KrissWorthington

Policies  Authored  by  Kriss  &
Approved  by  the  City  Council

Public Safety

Restored Community Involved Policing.

Improved coordination between the Berkeley Police Department (BPD) and the UC Police Department (UCPD)

Expanded Neighborhood Watch.

Decreased the response time in the Violence Prevention/Response Plan.

Reinstated Cops on Bikes and Officers to Walk the Beat.

Fiscal Responsibility

Created the "Rainy Day Fund" that saved jobs and services during hard economic times.

Investigated corporate overcharges of almost $300,000 and obtained a refund for Berkeley.

Opposed a $225,000 severance package if the City CEO (City Manager) is fired for cause.

First proposal for pension reform.

Economic Development

Sped up the permit process for small businesses in the Telegraph Avenue area and will do so for the City at large.

Unanimously passed a policy to encourage growth of software and internet companies through tax reform.

Implemented short-term parking for ATMs, used-book drop-offs, and dry cleaners.

Created quarterly Economic Development work sessions.

Restored dozens of parking spaces for local businesses.

Helped small businesses get capital repairs and rent adjustments.

Environmental

Got Berkeley to be the second city in the country to designate 350ppm as our Climate Action Goal.

Shifted $3 million budgeted for a parking garage into the 1-80 bike/pedestrian bridge and park improvements.

Created the Eco-Pass, getting city employees out of their cars and onto public transportation.

Sponsored the Zero Waste initiative –now a model for cities nationwide, committing the city to go beyond what the state mandates in regards to recycling and reusing things.

Prevented the City from approving harmful development proposals in the waterfront park area, which resulted in more playing fields without disturbing natural bird habitats.

Helped to fund the downtown Strawberry Creek restoration study that now offers the exciting idea of a pedestrian promenade from BART to the UC Campus.

Improving Diversity/ Including Everyone

Appointed more African Americans, Asians, Latinos, and Native Americans to city boards and commissioners than the rest of the City Council combined.

Recruited over 100 UC Berkeley and Berkeley City College students to serve on city boards and commissions.

Was the first and only man honored by the Commission on the Status of Women for outstanding service to and for the women of Berkeley.

Created and chaired for eight years the official City of Berkeley Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Helped Berkeley become the first city in the world to offer training for its police department on LGBT sensitivity, including four hours on transgender awareness.

Affordable Housing

Sponsored Measure Y to protect seniors and disabled residents.

Created a Rental Housing Safety Inspection Program.

Captured money from sale of city property for building and maintaining affordable housing.

Directed millions of dollars to the Berkeley Housing Trust Fund to build more affordable housing along transit corridors.

Assisted dozens of tenants to fight evictions and fix habitability issues.

Constituent Services

Spent at least two hours a day returning phone calls and at least one hour a day answering emails.

Attended every regular Council meeting for 16 years and also thousands of community meetings and events to stay informed and available to constituents.

Got seven traffic circles installed in neighborhoods to control speeding.

Enlisted Public Works to fix sewer and storm drains, and Parks to fix street trees and sidewalks.

Mediated noise, fence, and other neighbor conflicts.

Policies  for  the  Future

Environmental Reform Climate Action Plan to prioritize and incorporate maximum environmental and cost-effective ideas. Redesign the Berkeley Transfer Station into a model cost-effective Zero Wast Facility. Create an Environmental Department to prioritize environmental issues as is effectively done in San Francisco and San Jose. Government Efficiency and Diversity Ensure that zoning appeals and "hot" issues take place in a larger meeting room and on separate nights — which will save the cost of staff time and respect the public. Allow parking tickets and administrative citations to be dealt with online with appropriate information and time to appeal on the ticket/citation. Train City staff to help small businesses, homeowners and contractors in getting permit information Establish a Neighborhood Notification Network that will allow residents to use modern technology to obtain maximum City information. Increase the appointments of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and students to City Commissions.