At its meeting on January 17, 2012, the City Council extended the moratorium on utility undergrounding districts for two more years, until March 2014. This was the Council’s first step in implementing  recommendations of  the Council’s own Audit Subcommittee and the League of Women Voters Task Force, both of which  investigated and reported on the serious and costly flaws in the City’s management of the Piedmont Hills Utility Undergrounding District.

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Hidden Choices:  Draining the Sewer Fund to Fund General Fund Activities-

Where did the 2000 sewer tax increase go?

Replacement of Piedmont’s sewer mains has been a long-standing goal.  In 2000 the sewer tax was almost tripled to pay for mains replacement.  Where did the money go? Click to read more »

Response to EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld’s letter in January 25 Piedmont Post – 

Editor’s Note: The following open letter to Piedmont residents was distributed to local news outlets including PCA.  The letter, written by an opponent of Measure A, the Sewer Surcharge, has been edited slightly to comply with PCA guidelines: Click to read more »

News | Highlights from the January 11, 2012 School Board Meeting
by June Monach, Board Member Click to read more »

Did the Piedmont Post Get it Wrong? –

PCA received a copy of a letter to the Piedmont Post from Tom Clark, criticizing both the characterization and facts contained in a Piedmont Post article about him, published on January 18, 2012 .  Clark provides the following corrections:

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EPA confirms No Deadline for Replacing Mainline Sewer and No Automatic Penalties –

Piedmont resident Rick Schiller received the following response to his inquiry to the EPA Compliance Officer.  Measure A on the Feb. 7 ballot would raise Piedmont resident sewer taxes 50 percent. Click to read more »

Additional information prompts switch –

The Piedmont Municipal Tax Review Committee recommended a “Yes” vote on Measure A, the Sewer Surcharge Tax. New information, however, has led one of the two members of the Sewer Tax Subcommittee to recommend voting “No” on  Measure A.

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Voters who are puzzled by Measure A, the Sewer Surcharge on their February 7 ballot to approve a 10 year surtax,  can read  on the Piedmont Patch the pros and cons presented at the Piedmont League of Women Voters Forum on January 12. The statements by Michael Rancer, pro, and Rick Schiller, con, describe issues related to the 50%  tax increase.

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Oakland Postpones Decision to Sue Piedmont – 

According to a report in the Piedmont Patch, The City of Piedmont extended its “tolling” agreement with the City of Oakland late on January 18, 2012, averting an immediate lawsuit and giving Oakland until Feb. 24 to study environmental impact issues of the Blair Park sports field project. Click to read more »

Residents assert Post’s pool facts are wrong –

The Piedmont Post’s January 11, 2012 article, “Rood’s tenure as final swim club president,” gets almost all key facts regarding the negotiations between the city and the swim club wrong.  From the beginning, the club agreed to pay all pool expenses, including major maintenance and capital improvements, as it had for 46 years.  In return, it simply asked that the terms of the existing lease be continued. Click to read more »