The following is a report by Piedmont High School student Joe Cumberlich on his observations of the Dec. 1, 2014 Piedmont City Council meeting.

On the night of December 1, 2014, I attended the Piedmont City Council meeting at the Piedmont City Hall on Vista Avenue. These meetings are held every other week throughout the year. Mayor Margaret Fujioka sits in the middle of the council members and leads the debates and motions for actions. In this specific meeting, representatives from the Piedmont Unified School District, and the Turkey Trot thanked the council for cooperation in their respective fundraising efforts.

The first topic that was extensively debated was agenda item number five, the consideration of an amendment to the use agreement with the Piedmont Center for the Arts to facilitate the installation of a disabled lift in the East Wing of the City’s building. This topic was clearly a priority of the City Council because the state requires wheelchair access in all buildings of this type. The issue of the lifts actual installation was the insurance costs brought on by the City, as well as the question of the quality of the lift itself. City Administrator Paul Benoit stressed the importance of the lift, as well as the quality of the lift itself. His points about quality were confirmed by Chester Nakahara the Director of Public Works for the City. The motion to purchase the lift passed and the Council decided to look at insurance at the end of the fiscal year.

Seventh on the agenda was a motion for the consideration of the award of the Linda Beach Field turf replacement project to Fieldturf USA in the amount of $222,204 and authorize the overall construction budget of $265,534. This conversation was obviously a great concern of Vice Mayor Jeffrey Wieler who extensively asked Fieldturf USA representative Andrew Reley about the safety of the materials, and the performance they have as both a playing surface and draining ability. I spoke on this topic because I’m an experienced user of field turf for various sporting events.

The proposed turf is made up of plastic grass and filled in with a mix of cork and sand. This mix is called ‘pure fill’ and is much more expensive than the traditional ‘crushed tire’ fill used at Witter Field. The City’s reasoning for this expense is the potential danger ‘crushed tire’ can have if consumed. Now a person would need to consume several cubic feet of the stuff for a lethal dose. Never the less the parents of small children will be fearful and will complain, making this a worthwhile expense for the City.

USA Fieldturf rep Andrew Reley explained his company’s success with their product, having installed thousands of fields globally. From elementary schools like Beach, to NFL and Pro Soccer fields.  I caught up with him after the meeting.

Me: Why were you at this meeting? What difficulties and problems brought you here?

Andrew: I was here to answer any questions for the City Council on the proposed turf at Beach Field.

Me: What’s the next step for this issue?

Andrew: Going forward we need to meet the needs of the community with prices that meet the budget of the City.

By Joe Cumberlich

Editors’ Note: The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

The League of Women Voters of Piedmont (LWVP) will hold their annual Holiday Luncheon on Friday, December 12.  The public is invited to attend and hear guest speaker, Piedmont resident Dan Reicher. *

Friday, December 12th

11:00 am – 1:30 pm

Piedmont Veterans Hall

401 Highland Avenue

Reicher will speak on Clean Energy: Technology, Policy and Finance. He is Executive Director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University, a joint center of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School, where he also holds faculty positions.

Reicher came to Stanford in 2011 from Google, where he served since 2007 as Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives. Dan has more than 25 years of experience in energy and environmental policy, finance, and technology. He has served three Presidents including in the Clinton administration as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Department of Energy Chief of Staff, as a member of President Obama’s Transition Team and Co-chair of the Energy and Environment Team for Obama, and as a staff member of President Carter’s Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island.

Dan holds a BA in biology from Dartmouth College and a JD from Stanford Law School. He also studied at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and MIT.

An avid kayaker, Reicher was a member of the first expedition on record to navigate the entire 1888-mile Rio Grande (with support from the National Geographic Society) and to kayak the Yangtze River in China. He is married to Carole Parker. Carole and Dan have three children and live in Piedmont.

*Speaker & lunch $30 in advance or $35 at the door. To reserve your spot, visit LWVPiedmont.org and click on the Reserve Now button. Payment via credit card, debit card or PayPal account accepted.

There is no fee for the speaker portion of the program. Lunch following the speaker at 12:30pm. Please reserve your spot by visiting LWVPiedmont.org.

For more information: LWVPiedmont.org 

According to information provided by Nancy Lehrkind, President of the Piedmont Center for the Arts, the Center meets Federal requirements for disabled access to restrooms. Lehrkind notes a restroom on the lower level available for those in a wheel chair or otherwise disabled.  The Arts Center contract with the city of Piedmont required the provision of a lift to access the disabled restrooms on the upper level.

Click here for more information on Piedmont Center for the Arts

The following is a Piedmont Unified School District student report on the City Council Meeting of November 17, 2014, written by Julia Ormond.

On Monday the 17th of November, the five city council members took their seats at exactly 7:30 pm and began their meeting with a discussion of the previous meeting’s minutes. As this conversation swiftly carried out, the minutes were approved and a couple more Piedmont citizens filed in to find their seats.

Once everyone was seated, Mayor Fujioka opened the floor for citizens to speak out on issues they felt needed to be heard. The first who stepped up to the podium was a man who introduced himself as Mr. Maggonas. Throughout his couple of minutes on the stand, Mr. Maggonas urged for a better relationship between Piedmont and Oakland, describing how we as a small town depend on Oakland, and thus need stronger ties with the large city. Mayor Fujioka thanked Mr. Maggonas for his contribution while other city council members nodded their heads in agreement.

Next to speak to the room was Claire Wong, a senior at Piedmont High School like myself. She explained a scenario that repeatedly occurrs on her walk home from school involving an unsafe crosswalk, and asked for the city council to consider a stop light on the street. The mayor scribbled some notes onto her paper and thanked Claire for bringing the problem to the council’s attention.

Next was my turn to speak out, and I explained a similar problem to Claire’s. I described the speeding on my street and asked for a stop sign somewhere along the long hill. The city council members encouraged me with smiles, once again taking notes on my ideas and thanking me for sharing when I was finished. The interaction between average citizen and city council member was not an intimidating one; the light atmosphere in the room allowed for an easy communication between the government and its citizens, which I appreciated.

When no other Piedmonters preferred to speak, the city council members moved on to their next topic of conversation, which was the Toys For Tots campaign. The Chief of the Fire Department, gentleman dressed in an official uniform, explained the importance of giving back to those less fortunate than those living in Piedmont. When he finished, a large bin was passed around and each city council member happily placed a fun toy or two into the bin to kick off the drive. A photographer took a couple photos, the city council members joyfully acknowledged the cute toys they each brought in, and the Chief thanked them all for participating.

Next to be invited to talk was a man named Tom Guarino, a PG&E representative traveling to cities of the Bay Area to talk about “Digging Month”. When I spoke to this man before the meeting started, he explained how he loved the job he did. With a smile on his face, Mr. Guarino described how interesting it was to travel to the different cities surrounding the Bay. Even though he was only there to speak to the city council, it was an enjoyable trip for him because he helped the people of each city become more conscientious.

Mr. Guarino’s job was to talk to the government of every city and explain the importance of calling PG&E before digging anywhere on one’s property. He stressed how digging without the knowledge of what’s underneath the surface can affect people throughout a district. A water pipe could be hit, and it could take days to fix the issue. Luckily, he said, Piedmont had not caused any digging problems in the past couple years, an accomplishment not many other towns could claim.

After his presentation to the city council members, Mayor Fujioka signed a document recognizing the requests of PG&E and officially named the month of November “Digging Month”. When I asked Mr. Guarino what he would be doing next, he said he would continue his travels until the end of the month, then return to his regular job of fixing downed power lines and broken water heaters throughout the Bay Area. As he left, he thanked Piedmont as a whole for its eager support.

Continuing the meeting, the city council members discussed an issue about a “conflict interest code” that concerned adding government workers and helpers onto a list that required these men and women to officially file the jobs they do for the city of Piedmont. While discussing the details of this code, Councilmember Rood chimed in with an idea to add the city engineer to that list. Although he did not officially work for the government, the engineer has advised the city of Piedmont consistently on multiple occasions. Luckily, the engineer already volunteers to file these papers when he does work for the government; in Rood’s mind it was a simple next step in the connection between the Piedmont government and the engineer himself.

Councilmember Wieler completely disagreed, arguing that putting the advising engineer, somebody who is part of a private business, on this list would be an invasion of privacy. Rood and Wieler continued to state their opinions, but in the end Rood convinced me when he said that there is nothing to hide between the engineer and the government; since he already files his government actions, why not make it official? I think that even just advising the government is important; it is not unnecessary to ask someone officially file the interactions. When put to vote, all agreed with Rood’s point of view, even Wieler, albeit reluctantly.

Once this discussion came to an end, the council members relaxed more and began discussing interesting things they had done in the past two weeks. Councilmember Rood told how he was interviewed by a few Boy Scouts on their way to gaining more badges. Mayor Fujioka explained her latest neighborhood safety meeting, stressing the importance of fostering a tight-knit and smart group of neighbors. Lastly, Councilmember Wieler advocated for an interesting art exhibition he saw in Oakland. As the lightweight conversation came to an end, the mayor once again thanked everyone who voiced their opinions during the meeting and officially ended the city council meeting with a strike of her gavel.

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

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The School Board meets two times every month to discuss matters regarding the Piedmont Unified School District schools. During this meeting, the things discussed by the board included lice and vaccinations almost exclusively.  Board Vice President Sarah Pearson was very passionate and prolific on the topic of lice. In fact, this was the topic of a majority of the meeting. The board discussed how to deal with lice, chiefly in the elementary schools. The way they’ve been doing it since I was that age is having lice checks performed at school, and sending out a few email notifications to parents when a student turns up lice-positive.

Board member Amal Smith asked for clarification on how more notifications would be helpful, which is what Mrs. Pearson suggested, and the response was that awareness was when individual parents could choose to  lice check their own children.

Personally, I disagree with the notion that notifications are what help us keep our children lice-free. However, I do understand the school shifting the responsibility of lice-checking to the parents, especially since it would potentially illicit more thorough checks.

The other topic discussed was also a concern of health: vaccinations. Another member of the audience, District Nurse Joan Edelstein, spoke on both issues. She encouraged people to get their children vaccinated.

I spoke to another member of the audience, Ms. Kashani. She is the President of Piedmont Teacher’s Union, and while no specific difficulties brought her to the meeting, she tries to maintain a good relationship between the union and the board. She wants to keep a close eye on the conversation of the board, since they are the people who ultimately decide whether or not the members of the union get a raise. “It’s purely political,” she says. As she has no particular concerns, there is no next step for her.

I also spoke, although the topic I wanted to address was not on the agenda, and was therefore not discussed at the meeting. The issue was this: I requested that the Wellness Center provide free contraception.

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

At the November 17 City Council meeting, Piedmont came into compliance with State of California conflict of interest laws.  All council members present voted to approve the revised policy.  Although a biannual Council review is required by State law, the Council had not reviewed the City policy since 1988.

After considerable discussion, the Piedmont Police and Fire Pension Board members and the City Engineer were added to the list of those required to provide personal economic disclosure on Form 700.  Vice Mayor Jeff Weiler objected to Council member Tim Rood’s suggestion of requiring Piedmont’s consulting City Engineer to be named on the list, because he felt it was unnecessary and an invasion of privacy. When the votes were cast, Weiler voted aye along with the other approving council members, while noting his objections.

The consulting City Engineer has previously been voluntarily providing his financial disclosure information to the City. The City Engineer is charged with the evaluation and oversight of public works projects including contracts, design and construction.

Newly added to the list was the Piedmont Police and Fire Pension Board, responsible for overseeing distribution of retiree benefits, investment of pension fund assets and post employment benefits investments by Osterweis Capital Management.  The assets are valued at tens of millions of dollars.

A question arose regarding application of economic disclosure requirements for specific appointed committees and commissions who interview and advise on auditors, contractors, consultants, bond underwriters, etc. The Acting City Attorney provided advice that the disclosure was not necessary as those appointed bodies did not make the final decision on selection of providers.  In recent years, it has been the practice of the City Council to approve committee and commission recommendations on various providers.

The City Council and Planning Commission along with certain employees have historically been complying with State economic disclosure laws in filing Form 700.

Financial disclosure is intended to alert the public, legal authorities and Fair Political Practices boards to personal interests that might be affected while appointed or elected officials are performing their official duties (i.e., making governmental decisions). Government Code 87500 identifies elected and appointed officials who are required to file Form 700, the Statement of Economic Interests.

Information disclosed can include:

• Investments in business entities (e.g., stock holdings, owning a business, a partnership)
• Interests in real estate (real property)
• Sources of personal income, including gifts, loans and travel payments
• Positions of management or employment with business entities

The form is required to be filed annually. Filed forms are public documents, available to anyone who requests them.

Read more about Form 700 here.

After the failed private undergrounding utility project costing Piedmont taxpayers over $2 million, the City Council in an attempt to avoid conflicts of interests adopted new policies and procedures for large public works projects.

Legal resolution to determine fault of the costly undergrounding debacle has yet to be resolved despite years of litigation.   Fault is pivoting around the City Council, City employees, contractors, engineers, and legal counsel. The majority of the participating Piedmont employees and City Council members involved in the problematic private utility project are no longer in their positions. There has been no announcement regarding final resolution of the pending litigation.

Piedmont City Council meeting Monday December 1, 2014, 7:30 p.m. –

Piedmont Center for the Arts was required by Federal laws and their contract with the City of Piedmont to provide disabled restroom access for those who are disabled and cannot go up stairs to the restrooms.  The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) affects all public facilities when a specified amount of money is spent on a facility.

Since 2011, thousands have attended functions at the 801 Magnolia Avenue Center; however, the required access to the restrooms was never added due to cost and logistics. The Art Center has recently received plans from local architect Grier Graff, who designed a lift plan that will not block stairway access and will provide the proper access for the disabled. The proposal requires the Art Center contract with the City to be amended to expand usage of the property by the Center.

The ADA has generated law suits throughout the nation when disabled individuals are barred by appropriate access to facilities.

The ADA has requirements for wheelchair access widths, however there is nothing in the report regarding correcting the only wheelchair access found at the rear of the building. The walkway is narrow with a gate further narrowing the wheelchair access path. Many motorized and larger wheelchairs are prohibited from entering the building through the narrow walkway.

Agenda Item: Consideration of an Amendment to the Use Agreement with the Piedmont Center for the Arts to Facilitate the Installation of a Disabled Lift in the East Wing of the City’s Building at 801 Magnolia Avenue

Read the staff report.

Correction –

According to information provided by Nancy Lehrkind, President of the Piedmont Center for the Arts, the Center meets Federal requirements for disabled access to restrooms. Lehrkind notes a restroom on the lower level available for those in a wheel chair or otherwise disabled.  The Arts Center contract with the city of Piedmont required the provision of a lift to access the disabled restrooms on the upper level.             Updated on December 7, 2014 

At its Monday, December 1 meeting, the Piedmont City Council will consider appropriating $265,534 for the replacement of the existing artificial playing surface at the Linda Beach Field.  The proposed budget includes the removal of the current turf and replacing it with more artificial turf at a bid cost of $222,204, plus $10,000 for management and inspection and a 15% contingency fund of $33,330 for a total authorization of $265,534.  The funds will come from the Facilities Maintenance Fund rather than the City’s Athletic Facility Preservation Fund, which is expected to have increased to $82,000 by the end of the Fiscal Year, June 30, 2015. 

“The project was originally scheduled for award and construction in the Summer of 2014 but was delayed to accommodate the needs of the Piedmont Soccer Club.”

Read the complete Staff Report for the Linda Beach Field turf installation project.

Read the complete City Council agenda for Monday, December 1, 2014.

Time to get ready for the 13th annual Piedmont Turkey Trot ~ a community event!

The 3 mile walk/run through Piedmont November 27th, 2014 ~ Thanksgiving morning~ 8:30 am

The race starts at the Exedra (Blue Vase) in Main Park at Highland and Magnolia Avenues. 

$30 for ages 13 years and older

$20 for ages 12 years and younger

Must register by Tuesday, November 25th for this pricing

After November 25th, late registration will be available for $40 for ages 13+ and $30 for ages 12 and under.

For more information and registration go to:

http://piedmontturkeytrot.com/

Long sleeve tech shirts will be available to the first 2400 registered entrants.

Net proceeds from the Piedmont Turkey Trot benefit local charities and organizations.

“The 2014 Piedmont Turkey Trot is proud to continue to have net proceeds benefit the PHS Cross Country and Track and Field Teams – and for the first time, the City of Piedmont’s Athletic Facilities Preservation Fund.”