Berkeley candidates outline their positions on the arts
Five Berkeley mayoral candidates and a slew of contenders for City Council gathered Wednesday evening at the Freight & Salvage to discuss their commitment to funding the arts. The Berkeley Cultural Trust, a consortium of individuals from various arts organizations in Berkeley, put on the candidates’ debate. Its setting could not have been more appropriate: the building, which once housed a garage, now serves as the Bay Area’s premiere venue for folk and bluegrass performances. The Freight & Salvage sits on Addison Street in the heart of Berkeley’s Arts District, right across the street from Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theatre and the California Jazz Conservatory (which is expanding across the street).
Housing views show split in South, West Berkeley races
Berkeley City Council candidates for South and West Berkeley took the stage Monday night to share their views on housing, diversity, homelessness, the economy and public safety, among other topics. The forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters Berkeley Albany Emeryville, was the first to bring together the candidates for District 2 (West Berkeley) and District 3 (South Berkeley) to help get their views out to voters in a group setting.
Berkeley progressives call for affordable housing, new leadership
BERKELEY — It is possible to build affordable housing in Berkeley, but to do so, new city leaders must be elected in November, speakers told a crowd of more than 100 March 6 at an afternoon Berkeley Progressive Alliance forum, “Housing for the rest of us.”
Berkeley candidates file campaign finance reports
BERKELEY — In the crowded race for mayor in November, only four candidates so far have reported any fundraising, two of them in the five figures, according to campaign financial disclosures due Aug. 1.
Op-ed: A new vision for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund
On Tuesday, the City Council will discuss Mayor Bates’s omnibus housing plan. The plan has 13 points and covers everything from condo conversions to incentivizing Section 8 vouchers and by-right development rights. Yet, his proposal is a sweeping portrait of supply side economics and does not address displacement. It is premised on the idea that increasing the supply of market rate (expensive) apartments will ease the burden on everyone else, because, the argument goes, wealthy new comers will no longer be competing with everyone else for housing. Further, there is a presumption that people who move here will take mass transit to work, thus lessening our city’s carbon footprint.
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Berkeley election promises to bring new faces to city hall
District 3 hopeful Ben Bartlett, 42, an attorney and member of the city Planning Commission and the loan administration board, is endorsed by Anderson and former Congressman Ron Dellums. He emails that he is most proud, during a previous stint on the Zero Waste Commission, of banning plastic bags and standing up “against special interests to protect our waterways and oceans.
Demand an End to Police Militarization in Berkeley
Tuesday December 15, Berkeley City Council members will discuss the city's involvement and participation in Urban Shield, a highly militarized SWAT training and weapons expo. The City Council will also be discussing the Berkeley police's crackdown of a protest last December, in which people who came out to stand up against the murders of Black people at the hands of police were brutalized.
Berkeley NAACP seeks city department to address race, equity
“A Department of Race and Equity would be absolutely germane to everything else we’re trying to achieve here,” Councilman Max Anderson told some 75 people at the chapter’s Aug. 29 meeting at the South Berkeley Senior Center. “If we can’t do it in Berkeley, where can it be done?”
Berkeley email spam mishap spawns community spirit
Thousands of Berkeley voters got stuck in an email storm last week after a technical glitch became a viral meme that prompted around 70 residents to hold a potluck picnic Sunday.
Petition for MBAN Spectrum Allocation in TV White Space
PETITION TO THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION : TV WHITE SPACE / TELEMEDICINE
Petition for Rulemaking for the Allocation Frequency in the TV White Space Spectrum by Ben Bartlett
Berkeley Library Demo Draws Dozens In Support
A modestly sized rally of about 60 to 70 individuals gathered at the steps of City Hall on the evening of April 26, 2011 to express support for the demolition and rebuilding of the South and West branches of the Berkeley Public Library.
Rally planned to draw attention to library lawsuit
Dozens of church leaders, community activists, students, and library supporters plan to stage a rally outside city hall on Tuesday to call attention to a lawsuit they believe could stop construction of new libraries in the southern and western parts of Berkeley.
Recycling and Anxiety in Berkeley
A proposal to increase recycling fees in Berkeley has brought the feud between poachers and residents to a boil.