The city of Berkeley needs new student trailblazers. The two competing proposals for a new student district both have passionate advocates. At this week’s meeting, the City Council voted to do a staff analysis of the United Student District Amendment, an alternative district map submitted a few months ago. That was good news for the co-ops which do not want to be kicked out of the current student district. It was good news for the dorm residents who want a majority of the dorms in the student district. It was good news for the many nonstudent residents of District 7 who have expressed strong support for keeping the co-ops in the district. Now we need student trailblazers to put together a town hall meeting aimed at bringing all residents together for a fair and inclusive plan.
The Berkeley Student Cooperative board, CalDems board, East Bay Young Dems, ASUC president and two Daily Cal editorials have all expressed strong support for including the majority of co-ops, dorms and Northside residents in the new student district. This objective could be the guiding point for us to take a fresh look at structuring a student district and help us create a new map that incorporates the best of both proposals. With this new perspective, we may even be able to make adjustments to other districts’ borders that have been requested by the coalition of neighborhood associations.
As the current District 7 City Council member, I have helped many students smash stereotypes, stand up to prejudice and discrimination, and take student ideas and translate them into city policies and community action. On multiple occasions, we have successfully challenged racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and ageism. But all of those forces still exist, and we must continue exposing them and find proactive ways to overcome them
A majority of my commission appointments have been students. When I first appointed students to the most powerful commissions, such as Zoning, Planning and Police Review, I was yelled at, laughed at and cursed at. But many of these students have gone on to do great things. For example, when Andy Katz served on the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board while completing his undergraduate degree and served as Board President from appointment by members who were two to three times his age. Katz has since gone on to be elected to the East Bay Municipal Utility Board and is now the Sierra Club-endorsed candidate for the California State Assembly for the 15th District. Likewise, student Jesse Arreguin did such great work on the Housing Advisory Commission and the Rent Stabilization Board that community members asked him to run and elected him to be the first Latino and youngest City Council member. Student Police Review commissioner Claire Zellman wrote groundbreaking legislation on LGBT sensitivity training and went on to become a nationally recognized rabbi.
When I first brought numerous interns into City Hall, there were jokes about being overrun by teenyboppers. It was argued that council items were too important for high school and college interns to write them. But time and time again, students have proven they can do the research, do the community organizing, do the coalition building and translate their visionary ideas into practical policy. This summer, our office had 17 interns who wrote dozens of policies addressing important issues, including housing, environment, labor, health, disability, public safety, economic development and sexual assault awareness. In fact, at the last City Council meeting, 15 different student written City Council items were considered, and almost all were adopted.
Numerous student commissioners and student interns have proven that they can make significant contributions to the city of Berkeley and truly make the world a better place. We have made a lot of progress at getting student voices heard and getting student ideas implemented. It would be tragic to let personal or political agendas get in the way of an inclusive student district now.
Thanks to the summer research of Stefen Elgstrand and other students, it has been proven that it is mathematically possible to keep the co-ops in the student district and to include a majority of dorms. Many nonstudent longtime residents of District 7 have also expressed strong support for keeping the co-ops in the district. The Northside co-ops must not be kicked out and made to wait 10 years to get back into a student district. The hollow promise that a second student district might be created somehow and sometime in the future is no substitute for creating a fair district map now.
I invite supporters of both plans and anyone interested to come together for a town hall meeting aimed at bringing the student community and current District 7 residents together for a fair and inclusive plan. I believe we can craft a compromise that treats all major student housing groups fairly. If interested, students can attend our town hall meeting Friday, Sept. 20, at noon and work together to create a consensus proposal.
Andy Katz, Jesse Arreguin, Claire Zellman and Queen Nefertiti Shabazz are just a few examples of students who were trailblazers. We need students this year to apply to be interns and commissioners. We need students to help create a consensus plan that makes a student district a reality. Perhaps this opportunity is your chance to be a trailblazer!
Kriss Worthington is a Berkeley City Council member.