Endorsing An Amazing Woman Democrat: Sophie Hahn

Well, Sophie, I’m glad you’re not posting “as fact” your report that Laurie Capitelli’s “own materials state that he was raised in Palo Alto,” because his website (http://www.laurie4council.com/about-laurie.html) and mailer both actually state that “he first attended public school in Berkeley and later earned his degree from UC Berkeley,” although he did graduate from high school in Palo Alto. The fact that you moved back to Berkeley two or three years ago after living in New York for 7 years and Kensington for 10 (thanks for the clarification--I’d thought it was only after about a decade away that you moved back to Berkeley; I didn’t realize it was actually 17 years), is of particular interest to voters, because you characterize your opponent as “unknown,” when in fact he has been a resident and an active member of the Berkeley community for 36 years, not even counting his public school or UCB days. In light of your statements such as “I grew up on Santa Barbara Road...[and] this area has been my home for 40 years,” the fact that you spent 17 of the last 20 years not as a Berkeley resident, and 7 of them out of state, makes one wonder exactly what you your own “regard for veracity” is. When a person is running for City Council in Berkeley, and offers the credential of having been “participating actively in the community,” one would like that to actually mean “the Berkeley community.” I understand that that is how you’d like voters to interpret your meaning, but unfortunately it is contradicted by the facts.

Yes, Sophie, as you point out, we do know each other, and as you note, our relationship has been cordial. Perhaps readers should keep that in mind, along with that “grain of salt” you propose. In fact, I know both candidates personally: you, because we served together last year on the School Governance Council of Martin Luther King Middle School; and Laurie Capitelli, as a long time neighbor and community leader, especially through his work on the Board of the Berkeley Public Education Foundation. And, knowing both of you, the candidate I strongly support is Laurie Capitelli. He is able to be an effective City Council member not only because of the depth of his knowledge about our Berkeley community and the complex issues before us, but also because of his excellent working relationships with his colleagues and with a large and diverse group of Berkeley residents. He has these relationships because he listens to other people. He is a collaborative partner, even with those who do not share his views. He is gracious, never deprecating to those who differ with him, nor unappreciative of the efforts of others. I strongly believe that these are the qualities we need most from participants in governance at every level.

Julie, it’s Sophie here.  Not sure why you are posting my bio without checking facts with me.  We email and see each other frequently and cordially on other business, and my email address and phone number remain the same.  I will correct information about my whereabouts and hope you will check facts with me before posting again.

I lived in Kensington from 1961 – 1966 and in Berkeley from 1967 – 1984.  I then was in Palo Alto one year, then three years back and forth in Berkeley and San Francisco.  I moved to New York City and lived there for 7 years, where I practiced law for three years at Shearman & Sterling.  The remainder of my time in New York I was at the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and then at Rutgers University School of Industrial Relations and Human Resources.  The legal work is excellent experience to bring to the Council, along with my other 20 years of education, professional work and community service (which you can find on my website, www.sophiehahn.com ( http://www.sophiehahn.com/ )).

I returned to this area in March of 1995, soon after the birth of my first child.  We lived in Kensington initially, about five blocks from Berkeley.  We moved to Berkeley not two, but three years ago, living first on Madera Street for a year, and now on Shattuck.  In addition to the previously described 24+ years, I have been here now for 14, participating actively in the community.  That’s a total of 38 years. 

Another small clarification.  I believe my opponent’s own materials state that he was raised in Palo Alto, not Berkeley, as you say in your post.  However, I have not checked this with him so will not put it forward as fact.  With so little regard for veracity in your postings, I hope readers will consider your other comments with an appropriate grain of salt.

I’m not sure what the writer of the above post is referring to as inaccuracies in my post. While Sophie did spend her childhood and undergraduate years in Berkeley (as did Laurie Capitelli, her opponent), it is also true that she moved back to Berkeley only two years ago, after spending more than a decade living elsewhere, most of it in New York, where she worked in the Mergers and Acquisitions practice of an international corporate law firm.

I don’t understand how the poster can say that Laurie is “uninterested in community input and concerns.” His council office is open 9-5 every day, and each month his staff handles more than 150 constituent calls, emails, and letters that require action. They respond to each one personally, working with relevant City Departments to help constituents resolve their issues. In his four years representing District 5, Laurie has organized many community meetings to provide information and opportunities for discussion to residents and neighborhood groups. Laurie is a great listener, and a great mediator. His list of accomplishments in his first term as a councilmember is long and impressive. The traffic safety solutions that the poster does acknowledge are among them, but they are not trivial, as the poster implies. Laurie has made traffic and pedestrian safety a priority throughout his first term, and I think this aligns well with the concerns of District 5 residents.

As for inaccuracies: the occasion of the original blog posting by Marya Stark was the endorsement of Sophie Hahn by Delaine Eastin, who has in fact endorsed both candidates.

I’ve lived in District 5 for 19 years and know Sophie Hahn well enough to say that there are a lot of inaccuracies in the previous blog post. Sophie grew up in Berkeley, attended Cragmont, Columbus, King, West Campus, Berkeley High School and UC Berkeley. She has lived in Berkeley (or neighboring Kensington) 35+ years of her life. That hardly makes her a “newcomer!” She graduated from Stanford Law School, has practiced law, worked in policy and governance at a large international organization, started up, grew and sold a small manufacturing and wholesale business, and has worked in the community as a board member, chair, volunteer or pro bono attorney almost non-stop since high school. She has been on the Board of Planned Parenthood, Step One School and is a founding Board Member of the M3 Education Foundation, serving African American Boys in Berkeley’s middle Schools. She helped found Equality NOW, an international human rights organization, was Co-Chair of Women of Stanford Law, Co-Chaired the Prospect Sierra Parent Association, was Chair of the Maybeck Road Association, did pro bono legal work for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, the East Palo Alto Community Law Project, California Rural Legal Assistance, and more. She is current President of the King Middle School PTA and Chair of the School Governance Council, an elected position. She has raised money for schools, many organizations, and many Democratic candidates. She is fully qualified to run for office against anyone!

As for the contention that her opponent is well known and “loved” in the community, I couldn’t disagree more. Most people I talk to have no idea who their council person is. He has never reached out to them or made an impression on them in his four years in office. And I meet plenty of people who dislike him, think he has done a terrible job, is in the pocket of the developers (he calls himself a “business man” – he is actually a broker and real estate developer heavily backed by development interests) and who have found him uninterested in community input or concerns. While the writer of the previous comment may be among those who like and admire him, I would bet she represents a very small portion of District 5

This is a year in which we have allowed ourselves to be inspired by the prospect of fresh leadership not tied to insider interests. Sophie is a candidate in that vein – bringing high caliber credentials and leadership, a lifelong commitment to community, and a pro-active approach to problems. I know her, and she is a truly inspiring person, a very quick study and a creative problem solver always looking for “win win” ways to get things done.

For those who think Berkeley’s inside players have been doing a good job – letting our Downtown deteriorate with no plan for revitalization and no improved parking; no long-term plan for economic development but a willingness to go back to residents to ask them to raise their own taxes; the embarrassing, expensive Marines/Code pink debacle; lack of respect for community and neighborhood input; a very negative relationship with UC Berkeley, and a propensity to give condo developers big breaks to build speculative projects – go ahead and vote for the incumbent. He has done the bare minimum for our District – in four years his local accomplishments are a few crosswalks and reconfigured parking for trucks in front of a market. In six months Sophie can do that – and much more. There is no reason to settle for ho-hum representation when we have the opportunity to elect someone like Sophie Hahn.

I understand that as cofounder and Founding Executive Director of Emerge America, Marya Stark wants to further her own reputation by promoting the success of her Emerge America graduates, but doing that by referring to Sophie Hahn's opponent, Laurie Capitelli, as a "machine insider" who is "unknown by residents" is just absurd. Marya Stark obviously knows very little about Sophie or her opponent, but is just throwing out her standard lines. Sophie moved to Berkeley only two years ago --- she's actually the one who is "unknown by residents." Laurie is a well known and well loved longtime member of our community, actively contributing to the common good here long before becoming a City Council member four years ago. He's been on the Board of the Berkeley Public Education Foundation since 1987, was cofounder of the Save Elmwood Theater Foundation in 1991, and cofounder of the Red Oak Opportunity Fund (ROOF), which has made grants to Berkeley community organizations and individuals in need since 1981. His children attended Berkeley public schools from kindergarten through high school. He's been an outstanding member of our City Council, for District 5 and for all of Berkeley. As a woman, small business owner, mother, and neighbor, I fully support the re-election of Laurie Capitelli. To be honest, I'm amazed that Sophie would choose to run against such an effective, popular, one-term Democratic incumbent in her initial attempt to attain elected office beyond her school site PTA and School Governance Council (where I've served with her). If this is the kind of strategy that Emerge America advises, they are not serving their graduates–or our communities–very well.