Candidate for
Mayor; City of Berkeley

Tom Bates was sworn in as the 21st Mayor of Berkeley on December 10, 2002. Ushering in a new era of civility on the Council, he has worked successfully to accomplish his core goals: promoting youth and education efforts and create a "kid-friendly" city, building Berkeley into a national environmental powerhouse, creating a positive and more equitable relationship with the University of California, and encouraging new market-rate and affordable housing in the downtown and along select transit corridors.

He brings to the Mayor's Office a lifetime of public service experience and action on local, regional and national progressive issues - including four years as an Alameda County Supervisor and two decades as a California legislator representing Berkeley.

Accomplishing Core Goals

Youth and Education Efforts One of the Mayor's top priorities has been to promote youth and education efforts and create a "kid-friendly" city. He launched Project BUILD (Berkeley United In Literacy Development) - a summer reading program that has provided nearly 1,000 children with new books and literacy tutors from UC Berkeley. The Mayor also created "Berkeley Champions for Kids" - linking Berkeley residents, employees and students with community based youth-serving agencies - which has raised thousands of private dollars and placed over 100 volunteers into after-school and other youth programs in its first year of operation. In 2004, Berkeley was named the "#1 Teen Healthy City in the State" by the California Wellness Foundation.

A Green Agenda Mayor Bates has focused enormous effort and resources on building Berkeley into a national environmental powerhouse. Under his leadership, the City of Berkeley is now the first in the nation to share its fleet vehicles with the public as part of a prototypical partnership with City CarShare.

Mayor Bates has worked to build Berkeley's Green Economy. The city now counts over 200 green businesses. He led the City Council to pass a law requiring all new buildings in Berkeley be built to Green standard and instituted a new "sustainable development" fee on all new building permits in the city.

In 2005, Berkeley announced it had reduced greenhouse gas emission from municipal sources by 14%, surpassing the Kyoto Protocol, and was also named the "3rd Most Sustainable City in the United States" in a peer-reviewed study by a major environmental organization.

Creating a positive and more equitable relationship with the University of California A difficult disagreement over the University's expansion plans provided the impetus for a historic agreement that has tripled the amount of money the campus pays to the City, while reducing the impact of traffic and parking and providing for joint planning of all new UC projects in the downtown. This deal, which the San Francisco Chronicle called a "model agreement" for other town-gown communities, is the single best agreement ever signed between a city and a state university in California.

Affordable Housing & Protecting Our Neighborhoods In the last three years, the City has approved 1,400 new units of housing, concentrated in Downtown Berkeley. Over 30% of this housing is permanently required to be affordable, including more than 200 units set aside for families with very low incomes.

While the Mayor has supported "smart growth" housing in the Downtown and along select transit corridors, he has ensured the City's existing neighborhoods are protected from significant new development. Mayor Bates is working to strengthen Berkeley's distinctive neighborhood character by proposing the creation of Neighborhood Conservation Zones and residential design review standards to tighten restrictions in less dense areas.

Balanced Budgets Mayor Bates entered office and took immediate action to correct one of the worst budget crises in Berkeley's history. To address the structural budget problems, Mayor Bates authored the City's Budget Crisis Recovery Plan and worked collaboratively with the Council, City staff and the community to balance Berkeley's budget by cutting over $20 million and reducing the City's workforce by 10% while protecting essential services. Mayor Bates' clear resolve, pushing through difficult cuts and making sure emergency services and safety-net programs remained intact, led the City out of the red. 2006 marks the first year since 2001 that no cuts will be necessary to balance the budget.

Mayor Bates serves on a number of regional bodies, including director of the Bay Area Air Quality Management Board, immediate past-President of the Alameda County Mayor's Conference, member of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and member of the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority.

Mayor Bates' record in the California state legislature includes authoring over 220 bills that became law, despite having served under Republican Governors.

Bates served a central role in framing California's progressive social service policy. He served as the lead Democrat in the Assembly on welfare, disabled issues, foster care senior services and other social service issues.

Bates consistently received a 100% pro-environment voting score. He authored legislation to create the East Bay Shoreline Park, provided state funding for urban creeks, and required regional transportation plans to include the use of bicycles.

Bates is a champion of accessible higher education. He worked to increase funding and advocate for campus diversity and affirmative action at UC. In addition, he provided financial recovery funding for the Peralta Community College District and the Berkeley Unified School District.

As Assemblyman, Bates worked to bring communities together and expand our economy. He helped found the first Community Bank in the Bay Area and passed legislation to allow Brew Pubs, Limited Equity Housing, and Transit Villages.

After retiring from the Assembly in 1996, in addition to teaching at UC Berkeley, he volunteered his efforts to work with school officials and parents to provide healthier food choices for Berkeley students, including organic fruits and vegetables. He was instrumental in the adoption of healthier food policies for the Berkeley and Oakland School Districts as well as the City of Berkeley.

Tom Bates is a native Californian and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. Bates was a starting member of the 1959 Cal Rose Bowl team. After graduation, Bates served in Germany as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves and later worked in real estate.

He is the father of two sons, Casey and Jon, and has seven grandchildren. He is married to Loni Hancock, former Mayor of Berkeley and currently a member of the State Assembly.