One of Piedmont’s most influential committees, responsible for making recommendations to the City Council on expenditures and revenues, the Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee,  will meet on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 6 pm in the Police Department Emergency Operations Center.

The agenda includes:

• Review of Long Term Pension & General Fund Projections ( Piedmont has two programs for retirees.  One is with CalPERS, which the City does not control or determine the required contributions made for beneficiaries.  The second fund, controlled by the City and distributed from the Piedmont Retirement Fund to pre-PERS beneficiaries.  This fund is over funded for the approximately 16 remaining beneficiaries.)
• Review of FY 16/17 Year End General Fund Transfers & Establishment of Section 115 Trust ( No explanation has been provided for the newly proposed Trust.)
• Review of FY 17/18 Mid-Year Fiscal Report, and future meetings.

(Staff reports were not provided with the agenda.)

Read the agenda here

The Piedmont Park Commission will meet on Wednesday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, located in City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue.  The meeting will be broadcast live on cable Channel 27 and on the City’s website.

The Commission will be discussing Community Hall Lighting and Planting, a Civic Projects Donation from Piedmont Garden Club, the City’s Playground Equipment Safety Audit, Linda Beach Master Plan, Heritage Tree Nominations for 2018, Arbor Day, April 27, 2018.

Read the complete agenda here.

Your Tree Nominations are Sought Now!

The Piedmont Park Commission will discuss the nomination process at its meeting on Wednesday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m.  Park Commissioner Jim Horner proposed the heritage trees policy to celebrate notable trees on public property.  Horner, the author of “Trees of the Berkeley Campus,” presented the proposal to the City Council at their January 16, 2018 meeting. The Council unanimously approved the designation of Heritage Trees on public property.

Citizens are encouraged to nominate trees or groups of trees located on City owned property.  Nominations should be promptly forwarded to Nancy Kent, Parks & Project Manager, nkent@piedmont.ca.gov or contact her at (510) 420-3064

Nomination Form > Heritage Tree Application Form 2018 

Nominations: Due by March 16, 2018

Many public City meetings are broadcast live via the City website at > http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/video/ or on Cable Channel 27.  These meetings can be viewed after the meetings from video recordings found on the City website.  Many other meetings are not broadcast requiring those interested in the subject matter to be physically present to observe the meetings.

Below are a list of the City’s selection of which meetings in March 2018 will or will not be recorded and broadcast.

BROADCAST:

• City Council March 5 meeting video can be found > HERE.
• Wednesday March 7  Park Commission 5:30 pm Chambers
• Monday March 12 Planning Commission 5:00 pm Chambers
• Monday March 19 City Council 7:30 pm Chambers
• Wednesday March 21 Recreation Commission 7:30 pm Chambers

MEETINGS NOT BROADCAST:

• Tuesday  March 6  CIP Review Committee 7:00 pm Conference Room – (CIP Committee deliberates on which capital projects to recommend for funding by the City Council. This is an expense related committee.)
• Thursday March 15 City Council Special Meeting 5:30 pm Conference Room Interviews of applicants for Commission and Committee Appointments. (Open to everyone but seldom observed by Piedmonters.)
• Tuesday March 20 City / School Liaison 4:00 pm Conference Room (Representatives from the City Council and School Board discuss subjects of mutual interest as safety, facilities, etc. and return to their respective bodies to share information. Meeting is open to the public.)
• Tuesday March 20 CIP Review Committee 7:00 pm Conference Room ( Deliberations continue on funding choices. This is an expense related committee. )
• Thursday March 29 Public Safety Committee 5:30 pm Chambers.

All public meetings are open to the public to observe and participate. Exception: Closed Sessions.

Agendas for meetings will be posted in City Hall and the Piedmont Police Department at least 72 hours prior to each meeting.  Agendas for some Council, Commission & appointed Committee meetings are also posted online on the City website http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/.  Copies of all agendas may be requested from the office of the City Clerk, John O. Tulloch, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont or by calling 510-420-3040.

Notice and agendas of special meetings will be provided by the City at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting.

Piedmont’s Research Undercuts Proposed Charter Change –

City staff sought relevant data from dozens of cities on their statutes excluding former Councilmembers from becoming candidates for the Council in the future.  The results of the survey reveal Piedmont’s proposed Charter change is radically out of step.  In the summer of 2017, without direction by the City Council on a new exclusionary candidate proposal, Piedmont City Clerk John Tulloch began extensively researching and carefully detailing practices to further limit previously serving Councilmembers and possibly School Board Members from returning to office. Unbeknownst to the public and without any public involvement, Tulloch contacted 79 cities inquiring about their rules on  limits for their elected officials.  Survey is below.

Remarkably, the City Clerk’s 2017 summer research project showed that excluding candidates was the opposite of what other cities were doing. 

During the February 5, 2018 Council meeting, Tulloch verbalized  parts of the previously undisclosed and undocumented survey.  The Council majority disregarded the verbal survey information and decided to expeditiously, without community involvement or viewing the survey information, move ahead to put a Charter change on the June ballot to exclude former Council members from becoming candidates for Piedmont elected office until 8 years had elapsed since their prior service ended.

Public participants at the February 5 meeting did not comment on the the survey, for the survey information had not been made available.

SURVEY RESULTS –

Following a citizen’s > Public Records request to the City for a copy of the survey, the July research shows the Piedmont City Council’s proposed Charter change is not in keeping with other cities. 

The procured survey was sent to PCA and is being made available to the public on this site showing that only 19 of the 79 cities surveyed (25%) have any exclusion for returning council members to office.  Eleven exclude former council members for 2 years, 7 prohibit candidacy until 4 years have elapsed, which is what the Piedmont City Charter currently specifies, and only 1 city has an 8 year hiatus, Anaheim.

Survey > PCA Term Limit Questionnaire (Responses)(1)

Three Piedmont Councilmembers, likely to be seeking reelection in November 2018, could benefit from eliminating legally qualified individuals from seeking election to their positions.  Those Councilmembers are King, Rood, and Andersen.

The Council will consider controversial, proposed Charter changes at their meeting on Monday, March 5, 2018.  The meeting will be held at 120 Vista Avenue, starting at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be broadcast from the City website under videos and on Channel 27.

Contact numbers for the City Council members:

The City Council on Monday, March 5, 2018, will undertake consideration of a number of important and impactful decisions for Piedmont.

Issues include increasing City’s taxing potential (Charter change), exclusionary requirements for candidates to seek election to the City Council (Charter change), new expensive window replacement policy (Expenditure), up to $55,000 for a Special Election in June rather than waiting until November (Expenditure), short term rental parameters (Zoning considerations), Coaches Field study and contingency funding (Expenditures), labor contracts (Expenditure), new position for Fire Prevention (Expenditure).

The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue, and will be broadcast live from the City website and on Piedmont Cable Channel 27.  The public can address any item on the agenda and during Public Forum speak to any item not on the agenda.

Staff reports for March 5, 2018 Council meeting:

03/05/18 – Consideration of an Agreement for Development of a Master Plan for Coaches Playfield with Callander Associates in the Amount of $24,985 and an Additional Appropriation of $10,000 to Fund the Project’s Contingency

03/05/18 – Consideration of the Following Actions Related to the Possible Amendment of the City Charter

a. Approval of a Resolution Proposing Amendments to the City Charter Modifying Term Limits for the City Council, Eliminating the 25% Cap on the General Fund Reserve, and Amending Sections Related to the Filling of Vacancies on the City Council and Board of Education

b. Approval of a Resolution Calling a Special Municipal Election for June 5, 2018, Requesting the Consolidation of the Special Municipal Election with the Statewide General Election, and Adding a Measure Relating to Amendments to the Charter of the City of Piedmont 

03/05/18 – Consideration of Options Regarding a Direct Argument and a Rebuttal Argument Regarding the Charter Amendment Measure on the June 5, 2018 Ballot 

03/05/18 – Consideration of Regulatory Parameters Related to the Permitting of Short-Term Rentals 

03/05/18 – Consideration of Memoranda of Understanding with the Following Labor Groups for the Period of 7/1/2017 through 6/30/2020:

a. Piedmont Firefighters Association – Captains Unit – 7/1/2017 through 6/30/2020

b. SEIU Local 1021 – General Unit – 03/05/2018 through 6/30/2021

c. SEIU Local 1021 – Public Works Unit – 03/05/2018 through 6/30/2021

 03/05/18 – Approval of a Part Time Fire Prevention Officer Position in the Fire Department for a Two Year Period

 03/05/18 – Consideration of a Resolution Amending the Interim Design Guidelines Regarding the Recess of Windows and Making Technical Corrections

The Window Guidelines have been acknowledged as not having received generalized public input considering the impact to homeowners and staff costs.

Unlike the Piedmont City Council of 1977 (1977 City Council minutes below), the majority on the 2018 Piedmont City Council plans to put important Charter changes on the June 2018 ballot without an advisory committee, input from City commissions, the School Board, or a broad public information exchange.

The June ballot will require the City to spend up to $55,000 to stop City Council members from returning to office until they have been out of office for 8 years, which is 4 years beyond the current hiatus law.The majority on the Council, except Councilmember Jen Cavenaugh, want immediate action, calling for a Special Election in June 2018, rather than wait until the much less costly Regular Election in November 2018 and public engagement on the proposed changes.

Citizens have pointed out that the rushed Charter changes in regard to limiting citizens who can be candidates favors the current majority of on the City Council, who will be up for re-election in November 2018. The favored Councilmembers are Tim Rood, Betsy Andersen and Teddy King. All of whom have expressed support for the extended time limit on the candidacy of former elected officials.

The majority of the Council members stated that turnover on the Council would be good for Piedmont and opportunities should be opened for more volunteers to serve.  Yet, the current City Council has often rejected new volunteers from appointment to Piedmont Committees and Commissions, where new appointees would gain additional insight helpful in running for a position on the Council.  When making appointments, the Council has repeatedly reached back, recycling former appointees or transferring termed-out appointees from one commission or committee to another, while new, qualified volunteers were not chosen.

Incumbency as an advantage for prior office holders was a primary reason put forward by those Council members seeking to forbid individuals from seeking elected office until 8 years had elapsed.  However, by law, the term “incumbent” is one who is “in office seeking reelection”; former out-of-office individuals are not incumbents and can not by law seek office as “incumbents.”  

Definition: “An incumbent is an official who holds an office.” 

California law states:

1. Pursuant to Elections Code Section 13107, subdivision (b)(4), the Secretary of State shall reject as unacceptable any proposed ballot designation which uses a word or prefix to indicate a prior profession, vocation, occupation or elected, appointed or judicial office previously held by the candidate. Such impermissible words or prefixes include, but are not limited to, “Ex-,” “former,” “past,” and “erstwhile.” Examples of impermissible designations include “Former Congressman,” “Ex-Senator,” and “Former Educator.”

(2) The word “incumbent” [can be used] if the candidate is a candidate for the same office which he or she holds at the time of filing the nomination papers, and was elected to that office by a vote of the people.

Piedmont City Council and School Board elections are frequently uncontested.  Stopping previously elected officials from seeking election potentially narrows the field of potential candidates and increases the possibility of an uncontested election relieving candidates from the necessity of campaigning / convincing citizens to vote for them.

Prominence in the community for good work is the criteria used by most voters.  History proves some Piedmont candidates seeking reelection or a return to office after an absence have not won election.

The School Board at their February meeting did not take an official position on whether or not School Board members should likewise be prohibited by law from running for the Board prior to an eight year hiatus. Mayor Robert McBain and City Clerk John Tulloch in their expedited trip to the School Board discovered the School Board members were unprepared to support the proposal of the City Administrator Paul Benoit and Mayor McBain to extend the limit from 4 to 8 years when an individual would be barred as a candidate for office.  Prior to Council consideration on March 5, 2018, the staff report indicates McBain and Benoit changed their recommendation.  The two decided against the inclusion of the School Board in their recommendation to change the City Charter. 

Some Piedmonters have wondered why the Council and City staff are so eager to preemptively spend $55,000 on a ballot measure that could wait for community consideration and placement on the November 2018 ballot.  It has been speculated that the advantage to current Councilmembers to eliminate competitors in the November 2018 election could be the impetus for spending up to $55,000 in June rather than wait until November, because the budget and fund reserve issues can continue as practiced until further exploration of the implications and consideration of the changes on the November ballot. 

Reserving excess City revenue funds as proposed in the Charter changes will be discussed in a future article.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below is the language found in the 1977 City Council minutes charging a Charter Review Committee:

“On July 5, 1977, by Resolution 172-77, the City Council charged the Charter Review Committee as follows:

Resolved:  That this Council directs the Charter Review Committee to recommend to the Council the deletion of antiquated provisions and recommend updating of Charter provisions.

All Council members present voted aye: Loughran, Anderson, Rickson, Shapiro”

On the Council Agenda for 03/05/18 is Consideration of the Following Actions Related to the Possible Amendment of the City Charter –

Read the Staff reports by clicking on the items below: 

a. Approval of a Resolution Proposing Amendments to the City Charter Modifying Term Limits for the City Council, Eliminating the 25% Cap on the General Fund Reserve, and Amending Sections Related to the Filling of Vacancies on the City Council and Board of Education

b. Approval of a Resolution Calling a Special Municipal Election for June 5, 2018, Requesting the Consolidation of the Special Municipal Election with the Statewide General Election, and Adding a Measure Relating to Amendments to the Charter of the City of Piedmont

03/05/18 – Consideration of Options Regarding a Direct Argument and a Rebuttal Argument Regarding the Charter Amendment Measure on the June 5, 2018 Ballot 

Lets Talk –

In contradiction to what many people may believe, Piedmont is a diverse city. Each person has their own story to tell, and in our busy lives those stories are often left untold.

The Piedmont Appreciating Diversity Committee (PADC) gave Piedmont residents a chance to share some of these stories when they held several interactive group sessions called “Let’s Talk” at the Piedmont Veterans Hall. These meetings took place on three different dates, and PADC hosts other similar events throughout the year.

The speaker,  Sara Wicht, has over 20 years of experience in social justice and anti-bias education. The slogan for the “Let’s Talk” conference was “Building a more inclusive Piedmont through deliberative dialogue.” Since everyone has their own opinions and views, this can be a touchy subject. Sara handled this very effectively by allowing the meetings to function as discussions rather than lessons. All of the people attending were seated among an array of circular tables. Sara would bring up a topic that everyone in the room could speak to, and then each table group would discuss it.

One of the main topics of the meeting was Identity. Everyone was to write down how they identified in response to each item from a list of seven components of identity. The list consisted of: gender, sexual orientation, race, social status, citizenship, language(s), and religion. What these categories shared in common is that we are all born into these things. We have no choice (or are at least heavily influenced by external factors such as parents and the environment we grew up in) in how we identify in these categories. After we had responded to all of the seven prompts, we were asked to cross off an item from our list that we felt was least important to us. This was repeated until only one category was left. The most fascinating thing about this exercise is that everyone felt differently about what was most important. Some people who had attended multiple meetings said that the most important item on their list had changed since the previous meeting. A woman at my table even said that her most important item changed based on what the most prevalent political issue at the time was.

I was active in the conversation at my table throughout the three hour meeting. At first, I was rather shy because I did not really know any of the people at my table, but I quickly realized that they were at the meeting specifically to hear what other people had to say. My favorite contribution to the group was when we were discussing how we reacted towards people expressing specific emotions. If someone came to me and told me that they felt guilty about something, I said that “I would react by saying it wasn’t their fault even if it was to make them feel better about it.” This was my favorite contribution because everyone at my group strongly agreed even though my response was pretty far from the recommended strategy.

The other main topic covered during my time at “Let’s Talk” was Implicit Bias. Sara gave several hypothetical scenarios and asked the audience whether there was implicit bias going on, and if so, what was it? The most thoroughly discussed example was as follows: A black woman in Piedmont who is standing in front of her house is asked if she needs directions. I believed that there was implicit bias because the person assumes the woman doesn’t live in Piedmont because of her race. I was surprised to hear another member of the audience say that there was no implicit bias at all. He argued that the person asking if the woman needed directions was simply being nice and trying to be helpful. There was no definite resolution to the argument, but there was a chance for people to hear sides of the story that they may have otherwise not heard.

Attending “Let’s Talk” was an eye-opening experience for me. I heard many stories and opinions that I may never have otherwise been exposed to. The environment was a place where I felt safe and comfortable to talk about myself, and I fulfilled my initial goal of learning about how Piedmont perceives diversity. I highly recommend attending one of the PADC’s events because everyone will get something different out of the experience and it is pretty fun hearing stories from all sorts of people you otherwise may not have met..

 Xavier Talwatte, Student from Piedmont Unified School District

The Piedmont Unified School District Board will meet on February 28, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. in the Piedmont Council Chambers, City Hall 120 Vista Avenue. The Board will consider policies concerning emergencies and school safety. 

To view the staff reports, readers must first click on the various items noted below and then download the information to their computers.  The School District staff reports cannot be accessed directly, as found in our typical format.