman not his wife, but there are many more.

So, what does Team Trump have on Lindsey Graham or Ted Cruz, do you think? I’ve heard a couple of theories, but I wouldn’t repeat them in a family publication if this were one.

But what has happened to the rest of what used to be called the Republican Party? How can they just sit there (with two or three exceptions) as if they were stuffed while Donald Trump attacks the very premise on which this country’s government is based, free and fair elections?

It’s reminiscent of the ‘50s noirish movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Wikipedia summarizes:

“Alien plant spores have fallen from space and grown into large seed pods, each one capable of producing a visually identical replacement copy of a human. As each pod reaches full development, it assimilates the physical characteristics, memories, and personalities of each sleeping person placed near it; these duplicates, however, are devoid of all human emotion. “

Yes. That would be just about what’s happened to the party formerly known as Republican. Current members are look-alike duplicates of the old-timers, but devoid of all human emotion. These guys make Barry Goldwater look like a mensch.

Here in California, the evaporation of the Republican-captioned presence in the legislature makes it mighty difficult to know what the putative Democrats are up to. Some of them have assimilated some characteristics of Dems but seem to be crypto-Republicans in various other ways. We’re all Democrats now, aren’t we, but what does that mean exactly?

The Wienerites in the state legislative bodies are a good case. Scott Wiener is all for gay rights and other good causes which serve his personal interest, That’s brought him continuous employment in the state Senate, but most of the time he serves the interests of the monied development industry instead of those of his constituents.

But he’s just been re-elected.

Without meaningful party identification, and with the gradual evaporation of the local press, voters vote for incumbents since they have no real way of knowing what candidates will do if elected, let alone what they have done after the fact.

Here in Berkeley almost all incumbents, both in the city council and the state legislatures, were simply re-elected with no visible opposition. There were a few exceptions.

Our hill-dwelling voters believe they live in the best of all possible worlds. If it’s not broke don’t fix it--cultivate your garden and vote again for the incumbent.. Wayne Hsiung’s campaign failed to get much support for mayor despite spending a lot of out of state money to parachute into progressive Berkeley.

It’s a strategy which worked well a couple of years ago when Buffy Wicks showed up with national money to run for the state legislature, but Wayne’s problem was his involvement in an animal rights movement that looked from the outside mighty like a cult.

Another exception was Cheryl Davila’s loss in Berkeley’s District 2. Here I witnessed a scenario which I’d seen the past, in Berkeley and elsewhere.

A Black candidate is elected, but when in office is perceived by some White original supporters to be just too, well, mouthy, so must be removed. I’ve seen this happen twice before using recalls, but this time the ouster was in a regular election. Here the replacement candidate was supported by innocent-sounding PACs funded by the development industry. He might be a lovely person, but I doubt that he’ll talk back to his financial backers.

Without political parties or newspapers, voters don’t know what they’re getting, and when the expensive glossy mailers start coming they’re easily fooled by them.

Another major reason so many city governments in California are disfunctional is that they’re traditionally governed by narrowly educated and seriously overpaid bureaucrats who are accountable to no one, especially not to the electeds, who get blamed for lots of problems that they have little control over.

So what else is new? I recently expressed surprise to a friend, a longtime observer of local politics, that Berkeley’s city manager is paid something like $400,000, and he pulled out this quote:

“The official myth that the city manager provides "scientific" and "objective" administration is belied by the performance of successive city managers in Berkeley. Part of the city manager's role has been to create the appearance that the council majority rejects redistributive programs for technical considerations rather than political disagreement. As the top figure of the bureaucratic pyramid, the city manager also marshals support for council programs among the city staff. The department heads and their assistants reflect [the manager’s] outlook. “

A free subscription to the reader who can identify the source and the publication date of this acute observation.

Does Berkeley need a new charter, perhaps one which would allow us to elect a strong mayor and to choose a manager who responds to the people's agenda? What do you think?

But this is no day for grumbling. For the moment, let us rejoice and be glad. One more day of dancing in the streets, okay, then back to work on Monday.

Public Comment

UCB's Long Range Development Plan

Harvey Smith, President, People's Park Historic Group Advocacy Group

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 03:14:00 PM

I’ve been involved in responding to both UC’s LRDP and Berkeley’s Southside Plan. I’d like to point out some contradictions in the City’s position on these plans.

On the one hand the City is involved, rightfully so, with lawsuits regarding UC overreach and its potential impact on the community. Likewise neighborhood groups have also sued the university.

On the other hand the Mayor and two councilmembers have come out in support of building Project #2, People’s Park, and are seeking involvement in a supportive housing project in the park without adequate public scrutiny of either project by Berkeley citizens.

This position violates the provisions and spirit of Berkeley’s Measure L (the Public Parks and Open Space Preservation Ordinance) which points to the high density of Berkeley. We know the Southside is the densest part of Berkeley. The ordinance requires any proposed use of vacant public land be approved by Berkeley voters.

In the time of a pandemic with no foreseeable end, the eminent threat of urban-wildland fires, and the ever present threat of a major earthquake, how can we possibly think of giving up open space?

Likewise there is major concern with Project #1 in the LRDP where the university may destroy both a historic building by one of Berkeley’s master architects and a rent-controlled historic apartment building.

The recent growth plans of the university will push Berkeley to the limits and override its capacity to accommodate this unfettered growth. The city or any city commission should not support the destruction of historic and landmarked properties.

With the COVID crisis the University budget is stretched, adding to the already disastrous bad investment in a football stadium that now stands empty. The housing projects with their proposed public-private-partnership investment schemes seem to be a vehicle for capitalizing on the need for housing by selling out the Berkeley community to pad the university’s budget.

We don’t need our university pushing disruptive real estate plans. At the rate it’s going, soon the university will surround Berkeley, not the other way around.

People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group has an alternative that would bring the city, the university, and the South Campus community together to preserve and improve the park as both an important historical site and an important neighborhood open space. People's Park is a historical landmark and thus under city policy should be protected from development. For details, go to peoplesparkhxdist@gmail.com.

Here is a link to my book - http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9781467132398/Berkeley-and-the-New-Deal. Follow the National New Deal Preservation Association and the Living New Deal by signing up to receive occasional updates. Join LND's Email List. The latest or previous newsletters are at each website - www.newdeallegacy.org and www.livingnewdeal.org. Join us in pushing for a New New Deal!

Taxing The Rich Is Long Overdue

Harry Brill

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 03:18:00 PM

Many members of Congress claim that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) needs a larger budget. But their voting record reveals that they actually mean the opposite. Since 2010 Congress has reduced the IRS budget by 22 percent. Also the IRS has lost during these years 15,000 employees. Moreover, the IRS budget cut 30 percent of its most important employees, the enforcement staff.

In addition, the number of audits except for the poor have been reduced in each of the last seven years. Currently poor taxpayers (earning less than $25,000 annually) have an audit rate that is 50 percent higher than the overall rate. Incredibly, the poor get audited more than any other group except those with income of more than $500,000.

With regard to personnel practices, minority employees have, hopefully, been treated fairly. At least until now, the federal government has been more favorable toward hiring Blacks than the private sector. Blacks in the private workforce make up 12.6 percent of the employees. African Americans working for the federal government do much better, making up 18.1 percent of federal workers. And they are more likely to hold better jobs. Many blacks employed by the federal government occupy professional and administrative positions.

Among the adverse consequences of changes in auditing has been a 71 percent reduction in corporate auditing. Also, the earnings of the rich are taxed on mainly their corporate investments, particularly stocks and bonds. These investments are taxed at a lower rate than wages, which is what workers earn.

In addition. President Trump and his Republican Party colleagues have played a major role in cutting corporate taxes by enacting the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. This legislation reduced the corporate tax from 35 to 21 percent, which is the largest corporate tax cut in history. This cut robs the federal government annually of millions of dollars. Also, the law contains other features that favor the rich. Among the gains is that the 400 richest families now pay a lower tax rate than the middle class.

Actually, many major corporations pay no income tax at all. The justification is that their profits are deposited in many countries abroad that have no income tax.

This strategy is a hoax. They claim that they are keeping their earnings abroad, But they really are not. These so called tax havens are often no more than a post office box. Their earnings are mainly deposited in American banks, circulated in the American economy, and available for domestic investments, Particularly troubling, at least $90 billion a year is dodged in income taxes,

Clearly, American multinational corporations and the American government are complicit in both immoral and illegal conduct.

To more fully appreciate the class divisions in our society, the 50 richest people nationwide have as much wealth as the bottom half of the population of 165 million people. Nevertheless, the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has refused to raise taxes on the rich. Not surprisingly, he has been amply rewarded with substantial campaign contributions from the rich.

As the labor newsletter, Labor Notes explained, the wealthy have too much wealth and too much political power. The politicians are apparently convinced that slashing public services is less risky than going after the wealthy.

The only alternative is to develop a broad based alliance of working people that is capable of and willing to use its disruptive capacity to compel their opponents to listen and to make concessions. As both the labor movement and the civil rights movement demonstrated, major victories can be achieved.

Autocracy on the Rise in India

Jagjit Singh

Wednesday November 04, 2020 - 03:29:00 PM

Using the Trump playbook, “how to be demolish constraints of a democracy,” Prime Minister Modi and his supporters aided by the ultra-right wing Rashtriya_Swayamsevak_Sangh) paramilitary party (RSS), has struck terror in the hearts of Indians yearning for a return to its secular roots. Younger Indians may not be aware of the tragic reign of Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi who manufactured a false “emergency” to neutralize her political enemies, culminating in the attack on the Golden Temple. Tens of thousands of Sikhs were killed in the aftermath of her assassination. Lord Indarjit Singh of London spoke passionately and wrote eloquently (for the BBC and Sikh Messenger) critical of Gandhi’s polices and accused the British of collusion with the Indian Government who were more anxious maintaining trade relations, than raising their voices in support of basic human rights. Repeated demands to the British government by Lord Singh to publicly acknowledge its dark role in the attack on the Golden Temple in 1984 has been ignored. President Trump, following the “British trade model” has sold $billions of US weapons to the most despotic regimes in the world (Saudi Arabia, UAE, , ) unconcerned by the appalling civilian casualties caused by massive bombing in neighboring Yemen.

Fast forward to the present day, we are now witnessing troubling signs of India’s rapid descent into an autocracy. The government has seized on the pandemic to acquire new “emergency” powers.

Prime Minister Modi often responds with explosive anger when courageous journalists criticize his harsh polices. Amnesty International, the world-wide human rights organization announced its unprecedented decision to shut down its Indian operations. In my many decades working for AI, I have never encountered such a fierce backlash from a country claiming to be a democracy. The government has even gone as far as charging peaceful demonstrators with sedition with no supporting evidence. Sedition is an overused catch phrase that is used by autocrats to silence dissent. Even the Trump administration flirted with charging pro-democracy activists with sedition but dropped the strategy following howls of protests.

Amartya Sen, winner of the Nobel Peace, warned that massive silent demonstrations are the only remedy to cripple autocratic tendencies. The people of Belarus are a shining example of democracy in action taking to the streets demanding the removal of President Aleksandra Lukashenko following a massive fraudulent election.

Under the BJP government India has made disturbing efforts to mold India into a Hindustan even going so far as rewriting history to glorify a Hindu raj while ignoring the insidious cruel caste system where “untouchables” and other low caste Hindus are condemned to a life of appalling discrimination. Not a single Indian leader has demanded an end to the “winners and losers” lottery system of life. Cases of rape and murder of Dalits (low-caste) by Hindus have been shockingly on the rise but frequently ignored or covered up the government.

The government use of “sedition” charges harks back to similar actions taken by British colonial masters who arrested and imprisoned India’s champions of pro-independence, nonviolent leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru udder “preventive detention” statutes.

Under the Hindutva government now in office, preventive detention has acquired a far more sinister role , allowing easy arrests and imprisonment of opposition politicians, without trial.

Under the provisions of this freshly minted law a state can unilaterally declare someone to be a terrorist, which allows the state to incarcerate them without trial. A number of human rights activists have been tossed into India’s dark dungeons under the new law.

Critics of the government are often given the dreaded label “anti-national”, a draconian label which is meant to stifle and intimidate free expression.

Remember Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nelson Mandela was described as a “terrorist” by apartheid South Africa. Israel has adopted similar measures to imprison Palestinian peace activists.

The Indian authorities have been particularly harsh on the rights of Muslims, even going as far as denying them of their citizenship rights.

The celebrated Hindu poet Rabindranath rejected religious fanaticism and “casteism” and described himself as confluence of three cultural streams, combining Hinduism Islam, and British culture.

For more go to, http://callforsocialjustice.blogspot.com/

UN exposes more Israeli crimes

Jagjit Singh

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 03:09:00 PM

While America is preoccupied in desperate attempts to save its democracy, the Israeli military used the opportunity to strike terror on one of the poorest of the poor Bedouin hamlets in the Jordan Valley. Excavators escorted by military vehicles were filmed smashing tents, shacks, and animal shelters.

“These are some of the most vulnerable communities in the West Bank,” said Yvonne Helle, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory. A staggering three-quarters of the community lost their homes making it the largest forced displacement activity in more than four years. A total of 76 structures were destroyed. Encouraged by Washington’s unconditional support, Israel has accelerated its ethnic-cleansing in the West Bank.

Nearly 700 structures have been demolished across the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 2020 so far, leaving 869 Palestinians homeless. UN spokesperson observed “demolitions are a key means of creating an environment designed to coerce Palestinians to leave their homes,” and accused Israel of “grave breaches of international law”.

An on-site report by prominent Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, provided a detailed inventory of the demolitions including livestock and tractors that were confiscated. “As part of its efforts to take over more and more Palestinian land, Israel routinely demolishes Palestinian homes and property,” said B’Tselem spokesperson Amit Gilutz.

Much like apartheid South Africa, the Israeli military continues its brutal occupation with abandon with the comforting knowledge that pro-Israeli Democrats and Republicans are unlikely to interfere. The Bedouin and sheepherding communities have no legal course to halt such barbaric behavior. The Israeli military and government establish the rules which makes Israel’s claim to be a democracy a complete sham.

“Winner take all” is undemocratic

Tejinder Uberoi

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 03:27:00 PM

It’s time to end the “stone age” electoral system. Ratification is likely to be difficult but perhaps our lawmakers could craft a national referendum modelled on BREXIT.

In the near term, a simple tweak of the existing system would produce a system more closely aligned with the wishes of future voters. A simple amendment would require each state to divide its electoral vote proportionately between the two leading candidates. For example, if a state has 10 electoral votes, the two leading candidates would be assigned a percentage based on the votes they have garnered. In this simple example, if 60% of voters cast their ballots for candidate A and 40% voted for candidate B, A would receive 6 electoral votes NOT 10 under the current skewed system. A “winner take all” is undemocratic and should be tossed in the dustbin of history.

November Pepper Spray Times

By Grace Underpressure

Thursday November 12, 2020 - 01:10:00 PM

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!

Columns

THE PUBLIC EYE: 2020 Presidential Election: What Happened?

Bob Burnett

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 03:37:00 PM

The evening of November 3rd had a rocky start; it initially appeared that 2020 was to be a reprise of 2016 -- that Donald Trump would, once again, defy the odds and steal the presidency. Then the tide turned, Biden won Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. By Friday we learned that Biden had probably won Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. On Saturday, the Biden-Harris ticket prevailed. But not by the margins Dems had hoped for.

The good news is that Democrats secured the presidency. The bad news is that the election was much closer than expected and has emphasized that we are a deeply divided nation. Here are preliminary answers to key questions:

1.Why was the race so close? On November 2nd, presidential election polls showed Biden with a 5 to 9 percentage point advantage. At the moment it appears that Biden will win by 3 to 4 points. Many folks will blame pollsters. I think there's a simpler explanation: Trump finished strong and mobilized his base.

There were two presidential debates: September 29 and October 22. At the first debate, Trump engaged in his very worst behavior and was widely panned -- Biden's poll average crept up to 10 percent. At the second debate, Trump was more conventional and Biden's advantage diminished.

More important, at the second debate, Trump established his closing theme: "Biden wants to shut down the economy, I want to open it up." Trump's core message was: "The Coronavirus pandemic is not serious enough to justify shutting down the economy." Of course, Trump had contracted COVID-19, been hospitalized, and recovered. In the final two weeks of the campaign, he flew around the U.S. with the message, "The Coronavirus is no big deal; see, I've recovered." (Trump's implied message was that he was a real man, who confronted the Coronavirus without a mask; in contrast, Biden was a wimp.)

Trump's closing theme held his base. (New York Times exit polls indicated that a significant percentage of Trump voters decided to vote for him in the last couple of weeks.) The most important issue for Trump voters was the economy. Exit polls indicated that Trump supporters strongly supported this position: "Rebuilding the economy now, even if it hurts efforts to contain the coronavirus." (Versus the position that Dems supported: "Containing the coronavirus now, even if it hurts the economy.')

Iowa is a good example of Trump rallying his base at the last minute. Dems had assumed that Iowa was a tossup state and on October 22, the poll average showed Biden with a slight lead. The situation changed. An October 31st, Des Moines Register Poll (https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2020/10/31/election-2020-iowa-poll-president-donald-trump-leads-joe-biden/6061937002/) showed that iowa had swung to Trump by 7 points -- Trump won Iowa by 8 points. Iowa Trump voters were more concerned about the economy than they were the pandemic.

Trump's closing message -- "The Coronavirus pandemic is not serious enough to justify shutting down the economy" -- was criminally irresponsible. (No surprise.) Trump flew around the country and hosted "super spreader" events. He mobilized his base at the price of their health and safety. Trump's actions yielded short term results -- his base turned out -- but, in the long term, this will hurt Republicans. And the nation: we are adding 101,000 new Coronavirus cases per day and are on track to add 5 million new cases by the end of 2020.

2. Collateral Damage: Because Biden did not trigger a wave election, the red-blue division remains. It appears that Dems did not retake the Senate. The Senate seats Democrats won or retained were in the seats that Biden won. At this writing, Democrats have gained one seat, leaving the count at 48-48 -- with two of the remaining seats leaning Republican and the other two (in Georgia) to be decided by Georgia special election on January 5th.

Democrats lost approximately 8 House seats but will still have the majority. The Cook Report observed: "[House] Democrats suffered a catastrophic erosion in Hispanic support. The races where Republicans most vastly outperformed everyone's priors were heavily Hispanic districts that swung enormously to Trump. These include both GOP pickups in Miami (Carlos Gimenez in FL-26 and Maria Elvira Salazar in FL-27) as well as Republican Tony Gonzales's hold of Rep. Will Hurd's open TX-23. Amazingly, Republicans didn't lose a single seat in Texas."

However, a long Politico ( https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/06/why-biden-lost-the-latino-vote-florida-texas-434735) article indicates that the Latino story is more complicated. Dems lost Hispanic votes in some states and gained them in others. (Biden carried 66 percent of the Latino vote; the same percentage Clinton carried.)

In 2020, Trump carried 57 percent of White voters. (55 percent of White women.) In 2016, Trump carried 57 percent of White voters. (52 percent of White women.) However, in 2020 White voters were only 65 percent of the vote; in 2016 they were 71 percent of the vote.

Trump held White voters. Biden won because he turned out the "non White" vote.

3. Recriminations: Biden ran a more disciplined campaign than Clinton did and, as a result, reestablished the Democratic "blue wall" in the midwest. As a consequence, Biden won the popular vote and the electoral vote. Biden got 10 million more votes than Clinton; he increased her popular vote differential by 3 percent. (Clinton carried 89 percent of Democrats and lost Independents to Trump 42 percent to 46 percent; Biden carried 94 percent of Democrats and won Independents 54 percent to 40 percent.)

Nonetheless, there are Democrats grousing about the Biden campaign -- because it did not produce a Blue wave. There were suggestions that a different candidate or a different strategy would have produced the desired repudiation of Trump/Trumpism. I don't agree with this perspective. The Democratic presidential competition was very competitive and complicated; Biden emerged from the scrum as the elected candidate. (The oldest candidate.) In Biden's long life, he has overcome many, many obstacles. Now he is the presumptive 46th President.

Biden is a good man. An honest man. A candidate whose stated objective is to heal the nation. We're fortunate to have him be the 46th President.

4. Summary: On January 20, 2021, Donald Trump will leave the White House. That's a big deal.

Over the past four years, Trump and his Republican stooges have done a huge amount of damage. Democrats want to enact major legislation that repairs this damage; for example, an expansion of healthcare. As another example, Democrats want to pass a $15 minimum wage and an equitable tax system. And voting rights. And on and on.

Bob Burnett has been a Planet columnist since way back when.

SMITHEREENS: Reflections on Bits & Pieces

Gar Smith

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 03:06:00 PM

Begging—and Hyperventilating—for Dollars

There's one thing I won't be missing now that the election cycle is over: the oscillating emotional rhetoric of email fund-raising pitches.

On one side of the emotional spectrum, campaign fund-raisers verged on hysteria: "We're begging!" "We're devastated!" "It's Over!" "We're Crying!" "We're Wrecked!" "We're Panicking!"

On the other side, the alerts boomed with bravado: "Trump Terrified!" "Mitch McConnell Crushed!"

And, within minutes of each other, two pitches arrived from astronaut Mark Kelly's Arizona senatorial campaign. One read: "Mark Is Surging!" The other read: "Arizona Is Slipping! Mark Kelly Is Down!"

The pitches were still coming in well into the late afternoon of Election Day. One of these—an e-pitch from Jamie Harrison, who was contesting Lindsey Graham's critical Senate seat—took a refreshing approach. The subject line read: "Humbly Asking."

The Visceral Fright of Election Night

Apparently, the national networks decided that the US election was so important that there was no need to report any other news from the US or anywhere else on Earth during their regular news hours.

Instead, viewers were left to watch early balloting results that were so early as to be inconsequential. Time and again, the network newshounds went sniffing after races where state polling stations were still open and no ballot counts had been declared. Despite the lack of news, they flashed images of Blue-lined Biden and Red-lined Trump next to numbers in the zero digits. As the dueling duo's results flashed "0 vs. 0" on the screen, the pundits repeatedly declared the race "Too early to count."

After watching this recurring exercise in irrelevance, I found myself shouting at the screen: "If it's too bloody early to count, don't bother reporting it!"

And who was the set designer who placed NBC's network commentators on an overblown, eye-poking stage that looked like the Neon-illuminated Bowels of Hell?

Troubling Trends: Americans Arming in Unprecedented Numbers

US Elections—A View from Abroad

The US, by and large, thinks of itself as a democracy but the New York Times recently had the idea of interviewing nine foreigners to get an independent assessment of the voting process in the US. The NYT's assessment: "It didn't go well."

The clip begins with a campaign video of Michelle Lujan Grisham, a candidate for Governor of New Mexico, proclaiming: "We need to bust through some walls to make changes." And then she does just that, plowing through a stage wall on her campaign set.

The foreigners are uniformly incredulous. "Register? You need to register to vote? We don't register in my country. It's our right to vote!" "There's no voting on Sundays? You have to leave work or home to vote?" Shown maps of politically gerrymandered states the majority describe the blotted, meandering maps as "straight-up Jackson Pollack." It's embarrassing—but illuminating—to watch our failures revealed through the insights of others. Here's the video.

Political Pundit Blind to Obvious Solution

On November 4, the ABC-7 news team invited Chronicle Insider Phil Matier to weigh in on the question: "Should we get rid of the Electoral College?"

Matier, who is prone to energetic, street-level bloviating that sounds well-reasoned but seldom goes beyond the self-evident, seemed aghast at the prospect.

"But what would we replace it with?" he barked alarmingly. "Would we use computers? But what if they could be hacked?"

In his "let's not be too hasty" mode, Matier completely ignored the Big Fact that the "solution" was staring him straight in the face—a long-standing, fully functioning election was already successfully underway with absentee, mail-in, and walk-in ballots arriving by the millions and being dutifully counted (despite legal challenges from Trump's lawyers). The electoral process is fine. It's the Electoral College that's the problem.

How to Make the Electoral College Irrelevant

The US is not a democracy, thanks to the Electoral College.

FACT: 5 of 45 US Presidents Came into Office Without Winning the National Popular Vote.

PROJECTION: A 3-Million Lead Would Only Give Biden a 46% Chance of Winning.

THE GOOD NEWS: We don't have to amend the US Constitution to remove the bizarre racist artifact known as the Electoral College. Any state can "drop out of College" by simply signing onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

The NPVIC lets states bypass the Electoral College by agreeing to award their electors to the popular-vote-winner nationwide. During the recent election, Colorado voted to join 15 other states and the District of Columbia in mounting this growing revolt. According to Abolish the Electoral College, the addition of Colorado puts the campaign "more than 72% of the way to victory. And if all the states that have begun the process end up in the compact, we’ll have 94.8% of the electors needed to make it law!" For more information, check out the National Popular Vote website.

A Bike-in at Berkeley's Chavez-Huerta Memorial

On a recent Monday, I headed for the Berkeley Marina to do my monthly turn as a Steward for the Cesar Chavez-Dolores Huerta Solar Calendar.

A steward's chore is simple: visit the site (atop a hillock on the northern end of the Marina) and check to see that the site is clean and everything is in order. Usually, it's a solitary job. This time, however, I arrived to find a large group of people already assembled at the site. And they all had bicycles.

One of the program leaders was lecturing authoritatively—on the history of the site, the mechanics of astronomy, and the legacy of the United Farm Workers' movement—to a passel of kids in their teens.

I had stumbled across an educational outing sponsored by Trips for Kids Marin (a San Rafael-based nonprofit providing "transformative cycling experiences to underserved youth in the Bay Area") with a group of youngsters from Latitude High School in West Oakland. (LHS specializes in "real world project-based learning, with strong arts, multimedia, and technology integration." It's motto: "Oakland is our home: The Bay Area is our extended classroom.")

While Chris Pearson (a Latitude High basketball coach and educator) was holding forth on astronomy and the meaning of the boulders that marked the monument's Four Corners, his teaching partner, Adam Smith (Trips for Kids ride program manager) was focused on tutoring the young bikers on the best way to use their gears and brakes while heading downhill.

I had shown up at a perfect moment. The sun was high in the sky and the shadow cast by the sundial's waist-tall gnomon was about to align with the design engraved in the stonework of the memorial.

Latitude 37.8 - A New Charter School for Oakland from Latitude 37.8 High School on Vimeo.

Sparks for Parks

The new 16-page Activity Guide from the East Bay Regional Park District is packed with scads of enlightening news, suggested nature jaunts, and delightful puzzles. Here's a short list: Greet the New Shoreline Park (which is actually a bridge); Meet Rue Mapp, the founder of Outdoor Afro; Master the art of biking safely on nature trails; Greet the monarch butterflies returning to the historic Ardenwood Farm; Celebrate the arrival of the Marsh Creek salmon; Discover the secrets of the Ohlone Peoples' soaproot plant; Learn about the lore of Ladybugs at Crab Cove; Watch the seasonal showers revive Rain Beetles and other estivating critters; Build a DIY weather barometer; Write a "nature haiku"; Add the "frog pose" to the downward dog in your morning yoga routine; Discover the Dusky-footed Woodrat (and assemble an edible Woodrat Nest out of pretzels, peanut butter, and chocolate chips). Where to find it? Look for the Guide tucked into the middle of the East Bay Express.

PG&E Wants a PCIATP

PG&E once again wins top prize in the competition for Outstanding Corporate Obfuscation.

A notice in this week's mail alerts homeowners that PG&E has requested to change its rates. In PG&E lingo, whenever you see the word "change," you can usually substitute the word "increase." In this case, the issue at stake is a "Power Charge Indifference Adjustment Trigger Applications" (aka "[A.20-09-014]" if you're looking for further clarification).

PG&E's brochure explains that it wants permission to "collect $250 million in rates from customers who receive electric generating service from a third party." That would include former PG&E customers who have installed solar panels. And what would PG&E do with the quarter-billion bucks? It would "refund" the money to homeowners and businesses that still get their electrons directly from PG&E!

There's a chart showing how much monthly bills could decrease for customers who still receive "bundled service" (i.e., electricity generated, transmitted, and distributed) from PG&E. There were no charts showing how much other homeowner's power bills would increase, but the small print reveals: "Direct Access and Community Choice Aggregation customers . . . would see an increase of 4%."

Fragments of Memory on LinkedIn

Trying to track down a story source on LinkedIn, I found myself scanning scores of forgotten messages from old friends and acquaintances from near and far.

• There was this note to Paul Krassner from 2013:

When a cardinal wins the Vatican's Pope Vote, he's got about one hour to choose a Papal name before he has to appear on the balcony. That suggests that each of the Cardinals in the line-up has probably already picked out the name he would chose if selected!

Can we guess the names? I'd guess Irish Cardinal O'Malley might want to become Pope Patrick.

I'd still have preferred a puff of pink smoke to signal the elevation of a Sister Superior directly chosen by God Herself -- The winner would then be called Nun of the Above.

• And this short note from Waltraud, a young activist I met in Germany while working on an international campaign to stop whaling and save penguins. We traveled around town in a van loaded with inflatable penguins and, at once point, donned over-sized penguin outfits. I dubbed her "Penguin" and we later met up during a related demonstration in New York City. She went on to become a Veterinary Officer at the European Commission. Back in 2012, she wrote:

Any chance your traveling takes you near Brussels? Let me know and we'll have a penguin veteran gathering. All the best! Waltraud

I replied:

Thanks for giving me another reason to dream of visiting Belgium. (I have made it to Prague, Budapest, Istanbul, and Barcelona in the past few years.) A penguin veteran gathering would be an Epic Event! Penguin hugs, Gar

To which she replied:

Just back from Niger and Ghana—keep in touch!

Penguin hugs (How are they? Cold and wet?),

• And then I found this June 3, 2011 exchange with UC Berkeley journalism professor Ken Light:

Hi Ken, My son, a USC Film School grad is working on a project about '60s culture and I was looking for a copy of Stephen Lighthill's documentary, "Sons and Daughters." I had a "walk-on" role in the film—I walked onto some railroad tracks in Berkeley and tried to stop a troop train. I was the last one off the tracks before the train barreled through. I only saw the film once, at a special "red carpet" screening in San Francisco.

Ken Light : I wasn't the person to shoot that event . . . sorry . . . have you checked out Pacific Film Archive. They might have the Lighthill film . . . also Film Arts Foundation might be able to put you in touch with him. Good luck, Ken

Gar Smith : Thanks, Ken. It turned out Lighthill was not at the East Coast office. My son tracked him in LA and simply drove over, borrowed a copy of "Sons and Daughters," and burned a dupe.

And there was this strangely wonderful moment when he called from LA and said:

"Dad, I've got that film on my screen but I can't find the troop train demo. Was it in the first third of the film or.... Wait! Oh, here it is. My God! There you are! You're holding the banner! You're right under the 'P'!" (I was holding a paper banner that read: "Stop the War Machine.")

So here I am in Berkeley, listening to my son (who is today about the age I was then) describing a moving image from my life that I haven't seen in more than 40 years. Cinema is magic.

Let's Hope This Is Trump's Swan Song

ECLECTIC RANT: Joe Biden is Now President-Elect and
Kamala Harris is the Vice President-Elect

Ralph E. Stone

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 12:48:00 PM

Thankfully, Joe Biden has finally been declared the winner of the presidential election. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be the first woman, the first Black woman, the first Indian-American woman and the first daughter of immigrants to be sworn in as vice president.

Our democracy couldn’t withstand another four years of Donald Trump. Biden won more popular votes for President than any other candidate in U.S. history. However, it was a nail-biter before Biden surpassed the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win.

Biden won despite Republican suppression efforts by defanging the Voting Rights Act, closing polling places and reducing ballot drop boxes, sabotaging the U.S. Postal Service, voter intimidation, and trying to undermine public confidence by claiming voter fraud. Absent these voter suppression tactics, Biden might have won even more decisively.

The Democrats have a slim chance of flipping the Senate. It will come down two runoffs in Georgia (Democrat Raphael Warnock v. Republican Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Jon Ossoff v. Republican David Perdue). Maybe Stacey Abrams can perform some more magic. If the Democrats don’t flip the Senate, Mitch McConnell will remain the majority leader controlling the Senate agenda. Biden will then be unlikely to accomplish many of his goals, and he may have difficulty getting his cabinet and federal judges confirmed. On the plus side, no more Bill Barr.

Trump received the second most popular votes in U.S. history. Thus, Trump and Trumpism won’t go away quietly. To make sure it doesn’t happen again, we will have to figure out why a misogynist, racist. lying, incompetent, and corrupt person can win one election and garner 47% of the vote in another.

Trump is unlikely to be gracious in defeat. Instead, we will see more lawsuits challenging election results in key states and recount requests.

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: My Current Condition

Jack Bragen

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 03:24:00 PM

When I write my columns, I hope that I am not getting excessively preachy or excessively autobiographical. However, this week I am talking about myself as the main subject.

I believe that teaching by example is the most effective way of imparting something, whether that something is good, bad, or neither. I am trying to become an example of how recovery from a mental illness is done. In the distant past, I had times of becoming noncompliant with treatment. Every time that I discontinued medication, bad results followed. Yet, I had long timespans of being compliant, and this caused me to forget just how bad it is to go through a psychotic episode.

Some family members of mentally ill offspring have contacted me, even while I can't give advice to individuals. Often, they've been unable to get their psychotic son or daughter to take medication and get well. A symptom of psychosis is to blame the world for what is actually in one's own diseased mind.

Following my most recent episode of complete psychosis, which happened to me in 1996, I made a commitment to never again go off medication against medical advice. And if any doctor believes I can get by without antipsychotics, 'they don't know me'. Such a long time has passed of me being stabilized that many people may not understand that I suffer from a severe case of Schizophrenia, Paranoid-Type.

If a mentally ill person takes their prescribed medication and works hard to forge something good, they have a better chance than otherwise at getting good results.

In the past five years, my condition hasn't been as good. Thinking back, this coincides with a very nasty Presidential contest and a very nasty President. At the time I'm writing this, I do not know the outcome of this week's election. I do not know for certain whether my condition is exacerbated by the societal civil war taking place, or whether I should look for a stronger antipsychotic cocktail.

No, I'm not quitting the column and not taking a break from it.

However, I'm going to adjust what I do with the premise--a significant number of my thoughts are delusional and/or paranoid. This premise will work as a filter for the content in this column. I do not know how many people read this column, but for those who do, I want to serve you as well as I can.

My perception of personal circumstances is probably distorted due to distorted thinking. Actually, my circumstances are currently pretty good. This is because I've made my circumstances good through doing what is needed.

What worked for me in the nineties was to do a quest to find reality. This was done at home, in a corner of a tiny apartment, in a chair, with pen and paper. I might try the same thing again. The quest led to a lot of understanding of what makes my mind work or not work.

This week's column replaces something I almost sent titled "What we are up against." It was dismal and I hated it. So, I decided to throw it out before sending it to Becky and write this piece instead.

There is hope for people with schizophrenia. We just need to be proactive in our treatment, and we need to work hard at making our lives better. You should have hope, no matter which candidate has won the contest as of the time you are reading this. The human species is extremely adaptable, and, in the long run, we will evolve into something better than we are now.

So, this is not a "goodbye" this is a "hello!"

I hope to make my mind work better than it works now. The result could eventually be better external circumstances, albeit the current ones are not bad. Your mind to a large extent is the author of your circumstances--not always, but very often. The better your mind grabs the truth, the better your actions and speech will become, and this means that you will act and speak in ways that make things better.

ADDITIONAL NOTE:

As of the time I'm writing this, I've been viewing historic election coverage on television. The coverage is compelling. However, becoming too fixated on it, as it turns out, is not good for my mental condition. But that is not the point I'd like to make here.

The reader could be wondering. In this week's column I said I have some amount of psychotic thought. You might wonder, doesn't that disqualify me from writing a column such as mine? Am I not supposed to be fully recovered?

That's where an important point needs to be made. If I were suffering from cancer, no one would doubt my ability to function within limits imposed by the cancer or the cancer treatment. Mental illness isn't cancer, but like cancer, it is a biologically created condition, and it does not say anything about my merits or lack thereof as a columnist.

I've seen a person discontinue an awfully expensive and important employment project, because the person (the director of the project) was "still mentally ill" and wasn't "cured" of their mental illness. I thought that it was dumb to discontinue a project intended to help mentally ill people for the reason of having a mental illness that has not gone away. Yet, psychiatrists and therapists were part of the program, and apparently, they went along with the decision.

The reader should not miss the whole point.

Having a psychiatric condition is not disqualifying for most things. You can still do many things as a qualified and sometimes expert individual. I am not invalidated because of having symptoms of mental illness--on the contrary.

People need to rise out of this almost superstitious, Stone Age manner of thinking. Mental illness doesn't intrinsically say anything about a person's qualifications to do something, and it doesn't say anything about a person's character. Mental illness must be accepted as a normal illness. If someone must take a day off work, so be it. If someone must have better pills or more pills, so be it.

It is okay to be mentally ill, and we can still accomplish things. Therefore, I categorically reject any possible notion that I ought not be writing a column on mental illness. (As of the time I'm writing this, such objections from people are hypothetical.)

If the reader wants to show appreciation, you could donate, sort of, through buying a copy of one of my books and possibly posting a review. The books can be found on Amazon, or through many other vendors.

AN ACTIVIST'S DIARY for the week ending November 6, 2020

Kelly Hammargren

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 02:11:00 PM

It was a relatively quiet week for Berkeley City meetings, all things considered, which means there was only one City meeting at a time. Monday was a test of endurance with one meeting after another, which pales in the challenge of the rest of the week to stay focused between toggling back and forth between election vote counts and Worldometer’s daily count of new COVID-19 new cases. The pandemic is raging and California is not escaping. Just two weeks ago the California seven-day daily average of new cases was 3300. Now that number is 4740. Johnston Medical is out of medium Moldex N95 respirator masks and Moldex has told them not to expect any more. Worldometers reported 132,540 new cases on Friday.

The proposed ordinance for regulating the Police Acquisition and Use of Controlled Equipment is off to the City Attorney for review, and will come back to the Public Safety Committee in two weeks. As expected, Police Chief Andrew Greenwood complained about the proposed reporting requirements for the use of controlled equipment.

A proposal to refer developing a program for outdoor dining to the City Manager was passed out of the Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment & Sustainability Committee. It should appear on a future council agenda.

Now to the real news: Mayor Arreguin said to put District 8 Councilmember Lori Droste’s measure “Commission Reorganization for Post-COVID 19 Budget Recovery” on the agenda for the next Agenda and Rules Policy Committee (November 16). He gave no clue as to how he felt about the measure, but there certainly appears to be pressure to gut Berkeley’s Commissions. The group of councilmembers with Droste as the author and co-sponsors Rigel Robinson and Rashi Kesarwani have found the perfect vehicle for this: COVID-19, the budget and the near complete rule by the City Manager which has shuttered most commission meetings during the pandemic.

What is interesting is that Droste and her co-sponsors only want to consider staff hours expended supporting commissions. There is complete and total disregard for the hundreds of hours the citizen appointees donate in service to our community. If Droste, Robinson and Kesarwani see so little value in commission work, then maybe they need to take a hard look at who they appoint and the positions they leave vacant.

I have attended many of these city meetings, more than I can ever count and while there are a few appointees who seem to only warm the seat, there are many, the majority, who give of their incredible expertise and experience and we are better for it. Democracy is messy and I certainly don’t agree with every decision from every commission, and some meetings are agonizing to sit through. Nonetheless, I can say without hesitation that for most commission members, I appreciate their dedication to serving and the contributions they make.

It isn’t easy to find people willing to serve, and I would expect it might be harder after this punch in the gut, but would I dismantle the system if given the opportunity, even when reading through every one of those commission agendas has ruined many of my Friday nights?

The answer is no. There are improvements that can be made, and while some commissions should probably meet less frequently, there are other commissions that need to meet more often, or at least they should establish subcommittees to work through tasks.

I would like to see commission meetings turned into City podcasts. Then there would be a record beyond cryptic minutes and I could listen at 1 ½ speed.

Two of the commissions that did not make even the mention of inclusion in a paragraph in Droste’s 14 page document are the two commissions that have been carrying the load of analyzing spending of funds from Bond Measure T1, the Parks and Waterfront Commission and the Public Works Commission. We can thank Bryce Nesbitt of the Public Works Commission for introducing us to the Portland Loo https://portlandloo.com on Wednesday evening at the joint Parks and Waterfront Commission and Public Works Commission T1 meeting. These could provide more public bathrooms with savings and safety. Amazing, one would think from reading the Droste document that commissioners only waste staff time and are devoid of ideas and solutions.

As for T1, not every need or ask will be filled, but I am relieved to see planning for the African American Holistic Center is still on the list. https://www.cityofberkeley.info/MeasureT1Updates.aspx

Thursday morning the Citizens for a Cultural Civic Center, the group convened by the Downtown Berkeley Association’s John Caner (email johncaner@gmail.com to join) met with Marc Steyer of Tipping Engineering as an invited guest. It was a good discussion made better by sharing the chart of the five levels of seismic retrofitting of existing buildings found on page 669 in part 32 of the 33- part 903-page packet from September 22 City Council meeting on the proposed Civic Center Plan (ugh!). The group reached a general agreement that the seismic study of old city hall needs to be done and the goal of retrofitting should be to have a building that can withstand an earthquake and be repairable. That Seismic Performance Level is called Damage Control and it was not included as a possibility in the documents from the Gehl consultants.

Last, on a positive note, since it now looks like we really will get rid of Trump, and the first woman vice president grew up in Berkeley, Steve Finacom announced at the end of a long night at the Landmarks Preservation Commission that he will present at a future meeting landmarking the apartment building where Kamala Harris grew up.

Arts & Events

The Berkeley Activist's Calendar, Nov. 8-15

Kelly Hammargren, Sustainable Berkeley Coalition

Sunday November 08, 2020 - 01:03:00 PM

Worth Noting:

What Did and Didn’t Happen in City Meetings November 2 – November 5, 2020

It was a quiet week for city meetings in anticipation of all of us being tethered to the elections. The draft of the Police Acquisition and Use of Controlled Equipment policy is off to the City Attorney for review. A referral to the City Manager to develop an Outdoor Dining Program is out of committee and traveling to appear on the Council agenda. Councilmember Droste’s measure for Commission Reorganization for Post-Covid-19 Budget Recovery will be taken up at the next Council Agenda Committee (November 16). The T1 Phase 2 project list is moving on to finalization. The Citizens for Cultural Civic Center spoke with Marc Steyer of Tipping Engineering to a better understanding of seismic retrofitting and generally agreed that the Seismic Performance Level that should be under discussion and review is Damage Control, an option that was not included in the 903 of Gehl documents. And, Steve Finacom will be bringing to the Landmarks Preservation Commission a landmarking application for the apartment where Kamala Harris our first woman Vice-President grew up right here in Berkeley.

What’s Ahead – Moving Back to Normal

It is a busy week ahead and if there aren’t enough Berkeley City meetings a few extras have been added.

Monday – Racism has played a big part in this election. At 10 am the Council Health Life Enrichment, Equity & Community Committee will take up Racism as a Public Health Crisis,

Tuesday – At 9 am EBMUD will be presenting the Long-Term Infrastructure Workshop. Interestingly if Oct 20 virtual tour is any example, it is easier to ask questions and participate at EMUD workshops than City meetings. Tuesday evening at 6 pm is City Council

Wednesday Veterans Day Holiday – Parks and Waterfront Commission is meeting at 7 pm on T1, The Barbara Lee film is also Wednesday evening with a 48-hour viewing available.

Thursday – The City Council Budget committee meets at 10 am, the Citizens for Cultural Civic Center meets at noon (email johncaner@gmail.com to be added to the list for zoom links) and the Homeless Commission, Housing Advisory Commission, Public Works Commission and the Zoning Adjustment Board all meet at 7 pm.

The City Council November 17 agenda is available for comment and follows the list of meetings.

Sunday, November 8 2020

No City meetings or events found

Monday, November 9, 2020

City Council Health, Life Enrichment, Equity & Community Committee, 10 am

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Health,_Life_Enrichment,_Equity___Community.aspx

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85656641165

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 856 5664 1165

Agenda: 2. Listening Session on Homelessness (15 minutes), 3. Declare Racism as a Public Health Crisis, A Threat and Safety Issue in the City of Berkeley, 4.a&b. A people’s First Sanctuary Encampment, UNSCHEDULED ITEMS: 5. Service Animals Welcome training, 6. Support Vision 2025 for Sustainable Food Policies,

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Product Panel of Experts – Prevention, Strategies & Outcomes Subcommittee Meeting, 4 – 6 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Sugar-Sweetened_Beverage_Product_Panel_of_Experts.aspx

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81086710470?pwd=QTdkSE5QeGsxYlZnbXowZWZ2SUVDdz09

Teleconference: not given – secretary dtsering@ci.berkeley.ca.us or office 510-981-5300 if no luck contacting secretary try 1-669-900-9128 or 1-669-900-6833

Meeting ID: 810 8671 0470 Passcode: 176840

Agenda: Discussion revised RFP for FY 2022 and FY 2023 and revised application review scoring sheet.

Youth Commission, 5 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Youth_Commission_Homepage.aspx

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/93524535415?pwd=aktYYjg4V2k3bDg5WHNGZWRUejV0Zz09

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 935 2453 5415 Passcode: 359545

Agenda: 6. Public Comment, 8. Youth Commission Annual Work Plan, 9. Presentation T1, 10. Prop 68 Competitive Grant for Grove Park Play Structure Renovation, 11. 2021 meeting schedule, 12. Approval of work plan

Mayor Arreguin’s Virtual Town Hall, 6 pm

Submit questions by 3 pm to https://www.jessearreguin.com and watch town hall live or recording at the same link

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

EBMUD Long-Term Infrastructure Workshop, 9 am

https://www.ebmud.com/about-us/board-directors/board-meetings/

Videoconference: https://ebmud.zoom.us/j/94821849801?pwd=QTQzQ2FBek9TdXhhMmVoVWxIaEwvZz09

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 948 2184 9801 Passcode: 698161

Agenda: Integrated Main Wastewater Treatment Plant Master Plan. The Virtual tour was Oct 20, this workshop is the plan to deal with all the challenges shown in the virtual tour. From Oct 20 Q&A Pharmaceuticals dumped into wastewater (flushed down the drain) are not/cannot be removed in processing. (presentation packet 129 pages)

Berkeley City Council https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx

Closed Session 3:30 pm

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89262559332

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 892 6255 9332

Agenda: Pending Litigation: a. 1444 Fifth LLC v. City of Berkeley, b. Sandoval v. City of Berkeley, c. Schulz, Christopher v. City of Berkeley WCAB (Worker’s Comp) d. Jackson, Willie v. City of Berkeley WCAB

Regular Meeting 6 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87207824735

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 872 0782 4735

Agenda CONSENT:1. 2^nd reading amending BMC 2.MOU for Winter Relief Program for Homeless $25,000 from Alameda County, 3. MOU with Fire Fighters Association Local 1227 – 1 yr extension with no changes in compensation, 4. 25 year Lease for 5385 Cazadero Hwy, Cazadero – Performing Arts Camp with 10 yr renew option, 5. Referral Response from City Manager to Include Climate Impacts in City Council Reports, 6. Acceptance of $20,000 grant for utility bill management software analysis, 7. Resumption of Fees at Oregon Park Senior Apartments, 8. Purchase Order $150,000 for (1) 310SL Backhoe Loader, 9. Purchase Order $200,000 for (1) aerial bucket truck, 10. Councilmembers relinquishment of up to $500 to Berkeley Holiday Fund, 11. 4-stops signs at Eighth at Carleton and Pardee, 12. Authorize Installation of Security Cameras at Major Berkeley Arterial Streets Serving as Entry and Exit Points and Request an Environmental Safety Assessment in High Crime Areas, 13. Budget Referral to Reinstate Partial Funding for Gun Buyback Program, 14. Laundry and shower program (already in operation), 15. Refer to CM Resilient Homes Equity Program to provide retrofit improvements to low-income residents, 16. Budget Referral - $20,000 radar speed feedback sign for Wildcat Canyon Road, 17. Consider Fire Safety Options for Fire Pit at Codornices Park, ACTION: 18. Presentation: Report on Homeless Outreach during COVID-19 Pandemic, 19. Resolution accepting Surveillance Technology Report for Automatic License Plate Readers, GPS Trackers, Body-Worn Cameras and Street-Level Imagery Project, 20. Annual Commission Attendance and Meeting Frequency Report, 21. Support Community Refrigerators, 22. Vote of No Confidence in the Police Chief.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Veterans Day – City Holiday – Metered Parking not enforced

Parks and Waterfront Commission, 7 – 9 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Parks_and_Waterfront_Commission.aspx

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/98829495586

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 988 2949 5586

Agenda: 5. Public Comment, 8. T1 Project Phase 1 Updates, 9. T1 Phase 2 project list to send to council

Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me, Nov 11, film watch or stream (48 hours to view) https://tickets.ifccenter.com/websales/pages/TicketSearchCriteria.aspx?evtinfo=269262~bd725d56-8b11-414c-8cda-9ccb2ad3128d&=&emci=97d809b2-7515-eb11-96f5-00155d03bda0&emdi=eed96641-8e15-eb11-96f5-00155d03bda0&ceid=5679656

Thursday, November 12, 2020

City Council Budget & Finance Committee, 10 am

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

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88377352400

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 883 7735 2400

Agenda: 2. Dept Budget Presentations: a. Timeline, b. Police Dept overtime expense $7,618,930 OT budget $2,364,641, c. Marina Fund, d. T1, e. Encampment Management, f. Public Works – parking funds (parking fund cannot meet debt service – Center Street Garage), g. Public Works – Building Purchases & Maintenance, 3. a. FY 2020 Year-End Excess Equity, b. FY 2021 Amendment to Annual Appropriations, c. General Fund Revenues Updates, 4. General Fund Revenues Replenishment, 5. Assignment of unassigned General Fund Balance to Reserves, UNSCHEDULED Items: 6. Tax Equity, 7. Step Up Housing Measure P funds 1367 University Transition Housing SRO with services, 8. Housing Trust Fund, 9. Juneteenth as City Holiday, 10. Cash v Accrual Accounting, 11. Review of Fiscal Policies.

Citizens for Cultural Civic Center, 12 – 1 pm

This is an open citizen’s group email johncaner@gmail.com to join/participate

Homeless Commission, 7 – 9 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Homeless_Commission_Homepage.aspx

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/97332805764?pwd=dnovQWhiSThxeHlwdlhoUWptSnFvZz09

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 973 3280 5764 Passcode: 456485

Agenda: 2. Public Comment, 6. Creation and adoption of FY 2021 Work Plan

Housing Advisory Commission, 7 – 9 pm

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Housing_Advisory_Commission/

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/92896210058

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 928 9621 0058

Agenda: 4. Public Comment, Discussion/Possible Action: 6. Revision of Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Guidelines, 7. Commission Work Plan FY 2021 (agenda packet 100 pages)

Public Works Commission – Special meeting

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Public_Works_Commission_Homepage.aspx

Agenda and links not posted check after Monday

Zoning Adjustment Board, 7 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/zoningadjustmentsboard/

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/97919905914

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 979 1990 5914

Agenda: staff recommend approval of all projects

3. 1200-1214 San Pablo – demolish 3 existing commercial buildings and construct a 6-story, mixed use building with 104 units (including 9 very low incomeunits), a 3119 sq ft restaurant, 4343 sq ft of usable open space, 55 ground level parking spaces,

4. 170 Hillcrest Road – construct 1531 sq ft 2-story addition to 1736 sq ft single family dwelling in R-1H- Hillside Overlay District

5. 2607 Ellsworth – establish new rooftop Wireless (GTE Mobilnet of CA, dba Verizon Wirelesss) on 5-story 46-ft tall, multi-family residential building, includes 12 new roof-mounted antennas and related equipment with up to 8 ft tall screen walls

6. 800 Dwight Way – Bayer Health Care LLC - EIR Scoping - A SEIR is being prepared, the public scoping period ends December 3, 2020.

Friday, November 13, Saturday, November 14, and Sunday, November 15,

No City meetings or events found

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City Council Regular Meeting November 17, 6 pm, available for comment

Email: council@cityofberkeley.info

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87898323220

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 878 9832 3220

Agenda CONSENT: 71. Ratify Proclamation of Local Emergency due to COVID-19, 3. Bid solicitations, 4. Apply for funding $100,000 from CA Dept Health Care Services, 5. Contract add $50,000 total $100,000 and extend to 6/30/2021 with Telfords for Tyler Munis ERP System (formerly ERMA) for implementation payroll system, 6. Refer to Planning to rezone parcels to be reclassified to new Adeline Corridor Mixed-Use General Plan rezoned to new Commercial, 1709 Alcatraz, 3404 King, 3244 Ellis, 1717 Alcatraz, 2024 Ashby, 7. Contract add $100,000 total $350,000 and extend to 12/31/2022 with Karste Consulting for Emergency Preparedness Services and Training, 8. On-Call Contract add $100,000 total $250,000 extend 6/30/22 with Acumen Industrial Hygiene for asbestos, lead, mold and other hazardous material sampling investigations, surveys and program management, 9. Contract add $123,534 total $273,534 and extend 6/30/2021 with Don’s Tire Service for Tire Repair city fleets, 10. Contract add $317,563 total $1,192,563 and extend 6/30/2021 with Bruce’s Tire, Inc for new tires city fleets, 11. Library Gifts Received report $129,079 (sale of donated books, Friends of Library and Library Foundation), 12. Budget Referral $20,000 for Berkeley Age-Friendly Continuum, 13. Refer to City Manager Improving Hate Crimes Reporting, 14. Refer to City Manager to incorporate relevant elements of Navigable Cities Framework for Ensuring Access and Freedom of Movement for People with Disabilities into Master Plan, Refer to Public Works and Parks and Waterfront Commission on ways to incorporate Navigable Cities Framework into the work, projects, contracts and policies of Public Works and Parks Recreation & Waterfront Departments, ACTION: 15. Renew Elmwood BID for 2021, 16, Renew Solano BID for 2021, 17. Closure of the crossing at Camelia/Union Pacific to all traffic, 18. Update General Plan under CEQA to CA SB 743 Transportation Impact analysis replaces Level of Service (LOS) with Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), 19. FY 2021 Annual Appropriations, 20. Amend BMC 13.110, Title 13, COVID-19 Emergency Response Ordinance to enhance emergency tenant protections, 21. Contract $50,000 (10/15/2020- 6/15/2021) with Youth Listen Campaign with Voices Against Violence, Information Reports: 20. FY 2020 Year End/FY 2021 1^st Quarter,

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Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals

0 (2435) San Pablo (group living) ZAB - 1/21/2021

1915 Berryman (Payson House) LPC – 1/21/2021

1850 Arch (add bedrooms) ZAB – 1/26/2021

1862 Arch (add bedrooms) ZAB – 1/26/2021

Notice of Decision (NOD) and Use Permits with End of Appeal Period

2430 Bonar 11/23/2020

1335 Delaware 11/23/2020

1333 Grant 11/24/2020

901 Grayson 11/17/2020

2210 Harold Way 11/19/2020

1009 Heinz 11/9/2020

1511 MLK Jr. 11/10/2020

1205 Oxford 11/23/2020

2435-2437 11/19/2020

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications_in_Appeal_Period.aspx

LINK to Current Zoning Applications https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications.aspx

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WORKSESSIONS

Jan 12 – Update Zero Waste Priorities, Undergrounding Task Force Update

Feb 16 - BMASP/Berkeley Pier-WETA Ferry

March 16 – date open for scheduling

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations

Update Berkeley’s 2020 Vision

Cannabis Health Considerations

Berkeley Police Department Hiring Practices (referred by Public Safety Committee)

Systems Realignment

Digital Strategic Plan/FUND$ Replacement Website Update,

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This Summary of City of Berkeley meetings is the available published public meetings that could be found and they are important. This does not include the task forces established by the Mayor (those schedules are not available). If anyone would like to share meeting schedules including community meetings to be included in the weekly summary so we can be better-informed citizenry, please forward the notices to sustainableberkeleycoalition@gmail.com before Friday noon of the preceding week.

To Check For Regional Meetings with Berkeley Council Appointees go to

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Committee_and_Regional_Body_Appointees.aspx

To check for Berkeley Unified School District Board Meetings go to

https://www.berkeleyschools.net/schoolboard/board-meeting-information/

_____________________

This meeting list is also posted on the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition website.

http://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html and in the Berkeley Daily Planet under activist’s calendar http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com

When notices of meetings are found that are posted after Friday 5:00 pm they are added to the website schedule https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html and preceded by LATE ENTRY

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