Arts & Events

Worth Noting:

The new city website is turned on and it takes some getting used to. Most of the old links don’t work and there is still information missing. If you had webpages up in your browser before the conversion you will find most of them don’t work and you will either get a warning message or “404 page not found” The phone number 510.981.2489 goes to 311 after the list of emergency numbers.

To check for meetings, you will need to go to the home page https://berkeleyca.gov/ and weave your way down past the Latest News and Featured events to get to City Meetings. The City Council tab does not include Council Committees, it is only full council meetings.

Monday the Peace and Justice Commission meets at 7 pm with Reimaging Public Safety as item 10. on the agenda.

Tuesday the 4 x 4 Committee at 2:30 pm will be reviewing eviction for good cause ordinance as a November ballot measure,

Wednesday FITES at 2:30 pm continues work on plastic bag ordinance. In the evening at 7 pm the Planning Commission receives a Housing element Update. The Homeless Panel of Experts agenda is not posted, however, it would be expected that the agenda would be Measure P budget recommendations.

Thursday morning at 10:30 the Land Use Committee takes up a proposal for an Efficiency Unit Ordinance using 150 sq ft and 220 sq ft model ordinances – for comparison I added a link to tiny home pictures and floor plans.

The Thursday evening council special meeting is not posted - Mayor Arreguin announced that he will be presenting a response to the Reimagining Public Safety on May 5, but there is no posting for a meeting. Check during the week at https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas or call the Mayor’s office at 510-981-7100. The expected time would be at 6 pm.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission meets at 7 pm. The Transportation Commission is expected to meet but there is no posting.

The book festival is Saturday May 7 and Sunday May 8.

The May 10^th regular Council meeting is posted and available for comment. A full agenda list follows the city meetings by day of the week.

I could not update the list of approved projects in the appeal period as the previously used link is no longer functional and no new active link to that page could be found in the website.

Sunday, May 1, 2022 – no city meetings or events found -more-

Afropop superstar Angélique Kidjo has ventured into new territory in writing and performing the music for a 105-minute work of musical theatre entitled Yemandja. Framed as a struggle between two supernatural West African orishas, Yemandja and Orò, this is a work of magical realism based in the beliefs of Yoruban cosmology. Here two supernatural orishas, the female Yemandja and the male Orò, struggle to lead the people of 19th century West Africa in how to resist slavery. With a libretto written by Angélique Kidjo’s daughter, Naima Hebrail Kidjo, and music written by Kidjo and her husband, Jean Hebrail, Yemandja is a Cal Performances co-commission, which received its West Coast premiere at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on Saturday evening, April 23. -more-

In a major event at San Francisco Symphony, Guest Conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the Venezuelan-born wunderkind who took the helm of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009 at the age of 28, returned to Davies Hall on Thursday, April 21, to lead the San Francisco Symphony in four concerts over the weekend. Included in the program were Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504, “Prague,” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor by Gustav Mahler. -more-

Pianist Daniil Trifonov returned to Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on Thursday, April 28 under the auspices of Cal Performances for a solo recital of relatively unfamiliar works. The results, as always with Daniil Trifonov, were electrifying. Speaking of Trifonov after hearing his first Carnegie Hall recital, fellow pianist Martha Argerich said, “I never heard anything like this. His technique is impeccable and he has an element of the demonic.” That pretty much sums it up. -more-

Worth Noting - There is a lot happening this week.

Besides the special and regular council meetings on Tuesday, the City Departments present to the Council Budget Committee on Wednesday 12 - 4 pm and Thursday and Friday from 9 am – 5 pm. The Surveillance Report will be heard Tuesday evening at the Council 6 pm meeting, plus the Hopkins Corridor Redesign and the Homeless Commission referral for the development of a 24/7 crisis stabilization center.

Monday Zero waste will hear an update on the plastic recycling market. We might learn how much is “wish cycling” rather than actual recycling.

The parking pilot projects SmartSpace are on Wednesday for Elmwood and Thursday for Southside at 6:30 pm.

Wednesday evening at 7 pm the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission has a full schedule including Greg Brown Park and an outdoor fitness court at Cesar Chavez Park and the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission called a special meeting on budget recommendations for Measures GG and FF funds and to reconsider spending $500,000 of Measure FF funds on Eucalyptus Groves on unknown private property sites in the hills. The Police Accountability Board makes the third Wednesday evening 7 pm meeting. Health and Welfare is at 6:30 pm.

There is a series of city meetings on bicycling in Berkeley starting Thursday at 12 – 1:30 pm.

Thursday evening the Zoning Adjustment Board takes up the 6-story project at 1201 San Pablo and removing four more tenant spaces from media /film and the Mental Health Commission will get the latest update on the Special Care Unit and access to crisis care in Berkeley.

Housing Survey for tenants https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CABERKE/bulletins/314823c

BART Survey - https://bartberkeleyelcerritocap.participate.online/

Sunday, April 24, 2022 – no city meetings or events found -more-