Berkeley Contests Mirror City's Shift to Right

Front-Runner Candidates Are Pro-Business, Anti-Panhandlers

BERKELEY, Nov. 7, 1994 -- Berkeley City Council candidate Thomas Burcham is a sign of the changing political landscape in a city known for years as "The People's Republic.''

Burcham is the first Republican running for City Council in 25 years. But he is far from alone in advocating a shift to the right in Berkeley's policies and management style.

The two front-runner candidates for mayor echo each other in touting a Berkeley that is pro-business and fiscally responsible and ballot measures that seek to limit panhandling and loitering in the city.

Residents as well as council candidates are split over Measure N, which would give police the power to arrest suspected drug dealers or buyers who are loitering near stores, schools and parks.

Measure O marks the latest confrontation in a year-long battle over "problematic street behavior. " The advisory measure will gauge Berkeley voters' stance on banning panhandling after dark and near automatic teller machines and stores as well as prohibiting laying or sitting on the sidewalk from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The five additional measures on the ballot seek to require firefighters to live within 40 miles of the city limits, change the role of the city's elected auditor, reinvest in South Africa, extend council terms to four years and require binding arbitration for firefighter and police contract disputes.

Four candidates are running for mayor, replacing Jeffrey Shattuck Leiter, who was appointed temporarily when Loni Hancock resigned early this year to take up a post with the U.S. Department of Education.

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