Never one to shirk a challenge, the city of Berkeley has come up with an ambitious plan designed to take on everything from racial and social inequity to the impacts of climate change and natural disasters.
On the evening of Jan. 19, Timothy Burroughs, Berkeley’s chief resilience officer, delivered a presentation to city council on the seismic upgrade needs of the City’s seven “city care and shelter sites”.
Experts are predicting the possibility of heavy El Niño storms this winter, which may well bring floods, downed trees, heavy winds and damage to power lines to Berkeley. This week, city and school district officials are teaming up to offer a free workshop designed to help the community get ready.
The city of Berkeley is holding a town hall meeting Wednesday focused on improving the community’s resilience in the face of natural disasters and “the stresses that weaken a city’s fabric.”
As a city, Berkeley prides itself on being prepared. Officials hope the recent appointment of a “resilience officer” to coordinate city-wide defenses against natural disasters will be another step in that direction — this time with the help of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Berkeley has been selected as one of 33 cities worldwide in the first group of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Resilient Cities network.
The city of Berkeley has reduced community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 8% since 2000 despite a 10% increase in population, the city announced in an annual report mailed last week to residents and businesses throughout the city.
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