>>He seems knowledgeable, kind, humane, subtle, intelligent and has very interesting things to say.
>In this way he was a kind of useful idiot for the real estate investors who control the city.
This comment doesn't seem like it lives up to the quality of Tom's HN comments. I would object equally if you were described as a "useful idiot" to those who seek to benefit from property development or own land capable of being developed . Noting that I don't care if either or both of you are "wrong", as I don't care at all about Berkeley politics and planning.
If I did I would listen to Tom and his reasoning as I read his HN comments. That is with interest, more so that he has a very different point of view to mine. With that view well thought out and well expressed seemingly motivated by more than pure self-interest.
The same might well be true of yourself but that isn't obvious to me yet.
