My, what a confusing message from the Sierra Club’s Northern Alameda Chapter!
On the one hand, the Club supports Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Berkeley. And, it endorses Measure R, an advisory measure in favor of transit-oriented development (TOD) around Berkeley’s downtown transit.
On the other hand, the Club has endorsed candidates utterly opposed to BRT and transit-oriented development. This blog already reported on Kriss Worthington. Besides Worthington, Councilmember Jesse Arreguin has also received the Club’s blessings.
Arreguin, who’s positions on TOD are so extreme, some enviros have dubbed him Jesse ‘Arreguinejad’ (after the Iranian President) is the point-man for the anti-TOD crowd. Whereas his opponent, Eric Panzer has amazing credentials: a degree in Environmental Science, and he works professionally as a City Planner.
So here the Club has an awsome opportunity to endorse a candidate that really “gets it” with regard to alternative transport — and help get rid of Arreguin. But noooooo!!!! [/Belushi]
Systemic Failure 
Eric’s dropped out, FYI.
Also, calling him Arreguinejad says enough about those who say it and repeat it.
Also, Jesse isn’t against TOD. But you would know that if you actually followed things here. He just doesn’t rubber stamp all TOD projects if they don’t provide enough affordable housing and adequately mitigate their impacts on the surrounding neighborhood.
And there are several reasons why Jesse was endorsed by the Sierra Club. You can check it out at http://www.vivajesse.com/issues
Hopefully that can help clear up a lot of things.
Dear Drunk Engineer (after Nov. 2, I hope to share that namesake with you),
Kriss actually supports many aspects of the proposed BRT, and simply suggested that there are some elements (like eco-passes for city employees) that would increase ridership more so than divisive attempts to remove one lane of traffic on six blocks on Telegraph. Interestingly enough, if you contrast his stance on BRT with that of his opponents… well, I’ll let you do some research and find out who’s actually opposed to BRT in any form. By saying he’s against the “bad” BRT in his campaign statement, he was implying that he’s against the unnecessarily divisive elements of it, while supporting the good parts.
As a Sierra Club member, I am proud to be part of a group that may disagree among itself on issues such as Measure R, yet has the foresight to endorse candidates that have consistently taken good stances on the environment. It speaks to the inclusiveness of the organization. If you disagree with that, I invite you to get involved and weigh in yourself!
Respectfully,
Igor
Igor,
Dedicated lanes is the only aspect of BRT. There are no other elements “good” or “bad”. It is non-sensical to state one “supports” BRT, except for the dedicated lanes part.
Also, doing an ecopass for City employees is all well and good, but has nothing to do with the BRT project.
If dedicated lanes were the only aspect of BRT, it would be very difficult to pass in Berkeley. I’m just being honest. The Willard Neighborhood Association almost universally opposes dedicated lanes, and it has significant sway over the City Council. Some Councilmembers oppose dedicated lanes wholesale.
However, Kriss has supported other aspects that would be more palatable to the City of Berkeley, have a chance of passing (and, in fact, with some HAVING passed the City Council), and could improve reliability and ridership.
Best,
Igor