People's Park - Current Events

Current Events

People's Park is now co-managed by the university and various community groups. During subsequent years, the 2.8-acre (11,000 m2) plot of land known as "People's Park" has remained a focus of controversy between the university, and disparate elements of the Berkeley community. Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates has stated that "over time, people have come to realize that the park has not become what they had hoped it would be...I love the idea of having some kind of memorial recognition there, but right now it is not a place that a lot of people are comfortable going to." Current UC Berkeley students experience People’s Park in a much different way than did UC Berkeley students from the 1960s and 1970s. Now, during welcome orientations, freshmen students living in dormitories in the vicinity of People’s Park are warned to stay away for safety concerns, especially at night.

Dan Siegel has said that the park "has now become this somewhat forlorn urban park... It's a place that no longer reflects the will for independence of the campus community. I think today if the university turned off its Wi-Fi, they’d get bigger demonstrations than they would for People's Park."

In an April 2000 referendum, UC Berkeley students reaffirmed their preference for People Park remaining a park rather than having another use such as housing.

In October 2005, some park supporters attempted to rebuild the Free Box, a clothes donation box, after it had been burned down for the second time in two years by unknown vandals. They were videotaped by the university police and threatened with arrest. The supporters started rebuilding anyway, and no arrests were made, although the university police returned during the early hours of the morning and destroyed what had been built. Subsequent rebuilding attempts were also dismantled. A group of interested community members are working towards improving the children's play area.

On 8 January 2007, at his retirement ceremony celebrating 50-plus years in law enforcement, outgoing Alameda County Sheriff Charles Plummer remained unrepentant about his role as a Berkeley police officer during the People's Park riots:

"I wish I would have hit some people harder during the riots," said Plummer, speaking of the riots in Berkeley in the late-1960s. "I regret that."

In 2007, the university hired consulting firm MKThink to assess the park, and its draft report was published in October 2007.

In a San Francisco Chronicle article on 13 January 2008, People's Park was referred to as "a menacing hub for drug users and the homeless" and also as "perfectly safe, clean and accessible". The article quotes Irene Hegarty, UC Berkeley director of community relations, as saying, "A lot of people's attitudes about the park have changed, and we wanted (referring to the MKThink report) to take a fresh, comprehensive look at the issue," as well as Jason Colson, a park regular, as saying "I've been here at all hours of the day and night, and I don't think it's unsafe at all. I don't have any problem with the park as it is. Additionally, Arthur Fonseca, a Berkeley/East Bay Food Not Bombs activist, was quoted in the same article as saying "Rich people are welcome here as much as poor people, but if rich people want to change the park to make poor people feel uncomfortable, that's obviously a problem."