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Just exactly what is going on with the mayor? How does a meeting get posted as closed and then at the nearly last minute become public? As of Sunday, February 20, the City Council posted agenda page still lists that 9 am Friday, February 18, 2022 meeting as closed. This was the council vote on whether to side with UC to increase student enrollment, “Authorize Amicus Curae Support of Petition for Review in Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods v. The Regents of the University of California (American Campus Communities).”

There are lots of people unhappy with the housing situation in Berkeley and the number of ever-expanding UCB admissions is at the center of it. Did the mayor fear he couldn’t pull off a unanimous vote in closed session? 

I didn’t get the quote from former Mayor Shirley Dean exactly word for word last week. It was even stronger than I remembered it. She corrected me, “Redistricting is always political.”  

The Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) is trying awfully hard to be independent. They spent months going over regulations and responsibilities before starting on the maps. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a swirl of politics underneath the submitted maps, letters and public comment at hearings. 

I became so engrossed reading the letters to the IRC everything else came to a standstill except the pressure cooker on the stove which finally forced me to tear myself away as the beans turned into burned charcoal. To find the letters is a little complicated, as you need to scroll down to the bottom of the IRC webpage https://www.cityofberkeley.info/irc/ to “Public Submission of Proposed Maps” and click on “Submitted Community of Interest Forms.” That opens a dropbox page and the letters ( “communications”) are the very last two items. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x6p2q96if60elap/AAAWJQgxUMSskuG1AKbMZ-n7a?dl=0 

The Amber map was always the heavy favorite, going back to the first four, Amber, Blue, Maroon, Orange. After the borders were moved between District 3 and 8 to reunite the historical South Berkeley to create Amber 2 in the final round, the public response was overwhelmingly in favor of the Amber 2 map at both the Thursday evening and Saturday morning public hearings and in the emails. 

There were several emails and one speaker, Chimey Lee, who wanted to see the border between District 3 and District 4 moved back to Blake. Another speaker, Andy Katz, who also wrote a long letter, requested three blocks (one is the swimming pool) moved out of District 7 into District 4. Historically and in Amber (1), and Amber 2 the three blocks are in District 7. Ben Gould closed his 40-page letter saying he wasn’t seeking office in the foreseeable future.  

The commission chair, Elisabeth Watson, has been superb with encouraging discussion while some of us are on the edge of our chairs awaiting the outcome. Moving the District 3 boundary back to Dwight couldn’t be done without removing other blocks/sections from the District 3.  

Commissioner Rhodes, who is on the commission map subcommittee used the analogy that making tweaks, moving boundaries here and there, is like pulling a thread on a sweater: Soon the whole thing unravels. There is overwhelming support for the Amber 2 map as it is. Changes can’t be made without making other groups dissatisfied. 

Chair Watson initially made a motion to move the three blocks requested by Andy Katz and then withdrew it after hearing no substantial reason for making that change. The number of people represented by a single council member also came into the picture. 

What many of us didn’t know at the time I learned later: that moving the blocks requested by Andy Katz would have moved Councilmember Robinson out of District 7 into District 4 and pitted him against Councilmember Harrison in the upcoming fall election. Although where council members live is not supposed to be considered, it is a relief that the overwhelming favorite map, Amber 2, as it now is leaves every councilmember in their current district. 

The IRC voted to eliminate the Violet map. It was not supported. They also decided to make no changes to Amber 2, and to delay the final vote on the remaining Amber 2 map until February 28^th when the full commission is in attendance. My count was that five of the commissioners could not attend the extra Saturday meeting. Alternates were called in to make a quorum.  

Tuesday evening was a special City Council worksession on Homeless and Mental Health Systems and Services in Berkeley. As usual the mayor fell all over himself as did councilmembers in praise of the report and staff work. I can’t say from reading the report and listening to the presentation that I feel I really have a better grasp of the services provided. What was at the center of the evening was the sharp contrast between community members’ descriptions of what they observed in the treatment of the homeless and the glowing staff reports. 

Through all of it, this statement from a speaker several weeks ago on housing stays with me: “Shelter solves your sleeping problem, housing solves your homelessness problem.” There are not enough shelter beds for the homeless on our streets, and the gap between income and the cost of housing keeps growing. And, how can anyone be healthy mentally being shooed from one place to another, let alone those who are already suffering with mental illness? 

Last week I mentioned the book, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities and the Remaking of the Civilized World by Jeff Goodall, 2017. Today when I looked at Earthweek: a diary of the planet, in the Chronicle, it said “Sea level rise is accelerating along the U.S. Coast and is expected to bring an additional hike of up to 12 inches by 2050 according to NOAA study…” 

There was another piece in Earthweek that caught my attention, “Pharma pollution: Active pharmaceutical ingredients that are being flushed into the world’s rivers in sewage are a ‘global threat to environmental and human health’…” Some months ago I attended an EBMUD Wastewater Treatment Plant webinar and asked about pharmaceutical pollution in sewage and if pharmaceuticals were removed in the treatment plant processing of sewage before it is released into the Bay. The answer was, No. EBMUD has no way to remove the pharmaceuticals. 

Not that sewage has ever been anywhere near the top of my list of things to track. The CDC is now publishing the data on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, which is a better indicator of increasing or decreasing COVID-19 in the community than testing. I’ve signed up. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/surveillance/wastewater-surveillance/wastewater-surveillance.html Will let you know more next time. 

Last, I finished Unthinkable by Jamie Raskin. There is a lot in the book. I didn’t know that Jamie Raskin as Maryland State Senator introduced legislation that made Maryland the first state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. If you are not familiar with the National Popular Vote Compact you can read all about it at https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/. California signed on in 2011. When enough states sign the popular vote compact to reach 270, the presidential election will be won by who received the most votes. Right now, the total is 195. 

There are quotes in the book from Nancy Pelosi showing her quick wit that had me laughing out loud. I will never think of Nancy Pelosi in the same way. 

The loss of Jamie Raskin’s son is heartbreaking. It brings depression and suicide right to the forefront. The isolation from COVID-19 has made mental health so much harder sustain for those who are already having difficulty. 

While Tommy Raskin did not have COVID-19 and it is not mentioned in the book, a large peer reviewed study just released from Washington University in St. Louis found COVID-19 survivors (serious and mild infections) face increased mental health risks. “…one of the leading hypotheses is that the virus can enter the brain and disturb cellular and neuron pathways, leading to mental health disorders” https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/943601.