Alfred Twu

With school starting soon, East Bay transit agencies are making minor schedule updates and improvements. Here's some:

AC Transit - new schedule starts Sunday 8/9
https://www.actransit.org/article/service-changes-aug-2026

BART - new schedule starts Monday 8/10 https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2026/news20260709

Berkeley has 7 city ballot measures on the November 2026 ballot.

🏗️Infrastructure Bond https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/our-work/bond-revenue-measures/infrastructure-projects-potential-bond-measure

💵Sales Tax - 1/2 cent, goes towards closing the city budget deficit https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/news/proposed-budget-looks-stabilize-city-finances

✅Minor changes to election procedures - Administrative updates, including removing address, place of birth, and taxpayer status from candidate statements in the voter pamphlet.

🏠Amendments to Rent Stabilization Ordinance - This one was placed on the ballot by the City Council in collaboration with members of the Rent Board. It has a number of administrative changes to improve efficiency, as well as adjustments to 2024's Measure BB based on feedback and experiences over the last couple of years. I will have a longer post about this one later, most of the details are in https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-07/Lunaparra%20RSO%20Measure%20Supp2%20Cover%20Page%20Final%20Draft%202.0.pdf

🎨Arts funding parcel tax https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/05/15/berkeley-2026-ballot-measure-performing-arts-parcel-tax

🏦Public Bank parcel tax https://www.dailycal.org/news/city/berkeley-ballot-measure-seeks-to-establish-first-california-public-bank/article_097c90c1-eb0d-4a77-9a9c-368d91929299.html

🥤Soda Tax to fund health programs https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/berkeley-voters-to-decide-on-doubling-citys-soda-tax/

Full details available soon at https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/elections/ballot-measures

Parivar Bay Area, an organization that has been serving trans, gender-diverse, and intersex immigrants and asylees from South Asia and many other parts of the world, is at risk of shutting down due to lack of funding. They're a one-of-a-kind organization and it would be a big loss to the community and a huge threat to the people they serve if it were to close.

Previously they received funding from city of San Francisco, which cut a lot of funding to LGBTQ organizations this year. Currently, their board is personally covering expenses to keep critical programs afloat, but are unable to do this long term.

Details and info on how to support them are at https://www.parivarbayarea.net/ ❤🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Center for Independent Living is having a Pride event this Saturday afternoon, 1-4pm! It will be at Ed Roberts Campus, right next to Ashby BART in South Berkeley. Free, RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cil-s-disability-transqueer-pride-tickets-1990481509778

San Francisco Trans March! More and more people marching every year, lots of organizations at the resource fair in the park, from public health to mutual aid groups. Let trans kids live! 🏳️‍⚧️✊📢

Looks like we're getting 14 Propositions this year.
💵1. Billionaire tax
❌2. & ❌3. Competing measures against billionaire tax
✏️4. Makes permanent the high earner tax that funds $5-15B a year for education
🚧5. Raises citizen initiative special tax pass threshold from simple majority to 2/3. (ACA 22)
🏘️6. $11.25 billion affordable housing bond
🏠7. $25 billion loan program for first time homebuyers.
☂️8. Allows state to put more money in rainy day fund in high-revenue years (ACA 20)
🏗️9. Speeds up the permitting process for construction projects.
🛂10. Voter ID law (Right wing Republican measure)
✅11. Allows public campaign financing
➡️12. Changes how recalls work - instead of simultaneously electing a replacement, the normal succession process happens - for example, if Gov is recalled, Lt. Gov becomes Gov.
🩹13. Requires health centers to spend 90% of revenue on direct care and services.
🧪14. $8.4 bond for research into treating cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, etc.
https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-ballot-measures-november-election/

Got to see the Queer Japantown exhibit a few days ago and really enjoyed it! Covering many generations of history, it covers nightclub performers from the 1930s, early LGBTQ activism in the 1970s, joining Asian American events like the Cherry Blossom Parade in the 1990s, and today's activists and performers.

It's often said that Asian Americans are not a monolith, and this is true not only between different communities, but also within them. Queer folks have always been part of the rich tapestry that makes up our communities. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

The exhibit goes for one more week through June 25 at the National Japanese American Historical Society at 1684 Post Street in San Francisco! Free!

Details at https://www.nichibei.org/2026/06/queer-japantown-puts-lgbtq-history-on-display/