Retirement benefits cut for new hires, but City-paid costs will continue to increase for current employees –

With less than a week left before voting is completed on Tuesday, February 7, announcements submitted by candidates or their committees can be  found here:

Tim Rood, City Council Candidate:

Sunday -Monday, February 5-6 The final Get-Out-The-Vote Drive for Tim Rood. Email contact@TimRood2012.com or call 510-239-7663  if you have time to help make phone calls.

Tuesday, February 7 Election Day. Some Piedmont polling places have changed! Call Alameda County Registrar of Voters at 510-267-8683 if you have any questions about where to vote.

Andrea Swenson, School Board Candidate:

~Thursday, February 3, 5:00 pm immediately following the PUSD Budget Advisory Board, meet at Mulberry’s for school financing updates

~Friday, February 3, 7:00 pm meet Swenson at Ellen Driscoll Playhouse PAAC Lunar New Year Event

~Saturday-Sunday, February 4-5 Swenson wraps up her 5 week campaign with final Get-Out-The-Vote. Call: 510 658-9148 if you are interested in helping

~Tuesday, February 7 Election Day Call “Swenson for School Board” for voting information 510 658-9148

Writing in the February 1, 2012 edition of the East Bay Express, Nate Seltenrich calls Piedmont’s February 7 election “a referendum on Blair Park.”

How many Piedmonters see the election this way?  Seltenrich claims, “…the city has been fractured by the permitting of a controversial new soccer field along busy Moraga Avenue.”  And goes on to paint the history: Click to read more »

Sewer Fund money is allocated to City Maintenance workers –

The full time equivalent of more than 5 maintenance employees is paid by using the Sewer Fund. (See chart below; see City sewer transfer charge detail.)   City documentation for 2010-11  indicates that the time of 4 of these employees is charged exclusively to the City sewer system.  Although not shown here, there is an additional charge made to the Sewer Fund for the compensation of administrative staff. Click to read more »

Throughout the history of the Sewer Fund, there has been tension between spending for sewer maintenance versus spending for sewer mains replacement (rehabilitation).  (See sewer history article.)

In 2000 the sewer tax was tripled.  The increase was to comply with a Cease and Desist Order requiring the replacement of 54% of the Piedmont sewer main in 3 phases and, eventually, replace 100% in 4 additional phases if needed.  The EPA required phases I, II, and III were completed as of 2006, representing 54% of the sewer system.  Rehabilitation work then paused for a number of years. (See chart below.)   Phase IV was not completed until 2010. Click to read more »

Cost projections replace 60% of Piedmont mains – but only 40% are left to complete –

The City has provided cost projections for Piedmont’s sewer replacement projects that show the “worst case” (maximum) spending in all 3 of the following separate categories for sewer main replacements:

• general sewer projects
  
•  EPA “set aside”
  
• Phases V, VI, and VII 

The City has offered these projections to voters to demonstrate the need for a new sewer surcharge, Measure A.  But together these worst case projections estimate the cost of replacing 60% of the City’s sewer lines over the next 10 years, while in fact the City has only 40% of its sewer mains left to replace.  Click to read more »

New Story Poles Required for Project Design Review-

The Planning Commission hearing on design review of the Blair Park sports field project, scheduled for February 13, 2012, has been postponed and is tentatively rescheduled for the Commission’s March meeting. Click to read more »

    Piedmont City Council Candidate Announcements/Supporter Comments:

Margaret Fujioka

Bob McBain

Tim Rood

City Council Candidates discuss Spending Priorities, Managing Risk, Fiscal/Budget, Undergrounding,

Public Forums on City Plans, Multi-year Budgets, Park Bond Funds, Fire Department

Piedmont School Board Candidates Announcements/Supporter Comments:

Sunny Bostrom

Jon Elliott

Sarah Pearson

Rick Raushenbush

Andrea Swenson

School Board candidates discuss:  School Parcel Tax, Fiscal/Budget, Working with the City, Open Enrollment, Employee Children, Future Issues .

There is additional information on seven of the candidates at the candidate created webpages at smart voter .  Read  Quotes from Candidates on Issues.

Alameda County encourages voting by mail because it reduces expenses at the polling places, with fewer staff and less equipment required.  Tuesday, January 31, at 5 pm is the last day to request a vote by mail ballot for Piedmont’s February 7, 2012 municipal election.  Applications for vote by mail must reach the Registrar of Voters by the deadline of January 31.  The application can be downloaded and faxed to 510-272-6982.  It can also be obtained in person at:       

Registrar of Voters Office
1225 Fallon Street
Room G-1
Oakland, CA 94623

All absentee/vote by mail  ballots must be returned to the Registrar of Voters before 8 pm on Election Day.  If you already mailed your completed ballot, you can check that it  has been received by the Registrar at My Voter Profile.

For those voting in person on Tuesday, February 7, Piedmont’s polls will open at 7 am and close at 8 pm.  Your polling place and voter registration information is also at My Voter Profile.  For those without computer access, information about voting by mail, registration and polling place look-up is available by calling 510-267-8683.

In an effort to make certain all votes from the February 7 election are properly counted, on Thursday, February 9, a random 1% of the Piedmont vote will be selected for manual tabulation.  This is a requirement under section 15360 of the California Elections Code.  The result of that count will be available sometime on February 10.

At its meeting on January 18, the City Council voted unanimously to reimburse the Sewer Fund for $275,000 used for Crest Road repairs.   Piedmont residents Rick Schiller and Rob Hendrickson thoroughly investigated the payment of $275,000 from the Piedmont Sewer Fund for road repair work on Crest Road.   Click to read more »