Berkeley Mayor: Tom Bates

While there are six candidates on the ballot, only two have a chance: incumbent Mayor Tom Bates and challenger, Councilmember Kriss Worthington.

I'm voting for Bates again, as I did in 2008, 2006, and 2002. Tom Bates has been a capable Mayor. He has successfully moved Berkeley from where it was when I arrived in the mid-90s (Shirley Dean 'moderates' vs. Don Jelinek 'progressives') to a situation where he and most of the council occupy the center of Berkeley's politics, taking critique from both 'conservative' (Gordon Wozniak, Susan Wengraf) and 'progressive' opponents (Worthington, Arreguin).

In my experience working with Mayor Bates in regional decision-making bodies (such as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission), I have found him to be a very strong ally. His legislative experience gives him added gravitas in dealing with other regional leaders. He has consistently been willing to stand up for the needs of Berkeley and the rest of the urban core of the Bay Area. Within Berkeley, he has been supportive enough of the transit-oriented development and public transit improvements Berkeley needs. I don't agree with Mayor Bates on everything (example: Measure S), and I'm guessing this is his last term in office. But I trust him.

I can't say that anymore about challenger Kriss Worthington. I first met Mr. Worthington in 1996 when I helped briefly with his first campaign for city council. In 2000 I worked with him on the earlier Measure B. I have seen him change from a true progressive hero to someone who would take Berkeley in the wrong direction. Here are three examples from issues I'm most familiar with:

First, his positions keep getting worse on what kind of development should happen in the city. In the mid-2000s, he opposed good individual proposals for new homes along transit corridors in Berkeley. Then in the late 2000s he led opposition to the Downtown Berkeley Plan, which set clear guidelines for improvements to make downtown Berkeley a nicer, greener place to live, work, and shop. Fortunately, Berkeley voters supported the Downtown Plan (the 2010 "Measure R") by a 65-35 margin.

Second, Mr. Worthington has simultaneously derailed plans for Bus Rapid Transit in Berkeley while claiming to be a transit supporter. This one just drives me crazy. He did help get funding at the county level (good!), but he kept offering infeasible alternatives within Berkeley. He echoed the concerns of a few corridor merchants worried about losing their parking spaces and worried that more transit would bring more traffic. He and other BRT opponents put enough barriers in place that Berkeley will now be left out of the project.

In 2011-2012, Mr. Worthington failed to support pro-transit and environmental groups as we worked to improve Measure B1 before it went on the ballot. He counselled us to be satisfied with an earlier draft and asked us not to rock the boat. He was very reluctant to challenge the more suburban officials. We went ahead and pushed and won many of the changes anyway, and I'm satisfied with the plan on the ballot.

All these experiences lead me to conclude that, at least on transit and housing issues, Mr. Worthington now agrees with change-averse neighbors in his council district and does not recognize the social and environmental benefits that transit-oriented development and good rapid transit would bring. I'm disappointed in that change. But it makes it pretty easy for me to see that supporting Tom Bates over Mr. Worthington now is not so different from supporting Tom Bates over Shirley Dean in 2008.

Oh, and yes, there are the minor candidates. For them, I'm just going to quote my friend Nathan Landau:

"The minors: Jacquelyn McCormick, who previously lost badly running for City Council in the Claremont-Elmwood district, represents the anti-everything neighborhood association faction.  Bernt Wald is so bereft that he doesn’t name a single supporter of his candidacy. Kahlil Fantussi-Jacobs, who characterizes himself as “Da Mayor”, lists as a key qualification his service on the Political Prisoner and Indigeneous People Subcommittee of the Peace and Justice Commission (he does name 20 supporters). Zachary Runningwolf musters 5 supporters and lists his occupation as Native American Elder."