The Berkeley City Council met on June 3, 2025, at 6:00 PM in a hybrid format to address a full agenda including ceremonial items, public comments, consent calendar approvals, and action items. The meeting began with land acknowledgement, adjournments in memory of Robert Sheppard and Bill DeKarrian, and proclamations for the Berkeley Poetry Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, Christina Murphy Day, and Berkeley Pride Day. Key decisions included unanimous approval of the consent calendar, a public hearing on vacancies and retention under AB 2561, and denial of an appeal for a major development at 1950-1998 Shattuck Avenue.
Okay. Yes, we can we can start. Let me start the recording. Recording in progress. Okay. All right. Hello. Good evening, everyone. We are gonna call to order the meeting of the Berkeley City Council. Today is Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025. All right. Clerk, can you please take the roll? Okay. Uh Castle Member Castroani is currently absent. That's where Catalan presence. Bartlett here. Trago present. Oh, Keith. Here. Well, I'm gonna be here. Here. Umbert here. And Mary Ishii. Here. Okay. Okay, so it is the first meeting of the month. And actually, I think Councilmember Blackabi, is it your turn? Or did you read the last one? The last one. Thank you. So in that case, Councilmember Lunapara, I do have it. Um we read the land acknowledgement statement at the beginning of each um first meeting of the month, and we've been taking turns. So this time it is Councilmember Lunapara's turn. Thank you. The city of Berkeley recognizes that the community we live in was built on the territory of Huchin, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chechenyo speaking Alone people, the ancestors and descendants of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. This land was and continues to be of great importance to all of the Ohlone tribes and descendants of the Verona Band. As we begin our meeting tonight, we acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants of Berkeley, the documented 5,000-year history of a vibrant community at the West Berkeley Shell Mound, and the Alone people who continue to reside in the East Bay. We recognize that Berkeley's residents have and continue to benefit from the use and occupation of this unceded stolen land since the city of Berkeley's incorporation in 1878. As stewards of the laws regulating the city of Berkeley, it is not only vital that we recognize the land, the history of this land, but also recognize that the Alone people are present, members of Berkeley and other East Bay communities today. The City of Berkeley will continue to build relationship with the police channel tribe to create meaningful actions that uphold the intention of this land acknowledgement. Alright, thank you, Councilmember. So this evening we have a few ceremonial items and also two adjournments in memory. So this evening we are gonna start with the adjournment in memory of Robert Shepard, who was a Berkeley resident. And I think that council member Traegab, are you speaking? Uh yes. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh today we adjourn in memory of Robert J. Shepherd, a longtime resident of Berkeley. Uh, who um sadly passed away of unknown causes after a long and valiant battle. He graduated from Case Western in 1972 with a degree in electrical engineering, and when he moved to the Bay Area, he worked at several tech companies, including Apple and Sybase.