Bradley Manning, Photo courtesy of The Telegraph The Berkeley City Council on Tuesday will consider a watered-down version of a bill regarding Bradley Manning, the army private suspected of leaking the WikiLeaks documents. Instead of declaring Manning a hero, the revised bill calls for Manning to be treated “humanely” in prison. The switch in emphasis […]
Phil Kamlarz
Posted inCity
Council faces tough decisions on unfunded liabilities
Mayor Bates: “People will need to start contributing.” Mayor Bates: “People will need to start contributing.” The Berkeley City Council special session on the $310 million — or higher — unfunded liability on promised employee benefits revealed the difficult choices faced by the city. A presentation by budget manager Teresa Berkeley-Simmons made the root of […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley may pay for sex-change surgeries
Berkeley Old City Hall. Photo: Wikimedia Commons City employees who want to get sex-change surgery may soon get funds for the operation from their employer. The City Council will consider tonight setting aside $20,000 a year to assist those who want to change their genders. The money will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. […]
Posted inCity
City annual report highlights budget challenges
Phil Kamlarz, Berkeley’s long-serving city manager, stresses the budgetary challenges Berkeley faces in the city’s annual report, issued this week. The city works on a biennial budget cycle, but the stresses of the current economic crisis have meant that the budget is subjected to regular revision. At the beginning of this year, in the middle […]
