Long Deferred Maintenance Will Be Done-

At the Tuesday, January 21, meeting, the City  Council approved moving ahead with a portion of a landscape plan for Blair Park and authorized landscape design consultant Bob Berkeland, of Restoration Design Group (RDG), to complete his firm’s drawings for the entire plan. 

RDG’s landscape plan was broken down into two phases by the Piedmont Park Commission and City Public Works Director. They recommended that the Council approve only Phase I, which consists primarily of long deferred maintenance.  The Park Commission asserted that further improvements to the park should not be undertaken until safe pedestrian access is provided, another traffic study is conducted, and community consensus is reached on the future of the park.

The Phase I work consists of: removing all Monterey Pines, & all ivy, blackberries & other invasive weeds, creating a 5-foot diameter weed-free zone around each tree on the hillside, surveying the south property line to make certain the City knows the park boundaries, making the park an “open meadow” with possible planting of native grass seed, irrigating the meadow with a water truck, placing log barriers, rustic bollards or split rail fence along Moraga Avenue curbside, retaining the park as an off-leash dog area, and adding the park to the City’s weekly maintenance schedule.

Phase I could be submitted to the Capital Improvement Project Committee for funding this year, although City Administrator Geoff Grote noted that the park  qualifies for money from the facilities maintenance fund. He said the $300,000 estimated Phase I cost must go through the budget process. 

Under Phase I, there will be no proposals for pedestrian access, no new parking, no seating areas, no pathway and no permanent irrigation system. There also will be no gateway monument identifying the park as an entrance to Piedmont, as proposed by the Park Commission.

Despite urging from a number of speakers that the Council approve the entire plan (Phases I and II), particularly an informal, loop pathway called for in the RDG contract, the Council declined to do so, and they made clear that their approval of Phase I does not mean they will proceed with Phase II.  Council member Margaret Fujioka stated, “The park belongs to everyone, and we want to know what the community thinks.” Councilmember Robert McBain added, “The community needs to be on board.”  And Council member Jeff Weiler said, “We are not committing to Phase II.”

New report shows residents and businesses of Alameda County what’s in their garbage and the economic value of properly sorting it.                                                                                                                  

Oakland, CA – January 20, 2014 –   Most of us say that recycling is important, but are we good at it? StopWaste spent the past year taking a look at garbage carts to find out. A report being mailed this week shows that residents and businesses in Alameda County dumped as much as $70 million of recyclable and compostable items in the garbage last year. The report is part of a new Benchmark Service from StopWaste, a public agency responsible for reducing waste in Alameda County.

“Let’s face it, we’re still burying too many valuable resources in landfills,” said Gary Wolff, P.E., Ph.D., StopWaste Executive Director. “More recycling would capture valuable resources already in our communities, stimulating the local economy and creating jobs.” Our goal for Alameda County is that by 2020, less than 10% of what’s in garbage containers will be recyclable or compostable. The Benchmark Service tracks progress towards that goal, and has three components:

1. Random, anonymous measurements of how much garbage, recyclable and compostable material is in garbage containers in Alameda County
2. Analysis of those measurements
3. Reports sent directly to garbage service account holders describing what was found.

The first reports are now being sent to Alameda County residents and businesses. The data in the reports show how much garbage, recyclable and compostable material (as a percentage by weight) was in residential garbage containers, and some categories of business garbage containers, in 2013. On average, residential garbage carts in Alameda County contain 32% “good stuff” (recyclable and compostable material) by weight, an improvement from 60% in 2008. School garbage containers contain about 55% “good stuff.”

Consistent with the data collected in 2008, the biggest potential for improvement is with organics recycling. “If we could make just one change, it would be to recycle all our food scraps in the green bin, all the time” said Alameda County Waste Management Authority (StopWaste) Board President Don Biddle. “This would reduce greenhouse gases and help create compost that’s used to grow food and beautify urban landscapes.” For tips on how to recycle better, residents and businesses can visit www.StopWaste.org.

Jeff Becerra: (510) 891-6549; jbecerra@stopwaste.org

Do you want your vote to count more?  You can weight your vote by voting for one candidate rather than the allowed number.

Example: You are allowed to vote for 3 candidates. However, if you vote for only one candidate, you have not divided your vote into 3 parts.  Your favored candidate receives your total support.

Bullet voting has been popular for years and is totally legal.

Piedmonters were divided when the Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization (PRFO) Blair Park sports field proposal on Moraga Avenue in Moraga Canyon gained Council approval. The project was subsequently withdrawn by PRFO when the cost of the project escalated and a lawsuit ensued. During the consideration of the project, no concern was raised about a lack of a property line survey.

In January 2014,  working on steps to improve Blair Park using proper plantings and correcting deferred maintenance, the Park Commission  recommended to the City Council a survey of Blair Park be obtained to identify the property line on the southern boundary. This recommendation suggests that despite the numerous plans, drawings, meetings, and landscape specifications for the PRFO proposal, the City had no verification of exact property lines when the Blair Park project was approved.

“4. Survey south property line so the City has a clear understanding of private and public property lines (boundary survey); “(Park Commission recommendation)

“• survey the park’s southern property line to ensure City property is properly defined; ” (Mr. Bob Birkeland,  Blair Park Principal Landscape Architect of Restoration Design Group)

Major planning projects, such as the estimated over $10 million PRFO sports field project, typically start with a certified property survey prior to the expenditure of $100,000’s on plans and planning processes.  It is estimated that costs of the failed project exceeded $1 million.

Without legally defined property lines in building projects, the result can be costly property line lawsuits, significant monetary settlements, and even demolition of new construction. Given that many of the property owners surrounding Blair Park objected to the project, settling property line disputes could have proven to be an unanticipated expense and delayed implementation of the plan.

PRFO was genuine in their attempts to find an at-home grass play space for youngsters, and there is no information to indicate PRFO suspected at the time property lines may not have been verified through a survey.

The lack of information on Blair Park property lines raises a question: Over the years, how did the City know what property to maintain as a part of Blair Park?

On Tuesday,  February 4, Piedmont will elect two members to the School Board in a contested election between Doug Ireland, Amal Smith and Hari Titan.   And in an uncontested election, Teddy King, Tim Rood and Jeff Wieler will be elected to the City Council.  The terms for School Board and City Council are four years. 

The Piedmont City Charter language states:

SECTION 7.02 MEMBERSHIP, TERM OF OFFICE [School Board]

The Board of Education shall consist of five (5) members elected from the City at large for a term of four (4) years. Board members shall be elected at the times and in the same manner provided for members of the City Council and shall be required to meet the same eligibility qualifications. No person who has served two (2) full consecutive terms as a member of the Board of Education shall be eligible to hold office until one (1) full intervening term of four (4) years has elapsed. Any person who serves as a member of the Board for more than eighteen (18) months of an unexpired term shall be considered to have served a full term.

City Council election is specified, as follows:

(D) ELECTION. The regular election of Councilmembers shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of February in each even-numbered year, in the manner provided by State law. The terms of elected Councilmembers shall begin the second Monday after their election. They shall hold office for four (4) years. Elections shall be alternately for two (2) and three (3) Councilmembers, excluding elections to fill an unexpired term of office.

Race for Mayor – 

Actually, in Piedmont there is no race for mayor, because the City Council elects amongst themselves who will hold the two year mayoral term.  Voters do not determine who will be the mayor. Usually, but not always, there has been an orderly transition when the Council chooses the next mayor.  Some think the mayor should be the highest vote getter in a class of candidates.  Tenure also plays a role in the selection of a mayor. But this has not always been the rule. In fact, some years ago, when a Council member was in line to become the next mayor, the Council voted to elect another Council member, and the spurned council member promptly resigned from the Council.

The mayor’s term is for 2 years, providing a fast turnover in mayors.  The  frequent turnover in the mayor position supposedly has kept power or control within the Council as a whole and depoliticized the position.

The job of mayor as specified in the City Charter:

SECTION 2.08 MAYOR

Following each general municipal election, the City Council shall elect from among its member officers of the City who shall have the titles of mayor and vice-mayor, each of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the Council. The mayor shall preside at meetings of the Council, shall be recognized as head of the City government for all ceremonial purposes and by the Governor for the purposes of military law, but shall have no administrative duties. The vice-mayor shall act as mayor during the absence or disability of the mayor. In case of the temporary absence or disability of both the mayor and vice-mayor, the Council shall select one of its members to serve as mayor pro tempore.

The mayor works with the staff to approve the Council agendas and presides over the Council meetings.  Unlike many cities, the Piedmont mayor has no special authority or powers other than those determined by the Charter or City Council.

Election signage – 

When driving around Piedmont during this campaign period, one will see lawn signs for School Board and City Council candidates. A new campaign promotional tool has been a large banner covering the driver’s side of a red convertible parked on major Piedmont thoroughfares. Some residents do not like the littering aspect of campaign signs and may view them as unnecessary.  Candidates often want their name better known and want their community support communicated by signage.

All candidates want your vote, contested or uncontested.

The more votes a candidate receives, the greater the perception that the individual is liked in the community and their actions are respected.

In an uncontested election, it is unusual to have an all-out campaign when the individual candidates will unquestionably be elected. 

Bullet votes –

Voters who do not know all the candidates, or support only one candidate, may do what is known as bullet vote for one candidate,  which weights their vote for their preferred candidate.  While campaigns rarely advocate it publicly, the tactic of bullet voting is perfectly legal and it allows voters to place a higher value on their vote for a preferred candidate. 

Measure A –  The Piedmont City Council has placed on the February 4 ballot a bond measure allowing the City to pay with bonds the CalPERS pension side fund obligation and reducing the amount of interest charged for the amount owed to CalPERS.

Piedmont voters must cast their vote on or before Tuesday, February 4.  Each vote counts. 

Election article by PCA.

Prior article in The Piedmonter

City Charter

Press release from Tim Rood –

Assemblymember Nancy Skinner has endorsed Budget Advisory & Financial Planning Committee member Tim Rood for Piedmont City Council in the February 4, 2014 election. Rood met with Assembymember Skinner on January 24 to discuss fiscal and environmental issues and opportunities for Piedmont to collaborate with state government in areas such as climate change mitigation, active transportation, and safe routes to schools.

Assemblymember Skinner has represented the Fifteenth Assembly District since 2008 and previously served on the East Bay Regional Park District Board and the Berkeley City Council. She remains the only UC Berkeley student to have been elected to Berkeley’s Council. Piedmont was added to the Fifteenth Assembly District following statewide redistricting in 2012. The District includes the cities of Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville and Piedmont, a portion of Oakland, and several cities in western Contra Costa County.

Rood has been a Piedmont resident since 2002 and was appointed to the Budget Advisory & Financial Planning Committee in 2012. A certified city planner and licensed architect, Rood has led multi-disciplinary consulting teams and public outreach processes for multiple cities, including Oakland,

Martinez, San Rafael and Healdsburg, and holds a LEED accreditation in green design. His Oakland-based consulting firm, Community Design + Architecture, was the lead consultant for the award-winning Better Streets Plan adopted by the City and County of San Francisco. Rood and his wife Muffy have two children who have attended Piedmont public schools from kindergarten and are now at Piedmont Middle School and Piedmont High School. More information is available on his campaign website, www.Rood4Piedmont.com.

Piedmont, California – January 25, 2014

Editors’ Note: The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office.  Information on all candidates and their campaigns is welcomed.

The City Council has chosen a new City Administrator according to Mayor John Chiang. Chiang reported on the Council’s closed session discussion of the recruitment of Paul Benoit, “We are in the midst of contract negotiations with him.” The salary will be $200,000 according to the Daily Astorian. Benoit was the Director of Community Development in Astoria, Oregon for 17 years, was appointed City Manager of Astoria in 2005 and will be retiring at the end of February. 

“I am retiring from Oregon public employment, and I am going to be taking a job in California,” Benoit told the Daily Astorian, mentioning his grandchildren in California.  Between his two positions in Astoria, Benoit spent four years in Alameda, California as Development Director and then Assistant City Manager. A major challenge in Alameda was the commercial reuse and development of the former Naval Air Station.

Paul Benoit photo dailyastoria.com

The Piedmont City Council appeared to be looking for a new City Administrator who is more development-oriented than the soon-to-retire Geoff Grote.  In August 2013, the Astoria City Council embarked on a major project to develop new land use codes and/or new zones, master plan amendments, development code amendments and/or land use zoning map amendments. Astoria has two major development districts: Astor East and Astor West.

Astoria occupies 10.11 square miles including almost four square miles of its deep water port. The population is similar in size to Piedmont–9,477 according to the 2010 census. Unlike Piedmont, which is a residential community, Astoria has more than a dozen hotels, several dozen restaurants and tourist oriented businesses focused on the waterfront.

The Piedmont Patch reports:

Benoit has a bachelor’s degree in marine science and environmental management from the University of Rhode Island and a master’s degree in coastal planning from the University of Washington, his profile says.

Daily Astorian newspaper announcement of Benoit salary offer from Piedmont. News report of January 17  Benoit resignation.

Report on Benoit’s accomplishments in Astoria

Contra Costa Times report.

Piedmont Patch coverage of Benoit.

Piedmont Patch coverage of retiring City Administrator Geoff Grote.

Astoria 2013-14 Budget.

RISK ASSESSMENT POLICY: What comes first fundraising or City agreement on accepting project funding? – 

A key element running through the new policy is the “determination of balance”- checkpoints where project cost estimates developed by city staff are compared with available funding for the project. The first determination is done by staff and if balance is found, staff must seek authorization from City Council to hire a consultant for implementation of the next phases. As complexity and detail are added to the project, multiple determinations of balance between staff and consultant cost estimates are made and if balance is found, Council authorization is requested to move onto the next phase. Council authorization will occur at a public meeting so the public will be aware of project progression. And it is at these checkpoints that the formal risk management analysis of the project and how each risk is proposed to be mitigated or managed is presented to the public. Cost and risk are to be estimated at each checkpoint.

For public/private partnerships, it is not clear how these determinations of balance are to be conducted. For public/private projects, the procedure stipulates: “If donations are anticipated for the project, [the city will] enter into an agreement with the private party proponents that specifies how the donations for the project are to be collected, held, and disbursed for the project development.” That makes senses but do all private donations have to be in hand at the time of the determinations of balance? That has not been the practice – project approval usually preceeds fundraising – so this area of the procedure needs further clarification.

Garrett Keating, Piedmont City Council Member

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

What bond payment plan should the School Board approve? Residents have another opportunity to provide input on Wednesday, January 22 at the 7 pm School Board meeting in City Hall. 

At the January 8, 2014 School Board meeting, lengthy consideration was given to how the bond proposal scheduled for the June 2014 ballot will be structured. It is intended to raise $13.5 million for renovating and enlarging the high school auditorium known as the Allen Harvey Theater. School Board determination of bond terms is on the January 22 Board meeting agenda.

Some community comments reflect concern that the School District has already overly obligated Piedmont property owners with bonds to pay for recent Seismic Safety improvements, including the Havens Elementary School rebuild, and the sports facility at Witter Field.  Piedmont teeters on the edge of the amount of money Piedmont can borrow under State laws.

In contrast to concern for additional property owner debt obligations, others place a priority on creating a state of the art theater to serve not only the School District, but the community as well. Calls for more modest upgrades rather than the extensive renovation have been met with vocal support for the proposed $13.5 million plan.

Whether to pay less to borrow the money now or delay payment at greater cost is faced by the School Board, whose members want the proposed bonds to be approved by voters in June.  Theater plans were previously approved by the Board, making the plans and money to be borrowed no longer at issue.

The School District has provided the following information on the ballot measure to approve the $13.5 million school bonds,  which will have a final cost between $15.5 million to $19.5 million, depending on interest rates and term of the bonds:

http://www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/aboutpusd/agenda.minutes/2012_13/012214_packet.pdf   Scroll down to page 29 to see how prior monies have been spent.

Agenda for Jan. 22 meeting.

Prior PCA article.

Members of the School Board are:

Richard (Rick) Raushenbush – President –rraushenbush@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Andrea Swenson –Vice President –aswenson@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Ray Gadbois – rgadbois@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Sarah Pearson – spearson@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Roy Tolles (E. Leroy) – rtolles@piedmont.k12.ca.us