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ALERT to Save People’s Park: UC Berkeley, Construction businesses, and Police Move To Destroy Berkeley’s Landmark, Open Space and Community of People’s Park, August 3, 2022

Text SAVETHEPARK to 74121 to get notifications. 

Note: This post will have ongoing updates. Last updated 1:52 PM August 3, 2022

August 3, 2022, 1:45 AM

Police Closing People’s Park Under Cover of Darkness, August 3, 2022

UC is moving on the park NOW! Please go to the park if you’re able, and let others know! Word from the park (as of 12:15am) is that surveillance light towers, fences are going up

They’re closing off Dwight. Towing cars. They’ve got Hillegass and Regent blocked off at Dwight with low portable fencing. The surrounding cars are being towed to another lot ‘to prevent possible damage from protesters’. This is it.

August 3, 2022, 3:13 AM

Light towers were about to be unloaded. Looks like UC is about to fence off the park. If you can make it down, please do. Text SAVETHEPARK to 74121 to get notifications. 

Sorry to share yuck news but it’s all about our resistance to it at this point.

August 3, 2022, 6:22 AM

In a deeply courageous moves of non-violent civil disobedience to stop the destruction of People’s Park, Berkeley community members are sitting and moving beneath heavy equipment suspended from cranes trying to install surveillance lighting.

Non-Violent Civil Disobedience to Stop Construction on People’s Park, Early morning August 3, 2022
Non-Violent Civil Disobedience to Stop Construction on People’s Park, Early morning August 3, 2022
Non-Violent Civil Disobedience to Stop Construction on People’s Park, Early morning August 3, 2022

Construction industry with police aid destroys People’s Park, August 3, 2022, an act of profound and long lasting damage to the Berkeley community. This opportunistic profiteering for the few, despite several other sites where housing could be built.

August 3, 2022, 7:32 AM

People’s Park Protectors Needed! The police are in the park with bulldozers and they have blocked off Haste and Dwight.

“If Roesch did not sign the order, then UC is in clear violation of the stay, which is actually really bad for them. The other part of this is the return of the students.  I expect that they are slowly filtering back into town. Keep up the resistance!  The more students there are around, the better it is for us.” — A long-time People’s Park contributor

August 3, 2022, 9:54 AM

The National Lawyers Guild is on site at People’s Park and was aware of 7 arrests, 3 released, and no information on the other 4. If anyone has info, please call them: 415-285-1011.

August 3, 2022, 11:19 AM

“Lawyer Phil Bokovoy says that UC has no legal authority or right to close off city streets. At any blockade of a city street you can demand that those stopping your passage show or cite their authority to stop you. If they have none you are entitled to use that street. That may be true for sidewalks also, which is where the fence is bolted down so that may be illegal also.” — A long-time People’s Park contributor

August 3, 2022, 12:38 PM

Protesters shaking the fence during destruction of People’s Park by UC Berkeley, August 3, 2022
Trees destroyed and fencing going up around People’s Park, August 3, 2022
Trees destroyed in Northeast corner of People’s Park, August 3, 2022

August 3, 2022, 1:13 PM to 1:22 PM

  • West side trees destroyed by UC Berkeley in People’s Park, August 3, 2022
  • Westward view of People’s Park destruction, August 3, 2022
  • Park destruction equipment on basketball court of People’s Park, August 3, 2022
  • The great palm tree destroyed by UC Berkeley in People’s Park, August 3, 2022
  • UC Berkeley’s fencing torn down by People’s Park defenders, August 3, 2022
  • UC Berkeley’s fencing torn down by People’s Park defenders, August 3, 2022
  • West side People’s Park trees destroyed by UC Berkeley, August 3, 2022
  • Trees destroyed by UC Berkeley in East side of People’s Park, August 3, 2022
  • Redwoods and other trees in Northwest corner of People’s Park destroyed by UC Berkeley, August 3, 2022
  • Trees destroyed by UC Berkeley in Northeast corner of People’s Park, August 3, 2022
  • Media workers reporting on UC Berkeley’s destruction of People’s Park, August 3, 2022
  • Berkeley community and students witnessing UC Berkeley’s destruction of People’s Park, August 3, 2022

Note: This post will have ongoing updates. Last updated 1:52 PM August 3, 2022

Video and photos note: Please document the activities in the park, police, fencing, etc. This is a historically significant event. When documenting activities in the park with cell phone video cameras, please turn the camera horizontally before recording for better video and photos.

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Letter from Dieter Müller-Greven, a People’s Park supporter from 1972

Dear friends of the Berkeley People’s Park,

Coming from Germany in 1972, hitch-hiking across the USA to SF, I heard about Berkeley People’s park, about the history from 1969, which was still fresh in 1972 and helped to defend the People’s Park in May 1972. I still remember vividly the demonstration on Telegraph Ave and helped tear down the fence at People’s Park.

Now I hear the UCB is still trying to occupy this historic place. Let me know if I can help in any way, may just tell you about the memories of Johnny’s Soup Kitchen on Telegraph Ave or when we blocked the streets to Oakland harbor with cars from junk yards to prevent the aircraft carrier from getting supplies so it couldn’t go to Viet Nam to bomb dikes to drown people, or about hiring a helicopter to coordinate the demonstration by FM radio from the air, or just from the all night drum players in front of the student union building, etc.

Maybe there is a historic archive about this half century lasting fight for the park.

I wish you all good luck to keep this place in the hands of the people and turn it into a historic monument, with just grass and trees, benches and playgrounds. No concrete, no houses.

Take care,
Dieter Müller-Greven

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Update on legal action to protect People’s Park, July 21, 2022

The First Appellate Court with the help of the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group has just taken down another of University of California’s (UC) attempts to take the park. On Friday, UC had asked Judge Roesch for permission to erect a fence around the park and Roesch denied them, saying I’Il see you both in court on July 29, 2022.

Well, UC was back with another complaint on Saturday demanding an expedited rehearing or Motion to Remand and saying they were improperly denied their request for a bond to cover increased construction cost incurred by the stay.

Today the First Appellate court said: NO REHEARING OR REMAND, and NO BOND. Their order instructed our team to file a response to UC Motion to Remand by August 3rd. We may see that response sooner than August 3rd. Remember the trial on the merits is July 29, 2022.

Letter from David L. Axelrod, Attorney for the Petitioners

July 21, 2022

To:
The PEOPLE,
PEOPLE’S PARK COUNCIL,
MAKE UC A GOOD NEIGHBOR, and
People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group

Blurb – For Immediate Release

Re: Make UC a Good Neighbor, et al. v. City of Berkeley, et al., and U.C.

The above-referenced case started out as a Petition in Alameda Superior Court by People’s Park advocacy groups for a Writ of Mandate against Berkeley City Council, the Mayor, and the City itself, for violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act by the City’s adoption of a secret sell-out agreement with the University of California (UC) in violation of applicable California open-meeting laws.

Soon thereafter, the Court, by Judge Frank Roesch, expanded the action to include the University of California (UC), and later permitted or encouraged causes of action against UC for breach of contractual agreements with People’s Park representatives, namely the People’s Park Council and People’s Park Project/ Native Plant Forum.

As of today, July 21, 2022, in ruling on the City’s Demurrer, Judge Roesch has thrown out the Petition against the City, while the Complaint against UC remains intact. In doing so, Judge Roesch declined to enforce Berkeley’s Measure N, and also concluding that Berkeley’s Measure L does not apply to People’s Park. On behalf of the Petitioners, we argued that the City Respondents have violated Measure N by surrendering to UC, rather than upholding applicable laws, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Measure L, which expressly applies to all “vacant public land . . . used de facto as open space . . .,” whether or not owned by the City.

Judge Roesch also ruled that the Petitioners had failed to file a government claim within six (6) months of the City’s wrongful act. On behalf of the Petitioners, we argued that The Government Claims Statute does not apply to our Petition for Writ of Mandamus, which simply seeks a stay, declaratory judgment, and other equitable relief, rather than being a claim for monetary damages resulting from foreseeable losses that have not yet actually occurred.

Judge Roesch also ruled in favor of a Motion to Strike large segments of the amended Petition, even though the Motion had been untimely filed five (5) days after the deadline approved in a Stipulation of the parties and an Order of the Court.

Robert Perlmutter, attorney for the City, tried to keep the City in the case as a “real party in interest,” but the Court denied this request. Accordingly, the City Respondents are now totally excluded from this case.

The only question is whether to appeal now, based upon the dismissal of all causes of action against the City entities, or to appeal after final judgment is entered in the case in chief. The only remaining now is the Defendant UC. This lawsuit, like People’s Park itself, appears to be hanging by a thread at this time.

As requested by the Petitioners, Judge Roesch did properly take Judicial Notice of the Stay Order issued by the Court of Appeal in a closely-related CEQA case, temporarily preventing destruction of the Park by UC. But he also stated that the Order was “irrelevant” to the Demurrer. Perhaps a similar order, but broader and longer lasting, can be sought in what is the newly revamped and evolved iteration of our case at law aiming to save the Park.
May 1000 parks bloom!!

For Plants and Peace,

DAVID L. AXELROD,
Attorney for the Petitioners,
PEOPLE’S PARK COUNCIL,
MAKE UC A GOOD NEIGHBOR, and
People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group

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Nationally significant People’s Park was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 2022

To all our People’s Park Supporters:
We are very happy to report that after over two years of work we were able to send out this press release today. — Harvey Smith

For Immediate Release

For additional information:
Harvey Smith peoplesparkhxdist@gmail.com
510-684-0414

(May 27, 2022) – Nationally significant People’s Park was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 2022.

This designation underscores the historical, cultural, architectural and environmental assets of this irreplaceable open space. The park has an over half-century legacy of political and cultural events, a bio system of flora and fauna, and a surround of highly significant architecture.

This recognition follows being nominated unanimously by the California State Historical Resources Commission. People’s Park has played a key role as a gathering place for free speech during the decades of anti-war and civil rights struggles.

Former Berkeley Mayor Gus Newport commented that, “The stability of cities and towns is formed from the history of planning and participation of citizens. People’s Park very much reflects and proves this. People’s Park is very deserving of being on the National Register of Historic Places.”

However, the University of California plans to destroy the park despite its national significance. Harvey Smith, president of the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group, commented that, “Its planned destruction is unconscionable. The park’s importance is beyond a squabble in Berkeley or within California. It is a nationally recognized historic site.”

Smith suggests the park should be preserved so that its appearance and infrastructure are no different than any other park within the City of Berkeley or any green space within the UC Berkeley campus. This is entirely possible once the present homeless population of the park is relocated to housing as planned by the City of Berkeley and the University.

The ill-considered plan of UC Berkeley to build on the park should be scuttled because the university has many alternative sites for student housing. Chief among them is the Ellsworth Parking Structure, which is one block away from People’s Park. Keeping a parking lot and destroying a park is a totally irresponsible action in the age of extreme climate change. UC Berkeley’s plan to demolish Evans Hall to create open space on the campus should be matched by maintaining the open space of People’s Park in the community.

Both the City of Berkeley and UC Berkeley celebrate the Free Speech and Sixties history of the Telegraph Avenue corridor. It is an asset to both the city and university, and among the reasons visitors from all parts of the globe are drawn to Berkeley. Recognizing People’s Park for the asset that it is and then preserving and enhancing it can only add to its value as a treasured Berkeley attraction.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.

More information on the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group can be found at peoplesparkhxdist.org.

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Presentation by People’s Park Historic District Friday, August 27, 2021, 6–9 pm, Canessa Gallery, San Francisco

Last Friday two lawsuits were filed in Alameda County Superior Court against UC Berkeley and the UC Regents. Two community groups and AFSCME Local 3299 are challenging the impact of growth plans of the university. Previously another filing was done on the Berkeley City Council’s violations of the Brown Act, in formulating and adopting the City’s recent secret “settlement agreement” with the University of California.

The evening’s panel will discuss both legal and community organizing actions to stop implementation of UCB’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), a plan that seeks to destroy People’s Park and other irreplaceable neighborhood and community assets in Berkeley.

Panelists include historians, preservationists and activists – Charles Wollenberg, Lesley Emmington, Carol Denney, Joe Liesner and Harvey Smith.

The exhibit includes photographs, art work, posters and memorabilia from over 50 years of spirited community involvement in preserving the irreplaceable open space of the park.

People’s Park is at the center of sixteen other officially recognized city landmarks, which collectively are a de facto historic district. They represent the heritage of the 1960s and the larger theme of a century of town/gown relationships. Berkeley became a major target of the New Right conservative backlash with Ronald Reagan promising to “clean up the mess in Berkeley.”

UC’s plans also threaten three historic buildings, including a rent-controlled apartment building, in another project funded by an anti-rent control developer.

The university has exceeded its agreed enrollment limits, creating enormous housing displacement throughout the city. The university has responded to years of state budget austerity by monetizing its public assets in a corporate-like growth that has also become a drain on city resources.

UCB proposes to cover People’s Park with a 17-story concrete monolith, probably to be erected by a private housing firm that will profit from student occupants. This would destroy both a historical and cultural legacy and much needed open space when reasonable alternatives are available.

If Berkeley all but invented the sixties, surely the city and its university should be able to commemorate that decade by preserving People’s Park as the heart and soul of a vital historic district.

Presentation by People’s Park Historic District
Friday, August 27, 2021, 6–9 pm
Canessa Gallery
708 Montgomery Street, San Francisco

Masks and Covid vaccination required.

For more information, contact Harvey Smith at 510-684-0414.

Sponsored by the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group.

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People’s Park and Neighborhood Groups Challenge UC’s 2021 LRDP

In a lawsuit claiming the nearly total inadequacy of the University of California’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on its 2021 Long Range Development Plan and Housing Project #1 and Housing Project #2 (LRDP) a team of lawyers representing Make UC a Good Neighbor and the People’s Park Historic Advocacy Group (PPHDAG) are seeking to void approval of the LRDP and the EIR, and thereby stop all activities proposed in that LRDP. This legal action is of great importance to supporters of People’s Park since it would mean significant delays for any attempts to destroy the Park by erecting three buildings on that beloved site. It would also keep our friends at 1921 Walnut Street in their rent controlled homes for the time being.

The lead attorney in this suit, Thomas Lippe, has prevailed in two California Environmental Quality Act cases against the University of California and, because his most recent victory against UC concerned plans to build on Upper Hearst, Mr Lippe is very familiar with the 2021 LRDP. This suit wast filed on August 20, 2021 in the Superior Court of California in and for the county of Alameda.

It describes the nearly total failure of the EIR for the 2021 LEDP to adequately either describe or address the environmental effects caused by the program or projects proposed in the LRDP. Among its contentions are that the EIR fails to make required findings, fails to propose and evaluate adequate mitigation measures, fails to respond in good faith to the public comments received in response to the draft EIR, and fails to lawfully assess the LRDP’s effects on traffic, noise, air pollution, population and housing, parks and recreation, or historic and cultural resources.

This site will post any response from UC or upcoming court dates as they are announced.

— joe liesner, secretary People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group

Donate to Lawsuit at:
People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group
P.O. Box 1234
Berkeley, CA 94701-1234

More information at peoplesparkhxdist.org

Full text PDF:
Make UC A Good Neighbor, et al., v The Regents – LRDP Petition.pdf