Originally slated for discussion on Tuesday, the item was postponed due to the lengthy meeting and substantial agenda that day. Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Jesse Arreguin and Kriss Worthington drafted a statement Tuesday urging the city’s Commission on Labor to consider implementing a local minimum wage of $10.55 per hour. Berkeley currently does not have a city minimum wage requirement and has been using the state standard, which is $8 per hour.

They also hope to add a provision that would automatically increase the wage along with inflation.

This push follows San Francisco’s increase in minimum wage this year from $10.24 to $10.55 per hour — the highest minimum wage in the country. San Jose also passed a minimum wage ordinance in November of $10 per hour.

The city of Berkeley also has another regulation — the Living Wage Ordinance — requiring city contractors to pay a minimum of $13.03 per hour along with a medical benefit of at least $2.17 per hour. Other businesses located in Berkeley but not contracted with the city are not held to these standards.

Though the impact of an increased minimum wage on Berkeley is still unknown, UC Berkeley economics professor Michael Reich said that his studies have found that San Francisco’s citywide minimum wage of $10.55 per hour has not created negative employment effects.

In another study titled “Increasing the Minimum Wage in San Jose: Benefits and Costs,” Reich also concluded that “minimum wage increases attract more workers to a local area and make it easier for employers to recruit and retain their workers.”

Arreguin explained that he and other council members were inspired to discuss the issue by the high cost of living in Berkeley.

“We need to establish our own minimum wage so that people who work minimum- and low-wage jobs have livable income to be able to support their families, to be able to support themselves,” Arreguin said. “It’s very expensive to live in Berkeley and very expensive to live in the Bay Area.”

However, the Berkeley Restaurant Alliance, a coalition of more than 150 Berkeley restaurants, argues that this proposal is unreasonable and that the city’s communication with local businesses has been lacking.

“No one knew about this,” said Natalie Kniess, a co-founder of the Berkeley Restaurant Alliance. “The majority of businesses heard about it from the San Francisco Chronicle report. It was disrespectful to the business community. We want to help out the community … (but a) 32 percent wage increase will break the backs of the small mom-and-pop stores Berkeley is out to support.”

Arreguin said he has received a few emails from business owners expressing that this ordinance would negatively impact them but is confident that compromises can be made.

“Some businesses have voiced concerns, but there are ways we can work with the business community to move this forward,” Arreguin said. “I don’t think in the end it will force businesses to shut down.”

The minimum wage item was moved to the action agenda.

Contact Alison Fu at afu@dailycal.org.

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Approximately 70 individuals attended the event to remember Moore, a 41-year-old transgender Berkeley resident and a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who died in the custody of Berkeley Police Department on Feb. 12 after a disturbance call.

The memorial and protest began in the Gaia Building, where Moore lived, and featured an extensive cast of speakers, including friends, family, a City Council member and other community members.

“She was so brave to be herself,” said Maria Moore, Moore’s sister and a UC Berkeley graduate. “Kayla was such a fun person. She was a bubbly beach blonde inside a large male body. Kayla took care of other people before she would take care of herself.”

Along with honoring Kayla’s memory, many felt that the details of the investigation were taking too long to be released. Wednesday’s protest resulted in the protesters taping a Public Records Act request to the door of the BPD station in which they demanded that BPD release the coroner’s report.

BPD, however, has placed a “press hold” on the release of the autopsy report because the investigation remains open.

“The investigation is still ongoing,” said Officer Jennifer Coats, spokesperson for BPD. “Any investigation involving a death such as this includes thorough and detailed interviews with all witnesses and involved parties, the collection and analysis of all available evidence and preparation of appropriate reports.”

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who knew Moore for almost 30 years, criticized the investigation for taking too long a time to release details.

“No family in the city of Berkeley should ever have to wait weeks or months to get a coroner’s report of the death of their family member,” Worthington said. “In hundreds of cities across California, you can get this information in days.”

Worthington added that Moore was dealing with so many issues that our society is not prepared to deal with. Family and community members alike voiced their desire to have police better trained to handle people with mental-health disabilities.

The coroner’s office is expected to conclude its investigation shortly, and BPD expects to release something in the “very near future,” according to Lt. David Frankel of BPD, though an exact date was not specified. Frankel added that this information is planned to be made available much sooner than in similar cases due to the high-profile nature of the case.

Another protest is planned for April 30, when the protesters will attempt to voice their concern to the city manager, to whom BPD reports, said Andrea Pritchett of the Berkeley Copwatch.

Contact Matt Trejo at mtrejo@dailycal.org.

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Shirek, who served as a council member from 1984 to 2004, was the oldest elected official in California. Shirek first came to Berkeley in the early 1940s from Jefferson, Ark., to escape racism in the South and became one of the city’s oldest and most influential social justice activists. As a granddaughter of slaves, Shirek supported movements for civil rights, local credit unions and health issues in the Bay Area.

“Shirek often told the story that she had witnessed the lynching of a relative and was highly motivated to live in California,” said close friend and former vice mayor Carole Kennerly. “She came to California thinking that it was roses, milk and honey, only to fight for social justice and civil rights.”

Shirek began her long career of activism at the Berkeley Consumers Co-op Credit Union. Kennerly, who served on the board of the credit union with Shirek, said she was instrumental in ensuring that people of color were allowed to receive housing loans from the credit union that other banks would never have given them at that time.

Shirek later helped found the New Light Senior Center and the city-run West Berkeley Senior Center, said close friend Barbara Lubin.

“She would cook a hot lunch with five other women,” Lubin said, “and at the end of the day, (Shirek) would pack all the stuff into the car and sometimes drag me to go around with her to all the homeless people who were too old or sick to go to the elderly center.”

Renee Kitchen, Shirek’s niece and primary care giver, added that the food Shirek served to the elderly was always healthy. Kitchen said that while she was a child, her aunt was the “health guru” who encouraged the family to eat fruits and vegetables.

“I believe that is why she lived for as long as she did,” Kitchen said. “She always believed in cooking fresh vegetables and eating fruit every day. That is what she loved.”

But Shirek was never one to be slowed down by old age. Michael Berkowitz, Shirek’s close friend and former campaign manager, said that by the time she turned 70, the city forced her to retire her position as a senior city director, causing her to turn around and run for City Council.

“The city had a discriminatory policy,” Berkowitz said. “They tried to phase her out when she was 70, so when she was 72, she ran for council and became the boss of the people who were trying to phase her out.”

Shirek served on City Council until 2004. According to Councilmember Kriss Worthington, Shirek worked diligently during her tenure to move millions of dollars into affordable housing and programs to help Berkeley youth and seniors.

Shirek left behind a long and illustrious career in activism and civil service. In 2007, Old City Hall was renamed after her in honor of that career.

Shirek leaves behind her two sisters, Neodros Bridgeforth and Lennie Jean Draughan, along with many nieces, nephews and cousins. A public memorial service is being planned by friends and family.

Alyssa Neumann covers city government. Contact her at aneumann@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @AlyNeumann.

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At its meeting Tuesday night, City Council voted to extend hours of operation for businesses between Bancroft and Dwight ways to create Berkeley’s first 24-hour commercial zone.

“Students and people — particularly in their 20s or 30s — have schedules that aren’t rigidly 9-to-5, so we thought it’d be something very popular,” said Roland Peterson, executive director of the Telegraph Business Improvement District. “For Telegraph, this makes all the sense in the world.”

Currently, businesses that do not serve alcohol can stay open until midnight Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays — two hours later than those that do serve alcohol. Businesses that want later hours must apply for an Administrative Use Permit or Use Permit, which is often a lengthy process.

Under the new ordinance, businesses will no longer have to apply for individual permits to extend their closing hours.

Craig Becker, owner of Caffe Mediterraneum, received a permit in June 2011 to stay open for 24 hours. However, since then, the cafe has maintained its regular closing hours at midnight.

“If we had enough traffic, if we were able to build up a nighttime economy, that makes it worthwhile … we might consider extending our hours,” he said. “We hope that in the future, there’ll be more business.”

This idea has long been in the works and has been discussed widely over the last few years. In May 2010, City Council considered extending hours to 3 a.m. until the Telegraph Business Improvement District suggested a “24/7 zone” instead.

“It’ll encourage students to socialize together at different hours of the night and promote safety on Telegraph,” said ASUC External Affairs Vice President Shahryar Abbasi. “Telegraph needs to be revitalized and provide more options for students.”

However, Berkeley Police Department and the division of code enforcement have expressed concerns that extending hours could lead to “increased negative behavior.”

To address these concerns, the ordinance specifies that businesses that sell alcohol for off-site consumption will have to maintain closing hours at midnight, and many believe the noise level should not be an issue.

“This is new for Berkeley,” said Councilmember Gordon Wozniak. “It’s an experiment.”

Yet the vision for an energetic, late-night environment is just one factor in the city’s efforts to revitalize Telegraph Avenue and boost its economy — one that may take some time to live up to its full potential.

“It may take a few years for it to gain momentum and create a critical mass of businesses that are interested in (staying open 24/7),” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington. “(But) I think it’s worth trying out and seeing if it works.”

Daphne Chen is the lead city government reporter. Contact her at daphnechen@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @dchen_dc.

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But while Berkeley residents have been using Downtown as a portal out, others in the Bay Area have been coming in, settling down and calling it their new home — leaving Telegraph Avenue on the sidelines. With flocks of young professionals coming to find new housing, Downtown has seen a boom in housing development, with nearly 1,000 apartment units planned for the area.

Telegraph, however, has yet to witness the same kind of growth. Struggling to reclaim its storied past as a hub of intellectual activity, many on Telegraph are looking to Downtown and feeling left behind.

Telegraph: home to students

“Telegraph has been starved for attention and money from the city of Berkeley for years,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington. “It’s long past time to do something about it.”

The lack of attention shows. There stand a few housing developments, including one at the corner of Haste Street and Telegraph that has slowly emerged more than a year after the fire at the Sequoia building. But it is nothing on the scale of what is going on Downtown.

The Residences at Berkeley Plaza, for instance, is an ambitious proposal for a 17-story building in the historic Hinks Department Store that currently houses Shattuck Cinemas. Another project, Acheson Commons, will occupy the northeast corner of University and Shattuck avenues and add hundreds of new units to the city’s rental housing stock. These are just two of the more ambitious developments proposed among the many in place for Downtown, spanning nearly 1,000 apartment units.

“Telegraph doesn’t resonate with people as much as it used to,” said Roland Peterson, the executive director of the Telegraph Business Improvement District. “Any commercial district is not going to succeed unless the people who live around it support it.”

The people who live around Telegraph, however, have found themselves to be one of the area’s greatest strengths and weaknesses. Developers are continuously building units suited more for student needs than those of the young professionals who are spurring the housing growth Downtown.

Of the nearly 200 proposed housing units near Telegraph on Southside, around 120 of the units describe themselves as “dormitory-style” housing and “student-oriented rental apartment units.”

Downtown: Berkeley’s transportation hub

Just a few streets away, however, Bay Area professionals are increasingly finding Downtown to be a suitable housing option, in contrast to the student-heavy Telegraph and Southside.

“Attitudes are changing about the Downtown,” said Downtown Berkeley Association CEO John Caner. “People see it as an up-and-coming, fun environment.”

Yet Downtown’s growth is only a recent phenomenon, and the city is still actively working to revitalize the area under the Downtown Area Plan. One of the reasons for this newfound growth, on top of Bay Area regional economic recovery, appears to be Downtown’s transportation strengths.

In fact, for experts like former Oakland city planner and longtime Berkeley resident John English, the BART station may be the overriding reason that Downtown is thriving while Telegraph seems stagnant.

With BART and the buses providing easy access to Oakland and San Francisco, the appeal of the area as a transportation hub attracts students and professionals equally — thus spiking housing demand.

“Downtown is a node of activity for the greater Bay Area,” said Berkeley developer Derek Allen, director of development for ROEM Corporation.

Notably, the current location of Downtown Berkeley BART’s iconic brown dome was not the only spot for the station that was considered when the transit system was still in the works.

“I remember when the BART system was being planned,” English said. “There was the plan of BART running up Telegraph and into Sproul Plaza.”

Finding a niche for Telegraph

Had that been the case, Telegraph’s story might be different today. Instead, Telegraph’s residents feel left in the dust in the wave of Downtown’s heavy development.

No one is more aware of the problems on Telegraph than city officials. As such, the iconic street has seen years of meetings and get-togethers discussing how to revamp its slumped economy and dilapidated facade. There is generally a sense of what people want to see in a recovered Telegraph.

“You have to have specialty stores in niche markets,” said Mayor Tom Bates, who has recently undertaken efforts to address Telegraph’s problems. “We have to find that niche, a combination of good food, shops and exciting places to be.”

Current ideas for improving Telegraph in the near future to reach that ideal include installing LED lights, an in-progress project funded by the university; changing the flows of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic and enticing new stores to move into the area.

Yet Worthington worries that improvements to the now-fragile district will remain just talk for quite some time.

“There are dozens of ideas that have been circulating,” Worthington said. “There are dozens of meetings that have been held. And yet, very little has actually been done for years. We need to actually come up with specific things we can do to support the stores there and support the area.”

This includes making sure Telegraph Avenue lives up to its historic reputation.

“When I’m hitchhiking around Europe, when I’m walking down the streets in India and say I live in Berkeley — Telegraph Avenue is the iconic street of Berkeley,” Worthington said. “Nobody in Europe or India asks me about Shattuck Avenue, Ashby Avenue, San Pablo — it’s always Telegraph.”

Megan Messerly covers city government. Contact her at mmesserly@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @meganmesserly.

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According to the city’s quarterly economic development report released Tuesday, Berkeley’s 7.8 percent unemployment rate remains lower than Alameda County’s 8.2 percent and the state’s 9.7 percent as of December 2012. In the previous year, the unemployment rate in Berkeley was 8.9 percent. In Berkeley, about 69 percent of the population above 25 years old has a bachelor’s degree or higher.

“More employers are looking for educated workers,” said economic development manager Michael Caplan. “Industries that are growing in the region tend to be knowledge-based … people who have less education have a harder time finding a job.”

Growth in certain sectors, such as research and technology, has increased demand for a more highly educated and trained workforce, Councilmember Jesse Arreguin added.

Between 2007 and 2011, unemployment rates in Berkeley were 3.9 percent for those with college degrees ages 25 to 64, 14.6 percent for those with a high school education and 19.5 for those without high school or college diplomas, the report states.

In comparison, in the neighboring city of Oakland, about 37.2 percent of people older than 25 have a Bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Berkeley’s 7.8 percent unemployment rate is the lowest since the peak of 11.3 percent in March 2010 in the tailwind of the global economic crisis. Yet, even at its peak levels, Berkeley’s unemployment rate has historically remained lower than both that of Alameda County and of California.

According to Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, one of the reasons is that the university is a major employer, and the jobs provided are less dependent on fluctuating economic cycles.

Despite the steady decline, council members agreed at the City Council meeting that the number is still high and that more work needs to be done.

“It’s falling, but it’s still pretty high,” Wozniak said. “How do we get back the employment to 10 years ago when it was 10 percent higher?”

Between 2001 and 2012, the number of jobs decreased from 66,616 to 60,165, the report states. However, over the years, the number of self-employed people in the city has increased from 6,733 in 1990 to 8,618 in 2010, Arreguin said.

Berkeley City Council will be looking into various solutions, such as improving early education for children to make sure they continue pursuing higher education, according to Councilmember Kriss Worthington. These issues will be further discussed in May when the next quarterly report is compiled, Caplan added.

Daphne Chen is the lead city government reporter. Contact her at daphnechen@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @dchen_dc.

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Some of you may remember me as a wide-eyed, grub-consuming freshman columnist from two and a half years ago. If you don’t remember me, don’t worry about it.

Since my freshman year, I have put on the obligatory few pounds, stopped riding a Razor scooter to class and traveled across the country. My stint as blog editor last summer and a fall semester in Washington, D.C., have resulted in an unhealthy obsession with nine-person councils, especially the U.S. Supreme Court. SCOTUS is 3,000 miles away, though. For the pleasure of us Bears and fellow council-watchers, we have the endlessly entertaining Berkeley City Council.

And so, dear reader, my column this time around will not be an assortment of miscellaneous reflections on life at UC Berkeley but rather an examination of perhaps the most amusing and intriguing facet this city has to offer.

My analysis is based solely on observations from regular attendance at Berkeley City Council meetings. This column will distill the mad from the sane, percolate the significant through the inane and expound on all matters of city council eccentricity.

So why should you care about these nine and what they do? Because the city and the campus are inextricably linked — decisions made concerning the city will affect the campus and vice versa. True, the city and the campus have always had a rocky relationship, but it’s a relationship in which one cannot survive without the other. Both parts contribute substantially to making the other a better place to live and a better place to learn. But first, let me introduce you to our cast of characters.

Mayor Tom Bates: Often referred to by council meeting attendees as “Master Bates,” “Adolf Bates” or “Fascist!,” Bates has been Berkeley’s mayor for more than a decade. Whether he’s actually an evil dictator instituting an iron-fisted tyranny over Berkeley residents is a hotly debated topic among council meeting regulars.

District 1, Linda Maio: Mrs. Politically Correct is one of the longest-serving council members, known for making neutral quips such as, “There is no easy answer,” or, “We must find a solution to this problem.”

District 2, Darryl Moore: … (That’s the amount of noise he usually makes at council meetings.)

District 3, Max Anderson: Have you ever met that person who’s super theatrical, says, “I’ll be brief,” but then launches into never-ending tirades and is extremely loud and passionate and outspoken about everything? Oh, don’t know someone like that? Well now you do.

District 4, Jesse Arreguin: A UC Berkeley grad, the youngest member on Berkeley City Council and the first Latino elected to the position, Arreguin is astute and sharp. Compared to the other characters on the council, Arreguin is relatively tame.

District 5, Laurie Capitelli: After Mayor Bates, Capitelli draws the most “boos” from the crowd for taking unpopular, albeit logical, stances on big issues. This is usually because he points out the logical fallacies in people’s arguments, and no one ever likes that guy.

District 6, Susan Wengraf: The only impressions I have of Mrs. Wengraf are that 1) she once almost fell asleep at a raucous sit-lie meeting where people were on their feet screaming at the mayor, and 2) she likes talking about cats. A lot.

District 7, Kriss Worthington: I refer to Worthington as “Princess Worthington,” for he, like Princess Di, is the “People’s Princess.” Often donning a blue shirt or tie that brings out his stark blue eyes, the Princess is the most popular council member at meetings, especially because he calls out the mayor on any dubious procedural maneuvers the Master attempts to pull.

District 8, Gordon Wozniak: “Professor Wozniak” can often retreat into a pedantic shell where he condescends to the crowd and begins lecturing us poor plebeians in attendance. However, I have seen him sport a smile when the crowd breaks out into song (as they are wont to do), proving that a human resides underneath his erudite facade.

Let’s not forget that while these nine make up the core of our cast, the most important actor is The Crowd — the regular council meeting attendees who are electric with energy, angry with government inefficiency and only questionably sane. Their behavior is what prompts the council members’ quirky reactions.

At times you may be frustrated with these members for their incompetence; at others, you may be ecstatic with the members’ progressive, forward-thinking spirit. You may protest their actions or perhaps fight for their causes. You may choose to agree with verve, disagree out of disgust or turn an ambivalent eye.

But rest assured, you won’t be bored.

Contact Lynn Yu at lyu@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter: @lynnqyu.

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Councilmember Jesse Arreguin will propose the Compassionate Sidewalks Plan at Tuesday’s council meeting, which recommends that a committee be formed to focus on the causes of homelessness, evaluate existing homeless services the city offers and then pinpoint areas of improvement.

The issue, however, has been identifying just exactly what the “problem” is and who is causing it. While it may seem like semantics, the struggle to define the term “homelessness” and come up with concrete solutions has been a drawn-out process.

Most agree something needs to be done, but coming up with concrete solutions to this problem has proven to be difficult. The failure of Measure S, a Berkeley city measure that would have banned sitting on sidewalks late at night, means that the city must now find a different solution to this problem.

“My proposal is to do the job that we should have done before we put Measure S on the ballot,” Arreguin said.
The committee will seek to incorporate community voices in tackling this problem and will consist of city officials, business owners and other community members, including the homeless.

While he agrees that Arreguin’s plan is a step in the right direction, Councilmember Kriss Worthington worries that the plan might be delayed in its implementation. According to Nils Moe, senior aide to Mayor Tom Bates, a committee would not be able to meet to discuss the homelessness problem until April, as the council will be tied up approving the city budget in the coming months.

Other concerns include fears that Compassionate Sidewalks does not adequately address issues raised by Measure S.

“In the behavior that Measure S was trying to address, the majority of people were not homeless,” said Roland Peterson, executive director of the Telegraph Business Improvement District, which endorsed the Yes on Measure S campaign. “Jesse’s thing is not really properly a post-S response, because it doesn’t address the issues that S attempted to address.”

Apparent in the discussions of homelessness is still the argument over whether there is a homeless “culture” and if a significant portion of the homeless are homeless by choice.

“It’s hard for people who have pets and shit,” said Nicole Shaak, who has been living on the streets of Berkeley by choice for about a year. “I don’t like shelters unless it’s hella raining.”

For Shaak and others like her, living on the street is preferable to the confines of a shelter, which have many rules and do not give them the freedom to travel as they desire. Improvements in quality and space in shelters would not appeal to them.

Others, like longtime Berkeley resident and recently homeless Mark Anthony, believe that living in shelters carries a stigma that makes it hard for people to get back on their feet. He also believes the city already offers enough services to the homeless.

“As far as I’m concerned, the city is doing all that they can,” Anthony said. “They can’t baby people that are supposedly grown individuals.”

Megan Messerly covers city government. Contact her at mmesserly@dailycal.org.

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This will be the fourth term for Bates, who first took office in 2002. Along with Bates’ victory, the council also saw a unanimous re-election of incumbents.

“On a local level, it’s not going quite so well, and I’m a realist,” said mayoral candidate and Councilmember Kriss Worthington. “I was very sad I lost the mayor’s race.”

Despite Bates’ victory, mayoral candidate Jacquelyn McCormick said she was satisfied with her campaign’s efforts.

“I don’t regret one minute,” McCormick said. “I don’t regret one decision we made … we proved that this community can work together. It’s a good start.”

Bates, a veteran East Bay politician, has been mayor of Berkeley since 2002. Prior to holding his current office, Bates served 20 years in the California State Assembly.

Though Bates easily won elections in the last 10 years, this election could have presented a new threat to the incumbent in the form of ranked-choice voting.

Under ranked-choice, voters rank candidates from one to three. If one candidate does not garner more than 50 percent of first-rank votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. The second- and third-rank votes of the removed candidate are then distributed to the remaining candidates until one receives a majority.

The new voting system, which the city adopted in 2010, was implemented for the first time in a mayoral race this year. But based on polling results, ranked-choice voting did not have much of an impact in this race, as Bates accrued the 50 percent necessary among first-rank votes.

Hoping to unseat the incumbent, Worthington, McCormick and middle school teacher Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi had formed what Jacobs-Fantauzzi described as a “Progressive Alliance.”

“I’m disappointed because I believe we need new leadership in Berkeley, and it looks like there’s not going to be any change at all,” McCormick said.

Nonetheless, Bates was successful on a campaign touting his experience and contributions throughout the city under his watch — pointing to Berkeley’s bond ratings, economic revitalization Downtown and affordable housing.

However, Bates has previously said that he expects this fourth term to be his last elected office.

Although Bates lead in polling numbers, some of the ballot measures he supports have failed to pass, including the controversial Measures S and T. Still, Bates remains thankful for the victories he has won.

“It’s really a great privilege to have the opportunity to be the mayor of the city of Berkeley,” said Bates at a speech to his supporters earlier in the day. “We don’t always agree on all things, obviously, but it’s a terrific opportunity to be able to continue the service for the people of Berkeley.”

Yet, many candidates said that despite Bates’ victory, a lot of work can still be done in Berkeley.

“The status quo is not good enough,” Worthington said. “It doesn’t give back the values of Berkeley … even though Tom Bates is getting re-elected, I think the defeat of his controversial (measures) is a giant victory in it of itself.”

With Bates’ re-election, results for council races were also overwhelmingly advantageous to incumbents. Below are the results for other council seats up for re-election: 

District 2: Darryl Moore

Darryl Moore will be re-elected, defeating opponents Denisha DeLane and Adolfo Cabral with about 60 percent of the vote.

“I think it’s important that we do something in West Berkeley that’s gonna create and attract businesses,” Moore said.

With no council member unseated, Moore said it shows that “(the council is) headed in the right direction,” especially praising Mayor Tom Bates’ leadership.

District 3: Max Anderson

Incumbent Max Anderson received about 60 percent of the vote, defeating challenger Dmitri Belser. As a council member, Anderson has been active in addressing public health and crime issues within the city. Anderson has a background as a registered nurse.

District 5: Laurie Capitelli

Polling results show Councilmember Laurie Capitelli with a 54 percent lead over Sophie Hahn. This year saw a repeat of 2008, when Capitelli defeated Hahn by a very slim margin. Capitelli pledged to continue work on revitalizing the city’s commercial districts and dedicate the city to a transparent budget.

District 6: Susan Wengraf

Councilmember Susan Wengraf has been re-elected to represent District 6. She ran unopposed

Contact Jaehak Yu and Daphne Chen at newsdesk@dailycal.org.

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Officials gave a presentation before the district’s Board of Education Wednesday night regarding the progress of 2020 Vision, a joint plan launched in June 2008 between the district and community partners aiming to close the achievement gap between African American and Hispanic students and their white counterparts by 2020.

This is the first major set of data released since the program’s commencement, and it tracks eight indicators districtwide, including third grade reading proficiency, kindergarten readiness and absenteeism.

“We are very proud of the class of 2020,” said Debbi D’Angelo, the district’s director of evaluation and assessment. “We saw a huge jump for our kids as far as where they are heading.”

According to 2011-12 California Standards Test data, 76 percent of the class of 2020 is now grade-level proficient in reading — a 20 percent jump since the previous year. This brings the class to just a few percentage points short of its 2013 goal of 80 percent.

Despite third-grade reading proficiency increases overall, the numbers reveal that the district is still falling short of the program’s goal of a 15 percent per year increase.

“Some people are purveying these results as phenomenal, and I think that’s a little bit overstated … We still have a long way to go,” said City Councilmember Kriss Worthington. “We have made a little bit of progress, and it helps to have a little bit of progress, but I think we really need to look at what’s working in other school districts as well.”

For the 2011-12 school year, the number of students with more than five days of unexcused absences decreased by more than 5 percent compared to the previous school year, which was the program’s goal. The number of students who missed more than 10 percent of the school year decreased as well, though not enough to meet the district’s 5 percent target goal.

However, according to D’Angelo, the district was pleased to see growth in its Academic Performance Index — measured on a scale of 1,000, with 800 being proficient — which improved 19 points to 810. Data show a 25-point increase for English language learners and 15-point increases for both African American and Hispanic groups.

“We have double-digit growth in every subgroup, and it says we are moving in the right direction,” said Berkeley school board candidate Judy Appel. “I think the key now is using this motivation to continue to look deeper and do more. We shouldn’t be satisfied until we can’t predict the academic success of a student based on ethnicity.”

Tracy Hollander, PTA secretary and school board candidate, said district goals for this school year include increasing high school math proficiency, finding mentors for African American male students and increasing cultural proficiency education. The 2020 Vision coalition should work toward supporting teachers and increasing cultural competence in order to close this achievement gap, she said.

“We expect the world of our teachers, and so we should give them the world,” Hollander said. “I think we have some work to do in that regard. We need a real focus on making the learning engaging for all of our students so it works for all the kids.”

Contact Megan Messerly at mmesserly@dailycal.org.

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