The largest typeface today on the front page of the SF Chronicle is: “$1.1 million Berkeley renovation nightmare.” Friends of Adeline is not mentioned by name, but without their support and involvement, Leonard Powell would be just one more elderly Black homeowner in a gentrifying area caught in receivership and an unrelenting city.

How does a renovation bill on a house near the Ashby BART Station run up to $1.1 million with the City of Berkeley at the bottom of it? Berkeley should have found a way out of this mess years ago instead of continuing the legal battle against Mr. Powell. None of this makes any sense unless the goal from the beginning was to take away Mr. Powell’s house. Since this started with the Berkeley Police Department and the City Attorney’s office, maybe that is the first place to look, but there are plenty of City hands in the pot or maybe more aptly the plot.

The twenty-seven-month wait is nearly over for the Bird Safe Glass and Dark Skies Ordinance—at least that is the hope. The Bird Safe Ordinance is #11 on the March 2^nd Planning Commission agenda as a “discussion” item. This long wait could be a plus if Zoe Covello, Assistant Planner, starts with the model legislation from the American Bird Conservancy https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/model-ordinance/. 

The model for legislation was written in December 2020, a little over a year after the Bird Safe ordinance proposal from CEAC was referred by City Council to the Planning Commission. Unfortunately, Covello’s presentation of options starts with problematic ordinances from neighboring cities that might have looked innovative years ago, but contain too many exceptions at a time when bird populations are in staggering decline https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/ To compound this problem, it looks like the recommendation may be guidelines instead of mandatory compliance with an ordinance. 

Having attended years of Design Review Committee (DRC) and Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) meetings, I can tell you for a fact, voluntary guidelines do not work. It is a very rare exception for a developer to commit to Bird Safe glass, and in those two rare instances observed in the recent past, the commitment from Bayer and 600 Addison was limited to the west facing facades not 100/100/100 as recommended by the American Bird Conservancy. The 100/100/100 stands for the first 100 feet ground to 100 feet high, 100% bird safe glass and 100% of the building. 

The most significant outcome of Tuesday’s Agenda and Rules Committee is that neither Keith May, Disaster and Fire Safety Commission Secretary, nor Khin Chin, Office of Emergency Services, who staff the commission, nor commissioners knew that the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission recommendation finally made it to a City Council draft agenda. So of course, they weren’t present to support their measure that Council direct the Berkeley Police Department (BPD) to enforce existing Berkeley Municipal Code (BMC) parking restrictions in all fire zones. 

No one will see the recommendation for parking enforcement in fire zones at the council meeting on March 8^th because the Agenda Committee members Mayor Arreguin and Councilmembers Wengraf and Hahn took it off the agenda and sent the recommendation on a detour to the Public Safety Committee. 

Parking on narrow winding roads in the hillside fire zones has been a problem for decades with hand wringing, declarations and failure to act every year I can remember. The surprise was that the two councilmembers who just gave presentations on the fire danger in the hills for the ADU ordinance would send a parking enforcement recommendation in fire zones to a committee. Can those “meter maid” [Parking }Enforcement?] cars even make it up into the hills? 

Henry DeNero, from the Hillside Fire Safety Group https://www.berkeleyhillsidefiresafety.org/ gave a presentation to the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission on the fire danger from eucalyptus trees with a map of eucalyptus groves in Berkeley including groves on private property. DeNero requested the use of Measure FF funds on private and public property for clean-up of ground debris and stripping eucalyptus bark to 15 ft on the tree trunk over the next three years followed with complete eucalyptus tree removal. 

Commissioner former Mayor Shirley Dean asked for an opinion of the fire danger from the Berkeley Fire Department (BFD) members staffing the meeting to which the response was that BPD does not comment on the species of trees per instruction from the City. Commissioner Dean asked if the BFD in their vegetation management inspections could prioritize the mapped eucalyptus groves. It seems that doesn’t fit the vegetation inspections either. No decisions were made except to bring back further discussion of the eucalyptus at the next commission meeting. [insert map] 

The Tuesday evening City Council meeting looked like it would run on forever with one UCB student speaking after another to express their support for the Southside Complete Streets Plan. The item had been moved from “Action” to “Consent” for approval, but that did not stop the continuous stream of speakers to add their support. It was one of those meetings where I wish we had the old rules in place where an item on the consent calendar would be pulled to action when the fourth speaker stood up to comment even if every speaker was in favor of the item. There was no opposition. There was the repeated request to end automobile traffic on Telegraph between Dwight and campus. 

The report from the Berkeley Police Interim Chief on the implementation of the Fair and Impartial Policing Task Force Recommendations and the year-end Crime and Collision data was moved to the March 8^th council meeting. 

Thursday morning at the Budget and Finance Committee meeting Sharon Friedrichsen, the new Budget Manager, spoke to posting budgets so that questions could be sent in advance of meetings, giving staff time to research answers. This would be a very welcome complete turnaround from current practice of last minute/last hour posting. 

Also under discussion was police recruiting. Hearing the City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley plan to expand the Berkeley Police Department to 181 officers was quite a shock when the presentation of findings and recommendations from the National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) and the Reimagining Public Safety Task force is still more than a week away. The nationwide search for a new police chief is ongoing. Despite these facts, there seems to be a rush to stack the deck and brush aside any counter-recommendations. In fact, there will be an analysis and report from the City arriving at some unspecified time after the NICJR and Task Force presentations on March 10^th. 

It is interesting how the reputation of artists and Donald Trump spill over into public art in Berkeley. The poem ‘In This Place’ by Amanda Gorman, the same Youth Poet Laureate who read ‘The Hill We Climb’ at President Biden’s inauguration, will be on the Durant side of 2352 Shattuck, the Logan Park building. Amanda Gorman has conditioned the commissioning of her poem on approval of an exception to the existing public art policy. Civic Arts Commission Chair Lisa Bullwinkel read the conditions from the agreement and explained that should there be a change in the reputation of the ownership of the building that would reflect poorly on the artist Amanda Gorman, she could request that the poem be removed from the building and donated to the city for placement at another location. This stems from artists wanting to disassociate themselves and their artwork from buildings where the Trump name appears. The Arts Commission voted unanimously in support of the requested policy exception for Amanda Gorman. 

I took advantage of the President’s Holiday and did something I have never done: I tuned into what is supposed to be the most popular cable news shows. It was in full throttle Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity on Monday night. To contemplate that the most popular shows are a world where praise for authoritarians is peddled along with misinformation, fear and racism is profoundly disturbing. 

People with a steady diet of rightwing media live in an alternate universe. And, this leads to this week’s books. 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, published in 1953, is back on the banned book list which is so interesting since it is about book burning and censorship. The history of Fahrenheit 451 by Jonathan R. Eller and Ray Bradbury’s comments decades after publication that come with the 60^th Anniversary edition are just as interesting, if not more so, as the novel. Bradbury discusses requests to rewrite the story and how words and lines removed or replaced for school audiences is also censorship. Bradbury has a passage in the novel about the forever wars, something we thought we might finally live without until this week’s invasion of Ukraine by Russia. 

On Tuesday, the podcast “Why is this Happening” ran an updated episode with Dr. Izzy Lowell, who runs Queer Med, a private clinic that specializes in health care for trans youth and adults. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/treating-trans-youth-with-dr-izzy-lowell/id1382983397?i=1000551858078 

Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt, published in 2015 about the transitioning of the transgender youth Nicole Maines, her family, and public response was our February book club reading choice. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2015/10/19/becoming-nicole/ The very next day after our book club meeting Governor Abbott ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to launch inquiries into parents and medical providers of transgender children, charging that treatment of trans youth is child abuse. Not to be outdone by Texas, the Florida House passed HB1557 the anti-LGBTQ bill dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” bill. 

The furor over Critical Race Theory, the classroom, banning books, anti-LGBTQ laws, voter suppression and gas pump stickers “blame Biden” for high gas prices, tells us where the 2022 elections are going. One caller on talk radio suggested we should be carrying our sharpies and cross out Biden and write Trump and Putin on those “blame” stickers.

Ran into an old friend not long ago. He’s been teaching at UC Berkeley in a technical department for a long time, maybe 40-50 years. He’s also made very good money with his side hustle at a techy start-up that went public at the right time. He’s still teaching, presumably because he likes it, not because he needs the income. He told me he’s been delivering his lectures online, even pre-pandemic, and he plans to go on doing that, though in-person is back.

He told me that his remote class is now 1500 undergraduates, so he has approximately a hundred teaching assistants. I gathered from what he said that he never meets with students himself, and really, why should he?

Why indeed? When I was a student at Cal, way back in the dark ages before it became generically “Berkeley”, I took a couple of entertaining English classes taught in biggish lecture halls in Dwinelle and in Wheeler Hall—maybe a one or two hundred students. My classes in the French and Slavic departments never exceeded thirty or forty. The instructors in all three departments were almost all professors.

It’s funny that with all the sanctimonious chitchat we’ve seen lately in the corporate press regarding the effects of UCB’s desire to offer admission to about 5,000 additional students next year, no one says anything about the effect it might have on the students’ learning experience. Mind you, those 5000 new bodies (actually ~3000 would accept) are over and above the ~11,000 extras who have already been added to the student body since 2005 in defiance of putative limits under the university’s long range development plan.

When there are 1500 students in a small-screen class, it’s hard to imagine what they can be learning. Before the pandemic lockdown, classes were extremely overcrowded, and if thousands more students are admitted next year it could only be worse. A total of 42,000 is bruited about.

I seem to remember that Chancellor Clark Kerr (after whom the Clark Kerr Campus is named,ironically) suggested 12,500 as a good number for each UC campus, but what’s 30,000 more, give or take?

Honest figures are hard to come by, but anecdotally I can report that a guy named Jack, who said he works for UCB, called into the KQED Forum radio show on Wednesday morning, estimating that while student enrollment has increased by a third, the number of faculty and staff members has remained the same. Another caller, Janet, who sounded like a middle-aged African American woman, scoffed at UC’S veiled threat that restricting enrollment would harm disadvantaged students, particularly people of color. She pointed out that as enrollment has grown, the percentage of such students has decreased.

Can these numbers be verified?

Setting the question of available housing near campus aside for the moment, since that’s become a political football, someone needs to ask whether it’s in the best interest of young Californians to cram as many of them as possible into a single campus. The name “Berkeley” for sure has brand advantage, particularly in Asia, and the university has the best researchers money can buy, but are today’s undergraduates getting the excellent overall education my cohort got? An increasing percentage of their classes are taught by non-tenure-track lecturers or adjuncts.

A young friend, a sophomore who did her first year remotely from a bedroom in her parent’s home, told me she was being taught by only two professors out of five. Her other three classes are led by lecturers, though she did describe them as “super distinguished” (even if underpaid). Some of her classes are in person, but the rest are still online, though she’s living in Berkeley now and could attend in the flesh if it were allowed.

Because COVID? Maybe, or maybe not. No classroom on campus holds 1500 of those paying customers.

The role of all the varied learning institutions which are characterized as “highly selective” needs examination. Somewhere, sometime, there comes a limit on the number of carefully curated young persons who can be educated at once in a given venue. My observation of three generations of students over more than a half-century is that every educational opportunity which is perceived to be excellent is de facto oversubscribed. No matter where the limit is set, someone’s left out. That includes “gifted and talented” in elementary school, advanced placement classes, elite high schools like Lowell, and yes, UC Berkeley. It doesn’t make much sense to try to respond to the demand by expanding the number of students admitted to a particular class or school instead of creating more good classes or schools to meet that demand.

A major problem adding to Berkeley’s enrollment bloat is that the state of California (overwhelmingly Democratic with a budget surplus) is no longer willing to meet its obligations to educate the next generation. Just a fraction of university costs (~14%, depending whom you ask) are paid by the state. Much of the balance is raised by shilling for lucrative out-of-state and foreign students lured by the Berkeley brand, or by sucking up to very rich donors who want to see their names on buildings.

In-state fees are non-trivial, of course, as compared to the $60/semester my father paid for me to attend Cal, but less than at most other elite schools. And no, I never had campus housing, so I lived in seedy rooming houses with the bathroom down the hall.

But now state legislators choose to pretend that the only crisis for today’s students is finding housing. Housing prices everywhere in the Bay are experiencing a big bubble. Some politicians find it convenient to blame everything on the cost of requiring big projects to be reviewed for environmental impact, but there are many more factors at work, and few magic bullets. It’s hard for many people, including students, to afford housing, given the wealth disparity which the tech boom has brought.

The all-time worst simple snake oil remedy for a complex problem has just been proposed by San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener, a slippery fellow bought and paid for by the development industry and its YIMBY groupies.

Wiener claims, without a shred of evidence, that the reason that Berkeley students are having trouble finding a place to live is just because big new projects, including dormitories, must be reviewed under the California Environmental Quality Act. He proposes legislation to exempt projects described as student housing from environmental law.

He’s scooped up a bunch of gullible young people and the odd YIMBY lobbyist to make his case. Sample quote, from a Wiener press release which is full of fake facts:

“For far too long, CEQA has been misused to prevent students from having access to housing on our own campuses under the facade of protecting the environment,” said Michelle Andrews, Legislative Director for the Associated Students of UC Davis. A prize ribbon will be awarded to anyone who can prove that assertion.

The California Environmental Quality Act does not prevent anything. It simply requires full disclosure of what’s planned and what effect it will have—developers, including corporate universities, can and do override negative environmental impacts in order to build as they please. And anyone who thinks they don’t make mistakes should investigate the history of Evans Hall, 

It’s a reinforced concrete monstrosity built on the Berkeley campus the same year CEQA passed, 1970. The joke among faculty is that it’s the best place on campus to have an office, because then you don’t have to look at Evans Hall out of your window. It’s cold in winter, hot in summer. Its 10-story elevators are dicey. 

Most likely it was not reviewed under CEQA before it was built. 

Recently UCB announced that Evans is to be demolished, because it’s hazardous in an earthquake and would cost too much to retrofit. Even in 1970, enough was known about concrete construction that an EIR might have told UC administrators they were making a few mistakes. 

(Assignment for a Daily Cal reporter: Document the environmental impact of concrete, both production and deconstruction. Hint: It’s major, and bad.) 

Note to Senator Wiener: What you don’t know CAN hurt you. Dormitories full of kids are the last places we should be exempting from thorough environmental review. That’s one kind of experiment that doesn’t belong on campus. 

Berkeley (City of) provides another example of why housing for students needs more, not less, supervision. Our city’s answer to the perceived shortage of student housing since the 1960s has been to allow a substantial number of undistinguished apartment buildings to be constructed within walking distance of the UC campus. They’re cheaply constructed, but their rent is not cheap—that’s why they’re called cash register multiples. 

Tragically in 2015 a balcony on one of these buildings collapsed under the weight of too many young people, most of them students. Seven died and six more were injured. 

Shoddy materials had been used by a low-bid subcontractor. With the generous profit expected by the speculative developers of apartment buildings aimed at a student clientele, that’s no surprise. 

Student housing needs to be built to a higher standard. Enrolling more and more students and housing them in substandard buildings, on or off campus, is just wrong, legally in many cases and morally in more. 

But also, even if the campus of UCB becomes wall-to-wall luxury housing, Wiener and company ought to be working to make sure that the teaching on all of California’s campuses is generously funded, enough to offer an excellent education to any student who could benefit, no matter which school they attend. Trying to cram all of California’s good students into one campus, especially if it’s landlocked Berkeley, does no one a favor, except perhaps the speculators who are busy buying up land in the neighborhood. 

Patience please. I'm experimenting with format--moving regular columnists into the Public Comment section. You can still see any article as a full page. Complaints/compliments to becky@berkeleydailyplanet.com.

Gee, it's terrific that the San Francisco Chronicle finally got the sordid story of what the city of Berkeley did to Leonard Powell. Of course, if they read the Planet, they might have known about it as far back as May of 2018, when Steve Martinot wrote his first expose of what was happening to Mr. Powell. If you missed that, read Berkeley: City with a Heart of Stone, by Steve Martinot, and then the four-part story he wrote for the Planet in 2021. What the Chron leaves out was the extraordinary support Leonard Powell's neighborhood provided for his legal battle to save his home , including the Friends of Adeline, the late lamented Margy Wilkinson and Steve Martinot himself. But how impressive to see the story, complete with big color photos, on the front page today, plus a full page on the jump. The Chron's kinda slow, but they occasionally catch on. Their piece adds a few factoids from other cities where similar things happened, and a few historically dubious comments about the history of single family homes in South and West Berkeley, but otherwise it's pretty much the same story Steve Martinot wrote for the Planet years ago. But even though what happened to him has now been doubly exposed, Mr. Powell still has legal problems ahead. 

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When I was a young man, an eighteen-year-old, to be exact, I was psychotic, and I was unaware that what you do can have consequences. Some consequences of actions, even actions taken at the tender age of eighteen, even while psychotic due to a developing case of schizophrenia, can alter the course of a person's life. When you are psychotic and delusional, you do not think about these things. This is because you are delusional, and somehow you believe that your actions are necessary to save the Earth.

I learned a lesson--a hard lesson. And, in fact, much of my life when I was nineteen, when I was in my twenties, thirties, has been crap.

Harassment exists where someone doesn't want to be contacted, and where the other person is violating this expressed need. Harassment can exist in numerous contexts. Harassment causes people to lose their jobs. Even presidents of universities have lost their beloved job because they have abused their position. Harassment is a major issue in the modern world, where society is trying to evolve into something better.  

Under some circumstances, harassment is legal. For example, if you are collecting on a debt, you can phone the debtor every day, for twenty years if you want, and, apparently, this is not illegal. If you are involved in a political campaign or working for a political party, harassment may not technically be legal, but this is not enforceable.  

However, in modern times, sexual harassment is a crime. Most people look upon it as very immoral. President Trump did it and got away with it. This is because to Trump, the courts are a second home.  

Persistence was once touted as a good quality. Persistence is where your repeated attempts at doing something are welcome. You could submit a hundred times to a pulp fiction magazine and get a hundred rejections. When it gets to be two hundred, they may get tired of you. Some cut you off after two or three rejected subs--and not at a hundred.  

People can change their behavior at almost any age. This doesn't erase the aftermath of doing something disreputable. But it does look good in the eyes of "god" and of some people. Not everyone forgives easily. You do not change behavior for the purpose of pleasing someone else. You change the behavior because the initial behavior didn't work, or it wasn't appropriate, or harmed someone in some way.  

My eighteenth birthday was at Gladman Psych Hospital. I think Gladman has changed completely since the time of my visit, nearly 40 years ago. It is not uncommon for people with psychiatric problems to fail to understand the word "No." But most of us, when we regain our senses, probably after being medicated (sometimes by force) will realize, no means no.  

So, when trying to decide of a behavior is persistence or harassment, consider the context, and consider the specifics. And when trying to alter a behavior and finding it to be difficult to change the pattern, change begins by being able to handle the emotional pain of the situation. If you can't handle to concept and the accompanying pain that you're not getting what you think you need, deserve, and want, if you persist in denying within your own mind that you're not getting what you want, you'll have a lot of repercussions, you may lose your freedom, and other bad things could happen. The value of this realization is that you are protected from huge losses.  

Jack Bragen is author of "Revising Behaviors that Don't Work," and lives in Martinez, with his wife, Joanna Bragen.

Trump Reveals New Campaign Promise: A Fascist Coup

At one of his ego-stroking political rallies, Mr. Twice-Impeached revealed a chilling new slogan that strikes at the heart of democracy and raises the odds of an authoritarian takeover.

The threat was revealed in the signage being waved by partisans in the crowd assembled before Trump's podium. In addition to large signs that read "SAVE AMERICA" there were several placards that bore a darker threat. They read: "TRUMP 24: OR BEFORE."

Hold Trump to Account

Common Cause is so steamed that the Department of Justice still hasn't announced plans to investigate Sir Trumpalot for his growing list of serious criminal charges that it's started a petition calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to crack down on the Big Nut for crimes before-during-and-after the January 6 coup attempt. I was happy to sign on, with the following comment:

We've recently seen that even Trump's accountants want to hold him accountable on account of his accounting not being something you can count on.

Walk the Chalk

Someone opposed to UC Berkeley's collaboration with the military wing of the Department of Energy has written the following message in chalk on the sidewalk before Berkeley's main Post Office: UC MAKES NUKES.

And chalk-up another only-in-Berkeley sidewalk salute: on the cement sidewalk alongside the MLK Jr. Middle School, one of the youngsters participating in a public art exercise to honor Rev. Martin Luther King, left behind the following note: "Marx Lenin MLK."

In the South that would be a note of contempt. In Berkeley, it's a righteous recognition of common purpose.

Fashion Plates

Recently spotted in downtown Berkeley: a red Ford sporting a plate that read: TUTNKMN. I'm guessing the driver might be an Egyptologist, specializing in the reign of Tutankhamun, the ancient pharaoh better known as "King Tut."

Also prompting a roadside double-take: a risible bumper sticker that encouraged one and all to: "Honk If You Love Relational Aesthetics."

Karmic Strips

On February 15, Darrin Bell's Candorville lived up to its name when a Trump-loving cartoon character quoted from one of Lemont Brown's published opinion pieces and accused him of being a "Terrorist-lover." The citation read:

"Just a little while ago, the general we just assassinated was leading the fight to crush ISIS. We were all praising him. When we get on our high horse about freedom and liberty, much of the world wants to gag because they notice how we love butchers until we no longer need them."

When Brown asks: "How does that make me a terrorist-lover?" the response was: "When we get introspective, the terrorists win."

It's Not a Typo: It's a New Word

In early February, the live online video-sharing platform known as Zoom, emailed a dispatch announcing the addition of "many exciting and useful features" to the Zoom experience. "Zoom recently became the first video communications client to attain Common Criteria Certification—an international security standard," the missive boasted. It then invited readers to "learn more about this distinguishment from our press release."

Distinguishment? Did they mean to write "distinction"? Nope. Turns out there is such a wordy word. It's from the Brits and the definition reads: "the quality or condition of being distinguished."

Ukraine, the US, the UN, and the Nazis

In the course of a long, televised February 24 address—and in the midst of a brutal act of aggression that included the bombing of targets in Ukraine's capitol city of Kyiv—Vladimir Putin raised a surprising complaint: "I would like to additionally emphasize the following. Focused on their own goals, the leading NATO countries are supporting the far-right nationalists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine."

It turns out that you can't debate Ukrainian politics without addressing the role of neo-Nazis,

In a largely unreported vote on December 16, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution titled "Combating Glorification of Nazism, Neo-Nazism and Other Practices that Contribute to Fuelling Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance."

The resolution passed resoundingly with 130 nations voting to condemn Nazism. There were only two countries that refused to sign—the US and Ukraine.

Another 49 countries (mostly US allies) abstained. They included NATO member nations joined by Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

The US defended its vote by arguing that condemning racial hatred would violate the First Amendment.

Nazism still thrives in some parts of Europe. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania still continue to honor Nazi leaders from WWII and, as Consortium News points out: "several European countries have right-wing governments or strong right-wing opposition sympathetic to neo-Nazi groups."

In 2014, the US relied on neo-Nazis to topple Ukraine's elected pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Senator John McCain and State Department rep Victoria Nuland were among those Americans who flocked to Kiev to pose alongside avowed Ukrainian neo-Nazis like Svobada leader Oleh Tyahnybok and Andriy Biletsky. Biletsky has written that Ukraine’s mission is to “lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade . . . against the Semite-led Untermenschen.”

Ukraine even has a branch of the military—the Azov Battallion—that touts the Nazi line.

It's shocking that Putin—who has publicly condemned the Nazi movement—has resorted to the use of military force that will, in the minds of many, incriminate him as a war criminal in the bloody tradition of Adolf Hitler.

Speaking of Invasions, Who's the Bigger Bully?

In response to Vladimir Putin's shocking invasion of Ukraine, Joe Biden has imposed economic sanctions while proclaiming: "We're America and America stands up to bullies."

Well, that's not quite what our history shows. As Richard Sanborn, a resident of Humboldt County pointed out in a recent letter to the Chronicle:

President Biden says the Kremlin flagrantly violated international law.

Vietnam. Cambodia. Laos. Lebanon. Cuba. Grenada. Panama. Libya. Somalia. Bosnia. Kosovo. Afghanistan. Pakistan. Yemen. Syria. What hypocrisy!

Another Petition: Vote to Vote

America likes to justify its global empire by proclaiming its divine duty to use soldiers and tanks to spread "freedom and democracy" around the planet. But somehow, many residents of the global Empire's colonized territories have never been given the voting rights granted ordinary citizens. And, if they don't have the right to vote—in local and federal elections—they aren't citizens, they are captives.

Good news: A MoveOn member named Isabel Walker has posted a petition to correct this injustice. (If you've already signed a petition to grant voting rights to the disenfranchised citizens of Washington, DC, you might want to sign on to Walker's petition as well.) Walker writes:

"Many Americans often fail to recognize one of the most prominent examples of voter deprivation that continues to undermine the very ideals that our nation rests upon. Currently, millions of American citizens residing in the five US overseas territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands, Guam) are denied voter participation in federal elections. The US government actively silences the voice of territorial residents and consistently ignores their desperate cries for full equality. The United States Constitution must adopt an amendment granting citizens of American territories the right to express their political beliefs via access to the ballot."  

This just-posted petition looks like a winner. When I started to sign on, there were only 15 signatures on display. By the time I finished typing a comment, the number of signatures had reached 128.  

Rest In Peace: Courtesy of the Government?  

With so many Americans being cut down by guns (more than 27,000 last year), thousands of families struggling with poverty are forced to pay for unexpected funeral costs—and for families of survivors, mounting hospital bills.  

In a better country, a government might be able to offer more than "thoughts and prayers" to the bereaved. In addition to Medicare for All, how about federally guaranteed Gun-Death Benefits for All? Imagine if the families of gun violence victims were guaranteed federal payments to cover the costs of a funeral and the loss of a loved one? The GDBA could also pay for the hospitalization of gun-violence survivors. And it needn't cost the taxpayers a cent. The victims' fund could be financed by a tax on gun manufacturers, gun sellers and gun owners.  

And, in a more perfect (gun-free) world, what if every US citizen were automatically guaranteed a $20,000 federal "gift of recognition" to cover burial costs?  

We may now have a precedent, with the Supreme Court ruling that the families of the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings can sue arms-maker Remington for $73 million.  

Paranoid Pastors: Tax-free and Toxic  

Online podcaster David Pakman recently offered a take-down of Rev. Greg Locke, the disaster pastor of the Global Visions Bible Church in Tennessee, Because Locke claims to run a religious mission, he doesn't have to pay property taxes and that frees him to devote more time to his sacred, demon-chasing duties. In a clip shared by Pakman, Rev. Locke rants about "witches" hiding in plain site within his congregation. (Hmmm, I wonder: Can a coven of witches apply for tax-free religious status?)  

After viewing Locke's unhinged performance, one might wonder if the IRS might want to apply some stricter standards to socially subsidized, untaxed property-owning preachers who promote fear and anger instead of compassion and forgiveness.  

Cat Burglars  

Why have the thefts of catalytic converters become a constant of modern life?  

Why haven't automakers installed simple devices like mercury-switch-triggered alarms that start screeching whenever thieves tip targeted cars to get at the catalytic prize below? If people who get cat-scammed have to pay as much as $2,000 to install a metal shield to prevent future thefts why aren't automakers automatically including these theft-preventing devices in the original design of their cars?  

Eminem Responds to Attack by Rudy Giuliani  

ladimir Putin’s aggression toward Ukraine took an ominous turn on February 21 when he recognized the independence of the breakaway Ukrainian enclaves of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and ordered Russian troops into them as “peacekeepers.” No matter what Putin calls it, when you send troops into another country without its permission, it's an invasion.

The introduction of troops to these breakaway enclaves could be the prologue for further attacks on Ukraine with the sovereignty of Ukraine and the loss of thousands of lives at stake.

The U.S. has already imposed some sanctions against Russia, and Germany has halted the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline designed to bring natural gas from Russia directly to Europe. But is not time for the full weight of sanctions threatened by the United States and NATO; the U.S. and NATO hold back on some of the sanctions in hopes that a full invasion will be less likely.

In addition, the Russia-Ukraine situation is a major test for President Biden, who has made the defense of democracy a cornerstone of his administration.

Why should the U.S. care about Russia's invasion of Ukraine? The issue is not about whether Ukraine joining NATO. NATO countries must unanimously agree to let Ukraine join and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has publicly announced that Ukraine’s NATO membership is not on the agenda.

If Putin is allowed to invade a sovereign country in violation of international law and threatens its democracy, it would be a signal to others to do the same, which in turn, will affect us. The U.S. is part of a global world interdependent economically, socially, and politically. If Putin succeeds in Ukraine, he won’t stop there. He didn’t stop after seizing Crimea in 2014.

Biden has made it clear that helping Ukraine will not include boots on the ground in Ukraine. The U.S..has already deployed or repositioned some 6,000 U.S. forces to Germany, Poland and Romania near those countries’ borders with Ukraine for defensive purposes only.

Appeasement is not a viable option. So far, I agree with President Biden's response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Worth Noting:

Sunday – If you are not participating in the half marathon and plan to go out Sunday morning check the map for approximate times the marathon will be in which Berkeley neighborhoods.

Monday the Seismic Cost Study for Maudelle Shirek and Veterans Buildings is on the agenda at the CCCC meeting at 12:15 pm. the Redistricting Commission at 6 pm will vote on the final map. Amber 2 remains. The Violet map was eliminated. The Zero Waste Commission at 7 pm will hear Public works priorities.

Tuesday there will be a webinar on the Hopkins street Corridor. There is no council meeting.

Wednesday the FITES Policy Committee meets at 2:30 on regulating plastic bags, GHG limits and process for updating the climate action plan. The Disability Commission meets at 6 pm. The Homeless Panel of Experts at 7 pm agenda includes Measure P, shelters and budget questions. The Planning Commission at 7 pm is holding a public hearing on citywide affordable housing requirements and will hold a presentation and discussion on the Bird Safe Glass and Dark Sky ordinance (referred to Planning 11/12/2019).

Thursday the Citywide Affordable Housing Requirements is on the agenda at the Housing Advisory Commission at 7 pm. The LPC and Public Works Commission also meet at 7 pm. WETA meets at 1 pm. The Berkeley Pier and Ferry are scheduled for the March 17 WETA meeting. The Groundbreaking Ceremony for the $725,000 tree planting grant is at 3:30 pm at James Kenny Park 1720 8^th Street & Virginia.



The March 8 City Council Regular meeting agenda is available for comment and follows the list of city meetings. Fair and Impartial Policing Report and the Crime and Collision Reports are the only action items.



Sunday, February 27, 2022

Berkeley Half Marathon 7:30 am – 1 pm

I-80 exit at University closed from 6 am – 12 pm,

go to website for Half Marathon course if you did not receive a postcard notice

https://berkeleyhalfmarathon.com/



Monday, February 28, 2022 

Community for a Cultural Civic Center (CCCC) at 12:15 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88153954875?pwd=WGxqRndONmE1N0FCOTdMd2FBMHhhUT09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 881 5395 4875 Passcode: 487241 

AGENDA: 3. Seismic Retrofit Cost Study, 4. Possible Ballot measure, 5. Update on Clean CA Grant Application for Turtle Island Monument. 

Independent Redistricting Commission at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81566315346 

Teleconference: 1-699-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 815 6631 5346 

AGENDA: 2. Selection of Final Map for official approval on March 16, Recommendation: Review the Amber Version 2 map for final official adoption, 3. Review of Draft items for final report. 

https://redistricting-commission-berkeley.hub.arcgis.com/ 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/redistricting/ 

Zero Waste Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/s/82587046286 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6128 Meeting ID: 825 8704 6286 

AGENDA Discussion and Action Items: 1. FY 2022 Public Works Dept Top Goals and Projects, Dept Performance Measures, FY 2023 Priorities, 2. Commission analysis and advice on 12/7/2019 staff presentation to council, 3. Update from Community Conservation Centers on Mixed Plastics. 

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

Tuesday, March 1, 2022 

Hopkins Street Corridor from Sutter street to The Alameda 6 pm – 7:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4Doct5T0Srm9y_OwTFBiqg 

AGENDA: Webinar by zoom only 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Hopkins/ 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022 

Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment & Sustainability Committee (FITES) at 2:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89786346516 

Teleconference: 1-699-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 897 8634 6516 

AGENDA: 2. Harrison, Hahn – Ordinance add new chapter BMC 11.62 to Regulate Plastic Bags at Retail and Food Service Establishments, 3. Harrison, Co-sponsors Bartlett, Hahn – Ordinance add new chapter BMC 12.01 Established Greenhouse Gas Limits, Process for updated Climate Action Plan, Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Regional Collaboration, Unscheduled: 4. Taplin-Native Plants, 5. Harrison-Impact/mitigation fees to public right of way (streets, sewers, waste, utilities), 6. Taplin, Co-sponsors Bartlett, Hahn – Equitable Safe streets. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Facilities,_Infrastructure,_Transportation,_Environment,___Sustainability.aspx 

Board of Library Trustees at 6:30 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86042306505 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 860 4230 6505 

AGENDA: II.B. Contract $200,000 with AMS.Net for network switches, installation and maintenance services 4/22/2022 thru 4/30/2022. 

https://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/about/board-library-trustees 

Commission on Disability at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82485970525?pwd=MW1sZDNoZ2J5SFFpbWpLcGJjeTZFUT09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 824 8597 0525 Passcode: 2977154 

AGENDA: C. Paratransit Presentation, 2. Housing Element, 3. Elevator Ordinance Update, 4. Easy Does it, 5. Inclusive Disaster Registry. 

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

Homeless Services Panel of Experts at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/92491365323 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 924 9136 5323 

AGENDA: 6. Current status Measure P allocations, 7. Allocation needs 8. HSPE recommendations, crisis stabilization unit, shelter for senior population, shelter/housing for women fleeing domestic violence, 9. HSPE budget questions 

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

Planning Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89165604580 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 891 6560 4580 

AGENDA: 9. Public Hearing on Amendments to Citywide Affordable Housing Requirements, 10. Public Hearing on Technical Edits and Corrections to the New Zoning Ordinance, 11. Discussion: Approach to Bird Safe Berkeley Requirements – Receive Presentation – referred to Planning Commission by Council November 12, 2019, 12. Planning Commission Work Plan. 

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

Thursday, March 3, 2022 

Groundbreaking ceremony for the Urban Forestry Tree Planting Grant at 3:30 pm 

In-person James Kenny Park 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventMain.aspx?calendarEventID=17772 

Housing Advisory Commission (HAC) at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86492044529 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 864 9204 4529 

AGENDA Discussion and Possible Action: 5. Draft Annual Action Plan PY 2022 for HUD, 6. Citywide Affordable Housing Requirements, 7. Appoint a Housing Trust Fund Subcommittee. 

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

Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82218986037 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 822 1898 6037 

AGENDA: 5. 1940 Hearst – James T. Stocker-Loni Ding House – resume public hearing, 6. 701, 703, 305 & 705A Bancroft Way – Demolition Referral, 7. 747 Bancroft Way – Demolition Referral, 8. Initiative for City-wide Historic Resource Survey. 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/landmarkspreservationcommission/ 

Police Accountability Board Hearing Panel at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89149183116. 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 891 4918 3116 

AGENDA: 2. Public Comment only on item 3, 3. Closed Session BPA v. CoB Alameda Superior Court No. 2002 057569 Complaint #5. 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=162752 

Public Works Commission at 7 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87827694563 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 878 2769 4563 

AGENDA: no agenda posted, check after Monday 

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

WETA Water Emergency Transportation Authority at 1 pm - Hybrid Meeting 

In-person: at 670 W Hornet Ave, Alameda, 94501 – Masks required 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89718217408 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 897 1821 7408 Password: 33779 

AGENDA: 3. Report Chair, 4. Report Board, 5. Report Staff a. Redwood City Ferry Terminal Project, Treasure Island Ferry Service Update, ( Berkeley recreation pier and ferry project scheduled for March 17 WETA meeting), b. Monthly Financials, c. Federal Legislative Update, d. State Legislative Update, 3. Monthly Ridership and Recovery Report, 6. Consent: c. Allocation request to CA Dept of Transportation for 2021-2022 Low carbon transit operations program grant funds, d. Clipper MOU with MTC and Bay Area Transit Operators, e. Authorize RFP for construction of Alameda Main Street Ferry Terminal Refurbishment Project, 7. Award contract to Swiftly, Inc for real-time transit information system, 8. Award contract to Anchor Operating System, LLC for integrated fare ticketing system. 

https://weta.sanfranciscobayferry.com/next-board-meeting 

Friday, March 4, 2022 

WETA Water Emergency Transportation Authority at 2 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85470363892 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 854 7036 3892 Password: 939659 

AGENDA: 3. Ethics Training 

https://weta.sanfranciscobayferry.com/next-board-meeting 

Saturday, March 5, 2022 & Sunday, March 6, 2022 – no city events or meetings found 

March 8, City Council Agenda Regular Meeting at 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82967064417 

Teleconference: 1-699-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 Meeting ID: 829 6706 4417 

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

AGENDA CONSENT: 1. 2^nd reading Supplementary Retirement and Income Plan II Berkeley Fire Fighters Assoc Local 1227 IAFF. 2. 2^nd reading Amendment to contract between City and CalPers to effectuate cost sharing agreement between City and PEPRA, 3. Continuation Videoconference and Teleconference, 4. $7,470,316 Formal bid solicitations, 5. Contract add $50,000 total $100,000 end 6/30/2023 with Anjanette Scott LLC Housing Consultant, 6. Contract add $60,000 total $245,000 with Resource Development Associates (RDA) to add grant writing services for the Specialized Care Unit (SCU – crisis intervention mentally ill alternative to policing) 1/1/2021 – 6/30/2023, 7. Contract add $10,000 total $569,300 with Rolling Orange, Inc for Website redesign 3/1/2019 – 6/30/2024, 8. Contract $1,010,000 (includes 10% contingency $20,551) with Western Water Features, Inc. for King Pool Plaster and Tile and West Campus Pool Plaster, Tile, Filter, 9. Contract add $42,00 total $188,400 (includes $4,200 contingency) with Lind Marine for Removal of Derelict and Abandoned Vessels at the Berkeley Marina, 10. 10-year lease with two 5-year extensions with NFS Unlimited, LLC for Skates-on-the-Bay, 11. Updates to Measure T1 Phase 1 Project List, 12. Donation $3,400 memorial bench at Berkeley Marina in memory of Roger Garfinkle, 13. Ratification of Police accountability Board’s Standing Rules, 14. Arreguin Co-sponsors Taplin, Bartlett, Robinson – Support SB 922 (Weiner) permanently exempt transportation related projects from CEQA (pedestrian, bicycle, new bus rapid transit, light rail, EV charging stations, shore-side charging stations for ferries), 15. Arreguin, co-sponsor Harrison – Oppose CA 2/3 Legislative Vote and Voter Approval for Fee and Charge increases Initiative, 16. Kesarwani, Taplin, co-sponsorss Robinson, Wengraf - Referral to Implement State Law AB 43 for Reduced Speed Limits on High Injury Commercial Corridors, 17. Harrison, co-sponsors Arreguin, Taplin, Wengraf – Resolution expenditure office budgets supporting Status of Women Commission to cover membership in Association of CA Commissions for Women, 18. Harrison – Resolution to reduce Park fees for non-profits and support SF Mime Troupe, 19. Hahn, Bartlett, co-sponsor Harrison - Budget Referral $300,000 Grant Writing services, 20. Robinson – Support for AB 1713 Idaho Stop – allowing adult bicyclists to proceed through stop signs without stop after yielding right-of-way to immediate hazards, ACTION: 21. Update on Implementation of Fair and Impartial Policing Task Force Recommendations from BPD, 22. 2021 Year End Crime and Collision Data, 23. CM – Exception to 180-Day waiting period to hire a CalPERS Retired Annuitant. 

LAND USE CALENDAR: 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

1643-47 California – new basement level and 2^nd story 4/26/2022 

Remanded to ZAB or LPC 

1205 Peralta – Conversion of an existing garage 

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

1228 Carleton – add a hot tub to rear yard 3/4/2022 

1233 Dwight – Create 430 sq ft 2^nd story addition and 20 sq ft 1^st floor addition to existing single-family dwelling 3/14/2022 

2500 MLK Jr Way – Change of use from retail books to medical office in one commercial space 3/14/2022 

1641 Stuart – Residential addition on 2^nd floor of single family dwelling 3/14/2022 

2305 Telegraph – Change of use from retail to food establishment in existing vacant commercial space 3/14/2022 

1201 The Alameda – Establish new uncovered off-street parking space within required yard 3/14/12022 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/planning_and_development/land_use_division/current_zoning_applications_in_appeal_period.aspx 

WORKSESSIONS: 

March 10 – Reimagining Public Safety 

March 15 – Housing Element Update 

April 19 – Fire Department Standards of Coverage Study, BART Station Planning 

June 21 – open 

July 19 - open 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Alameda County LAFCO Presentation 

Civic Arts Grantmaking Process & Capital Grant Program 

Civic Center – Old City Hall and Veterans Memorial Building (Tentative: Action Item) 

Mid-Year Budget Report FY 2022 

Kelly Hammargren’s on what happened the preceding week can be found in the Berkeley Daily Planet www.berkeleydailyplanet.com under Activist’s Diary. This meeting list is also posted at https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html on the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition website. 

If you would like to receive the Activist’s Calendar as soon as it is completed send an email to kellyhammargren@gmail.com. If you wish to stop receiving the weekly summary of city meetings please forward the weekly summary you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com.