Please introduce yourself,
tell us briefly why you are running, and tell us, if you were elected,
what your priorities would be with respect to land use, transportation
and addressing global climate change.
Recommended priorities: more housing
and more diverse housing near transportation corridors and hubs/nodes.
This is a major part of the Climate Action Plan and is the foundation
of a sensible climate action strategy. In
conjunction with this, limit and reduce dependence on the private automobile.
Promote proximity of housing, jobs, basic services and shopping to create
lively, attractive urbanized centers.but
also make sure that physical attractiveness and high-quality design
are important.
1) Questions from Livable Berkeley:
In order to reduce greenhouse gases, new city policies and actions are needed to help people live where they work, shop where they live, and reduce travel.
1. How will you work with
the University to reduce single occupant auto travel to the campus from
and through Berkeley neighborhoods?
Ensure that BRT is implemented effectively.
Promote traffic calming in the residential neighborhoods. Experiment with new traffic calming methods and devices.
Promote carpooling and van pooling.
Continue to push for limits on additional student and staff parking. Parking creates traffic.
Promote Ecopasses and class passes.
Develop more car-sharing programs.
Develop and promote bicycle-sharing programs.
Build more housing near campus.
Explore the possibility of all freshmen
coming to CAL leave their cars at home either by offering bicycles as
an inducement or making it a requirement for admission.
2. What city policies will
you support to enable more UC employees and private sector retail, office
and service workers to live in Berkeley?
Affordable housing is a critical need. Promote diverse types of housing. Ensure that affordable housing requirements for new construction are implemented and enforced. Develop innovative programs like city/UC loans to help employees purchase housing.
Give bonus points for housing eligibility
to city/university/private sector employees who desire to be car-free.
3. What kinds of public
transportation improvements will you support to provide more attractive
connections to our three BART stations, Downtown, and our main employment
and commercial districts?
Bicycle-sharing
Car-sharing
Shopper.s shuttle connecting the various districts and stations
.fare-free zone. on AC Transit
On-demand shuttle service to the hills
4. How will you achieve a more diverse population so students are not the only occupants of new private sector housing?
New housing has to include family-oriented
units, e.g., 2-3 bedrooms. But that.s only a beginning. New housing
should include green space and play areas for children, also child care
centers.
Several Years ago, Citizens for a Strawberry Creek Plaza was formed, with support from Ecocity Builders and others,to advocate for a pedestrian plaza on Center Street between Oxford and Shattuck. Center Street would be closed to traffic but provision would be made for deliveries and emergency vehicle access.
In November 2007, DAPAC (the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee) adopted a draft Downtown Area Plan. Center Street between Oxford Street and Shattuck Avenue was seen by the DAPAC as a centerpiece component to a bold new vision for downtown.The DAPAC supported, as the preferred option for Center Street between Shattuck Avenue and Oxford Street, thecreation of a public pedestrian-oriented open space or plaza.
As a gift to the City, Ecocity Builders, with financial contributions from the Mazer Foundation and Berkeley residents, hired renowned local landscape architect Walter Hood to help design a proposal for a Center Street Plaza as called for by DAPAC and is preparing to present the design to the Planning Commission and the City Council this year, following upon a number of public and stakeholder meetings and events already held over the past year, including meetings with downtown and Center Street merchants, the University and Berkeley Art Museum, the proposed Berkeley Charles Hotel, BART, the City of Berkeley including the Fire Department and Planning Department, the DBA, plus other advocacy groups in Berkeley.DAPAC recommendations , along with Planning Commission recommendations, will be delivered to City Council for its consideration in December 2008. Downtown Plan adoption by the City Council is expected in May 2009. The Center Street Plaza cannot become a reality without City Council backing.
As Mayor/City Councilperson,
would you support the proposed plaza on Center Street? Would you make
it a priority for the City to pursue funds to make the plaza a reality?What
variety of funding sources do you think the city could utilize?
The plaza should be a priority for the
city council because it has the potential to be a very attractive centerpiece
for the downtown of the future. Right now, though, there are more questions
than answers. What is UC Berkeley.s role in this? How will construction
costs be paid for? What will actually happen with Strawberry Creek given
that it.s far below grade?Yes it should be a priority; yes it has
great potential; yes it deserves city council support. But all these
questions need to be answered practically and realistically.
3) Questions from Urban
Habitat
My work as a teacher brought me into
cocyannow bett The BRT project has great potential to
attract new riders and problems that have been identified. Asand students. But we have to bstate budget and projected cuts, it wiservice without fare increases. One thing members of city councils in
CA can do is continually pressure the state legislature and governor
for higher fees and budget allocations that will favor public transportations.
We have to limit our spending on roadways and expand our spending on
public transit. The state legislature is the only level where these
decisio
4) Questions from Ella Baker Center The Berkeley
FIRST program will help property owners pay for the up-front costs of
installing solar energy systems on their homes and businesses. There
is some concern that such a program will not address the need to reduce
energy consumption or sufficiently benefit low-income residents. Would you support expanding
the program to include energy efficiency retrofits and measures to ensure
access for low-income households? Solar installations will be expensive
for everyone involved even with city subsidies and tax exemptions. Energy
efficiency retrofits may be a much more cost-effective approach in the
short run. One possibility would be to enlist high
school students as volunteers in a citywide energy efficiency retrofit
program. Under the umbrella of the East Bay Green
Corridor Partnership, the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond, and
Emeryville have come together with U.C. Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley
National Lab to support emerging green industries and create green-collar
job opportunities in our region. Do you support working with
East Bay Green Corridor cities to invest in green jobs, training, and
education? This is a great idea. Training and education
should be the priorities for this, andjobs for the area. 5)
Questions from Bay Localize As global
climate change worsens and energy bills rise to painful levels for working
people, cities and counties have powerful options under state law to
develop local, affordable, clean energy. One of the strongest tools
is known as Community Choice Energy, in which a city can become a buyers'
coop for electricity. In this public/private partnership, a city can
contract for higher levels of renewable power, boost energy efficiency,
and use low-cost financing to build our own renewable energy generation. Candidates: As other cities
and counties - notably Marin and San Francisco - forge ahead with Community
Choice Energy, how will you forward Community Choice Energy in Berkeley? CCE/CCA (Community Choice Aggregation)
is being thoroughly explored and studied in Berkeley and Oakland.
I support that and want to learn more about how it will work and the
extent to which it will be cost-effective. It.s important to be realistic
about this, however. PGE is known nationally as one of the greenest
utilities anywhere, and PGE is working rapidly to develop energy-efficient
models and programs. Although I definitely favor the CCA approach, PGE
has tremendous resources to develop new programs and technologies that
local communities may not be able to afford, especially at a time of
severe budget constraints. We need to keep our eye on this and try to
make it work if it can. But the basic model needs to be economically
sound. As the cost of imported goods rises in
the coming years, we're going to need all the space we can get to process
materials and manufacture our own goods.
Describe your level of commitment to preserving Berkeley's industrially-zoned
lands and what you intend to do about it? We should strive to keep light industry
in Berkeley as much as possible. We
should also promote agriculture and local organic gardening. Some industries
are not going to stay in a high-cost area like Berkeley, however, and
we need to accept that. We need to target those industries that want
and need to be in a central location like ours and
make every effort to give them benefits and bonuses for staying here. In a context of rising
food and energy prices, one way to increase Berkeley's food security
(especially for low income residents) is to increase access to healthy
nutritious food through local food production in community, backyard, food production in Berkeley? We should explore a tax rebate program
similar to the one Berkeley 6) F I oppose measure KK and have signed
a statement endorsing .No on KK.. 2)
If Measure KK is approved by voters, what action do you think the City
Council should take? The first step will be to explore the
legality of the measure. It may be possible to get an injunction to
stop Measure KK from being implemented. The city attorney has already
suggested that the measure may violate the city charter. I don.t favor either one of these approaches.
I would want to take every possible step to avoid the additional expenses
and waste of time Measure KK would authorize. I would try to stop it
thorugh legal measures before spending the money and wasting the time. 3) Cities typically implement transit
improvements in phases adding new light rail or BRT routes to
supplement or extend existing routes. (e.g light rail in Portland; BRT
in Boston and Eugene) If the City gives AC the go-ahead to implement
BRT on Telegraph, Bancroft and Shattuck downtown, would you support
an eventual extension of BRT service down University Avenue? Yes. But I would want to study the options.
It might be better to implement BRT on North Shattuck and Solano than
on University. 4) Besides BRT, what public transit improvements
do you think the city should support and/or fund to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions from transporta Yes. Aquatic Park is one of the city.s
treasures. It has been getting better and cleaner in recent years in
part thanks to Aquatic park EGRET. We should work continually to improve
this precious resource. Preserving the quality of the lagoons is a key
to that.
1) Opponents of Bus
Rapid Transit, or BRT, drafted and are supporting Measure KK on Novembers
ballot. Friends of BRT is, of course, opposed to Measure KK, which is
also opposed by 7 of 8 members of the City Council. Measure KK would
delay implementation of BRT by requiring an additional plan and voter
aAttorneys impartial analysis of KK states that a plan and election could
cost the City as much as $1.2 million.
Do you support Measure KK?
Two years ago the City formed
the Creeks Task Force to listen to creek property owner concerns and
environmental concerns about the original Creeks Ordinance in order
to revise it. The Council passed the Task Force's recommendations. Growing
out of that effort the City created a Watershed Coordinator position
to come up with a watershed plan fosee in that plan? A Sierra Club priority is completion
of the East Shore State Park. What are your views on this and where
do you stand on the November ballot measure WW to reauthorize Measure
AA funds to buy more open space and parklands? The East Sachieveme Thon this goal and do you have any ideas aboutAncomposting. It will also be important to ensure that businesses and
multi-unit buildings participate. The city will need to launch a special
initiative and hire additional staff to make that happen. What environmental issues
do you see in your District and what would you do about them if anything? I think the main environmental issue
in District 4 is getting people out of their cars and using public transportation.
We can contribute to this goal by building more housing, services and
support for revitalizing downtown so we can become a walking, biking,
public transportation using community. 9) Transportation and Land
Use Coalition Questions 1. Transit Efficiency Bus Rapid Transit (or BRT)
has been proposed by AC Transit to run from downtown Berkeley to downtown
Oakland via Telegraph Avenue and then on to San Leandro. AC Transit
is currently waiting for a response to the BRT Draft Environmental Impact
Report (DEIR) from the City of Berkeley in the form of a Locally Preferred
Alternative (or "LPA"). Berkeley's LPA would allow the City
to articulate what the City wants AC Transit to look at in the the Final
Environmental Impact Report for BRT as it runs through Berkeley. Despite the many benefits that
BRT would bring (as we can see in the video), and despite the City of
Berkeley's Transit-First policy, and with dedicated lanes for BRT endorsed
by both our General Plan and the draft Southside Plan, some Berkeley
merchants and residents have come out against the project. They fear
that reducing lanes for cars on Telegraph Ave. could create "cut
through traffic" on parallel streets. They also have concerns about
how the project would impact parking on
Telegraph Ave. To validate and truly mitigate
these concerns, AC Transit needs to study the impacts of BRT with dedicated
lanes as part of a "built alternative" in Berkeley'Howof Be
2. Measure KK Measure KK would create costly,
time consuming delays before the City could dedicate lanes for streetcars,
transit, light rail or HOV lanes anywhere in Berkeley. The ballot measure
claims it "increases democracy". However, measuactually undermine Workshopsencourage public participation. We don't require these kinds of delays
when we expand roads for cars, or for parking, and it seems
ironic to have to go through even more bureaucracy before improving
transit, especially considering Berkeley's "Transit First"
policy. The Sierra Club, The League
of Women Voters, TALC, the Alameda County Labor Council and other diverse
leaders in the community have taken a "No on Measure KK" position.
Mayor Bates and a majority of the City Council have also taken a "No
on Measure KK" position. On Election Day, how will you vote
on Measure KK and why? Measure KK is a bad idea and I have publicly
endorsed the No on KK position. The measure is clearly designed to kill
the BRT project. My hope and my expectation are that the measure will
be soundly defeated so we can move on with the BRT planning process
and seek workable solutions to the problems identified in the Draft
EIR. 10) Walk & Roll Berkeley
questions 1) Pedestrian Plan 2) Transportation
Services Fee In 2005, the City staff and
the Transportation Commission proposed creation of a new transportation
services fee, which was called for by the City's General Plan andas a mitigation in the General Plan's nexustogether Palo Alto's transportation fee. It would generated by newSinceDo you support establishing a trans
I would like to find a way to impose
additional fees to benefit the city on users of very large vehicles
or households with a large number of cars per capita. We
have to reduce annual vehicle miles traveled and there has to be both
a carrot and stick approach. Background on the TSF including nexus
study: < 3) Eco Pass Questions Eco Pass programs make transit
more affordable for employees and students. UC Berkeley has an Eco Pass
program for its students called "Class Pass". The City of
Berkeley has an Eco-Pass program for its employees. Both have led to
reductions in driving and increased use of transit by participating
employees and students. The way Eco Pass programs work is that employers
pay transit agencies a relatively modest sum per employee for every
employee so that they can have a bus pass. In most cases, employers
give the passes to employees for free. In the case of the Clat UC, students assess themselves to pay AC Transit for the passes.
Some cities, including Bouldefor people wand reduces employee demand for parking leaving moreof local businesses. When Donald Shoup, an expert
on parking policy and parking pricing visited Berkeley, he said that
Berkeley needed to raise its parking rates in downtown and that it should
use some of the revenues from higher parking rates to help fund an Eco-Pass
program for employees of Downtown businesses. Do you support establishing
a downtown Eco-Pass program to encourage downtown employees to use If yes, would you support
using parking revenues to support some of the cost? Besides contributions
from employers, what other revenue sources would you support for such
a program? See response above. As for other revenues,
this is a very bad time to be asking that question.
California is choking to death financially and vital services, including
public transportation, are being cut. In the new budget environment,
which is likely to last for a long time to come,
Berkeley should establish a task force to study potential new sources
of revenue to support both the requirements of
the climate action plan and the need for way ItCitge
The Transportation Commission
recommended that 55% of the $3.5 million in Vista College Mitigation
funds should go to transit, pedestrian and
bicycle improvements and 45% should go to parking improvements in downtown,
including the possible rebuilding of the City's Center Street public
parking garage. The Commission based this on the fact that only about
45% of students and staff coming to Vista classes require parking. We
asked about Vista funds at the 2004 election forum. More than four years
later, the money has still not been How do you think this money should be allocated between promotion
of alternative modes of transportation and parking? In the context of
Measure G and global climate change, what should have a higher priority? The transportation commission formula
is, if anything, to generous to parking. It.s alarming though that
4 years later the funds have not been spent. Assuming
that some of the funds will be used for the seismic retrofit of the
center st. garage, those funds are worth less and less as time goes
on. We need to press for a decision soon and stop punting on this. 1) Bicycle Plan Berkeley was a national leader
in 2000 with the adoption of our Bicycle Plan, which detailed a network
of bicycle priority streets where everyone, young and old, and people
with disabilities, whether walking, bicycling or using a wheelchair,
would feel safe and comfortable to get anywhere in town. However, throughout
this decade little progress on the network has been made. Berkeley is
falling behind. The number one reason peopleare not bicycling remains
that they do not feel safe, let alone comfortable. Bicycle improvements
can be quick and inexpensive, yet we have had not even one full time
employee (FTE) on average working on bicycle issues, and Berkeley still
does not have a multimodal planner, in contrast to many cities moving
forward. More staff time would bring in new money to
Berkeley and move established elements of the Plan forward. Cutting edge research reveals
the obvious, that a supportive local culture for bicycling is key to
getting more people on bicycles. However, in Berkeley the bicyclist's
experience is too often discouraged by harsh treatment and conditions.
Harassment from motorists is a common problem. Bicycle theft remains
a primary deterrent to bicycling, and we are currently losing much of
our bicycle parking near shopping
to provide new automobile parking systems. Berkeley has some of the
most extreme bicycle laws in the world (it is a misdemeanor to park
to a parking meter, which contravenes state law). Relationships
with the p olice department have not moved forward despite a council
directive almost a decade ago and years of efforts from local advocates;
and police "stings" against walkers and bikers remain the
City's primary form of bicycle education. This lack of progress and harsh
environment stands in stark contrast to our climate action goals and
public health goals. A sizeable portion of our daily automobile trips
can be replaced effectively and conveniently by the bicycle. Bicycling
rates of even 25-50% of all trips occur in comparable cities where provisions
have been made. The bicycle is a tool which extends and improves life,
and prevents disability, without contributing to climate change emissions
and other deadly air pollution. Every year that we wait is a lost opportunity
to improve and literally save the lives
of our citizens. After generations of automobile
planning, it will take more than a fraction of a percent of funding
and an occasional staff hour to make our city a healthy hive for the
healthier modes of walking and bicycling. A committed focus
on upgrading the city is required. Yes. We need to make bicycling a priority
in fact not just in principle. That means supporting it with optimal
resources.as much as we can within current budget constraints. We
need to identify the best and most cost-effective ways to make use of
the resources that are available. I.m a regular bicyclist and this is
important to me. One way I can help is to model the behavior we.re
encouraging in others.namely, ride my bicycle and attend local events
by bicycle. The more I do that, the more I can address with real-world
knowledge the problems that all bicyclists have to deal with. That.s
the essence of real leadership.
c. What would you like to see done in
your district to improve conditions for
bicycling? A
very key challenge will be to impove bicycling in the downtown, which
my district includes. Toward that end, I.ll want to see significantly
increased secure bicycle parking (for example, an expanded Bikestation)
and bicycle infrastructure, e.g., the Milvia St. bicycle boulevard,
that will meet the needs of all users, not
just those who are most able. I want to see streets in the downtown
where parents and young children feel safe and comfortable bicycling.
Right now that.s not the case. 2. Car-free housing Over the past 30 years, Berkeley's
population has remained fairly stable while automobile traffic has risen
substantially. This is in large part due to the development over time
of a jobs-housing imbalance, wherein new commuters
have been created without providing housing for them locally, giving
people the impression of overcrowding when population has not changed. At the same time, our Downtown
is hurting for lack of residents, and there is a large and growing population
who wish to live without a car and live near their primary destinations
to enjoy a simpler, walking-biking-transit or "carfree" lifestyle
who would happily choose to live in Downtown if provided
for. One solution that has been
proposed is to provide more residential density in Downtown Berkeley
without providing parking, a strategy that has worked well in many cities
around the world. This is particularly
viable given the rise of convenient car sharing programs in the Bay
Area, and the presence of a transit hub in the center of town. Concerns about increased pressures
on nearby residential areas have been the primary political objection,
yet carfree housing would reduce existing commuter trips, and contracts
with residents, along with a refusal to issue parking permits to carfree
housing residents, would provide ample control. Many cities successfully
waive parking limits in centers without providing any
regulation. Everyone would benefit, while promoting the revitalization
of our Downtown and reducing climate emissions per capita in Berkeley. Do you support establishing
a program allowing the development of carfree housing in our Downtown? Yes. I.ve already described my position
on this kind of increase in the jobs/housing/recreation mix in previous
questions. I think it.s essentially to deal with a multiplicity of
problems. 3. Milvia Street Milvia street is our primary
designated bicycle boulevard Downtown, and as such it is shared by the
w idest array of residents from throughout the city. Yet it is also
our most problematic designated bicycle boulevard, with dangerous and
uncomfortable conditions. Among the proposals which would make Milvia
into a bicycle boulevard is the idea of a plaza in front of City Hall,
similar to the successful Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, with the benefit
of making our city center a more pleasant place to be and allowing for
special functions on the steps of City Hall. This is a great idea! Yes yes yes! Right
now the Milvia St. bicycle boulevard is very dangerous, and calling
it a bicycle boulevard is a travesty. Of course, a plaza like this will
have to be carefully studied, and we.ll need to ensure that we.re
not creating extreme challenges to traffic flow. I believe that.s
possible. People will grumble, but ultimately this can be a highly visible
indication of our commitment to a more livable city. b. Do you support moving
rapidly to implement Milvia as a bicycle boulevard
in our downtown? that.s essential. I already stated
that Milvia does not work at all well as a bicycle boulevard. It
has far too much traffic and in the heart of downtown is actually quite
a dangerous street on which to bicycle. 12) Kyoto USA Questions 2) What have you done personally in the last
year to reduce your carbon emissions? 3) The City has just released its 2nd
draft Climate Action Plan What measures described in the Plan
would be your top priority and why? Please be as specific as possible. Definitely the transit-oriented
development. Creating new urbanized centers where housing, jobs, recreation,
and basic services such as essential shopping are all in close proximity
to each other is one of our best hopes to address the problem of global
warming and climate change. Berkeley
should become a model for the nation, creating attractive and highly
livable .mini-communities. near transit cooridors and nodes.
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