Nathaniel Solley/Staff

About a dozen protesters continue to occupy the steps and facade of the Berkeley post office despite ongoing requests from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to move off of the post office’s property.

Protesters have been occupying the space for nearly two weeks in a last-ditch effort to prevent the sale of the post office to private developers. The investigators, federal agents dedicated to enforcing Postal Service regulation, warned protesters verbally and provided them with the service’s rules governing conduct on Postal Service property on Friday. Agents have not attempted to forcefully remove the protesters but continue to monitor the scene.

Currently, the protest is being held by four or five activists handing out pamphlets and talking to passers-by as well as a few loiterers who say they will remain despite the threat of law enforcement.

“They’ve threatened to remove us, but we’re still holding our positions and staying there around the clock,” said Mike Wilson of Strike Debt Bay Area, an advocacy group that is organizing the protest.

Augustine Ruiz, a regional Postal Service spokesperson, said that he was concerned that the protest was impeding customers from entering and exiting the facility safely and expressed further concern regarding reported vandalism. Ruiz said that the Postal Service would enforce safety regulation but not stop the protest itself.

“There’s nothing wrong with public congregation, and there’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing, as long as they’re doing it peacefully,” Ruiz said. “We’re not arguing the fact that they have a right to do what they’re doing — we’re saying there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it.”

William Rogers, acting city manager for the city of Berkeley, wrote in a memo on Saturday that Berkeley Police Department will not intervene unless a threat to public safety arises during enforcement action by Postal Service police.

A rally is planned for Saturday, when protesters will march between FedEx, UPS and UC Berkeley’s Blum Center, demonstrating against companies and individuals who are involved in the sale. Protesters cite FedEx and UPS as prospective buyers and allege that Richard Blum — who is chair of the board of CBRE, the corporate real estate company brokering the sale — could make a personal profit if the post office is sold.

Contact Simon Greenhill at sgreenhill@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @simondgreenhill.

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AC Transit provided 1,000 free one-year EasyPasses on Thursday for employees of small businesses in the Elmwood, Telegraph and Downtown areas to encourage them to take advantage of free public transit in order to increase the number of available on-street parking spaces for visitors and reduce Berkeley’s carbon footprint.

Until 2015, goBerkeley will test out a combination of carsharing, free transit passes and its new supply-and-demand pricing system for parking in efforts to alleviate traffic congestion and limited parking in business districts. The city received funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Climate Initiatives Program, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Federal Highway Administration to test its plans.

“We want to free up the spots to visitors in these commercial districts to bring in higher sales revenue,” said Councilmember Jesse Arreguin.

Part of the problem is that employees of businesses in select areas occupy a great number of on-street parking spots, leaving limited visitor parking, Arreguin said.

The program will partner with the city of Berkeley, MTC, UC Berkeley, AC Transit and public transit nonprofit organization TransForm, among others.

Ann Cheng, a program director at TransForm, says its goal is to get outside employers and employees to take advantage of Berkeley’s public transit options. With the dynamic pricing policy, parking rates will vary by time of day and location so that people can quickly find parking spaces in busier districts.

“The businesses are very supportive,” Cheng said. “I think it’s a really good sign when businesses understand the importance of helping visitors find parking.”

According to Cheng, TransForm’s goal is to increase street parking availability by 16 percent.

City CarShare, a Bay Area nonprofit car-sharing service, was also invited by the city to partner with goBerkeley and help provide more eco-friendly methods of transportation.

“The city of Berkeley is such a forward-thinking city in that it looks at the problem of car congestion and for other ways to get around while looking at sustainability,” said Anita Daley, marketing director of City CarShare.

Some community members have expressed concern surrounding specific aspects of the goBerkeley program. One controversial proposal involves extending metered parking time. Arreguin said that extending meter time would have a negative impact on businesses.

“Oakland did that a few years and there was a huge backlash from businesses and residents, and I think we will see that from the Berkeley community,” Arreguin said.

Contact Lydia Tuan at ltuan@dailycal.org.

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Andrew Kuo/Senior Staff

According to findings released last Monday from an annual independent survey, many “soft-story” buildings in Berkeley continue to not meet seismic safety standards designated by city ordinance.

The results were gathered by a group of concerned locals and students led by Igor Tregub, a commissioner on the Berkeley Rent Board. For the past three years, independently of the city, Tregub and his team have been investigating more than 200 buildings in Berkeley that are classified as soft-story buildings — wooden-frame structures with five or more units featuring unequal levels of earthquake resistance on certain floors.

Many of these soft-story buildings house students while also providing spaces for ground-floor businesses and parking garages. Unless retrofitted, soft-story buildings are usually more vulnerable to earthquakes and prone to collapse.

“We’re seeing more instances of compliance now than we did in the past two years, but only 10 of 20 buildings we inspected followed regulations, which is very troubling,” Tregub said. The results from the Seismic Compliance survey also revealed that none of the tenants living in the 20 buildings surveyed knew of their home’s inherent instability.

While some soft-story building owners have retrofitted their property, many others need financial assistance to do so, and some landlords are unaware of the need for earthquake retrofitting in their own buildings.

“Very few students actually know about the seismic dangers in Berkeley,” said Denim Ohmit, a former local affairs intern in the ASUC External Affairs Vice President’s office who helped rally participants and survey buildings. “A lot of the tenants we were notifying were unknowing students.”

Students and concerned citizens gathered for a Seismic Day of Action on March 20 to conduct inspections of soft-story buildings and determine whether building owners had cooperated with the Berkeley Soft Story Ordinance of 2005. Phase I of the ordinance requires owners of certain seismically unstable buildings to inform their tenants of inherent risks and to place informative signs within five feet of all major entrances.

But according to both Tregub’s seismic compliance report and the Berkeley Property Owners Association, the responsibility to effectively enforce the Soft Story Ordinance ultimately falls on the city of Berkeley.

“Since the ordinance was passed, the city has always had the legal standing to enforce these laws, but they’ve decided to prioritize and budget themselves towards other interests,” said Asa Dodsworth, a commissioner for the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board.

Sid Lakireddy, president of the BPOA, attributes a lack of awareness of both tenants and landlords to poor communication between the city of Berkeley and building owners.

“There’s definitely a lack of personalized outreach to landlords,” Lakireddy said, noting that significant language and age barriers exist between tenants, city officials and many owners of the soft-story buildings in question. “But the ordinance is completely fair — it’s how we’re eventually going to raise awareness and get people to seismically retrofit these properties.”

Phase II of the Soft Story Ordinance will attempt to acquire funding from the city to seismically retrofit soft-story buildings, but according to Tregub’s report, progress toward this phase has been at a standstill for the past seven years.

“The city has the necessary equipment and expertise to do this, but due to the lack of priority and budgeting, seismic retrofitting has been long delayed,” Tregub said.

Contact Andrew Dickey at adickey@dailycal.org.

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On Tuesday, the city notified the food trucks Dojo Dog, Healthy Heavenly Foods and Kettle Corn Star that they had three days to move off the property in order to allow for upcoming construction on Lower Sproul.

Ann Vu, owner of Healthy Heavenly Foods, said that this was the first notification she and the other food truck owners had received and that the trucks will have to stay off the site for at least two years.

“It was too short notice — I have no plan,” Vu said. “It’s very horrible for my business. I need the income for my family.”

The construction — a part of the Lower Sproul Redevelopment Project — is scheduled to begin next week, and the sidewalks, as well as part of the street, will be closed off, said Christine Shaff, communications director of the campus Facilities Services Department.

Even though the construction will be managed by the university, the property on which the food trucks operate remains under the purview of the city, according to Shaff.

“Food trucks are regulated by the city of Berkeley — they are there via whatever permissions the city gives,” Shaff said. “We’ve done our best to let local business owners know when construction is coming up … as far as having any authority to talk them about their location — that’s the city.”

Vu said that the city officials she spoke with encouraged her to scout the area surrounding the campus to look for potential relocation sites. But the odds of finding a location that belongs to the city and attracts as much foot traffic as Sproul Plaza are low, she said.

“There’s a lot on the line — I’ve invested a lot of time and money in this … these trucks don’t come cheap,” said Michael Koh, owner of Dojo Dog and a UC Berkeley senior. “We were expecting a four-year plan and have only been here for eight or nine months.”

Koh said that he and the other owners are scheduled to meet with city officials to negotiate on Friday to work towards some sort of resolution.

“It’s very tough having finals and dealing with things like this,” Koh said. “I’m supposed to be studying, but I just can’t when my business is getting screwed.”

Sara Khan covers academics and administration. Contact her at skhan@dailycal.org.

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According to a 2011 city auditor’s report, 12 percent of Berkeley’s streets need full reconstruction because they are considered “failed streets.” At the end of five years, this number is estimated to grow to 21 percent. Less visible is the 100-mile-network of storm sewer pipes designed to convey rain runoff to the bay and prevent flooding. This system, nearly 80 years old, has passed its useful design life, increasing the risk of flooding in our community during major storms. In addition, the system does nothing to remove pollutants picked up in stormwater as it flows over our streets and yards.
Measure M can alleviate these infrastructure problems in two ways. First, this ballot initiative raises $30 million for infrastructure investments the city cannot fund otherwise. The annual budget for streets and storm sewers are $3.6 million and $2.8 million, respectively. These budgets are consumed by the system’s current maintenance requirements, and they pale in comparison to the unmet capital needs for our streets, which are $46 million, and storm sewers, which are $207.5 million.

Furthermore, without funds to repair the most deficient parts of the current infrastructure, our costs will grow substantially. Streets cost an estimated three to 30 times more per mile to rebuild than to repair. In five years, more streets will require reconstruction, increasing our unmet needs to an estimated $71 million. Broken storm sewers will continue to flood and damage our neighborhoods, releasing 11 million gallons in West Berkeley during a major storm. Pollutants will continue to run off lawns and streets during storm events, contaminating the San Francisco Bay with pollutants. Delaying action can only make these problems worse.

Second, Measure M offers our community an opportunity to incorporate green design solutions in our street and storm sewer systems. An estimated 20 percent of Berkeley’s land is paved with impermeable concrete or asphalt. These surfaces increase stormwater flow — and flooding — and remove few toxic pollutants from runoff. Green infrastructure can combat these problems by reproducing natural water patterns. During a storm, this new approach to street design combines permeable pavement and rain gardens to absorb rain water where it falls and then gradually discharge it to storm sewers, lowering the risk of flooding. In addition, the storm water is filtered before it reaches the storm sewers, reducing pollutant levels. Measure M can raise funds to start our transition to this holistic design, benefiting our community and environment.

Opponents of Measure M argue the initiative is an inadequate, piecemeal approach authorizing the use of unproven technology. While our infrastructure problems are large, the $30 million from Measure M is an important first step to solve them. These complex problems did not develop overnight, and we cannot solve them by replacing 20th-century designs. Measure M will allow our community to act now to begin the smart redesign of our infrastructure with an approach that reduces flooding, improves urban design and prevents pollutant transfer to the bay. Green infrastructure projects are not unproven technology. One only need look at comparable solutions that already work, like green streets in Portland, rain gardens in El Cerrito or permeable pavement in the Port of Oakland to find examples of projects making a positive impact. Berkeley too must become a progressive leader in applying this technology.

Crumbling infrastructure is a daunting challenge, but we personally believe it offers us an historic opportunity to redefine the urban landscape in a green vision. Quick action is needed to avoid larger costs in the future. Vote YES on Measure M on Nov. 6 and start building the green streets of the 21st century. Let’s change the conversation from destructive flash floods and potholes to beneficial rain gardens and permeable pavement.

Andrew Torkelson and Brian McDonald are graduate students in the environmental engineering department at UC Berkeley.

Contact the opinion desk at opinion@dailycal.org.

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Berkeley City Council unanimously adopted the recommendation by Councilmember Kriss Worthington at the Tuesday meeting in hopes of making Sept. 23 a date for the city to support a community that has historically been marginalized.

“Bisexuals are glad to be lumped with the larger LGBT community but also seem to want a little bit of specific affirmation,” Worthington said.

Although June has traditionally been celebrated as Pride Month for the LGBT community, Worthington said he hopes to give bisexuals their own distinct day of honor.

Since the resolution was adopted, there has been considerable positive feedback, he said.

“Somehow, this has really hit a chord and resonated with the public,” Worthington said. “Both those who are straight and gay have come up to me and said that it was about time to recognize bisexuals.”

However, after national media covered the declaration, the city received several calls of  opposition Wednesday. Two individuals called to emphasize their feeling that the city’s proclamation was “disgusting,” Worthington said. One agreed that they understood Worthington’s world is different, but said he would “never agree.”

Worthington said he suspects the calls were not from community members, but from out-of-state individuals.

Such misunderstanding of bisexuals, along with other groups who are often criticized for their differences, is one of the main issues the  proclamation hopes to overcome.

Nancy Carleton, a former Berkeley zoning board chair who also identifies with the bisexual community, said by adopting an official day of recognition, the city hopes to increase awareness of the bisexual community.

“Its a wonderful thing to increase awareness,” Carleton said. “When you increase awareness, you increase people’s tolerance of diversity, and that changes how people treat each other on a day-to-day basis.”

CalSERVE Senator Nolan Pack said he commends the city for its actions in support of this marginalized group.

“It’s important we don’t categorize according to our own expectations, and let people self-identify,” Pack said.

Although the city does not expect any large plans for the first official Bisexual Pride Day next week, they hope in the future to organize a committee around the day’s celebrations.

Contact Alex Berryhill at aberryhill@dailycal.org

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Watch a video interview with Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. Read his full feature here.

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If appointed, Angstadt will be the administrative head of the Department of Planning and manage a staff of more than 58 people and an $11 million budget, according to city spokesperson Mary Kay Clunies-Ross. He will also inherit an expected operating budget shortfall of $566,144 in the department’s Permit Service Center.

Deputy Director of Planning Wendy Cosin has served as interim planning director since last July, when former director Dan Marks retired from the position.

The city began searching for a new planning director last fall, accepting applications between mid-November and mid-December 2011.

According to the staff report recommending his appointment to the council, Angstadt will receive a starting salary of $174,996. That is exactly $42,000 more than the starting salary when Marks was appointed in 2004 and a slight increase from the $169,179 the San Francisco Chronicle reported Angstadt received working for the city of Oakland in 2008.

“Mr. Angstadt will provide strong leadership to the Planning and Development Department as it addresses constrained resources, while simultaneously facing exciting land use planning opportunities,” the report reads.

In his six years working with Oakland, Angstadt was involved in multiple projects, such as the International Boulevard Transit-Oriented Development Plan, which received an award for public outreach by the Northern California Chapter of the American Planning Association.

“Eric will be greatly missed. He is a consummate professional who has made a significant mark in Oakland. We wish him well, and we’re glad that the East Bay region as a whole will continue to benefit from his expertise,” said Karen Boyd, citywide communications director for the city of Oakland.

If confirmed by the council, Angstadt’s appointment would be effective no later than April 30.

Adelyn Baxter is the lead city government reporter.

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Carli Baker/Staff

A body washed up in the Berkeley Marina on Saturday morning.

Berkeley police Sgt. David White told Bay City News that police received a report of a body in the water at the marina’s southernmost point at 7:45 a.m. Saturday. Police and firefighters responded soon after and determined that the man was dead.

The Bay Area News group reported Sunday that the man has been identified as 31-year-old Oakland resident Douglas Jones. As of Tuesday, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau was still working to determine the cause of death.

White told Bay City News that the body, which was fully clothed, did not show any obvious signs of trauma.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday that an employee at a restaurant at the southwestern tip of the marina discovered the body, which was partially submerged at the bay’s edge, on Saturday morning.

View Berkeley Marina in a larger map

Soumya Karlamangla is the city news editor.

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Jill Wong/Staff

The city of Berkeley’s unemployment rate reached 9.1 percent in January, a small increase from the December rate of 8.9 percent, according to preliminary figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department.

This rise in unemployment marks the end of a continual drop that the city had seen since July 2011, as the rate fell steadily from 10.4 percent in July to 8.9 percent in December. December’s rate was the city’s lowest unemployment rate in nearly three years.

However, this year’s January rate comes in lower than the same month in 2011 and 2010, which were 10.5 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Berkeley’s unemployment rate in January 2009 was 8.5 percent.

Like Berkeley’s, the state of California’s unemployment rate had also been declining since July, but in the state, that drop continued into January. The state’s unemployment rate in January was 10.9 percent, the lowest level the state has seen in almost three years.

The national unemployment rate in January was 8.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Soumya Karlamangla is the city news editor.

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