Telegraph, Student Vote Key in Race For District 7

The race to represent District 7 on the Berkeley City Council is raising questions about the future of Telegraph Avenue, crime prevention and progressivism in city politics.

District 7, which runs through Southside from the UC Berkeley campus to the Oakland border, has a large student and tenant population and includes units 1, 2 and 3, Southside apartment complexes and single-family homes.

The contest pits 10-year incumbent Kriss Worthington against retired businessman and Willard Neighborhood Association president George Beier.

Looming over the Nov. 7 contest is the closure of the Telegraph Avenue location of literary powerhouse Cody’s Books this summer due to declining sales.

Worthington, who this year sponsored measures to revive the Telegraph Area Association and bring additional bicycle police and social workers to monitor the area’s safety, said he has been a longtime advocate for Telegraph.

“I had already written and turned in the proposal to put the social workers and the police back on Telegraph before we ever dreamed (Cody’s) was going to leave,” he said. “And I was fighting to get the votes to get this back into the budget.”

But Beier said the incumbent has failed to stop falling sales and property and drug-related crime.

“Take a look at Telegraph,” he said. “Take a look at that crime rate and take a look at the those empty storefronts. Do you want that for four more years? I just say that and most people say ‘No, I don’t, where do I sign?’”

Sales on Telegraph have fallen in inflation-adjusted terms by about 22 percent since Worthington was elected in 1996, according to the city’s Office of Economic Development. The area generated about $96 million in revenue last year.

Worthington says Telegraph should be looked at in the context of his overall progressive record.

“You pick a subject, whether it’s environmental issues, disabled issues, senior issues, labor issues, practically any subject that you pick, and many people would say I was the leader on those issues,” he said.

But the tendency among progressives like Worthington to focus on broader issues can come at the expense of neighborhood concerns, Beier said.

“I want to think locally and act locally,” he said. “We do foreign policy first and potholes second. I think we should do potholes first.”

Both candidates have actively courted the student vote, which comprises about half of the district’s residents.

Worthington, who touts the high number of students he has appointed to city commissions, said students are most concerned about getting the kind of businesses they want and keeping them open late.

Beier said students are looking for a council member who prioritizes safety.

Some student leaders said both candidates have strengths.

“We liked them both,” said Natalie Nava, treasurer of Cal Democrats, which voted to endorse Worthington. “People wished they weren’t running against each other.”

The two candidates also disagree about ways to counter crime. Although District 7 has the highest crime rates in the city—particularly drug-related and property crime—overall rates have been declining in the area for the last 10 years, according to city’s quarterly crime report released this year.

Beier favors an ordinance that would give Berkeley police more power to arrest people who sit or lie on Telegraph’s sidewalks.

Worthington opposes such a law, saying a stricter ordinance would be costly and ineffective.

Beier has also called for major changes at university-owned People’s Park, such as adding a cafe and historic trail, while Worthington said it is important to first get feedback from the homeless and other involved parties before making any renovations.

Worthington beat Beier in 1998 by more than 20 percent of the vote, but the race is expected to be close this year.

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