The Piedmont Park Commission will meet on Wednesday, September 6 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.

Agenda items include:

• Citywide On and Off Leash signage,
• Wall design for Dracena Park,
• Heritage Tree Program,
• Santa Lucia and Douglas fir trees in Dracena Park,
• Update on Hampton Park Maintenance

Read complete announced agenda here.

Read Park Commission July 5 minutes here.

Preparedness Priorities Debated

On Friday, August 25 the Urban Shield Task Force met in Oakland to discuss the future of Alameda County’s Urban Shield training program.  The controversy focuses on whether terrorism is the most important crisis for Bay Area preparation.  The funding program’s terrorism nexus requires that 25 percent of all grant funds go for “terrorism prevention activities.” Yet Alameda county’s Emergency Operation Plan lists terrorism preparedness as the eighth-most important disaster scenario, according to critics of Urban Shield.

Piedmont residents Melissa Gjerde, Lauren Mayfield, Rohaina Hassan and Jordan Bailey opposed the program on other grounds, stating “Urban Shield programs that promote/train for a militarized police force are fundamentally racist and Islamophobic.”

Also objecting were members of the Stop Urban Shield coalition who prefer investing in disaster prevention, which they consider more important than the Urban Shield.

The Urban Shield Task Force )voted down a motion to avoid funding requiring terrorism preparedness, which some called crucial for BART. Also rejected was the proposal to urge the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to lobby Congress to remove the “nexus to terrorism” requirement.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to create a task force to study and report back on Urban Shield on January 10, 2017.  The task force is composed of more than a dozen appointees.

Read about Bay Area Urban Shield here.

Read more about EMS Urban Shield here.

Read ABC 7 news report here.

Meeting will be in City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue, Tuesday, September 5 at 7:30 p.m.

The Piedmont City Council will vote on September 5, 2017, to elect a new mayor from the Councilmembers to fill the vacancy resulting from Jeff Wieler’s resignation as Mayor of Piedmont.  Vice Mayor Bob McBain has been in an interim “acting” position since the vacancy occurred pending the election by the Council of a new mayor.  McBain is the most tenured member of the Council.

If McBain is elected Mayor, the Vice Mayor position, as described in the City Charter, will require election of a new Vice Mayor.

The public is welcome to speak to the agenda item.  The meeting will be broadcast live on Channel 27 and from the City website.  The City keeps recordings and makes them available from the City website.

Comments regarding the selection of a new Mayor and/or Vice Mayor can be sent to the Council members as follows:

The Council has 30 days from September 5 to select someone to fill the vacant Council seat left by Wieler’s resignation.

Effective September 5, 2017, Jeff Wieler resigned as a Piedmont Councilmember.  Now, the City Council has the task of filling his vacant seat – unexpired term – that ends in November/December 2018.

The Council has 30 days in which to complete the task of filling the vacant unexpired term held by Wieler.  The agenda for the September 5, 2017 Council meeting does not include consideration of a process for selecting the replacement Council member.  According to the City Administrator, Paul Benoit, the Council may hold a Special Meeting to consider the selection process.

Those interested in applying for the unexpired seat can make inquiry with the City at 420-3040. 

Historically, the Council has asked for applications which must be from qualified electors of Piedmont – those who are registered Piedmont voters. In previous years, applicants submitted a standardized written application followed by an interview session held by the remaining four Councilmembers. By law, all applications and interviews are open to the public.

As the Councilmember selection is political, applicants frequently lobby the public and the Council.

Throughout the process, Councilmembers must follow the Brown Act (California’s sunshine law) by conducting all considerations and discussions of the applicants in a public meeting.  Councilmembers may not discuss privately amongst themselves who they think should be appointed.

When former Mayor and Councilmember, Margaret Fujioka, resigned her unexpired position on the Council, Jonathan Levine was chosen from amongst the applicants.  He subsequently ran for a regular four year term on the Council; however he did not win in that election.

The Council chosen appointee to the Council will serve until December 2018, when the unexpired term ends.  To continue to serve on the Council, the appointed individual must be elected at the November 2018 General Election.

The process of filling a vacancy is set out in the Piedmont City Charter as follows:

(C) FILLING OF VACANCIES. A vacancy on the City Council shall be filled by appointment by the Council, with said appointee to hold office until the next general municipal election, when a successor shall be chosen by the electors for the unexpired term. If the Council does not fill such vacancy within thirty (30) days after the same occurs, then such vacancy shall be filled by the Mayor. 

Questions may be posed to the City Administrator, Paul Benoit, at 510/420-3040.

The public can provide input to the Council by using the following contact information.

Councilmember contact information:

It is with great sadness that I announce my resignation from the Piedmont City Council effective Tuesday September 5, 2017.

I will provide the City Administrator with a formal letter of resignation, which I will ask him to read at that meeting.

Throughout my service on Council, I strived to do what was best for Piedmont, and tried to be fair and open to everybody’s opinions. I challenge people to find a single instance where my personal opinions affected any vote or action I’ve taken Piedmont.

 In closing, I want to say I’m proud of the contributions I’ve made to Piedmont.  I helped reform Piedmont’s parcel taxes to provide funding for our high quality municipal services and to help retain the skilled people who provide them.  As a Chair of the Municipal Tax Review Committee, I successfully fought for a Charter amendment that allowed Piedmont to maintain an adequate General Fund reserve, and also helped structured a sewer tax that has allowed Piedmont to lead the East Bay cities in upgrading our infrastructure to reduce pollution in San Francisco Bay.  I’ve contributed on at least seven civic committees, and spent nearly 12 years on the City Council, missing sessions only when hospitalized.

I’ve written my “Piedmontage” column in the Piedmont Post for 14 years, with the aim of providing a clear, easily read, discussion of significant issues facing Piedmont.  Nobody has ever accused me of inserting personal political biases into any of my hundreds of columns about Piedmont’s civic issues.

In closing, I want to say that I have a deep love for our beautiful city, and think it has been an honor to work with so many fine civic volunteers.  I especially want to say how much I appreciate our city employees.  It has been my privilege to spend time with our police, firefighters, and public works employees.  Our employees and our skilled management team make Piedmont the superb city it is.

The City Council and staff have important issues to deal with, from cell towers to labor negotiations to garbage service.  It would be unfair to the City and a personal betrayal of my principles and past efforts if I allowed this circus to continue distracting residents, the Council, and City Staff.  I also don’t need any more obscene hate mail or veiled threats of violence.

I apologize for helping create this situation.  Continuing to fight the situation might make me feel better, but will not help our community.

Therefore, I am tendering my resignation from the City Council, effective as of Tuesday September 5, 2017.  My best wishes to you and to my former colleagues on the Council.  I am grateful to the friends, former colleagues and everyday citizens who have reached out with their support and understanding.

Jeffrey Wieler, Former Mayor and Councilmember

August 30, 2017

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City Press Release:  August 30, 2017

Jeffrey Wieler Resigns from Piedmont City Council

On Wednesday, August 30th, Jeffrey Wieler resigned from the Piedmont City Council effective Tuesday, September 5, 2017.

Mr. Wieler was elected to the City Council in 2010 and 2014. He previously served on the City Council from 2002 to 2006. The text of Mr. Wieler’s resignation is available on the City’s web site at http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us *

Contact: Paul Benoit, City Administrator   420-3040

Jeff Wieler’s indiscreet statements about an intimate female part are online and on television.  

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/

________________

View Channel 5 CBS report on latest concerns regarding Wieler’s public statements on a national website >HERE

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While making offensive remarks, Wieler utilized his elected Piedmont positions – Piedmont Councilmember and Mayor.

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.”

_____________

Councilmembers will decide who Piedmont’s next mayor will be.

Councilmembers are elected to serve 4 year terms, unless they assume an unexpired seat on the Council. In Piedmont, there is a Council election every 2 years; one election chooses two individuals and the alternate election chooses three individuals. Piedmont’s next General Election will be in November 2018.

The Piedmont City Council elects the mayor from one of its members.  The mayoral selection usually follows a general election, unless there is an intervening vacancy as currently exists.  To become the Mayor of Piedmont requires the affirmative vote of three Council members.

The Mayor serves at the pleasure of the Council for a two year term, that is unless the Mayor position is vacated, as with the resignation of Jeff Wieler.

In recent decades, the mayoral selection has traditionally been based on the number of years served in relation to the top vote-getter for that election cycle. Typically, there is harmony in the selection process; however, this has not always been the case.

There have been mayor and vice mayor selections that were not unanimous.  In other instances, a Councilmember has been jumped over to choose a less tenured Councilmember, or one who did not receive the most votes in a cycle.

The Mayor is one of the Councilmembers and has only the powers provided by City Charter or by those given by the Council. 

It seems all Council members want to be the Mayor, even though the position is not administrative, the mayor acts in approving agendas, running Council meeting as any chair would, representing the City in various situations, and being an ambassador for Piedmont.  There are a few exceptions to these responsibilities.

City Charter states:

SECTION 2.08 MAYOR Following each general municipal election, the City Council shall elect from among its member officers of the City who shall have the titles of Mayor and Vice-Mayor, each of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the Council. The Mayor shall preside at meetings of the Council, shall be recognized as head of the City government for all ceremonial purposes and by the Governor for the purposes of military law, but shall have no administrative duties. The Vice-Mayor shall act as mayor during the absence or disability of the Mayor. In case of the temporary absence or disability of both the Mayor and Vice-Mayor, the Council shall select one of its members to serve as Mayor Pro Tempore.

The selection of the mayor is a political process amongst the Councilmembers, who must adhere to the Brown Act during the consideration process, meaning a majority of the Council members can not meet outside of the public process to discuss their selection.

A vacancy currently exists in the position of Mayor.

Since the City Charter calls for a Mayor and a Vice Mayor, there is only an “acting mayor” when the Council elected mayor is “absent or disabled.”  The mayor is not now absent or disabled; the position is vacant. A vacancy is also described in the Charter, as when someone resigns, the current instance of Jeff Wieler’s resignation.

The Piedmont City Charter states:

(A) VACANCIES. The office of a Councilmember shall become vacant upon his/her death, resignation, removal from office in any manner authorized by law, or forfeiture of office.

No firm date has been set for Council consideration of a new mayor.

Councilmember Tim Rood has announced his request that the election of a mayor be scheduled on the September 5 Council meeting agenda.

Currently, Vice Mayor Bob McBain, the most tenured Councilmember other than Wieler, has assumed the responsibilities of the mayor.  The Council must make a decision on either choosing McBain or another Councilmember to become the next Mayor of Piedmont. If McBain is chosen as mayor, then another Councilmember will need to be chosen as Vice Mayor to replace McBain.

Councilmember contact information: