On May 31, the City will hold its annual volunteer reception to honor the following individuals who served in 2011 on City committees or commissions or provided other volunteer service to the City.

David Brown
Randolph Deutsch
Michael Gardner
Ryan Gilbert
Tamra Hege
Steven Hollis
Bill Hosler
Anne-Marie Lamarche
Eric Lindquist
Raymond Marshall
Robert McBain
Kurtland Peria
Michael Rancer
Jack Summerfield
Clark Thiel
Steven Weiner
Gregory Young

Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Budget to be Considered by City Council

The Piedmont City Council will consider the 2012-13 City Budget at three separate meetings.  The first meeting is a Special Meeting work session that will be held in the Police Department Emergency Operations Center EOC on Saturday, May 19, 2012 beginning at 9:00 a.m.  No broadcasting via KCOM or the internet is planned. Interested persons must be present to hear the discussions. > Click to read more…

3 Meetings to Deliberate Budget Choices –

Click to visit the 2012-2013 Proposed Budget for the City of Piedmont.  The City Council will begin its discussion of the 2012-13 budget at a Saturday work session, on May 19, 2012 beginning at 9:00 a.m in the Police Department EOC.

The second and third budget discussions will include public hearings on June 4 and June 18, 2012.  There will also be discussion on the levy of the Municipal Services Tax and the Sewer Tax. > Click to read more…

Piedmont’s Actuarial Consultant attended the May 8 meeting of the Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee (BAFPC).  For the first two hours of the meeting, actuary Marilyn Oliver of Bartel Associates, LLC answered the committee’s questions about Piedmont’s employee pension plans so that they could evaluate its possible future costs for the City. > Click to read more…

Two Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) studies released in December 2011 and February 2012 paint a sobering picture of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).  “Actuaries and pension boards make assumptions about future investment returns and pension costs. Unfortunately, they’ve been wrong.  They have overestimated investment earnings, underestimated pension costs and retroactively added benefits without proper funding.  As a result, pension systems across California have huge unfunded liabilities.” > Click to read more…

In late April, 2012, California’s Attorney General filed a civil fraud suit against two defendents, Federico R. Buenrostro, formerly the CEO of CalPERS and Alfred J.R. Villalobos, former Board member of CalPERS, in tandem with a civil suit by the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission.  The two are accused of fabricating documents with a fake CalPERS logo purporting to represent CalPERS approval of “placement agent” fees of $20 million to be paid to the pair by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which handled some CalPERS investments.

Mayor Chiang proclaimed Thursday, May 10th Bike to Work Day in Piedmont, in cooperation with the East Bay Bicycle Coalition’s (EBBC) regional Bike to Work Day.  An Energizer Station to reward and encourage bicyclists was located in the parking lot at Ace Hardware on Grand Avenue from 6 to 9 am.  The Piedmont CONNECT Energizer Station was organized by Scott Donahue.  Kimberley Moses, Jeff Clapp, Scott Donahue, John Castalddi, Allie Robbins, Marcia Jones and Margaret Ovenden took turns manning the Station, handing out canvas bags and treats to passing bicyclists.  > Click to read more…

On May 7, the Piedmont City Council unanimously voted to rescind its approval of the Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization (PRFO) project to develop Blair Park into a youth sports fields complex.  Residents speaking at the hearing from a variety of Piedmont neighborhoods raised questions regarding the previous approval process, need for play fields, the future of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and the delay in public disclosure of billing disputes with the PRFO. > Click to read more…

Interested in how technology can make a difference in education?

Join students, parents, technologists, teachers, administrators, school board and community members and engage in a dialogue about the District’s use of technology to support effective learning and instruction. Find out how technology is being used in K-12, brainstorm with the group about the future of Piedmont’s use of technology, and discuss how technology can make a difference. > Click to read more…

Join the discussion at May “Readmont” event –

Everyone is invited to attend a discussion of  the Readmont book, When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, on Wednesday May 16, 7 p.m. in the Piedmont High School Library, on Magnolia Avenue.

> Click to read more…