Calls renewed to fix Berkeley's citizen boards

[Mugu]

Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer

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.


Complete article at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/02/MNFUVUMVN.DTL&tsp=1

[Mountainman]

1. Berkeley, the city everyone likes to pick on.

The independent sovereign territory of Berkeley. Love it or leave it!

[DCKit]

2. While I agree with much of what they do...

is it really fair to the citizens? Did they sign on to pay for these activist causes?

If people would rather pay for representation on these issues than show up with their own sign and march, great, but why are everyone's tax dollars paying for it? There's no way everyone agrees with every cause.