Berkeley

by Lynda Carson --

Berkeley -- Due to a lack of public support, the plans to terminate Berkeley's public housing program have been put on hold, for a while.  

According to documents released by the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) on April 8, 2010, efforts to terminate Berkeley's public housing program has stalled as the BHA attempts to limit any more free speech activities (1st amendment rights) that would cause or contribute to any further unrest among Berkeley's public housing resident population.

By Lynda Carson

Berkeley -- During April 2009, the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) hired EJP/Praxis consultants to develop a strategic plan to assess options for what to do with it's public housing units, including the option to continue with it's public housing program, or the option to dispose of it's 75 public housing units through the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) disposition process, or to seek other options to meet the goals of the BHA, according to a July 3, 2009 report titled "Berkeley Housing Authority LIPH/RHCP Strategic Plan," prepared by EJP Consulting Group LLC, for the BHA.

By Lynda Carson

Berkeley – According to documents recently released online by the Office of the City Manager in Berkeley, the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) may receive kickbacks from a local non-profit housing developer in a scheme to privatize, revitalize and sell off its public housing. The scheme involves a vice president of consultant ICF International.

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

An Alameda County Superior Court Judge has taken the first vote in the 2008 local general election, ruling that certain portions of AC Transit At Large Board challenger Joyce Roy’s submitted ballot statement were either false or misleading, and ordering them removed.

Judge Frank Roesch’s ruling last week was in response to a lawsuit filed by Alameda County resident William Rowen. Rowen was represented by Oakland attorney David Stein, while Roy represented herself.

Roy, a retired Oakland architect and public transportation advocate, is challenging AC Transit Board President Chris Peeples for Peeples’ At-Large board seat.

By Russ Tilleman

By Judith Scherr

On Sunday, a group of self-identified progressives will select five candidates to form a slate to fill the five vacancies on the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board.

The convention, open to all people living in Berkeley, will take place Sunday, August 3, 4–8 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst Avenue at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Attendees are asked to pay a sliding-scale admission at the door.

By Alan Tobey

Dean Metzger (July 17) and other opponents of a Bus Rapid Transit plan that would employ dedicated lanes, continue to quote the project’s obsolescent draft environmental report (DEIR) as if it’s holy writ, and as if everything preliminarily mentioned therein will inevitably come to pass. But this stance ignores the first word in the title: The 15-month-old DEIR is indeed merely a first draft that attempts to generally describe the project, but inevitably does so in a way that all interested parties know is incomplete at best and sometimes even misleading.

By Richard Brenneman

Berkeley planning commissioners continued their march through the Downtown Area Plan last week with a side excursion through a controversial economic study.

During its two-year term the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) has struggled to decide how many buildings should be built in Berkeley’s downtown area and how high they should be.

Buildings of seven stories or higher have long been a focus of controversy in the city, pitting “smart growth” advocates against preservationists and neighborhood activists.