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The Berkeley PartyThe vision behind The Berkeley Party is that it is possible for a community to work together, to make the decisions that are important to them, in an open and fair manner. There are no back room deals, no insiders. Everything is done in the open with the whole community invited to participate. Traditionally, communities come together in a crisis. While this is important, it is only part of the picture. Communities should come together at other times to create a positive vision for their future. The Berkeley Party members aim to create a positive vision for our future and help bring it about through a collaborative political process. The Berkeley Party is unlike another political party in the world. At its core is an ActionForum for discussion and dialogue about Berkeley life. What is easily done with personal computers, Internet connections and custom-designed software could be replicated with a bunch of fax machines and a lot of hard work. The ActionForum respects how much time you have to give. What is unique about The Berkeley Party isn't just the technology; it is the culture that is being created.
No one knows if the forum will work to create a vision for Berkeley. But it is worth a try. We take a very long-term view. If it doesn't work we will keep reinventing it until it does. Berkeley is our home. It is the place we have chosen to make our dreams come true. We don't want to wake up one morning and find a city no longer compatible with those dreams. We will create our vision, and build The Berkeley Party one member at a time.
1. Someone has a suggestion or concern, and writes about it in the forum.
2. It is discussed and a position emerges which a party member thinks should be part of The Berkeley Party platform.
3. The member emails the party secretary at info@berkeleyparty.com asking that the members be polled to see if there is 2/3rds support for the plank.
4. The party secretary emails all members notifying them that a particular comment in the forum has been nominated as part of the party plank and informing them that there will be a vote on the issue in 2 weeks.
5. Two weeks later the secretary emails those members again asking them their position. They have 72 hours to reply by email, the votes are counted and the results posted on the party website. If the issue passes it is posted on the party website as part of the platform.
6. Berkeley Party members will hold elected officials accountable to the platform at election time and will track and lobby them during the term.
The Berkeley Party platform represents the view of at least a two-thirds of the Berkeley Party members. The platform will be used to evaluate elected officials and set the Party agenda. However, the platform is not binding on any elected officials, candidates or party members.
18. The Berkeley Party endorses Measure K, School Board Compensation, and urges the citizens of Berkeley to support it. We find that $1,500 per month is a reasonable amount to pay the School Board members. (Ratified 9/29/02)
17. The Berkeley Party endorses Anne Wagley for City Council District 8. With Anne's business and legal background, and her demonstrated concern for individual rights, Anne is the most qualified candidate running. Anne cares, and has the knowledge, integrity, and skills to fairly represent all of district 8. (Ratified 9/29/02)
16. The Berkeley Party endorses Dona Spring for City Council District 4. Dona Spring has the highest rating on Berkeley Party's City Watch; she is very supportive of fair process; she is concerned with livable neighborhoods; and, if we had a council full of people like Dona we would be building more affordable housing that is sensitive to the context of our city than is currently being built. Dona Spring has sponsored at least 3 planks as council agenda items: campaign finance reform (defeated), more complete noticing on zoning development notices (referred to staff), and reducing green house gases by prohibiting electric heaters in multi unit buildings. She also supports a community review of the City Attorney's office. Dona Spring is a member of the Berkeley Party. For these reasons, the Berkeley Party supports and endorses Dona Spring for Berkeley City Council District 4. (Ratified 9/29/02)
15. Berkeley Shadow Government: The Citizens of Berkeley should establish a Berkeley Shadow Government, including both council and staff, to inform the Citizens of Berkeley of any inappropriate actions taken by our elected officials or staff, and to indicate the actions that should have been taken. The Berkeley Party would elect the Shadow Government members. Members of the Berkeley Shadow Government would issue reports that would be posted on the Berkeley Public Community Forum or on the Berkeley Party website. (Ratified 9/29/02)
14. Unapproved Housing Element of the General Plan: It has recently come to the attention of many people that the Housing Element of the Berkeley General Plan, as submitted by our city staff to the State of California, is significantly and substantially different from what was passed by our City Council on December 18th, 2001. Yet, what was submitted to the State is represented as being what was passed on December 18th, including amendments passed by the council at that time. It is illegal for staff to submit a legal document to the State, that is required to be submitted to the State, which is forged or altered. We call for a full investigation by the Planning Commission or by the State Attorney General's office, with the results made public. An investigation by our City Attorney's office will not be accepted or believed. (Ratified 9/29/02)
13.Citizen's review of the City Attorney: The City Manager should immediately begin the process of holding a citizen's review of the City Attorney. The review panel should be made up of citizens with a legal background and input from the public should be solicited. (Ratified 9/29/02)
12.Campaign Finance Reform: A voluntary Campaign Finance Reform ordinance should be enacted in time for the 2002 Mayor's race and the 2004 District elections. Such a ordinance
would provide matching funds for candidates who voluntarily agree not to accept donations from other than individuals in an amount substantially less than the current $250.00 limit. They would also agree to spending limits. Such limits might be allowed to increase should an opponent not agree to spending limits and substantially exceed the voluntary limit. The ordinance would also limit the amount candidates could give to their own campaign. The city budget should include at least $150,000 for the November 2002 election. (Ratified 3/19/02)11. If it is Smart Growth, then it should not be Stupid Growth: Berkeley is a fully built-out city, with opportunities for infill development. We are very densely populated, with wonderful vibrant neighborhoods that merit preservation, revitalization, and protection against both a deluge of traffic and parking problems, and from inappropriately over-sized building developments. To this end, we must balance the community's needs: maintaining our existing housing supply, improving and repairing our city's aging infrastructure (currently there is a budget shortfall of approx. $700 million), motivating citizens and daily visitors to use our transit systems (and encouraging environmentally sound new systems), building contextual infill development (utilizing environmentally sound techniques), providing affordable housing for U.C. students and Berkeley families that can't afford the city's high rents, and soliciting citizen involvement to help decide if proposed changes and additions fall within the range of normal expectations.
To this end we oppose setting a 2-3 story minimum height on transit corridors amendment to the General Plan as proposed by Council member Hawley. The amendment ignores the principle of building in context, flys in the face individual rights, is ill conceived and marks the point where Smart Growth becomes Stupid Growth. (Ratified 3/19/02)
10. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Ordinance:Greenhouse gas production has been linked to global warming, climate change and species extinction. It is important that the new buildings our city approves produce a minimum amount of greenhouse gas. To this end Berkeley should immediately pass an ordinance that states that for new buildings of 5 or more residential units, the Title 24 energy calculations cannot offset the space heating energy use with savings from hot water energy use. Each system would have to meet the requirements independently. The ordinance should sunset when the problem with the current Title 24 is corrected. The ordinance should also not allow the excess cost of existing electric space heat to be passed on to affordable housing tenants. Since the production of greenhouse gas is a very serious problem, the ordinance should go into effect immediately. (Ratified 3/19/02)
9. The Right to a Fair Hearing: In the interests of a fair process, citizens have the right to a fair public hearing. Key elements of a fair hearing should include:
- Reasonable Notice to the Public -- aspects of which involve informative, accurate, timely, visible postings which are maintained for the duration of the posting period.
- Reasonable Temporal Access for the Public -- no public hearing on any matter should be permitted to commence after 10:30 pm unless the matter is specifically noticed to start at a later, specified hour and begins at or not later than 15 minutes of that time. The contrary practice is an abuse of the public, and in practice denies many a reasonable chance to state their opinions or to bring information to the attention of the hearing.
- Reasonable Opportunity to Speak -- every member of the public who has properly filed a speaker's card shall be permitted no less than 3 minutes to address a public hearing, unless the hearing notice has alternatively indicated that a specific total amount of time will be allotted to each category of speakers (proponents, opponents and undecided), though that time shall not be less than 20 minutes, although if there are fewer than 7 speakers in a category, each may be limited to no more than 3 minutes. Moreover, if public hearings on a given matter are running concurrently (e.g., Use Permits and CEQA), these guidelines shall apply to each of the hearings being held on the same matter. Except as noted above for members of specific groups, individual speaker's cards should be accepted until the end of a public hearing. The current practice of requiring speaker cards to be submitted by 7pm for Zoning Adjustments Board hearings, despite the fact the item may not appear on the agenda until many hours later, discourages public participation. (Ratified 3/19/02)
8. The Right to Access to Our Representatives: The city's rule preventing public access to individual councilmembers, the mayor, or their personal staff on an issue that may come before the Council in its quasi-judicial capacity (on appeal) is antithetical to democratic values and to the First Amendment. In the name of open, accountable, and transparent good government this rule should be revoked at the earliest possible opportunity. The rule utterly failes its alleged purpose of shielding Council from ostensibly inappropriate lobbying by special interests, but actively denies constituents their right to access to their elected representative on issues of importance to them. (Ratified 3/19/02)
7. Use of Story Poles: The citizens of a "built-out" Berkeley, peopling the county's densest municipality, and the third most densely populated city in the Bay Area deserve to "see" proposed development, particularly in the case of large commercial or mixed-use projects, before approval, through the use of story-poles, photo-simulation, or photo-montage. Such projects might be new construction, additions with added height, or other substantial projections which could have a significant impact on views, solar access or, through disproportionate juxtaposition, on the surrounding built or natural context. The City should be sensitive to the concerns of its residents and seek to make transparent the issues that may be in dispute by a ready willingness to require the use of the above techniques to show faithfully what the proposed construction will look like in its context so that issues of views, sunlight, and out-of-scale projects may be openly judged with full information. (Ratified 3/19/02)
6. Height Initiative: The Berkeley Party supports the creation of a Height Initiative. We find that this initiative is necessary to keep Berkeley a diverse, livable and healthy city. The Height Initiative will be in effect for ten years and is an important first step in the reclaiming of our city for its citizens. The Height Initiative buys us time to implement the changes needed in our city to insure that all citizens are treated fairly. The Berkeley Party, as indicated by its platform, will work to insure these changes are made. (Ratified 11/21/01)
5. Consistency of General Plans & Zoning Ordinances: The City of Berkeley should, in the pursuit of good government, sound management, prudent public policy, and faithful support of the democratic process, adopt an ordinance establishing a mandatory consistency between its General Plan and Zoning Ordinances, thereby honoring the General Plan with the obligation to implement it, and pledging itself to the logical policy that its zoning ordinances should flow from the plan that engenders them. (Ratified 11/21/01)
4. Timing & Availability of Staff Reports: All staff reports, and all supporting documentation, prepared by City employees for any City Public Hearing, whether before commissions, boards, or the City Council, should be completed and available to the public at least one week prior to the due date for written comments, or at least two weeks prior to the hearing, which ever is a greater length of time; its lack of availability on this basis would necessitate postponement of a hearing on that issue. Staff Reports frame the discussion, establish the official facts, at times assert a line of reasoning, and, finally, provide an official recommendation for action on an issue of public interest. Such documents are an important source of information to the commissioners, board members, City Councilors and the public, for whom they are prepared. (Ratified 11/21/01)
3. Our Right to Know the Rules that Govern Us: The people of Berkeley have the right to know the rules that govern them. Included in these rules are the interpretations made by the city staff and the opinions issued by the city attorney. Therefore the city staff's and the city attorney's determinations, interpretations and opinions should be readily accessible to the public. The city council should adopt this as a policy, and the city manager should immediately begin its implementation. (Ratified 8/20/01)
2. Sunshine Ordinance: The Berkeley Party supports the creation of a Berkeley Sunshine Act. We urge the city council to begin the process of creating a sunshine ordinance our city can be proud of. (Ratified 8/20/01)
1. Right to a fair process: The people of Berkeley have the right to a say in the decisions that affect their lives. Fundamental to this is a fair decision making process. We hold that the Berkeley City Council is ultimately responsible for seeing to it that our laws and ordinances are faithfully carried out and will hold the City Council accountable. (Ratified 8/20/01)
For more information contact info@berkeleyparty.com