I'm a 61-year Berkeley resident, a longtime homeowner, a former board member of the Center for Independent Living, a retired editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, and an author. For the past few decades, I've lived with spinal disabilities and rely on assistive devices.  Berkeley helped launch the international disability movement, but now I and many others are forced to ride in the street to get around our neighborhoods.  Only Measure EE guarantees enough money to fix the sidewalks without homeowner matching payments.  By voting Yes on EE, we can send a message to our City Council:  the sidewalks should be for everyone.  Please join me in voting YES on Measure EE.

— Peter Sussman

I am an energy planner who has worked on decarbonization and climate protection for years.  I appreciate living in Berkeley where people take climate change seriously. But I have found no serious study that would support the notion that Measure FF would reduce greenhouse gas emissions any more than the much less costly and disruptive Measure EE. 

Bicycling and walking are great, and it’s vital for Berkeley to make these safer. That’s what Measure EE will do. Portraying cars versus bicycles as a climate morality issue when the emissions benefits of a plan like Measure FF are highly uncertain is wrong -- a kind of performative environmentalism that is more likely to create a political backlash.

Measure EE is sound policy: it is fiscally responsible, it invests in safety for all, and it is responsive to neighborhoods.  Measure FF is not sound policy.  FF will cost 50 percent more, and for bicycle safety it prioritizes miles of curb-separated two-way cycle tracks. Those two-way cycle tracks are not only wildly unpopular (perhaps why they are not mentioned by name in FF) but in many of the proposed locations they are also objectively unsafe, violating expert guidelines regarding what kinds of streets are suitable.

Read Jim’s full opinion piece here. 

— Jim Williams

I have taken BART and/or biked my entire 35 years working in environmental and energy efficiency professions. My daughter rode her bike to Malcolm X and Willard schools. So, I’m a bike advocate and want safe streets for bikes and pedestrians. I am not a big fan of the state and local proposition process but, every once in a while, a measure cuts through the impractical and bombastic ones. EE is that measure. It’s clear that funds are needed to bring our transportation and pedestrian infrastructure up to a less pathetic standard. Measure EE is a grassroots citizen effort advocating a modest tax focused on the basics – fixing our dangerous pavement – to benefit cyclists, parents, pedestrians, and drivers.  And it adds funds for pedestrian safety projects that can include Safe Routes to Schools. Measure EE fits within the limited capabilities of an understaffed government undergoing turbulent changes (new mayor, new city manager, and four recent and soon-to-be new council members).  We are being asked to vote on five new tax measures. This one makes sense.

— Bruce Chamberlain

I am voting Yes on Measure EE. This is a major thing for me as my fiancé and I are legally blind and blind, and work with guide dogs and white canes.  The state of Berkeley's sidewalks is horrendous.  No matter where we go, there is always a tripping hazard. The cycle tracks have gone in without consideration for how they negatively impact disabled people. Measure EE requires that we slow down and properly study this infrastructure before more of these impediments are built.  It is absolutely imperative for disability rights that we pass Measure EE!  Check out Erik's video testimonial on NextDoor here: https://nextdoor.com/p/r9zRtqR976Z_?utm_source=share&slp=&share_platform=10&extras=MTAxODUxNDA0

— Erik Knaresboro

This IS the right measure to support -- everyone benefits, equally, and ALL the streets and sidewalks need repair. Berkeley's once well-paved roads and sidewalks have become hazardous and neglected. Being an avid walker and bicyclist, I feel the effects of our current public roadways and sidewalks intimately. We can do much better. Please vote YES on EE -- repair ALL roads and sidewalks!

— Norm Gelbart

I support Measure EE because the condition of our streets and sidewalks has deteriorated to the point of being hazardous.  As a cyclist, what I need to feel safe are smooth, clean, well-marked streets everywhere in Berkeley. What I don’t need are intersections where the pavement is so eroded that the crosswalk and stop markings are almost invisible. That does not make me feel safe.  What I don’t need are streets filled with potholes, gravel, and cracks that make it difficult to remove a hand from the brakes to signal, or that force me to swerve into traffic to avoid hazards. That does not make me feel safe.  What I don’t need are more curbs, bollards, or bumpers to navigate, or to have to cross traffic lanes to ride in a “protected” bike lane, in some cases against the normal flow of traffic. That does not make me feel safe. What I don’t need is for the City to fund expensive cycle track features of questionable functionality on a few streets to serve a few cyclists, while allowing the majority of our city streets to further deteriorate. That will not keep me safe. Measure EE will require ALL streets and sidewalks in Berkeley to reach an acceptable condition. This will allow every street user to ride on ANY street with a greater level of security and safety. Vote Yes on EE.

— Lisa Friedlander

I don't own a vehicle.  I built my own custom bicycle and adapted it to my disability needs. Often, I have to get off my bicycle because of the poor condition of the streets.  Likewise, many of our sidewalks have trip hazards and many are not usable for persons using wheelchairs, walkers or white canes. I support Measure EE because it prioritizes fixing the worst sidewalks and streets first, which will ensure equal access and accessibility.  It’s about time that accessibility is prioritized, and I believe EE will do the job!

— Helen Walsh

I have lived in Berkeley since 2001 and have always been a bicycle commuter and recreational rider. I was delighted to live in a city with an excellent network of bicycle boulevards and proud of the city. Over the course of these years, I have witnessed, and felt in my body, the absolute deterioration of the bicycle boulevards and other streets. They are now at a dangerous level. Twice on my way to work, I have been so jostled on my bike that my computer bag jumped out of a bike basket and my coffee cup flew off my bike into traffic. Other times, I have had to make split-second decisions whether to swerve into potential traffic or risk falling off my bike. Now, I not only need to watch for irresponsible drivers, I need to weave around pot holes, cracks and uneven pavement from the poor condition of the roads. I am no longer proud to be an avid Berkeley bicyclist. Our streets are truly hazardous for cyclists. Vote YES on EE and NO on FF. Measure EE is the only one that prioritizes the condition of the paving on the streets and sidewalks, which benefits everyone, over other projects that are controversial and, at best, benefit only a few.

— Lori Copan

In 2021, I tripped and fell on a cracked sidewalk that I had walked hundreds of times before. I broke my nose and had a mild concussion which has led to almost constant ringing in my ears. The condition of sidewalks and roads in Berkeley is truly terrible and dangerous for walkers, strollers, wheelchairs, cyclists and drivers. In Albany, a measure to fix sidewalks is improving safety for everyone and walking there is so much safer now.  Berkeley deserves safer streets and transparent taxes, too. Berkeley needs Measure EE!

— Sarah Baughn

I have studied both ballot measures for fixing the streets and there is only one I can support, "Fix the Streets" - Measure EE. I walk whenever and wherever I can and drive as little as possible. Fix the Streets does two things I care about: 1) Fixing the sidewalks, and 2) Requiring evaluation. I read the agendas for every City of Berkeley public meeting. What is consistently missing is evaluation. That is required in section 7.11.040 in "Fix the Streets." To see my full commentary on streets and bicycle lanes, go to "What has happened with Hopkins and Why" and read it to the end. 

— Kelly Hammargren

I'm grateful for Measure EE. Too often, we pass measures with too few guardrails, and the dollars go into the general fund instead. EE is specific. We can vote with confidence that monies are directed to safe streets. Let's remain a genuinely walkable city where our children and grandchildren can play safely. 

— Sheila Jordan

I support Measure EE because it will improve street conditions for all of us.  As a small business owner, I also appreciate that Measure EE doesn’t charge a higher rate on commercial property, recognizing that landlords pass taxes straight through to their struggling tenants.

— Ellie Jay, Maxi Hair Salon

This measure gets right to the heart of the matter in an equitable, efficient way — raising the standard of ALL streets and walkways and cleaning stormwater pollution, with less expensive taxes! Completely transparent, funds would only be allocated for clearly defined purposes.

— Grace Munakata

As someone who gets around town — and takes my vacations — on my bike, I support the Fix-the-Streets measure because it will invest in improving Berkeley’s existing bicycle boulevard network, which feels safest to me, and because it requires cycle tracks to be studied before we invest in more of them.  Like me, a lot of cyclists avoid cycle tracks – especially two-way cycle tracks – because you’re trapped when obstacles arise. More and more people are riding e-bikes, which is great, and I’m sure that increase will continue.  But some of these bikes are heavy and fast, for instance the class 2 throttle bikes, and I often see big guys on 80-lb. bikes coming at me at 20 mph or more.  I don’t want to be trapped in a cycle track in this situation.

— Rick Raffanti

We shouldn’t need a citizens’ measure like Fix The Streets on the ballot to make sure that every street is paved and safe but, unfortunately,  we do.  Join us!

— Kevin Jones

During the past 14 years of doing business in Berkeley, I have seen far too many suspension components, tires and body parts damaged by the poor conditions and maintenance of the roads in Berkeley. Some of this damage has happened shortly after leaving the shop. Potholes, high curbs and uneven pavement lines requires drivers either to make evasive maneuvers by swerving (endangering others) or hitting them directly causing extensive damage to their cars.

— Jason Sims, Argonaut Garage

As a Berkeley cyclist since 1984, I know that well-paved streets are essential to safe cycling.  I consider “Fix The Streets and Sidewalks” the best approach to achieving safe streets, with good oversight and sufficient funds for the purpose.

— Michel Thouati

I had to get this walker just to cross the cracked street safely, but even the wheels get stuck in the ruts!

— Françoise Prevost

I tripped on a broken sidewalk and injured myself.  I’d like not to have to worry when I’m walking; we should be smart enough to demand better sidewalks and streets. 

— Ervin Somogyi