The twisted logic of the left and unintended consequences.

Berkeley's Nuclear Free Zone law questioned

The Cold War might be over, but a Berkeley city councilman is about to drop a political A-bomb on City Hall.

City Councilman Gordon Wozniak wants to repeal key portions, if not all, of that most hallowed of Berkeley legislation: the Nuclear Free Berkeley Act.

"Berkeley should declare victory and move on," he said. "It's had serious unintended consequences, and we have other battles to fight now."

Wozniak is working on an ordinance to overturn the portion of the act that bans the city from investing in U.S. Treasury bonds, notes and bills. In a struggling economy, the city's finance director should have more flexibility and options for investments, particularly conservative ones like Treasury bonds, Wozniak said.

Ideally, he wants to eliminate the entire law, which is a wide-ranging ban on anything dealing with nuclear energy or companies that have connections to nuclear power. That includes the U.S. government as well as research facilities and even purchases of nonnuclear products from energy companies.

Battered signs proclaiming the city a "Nuclear Free Zone" have stood at city borders since voters approved the law in 1986 as a statement against nuclear proliferation.

The law has far-reaching consequences: For example, city employees need special City Council permission - which isn't always granted - to buy police radios, library scanners, computer software and other items manufactured by companies with ties to the nuclear industry.

Wozniak said it's time for Berkeley to move past Reagan era policies that hinder the city more than help it.

Wall street business

"If we're really serious about making a political statement with our investments, we should look at the $20 million we have with Goldman Sachs," he said. "It's OK for us to invest with the bandits on Wall Street but not the U.S. government, even though we're happy to take their money for all sorts of other things. It seems hypocritical."

Oakland, Marin County, Hayward, Davis and Santa Cruz are among other local jurisdictions to declare themselves nuclear-free.

Berkeley Finance Director Bob Hicks said that the restriction on U.S. Treasury investments has not cost the city much money, but that it has limited his options. The bulk of the city's investments are in a federal farm credit bank ($20 million), J.P. Morgan ($3 million), Goldman Sachs ($20 million), Morgan Stanley ($30 million) and Wells Fargo ($75 million). Overall, the city earned 3.1 percent on its investments for the quarter that ended June 30.

Wozniak's proposal has riled some of Berkeley's left-leaning politicians and activists.

"I'll fight this in the streets, at City Hall, anywhere it needs to be fought," said Peace and Justice Commissioner Bob Meola. It "is total nonsense that the act is a relic left over from the Cold War. The threat of nuclear war is very real and, unfortunately, will continue to be so as long as nations and unknown players have possession of nuclear weapons."

Meola does like one part of Wozniak's proposal: reconsidering the city's investments with Wall Street.

'Do no harm'

"I think the city should have socially responsible, clean investments that do no harm," he said. "That could mean we don't invest in Wall Street or the U.S. government."

City Councilman Kriss Worthington agreed. Just because the nuclear arms race no longer dominates headlines, the threat of nuclear war has not vanished, he said.

"The problem is not solved. We shouldn't close our eyes," he said. "The world is still unsafe because of the immense amount of nuclear weapons in other countries."

However, Councilwoman Susan Wengraf said the Nuclear Free Berkeley Act might not be the effective political statement it once was.

Most UC Berkeley students were born after the act passed and pay little attention to the "Nuclear Free Zone" signs, she said.

Furthermore, the act can be a hindrance to research at several major Berkeley institutions, such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, she said.

"Maybe we're a place where this has become an outdated notion," she said. "I think this is a gutsy thing for Gordon to do."