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Record of Proceedings

Berkeley City Council Special Closed Session Meeting - March 26, 2024

City Council — Tuesday, March 26, 2024
BodyBerkeley, California
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, March 26, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:00

Okay.

0:01

Okay.

0:01

And I'd like to call to order this special meeting of the Berkeley City Council for Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

0:08

The first order of businesses will call if the city clerk can please call the rule.

0:11

Okay.

0:11

Councilmember Kisserwani is absent.

0:13

Taplin.

0:14

Present.

0:15

Bartlett.

0:17

On.

0:17

Present.

0:18

Wengraff.

0:19

Present.

0:21

Council Mr.

0:22

Humbert or Mark, you currently absent.

0:24

If you wanted to sign off and then we can sign back on.

0:27

Okay.

0:28

I'll sign off now.

0:30

Right.

0:30

And then Mayor Aragine.

0:32

Yes.

0:33

Present.

0:33

Okay.

0:33

There it is.

0:34

Okay.

0:34

We do have a quorum of the city council present.

0:36

So we'll now proceed to public comment, which is limited to items on this agenda only.

0:41

And uh we'll take any public comments on the uh three items on our closed session agenda this afternoon.

0:47

Item one, conference of legal counsel regarding pending litigation, the case of Fisher et al.

0:52

versus the City of Berkeley.

0:53

Item two, conference of legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation and item three, our conference with labor negotiators under government code section 54957.6.

1:04

Are there any uh public comments to any other members of the public in person at 1231 Addison Street?

1:09

Seeing none, uh we'll take any speakers on Zoom.

1:12

If you're on the Zoom platform would like to speak to an item on our closed session agenda, please raise your hand.

1:18

Okay.

1:19

First speaker's JP.

1:24

Hi, can you hear me?

1:26

Yes.

1:28

Just like you to consider uh these two quotes.

1:32

Um the first amendment really was designed to protect the debate.

1:39

And I'm sorry, this is on item two.

1:41

The first amendment really was designed to protect the debate at the fringes.

1:46

You don't need the courts to protect speech that everybody agrees with because that speech will be tolerated.

1:52

You don't need a First Amendment to protect speech that people regard as in you need a First Amendment to protect speech that people regard as intolerable or outrageous or offensive.

2:06

And this quote from Justice Kennedy A law that can be directed against speech found offensive to some portion of the public can be turned against minority and dissenting views to the detriment of all.

2:21

The First Amendment does not entrust that power to the government's benevolence.

2:26

Let me repeat that.

2:28

The First Amendment does not entrust that power to the government's benevolence.

2:34

Instead, our reliance must be on the substantial safeguards of free and open discussion in a democratic society.

2:41

Justice Kennedy, thank you.

2:45

Okay, thank you.

2:46

Our next speaker is Kelly Hammerkin.

2:56

Can you hear me now?

2:57

Yes.

2:58

Okay.

3:00

Uh so I'm so disappointed that the Berkeley High School student mural uh that was painted on the 13th with water soluble temperature is almost gone, and it will probably be completely washed away after the rain tomorrow on Wednesday.

3:21

We've had other murals in the city that at the time they were painted, they were controversial, like the reparations mural, which was um painted over and then repainted, and the black lives matter mural.

3:39

Um attitudes have changed since those went up.

3:43

Um I've finished my 10th and 11th books on Israel and Palestine last week, and I have um four or more to go in this series of reading.

3:59

Um there is no innocent side on this, and it's just heartbreaking to see how um speaking against what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank is conflated with being anti-Semitic.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████62%
Public Comment████████████████████████████38%
Summary of Proceedings

Berkeley City Council Special Closed Session Meeting - March 26, 2024

The Berkeley City Council met in a special closed session on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at 4:00 PM to discuss pending litigation, anticipated litigation, and labor negotiations. The meeting was held at the School District Board Room and via teleconference. The council heard public comments before convening in closed session.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • JP spoke on item two (anticipated litigation) and quoted Justice Kennedy regarding First Amendment protection for controversial speech, urging the council to protect debate at the fringes.
  • Kelly Hammerkin expressed disappointment that a Berkeley High School student mural painted with water-soluble tempera was nearly washed away, and criticized the conflation of speaking against actions in Gaza and the West Bank with antisemitism. She urged the council to allow a forum on Israel and Palestine and to protect free speech.
  • MJ Bauman called on the Berkeley City Council to stand up against suppression of student free speech, drawing parallels to support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and asked for the same level of advocacy.

Closed Session

  • The council convened in closed session to discuss:
    1. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – PENDING LITIGATION (Government Code Sections 54956.9(a) and 54956.9(d)(1)): Fisher et al. v. City of Berkeley, U.S. District Court Case No. 3:23-cv-04280-TSH.
    2. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – ANTICIPATED LITIGATION (Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2)): Significant exposure to litigation arising from a paint installation at the intersection of Allston Way and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way (one potential case).
    3. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS (Government Code Section 54957.6): Negotiations with multiple employee organizations, including Berkeley Fire Fighters Association Local 1227, Berkeley Police Association, SEIU 1021, and others.

Key Outcomes

  • The council heard three public comments and then moved into closed session. No votes or decisions were taken in open session. Any actions taken in closed session were to be reported at the beginning of the council's regular meeting at 6:00 PM (not detailed in this transcript).

Meeting Transcript

Okay. Okay. And I'd like to call to order this special meeting of the Berkeley City Council for Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The first order of businesses will call if the city clerk can please call the rule. Okay. Councilmember Kisserwani is absent. Taplin. Present. Bartlett. On. Present. Wengraff. Present. Council Mr. Humbert or Mark, you currently absent. If you wanted to sign off and then we can sign back on. Okay. I'll sign off now. Right. And then Mayor Aragine. Yes. Present. Okay. There it is. Okay. We do have a quorum of the city council present. So we'll now proceed to public comment, which is limited to items on this agenda only. And uh we'll take any public comments on the uh three items on our closed session agenda this afternoon. Item one, conference of legal counsel regarding pending litigation, the case of Fisher et al. versus the City of Berkeley. Item two, conference of legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation and item three, our conference with labor negotiators under government code section 54957.6. Are there any uh public comments to any other members of the public in person at 1231 Addison Street? Seeing none, uh we'll take any speakers on Zoom. If you're on the Zoom platform would like to speak to an item on our closed session agenda, please raise your hand. Okay. First speaker's JP. Hi, can you hear me? Yes. Just like you to consider uh these two quotes. Um the first amendment really was designed to protect the debate. And I'm sorry, this is on item two. The first amendment really was designed to protect the debate at the fringes. You don't need the courts to protect speech that everybody agrees with because that speech will be tolerated. You don't need a First Amendment to protect speech that people regard as in you need a First Amendment to protect speech that people regard as intolerable or outrageous or offensive. And this quote from Justice Kennedy A law that can be directed against speech found offensive to some portion of the public can be turned against minority and dissenting views to the detriment of all. The First Amendment does not entrust that power to the government's benevolence. Let me repeat that. The First Amendment does not entrust that power to the government's benevolence. Instead, our reliance must be on the substantial safeguards of free and open discussion in a democratic society. Justice Kennedy, thank you.

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