Congratulations on a terrific mailer.

First of all, congratulations on keeping your finger prints completely off of it. I am sure no one connects you to the East Bay Health…Affordable Housing, etc.PAC.

Second, the artwork is great, just enough shading on the dark pages that recipients will know Jovanka is Black.

And all the great hit facts that are here to read, way too late to give Jovanka time for rebuttal. I live in Berkeley and I know our leaders would NEVER allow a meeting to “stretch past midnight.” Really bad!

I hope you don’t mind if I send this in to the Lee Atwater Foundation for its annual Willie Horton Award for best campaign ad.

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Editor's Note: We believe that the author intends this letter to be satire. -more-

The Jovanka Beckles for AD 15 campaign urges East Bay progressives to rally with Senator Bernie Sanders, Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Jovanka at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 27, 2018 at the Berkeley Community Theater (on the grounds of Berkeley High School). -more-

In her October 17 op-ed urging a Yes vote on Berkeley’s Measure Q, Debbie Sanderson writes: “Because the rents [in Accessory Dwelling Units, a.k.a. granny flats] are typically low, California now allows cities to count ADUs toward their low-income housing construction requirements.”

It’s true that, since 2003, the state has allowed cities to count ADUs toward low-income housing. But where’s the evidence that ADU rents are usually low?

A new study authored by University of Massachusetts Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Professor Darrel Ramsey-Musolf, “Accessory Dwelling Units as Low-Income Housing: California’s Faustian Bargain,” says no such evidence exists.

Published in Urban Science on September 5, the study examined a random sample of 57 low-, moderate- and high-income California cities. The researchers counted 750 potential ADUs as low-income housing. They found that “[even] though 759 were constructed, no units were identified as available low-income housing. In addition, none of the cities’ zoning codes enforced low-income occupancy.”

In summary: -more-

Please cast a NO vote on Measure FF. A NO on Measure FF will stop funding of millions of dollars to clear-cut hundreds of thousands of healthy trees and turn these fire-abating trees into dried, flammable kindling in the East Bay Hills. David Maloney, Fire Prevention Chief, Oakland Army Base, “Dried grass provides the most flammable ground fuel,” and, “There‘s no if’s, and’s, or but’s… every single tree is a wildfire mitigation factor…. Trees block wind, drip fog onto grasses, and block sun so grasses stay moist.” -more-

Those of us who attended the “emergency” City meeting on traffic circles some weeks ago signed up to be on the mailing list for future meetings. As one of the attendees who requested notification, I did not receive the mailing. Unfortunately, Lack of notification from City staff seems to be all too typical but thanks to friends and word of mouth a notice was forwarded to me. Here is what it said:

Dear Community Member,

You are invited to participate in a Public Works community meeting regarding Traffic Circle Landscaping on October 23rd from 6:00pm to 7:30 pm at the Frances Albrier Community Center at 2800 Park Street. The primary purpose of this meeting is to provide an opportunity for the community to help inform the vision and maintenance plan for landscaping in all City traffic circles.

Agenda:

6:00 to 6:15 Welcome

6:15 to 6:30 Public Works Overview of Traffic Circles including history, safety, future signage, future landscaping, volunteer opportunities.

6:30 to 7:30 Traffic Circle Workshop to identify Traffic Circles for pilot testing drought tolerant decorative plantings and determine next steps for ongoing community involvement.

Sincerely, Joy Brown, Senior Managment Analyst, Public Works Department, City of Berkeley

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We are frequently negligent, often clumsy, always self-centered. When something bad occurs due to our negligence we rarely admit responsibility. When someone gets hurt, only a fool accepts any blame. Within sight of the incident is a billboard: "Injured? Call 1-800-xxx-xxxx!"

From 1994 or earlier, Liebeck v. McDonald's (the "scalded crotch lady" case) we saw we can turn injury into millions. Since 1994 no American can buy a coffee in the U.S. without a java jacket and a lid. The favorite targets of opportunistic lawsuits: local governments and school districts. They are rained upon by such suits. Why not? "I want to be a millionaire!"

I always believed a thoughtful populace like that of Berkeley would see through some banalities of American culture. But maybe time has dulled our eyes. A couple years ago a driver hit and seriously injured a pedestrian on Ellsworth. They and their law firm declared that neither driver nor pedestrian were at fault. A tree was at fault. Hence the owner of the tree - the City of Berkeley - is at fault. (Note that the tree did not fall upon anyone. It just passively did what trees do.) A judge endorsed their thinking. Our city agreed to pay $2.1 million to these two and their attorney, Lamb and Frischer. Moreover, as apparent penitence, the city agreed to cut down all the trees in all the traffic circles in Berkeley. Both staff and elected council regard this as normal. -more-

Subsidizing corporate interests to influence campaigns; collusion between candidates at public expense

This is the first election in Berkeley with public financing of campaigns. If candidates limit their contributions to $50 (instead of $250), Berkeley will provide $6 in matching funds (using taxpayer dollars) for each $1 dollar contributed up to a total campaign cost of $40,000 for a City Council race.[1]

How is this working so far in Berkeley? We now have a first look after the candidates for Berkeley’s four City council races filed their Form 460 with California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). The good news is that the vast majority of reported campaign expenditures are for valid costs such as voter software, campaign signs, mailers, and the obligatory bagels and pizza for volunteers. The bad news is the lack of safeguards in the program has encouraged wasteful and/or self-serving expenditures, has not taken the effect of big money out of politics, and has allowed candidates to gang up on a candidate. The following focuses on District 4.

Party at Magofna’s

The use of public campaign funds should serve as a budget on training wheels for a candidate. How they manage $40,000 of the public’s money is an indication of how they’ll manage Berkeley’s $300 million budget. The honor of the most self-indulgent use of campaign funds clearly goes to Greg Magofna. His “campaign kickoff” luncheon cost the public $1,491.59[2], four times more than the next candidate, and 100 times the $14.25 for “Pasta and chips for fundraising events” Alfred Twu reported in District 8.[3] To this add $483.58 to buy a “personal printer and toner supplies”[4], just under the $500 limit for capital expenditures.[5] Even if he doesn’t get any votes, Greg will get to keep the printer. No wonder Greg is being quoted in Berkeleyside as being “grateful for the public matching funds.”[6] -more-

Last week I got an email from a friend in Contra Costa County who doesn’t usually read the Daily Planet:

“We've been getting negative ads about Beckles in the mail. I don't know if you've gotten them but they are playing with racism (implying that Beckles is crazy and badly behaved, etc). The tactic only serves to make mainstream democrats look bad (would Obama approve of them?), and could alienate progressives still further. Does Wicks approve of these mailers? I find it all very disturbing...”

My somewhat snarky response: You should read the Berkeley Daily Planet.

But really, I also find it very disturbing. In last week’s editorial, I reprinted Wicks’ email address from her website, prompting reader Chris Adams to send her this sarcastic letter with a copy to us:

Dear Buffy Wicks,

Congratulations on a terrific mailer.

First of all, congratulations on keeping your finger prints completely off of it. I am sure no one connects you to the East Bay Health…Affordable Housing, etc.PAC.

Second, the artwork is great, just enough shading on the dark pages that recipients will know Jovanka is Black.

And all the great hit facts that are here to read, way too late to give Jovanka time for rebuttal. I live in Berkeley and I know our leaders would NEVER allow a meeting to “stretch past midnight.” Really bad!

I hope you don’t mind if I send this in to the Lee Atwater Foundation for its annual Willie Horton Award for best campaign ad.

The piece my friend received was attributed to "Coalition for East Bay Health Care Access, Affordable Housing and Quality Public Schools, supporting Buffy Wicks for Assembly 2018," , an Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee whose management has been traced to a conservative Republican lawyer in Sacramento. That might have given Buffy plausible deniability, but so far she hasn’t renounced their support.

But the glossy item that came in my mail today was even more …well…depressing.

This one was clearly paid for by “Buffy Wicks for Assembly”. Banner headline: “Buffy Wicks for Assembly is endorsed by the East Bay Express...”

Now, that’s just a lie. A plain, flat lie.

Here’s what the East Bay Express’s website now says, one more time:


“15th Assembly District: No Endorsement

This was also a tough choice for us. We co-endorsed Buffy Wicks, a former Obama White House aide, in the June primary with Oakland Councilmember Dan Kalb. But we've been greatly disappointed in several of her policy stances since then, particularly her decision to oppose Proposition 10, which would allow cities like Berkeley and Oakland to enact tougher rent control laws in order to reduce displacement of longtime residents who can't afford to live here. We view Prop. 10 as one of the most important issues on the ballot. We're also disappointed in her decision to accept independent expenditure help from billionaire, charter-school backers.

Lying has become the fashion in Washington, where Wicks has spent a lot of her time, but it’s still somewhat frowned on in the East Bay.

The piece also devotes a full 8x11 color page (one of four) to an equally dishonest misstatement of Jovanka Beckles’ positions, the same easily rebuttable fake facts, accompanied by authentic appearing fake footnotes to partisan op-eds on obscure web sites, one of which is the Richmond Standard, the FauxNewsSource PR mouthpiece for Chevron.

Yes, it’s disturbing all right.

I fear that Wicks will be elected to represent wealthy developers instead of East Bay citizens in the California Assembly, given the vast sums being spent by them on her behalf.

I’m going to leave last week’s editorial online below, since sadly nothing much has changed. Read it and curse if you want to.
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