The Piedmont Unified School District Budget Advisory Committee met on Thursday, September 23, 2010.  This is a Board of Education appointed committee which makes recommendations for Board consideration in the budget development process, as more fully described here.  For anyone interested in following the work of the Committee, an agenda BAC Agenda of 9-23-10 and Meeting Presentation are available. KCOM video is not available.

On Thursday, September 16, 2010,  the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education held a special public meeting on the District’s operating budget to inform the community of the shortfall of up to $5 million the District may face through July 2013, if it fails to make changes to programs and cost reductions.   Options include . . .  > Click to read more…

An overflow crowd attended the “Save Carbon/Save Money” event, co-sponsored by the Piedmont League of Women Voters and Piedmont CONNECT, at Ellen Driscoll Playhouse on September 16, 2010.   Professor Daniel M. Kammen, the featured speaker, is leaving the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley to join the staff of the World Bank as Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. > Click to read more…

Either the Branch Library of the Oakland Public Library on Piedmont Avenue will be eliminated or it will move into a trailer. > Click to read more…

The following expresses the personal opinions of the author.  All statements made therein are the opinion of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

Opinion by Rick Schiller,  Piedmont resident

Regardless of which way the Piedmont City Council eventually votes on the proposed Blair Park project, the issue of litigation costs must be addressed now. The City of Piedmont has received letters from an attorney retained by Friends of Moraga Canyon. A respected expert, Richard Grassetti, has provided a scathing report on the Moraga Canyon Sports Fields Project Environmental Impact Report (EIR). > Click to read more…

Sunday, September 26, 2010 ~ 11:30 –3:30, Piedmont Community Hall, Piedmont Main Park

On Sunday, September 26,  Piedmont will once again celebrate our edible gardens with growing and cooking contests, a farmers market, scarecrows, jazz festival and more. Under the leadership of co-founders Susan Hill and Bill Drum, a committee of 15 has organized an event that will showcase the huge range of food harvested and cooked in our city. > Click to read more…

The Piedmont Unified School District’s Board at its Tuesday, September 14, 2010 meeting approved borrowing up to $10 million from the Alameda County treasury.

More information is available on the website of The Piedmonter. An article by Linda Davis entitled “School Board to Borrow From County” can be found here.

Update: A dedication ceremony honoring Mark Becker and Andrew Ball will be held on Sunday, October 17th. Details on location and time will be available shortly.

A century after Piedmont’s first school was dedicated on the site donated by Frank C. Havens, the community came to see the handsome new version.  The 2010 design by Mark Becker echos the original Albert Farr architecture in its vocabulary of tile roofs, ironwork, large arched windows, lanterns, murals and even a square tower above the administration offices.
> Click to read more…

On Thursday, September 16,  the School Board held a special public meeting on the district’s operating budget to inform the community of the potential $5 million shortfall the district may face through July 2013 if no changes to programs or cost reductions are implemented and receive public input.  A report from the Citizens’ Advisory Committee presented 14 options for reducing health care costs, information on nearby districts, and other material.

KCOM video and MP3 Audio of the meeting is available online, as well as the agenda and 53 pages of budget information prepared by staff.  The Board’s next regular meeting will be September 29th.

A meeting on the status of the Piedmont Avenue Branch of the Oakland Public library was held on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 to discuss the fate of this local library.  For more information call 510-655-1723 or email FOPABL@aol.com.  Background information on the library is also available on this PowerPoint from Friends of the Piedmont Avenue Branch Library.