Berkeley council puts competing street measures on November ballot

Two competing citizen initiatives to raise local revenue for street and sidewalk repairs won council approval for placement on the November 5, 2024 ballot.

Mayor Aragon moved to submit the Fix the Streets and Sidewalks initiative — a parcel tax to fund street, sidewalk and pedestrian path repairs — to the voters without alterations; the motion was seconded and carried without objection. Donna DeDeMar, speaking for the Fix the Streets campaign, urged the council to "support safe streets" and to appoint someone to prepare rebuttal language for the voter pamphlet.

Council then considered a second citizen proposal, the Safe Streets initiative, which campaign speakers said pairs infrastructure funding with pedestrian and bicycle safety projects and added oversight and community engagement. Ben Gerhardstein of Walk Bike Berkeley and Brandon Young (a Safe Streets coalition member) said the measure was designed to address the city's decades‑long maintenance backlog and to add safety features recommended in city plans. The council voted to submit Safe Streets without alteration and allowed community proponents and opponents to file ballot arguments.

Council members and visitors repeatedly cited the long history of deferred maintenance as context for both measures. "We've got decades of deferred maintenance," the mayor said, noting earlier financing efforts had not sufficed. Public commenters urged voters to choose the measure that best funds long‑term repair and to avoid piling too many measures on a single ballot.

Both measures will appear on the November ballot as submitted; community proponents will prepare the official arguments that go in the voter information materials.