Monday, March 3, 2008

Berkeley Mayor Went Homeless for a Night

Not exactly on point, but I thought it was really interesting ­
especially given the mayor's recent Public Commons Initiative and his
responses to questions about the homeless when he came to speak.

On April 22, 2003, Berkeley's mayor Tom Bates spent 24 hours
living as a homeless person after he was challenged to do so by a member of
Berkeley¹s permanent homeless population during his campaign.
The mayor began his 24 hours at 4 pm on a Tuesday and got his
first free meal at Trinity Baptist Church. He then did a walking tour of
Telegraph Ave, went to the Berkeley Free Clinic, and hung out in People¹s
Park. The mayor eventually went to sleep in the park behind City Hall with
about 25 other people, and was awakened at 2 a.m. by a policeman, whom he
told he had special permission from the mayor to sleep there. He was then
awakened again at 4 a.m. by gathering news crews. Finally the mayor got up
and got a free breakfast at Trinity Methodist Church. He then spent time at
the Homeless Action Center and the Center for Independent Living.
The mayor stated that he wanted to do this "to draw attention to
the problem and learn more about it himself." He apparently saw a lot of
tragic cases but was also elated by the number of volunteers that were
assisting the homeless in numerous ways.

Mayor's Office, "Media Advisory: Mayor Bates to go Homeless on April 22nd,"
Apr. 16, 2003, http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/mayor//PR/pressrelease041603.htm.

Charles Burress, "Homeless for a night: Berkeley mayor keeps promise, sleeps
with city's down-and-out," The San Francisco Chronicle, Apr. 24, 2003,
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/04/24/BA291997.DTL

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