Update: The Board of Education voted to limit the Citizens’ Advisory Committee’s charge on December 8th.  See Recap of Meeting

On December 8th the Board of Education will vote on whether to revise the Citizens’ Advisory Committee’s current Charge.  Board Member Ray Gadbois, together with former member of the CAC Eileen Ruby, have argued for limits on the Committee’s ability to make recommendations to the Board and its fact-finding research. Details in previous article: “A Call to Limit Citizens’ Advisory Committee Input“. Click to read more »

A letter from a Piedmont resident on Blair Park on public access to future Blair Park facilities:

Last week’s Piedmonter article on the 11/17 Piedmont Recreation Commission (Rec. Comm.) meeting reported what many residents around Linda Beach, Witter Field and Dracena Park have experienced for a long time. Unscheduled use by out of town groups is a major, known and ongoing problem in Piedmont. The pick-up soccer games by adult males are so aggressive that families are afraid to come near the facilities when these games are in progress. Click to read more »

Forty new pages of letters to the City Council on the Moraga Canyon Sports Field Draft EIR are now posted on the City’s website.  The letters vary from very detailed reasons why the EIR should or should not be certified to form letters with childrens’ names asking the Council to certify the EIR. The final EIR hearing will be held on December 6th at 7:30 p.m. in the Veteran’s Memorial Building at 401 Highland Avenue, Piedmont.

Oakland Public Library Director Carmen Martinez was the featured speaker at the League of Women Voters’ Holiday Lunch Program on Wednesday, December 1.  Martinez was charmingly modest about her appointment by former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown in 2000, claiming she was Click to read more »

The Piedmont Swim Club has released information on the status of lease negotiations and requests community input.

A letter from Tim Rood, President of the Piedmont Swim Club  to the community dated 11/29/2010:

The Piedmont Swim Club lease expires on June 30, 2011.  Negotiations for renewal of the lease are at a critical point.  The City Council will be discussing Click to read more »

A letter from a Piedmont resident on Blair Park:

It’s a Gift!  I am concerned about the gifting of “exclusive use rights” of City owned public property to a private business. And is it legal? If it is . . . . Click to read more »

A Letter from a Piedmont Resident on Blair Park:

The EIR as presented before [the City Council] cannot be certified. Specifically in my scoping and response letter, and public comments, I asked for:  (1) an examination of unscheduled use at existing fields and how that would relate to the proposal, and (2) the potential drain on police services, and (3) specific traffic issues first raised in the DEIR. I also raise the issue of pollution in this letter.  My comments were either Click to read more »

The Piedmont City Council’s scheduled public hearing Monday evening, Nov. 15, 2010, on the Moraga Avenue Sports Fields became a pep rally event, as more than 300 adults, children and young people crowded into Veterans Hall.  Most came to voice  their support for the proposed sports complex at Blair Park. Although the agenda specified a public hearing on the “Moraga Canyon Sports Fields Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Response to Comments,” the majority of speakers focused on the need for more sports fields in Piedmont. Click to read more »

On Thursday, November 18, 2010, a group of approximately 60 Piedmont Middle School parents heard presentations from School Board Member Ray Gadbois, School Administrators, and parent leaders.  Highlights included the good news that Click to read more »

On Monday, December 6, 2010 the City Council will hold a second and final Public Hearing on the Moraga Fields Project EIR Response to Comments prepared by LSA.  The Hearing will begin at 7:30pm in the Veterans Hall at 401 Highland Avenue.