A letter from Robert Hendrickson on the City’s decision-making model for recent projects

(This letter expresses the personal opinions of the author. All statements made are the opinion of the writer and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.)

A resident’s response to Piedmont Soccer Club President Mark Landheer’s letter in the Piedmont Post:

Piedmont Post Editor,

I am relieved by PSC President Mark Landheer’s May 25 Post letter stating, “Kids at Blair Park will not cross Moraga Avenue.” The unsafe traffic mitigation proposed by ELS will no longer be necessary. > Click to read more…

Questions on the Budget submitted to the City Council by a resident:

1.  5 Year Cost Projections: Many cities do a five year cost projection.  Has Piedmont done such a projection?  If so, will costs exceed revenues in the next five years?

2.  General Fund Reserve: The City’s general fund reserve is quite low, compared to generally recognized reserve requirements for cities of its size.  How will the City build reserves back to a level that will ensure the City can handle a fiscal emergency?

3.  Employee Contributions to Pension Benefits: The costs for 3 percent at 60 for miscellaneous employees and 3 percent at 50 for public safety employees will likely rise sharply in the future.  Are the projected increases in these costs incorporated into the budget?  Are there plans for negotiating with employees to have them pay for the employee share of their California Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) costs?  How much would the City save if all employees paid their share of PERS? > Click to read more…

Comment during Open Forum at the Recreation Commission meeting of May 18, 2011:

The Recreation Commission’s contribution is so vital to Piedmont. Our town’s excellent recreational facilities are a testament to the job you do. I have lived in Piedmont for a very long time and there have seen so many additional sports facilities brought on line.  The downside of this expansion is the loss of mixed-use facilities, such as Linda Beach.   Family and passive recreational opportunities have been entirely superseded by organized sports clubs. > Click to read more…

A letter to the Fire Department requests additions to Piedmont’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan prior to approval and submission to FEMA > Click to read more…

A PCA Editorial urging the Council to videotape budget and CIP meetings and consider funding priorities with all residents in mind

Every year the Piedmont City Council goes through a budget approval process to determine how Piedmont taxes will be spent. Instead of being held in City Council chambers in City Hall, the pivotal initial budget “workshop” meeting will be held on Saturday, May 21, at 9:00 am in the Piedmont Police Department Emergency Operations Center  (EOC) on Highland Avenue.  Meetings held outside of the City Council chambers are rarely videotaped or broadcast.  The only way that Piedmont residents can see and hear the  workshop discussion is to attend the meeting.  (Two prior CIP Committee meetings held in the EOC were not videotaped, as well.)

At the workshop, Department heads and the City Administrator will present their budget requests and respond to questions from the Council.   Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) recommendations will also be discussed.   Further information, direction or explanation of specific expenditures may be requested by the Council from staff.  The public may address the Council or raise questions on a limited basis during the workshop.

Due to previous major events impacting the City’s finances, this year’s budget is important.  Various items having an impact on the budget include: > Click to read more…

A letter from Barbara Peters Urging a Meeting Between PRFO and FMC to find a Blair Park Solution

Dear Editor,

It’s time to end the divisiveness around the issue of Moraga Canyon and Blair Park and to look for creative solutions.

The Piedmont sports clubs desire additional field space in town since their lease in Alameda expires in the fall of 2012. If  Piedmont Recreation Facilities Organization (PRFO) is willing to meet with Friends of Moraga Canyon (FMC), perhaps we could find common ground. Two well respected architects, Bill Blackwell and Chuck Oraftik, have each drawn excellent plans for enlarging Coaches Field. An enlarged Coaches Field would provide much of the field space that the private clubs are seeking.

There are many advantages to enlarging Coaches Field: > Click to read more…

An Opinion on PUSD Administrators’ Salaries and Benefits from Martha Jones, Board of Education Trustee

I would like to offer a few comments on the topic of public employee compensation.

1.     Transparency concerning public employee salaries and benefits is very important.  Taxpayers need to know which services they are paying for and how much these services cost.  Efforts to make some of these figures more easily available to the public have taken various formats, including searchable databases for the salaries of state employees (http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/), local city, county and special district employees (http://www.sco.ca.gov/compensation_search.html) and public employees in the bay area (http://www.mercurynews.com/salaries/bay-area), > Click to read more…

A PCA Editorial urging increased online access  and broadcast of important civic meetings

Piedmont is in the midst of making critical decisions on expenditures.  Meetings are being held, yet not televised on KCOM, nor videotaped, and in some cases no minutes will be available.   Meetings take place in venues other than the City Hall Council Chambers, while the Chambers are available.  Due to the cost of videoing from other locations, only meetings held in the City Hall Council Chambers can be readily videotaped and broadcast. > Click to read more…

A letter addressing whether rent and other provisions are similar in the two leases

Editors,

At the May 2 City Council meeting, the City Administrator said at least twice that the handling of the 801 Magnolia property was consistent with the handling of the pool decades ago.  As I understand it, his point is that, like the Magnolia lease, the original 1964 pool lease did not involve cash rent, because at the conclusion of the original lease the improvements (the pools and changing rooms) became the city’s property and thus served as “in-kind” rent.

However – the lessees of the 801 Magnolia property are not building an expensive new facility on vacant City-owned land at their own expense, as the Swim Club did – > Click to read more…