Get out the vote for Worthington and Spring in Berkeley

Kriss Worthington and Dona Spring, two of Berkeley's strongest environmentalists, need our help to get re-elected to the Berkeley City Council. Consistently progressive, they are facing well-financed (and, in Kriss's case, extremely wealthy) opponents being pushed by big business. They need and deserve our help in getting out the vote.

Kriss Worthington

Kriss Worthington (District 7 - Telegraph Avenue area in south Berkeley) lists his greatest joys in life as hiking, biking, backpacking, tennis, basketball, and climbing trees. He has done all of the above in 49 states and 57 countries. His most stunning encounters with Mother Nature occurred in India, in Greece, and at the Standing Stones of Callenish in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Even with 10 years of experience on the Berkeley City Council, nature-lover Worthington still takes time every day to admire a plant, an animal, or the night sky.

Kriss credits his years as a former Sierra Club Group chair and Chapter ExComm member with teaching him how to sit through long meetings, listen to and learn from many voices, and fight effectively for environmental issues.

Kriss has shepherded groundbreaking eco-policies through the maze of city bureaucracy and politics, including the Precautionary Principle Ordinance and Zero Waste Ordinance. He successfully led the charge for a free eco-pass for city employees, and is pushing to expand it to include UC and other major employers. By studiously analyzing the city budget, Kriss has been able to identify and reprioritize millions of dollars in increased funding for affordable housing.

Kriss' steadfast support for Club activists has helped prevent massive and ecologically inappropriate developments, especially along the shoreline. His political acumen has helped create the groundwork for later compromises, such as building additional playing fields in areas where they don't hurt sensitive habitat. He has defended biodiversity by advocating to preserve breeding areas for migratory birds, protect native plants such as the western leatherwood, and defend habitat for the Cooper's hawk.

As Berkeley's representative on Alameda County's Congestion Management Agency, Kriss gently nudges enviro-friendly funding and policies. Beyond just being a good vote, Kriss has worked actively with environmentalists on strategizing how to channel community organizing and grassroots lobbying into winning campaigns.

A few of his priorities for the future are:

• campaign-finance reform for Berkeley and the state;
• expanding biodiesel, solar, and composting in Berkeley;
• supporting funds for parks, and encouraging the city to work with EGRET (Environmental Greening, Restoration, and Education Team), the group restoring native habitat and lobbying for more resources for the gem that is Berkeley's Aquatic Park; and
• squeezing in some day hiking and biking in that elusive 50th state.

Dona Spring

Dona Spring (District 4 - downtown and central Berkeley flatlands) has been one of the most accessible and responsive councilmembers since her first election in 1992.

This year, however, her challenger is very well funded by big-business interests, who seek an opportunity to get rid of one of Berkeley's strongest environmental voices. Volunteers and contributions are needed to counteract this.

Spring served on the regional committee of the Association of Bay Area Governments that formulated programs for Green Business Certification and electronic-waste recycling. She got the City Council to pass a model local resolution which assisted Californians Against Waste in passing statewide legislation requiring electronics manufacturers to pay disposal fees at point-of-sale.

Spring continues to promote green building including:

• reduction of construction and demolition solid waste - one of the largest contributors overwhelming our diminishing landfill capacity;
• less dependency on new construction, which consumes too many trees and other natural resources;
• reuse of existing buildings and materials; and
• increased green building requirements.

During Dona's decade of leadership, the Alameda County Waste Authority Board produced a 1996 model ordinance now being adopted in cities and counties around the country to promote green building.

As one of the Berkeley City Council's leading peace activists, she acts to help end the devastating environmental destruction and waste of resources caused by militarism.

Spring is one of the Council's most solid votes for alternatives to single-occupant automobiles, pressing for additional bicycle/pedestrian improvement plans and funding.

Dona Spring has led at the Berkeley City Council in fighting for:

• environmental review at the University of California and Lawrence Berkeley Lab;
• food-waste recycling;
• animal protection;
• a feasibility study for opening Strawberry Creek.

Spring also pushed for a Downtown Berkeley Hotel and Conference Center which would allow more height in return for environmental features. Dona Spring has been and will continue to be a tireless representative, truly promoting public processes and community input. She has been a leader in the areas of open government, full disclosure, fair campaigns, and fair campaign funding.

WhatYouCanDo

Help preserve environmentalism in its Berkeley birthplace!Volunteers are needed to go door-to-door, work phone banks, deliver signs, help with mailings, and generate money and other campaign contributions.

To volunteer to help in Kriss' and Dona's campaigns, contact or call (510)848-0800, ext. 304

For more information about Dona Spring, visit www.donaspring.com

For more information about Kriss Worthington, visit www.krissworthington.com