• STAR Test results for 2011
• Budget updates
• Construction Update:  applying for more funding
• Interdistrict transfer policy and regulations based on Open Enrollment Act
• Margaret Ovenden and Mark Aikawa appointed to the Citizens’ Oversight Committee
• Renewal of Superintendent Hubbard’s contract through 2013-14
• Board of Education Election coming up February 17, 2012

And more – read the full report from June Monach

> Click to read more…

A large crowd of Piedmonters turned out on a warm Sunday afternoon to celebrate the opening of the new Piedmont Center for the Arts, Inc.   The former Christian Science Church at 801 Magnolia Avenue has been quickly renovated with roof repairs, basement work,  window replacements, lighting, new stair railings, fresh paint, and new carpet. The renovation work was done by privately raised funds and hands-on volunteer labor. Two donated oriental carpets and a loaned 1903 baby grand piano furnished the former sanctuary.  The City landscaped the exterior grounds and completed the entire job in two-and-a-half weeks, just in time to welcome the community on Sunday, August 28, 2011.  > Click to read more…

At its first September meeting on the 6th, the Piedmont City Council will consider the Piedmont Station town homes development of the former PG&E substation site at 408 Linda Avenue.  On August 8, the Planning Commission reviewed the project and recommended approval to the City Council of the vesting tentative map and the Environmental Impact Report (EIR).  The public is invited to attend the hearing on Tuesday, September 6.   Send written comments to the City Council at 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611, or send an e-mail to the City Council via the City Clerk at jtulloch@ci.piedmont.ca.us. > Click to read more…

An August 25, 2011 letter from Kathleen Quenneville, who served on the Task Force on Undergrounding of the League of Women Voters

Dear Council Member Wieler:

I guess you didn’t really mean it when you apologized for your “Piedmont Taliban” article in the Piedmont Post.  That may be inferred from your “Nattering nabobs of negativity” article in the August 24 Piedmont Post.

I thought you recognized that name-calling was not a productive means of encouraging dialogue about the issues on which we disagree.  Apparently that is not the case.  It is shocking that you would unilaterally dismiss those who criticize Piedmont’s governance as “people who are never satisfied and who will show up and complain at every public meeting.”  This illustrates that you do not understand your fiduciary responsibilities and are not fit to serve on the City Council. > Click to read more…

A letter from Thomas Clark notes recommendations leave the City on the hook for cost overruns

The subcommittee has labored mightily at producing an autopsy of the  financially disastrous City involvement in undergrounding projects.  But so far as I can determine from reading over the glut of words it has produced, it has not focused on what really matters to me as a City resident and taxpayer.  > Click to read more…

“Users should pick up the tab on the pool. I must confess I was always baffled as to why the city wanted to take on the pool in the first place. Other cities are trying to outsource . . . .  And now we learn that budgetary projections are off, that the city cannot keep the pool going without cash infusions. First the underground lighting fiasco, now this….”*   Astrid Lacitis

“The Piedmont pool is a great resource. This is something that Piedmont needed for a long time, and we should be proud that it now can benefit every member of our community.”*  Teddy King

“The pool always benefited every member of our community. Just because the City now runs the pool hasn’t extended the benefit in any way. . . .”*  Ryan Gilbert

“What actually happens when you increase daily access is that the need for a taxpayer subsidy goes up. . . . The only sense in which the Club was private was that the cost of running the pool was being paid by private, rather than public funds. That is precisely the public/private partnership that other communities are now searching for to avoid unaffordable public subsidies in this tight budget environment.  Piedmont already had it and it had worked for 46 years and it chose to throw it away.”  Jon Sakol

“Maybe it is too easy to walk up and use the pool.”* Dick Hunt, Recreation Commission Chairman

(See more comments on the Piedmont Patch)

Read more comments and community discussion on the pool:

• Tax Review Committee Report:  pool subsidies to cease or be offset
• “Pool Revenues Fall Short“;
• Commentary from Jon Sakol:  “How Piedmont Lost a Free Pool”
• View all PCA pool articles.

Jon Sakol Corrects the Record on Pool Takeover

I don’t want to re-argue whether the club’s lease should have been renewed, but I do think the narrative of what really happened is important.  Otherwise, it will be too easy to forget that, if the city cannot afford to keep the pool open or open full time, it will not be the members of the tax review committee or the city council that will suffer, it will be those who use the pool, who were willing to continue to fund the pool themselves, who will suffer.  > Click to read more…

Unanimous Committee Wants Immediate Change – Before Parcel Tax Vote

At its August 17 penultimate meeting, the Municipal Tax Review Committee (MTRC) expressed its “grave concerns” that unless the Council implements recommended steps, “not only will the parcel tax not cover planned expenditures, but also renewal itself is at risk, if the public lacks confidence in the City’s fiscal management.” 

The Committee agreed unanimously (Hollis and Weiner absent) on a final set of strong fiscal reforms to recommend to the City Council.  (A few minor changes will be made in the Committee’s final report for adoption on August 31.)  Four Committee members (Ryan Gilbert, Tam Hege, Eric Lindquist and Steve Weiner) intend to submit a “supplementary statement” (at p. 9) that requires the Council to take specific actions on fiscal reforms before they will recommend voter support of the parcel tax.  Both the unanimous report and supplementary statement propose postponing the parcel tax election from February until June or November 2012 to give the Council time to enact the recommended fiscal reforms.

Below is a summary of highlights of the MTRC’s unanimous report and the supplementary statement, presented at the August 17th meeting.  The full text of both reports has not been released. > Click to read more…

“Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems that the Committee has missed the forest for the trees. The only questions I’m interested in hearing an answer to is whether anyone on the council asked “What happens if there is a cost overrun?“ and, if there is, “Who is going to pay for it?”.  The Council should never have approved a project for private benefit if there was a risk of the public having to pay for it  . . .”

Correspondence has been submitted to the Audit Sub-committee by Sanford H. (“Sandy”) Margolin (excerpted above), Neil Teixeira, Joe Hurwich, and Rick Schiller, members of the community who have followed the Sub-committee’s work and are displeased with the results of the investigation.  Rick Schiller points out a list of items omitted in the draft report and concludes the Committee’s work is a self-examination by two Council members and requires an independent audit to appropriately investigate the matter.  See all correspondence for 8.23.11 meeting. > Click to read more…

On Wednesday, August 24 the Piedmont Unified School District begins the 2011-12 academic year.

Students attending Beach Elementary School will be transported via buses to Emeryville during the retrofit process of their school.   Beach Schoolmates will be held at the Havens Schoolmates facility during the one year construction period.

Big changes await students at Wildwood Elementary School where seismic upgrades are complete, along with new carpet, paint and flooring.  The Piedmont Educational Foundation has invited the community to celebrate the completion of  Wildwood  renovation work at an open house on Sunday, August 28 from 4 to 6pm .