The word “politician” is not a pejorative in my lexicon. Even “political operative” is okay, because in our system of government we can’t get along without some pros. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it. “Party hack” might be the term I’d choose if I wanted to denigrate someone who’d made an undistinguished career of playing politics, but it’s not one I’ve used often.

However, I do have a problem with professional pols of whatever stripe who style themselves “community organizers.” No, working on electoral campaigns for pay is not being a community organizer. Running for office is not being a community organizer. Cesar Chavez was a community organizer; Willie Brown (whom I grudgingly admire) was not.

Which is why, when I cleaned out my mailbox for the umpteenth time today, I was annoyed all over again by the flood of huge glossy color super-expensive mailers on behalf of carpet-bagger Buffy Wicks. Seven of the 19 in today’s haul were from her, obviously representing a ton of cash spent by those who are behind her do-drop-in candidacy.

Just in case you haven’t heard who are the pay-to-play interests behind primary candidates in districts guaranteed to be safe for Democrats, a good place to start is this article in In These Times:

YIMBYs Exposed: The Techies Hawking Free Market “Solutions” to the Nation’s Housing Crisis

Reporter Toshio Meronek does a stellar job of tracking the big bucks behind the variously titled promoters of the development industry who have been busy endorsing California candidates in this electoral season. The umbrella title for these promoters is YIMBYs, acronymically signifying Yes in My Back Yard. Here in the 15^th Assembly District, their main mouthpiece has been re-named “East Bay for Everyone”, but it’s the same pirates flying under a new flag. -more-

This week we've again moved the new issue publication date to Saturday to make sure the Activist's Calendar can be ready in time. And also, I'm going to try to post new editorials mid-week instead of on Fridays, so regular readers should look for them then. And there's more to come this weekend and beyond. If you want to get an emailed reminder of new content, you can sign up by emailing subscribe@berkeleydailyplanet.com. -more-

Most of us realize that the poor pay a very heavy personal price because affordable housing in desirable neighborhoods is not available. Among the major penalties of being poor is a shorter life span. Residents who live in highly polluted West Oakland, for example, live up to ten years less than residents in the Oakland hills. Generally speaking, the substantial costs of renting leaves little or no money to spend on other necessities of life, including food and medical care. -more-

Members of Congress are finally speaking out condemning Israel over its brutal “Gestapo” actions. This comes amid growing international outrage over the bloodshed. -more-

Berkeley’s Vendetta against an African American family

The following is an attempt to give conceptual coherence to the story of what has happened to Mr. Leonard Powell of 1911 Harmon St. in Berkeley. Mr. Powell is African American, and a veteran of the US military. Since 2015, the city of Berkeley has engaged in a campaign whose essential outcome has been to evict Mr. Powell from the house he owns. Given the heights to which rental levels have risen, driving him out of his home will be tantamount to driving him out of town. What the city has pursued is tantamount to a heartless vendetta. And the story is rife with excesses and procedural misconduct.

When Mr. Powell first purchased the house, in 1974, he had a family, a wife and six children. The house was a duplex, which he transformed into a single-family home, and it fit the family perfectly. Forty years later, when the city of Berkeley first becomes aware of this house, three of the people living in it were in poor health. Mr. Powell’s brother needs continual access to an oxygen machine. One of his daughters has to undergo dialysis every day and did so with a machine in the house. And Mr. Powell himself had very limited energy owing to the fact that he had donated a kidney to his wife, in an effort to save her life. Nevertheless, the city of Berkeley managed to drive these people out of that house, on which they depended, in June of 2017. The city did this by working, over a two-year period, to put the house under receivership. The obsessive steps the city took to accomplish this are clearly spelled out in proceedings in Alameda County Superior Court (Berkeley vs. Powell; all filings referred to here are part of that case).

In the following report, I will focus on three factors in Mr. Powell’s story. The first is a police raid on the house in July 2014. The second is the campaign announced by the city in court filings beginning in March of 2015 to place the house under receivership. And the third has to do with the representation given Mr. Powell by a lawyer he unfortunately retained to assist him in resisting the receivership in April 2017.

I will first give some background to this history, and then address each of these factors in turn. I have read over the Superior Court filings in the case and spoken to Mr. Powell at length about them. I will be drawing certain conclusions as I proceed. These conclusions are mine. They represent what the documents and sequence of events I have encountered in this case tell me. -more-

Often converted from existing spaces or built as simple single-story structures, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) such as backyard cottages and garage conversions are one of the cheapest ways to build new homes. With recent legislative changes, dozens of ADUs have been built in Berkeley in the last two years. -more-

The Trump Administration is so dreadful they've made the George W. Bush Administration seem almost acceptable in comparison. Dubya was also a dummy but at least he wasn't a racist bully. And Dubya surrounded himself with folks that had some connection to mainstream American foreign policy: Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley. Trump's first National Security Adviser was crazy Michael Flynn; now it's equally crazy John Bolton. -more-

Nope, I am not compiling a list of free food places for this week's column. I am writing of the fact that you will get what you pay for. I am not speaking of retail, either, in which often you do not get what you paid for. I am speaking of recovery and doing well. -more-

Mr. former Vice President— or Dick if you don’t mind — I was greatly disturbed to hear that you endorsed Gina Haspel or “Bloody Gina” as she has been affectionately called, for Director of the CIA, and your call to restart the use of torture, or as you once euphemistically called torture, “enhanced interrogation techniques.” -more-

To learn what's happening on Berkeley's arts scene, you can now reach the Berkeley Arts Festival Calendar directly from the Planet. You can then click on an individual date for a full description of every event on that day.

To reach the calendar, click here. -more-

Scholars believe Johann Sebastian Bach must have written many more orchestral works than the four Orchestral Suites that are extant. Scholars are divided over when and where Bach was working at the time he composed the four Orchestral Suites known to us. Some say he must have composed them while at Cöthen (1717-1723), while others, including ABS’s founder and music director Jeffrey Thomas, believe Bach composed them between 1729 and 1740 in Leipzig, where they were likely performed at the Café Zimmerman. In any case, all four of Bach’s extant Orchestral Suites were programmed by Jeffrey Thomas for this May 10-14 weekend’s concerts throughout the Bay Area. I caught Saturday’s performance at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church. -more-

Worth Noting:

• May 21, deadline to register to vote in the June 5 primary https://registertovote.ca.gov/ It is not too late to request absentee ballot if you are not already a permanent vote by mail voter
• May 29, ballots on Street Light Assessment and Stormwater fee will be counted. Ballots may be delivered at beginning of City Council meeting to be counted if not already in the mail.
• City Council Agenda for May 29 is published with critical items in BOLD available for comment by emailing council@cityofberkeley.info or calling your council member. Agenda: Consent 5. Commissioners Manual, 14. Secure Storage for homeless, support AB 2308 cigarette filter ban, oppose AB 2923 placing BART in charge of local Zoning, 19. Audit Alameda Co Sheriff office, 21. Declare homelessness as CA State emergency, 24. Support AB 2874 hospital closure & emergency care, Action: 28. Budget update hearing #2, 29. Ballot Initiatives, 31. Vacancy as Condition of Unlawful Nuisance, 32. Police Review Commission Charter Amendment Recommendations. 34. Home Share Pilot Program, 35. Small Sites Program https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2018/05_May/City_Council__05-29-2018_-_Regular_Meeting_Agenda.aspx

• Monday – Documentary on Wild Fires at the Brower Center followed with Q&A
• Tuesday – Forum on unhoused
• Wednesday – Four commissions - Disaster & Fire, Energy, Human Welfare, Police Review Commission - have important agenda items for our community
• Thursday - Public hearing in Pleasanton – conditional use permits from E&B Natural Resources to inject oil/chemical waste into Alameda Co aquifers being considered

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