Lawsuits –

On February 19, Piedmont’s City Clerk announced resolution of the second of two lawsuits arising from the excessive cost overruns of the Piedmont Hills Undergrounding District, and the Hampton-Seaview Undergrounding District.  The City recouped $667,000 from over $2 million of excess costs.  The bottom line is that Piedmont’s taxpayers are stuck covering a $1.3 million debacle.

Now it’s over.  It’s time to move on.  We must accept the penalty and see that such gross mismanagement is never repeated again.   True enough.  But there are consequences from this financial fiasco.  Future proposals for tax increases or bond funding for big projects will have to meet higher standards of review.  And if there is any doubt at all about the veracity of new proposals, or the competence of their sponsors, Piedmont’s citizens will probably reject them.  Once bitten, twice shy.

Bruce Joffe, Piedmont Resident
3-4-16

 Editors’ Note:  Opinions expressed are those of the author.

An Opportunity to Serve Your Community!

Vacancies on Piedmont’s commissions and committees offer an excellent opportunity for Piedmonters to get involved in Piedmont activities important to the ongoing success and quality of the City.  These citizen volunteer positions allow individuals to use their abilities on a wide range of subjects.  Being on a commission or committee engages a person in a high level of civic involvement.

Each commission has a special role in making decisions and advising the City Council.  A full term on a commission last for 3 years with a two term limit.  Positions without an incumbent are ready opportunities for new participants.

Interested residents may download the Application for Appointive Vacancy. Applications are due to City Hall on or before the deadline of Thursday, March 17, 2016.

Interviews with the City Council for these positions will be scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, 2016. No appointments will be made without a Council interview.

“On Money in Politics and Voter Turnout”

I estimate that taxpayer expenditures total $1,806,845   (taxpayer cost estimate updated on Feb. 26, 2016 to $1,640,000 -see comment below) directly related to the Piedmont Hills Undergrounding District (“PHUD”). This is public money for private benefit as Appeal Courts have found in other cases. As litigation is concluded, it seems appropriate to close the undergrounding debacle with transparency and not bury it in bedrock. I base my total on the following direct expenses and credits:

•  Nov. 16, 2009, taxpayer cost to repair Crest Road: $275,000
• Dec. 12, 2009, Council gives $1,004,832
• Feb. 6, 2010, Council gives $1,127,013
• Litigation expense up to Sept. 30, 2012 is $118,739
• I estimate additional litigation cost at $298,260 to Feb. 2016.

I put a letter in to City Council asking for the total litigation cost with no response. I speculate the $417,000 Harris settlement covers litigation cost. Credits include $917,000 litigation settlements and PHUD offered to contribute $100,000.

$616,491.50 cost for another private underground district –

Additionally there is $300,000 in City litigation cost plus $316,491.50 settlement cost for $616,491.50 total taxpayer expense for the neighboring Sea View Undergrounding District that fortunately did not go forward. How many millions more would we have spent excavating bedrock next to PHUD had Bert and Deborah Kurtin not brought suit to stop that District?

A Feb. 6, 2010, City Council Resolution states: “WHEREAS, while the City Council requests that any funds expended by the City for completion of the construction project that are not recovered from legal actions against responsible parties be contributed by residents of the District.”

There is no action on or acknowledgement of this resolution.

This June a 30% higher parcel tax will be put before voters.

Rick Schiller, Piedmont Resident

Editors’ Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Honoring President’s Day and delaying their meeting one day, the City Council will convene on Tuesday, February 16 at 7 p.m. in a Closed Session with legal counsel in the City Hall Conference Room to discuss litigation concerning Harris & Associates, the engineering firm instrumental in the failed and costly private underground utility district.

At 7:30 p.m. the City Council will begin its Open Session in the Council Chambers, with the Consent Calendar:  approve Council liaison assignments, approve catastrophic leave donations for Firefighter David Abernethy, and authorize a settlement with Harris and Associates in the amount $417,000.

Next the Council will take up its regular agenda, including the 2014-15 Audit Report, 2015 Piedmont Crime Report, Police Computer Upgrade in the amount $426,205, Emergency Operations Plan Update, Midyear Fiscal 2015-16 Report, and Midyear Appropriations increasing budgeted expenditures by $964, 250.

The meeting is open to the public, broadcast live.  A copy of the meeting will be retained in the city’s archives.

Read the agenda.

Staff reports:

Council liaison assignments for 2016

Catastrophic leave donation

Settlement agreement with engineers Harris & Associates

Audit Report

Year End Crime Report

Dispatch Software Purchase

Emergency Operations Plan

Mid-year Financial Report

Mid-year Additional Appropriations 

School capital improvement program to be considered by Board of Education.

At the Piedmont Unified School District Board meeting Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, the Board will consider finalizing a School Facilities Master Plan. Funding sources and the total cost are not known at this time.

The meeting will be broadcast live on Cable Channel 27 and on the City website.  The meeting is open for public participation.

MODERNIZATION

The Facilities Master Plan process combines the goals of PUSD’s Education Specifications and the information collected by the design team (including facility assessments) into a comprehensive plan for the schools of the Piedmont Unified School District. The main product of the facility needs assessment and Facilities Master Plan is a detailed proposal for renovations and/or additions to be made at each school campus.

The facilities master planning process takes into account all of the information on the District’s facilities, the needs and desires of faculty, staff and the community and projections about future District needs and creates a comprehensive plan for each campus that addresses these issues. The plan looks at issues holistically and creatively to find unique and inventive solutions that fit the specific needs of each campus and community.

The final Facilities Master Plan document provides a clear narrative and graphic summary of the proposed facilities improvements for each campus and also provides the detailed information necessary to successfully plan and implement the improvements.

View the proposed plan here.

Is the Piedmont School District Following the Law?

For the third consecutive year, the Alameda County Auditor has unlawfully exempted dozens of otherwise taxable parcels from paying the Piedmont School Support Tax (Measure A), resulting in a loss to date of over $400,000 in District revenue.  Over the eight-year life of Measure A, the District’s loss will be more than one million dollars at a time of costly pension obligations and the apparent need for major facility improvements.

This needless loss should not have been allowed to happen.

Measure A (mistakenly called “School Measure B” on tax bills) required that as of July 1, 2013, each assessor’s parcel wholly or partially within the boundaries of the District pay the annual school tax, now at $2,503 per parcel. The one and only exception was for owners of parcels receiving Social Security Income (SSI). The District’s own attorney has said all other exemptions are “forbidden”. 

Measure A is a special assessment not based on the assessed value of the property. Hence, the Auditor and not the Assessor made the exemptions, most as a continuation of past practices but seven have been made since the passage of Measure A. One tiny sliver of unimproved land on my street has been routinely exempted for over 25 years. Many are small parcels ancillary to a larger parcel that have been exempted by owners in order to avoid paying the tax twice. A few are church parcels, exempt from the ad valorem portion but not the special assessment portion of their tax bills. And, ten are Oakland lots partially in Piedmont (including Mount View Cemetery) that have never been taxed.

Failure of the District to collect the tax from Oakland parcels may be a simple matter of negligence.  But allowing the Piedmont exemptions to continue and even grow over three years is inexplicable.

To date, no one has taken responsibility. The Auditor’s office said the current exemptions are based on a list provided by NBS, the tax-consulting firm retained by the District. NBS has said it has taken no action, formal or informal, to exempt any parcel. The District has said it has taken no action to selectively exempt property from its parcel tax, except for the two parcels that qualified for the SSI exemption. 

Whoever is responsible, there has been an appalling breakdown of communication between the District, NBS, and Alameda County. The Auditor correctly applied the uniform tax rate of Measure A to every Piedmont parcel except for those on the list provided by NBS. Over a period of three years, he has evidently not been told these exemptions are illegal.

The Measure A Resolution “authorized members of the Board, the Superintendent and officers of the District to do all things necessary or advisable to effectuate the purposes of the Resolution.” Although the District staff was apprised of the problem more than six months ago, it has yet to recommend the actions necessary to rescind the unlawful exemptions — and in the process enhance the school’s revenue.

Measure A is the law and every public official, appointed or elected, must obey the law, however onerous that may be.

William Blackwell, Piedmont Resident

Editors’ Note:  Opinions expressed are those of the author.

The Piedmont City / School Liaison Committee will consider topical subjects impacting both the City and School District.  Consensus is frequently reached in an open exchange of information. Decisions are not finalized during the meeting, as they must be referred to the appropriate elected body for action.  Individuals interested in the subjects can participate at the meeting.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

4:00 p.m.

City Hall Conference Room, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA

The meeting is open to the public.  The meeting will not be broadcast or recorded for future viewing. Agenda:

• 1. Update on the PUSD Facilities Master Planning Process
•  2. Discussion of City Parcel Tax on the June 7 Presidential Primary Election Ballot
•   3. Discussion of Pick-Up / Drop-Off Zone at High School and Middle School
•   4. Discussion of Plans for Full Day Kindergarten and its Impact to Schoolmates and Opportunities for Cooperation 

Materials for the meeting have not been publicly disseminated, however they can be obtained at the meeting or prior to the meeting through the City or the Piedmont Unified School District.