C. The degree of protection required by this chapter is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes. The standards set forth herein are minimal standards and this chapter does not imply that compliance will ensure that there will be no improper release of hazardous materials or wastes. This chapter shall not create liability on the part of the City, any officer or employee thereof for any damages that result from reliance on this chapter or any administrative decision lawfully made hereunder. All persons handling hazardous materials or wastes within the City are advised to determine to their own satisfaction the level of additional protection necessary or desirable to ensure that there is no improper release of hazardous materials or wastes.
D. Subject to the limitations of due process, and notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, whenever the words "shall" are used in establishing a responsibility or duty of the City, its elected or appointed officers, employees, or agents, it is the intent of the City Council that such words establish a discretionary responsibility or duty requiring the exercise of judgment and discretion.
Section 2. Copies of this Ordinance shall be posted for two days prior to adoption in the display case located near the walkway in front of the Maudelle Shirek Building, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Within 15 days of adoption, copies of this Ordinance shall be filed at each branch of the Berkeley Public Library and the title shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation.
Office of the City Manager
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 ● Tel: (510) 981-7000 ● TDD: (510) 981-6903 ● Fax: (510) 981-7099 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: https://berkeleyca.gov/
CONSENT CALENDAR
October 1, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
Submitted by: Terrance Davis, Director, Public Works
Subject: Grant Applications: Regional Measure 3: Safe Routes to Transit and Bay Trail Program
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt two Resolutions authorizing the City Manager to submit grant applications to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Regional Measure 3: 2025 Safe Routes to Transit and Bay Trail Program (SR2TBT) for the following projects: Southwest Berkeley Bike Boulevards for up to $4 million; Adeline Street Quick-Build for up to $1.05 million; accept the grants if awarded, and execute any resulting agreements and amendments.
FISCAL IMPACTS OF RECOMMENDATION
If the City wins these grant awards, MTC will provide a total of up to $4,916,100 to the City’s State Transportation Grants Fund (Fund 344) for improvements to several major corridors and local streets. The SR2TBT funding request for the Southwest Berkeley Bike Boulevards project is $3,875,100. The SR2TBT funding request for the Adeline Street Quick-Build improvements is $1,041,000. The program requires that applicants provide at least 11.47% of the total funding amount in matching funds. Required matching funds in the amount of $563,900 are available starting in fiscal year 2028 from Measure BB Fund 135 (Bicycle and Pedestrian) and Fund 134 (Local Streets and Roads). The total estimated SR2TBT funding request for both projects is $4,916,000.
SR2TBT Grant Funding Requests and Matching Funds
Southwest Berkeley Bike Boulevards $3,875,100
Adeline Street Quick-Build $1,041,000
Total SR2TBT Grant Funding Request $4,916,100
City Matching Funds Available $563,900
TOTAL SR2TBT Grant and City Match $5,480,000
CURRENT SITUATION AND ITS EFFECTS
The safety countermeasures and traffic calming improvements in these projects were identified in the following Council approved plans:
2017 Berkeley Bike Plan
2020 Vision Zero Plan
05
Grant Applications: Regional Measure 3: 2025 Safe Routes to Transit and Bay Trail Program
CONSENT CALENDAR
October 1, 2024
2020 Berkeley Pedestrian Plan
2020 Adeline Corridor Specific Plan
These specific projects were prioritized because of transportation equity, traffic safety, and grant funding competitiveness. The Equity Priority Area and the High Injury Streets established in the Vision Zero Action Plan are used to prioritize grant applications - both projects are in the Equity Priority Area and are located on or provide alternatives to travelling on High Injury Streets. Both projects provide direct access improvements to transit such as Ashby BART station. These prioritization criteria align with MTC’s Equity Priority Communities as well as the regional Vision Zero High Injury Network and the transit access goals of RM3 funding.
These projects will connect people to key destinations in Southwest Berkeley, including the Ed Roberts Campus, Malcolm X Elementary School and businesses in the Lorin District. Both projects will close gaps between existing and planned low-stress bike infrastructure in South and Southwest Berkeley.
Southwest Berkeley Bike Boulevards
The Southwest Berkeley Bike Boulevards project will install bicycle boulevard treatments along the following routes:
Mabel Street from Russell Street to 66th Avenue
66th Avenue from Mabel Street to Idaho Street
Idaho Street from 66th Street to Harmon Street
Harmon Street from Idaho Street to King Street
King Street from Prince Street to Alcatraz Avenue
Prince Street from King Street to MLK Jr Way, and
Alcatraz Avenue from Sacramento Street to Adeline Street.
Bicycle Boulevard treatments on Mabel Street, 66th Avenue, Idaho Street, Harmon Street and Prince Street will include traffic circles, new signage, roadway stencils, a hybrid-beacon crossing at Sacramento Street and additional traffic calming safety measures. Bike lanes will be added on Alcatraz Avenue from Adeline Street to King Street with additional traffic calming safety measures along the existing Bicycle Boulevard on King Street. Pedestrian safety will be improved throughout the project area by implementing ADA-compliant curb ramps, median refuges, hardened centerlines, curb extensions and raised and high visibility crosswalks where feasible.
This project connect to, builds on, and leverages the Bicycle Boulevard improvements being constructed by the Alameda County Transportation Commission San Pablo Avenue Corridor Parallel Bike Boulevards project, by establishing a seamless bikeway connection in Southwest Berkeley that offers an alternative to cycling on busy state highways such as San Pablo Avenue and Ashby Avenue.
Grant Applications: Regional Measure 3: 2025 Safe Routes to Transit and Bay Trail Program
CONSENT CALENDAR
October 1, 2024
Adeline Quick-Build Project
This project runs on Adeline Street from Ashby Avenue to the City limit at approximately 61st Street. There are currently six lanes of traffic on Adeline Street (three lanes in each direction). This project would reduce the number of through lanes from six to four lanes (two in each direction) and accommodate construction of a one-way protected bike lane (“cycle track”) on each side of Adeline Street. This will make an important connection in the regional bike network, bridging the gap from where the Adeline Street cycle track ends at Ashby Avenue in the City to where it resumes on Adeline at the Oakland border.
It will also connect to the cycle track that Oakland is planning for Martin Luther King Jr Way. The low cost of project materials will create a cost-effective means of constructing safe infrastructure while offering the Public Works design flexibility to respond to community input. If awarded, Public Works will coordinate with Oakland’s Department of Transportation to align our project delivery schedules and design as much as possible to provide a safe connection between jurisdictions. Transit operation impacts will be considered, and this project will include bus boarding islands at several stops along Adeline Street to minimize conflicts between bicyclists, buses and pedestrians.
The Southwest Berkeley Bike Boulevards and Adeline Quick-Build Projects further the Strategic Plan goals of providing state-of-the-art, well-maintained infrastructure, amenities, and facilities; and creating a resilient, safe, connected, and prepared city.
BACKGROUND
The Safe Routes to Transit & Bay Trail (SR2TBT) Program is a competitive program administered by MTC that funds bicycle and pedestrian access improvements on and in the vicinity of state-owned toll bridges connecting to rail transit stations and ferry terminals. This program is funded through Regional Measure 3 (RM3), passed by voters in 2018, which raised the toll for all vehicles on State-owned toll bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area in order to fund transportation projects that reduce congestion and improve access to toll bridge corridors. The RM3 identifies $150 million in toll revenue for the grant over two programming cycles, with a base amount of $50 million available for programming each cycle, and an optional $25 million for a transformative active transportation project. Of the $50 million available this cycle, MTC has established a target of $3 million or greater for quick-build style projects.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE IMPACTS
The projects in these grant applications are designed to promote sustainable transportation and climate resilience by improving traffic safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. This is consistent with the 2009 Climate Action Plan (Plan) Policy 5.A, which calls for expanding and improving the City’s bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. The Plan’s target is to reduce transportation emissions 80% below year 2000 levels by 2050.
The Plan further states that transportation modes, such as public transit, walking and bicycling, must become the primary means of fulfilling the City’s mobility needs in order to meet these targets.
Grant Applications: Regional Measure 3: 2025 Safe Routes to Transit and Bay Trail Program
CONSENT CALENDAR
October 1, 2024
RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATION
The SR2TBT funding allows the City to address traffic safety issues along major transportation corridors and promote environmentally-friendly mobility. The need for the projects in these applications has been identified in the following Council-approved Plans:
2017 Bicycle Plan (Resolution No. 67,945-N.S.),
2019 Vision Zero Action Plan (Resolution No. 69,324-N.S.) and 2020 Pedestrian Plan (Resolution No. 69,711–N.S).
These documents were the result of robust public engagement processes involving members of the public, Transportation Commissioners and numerous stakeholders throughout the City. Not applying would mean foregoing up to $4,916,000 in potential grant funding and leaving traffic safety issues on these streets unaddressed.
ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS CONSIDERED
The City could choose not to apply for these funds. However, no alternative funding source has been identified to complete these key traffic safety and sustainability projects.
CONTACT PERSON
Hamid Mostowfi, Transportation Manager, Public Works 510-981-6403 Eric Anderson, Principal Planner, Public Works, 510-981-7062 Attachments:
1: Resolutions
7/11/23
Resolution of Local Support
RESOLUTION NO. ##,###-N.S.
AUTHORIZING THE FILING OF AN APPLICATION FOR FUNDING ASSIGNED TO
MTC AND COMMITTING ANY NECESSARY MATCHING FUNDS AND STATING
ASSURANCE TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT
WHEREAS, CITY OF BERKELEY (herein referred to as APPLICANT) is submitting an application to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) for $3,875,045 in funding assigned to MTC for programming discretion, which includes federal funding administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and federal or state funding administered by the California Transportation Commission (CTC) such as Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STP) funding, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) funding, Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) funding, Transportation Alternatives (TA) set-aside/Active Transportation Program (ATP) funding, and Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP) funding (herein collectively referred to as REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING) for the Southwest Berkeley Bike Boulevards (herein referred to as PROJECT) for the Regional Measure 3: 2025 Safe Routes to Transit and Bay Trail Program (herein referred to as PROGRAM); and WHEREAS, the United States Congress from time to time enacts and amends legislation to provide funding for various transportation needs and programs, (collectively, the FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION ACT) including, but not limited to the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STP) (23 U.S.C. § 133), the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) (23 U.S.C. § 149), the Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) (23 U.S.C. § 175), and the Transportation Alternatives (TA) set-aside (23 U.S.C. § 133); and
WHEREAS, state statutes, including California Streets and Highways Code §182.6, §182.7, and §2381(a)(1), and California Government Code §14527, provide various funding programs for the programming discretion of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the Regional Transportation Planning Agency (RTPA); and WHEREAS, pursuant to the FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION ACT, and any regulations promulgated thereunder, eligible project sponsors wishing to receive federal or state funds for a regionally-significant project shall submit an application first with the appropriate MPO, or RTPA, as applicable, for review and inclusion in the federal Transportation Improvement Program (TIP); and
WHEREAS, MTC is the MPO and RTPA for the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay region; and
WHEREAS, MTC has adopted a Regional Project Funding Delivery Policy (MTC Resolution No. 3606, revised) that sets out procedures governing the application and use of REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING; and
WHEREAS, APPLICANT is an eligible sponsor for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING; and
7/11/23
WHEREAS, as part of the application for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING, MTC requires a resolution adopted by the responsible implementing agency stating the following:
• the commitment of any required matching funds; and
• that the sponsor understands that the REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING is fixed at the programmed amount, and therefore any cost increase cannot be expected to be funded with additional REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING; and
• that the PROJECT will comply with the procedures, delivery milestones and funding deadlines specified in the Regional Project Funding Delivery Policy (MTC Resolution No. 3606, revised); and
• the assurance of the sponsor to complete the PROJECT as described in the application, subject to environmental clearance, and if approved, as included in MTC's federal Transportation Improvement Program (TIP); and • that the PROJECT will have adequate staffing resources to deliver and complete the PROJECT within the schedule submitted with the project application; and
• that the PROJECT will comply with all project-specific requirements as set forth in the PROGRAM; and
• that APPLICANT has assigned, and will maintain a single point of contact for all FHWA- and CTC-funded transportation projects to coordinate within the agency and with the respective County Transportation Agency (CTA), MTC, Caltrans, FHWA, and CTC on all communications, inquires or issues that may arise during the federal programming and delivery process for all FHWA- and CTC-funded transportation and transit projects implemented by APPLICANT; and • in the case of a transit project, the PROJECT will comply with MTC Resolution No. 3866, revised, which sets forth the requirements of MTC’s Transit Coordination Implementation Plan to more efficiently deliver transit projects in the region; and
• in the case of a highway project, the PROJECT will comply with MTC Resolution No. 4104, which sets forth MTC’s Traffic Operations System (TOS) Policy to install and activate TOS elements on new major freeway projects; and • in the case of an RTIP project, state law requires PROJECT be included in a local congestion management plan, or be consistent with the capital improvement program adopted pursuant to MTC’s funding agreement with the County Transportation Agency (CTA); and
WHEREAS, that APPLICANT is authorized to submit an application for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the PROJECT; and
7/11/23
WHEREAS, there is no legal impediment to APPLICANT making applications for the funds; and
WHEREAS, there is no pending or threatened litigation that might in any way adversely affect the proposed PROJECT, or the ability of APPLICANT to deliver such PROJECT; and
WHEREAS, APPLICANT authorizes its Executive Director, General Manager, or designee to execute and file an application with MTC for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the PROJECT as referenced in this resolution; and WHEREAS, MTC requires that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the MTC in conjunction with the filing of the application.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Berkeley that the APPLICANT is authorized to execute and file an application for funding for the PROJECT for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING under the FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION ACT or continued funding; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT will provide any required matching funds; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT understands that the REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the project is fixed at the MTC approved programmed amount, and that any cost increases must be funded by the APPLICANT from other funds, and that APPLICANT does not expect any cost increases to be funded with additional REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT understands the funding deadlines associated with these funds and will comply with the provisions and requirements of the Regional Project Funding Delivery Policy (MTC Resolution No. 3606, revised) and APPLICANT has, and will retain the expertise, knowledge and resources necessary to deliver federally-funded transportation and transit projects, and has assigned, and will maintain a single point of contact for all FHWA- and CTC-funded transportation projects to coordinate within the agency and with the respective County Transportation Agency (CTA), MTC, Caltrans, FHWA, and CTC on all communications, inquires or issues that may arise during the federal programming and delivery process for all FHWA- and CTC- funded transportation and transit projects implemented by APPLICANT; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that PROJECT will be implemented as described in the complete application and in this resolution, subject to environmental clearance, and, if approved, for the amount approved by MTC and programmed in the federal TIP; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT has reviewed the PROJECT and has adequate staffing resources to deliver and complete the PROJECT within the schedule submitted with the project application; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that PROJECT will comply with the requirements as set forth in MTC programming guidelines and project selection procedures for the
7/11/23
PROGRAM; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in the case of a transit project, APPLICANT agrees to comply with the requirements of MTC’s Transit Coordination Implementation Plan as set forth in MTC Resolution No. 3866, revised; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in the case of a highway project, APPLICANT agrees to comply with the requirements of MTC’s Traffic Operations System (TOS) Policy as set forth in MTC Resolution No. 4104; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in the case of an RTIP project, PROJECT is included in a local congestion management plan, or is consistent with the capital improvement program adopted pursuant to MTC’s funding agreement with the County Transportation Agency (CTA); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT is an eligible sponsor of REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING funded projects; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT is authorized to submit an application for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the PROJECT; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that there is no legal impediment to APPLICANT making applications for the funds; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that there is no pending or threatened litigation that might in any way adversely affect the proposed PROJECT, or the ability of APPLICANT to deliver such PROJECT; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT authorizes its Executive Director, General Manager, City Manager, or designee to execute and file an application with MTC for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the PROJECT as referenced in this resolution; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution will be transmitted to the MTC in conjunction with the filing of the application; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the MTC is requested to support the application for the PROJECT described in the resolution, and if approved, to include the PROJECT in MTC's federal TIP upon submittal by the project sponsor for TIP programming.
RESOLUTION NO. ##,###-N.S.
AUTHORIZING THE FILING OF AN APPLICATION FOR FUNDING ASSIGNED TO
MTC AND COMMITTING ANY NECESSARY MATCHING FUNDS AND STATING
ASSURANCE TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT
WHEREAS, CITY OF BERKELEY (herein referred to as APPLICANT) is submitting an application to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) for $1,041,000 in funding assigned to MTC for programming discretion, which includes federal funding administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and federal or state funding administered by the California Transportation Commission (CTC) such as Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STP) funding, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) funding, Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) funding, Transportation Alternatives (TA) set-aside/Active Transportation Program (ATP) funding, and Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP) funding (herein collectively referred to as REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING) for the Adeline Street Quick- Build (herein referred to as PROJECT) for Regional Measure 3: 2025 Safe Routes to Transit and Bay Trail Program (herein referred to as PROGRAM); and WHEREAS, the United States Congress from time to time enacts and amends legislation to provide funding for various transportation needs and programs, (collectively, the FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION ACT) including, but not limited to the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STP) (23 U.S.C. § 133), the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) (23 U.S.C. § 149), the Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) (23 U.S.C. § 175), and the Transportation Alternatives (TA) set-aside (23 U.S.C. § 133); and
WHEREAS, state statutes, including California Streets and Highways Code §182.6, §182.7, and §2381(a)(1), and California Government Code §14527, provide various funding programs for the programming discretion of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the Regional Transportation Planning Agency (RTPA); and WHEREAS, pursuant to the FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION ACT, and any regulations promulgated thereunder, eligible project sponsors wishing to receive federal or state funds for a regionally-significant project shall submit an application first with the appropriate MPO, or RTPA, as applicable, for review and inclusion in the federal Transportation Improvement Program (TIP); and
WHEREAS, MTC is the MPO and RTPA for the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay region; and
October 1, 2024
7/11/23
WHEREAS, MTC has adopted a Regional Project Funding Delivery Policy (MTC Resolution No. 3606, revised) that sets out procedures governing the application and use of REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING; and
WHEREAS, APPLICANT is an eligible sponsor for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING; and
WHEREAS, as part of the application for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING, MTC requires a resolution adopted by the responsible implementing agency stating the following:
• the commitment of any required matching funds; and
• that the sponsor understands that the REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING is fixed at the programmed amount, and therefore any cost increase cannot be expected to be funded with additional REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING; and
• that the PROJECT will comply with the procedures, delivery milestones and funding deadlines specified in the Regional Project Funding Delivery Policy (MTC Resolution No. 3606, revised); and
• the assurance of the sponsor to complete the PROJECT as described in the application, subject to environmental clearance, and if approved, as included in MTC's federal Transportation Improvement Program (TIP); and • that the PROJECT will have adequate staffing resources to deliver and complete the PROJECT within the schedule submitted with the project application; and
• that the PROJECT will comply with all project-specific requirements as set forth in the PROGRAM; and
• that APPLICANT has assigned, and will maintain a single point of contact for all FHWA- and CTC-funded transportation projects to coordinate within the agency and with the respective County Transportation Agency (CTA), MTC, Caltrans, FHWA, and CTC on all communications, inquires or issues that may arise during the federal programming and delivery process for all FHWA- and CTC-funded transportation and transit projects implemented by APPLICANT; and • in the case of a transit project, the PROJECT will comply with MTC Resolution No. 3866, revised, which sets forth the requirements of MTC’s Transit Coordination Implementation Plan to more efficiently deliver transit projects in the region; and
• in the case of a highway project, the PROJECT will comply with MTC Resolution No. 4104, which sets forth MTC’s Traffic Operations System (TOS) Policy to install and activate TOS elements on new major freeway projects; and • in the case of an RTIP project, state law requires PROJECT be included in a local congestion management plan, or be consistent with the capital improvement program adopted pursuant to MTC’s funding agreement with the County Transportation Agency (CTA); and
October 1, 2024
7/11/23
WHEREAS, that APPLICANT is authorized to submit an application for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the PROJECT; and
WHEREAS, there is no legal impediment to APPLICANT making applications for the funds; and
WHEREAS, there is no pending or threatened litigation that might in any way adversely affect the proposed PROJECT, or the ability of APPLICANT to deliver such PROJECT; and
WHEREAS, APPLICANT authorizes its Executive Director, General Manager, or designee to execute and file an application with MTC for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the PROJECT as referenced in this resolution; and WHEREAS, MTC requires that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the MTC in conjunction with the filing of the application.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Berkeley that the APPLICANT is authorized to execute and file an application for funding for the PROJECT for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING under the FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION ACT or continued funding; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT will provide any required matching funds; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT understands that the REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the project is fixed at the MTC approved programmed amount, and that any cost increases must be funded by the APPLICANT from other funds, and that APPLICANT does not expect any cost increases to be funded with additional REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT understands the funding deadlines associated with these funds and will comply with the provisions and requirements of the Regional Project Funding Delivery Policy (MTC Resolution No. 3606, revised) and APPLICANT has, and will retain the expertise, knowledge and resources necessary to deliver federally-funded transportation and transit projects, and has assigned, and will maintain a single point of contact for all FHWA- and CTC-funded transportation projects to coordinate within the agency and with the respective County Transportation Agency (CTA), MTC, Caltrans, FHWA, and CTC on all communications, inquires or issues that may arise during the federal programming and delivery process for all FHWA- and CTC- funded transportation and transit projects implemented by APPLICANT; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that PROJECT will be implemented as described in the complete application and in this resolution, subject to environmental clearance, and, if
October 1, 2024
7/11/23
approved, for the amount approved by MTC and programmed in the federal TIP; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT has reviewed the PROJECT and has adequate staffing resources to deliver and complete the PROJECT within the schedule submitted with the project application; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that PROJECT will comply with the requirements as set forth in MTC programming guidelines and project selection procedures for the PROGRAM; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in the case of a transit project, APPLICANT agrees to comply with the requirements of MTC’s Transit Coordination Implementation Plan as set forth in MTC Resolution No. 3866, revised; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in the case of a highway project, APPLICANT agrees to comply with the requirements of MTC’s Traffic Operations System (TOS) Policy as set forth in MTC Resolution No. 4104; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in the case of an RTIP project, PROJECT is included in a local congestion management plan, or is consistent with the capital improvement program adopted pursuant to MTC’s funding agreement with the County Transportation Agency (CTA); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT is an eligible sponsor of REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING funded projects; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT is authorized to submit an application for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the PROJECT; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that there is no legal impediment to APPLICANT making applications for the funds; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that there is no pending or threatened litigation that might in any way adversely affect the proposed PROJECT, or the ability of APPLICANT to deliver such PROJECT; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that APPLICANT authorizes its Executive Director, General Manager, City Manager, or designee to execute and file an application with MTC for REGIONAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDING for the PROJECT as referenced in this resolution; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution will be transmitted to the MTC in conjunction with the filing of the application; and
October 1, 2024
7/11/23
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the MTC is requested to support the application for the PROJECT described in the resolution, and if approved, to include the PROJECT in MTC's federal TIP upon submittal by the project RESOLUTION NO. ##,###-N.S.
Internal
CONSENT CALENDAR
October 1, 2024
1 To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Councilmembers Sophie Hahn, Mark Humbert and Ben Bartlett (Authors) Subject: Budget Referral and Technical Support for La Peña Cultural Center
RECOMMENDATION
1. Direct the City Manager to work with La Peña Cultural Center to offer support during a post-pandemic time of temporary financial crisis, with all technical and financial assistance and any and all other resources at the City’s disposal. Further request the City Manager connect La Peña Cultural Center with any potential outside resources and funding.
2. Refer to the November Budget Process a one-time emergency grant of $150,000 to La Peña Cultural Center, pending an evaluation of the organization’s current financial situation and plans for long term recovery by the City’s Economic Development and Civic Arts team.
SUMMARY STATEMENT
La Peña Cultural Center, a beloved and valued Berkeley institution, is facing a financial crisis that threatens the organization’s survival due to multiple factors: the COVID-19 pandemic, the end of COVID relief funds and multi-year grants, shifts in funding portfolios of longtime supporters, and unanticipated staff transitions in key fundraising roles at a critical time. These challenges reflect a broader trend impacting Bay Area cultural and performing arts spaces, such as the Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Aurora Theater, the Crucible, and Brava Theater.
This referral requests the City Manager’s Office to provide technical assistance to the La Peña Cultural Center. La Peña has previously accessed City resources that helped the organization grow and serve the community. An emergency grant of $150,000 would further enable La Peña to close part of the gap necessary to survive, thrive, and continue contributing to the cultural life of Berkeley and the Bay Area, and the economic life of South Berkeley.
BACKGROUND
Since its founding in 1975, La Peña Cultural Center has been a vital space for the Bay Area’s Latinx, Caribbean, and Indigenous diasporic communities to preserve and celebrate cultural traditions, present new interdisciplinary creative works, and nurture grassroots social justice movements. Inspired by the original concept of a "peña"—a space of food, music, and political support for resistance movements in South America—La Peña has championed marginalized
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Internal
2 communities and challenged dominant narratives for nearly five decades. Today, on the eve of its fiftieth anniversary, it remains the last such peña in existence.
Since its founding, La Peña has used art and music to advance social justice movements at local and global scales, organizing alongside the Third World Liberation Front, the American Indian Movement, the Black Panther Party, and more. La Peña’s stage has played host to world-renowned artists and local luminaries including Pete Seeger, Ana Tijoux, Angela Davis, Holly Near, Mercedes Sosa, Lila Downs, and many others.
Today, all of La Peña’s public programs—spanning concerts, classes, performances, film screenings, open mics, lectures, and community organizing events—are dedicated to uplifting BIPOC communities by providing the platform, tools, and infrastructure for them to shape and share their own cultural narratives and creating spaces for connection, understanding, and collective action. By fostering creative expression, mentoring and training BIPOC mediamakers, and holding space for community organizers, La Peña cultivates an ecosystem of high-impact arts and social justice organizations both in the Bay Area and beyond.
With a current core staff of just five people, La Peña also employs around 40 teaching artists, sound engineers, light technicians and other event staff, administrative staff, interns, and contractors. Each year, La Peña collaborates with over 400 artists, contributing more than $70,000 in artist fees to the local creative community. La Peña also supports job pipelines for underserved Berkeley residents, including youth and people of color, through paid production and audiovisual training opportunities. Additionally, for the past 10 years, La Peña has leased its restaurant space to Los Cilantros, a family-owned restaurant spearheaded by Chef/Owner and West Berkeley resident Dilsa Lugo.
La Peña was closed to the public for nearly two years during the pandemic. Since reopening, La Peña’s team has worked hard to rebuild its programs and revitalize La Peña’s longstanding relationships with community members, attendees, stakeholders, and collaborators. The center has responded to the new post-pandemic array of community needs, experiences, and priorities by improving the building’s safety and accessibility, creating digital programming for long- distance engagement; streamlining IT, financial, and production systems; and growing classes and events offerings to pre-pandemic levels.
While many performing arts organizations are struggling to bring people in the door, La Peña has managed to maintain its historic audiences while bringing new generations of artists, organizers and arts lovers into the space for a wide range of cultural programming and intergenerational community-building activities that include monthly series, roots arts classes, community jams, free organizing space for social justice movements and community fundraisers, film screenings, and more. Through this work, La Peña is currently bringing over 10,000 audience members into the space per year and —within the last fiscal year— it has doubled its earned income through increased programming offerings, ticket sales, new collaborations, space rentals, and community memberships.
Internal
3 In 2022, La Peña received funds from the City of Berkeley to complete a long overdue building renovation project that brought the center’s restaurant kitchen up to code and allowed tenant and partner restaurant Los Cilantros back into the space. The costs of these necessary facilities updates more than doubled compared to the pre-pandemic estimate, and the organization was forced to move a significant portion of the operations budget and savings into the building project to supplement funds received from the City of Berkeley. Despite the costs, these investments have yielded exciting new opportunities for the organization. In September of last year La Peña’s family-owned and operated partner restaurant, Los Cilantros, reopened its doors. This phase was critical to ensuring consistent earned revenue, yielding approximately 8% of total annual support.
However, the increase in earned income through program growth and the restaurant reopening hasn’t been enough to offset a series of institutional challenges. La Peña has faced a significant decrease in contributed income, due to the sunsetting of Covid-relief funds and other large multi-year grants, plus transitions and changes in philanthropic portfolios and priorities. Several of La Peña’s longtime major funders have seen changes to their leadership and grants portfolios over the past year, with grant cycles on pause. However, based on conversations with consultants and program officers, La Peña expects to see some of this funding restored within the next two fiscal years.
In addition to the philanthropic challenges, La Peña has gone through multiple internal transitions within the last year that have created gaps in the fundraising and development department during a critical period. In this context, Consuelo Tupper Hernández, who stepped into the Executive Director role this spring, has worked diligently to improve the structural foundation of the organization with new systems to increase efficiency despite the reduced team and to develop, with the support of the board, consultants and community allies, a plan to set the organization on course for programmatic sustainability and financial viability. Unfortunately, the current financial situation prevents La Peña from making the necessary investments in personnel and institutional resources in order to execute this plan.
The situation is unsustainable, but temporary. Within the last year La Peña has put a number of emergency initiatives in motion that reflect the deep support La Peña has from the community, including fundraising campaigns and community-led fundraising events resulting in $46,000 of contributed income that allowed the center to avoid furloughs. The center is also developing new individual giving strategies, including the formation of an "Old Guard" funders group, a fast- growing new membership program, and a planned 50th-anniversary fundraising campaign in 2025. La Peña is also recruiting new board members with fundraising expertise and working with consultants to develop a multi-year strategic plan focused on mission, sustainability, and staff retention. The center’s Fall Season is now about to start with highly anticipated community events such as Fist Up Film Festival, the Empowering People of Color Open Mic series, Día de Muertos, Thangs Taken: Rethinking Thanksgiving, and much more.
La Peña has a proven track record of responsible partnership with the City of Berkeley. This request for technical and financial assistance would continue this spirit of collaboration and support. La Peña has a clear plan to pull through the current crisis it is facing. In early 2022, La
Internal
4 Peña received $23,000 from the Berkeley Arts Recovery Grant program. In fall of 2022, La Peña received a $150,000 allocation to support necessary repairs to the building’s restaurant space. The project was successfully completed last summer, and their restaurant partner reopened last fall. The organization has also received allocations from the Civic Arts Grants Programs, including $9,000 in general operating support and $7,000 from the Community Festivals Grant allocated to be used in 2025.
RATIONALE FOR THE REQUEST
La Peña has been a cornerstone of artistic creation, community building, and cultural resistance in Berkeley for almost five decades. The demand for its programs far exceeds its current capacity, but without the ability to fill staff and revenue gaps, the center cannot sustain programs or operations. An emergency grant of up to $150,000 from the City would allow La Peña to rebuild its staffing structure, stabilize operations, and continue its essential role in Berkeley’s cultural and economic life.
With technical and financial assistance, La Peña can overcome its current challenges, implement its strategic plan, and achieve long-term sustainability, ensuring its continued contributions to the community for years to come. While the need for assistance from the City is temporary, losing a vibrant cultural center on the eve of its fiftieth anniversary would be a permanent blow to the cultural and economic life of the City, which is unlikely to be remediated in the near future. With intensive counseling and support for the City’s Arts and Economic Development staff, and an emergency grant of $150,000, the City can meaningfully help La Peña move forward with its 2024-2025 program, continue to reach new audiences, and achieve long term viability.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
N/A
FISCAL IMPACTS
Staff time for intensive counseling and assistance and a one time emergency grant of up to $150,000.
CONTACT
Councilmember Sophie Hahn: (510) 981-7150
Attachments:
1. At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance
ARTS
At La Peñaʼs 50th reunion party, Chilean presi-
dent makes a surprise video appearance
Half a century after its founding, and now facing a perilous financial crisis, the South Berkeley cultural center held a lunchtime party where early members celebrated old times.
By Iris Kwok
Sept. 13, 2024, 4:11 p.m.
Attendees pack the theater at La Peña Cultural Center in South Berkeley during a lunchtime reunion celebration Wednesday.
Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Privacy - Terms
9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 1/11
RELATED
La Peña Cultural Center, which has taught generations of Berkeley residents to sing and dance and helped exiled Chileans feel at home, is celebrating an uneasy 50th birthday this year, with the organization in “emergency mode” amid a financial crisis that’s led to lower staffing levels and has leaders questioning if the center can hold on.
But the mood was generally festive at a lunchtime
reunion party held Wednesday at the center, which
was founded exactly a year after the 1973 military
coup in Chile. About 90 people — La Peña’s
earliest members, many now in their 60s and 70s
— reminisced over chicken and cheese enchiladas
about the center’s history as a space for music, art
and activism.
“This place has been an amazing story — unique
in the world — and I’ve been around Europe,
Latin America and North America,” said Berkeley
filmmaker and musician Hector Salgado.
“Connected with the theme of Chile and solidarity
with Chile, there is nothing like this, there’s no
other place.”
During a formal program following the luncheon,
Salgodo introduced a surprise speaker: Chilean
President Gabriel Boric, talking to the small Berkeley crowd in a pre-recorded video message. A series of “wows” echoed from the audience when he appeared on a projector.
La Peña Cultural Center is facing a nan-
cial crisis
The South Berkeley hub for music, art, and activism
has been in “emergency mode” since COVID-era
grant funds ran out. It’s hoping to raise $50,000 by
September
August 2, 2024
9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 2/11
Chilean president Gabriel Boric speaks to the crowd via video message. Credit: Kelly Sullivan “I have had the opportunity to meet some of you on occasion during visits to the United States or some of you here in Chile, and I know you are celebrating your anniversary,” Boric told the group in Spanish. “After so much time, so much exile, you have managed to keep this flame alive, this difficult Chilean identity, with so much history, often painful, but also filled with love and hope.” 9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 3/11
From failed French restaurant to a hotbed for political activism A banner outside La Peña reads “U.S. Hands O Nicaragua” in this undated archival photo. Credit: La Peña Cultural Center On Sept. 11, 1974, a small group of young activists filed the paperwork to legally incorporate La Peña.
Most of the group had met the year prior, in April 1973, at a leftist Chilean solidarity event in San Francisco, shortly after Chile’s first socialist president, Salvador Allende, was democratically elected.
Two of the seven founding members (Patricia and Hugo Brenni) were Chilean expats. The remaining five (Leenson, Norman Bucklin, Craig McCaleb, Janis Teruggi Page and Leslie Thomas) were non-Chilean Americans.
Then came the
1973 coup in Chile, in which Allende was overthrown and replaced by the authoritarian right-wing dictator Augusto Pinochet, who detained, tortured and killed political opponents. The activists, previously optimistic about the direction Chile was moving in, were devastated.
La Peña was their response, and the founding date, Sept. 11, was chosen to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the coup. The goal was to create a community center in Berkeley modeled after Chilean 9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 4/11
The Oakland Tribune reported on the
opening of La Peña Cultural Center in
1975. Credit: Oakland
Tribune/Newspapers.com
peñas — places that offered food and drink, fueled activism and encouraged conversations about politics, social justice and intercultural understanding.
“We wanted to say we’re here and we’re going to be an act of resistance,” co-founder Eric Leenson said during his onstage remarks to the crowd at the reunion. Behind him, a projector displayed a slideshow of black-and-white archival photographs from La Peña’s early days.
For La Peña’s founders, it wasn’t easy at first to find a suitable location.
The breakthrough moment came after a long night of drinks. As the group headed home after a fundraising event at then-new Irish pub The Starry Plough, they noticed a “for rent” sign on the shuttered French restaurant next door. They signed a month-to- month lease at 3105 Shattuck Ave. La Peña hasn’t moved since.
La Peña’s doors officially opened on June 7, 1975, with a buffet dinner and program of poetry and music by Bay Area artists, according to a report that ran in the Oakland Tribune.
In South Berkeley, La Peña fit right in.
Its neighbor, The Starry Plough, was founded in 1973 by volunteers as a safe space for political prisoners from Ireland, Chile and Honduras. Across the street, at 3106 Shattuck, was one of the Black Panther Party’s early headquarters.
La Peña’s space was large enough to hold concerts, came with kitchen equipment — including a walk-in fridge filled with moldy food — and more importantly, rent was cheap. (In 1978, La Peña’s leaders decided to purchase the building for $185,000.) In the early days of La Peña, Leenson said, there were few Chileans at the center. The founding activists were supporters of internationalism, believing all people’s struggles for peace and freedom were intertwined.
“We saw Chile as a prime example of the aspirations that people had and how it was thwarted by imperialism,” Leenson said. La Peña, for example, was a meeting space for the Iranian Students Association, which was fighting to overthrow the Shah.
9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 5/11
La Peña’s Chilean identity solidified in the late ’70s and early ’80s, when Chilean refugees fleeing Pinochet’s dictatorship began to move to the U.S. “As refugees began coming, La Peña became a natural place for them to congregate,” Leenson said. There, they could find both employment opportunities and a cultural home.
The center continues to regularly host film screenings, dance classes, Spanish conversation groups, book talks, fundraisers and concerts. Upcoming events in September include one of its popular “Baila!” dance parties, a concert featuring the Argentine composer and guitarist Lautaro Tissera Favaloro and weekly rehearsals of the long-running La Peña community chorus, founded in 1979 by Chilean refugees.
A space not to be taken for granted
Anniversary celebration attendees sit down to lunch. Credit: Kelly Sullivan At Wednesday’s reunion, as cheery Latin music played over the speakers, La Peña’s early members shared hugs and conversation over a hearty meal from Los Cilantros, the Mexican restaurant inside the center.
After lunch, the group migrated into the main theater to share personal memories of La Peña. 9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 6/11
Tom Miller, the lawyer who in 1977 helped them convert the flailing business into a nonprofit organization, received a long round of applause. As did Paul Chin, a Third World Liberation Front student activist who spent 35 years working on the staff of La Peña.
One co-founder, Janis Teruggi Page, flew in from Chicago, where she lives now.
Co-founders Eric Leenson and Janis Teruggi Page at the reunion. Credit: Kelly Sullivan Page told Berkeleyside the reunion was a “wonderful” opportunity to spend more time with her longtime friends, including La Peña co-founder Eric Leenson, who she first met as she sought justice for and grieved the loss of her elder brother Frank Teruggi. Teruggi, an anti-Vietnam war activist and U.S. citizen was taken to the National Stadium in Santiago and killed by the Junta in September 1973. “[La Peña] was created the same time I had that loss,” Page said. “It was … an engagement for me to focus all of my emotions and energy into something positive.” The distance has made it difficult to remain as involved in the community as she once was.
As the
center faces financial challenges, Page, a public relations expert, said she hopes to become more 9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 7/11
Chilean refugee and long-time La Peña
member Hector Salgado speaks onstage.
Credit: Kelly Sullivan
involved with its fundraising efforts, which include a request to the city for $150,000 in emergency grant funding.
Salgado, like many other members Berkeleyside spoke with, met his romantic partner at La Peña.
Salgado was arrested in Chile at 16 for joining a protest and was imprisoned for three years. After international pressure pushed Pinochet to release political prisoners, Salgado, then 19, was exiled and moved to New York before settling in Berkeley to join the Grupo Raiz, a musical ensemble at La Peña that toured internationally and spread awareness of the political situation in Chile.
The music career didn’t last — the band went on hiatus so its members could attend college and never got back together — but the relationships did. Salgado majored in international relations at San Francisco State and fell in love with filmmaking, while working as an interpreter for the California Public Defender’s Office, working on death penalty cases at San Quentin. (As we spoke, passersby patted Salgado’s shoulder to congratulate him on his film being in consideration for the Sundance Film Festival.)
9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 8/11
The mural “Songs of Unity” in the La Peña facade depicts prominent Latin American le ist gures, from Chilean Folk singer Victor Jara and Salvadorian Archbishop Oscar Romero to American Labor leader Cesar Chavez. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight
In a 2005 essay published in the Berkeley Daily Planet, Chilean exile Fernando A. Torres, a poet and musician who also played in the Grupo Raiz, recalled his experience moving from the East Coast to California in 1979 to play charango at La Peña, a job he had heard about from a fellow exiled Chilean who volunteered there.
He described La Peña as a “welcoming place run by angry-gringos in a crazy city called Berkeley.” “The music, the colorful mural, the paintings, the poetry, the politics, and the wine (not Chilean wine because we had the — Nothing for/Nothing from Pinochet — boycott those years),” he wrote. “I felt at home immediately at La Peña.”
Younger generations of Chilean expats found community at La Peña, too. La Peña recently appointed as executive director Consuelo Tupper Hernández, who was born and raised in Chile before coming to the Bay Area in 2019 to pursue a Masters of Fine Art at the California College of the Arts. She said she 9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 9/11
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credits the center for helping her feel less isolated from her home country during the 2019 Chilean protests related to economic inequality.
She had tried, to no avail, to find other Chileans in the Bay Area to commiserate with. She looked for groups on Facebook, only to be rejected when she began to bring up Chilean politics. “We don’t talk politics here, we just sell empanadas,” she recalled being told. “The fact that a space like this exists today … it’s not something we should take for granted for a second,” Tupper Hernández told the crowd.
Executive Director Consuelo Tupper. Credit: Kelly Sullivan 9/16/24, 1:32 PM At La Peña’s 50th reunion party, Chilean president makes a surprise video appearance https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/09/13/at-la-penas-50th-reunion-party-chilean-president-makes-a-surprise-video-appearance 10/11
Peace and Justice Commission
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 ● Tel: (510) 981-7000 ● TDD: (510) 981-6903 ● Fax: (510) 981-7099 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.CityofBerkeley.info/Manager
ACTION CALENDAR
October 1, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Peace and Justice Commission
Submitted by: Grace Morizawa, Chair, Peace and Justice Commission Subject:
Resolution Name a City of Berkeley Major Street in Honor of Daniel Ellsberg
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution that the City of Berkeley Council name a Berkeley major street in honor Daniel Ellsberg to serve as an ongoing reminder of Berkeley’s commitment to peace.
FISCAL IMPACTS OF RECOMMENDATION
None.
CURRENT SITUATION AND ITS EFFECTS
June 23, 2024, U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) unanimously adopted a resolution, co-sponsored by Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, “The Imperative of Dialogue in a Time of Acute Nuclear Dangers,” calling on “member cities to take action at the municipal level to raise public awareness of the growing dangers of wars among nuclear-armed states, the humanitarian and financial impacts of nuclear weapons, and the urgent need for good faith U.S. leadership in negotiating the global elimination of nuclear weapons.
At its regular meeting February 6, 2023, the Peace and Justice Commission adopted the following recommendation proposing City Council name a major street in honor of Daniel Ellsberg.
M/S/C: McNeil, Taylor
Ayes: Bohn, Jacqulin, Lippman, McNeil, Mencher, Morizawa, Taylor Noes: Elias
Abstain: N/A
Absent: Guarino
07
Name a City of Berkeley Major Street in Honor of Daniel Ellsberg
ACTION CALENDAR
October 1, 2024
BACKGROUND
Daniel Ellsberg over many years advocated disarmament and spoke against nuclear weapons. He was an outstanding educator and activist on some of the most important issues facing the Earth for decades and supported, encouraged and inspired whistleblowers, journalists and activists all over the world. And in recognition of his contribution and significant leadership the City of Berkeley declared the week of April 24-30, 2023 Daniel Ellsberg Week.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE IMPACTS
No environmental effects.
RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATION
The Peace and Justice Commission advises the City Council on all matters relating to the City of Berkeley's role in issues of peace and social justice (Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 3.68.070).
Berkeley has long been a national leader in speaking out for peace and justice, both locally and globally. Berkeley has repeatedly set a precedent for taking principled stances and recognizing those working for peace.
Naming a street in honor Daniel Ellsberg, who has been recognized by the City of Berkeley and known to the world as a leader of peace and spokesperson for nuclear nonproliferation
will serve as an ongoing reminder to Berkeley’s youth and all residents of the great moral value of whistleblowers, standing up for one’s beliefs, and working for a permanent end to nuclear weapons and nuclear war.
ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS CONSIDERED
None.
CITY MANAGER
The City Manager takes no position on the content and recommendations of the Commission’s Report. If the City Council wishes to pursue this renaming, the item must be referred to the Transportation and Infrastructure Commission for a recommendation pursuant to the Naming Policy in the City Council Rules of Procedure.
CONTACT PERSON
Okeya Vance-Dozier, Peace and Justice Commission Secretary, City Manager’s Office 510-529-5376
Attachments:
1: Resolution
Name a City of Berkeley Major Street in Honor of Daniel Ellsberg
ACTION CALENDAR
October 1, 2024
RESOLUTION NO. ##,###-N.S.
RESOLUTION TO NAME A CITY OF BERKELEY MAJOR STREET
IN HONOR OF DANIEL ELLSBERG
WHEREAS, the Peace and Justice Commission advises the City Council on all matters relating to the City of Berkeley's role in issues of peace and social justice (Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 3.68.070); and
WHEREAS, the City of Berkeley has long been a national leader in speaking out for peace and justice, both locally and globally. Berkeley has repeatedly set a precedent for taking principled stances and recognizing those working for peace; and WHEREAS, on June 23, 2024, U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) unanimously adopted a resolution, co-sponsored by Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, “The Imperative of Dialogue in a Time of Acute Nuclear Dangers,” calling on “member cities to take action at the municipal level to raise public awareness of the growing dangers of wars among nuclear-armed states, the humanitarian and financial impacts of nuclear weapons, and the urgent need for good faith U.S. leadership in negotiating the global elimination of nuclear weapons;”i and
WHEREAS, the USCM “calls on the Administration and Congress to reconsider further investments in nuclear weapons and find ways that our finite federal resources can better meet human needs, support safe and resilient cities, and increase investment in international diplomacy, humanitarian assistance and development, and international cooperation to address the climate crisis;” ii and
WHEREAS, the City of Berkeley has long been a member of Mayors for Peace, the original sponsor of the above resolution;iii and
WHEREAS, Daniel Ellsberg risked life in prison to reveal the Pentagon Papers including 7,000 government pages of deceptions by successive presidents who exceeded their authority, bypassed Congress, and misled the American people and the rest of the world; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ellsberg's actions contributed to ending the war in Vietnam, and to discouraging further war-making, including by informing the public of the inner workings of the
U.S. government;iv and
WHEREAS, Daniel Ellsberg was an outstanding educator and activist on some of the most important issues facing the Earth for decades and supported, encouraged and inspired whistleblowers, journalists and activists all over the world;v and
Name a City of Berkeley Major Street in Honor of Daniel Ellsberg
ACTION CALENDAR
October 1, 2024
WHEREAS, the City of Berkeley declared the week of April 24-30, 2023 Daniel Ellsberg Week; and
WHEREAS, naming a major Berkeley street in honor of Daniel Ellsberg will serve as an ongoing reminder to Berkeley’s youth and all residents of the great moral value of whistleblowers, standing up for one’s beliefs, and working for a permanent end to nuclear weapons and nuclear war.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City of Berkeley that Berkeley shall name a major city street in honor and recognition of Daniel Ellsberg, his moral courage and as a legacy for peace.
i “The Imperative of Dialogue in a Time of Acute Nuclear Dangers,” June 2024, U.S. Conference of Mayors, https://legacy.usmayors.org/resolutions/92nd_Conference/proposed-review-list-full-print-committee- individual.php?resid=a0FKY000000sZ8x2AE
ii USCM
iii USCM
iv City of Berkeley Proclamation in Honor of Daniel Ellsberg, April, 24, 2023. v City of Berkeley
Communications
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