Local

The problem of People’s Park

Little action taken toward crime and drug hub

By Derek Yee
From the February 2007 Print Edition

            During the 1960s, Berkeley’s People’s Park was a hotbed of political protest. Tensions rose to the point that then-Governor Ronald Reagan was forced to call in the National Guard. Nowadays, most students avoid the unsightly park. Recently, People’s Park has come under the city’s scrutiny because of rampant drug dealing and crime, according to Irene Hegarty, director of communications for the University of California at Berkeley. The closing of famed Cody’s Bookstore last year has prompted the city to reevaluate Telegraph Avenue and the adjoining People’s Park.

            On December 12, Richard Gonzales of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered interviewed various People’s Park personalities regarding the future of the site. There are certainly people on both sides of the debate. The park, which has become home to many of the homeless who congregate there for free meals donated by a Berkeley eatery, is also home to drug dealers and criminals. For some, it has become an eyesore that needs to be cleaned up.

          Today, the park no longer “represents the ideals that the original one did,” said Director of Media Relations Marie Felde in an interview with Gonzales.

            Many neighbors of the park, including UC Berkeley students who reside in the nearby Unit 2 dormitories feel that People’s Park is unsafe. It has become virtually inaccessible to students although the University still funds the operation and security of the park.

 “I always take a longer route [to avoid People’s Park] when I’m walking to my dorm at night,” said Katie Sollenberger, a first-year UC Berkeley student and Unit 2 resident, in the Northgate News Online in September.

             Other students call for drastic measures at the park. Roberto Vazquez, a senior and a former resident of the Unit 1 dormitory, does not feel safe when he passes the park at night. 

            “The University should remove the homeless and put some security around the park,” Vazquez said. “The homeless give a bad image to the school. Everyone who comes to UC Berkeley learns that People’s Park is dangerous.”

            On the other hand, liberal activists are wary of the University’s involvement with the park. Many don’t realize that the park belongs to the UC and feel that it belongs to them. The park and the City of Berkeley are known for a unique counterculture that includes the homeless and other unconventional citizens, according to homeless advocate Michael Deal.

 Another activist who was also involved in the early days of the park is Oakland attorney Dan Siegel, who believes that the park is a “symbol of community empowerment.” Siegel also stated that UC Berkeley feels that the homeless should move elsewhere. Hegarty also notes that the University is not anti-homeless but that it is simply concerned about other problems that plague the park.

“There are even homeless on campus every day. We live in an urban area. The real problem are the drugs and crime, which is not synonymous with the homeless,” said Hegarty.

The University of California has heard the concerns of the community and set up a community advisory board to look into what the next steps should be for People’s Park, according to Hegarty. The 10-member board is comprised of UC Berkeley students, a faculty member, neighbors, a gardener, and other members of the community. Six months ago, the board decided to contact a consultant to work on redesigning and improving the site. The University agreed to begin interviewing firms in order to hire a consultant, whose name should be revealed by the time of publication. The advisory board, and the community at large, will work with the consultant on a conceptual design of the park.         

In the meantime, the University has also begun some of its own improvements to the park, according to Hegarty. Recently, the University has worked on pruning trees and thinning some of the park’s shrubbery. While this is routine maintenance, the University feels that it is also a way to manage some of the crime and drug dealing that goes on in the park. At one time, the school considered bulldozing some of the sand mounds in order to combat some of those problems, but for now it will use less invasive measures.

Ultimately, the University has the final decision in the future of People’s Park, but it is first trying to listen to the various voices of the community.        

“We are trying to look at this as objectively as possible,” said Hegarty.

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