Calls renewed to fix Berkeley's citizen boards Officials say city gets sidetracked by work of 45 commissions

An unidentified man, left, tangles with anti-war protesters who chained themselves together in an attempt to block the entrance to a Marine Corps recruitment office in Berkeley, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008. Several scuffles ensued when people attempted to enter the office. Ran on: 02-10-2008 A protester tangles with an unidentified man outside the Marine recruiting office in Berkeley. Ran on: 04-03-2008 A donnybrook ensued over Berkeley's Marine Corps recruitment center -- resulting in a scuffle with protesters on Feb. 1 -- after a city commission declared it unwelcome. less An unidentified man, left, tangles with anti-war protesters who chained themselves together in an attempt to block the entrance to a Marine Corps recruitment office in Berkeley, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008. ... more Photo: PAUL CHINN Photo: PAUL CHINN Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Calls renewed to fix Berkeley's citizen boards 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Berkeley is finding that having its own foreign policy isn't cheap. The city's recent dustup with the U.S. Marine Corps has so far cost the city more than $200,000, while businesses say they've been slammed by related protests.

And that's on top of the $1 million the city spends annually on domestic and foreign policy matters hatched by its 45 citizen commissions, which outnumber those in virtually every other city in America and debate everything from regime change in Iran to the plight of nonneutered dogs.

"We in Berkeley have one of the top universities in the world, which brings in people from more than 100 countries. Delving into foreign policy is unavoidable," said Mike Sherman, a longtime member of the Peace and Justice Commission, which sparked an uproar two months ago with its resolution telling the Marine Corps that its recruiting center was not welcome in the city.

But some business owners, residents and officials say the Marines dispute, which brought international headlines and boycotts, is a perfect illustration of why Berkeley should spend less money on foreign policy and more on filling potholes.

City Councilman Gordon Wozniak put forth a plan last week to make the commissions more accountable. The plan, approved by the City Council, requires the commissions to post their full reports on the city's Web site, to be more diligent about posting their agendas and minutes and to pass along more background information to the City Council, especially on controversial items.

"I think it's out of hand," Wozniak said of Berkeley's commissions, most of which meet monthly and have two or three subcommittees that also meet regularly. "When we spend a lot of time debating things like the Marines issue, we're not spending time on the serious problems in this city, like fire station closures. It's easier to tackle international issues than deal with messy local problems."

Lack of communication from the commissions is what caused the Marines ruckus, he said. The Peace and Justice Commission's proclamation called the Marines recruiting station on Shattuck Square "unwelcome" and asked the city to waive permit fees for Code Pink to hold weekly anti-war protests outside the station.

The cost of city policies

The council approved the item with little fanfare, but pro-military groups seized on the issue, calling the council's move treasonous and demanding an apology. The council rescinded the resolution on Feb. 13, but protests on each side have cost the city about $208,000 in police overtime, city officials say.

Additional costs include city staff time to handle permits, the media, security and the thousands of e-mails that have intermittently crashed the city's computer server. In addition, businesses around the recruiting station have been hurt by the protests, and at least four hotels and a handful of restaurants have reported cancellations as a result of the boycott.

"The city is raising business fees and parking meter rates at the same time they're spending all this money on international issues and handling protests. It doesn't make sense, in these difficult economic times," said Ted Garrett, director of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. "We're very concerned about the effect this is having on business."

An Oregon Ducks football fan club and a Lafayette golf club are among the groups that have canceled junkets to Berkeley this fall, Wozniak said. A San Diego resort developer said he canceled three contracts with Berkeley suppliers and has persuaded other businesses to follow suit.

The boycotts have had no measurable effect on Berkeley's economy, which is generally healthy, said the city's economic development director, Michael Caplan.

Berkeley's 45 boards and commissions outnumber the 44 in San Francisco and the 33 in Oakland and Los Angeles.

Animal welfare to health

Some of Berkeley's commissions provide critical city functions, such as the zoning board and Planning Commission, while about half are devoted mostly to policy. There are commissions on the status of women, animal welfare, aging, disability rights, labor and early-childhood education. Three commissions deal with the environment. Four pertain to health.

Each commission has nine members, each of whom is appointed by a council member, and meets monthly. Many have subcommittees, such as the Peace and Justice Commission's subcommittee on U.N. treaties. And every commission has a city staff member assigned to compile agendas, minutes and reports, and ensure that the board complies with the state's open meetings law and Robert's Rules of Order.

Manuel Hector spent 10 years as secretary to the Peace and Justice Commission. His regular job was working on employee safety and special events permits for the city's Health and Human Services department, but as much as 25 percent of his work time was spent researching oppression in Burma or labor conditions in Liberia for the commission.

"The worst month I had seven items," he said. "The hard part was getting them to recognize that these are not urgent situations. I told them, 'I don't have time to be keeping track of everything you do. I can't break my back over this stuff.' "

Every few years city officials propose to rein in the commissions, either by trimming the number of meetings, merging the ones that overlap or eliminating the ones with little to do. But such moves have not taken hold.

"It's a formalized form of participatory democracy," said City Manager Phil Kamlarz. "Do the commissions detract from what the city should be doing? Sure, they do. But we've had commissions for 30 years. They reflect the values of this city."