"When I heard about this wall, I knew we had an opportunity to use our leverage however small it may be, to make a stand," says Ben Bartlett, Berkeley City Council member who authored the measure.

“This enthusiastic response to the administration’s plans for a border wall demonstrates a dangerous normalization of President Trump’s agenda,” Barlett said, according to a press release. 

There are an estimated 118,142 people experiencing homelessness in California, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and many more low-income residents in need of affordable housing. At their best, micro-units provide a safe, clean space for those people to live and reclaim their dignity, Bartlett says.

“No matter what happens with the vote, Ben Bartlett is a hero for coming up with that idea and getting the people on all sides to think that that’s a great step forward,” said Worthington, after the confusion arose but before it was clear how the night would end. He called the compromise “an incredible, innovative policy initiative.”

The incident prompted Trump to threaten to pull federal funding from the university.

“It’s a sad day and we’re better than this,” [Councilmember Bartlett] said.

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín and Councilman Ben Bartlett have promised to increase police staffing and revive a recently disbanded specialized crime suppression unit to help address neighborhood concerns about safety following a spate of recent robberies in South Berkeley and the Elmwood District.

“Crime happens in isolation and fear. One of the things we can do is reject isolation, reject fear,” Bartlett said at the meeting. “Instead of isolation, we come together. We communicate. We befriend one another. We look out for each other.”

Tiny apartments may be a solution to a big problem in the Bay Area. Da Lin reports.

Where others cities will not venture, Berkeley dares to go. That’s how City Councilman Ben Bartlett views council’s unanimous vote Tuesday night to move ahead and explore the possibility of building tiny housing units aimed at the homeless and those on very low incomes.