Candidates Clash on Development, Creeks

Laurie Capitelli	Barbara Gilbert
Jesse Townley

With no need to worry about economic recovery in their district like the candidates of Berkeley's flatlands, the District 5 City Council candidates have focused their platforms on city development and the debated creeks issue.

The moderate incumbent, Councilmember Miriam Hawley, announced she would not run for re-election last December-leaving the seat open for three newcomers: Laurie Capitelli, Barbara Gilbert and Jesse Townley.

"It's time for me to retire," Hawley said. "It would be a good thing for someone who has good, fresh energy to take over."

Hawley gave her endorsement to Capitelli, whom she describes as the most experienced of the three.

Capitelli, a real estate agent, leads the race with the most endorsements from city officials, including Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Gordon Wozniak and Linda Maio.

Currently a member of the Zoning Adjustments Board, Capitelli has served on the city's Planning Commission and a task force for the mayor.

"Laurie's been very active in the community for several decades," said Wozniak. "He's also a small-business person-that expertise will be valuable on the council."

Townley, a punk rock musician, currently works on the city's Disaster Council and has garnered the endorsement of Councilmember Dona Spring.

"He isn't beholden to the old slate politics of Berkeley," Spring said. "He just cares more about everyday people."

Gilbert holds no current position in city government but has been an active force in local politics since the 1980s, serving as an aide to former Mayor Shirley Dean during the ‘90s.

Labeling her campaign as exempt from the "taxation development complex" she said the other campaigns suffer from, she strongly advocates against taxation and over-development.

"Homeowners in the city of Berkeley have a high tax burden," she said. "It's not sustainable. We must expand the tax base."

A major issue for all of the district's candidates is the revitalization of the Downtown area.

Capitelli's solution is to draw in retail businesses, which currently must "jump through hoops" to get business permits, he said.

Townley has proposed opening 24-hour establishments, such as diners, to address the demand that both students and long-time residents have made for this area-which seems to close down after 10 p.m.

"Students would be able to eat real food and study," he said.

He also seeks to specifically attract worker-owned businesses and hopes for more low-income housing on University Avenue.

Gilbert said the problem with the Downtown area is a lack of retail outlets and too much space set aside for nonprofits, social service agencies and low-income housing.

She proposed building more parking structures that lie away from the core Downtown area with a shuttle service to close the gap.

In the district, Capitelli would like to see leniency toward businesses, along with more traffic control on major streets like Solano and North Shattuck avenues.

Townley stresses locally owned businesses in the district, emphasizing the need for less dense development that better fits the surrounding area.

Gilbert agrees with Townley that development should be less dense, and says UC Berkeley encroaches into surrounding neighborhoods.

All three candidates have problems with the city's current creeks ordinance, which affects many homeowners in District 5-but each differs on how to deal with it.

Capitelli wants the city to take more responsibility for the costs associated with maintaining creeks and calls for the creation of a task force supervised by two of the city's commissions to amend the city's current law.

Gilbert, who owns a home near a creek, agrees that the city should take more responsibility for the costs, but says responsibility for amending the ordinance should fall directly on the city's Planning Commission.

Townley calls for the creation of a stakeholders' task force, which would look at the complicated issue in a more "holistic manner" than the city has been doing currently.

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