Tuesday, October 30, 2001

Berkeley mayor asks school to cover riot damages
By Nate Tabak
Daily Californian

BERKELEY, Calif. (U-WIRE)-- Two months after an on-campus dance spilled over to Berkeley, Calif., streets, costing thousands of dollars in damage, Mayor Shirley Dean is asking University of California-Berkeley to reimburse the city if events with similar results occur in the future.

The proposal, which the Berkeley City Council is expected to approve Tuesday, is in response to the Aug. 25 fraternity-sponsored dance at the Pauley Ballroom that drew uninvited guests, who looted Southside businesses and surrounding residences.

“If the university is going to regulate the event, I believe they have to be responsible for not only what happens at the event, but also how (people) get there and how (they) leave,” Dean said.

Berkeley police Lt. Cynthia Harris said UC police notified her department 10 days prior to the dance that 500 people would attend. But almost three times as many people showed up, catching the city off guard and lacking sufficient police officers to enforce the law, Harris said.

Although the city cannot force the university to pay for damages, Dean said the city may pursue legal action if the university rejects the request.

She said the university’s reluctance to be accountable to the city in this instance is an example of its general disregard for Berkeley.

“It is a giant bear stepping on the city that causes us a lot of concern,” Dean said.

Additionally, the proposal asks the university to compensate affected local businesses and residents.

The Telegraph Area Association, a merchant and residents group, has asked the university to pay for the damages incurred by nearby businesses and tenants, said Kathy Berger, executive director of the association.

“It was a big effect,” Berger said of the lootings, which took place in the early hours of Aug. 26. “Many business can’t afford to pay for the damages.”

Berger said she is confident that the businesses will be reimbursed for the damages.

She added that the association will continue to support a controversial moratorium of dances at the Pauley Ballroom until the university can guarantee that businesses will be protected from damages.

Irene Hegarty, UC Berkeley director of community relations, said Chancellor Robert Berdahl and other university officials are reviewing the request.

Hegarty would not say whether UC Berkeley plans to reimburse the city or local businesses.

After the melee, Berdahl declared a moratorium on dances at the ballroom and formed a task force of city and university representatives to re-evaluate a dance policy that would prevent future outbursts onto city streets.

Hegarty said the task force expects to issue its recommendations to Berdahl this week.

“These policies should be acceptable to (the city),” Hegarty said. “We’ll want their input.”

After August’s rioting broke out, 28 Berkeley police officers tried to bring calm to the streets for at least five hours, costing the department a large, unspecified sum of money, Harris said.

“It was expensive, needless to say,” Harris said, noting that many of the officers were working overtime.

Workers from the city’s Public Works Department also responded to the incident, doing temporary repairs to damaged businesses and homes, said Rene Cardinaux, director of the department.

Cardinaux said the incident cost the department roughly $500.

The door and windows of University Press Books on Bancroft Way were smashed, and a cash register stolen, costing the shop several thousand dollars in repairs, said Karen McClung, store co-owner.

McClung added that the store’s insurance would not cover the damages.

“It’s a small business. The margins on book sales are really small. We’re struggling to keep our head above water,” McClung said. “We can’t afford to pay for broken glass every time there’s a riot on campus.”

McClung said there is far too little accountability when such incidents occur.

“When things get our of control, and the university and police can’t handle it, who’s responsible?” McClung asked. “It’s not my responsibility to fix windows.”

McClung said the owners have asked the university to reimburse the store for the damages, but she has received a lukewarm response. Other businesses are even considering lawsuits against the university, she said.

During a similar incident in October 2000, in which looters stormed Southside businesses after mostly non-UC Berkeley students were turned away from a fraternity party at Pauley Ballroom, the bookstore incurred comparable damages, which the university did not cover, she said.