Berkeley Student Considers Run For City Council
The Daily Cal is reporting that Jason Overman, currently a member of the city’s Rent Stabilization Board and a former UCPD Community Service Officer (Bearwalk), is mobilizing for a run for Berkeley City Council in District 8. District 8, currently represented by Gordon Wozniak, presents an interesting situation - it has a good deal of student housing, but also holds some of the most adamant anti-student neighborhood associations.
Wozniak has traditionally been a big friend of the NAs, and his record with students is far from stellar. Given the general lack of a student voice in this city, Overman’s candidacy should be more than welcomed in this race. If the student body actually gets motivated and votes, Overman may have a fairly good chance of being the first student to sit on the City Council for quite a long time.
Haha, why dont I get a mention Ben? I was 4 days ahead of Overman
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/elections/candidates/2006/list06.htm
Oh well, I just dropped out so I guess it doesnt matter anymore.
Comment by jlmay — July 18, 2006 @ 5:05 pm
I support Jason Overman. He’s a good person who will do well in the city council, despite my differing views
Comment by RepBast1984 — July 18, 2006 @ 5:27 pm
hells yeah jason. down with wozniak and the nimby shitheads. i have some ideas so if you want help… let me know.
Comment by mano — July 18, 2006 @ 5:29 pm
According to my sources Overman has been kicked out of the pledge process of at least two fraternities at Cal for failing to meet basic attendance obligations and an inability to work as a part of a team. Doesn’t sound like the kind of person who should be representing Berkeley residents.
Comment by Anon — July 18, 2006 @ 5:45 pm
joverman’s a great guy. he’s very much a politician, but he’s very honest and means well.
Comment by nuance — July 18, 2006 @ 7:37 pm
Anon–
As I understand it, any of Mr. Overman’s lack of obligation to any Greek chapter is due to programming that shouldn’t be included within a pledge period anyway…and that’s not the kind of chapter that I want in my community.
Comment by Punch My Ballot — July 18, 2006 @ 8:13 pm
Just don’t commit perjury jason… I’ll be watching.
Comment by Andy R. — July 18, 2006 @ 9:02 pm
A Possible Expansion on “Anon”’s Post:
Jason Overman has been kicked out of the pledge process of at least two fraternities at Cal for failing to meet basic attendance obligations [for getting paddled in the ass] and an inability to work as part of a team [at stripping co-pledges and shooting them with an airsoft gun or doing “the elephant walk”].
Yeah- Jason is the most horrible person alive and shouldn’t serve on city council, right? Right…..
Comment by Eddy Crochetiere — July 18, 2006 @ 9:03 pm
Thanks to everyone who has expressed their support. It truly means a lot to me.
Before any more baseless rumors are spread about me, I’d like to correct the record.
It is true that I’ve gone through, but not completed the pledge processes of TKE and Acacia back when I was in my early days as a Cal student. My reasons for not completing the pledge process had nothing to do with “not working well with a team.” And, in fact, my attendance records were nearly perfect, as far as I can remember. I’m a very loyal person, I’m very hard working, a team player, and would have made a loyal brother had I completed the process.
I’m going to be perfectly honest: the reasons for not completing the pledge process amounted to the fact that there simply was ultimately not a good fit between myself and the houses. If you want to hold that against me, I can’t stop you. But I love all the guys in both houses, consider many of them my friends, and there are no hard feelings. It’s really just like a relationship that doesn’t work out.
If you’d like to tell the students of Berkeley that they should vote for an anti-student councilmember who has tried to raise rents 7 different times and has manipulated city programs to impose higher fines on the Greek community–and that they should not vote for me because of the experiences I had with a couple different fraternities (which I truly believe are irrelevant in terms of my potential candidacy), I’ll let the students make the decision themselves.
What I can tell you is that I am pro-Greek and that I’d represent the Greek community, the student community, and the ENTIRE community better than Gordon Wozniak. Many, many of my friends are in fraternities and sororities, and I STRONGLY support this community. There are amazing leaders that are part of this community, and I know many of them would vouch for me.
I live on fraternity row and I’ve advocated in city government for the past 2 years on behalf of the interests of students. My record and my interests are quite clear, and so while I can’t stop you from distorting that, I believe students are intelligent enough to make the decision themselves.
I am an advocate for the Greek community and the student community at large, and I have the ability to bring together all kinds of people in the community. This is shown by the amount of support I have in the student AND non-student communities. And that’s what we need to defeat the worst member of the city council. We won’t get student representation if we don’t join hands with non-student tenants, senior citizens, and the homeowners who dislike his record. I can speak to all these issues, and that’s why I got overwhelming support at a community meeting on Sunday, where all the constituencies in the district were well represented.
I hope that you’ll support student representation on the city council if I decide to run, because it is truly needed. And I always welcome substantive, constructive feedback on how I can better represent the community–because that’s all I’m trying to do. Even if you somehow see me poorly because of my past pledging experiences, know that I promise to fight for your interests anyway.
My e-mail is included if you’d like to share any ideas with me.
Comment by Jason Overman — July 19, 2006 @ 2:30 am
jasonoverman@gmail.com
Comment by Jason Overman — July 19, 2006 @ 2:35 am
What does it mean for you to be “pro-Greek”? How would you incorporate the Greeks and all the bitchy NA’s into your platform?
Im curious what your platform is, actually - now that I mention it. I think it’s cool that there is a student to take on the stuffy politicos out there. Best of luck, Jason. The students are behind you.
Comment by Interested Voter — July 19, 2006 @ 8:46 am
169 is running for office, eh? Interesting…
Comment by Anonymous — July 19, 2006 @ 11:10 pm
“According to my sources Overman has been kicked out of the pledge process of at least two fraternities at Cal for failing to meet basic attendance obligations and an inability to work as a part of a team. Doesn’t sound like the kind of person who should be representing Berkeley residents.”
LOL STFU. Get your facts straight before you post up garbage like this. There’s a difference between quitting on your own and being “kicked out”.
Why don’t you post with your real name and repeat the accusations? Are you too scared?
Comment by Alex E — July 21, 2006 @ 5:35 am