Fw: [peoples-park-news] Letter to New UCB Chancellor // THURSDAY: People's Park at Labor Fest // Open Mic // Weekly Organizing Meeting // More

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From: "peoples-...@riseup.net" <peoples-...@riseup.net>
To: "peoples-...@lists.riseup.net" <peoples-...@lists.riseup.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at 04:44:27 PM PDT
Subject: [peoples-park-news] Letter to New UCB Chancellor // THURSDAY: People's Park at Labor Fest // Open Mic // Weekly Organizing Meeting // More

On behalf of the People's Park Council (PeoplesPark.org):


Our friends at the People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group wrote
the following letter to the new UCB Chancellor, and will be speaking at
an online Labor Fest event about People's Park on Thursday (see details
below, and please join us):


Dear Chancellor Lyons:

We are disappointed that you will not meet with us. Your predecessor
also never deemed it necessary to meet with those who support the
preservation of People’s Park. Because she was not able to achieve total
destruction of the park before she left her position, you will inherit
that distinction. We do not know how aware you are of the background
that led us to this point, but we’d like to explain that like the Free
Speech Movement and other controversial issues at Cal, the battle for
People’s Park will not disappear once the heavy equipment rolls onto the
site.

Despite the misstatements by Dan Mogulof regarding the “strong support”
manufactured for the project, our Open Letter, which the People’s Park
Historic District Advocacy Group began circulating in 2021, stands in
stark contrast. Many have signed on since, and many other supporters
have joined in the effort to protect People’s Park. The nearly 150
signatures on the Open Letter include Berkeley residents, UCB
professors, three former Berkeley mayors, three former Berkeley city
councilmembers, many former Berkeley commissioners, Cal alumni and
students, attorneys, architects, historians and many others who are
concerned about the threatened destruction of People’s Park.

Additionally, several student groups support preservation of People’s
Park - Pay Your Workers Campaign, Historic Preservation Club, Cal ACLU,
and Suitcase Clinic. Add to that, two resolutions from the ASUC opposing
destruction of the park, the Berkeley Faculty Association’s questioning
of the project, and the many editorials in support of the park in the
Daily Cal. Support has also come from the country’s leading preservation
organization - The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

These park advocates are clearly not the profile of “privileged NIMBY
neighbors” claimed by the UC administration. They have all recognized a
particularly bad plan when so many viable alternative sites for student
housing are available. UC has given the community the false choice of
having either a park or a dorm when we can have both.

Respecting the State Supreme Court decision is difficult if one
understands that AB 1307 undercut park proponents’ win in the State
Court of Appeal. AB 1307 was nothing more than a sweetheart, backroom
deal concocted by Assemblyperson Buffy Wicks. She had absolutely no
contact with the plaintiffs in the court case or with any park
proponents in the district she purportedly represents. There were no
legislative committee hearings that aired arguments on the bill, pro and
con. The bill can only be described as a piece of special interest
legislation with the special interest being none other than UC.

This outcome is disappointing because the nonprofit, community-based
organizations were only asking for a public process under the California
Environmental Quality Act. The Court of Appeal clearly saw that UC
pursued a private process in determining it had no alternative other
than to build on People’s Park. Our groups hired legal representation at
great expense to advocate for transparency from UC. We played by the
rules, and when UC did not like the outcome, it got the rules changed.

This begs the question - Is the project about student housing or about
destroying the park? This is particularly evident when the millions of
wasted dollars of public funds are considered due to delays, legal and
police costs, and the shipping container wall with razor wire.

In order to meet its housing goal, UCB has claimed that it wants to
build as much student housing as soon as possible. However, as an
indication of its outrageously poor planning to reach the goal, UCB
chose People’s Park as Housing Project #2 and then admitted early on
that it would certainly experience delays due to the controversial
nature of the project. Anchor House, Housing Project # 1, is nearly
completed. If any of the many alternative sites had been chosen for
Housing Project #2, it would likewise be nearly complete.

Cal touts that 1.7 acres of the park would remain open space after
development. However, the increasingly densely populated Southside needs
probably at least three times the acreage of People’s Park to meet urban
green space standards at the international, national, state or city
level. Stripping much-needed open space from students and the community
is particularly perverse because it is unnecessary. We also know that
beyond the ever-growing borders of the Cal campus there is still a
“Berkeley community.”

Cal states it has “secured housing vouchers from the City of Berkeley
for this project” neglecting to explain that housing vouchers come from
the federal Housing and Urban Development voucher program. Vouchers
would only be available if UC completed an environmental impact report
in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, a requirement
UC refused for its original supportive housing project. Since UC has
destroyed a site on the National Register of Historic Places, this will
likely be a major deterrent for any potential nonprofit housing
developer.

Not only are the proposed buildings out-of-keeping with the area, they
overshadow a National Landmark (Bernard Maybeck’s First Church), a
building by famed architect Julia Morgan, the Anna Head complex by the
founding member of Berkeley’s Ratcliff architectural dynasty, and many
other historic structures that surround People’s Park.

The university claims to honor the historic importance of the park but
does so by destroying a place that is an official city landmark,
recognized by the State Historic Resources Commission. And People's Park
is also listed on the federal government's National Register of Historic
Places as a site of such national importance that it's worthy of
preservation. So UC's idea of honoring this historic place is to destroy
it.

Chancellor Lyon, inviting us to give “input and ideas regarding
planning” for commemoration of the park would make us complicit in UC’s
perpetration of the death and wounding of park protectors, the
tremendous waste of millions of dollars in delays due to inappropriate
siting of the project, and the delay of the construction of much needed
student and supportive housing .

Many who consider themselves part of the Cal family honor fact-based
research and support social justice. We think of these values as having
been strengthened by experiences at Berkeley. Therefore, it pains most
Cal-affiliated people when UC Berkeley behaves like a greedy and abusive
corporation without a conscience, but with a big budget for public
relations and legal representation.

Obviously corporations can make expensive miscalculations, e.g., Ford’s
Edsel. UC campuses likewise have made costly planning errors, e.g.,
UCSB’s “Dormzilla.” However, both of these mistakes were recognized and
the projects were terminated. Harm only comes when a bad decision is
stubbornly sustained at the cost of institutional integrity.

Yes, this project has been well underway due to Carol Christ’s efforts,
but you will inherit the mantle of the person who implemented it. If any
of these details are unclear or need further elaboration, we would be
happy to explain. We understand you delegating to Dan Mogulof a reply to
our request for a meeting. However, we would deeply appreciate a
personal reply to the critical issues raised in this letter.

Sincerely,

Harvey Smith, BA ’67, MPH, ’84, UC Berkeley
President, People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group
peoplesp...@gmail.com

*****

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*****

Labor Fest event:

The Fight to Save People’s Park
THURSDAY, JULY 11 @ 7PM - 9PM PDT
Free
Zoom event - Register at link:
https://laborfest.net/event/the-fight-to-save-peoples-park/

The ongoing battle to prevent the development by UC of People’s Park in
Berkeley continues. The park was listed on the National Register of
Historic Places, and an important Court of Appeal victory was won.
However, UC appealed the court decision to the State Supreme Court and
simultaneously subverted the court victory by getting the legislature to
pass a bill to undermine it. Construction is halted until the court
issues its decision. Organizing strategies are still being pursued to
protect the park from destruction by a huge student housing project and
the paving over with hardscape, despite the need for open space in the
densest part of Berkeley. This Zoom panel will also talk about how
privatization is pushing the monetization of the public assets of the
University and how this process has become a national trend.

Speakers:
Harvey Smith – People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group
Charles Wollenberg – former Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of
History, Berkeley City College
Joe Liesner – Food Not Bombs

Also check out other Labor Fest events, both in person and on Zoom,
throughout July at https://laborfest.net/

*****

Open Mic at the Triangle
THIRD SATURDAY OF THE MONTH (next one JULY 20)
Telegraph and Dwight, Berkeley

The People's Park Council will be meeting at the Triangle at 1pm on
those days, preceding the open mic, NOT at our usual meeting spot at
Grassroots House.

*****

People's Park Council Meeting
SATURDAYS 1PM (Except 3rd Saturdays of the month - see Open Mic above)
Grassroots House
2022 Blake Street, Berkeley, CA 94704

*****

*** Please sign the petition to remove the wall around People's Park:
https://www.change.org/p/remove-the-border-wall-berkeley

*** The struggle is not over! Text SAVETHEPARK to 41372 to join the
bulldozer alarm text alert

*** Let 1000 Parks Bloom!