At a special meeting on March 31, 2015, the City Council made appointments to fill vacancies on commissions and committees. Drawing on the talents of fourteen applicants for nine vacancies, the Piedmont City Council made the following appointments:

CIP Review Committee

Susan Herrick

Civil Service Commission

Sandra Rappaport

Patricia Forsyth

Park Commission

Jonathan Levine

Jamie Totsubo

Planning Commission

Susan Ode

Public Safety Committee

Ryan Gilbert

Garrett Keating

Recreation Commission

Steve Roland

April 6, 2015

School Board Meeting Report by Piedmont High School student Marie Marchant –

On Wednesday, March 11, I attended a School Board meeting at City Hall, which is held every second and fourth Wednesdays of every month. The purpose of the meeting was to go over new courses for the high school, budgets and to hear from the community and any concerns or input about the education system in Piedmont.

During the meeting the main issues addressed were the new middle school and high school pathways for mathematics. Randall Booker, the head of the new program proposal, emphasized how students can choose new pathways that suit them academically and in a way that makes approaching math courses a more comfortable process regarding their understanding and maturity.  Included in the new course pathways is a Summer School option where students can take a course in four weeks over the summer, 3 hours a day, contrary to many other summer courses elsewhere that can take up to 6 weeks.

Doug Ireland, one of the board members, wasn’t in favor for the summer program because of feedback from other summer programs at Piedmont and how few students enroll. He was also concerned it would be a waste of the School District’s money and harm the budget. However, all of the other board members were in favor of the summer program.

Andrea Swenson, another board member, loved how there are so many options for students and because there are so many different types of students, this program will try to relieve some of that stress that Piedmont is notorious for putting on their students.

However, I would be concerned it would put more pressure on students to take the “harder path” or the more advanced pathways because their parents want them to get to a higher level of math quicker or because that is what students feel is expected of them, not because they feel as if they are ready to challenge themselves. I also think that it could possibly make choosing classes more difficult not only for the students but for the counselors as well; the more specialty classes the harder it becomes to figure out schedules for all of the students. Booker also mentioned that support classes are built into the budget, meaning that students have the option of self study, and that there is no requirement to take summer courses to get into calculus AB.

Another large topic was the proposal for a new set of computer science classes. High School Principal Brent Daniels spoke about redesigning the computer course to make the class more relevant, including new subjects such as robotics, web design, computer applications and more. Mr. Mattix, the computer sciences teacher spoke about creating a mobile apps development course, which was suggested by the parent community. The course would be at college level, a 5 unit course, and made for more advanced students looking to challenge themselves. The University of San Francisco has offered to help with the development of the class and try to make it a possible AP course.

A couple other topics were brought up by some people in the audience as well. One woman, she did not state her name, was representing the Parent Clubs and talked about the recent visit WASC paid to the school. It was reported that WASC was extremely pleased by the school and specifically with the new bell schedule, they also highlighted the Wellness Center and how important they thought it was to give support to the students.

The Parent Clubs also reported on creating a mini fundraiser for the teachers lounge because they have felt that it is outdated and has become a storage area.

My interviewee, Ms. Betsy Anderson, Recreation Commissioner, came to the board meeting to encourage people to take a survey on the Piedmont Recreation Department. She said that the Recreation Department is open to all feedback and they want to know what programs are being used the most and if there is more that they can offer to the community for example programming for adults. She said that she has already sent emails out to many in the community, but she just wanted the school board and those at the meeting to take the survey so that the recreational department can get more information about what the community particularly enjoys having around.

The School Board meeting touched on a number of other subjects such as the School District budget, recent activities of the high school students, such as Camp Everytown and much more.

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author.

Student Report on March 18th Recreation Commission by Kennedy Christensen

On March 18, 2015 at 7:35 p.m., Commissioner Nick Levinson called to order Piedmont’s Recreation Commission’s monthly meeting. The purpose of this commission and meeting is to discuss issues, plans, and news having to do with Piedmont’s Recreation Department. This meeting is held every second Wednesday of every month. However, their next meeting will be April 15th.

The meeting began with an allotted ten minutes to anybody who wanted to bring up any issues or ideas that could potentially help the commissioners better our Recreation Department. At this time three students were able to speak. Xavier Prospero first introduced the idea of a clock at Hampton field. Austin Willis wanted to have more easily accessible teen employment provided by the Rec. Department, and I spoke about better publicity for the pool and maybe having more free hours to advertise the pool.

After we had spoken and the commissioners had asked a few questions regarding our ideas, Commissioner Nick Levinson announced that the School District approved a substantial increase (about three to four times higher) of fees for the use of fields and facilities. This would mainly affect private organized groups and teams.

Recreation Director Sara Lillevand then gave a report on the project at Beach Elementary School. The project seemed to be extremely successful with everybody enjoying the new field turf. However, she said they did go a little bit over the budget due to drainage issues though they were still fairly on point. She then gave various updates on potential changes at Hampton field, the approved landscaping and arrival of new lockers for the Pool, the recently opened summer camps registration for nonresidents of Piedmont, and also the problem of parking and access to the Community Hall and potential need for new parking spaces somewhere.

There are two events coming up sponsored by the Recreation Department. On March 28th there will be an Easter Egg Hunt for children ages two to seven, and on May 16th there will be for the first time ever, a Family Triathlon! It is aimed toward children probably under twelve and will include a swim in the Piedmont Pool, and then a bike ride and a run through the neighborhood around there, followed by food at the pool.

The next item that was discussed was the Community Outreach Project that the Recreation Commission is in the middle of, and this was probably where the members spent the most time discussing. It was also led by Recreation Department Director Sara Lillevand. The project contains a few different parts to really try to involve the residents of the city of Piedmont with it’s Recreation Department.

In early March, they launched an Online Survey to get feedback and ideas from people. It does not take very long and so far they have been getting very good responses. However, they want more people to take it so that they can get a wider variety of opinions. It is apparently aimed at people who might not use the Recreation Department programs due to their kids being out of school or grown up.

They also talked about holding a Town Meeting on March 21st and March 25th to allow for people to have the opportunity to sit in tables with a group of people and discuss and come up with ideas for shaping this Department.

Competitive Analysis is the next part of this project and is focused around getting information and ideas from other cities. Different cities were assigned to commissioners who were going to probably meet with leaders from these cities and share ideas. All of the suggested cities were fairly close to Piedmont or at least around the Bay Area, and so Commissioner Terry London brought up the idea of casting the net wider and maybe going to Sacramento or San Diego for some of their ideas.

The final part of the Community Outreach Project was making a suggestion box. The Recreation Department already has a suggestion box online, but the Council liked the idea of a physical suggestion box that people could write ideas in.

Next was the Capital Improvement Program Update, which was that this year there is 400,000 dollars now available to possibly fund projects having to do with the Recreation Department. In past years there has not been money left over and so this year is exciting in that maybe there can be some new projects happen that have been needing to get done. Various ideas were introduced from a compiled list including actual Rec. Center renovations, Community Hall improvements, projects having to do with Hampton Field or the Piedmont Pool, and a volleyball court. They also discussed the idea of saving the money for bigger, long-term projects to be actually carried out in future years. In the end, a decision was never reached.

At the end of the meeting, it was announced by Commissioner Levinson, who is also the Chair, that there will be some changes happening on the Commission. This meeting was Commissioner London’s last meeting on the Commission and also the Commission will be getting a new Chair next month so there will be a change in leadership as well.

Present at the meeting was Teddy King, a member of the City Council. As a member of the City Council she is in a way, the overseer of the Recreation Commission, as I believe all the members of City Council are assigned a different Commission. She is also in charge of, and as of now, in the process of, working with any new people that join the Commission to make the transition easier. She will also be the one reporting back to City Council the topics discussed at this Recreation Commission.

by Kennedy Christensen, Piedmont High School student

Editors’ Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Service to Oakland International Airport (OAK) – 
The BART to OAK Airport service will be operating to and from Coliseum Station. If you are going to the airport you may go into the station as usual and take the shuttle train. Enter the station through the fare gates and go through the station, up to Platform 3 to catch the shuttle train. From the Airport, you will take the airport shuttle train to Coliseum Station and go through the fare gates and down to street level to access the bus bridge.

BART will close service between the Fruitvale and Coliseum stations all day on Sunday, April 5  just when relatives and friends could be heading to flights. Although there will be free bus bridges provided, riders need to assume delays of at least 30 minutes and as much as 60 minutes.

The next track closure will be from 7 p.m. Saturday, April 18 through all day Sunday, April 19. Future closures will occur on two weekends in May, June, July and finish August 15 – 16. (See complete schedule of closures.) Vital repairs are needed to the equipment and tracks in this section of the system.

Piedmont was the most successful city of all Alameda County cities reaching its housing goal within 98%. 

While some complain, some encourage, some dislike and some applaud, Piedmont’s zoning changes to meet housing goals.  

Piedmont’s method of increasing affordable housing has been based on building second homes on a single family lot or inserting second units into houses within the single family zone.  This technique has been done rather than re-zoning land areas in Piedmont for multi-family dwellings.

Piedmont’s housing increases have stemmed from State requirements for cities to provide planning processes that allow increased housing, particularly affordable residential units under specific conditions determined by individual cities.

While some homeowners have welcomed the income from rentals, neighbors’ primary objections to the second unit plan have been streets clogged with parked cars, loss of parking for service people and visitors, increased noise, and loss of privacy and light and air. Some community members have objected to the loss of a neighborhood feeling, ever changing renters, and a fragile zoning system not conducive to maintaining and improving residences.

Piedmont’s planning staff has consistently recommended allowing increased density and affordable housing through second units in the single family zone as preferable to rezoning small areas for multi-family residential housing. Any rezoning per City Charter requires approval of Piedmont voters, although in recent years this requirement has been skirted, and in one instance, conceded by the City Council.

The allocations of housing needs in the Bay Area are determined by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).  Piedmont has been extremely diligent in meeting the allocation goals, despite the fact there is no penalty for failure to build the number of allocated residences, as numerous cities have not been penalized for not meeting their goals.  Failure to comply with State laws can befall a city if they have not provided laws and mechanisms allowing increased housing. Some community groups interested in additional affordable housing have sued cities that have not set in place laws giving affordable housing a chance to be approved through their planning processes.

Compliance with State laws and housing allocations refers to a city taking action to allow increased housing. The number of houses actually built relates to the goals rather than compliance. The Piedmont Planning Commission considers housing unit proposals that do not automatically meet the conditions set out in the City Code for second units.  The Commissions decisions on proposals typically involve variances, compatibility with a neighborhood, parking, safety, privacy, light, air, etc. 

City Administrator Paul Benoit’s report to the City Council notes the outstanding success of Piedmont’s compliance:

“a recent report from the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) that compares the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) progress of Alameda County jurisdictions during the period of 2007 to 2014. As you can see, Piedmont was the most successful city of all Alameda County cities with a 98% compliance level.

“Because Piedmont has the lowest number of affordable homes in the County, the numbers above reflect the highest requirement of affordable units on a percentage basis of any Alameda County jurisdiction.

“Rather than up-zone areas of Piedmont for multi-family redevelopment to include affordable apartments, the City instead focused on second unit approvals as a means of obtaining affordable housing without changing Piedmont’s single-family character. The Code was developed to provide incentives aimed at the creation of affordable units.

“The Planning Commission worked hard in their encouragement of second units, while making sure that there would not be adverse impacts on neighborhoods. Their efforts and the City’s success in the second unit program led to a simplified and inexpensive Housing Element Update process and quick certification by the State Department of Housing and Community Development in December 2014.”

READ the entire staff report.

The Council will consider the progress report on Piedmont’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation at their Monday, April 6, 2015 meeting in City Hall. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. The housing item is not first on the agenda.  The meeting will be broadcast and live streamed.

Public proposals for capital projects should be submitted on The Citizen Proposal Form, due by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15 to City Hall. Those submitting project proposals are asked to attend the CIP meeting on Thursday, April 16 at 7 p.m. to briefly explain the project.  Projects that fill a  community need are more likely to be on the list referred to the City Council.

Report on March 18th Recreation Commission by Piedmont High School student, Austin Willis-

On Wednesday, March 18, 2015, the Recreation Commission met as they normally do on every third Wednesday of the month at 7:30pm. The Recreation Commission is the government body in charge of the Rec Center and all its programs, as well as all the sports fields owned by the city.

The whole meeting was kicked off with a 10 minute long public forum in which three different students spoke on separate issues (including myself). The first student to speak was Xavier Prospero, who suggested that we have a large clock at Hampton in order to make it easier for athletes to tell time while they are playing their sport.

This led into the idea of a possible large clock at Witter Field as well, even though technically the Recreation Commission is not in charge of Witter Field; it is a School District responsibility.

Next, I spoke about a program at the Rec Department known as “Play”. This program allows young teens around Piedmont to put their name on a list, and people who need help doing miscellaneous things (yard work, babysitting, grocery shopping, etc.) will call in and get one of these teens who signed up to come help them out with whatever they need done. I thought this program could use more publicity, since I had been signed up for four months and received only two different people wanting my help with something. If more people knew of its existence, maybe more people would utilize it.Also I talked about more easily accessible work for teens around Piedmont.

Third to speak was Kennedy Christiansen who spoke about giving more publicity to the Piedmont pool free times so people understand they can come swim for free. She also asked for more free pool time. There is no doubt there is a general lack of student presence at these Recreation Commission meetings.  You could tell by the way they simply loved our ideas.

After the public forum came the first item on the agenda, an approval of the minutes for the February 10 meeting. This was approved unanimously. The second item on the agenda was the Chair’s report. Chair Levinson made a report including that the school district had approved a major fee increase on school sports using the fields. Then the issue of non-school sport users using the field was discussed, and the commission was informed by Chair Levinson that non-PHS sports would have to pay as well. This concluded the Chair’s report.

The third item on the agenda was the Director’s report. Director Sara Lillevand made a thorough report of several things including the Beach Field turf project (which was almost on budget), the lack of parking around the Community Hall, the possible renovation of Hampton Field within the next year (if funds are fully acquired), the installation of new locker rooms at the Pool, registration for summer camps, and the Sunday Easter egg hunt. The final item discussed in the Director’s report was the first ever family triathlon. This was all very straight forward reporting done by Director Lillevand.

The fourth and largest item on the agenda was the Community Outreach Project Update. This item was broken down into five components. The first was the On-line survey, which had launched in early March. So far there is a good amount of feedback, but the Commission really wants people who are not avid users of the Rec Department’s facilities to be giving feedback.

The second component was the town hall meetings that were being held on March 21st and 25th in order to gain more feedback on the Rec Department. Here a woman with the first name Jen ( I never caught her last name) got up to speak. She is actually the one facilitating the town hall meetings.

The third component was competitive analysis. Director Lillevand had made a rough draft list of some cities similar to Piedmont, and she was to assign them all out equally to the members of the Commission. The commissioners would then do some research, as well as get in contact with the Commissions of these cities to see how they were doing things. The point of this was to see if the other cities are doing anything really well that Piedmont could start doing also.

The fourth component was a suggestion box. The suggestion box is currently working through email and lots of emails are flowing in. They are considering getting an actual physical suggestion box (I think the physical suggestion box might just lead to pranks). The last component was the issue of focus groups in that they need a larger sample size.

I believe that in general the Rec Department should be thinking about and reaching out to more middle school and high school students. Most of these students do not realize that they have the capability to change things, and that if they use their voice, people might listen.

Item number 5 on the agenda was the Capital Improvement Program update. This program is one which the city gives out money to different projects with the extra money it has left over. Chair Levinson asked the Commission to think of possible projects for the Rec Department that they might want to submit.

The last item was Announcements and Old Business. This included the fact that the City Budget meeting is in May, and that Women’s Basketball was playing in the Northern California Championships on Saturday. As well as the fact that this was Commissioner London’s last actual meeting, and that Chair Levinson’s term would be over in April.

Here the meeting was adjourned. However, I stuck around to interview the only other person in the audience were five students, Jen, and one more woman, Teddy King. Teddy King is a member of the City Council. She used to be on the Recreation Commission, and because of this prior experience she was chosen to be what is essentially, “the City Council’s Liaison to the Rec Commission.”  She goes to the Commission meetings and then reports back to the City Council.

Going to this meeting allowed me to realize that I can actually actively participate in the government body. By attending meetings like School board, and City Council and all the other branches, I can actually affect the way the government runs and what they do. I found that to be exciting. I would encourage other students who want to affect their city or town to participate in these meetings.

by Austin Willis, Piedmont High School Student

Editors’ Note: The opinions expressed are those of the author.