No northern city was more affected by the great social and cultural movements of the ‘60s than Berkeley and no event in Berkeley history brought together more of the diverse forces of that era than the conflict over People’s Park in 1969. That is why the park is designated as a landmark by the City of Berkeley and the State of California and is deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

And that is why the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group and the undersigned call upon the University of California to work with the Berkeley community to protect and enhance People’s Park. Just as the nation preserves the great battlefields of the Civil War of the 1860s, so should it preserve places like People’s Park that commemorate the great social and cultural conflicts of the 1960s.

Instead, the university proposes to destroy the park in order to build a 17-story student housing structure. UC argues the destruction of the park is necessary to respond to its housing shortage, yet the university has identified several other possible sites for student residences. Of all the jurisdictions dealing with the Bay Area’s regional housing crisis, only UC Berkeley proposes to destroy a public park of national historic importance. UC’s development plan would also destroy the view from the park and overshadow the surrounding other distinguished local, state and national landmarks, e.g., Maybeck’s Christian Science First Church. -more-

University of California Long-Range Development Plan (LRDP) increases the number of employees and students dramatically but does nothing new to shift them out of their automobiles. The result will obviously be gridlock, but UC’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) takes advantage of a technical change in California environmental law that lets it ignore the congestion that the plan will create.

According to the EIR, the number of UC students and employees will increase by a bit more than 20% (Table 15-7), and the amount of automobile traffic generated will also increase by about 20% (Tables 15-4 and 15-9). All the added cars would obviously make Berkeley’s streets more dangerous for everyone, would worsen traffic congestion throughout the city, and would create gridlock at a number of intersections in downtown,

Until recently, the EIR would have had to analyze the effect of all these extra trips on congestion, which planners call the Level of Service (LOS) of intersections. But a recent law, SB743 passed in 2013, says that EIRs must now analyze the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) that projects generate rather than the Level of Service at nearby intersections. -more-

The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires, is a tragic tale. Sadly, our politicians are not students of history and their actions invariably play to their domestic audience. Following the attack on 9/11, the U.S. military and the C.I.A followed the playbook of previous wars and used overwhelming force to catch and kill their illusive enemy, Osama Bin Laden and his followers. America even pressured our NATO allies to join the fight. Twenty years later the new Biden administration understands there is no easy path forward. The Taliban are convinced they have the upper hand. If America withdraws its forces it will be yet another humiliating defeat for the “great Satan” and red meat for the Republicans. If U.S. forces stay, more Americans and Afghans will surely die. -more-

While our politicians continue their routine diatribe against the Chinese military threat, a recent report revealed the United States has nearly 20 times the number of nuclear warheads than China. It dwarfs China’s tonnage of warships at sea including 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers compared to China’s less sophisticated, two. It has 2,000 modern jet fighters than China’s 600. The US deploys its vast military power across some 800 overseas bases compared to China’s three. The US triples China’s military budget of $250 billion.

The former British colonial power adopted a two-tier standard at the height of its power when it ruled a quarter of the world’s population. The government mandated that its Royal Navy had to be twice as large as its next two competitors to ensure dominance at sea.

U.S. military spending remains larger than the next 10 countries combined, six of which are close American allies. Makes sense? America's intelligence budget alone around $85 billion, is much larger than Russia's total defense spending and has a long history of insidious, destabilizing covert operations.

So what does America show for its outsize military spending? It suffered a humiliating defeat in Vietnam poisoned Vietnam, and neighboring Laos and Cambodia with millions of gallons of the dioxin, Agent Orange and littered the landscape with landmines. Unexploded ordinances are the major cause of devastating injuries to children. Multi-general birth defects have occurred in all three countries. The US offered no apologizes or reparations. Many US vets complained of serious illnesses returning home from Vietnam.
Vice-President Cheney and his “junior partner”, President GW Bush “the decider” invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks and are still hunkered down in the mother of all quagmires facing another humiliating defeat in spite of spending at least 10,00 percent more than the Taliban. If they quit they will invariably face the wrath of Republicans, if they stay more Afghans and Americans will surely die. Meanwhile prisoners languish at GITMO without trial, brutally tortured in black sites, victims of Bush-Cheney’s war of terror. Each prisoner costs the US taxpayer $13million each year. Why? Because America never admits it’s appalling mistakes.

Buoyed by his “success” invading Afghanistan the Cheney-Bush duo invaded Iraq accusing Saddam Hussein of hiding weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Saddam’s elite guard were dismissed without pay and seething with anger coalesced and formed ISIS. Well done George and Dick! In a perfect world you would be charged with war cries. Meanwhile the US military and the CIA continue to be rewarded with obscene budget increases. They now swallow 64.5 percent of discretionary spending! A new cold war is rapidly emerging with China and Russia which will be used to justify $trillions more $’s being squandered. Meanwhile, cyber-attacks have caught America totally unprepared and will take months and $billions to recover.

Defense contractors will continue to manufacture their killing machines and through their armies of lobbyists in Congress will ensure sales to despotic regimes like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt will continue. The spiritual law of karma is rapidly descending on America. Democracy is under great threat and mass killing continues to be hostage to the archaic Second Amendment.

Christians have long abandoned their savior and replaced him with the new messiah, Donald Trump who still continues to snarl and growl, even in defeat. Good Samaritan Acts of kindness such as handing water and food to voters standing in line are outlawed in states like Georgia. America has long lost its moral compass and is rapidly descending into darkness.

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The trial of Derek Chauvin is getting started. The press writes articles searching for ways to say something unimportant about it. On Sunday, 3/28, an article in the SF Chronicle wonders if a “snap decision” defense would work, or would the defense be better off with a “trying to do his job well” approach. Six paragraphs go by that way, without ever mentioning that Floyd had already been arrested and was in handcuffs when killed. He was killed in custody. After a decade of massive demonstrations against police brutality, they continue to kill people in custody in the open. How blind does one have to be to suggest one should trust the police? Wouldn’t that be the height of irrationality? -more-

The sudden, untimely death of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi left a legacy of memories, achievements, and unfinished projects—including a half-finished documentary film. While Adachi was best known for his legal efforts he was also respected for his work as a filmmaker.

Adachi's film documentaries include: The Slanted Screen: Asian Men in Film and Television (2006); You Don't Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story (2009); Racial Facial (2016); and Defender (2017).

Defender documented Adachi's real-life struggle to defend a young African-American man charged with assaulting the police after he was falsely accused of a crime. The film also details the public defender's struggle to represent hundreds of poor immigrants caught up in deportation proceedings.

When Adachi died, he was wrapping up Ricochet, his latest film. Ricochet tells the story of a tragic killing that rocked San Francisco and became a national sensation. -more-

It may be hard to imagine but, a couple of decades ago, Republicans described themselves as "the Party of personal responsibility." The Grand Old Party imagined itself as the Party of rugged individualists, folks who clawed their way to the top with an unstoppable combination of ambition, perseverance, and moral rectitude. Republicans claimed the moral high ground. No more.

In the last year, we've seen Donald Trump, and his Republican cohorts, dodge responsibility for the Coronavirus pandemic and for the January 6th insurrection. Each of these actions was shameful and should be sufficient to tarnish the GOP for decades.

In every regard, Donald Trump mismanaged the pandemic. When he left office, at noon on January 20th, he was responsible for 25 million U.S. Covid-19 cases and 400,000 related deaths. It's an understatement to say that Trump did a terrible job; it's more accurate to say that he made a bad situation much, much worse. The prestigious medical journal Lancet (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32545-9/fulltext) recently observed: "Trump's mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic—compounded by his efforts to dismantle the USA's already weakened public health infrastructure and the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) coverage expansions—has caused tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. His elimination of the National Security Council's global health security team, and a 2017 hiring freeze that left almost 700 positions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unfilled, compromised preparedness... The number of people without health insurance had increased by 2·3 million during Trump's presidency, even before pandemic-driven losses of employment-based coverage increased the number of uninsured people by millions." -more-

We with psychiatric disabilities have some of the hardest lots in life. These diseases will attack a person from deep within. When consciousness is compromised from the ground up, you should know life can't be easy. At the same time, mentally ill people don't get treated well by most of the public. Most people do not have empathy for mentally ill people, and view us as sick, dangerous, and/or dishonorable. -more-

On March 16, eight people were killed, including six Asian-Americans, at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area. The shooter purchased the handgun legally the same day as the shootings. On March 22, ten people were killed, including one police officer, at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. The shooter used an assault weapon he purchased less than a week earlier. On March 28, a gunman killed his parents, two others at a convenience store, and then himself near Baltimore. On March 31, four people, including a child, were killed at an office complex in Orange, California. -more-

Now in the Works: Berkeley's Biggest, Block-long Mural

A majestic new mural is being created in West Berkeley on the north wall of the Community Energy Services Corp—near the intersection of Carleton and Ninth. The block-long expanse provides the backdrop for a huge parking lot built to serve Kaiser Permanente's new Berkeley facility, which is set to open in May.

Since the mural is near my West Berkeley office, I've watched it slowly evolve from a vast, black-and-white sketch into a blossoming montage of spray-painted images depicting messages of health and healing. Although I drive by the project every morning and evening, I never spotted the crew of painters responsible for the work.

On Wednesday, I got lucky. I met the entire crew. His art-world name is Desi Mundo.

Mundo explained that he's been working on the wall—all alone and without assistants—for several months and hopes to be finished sometime in May.

The project is being sponsored by KP and the message behind the art is appropriately "Thrive-worthy." As Mundo explained, the images depict the world's fundamental healing sources—sunshine, clean air, clear water, trees, food, music, dance, companionship, natural medicine, traditional healers, and modern doctors.

Mundo was relaxed and affable, referring to detailed illustrations on an electronic tablet before reaching for various cans of spray paint and adding six-inch-long updates to the 30-foot-tall canvas. He revealed that he is a teacher at the Oakland Unity Middle School and is Artist-in-Residence at Freemont High. Mundo kindly agreed to be photographed—but only while wearing his protective breathing apparatus.

While Michelangelo had assistants who helped paint the Sistine Chapel, Mundo is going it alone. But he has one advantage Michelangelo lacked—his own mechanized cherry-picker crane to lift him into position to paint the upper reaches of his monumental mural. -more-

“Life is lived looking forward and understood looking backward,” Reverend James Reynold Anderson.

Tuesday evening was the Berkeley City Council’s meeting, and this is where history gives insight to the action taken by Mayor Arreguin.

On November 12, 2019, the city council passed the Bird Safe Berkeley Requirements Ordinance as a referral to the Planning Commission and the City Manager to consider-and that is where it has been sitting for sixteen months, sixteen months of inaction while construction of multi-story mixed-use buildings continues at a feverish pace, buildings that need bird-safe glass to protect a bird population in decline. Consider this; North America has lost 2.9 billion birds since 1970. Birds crashing into glass causes the death of an estimated 600 million birds annually nationwide.

The work to get the Bird Safe Ordinance into the November 12, 2019 council agenda began with a presentation by the Audubon Society February 14, 2019 at the Community Environmental Advisory Commission (CEAC). This was followed with five months of committee work at CEAC to develop the Bird Safe Berkeley Ordinance. The proposed ordinance was passed by CEAC June 13, 2019 and sent to council to sit another five months before making it into the council November 12, 2019 agenda. -more-

Worth Noting:

The Agenda Committee is still meeting even though City Council is on spring recess from March 31- April 19. Please note that the link to the board/commission/committee webpage is at the end of the agenda instead of below the meeting title. This change is in response to a recommendation that it will make the zoom links to the meetings easier to read. Monday – Agenda Committee meets at 2:30. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89090619617

The deadline for completing the review of the Commission Reorganization is April 19. It is unknown whether the committee will take up the reorganization discussion during this council recess meeting, but it is best to be prepared and attend.

Tuesday – PRC Subcommittee on Warrant Service Policy meets at 6:30 pm. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84233073529

Wednesday – Planning Commission meets at 7 pm. https://zoom.us/j/95984363204 Anyone who considers the ADU at 2915 Harper hideous (my walk partner’s one-word description) should plan on attending the hearing on Amendments to the ADU Ordinance at the Planning Commission. It is agenda item 9.

Thursday – Reimagining Public Safety Task Force meets at 6 pm. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81983354907If you have a meeting you would like included in the summary of meetings, please send a notice to kellyhammargren@gmail.com by noon on the Friday of the preceding week.Sunday, April 4, 2021

Easter Sunday and last day of PassoverMonday, April 5, 2021

Agenda and Rules Committee, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm, -more-