http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1634000/1634103.stm
Friday, 2 November, 2001, 14:25 GMT
Berkeley boycotted for
anti-war stance

Berkeley has a history of dissent
By Maggie Shiels in Berkeley, California

The city of Berkeley in northern California has been
branded unpatriotic, and businesses there are being
boycotted, after the council became the first in the
nation to oppose the bombing of Afghanistan.

The city's Mayor, Shirley Dean has been inundated with
e-mails and letters ever since the controversial 5-4 vote
calling on the government to "bring the bombing of
Afghanistan to a conclusion as soon as possible".

The mayor, who abstained
in the voting, says the
message landing on her
desk from businesses and
individuals has generally
been uniform.

"We've had thousands,
literally thousands of
e-mails that they are not
going to come to Berkeley
and spend money. And
generally they all mention
the word boycott. And we
have been hearing from
specific businesses in
Berkeley that they have
been hurt," she said.

Bad for business

In one letter the mayor received, a San Francisco
property firm cancelled the purchase of a Berkeley
building, saying: "It is not our intention or desire to
increase the tax base of a city that shows no loyalty and
solidarity to the government."

The litany of axed orders range from household
purchases, like furniture, to meals out, and from a
$60,000 lumber contract to a $600,000 commercial
property lease.

In criticising her colleagues who forced through the
resolution, Mayor Dean says: "The council did not think
through what impact or consequences there might be
from their actions and that's unfortunate."

For Dana Ellsworth, who runs her father's 40-year-old
property company, the backlash from the council's
action has been all too real for many of the small
businesses that rent retail and commercial property
from her.

"Most Berkeley businesses
are single proprietor-type
businesses, small family
businesses with one or two
shops. They are not big
chains that can absorb
some kind of impact. They
are really struggling."

And she says that amid the
present economic downturn
and the knock-on effects of
the terrorist attacks of 11
September, the council
resolution has exacerbated
the situation.

"The economy has been
slowing for the past year,
so businesses all over America are feeling that. Then
the terrorist attacks of the 11 September didn't help.
And now the council's vote is another blow and is yet
another reason for people not to come out and shop."

Local victims

The mayor agrees and says she is saddened that local
shops and retailers are being affected by something
they played no part in.

"The people that are being hurt are businesses that
had nothing whatsoever to do with the resolution -
people struggling to feed their own families and keep
their heads above water. These people should not
become the victim of a city council vote."

Over the next couple of
weeks the mayor plans to
hold meetings with
individual business
associations to try and
boost the image of the city
and persuade local people
to spend their dollars in
Berkeley.

Enticing outsiders to travel
to Berkeley and part with
their money is the job of
Barbara Hillman, the
president of the city's
Convention and Visitors
Bureau.

"People will ask about the
resolution but if you look into Berkeley history this is
nothing new and you almost expect something like this
from Berkeley. We have to move on and get people
back to the city."

Campus support

Indeed controversy, dissent and protest is not alien to a
city that gave birth to the Free Speech Movement. And
while Berkeley's business community is bristling under
the glare of publicity that the council's vote has
attracted, students at Berkeley University are totally
underwhelmed by it all.

Janny Hu, editor of the student newspaper The Daily
Californian, says that is because most students actually
back the council's stance.

"The Stop The War Coalition has been the most visual
on campus so far and that would probably explain why
Berkeley students aren't acting as strongly as those
outside of the city."

And it seems Berkeley may be hanging onto its place in
the history books for a while longer. The left-leaning
council of Santa Cruz just this week decided against
taking a stand against the war in Afghanistan, saying
that passing such a resolution would be insensitive at
this time.