Sinai was voted in unanimously by the four sitting board members from a pool of 10 candidates. Sinai will fill the seat vacated by former board president Leah Wilson, who stepped down in March after being appointed court executive officer for the Alameda County Superior Court. Wilson resigned citing concerns about a conflict of interest.

Current board president Karen Hemphill said that despite a strong applicant pool, Sinai had qualities that showed the board she was the most suitable person for the job.

“I felt that the Board needed someone who was already familiar with the District and was involved in public education and Julie met all of these attributes,” Hemphill said in an email.  “She has been a long-time public school activist, used to work for the District and in her current work at the university, it’s all about partnerships and collaboration.”

Before working at UC Berkeley, Sinai was also chief of staff to Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. Sinai said she hopes to apply her previous community and university experience to the school district and help the board with its current challenges, which include a new superintendent, increased efforts to improve academic achievement and heated negotiations with teachers’ unions.

“My future plans are to become familiar with the issues that the board has to tackle and look how to move our equity work forward,” Sinai said. “I will also help with looking at the physical status of a student district and do whatever I can do to reach an agreement with the unions.”

Michelle Moskowitz, director of advocacy and institutional relations at UC Berkeley, works with Sinai and congratulated her appointment, saying she believes Sinai will exceed expectations on the board.

“I think Julie will be an amazing asset to the board, as she has many years of experience working for the city of Berkeley,” Moskowitz said. “They could not have made a better choice. All of her colleagues at the Government and Community Relations Office congratulate her.”

Hemphill said she is glad to be working with Sinai and believes that the board will benefit from working with her.

“I expect that Julie will be a great asset in building partnerships with our community, the County and of course the University,” Hemphill said in an email.  “She also will be great in furthering our work to advance overall academic achievement and Julie’s up close knowledge of what a governing body does and how an effective elected body works together through her work as the Mayor’s Chief of Staff will be very useful.”

Sinai will serve the remainder of Wilson’s term until the seat comes up for re-election in November 2014.

Contact Seif Abdelghaffar at sabdelghaffar@dailycal.org.

The post Julie Sinai appointed to Berkeley school board vacant seat appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Moore, who died in Berkeley police custody on Feb. 12, became the focus of controversy during Tuesday’s council meeting. As the City Council attempted to move an item on mental health for further discussion later in the meeting, vocal protests erupted, eventually culminating in police officers forcibly removing one protester who refused to give up the floor.

Before the council meeting, protesters also held a rally in front of City Hall, holding signs stating, “We won’t forget Kayla!” and “Justice for Kayla (Xavier) Moore.”

Much of the anger in the room reflected protester frustrations about the scarcity of information regarding the case. Berkeley Police Department currently has a “press hold” on Moore’s autopsy report, and although the BPD has assured that the report will be released in the near future, the situation has resulted in strong criticism from members of the family as well as the community.

During the public comment session, two protesters ceded their speaking time to Arthur Moore, Kayla’s father, who directed most of his criticism toward Bates.

“I’m very, very disappointed that your chief of police put a hold on this case,” Arthur said to Bates. “We haven’t heard anything from your office stating that things are going to change … Nobody has said anything about my son. Nobody from your office. What I’m asking you to do is change your mind and give us some answers.”

Prior to the council meeting, much frustration was taken to the streets. On March 12, for example, about 70 protesters gathered at People’s Park and marched on Berkeley Police Department.

Though the protest was nonviolent, the anger was tangible as participants chanted slogans like “Vengeance for Kayla Moore.”

The march was soon followed by a birthday memorial for Moore, who would have turned 42 this year. The memorial also had a march with turnout similar to that of the march on Berkeley Police Department headquarters.

The council meeting, however, was not all emotional pleas and outbursts. Moore’s sister, Maria, proposed that the city have a mental health awareness month.

“What the city needs is more mental health services,” Maria said. “Let’s allocate those funds that would hire more cops to mental health services.”

The heated discussion on mental health and Moore’s death cooled down after the forced removal of one of the protesters. Councilmember Kriss Worthington emphasized that the council must focus on helping move the Berkeley community past this issue and toward a healing process.

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

The post City Council meeting erupts in heated debate over Kayla Moore’s death appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Right now, we have a unique opportunity to draw the nation’s first ever “student district” through the city’s redistricting process. Of the seven proposals submitted by residents, five of them include a student district. As the Council considers which map to adopt for the next decade, both students and the citywide community should consider the benefits of having a student on the City Council.

A student district will institutionalize the dialogue between the campus and the citywide community. Currently, city-student relations rely on informal communication between student organizations and individual Council members.

Council members do their best to communicate with students, but we deserve someone who is actively and continuously advocating for our issues. The only way that we’re going to create more affordable student housing, bring stores and restaurants that students want to Berkeley and reduce crime near campus is by electing a representative who knows what it’s like to be affected by our issues. A student district, with a current or recent student on the council, will ensure that students have this kind of representation and a voice in city debates. Councilmember Laurie Capitelli was recently quoted in a Daily Cal column stating that “there has not been a venue for students to articulate their concerns.” A student district would ensure that City Hall would be such a venue.

This institutionalization of city-student dialogue will not only benefit students; it’s good for everyone in Berkeley. Mayor Tom Bates often cites the city’s Climate Action Plan goals to help the environment by decreasing our carbon footprint. But students already live in the densest housing and overwhelmingly use public transit to get to class or work! Students already play a major role in helping the city meet our Climate Action Plan goals, and could contribute greatly to increased sustainability in the future if the City taps into their valuable knowledge.

Likewise, the citywide community will also benefit if we reduce our “brain drain” and incentivize more young people (that is, recent Cal graduates) to live in Berkeley after graduation. We should aim to create more projects like the Skydeck, an incubator for startups right in Downtown Berkeley, which provide jobs and an innovation pipeline for Berkeley grads. By creating high-tech and higher-wage jobs, recent graduates can be the engine of a burgeoning, sustainable Berkeley economy. Keeping students here will attract knowledge-based industry and bring more revenue to the city. But once again, the best way to find out what will keep students here after graduation is to ask them. Even better: have a student on Council who can channel that perspective into economic development and housing policies.

Even with these undeniable benefits of having a student on City Council, there have been concerns that a student Councilmember would be politically isolated. (They would be just 1 vote out of 9). However, this fear is not only unfounded — it implies that having zero votes is better than having one. Policy-making at all levels of government requires deal-making and consensus. A sole Councilmember cannot write laws alone; legislating requires building coalitions. The point of having a student representative is not that it will magically solve all our problems, but it will give students a seat at the table and allow our voices to be heard.

Last fall, Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Arreguin and Wozniak all expressed support for a student district. The mayor himself claimed that “if (Measure R) passes, we will actually create a student district. And I’m committed to that campus district … I’m committed not just to talk about it … Let’s have a student on the council. Let’s have a student there voting for their own interest.”

We need to hold our elected officials accountable to that statement, and we need to lobby them to create the student district that we deserve. Student political participation is at an all-time high: The ASUC registered over 8,500 new students to vote last fall. With higher student turnout following those registration drives in student precincts, Berkeley students were a major reason that Measure R passed overwhelmingly and Measure S failed. Students can be a grassroots political force, and we (the students and the City) should work together to craft policy that moves our city forward.

But we can’t do this without the help of every Cal student! There are two ways you can help convince City Council to create a student district. First, attend the CityCouncil redistricting public hearing on May 7 (more info at BerkeleyStudentDistrict.com/events/). Second, like us on Facebook (Facebook.com/BerkeleyStudentDistrict/) to stay informed. Working together with our neighbors in the city, we can create a student district, make our voices heard and bring new and innovative perspectives to city policy.
Shahryar Abbasi is the ASUC external affairs vice president. Noah Efron and Michael Manset are UC Berkeley students who have worked on the redistricting issue with Abbasi.

Contact the opinion desk at opinion@dailycal.org.

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The meeting, led by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Committee, served as a forum to discuss various plans to lure more businesses into the iconic Berkeley street. Attendees, among whom were members of the Chamber, city officials and Berkeley residents, remained optimistic about revitalizing Telegraph as a commercial space.

“Telegraph used to be a place where people would go 30 years ago, so it’s pretty exciting to talk about ways to turn the area into an actual destination,” said Polly Armstrong, CEO of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce.

One of the focal points of the meeting was the discussion of Councilmember Kriss Worthington’s short-term, immediate proposals to be voted on Tuesday at the City Council meeting.

Worthington, who represents the Telegraph area, has put forth a “Telegraph ACTION Plan” for improvements slated for this year and the next. Costs from his office are estimated to be around $50,500 according to his agenda item.

Worthington’s proposed improvements include programs to permit retail tables, which would allow a few retail stores to put merchandise tables in front of their stores. Other ideas include drafting a design of a transit center on Dwight Way to bring in more people from around the Bay Area.

He also proposed to improve lighting, restore murals, enhance pedestrian safety, build more parking and make the street more accessible.

“With all of this construction going on, we don’t want businesses to suffer in the short term,” Worthington said. “It is essential to increase access to parking, since I see people driving around the place without actually going to the stores and restaurants all the time.”

Other long-term considerations were discussed at the meeting, like plans to build a museum that celebrates the unique history of People’s Park, to transform the district into a center for music and arts, and to create office spaces for student entrepreneurs.

Mayor Tom Bates, for instance, plans to overhaul an existing law that forbids the city from using the office space located above retail stores in the area.

“I’m sure there was a good reason for the law at the time, but this makes no sense today at all, since the area’s close proximity to the university makes it an ideal place for startups,” Bates said.

By the meeting’s end, many were optimistic that meaningful action would happen with regard to developing the area.

“This meeting was great because I could just sense the excitement and optimism among everyone, and I’m truly hopeful that Telegraph can become a great Bay Area destination,” said Armstrong.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org.

The post Public meeting sparks discussion on revitalizing Telegraph appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The three food trucks will be able to reopen at Bancroft Way and College Avenue in April, according to Councilmember Kriss Worthington. Worthington and Mayor Tom Bates have both been personally involved in advocating for the food trucks’ return in recent weeks. The food trucks were asked to leave campus in December following construction on Lower Sproul.

Ann Vu and Jack Huynh, respective owners of Healthy Heavenly Foods and Kettle Corn Star, plan on reopening as soon as the city completes necessary preparations, like new signage and street markings. Michael Koh, owner of Dojo Dog, anticipates that it will take longer for Dojo Dog to return.

“(Reopening) will take time,” Koh said. “On the operations side, we have to restock inventory. I had no hope of coming back, so I was not prepared.”

He plans to open briefly in the summer and make a full return in the fall.

Koh, Vu and Huynh were notified Tuesday of the new location, Huynh said.

Huynh cited media coverage and pressure from Worthington as reasons the issue came to the forefront of the City Council’s busy agenda. Though the owners are appreciative of action that has been taken, they are still anticipating what the future will bring.

Vu said, however, that the new spot “is a little far, with less business — I can tell this for sure.”

“We’re satisfied in the sense that we get to go back to work,” Huynh said. “As for how that new location will work out, only time will tell. We’re taking it one step at a time and are grateful.”

Contact Christine Tyler at ctyler@dailycal.org.

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The first faction consists of Max Anderson, Jesse Arreguin and Kriss Worthington. They are referred to as the “WAA” coalition, but I like to call them “The Three Musketeers” because they’re the more outspokenly progressive members of the council and are known for fighting for the “causes of the people.”

The other five are “The Clique.”

Tommy B. gets to be ASB President, Linda Maio is Everyone’s Best Friend Forever, Laurie Capitelli is the Sarcastic Kid on the Debate Team, Gordon Wozniak the Nerd, Darryl Moore the Kid Who Never Talks and Susan Wengraf the Dozer.

It’s the Breakfast Club, Berkeley style.

The Three Musketeers and The Clique clash on the most controversial of issues, with The Three Musketeers consistently losing out.

However, these two lively factions may not last forever. With the upcoming redistricting process, it’s very possible that district lines may be redrawn in such a way as to favor certain members and disadvantage others.

Rather than try to understand redistricting — a very important process that is now a whole different ballgame for Berkeley due to the passage of Measure R last fall — myself and its potential implications for a “student district,” I hit up a few of our lovely council members.

Arreguin explained in an email that “In an ideal situation, redistricting is a technical process in which legislative district boundaries are drawn to achieve equal population in each district, to protect the principle of one person, one vote.’”

But, of course, we don’t live in an ideal situation that speaks so diplomatically, so there’s sure to be drama.

Clique members Wengraf and Bates both expressed enthusiasm about seeing the new maps that are due to the city clerk on Friday, March 15, while Wozniak chimed in with an email that he believed these efforts to keep “communities of interest together” was an example of “participatory democracy alive and well in Berkeley.” What a PC group of folks we got here.

Bates was especially keen on having the maps “make sense” — “I want boundaries that make sense, lines that make sense.” But what makes a boundary or line sensible? One that pleases a certain side? The Clique certainly sounds genuinely interested in what the public has to propose and probably has the city’s best interests at heart.

Not everyone agrees, though. People’s Princess Worthington noted in an email that, “Even in Berkeley we have had … lines drawn to include specific candidates in a district and block candidates out of a district.” Arreguin backs up his buddy, saying, “Measure R … opens the door for Councilmembers to politicize the redistricting process and draw lines that punish opponents. This particular City Council is partisan and sometimes more petty than professional.“

Guys, this is like Gossip Girl for Berkeley nerds, so pay attention.

When I asked Wengraf and Bates what they thought of the idea that redistricting could be done in a way that would hurt certain council members, Bates said, “I don’t think that’s even possible,” and Wengraf scoffed, “I think that’s a very paranoid approach for redistricting … if you are a strong candidate, I don’t think it’s a problem.”

Can we please pop the popcorn and get this show on the road already?

I know I shouldn’t condone political drama for the sake of my own entertainment, but let’s be real — do we honestly think this is going to end any other way than in bloodshed?

Arreguin added that he hopes the city can have a “grown-up” discussion on this topic. Unless your last name is Solo, hope is pretty much futile.

We can strive as much as we want to make sure redrawn lines are objective, rational and sensible, but at the end of the day, there’s no way politics doesn’t come into this.

If you’ve reached the end of this column and you’re thinking, “Wow, this is gonna be a shitshow,” then I’ve done my job. If you aren’t thinking that, here’s some logic for you:

1) The Three Musketeers (more like two, as Anderson was nowhere to be found) don’t like the implications of redistricting.

2) The Clique does.

3) Put them in a mixer and blend well. You’ll get a dirty martini, shaken not stirred.

Makes sense, right?

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

The post There will be blood appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Mayor Tom Bates hosted a forum last Thursday concerning the revitalization of Telegraph. According to Berkeleyside, plans have been put forth to construct new projects on the empty lots of Haste Street and Telegraph Avenue; other proposals include improving lighting on the street along with adding Wi-Fi capabilities.

This is usually what much of the talk over rejuvenating Telegraph looks like — “projects, development, buzzword, buzzword, projects.” New storefronts are great. New lighting is even better.

But more often than not, people fail to mention the elephant in the room. I don’t know if it’s because we want to be politically correct or if there seems to be no lasting solution to this issue, but it has to be said: What are we to do with Telegraph’s homeless population?

Ask UC Berkeley students about Telegraph. They’ll tell you the street is “colorful,” “quirky,” “lively” and “cultural”; they’ll also tell you that it’s “dirty,” “grungy,” “sketchy” and, if you missed it the first time, “dirty.” It’s impossible to escape a conversation about Telegraph without someone mentioning “hobos” and “weed.”

Measure S, a failed ballot measure supported strongly by Bates that would have banned sitting on commercial sidewalks such as Telegraph, was an attempt to address just this issue. While the measure was poorly formulated, I can give kudos to the man for at least trying to take action.

The measure was fortunately voted down, and now we’re back to square one, skirting the “homeless problem” with enthusiastic plans for development and excited chatter over amping up night life. But you are never going to have a substantial nightlife on the street if you can’t guarantee student safety by mitigating, or at least reducing, the homeless presence.

The homeless people that populate the street may be there because of circumstances out of their hands, may suffer from mental health issues or may be caught in a cycle of inescapable poverty and depression. You can sympathize and fight for their cause; you can be PC about it and try to avoid it entirely by focusing solely on building, building, building.

At the end of the day, the harsh truth, no filter, is this: You can have all the pretty restaurants and storefronts you want, but as long as much of the student population finds the homeless population “scary” or “annoying,” and I assure you that there are far more students who are disgusted by the “hobos” rather than sympathetic toward them, Telegraph will never attain the vivacity that College or Solano avenues have achieved.

I’m not being insensitive to the homeless population’s plight. I’m not refusing to acknowledge that it’s imperative that the city offer more services to the homeless. I’m simply noting that if your end goal is “revitalization,” a considerable homeless or “drifter” culture and a thriving, modern student-oriented Telegraph cannot coexist.

Do I have facts and research backing up that last statement? No. That’s an intuition derived from two and half years of close observation. You may have a different intuition, and if you do believe that the two can go hand in hand, then tell me this: How do we work toward that happy medium?

Councilmember Jesse Arreguin has put forth the Compassionate Sidewalks Plan, designed to form a committee to examine the causes of homelessness and to improve existing laws and services. This sounds promising, but I fear that once again, this is one of those “Let’s have conversations and hold meetings! Let’s give reports on the status of things! Let’s spew out buzzword after buzzword and try not to offend anyone!” It sounds like a classic recipe for talk turning into talk about talk.

As Councilmember Kriss Worthington noted at last Thursday’s meeting, “I’ve seen most of the people who are in this room at one, two, three or 30 meetings over the course of the last 10 years … having another 30 meetings is not something to be greatly looked forward to and desired.”

Ironically, this column adds to that chorus of voices that are talking and not acting. I’m well aware. I’m one more person joining in on that “discourse” and “conversation,” writing instead of acting. Words can inform and enlighten, but they cannot clean the sidewalk or juice the street.

Everyone agrees that Telegraph has potential. The question over revitalizing Telegraph, then, is not, “How do we go about it?,” or, “What should we do?” or even “When will it finally happen?” Rather, it’s “Why hasn’t it already happened?”

Perhaps it’s because we like to hear the sound of our own voices a little too much.

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

The post Talking on Telegraph. Stop. appeared first on The Daily Californian.

This reference is not in any way intended to offend, demean or imply anything concerning the council member’s sexual orientation. As an ally of the queer movement and as someone who openly and actively supports LGBTQ rights in this country, I would never attack any member of the queer community for his or her sexual identity.

In my first column on Berkeley City Council, I provided nicknames for many of the council members. I called Worthington “Princess Worthington” as a reference to Princess Diana, who was famously known as the “People’s Princess.” Worthington, similarly, is the “People’s council member,” known locally as a staunch supporter of progressive causes. This reference should have been made more explicit in my last column.

From my observations of the council, I’ve seen Worthington interact regularly with audience members, students and even protesters, more so than his colleagues. He is, in my opinion, the “Man of the People,” and I use that phrase for him in my latest column.

As part of a humor column, none of these nicknames or references is intended to be offensive and most certainly not for Worthington, whose work I have great respect for. I understand that my reference to Princess Diana may be a little outdated, but that is all it is — a reference to the “People’s Princess.” I apologize if this reference was unclear or if it was interpreted in any way other than its original intent.

If you have any concerns over my references or questions about my column, feel free to contact me at any time at lyu@dailycal.org.

The post For the record appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Berkeley City Council’s matchup pits Mayor Tom Bates against Councilmember Kriss Worthington. These frenemies have been fighting for forever — Worthington, the People’s Princess (a la Princess Diana) and Tommy B. exchange hostile glances at every council meeting, and if not for societal standards demanding civil restraint, they would be throwing punches at each other.

When the mayor cuts off a speaker, brings down his gavel just a little soon or makes even the slightest move indicating an infringement of First Amendment rights, the Man of the People is there to jump in and demand that the people be heard. As you can imagine, endless interruptions from your dais neighbor for nigh on eight years will get on your nerves.

So what do you do as mayor when you’re forced to sit next to an irksome council member?

Perhaps you talk to the guy, tell him “Stop being so mean to me. It isn’t very nice.” Perhaps every time he opens his mouth to cut in, you jab him with the butt end of your gavel. Perhaps you make your point passive-aggressively, saying things to your buddy Laurie Capitelli like, “Wow, don’t you hate people who wear blue all the time and can’t stop interrupting the mayor?,” and Laurie chuckles and goes “Ohmygod yeah, those people are the worst,” and then the two of you laugh loudly like it’s some hilarious inside joke.

Perhaps Bates has done all of the above, but to no avail. Perhaps he’s done none of the above and instead goes for the quick and painless option — a game of musical chairs.

Alas, it is the latter option that our dear mayor has resorted to — the People’s Princess has been shifted one seat away so that Bates and his BFF Capitelli can be dais buddies.

Why is this a big deal? Well, the way the City Council dais is set up, the mayor sits in the center, and the seating to his left and right seems to be generally arranged according to seniority. So Jesse Arreguin, the youngest council member, sits on the far outside right end, while Worthington, one of the most senior members, sits directly to the mayor’s left. This is tradition, which means you don’t mess with the seating arrangement. Unless you’re the Master.

I guess the best thing to do is to put ourselves in their situation. If you’re Kriss Worthington, your constituents would be sitting in the audience. The crowd consists of the people voting for you. Council meetings are a show, a show where you, as the Man of the People, must do your due diligence and ensure that the average citizen gets the chance to speak.

A good theater performance means showing up the guy in charge, the authority figure that your constituents are not at all fond of. The easiest way to go about this is to call him out, loudly and regularly.

Now if you’re the mayor, this is … well, annoying. You’re just trying to do your job, and this hostile force next to you is ready to pounce on every little misstep you make.

But interruptions are not the only issue at hand here. The mayor has accused Worthington of manipulating the speaker’s board on the dais — a lighted board that shows the order in which council members are slated to speak and a board on which members can add or remove their names.

Said board is located directly within Worthington’s line of sight, and the mayor believes Worthington adds and subtracts his name in a way that will allow him to get the last word (Worthington profusely denies such allegations of debauchery). Hence, another reason to move him.

So who’s right in the end? Should the mayor have dealt with Worthington on his own terms rather than outright casting him away? Probably. Would Worthington have let up on his harping and bothering? Probably not. It’s an impasse that can only be resolved by the warm body of Laurie Capitelli.

Why am I discussing such a trivial aspect of Berkeley City Council with you instead of lighting upon larger topics such as homelessness or redistricting? Because I want you to have the same reaction I had when I first heard about this — “God, what children.”

Worry not, dear reader; we’ll be getting to the heavy stuff, too. First, we must realize that despite the impact the council’s decisions may have upon this city, it is internally a very petty engine, rife with petty drama and petty disputes.

And yet, the council somehow still functions in spite of all this. All the more reason to celebrate when it is able to enact collective action.

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

Clarification(s):
A previous version of this column should have indicated that the nickname given to Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington was a reference to Princess Diana, who was known as “the people’s princess.” The column also may have implied that the Berkeley City Council has stringent seating assignments arranged according to seniority. In fact, there are exceptions.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this column incorrectly stated that Kriss Worthington is the most senior member of the Berkeley City Council. In fact, Linda Maio is the most senior member.

The post Tommy B. and the People’s Princess appeared first on The Daily Californian.

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.

The post Meet the nine appeared first on The Daily Californian.