Rick Rushton is old

Rick Rushton is breaking some major 6-month year old and 2-year old news: The New Kids on the Block are reuniting, and the Wii is cool for seniors.
Oh, the senior center is getting a Wii.

Can Berkeley finish the job?

Rick Rushton wants to know, and he’s asked for the developers to be a part of the Economic Development committee meeting in the next couple weeks.
7:54

Demo When?

Thanks to Councilor Toomey for asking how realistic August 2008 is for demolition.  O’Brien says Park might be more conservative, but that he thinks it’ll happen this calendar year.
7:49

Young Park

“We’re always delighted to see you here, which isn’t enough,” says Mayor Lukes.
Young Park: “I’d like to remind everyone that this is truly a partnership.”
Park says the initial triggers were “monolithic,” and especially in Worcester were a “tall order.”
“The reality is we need a way to [approach] this in a bite-sized fashion.”  The developer is [...]

New CitySquare Agreement

The City Manager is doing his presentation on the Amendment #1 to the CitySquare General Development Agreement….
NEW TRIGGERS FOR PHASE 1A

Berkeley required to lock-in lease for 135,000 sq. feet of rentable commercial space in a new Building H.

NEW SCOPE OF WORK: (partial)

Phase 1A is inclusive of all demolition
Construction of Mercantile Street
Construction of a portion of [...]

Young Park at the council meeting

CitySquare developer Young Park is at the city council meeting..we’re assuming the new CitySquare agreement will go first on the agenda
7:18

City Administration raises

Earier tonight, the City manager presented the proposed salary increases to his executive team.
He says he’s still committed to hitting those increased salaries ultimately, but admits that “I had not made, prior to the 09 budget, that compelling case.”
With the issue being so contentious, he’s asked for those increases to be placed in contingency until [...]

Police Headquarters

“The building has some deficiencies in both design and operation,” says Gemme.  “If the opportunity presented itself for [a new HQ]…I’d embrace it.”
Councilor Barbara Haller also asks for the city to look again on what a precinct system would entail.

Police phone costs double

Police Chief Gary Gemme says that the reason police telephone costs have doubled to $150,000 from last year is due to the wireless cards being used in the cruisers for laptops.
Going forward, City Manager Michael O’Brien says that in three years, we should have citywide fiber and wireless towers installed, allowing for a dramatic reduction [...]

Budget Hearing: Police

Police Chief Gary Gemme says that the public safety situation under the current model is working, especially in relation to violent crime.
“We would like to have, going forward, a stable traffic division.”  He says that since so many resources go to accident reconstruction, actual violation enforcement is limited.
He’s also saying there’s a need for foot [...]