The following is a press release from Jeff Wieler:

Jeff Wieler announces his candidacy for the February 2014  City Council Election:

I am pleased to be seeking reelection to the Piedmont City Council. I love living in Piedmont and I’m passionate about helping the city continue to be the wonderful community it is. I’ve put that passion to work over the past two decades as a community volunteer, serving on a wide array of civic committees and commissions, including the Civil Service Commission, Municipal Tax Committee, Ad Hoc Library Committee, Civic Center Committee, and Park Commission. I’ve also been proud to represent Piedmont on the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency.

As a member of the City Council, I have been deeply engaged in all aspects of the council’s decision-making, with a particular focus on responsible financial management. This reflects both my professional experience – I have a XX-year career in finance and an MBA from Harvard Business School – and my personal belief that there is no more serious duty for an elected official than careful, prudent management of public finances. This is especially true in the current economic environment, and I look forward to helping the city remain on strong fiscal footing.

I’m proud to be supported by a supermajority of the members of the Budget Advisory Committee. I’d also note that the recently retired city finance director Mark Bichsel has called me “one of the most productive Council members and volunteers that Piedmont has ever had. Jeff …would take a problem, shake it, and come up with a creative solution.” I fully intend to continue shaking the problems – and opportunities – that Piedmont will face in the next four years and finding creative ways to keep our city great.

Our city will have a new City Administrator shortly after the election; three department heads and a number of important middle-management employees are close to retirement age. I believe that my long experience in the community and at City Hall can help provide continuity and institutional memory during this time of transition.

I am honored to be supported by Mayor John Chiang and former mayors Michael Bruck, Valerie Matzger, Patty White, Susan Hill, Katy Foulkes, Abe Friedman, and Skip Rhodes. If re-elected, I promise to maintain an open mind, listening to all points of view, recognizing valid points and working to incorporating those ideas into public policy.

I would be happy to answer any questions and to hear what Piedmonters want to see the Council achieve in the next four years. I can be reached at: 420 – 3040, or by email at JSWieler@yahoo.com. You can also go to my website: www.Jeff4Piedmont.com.

Editors’ Note: The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office.  PCA welcomes information about candidates and their campaigns.

Letter to the Piedmont City Council,

I was distressed to read in the Piedmont Post a front page story which discussed the long standing PRFO payment dispute and stated that the Post apparently agreed with some unidentified person who had “correctly pointed out” that the PRFO should not be expected to reimburse the City for the City’s outside legal and technical experts’ costs which allegedly “duplicated” similar efforts already provided by the PRFO.

Never mind that there is no such restriction in the Indemnification Agreement which was negotiated and entered into in secret, even more troubling is the notion that the Post apparently believes that the City should have just accepted what the project proponents asserted and should not have done their own due diligence.  In other words, government for sale to project supporters?  Approving a hotly contested project is a governmental function, and not something that can or should be sold to the highest bidder.

Regardless of whether Councilman McBain believes that 3000 residents wanted the Park, that doesn’t give the Council the right to abrogate its fiduciary obligation to all of the City’s citizens – yes, that’s right, Councilman McBain, even those who don’t agree with you – to independently perform whatever analysis was needed to be done to independently allow the Council to come to the conclusion that the Council was being called upon to make regarding the approval of the project and its EIR.

We know from the construction documents (eg, City/PRFO lease) that were prepared by the project proponents that they contained serious oversights (illegal under contractor’s licensing law, no bond required by PRFO (as opposed to Webcor) so the City was financially exposed, etc).

On what possible basis can anyone argue that the City should not have performed its own independent analysis which was required to discharge its governmental functions, including basically gutting the City’s own General Plan through exceptions for this project.

I am hoping that the Council does not buy into the Post’s apparent “editorial” position that the City should have just accepted everything that the project proponents said, and should forget about the prominent campaign slogan that the park was a gift.  A gift to who?  To the project proponents?  Certainly not to the City under present circumstances, as the Council is apparently unwilling to enforce the agreement it entered into, and now according to the Post is apparently contemplating compromising its responsibilities to all of its citizens to act impartially and independently when discharging its duties.

Rob Hendrickson, Piedmont Resident

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association. 

– Ambassador Christopher Stevens’ service to the United States embodies the PHS motto, “Achieve the Honorable.” –

On September 11, 2013, at 7:00pm in the Piedmont City Hall Chambers, the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education remembered and celebrated the life of J. Christopher Stevens, former U.S. Ambassador to Libya and Piedmont High School graduate, Class of 1978.

In honor of Ambassador Stevens’ service to the United States of America, the Board of Education named the Piedmont High School Library, the Ambassador Christopher Stevens Memorial Library.

The Piedmont Unified School District scheduled the following activities to commemorate Ambassador Stevens’ life and contribution to our country. The Board was honored to have members of his family in attendance at their meeting.

September 11, 2013 – “A Moment of Silence” was held during Piedmont High School’s morning announcements in remembrance of Chris Stevens, US Ambassador to Libya and PHS graduate, Class of 1978, and for the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance, the naming of the Piedmont High School library the Ambassador Christopher Stevens Memorial Library by the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education.

September 13, 2013 – During the Piedmont High School Varsity Football Game, a special half-time commemoration of Ambassador Stevens’ service will be held, announcing the Ambassador Christopher Stevens Memorial Library and holding a moment of silence in his honor.

September 17, 2013 – “Constitution Day” – In celebration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution students at Piedmont High School and Millennium High School will participate in activities that commemorate Ambassador Stevens, including writing commitments to the statement “What will you do to improve the community?” The Social Science teachers will share with students the biography of Ambassador Stevens’ service and discuss its relevance to current world events. Purple bracelets will be available for students that read “Remembering Chris Stevens Class of 1978.”

Ambassador Stevens is remembered at Piedmont High School as a former editor of the award-winning Piedmont High School newspaper, The Highlander. He was an outstanding student, active in the PHS Model United Nations Club, as well as active in the AFS Intercultural Programs Club. In the 1978 Piedmont High School Yearbook his quote was, “What a bore it is, waking up in the morning always the same person. I wish I were unflinching and empathetic and had big eyebrows and a Message for the Age.”

Piedmont Unified School District 

– Public Program Presented by Piedmont League of Women Voters –

Dr. Michael Hanemann, professor of environmental and resource economics at Arizona State University and UC Berkeley, will discuss California water issues  at a Piedmont League of Women Voters event on Monday, September 23, beginning at 7 pm, at 40 Highland Ave., Piedmont.

An economist who specializes in the economics of water and the environment, Dr. Hanemann will focus on agricultural uses of water in California and problems with the current system of water pricing and allocations.  He will discuss the history of agricultural water policy in California, the issues of changing supply and demand, the impacts of climate change on water use, and proposals for keeping water supplies viable in the future.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

With the City Council and School Board elections five months away in February 2014, the time for candidates to file papers grows nearer.  Two have announced their candidacy for City Council: incumbent City Council member Jeff Wieler and Recreation Commissioner Teddy King.  There are three City Council seats up for election and two Board of Education seats.

The official filing period for City Council and School Board, according to City Clerk John Tulloch, opens Oct. 14, 2013, and ends Nov. 8, 2013.  

For more information from the Patch on King and the election.

For more information from the Patch on Wieler and the election.

City Clerk John Tulloch:
120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA  94611

Phone: 510-420-3040
Email: jtulloch@ci.piedmont.ca.us
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Closed on Holidays

Editors’ Note:  The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office.  PCA welcomes information on the candidates and their positions. 

– Options proposed have not been made public. – 

For months the City Council agendas have included a non-specific item in Closed Session entitled “Potential Litigation.” The speculation has been that the City was contemplating legal action against Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization (PRFO) for non-payment of approximately $220,000 owed the City for legal and other expenses in connection with the proposed sports complex in Blair Park.  Mayor John Chiang, evidently breaking the privacy of closed sessions, has been quoted in the POST stating progress is being made on resolving the outstanding amount.

The sports complex did not proceed, a result of legal action against the City by Friends of Moraga Canyon (FOMC).  The legal settlement with FOMC included a recently approved contract for a design to improve landscaping in Blair Park.

Piedmont’s Planning Commission will receive a briefing on the bicycle/pedestrian plan contract tasks and timeline by the City’s new consultant, Niko Letunic of Eisen-Letunic. The initial phase to be completed by mid-September will be a “review and summary of existing local conditions and issues related to walking and bicycling.” The second phase will be “an assessment of the barriers, challenges and opportunities related to walking and bicycling in Piedmont.” The proposed plan is expected to be submitted to the City by June 2014.

At the Planning Commission meeting, the presentation will begin with an explanation of the funding of the $120,000 contract — $102,000 grant from the Alameda County Transportation Commission (CTC) and $18,000 from the City’s existing Measure B bike/pedestrian funds.

The public is invited to attend the Planning Commission meeting at 5 pm on Monday, September 9 in the Council Chamber.

– Saturday, September 7 is the final Saturday –

Beginning Saturday, September 14, the Piedmont Avenue Branch Library at 80 Echo Avenue will no longer be open on weekends. Changing from a Tuesday through Saturday schedule to a Monday through Friday schedule will maximize use by the adjacent school. The same schedule change is occurring at three other branch libraries – Brookfield, Eastmont and Golden Gate. Interim Library Director Gerry Garzon promised to assess the public reaction to the new schedule in six to nine months.

Piedmont Avenue Branch Library hours beginning September 14:

Mondays  12:30 pm – 8 pm

Tuesdays through Thursdays  10 am – 5:30 pm

Fridays   noon – 5:30 pm

Closed Saturday and Sunday

Hours Until September 14:

Branch Phone (510) 597-5011

On March 2, 2004, 77.2% of Oakland voters voted in favor of Measure Q for the purpose of “maintaining and expanding neighborhood branch library services, days and hours…”  In 2009 branch library services were reduced from six to five days per week.  This month four libraries eliminate weekend access.  Oakland property owners will continue to pay the Measure Q library parcel tax through June 30, 2024.

The National Eye Institute (NEI) found a 66% increase in diagnosed myopia in patients aged 12 to 54.  (Myopia, also known as nearsightedness, is a common type of refractive error where close objects appear clearly, but distant objects appear blurry.)  The NEI study compared myopia rates in 1999 – 2004 compared with 1971-2.  A new Myopia Control Clinic will open on September 8 at UC Berkeley’s School of Optometry is a response to the phenomenon.  The clinic’s director, Dr. Maria Liu attributes part of the increase to overuse of games and texting on handheld electronics at an early age when children’s eyes are still developing.  Liu noted, “The problem with smartphones and iPads is that kids often hold them closer to their eyes than they would a book, and they can become absorbed for hours at a time.”

According to the NEI report, severe myopia is twice as prevalent among those aged 10 – 39 compared with those over 60 who grew up before computers and handheld electronics existed.  Berkeley’s Myopia Control Clnic recommends ten-minute breaks from every hour of work at a conventional computer screen and encouraging children to spend time outdoors focusing on distant sights.

Coinciding with preparations to open the new myopia clinic, UC Berkeley hosted the International Myopia conference from August 18 – 22, “Reshaping Myopia Control”.  Myopia specialists from around the world presented research related to the NEI findings, treatment and prevention.

Read more in The Daily Cal.

The Bay Bridge reopened to the public Monday night at 10:15 pm, well ahead of the announced 5 am opening on Tuesday morning.  The afternoon ceremony of speeches and chain-cutting concluded with a caravan of antique cars and SUV’s carrying dignitaries across the bridge, escorted by columns of motorcycle police prior to 6 pm.

It was four more hours before the public began crossing the bridge.  Removal of the opening ceremony facilities and a final inspection assured that all major construction necessary to realign Interstate 80 with the new Bay Bridge was complete and the new bridge was ready for full service to the public.  Completion of the $6.2 billion eastern span means a change of focus from construction to the demolition of the original span.