Public Comment

“Berkeley Must Advocate for Housing Affordability”, so says an op ed in the Feb 12 Daily Cal. The article praises student protestors for showing up at the Berkeley City Council meeting to advocate for the development of an 18-story housing complex in downtown Berkeley and to denounce the residents who opposed the building on the basis of its interference with views of the Bay Area. The op ed goes on, “But one thing they (students) failed to do was demand affordability". ……”The development of new market rate housing merely contributes to the gentrification of Berkeley, exacerbating the lack of affordable housing for local residents.” ??????
So, after the project gets approved by the council the student newspaper says what a lot of Berkeley residents have been thinking.

Views aside, the project will not after all have any “affordable” apartments. Were the students aware of that before they put on their demonstration?

There seems to be a pattern here. Yet another big box corporate monster apartment building gets proposed and the shock troops (students,YIMBYs and media) show up to bully, deride and attribute motives to Berkeley citizens who have real concerns. Council is emboldened to stick with their marching orders and spit in the face of their tax paying constituents.

Could we please talk about the “Plan Bay Area”, drawn up and approved illegitimately by ABAG/MTC (now called MTC) in July of 2013, which mandates cities to build, build, build this type of housing. It used to be called “Smart Growth”. Now it’s called “affordable” housing, but it really isn’t . The MTC redevelopment machine cloaks itself in a righteous cause to perpetuate its con on the Bay Area