Bird callers from the 47th Annual Bird Calling Contest held on May 4, 2012 will appear on CBS Channel 5 The Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 starting at 11:30 p.m.  All contestants were from Piedmont High School and Millennium High School.

The winners are:

• 1st Place – Greater Prairie Chicken – Cameron Anderson, Tlalli Moya Smith, Sheli Schacker

• 2nd Place – Green Heron – Fenua Ibabao

• 3rd Place – California Quail – Wes Dunlap, Lawrence Ma, William Meredith

City Council also to discuss litigation in closed session –

The City Council is scheduled to approve management employee contracts for the  City Clerk/Management Information Systems Manager, Director of Finance, Fire Chief, Chief of Police, Director of Public Works, and Director of Recreation on May 21.   As with other recent contracts, lower cost pension plans will be established for new (but not existing) employees in these positions.

The Council will also consider spending up to $24,000 for recruiting a new Police Chief to replace Chief John Hunt, who has announced his retirement on June 22, 2012. Of three recruitment proposals received, the City Administrator recommends enlisting the highest cost proposal by Bob Murray & Associates due to their expertise and experience in recruiting for similar positions.

In closed session, pending and potential litigation regarding Blair Park will be considered, as well as undergrounding litigation against Robert Gray Associates and Harris & Associates.

The open session will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 120 Vista Avenue on May 21, 2012.  Click here for full agenda and staff reports.

The status of the Piedmont Avenue Library will be discussed at a meeting on May 29 at 7 p.m., Piedmont Gardens, 110 41st Street in the 5th Floor Community Room.  Council member Jane Bruner and the Associate Director of the Oakland Public Library, Gerry Garzon, will be providing an update on the possible relocation of the library.

On May 31, the City will hold its annual volunteer reception to honor the following individuals who served in 2011 on City committees or commissions or provided other volunteer service to the City.

David Brown
Randolph Deutsch
Michael Gardner
Ryan Gilbert
Tamra Hege
Steven Hollis
Bill Hosler
Anne-Marie Lamarche
Eric Lindquist
Raymond Marshall
Robert McBain
Kurtland Peria
Michael Rancer
Jack Summerfield
Clark Thiel
Steven Weiner
Gregory Young

Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Budget to be Considered by City Council

The Piedmont City Council will consider the 2012-13 City Budget at three separate meetings.  The first meeting is a Special Meeting work session that will be held in the Police Department Emergency Operations Center EOC on Saturday, May 19, 2012 beginning at 9:00 a.m.  No broadcasting via KCOM or the internet is planned. Interested persons must be present to hear the discussions. > Click to read more…

3 Meetings to Deliberate Budget Choices –

Click to visit the 2012-2013 Proposed Budget for the City of Piedmont.  The City Council will begin its discussion of the 2012-13 budget at a Saturday work session, on May 19, 2012 beginning at 9:00 a.m in the Police Department EOC.

The second and third budget discussions will include public hearings on June 4 and June 18, 2012.  There will also be discussion on the levy of the Municipal Services Tax and the Sewer Tax. > Click to read more…

Piedmont’s Actuarial Consultant attended the May 8 meeting of the Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee (BAFPC).  For the first two hours of the meeting, actuary Marilyn Oliver of Bartel Associates, LLC answered the committee’s questions about Piedmont’s employee pension plans so that they could evaluate its possible future costs for the City. > Click to read more…

Two Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) studies released in December 2011 and February 2012 paint a sobering picture of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).  “Actuaries and pension boards make assumptions about future investment returns and pension costs. Unfortunately, they’ve been wrong.  They have overestimated investment earnings, underestimated pension costs and retroactively added benefits without proper funding.  As a result, pension systems across California have huge unfunded liabilities.” > Click to read more…

In late April, 2012, California’s Attorney General filed a civil fraud suit against two defendents, Federico R. Buenrostro, formerly the CEO of CalPERS and Alfred J.R. Villalobos, former Board member of CalPERS, in tandem with a civil suit by the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission.  The two are accused of fabricating documents with a fake CalPERS logo purporting to represent CalPERS approval of “placement agent” fees of $20 million to be paid to the pair by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which handled some CalPERS investments.

Mayor Chiang proclaimed Thursday, May 10th Bike to Work Day in Piedmont, in cooperation with the East Bay Bicycle Coalition’s (EBBC) regional Bike to Work Day.  An Energizer Station to reward and encourage bicyclists was located in the parking lot at Ace Hardware on Grand Avenue from 6 to 9 am.  The Piedmont CONNECT Energizer Station was organized by Scott Donahue.  Kimberley Moses, Jeff Clapp, Scott Donahue, John Castalddi, Allie Robbins, Marcia Jones and Margaret Ovenden took turns manning the Station, handing out canvas bags and treats to passing bicyclists.  > Click to read more…