- Berkeley School Board: Beatriz Appel Leyva-Cutler & Judy Appel
- Berkeley Mayor: Capitelli #1
- Berkeley Council District 2: Darryl Moore #1, Nanci Armstrong-Temple #2
- Berkeley Council District 3: Ben Bartlett #1
- Berkeley Council District 5: Stephen Murphy #1
- Berkeley Rent Board: Judy Hunt, Leah Simon-Weisberg, Alejandro Soto-Vigil, & Igor Tregub
Berkeley School Board: Beatriz Appel Leyva-Cutler & Judy Appel
Incumbents Judy Appel and Beatriz Leyva-Cutler have been involved in the schools for years, have done a good job on the school board, and face no serious opposition. The third candidate, Abdur Sikder, sounds like a perfectly nice man, but his ballot statement gives no explanation that he knows what the issues are in Berkeley schools or how to address them.
Berkeley Mayor: Capitelli #1
Through my work, I’ve had direct personal interactions with all three of the leading candidates for Berkeley Mayor: Laurie Capitelli, Jesse Arreguin, and Kriss Worthington. I am most impressed by Laurie Capitelli.
I worked with Laurie Capitelli for a couple years on transportation funding issues, and I was impressed with how he worked with me and other advocates. I was particularly impressed by his integrity and persistence during the year-plus long effort. He asked us what we were fighting for and asked good questions to understand why. Once he understood and agreed, he was a consistent and articulate participant in the public discussions among elected officials. He listened to arguments on both sides of the issues I saw him deal with. He was clear about what he would and wouldn’t do on the campaign, and he did what he said he’d do. In short, he operated like a good elected official. I don’t always agree with him, but I trust him to deal fairly.
I met Jesse Arreguin during his 2014 campaign (along with Sophie Hahn) to try to undo the downtown Berkeley Plan. They supported what I came to see as a misguided Measure R (see my writeup at the time). I don’t mind having a policy disagreement. But I was particularly unimpressed by the way Arreguin and Hahn argued for their measure: they refused to acknowledge that their measure included tradeoffs, instead claiming it was entirely good and that the downtown plan was entirely bad. I later saw materials from him that I have heard a mix of opinions from others who’ve watched Berkeley City Council more closely than I have: some say he fights hard for progressive positions, others say he’s combative and consistently votes against new homes that Berkeley desperately needs. I suspect some of that difference tracks to differences in policy positions. Fundamentally, I don’t trust someone who refuses to admit nuance in policy decisions.
I met Kriss Worthington in the mid-90s, shortly after I arrived in Berkeley, and at first I was an enthusiastic supporter. Over the past 20 years, I’ve become disenchanted. Nearly 10 years ago, I endorsed Nancy Skinner over Worthington for the State Assembly, and I’m even less impressed with Worthington now than I was then. Here’s four reasons (three policy, one temperament): First, he has frequently opposed new homes in Berkeley, despite our clear needs. Second, he sabotaged the proposed Bus Rapid Transit project along Telegraph in the 2000’s while claiming to support it. He did support funding at the county level, but then within Berkeley he prioritized the concerns of people who drive -- and wanted parking -- over the needs of transit riders. Ultimately he put enough roadblocks to the project that it couldn’t move forward in Berkeley. Then in 2012 he wouldn’t fight for more funds for transit (while Capitelli did). And finally, perhaps most importantly, I’ve seen the same absolutist “you’re either with me or against me” approach from him that I saw from Arreguin and Hahn.
A word on the other candidates and ranked-choice voting: None of the other five candidates have much (or any) experience in elected office or evidence of support. This will come down to a race between Capitelli and Arreguin. With ranked choice voting, you can vote for up to 3 candidates. In the end, I think it will only matter whether you vote for Capitelli or Arreguin, and (if you vote for both), which of them you list first.
Growth & development in Berkeley: Let me step back here and address the root of Berkeley’s major debate: how and whether we’re going to build more homes. I believe we need more homes in Berkeley. I live here, my mom lives here, I hope my kids can have a chance to decide to live here. But Berkeley has gotten very expensive, and getting worse. How to solve it? The housing market operates like most markets: it is a matter of supply and demand. When Arreguin and Worthington and Hahn and others consistently reject new homes or impose impossible demands before allowing them (as they tried with Measure R in 2014), that helps drive up prices for the homes we already have. If we could get more new homes (both here and nearby) while also protecting existing renters and trying to increase public control over the housing market … we would have a more reasonable housing market. I’m not saying it is easy -- it is very hard. That’s why I’m so disappointed when I see people, including many who claim to be progressives, pulling up the drawbridges and trying to stop new development, to stop new people from moving here. That’s why I’m not confident in the judgment of people who claim that the decisions are simple.
Berkeley Council District 2: Darryl Moore #1, Nanci Armstrong-Temple #2
This is the district where I live. My councilmember, Darryl Moore, has pretty broad support. I agree with his positions on affordable housing and how Berkeley should grow. In the LWV candidate forum for District 2, he showed a good grasp of how good development can happen and what it would take to get the funding we need to build more affordable housing. And he called for development around the North Berkeley BART station -- something I’ve wanted for years!
I’ve briefly met one of his opponents, Nanci Armstrong-Temple. I was attracted by her initial statements on police accountability. But in that conversataion, and in reviewing the LWV forum, I was turned off by what sounded like the same simplistic view of development decisions that I’ve heard from Arreguin, Worthington, and Hahn. I agree with her on many of the ends (“development without displacement”) but I know that’s hard, and I heard only simplistic responses from her on how to get that done. I only met her briefly, so perhaps I’d have been more impressed in a longer meeting.
I know less about Cheryl Davila. I was unimpressed by her website, and the reporting I saw of her views didn’t reverse that impression. My friend Nathan Landau reports that she led the city’s Human Welfare Commission “through a year of divisive and pointless battle about Israel and Palestine--obviously the most important human welfare issue in Berkeley.” (sarcasm duly noted).
Berkeley Council District 3: Ben Bartlett #1
I don’t know much about this race, but I trust my friend Nathan, who writes:
“Incumbent Max Anderson is leaving the Council, inspiring a vigorous contest. There are four candidates, but Al Murray’s not serious—he didn’t name anybody endorsing him in his candidate statement. Mark Coplan has good experience in church and school, but not city, activities. Berkeley Democratic Club Boardmember Deborah Matthews has good qualifications, but draws her support largely from one faction—the anti-left group represented by Susan Wengraf and Betty Olds (she does have Laurie Capitelli’s support). Lawyer Ben Bartlett is equally well qualified, more specific about his issues (e.g. keeping Alta Bates open) and draws support spanning from the Berkeley Fire Fighters Association to the Berkeley Tenants Union via former Congressman Ron Dellums.”
Berkeley Council District 5: Stephen Murphy #1
As I reported above in discussing the mayoral race, I was thoroughly unimpressed by Sophie Hahn. I found her views on housing and growth to be simplistic and damaging. I’ll admit I don’t know much about Stephen Murphy, but I’m willing to trust my friend Nathan Landau, who writes:
“Laurie Capitelli is the current Councilmember, who’s running for Mayor, opening the seat. The question in this race is whether you think that Berkeley needs to keep building housing to alleviate a crisis level shortage, or you think that building needs to stop for the sake of “the neighborhoods.” If you think the former, as I do, vote for Murphy, who’s got the pro-housing forces behind him. If you think housing’s no problem, vote for Sophie Hahn (who has twice run and lost against current Councilmember Laurie Capitelli), who’s lined up the NIMBYs with her.”
Berkeley Rent Board: Judy Hunt, Leah Simon-Weisberg, Alejandro Soto-Vigil, & Igor Tregub
I appreciate that Berkeley has (relatively) strong rent control and a Rent Board that works hard to protect tenants. When I’ve known people who’ve tried to get help (all of whom have been tenants), they’ve had varying experiences: sometimes very helpful, sometimes only mediocre. But as I've watched Berkeley politics, I've been saddened to see that the debates over the Rent Board seems to occur off camera: a tenants' convention comes together every two years to nominate a slate. That seems more suited to machine politics than to a place with a strong participatory climate such as Berkeley.
Then in 2012, a Grand Jury report charged the Rent Board with improprieties, a not-very professional administration, and a hire-your-buddies mentality. Given the way the Rent Board was elected for many years, that’s not very surprising. Of course the Rent Board objected to the report, and I know Grand Juries aren’t always greatest. But our local League of Women Voters, solid progressives with a good rent stabilization policy, did a follow-up investigation in 2013. The League sent a letter recommending four of the Grand Jury’s five recommendations.
In that context, I’m more inclined than ever to vote for at least person who isn’t part of the tenants’ convention slate. Here’s what I recommend:
- Make sure to give one of your votes to Judy Hunt: she’s a West Berkeley landlord and was elected to the Rent Board in 2012 (just after the Grand Jury report). She sounds good and I think her perspective is needed on the Rent Board, if only to promote some balance.
- I’ll give my second vote to Leah Simon-Weisberg, a tenant rights attorney.
- I think I’ll give my third and fourth votes to Alejandro Soto-Vigil -- an incumbent whose first term was in 2012 -- and Igor Tregub -- a good guy who I’ve known a bit through transportation politics.
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