On behalf of all Berkeley teachers, I ask you to vote yes on Measure D for the health of our children. Ask any teacher in Berkeley and they will tell you that there is a strong connection between physical health and academics. Indeed, research has shown that when students are healthy, they are much more […]
Berkeley vs Big Soda
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Lessons from the war on tobacco: How to beat Big Soda
Remember when people could smoke in restaurants, on airplanes, and at work? This changed, thanks to tireless efforts by health advocates like me. In 1988, California voters passed an excise tax on the tobacco industry which raised prices, reduced consumption, and funded programs that successfully advocated for clean indoor air laws in cities across the […]
Posted inCity, Community
Photo essay: Berkeley, a city consumed by a soda tax
Two high-school students on their lunch break carry food and drink out of the McDonald’s on University Avenue in Berkeley. Photo, taken on Monday Oct. 20, 2014, by Gael McKeon On Nov. 4, Berkeley voters will show where they stand on Measure D, the so-called Soda Tax. The proposed tax on sugary beverages has been one of […]
Posted inCity
Michael Bloomberg has now spent $370K in support of Measure D; other Berkeley election news
A still from one of two Yes on D ads paid for by Michael R. Bloomberg that ran during the World Series. (Watch it below.) A still from one of two Yes on D ads paid for by Michael R. Bloomberg that ran during the World Series. (Watch it below.) Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Measure D — a doctor’s perspective
I am a Berkeley doctor. I support Measure D, and want to comment on specious and incorrect arguments by Jill Herschman and Dan McDunn, both of whom argued against the measure in op-ed pieces published on Berkeleyside. I assume that the flyers with the allegations summarized below, and distributed door to door with the statement “Paid for by […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Big Tobacco and Big Oil have no place in Berkeley politics
If you’ve lived and voted in Berkeley for a long time, as I have, you’ve no doubt noticed that our election campaigns typically pit one Democrat against another with nary any interest from anyone outside the East Bay. Now that has changed. For the first time ever, two “independent expenditure” committees, or PACs, have already […]
Posted inCity, Community
Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg donates $85,000 to support Berkeley’s proposed soda tax
Berkeley will vote on Measure D, the so-called Soda Tax, in November. Photo: Vox Efx Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who fought unsuccessfully to establish a cap on the size of soda portions sold in that city, has donated $85,000 to the Yes on Measure D campaign. His contribution – the largest the […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Soda Tax is wrong formula, regardless of ideology
Next month, voters in Berkeley and their neighbors across the Bay in San Francisco will go to the polls to determine whether their cities would be the first in the country to pass taxes on sugar- sweetened beverages. Berkeley’s “Measure D,” a 1-cent-per-ounce proposal, would mean a 50% cost increase for soda in the checkout […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Berkeley, not Big Soda, knows what’s best for Berkeley
If an alien were to drop into Berkeley this election season, one could not fault her for presuming that the staunchest protector of our community’s collective wellbeing is the American Beverage Association, the bank and voice of Big Soda. Loudly and ubiquitously, Big Soda professes its concern for us from placards plastered on our bus […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Refuse to be confused — vote Yes on Measure D
As a Latino health professional, as a father of two, and as a citizen of Berkeley, I am voting Yes on Measure D. The science that the overconsumption of sugary sweetened beverages can cause diabetes is not in dispute in the Berkeley initiative to place a 1 cent per ounce excise tax on the distributors […]
Posted inCity
Beverage companies spend $1.675 million to defeat Berkeley soda tax
The No on Measure D campaign on Oct. 8 covered the Ashby BART station with signs — on the floor, on the walls, and next to the ticket machines. BART workers accidentally took down some of the signs Wednesday night, but they will be reinstalled. Photo: Marian Mabel Any traveler who walked into the Ashby […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Yes on D campaign must stop bubbling over
Just like there are two sides to every coin, there are two sides to every campaign. KTVU’s story on Berkeley’s Measure D, which first aired last week, was an unsettling look at some childish and unfortunate behavior by those pushing hardest to pass the soda tax here. Signs have been planted on lawns around town […]
