city council

Twenty people have found permanent housing through Berkeley’s Pathways STAIR Navigation Center since its opening in June, according to a presentation heard by the Berkeley City Council in its special meeting Tuesday.

Instead of rainbows, I received tuition hikes, unaffordable housing and the threat of losing health coverage, which keeps me undetectable and alive. The university didn’t save me.

Our Campaign for Police Accountability citizens group drafted an amendment at about the same time, to replace the appointed PRC with an elected Police Accountability Board. This board would have full authority over the Berkeley Police Department: discipline, training, weapons, procedures and policies.

The Urban Shield program does not reflect our needs. In the past decade, rather than confronting terrorist threats, the police department has trended toward facing high-risk searches, arrest warrant services, patrol support and crowd management. The tactical exercises at Urban Shield do not focus on these activities but instead on politically motivated mass violence, obscuring the principle of de-escalation in community crime encounters.

Berkeley likes to tout itself as a forward-thinking haven. Its politicians and public figures pay lip service to progressive ideals. So let’s take a quick look at the city’s track record on adequate police oversight.

Why must we choose between safety and security, on one hand, and our constitutional rights on the other? That’s like choosing between peace and justice, or freedom and democracy.

Some former ASUC members have become politicians, including state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, who served as the academic affairs vice president and a leader in the anti-apartheid movement on campus during her time as a UC Berkeley student.

Berkeley Community Media is losing its headquarters at Berkeley High School this summer after 20 years of operation.

Students go to great lengths to be able to study at UC Berkeley. Ultimately, housing should not be what is keeping devoted students from higher education.

City Council voted to lower Berkeley’s recreational marijuana tax from 10 to 5 percent during its regular meeting Tuesday.