This is the most interesting city council race in Berkeley. This is a completely open seat, as incumbent Dona Spring died earlier this year.
Five people are running, but only two have a real shot: school board member Terry Doran and rent board commissioner Jesse Arreguin. I don't get to vote in this race, but I live across the street from the district.
Arreguin is an aide to councilmember Kriss Worthington, so he obviously understands how the council works. His endorsements include the Sierra Club, two councilmembers, and several individuals I know and respect.
But as I read through his issues page, I had some concerns. The city is making real progress on environmental issues: look at the solar financing program. Supply and demand does operate in the housing market: if there are more homes in places where many people want to live, they will be more affordable. Why do you think homes are so expensive in the Bay Area? He calls Berkeley's recent approach to affordable housing a "horrible mistake." But that approach has created many more homes that people of all incomes can afford. And he opposes Measure LL, which sealed the deal for me.
Doran has been a good school board member for several years, where he was a good voice for equity. After leaving the School Board in 2006, he's been on the zoning board and the committee developing the downtown area plan. Like Arreguin, he knows the players and how to get things done. He's also got lots of endorsements: Mayor Bates plus 6 of 8 councilmembers and again, a bunch of people I know and respect.
On development issues, I like his stances better than Arreguin's. Doran gets that Berkeley's recipe for affordable housing needs to be a combination of tenant protections for existing renters plus enough new homes that our children can find places to live (maybe that has something to do with the fact that 4 generations of his family live in the same neighborhood!). On the zoning board, he voted to support the Trader Joe's at MLK and University and new homes along transit corridors, including many in his district.
I encourage you to vote for Terry Doran for City Council in District 4.
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I live in District 4 and am very opposed to Terry Doran "representing" our district. As a school board member he had no interest in working with the neighborhood on issues that impacted us. He was dismissive at best of neighbors' concerns. Why suddenly is he interested in the issues? Jesse is much smarter and more responsive and, most importantly, will think for himself. I am deeply concerned by the erosion of democratic processes of late in Berkeley government. We need more candidates who are independent thinkers and not part of a slate. The majority of endorsements I see for Terry are from people who live outside his district but support Bates.
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