Representatives who ride the short bus
This is really chapping my @$$. I consider myself a fairly reasonable, moderate political individual. Yet I live in a town that's hell bent on letting everyone know it can out-liberal the next town. The most recent example of our wonderful city council's antics is the anti-Marines resolution.
My intent with this post should be made very clear: I don't appreciate the city council spending time taking stances on issues far beyond its purpose, while ignoring much more pressing issues such as the fact I can't walk down Shattuck without getting hit up 10 times by "street people" (or seeing them relieve themselves on the rapidly vacating store fronts).
However, this mess just got elevated to a whole new level. Not to be out-done, choice Republicans in DC have banded together and introduced parallel bills in the House and the Senate (dubbed "Semper Fi Act of 2008") that seek to fiscally punish the City of Berkeley.
How you may ask? De-funding two institutions: (1) UC Berkeley and (2) a group that provides food to school children. The stupidity of attacking two unrelated targets not responsible or connected to the City of Berkeley requires far more space than this blog post could provide.
For the article, check here.
My intent with this post should be made very clear: I don't appreciate the city council spending time taking stances on issues far beyond its purpose, while ignoring much more pressing issues such as the fact I can't walk down Shattuck without getting hit up 10 times by "street people" (or seeing them relieve themselves on the rapidly vacating store fronts).
However, this mess just got elevated to a whole new level. Not to be out-done, choice Republicans in DC have banded together and introduced parallel bills in the House and the Senate (dubbed "Semper Fi Act of 2008") that seek to fiscally punish the City of Berkeley.
How you may ask? De-funding two institutions: (1) UC Berkeley and (2) a group that provides food to school children. The stupidity of attacking two unrelated targets not responsible or connected to the City of Berkeley requires far more space than this blog post could provide.
For the article, check here.
Labels: Only In Berkeley, Rabid Liberals
posted by tj at 1:35 PM
22 Comments:
The Berkeley City Council members are disgraceful and embarrassing. True story…I was walking by People’s Park the other day. I stopped for a minute to stare at the disgusting squalor that was once the beacon of the city’s peace movement. Lifeless bodies were strewn about, intermingled with overgrown weeds, mud, miscellaneous bags of trash, and human feces. I could hardly face it, I felt so bad for these people. Another minute of observation and I was approached by, not one, but TWO different people asking if I wanted to buy drugs. Their desperation was palpable. I felt powerless.
And then I thought about the Berkeley City Council. What were they doing? This city is supposed to be a model of liberalism! A shining city on the “revolutionary” hill! Where are this city’s grand food banks for the needy? Where are the shelters with enough room to take in the homeless? Where are the cleaning crews to pick up the garbage and filth that line the streets? Where are the police to stop this constant influx of drugs?
Oh yeah, that’s right, our city’s leaders have more important things to do. Like dishonor marines. Like issue “statements of disapproval” about affairs the city is powerless to affect. All the while turning their backs on the only things they could maybe change.
What disgrace. How do they sleep at night?
The only thing more disgusting than the City Council wasting its time to dishonor the Marines is the fact that the Congress would retaliate by cutting school lunches for kids.
What a disgrace.
$243,000 in taxpayer dollars for Chez Panisse to create gourmet organic school lunches in the Berkeley School District. This should have been ousted a long time ago.....their menu features "Comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad," "Meyer lemon éclairs with huckleberry coulis," and "Chicory salad with creamy anchovy vinaigrette and olive toast."
When I was a boy we had chicken nuggets and Salisbury steak and goddamn if I didn't eat it, and like it.
Students need to start voting in city elections.
Does Berkeley have a provision for a municipal recall election?
I can't believe there aren't 5-10 wealthy, liberal, non-nut Berkeley residents who are sick of this shit and capable of raising $1-2 million to run a recall slate.
The messaging wouldn't be terribly difficult. You flyer every door and car in the city. On one side, you list all the money the City Council has spent on their bat-shit crazy circle-jerks (the impeachment referendum, the peace billboards, the parking spots reserved for solar cars, this Marine thing), and on the other, you list all the problems they haven't even thought about bothering to address: the potholes, the lack of shelters and food banks, the broken traffic lights, the garbage, the business climate. Find a slate of normal liberals in full possession of their faculties to run to replace them.
Thing is, there's such low turnout in municipal elections that the extremists dominate the voting bloc (compounded by transient students not participating.)
So you time the recall to coincide with the November 08 Presidential election to raise turnout, dump $1 million into GOTV, $1 million into advertising, and another 500k into organizing UC students, and boom, you have a normal city council not taking orders from Helatrobus.
PS -- yeah, yeah, yeah I'll have some genuflection (and mea culpas) on 2/5 soon.
http://www.chezpanissefoundation.org/lunch.html
interesting idea.
Ha!
Click on the "how you can help tab," 7:50.
It will show you how to make a tax-deductible check, credit card or automatic account donation to keep that comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad "within the school district's food budget."
I saw on the news yesterday that the Semper Fi bill scared the Berkeley City Council enough to get them to announce that they would be retracting the parking spot grant, and their proclamation in favor of the protest.
Additional commentary here.
I heart Jon Carroll.
This is definitely the headline story on CNN.com right now. Great.
way to go CNN! it only took you like 8 days!
Impoverished 1L seeking affordable dry cleaner within walking distance of downtown. Loathes long waits for clothes, but is willing to compromise in return for having them returned unblemished.
It's unfortunate that from a national perspective, people probably will not realize how unrepresentative of Berkeley the city council's view is. Or at least I think it is.
11:56--
Advanced European Tailoring on Addison + Shattuck got great reviews on yelp. I went in for the first time yesterday and they seemed pretty good.
I've used Advanced European for tailoring work, and they've done a great job. Note, however, that on Yelp numerous people say that while they do a great job with tailoring, they don't do a very good job with dry cleaning.
11:56 sez "Thank You"
Apparently Europeans like their sleeves to be too long. . . I looked like a euro-hipster during OCIP. . . I might try not to look like one during 3L OCIP though. . . .
I just dropped a jacket off there (to have the sleeves shortened!) and the guy was super friendly and cool, and listened carefully to what I had to say, which is confidence inspiring.
For whatever my confidence is worth . . .
For any rock 'n roll fans out there, here is a gem of a quote from today's SF Gate:
One regular at Berkeley demonstrations who will be noticeably absent from today's rallies is Country Joe McDonald, a Navy veteran and Vietnam-era peace activist famous for singing his "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag" at Woodstock in 1969. He says he will sit this one out.
The issue has very little to do with the Marines and a lot to do with political grandstanding and NIMBYism, McDonald said.
"The council said the Marines can't recruit here, they should recruit somewhere else," he said. "And if there's a problem, we still want you to help us. It's astounding. It allows everyone to make fun of Berkeley again."
He said protesters on both sides are driven by "civilian guilt."
"Most people yell and scream about this issue because they're trying to show how patriotic they are," he said. "At this rate, Berkeley's going to be a damn noisy place."
Statement from the Chez Panisse Foundation about Berkeley Recent Controversy
Recently there has been some misinformation in the press about the work of the Chez Panisse Foundation, and its role in Berkeley’s public school lunch program. To clarify, we offer a summary of our involvement; and a brief recap of the controversy over the city of Berkeley’s government funding.
The Difference Between Chez Panisse Restaurant and Chez Panisse Foundation
Chez Panisse Restaurant was established 36 years ago in North Berkeley. The restaurant uses local, organic and sustainably-produced foods, and supports over 75 vendors in the greater Bay Area.
The Chez Panisse Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization, which operates entirely separately from the restaurant. Founded by Alice Waters in 1996, the Foundation was established to support programs that educate young people about food and its connection to personal and environmental health.
The Role of the Chez Panisse Foundation in Berkeley’s School Lunch Program
Three years ago, the Chez Panisse Foundation, in partnership with the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) and Center for Ecoliteracy launched the School Lunch Initiative: A district-wide effort to create healthier meals in all 16 schools. The Chez Panisse Foundation made a grant to BUSD to support a new food service director to catalyze and implement changes to the meal program. The Foundation’s support enabled BUSD to make major changes, including eliminating trans-fats, introducing whole, fresh fruit, and removing chemically processed foods from the meals. There are salad bars in every school and a free breakfast program for all students.
The Foundation does not grow food for school lunch, prepare meals for school lunch, or pay the food costs for the school lunch in Berkeley. All of the changes have been made within BUSD’s food budget. Presently, BUSD spends approximately $1.50 per student on food costs for school lunch.
There has also been some confusion about what kind of meals BUSD is serving. Typical entrees in our elementary schools include vegetable or chicken chow mein; roast turkey, mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables; or tamales with beans and rice. In addition, students are offered a salad bar, organic milk, and fresh fruit every day. Chez Panisse Restaurant, a separate entity from the Chez Panisse Foundation, does not design menus for BUSD and is not involved in any of the changes to the meal program.
For more information about the School Lunch Initiative please visit www.schoollunchinitiative.org. To view school lunch menus visit www.berkeley.net.
About the Recent Controversy
The City of Berkeley has come under fire for issuing a statement against a Marine Recruiting Center located here. As a means of protest, Senator DeMint (R, SC) and others have drafted legislation to remove funding allocated to the City of Berkeley in the 2008/09 Federal budget. This includes grants to the Chez Panisse Foundation and the Berkeley Unified School District. Funding to BUSD and the Chez Panisse Foundation would support efforts to create healthier meals in the Berkeley public schools and educate children about their food choices through hands-on experiences in kitchen and garden classrooms. It would be a shame if this budget dispute, which is far outside our control, were to sacrifice our work in Berkeley to create healthy school meals, and diminish our efforts to assist districts across the state and nation in replicating this work.
The Chez Panisse Foundation has been supporting public school programs in Berkeley for the past ten years and we hope to continue to contribute to the community for many years to come. For more information, please visit www.chezpanissefoundation.org.
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