Tag Archives: Election 2012 Berkeley
Berkeley’s election night live blogging: latest results
9:10 a.m. That isn’t quite it. As several commenters have pointed out, there are plenty of Berkeley votes still to be counted: most of the absentees, provisional ballots, many vote-by-mail ballots. If turnout is around 2008 levels, it might be another 20,000 votes. Some of the close races — particularly Measure T and rent board seats — could well change. Measure S, with a 1,000 vote margin for the opponents, is less likely to change, but it’s not impossible.
1:30 a.m. That’s it. We’re wrapping up our live blogging of the Berkeley election, long after the rest of the nation went to sleep. Thanks for sticking with us. Here are the main stories: Bates re-elected comfortably, Capitelli defeats Hahn, Measures S and T both fail in close contests.
1:28 a.m. And the measures:
Measure M, Streets and Watershed
Yes 24,000 (73.28%)
No 8,751 (26.72%)
Measure N, Pools Bond (requires two-thirds)
Yes 19,901 (62.12%)
No 12,134 (37.88%) … Continue reading »
Photo slideshow: Berkeley goes out to vote
Berkeleyside contributing photographer Pete Rosos was out early today, capturing some of the city’s election moments. (Click “Show Info” for caption information.)
See the latest campaign finance information at Berkeley Voter’s Edge, our collaboration with MapLight. Find your polling place, or a spot to drop off your absentee ballot, via our handy map. And see all Berkeleyside’s election-related coverage here.
Board candidate accuses Capitelli aide of trespassing
A candidate for the Berkeley Rent Board, who is also an aide to City Councilman Kriss Worthington, filed a police complaint Monday charging that the aide to City Councilman Laurie Capitelli trespassed on his property.
Alejandro Soto-Vigil said that his wife saw Capitelli’s aide and campaign manager, Pamela Gray, walk onto his property on Berkeley Way around 3:20 p.m. to look at a recycling bin that was stuffed with campaign signs.
“Pam apparently had gone onto our doorstep and porch looking at things and then she went to the recycling area and pulled out some signs and started taking photos,” said Soto-Vigil.
Capitelli told Berkeleyside that he and Gray were delivering campaign material to Soto-Vigil’s neighbor when they saw that the recycling bin contained campaign signs. Since so many of Capitelli’s signs have been torn up or taken during the election, he wanted to see if any of them were in there. They were not. … Continue reading »
Where to watch election results in Berkeley
We definitely want to hear from you throughout election night. Here’s how: (1) Post on our Facebook page. Comment on the outcomes, share photos of your election event, and more. (2) Email us at tips@berkeleyside.com. You can always reach us via this address. (3) On Twitter, use #berkvote to alert us to your election-related posts, and follow us here.
Berkeleyside will live blog about local reactions and the results of all the local races starting at 8 p.m. on Nov. 6. Scroll down to see a list of election night parties open to the public in Berkeley. … Continue reading »
Why do some absentee voters get free postage?
Last week, after reading Berkeleyside’s round-up on postage costs for mail-in ballots, we heard from one reader who described himself as “truly baffled.” Officials had said voters in Berkeley had absentee ballots requiring postage up to $1.50 due to multiple inserts for a long list of races and ballot measures.
But not this reader. He wrote: “Not only did we not receive ‘an insert to explain postage rates,’ but we did receive an insert describing the ‘postage-paid return envelope.’ And, indeed, the envelope is stamped ‘No Postage Necessary if Mailed in the United States.’ Proof is attached. Were my wife and I sent the wrong ballots or envelopes?”
Dave Macdonald, Alameda County registrar of voters, explained the situation on Monday afternoon. … Continue reading »
Still undecided about the election? Let us help
Over the last several months, Berkeleyside has run many dozens of articles on Berkeley’s mayoral election, council seat races, the school board contest, the rival rent board slates and most of the 10 city measures on the ballot tomorrow. On top of that, our collaboration with MapLight on Voter’s Edge Berkeley provides a handy one-stop site for information about the ballot measures. And our Opinionator op-ed section has overflowed with rival views about various election issues.
What Berkeleyside is not going to do is make any endorsements in the election. There are two reasons why. First, we believe in an educated, informed citizenry. Newspaper endorsements are a relic of a pre-Internet era when readers had to rely on insiders to tell them what was what. Our goal is to make sure you have as much information as we have, so you can make up your own mind. We don’t feel the urge to make it up for you. Second, we work hard to be impartial in our news reporting of Berkeley. Even if we convince ourselves that we could create neat compartments between our opinions and our reporting, our readers would be understandably skeptical. … Continue reading »
Map: Where to go Tuesday — Berkeley polling locations
Thankfully, unlike many people on the East Coast still suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, getting out to vote should not present any undue problems for Berkeleyans on Tuesday.
But do you know where your nearest polling place is? Berkeleyside could not easily track down a simple map showing the locations of all the polling places in Berkeley, so we created one for you. (Click on the drop-pins for address information.)
And if you’re still unsure about which way … Continue reading »
Late money floods into Berkeley election campaigns
Money continues to pour into a few Berkeley campaigns, including some significant independent expenditures filed after the recent Oct. 20 reporting date.
The East Bay Rental Housing PAC contributed $31,000 to support slate mailer organization Berkeley Tenants United for Fairness (TUFF), which promotes both a four-person slate for the rent board and opposes the so-called Sunshine Ordinance, Measure U.
The California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee channelled $19,750 to support incumbent Laurie Capitelli in District 5, and $18,350 to support incumbent Darryl Moore in District 2. And Berkeley Firefighters Association Local 1227 PAC gave $7,212 to support District 5 challenger Sophie Hahn.
The amounts raised for TUFF are particularly striking compared to previous races. Four years ago, candidates for the rent board all filed short form expenditure statements, certifying that they had raised under $1,000 and would spend under $1,000. This year, TUFF had raised $32,920 by Oct. 20, including $19,000 from East Bay Rental Housing PAC. It filed a further $12,000 from East Bay Rental Housing PAC on Oct. 25, bringing the TUFF total to at least $45,000. … Continue reading »
School board race: Candidates vie for two open seats
In most years, an incumbent running for school board in a well-regarded school district would be considered a shoo-in. But the storm over the unfilled Berkeley Unified superintendent post jeopardizes Beatriz Leyva-Cutler‘s run for re-election. Leyva-Cutler faces stiff competition from Judy Appel and Tracy Hollander in the race for two open school board seats. A fourth candidate, Norma Harrison, is running a symbolic, non-serious campaign.
Leyva-Cutler, Appel and Hollander are not seeking dramatic change for Berkeley schools. That’s understandable. The recent statewide API results show good improvements in the schools, there’s been some progress in closing the achievement gap, and the district has managed to build a financial reserve that should guard against the harshest budget consequences if Governor Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30 fails to pass on Tuesday.
Without major policy differences, the candidates are stressing their own perspectives and skills.
“You can’t find another community member so vested in our schools,” Leyva-Cutler said. “I’ve been involved in early childhood education for over 30 years.” … Continue reading »
Measure S: Will it help or hurt the homeless?
On Nov. 6, Berkeley voters will decide whether to approve a controversial ordinance to ban, in most cases, sitting on sidewalks in the city’s business districts from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Measure S is Berkeley’s second attempt to pass a law limiting where and when people can sit on sidewalks. (A 1994 attempt, which included lying on the sidewalk as well, later was repealed by the City Council, after initial approval by voters. The ACLU challenged the law before it went into effect and, in 1997, “a newly elected Berkeley City Council voted to repeal the sit-and-lie ban.”)
Supporters of Measure S have poured more than $90,000 into the campaign, while those opposed have raised just under $16,000, according to campaign reports filed with the city clerk’s office. (See a breakdown of the contributions at Berkeley’s Voter’s Edge.)
The proposed ordinance counts among its proponents developers such as the Beacon Group (which owns 2150 Shattuck, the old Power Bar building) and Panoramic Interests (which sold its large property holdings to Sam Zell’s Equity Residential REIT and now is involved in infill development); opponents include the ACLU of Northern California and Patricia Wall of the Homeless Action Center.
Posts related to the measure have resulted in more than 1,000 reader comments on Berkeleyside. The proposed ban has spurred coverage in local, regional and national media outlets. … Continue reading »
Bates outraises opponents by 70%; Yes on S gets $90k
Incumbent mayor Tom Bates has raised nearly 70% more than his two most prominent challengers combined, according to the latest campaign filings available through the City Clerk’s election portal. In the first three weeks of October, Bates raised $28,913 taking his total to $84,339. Councilman Kriss Worthington raised $8,459 in the period, bringing his total to $27,489. Jacquelyn McCormick garnered $5,970, for a total this year of $22,480.
In the heated District 5 race between incumbent Laurie Capitelli and Sophie Hahn, the two candidates are closely matched in fundraising, with less than $2,000 separating their totals. Capitelli has dramatically outspent Hahn in the three-week period, $8,356 to $3,492, nearly catching up with Hahn’s earlier spending.
In other races, incumbent Darryl Moore has vastly outraised his challengers, Denisha DeLane and Adolfo Cabral, in District 2, and incumbent Max Anderson has raised nearly double the amount challenger Dmitri Belser has raised in District 3, although Belser has stepped up both fundraising and spending in the first three weeks of October. … Continue reading »
Say yes on Measure S: help those living on the streets
Earlier this month I spent several afternoons walking along Telegraph and then Shattuck Avenues because I wanted to talk one-on-one with the people, particularly the young people, who are sitting and lying on the streets panhandling. I judged that almost all of them have serious alcohol and/or drug problems and many of them are also mentally ill.
As a medical doctor specializing in addiction treatment, I know that the people on our streets are at grave risk of becoming disabled … Continue reading »
