October 5th Park Commission Meeting – 

During the meeting the main issues or projects which were discussed were the update on the Hampton Park Master Plan, the Linda Kingston Triangle, and the oak tree at Magee Overlook. 

    On October 5th, I attended the City of Piedmont Park Commission meeting. The Park Commission makes recommendations to the City Council about improvements to the parks. The Commission meets monthly on the first Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall.

   The Hampton Park Master Plan was the first topic which was brought up by Nancy Kent, who is the staff Liaison to the Park Commission. She explained how the tennis courts have been refinished, and they are not sure when the field will get finished but progress is being made. The Linda Kingston island was another area of interest for the Commission. This project puts a traffic island at the crossroads of Linda and Kingston avenues. On the island will be plants to allow the island to have aesthetic appeal. There was large concern over how long the lights were taking and if the city had consulted with its light consultant. The lights being put in on the island will be custom made and will not glare into the surrounding houses, a large area of concern.

   The issue which affected me the most was the Park Commission consideration of taking out an oak tree near the Magee Overlook due to safety concerns. The head maintenance member Dave Frankel spoke on this issue. He explained how the tree was decaying and how if it was not removed soon it could fall and cause damages.

   The final topic of discussion was about possible Coaches Field renovations. In this case the Park Commission seemed to be against my personal opinion. Among the commission there wasn’t much concern about renovating the field when in reality, it is a necessity. All they talked about was the lighting on the field and if there should be artificial grass or not. I would have liked them to discuss future plans to renovate the field.

    After the meeting I interviewed John Lenahan who is a member of the Park Commission. After asking him questions, I learned that he was a part of the Commission because he thinks Piedmont parks are the best part of the community and wants to keep it that way. I learned that he thought money has always been a problem in the Park Commission and getting things approved. Lenahan explained how the Commission recommends how to improve the city parks to the City Council, where the idea either gets accepted or rejected. If the plan is accepted then money is the issue, the city must figure out how to pay for the project, funding usually comes from ¨a combination of both private and public funding¨. An example of this would be if the city was to rebuild Coaches Field, then the Piedmont Baseball Foundation, a private organization, would help fund the project along with taxpayers money. Interviewing John Lenahan helped me understand what the Park Commission does and why he is so engaged in the community.

 Adam Low, Piedmont High School Senior

Report:

I attended the Park Commission meeting of October 5, 2016.  The Commission is involved with all of the parks in Piedmont’s domain. They make sure the parks are well maintained and well funded. For example, there was a tree in Piedmont Park that was dangerously overhanging so the staff cut it down for public safety. Another big part of the Park Commission roll is oversight of all current and future park remodels such as Hampton Field and Linda Kingston Triangle. They stay updated on schedules for the park remodel finishes as well as being properly funded. The Parks Commission meets once every month to talk about these issues and keep the remodeling process on track.

A major issue that they addressed included a $25,000 feasibility plan for a Coaches Field remodel. Other aspects of this issue include lights, and how they will impact the people living around the field, and the different types of material they use for the grass. Other major issues included the remodels that have been previously stated and the Magee Oak Tree that was taken out.

In the meeting everyone was in favor for every measure they proposed. There was one woman, Nancy Kent, the staff liaison, who talked about every single project mentioned. She gave overviews of the Hampton and Linda Park projects, as well as an overview of the Magee Oak tree. Another issue at the meeting was the Coaches Field remodel, and in my opinion it is extremely necessary. The grass is always muddy, there is not a lot of space and it needs lights. I think the city of Piedmont would benefit greatly from a Coach’s Field remodel.

After the meeting, I interviewed a member of the Parks Commission whose name was John Lenahan. He said he wanted to be a part of the commission because the parks of Piedmont are one of our cities best qualities and they need to be preserved and beautified as much as possible. There is also a struggle getting enough funding to maintain the parks as well as having restrictions on water it makes it hard for the trees. In the future, he hopes to get more funding from the city council to keep the parks maintained as well as having city donors who will fund Piedmont’s beautification.

Joey Lalli, Piedmont High School Senior

Editors Note: Opinions expressed are those of the authors.

School Board Meeting of September 14, 2016

By Charlotte Puscasiu, Piedmont High School Senior

    On September 14th,  I attended the School Board meeting in City Hall. The School Board meeting typically meets twice a month for approximately 2 hours where they discuss current school (Kindergarten through High School) events and updates, finances and other relevant announcements. The purpose of the meeting is to inform parents, students and members of the community about plans to improve the school system.

   Discussion ranged from test scores to campus construction. Max Miller, a junior at millennium, began the meeting by introducing himself as ASB vice president and talked about current events taking place at PHS/MHS (Legally blonde musical, club day, September ACT).

    The major topic addressed were CAASPP testing which is an electronic standardized test on english and math which replaced STAR testing. Piedmont High School was ranked one of the highest school as 87% of PHS students met or exceeded standards.

    Although there was a 3% growth improvement from last year, the presenters emphasized supporting the 13% of students who were falling behind or scored lower in the test. This is where I jumped in to give my insight, I addressed the School Board telling them; as a dyslexic student who had an IEP I didn’t feel properly supported while I was in LC [Learning Center] because all students with learning difficulties were treated the same, our individual needs weren’t met. I suggested working with the Learning Center or talking to learning specialists to help kids individually with areas that they struggled with instead of all putting us “in the same basket.” This seemed to resonate well with most of the board members who took notes and showed further interest in supporting students whose strong suits don’t lie within test taking.  Other students expressed their concerns or suggestions about summer work, stress in school and gates being locked at Wildwood.

    In addition, Board Members reviewed LCAP goals; ensuring teachers qualifications, common core learning, supporting ELA students and ensure college readiness  (EAP).

    Finally, the discussion turned to general funds representing day to day operations of the District including income from state and federal government as well as local revenue. State revenue was reported to increase by $136k and total local revenue increased by $185k. The budget revisions revenues and expenditures will be presented to the Board in October as the “Preview of the 2016-17 First Interim.”

    Someone who stood out to me was Andrea Swenson, Board of Education President; when standardized testing was brought up and all the adults in the room were being critical of the 13% of students who were not superb test takers, she went out of her way to remind everyone that tests aren’t everyone’s strong suits and it doesn’t define someone’s aptitude.

   This really resonated with me because, often times I have felt discouraged when receiving low test scores and have had to remind myself that a number doesn’t always represent my intelligence and effort in class. Hearing her acknowledge that not everyone’s aptitude is reflected in standardized test drew me to interview her.

   Mrs. Swenson said she joined the Board because she thinks the Piedmont system is absolutely fabulous and she admires how everyone in the District wants all students to succeed. Both her sons went through all of Piedmont school system (starting at Beach) and she wanted to do her part in helping improve schools. She highlighted how she sympathizes with students who are stressed because Piedmont is such a high ranking and over achieving place, but she values holistic learning for all students. She concluded by saying that she hopes her work and input on the School Board will help remind the community to support all students and to be proud of all their accomplishments.

Editors Note:  Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Park Commission Meeting, October 5, 2016

by Mitchell Argue, Piedmont High School Senior

    On October 5, 2016, the Park Commission met for their monthly meeting in the City Council Chambers at Piedmont City Hall. The purpose of the Park Commission is to discuss current projects for the city parks and collaborate on how to maintain the wellbeing of land owned by the city. The topics discussed at this meeting were the Hampton Field Master Plans, the Linda Kingston Triangle, the health of the Oaks and other trees at Magee Overlook and CIP (Capital Improvement Projects) and the financing for those projects. Supervisor of Maintenance Dave Frankel presented an evaluation of the projects in greater detail in his monthly maintenance report with emphasis on the trees near Magee Overlook. Due to what the Commission suspects is a consequence of the drought, some trees have noticeably started to suffer and at least one Oak will have to be removed.

    On a happier note, the maintenance crews were able to pick up heaps of bulbs so now large numbers of flowers can be grown in the parks, especially at Hampton Field. Also, new landscaping equipment is being considered for purchase, where they may select something with more durability and increased energy efficiency.

    There were very few people in attendance other than the members of the Parks Commission. Those in the audience were Vice Mayor Bob McBain, Dave Frankel, two other classmates, and myself. The topics discussed were mainly updates on the progress of said projects, so arguments were not present.

    I was glad to find out how the Hampton Field Master Plan is taking shape. When I saw the pictures in the meeting’s agenda packet, I was happy to see the excellent work being done. The improvements, when finished, are going to be awesome!

Editors Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.

“proven her ability to deal with complex budget challenges, new curriculum implementation, facilities evaluation, and personnel matters.”

I am writing to encourage your support for the re-election of Andrea Swenson to the PUSD School Board. I have known Andrea for 20 years and have worked under her leadership in many capacities. There is NO OTHER candidate who shares her breadth of volunteer leadership experience in our school district. I have found Andrea to be honest, collaborative and thoughtful in her pursuit of each of these roles.  She has worked tirelessly on behalf of all of our children for the past two decades.

Andrea is bright, creative and steadfast in her commitment to improve education for every child in our public school district. Andrea recognizes the critical need to address the whole child and all curricular areas.

Andrea has demonstrated her skills as an effective leader in her first four year tenure on the Board of Education. She has proven her ability to deal with complex budget challenges, new curriculum implementation, facilities evaluation, and personnel matters.

As a former teacher in the District, I value Andrea’s commitment to our teachers and staff. Her recognition of the value of professional development has aided in the District’s ability to attract and retain qualified professionals.

I encourage you to visit Andrea’s website: www.swensonforschoolboard.org to further view her qualifications and accomplishments.

Please join me in voting for Andrea Swenson on November 8, 2016.

            Cathy Michelotti Glazier, Piedmont Resident

Editors Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author. PCA does not support or opposed candidates for public office. 

Piedmont resident John Roberts explains why he wants to be on the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) Board of Directors:

I, John Roberts, am a candidate for the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) – Ward 2.

My ‘CAT’ platform stands for Community, Accessibility, and Transparency. Community involvement makes for the best parks, and helps the essence of democracy flourish.  Accessability provides park visitors fair treatment despite socioeconomic, race, handicap, or recreational diversity.  Transparency means the public should be informed of all park decisions because we all fund its function through our tax dollars.  In essence, if my platform were implemented, the structural updates would ensure the community was being heard, park visitors were greatly served and treated equally, and our taxes were being used efficiently.  For more information, please see the tabs above covering different topics, or for a one-page summary, please see my Candidate Statement.

I am married to Amie Garcia and we have three children, Yanela (13), Andres (11), and Emilio (5).  We enjoy visiting our nearby parks, as well as camping in the Sierras.  We also love various types of recreation.  My father served in the U.S. Navy aboard a ship during WWII, my mother is Mexican, and I was born and raised on the border in Baja California, Mexico.  I am fluent in Spanish and also have a working knowledge of Brazilian Portuguese.  I have a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at San Diego, a Master of Finance degree from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, and hold the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designations.  I work for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as a Senior Complex Financial Institution Specialist.   I conduct continuous bank monitoring, participate in examinations, and cover risk areas such as operations, audit, and regulatory reporting.  I earn a fixed salary yet make recommendations that can adversely affect the salary prospects of bankers who make millions; I do this to protect our deposits from bankers taking undue risks. This experience will help me advocate at EBRPD for the little guy, the visitors of our parks.

Ward 2 represents most of Oakland, Piedmont, Canyon, Moraga, Orinda, Orinda Village, Rheem Valley, Lafayette, Rossmoor, and part of Walnut Creek.  Parks in this ward include: portion of Briones, Anthony Chabot (north of Keller Avene if extended east), Claremont Canyon, Huckleberry, Leona Open Space, a small portion of Las Trampas, Redwood, Roberts, Sibley, and Temescal.

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I am running because the East Bay Regional Park District has only about 24 miles of tight singletrack for mountain bikes and almost half of that is in one park, Crockett Hills Regional Park, even though the EBRPD reports to have 65 parks, and over one thousand miles of trails.  I, of course, am an avid mountain biker after I hurt my knee and can no longer hike.  I often ride with my kids, one of which rides with a middle school mountain bike team.

John Roberts, EBRPD Candidate and Piedmont Resident

Go to the link below for photos and campaign information.

www.JohnRobertsDemocracy.com.

Editors Note: PCA does not support or oppose candidates for public office. 

Campaign information –

To view Levine’s endorsers click here. 

To view Levine’s website click here.

Editors Note:  PCA does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

We have known Sarah Pearson, an incumbent running for Piedmont School Board re-election, as a friend and fellow community volunteer for most of the decade we have lived in Piedmont.  The qualities we most value in Sarah as a school board member are:  her deep connections in the community which allow her to readily gather input and feedback; her collaborative and transparent approach to problem-solving; her commitment to thoughtful and thorough decision-making; her openness to new ideas and willingness to ask questions; her tireless energy, wit, compassion and intelligence.  In her first school board term, we believe Sarah has been an effective and constructive leader during a time of enormous change in the district in terms of budgetary challenges, leadership transitions and curriculum change, to the benefit of our students in terms of performance and wellness.  We hope you’ll join us in casting a vote for Sarah Pearson for School Board on November 8.

Susan Miller-Davis and Jonathan Davis, Piedmont Residents

Editors Note: Opinions expressed are those of the authors.  PCA does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

  On September 14, 2016, I attended the bi-weekly Board of Education meeting at the City Hall Council Chambers in hopes of both listening and discussing the progress of the Piedmont Unified School District.

The meeting started with Millennium High School’s ASB vice-president Max Miller briefing the board members about the recent and future events that had taken place in both MHS and PHS, such as the success of back to school night and “Club Day” at Piedmont High on September 23.

Before proceeding with other items on the agenda, the Board Members opened up the floor to anyone who wanted to speak out about their concerns. Many of my fellow classmates took advantage of this opportunity, like Cole Bloomfield, who encouraged the Board to consider the excessive workload given to students over the summer, despite the fact that this material is not thoroughly covered upon the return to school. While it is illegal for the government officials to speak to any issues not directly outlined in the agenda, they listened to the opinions of each student respectfully and openly, nodding heads and smiling politely.

Next, Superintendent Randall Booker briefly outlined various activities to occur in the Piedmont community, then handed over the mic to Stephanie Griffin and Dr. Cheryl Wozniak, who spoke about the results of CAASPP testing in the 2015-16 school year. Amazingly, Piedmont High School scored well above the state average, with eighty-seven percent of students meeting state standards- in fact, many of them exceeding. While the presenters were sure to tell the board members that we deserved to “toot our horn,” they also got down into the nitty-gritty.

Piedmont students scored particularly low in the listening portion of English Language Arts and the communicating reasoning section of Math. Additionally, there were still students scoring below standards. The board members wondered why this was the case, and what could be done to help these particular students. Eventually, President Andrea Swenson asked for any public comments and many of the attending students jumped at the chance to voice their opinion. Senior Sam Wen described the popular belief at our school that the CAASPP test was merely an easy graduation requirement, and that it did not bear much weight in the minds of the student body. However, he also spoke to the fact that there was recently more concern surrounding the test, when students were told by PHS administration that without high student participation in the testing, the school faced many negative consequences.

I, too, took my part in addressing this issue. At the podium, I commented my opinion that many students are so focused on personal scores from the ACT, SAT, and AP tests that they do not care much about the CAASPP, which seems to affect the school system more than it does themselves. I then contended that it is actually very important to realize that colleges not only care about these scores, but about the strength of the community we come from. If the school system could stir more conversation around this truth, then perhaps it would promote a more serious culture around the CAASPP test. On a side note, I also noted the District’s poor listening score, and the fact that I had rarely been tested on listening in any of my classes besides Spanish. If the Board of Education was concerned with raising these scores, then maybe they should consider incorporating it in more of the school’s english courses.

After the CAASPP presentation, the Board moved to the next task on the agenda- budgets. Admittedly, it was harder to concentrate on economics than it was on the state tests I had personally taken a year before, but I did pick up some important information. It seemed that many of the board members, especially Doug Ireland and Superintendent Randall Booker, were expressing concern over the lack of funding in PUSD’s facilities budget.

Booker mentioned that many upgrades were far overdue, including the replacement of a boiler from the 1960s in PHS’s 30s building, and the poor conditions of the buildings overall. The Board considered taking money out of the General Fund for these facilities, but they also felt that it was most important to propose a bond measure and re-engage the community about these urgent issues.

I personally believe that while it is necessary for Piedmont to ensure safety in its schools (ie. earthquake-proof buildings, stable roofs, etc.), cosmetic features should not taking priority in spending over teachers’ salaries or necessary school supplies that we currently lack.

Once the meeting ended and all the students gathered to collect signatures, I encountered Board Member Doug Ireland and asked to interview him about his biggest concerns and objectives for PUSD. He told me that he was most preoccupied with the budget’s shortcomings of about $800,000, and was hoping that Superintendent Randall Booker would propose a budget to solve this issue by either raising funds or, unfortunately, making cuts.

Secondly, Ireland told me that recently the Board had been facing what they perceived to be “unfair treatment” by the local newspaper. Ireland did not give me much greater detail on the topic, but it is certainly one worth investigating.

The night ended on a very cheerful note as the Board Members thanked the students for attending their meeting, and the students reciprocated the gratitude for being allowed to speak out and also learn about significant matters concerning our educations.

By Elisa Glauber, Piedmont High School Senior

Editors Note:  Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Announcement:

The League of Women Voters of Piedmont has voted to endorse Measure H1, the Piedmont School Improvement/Modernization Bond.

The endorsement is based on presentations to the LWVP board as well as the League sponsored General Election Voter Forum on September 20, 2016.

Don’t forget to vote on November 8.

Last day to register is October 24, 2016.

Submitted by Piedmont League of Women Voters

Editors Note:  The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose specific ballot measures.