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.

City Council Consideration of Police Officer in the Piedmont schools.

Draft minutes of the January 7, 2019 City Council meeting to be considered Monday, February 4, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. :

“Police School Resource City Administrator Paul Benoit indicated that the Police Department had applied Position for and received a grant from the State of California to possibly fund a School Resource Officer (SRO) position. He indicated that the application timeline for the grant did not allow for City Council or the Board of Education to discuss the possibility of a SRO prior to the application. Mr. Benoit recognized that the application for and receipt of the grant was ahead of preferred sequence of events.

“Mr. Benoit stated Chief Bowers and Piedmont  Unified School District Superintendent Booker would conduct public outreach and return to the City Council and Board of Education for determination of whether or not to accept the grant and establish the SRO position.

“Mr. Benoit indicated that the grant offered a grant opportunity and, should the Board of Education and City Council choose to move forward, a discussion would need to take place before the grant funding expired as to whether the program would continue and how it would be funded.

“Chief Bowers summarized his and Superintendent Booker’s discussions for a SRO and discussed existing programs offered to students by the Police Department. He indicated that a reliable and consistent presence in the schools is necessary to foster true and trusting relationships between students and the Police Department. He informed the Council of the duties and effectiveness of an SRO.

 PUSD Superintendent Randall Booker stressed the importance of assigning appropriate tasks to the SRO, and the dangers of involving a SRO with school discipline. He discussed the importance of hiring the correct person for the position, ensuring that they have core values of service and education. He provided statistics on the need for caring adults on campus and a stronger, positive connection between students and officers.

“Chief Bowers explained the grant funds, which would cover the first three years, and discussed the proposed community engagement. Chief Bowers indicated that he and Superintendent Booker would visit schools as well as parent and community groups to discuss and hear feedback on the proposed program. They would then return to the Board of Education and City Council, which will decide whether to establish the program and accept the grant.

“Public Testimony was received from: Sunny Bostrom-Fleming indicated support for an SRO and commended Chief Bowers for applying for the grant.

“Tonda Case, Co-President of Piedmont Appreciating Diversity Committee, questioned whether a SRO was an appropriate solution for Piedmont. She suggested increased public engagement and outreach to determine if a SRO is necessary.

“The Council acknowledged the work of the Police Department in applying for the grant. They commended the relationship between the City and the PUSD. The Council agreed with the proposed outreach program, making suggestions as to how outreach could be most effectively undertaken. The Council requested the Board of Education make a decision on whether it wanted to pursue the program before the matter is brought back to the Council for consideration. (0785, 0765)”

Communicate with the City Council:

 To send comments to  all Councilmembers > citycouncil@ci.piedmont.ca.us. To send via U.S. Mail, use the following address: City Council, City of Piedmont, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611

Communicate with the School Board:

Amal Smith, President, amalsmith@piedmont.k12.ca.us
Cory Smegal, Vice President, csmegal@piedmont.k12.ca.us
Andrea Swenson, aswenson@piedmont.k12.ca.us
Sarah Pearson, spearson@piedmont.k12.ca.us
Megan Pillsbury, mpillsbury@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Piedmont residents can safely and conveniently dispose of unneeded medicines and household sharps (hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, certain lancets, and devices that are used to penetrate the skin for testing or the delivery of medications) in the Piedmont Police Lobby, 403 Highland Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611.

State law (H&SC §118286) makes it illegal to dispose of home-generated sharps waste in the trash or recycling containers.

Approved sharps containers must be: made of a heavy-duty plastic; able to close with a tight-fitting, puncture-resistant lid, without sharps being able to come out; upright and stable during use; leak-resistant; and properly labeled as “sharps waste” or with the biohazard symbol and the word “BIOHAZARD” to warn of hazardous materials inside the container.

For additional information, contact the Piedmont Police Department at 510/420-3000.

AC Transit Local Fare Change Public Hearing
Wednesday, February 13, 2019, 2:00 pm — 5:00 pm. 1600 Franklin St, Oakland

The AC Transit Board of Directors will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, February 13, to consider a new local fare schedule for FY2019-20 through FY2023-24.  The first increase would be $0.15 on July 1, 2019, adjusting the current adult fare from $2.35 to $2.50; subsequent $0.25 adjustments would take effect each alternate year through FY2023-24.

• An option to increase fares based on the rate of operating cost increases.
• Clipper fare incentives (discounts) of up to $0.50 for adult single fare and up to $0.25 for Youth/Senior/Disabled single fare.
• The Clipper fare would be used as the basis for setting 31-Day and monthly pass prices.
• The Senior/Disabled monthly pass and the Youth 31-Day pass would be 30-times the Clipper single fare.
• Cost of the Day Pass would equal two times the single fare plus $0.50 rounded to the nearest $0.50.
• A proposed mobile ticketing application would include a 7-Day Pass priced at ten times the single Clipper fare, and fare capping which ensures riders who pay by the trip do not incur further charges once reaching the cost of a Day Pass, 7-Day Pass or 31-Day Pass.

A decision on The proposals will occur at the February 27, 2019, Board of Directors meeting at the earliest. If approved, the first fare increase in the new local fare schedule will take effect July 1, 2019.

Transit to the Hearing Site – AC Transit Headquarters at 1600 Franklin Street, Oakland

All AC Transit bus lines serving downtown Oakland stop within walking distance of the public hearing site. For trip-planning, visit www.actransit.org or call 511 (and say, “AC Transit”).  The site can also be reached via BART to the 19^th St. Oakland station.

Please do not wear scented products to the meeting.

In February 2018, the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) established a new five-year Transbay fare program that increased Transbay fares by $1 on January 1, 2019. In 2020, the Transbay fare will increase an additional $.50, and will increase an additional $.50 in 2022.

Local bus fares will be on different increase schedules proposed to be July 1, 2019, July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2023. (See related article on proposed local fare increase here.) In 2017 AC Transit dramatically increased local bus service for Piedmont, offering City employees participation in reaching Piedmont’s carbon footprint reduction.

CURRENT CASH LOCAL AND TRANSBAY FARES:

CURRENT CLIPPER FARES:

“The ten robberies which were reported during 2018 were generally street robberies where suspects approached individuals on sidewalks, driveways, or other public areas and took items of value by means of force or fear. One of the robberies was a home invasion robbery where the suspects confronted residents. The suspects in that incident were identified, arrested, and have been charged with numerous felonies. Burglaries, defined generally as the unlawful entry into a dwelling or specified structure with the intent to commit a theft or other felony, decreased from 60 incidents in 2017 to 47 incidents in 2018. Larceny-theft increased from 97 reported offenses in 2017 to 123 reported offenses in 2018. Motor vehicle theft also increased in 2018.”

In 2018, Piedmont police officers made 17 arrests and recovered 29 stolen vehicles with a valuation of $257,800 in events directly related to the Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras. By comparison, officers made 28 arrests and recovered 39 stolen vehicles with an approximate valuation of $254,933 in 2017.
Also provided with this report is a printout of the Piedmont Police Department Case Disposition Report. This report shows the number of police reports generated by the Department during the year, as well as the disposition of those cases.

“While the Police Department continuously conducts proactive patrols to mitigate thefts and other crimes, we cannot overemphasize the importance of residents and visitors employing basic crime prevention actions such as not leaving valuables in vehicles.”   Piedmont Police 

School Resource Officer – Police Officer within the High and Middle School

The Superintendent of Piedmont Unified School District and the Police Chief established regular monthly meetings in May of 2018 for information sharing and to identify collaborative opportunities for improvement. The Department and PUSD proposed a School Resource Officer (SRO) position to the Board of Education and City Council.

Public outreach efforts to parents, students, staff and other community stakeholders are currently underway. Comments can be made to the School Board and City Council.

The Board of Education and City Council will ultimately decide whether to implement the recommended SRO program. Should the program be approved for implementation, the first three years of the salary and benefits would be paid for by a State of California, Department of Justice tobacco grant.

The Crime Report will be discussed at the Piedmont Council meeting on Monday, February 4, 2019, in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue starting at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be broadcast live from the City website under videos and on Cable Channel #27.

Read the full 2018 Year End Crime Report including the Crime Map by clicking below:

http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/html/govern/staffreports/2019-02-04/yearendcrimereport.pdf

A quick 4 question survey about electric vehicle use in the City has been created. It is anonymous and should only take 2 minutes to do.

The City is trying to gauge the use of Electric Vehicles in Piedmont and researching the possibility of getting EV Chargers.

Your response will be extremely useful!

Survey: https://goo.gl/forms/WqQtalqnBYEnTCK03

Thank you. Brooke Edell, City of Piedmont Climate and Sustainability Fellow, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611, Phone: (510) 420-3085

Message from Rick Schiller

“Hi, Piedmont Neighbors! You are invited to play Pickleball on Saturday and Sundays 10am to noon at the Piedmont Middle School. (You can find the sports courts by going down the PMS steps towards the football field.) We are working actively with the City to provide dedicated Pickleball venues in town. If you would like to be added to the Piedmont Pickleball email list and receive notifications of future times and locations where we will be playing, please email: piedmont_pickleball@gmail.com Piedmont Pickleball.”

Discussions limited to Pickleball facilities & play plus general issues directly related to Pickleball in general and specifically to Piedmont, CA.

City of Piedmont
Public Safety Committee Agenda
Thursday, January 31, 2019
5:30 p.m.
City Council Chambers, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA

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. Approval of Public Safety Committee Meeting Minutes for 9/27/18 and 11/29/18
2. Fire Department Presentation on Camp Fire
3. Update on Public Safety Cameras
4. Update on School Resource Officer
   

In the City of Piedmont’s ongoing efforts to assist Piedmont residents in energy saving methods, the following information is provided.

BAYREN is hosting an East Bay Electrification Expo Thursday, February 7^th! This is a great opportunity to learn more about what you can actually do in your homes to mitigate climate change.

It is  from 3pm-8pm at Ed Roberts Campus: 3075 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. “Watch induction cooktop demos, talk with local residents who are electrifying homes and apartments, meet local contractors installing all-electric appliances, see super-efficient heat pump water heaters & space heating/cooling systems, and learn more at workshops for renters, homeowners, and building professionals.”

To register please go to: https://mailchi.mp/energyupgradeac/east-bay-electrification-expo-fight-climate-change-with-a-clean-energy-home?e=f449b1bb73

Brooke Edell, Climate and Sustainability Fellow, City of Piedmont, Phone: (510) 420-3085