Tag Archives: Jesse Arreguin
Councilmember: Look at unauthorized collectives
City Councilman Jesse Arreguín will ask the city manager tonight to investigate whether two medical cannabis collectives are operating in violation of Berkeley’s zoning laws.
Arreguín’s announced his intent after a contentious meeting of the Medical Cannabis Commission on Thursday, Dec. 1. The MCC spent a large part of its meeting debating whether to send a letter to city officials drawing attention to the proliferation of collectives in commercial districts, but could not agree on the wording. The MCC will take up the matter again in January.
“I don’t think this should be swept under the rug,” said Arreguín. “It is an important issue. Some action needs to be taken. The city is trying to be sensitive to these particular collectives, which provide medicine to patients. At the same time, they are clearly violating the city’s zoning laws and medical marijuana ordinances.” … Continue reading »
City looks to tackle noise issue from news helicopters
The city government will consider taking action on the issue of the noise pollution caused by news helicopters with councilmember Jesse Arreguín (district 4) bringing an item to the consent calendar at Tuesday’s City Council meeting this week.
“This is a quality of life issue and, as community leaders, we should engage in a dialogue with media organizations to try to find some solutions,” Arreguin said.
Choppers are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration and there is therefore a limit to how much Berkeley’s leaders can do to restrict their time in the air.
Because it’s been a news-heavy few months in Berkeley recently — with the Occupy Cal protests, a shooting on campus as well as a series of earthquakes — media helicopters have been taking to the skies at a particularly high rate, causing angst among local residents. … Continue reading »
Berkeley declares Native American code names offensive
Berkeley city officials adopted a resolution this week honoring the Native American leader Geronimo, but decided against asking President Obama to apologize for using his name in the May mission to kill Osama bin Laden.
Instead, the city council asked the President to retroactively change the code name of the operation from “Operation Geronimo” to “Operation bin Laden” and pledge not to use Native American names in future military actions.
The Peace and Justice Commission had sent a resolution to the city council requesting that it ask Obama to apologize for naming the raid on bin Laden “Operation Geronimo.”
“The use of the name Geronimo for the country’s most wanted terrorist is offensive, particularly to Native Americans and negatively impacts the identity and social position of Native American youth,” read part of the resolution the commission wants the city council to adopt. … Continue reading »
Call for alerts (and fewer tickets) on street sweeping
If you own a car in Berkeley there’s a high chance you will have experienced the frustration of being ticketed, or even towed, for being parked in the wrong place at the wrong time on a street-sweeping day. Would a reminder, sent to you on your mobile phone, have prevented the mishap and saved you some money?
Councilmembers Jesse Arreguín and Gordon Wozniak think so. And they believe the city could take a pro-active role in sending such alerts to its citizens — or at the very least providing better information on street-sweeping and tow-away zones, as well as residential parking permit-only zones. They are taking their suggestions to City Council tonight.
“I get calls on a regular basis about this,” said councilmember Arreguín. “Signage is often not visible enough, or confusing, and the city could be providing more readily available information which would avoid unnecessary ticketing. It would save residents some money and save city resources.” Arreguín cites the “guerrilla” signs put up by helpful neighbors to warn of upcoming street sweeping as evidence of the need for better communication. … Continue reading »
The City Council on Tuesday night voted to ask the city manager’s office to look into establishing vacancy fees on empty retail property.
The council voted unanimously to support a proposal put forward by City Councilman Jesse Arreguin to consider levying a fee when a storefront has been vacant for six months, and escalating the fee the longer the store is empty. (See full Berkeleyside story here.)
“Some Council members also raised several issues they wanted the staff to look at,” Arreguin wrote Berkeleyside in an email. “Such as why (so much) ground floor space is vacant? In addition to the vacancy fee are there other regulatory changes we could make such as amending the zoning to streamline the process, to shorten the cost and time to get permits, and are there incentives we could offer to owners to rent their spaces. They wanted the City Manager and staff to also take a broader look at the issue and see what package of proposals could we develop to fill vacant spaces.”
The council did not set a timeline for the city manager to return with a report.
Will vacant storefronts tax improve business in Berkeley?
During the month of February, there were 11 vacant storefronts along the top stretch of Solano Avenue, giving the shopping district a slightly beleaguered air.
While the soft economy accounts for some of that vacant frontage, City Councilmember Jesse Arreguín suspects some landlords in Berkeley are keeping rents artificially high, making it difficult for small business owners to find suitable retail space.
Arreguín thinks that Berkeley could minimize the number of vacant storefronts by charging landlords a fee when buildings … Continue reading »
Summer movie series launches in downtown Berkeley: Vote for the films you want to see
Today sees the launch of “Center Street Summer Cinema” — free screenings of movies under the stars in downtown Berkeley on four consecutive Saturdays in August. Berkeleyside is proud to be the lead media sponsor of this exciting new addition to the Berkeley summer calendar.
Center Street will be the place to be on the evenings of August 6, 13, 20 and 27. At least 15 local restaurants — including Alborz Persian Restaurant and Sportivo – will serve café-style specials on or near the street, which will be closed to traffic between Shattuck and Oxford starting at 6:30pm.
Movie-goers can come early to dine al fresco while being entertained by performers from the Downtown Berkeley MusicFest. Other fun activities being planned for the events — which are being orchestrated by the Downtown Berkeley Association — include cartoons, short features, face painting, all of which will precede the main movie screenings. … Continue reading »
Two Berkeley councilmembers visit the White House
“I am going to wear my charcoal gray suit with a bright color shirt. We are really excited.” So says Darryl Moore who is celebrating Pride Month with a visit to the White House. Moore, a gay African American councilmember in Berkeley, as well as the chair of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), will be attending a special reception to celebrate Pride Month on June 29 with his partner of 16 years, Bradley Johnson.
President Bill Clinton first declared June as … Continue reading »
Berkeley councilmembers celebrate Gay Pride Day
City of Berkeley councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Jesse Arreguin took part in Sunday’s Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco, riding in an open-top Mini with Worthington’s Legal Aide Alejandro Soto-Vigil at the wheel. The party also included Soto-Vigil’s son Checho, Kriss’s partner Marty Spence and city employee Lynn Riordon.
