Chief Justice Suspends All Jury Trials

California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye on Monday issued a statewide order suspending all jury trials in California’s superior courts for 60 days and allowing courts to immediately adopt new rules to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Read the Order here.)

The Chief Justice said her order is aimed at ensuring California courts—which remain open as “essential services” under Gov. Newsom’s stay-home executive order—can meet stringent health directives, such as maintaining a six-foot distance from others, to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Said the Chief Justice: “Courts cannot comply with these health restrictions and continue to operate as they have in the past. Court proceedings require gatherings of court staff, litigants, attorneys, witnesses, and juries, well in excess of the numbers allowed for gathering under current executive and health orders. Many court facilities in California are ill-equipped to effectively allow the social distancing and other public health requirements required to protect people involved in court proceedings and prevent the further spread of COVID-19.”

She added, “Even if court facilities could allow for sufficient social-distancing, the closure of schools means that many court employees, litigants, witnesses, and potential jurors cannot leave their homes to attend court proceedings because they must stay home to supervise their children. These restrictions have also made it nearly impossible for courts to assemble juries.”

Her order includes the following directives:

• All jury trials are suspended and continued for 60 days. Courts may conduct a trial at an earlier date upon finding of good cause shown or through use of remote technology when appropriate.
• Time periods to begin criminal and civil trials is extended for 60 days, though courts may conduct trials earlier upon finding of good cause or through remote technology when appropriate.
• Superior courts are authorized to adopt any proposed rules or rule amendment intended to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to take effect immediately, without advance circulation for public comment. A court adopting any such rule change must immediately distribute it, and no litigant’s substantive rights shall be prejudiced for failing to comply with the requirements of a new or amended rule until at least 20 days after its distribution.

California Court News Room

The Public is invited to make comments to items on the agenda before the Board adjourns to Virtual Closed Session:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/139610657?pwd=QU1wai9Kb1dLOWpqRmVrazJUV0MyZz09

Meeting ID: 139 610 657
Password: 583881

Meeting begins at 4:30 pm, March 30, 2020

Closed Session 4:35 pm

Full detailed agenda linked below:

https://agendaonline.net/public/Meeting.aspx?AgencyID=1241&MeetingID=77743&AgencyTypeID=1&IsArchived=False

While Federal and State tax deadlines have been postponed to July 15,  Alameda County has not changed the tax payment deadline.

“The deadline to submit property tax payments without penalty remains April 10, a seemingly reluctant Alameda County Treasurer-Tax Collector Henry C. Levy said in an advisory on Friday that reminded residents only the state can legally change the due date.” Pleasanton Weekly

Read complete article here.

The Alameda County website states:

THE DEADLINE for the 2nd installment secured Property tax payment IS FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2020. Make your payments by phone, online (with e-check or credit card), or mail your check. We will honor the postmark date. Effective immediately we will not be taking in person payments.

Don’t believe the hype that you can flush that so-called “flushable” wipe. Despite many marketing claims, “flushable” wipes do not breakdown in water.

“The wipes clump together in sewer systems and clog sewage treatment equipment. An independent consumer report in 2014 even found that a “flushable” wipe would not break down in water after being mixed by a kitchen mixer for 10 minutes. That’s not to say that wipes are bad; they’re just not good for the system that cleans our wastewater so it can safely be discharged into the San Francisco Bay.”     East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)

“Sewer systems and toilets are becoming clogged as too many people are flushing wipes and other cleaning materials.” The Washington Post, March 26, 2020

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/05/21/flushable-wipes-are-terrible-plumbing/

Flushable wipes can twist and become stronger, clogging pipes and sewer pumps, while attracting other materials to them, creating so-called fatbergs — congealed masses of flushed items that float, destructively, through sewers.

“Wipes are kryptonite — they should not be flushed,” says Barry Orr, who worked with Joksimovic on a 2019 flushability study as a master’s student in environmental applied science and management at Ryerson University.  The Ryerson study, which was highly critical of flushability claims for consumer goods, is part of a wider dispute involving consumers, municipalities, the wastewater industry, and manufacturers of personal care and cleaning products.”

Read East Bay MUD here

Read Washington Post here

Click below to learn tax dates and other financial information based on government decisions.

https://sd09.senate.ca.gov/sites/sd09.senate.ca.gov/files/e_alert/20200326_SD09_information_593.htm?utm_campaign=nancy-skinner-information-on-available-financial-relief&utm_medium=email&utm_source=information&utm_content=websitefooter

Effective March 26, 2020, the City of Piedmont has closed Hampton Park (Piedmont Sports Field) until further notice due to community members continuing to gather in violation of both the letter and the spirit of the shelter-in-place orders which have been issued by the county and state.

In order to protect yourselves and the community as a whole, community members must stay home except for absolutely essential needs. While fresh air and exercise are necessary for mental and physical health, please undertake these activities in a way that complies with the spirit of the orders.

John Tulloch, City Clerk, 510-420-3040 

March 25, 2020

The Alameda County Office of Education announced today that they are closing schools through May 1, 2020:

“Seven Bay Area county health officers, in collaboration with their county superintendents, have made a unified, regional decision to extend school closures and student dismissals from regular school attendance through May 1, 2020 to slow the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to the maximum extent. The safety and wellness of students, school personnel, and the community are the highest priorities of all schools and districts in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.”

You can read ACOE’s press release here.

The Piedmont Unified School District will comply with this directive and extend its school facilities closure and student dismissal through May 1, 2020.

There has been a question around if we’re required to add days at the end of the year to help meet the normal 180 instructional day requirement.  According to the California Department of Education, the answer is no. We are NOT required and we will NOT add additional days to our instructional calendar for the 19-20 school year

As we progress over the next several weeks, District leadership, in consultation with the Governor’s Office, Alameda County Public Health Department, Alameda County Office of Education, and the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education, will determine if the school facilities closure and student dismissal will be extended past May 1, 2020.

Randall Booker PUSD Superintendent

For questions, please contact Randall Booker, PUSD Superintendent at rbooker@piedmont.k12.ca.us

The City of Piedmont has received reports from residents that the mailing address on the Census 2020 form they received indicates Oakland and not Piedmont.

The City has learned that the Census Bureau uses the physical location, not the mailing address, of a housing unit to assign it to the proper geographic areas. The Census Bureau recognizes that the city name in the address used by the Post Office may differ from the legal municipality or district in which the housing unit is actually located. This is especially the case for Piedmont, which shares four zip codes with Oakland.

If you have an incorrect mailing address on your census form, don’t worry. The Census Bureau assigns a code to each home, which is geolocated into the proper jurisdiction and that code is the basis of the census tabulations, not the mailing address. It’s suggested that you use the unique code provided on the form.

Mislabeled mailing addresses is not just isolated to Piedmont, and also occurred during the 2010 census.

City Clerk John Tulloch, 510/420-3040

2020-03-24 Census City Inaccuracy (1)

In response to the Shelter in Place Orders from the State of California and the County of Alameda, the City of Piedmont has extended the deadline for Commission and Committee applications until Friday, April 10th. This extension will allow residents who have been working to adjust their lives to shelter in place additional time to complete and submit applications to serve on city Commissions and Committees.

Interested residents may view the Commission Description of Duties, download the Application for Appointive Vacancy, and/or apply online on the City’s web site at https://piedmont.ca.gov.

Applications are due to City Hall on or before the EXTENDED DEADLINE of Friday, April 10th .

Interviews with the City Council for these positions will be scheduled for a later date. Applicants will be notified of the interview date once it is set. No appointments will be made without a Council interview.

Links to information and forms are below:

Notice of Appointive Vacancies 2020

Commission Description of Duties 2020-02-14

Commission Application 2020 (Fillable)

2020-02-14 Volunteers for Commissions

Volunteers are needed on the following Commissions/Committees, and other positions:

Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee, CIP Review Committee, Civil Service Commission, Park Commission,  Planning Commission, Public Safety Committee, Recreation Commission, Mosquito Abatement Representative, Parking Hearing Officer. 

Contact: City Clerk John O. Tulloch (510) 420-3040