Conversation: Where Does Berkeley Downtown Development Intersect with Berkeley History?

Join us for a panel discussion to explore how development activities may potentially impact the cultural and physical characteristics of the Downtown Berkeley area, co-hosted by Berkeley Historical Society and League of Women Voters Berkeley Albany Emeryville.

Panelists Michael Caplan, Jim Novosel, Becky O’Malley, and Lisa Stephens will open a discussion on this important topic, which will be followed by a question-and-answer period. Steven Finacom will moderate the panel and Sherry Smith will moderate the Q & A to follow.

Steven Finacom is a community historian and past president of the Berkeley Historical Society.

Sherry Smith, Program Coordinator and past president of the League of Women Voters Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, is a law educator who served on the Civic Arts Commission, the Police Review Commission, and the Board of KQED Public Broadcasting. She is also a member of the Fair Campaign Practices Commission.

Michael Caplan, Economic Development Manager for the City of Berkeley, has worked on the Downtown Berkeley Arts District Plan and the Downtown Berkeley Business Improvement District. He has a Master’s degree from UC in Urban and Regional Planning with an emphasis on economic development.

Jim Novosel, Berkeley Planning Commission Member, has chaired the City’s SOSIP committee to develop a plan for “streetscape and open space improvements” in the Downtown.  He is a local architect, currently designing a proposed high-rise residential building for Berkeley Way and Shattuck Avenue, and lives just west of Downtown.

Becky O'Malley, executive editor and opinion page editor of the Berkeley Daily Planet, has been a reporter and editor for local newspapers as well as a magazine contributor. She has a law degree and has worked on the staff of the Center for Investigative Reporting. She served on Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission for seven years and resigned after becoming editor of the Planet. She and her husband Michael also co-founded the successful technology “start-up” Berkeley Speech Technologies, Inc.

Lisa Stephens, Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Chair, has also served on the Downtown Area Plan (DAP) Committee and on the Parks & Recreation Commission.  She has been a resident of Downtown Berkeley for more than 30 years.