More housing and more affordable housing in all Berkeley neighborhoods
The city we live in today is much different than when much of our housing stock was built and our zoning laws and development codes were written. There are more of us. We are more diverse. Our values have evolved and continue to evolve. These are all good things – and they create challenges that we are called upon to address. To address Berkeley’s housing crisis, our approach to housing must also evolve.

- Remove obstacles to, and incentivize the construction of, missing middle housing (e.g., duplexes, fourplexes, ADUs) to help increase housing, prevent displacement, maintain our supply of family-friendly housing, add smaller units (which promotes diversity across neighborhoods), and help correct historically exclusionary zoning practices. Nowhere is that needed more than in Berkeley, the birthplace of exclusionary zoning.

- Thoughtfully and appropriately revise exclusionary rules around land use, including density and height limitations that prevent additional residents from moving into the neighborhood. Adena supports denser buildings in transit corridors and middle housing (ADUs and multiplexes) in residential neighborhoods. She supports projects like those over the North Berkeley and Ashby BART stations, the upzoning in Southside, and the apartments throughout our downtown – not only do renters benefit from the increased housing, but business districts in downtown and South Berkeley benefit from the increased foot traffic that comes with new residents.
We must be careful to build new housing with an understanding of our city’s history and racial inequities. That includes prioritizing building affordable housing throughout the city, not just in historically redlined areas, which would risk perpetuating economic disparity in our city.

- Strengthen tenant protections to stabilize existing housing for tenants, preserve affordable housing, and prevent displacement. Actions include supporting Just Cause protections and Rent Stabilization protections.

- Secure regional funding for affordable housing. The housing crisis neither stops nor ends at our city limits. Adena is very disappointed that the 9-county, $20 billion housing bond was pulled from the ballot. We need to redouble our efforts to find additional funding for affordable housing and work to bring back the bond – or one that is even better – quickly.

- Support long-term policies to address gentrification, including expanding access to higher education and jobs and skills training opportunities.

More affordable housing, safe and welcoming shelters, and access to mental health services

Homelessness and housing insecurity are the biggest issues facing our city today. While progress has been made in recent years, the latest point-in-time census identified 844 people living without a permanent home in Berkeley – and that doesn’t account for people who are living in temporary housing situations with friends or family.

Adena experienced housing insecurity during her transition between community college and UC Berkeley. She lived in many different living situations from apartments and co-ops to a tiny, shared room in a fraternity. Adena’s personal experience informs her drive to build more housing and provide appropriate, compassionate care to people experiencing homelessness.

- Build more affordable housing in all Berkeley neighborhoods. (See previous slide)

- Make shelters a safe and welcoming alternative to the street. Adena believes each of us, whether housed or unhoused, should have the dignity of being able to choose where and how we live. That’s why she will prioritize moving more people off the street by creating better alternatives to the street. Berkeley shelters should ensure families stay together, provide personal safety and secure storage, offer culturally appropriate services and resources for mental health and rapid rehousing. Berkeley should have shelters that are specifically for families and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.

- Expand mental health services and make them more accessible. (See next card)

- Ensure Housing First principles continue to inform our policies around addressing homelessness. Housing First programs (as opposed to programs that require participants to be in treatment before they are housed), have decreased homelessness by 88% and improved housing stability by 41%, according to National Low Income Housing Coalition data. Applicants should be allowed to enter the program without income, even if they aren’t “clean and sober” or “treatment compliant” and even if they have criminal justice system involvement. Service and treatment plans are voluntary, such that tenants cannot be evicted for not following through.

A balanced approach that invests in mental health support, youth programming, social services, and appropriate resources for our police and fire departments

Adena strongly believes all of us should feel safe walking through our neighborhoods, participating in our nightlife, and living and working in our homes and businesses. That’s not the case right now in Berkeley. Adena herself has been robbed in her neighborhood in South Berkeley. (Check out her story here.)

She also knows the solutions are complex and limiting ourselves to polarizing pro-police or anti-police positions will lead to paralysis, not progress. Adena recently did ride-alongs with Berkeley police and Berkeley fire, as well as a sit-along with dispatch. She witnessed officers and firefighters doing their jobs in a public safety system that now is called upon to provide social services and mental health services. We must all work together to solve these complex problems.

- Full Steam Ahead on Reimagining Public Safety. Adena is committed to the full and fast implementation of the city’s Reimagining Public Safety Plan – a balanced, transformative, and equitable approach to community-centered safety. Adena will also work to improve the plan and fill gaps to keep all Berkeleyans safe:

- Expand the Special Care Unit (SCU) / Mobile Crisis Teams service hours to 24/7. These programs provide a response without police involvement for people experiencing a non-violent crisis. They also free up police resources to focus on violent crime. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays,, the SCU team is available only from 6AM to 4PM. Crises do not happen on a schedule. These services should be available 24/7.

- Increase access to mental health services. Adena will work to educate the public on available services and resources, including removing disability and language barriers to hotlines and informational materials. She also supports efforts to destigmatize mental health crises, both to encourage people to seek help and to decrease fear among those who encounter someone in crisis.

- Increase youth programming. Adena knows youth need safe spaces, access to resources, and activities to keep them off the street and out of trouble, especially when their parents are at work or otherwise not at home. She will focus on expanding youth sports, internship programs, and innovative organizations like Youth Spirit Artworks – an Alameda County non-profit that serves transitional-age ​youth impacted by adversity, economic, and housing ​challenges.

- Support Gun Violence Prevention. Adena is committed to keeping the development of Berkeley’s gun violence prevention (part of the Reimagining Public Safety initiative) on track, and if possible, accelerating it. Gun violence is the nation’s number one cause of death in children – that’s unacceptable.

- Address staffing shortages in the police department. Even as we work to transfer appropriate community safety services to mental health, public health, and social service professionals, BPD remains understaffed, risking longer response times for calls for service and reduced capacity for emergency response. Adena will work to support our police department in addressing staffing shortages and increasing technology that has been proven to deter and assist in solving crime.

Make our streets, sidewalks, and transportation systems safe for everyone

Streets, sidewalks, and transportation systems are the infrastructure that keeps Berkeley moving forward. We can’t function as a city without them, yet we continually defer maintenance and expansion to deal with a never-ending supply of urgent problems. Adena knows we can’t defer any longer. As a pedestrian, cyclist, transit rider, automobile driver, and community leader, she knows our crumbling infrastructure is unsafe, inequitable, and a growing impediment to solving our housing crisis.

- Support SAFE Streets Initiative. Adena strongly supports the SAFE Streets measure on the November ballot as the best choice to fix our neglected streets and sidewalks, implement essential traffic safety improvements to benefit all road users, enhance the environmental sustainability and climate resilience of our public spaces, and transform Berkeley’s future into one where it is safe, easy, and fun to get around, regardless of age, mobility, or mode choice.

- Preserve the Equity Zone in our current paving plan and if possible, add funding to accelerate pavement improvements. The Equity Zone is a collection of historically neglected South and West Berkeley neighborhoods that include residents with lower incomes and disabilities that were redlined in the past by the federal Homeowners Loan Corporation.

- Prioritize sustainable and resilient infrastructure development. Adena supports the principles in the Berkeley Vision 2050 framework (approved by voters through Measure R in 2018) – a 30-year plan to identify and guide the implementation of climate-smart, technologically advanced, integrated and efficient infrastructure to support a safe, vibrant and resilient future for Berkeley. She will maintain a particular focus on these goals:

- Prioritize Complete Streets. As our population grows and technology advances, we need safe, reliable, affordable, and efficient transportation options. Adena supports the Complete Streets model that will enable a greater number of pedestrians and a variety of vehicle types, sizes, and speeds to pass safely on public roads and pathways.

- Accelerate the transition to clean energy and electrification. Adena supports transitioning our local energy system to one that delivers carbon-free electricity across a highly distributed system.

We are great planners in Berkeley, with dozens of well-researched, thoughtful plans and hundreds of great ideas sitting on the shelf. Yet, there is a big piece missing: accountability

We need to increase transparency around implementation, including regular progress reports and financial statements, made available to the public.

We need to increase public involvement around next steps when plans are completed, both to provide input and to hold city leaders accountable for making measurable progress. For example, if Berkeley has a great solution and no funds to implement it, the public needs to know and weigh in on possible reprioritization of funds.

The city should work closely and cooperatively with the independent, elected City Auditor to achieve these goals.

Walk the talk: Stop contributing to climate change and accelerate addressing its local impacts

Adena knows climate change is progressing at a pace even more alarming than past projections. Both fighting and adapting to this new reality are essential to building a sustainable and equitable Berkeley for all of us.

Update and improve Vision 2050 and our Climate Action Plan. Adena supports the principles in the Berkeley Vision 2050 framework (approved by voters through Measure R in 2018) – a 30-year plan to identify and guide the implementation of climate-smart, technologically advanced, integrated, and efficient infrastructure to support a safe, vibrant, and resilient future for Berkeley. Adena believes it's time to build on the Vision 2050 plan, revamping it to see what is feasible, what we should continue, and what is worth funding. 

Similarly, Berkeley’s current Climate Action Plan is 15 years out of date, last published in June 2009. As our climate priorities have shifted in recent years, she will encourage an overhaul of this plan, relaunching it in tandem with a new Vision 2050.

Prioritize Complete Streets. As our population grows and technology advances, Adena knows we need to reduce our reliance on automobiles by providing safe, reliable, affordable, and efficient transportation options. She supports the Complete Streets model that will enable a greater number of pedestrians and a variety of vehicle types, sizes, and speeds to pass safely on public roads and pathways. 

Accelerate the transition to clean energy and electrification. Adena supports transitioning our local energy system to one that delivers carbon-free electricity across a highly distributed system. One of her top priorities is to make city-owned large buildings and schools self-sufficient with rooftop solar. That means removing legal and bureaucratic obstacles to making these long-term, smart investments.

Champion climate resiliency projects focused on floods and wildfires. Adena will encourage projects that include expanding green corridors, increasing native vegetation in public spaces, encouraging green infrastructure, and supporting community-led and fire department initiatives that seek to protect people who are vulnerable to fires in the Berkley Hills. 

Adena supports the removal of eucalyptus trees in the Berkeley Hills as they continue to pose a fire risk. We must continue to clear vegetation (Measure FF) during peak summer heat and implement control burns when necessary (of course deferring to the Berkeley Fire Department to maximize safety). She will also continue the Berkeley Chipping Program to allow individual removal of “hard vegetation.”