While recent bonds have enabled the city to create affordable housing and improve parks, streets, and other public facilities, funds have been fully committed. We need this measure to continue the progress.
Tom Bates
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: Measure MM sets back our efforts to provide homes for people with moderate incomes
Vote No on Measure MM to help ease the housing shortage, retain Berkeley’s diversity and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: Buffy Wicks is the best choice for the 15th Assembly District
We have served a combined 34 years in the California Legislature and believe that Wicks shares our values and will bring her quite remarkable organizing experience to the Legislature.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: 10 reasons to support Lori Droste for the Berkeley City Council
Two former Berkeley mayors and seven current and former City Council members believe Droste is the best qualified candidate.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: Celebrate $15 minimum wage for Berkeley workers
Today Berkeley ushers in a $15/hour minimum wage. How we got here is a good reminder of how we can work together on important issues instead of attacking each other on ideologies.
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Why 11 current and former Berkeley elected officials endorse Laurie Capitelli
We are former and current Berkeley elected officials who are united in our support for Laurie Capitelli as our next mayor. With our direct firsthand experience, we all deeply appreciate Laurie’s love for Berkeley, his trustworthiness, good humor, compassion, decency and intelligence. We urge you to vote for Laurie as your first choice. Laurie is […]
Posted inHousing & Development, Opinion
Op-ed: An omnibus housing plan to address a critical shortage
We all agree on the urgent need to address our critical shortage of housing, especially affordable housing. But how? In Berkeley, as in other Bay Area population centers, the housing supply has not kept pace with population. Berkeley’s population grew 5.5% from 2010-2015, while the housing supply increased by only 1.2%. The worsening shortage has […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: How can you help Berkeley youth qualify for a good career?
Berkeley can certainly take pride in the remarkable rise in our local high school graduation rate, but we still fall far short of what’s needed to assure equal opportunity for all students, especially disadvantaged youth. In the 2013-14 school year, the most recent year with comparative statewide data, Berkeley’s high school graduation rate was 89%, […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Request to Berkeley is abuse of Public Records Act
One of the strongest safeguards of open government is the California Public Records Act, but like any powerful instrument, it can cause great damage when abused. I was shocked on July 14 when I was informed that Shirley Dean, a former Mayor of Berkeley, has filed a Public Records Act request for hundreds of thousands […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: How to get more affordable housing in Berkeley
One of the most contentious issues facing Berkeley is how to require developers to help provide affordable housing. We are proposing a new approach. Everyone agrees we face a critical shortage of affordable housing, but what’s the best way to increase it? Under current City law, developers of market-rate rental housing projects are required to […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Beware deceptive ‘Save Post Office’ ballot petition
Berkeley’s downtown. Photo: Tracey Taylor Berkeley’s downtown. Photo: Tracey Taylor Don’t be deceived. Backers of a proposed measure for the Berkeley ballot in November are circulating voter-signature petitions under the guise of “saving the Post Office.” But the main thrust of the measure is to impose prohibitively restrictive fees and requirements on new projects in […]
Posted inOpinion
Mayor Bates: How the state budget affects Berkeleyans
After months of intense negotiations and wrangling, the governor’s proposed budget for 2012-13 was passed by the legislature. It remains, however, dependent on the passage of the Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act in the November 2012 election. What are the two budget scenarios facing the state?