Council approves consent calendar; PAB revisions to surveillance policy moved into consent and ALPR rules deferred

The Berkeley City Council approved its consent calendar on July 26, carrying several administrative and program items and agreeing to take up some matters at later meetings.

Council accepted a supplemental packet related to item 32 and then, after discussion with Police Accountability Board (PAB) members and police staff, agreed to move a revised version of policy 709 — which relates to surveillance policy and associated use policies — onto the consent calendar following PAB-recommended language. Vice Mayor Harrison thanked the PAB and city staff for collaborating on the revisions and said the revised policy properly reflects state law and the city’s surveillance ordinance.

Council also agreed to continue item 29 (surveillance acquisition and automated license-plate-reader policy) to the Sept. 13 meeting to resolve a remaining disagreement about the use of ALPRs during crowd-control situations.

During the public-comment periods, speakers urged protection of Chavez Park and other open spaces, raised tenant concerns about eviction and owner-move-in situations, urged protections for the homeless and called for clarity on public-health protocols in shelters. Community members also supported the PAB revisions and mental-health and homeless services funding items on the consent calendar.

The clerk called roll for the consent calendar and the motion carried; Drozsky was absent per roll call. The council attempted a motion to extend the meeting later in the evening but that extension failed on roll call and the meeting adjourned with unfinished business referred to the Agenda and Rules Committee.