BERKELEY — Two candidates have thrown their hats in the race to represent Berkeley’s District 7, a part of the city largely populated by university students. Cecilia Lunaparra, a senior at UC…
BERKELEY — Two candidates have thrown their hats in the race to represent Berkeley’s District 7, a part of the city largely populated by university students.
“Everyone who runs for office will go out of their way to tell you they’re not a politician, but I always grew up knowing this is what I want to do,” Chang said. “It’s about having a North Star and not doing this for yourself, but doing it because you want to make people’s lives better.” “We are repeatedly reminded of our supposed lack of experience, our supposed idealism, our supposed stubbornness, as if our fresh perspectives aren’t vital to a long-lasting democracy,” Lunaparra said of those who have said she is too young for the job. “Berkeley needs a fresh perspective.”
They differ on key hot topics in the city, though. Lunaparra is bullish in her support for preserving People’s Park, a 2.8-acre lot owned by the UC and planned for development, as a green community space known for decades as a hub for activists. Chang supports the university’s plans to build 1,100 student beds and 100 beds for people who are formerly homeless on the site while maintaining two-thirds of the lot as open green space. Just 22% of UC Berkeley’s 45,000 students are housed on campus.
“Local government have a responsibility as people in power to speak out about things like this when its affecting our community,” Lunaparra said. “The city’s violent silence on ethnic cleansing speaks volumes, especially when we’ve weighed in before on other issues. Berkeley has a responsibility to call for peace, to unify our city against injustice as it’s done in the past.”
Voters in District 4 will also soon vote for their new representative after Councilmember Kate Harrison announced she’d be stepping down just weeks after Robinson, her reason being the city’s broken process. District 4 residents, those living in downtown and central Berkeley, have until May 13 to register to vote. Mail-in ballot voting will begin April 29, with ballots due by May 28.
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