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The following letters and other commentary express only the personal opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Piedmont Civic Association.
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The League of Women Voters of Piedmont is sponsoring its second annual essay contest open to all high school juniors and seniors who are residents of Piedmont or are currently enrolled in Piedmont High School or Millennium High School.
Prize: $500 for first place essay; prize may be split among the top two entries.
Contest Rules Content: Your essay should answer the question,
“Given the fragility of democracy as evidenced by the insurrection of January 6, 2021, how can your generation work to ensure that democracy in the United States is strengthened for future generations?”
You may, but are not required to, rely on outside sources that are properly cited within the text and in a bibliography. We do not require a specific format for your citations or bibliography, but please ensure you include enough information to allow us to readily verify your sources. Citations do not count toward your total number of words.
Please keep in mind that this essay is not solely a research paper, but should draw on your personal experiences and insights. Your essay will be judged on originality, clarity of expression, vocabulary and style, proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. Students are encouraged to have a teacher, parent or mentor review the essay prior to submission keeping in mind that all work must be the student’s own.
The essay must be 250-500 words excluding citations. Entries must be typed, double-spaced and in pdf format. Please include the following information at the top of your essay or on a separate cover page: : Your essay should answer the question, “Given the fragility of democracy as evidenced by the insurrection of January 6, 2021, how can your generation work to ensure that democracy in the United States is strengthened for future generations?” See details below.
Format: The essay must be 250-500 words excluding citations. Entries must be typed, double-spaced and in pdf format. Please include the following information at the top of your essay or on a separate cover page:
• title of essay
• your first and last name
• your city of residence
• name of your school
• your current grade (junior or senior)
Submission: Please submit completed essays via email to lwvpiedmont@gmail.com.
Deadline: April 17, 2021 at 11:59pm, Pacific Standard Time.
Winner will be notified by May 1st, 2021.
Read flyer below:
We call on the Piedmont Unified School District and the Piedmont community to acknowledge and support its Asian American and Pacific Islander students, teachers, staff and community members.
Language such as the “China virus” and “kung flu” is mean, harmful, inappropriate, and should not be tolerated at school or in our community. This kind of rhetoric has led to increased xenophobia, harassment and violence against Asian Americans. In addition to the recent attacks in Oakland and San Francisco, Stop AAPI Hate recorded more than 2,800 incidents of anti-Asian discrimination across the United States, including the bullying of children.
PADC also applauds the recent show of solidarity among Asian, Black and Latinx communities. Please join us in a unified response to anti-Asian violence. PADC aims to work for an inclusive Piedmont community for all through activism and connection, grounded in the principles of anti-racism. Ways to get involved: Attend a meeting, join a working group, apply for a PADC grant.
Please see our website for links to recent relevant articles and resources, which were compiled by the Asian American Journalists Association’s San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.
Piedmont Anti-racism and Diversity Committee
Dear Members of the Piedmont City Council,,
The response to the 2007 survey exceeded all expectations. Approximately 3,800 surveys were mailed out, and almost 1,300 surveys were completed and returned. That’s a 34% response rate, the highest ever response rate of any community survey of Piedmont residents. Question 7 in the survey asked “For which types of projects would you support increases in city taxes or fees?”. The range of responses to that question are in the table below.
| Q7: FOR WHICH TYPES OF PROJECTS WOULD YOU SUPPORT INCREASES IN CITY TAXES OR FEES? | ||||||
| Total with Opinion | Response Average | Strongly Oppose | Somewhat Oppose | Somewhat Support | Strongly Support | |
| Additional recreational facilities | 1116 | 2.69 | 20.2% | 17.4% | 35.7% | 26.8% |
| Landscaping and tree planting | 1155 | 2.87 | 13.3% | 15.2% | 42.9% | 28.6 |
| City-owned competitive swimming pool | 1124 | 2.59 | 28.3% | 15.1% | 25.5% | 31.0% |
| Undergrounding of overhead utility wires | 1159 | 2.96 | 18.5% | 11.8% | 25.0% | 44.7% |
| A parking garage in the City Hall area | 1122 | 2.21 | 37.9% | 21.7% | 22.4% | 18.1% |
| More child care centers | 932 | 2.25 | 29.4% | 27.8% | 30.9% | 11.9% |
| A teen center | 1083 | 2.87 | 17.6% | 12.3% | 35.7% | 34.3% |
| Bike paths and marked bike lanes | 1095 | 2.85 | 14.8% | 16.6% | 36.9% | 31.7% |
| A community gathering place or plaza | 1080 | 2.78 | 17.9% | 16.8% | 35.1% | 30.3% |
| City arts and cultural center | 1067 | 2.57 | 22.2% | 20.0% | 36.7% | 21.1% |
| Wheeled mixed materials recycling carts | 1003 | 2.63 | 22.1% | 20.8% | 29.0% | 28.0% |
| Backyard service for recycling/ green waste | 998 | 2.60 | 23.3% | 21.2% | 27.3% | 28.2% |
| Free citywide wireless (WiFi) internet | 1030 | 2.80 | 22.5% | 13.5% | 25.7% | 38.3% |
Additional recreation facilities – check.
City-owned pool? – check.
Backyard service for recycling/green waste – check.
City arts and cultural center – half-check. The city has a classical arts and cultural center. Chamber music only.
A teen center – negative.
Creating a community gathering place or plaza – negative.
Why this lookback matters is because the city is on the verge of missing a golden opportunity to address the two negatives on the list. A teen/senior center and community drop-in space could easily be run out of the East Wing of the building with access to the restrooms in the West Wing and the placing of city staff in the West Wing office space. And no additional taxes required – seniors and the community don’t need to be supervised by staff. They do need a place to freely gather and schedule meetings and an accessible East Wing would facilitate that.
Instead, city staff has negotiated a lease for the 801 Magnolia Building with the Piedmont Center for the Arts that reduces both city use of and access to the 801 building for the next 7 years. There are significant flaws in the lease (https://www.piedmontcivic.org/2020/11/29/opinion-four-major-flaws-in-proposed-art-center-lease/) and better ideas for true community use of the space (https://www.piedmontcivic.org/2021/02/03/opinion-arts-center-founder-wants-usage-opened-up/ ; https://www.piedmontcivic.org/2021/01/10/opinion-a-false-choice-has-been-presented-for-arts-center-lease/).
So the City has two choices – hold a public hearing on the use of the 801 Magnolia building or a second reading of the flawed lease. By all indications, city staff is proceeding with a second reading of the lease with PCA. Unless Council steps up and calls for a public hearing, this opportunity for Piedmonters to achieve long-standing aspirations of a community space will be lost for another 7 years. To that end, newly elected Councilwoman Conna McCarthy could honor her campaign pledge and call for public meetings on the use of 801 before any lease is approved:
“I want to be part of the leadership that encourages large conversations where all stakeholders thoughtfully plan and manage limited resources for the benefit of Piedmont now and into the future.”
Elected Council Candidate Conna McCarthy
https://www.piedmontcivic.org/category/new-elections/page/8/
If you want the City Council to hold public hearings on the use of 801 Magnolia Avenue, you can reach all Council members at citycouncil@ci.piedmont.ca.us.
Garrett Keating, Former Member of the Piedmont City Council
– Piedmont REACH Code problems explained to the California Building Standards Commission –
To: cbsc@dgs.ca.govFebruary 12, 2021
Dear CA Building Standards Commission,
As a resident of Piedmont CA, I have some serious concerns regarding the passing of the “REACH” codes. Here is a copy of my letter to the council that states my concerns. They said there was a survey, but none of our friends were in the survey, so it seemed not to be representative of the residents.
First, Piedmonter’s were not all included in the survey – many friends are upset because they were not included. Many disagree with the Reach concept and do not feel represented thus my suggestion of A ballot vote for all..Second is the impact of cost to the residential home owner. In Piedmont, a normal bathroom remodel will cost say $40,000. If one adds the Reach upgrades, it could add another $10,000. or more. Or consider the cost of a new roof…then add the insulation etc.. As a designer, I am familiar with those costs. Does this mean homeowners will not proceed with the work?
Third is our local enforcement of the use of less gas. This should be handled by an overall state building code to reduce off gassing. The changes are now being studied for action by the State. (Our use is small in the overall scheme. Consider the air pollution of autos and air travel.)
Fourth we also have our regional wildfire electric blackouts which could leave residents without ability to cook and heat our homes if we rely on electric power source.
Years ago, Title 24 was added to the California code requirements and we had a time limit to reduce electric usage by lowering the voltage of electric bulbs. This was handled by the state and the manufacturers were put into a position to create products for the market that fit the bill. We now have those products and enforcement in our building codes. This is a more reasonable course of action.
Sylvia Willard Fones, Piedmont Resident
Editors Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.
We will eventually display the “Things that Matter” quilt, with our interwoven and diverse narratives to capture this unique time, in the new theatre building.
Any funds raised will be used exclusively towards inclusive visual and performing arts programs at PUSD. We are launching our quilt project in February during Black History Month. As March is Art Month, we plan on weaving our creative community stories and unveiling the quilt in a public open space. Quilt Kits are available for a variable donation, and we also are offering free kits to community members who are not able to donate at this time. Our goal is to represent our entire community through this unique art project and we hope you will create this piece of history with us.
https://piedmontstore.org/prod
Students for Solar is a group of twelve PHS and MHS students working to raise the $400,000 needed to put solar panels on the roof of the STEAM building, a newly constructed building at our high school. To find out more see our website: https://greenclubphs.wixsite.c
Our event on February 22 will feature speakers Meredith Fowlie, Gabriel Kra, and Josh Posamentier to inform the public on solar energy and climate change. It will also feature a panel of district employees to field any questions about the project.
REGISTER AT: https://pef.schoolauction.net/
The Wellness Center (Piedmont High School) is thrilled to partner with the PADC (Piedmont Appreciating Diversity Committee) to celebrate and honor Black History Month. Last week we held our first of a three series event. Here is a summary of what’s to come.
2/4/21 from 7pm – 8pm: Listen to the following PODCAST ahead of time and come together to discuss reactions: Black History Buff podcast features The Little Rock Nine on Spotify, 27 min. Click HERE to join.
Wellness Facilitators: Laurie and Amy
2/11/21 from 7pm – 8pm: Self-Care (including self-care through action). Click HERE to join.
Wellness Facilitators: Emma, Lea, and possibly Jannat
2/25/21 from 7pm – 8pm: Somatic manifestations of generational trauma (including chronic and acute forms of trauma). Click HERE to join.
Wellness Facilitators: Nic and Jannat
The proposal recommends the City of Piedmont Recreation Department manage 801 Magnolia Avenue with The Piedmont Center for the Arts guaranteed 1,600 hours of free annual usage. The unallotted time of 2,050 hours would be scheduled by the Recreation Department to fully and inclusively utilize the property for various community and recreation uses.
I am writing to urge you to renew the lease for the Piedmont Center for the Arts. In a community that prides itself on promoting culture and the arts in our school curriculum, it seems inconceivable that the city council might not renew the Center’s lease.
Over the years and with countless numbers of tireless volunteers, the Piedmont Center for the Arts has become a venue for world class musical events. It has enabled our residents to enjoy outstanding concerts without fighting the traffic and parking we face going into San Francisco and Berkeley. Celebrated musicians from renowned companies have spoken of the venue’s lovely space, its stellar acoustics, and the magnificent Steinway piano.
The Center has become a jewel in the crown that is Piedmont, and it saddens me to think of this almost sacred space being used as a community center. Do not let this cultural treasure slip away. Please renew their lease.
Thank you,
I am writing in support of your extending the lease and operation of the Piedmont Center for the Arts.
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