Berkeleyans will get out the vote in less than three weeks. Are you ready? Photo: Pete Rosos Absentee ballots have arrived and the November 2014 election is just around the corner. Berkeleyside has been covering the issues for months, and we’ve collected some of our best Berkeley election coverage in a single post to help readers get […]
Measure R
Posted inCity
District 8 candidates share their vision for downtown
The four candidates for District 8 all spoke at a forum hosted Oct. 6 by the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel The race for Berkeley’s District 8 seat, soon to be vacated by City Councilman Gordon Wozniak, is the most competitive of the 2014 election season. Four candidates are vying for the post: George […]
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: Berkeley’s Measure R is bad government
Conceived with no public input and bewildering in detail, Berkeley’s Measure R sets a new low for proposals fostering bad government. Measure R on the 2014 Berkeley ballot is 28 pages of complex zoning minutia, increased plan and development requirements (including some that are legally questionable), wage and other requirements, prohibitions, and a Civic Center […]
Posted inCity
Campaign donations reach record levels in Berkeley; beverage companies donate $1.4M to defeat soda tax
Dustan Batton (left) and Josh Daniels (right) argue the merits of Measure D, a proposed tax on sugary beverages, at an election event Oct. 6. Batton is a lobbyist for the No on D campaign, and Daniels is co-chair of the Yes on D campaign. Photo: Mark Coplan The beverage industry in recent days contributed […]
Posted inCity
With Berkeley set to change civic center zoning, US Postal Service ponders lawsuit
The Berkeley City Council is poised to set up new zoning standards in civic center. Marked above: (1) Old City Hall; (2) Veterans’ Memorial Building; (3) State Farm Insurance Building; (4) Civic Center Park; (5) Civic Center Building; (6) Downtown Berkeley YMCA; (7) Berkeley High School; (8) Berkeley Main Post Office; (9) the Berkeley Community […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Why the 2014 Measure R is not ‘true green’
In 2010, Berkeley voters overwhelmingly ratified a different Measure R, which gave city council the go-ahead to adopt the Downtown Area Plan, a plan created through an open and transparent process with wide community participation. It became law in 2012. The people who opposed the Downtown Area Plan in 2010 are now proposing a new […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Save our green downtown: Vote ‘no’ on Measure R
Jacquelyn McCormick’s Sept. 9th Opinionator piece published on Berkeleyside is filled with misinformation about Measure R. Measure R is a 28-page downtown initiative on this November’s ballot that would impose strict new requirements on housing and office projects in Berkeley’s downtown. McCormick claims that Measure R would assure that new buildings in Berkeley’s downtown provide new […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: True green not green-washed, we must support Measure R
I am supporting Measure R 2014 Green Downtown Initiative for the following reasons: In 2010, Berkeley voters overwhelmingly approved Measure R, but our City Council has not delivered on its promises. Here is how the measure read: “Shall the City of Berkeley adopt policies to revitalize the downtown and help make Berkeley one of the greenest […]
Posted inCity, Housing & Development
Judge tweaks downtown ballot summary after lawsuit
Berkeley voters will weigh in on the future of downtown with Measure R this fall. Photo: Emilie Raguso An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that several of the words used by the Berkeley City Council in the ballot summary for a proposed downtown initiative to go before voters in November were biased and inaccurate, and […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley zoning ballot language heading to court
Downtown Berkeley: at the heart of a ballot initiative and a lawsuit. Photo: Tracey Taylor Berkeley City Councilman Jesse Arreguín filed a lawsuit against Berkeley on Wednesday seeking to overturn ballot language that will be used to describe a downtown zoning initiative. Arreguín wants an Alameda County Superior Court judge to take up the matter immediately, […]
Posted inCity, Housing & Development
Berkeley hotel plans halted pending initiative vote
The developer for a downtown Berkeley hotel proposal said his plans are on hold pending November’s election. (Click the image to see the December 2013 submission from the project team.) Image: JRDV Urban International The developer for a downtown Berkeley hotel proposal said his plans are on hold pending November’s election. (Click the image to […]
