Community members gathered Tuesday in front of Freehouse Berkeley to protest the Berkeley Property Owners Association, or BPOA, celebrating the end of the COVID-19 eviction moratorium.
In 2022, seven of the ten highest paid public officials in the city of Berkeley were members of the police department, according to data from the California state controller's Government Compensation in California database.
Berkeley is accelerating plans to more humanely deal with homelessness in the wake of a San Francisco Public Press report on a chaotic encampment raid in October, and city staffers say they will start collaborating with unhoused people and homeless advocates when planning to clean or clear large encampments.
Several city departments are changing procedures in response to complaints from those living in encampments and their advocates, and from residential and commercial neighbors.
Berkeley City Council passed a slew of legislation at its Tuesday regular meeting, including massive funding for affordable housing, expanded supportive housing and a step toward decriminalizing plant-based psychedelics.