At its meeting tomorrow night, the Berkeley City Council will consider again how to raise funds for Berkeley’s parks.
In an Opinionator op-ed published today on Berkeleyside, parks advocate Marc Beyeler argues that the best path for the Council — and for the city and its residents — will be to place a Mello-Roos combined funding measure on the November ballot. A Mello-Roos measure would provide both capital and continued operating funding, but it also demands a two-thirds vote for passage.
Beyeler argues that two secure the two-thirds support the City Council should consider creating a citizen’s oversight committee to ensure the money is spent wisely and efficiently. Further, Beyeler writes that support will be forthcoming from the community if the Council provides a “big vision” for the parks, rather than try to get a small measure through with limited goals.
Read the op-ed in our Opinionator section and join the conversation there by leaving a comment.
Read more about Berkeley’s parks on Berkeleyside.
Berkeleyside welcomes submissions of op-ed articles. We ask that we are given first refusal to publish. Topics should be Berkeley-related, local authors are preferred, and we don’t publish anonymous pieces. Please email submissions to us. Berkeleyside will publish op-ed pieces at its discretion.
