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Report: Cell Towers, High School Parking, Bond Reissuance –
On October 2nd, 2017, a City Council meeting was held in the Piedmont Council Chambers. After the pledge of allegiance the council held a moment of silence for the victims of the Las Vegas massacre. The council then started going through the Consent Calendar, in which the Mayor removed himself from voting on item 6 [concerning private undergrounding bonds: Consideration of Direction to Staff Regarding the Possible Refinancing of the Bonds of the Dudley, Mountain, and Blair Avenues Underground Assessment District; the Wildwood and
Crocker Avenues Underground Assessment District; and the Piedmont Hills Underground Assessment District] because he was a resident of the neighborhood impacted by the bonds.The next item on the agenda was the Public Form where a couple of stunning young lads, Lane Bentley [author] and Julian Turner, got up to talk about the incredibly painful parking issue that occurs around the high school campus. They suggested that we open the Community Center parking lot which is near the Main Park for parking all day during school hours.
Once they finished the Public Forum, the Council moved on to the main topic of discussion which was the proposed cell phone tower plan by Crown Castle. There are many sites proposed lying throughout Piedmont mostly in residential areas and parks on top of telephone polls.
Kevin Jackson, Planning Director, stated facts about the Crown Castle communications debate on the telecommunications issue.
The next person to speak was Pierce MacDonald-Powell of the City Planning Department, who noted all the sites of the cellular towers and stated additional facts addressing the issue. After which, two representatives of Crown Castle got up and spoke on behalf of the company. They said that the towers were not breaking any rules or safety regulations and that Crown Castle has worked with the city of Piedmont in order to try to reach a compromise.
After the two Crown Castle members spoke it was time for the public to speak. Every single person to get up and speak address the council pleaded there disinterest in the towers due to variety of things. One of those was aesthetics, almost mentioned the damage to the aesthetics of Piedmont.
A more serious issue with the cell phone towers that was brought up was health concern. One man was stating that one of the towers was no more than 10 feet from a family’s balcony. Another speaker mentioned how the FCC safety regulation regarding the radius of radiation was inaccurate because the “safe” frequencies have caused harm.
A couple of speakers mentioned a medical condition that these towers cause where the electromagnetic fields from the towers cause pulsation and pain within a person’s head. Their argument was that since the government is requiring these cell towers, they cannot cause harm on the people of the state because that would go directly against protection laws.
Another man living near Witter Field said that the plates they were going to use for the sidewalk next to the cell phone tower would cause noise pollution and ruin the peace for those living near Witter Field.
Unfortunately, I had to leave in the middle of the public hearing, but on my way out I interview a young boy who was at the meeting, his name is JD. He told me that he was there for the Boy Scout merit badge – Citizenship in the Community. He didn’t have much else to say as far as his concerns and issues that he wants changed, but he did state that his view of the issue changed.
When I asked JD about his thoughts on the meeting, he told me that he really didn’t have any prior knowledge of the meeting, but he did say, “At first I thought that the cell phone towers were all beneficial, but then I learned about all the potential health effects that come with them.” JD was also surprised about the amount of people that were so strongly opposed to the towers. JD is still working on his merit badge and becoming an Eagle Scout and hopes that there are no cell phone towers outside his house.
A City Council meeting happens about twice a month and the City Council members consider actions and take input from the residents of Piedmont about certain problems and issues affecting our community.
by Lane Bentley, Piedmont High School Senior
Readers will find the reports prepared by Piedmont High School seniors offer diverse observations and opinions in students’ reporting. The following reports are on the September 26, 2017 meeting.
Climate Action Plan Task Force Meeting
The Climate Action Plan Task Force is a committee appointed by the City Council of Piedmont in March 2017 that will end February of next year. This committee aims to transition Piedmont to become more ecologically conscious through legislative action. This task force meets every month to work on creating, revising, and drafting a climate change plan, which outlines the measures that must be taken in order to lower Piedmont’s ecological footprint. The task force met on the 26th of September to address the idea of making all of the city’s energy 100% renewable and to schedule future meetings and a workshop educating Piedmont’s citizens about the plan.
During the Climate Action Plan Task Force meeting, guest speaker Tom Kelly presented a project that would transition all of the PG&E energy used by Piedmont to 100% renewable sources by default with opt down and opt out options. By converting the entire city to renewable energy, citizens would have to pay an additional price. However, citizens have the ability to opt down, which means using a lower percentage of renewable energy due to the lower price, or to opt out, which means using the standard PG&E energy plan for the lowest cost.
This ambitious project raises concerns because Piedmont residents may not want to pay the additional cost, which would lead to a higher percent of opt-outs and opt-downs and eventually render the plan useless.
Kelly pointed out that, if Piedmont were to adopt this default 100% renewable energy plan, the city would become a leader among the other cities in Alameda County.
After Kelly’s presentation, Emily Alvarez, the project manager on the task force, as well as Tracey Woodruff, another member of the task force, discussed Piedmont Unified School District’s plans with the design of new high school buildings and the overall goal of having 0 net energy.
PUSD’s plan is to know the use of water and energy of each building and classroom, to get rid of extra boilers and possibly some showers, add solar panels to the roofs of the future classrooms, and switching lights at Witter Field and at the school to LED.
The last part of the meeting was dedicated to scheduling a future workshop meant to educate citizens of Piedmont about the climate action plan, especially the possibility of switching to 100% renewable energy.
I personally believe that Piedmont should adopt this 100% renewable energy plan because, first of all, Piedmont is an affluent city and thus has the financial capability and resources to make this transition, second of all, the adoption of this plan could lead to other cities adopting similar plans to address climate change, and lastly, the energy contract gives anyone in Piedmont who doesn’t want to pay as much money the ability to opt down or out. The plan doesn’t oblige anyone to follow through with having 100% renewable energy, but those who do follow through would be offsetting the damage of climate change by paying a few extra cents per kilowatt hour of energy.
No member of the committee spoke out against the plan because they agreed that such a measure should be considered as a part of their climate action plan. This meeting was less opinion-based and more about informing the committee members about the background behind this possible measure.
Students proposed measures like adding compost and recycling bins in Piedmont Park, making public-use vehicles use electric energy, planting trees where ivy once was around the high school campus, and increasing resident-only parking so as to motivate students to walk to school instead of drive.
Tracey Woodruff is one of the members of the Climate Action Plan Task Force who attended today’s meeting. She decided to participate in the task force because she finds participation in local politics important, she cares about climate change, and she does a lot of work in the environmental field. The challenge of creating a plan that takes action against climate change brought her here, and she explained that there is a lot of tension in regards to to the purpose of the plan itself. Some think that it should educate the public whereas others think that it should focus on merely changing city policies. Woodruff believes that the best option would be to adopt the default 100% renewable energy plan, especially since the only other cities adopting a similar plan in Alameda County are Newark and a couple others.
Woodruff’s next step as well as the task force’s next step as a whole is to have the community workshop in order to educate the citizens of Piedmont about the possible plan, engage them in the political process, and eventually gain the support to push this measure forward. She mentioned that the city of Piedmont voted to adopt the Paris Accords, which is another recent step that Piedmont has taken to address climate change. She also remarked that not everyone in Piedmont or on the City Council agrees on what the role of a city is in regards to climate change, which illustrates that it is harder than it seems to pass legislation and policies related to climate change because of the division of opinion. Overall, Woodruff learned that public process is time consuming and requires getting people engaged.
I asked whether or not Piedmont High School was currently using a certain percentage of renewable energy as well as whether or not the school would be included in the 100% renewable energy plan. I asked this while PUSD’s climate change plans were being discussed because I was thinking that, if the school doesn’t want to pay the additional cost of going 100% renewable, then it could at least switch to a PG&E plan with a certain percentage of renewable energy that is higher than the standard plan put in place today. It turns out that the current energy plan is the standard 30 to 40% renewable energy plan, and that the school would be included in the 100% renewable energy plan. However, the school would also have the ability to opt-down or opt-out, but I don’t think that the school would do so considering it plans to produce its own solar energy and thus has the desire to transition to renewable energy anyways.
This experience was enlightening for me because, as a person who doesn’t usually voice an opinion or ask questions about things, I felt like my question added to the discussion by clarifying the role of the school in the renewable energy plan. Also, I now realize that it is important to speak up because almost all of the proposed legislation and measures require public support, which means that my opinion matters and should be expressed. The Climate Action Plan Task Force is a committee that respects the environment as well as the opinions of the citizens of Piedmont. I am glad I was able to attend this meeting to witness how our city functions behind closed doors and participate in my local government as a citizen of Piedmont.
by Sophia Barker, Piedmont High School Senior
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On September 26, 2017 Piedmont’s Climate Action Plan Task Force met at City Hall. The CAPTF meets once a month to discuss their plan to improve Piedmont’s environmental policies and regulations.
The meeting began with a presentation from Tom Kelly on how East Bay Community Energy could increase the percentage of renewable energy used in Piedmont homes, schools, and facilities. The task force debated the costs and benefits of different energy plans, including one that would supply 100% renewable energy to all Piedmont homes while providing the opportunity to opt down to a lower level of renewables or opt out of the plan completely.
The following topic was a briefing of a meeting that had gone on between the CAPTF and the Piedmont School Board; in which the two groups shared new ideas, and discussed how they might be able to work together on certain overlapping plans.
One idea that Tracey Woodruff, the chair of the task force, mentioned, was to make city and school district vehicles electric and install charging stations. Personally I thought this was a good idea because it would be a very recognizable change that the public could acknowledge as part of the city’s environmental policy.
Students from Piedmont High School spoke out at this time, proposing plans that could reduce waste in the parks at lunch and the number of students who drive to school.
To inform the public of the task force’s plans, a subcommittee was set up to organize an upcoming community workshop. There was lots of debate between task force members over how the workshop should be organized, and what the goal of it should be. Some task force members felt that the best way to inform the public would be a speaker series, whereas others felt that a station-based event would be better. Many members felt that the purpose of the meeting should be to inform the public about the task force’s plans, but there was a group advocating a more generalized approach to educate the public about climate change.
After the meeting Tracey Woodruff spoke to a group of high school students in more detail about her goals. Mrs. Woodruff joined the committee because she thinks that it’s important “to have civic engagement,” and because she “care[s] about climate change.” Her next step in bolstering task force is the upcoming public workshop, which is planned to be an informative meeting to get the public on board with the task force’s plans.
by Will Dalton, Piedmont High School Senior
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On the evening of September 26th, 2017, I had the privilege of attending a planning meeting for Piedmont’s Climate Action Task Force. The meeting began with a public forum, which gave community members in attendance the opportunity to speak to items that weren’t on the agenda. It was at this time that a few members of the community gave their own ideas for what might be useful for the plan. Included in these ideas were the possibility of a community light bulb recycling program, and more “resident only” parking spots near the school to disincentivize driving to school for students who might be able to walk.
The next item on the meeting’s agenda was a presentation from Tom Kelly from East Bay Community Energy (EBCE). He spoke about what it might look like if the city of Piedmont, or the entirety of Alameda county opts into a community energy (CE) program. He discussed other cities that have made the program successful, and how the success stems from making the basic option for energy provided 100% renewable, as opposed to the lower percentage offered currently by PG&E. At this point, I asked what PG&E was doing to improve their percentage of renewable energy provided, to which he responded that they have options for this, but their baseline option only provides around 35% renewable energy. He went on to give data on what percentage of residents would need to opt out in order for the program to not be worth the city’s money, and all-in-all it seemed like it would be incredibly beneficial for the city of Piedmont to opt into the program.
The task force went on to discuss a meeting that the city had with PUSD, and described the steps that the district reported to be taking to improve their energy usage, beginning with providing less hot water for PE showers given that a large percentage of water that is heated up each day goes unused. They discussed the possibility of applying for grants to implement charging stations near the school for electric cars, as well as a green infrastructure plan to deal with stormwater and help solve the issue of Witter Field being flooded and misshapen during times of rain. They also talked about the environmental club at PHS, and the steps they’re taking to push the campus’ agriculture and plants to be more sustainable, including replacing the ivy.
The task force then voted to establish an outreach sub-committee, followed by their planning of a “public workshop and education day” for environmental issues. As the meeting went on, it became clear that the work they are doing is important for the community’s benefit, and that their main goal moving forward is to involve and engage the community in the process of improving our city’s environmental impact. “I hope that we will be able to spark more action in the community” said Margaret Ovenden, a member of the task force who described having gotten involved for the purpose of creating a plan of further action than previous, similar climate plans.
by Micah Bloom, Piedmont High School Senior
On September 26, 2017, I went to the Climate Action Plan Task Force meeting. The Task Force meets about once a month. This meeting was to fine tune the Climate Action Plan for Piedmont, California. In addition to going over the Climate Action Plan, the partnership between the city of Piedmont and Piedmont High School was discussed and a presentation from Tom Kelly and Ben Foster about East Bay Community Energy took place.
At the beginning of the meeting there was a Public Forum in which the public was able to bring up topics they wanted to talk about. At this time, two students spoke: Alex Lopez and Dylan Scov. Alex Lopez brought up the idea that the city should do a bulb drive in which people would trade in their old light bulbs for new ones and PG&E would subsidize the cost. Dylan Scov brought up student parking and suggested that the city should make a lot of streets resident-only parking as an incentive for students who live in walking distance of school to walk to school.
The first topic discussed at the meeting was renewable energy. Tom Kelly and Ben Foster gave a presentation about East Bay Community Energy, an energy provider for the bay area. EBCE wants to create an energy plan that sets people up with 100% renewable energy as a default. The default would be 100% renewable, but there would also be opt-down and opt-out options. The 100% renewable default would be the most expensive, while the opt-out option would be the cheapest. To have this energy plan, the city needs to sign on as a whole, but if people are unable to pay for the default option, they can choose to opt-down or opt-out. Only a couple of cities have signed on to this plan, while others use PG&E which has an opt-up option that allows people to have 100% renewable energy. In addition to providing cities with renewable energy, EBCE is conducting research on greenhouse gases in the cities that have shown interest in the 100% renewable energy default program.
Another topic that was discussed was the meeting the Task Force had with the City and the Piedmont Unified School District. The focus of this meeting was to discuss the plan for the new high school. The plan for the new schools aims to have zero net energy in all buildings. They did not discuss how this would be achieved. Another idea that was discussed was whether the schools would get rid of the boiler for showers or not. A lot of students spoke out about this saying that they did not know there were showers at the school or that no one uses the showers. In my opinion, the school should get rid of the boiler because it uses an immense amount of energy and I have not met anyone who uses the showers.
Another issue that was briefly discussed was the poor drainage of Witter Field. After a heavy rainfall, Witter Field floods and it is damaging to the field and makes it so that sports teams cannot have practice or games until the flooding has cleared. Although they talked about creating a drainage system under the field to fix this problem, the date that this would happen was not confirmed.
At the end of the meeting, I interviewed Tracey Woodruff, a member of the Task Force. She decided to participate in the Task Force because she “[thinks] it’s important to… have civic engagement, to be involved in your city and local politics and this was a good fit for [her] because [she does] a lot of work in the environmental field”. She talked about a plan that was made previously, but it “sat on the shelf” so she wants this plan to actually take off and addresses climate change. To make sure the plan actually gets implemented, she and the Task Force are trying to figure out what their priority is.
In my opinion, there should not be residential parking. Although a lot of people that drive to school live close enough to the school to walk, there a lot of people that do not live that close. I am someone who does not even live in Piedmont and I don’t have the option of walking to school.
As it is, there is not enough parking for students at Piedmont High School and making streets close to the school available for residents will only make the parking problem worse. If this were to happen then the people that do live close to school would likely get the available spots first and the people who need to drive to school would be stuck parking far away from school. If the city wants to stop people who can walk to school from driving to school there should be education about what driving to school does to the environment.
by Maggie Kossak, Piedmont High School Senior
On Tuesday, September 26, 2017, the Climate Action Plan Task Force met in the Emergency Operations Center in the City Hall of Piedmont, California. In the meeting, the Climate Action Plan Task Force covered several topics.
To open the meeting, two representatives from the city of Hayward, gave a presentation on Renewable Energy. They talked about how these new, 100% Renewable Energy programs should be offered to households across the Bay Area, and what sort of benefits they will have on society.
There was an open participation period in which people had the opportunity to share ideas they had for improving the environment. Following the open participation period, the Task Force discussed upcoming meetings, and went into great detail about what their plan was for these meetings. They illustrated how they were going to share their ideas, and what tactics they were going to use to persuade the officials that they would be talking to.
At the meeting on Tuesday, September 26, 2017, there were a number of issues that were brought up and discussed by several of the members of the Task Force, in addition to others who attended the meeting.
The most prominent was regarding Renewable Energy in the Bay Area. Tom Kelly, a representative of the city of Hayward, presented an idea to the Force. Kelly focused primarily on the goals he has for the entire Bay Area. He illustrated how PG&E’s current renewable percentage was below 30% on average. If the Bay Area, and eventually the entire state of California, wants to become 100% renewable energy, then this number is going to have to increase. However, PG&E will not make significant enough efforts to try and raise this number, so other measures must occur.
Kelly then proposed new programs, that start with about 50% renewable. These programs would be offered to all homeowners when they are first buying their houses. At first, the programs will cost more, but will save money over time. In addition to saving money, these programs will also gradually increase in terms of percent renewable over time, which is taking drastic steps towards 100% renewable energy. The absolute end goal, other than 100% renewable energy for all of California, is to have 100% renewable energy as a default option for residents and businesses in California.
Following the presentation, Kelly allowed for questions and concerns regarding his proposal. One man in the audience, who was not a member of the Climate Action Task Force, had a good amount of questions and concerns regarding Kelly’s proposed idea. The biggest of the concerns that the man addressed was this: these new programs are going to cost a lot more money to make, and install in everyone’s homes and businesses, so who is going to pay for all of this?
Although Kelly did not have a direct response to this concern, he came up with a few possible answers for the question asked. First, Kelly said that one resolution to the increase in price could be an increase in taxes. However, Kelly realized that this was probably not the best solution because of the financial negative effects it would have on all of the residents who would theoretically be buying the new programs.
Another proposed solution to the money issue would be government paying for it. This was the best solution because it was the most logical. Because going 100% Renewable Energy would save the government a very significant amount of money, the government would be more than willing to pay for the extra cost it would take to make and supply these new programs to all residents and businesses.
Personally, I think that these new 100% Renewable Energy programs are a huge step for not only the city of Piedmont and the Bay Area, but for all of California and the rest of the United States as well. As Global Warming continues, more and more ideas are coming up about how to reduce energy use, or develop clean energy that does not have a negative effect on the environment.
With these new programs, residents will be supporting the environment, without even knowing it. By switching to the programs, people will be using more and more clean, renewable energy all day, everyday, as opposed to dirty energy that we are using currently.
If everyone in Piedmont switches to these programs, then the Bay Area will see how much it is affecting the environment, and eventually the entire state of California, and the entire country will realize just how important clean, renewable energy is, and what positive effects it can have on society. That will influence them to switch to these new programs, and before we know it, the Country will be running on 100% renewable energy.
The Climate Action Plan Task Force meets twice a month, in the Piedmont City Hall to share ideas for how to improve the environment in both the city of Piedmont specifically, and the Bay Area as a whole.
by Dylan Skov, Piedmont High School Senior
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The government meeting I attended was the Climate Action Plan Task Force. This government task force meets once a month. In the beginning of the meeting I spoke during the public secession and suggested that we should have a bulb drive. I suggested that we team up with PG&E and have people come in and trade their incandescent bulbs for LED bulbs. Hopefully, if we teamed up with PG&E ,they would subsidize the cost. In doing a bulb drive we save people money and reduce emissions.
One purpose of the meeting was to review the 100% renewable default options proposed by East Bay Community Energy. Tom Kenny, from EBCE, presented a slideshow about how East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) will evaluate and provide 100% renewable energy for residents and businesses. Cities like Piedmont, Hayward, Albany and Berkeley want to take part in this study and work toward a 100% renewable energy options. At this point, over 153 cities have committed to a 100% clean energy plan. EBCE is teaming up with PG&E. Currently, PG&E has a plan to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030.
Tracey Woodruff, a task force member, asked how the EBCE proposal would impact people’s utility bills. Tom Kenny responded by saying the utility cost would remain about the same. EBCE representatives, Tom Kenny and Ben Foster left the meeting after their presentation.
Another topic that was addressed at the meeting was the partnership between the City and Piedmont High School to curb climate change. The City and PHS met to discuss goals for future action and this was reported on at the meeting. Piedmont High School has set a list of goals that they hope to accomplish in the near future. Some goals were to invest in sub metering for each building, get rid of the boilers for the showers and have a solar plan. There is also a issue with Witter Field and its drainage system and if that could be fixed it would save money. Tracey Woodruff wanted to know what Piedmont schools needed to do to accomplish a zero net energy goal for all the buildings.
A plan that will benefit the school would be to switch all light bulbs to LED including the lights at Witter Field. That plan alone would save so much money. Likewise, the city hopes to invest in EV cars for the police department and that would require charging stations. There was also discussion on having a citywide shuttle like they have in Emeryville. A city shuttle can help reduce car use and decrease traffic. Not a lot more could be said about what Piedmont High School could do because there was not a representative present. After other administrative discussions on position changes and Public Workshops for climate change the meeting adjourned.
In my opinion, I think the school is the most important resource to help accomplish the city wide goal of curbing climate change. I believe that switching to LED lights in all the classrooms and on Witter Field will make a big difference. LED lights reduce electricity, reduce risk of combustion. They are also sturdier and save money. I believe installing solar panels at the high school will make a big difference. However, I am not sure that having a shuttle will change people’s behavior. People have cars and that’s how they get around Piedmont. We do not need to invest in another bus that will have few kids on it and just waste gas. Also, people need to get to placed outside Piedmont and it appeared that the shuttle would only transport people around Piedmont. There are better solutions than shuttles.
I interviewed a resident of Piedmont who showed up at the meeting. Her name was Janet Laurent and she lives on Highland Avenue. She came to the meeting because she is concerned about the sizes of the buses in Piedmont. In Mrs. Laurent’s opinion, “Transportation is the issue I’m interested in.” She noticed that a lot of Piedmont residents do not ride on the buses and they are always empty. Each day she notices this from her house on Highland at the start and end of the bus route. In her opinion, unnecessary buses are a major problem. When the option of having a Piedmont Shuttle was discussed at the meeting, Mrs. Laurent agreed that is was a good solution. With the buses coming up and down Highland, a shuttle would “free up parking and the residence.” Her reaction to the meeting was positive. She learned a lot and believed “good things will happen.” The next step Mrs. Laurent will take is to go to the workshops on transportation and help raise awareness among Piedmont residents.
by Alex Lopez, Piedmont High School Senior
The rescheduled cell tower City Council public hearing will be, Monday, October 2.
The following information was provided to PCA by the proponent of the cell sites, Crown Castle.
Crown Castle has revised its original plans to install nine small cell sites to address the safety and aesthetics concerns of both Piedmont city staff and community members. Working with city staff, we held a community meeting on August 29 where we gave residents the opportunity to raise their questions regarding the revisions and our current proposal.
In advance of the City Council meeting, Crown Castle has also prepared a community page, where residents can go to learn more about the project. It features information about small cell technology, a fact sheet detailing the changes made to each of the sites, side-by-side photo comparisons of our original and most recent designs, and a contact form community members can use to directly reach Crown Castle representatives.
- Across from 342-370 Highland Ave (CA-PHS01)
- 150 Highland Ave (CA-PHS02)
- 799 Magnolia Ave (CA-PHS03)
- Across from 740 Magnolia Ave (CA-PHS04)
- 303 Hillside Ave (CA-PHS05)
- Across from 428 El Cerrito Ave (CA-PHS06)
- Across from 352 Jerome Ave (CA-PHS07)
- 1159 Windsor Ave (CA-PHS08)
- Across from 314 Wildwood Ave (CA-PHS09)
By clicking the items above the various sites can be viewed.
Action needed now to protect health and property values.
Fellow Piedmonters – I’m writing today because few Piedmonters know about a terrible situation which could affect a number of children as well as home values.
Two weeks ago I was shocked to learn that a cell company called “Crown Castle” has filed an application to put nine cell sites, each with multiple transmitters right in front of homes and schools in Piedmont.
There are plans ahead to expand this number to 68 sites within Piedmont, in the residential areas.
I’m a retired Aerospace Engineer at UC Berkeley Physics and have published over 30 science papers on Electric and Magnetic Fields. I’ve done the research on the equipment they list and it is clear they are going to bathe the schools and the upper floors of these residences with substantial microwave levels, levels not allowed in any other country.
Since most Piedmonters are here because of the schools, I thought all parents would be shocked at all of this. All homeowners should realize that they face a 20% decrease in their home value if such a cell were nearby. https://www.emfanalysis.com/property-values-declining-cell-towers/
So, PLEASE send an email saying Piedmont Council should vote NO on the application! Address to pmacdonald@piedmont.ca.gov and citycouncil@ci.piedmont.ca.us
AND IN SACRAMENTO WE HAVE A PROBLEM! The California Assembly is going to vote [The bill is SB 649.] this week to allow cell carriers to do all of the above WITHOUT our city’s consent. Call/email Assembly Member Tony Thurmond (Alameda Cty) at (916) 319-2015 https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD15
Best Regards – Peter Harvey and Prudence Ashley
Statement from Acting Mayor Robert McBain
September 1, 2017
The past days have been tumultuous, sad, and extremely difficult for Piedmont residents and for the city organization. The opinions and postings of former Mayor Jeff Wieler were in no way reflective of the values and sensibilities of this community. We, his colleagues on the City Council, took swift action to communicate our collective outrage and disappointment in his statements. At the same time we were clear and consistent in our requests that he should resign as Mayor and from his position on City Council. In the end, Jeff made a decision that was well-advised and in the best interests of all concerned.
I am proud of how the Piedmont community responded swiftly to the situation and affirmed our shared values. Our residents are intelligent, committed, and engaged in civic affairs. We have great schools, a history of sound leadership, and a City organization of talented people committed to providing excellent services. We are a resilient community and will be quick to get back to focusing our attention on all that makes this such an outstanding place to call home.
So, what is next? Our City Council will be meeting next Tuesday, [Sept. 5, 2017] with a full agenda. First up will be the election of Mayor and Vice Mayor. In accordance with the rules set out in our City Charter, the Councilmembers elected to these offices will serve through the general election of November 2018. In December 2018, the Council will again elect a Mayor and Vice Mayor from its members. As to the vacancy created by the resignation of Jeff Wieler from his seat on Council, the Charter directs the City Council to fill the vacancy within thirty days.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Council will also consider a resolution reaffirming Piedmont’s commitment to inclusivity and opposing actions of hate groups, a contract for the development of a Master Plan for the Linda Beach Playfield, and bring renewed focus and discussion on the subject of a new aquatic facility for Piedmont. We look forward to taking care of the city’s business and working together to make this an even better community.
Acting Mayor Robert McBain rmcbain@piedmont.ca.gov
Wieler has resigned his position as mayor of Piedmont while continuing to serve on the Piedmont City Council. Yet, numerous individuals are calling for him to resign from the City Council.
Not good enough. He needs to personally apologize to each and every person in this town whom he has directly and needlessly insulted during his years on the Council. And then he should resign from the Council.
Mike Rancer
Tim Rood’s Facebook page addressing Jeff Wieler:
Following Jeff Wieler’s resignation as mayor, but not from City Council, the drumbeat of emails from outraged citizens continues as new outrageous posts continue to emerge. Mr. Wieler’s boorish and offensive online posts and the widespread publicity about them have caused him to utterly forfeit the respect of broad segments of the Piedmont community, as well as that of his colleagues, and have sullied Piedmont’s reputation – not to mention opening many more eyes to the obvious journalistic shortcomings of the Piedmont Post as a source of unbiased information about local events.
This self-imposed mess isn’t in the slightest an issue of partisan politics, and it’s also not an issue of free speech – it’s really just a matter of treating elected office as the privilege that it is and treating constituents (and others) with due respect.
A citizen-led recall campaign would take months and could cripple the Council and staff’s ability to advance the City’s business.
Jeff, I thank you for your service, but I think you know in your heart of hearts that for the good of the community, it’s appropriate for you to step down from the Council.
Tim Rood, Piedmont City Councilmember
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I think compassion is too high a bar for the councilman -basic civility would be a start. There seems to be a thread through his statement that his comments on NATIONAL affairs were offensive to the liberal sensitivities of Piedmont, completely ignoring the invective and hateful content of his speech.
What is needed now from the councilman is not compassion but contrition and that could best be shown by his stepping down from council. There is a post on Quora (is that Latin for sexist?) attributed to the councilman that makes his Facebook posts pale in comparison. It’s not a national issue, not a conservative opinion but a denigration of women. If true, The councilman needs to resign.
Former Councilmember Garrett Keating
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Councilmember Wieler’s degrading labeling and name calling of those who espouse a liberal point of view has rendered him impotent as a City Council leader and as an elected representative of Piedmont in meetings with Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley and beyond.
He cannot continue to claim service to Piedmont and express contempt for Piedmont residents.Conna McCarthy
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Acting Mayor Bob McBain pressed Wieler to resign from the City Council. http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/08/30/piedmonts-new-acting-mayor-presses-wieler-to-leave-city-council/
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Former Mayor Jeff Wieler’s resignation as mayor has sparked interest and concern far beyond Piedmont’s borders. Readers can google his name online and observe the reach of his comments and actions reflecting on Piedmont. The national Quora website features more than 100 Wieler opinions on a range of issues, some of which have been found to lack basic civility.
We need to immediately remove Jeff Wieler from the Piedmont City Council. His comments on social media are disgusting and should not be tolerated in an elected official.
He and his love of vaginas should be home alone with no role in deciding our city’s public policies.
Kristina McLaughlin
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[“Having a vagina is not a vision that inspires. And before some feminist harpy objects to the last sentence, I want to say that I dearly love vaginas.” Jeffrey Wieler, July 19, 2017 ] Read the entire statement by clicking below.
Answered Jul 19
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A “small sampling” of Mayor Wieler’s online views:
“The left burns buildings and deprives people of free speech and physically attacks conservatives. There’s a b***** named Falatco who led a gang that attacked a Trump rally in Berkeley.”
“Black lives matter encourages cop killing.”
“The Left is dangerous and un-American.”
“Transgenders are mentally ill”
‘The left is Intellectually bankrupt”
“Democrats are the plantation slave masters of today” (article)
“Fight the leftie barbarians”
“The tinfoil hat crowd of the left should be pitied because insanity is a terrible fate”
“Some people hate Trump, but more people hate liberals”
“The loonies of the resistance are worth a laugh, but not much more than that.”
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Jeffrey Wieler, Elected official in California, and poly-sci major at Princeton
Additional links on Wieler below:
https://www.quora.com/profile/Jeffrey-Wieler
Read an online review of Wieler’s comments below:
http://forum.isthmus.com/viewtopic.php?t=68176
Read about the website Quora and commenter participation requirements HERE.
Readers seeking more information on Jeff Wieler and his activities can google his name.
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Jeff Wieler has served on the Piedmont City Council for over 11 years. His initial service was for four years when he decided not to seek re-election. After a break of 4 years, he was encouraged to seek election once more, which is allowed by the Piedmont City Charter. He was elected to this second term of four years after which he again sought and won re-election for an additional four year term, as permitted by the City Charter.
Wieler will be “termed out” in November/December 2018 and cannot seek re-election until another 4 years have elapsed. He is currently Piedmont’s most tenured Councilmember.
Councilmember contact information:
| Robert McBain, Acting Mayor | rmcbain@ci.piedmont.ca.us | (510) 547-0597 | 2nd Term Exp. 11/20 |
| Jennifer Cavenaugh | jcavenaugh@ci.piedmont.ca.us | (510) 428-1442 | 1st Term Exp. 11/20 |
| Teddy Gray King | tking@ci.piedmont.ca.us | (510) 450-0890 | 1st Term Exp. 11/18 |
| Tim Rood | trood@ci.piedmont.ca.us | (510) 239-7663 | 1st Term Exp. 11/18 |
| Jeff Wieler | jwieler@ci.piedmont.ca.us | (510) 428-1648 | 2nd Term Exp. 11/18 |
Jeff, your point is well taken that people on both sides of the political aisle can and should do a better job of listening to each other and that this would be a better way to achieve goals that accomplish results reflective of shared values.
But a key ingredient of good listening is compassion and a true desire to understand the needs of the other human beings in the conversation.While you have explained your facebook postings as simply being re-posts from other sites, the fact is that those re-posts show a total lack of compassion; in fact they venture far into the territory of classic bullying behavior. Name calling, labeling, colorful insults and grouping of individuals into categories are all behaviors that are so destructive of effective communication and community participation that we begin teaching even our youngest children not to engage in them.
Your two plus decades of community service are commendable. However, I can’t help but feel that the missing element at this point in time is care and concern for the individuals who make up the full spectrum of your constituency.
National politics, talk radio, internet & facebook groups are quite abstract. Getting to know the fellow human beings of Piedmont (PADC [Piedmont Appreciating Diversity Committee] is a great place to start) and building some friendships outside the realm of politics is a much more ‘real’ and useful approach for local leadership. While there is no doubt that the national political arena creates absorbing, outrageous and even terrifying ideas to consider – our local community must put all that aside in our day to day lives. Local leadership is at its best when the focus is on the needs, cares and concerns of the individuals who make up our shared community, and through compassionate consideration of these concerns arrive at agreeable solutions to the problems at hand.
I hope you will find a way forward, possibly by remembering why you were drawn to public service in the first place, and hopefully by leaving toxic national politics out of the equation when it comes to local concerns.
Respectfully submitted,
Katie Korotzer
Editors Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Monday, August 28, 2017, Special Council Meeting to consider ” the Removal of Jeffrey Wieler from the Office of Mayor” has been cancelled, as there is no item to be considered on the agenda.
Wieler has resigned as Piedmont Mayor; he intends to continue his service on the Piedmont City Council until the end of his term in November/December 2018.
City of Piedmont PRESS RELEASE below:
Jeffrey Wieler Resigns as Mayor of the City of Piedmont Will Serve the Remainder of Term as Councilmember –
In a letter tendered to the City Administrator, Jeffrey Wieler resigned from the position of Mayor of the City of Piedmont effective Sunday, August 27, 2017. Wieler intends to serve out his term on the City Council, which will end after the November 2018 General Municipal Election.
Pursuant to Section 2.08 of the Piedmont City Charter, Vice Mayor Robert McBain is now serving as Acting Mayor.
The Special Meeting of the City Council scheduled for Monday, August 28th has been cancelled as the only item on the agenda was “Consideration of the Removal of Jeffrey Wieler from the Office of Mayor.”
Attached to this release is Mr. Wieler’s letter of resignation from the position of Mayor.
Contact: Paul Benoit, City Administrator August 27, 2017 …… 420-3040
Wieler Resignation < letter
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