After two failures to secure a pools bond measure, advocates for the reopening of Willard Pool turned out in force at Tuesday night’s Berkeley City Council meeting. Pool supporters called for including Willard in a likely parks bond measure on the November ballot. “This is a winning coalition,” said Robert Collier, one of the leaders […]
Berkeley Pools Campaign
Posted inCity
Pools campaign holds mock swimathon for Measures N, O
Angel Jaramillo, a 4th grader at John Muir Elementary School, has never swum at Berkeley’s Willard pool. His family sometimes take him to the Richmond Plunge. But, he said, he hopes that by the time he’s in 7th grade he will be able to swim at Willard — and he’ll be bringing his snorkeling mask. […]
Posted inCommunity
More than $100M needed for parks, rec and waterfront
At a special session of the Berkeley City Council Tuesday night, the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront department presented $100.5 million in infrastructure capital needs. “I’m one of those who has been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the resources we’re going to have to come up with one way or another,” said councilmember Max Anderson, in […]
Posted inCity
Pools majority falls short: Closures expected
Measure C, the ballot proposition that would have funded rehabilitation of Berkeley’s four pools, won just over 60% of the vote, falling short of the required two-thirds. Robert Collier, co-chair of the Berkeley Pools Campaign, said in an email exchange shortly after the votes were counted last night, “Measure C lost only because of the […]
Posted inCity
What’s on today’s ballot?
According to the Field Poll, a record-low turnout of voters is expected in today’s election — perhaps as little as one-third. Berkeley, which is more politically oriented than many places, should do better. There’s only one Berkeley-specific item on the ballot today, Measure C, which would issue bonds to fund renovation of Berkeley’s pools and […]
Posted inCity, Community
Comment: When Tom met Shirley in support of pools
Robert Collier, co-chair of the Berkeley Pools Campaign, writes about this week’s press conference for Measure C, which is on the ballot in next Tuesday’s election. At a press conference late Tuesday, Mayor Tom Bates and former Mayor Shirley Dean temporarily set aside their longtime rivalry to join forces in denouncing the anti-Measure C campaign. “We’ve […]
Posted inCity, Community
Comment: Measure C creates a legacy
Robert Collier lives in North Berkeley and is co-chair of the Berkeley Pools Campaign. He writes about the intensifying campaign for Measure C: In Berkeley, local folk know it’s election season when the city’s streets begin to be garlanded with election signs supporting one or another candidate or ballot measure. By that standard, this weekend […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-Ed: The truth about the pools bond
Yesterday, Berkeleyside published an anti-pools bond comment by Marie Bowman. Robert Collier, co-chair of the Berkeley Pools Campaign, writes that there were numerous errors of fact in Bowman’s comment and he feels he’s in a “closed loop” where every statement requires immediate correction: In Washington, D.C. and around the country, conservatives are hoping they can […]
Posted inCity, Schools
Comment: What’s wrong with the June pool bond
A couple of months ago, Robert Collier, co-chair of the Berkeley Pools Campaign, explained why he thought a yes vote on the June ballot measure was important for Berkeley. Marie Bowman supports swimming in Berkeley, but is against the ballot measure. She explains why: Berkeley’s pool bond will be on the June 8th ballot. It […]
Posted inCity, Schools
A bigger splash: Save the pools
Robert Collier lives in North Berkeley and is co-chair of the Berkeley Pools Campaign. Following Tuesday’s City Council decision to approve a June ballot measure on pools, he wrote this commentary for Berkeleyside: As the worsening California fiscal crisis finally starts to hit home in Berkeley, city voters will have the chance to defend our […]