By Elinor Holland Despite a last ditch effort by a city councilmember, Berkeley’s Willard Pool is scheduled to shut today, Wednesday June 30. The City Council on Tuesday voted down a plan put forward by Gordon Wozniak to keep the pool open by diverting payments from employee health club benefits to the to the pool. […]
Willard Pool
Posted inCity
Last-gasp bid to save Willard Pool eyes city subsidies
Willard Pool, circa 2009. Photo: protographer23 An eleventh hour attempt to save Willard Pool, at least for the summer, has been hatched by the head of a Berkeley neighborhood association and will be presented at tonight’s City Council meeting by councilmember Gordon Wozniak who supports the idea. The proposal, conceived by George Beier, the President of the […]
Posted inCity
Some Berkeley city offices to close two days a month
Some Berkeley city offices will be closed two Fridays a month, as well as the week between Christmas and New Years, under the $318 million city budget adopted Tuesday night by the City Council. The customer counter at 1947 Center Street, as well as city offices at 2180 Milvia Street, will be closed 29 days […]
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, 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
Mayor Bates pushed into pool for Measure C
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, along with council-members Linda Maio and Kriss Worthington, were pushed, fully clothed and voluntarily, into Willard swimming pool yesterday at a gathering to express their support of Measure C. Measure C, which is on the June 8 ballot, aims to save Berkeley pools and, without it, Willard pool is slated for permanent closure […]
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 […]
