The Oakland Branch Library on 40th Street remains open on a month-to-month basis for now.    In its June 2011 decision, Oakland’s City Council approved a budget for the 2011-2013 fiscal years that suggested all Oakland Public branch libraries would remain open.  Piedmont Avenue neighbors hoped that included the branch library on Piedmont Avenue.  See hours of all Oakland libraries. Click to read more »

And Unexpected Construction Costs –

The Beach School construction project remains on schedule to be completed by August 1, 2012, despite running into costly obstacles, including the need for a new roof.   On the brighter side, $8 million in State matching funds have finally been confirmed and will be in hand before the end of February, eliminating the need to borrow these monies and incur finance charges. Click to read more »

Off-street parking space would not be required for new low income second units – 

The Planning Commission will continue discussions on a new second unit ordinance at its meeting on Monday, February 13.  The new law would permit a second unit on any residential parcel in Piedmont without off-street parking as long as low-income rent and size restrictions are met.  Sufficient on-street parking would be necessary in the general vicinity of the location, but not necessarily in front of the house. A variance would no longer be necessary.

Click to read more »

Regarding the Piedmont Post‘s coverage of election results: “With friends at the Post, who needs enemies!” 

Dear Editors:

Chucking City Council candidate Tim Rood’s photo to the back page of the election coverage and cropping his supporters out is an all time low.  I could see it if Tim Rood had the nasty habit of Click to read more »

Discussion of fees and finances –

A second hearing/workshop concerning the Piedmont Community Pool will be held by the Piedmont Recreation Commission on Wednesday, February 15, at the City Council Chambers, 120 Vista Avenue, beginning at 7:30pm.  The pool  has been under management of the City of Piedmont Recreation Department since July 1, 2011.

Click to read more »

The Piedmont School District’s Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC), led by Chair Ken Jensen, will finalize its comparative charts and recommendation on the school parcel tax levy for FY 2012-13 at its meeting on Friday, February 10 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.  See CAC Agenda 2-10-12. Click to read more »

UPDATED 2/10/12 as of 9 a.m. – final results not yet available  Piedmont’s precinct 281300 was randomly selected as the precinct to be manually counted by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters for comparison with the unofficial computer count.  Results of the recount will be known on Friday, February 10, or Tuesday, February 14.  At that time the election results will become final, assuming there is no challenge.  State law requires the random precinct manual recount and official certification by the County.  Once certified the City Council will vote to accept the election results.

Of the 8,175 registered voters in Piedmont, 4,172 cast a ballot presenting a 51.01% voter turn out by mail or at the polls.  All numbers have been updated as of February 8 at 3:54 p.m.

Unofficial results on the Alameda County website election page show:

Measure A Sewer Surcharge Tax

(did not pass – needed 2/3’s vote )   51% Yes  2,000  –  49% No  1,949

City Council Vote

The two candidates with highest number of votes are elected to the Council.

Fujioka 39% 2,709   –   McBain 30% 2,089

  Rood 30% 2,063

School Board Vote

The three candidates with highest number of votes are elected to the School Board.

Pearson  32%  3,099 –   Swenson 29% 2,794 –  Raushenbush 24% 2,327 

   Elliott 13% 1,247  –   Bostrum 1%  135

In the City Council race,  the incumbent Margaret Fujioka made a strong showing of 39.48%.  This compared to 30.45% and 30.07% for Bob McBain and Tim Rood, respectively.

In the tight race for second place, the City of Piedmont election page shows that half of Piedmont’s precincts were won by Rood and half won by McBain.  McBain received 26 more votes overall than Rood, securing the second council seat if unofficial results hold through the final election results.  Rood was strong in the northern and western portions of town (precincts 280700, 280100, and 281600) while McBain came to the fore in the eastern and southern areas (precincts 280500, 281300, 28100).

In the School Board race, Pearson led with 32.27% of the vote overall, followed closely by Andrea Swenson with 29.10% and Rick Raushenbush with 24.23%.  Jon Elliott received 12.99% of the vote and Nancy “Sunny” Bostrum 1.41%.  Results were consistent throughout all precincts.  Pearson,  Swenson and Raushenbush won the 3 available seats, if unofficial results hold through the final election results.

The Measure A vote on the Sewer Surcharge Tax was split evenly – no = 49.35% and yes = 50.65%, and therefore failed, as any parcel tax requires 66 & 2/3’s% voter approval for passage.

Unofficial results, which include “Vote-By-Mail Ballots” handed in on election day, are presented in these February 8 updated numbers.  The City of  Piedmont has posted the updated results on their website.

The Piedmont Civic Association commends all of the candidates, campaign workers, and voters who participated in the February 7 election.  The wealth of sincere, decent candidates resulted in a vibrant, productive and issue-oriented discussion.

Voting ends on February 7th at 8 pm.  Read what the candidates have said on the issues:

School Parcel Tax

Fiscal/Budget

Working with the City

Open Enrollment

Employee Children

Future Issues 

Also review the January 12th Candidates Forum, now on the City website under “Other Public Forums“.

Voting ends on February 7, at 8 pm.  Read what the candidates have to say on the issues:

Undergrounding

Fire Department Staffing Study

3 biggest issues

If You Had to Cut $1 million 

Fiscal leadership

Managing Project Risk

Public Input on Public Facilities

$500,000 in Park Bond Funds

 Also review the January 12th Candidates Forum, now on the City website under “Other Public Forums”.

   City voters take to voting by mail –

As of Friday, February 3, 2012, approximately 2,100 Vote By Mail Ballots (VBMB) had been received from Piedmont voters by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

This represents a continuation of the trend since November, 2004, when 3,120 VBMB accounted for 45.45% of the vote, through February 2010 when 2,401 VBMB accounted for 73.90% of the votes cast.

The increase of voting by mail in recent years is a reversal of the earlier trend toward in-person voting at City polls.  From February 1998, when absentee ballots numbered only 497 or 30.42% of the vote, through March 2002, when 740 absentee ballots accounted for only 19.69%, the percentage decreased.

Now, with the encouragement of the Registrar as a cost-saving device and the change of name from “absentee ballots,”  voting by mail seems to be a popular trend.

All ballots must be cast by 8 pm February 7.