It makes financial and human sense to invest in preventing evictions. Contra Costa has a Housing Security Fund that prevents people from being evicted, but it’s oversubscribed and runs out halfway into the year. So El Cerrito has invested funds to supplement County funding and keep people housed.

Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war.

There’s an incredible tree made for climbing on the Ohlone Greenway at Waldo Ave in El Cerrito. If you have a kid who likes climbing, I recommend stopping by when you’re out on the Greenway. We stop whenever we’re on our way to the El Cerrito library, just a block away from this tree.

No surprise, AC Transit cut service in half moving from 72R to 72L on San Pablo Ave and lost half the riders. 72M had a small boost in ridership, and 72 a large increase, but between 3 lines ridership is still significantly down. I hope AC Transit sees this as a failed experiment and restores 72R.

The attacks by the US & Israel on Iran absent Congressional approval demonstrate once again President Trump’s callous disregard for the rule of law. The Iranian people who have been bravely & peacefully protesting for freedom have suffered a devastating & deadly crackdown by the Iranian government.

People clearly want to ride the 7 - there was a bus party to celebrate the line and the bus was filled to capacity! It goes through many residential areas to multiple commercial areas and BART stations. But people can’t rely on a bus that runs once an hour.

No surprise, AC Transit cut service in half moving from 72R to 72L on San Pablo Ave and lost half the riders. 72M had a small boost in ridership, and 72 a large increase, but between 3 lines ridership is still significantly down. I hope AC Transit sees this as a failed experiment and restores 72R.

Abolish parking minimums, make housing more affordable.

Success on my return trip! 72L wasn’t cancelled and showed up nearly on time. But the experience I had this morning with a cancelled bus makes folks stop riding if they have other options. For AC Transit to increase ridership, they must improve reliability.

We're just a couple dozen responses away from hitting our goal of 400 surveys completed--- if you haven't had a chance yet, please complete our survey (which is straightforward and well-designed, if we may say so 🤓) www.surveymonkey.com/r/SYYPQBF

I was excited to ride @rideact.bsky.social to @wcctc.bsky.social meeting today. But the 72L I was going to take was canceled so I’m in a Lyft to get there on time to chair the meeting. If 72R still existed with 15 min headways I would have taken the next bus. Please AC Transit, bring back 72R.

So appreciate Senator @jessearreguin.bsky.social talking at scale about the ways we need to address California’s housing crisis, including reducing the costs of building housing, at @calcities.bsky.social panel. He even spent a couple minutes talking about the importance of single stair reform!

I love getting these traffic alerts. It reminds me that even though my BART trip from El Cerrito to Walnut Creek is a bit of a trek, it will take the same amount of time as sitting in traffic. I get to sit back and catch up on email and news, and get nice walks to enjoy this lovely sunny day.

If they can do it there to them, they can do in your town to you.

Time's running out – you have until the end of the month to nominate someone you consider to be an exceptional bicycle rider, policymaker, educator, or advocate for Bike Champion of the Year. Visit 511cc.org/bcoy.

Please take a moment to fill out this form, even and especially if you would never bike on San Pablo Avenue in its current form. Imagine how you would use San Pablo Avenue if it was safe, and then let’s make that happen!

Clipper 2 was delayed 3 years, and it could take years to complete implementation. Unacceptable that <10% of cards have been upgraded. And folks with upgraded cards are experiencing major problems. MTC must hold Cubic accountable. And ultimately may need to pull out of this disastrous contract.

Roughly 1 in 10 trans people in the US moved states last year, survey shows another 3 in 10 want to. It reminds me of cases in US history of racism forcing people to move. But most trans kids don't grow up in trans families. Help those who need to move, and also fight for rights everywhere. ✊🏳️‍⚧️

Clipper 2 was delayed 3 years, and it could take years to complete implementation. Unacceptable that <10% of cards have been upgraded. And folks with upgraded cards are experiencing major problems. MTC must hold Cubic accountable. And ultimately may need to pull out of this disastrous contract.

This morning I was nearly killed by a driver going 40 mph+ in the WRONG direction on Richmond St. I was crossing with a green light and saw the car flying towards me. They barely slowed and I ran out of the way. Then they sped through the red light. Not ok! We need to make our streets safer!

If you live in Alameda County and have even considered buying an e-bike, apply! And if you already have an e-bike, share this with someone else who might need one. Chances to win are high and the rebate is significant. I know several folks who have received rebates and redeemed them for e-bikes.

San Pablo Ave is one of the most dangerous streets in the East Bay AND one of the most important for connecting to homes, jobs, retail. We need to make it safer by slowing down cars significantly. We need fewer and narrower car lanes, bus only lanes, protected bike lanes & improved intersections.

Here's the floor plan for the new ICE concentration camp in Georgia. Look familiar? Let's take a look at some similar blueprints throughout history.

Let's talk about the history of "the gay mafia" 🧵

San Pablo Ave is one of the most dangerous streets in the East Bay AND one of the most important for connecting to homes, jobs, retail. We need to make it safer by slowing down cars significantly. We need fewer and narrower car lanes, bus only lanes, protected bike lanes & improved intersections.

Old AC Transit maps make me want to cry 😭 67 used to go basically to my home in El Cerrito, stopping just 3 blocks away. With service like this my family and I would ride the bus all the time. We’d probably ride 67 to Tilden this weekend. We need to fund transit and restore frequent bus service!

This bill would ban people running on sidewalks. Because somehow these legislators think that addresses e-bike safety issues. If they truly cared about safety, they’d lower speed limits for cars and fund protected bike lanes.

ICE plans to spend $38 billion to buy warehouses for immigrant detention. But cities are fighting back, arguing doing so violates zoning (& human decency). In new research @urbaninstitute.bsky.social w/ UNC Law's Rick Su, we investigate just how much power the federal govt has to overrule locals.

Thrilled that the El Cerrito City Council voted today to place a library funding measure on the June 2 ballot! El Cerrito needs a new library. Our current library is wonderful but far too small. If this measure passes, we can build a library that meets community needs at the Plaza BART TOD.

Thrilled that the El Cerrito City Council voted today to place a library funding measure on the June 2 ballot! El Cerrito needs a new library. Our current library is wonderful but far too small. If this measure passes, we can build a library that meets community needs at the Plaza BART TOD.

This is not what it looks like when a state "leads on climate change."

Seriously Berkeley? No warning further up the block, so no opportunity to cross the street. Along with two folks who had been cycling on the sidewalk, I was forced to walk a half block in the street on busy Adeline. Berkeley - please do better to mitigate construction to keep pedestrians safe.

Grateful for all of the ways El Cerrito city staff are making our streets safer, like this improvement on Liberty at Waldo. Drivers fly down Liberty, a residential street, avoiding higher traffic streets. These bollards should help slow them down and protect people biking and walking.

And of course, the reason the former councilmember opposed protected bike lanes was due to concerns about loss of parking impacting local businesses. Today those businesses are flooded. Our climate is changing. We must get past our car-brained ways of thinking to slow climate change and to adapt.

This morning I saw a driver stop at a red light, and then treat it like a 4-way stop. Just drove on through. Apparently the open parking spot on the far side of the intersection was too tempting? But tell me more about the dangers of e-bikes.

El Cerritans often wish for San Pablo to be more like Solano, which is so successful because the pedestrian experience is incredible, cars are slow moving, and it makes you want to keep shopping. A car free street in El Cerrito (Fairmount?) like this one in Copenhagen would be even more successful.

Central and East Contra Costa would be hit particularly hard by BART service cuts if @connectbayarea.bsky.social fails. Orinda and stations past Concord would close. Trains every 30 minutes vs 10 today. Traffic nightmares could lead to a mass exodus of residents and jobs. We must pass the measure!

BART has been so much more reliable this rainy season, now that they’ve fixed the problem that was causing wheel flats. I’ve been seeing this as a regular rider, but this chart shows just how big the reliability improvement has been.

Feeling weird about the borderline performative backlash about how this will help no one, when this is EXACTLY the kind of thing that would reopen more activities to me despite chronic tendon damage. Not every disability revolves around a wheelchair and not every QOL improvement is a ramp!

Help stop the misguided attempt to license bikes in CA, it will only lead to making it more difficult for people to adopt bikes. We don’t need new laws, we need the existing classifications of e-bikes to be properly enforced. bikeeastbay.org/say-no-to-ma...!

A California legislator wants to require a license plate to, get this, ride an e-bike. Not only does this bill fail to keep cyclists safe (the cars are the problem, not the bikes!) but it incentivizes more dangerous and polluting modes of transit. Oppose the bill here:

Since this post is getting so much love, here’s my favorite custom cake we’ve ordered from PenDel’s, my BART birthday cake from a few years ago. Pamela, one of the owners, is such an incredible cake artist.

I agree with all of this. Before anyone starts: if the choice is between Newsom and Trump/Vance/MAGA, of course I’ll vote for Newsom. I’ll just support any number of vastly better candidates before him. Moving to the center is worse than giving people someone to believe in—and that is not Newsom.

If you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day treat I recommend this PennDel’s Bakehouse chocolate strawberry heart cake! It might be the best cake they’ve made. They offer many sweet & savory baked goods - including vegan and gluten free. They’re on Portola at San Pablo in El Cerrito - check them out!

In El Cerrito I’d estimate it’s at least 50% of morning traffic. Streets are nearly empty of cars during school breaks, like next week. If we could shift even 10% to walking or biking it would have a huge impact. (Unfortunately buses aren’t an option for most as there’s so little bus service here.)

If @governor.ca.gov is serious about California taking up leadership of climate change mitigation, step 1 is to stop spending billions on highways while our transit systems suffocate trying to pay 2026 costs with 2019 funding mechanisms.

It’s so hard to imagine no BART that it’s challenging to process that phase 2 (cutting service 70%, closing 15 stations) will ultimately lead to BART suspending service entirely. Slashing service would crater ridership and revenue and lead to end of BART. We must pass Connect Bay Area measure!

Today East Bay Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan introduced the "E-Bike Accountability Act", proposing mandatory registrations & license plates for all Class 2 & 3 e-bikes. Learn more & join us in opposition to this counter-productive proposal by signing our petition at bikeeastbay.org/SayNoToEbike...

After housing, this is the next big zoning reform: the right to do business. Always found it odd that the USA, supposedly the land of the free market, makes it the hard if not outright illegal to open a business in most places. Like many other planning failures, this one's also rooted in racism.

If BART must slash service, my busy days like today wouldn’t be possible. Thanks to BART I spent the morning with family, went to work in Oakland, an event for Auditor Jenny Wong in Berkeley, an El Cerrito commission meeting, and got back for bedtime. We must pass the transit funding measure!