Do you want your vote to count more?  You can weight your vote by voting for one candidate rather than the allowed number.

Example: You are allowed to vote for 3 candidates. However, if you vote for only one candidate, you have not divided your vote into 3 parts.  Your favored candidate receives your total support.

Bullet voting has been popular for years and is totally legal.

On Tuesday,  February 4, Piedmont will elect two members to the School Board in a contested election between Doug Ireland, Amal Smith and Hari Titan.   And in an uncontested election, Teddy King, Tim Rood and Jeff Wieler will be elected to the City Council.  The terms for School Board and City Council are four years. 

The Piedmont City Charter language states:

SECTION 7.02 MEMBERSHIP, TERM OF OFFICE [School Board]

The Board of Education shall consist of five (5) members elected from the City at large for a term of four (4) years. Board members shall be elected at the times and in the same manner provided for members of the City Council and shall be required to meet the same eligibility qualifications. No person who has served two (2) full consecutive terms as a member of the Board of Education shall be eligible to hold office until one (1) full intervening term of four (4) years has elapsed. Any person who serves as a member of the Board for more than eighteen (18) months of an unexpired term shall be considered to have served a full term.

City Council election is specified, as follows:

(D) ELECTION. The regular election of Councilmembers shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of February in each even-numbered year, in the manner provided by State law. The terms of elected Councilmembers shall begin the second Monday after their election. They shall hold office for four (4) years. Elections shall be alternately for two (2) and three (3) Councilmembers, excluding elections to fill an unexpired term of office.

Race for Mayor – 

Actually, in Piedmont there is no race for mayor, because the City Council elects amongst themselves who will hold the two year mayoral term.  Voters do not determine who will be the mayor. Usually, but not always, there has been an orderly transition when the Council chooses the next mayor.  Some think the mayor should be the highest vote getter in a class of candidates.  Tenure also plays a role in the selection of a mayor. But this has not always been the rule. In fact, some years ago, when a Council member was in line to become the next mayor, the Council voted to elect another Council member, and the spurned council member promptly resigned from the Council.

The mayor’s term is for 2 years, providing a fast turnover in mayors.  The  frequent turnover in the mayor position supposedly has kept power or control within the Council as a whole and depoliticized the position.

The job of mayor as specified in the City Charter:

SECTION 2.08 MAYOR

Following each general municipal election, the City Council shall elect from among its member officers of the City who shall have the titles of mayor and vice-mayor, each of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the Council. The mayor shall preside at meetings of the Council, shall be recognized as head of the City government for all ceremonial purposes and by the Governor for the purposes of military law, but shall have no administrative duties. The vice-mayor shall act as mayor during the absence or disability of the mayor. In case of the temporary absence or disability of both the mayor and vice-mayor, the Council shall select one of its members to serve as mayor pro tempore.

The mayor works with the staff to approve the Council agendas and presides over the Council meetings.  Unlike many cities, the Piedmont mayor has no special authority or powers other than those determined by the Charter or City Council.

Election signage – 

When driving around Piedmont during this campaign period, one will see lawn signs for School Board and City Council candidates. A new campaign promotional tool has been a large banner covering the driver’s side of a red convertible parked on major Piedmont thoroughfares. Some residents do not like the littering aspect of campaign signs and may view them as unnecessary.  Candidates often want their name better known and want their community support communicated by signage.

All candidates want your vote, contested or uncontested.

The more votes a candidate receives, the greater the perception that the individual is liked in the community and their actions are respected.

In an uncontested election, it is unusual to have an all-out campaign when the individual candidates will unquestionably be elected. 

Bullet votes –

Voters who do not know all the candidates, or support only one candidate, may do what is known as bullet vote for one candidate,  which weights their vote for their preferred candidate.  While campaigns rarely advocate it publicly, the tactic of bullet voting is perfectly legal and it allows voters to place a higher value on their vote for a preferred candidate. 

Measure A –  The Piedmont City Council has placed on the February 4 ballot a bond measure allowing the City to pay with bonds the CalPERS pension side fund obligation and reducing the amount of interest charged for the amount owed to CalPERS.

Piedmont voters must cast their vote on or before Tuesday, February 4.  Each vote counts. 

Election article by PCA.

Prior article in The Piedmonter

City Charter

Press release from Tim Rood –

Assemblymember Nancy Skinner has endorsed Budget Advisory & Financial Planning Committee member Tim Rood for Piedmont City Council in the February 4, 2014 election. Rood met with Assembymember Skinner on January 24 to discuss fiscal and environmental issues and opportunities for Piedmont to collaborate with state government in areas such as climate change mitigation, active transportation, and safe routes to schools.

Assemblymember Skinner has represented the Fifteenth Assembly District since 2008 and previously served on the East Bay Regional Park District Board and the Berkeley City Council. She remains the only UC Berkeley student to have been elected to Berkeley’s Council. Piedmont was added to the Fifteenth Assembly District following statewide redistricting in 2012. The District includes the cities of Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville and Piedmont, a portion of Oakland, and several cities in western Contra Costa County.

Rood has been a Piedmont resident since 2002 and was appointed to the Budget Advisory & Financial Planning Committee in 2012. A certified city planner and licensed architect, Rood has led multi-disciplinary consulting teams and public outreach processes for multiple cities, including Oakland,

Martinez, San Rafael and Healdsburg, and holds a LEED accreditation in green design. His Oakland-based consulting firm, Community Design + Architecture, was the lead consultant for the award-winning Better Streets Plan adopted by the City and County of San Francisco. Rood and his wife Muffy have two children who have attended Piedmont public schools from kindergarten and are now at Piedmont Middle School and Piedmont High School. More information is available on his campaign website, www.Rood4Piedmont.com.

Piedmont, California – January 25, 2014

Editors’ Note: The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office.  Information on all candidates and their campaigns is welcomed.

Piedmont League of Women Voters forum statements –

A January 15, 2014 article in the Piedmont Post entitled “City Council candidates provide some answers in League-led forum,” contains two significant errors. The article both misidentified and misquoted me, and in doing so distorted the substance of my response to a question at the forum about fire department staffing levels.

First, I was not a member of the Municipal Tax Review Committee (MTRC), which completed its work in 2011. I am  a member of the City’s Budget Advisory & Financial Planning Committee.

The direct quotation attributed to me in the article omitted, without ellipsis, the core of my response: that, following the recommendation of the MTRC to consider service efficiencies in all departments, including fire, the Council had later asked the then-fire chief for his opinion, and that he had responded that he would not recommend reducing fire staffing levels. That opinion by former Chief Tubbs is what I referred to when I said we had a new chief now but nothing had changed significantly.

Piedmont’s high-quality public services are essential to its high quality of life, and I deeply regret any confusion the Post’s misquotation may have caused among voters regarding my position on an essential public service at a time when many ballots are being cast.

I urge Piedmont voters to view the KCOM rebroadcasts or the online video of the candidate forum, which is available on the City of Piedmont website under KCOM/On-Line Video/Other Public Meetings, to hear my complete and unedited response to this and other questions.

Tim Rood, City Council Candidate

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.  The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office.  Information on candidates and their campaigns are welcomed.

 

– Financial knowledge and years of experience –

The residents in our fair city have benefited from a long line of dedicated City Council members, including current office holders: John Chiang, Margaret Fujioka, Garrett Keating, Bob McBain and Jeff Wieler.  The range of talent in past and current members have helped steer Piedmont through flush and lean economic periods while maintaining an excellent level of city services.  Not an easy act to pull off.  And while increased revenues from higher home sales and other sources have helped offset rising operating costs – not to mention greater expenditures for personnel, the newly formed City Council along with our TBD City Administrator will face some tough fiscal and planning decisions ahead.

And it’s this fiscal showdown – a showdown municipalities across the country are facing with growing pension obligations matched with increased costs of running a city, aging infrastructures, transportation systems and technology – that I welcome the addition of Tim Rood to our City Council.

Holding dual advanced degrees in Architecture and City Planning from Cal, Rood has successfully managed multidisciplinary consulting teams in numerous cities, tackling just these issues: fiscal responsibility with demands for change and growth.  Integrating new demands for LEED accreditation in green neighborhood design, as well as accommodating more pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and installing greater safety measures in small and large communities, including Oakland, Martinez, San Rafael and Healdsburg, Tim’s experience is all about working with a range of professionals committed to making cities run well for its residents.  Coming off a two-year stint volunteering on our Budget Advisory & Financial Planning Committee, Tim Rood’s broad experience in civic planning will be a terrific addition to our Council and I urge neighbors to vote for him.

Denise Bostrom, Piedmont Resident

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.  The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office. Information on candidates and their campaigns are welcomed.

Lots of ways to vote….even if you have travel plans.  You can vote now. 

On February 4, 2014, the City of Piedmont will hold a General Municipal Election to elect members of the City Council and School Board.  Three seats to the City Council will be elected in an uncontested contest.  The candidates are Tim Rood, Teddy King, and incumbent Jeff Wieler.   Two members of the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education will be elected from a field of three candidates: Amal Smith, Doug Ireland, and Hari Titan.  (Candidates are listed in the order found in the Voter Information Pamphlet.)

Also on the ballot is Measure A regarding approval of a bond measure to reduce the interest rate charged for the CalPERS pension side fund obligation.  The Piedmont City Charter specifies:

“No bonded indebtedness which shall constitute a general obligation of the City may be created unless authorized by the affirmative votes of a majority of the electors voting on such proposition at any election at which the question is submitted to the electors and unless in full compliance with the provisions of the State Constitution, other State laws and this Charter.”

Information on the candidates and the ballot measure can be found in the Voter Pamphlet.  Additional information can be found about the candidates at SmartVoter.

The deadline to register to vote is January 20, 2014. The deadline to request a vote by mail ballot is January 28, 2014.

The Piedmont City Clerk’s Office is able to accept Vote by Mail ballots during regular business hours for the Tuesday, February 4th General Municipal Election now and on election day.  The City Clerk, John Tulloch,  is located in City Hall at 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont.

In addition, Vote by Mail ballots can be dropped off at the Registrar of Voters office 1225 Fallon Street, Room G-1, in Oakland or to any polling place on Election Day.

To be counted, all ballots must be received by the Registrar of Voters no later than 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.  Post marks do not qualify a ballot to be counted.

To find out the location of your polling place or to see whether your Vote by Mail ballot has been received by the Registrar of Voters, please see the My Voter Profile web page.

If you are a registered voter who can’t make it to the polls on election day, you can also vote now during regular business hours at the Registrar of Voters office at 1225 Fallon Street, Room G-1, in Oakland prior to and on election day.

For more information on early voting please contact the Alameda County Registrar’s office at (510) 272-6973.

Resident Rick Schiller recommends contract change:

While I value an informed electorate, John Chiang is a strong advocate for Measure A and no one spoke in opposition. If no one is available to speak then the LWV should have had no speakers on this.

A critical issue of the Sidefund Refinance was not discussed last night. According to the BAFP June 3 Report, if the SideFund is refinanced “without a contract change in the mechanics of the cap, the refinancing of the Side Fund would save the employees substantial money but actually cost the City more money (p19). ”

Taxpayers should have been told that by passing the bond refinance, unless Council acts on negotiating down the Pension sharing caps, taxpayers will be voting to pay more for employee pensions.

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

Non-profit organizations’ use of City Hall, public schools and other public facilities for ballot measure advocacy and partisan campaigns are no longer allowed.

On January 1, 2014 SB 594 came into effect in California and may create hurdles for non-profit organizations across the state and in Piedmont.  Sections 54964.5 and 54964.6 of the California Code were approved by the Governor on October 12, 2013. The new law prohibits non-profit organizations from using the property of local governments in their advocacy of candidates or ballot measures.

According municipal law consultant BB&K:

“SB 594, which takes effect on January 1, 2014, prohibits nonprofit organizations from using “public resources” in any communications that expressly advocate for or against a state or local ballot measure, or for the election or defeat of a candidate, or that constitutes a campaign contribution.”

The law defines “public resources” as:

“Any property or asset owned by a local agency, including, but not limited to, cash, land, buildings, facilities, funds, equipment, supplies, telephones, computers, vehicles, travel, and local government compensated time that is provided to a nonprofit organization.”

Piedmont is in the practice of allowing organizations advocating for ballot measures to use public facilities for promoting ballot measures, including partisan forums and programs.  The City has videoed these forums, programs and meetings and allowed use of the City website as a communication vehicle. 

Editors’ Note:  The Piedmont Civic Association (PCA) does not support or oppose candidates for public office or ballot measures.  

The following announcement was received January 8, 2014.

County Democrats Announce Endorsements

Hayward, California – The Alameda County Democratic Party has endorsed the following candidates for the February 4, 2014 City of Piedmont election:

Piedmont Councilmember – Teddy Gray King, Tim Rood

These are the only official Democratic Party local candidate endorsements in Alameda County for the February 4 election and have been made under authority granted to the local Democratic Party by the California Democratic Party.

For further information contact:  Robin Torello  510/537-6390

Editors’ Note:  The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office.  Information on candidates and their campaigns are welcomed.