Michael Drummond/Senior Staff

More than 40,000 Bay Area residents took to Shattuck Avenue on Sunday in celebration of Berkeley’s second Sunday Streets event.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Shattuck Avenue closed to cars and welcomed pedestrians and cyclists instead. Between Haste and Rose streets, participants could engage in a variety of activities, including live art and salsa dancing, as well as watch various performance groups.

“It’s about getting people to experience their urban environment in a totally different way and appreciate Berkeley in a new way,” said Sunday Streets Berkeley director Emunah Hauser.

The event is organized by Livable Berkeley, a coalition which strives to make Berkeley a more sustainable place, and a few partner organizations. According to Hauser, more than 150 organizations and activity leaders, including several UC Berkeley clubs and organizations, participated in Sunday Streets.

Sunday Streets drew people not only from Berkeley but from surrounding cities as well.

“It’s a really special feeling to have so much of a main street shut down,” said Oakland resident Tina Marie. “People look at each other differently. You’re taking people in.”

Because the street was closed off, several bus lines scheduled detours and added temporary stops near University Avenue and Oxford Street.

For Berkeley resident Michael Marchant, the absence of cars created a safer environment for his children.

“We look forward to any of these events where they block off streets to cars,” he said. “It makes it easier as a parent if you don’t have to worry about traffic.”

Hauser said this year’s Sunday Streets had a larger focus on transportation outreach than last year’s. Bay Area Bike Share allowed people to test bikes, and goBerkeley, a pilot program aiming to improve transportation in the city, asked for feedback from residents about public amenities.

To focus on physical activity and active transportation, Livable Berkeley does not invite street vendors to set up booths. Instead, many stores along Shattuck set up tables themselves, providing free samples or selling smaller store items.

Belli Osteria, a restaurant which does not normally open on Sundays, set up a pasta-making demonstration. Its co-owner Damien Morrison said Sunday Streets increased the restaurant’s exposure.

While some businesses had lines out the door, others saw a decrease in customers.

“There are plenty of distractions, so probably not as many people want to hang out in the comic book store,” said Mike Courtright, an employee at Fantastic Comics. While Courtright saw some new faces in the store, he saw fewer of his regular customers.

Sunday Streets, however, does not come without cost for the event’s organizers. Hauser estimates the event cost about $65,000 this year.

Although fundraising and private sponsorship cover a large part of this cost, Berkeley City Council pledged in January to provide Sunday Streets about $59,000 to split between 2013 and 2014.

Councilmember Kriss Worthington predicts the council will continue funding the event for subsequent years. Still, he feels the city’s contribution is a little high.

“It’s unfortunate that the other longtime community events don’t get more funding,” Worthington said. “This event gets as much as 20 other city events, so there’s a degree of unfairness.”

But for Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, Sunday Streets is “money well spent.”

“Everything shouldn’t be business,” Capitelli said. “Sometimes we should just celebrate as a community, and that’s important.”

Contact Tahmina Achekzai at tachekzai@dailycal.org.

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Nathaniel Solley/Staff

In an effort to improve access to key business districts, the city of Berkeley will implement changes to its parking policies Tuesday.

The changes include varying meter rates based on the demand for parking in particular areas and raising time limits for street spots. The city seeks to address frustration over congestion and businesses’ concerns that customers don’t have enough time to shop.

Parking meters Downtown, in the Telegraph area and in the Elmwood district will use a demand-based pricing model, said Matthai Chakko, a spokesperson for the city.

“By increasing the price in the high-demand areas and then lowering (it) in places where parking is more ample, you hope to encourage people to be parking in different places and to not have as much congestion in one spot,” Chakko said.

Parking in popular areas near shopping destinations on Southside and Downtown will cost $2.25 per hour, while parking in less frequently used areas will cost $1.25 per hour, said Matt Nichols, principal transportation planner for the city.

Current parking rates across the city are $1.75 per hour Downtown and $1.50 per hour elsewhere, according to Nichols.

Elizabeth Deakin, a UC Berkeley professor of city and regional planning and urban design who appeared before the City Council as long ago as 2006 to discuss demand-based pricing, emphasized the importance of promulgating information about the new prices and time limits. It could take several months for shoppers and visitors to adjust to the new system, she said.

“If it works well, it will be a little easier to find a parking space if you really want one and you’re willing to pay a little more,” Deakin said.

In the Elmwood district, near College and Ashby, one-hour street-parking limits will increase to three hours, with an increasing hourly rate.

That came as a relief to Melissa Hatheway, the director of marketing and communications for Rialto Cinemas, which operates a theater in Elmwood. Patrons often struggled to find sufficient parking for two- or two-and-a-half-hour films, she said.

“We’re delighted,” Hatheway said. “We’re hoping this parking solution takes off a layer of anxiety and stress from everybody so they (can) come and spend money.”

UC Berkeley senior Max Jason said he would pay more for parking if it resulted in longer time limits and better availability.

“When I’m going and driving around the city, it’s been pretty difficult (to find parking),” he said.

The new rates are the latest in a series of projects in a three-year transportation pilot program funded by federal and regional grants called goBerkeley, Chakko said.

Nichols said it is unclear how the program will affect city parking revenue, but officials will present a detailed revenue report to the City Council in March.

Contact Connor Grubaugh at cgrubaugh@dailycal.org.

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The revised proposal, submitted by Councilmember Darryl Moore after public backlash against his original recommendation, dropped the motion to close the registry and instead suggested celebrating the registry’s 22-year anniversary by declaring Oct. 11 Marriage Equality Day.

The City Council established the Berkeley Domestic Partnership Registry in 1991 as a means of helping same-sex couples and opposite-sex unmarried couples obtain the same benefits as married couples.

Councilmember Kriss Worthington praised the adoption of the revised proposal, calling the original “one of the most grotesque, offensive and discriminating policies I have seen.”

The initial recommendation aimed to close the registry as a celebration of same-sex marriage becoming legal earlier this year. Moore, who drafted the proposal, wrote that the registry “only functions as a matter of ceremony” because same-sex marriages are recognized by the state.

But Worthington argued that the registry remains a necessity because both homosexual and heterosexual couples still use it if they choose not to marry. According to Worthington, California law allows homosexual couples to enter a domestic partnership at any legal age but forbids it for opposite-sex couples unless one partner is older than 62.

“If you’re gay, you can be a domestic partner at any age, but if you’re straight, you have to be over 62?” Worthington said. “This is not marriage equality.”

Worthington said the proposal to close the registry, which allows both heterosexual and homosexual couples to obtain a domestic partnership regardless of age, “offended me deeply.”

“In our celebration of a victory for the rights of the gay community, we can’t take away the rights of the straight community,” Worthington said

Other citizens and council members pointed to the popular use of the registry as a reason it should stay open. More than 1,000 couples have used the registry since its creation, including 15 after the legalization of same-sex marriage, according to Councilmember Jesse Arreguin.

“The registry is not just symbolic,” Arreguin said. “It’s important because it provides couples a variety of legal rights and protections, including medical insurance coverage and protection from eviction.”

Berkeley resident Steve Freedkin and his domestic partner are not a same-sex couple but rely on the legal benefits of the registry. Unwilling to get married while “friends in other states can’t,” Freedkin said the registry prevented his landlord from evicting his partner, a protection that would disappear if the registry were closed.

While Freedkin said he believed the proposal was motivated by good intentions, he said Moore didn’t seem “to have all the information” when proposing it.

To commemorate Marriage Equality Day, Moore and Worthington plan to officiate marriages at Old City Hall between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

“We’re going to have the party,” Worthington said. “We’re going to have the party without taking away anyone’s rights.”

Contact Savannah Luschei at sluschei@dailycal.org.

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Samantha Rosenbaum/Staff

After six years, Nancy Skinner’s California State Assembly term will expire, leaving at least six candidates lined up to take her place.

Skinner will leave behind a number of accomplishments in issues ranging from higher education to environmental conservation to public safety. With term limits barring her from seeking two more years in the Assembly in 2014, five Democrats and one Republican have already stepped forward.

Skinner was first elected to the state Assembly in 2008 and in 2012 became the Assembly member representing District 15, which stretches along Interstate 80 from Hercules to Oakland and encompasses cities throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

During her term, Skinner was heavily involved with the Middle Class Scholarship program, which will reduce tuition for middle-income students at UC and CSU schools by up to 40 percent beginning in the 2014-15 academic year. Additionally, Skinner said after Proposition 30 passed in 2012, she was proud to be able to give funding to universities.

“I know that we’ll be able to continue to increase the funding to our public schools,” she said.

In an effort to help the environment, Skinner has also authored legislation to increase solar energy use and improve home and business energy efficiency.

In 1984, Skinner, who attended UC Berkeley as both an undergraduate and a graduate student, was elected to Berkeley City Council, becoming the first and only student to serve on it.

“She has a great history of doing legislative projects related to sustainability,” said ASUC Executive Vice President Nolan Pack.

Although six have declared their intent to run for Skinner’s seat, candidates still have until next March to file to run for state Assembly.

Sam Kang, general counsel for the Greenlining Institute, where he writes legislation regarding racial justice, hopes to create a business model for California that would create jobs and provide cleaner energy. He said his previous experience has prepared him for Sacramento.

“Every day is like going to war,” Kang said. “You want someone who has the actual experience from day one.”

Likewise, Andy Katz, a UC Berkeley alumnus and director at the East Bay Municipal Utility District, hopes to bring in his knowledge of environmental sustainability to focus on renewable energy, among other issues.

Creating jobs is also a priority for Elizabeth Echols, who has worked extensively on this issue as former regional administrator for the Small Business Administration under President Barack Obama.

If elected, Tony Thurmond, a former member of Richmond City Council and the West Contra Costa Unified School District School Board, intends to increase funding for public universities and introduce legislation that would improve the system of collecting truancy data in California public schools.

Peggy Moore, a former political director for Obama’s campaign, said she wants to focus on health care reform in the district and issues in the LGBT community.

Rich Kinney, a San Pablo City Council member and the only Republican candidate for District 15 at this time, hopes running for Assembly will help create more of a political balance in California.

According to Skinner, 64 percent of voters in District 15 are registered as Democrats and only 8 percent as Republicans.

“I’m a speck of red in a sea of blue,” Kinney said.

At the June 2014 primary election, the electorate will choose two candidates to move on to run in the fall general election.

Skinner has not endorsed any candidates yet, but she said she might like to see another woman in the Assembly.

“When looking at the other races up and down the state for open seats, I see very few women,” Skinner said. “The U.S. as a whole is pitiful with gender representation.”

But the end of her third and final term in the Assembly is by no means the end of Skinner’s political career. She plans to run for the District 9 state Senate seat in 2016.

Tara Hurley covers city news. Contact her at thurley@dailycal.org.

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At its meeting Tuesday night, the council discussed a proposed smoking ban and referred it back to city staff to enhance the effectiveness of enforcement policies. The policies would have added nonsmoking clauses to leases and allowed residents to file claims against their neighbors for violating the ban on smoking.

Multiple-unit housing refers to all buildings with more than one living unit, such as apartments, fraternities and nursing homes. The ordinance aims to protect residents from involuntary exposure to secondhand smoking.

After much discussion, the council decided the new regulations ought to be enforced by a procedure similar to that used for a barking-dogs ordinance, which requires two neighbors to file complaints and subjects violators to a possible infraction citation, according to city spokesperson Matthai Chakko.

But Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, the only one to vote against the motion, is worried that the changes might result in smokers being unfairly evicted from their homes. For him, the current recommendations were already a good compromise between the housing security of smokers and the well-being of their neighbors.

“My main concern is we’ve really tried to craft a law that discouraged evictions, and now the council’s actively talking about encouraging evictions,” Arreguin said. “The direction the council moved in is a step backwards.”

Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, however, thought protecting public health should take priority over protecting tenants from eviction.

“If I repeatedly smoke in my unit, and I am damaging the health of the people around me, I deserve to be evicted,” Capitelli said at the meeting.

These recommendations follow a previous City Council meeting held in May. According to Arreguin, a smoking ban has been in development for six years.

Liz Williams, project manager for the nonprofit Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, agrees with the council’s decision to draft new regulations. At the meeting, she noted the need for more enforcement from a city agency.

“Our organization cannot support the ordinance as it is currently written due to the lack of city enforcement,” she said during public comment. “The primary enforcement mechanism in the ordinance puts the burden entirely on a nonsmoking neighbor.”

The amended ordinance requires that landlords notify tenants of its terms in January, according to Chakko. The new regulations themselves will be unknown until council members receive another draft from the city’s Health and Community Services Department staff, he said.

“We’re cautiously optimistic that the result will be an enforceable ordinance that protects the health of Berkeley residents in multi-unit housing,” Williams said. “Nobody wants their family to get sick from a neighbor’s drifting smoke.”

Contact Melissa Wen at mwen@dailycal.org.

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Taylor A. Vega/Staff

Following years of frustration with the city’s operation of their commercial space, business owners of the Telegraph Channing Mall finally demanded action from Berkeley City Council after they were hit with an unexpected tax.

Nestled between Durant Avenue and Channing Way, the mall is home to a dozen stores including Cheese ‘n’ Stuff, Joy’s Sportswear and Revolution Books. The shops are located in an alleyway just beneath the Telegraph Channing Parking Garage.

Without notice, business owners were assessed a possessory interest tax over the summer, which gave the merchants about a month to make a per-square footage payment to the city of Berkeley. Merchants such as Sam Juha, who has owned Cheese ‘n’ Stuff for 27 years, have never before paid this property tax to the city but have annually paid a similar tax to Alameda County.

Although the merchants had agreed to the tax in their leases, it was never previously assessed. The city’s decision to collect the tax spurred the business owners to gather at the Sept. 17 City Council meeting to demand immediate financial relief.

Charles Lee, who owns Michelle’s Yogurt and Sweets, explained to council members that the tax adds further economic burdens to his business. He said that businesses in the Telegraph Channing Mall were subject to a 4 percent annual rent increase that he deemed unfair when juxtaposed with only a 1 to 2 percent rate of inflation.

Lee said that he pays $3.40 in rent per square foot, while the vacant space adjacent to his was previously rented for less than half that figure. Kirstie Bennett, an owner of The Framer’s Workshop, said that the city’s decision to collect the possessory interest tax cost her more than $3,000.

“This particular problem of communication is really new,” Bennett said. “The problems in the mall are not.”

Without a designated property manager from the city, renovations and improvements to the mall come at a slow pace, according to Juha. In a report filed by Deputy City Manager William Rogers, the mall’s management was impacted by the resignation of a city employee within the Real Property Management unit. For now, the city is searching for a leasing and management agent for the mall, according to city spokesperson Matthai Chakko. It is considering contracting the management of the mall to a private entity.

Juha and Lee pointed to poor lighting, paint and signs in the alley that could be easily remedied with the help of a city official acting as the unit’s manager. Councilmember Kriss Worthington, whose district contains the mall, called the current management situation “chaotic.”

Worthington said that, at the request of Mayor Tom Bates, the mall’s business owners and Rogers will meet on Oct. 8 to smooth over these issues.

Contact Kimberly Veklerov at kveklerov@dailycal.org.

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The bill, AB 10, will raise the state’s minimum wage from the current level of $8 an hour to $9 an hour by July 1, 2014. The next increase will be implemented Jan. 1, 2016, bumping up the minimum wage to $10.

Brown signed the bill at a ceremony in Los Angeles, where he was accompanied by members of the California State Assembly and dozens of workers.

“It’s my goal and it’s my moral responsibility to do what I can to make our society more harmonious, to make our social fabric tighter and closer and to work toward a solidarity that every day appears to become more distant,” Brown said in a press release.

The Public Policy Institute of California reports that more than 6 million California residents were living under the federal poverty line in 2011. At the same time, the cost of living in many cities in California is well above the national average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Because of the state’s high cost of living, Berkeley City Councilmember Jesse Arreguin strongly supported the bill.

“This bill provides a long overdue increase to help working families and working people in the state,” he said. “I think it’s a huge step forward.”

The city of Berkeley does not have a minimum wage. Since May, however, Berkeley City Council has been considering a proposal to implement a citywide minimum wage of $10.55 an hour.

After the state bill’s approval, Arreguin met with a representative of Berkeley’s Commission on Labor to discuss the relationship between AB 10 and the city proposal.

A 2013 report by the city’s economic development manager, Michael Caplan, suggests that many people may not be able to afford living in Berkeley. According to the study, only 17.1 percent of those who work in Berkeley are city residents.

“Whatever minimum wage we adopt should exceed the state minimum wage,” he said. “It is much more expensive to live in Berkeley than in other areas of the state.”

Contact Tahmina Achekzai at tachekzai@dailycal.org.

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Pol Rebaque/File

In light of the Supreme Court’s decision allowing same-sex marriage in California, Berkeley City Council will consider closing the city’s Domestic Partnership Registry at its Oct. 1 meeting.

Darryl Moore, the council member proposing the closure, said the city’s registry is no longer needed because the services it offers can be provided through other avenues, such as going to the Office of the County Clerk in Oakland or mailing the registration to the secretary of state’s office in Sacramento.

The proposal comes in response to the Supreme Court’s June decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry, in which the court ruled 5-4 to effectively nullify Proposition 8, a 2008 California ballot initiative that added language to the state constitution defining marriage as valid only between a man and a woman.

In 1984, Berkeley City Council was the first city council to grant domestic partnership benefits to its employees. The city in 1991 established the Domestic Partnership Registry, which allowed the city to recognize domestic partnerships.

More than 1,000 domestic partners are registered in Berkeley, according to Councilmember Kriss Worthington. The last time a couple registered for a domestic partnership was Monday, according to the city clerk.

Before submitting the proposal, Moore said he sent it to local leaders, including the Pacific Center for Human Growth, an LGBT community organization, for review.

Worthington and Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, however, believe the community and affected couples should be further consulted before a decision is made.

“Whether they are heterosexual couples or same-sex couples, they may choose domestic partnerships over marriage,” Arreguin said. “We should continue to give them that option.”

According to the city clerk’s office, about 40 to 50 couples have registered for domestic partnerships for each of the past three years. Additionally, about 10 domestic partners per year chose to terminate their licenses.

“If people are using it and people want it, I don’t see why we would go out of our way to close it,” said Caitlin Quinn, an ASUC senator endorsed by groups in the campus queer community.

Other community members see a potential need to terminate Berkeley’s domestic registry. City policy on domestic partnerships does not require other employers, businesses or government agencies to recognize Berkeley’s domestic partnerships, according to the city’s website.

“(Closing the registry) could eliminate potential conflict between the city’s registry and the state of California’s marriage laws for same-sex couples,” said Ed Ness, co-chair of the Oakland/East Bay chapter of Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

The council will also consider establishing Oct. 11, the registry’s 22nd anniversary, as Marriage Equality Day in Berkeley as part of the proposal.

Contact Gladys Rosario and Michelaina Johnson at newsdesk@dailycal.org

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Nathaniel Solley/Staff

Berkeley City Council discussed changes to medical marijuana policies, including further investigation into the creation of new medical marijuana dispensaries, at its meeting Tuesday night.

After debating among themselves and listening to public comments and a presentation by the Medical Cannabis Commission, City Council members requested that the commission and city manager’s office amend dispensary rules and restrictions on collectives as well as address cannabis safety.

City staff members and the commission will revise ordinances to include a clearer definition of collectives, a limit on the number of people who can join collectives and a change in the closing time of collectives from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“I’m glad to say we’re moving forward on definitions, restrictions … because it’s like the Wild Wild West out there,” said Councilmember Linda Maio.

During the public comment session, Roger LaChance, operations manager at the Berkeley Patients Group dispensary, advocated allowing dispensaries to maintain digital records, removing overly technical parking lot light requirements and extending the dispensaries’ six-month grace period to 12 months to comply with the new ordinances. The council agreed to include these suggestions.

Although Measure T, passed in 2010, allows the council to approve the operation of a fourth dispensary, Berkeley only has three approved dispensaries. The commission supported adding two dispensaries, raising the total from four to six.

The council will also consider stricter testing regulations that would ensure the safety of the cannabis for patients.

“Product safety is critical when you’re talking about any herb as a medicine,” said Michael Backes, a consultant for the dispensary Los Angeles Patients & Caregivers Group. “You don’t want them to poison people.”

At the meeting, Backes showed the entire council a picture of a large piece of mold extracted from a cannabis user. He said his concern for product safety stemmed from knowledge about cannabis lab results in California.

According to Backes, four percent of cannabis samples tested positive for dangerous molds or bacteria, and 1 percent tested positive for pesticides.

He also said marijuana-associated deaths in the United States are usually caused by a mold called aspergillus, which needs testing to be detected.

“We should be testing for toxic stuff, and that information should be available,” said Councilmember Gordon Wozniak. “It should be safe.”

The council agreed to instruct the city manager to calculate the costs dispensaries would incur when conducting scientific testing on the cannabis they sell.

“I hope the city really looks hard at implementing testing so they get the cleanest, safest cannabis,” Backes said. “If there’s a clean place to go and get medicine, that’s great.”

Gladys Rosario covers city news. Contact her at grosario@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @gladysrosario93.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly referenced Michael Backes, a consultant for the dispensary Los Angeles Patients & Caregivers Group, as saying that 25 percent of cannabis samples tested positive for dangerous molds or bacteria. In fact, he said 4 percent.

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The proposals, which seek to curb possible negative health effects of dental amalgam containing mercury, will be presented by the Community Health Commission, the Community Environmental Advisory Commission, the city manager’s office and City Council members. All recommend further educating the public on the possible risks of the dental fillings, and some encourage limiting or altogether avoiding the use of amalgam.

Councilmember Jesse Arreguin said he hopes to forgo the tedious processes an “unprecedented” number of proposals on the same issue would require. Instead, he said, he would prefer to conduct a workshop to fully evaluate which proposals would most benefit the city.

Although amalgam has been used in dentistry for more than 150 years, a long-standing debate has existed as to whether mercury in fillings poses health risks.

Many European countries have banned amalgam or advise against its use. Multiple U.S. cities discourage using dental amalgam as well.

Arreguin said he hopes to give the City Council enough time to make an informed decision about  amalgam in the face of influence from the California Dental Association, a Sacramento-based organization that represents dentists in California.

“(The California Dental Association) is lobbying council members,” Arreguin said. “Sacramento politics coming into Berkeley is alarming, and I think we need to take the time to understand the facts and not come up with a watered-down proposal.”

The California Dental Association has long advocated amalgam as a “safe, affordable and durable material for dental patients.”

Despite the potential legislative action, Michael Bates, a campus adjunct professor of epidemiology, said the health effects of dental amalgam are not well studied.

He concurs with the many studies that do not show a clear connection between amalgam and negative health effects.

Research conducted in 2012 by professor emeritus James S. Woods of the department of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington, however, found mercury was associated with adverse neurological effects in certain children.

“Studies don’t often look at more sensitive types like children,” said Laurel Plummer, a member of the Community Environmental Advisory Commission.

Ariane Terlet, a UC Berkeley graduate and a member of the California Dental Association, noted that an alternative to amalgam is available: a composite resin filling, or a “white filling,” that doesn’t contain mercury. But the white filling is more costly and does not last as long as amalgam, and therefore, she said, prohibiting amalgam would limit patients’ options.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people I see that complain about amalgam aren’t complaining that it is harmful but that it doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing,” she said.

Contact Nico Correia at ncorreia@dailycal.org

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