District 6 candidates differ on Berkeley council's world view

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 16, 2008 | by Doug Oakley

The Berkeley City Council is known for dabbling in national and international politics.

Whether it makes a difference depends on who you ask.

If you ask the two candidates running to replace outgoing 16- year veteran Councilwoman Betty Olds, you get two very different answers.

"My opponent says Berkeley should stick to potholes and fire stations," said candidate Phoebe Sorgen who is running against Susan Wengraf, Olds current legislative aide.

"I say potholes, fire stations and safety come first. But it would be really sad if Berkeley shut up. We need to keep speaking out, because if Berkeley doesn't who will?"

Wengraf sees it much differently.

"I'm going to have a policy of not voting on anything that doesn't have to do with Berkeley," Wengraf said. "I voted for Rep. Barbara Lee. She's there to get involved in foreign policy."

Wengraf said the most frequent question she gets is where does she stand on the city's fight with the Marines and its decision to grant a parking space to the peace group Code Pink at the Marines Shattuck Avenue recruiting station.

"One man told me he wanted to know because it would reveal if I'm an ideologue or a pragmatist," Wengraf said. She likes to see herself as a pragmatist.

The City Council created a national firestorm in January when it voted to tell the Marines their recruiting station was unwelcome in the city. In the same motion it gave Code Pink the parking spot. The issue continued to make headlines despite several council members who recanted their initial positions.

Sorgen, a member of the city's Peace and Justice Commission which wrote the item that the City Council approved, said she doesn't think it will hurt her in the election.

"I am on the Peace and Justice Commission, but I spoke out against the language that called national attention to Berkeley," Sorgen said.

"I said the language was undiplomatic and that we can stand strong for peace without offending those who serve the country. Betty Olds (Wengraf's boss) voted for that language."

Even though her boss initially voted for the item and later recanted, Wengraf called the action, "a national embarrassment" that wasted $250,000 in police overtime to quell the ensuing protests at the center. That money could have been spent fighting crime, she said.

"My opponent was an active participant in the Code Pink demonstrations in front of the Marines recruiting center," Wengraf said.

Aside from differing on the council taking stands on foreign policy, the two candidates both agree that revitalizing downtown is a priority.

Sorgen said Berkeley residents "are sad that all the stores downtown are closing," while Wengraf noted that residents "perceive it as dirty and dangerous and they don't feel comfortable taking their children there."

Wengraf also said reinvigorating west Berkeley, which is strewn with abandoned and closed industrial buildings, is an issue she wants to look at as well as the downtown.

"I'm all for preserving our artist community that is there, but I see the area as having tremendous potential," Wengraf said. 'The zoning is particularly restrictive and we need to adopt some flexibility."

Sorgen said Berkeley's infrastructure is falling apart and needs to be fixed.

"We have waited too long to address streets, potholes and storm drains," Sorgen said.

Both say they are up to the job.

"I'm running to continue Betty Olds' legacy as a straight talking, honest, responsive and independent minded member of the City Council," Wengraf said.

Sorgen is running "because I want to serve my district reliably. And because I want to help Berkeley continue our tradition of innovations that ripple out nationwide, such as helping people finance solar panels on their roofs."

Reach Doug Oakley at doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com District 6

candidates

Susan

Wengraf-- Age: 63-- Education: Master's degree in special education from Hunter College, New York.-- Background: Current aide to Berkeley City Councilwoman Betty Olds, current Berkeley Planning Commission member, former member Berkeley Landmarks Commission.

Phoebe

Sorgen-- Age: 55-- Education: Education: Music education and musicology degrees from University of Paris, (Sorbonne) France.-- Background: Current Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission member, Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists trustee, former KPFA board member.