Berkeley Weekly Update - 1/23/24

District 7 Special Election on April 16

The District 7 Special Election will fill the seat that was vacated by Councilmember Rigel Robinson on January 12.

A special election to fill the vacancy of the District 7 Council Office will take place on April 16, 2024. The individual elected to this position will complete the remainder of the term caused by the resignation of Councilmember Robinson, which ends shortly after the 2026 election.

This date was selected to comply with the requirements for special elections to fill a vacant seat as described in the City Charter. Specifically, if there is more than a year remaining in the term, the Charter requires the Council to call for a special election within 10 days of the vacancy and for the election to take place between 60-90 days of Council’s action to call the election. Filling the vacancy will be the only item on the ballot, which only applies to voters in District 7.

The nomination period for people to file for candidacy begins on January 29th and will close on February 16th. Voter guides will be mailed beginning March 7, with ballots being mailed on March 18. People can mail in their ballot or drop it off at a designated ballot box beginning March 18 through to April 16. The last day to register to vote is April 1, but there will be a physical polling location where people can register for a provisional ballot on the day of the election. A complete timeline of the special election can be found here.

This election, as all elections involving City Council, will be conducted via Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), which eliminates the need for a runoff. The candidate who receives at least 50% +1 of the vote after RCV is calculated will be sworn in shortly after the election is certified.

Serve on a City Commission

The City of Berkeley has dozens of boards and commissions that give Berkeley residents a direct role in shaping city policies. Most commissions are advisory to the Council, who as the legislative branch of the city, has ultimate policy authority. However some have quasi-judicial functions and make decisions on permits, landmarking applications, police complaints and enforcement of various city laws.

Currently there are a number of vacancies on various commissions which make it challenging for them to meet and conduct important business. Most commissions typically meet 10 times a year. Visit the Boards and Commissions webpage to learn more about different commissions, their responsibilities and meeting schedules.

The Mayor’s Office has a number of vacancies on various commissions and is looking for applications from interested Berkeley residents for the following commissions:

Other Council offices also have vacancies across multiple Commissions. You do not have to be a resident of a Councilmember’s district to be their Commissioner, the main requirement is to be a Berkeley resident. Some commissions however like the Elmwood Advisory Board, FCPC, Solano BID and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Panel have specific membership requirements and separate applications. For a full list of vacancies, to apply for a Commission, and for more information on each Commission, click here.

If you are interested in serving as the Mayor’s appointee on any of these commissions please send a pdf of your signed application form and your resume to the Mayor’s office at mayor@cityofberkeley.info. We will follow up to schedule an interview to discuss your qualifications and interest.

Seismic Retrofit Grants

Seismic retrofits can help protect homes against earthquakes. The last major earthquake on the Hayward Fault happened in 1868.

Berkeley homeowners can qualify for a $3,000 grant through the Earthquake Brace + Bolt program, which provides retrofitting to the foundations of older homes to make them more resilient to earthquakes. Households with an annual income below $87,360 can qualify for an additional supplemental grant. Apply by February 21st.

Since March 2016, 549 Berkeley homeowners have received grants through this program, totaling $1.6 million in funds to support Berkeley residents making their house and community more resilient. In addition to the state's rebates, homeowners in Berkeley have other resources to pay for seismic improvements, including a transfer tax reduction program for seismic upgrades made within a year of purchase and Property Assessed Clean Energy financing. Explore our Seismic Safety Information and Programs for additional resources.

Apply for Civic Arts Grants

This year’s Civic Arts Grant Applications are open, which has been expanded to include two new categories. Below are details on each grant category.

Arts Programs (New)

Guidelines
Application Deadline: March 13, 11:59pm

Capital Projects (New)

Guidelines
Application Deadline: February 21, 11:59pm

Community Festivals

Guidelines
Application Deadline: March 6, 11:59pm

Individual Artist Projects

Guidelines
Application Deadline: February 28, 11:59pm

To learn more, including details on each category, timelines, and webinar recordings, click here.

City Achieves 2023 Hiring Goal

More employees means quicker responses to calls for service.

In recent years, the City of Berkeley has seen more employees leaving than hired, a trend that has been seen in countless cities and all types of workplaces since the pandemic. This can lead to staffing shortages, which impacts our ability to provide a wide range of services to the community. Highlights include delays and reductions in services for physical and mental health services, increasing backlogs on Public Works maintenance and improvement projects, increased overtime costs for Fire and Police, extended response times for calls for service, less parks activities, and lower morale.

The City has prioritized addressing this issue, launching hiring campaigns to fill in vacant positions. Through these efforts, the City achieved its goal of hiring more people than losing in 2023. Specifically, 198 new career employees were hired into the City in 2023 (not including seasonal and temporary workers), while 163 people were lost due to retirements and separations. The increase of 35 employees represents a nearly 2% reduction in the City’s vacancy rate. In total, there are approximately 1,800 positions in the City of Berkeley, making it one of the largest employers in Berkeley.

Job openings are continuously being filled. If you are interested in working for the City of Berkeley and want to explore job openings, click here.