Mark your calendar for 11/17 — and a new chapter for this movement

We're at 492 signatures — so close to 500! If you haven't shared the petition recently, now's a great moment to give it one more push and help us cross that milestone and beyond.

Two important things to share.

**First: a real legislative item is coming to Council on November 17th, and we need people there.**

Councilmember Kesarwani, with co-sponsors Blackaby and Taplin, has formally introduced an amendment to the city's Encampment Policy Resolution establishing a 600-foot buffer zone prohibiting encampments near licensed preschools and in-home daycare facilities. This isn't a vague proposal — it's a detailed, carefully documented Council item, and it lays out exactly the pattern we've been warning about:

- Two new encampments have already appeared at Ninth and Camelia and Fourth and Camelia — both within a few hundred feet of childcare facilities — as residents displaced from Harrison relocated under court-ordered criteria the city has very limited ability to reject.
- The city's own staff report acknowledges that enforcement staff are "stretched thin" and that residents not covered by court protection have simply moved to parts of the corridor not yet addressed — exactly the whack-a-mole dynamic this group has been pointing to for months.
- The report also confirms the city has formally appealed Judge Chen's rulings to the Ninth Circuit, specifically because a recent order could extend ADA accommodation requirements citywide, not just to Harrison.

This item is narrower than the outright ban we've been pushing for, but it is real, well-documented progress — and it's exactly the kind of step that depends on visible public support to get across the finish line. **We need as many supporters as possible at the November 17th Council meeting.** Showing up in person sends a message that no email or petition signature fully replicates. We'll follow up with meeting time and public comment details as the date gets closer.

Kesarwani, Blackaby, and Taplin are already co-sponsors — but this still needs a majority of the Council to pass. **If you live in District 3 (Councilmember Bartlett), District 4 (Councilmember Tregub), or District 5 (Councilmember O'Keefe), please reach out to them directly and urge them to support this proposal.** Their votes aren't yet accounted for, and a direct message from a constituent can make the difference.

**Second: we're forming the Safe and Clean Berkeley Alliance (SBCA).**

This petition has grown into something bigger than a single Change.org page — it's become a real community of residents, business owners, and neighbors who care about this issue. To build on that, we're launching the **Safe and Clean Berkeley Alliance (SBCA)**, a standing group that can organize, advocate, and apply sustained pressure on city leaders well beyond any single petition or Council item. More details on how to get involved will follow soon — but if you've been looking for a more active way to participate, this is it.

Thank you, as always, for staying engaged. We're starting to see real movement, and that's because of all of you.