“Can American Democracy Survive?”

An International Perspective” Fireside Chat with Dr. Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; formerly US National Security Council Official Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. Pacific (Zoom, YouTube streaming)

Please join the League of Women Voters of Piedmont on Wednesday, March 30th, 2022, at 4pm for a fireside chat with Dr. Fiona Hill. She will speak about the current state of American democracy, from both domestic and international points of view.

What is likely to happen in Ukraine? Is the crisis likely to spill over into other neighboring countries?

Learn what the current situation means for the international security order we have known since the end of the Cold War and what the implications are for our own democracy.

Dr. Fiona Hill is the Robert Bosch Senior Fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution and member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Her most recent book, There is Nothing for You Here, draws on her personal journey out of poverty, as well as her unique perspectives asan historian and policy maker, to show how we can return hope to our forgotten places.

From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Hill served as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council. From 2006 to 2009, she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council. She has researched and published extensively on issues related to Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, regional conflicts, energy, and strategic issues.

Coauthor of Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin and The Siberian Curse: How Communist Planners Left Russia Out in the Cold, Hill  holds a master’s degree in Soviet studies and a doctorate in history from Harvard University and a master’s in Russian and modern history from St. Andrews University in Scotland.

This event is part of the Piedmont League’s 2022 Defending Democracy Speaker Series and is co-sponsored by local Leagues in Oakland, CA; Santa Barbara, CA; Solano County, CA; Portland, OR; Gunnison Valley, CO; Pueblo, CO, Pike’s Peak Region, CO; and Collier County, FL.

This talk will be held live on Zoom and YouTube and will include an audience question and answer session. Please visit the Piedmont website (lwvpiedmont.org) to learn more about the series and register for this event. Once you have registered, you will receive the Zoom link by email.

The event is free and open to the public.

Now is the time !

by March 21, 2022

to volunteer for City of Piedmont Committees and Commissions –

Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee, Civil Service Commission, Park Commission, Planning Commission, Public Safety Committee, Recreation Commission,  Mosquito Abatement Representative

Information  is linked below:

Residents wishing to apply must take one of the following two actions on or before the posted deadline of Monday, March 21, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. Postmarks will not be accepted for paper applications.

1) Apply online OR

2) Complete and return the paper application form A link to the electronic application and a downloadable application for paper submission are available on the city’s website at https://piedmont.ca.gov or from the office of the City Clerk, Piedmont City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, or by telephone at (510) 420-3040.

All applicants must be available for an interview with the City Council the evening of Monday, March 28, 2022, at which time appointments may be made.

Read links below:

PCA Commission Application 2022

PCA Commission Description of Duties 2022-02-28

PCA2022-02-28 Volunteers for Commissions-Committees

PCA Notice of Appointive Vacancies 2022

The Piedmont Civic Association congratulates Jennifer Long as Piedmont’s newest councilmember and thanks all 11 candidates who were willing to offer their skills to the City in this volunteer position.

At a special meeting on February 7, 2022, the Piedmont City Council selected Jennifer Long to fill the vacancy on the Council created by the resignation of Councilmember Tim Rood from among eleven applicants for the position. Ms. Long will be sworn in at the City Council meeting on February 22, 2022, and her term will run until the results of the General Municipal Election of November 8, 2022 are certified, which likely will take place at a Council meeting in December, 2022.  John O. Tulloch City Clerk

City Press Release: 2022-02-08 Long Appointed to City Council. 

Long, an attorney, resides on Crocker Avenue, where she lives and works. 

Long’s application:   Long, Jennifer – Application 2022

Selection of the New City Council Member to Fill the Vacancy has Citizens Confused

The Resignation of former Council member Tim Rood makes way for a replacement City Council Member outside of the normal election process.  Citizens reading the public posting could not tell how to participate or observe the February 7, 2022. 4pm City Council meeting focused on the Council member replacement.  The agenda does not notice a virtual/teleconferenced meeting.  See Agenda and Staff report linked below:

2.  Staff report on reasons to hold virtual/teleconferenced meetings > 2.7.2022

SECTION 4. The City Council reconfirms and incorporates the findings made in Resolution 77-2021 regarding the need for the Council and all Commissions, Committees, or advisory bodies of the City of Piedmont to meet by teleconference.

3.  Interviews of candidates

4.  Consideration of Appointment of Candidate to Vacant City Council Seat. > council-special-agenda 2.7.2022  

Council selection process thwarts public viewing and participation.

Per the California Brown Act (Sunshine law), Council candidate interviews and their actual applications seeking appointment to public office are required to be open and available to the public. The City is not following their own meeting procedures on COVID safety for virtual meetings.  The City has also not publicly disseminated the written applications.

The City has decided to hold the interviews and selection process in the Piedmont Police Department Emergency Operation Center (EOC) on Highland Avenue rather than in the Council Chambers wherein cameras can readily record and broadcast proceedings.  Only COVID compliant individuals can physically enter the Police Department to potentially observe and participate in the Council selection process. 

Candidate interviews had originally been scheduled “virtually” and would have been held in the Council Chambers allowing at home viewing through Zoom of the interview sessions and the Council selection process.

For years, the EOC and Council Conference Room have been selectively used for meetings where video recordings were not produced.  Some past noteworthy meetings held away from camera access have been the Piedmont Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee, interviews of candidates for commission appointments, and the City Department Budget presentations. 

Persons interested in participating in the interview process may enter the Police Department EOC on Highland Avenue at their own risk and observe the interviews and the selection process Monday, February 7, 2022 at 4 p.m.

City of Piedmont 2022 City Council Vacancy Applicant List:

Robert Dickinson

Connie Herrick

Deborah Leland

Jennifer Long

Hugh Louch

Thomas MacBride

Richard Raushenbush

Steve Roland

Andrea Ruiz-Esquide

Billy Rusteen

Ruchi Shrivastava Medhekar

Agenda council-special-agenda 2.7.2022

Staff report continuing virtual meetings.2.7.2022

Editors’ Note:  On February 7, 2022, at the Special Council meeting held away from broadcast capability in the Police Department EOC, Jennifer Long was selected by the City Council to fill the Tim Rood vacancy. Once the City Clerk releases information about Jennifer Long, it will be published on this site.

The Piedmont Police and Fire Pension Board has no authority in Pool or City financial matters.  However, in a staff report for an expanded meeting with the City Investment Sub-committee, the Pension Board is jointly involved in consideration of City assets  (separate from Pension funds) and the Pool Complex Bond funds.  City_Investment_Report_FY21-22_Q2   Fiscal Year 2021-22: 2nd Quarter Report on the City’s Investment Portfolio

City Code: SEC. 26.1 PENSION BOARD [Charge]

“A board is hereby created whose duty it shall be to handle and administer pensions for retired members and benefits for members, their nominees and the widows and minor children of deceased members of the police and fire departments of the City of Piedmont.

The Pension Board shall be comprised of the mayor, one member of the City Council, one member of the police department, one member of the fire department, and one community representative appointed by the Council for a three-year term of office commencing April l. Each said department member shall be selected from the rank and file of each respective department. The Council member and the community representative shall be selected by the members of the Council of the City of Piedmont.

The pension board shall select its own chairman and secretary and shall administer all matters pertaining to pensions in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter 26. The pension board shall have power, by resolution, to provide rules and regulations for the administration of all matters pertaining to pensions and benefits hereunder, and shall invest the pension fund, or direct that their investments be made by or through investment counsel, trust companies, or trust departments of banks, or any combination thereof, in accordance with City ordinances applicable to the investment of funds of municipal retirement systems, and if there be none, in accordance with state law. (Ord. No. 396 N.S., §1; Ord. No. 42l N.S., §l)”

City of Piedmont Police & Fire Pension Board & City Investment Subcommittee

Agenda Wednesday, January 26, 2022 4:00 p.m.

Via Teleconference

See agenda details below:

Pension Board Agenda 2022-01-26

Pension 2021-10-27

Finance Director’s Memo 1:2022

City_Investment_Report_FY21-22_Q2

The Finance Director’s staff report regarding a disability applicant is purposely omitted from this article to protect the privacy of the applicant’s medical condition.   https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/opinions/pdfs/04-408.pdf 

If readers need more information on the disability application, please contact the City Clerk at 510/420-3040.

Official Notice: 

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO FILL A VACANCY ON THE CITY COUNCIL BY APPOINTMENT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Piedmont will accept applications from qualified voters for appointment to the City Council to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Councilmember Tim Rood, effective on December 31, 2021. To be eligible to serve on the City Council, a person must meet three requirements.

First, the person must be a qualified voter in the City.

Second, the person must not hold any other office or employment with the City.

Third, the person must not be rendered ineligible due to the term limits provisions of the Charter.

The term of this Council seat is from the date of appointment until the results of the General Municipal Election of November 8, 2022 are certified, which likely will take place at a Council meeting in December, 2022.

Original or electronic applications must be delivered to the City Clerk’s Office by 5:00 p.m. Monday, January 31, 2022. Postmarks will not be accepted.

The City Council will interview candidates separately and each applicant will have the opportunity to present their qualifications and discuss their candidacy with the City Council.

At a special meeting of the City Council on February 7, 2022 in the afternoon/evening, each applicant will be asked to make a brief presentation to the City Council. The applicant may then be asked to respond to questions the City Council may have regarding their presentation or application. Applicants are requested to hold this date available for interview. An appointment will not be made without a Council interview.

The City Council may make an appointment at the special meeting or may direct staff to place the matter on a future agenda for action.

Upon appointment, the successful candidate will be required to complete and file a Form 700 Statement of Economic Interests. For more information on this requirement, please contact the City Clerk.

Applications both written and electronic are available on the City website at https://piedmont.ca.gov and from the City Clerk’s Office.

Application Period: Friday, January 7, 2022 through Monday, January 31, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.

Applications must be returned to: City Clerk’s Office 120 Vista Avenue Piedmont, CA 94611

Application Deadline: Monday, January 31, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.

Interviews: Monday, February 7, 2022

For more information on the application process, please contact City Clerk John O. Tulloch at (510) 420-3041 or jtulloch@piedmont.ca.gov

READ the notice   >Council Vacancy 2022-01-07

John O. Tulloch
Assistant City Administrator / City Clerk
City of Piedmont
120 Vista Avenue
Piedmont, California 94611
Phone: (510) 420-3040
Fax: (510) 653-8272

AGENDA >Council-current-agenda 162022

STAFF REPORT > Council Seat Vacated by the Resignation of Councilmember Tim Rood

Read the flyer > LWVP 2022 Defending Democracy Series v.2

Editors Note: The League of Women Voters of Piedmont and the Piedmont Civic Association are separate organizations.