Piedmonters Unhappy about San Francisco Civic Center Station 

Piedmonters and other Bay Area taxpayers have generously agreed to tax themselves to improve earthquake preparation of the BART  track system, however during this fall cultural season they are voicing distress at the conditions they encounter at the Civic Center Station in San Francisco.  Most BART stations are serviceable and reasonably clean.  Sadly, at the symbolic core of San Francisco, Civic Center Station’s cleanliness and safety is inadequate, presenting a harsh welcome to tourists and Bay Area residents.  The track area, station, and access points appear not to have been cleaned or sanitized in years.  Security is usually nowhere to be found.  With safety concerns and maintenance problems growing, riders deserve more.

Piedmonters frequently attend opera, concerts, ballet, theater, restaurants and the Asian Art Museum in the Civic Center.  While providing much needed off-peak BART customers, riding BART from the East Bay can avoid bridge traffic and a difficult search for parking in San Francisco.  But Piedmonters are put off by the conditions in the BART/Muni Civic Center Station —and they aren’t alone in such complaints.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/A-commuter-s-bane-filthy-smelly-BART-station-5701663.php

Los Angeles offers a surprising contrast to BART.

Busy light rail/bus/Amtrak multi-mode station

Recently, a Piedmont family spent five days on LA Metro visiting a dozen museums and historic sites.  The light rail, subways and stations were clean, with cleaning crews visibly at work and elevators and escalators were all in working order, in contrast to BART, which frequently has nearly a dozen elevators and escalators out of service.  Many Los Angeles stations are bare bones, “found” or “repurposed” such as the elegant old Union Station that is now multi-modal, serving the elevated Gold Line, buses and intercity Amtrak trains.  (see photos)

Not a single coffee cup or napkin on the station floor

Despite offering a better experience, LA Metro public transit is less expensive than BART.  While BART has found it unworkable to offer off-peak fares to solve their problem of chronic low ridership off-peak, LA Metro buses and tracked system machines accurately deduct peak and off-peak fares from rider fare cards.

The BART Board

BART Board members (listed below) need to take responsibility for the discouraging conditions riders encounter.

 Money needs to be budgeted for:

• Security presence and enforcement
• Camera surveillance
• Steam cleaning of all surfaces including the track areas
• Working escalators and elevators
• Clean, safe steps and access points
• Clean trains inside and out

Piedmont is currently working on its Climate Action Plan.  Having safe, clean and appropriate modes of public transportation is elementary to reducing Piedmont’s carbon footprint.

Piedmont’s elected BART representative is > Rebecca Saltzman.

Contact numbers and links for BART Board Members are included in their summaries below.  The General Manager is also listed below.

BART Board Members and District Information

District #1

(Map)

Debora Allen, Director

Stations Included: 

Concord, Lafayette, Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre, Walnut Creek

Counties Included: 

Contra Costa

Read full bio

District #2

(Map)

Joel Keller, Director

Stations Included: 

North Concord/Martinez, Pittsburg/Bay Point

Counties Included: 

Contra Costa

Read full bio

District #3

(Map)

Rebecca Saltzman, President, Piedmont’s Representative on the BART Board

Stations Included: 

Bay Fair, Downtown Berkeley, El Cerrito del Norte (partial), El Cerrito Plaza (partial), North Berkeley, Orinda, Rockridge, San Leandro

Counties Included: 

Alameda/Contra Costa

Read full bio

District #4

(Map)

Robert Raburn, Vice President

Stations Included: 

Coliseum/Oakland Airport, Fruitvale, Lake Merritt, 12th Street/Oakland City Center, 19th Street/Oakland, MacArthur (partial)

Counties Included: 

Alameda

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District #5

(Map)

John McPartland, Director

Stations Included: 

Castro Valley, Dublin/Pleasanton, Hayward, West Dublin/Pleasanton

Counties Included: 

Alameda

Read full bio

District #6

(Map)

Thomas Blalock, Director

Stations Included: 

Fremont, South Hayward, Union City

Counties Included: 

Alameda

Read full bio

District #7

(Map)

Lateefah Simon, Director

Stations Included: 

Ashby, El Cerrito del Norte (partial), El Cerrito Plaza (partial), MacArthur (partial), Montgomery (partial), Richmond, West Oakland, Embarcadero (partial)

Counties Included: 

Alameda/Contra Costa/San Francisco

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District #8

(Map)

Nick Josefowitz, Director

Stations Included: 

Balboa Park (partial), Embarcadero (partial), Montgomery (partial),

Counties Included: 

San Francisco

Read full bio

District #9

(Map)

Bevan Dufty, Director

Stations Included: 

16th Street Mission, 24th Street Mission, Glen Park, Civic Center, Powell Street, Balboa Park (partial)

Counties Included: 

San Francisco

Read full bio

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GENERAL MANAGER GRACE CRUNICAN https://www.bart.gov/about/gm

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Members of Piedmont’s Climate Action Plan Task Force are:

Tracey Woodruff, Chair

Brett Hondorp

Margaret Ovenden

Steven Schiller

Bruce Wolfe

The commercial proponents of extensive installations of “small” cell towers in Piedmont have stated that health issues cannot be considered when the City Council acts on the installations.  In support of their position, they refer to government regulators’ statements that the towers do not present a health issue and excluding health impacts from the permit process discussions.

More than one public person has come forward to state that the radiation emitted by the towers will present a health hazard to them because of their current medical conditions. Professionals from Piedmont have stated publicly on the record likely damage to humans, trees, insects, animals, and vegetation in cell tower areas.

CNN has been running a series of information programs providing data and evidence on the cell towers and cell phones as a potential health hazard.  To view programs, click below:

https://www.smart-safe.com/blogs/news/cnn-program-on-wireless-radiation-and-microwave-sickness-vital-signs-with-dr-sanjay-gupta

Monday, Oct. 30th – 7:30 p.m.  City Council Chambers.  This meeting will be broadcast on Channel 27 and from the City website videos.

Piedmont has a Council appointed Task Force that has been meeting for months to propose a Climate Action Plan for Piedmont.  Everything from energy usage to new requirements of property owners are part of the plan. The target date for Council approval of a plan is December. 

A community workshop is an attempt to engage Piedmonters and gather input on the plan.  The public is encouraged to participate.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 7, 2017, from 7:30 – 9:00 pm, at the Piedmont Community Hall, 711 Highland Avenue, in Main Park.

To read records of the Task Force meetings click > http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/committees/captf.shtml

The City announcement regarding the November 7 community workshop can be read by clicking below.

Press Release CAP Workshop Nov. 7

When further information is available, it will be published on this site.

On September 26, 2017,  the City of Piedmont’s Climate Action Task Force met to discuss what default renewable percentage the City should use with East Bay Community Energy, establish an outreach sub-committee, plan the forthcoming public workshop and report on their meeting with the School District.

The meeting opened with a presentation from Tom Kelly and Ben Foster of East Bay Community Energy (EBCE). EBCE is a nonprofit Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) electricity purchasing organization representing Alameda County and its cities. A CCA’s function to purchase electricity directly from the companies that generate it, and because a CCA is nonprofit, they have no shareholders demanding profit and they qualify for the nonprofit tax breaks, so an organization like EBCE reaps savings as compared to PG&E where costs are passed on to the consumer.

The City had voted months prior to switch from PG&E to EBCE for electricity purchases, but had not yet decided what the percentage of electricity from renewable sources should be the default amount for Piedmont residents. As it stands, PG&E provides a default thirty-two percent renewable energy plan, whereas EBCE will be able to provide between sixty to one-hundred percent renewable energy. The presentation from Kelly and Foster described the advantages and disadvantages between EBCE’s various renewable percentage tiers with regard to price and carbon impact.

The main issue discussed was what renewable tier the City should choose as its default rate for residents.

Obviously, the goal of the Climate Action Task Force is to get as high a percentage as possible, but if doing so causes a significant economic barrier for the average resident, it would make sense to drop to a lower tier of renewables.

Kelly reported on a study currently being undertaken of the economic burden placed on residents of cities that had gone through similar processes. Preliminary results show that on average, people at the one-hundred percent renewable tier only paid three to four dollars more per month, but these results are still inconclusive, being that only five cities were studied, as well as the fact that the study has not been completed. The City expects to reach its decision when results from the study are definitive.

In my opinion, it seems like a no brainer to set the default renewable rate to one hundred percent, but with only preliminary information, the study should definitely be seen to its completion before any judgement call can really be made. And if it ends up turning out that there is significant financial burden associated with one-hundred percent renewable in similar CCA programs, other options should definitely be explored. During the presentation it was brought up that individuals can opt-out of one-hundred percent renewable to a lower tier percentage-wise, or if they really want, back to PG&E’s service. It’s important that these opt-out options stay intact for the City’s final implementation.

Another topic discussed at the meeting was the forthcoming community outreach workshop and public forum to be held on November 7 at the Community Center. To help this, a community outreach sub-committee was established comprised of Margaret Ovenden and Steve Schiller.

By early November, the Climate Action Task Force hopes to have its Climate Action Plan fully drafted, and available for public consumption. The goal of the outreach workshop is to give members of the community a chance to voice opinions and ask questions about the changes proposed as well as to give the community a sense of what’s new for the Climate Action plan and how the community needs to be involved in making it actually happen.

Piedmont has a unique energy situation as the vast majority of energy consumed is in the residential sector, so for Piedmont to reach California’s carbon reduction mandate, most action is pinned on the individual households consuming energy.

Outreach sub-committee member Margaret Ovenden says that she “ hope[s] that students and their families will attend the community workshop and together think about how they can reduce carbon emissions through limiting home energy usage and transportation.” She continued, “Students have a bigger influence than they realize. You are the ones who are really going to be feeling the effects of climate change during your lifetimes, and even more so than your parents, you are going to see the importance of taking action now before it’s too late.”

The final topic discussed at the meeting was a report from the meeting between the Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) and members of the Climate Action Task Force. During the meeting it was discussed in what ways Piedmont’s schools can be a part of the Task Force’s climate plan. The School District’s already existing plans for the energy savings in the construction and renovation of the High School will be added as a component of the Climate Action Plan. It was also discussed that even though City and School buildings don’t account for the majority of energy consumption, they play an important role in serving as role models and educating the community about climate issues.

Although at points the issues being discussed seemed arcane, I could see that it’s important for the Task Force and the City to get all the details — especially of the consequences of joining EBCE with 100% renewable electricity as the default — correctly so that citizens will be happy with the results and won’t resist taking action on the climate. As evidenced by this meeting, the Climate Action Task Force seems to be heading steadily towards reaching its goal of a completed Climate Action Plan by December.

by Griffin Ashburn, Piedmont High School Senior

Editors’ Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.

At the October 16, 2017 Council Meeting, the matter of Crown Castle cell tower installations were considered.

Errors in the cell tower applications, hazards, incomplete information, safety, aesthetics, tree preservation, property value reduction, need, fire hazards, and noise were some of the issues raised in the over 3 hour public hearing with numerous impassioned speakers opposing approval of the cell towers. 

The Council voted unanimously to deny approval of five applications which are located at or near 150 Highland Avenue, 303 Hillside Avenue, 428 El Cerrito Avenue, 352 Jerome Avenue, and 1159 Winsor Avenue. 

Concerns expressed by three of the Council members, King, Cavenaugh, and Andersen led to their voting no to motions by Councilmember Rood and seconded by Mayor McBain to conditionally approve three proposed sites at or near 340-370 Highland Avenue, 740 Magnolia Avenue, and 799 Magnolia Avenue.  

Without the required 3 approving votes, the motions failed leading to a decision to continue further consideration of the 3 remaining sites noted above until a Special Council Meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, October 30.  

Staff was directed to bring back additional information on noise factors and detailed descriptions of proposed vaulting and other potential areas for denial.

City Notice:

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

Editors’ Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Which Towers Will Council Approve?  Which Towers Will Council Deny?