On Monday night, nearly 600 people packed the Berkeley Rep to hear the three Michaels of Berkeley — Chabon, Lewis and Pollan — talk about their views of the city, the way they approach writing and the car crash when Lewis and Pollan first met (photo above). West Coast Live host and Berkeley native Sedge Thomson gently steered the conversation. Berkeleyside created and hosted the evening, which raised funds for 826, a writing program that will open in Oakland to serve East Bay youth.
Although the election results are done and dusted, Berkeley’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission on Thursday night looked at alleged violations of election laws. Among the issues considered by the FCPC was the slate mailer organization (SMO) that supported the Tenants United for Fairness rent board slate, and opposed Measure U. Patti Dacey, a Berkeley Planning Commissioner, alleges that the TUFF SMO was an attempt to circumvent Berkeley election laws that restrict individual donations to candidates to $250.
City staff are projecting about a $1 million shortfall on general fund revenues in the 2012-13 fiscal year, compared to projections made in June. But the city managed to record a $427,000 surplus for the 2011-12 fiscal year through “exceptional expenditure control,” according to City Manager Christine Daniel.
Meanwhile a new UC logo quietly introduced last month was unceremoniously withdrawn on Friday — much to the relief of the many people who found it underwhelming.
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