Candidate for
Councilmember; City of Berkeley; District 4

I was born in Los Angeles California into a union family. My father was a union electrician all his working life in the IBEW and my mother was a mental health nurse for the County of Los Angeles. I went to public schools in Los Angeles and graduated from Washington High School in south central Los Angeles.

From 1960-65 I attended and graduated from the University of California-Berkeley where I played water polo as a freshman and majored in History and Economics.

In 1966 I was hired by the Berkeley Unified School District as a high school teacher and worked at Berkeley High School until 1998. During that time I created the Photography program, was the Art Department chair, taught History and Economics, and with my journalism credential taught academic journalism and was the adviser to the high school newspaper, The Jacket. The play being produced at the Berkeley Rep this season, Yellowjackets, is written by one of my former students, Itamar Moses.

I was elected to the Berkeley School Board in 1998 and again in 2002, and twice served as President of the Board.

Since 2006 I have been a member of Berkeley's Zoning Adjustment Board where I voted to build Berkeley's first Trader Joe's at the corner of University Ave. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way as well as approved the building of over 600 new housing units, 20% of which fall under our inclusionary housing ordinance for affordable housing. During 2008 I served on the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee for the City of Berkeley, developing a comprehensive plan to revitalize our downtown.

FAMILY

I have been married to Lenore Doran for 44 years and we have lived in our present home in District 4 for almost four decades. We raised our two children here, watched them grow and attend Berkeley public schools and now, with both children and their families living in the district, we enjoy seeing our five year old granddaughter attend Washington School.

UNION ACTIVITY

While I worked at Berkeley High School, I was active in the Berkeley Federation of Teachers and elected to the Executive council most of those years. I served as the Union Secretary, the High School Vice President, Chaired the Union Grievance Committee and was selected as a delegate to the Alameda County Central Labor Council as well as being elected as a delegate to State and National teacher conventions.

COMMUNITY ACTIVISM AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

While a student at Cal I was a participant in the Free Speech Movement, Civil Rights activities locally and nationally, and was always a peace activist working to end the war in Vietnam and eradicate nuclear weapons from the planet.

As an educator I participated in integrating the Berkeley Public Schools and was the chair of the East Bay chapter of Educators for Social Responsibility working for a nuclear free world.

I worked on the very first campaign for rent control, and still vigorously defend the rights of tenants from unfair rent increases and illegal evictions.

I worked with city and community leaders to build affordable housing throughout Berkeley, not just in select communities, and have recently, as a commissioner on ZAB, supported housing development along transportation corridors like Shattuck Avenue, University Avenue. and San Pablo Boulevard as both environmentally essential and to increase the affordable housing stock in our city.

The quality of life for our young people has always been a priority in my community and political activities. I worked to reform Berkeley High School so that the needs of all students are better met. I am an advocate for more recreational facilities in our city and recreational activities, especially for residents of south and west Berkeley.

I serve on the Board of the Berkeley Boosters/Police Activities League, whose primary mission is providing outdoor recreation activities for youth, and I was a member of the Rosa Parks School/community collaborative, as well as the City's Youth Collaborative.

I believe strongly in good government, and am a member of the League of Women Voters.

My community activism extends to supporting our community media center. I served as a board member for several years and attempted to create better relationships between BCM and the school district.

As an advocate for the needs and rights of seniors, I am a member of the Gray Panthers.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

I have been a member of, in addition to the Sierra Club since 1980, Livable Berkeley, Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition, and worked with Berkeley Partners for Parks. My most important contribution to Berkeley has been participation in planning for transit-oriented development, which is a key to a healthier, more sustainable urban environment and a comprehensive plan for the revitalization of downtown. I have always supported, and still support, environmentally oriented programs like traffic calming, bicycle lanes and pathways, green space, improvements to Civic Center Park, and more tot lots.

I have been a regular bicyclist for as long as Ican remember, and rode my bike or walked to work my 32 years at Berkeley High School. In addition to specific Berkeley activity on environmental issues I am an active member of Friends of the River, the Mono Lake Committee and participated in Redwood Summer and support for Judi Bari.

There are many environmental issues still to be addressed in Berkeley, and as the campaign progresses I will be posting many of the positions I hold in relationship to these issues and possible measures we can take in Berkeley to confront our rapidly warming planet.

ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICES

In 1998 and again in 2002 I was elected by the citizens of Berkeley to the School Board. I was selected by my peers to serve twice as President of the Board. I served on the 2x2 Joint Committee of School Board and City Council and the Construction Advisory Committee of Berkeley Unified School District, on which I am still a member. After leaving office I was appointed by Councilmember Darryl Moore to serve on the Zoning Adjustment Board and in 2008 served on the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee.