A Community Vision for the Ashby and North Berkeley BART Station Areas >>
The City’s BART Community Advisory Group
The City’s BART Community Advisory Group (CAG) has been established for the purposes of drawing broad community participation and providing valuable input to the Planning Commission as it considers zoning standards that will be consistent with the City’s obligations under AB 2923 for the Ashby and North Berkeley BART station areas.
CAG Documents and Meeting Information
The charge of the CAG is to: (1) provide input to the Planning Commission on matters directly related to zoning of the Ashby and North Berkeley BART Stations in conformance with AB 2923 zoning standards; (2) bridge communication between the Planning Commission’s zoning process and other neighborhood groups and the community at large; and (3) provide input on a joint vision and priorities document to be developed by the City and BART.
Members of the CAG have been appointed with an eye toward ensuring a diversity of views, perspectives, and experiences, including: representing all geographic areas of the city on which station area development would have an impact such as immediate as well as commuter neighborhoods; reflecting a wide-range of relevant expertise in areas such as city planning, architecture, transit, and environmental sustainability; and incorporating diverse life experiences.
Meet the CAG
Ambrose Carroll
Rev. Dr. Ambrose F. Carroll serves as the Senior Pastor of The Church by The Side of The Road; an institution in the city of Berkeley since 1956. Pastor Carroll also serves as the Vice President of the Berkeley Black Ecumenical Ministerial Alliance and is the founder of Green The Church, which is a national organization that works to empower those working at the intersection of Environmentalism, Sustainability and the Black Church.
Barnali Ghosh
Barnali Ghosh is the Chair of the Berkeley Transportation Commission, a North Berkeley resident, transit user, and licensed landscape architect. Her perspectives on mobility and access are deeply influenced by climate change, immigration, gender, race, and disability. She is deeply committed to seeing her city use thoughtful zoning and design thinking at Ashby and North Berkeley BART. Berkeley has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink how this public land is used, and she is excited to bring a design, and global climate justice lens to that work.
Betty Soto
Betty is a long-time Berkeley resident, currently residing near North Berkeley BART, but a previous tenant in both the Ashby area and Berkeley hills. She is honored to be a member of the Community Advisory Group, and to support development near transit that accounts for the needs of those who are disproportionately impacted. As a mom of two kids at Jefferson Elementary, Betty wants to make a long-lasting, positive impact that achieves twin goals of social equity and environmental stewardship.
Blaine Merker
Blaine Merker lives at Acton and Lincoln Streets with his partner and two sons, ages 5 and 7. He earned a masters in landscape architecture at UC Berkeley and has been in professional practice as an artist and urban designer for 20 years in the US and internationally. He is a partner and managing director at Gehl, a global city strategy and design firm based in Copenhagen, New York and San Francisco, and cofounder of Rebar Art and Design Studio which pioneered the parklet movement. Blaine and his family can be found biking on the Ohlone Greenway most weekends.
Charles Gary
Like so many, Charles came to Berkeley to attend school from 1965 to 1968. He continued his studies at Florida State University before returning here in the late seventies. Both his parents were on local boards in our community and he has done the same. Charles has served as a board member of the Ecology Center, Food Not Bombs, the Shotgun Players, Easy Does It, and for twenty-plus years as a member of the board of the Berkeley Flea Market. “As one can see, my South Berkeley roots run deep and wide. What happens at the Ashby Bart station is very important to the community of which I am a part.”
Chris Schildt
Chris is a Planning Commissioner for the City of Berkeley and serves as Vice Chair of the Berkeley Housing Authority. She works on equitable development and anti-displacement policies nationally as a Senior Associate at PolicyLink, a national nonprofit organization that works to advance racial and economic equity. Originally from the South Bay, Chris moved to Berkeley in 2000 to attend UC Berkeley, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and Political Science, as well as a Master in City Planning. She has lived in South Berkeley with her partner since 2009. In 2015, she helped to form Friends of Adeline, a grassroots organization working to reverse displacement and support African American residents and low-income families to stay and thrive in South Berkeley.
Elisabeth Watson
As a realtor, Elisabeth works with people every day who want a place to call home. She is very familiar with the dearth of housing for lower and middle income residents in Berkeley and is deeply curious about the many strategies being proposed to address the housing needs in our city and the Bay Area. As a resident of the Hills, Elisabeth is aware of the transportation needs in neighborhoods with limited public transportation options. As an MBA, she is qualified to evaluate the financial impacts and risks of proposed solutions. As a former Zero Waste Commissioner, she is familiar with the use of public forums to gather, assess, and disseminate information on issues of major concern to our city. “I relish the opportunity to work with other community members whom I might not otherwise have the chance to meet.”
Hayley Currier
Hayley has been a Berkeley resident since 2006, when she started at UC Berkeley. She works in land use and transportation policy, advocating for public transit planning that center climate and equity. She loves biking in the Berkeley hills, puttering in her garden, dancing, and taking BART to work.
Lillian Lew-Hailer
Lillian (Lilli) Lew-Hailer uses her training as an urban planner and over 15 years of experience as an affordable housing developer to create vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive communities. Her work is anchored by a deep value and love of diversity, beginning with her multicultural family, strengthened through time spent outside the U.S., and extending to learning from and about her neighbors. For the over ten years she has worked for a non-profit affordable housing developer, which has given her the opportunity to work in community engagement, interpret zoning codes, perform financial analysis, partner with staff in various Bay Area cities and pursue sustainable building practices. Lilli looks forward to serving the Berkeley community as we envision and realize the possibilities at Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations together.
Liz Lisle
Liz has worked as an arts administrator and creator in the Bay Area theatre since 2000. For the past eighteen years, she's served as the managing director for Shotgun Players, running administration and operations of the theater with a weather eye to smart organizational and artistic growth. Her personal interest lies in putting up plays that articulate a broad perspective and alternative narrative structure to challenge and inspire new thinking in our community. A graduate of Barnard College, Liz arrived in the Bay Area hungry for the theater life. She worked as a dramaturg, stage manager, production manager, and served for a time as the associate artistic director of Mugwumpin. She now sits on the boards of the Lorin Business Association, and Children's Community Center.
Mari Mendonca
Mari Mendonca is a Berkeley native (born at Alta Bates/BHS’89), has been a leader in Unite Here 2850 representing restaurant and hotel workers and currently serves on the HAC as well as the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. She is an advocate for social justice and equity. She is also a member of Friends of Adeline who advocate for housing justice as it pertains to the unhoused, displacement, gentrification, equitable development and opportunity. She is committed to work collaboratively and consciously in community towards long lasting, meaningful and sustainable solutions for the benefit of all.
Peter Waller
As a housing advocate and as a 35 year resident of South Berkeley, Peter is honored to serve on the Community Advisory Committee for the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations. In his working life as an architect, he has helped build affordable housing, mixed income communities and transit oriented development throughout the Bay Area. Peter is also a founding member of South Berkeley Now!, a neighborhood-based group that seeks to address both the housing crisis and the climate crises by supporting affordable and mixed-income housing along our transit corridors; improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists; and investing in our local businesses including the Berkeley Flea Market. The COVID-19 crisis has reminded us how effective we can be when we work together. In planning for the development of the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations, we will set a regional example of how a compassionate and informed community can reach consensus on how to best use public resources to build a more equitable city. “I look forward to listening, learning and thinking out of the box. Compromise will be required. So will bold action. Let's do this right and let’s have fun in the process.”
Rhonda Simmons
Rhonda Simmons has a twenty year career within the field of community and economic development and the social services arena. She has had leadership roles both in the public sector and nonprofit agencies. For the past several years, Ms. Simmons has worked for the City & County of San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development as Director of Workforce Development and the Department of Public Health as Director of Workforce and Diversity assisting both departments in developing and implementing programs around economic and community development and creating policies around diversity and inclusion. Ms. Simmons is a 4th generation South Berkeley resident and a graduate of Berkeley public schools. Ms. Simmons holds a Masters degree in both Social work and Public Health.
Alex Ghenis
Alex Ghenis moved to Berkeley in 2006 to attend the University of California, graduating with a Bachelor's in Geography and Master's in Public Policy. While at Cal, Alex discovered Berkeley's deep connection to the disability rights movement, including a vibrant disability community full of mentors and advocates. He previously worked at the Ed Roberts Campus above the Ashby BART station and now addresses accessible infrastructure and institutions, including in housing and transportation systems. Alex serves on the City of Berkeley’s Commission on Disability.
Tony Corman
Boston-born Tony Corman is a proud graduate of the Berklee College of Music, resident in the Bay area since 1984. He co-leads the Berkeley-based FivePlay jazz quintet and is the Lone Arranger for the 17-piece Morchestra big band. He lives within eyeshot of the North Berkeley BART station and is a fan of public transit, context-appropriate development, and other peoples’ Golden Retrievers.
