On February 27, 2019, the Piedmont School Board voted 4 – 1 to reject a grant to place a School Resource Officer – SRO – (Armed Police Officer) in Piedmont’s secondary schools. School Board President Amal Smith supported the SRO grant. 

Hearing SRO opposition statements by numerous students, teachers, parents and community members, the Board made the decision to reject the SRO grant devised by Police Chief Jeremy Bowers and Superintendent Randall Booker.  The grant had been applied for prior to consultation with and acceptance by the Piedmont School Board and Piedmont City Council. To accept grant funding for the SRO, Board and Council approval is required. 

There was a complaint concerning lack of notice prior to Board consideration and insufficient community involvement regarding the SRO proposal.

After rejecting the grant, the Board undertook an off-agenda discussion regarding redirecting efforts to reach school goals. 

Interest in obtaining a full time Piedmont police officer assigned to the Piedmont schools was brought up by Board member Andrea Swenson. 

Superintendent Booker appeared unwilling to give up the concept of an SRO; however, upon hearing the emphasis on additional professional opinions and greater community involvement to solve identified problems, he informed the Board the upcoming grant deadline meant grant amendments would be difficult to obtain. 

It was unclear if Superintendent Booker would or would not  be coming back to the Board with a new approach to gain grant funding through a revised proposal.

The public is invited to the Veterans’ Hall on Tuesday, March 5th at 7 p.m.

Surveillance Camera Locations: the intersections of: Grand and Wildwood Avenues; Oakland and Grand Avenues; Grand and Rose Avenues; Sunnyside and Olive Avenues; Trestle Glen Road and Cavanaugh Court; as well as Kingston and Monte Cresta Avenues. These locations may change.

The City of Piedmont is in the process of evaluating and considering a Public Safety Camera program. The evaluation has taken the form of a pilot which has been in process since September of 2017. While the Piedmont Police Department has experienced successes with the pilot, the City is seeking to engage the public to provide information on a proposed program, seek input and answer questions the public may have.

The Police Department is partnering with the Public Safety Committee to aid with public outreach on this important topic. The City has created a web page at http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/public-safe… to provide the public with information including frequently asked questions, important dates for public meetings and the police department’s existing Public Safety Camera Policy. Again, no decision of whether to approve the Public Safety Camera Program has been made. The City of Piedmont, Piedmont Police Department and Public Safety Committee thanks you for your time and interest.

A community meeting will be held at 7 pm on Tuesday, March 5th in the Veterans’ Hall at 401 Highland Avenue. Members of the Community are invited to come and hear a presentation from the Police Chief Jeremy Bowers, ask questions, and provide feedback on the possibility of the City of Piedmont undertaking this program.

Read the City of Piedmont’s Public Safety Camera Frequently Asked Questions document here.

Community members with question about the proposal are encouraged to contact Police Chief Jeremy Bowers at jbowers@piedmont.ca.gov or via telephone at (510) 420-3010.

Information for Piedmonters considering financing options for the installation of solar systems.

Piedmonters, and Californians in general, were encouraged to install solar energy systems following the passage of California Assembly Bill 2188 in 2014. Given the substantial cost * of the systems, some homeowners were enticed by the solar lease option, which required no initial cost. The February 18, 2019 Bloomberg Businessweek investigative report explained that the third-party-owner solar systems have no initial cost for the homeowner, but tie the property to a 20 year lease.

The offer to install a free solar system seemed to be an easy way to add value to a home and lower electric bills at the same time. A few years later as the lease payments escalate, some homeowners are less enthusiastic. Because the homeowner does not own the system, the tax credits are not available to them –instead they go to the solar company that owns the system. In addition, the solar array may have been sized too large as more energy saving devices (appliances, light bulbs, etc) replace previous units. One purchaser cited by Bloomberg saw monthly electric costs actually increase a year after the installation. When a house goes on the market, the lease obligation goes with it as an obligation of the future owner for the remainder of the 20 year lease. The result is that instead of making the home more attractive to prospective buyers, it can be a barrier. Buying out the remainder of the lease is an expensive proposition for the seller, but may be required by the buyer’s mortgage provider. Purchasing a solar panel system may be more economical than than the lease option.

As of 2020, California will require solar panels on all new homes, likely to be third-party-owner solar systems rather than the fully paid solar installations that would belong to the home purchaser. California Assembly Bill 2188 passed in 2014 required all city and county governments to adopt expedited/streamlined permitting processes for small residential rooftop solar energy systems.

* $22,000 was the cost in 2018 for a typical 6-kilowatt residential rooftop PV (Photovoltaic) system, according to the National Council of State Legislatures, but cost of a PV system varies depending on capacity, labor, permitting fees, inter-connection fees, taxes, transaction costs and indirect expenses.

City of Piedmont
CIP (Capital Improvement Program) Review Committee
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 – 7:00 p.m. – City Hall Conference Room, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA

This meeting will not be broadcast. The public can attend the meeting and make comments.

Public Forum: This is an opportunity for members of the audience to speak on an item not on the agenda. The 10 minute period will be divided evenly between those wishing to address the Committee.

Regular Agenda

1. Introduction of Committee Members and Election of Chair
2. Review of Proposed Work Schedule for the CIP Review Committee for Fiscal Year 2019-2020
3. Review of Solicitation Methods for Public Input on Potential CIP Projects
4. Presentation of Current CIP Projects and CIP Wish Lists
   Announcements, old business and consideration of future agenda items

No background information has been publicly provided. Information will be available at the meeting.

For additional information, contact: Staff Liaisons: 

Chester Nakahara – cnakahara@piedmont.ca.gov – (W) 420-3061 & Nancy Kent – nkent@piedmont.ca.gov – (W) 420-3064

Beginning on Monday, February 25th, the City of Piedmont will conduct an emergency removal of four mature Eucalyptus trees and one Monterey Pine tree located in upper Dracena Park near the intersection of Park Way and Dracena Ave. These trees are being removed because they pose a significant fall risk and could endanger public safety. This removal was recommended in the report of an independent arborist which assessed seventeen Eucalyptus trees in Dracena Park. The report provided an assessment of tree health and structural conditions, assessment of tree risk, and management recommendations for these and other trees in the park. The Park Commission was notified of the pending removal at its regular meeting on December 2, 2018.

The work is scheduled to begin on February 25, 2019 and will last for approximately two to three weeks. To ensure the safety of the surrounding neighborhood and park users, a section of upper Dracena Park will be closed for the duration of the project. Though inconvenient, this closure is necessary to ensure public safety during the tree removal.

Tree removal work will be undertaken weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. The removal is expected to generate substantial dust and noise. As part of the removal process, a tree chipper and crane will be on site and our contractors will need to maintain safe zones around the equipment. In addition, to allow safe operation of equipment related to the tree removal, Dracena Ave. between Park Way and Blair Ave will be closed to through traffic and parking will be prohibited on this block during work hours. Street parking will also be prohibited on Park Way adjacent to Dracena Park. Signs will be posted to define no parking zone. Traffic controls will be in place and staff will be on site to assist residents with access to their homes.

Please drive carefully in this area and respect all traffic instructions as this will assist us in completing the project as soon as possible.

If you have any questions about this or have any special circumstances that the City should be aware of, please contact Parks & Project Manager Nancy Kent at (510) 420-3064 or (510) 406-6342 or via email at nkent@piedmont.ca.gov. You may also contact Public Works Supervisor Dave Frankel at (510) 207-2114 or via email at dfrankel@piedmont.ca.gov.

Athletics and graduations will be at Witter Field as usual.

On February 13, 2019, the Piedmont Unified School District’s Board of Education announced that renovation of Witter Field, which had been tentatively scheduled for this Spring and Summer, will be deferred for at least one year. The District had plans in place to relocate Spring athletics and graduations in case it decided to proceed with the renovation this year. Because the project will be deferred, athletics and graduations will be at Witter Field as usual.

The District last replaced the synthetic turf and track at Witter Field in 2007 and these materials are now at the end of their useful life. Also, the underground drainage system is deteriorating, and even moderate rain can lead to flooding and temporary field closures. To address these issues, the District developed site surveys and engineering plans, obtained a permit, and solicited bids.

Renovation costs will be covered primarily by State modernization and other funds, and the Board decided to defer the project for at least one year until there is a more clear timeframe for disbursement of these State funds. Until then, the District will increase field maintenance and this may involve more occasional, temporary closures to mitigate and repair flood damage. This work can take several days and up to several weeks.

Questions or comments? Please contact Superintendent Booker at rbooker@piedmont.k12.ca.us or Director of Facilities Pete Palmer at ppalmer@piedmont.k12.ca.us.

PIEDMONT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT – PRESS RELEASE
February 14, 2019

February 11, 2019

Randall Booker, Superintendent, Piedmont Unified School District – 760 Magnolia Avenue – Piedmont, CA 94611 rbooker@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Robert McBain, Mayor, City of Piedmont, 120 Vista Avenue – Piedmont, CA 94611 rmcbain@piedmont.ca.gov

Re: Retention of Police Officer to Serve Full-Time in Piedmont Unified School District

Dear Messrs. Booker and McBain:

I write to you on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Piedmont. Our organization supports the importance of transparency in local government and a high level of education within the Piedmont Unified School District. It is our understanding that the Board of Education will be voting during its upcoming February board meeting on the issue of whether to employ a full-time police officer in the school district as a School Resource Officer. We are also informed that should the Board of Education approve the employment of this officer, the City Council will then vote on whether to approve this position since the officer would be a member of the Piedmont Police Department.

Our League Board has discussed this issue and we believe that a decision by the Board of Education and the City Council on this matter is premature at this time, and as such, would be counter to our positions on local government and education.

Specifically, we are concerned with transparency and the ability of the Board of Education and the City Council to make an informed decision on this matter with the information currently at their disposal. For example, we are concerned there is a lack of information surrounding the explicit objectives of having a police officer on school campuses, what training the officer would be required to fulfill, what weapons the officer would carry or retain on campus, what the officer’s objectives would be, how success or failure will be measured, and what consequences may arise for the students as a result of having an officer on campus. These are just several among many unanswered questions that we feel should be addressed prior to any formal decision-making processes and, in fact, long before students, teachers and parents are surveyed on their views on the issue of hiring such a police officer to serve in the schools.

We thus urge both the Board of Education and the City Council to exercise due diligence in gathering information about both the benefits and potential consequences in hiring a School Resource Officer, and to fully communicate and share information with all stakeholders in this community about these details before holding any formal vote on the matter.

Sincerely,

Nancy A. Beninati,President, League of Women Voters Piedmont

For school year 2019 -20, Piedmont’s School District faces a drop in Elementary School enrollment. Middle School enrollment will also be down. (See attached chart in downloadable staff report.) The elementary students could be reassigned to equalize class sizes between the three elementary schools. Or, students living outside Piedmont may be admitted to fill the classroom spaces.

When space is available, students may be admitted, under certain conditions, from outside of the School District based on the state law called >“Open Enrollment”. Under the law, students from underachieving school districts may be allowed to transfer into higher achieving school districts based on classroom and teacher availability.

Implications of Program Capacity

“The District’s programmatic capacity as defined [in the staff report] will be utilized in making decisions about the placement of resident students who, in some cases, must be redirected to sites that are outside of their neighborhood school zone when capacity will be exceeded. In addition, programmatic capacity will guide the District’s ability to accept or deny and place inter-district transfer requests [students from outside of the Piedmont Unified School District].”

School District Staff Report

The School Board will consider the enrollment and capacity issue on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 8:45 p.m. in Piedmont City Hall Council Chambers, 120 Vista Avenue. READ the Agenda below for timing: >https://agendaonline.net/public/Meeting.aspx?AgencyID=1241&MeetingID=70531&AgencyTypeID=1&IsArchived=False . The meeting will be broadcast live on Cable Channel 27 and from the City website under videos of the School Board meeting of February 13, 2019.