Columns

There was a stack of Berkeley city meetings this last week, but it was hard to hold my attention on anything until after Wednesday. I think it was an absolute first that Tuesday evening City Council moved the entire regular meeting agenda to consent and ended at 9 pm. We did hear at the earlier 4 pm Council meeting, on the adoption of ballots passed by the voters, that the application process for the Police Accountability Board will be starting soon, at least by February, and an executive search firm will be used for the Director of Police Accountability. 

The planned Civic Arts Commission Civic Center Visioning Subcommittee gave way to the inauguration and was rescheduled for Monday, January 25^th. 

The council’s Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment & Sustainability Committee did meet. They voted to recommend no action by council on the measures from the Community Environmental Advisory Commission to prohibit the sale of carbon-based fuels and use of city streets for operating combustion vehicles by 2045. They also voted to recommend no action on the measure “Just Transition to a Regenerative Economy”, also called “doughnut economy.” Interestingly Time Magazine published an article on the doughnut economy Friday, January 22, Amsterdam Is Embracing a Radical New Economic Theory to Help Save the Environment. Could It Also Replace Capitalism? https://time.com/5930093/amsterdam-doughnut-economics/. 

As for transportation and climate, Mayor Arreguin has embraced with enthusiasm the dirtiest and most inefficient mode of transportation as the path to pay for replacing the Berkeley Pier. The City is marching forward and held Community Meeting #1 Pier/Ferry Study Thursday evening https://www.cityofberkeley.info/parks/pier/. The meeting started with the presentation of several plans followed with breakout sessions to discuss and give input to which plan is preferred. This is the usual Berkeley procedure, do not provide full open disclosure, but instead declare overwhelming support, put forward several plans to reach the desired end and ask the public which one is preferred. 

We were divided into four breakout groups, and I fully expected to be the only attendee in group #4 lacking enthusiasm for ferry service and doubting the demand for it. Much to my surprise others were more outspoken in opposition to ferry service, addressing concerns about the impact on recreation and disturbing wildlife, questioning large boats and describing them as a poor solution when there isn’t a demand. 

John Tillolson described how he tried the ferry after the earthquake and it was so inefficient and time consuming that he gave it up. Another attendee called ferries a boutique service and said we shouldn’t be spending a lot of money subsidizing them. My question on fuel and greenhouse gas emissions was answered with this: WETA [Water Emergency Transportation Authority] has no electric ferries. In all, group #4 made no pier selection, i leaving the moderator Christina Erikson trying to dance around the complete lack of enthusiasm. 

A little history on how we got to this place of using WETA to pay for a new pier: On June 5, 2018 the voters narrowly (50.7%) approved Measure RM3 to raise bridge tolls to fund the Bay Area Traffic Relief Plan. This measure is supposed to relieve traffic and enhance public transportation in bridge corridors: (https://ballotpedia.org/Bay_Area,_California,_Regional_Measure_3,_%22Traffic_Relief_Plan%22_Bridge_Toll_Increase_(June_2018).} The Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) is taking a chunk of the money to expand ferry service. Did any of us understand that RM3 would be used to expand the dirtiest and most inefficient mode of transportation? I doubt it. If we accept the ferry, WETA will pay for the pier for landing. 

Failing infrastructure seems to be the focus of a number of city and community meetings, and the Community for a Cultural Civic Center (CCCC) is another. Liam Garland (Director, Public Works) attended the Thursday CCCC noon meeting to lay out the next steps for assessing the water intrusion at the Maudelle Shirek Building (Old City Hall) and the Veterans Building. Garland reminded CCCC attendees that while the Veterans Building is in better condition, these buildings,k especially Maudelle Shirek, are in states of major disrepair and Berkeley has many unfunded needs, i.e. $250 million in street repairs. Allana Buick & Bers, Inc. will do the evaluation of the water intrusion and provide an estimate of the cost of repairs. 

The other “elephant in the room” is how will these buildings perform in a major earthquake and what is needed to stabilize them. Ann Harlow asked why we need another seismic study--haven’t there been enough studies already? Susi Marzuola, architect, who was on the Gehl team, said that the seismic question kept coming up and the team didn’t have the answer. As someone who was present when Council took the vote to assess Maudelle Shirek for future use after discussion of how unsafe the building was in the event of an earthquake, I have to wonder how Gehl spent $376,000 creating a plan and did not do the most fundamental part of it, a thorough seismic study? 

At least we finished the week with a new president, so as much as there are challenges at every turn, there is hope. 

I finished the book, The Road to Unfreedom by Timothy Snyder and now have an even deeper understanding of how close we really have been to losing what is left of our democracy and why Snyder wrote On Tyranny Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. I’ve started reading Touching the Jaguar by John Perkins who wrote Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. It looks to be an easier read.