Willard/Ho Chi Minh Park under attack!

The City of Berkeley is coming for the trees around the old Clubhouse in Willard/Ho Chi Minh Park this morning (3/12), and ultimately the Clubhouse (whose architectural style I characterize as Pacific Northwest Tlingit/Zen, and which is entirely appropriate to the area and doesn't need "improvement") itself. All of the trees in the City's crosshairs are marked with a white "X". This includes the beautiful little Maytens that gracefully overarches and silhouettes the rustic and outdoorsy, but perfectly adequate, restroom. The Maytens is immediately beneath the Coast Redwood behind, which though not directly targeted, will certainly also suffer - as will the beautiful ancient Live Oak out on the the lawn, whose branches the ugly new building will expand into.

This is all a result of the bad governance that comes with Bond Money, and the associated Pork Barrell spending. Basically, to get these funds, the City has to make so many "improvements" to public space, allegedly to increase access to it for residents. Specifically already limited open space on Southside in this particular case, though other parts of Berkeley have been similarly targeted as well, such as Civic Center/Provo Park, with paving over projects, and the giant Sequoias behind the Veteran's Memorial Building. Improvements actually suggested by our genius "Progressive Environmentalists" on Berkeley Shitty Council!

This was also an arrangement made by former Council member Lori Droste with a limited and select group of paranoid Law and Order neighbors, who would like to limit access to the park, and does not actually reflect the opinion of the majority of the neighborhood, most of whom were not asked. You know, the usual closed door politricks, Berkeley style! It is a further attack upon and Privatization of Public Space, and encroachment by the forces of Gentrification and NeoLiberalism upon The Commons!

The trees need allies!

Kind regards,

Earthwurm