PIEDMONT CITY COUNCIL
Regular Meeting Minutes for Monday, November 20, 2023
A Regular Session of the Piedmont City Council in the City Hall Council Chambers, 120 Vista Avenue, was held on November 20, 2023. In accordance with Government Code Section 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was posted for public inspection on November 16, 2023.
CALL TO ORDER Mayor Cavenaugh called the Regular Session meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and no reportable action from the Closed Session meeting.
ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Jennifer Cavenaugh, Vice Mayor Betsy Smegal Andersen and Councilmembers Jennifer Long and Tom Ramsey
Absent: Councilmember Conna McCarthy
Staff: City Administrator Rosanna Bayon Moore, City Attorney Michelle Marchetta Kenyon, Police Chief Jeremy Bowers, Planning and Building Director Kevin Jackson, Finance Director Michael Szczech, Communications Program Manager Echa Schneider, City Clerk Anna Brown, and Deputy City Clerk Lisa Argue
PUBLIC FORUM Public Comment was received from:
Keegan Bells spoke about matters outside the jurisdiction of the City Council and, after his time lapsed, was directed by Mayor Cavenaugh to further engage by email with the City Council and staff on subject matter items.
CEREMONIAL ITEM None
CONSENT CALENDAR The Consent Calendar consisted of the following items:
Minutes Approval of City Council Minutes for 11/6/2023
Second Reading of
Ordinance 771 N.S.
Second Reading of Ord. 771 N.S. – Renewal of the Municipal Services Special Tax effective July 1, 2025
(0435, 0705, 1030)
Special Municipal
Election
Approval of a resolution calling for the holding of a Special Municipal Election to be held on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, requesting the consolidation of the Special Municipal Election with the Presidential Primary Election and directing that a measure be added to the ballot continuing the existing Municipal Services Special Tax and rescinding Resolution 70-2023 (0435)
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to schedule a Special Municipal Election for March 5, 2024, to vote on a continuation of the Municipal Services Special Tax; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary to determine a number of details relating to such Special Municipal Election and to request that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors consolidate such Special Municipal Election with the Presidential Primary Election to be held on the same date; and City Council Minutes
November 20, 2023
WHEREAS, at its November 6, 2023, meeting, the City Council directed that the ballot language be precise and transparent with respect to singlefamily homeowners and be consistent with Elections Code Section 13119(b), which revised ballot language is reflected in this Amended Resolution.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Piedmont does hereby resolve, declare, determine and order as follows:
SECTION 1. Pursuant to the requirements of the Charter of the City of Piedmont, a Special Municipal Election is called and ordered to be held in the City of Piedmont, California on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, for the purpose of voting on an extension of the Municipal Services Special Tax.
SECTION 2. Pursuant to §10002 and §10403 of the Elections Code, the City of Piedmont formally requests that the Special Municipal Election be consolidated with the Presidential Primary Election to be held on March 5, 2024 and further requests the services of the Alameda County Registrar of Voters in carrying out the Special Municipal Election, including sending to the City’s registered voters all required election materials, conducting the Special Municipal Election, canvassing the vote received, and taking all steps necessary and required for the holding of this election within the City of Piedmont.
SECTION 3. The City Council acknowledges that the consolidated election will be held and conducted in the manner prescribed in Elections Code §10418.
SECTION 4. The compensation for election officers shall be based on the rates set by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors which are in effect at the time of the Special Municipal Election.
SECTION 5. The location of the central counting place for the ballots to be cast at the Special Municipal Election shall be the Alameda County Courthouse, 1225 Fallon Street, Oakland, California.
SECTION 6. The polling place rental fees shall be the same as the fees which are adopted by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, and which are currently in effect at the time of the Special Municipal Election.
SECTION 7. The City Clerk is directed to give notice of the election in the time, form, and manner as required by law.
SECTION 8. Pursuant to Section 8.03 of the City Charter and Elections Code Section 9222, the following proposed measure, which shall be designated by letter by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, shall be added to the ballot for the March 5, 2024, Special Municipal Election and thereby submitted to the voters of the City:
“To increase funding for essential police, fire, and paramedic services, maintain parks, greenspaces, and public areas, and preserve recreation, public works, and community services, shall Ordinance 771 N.S. be adopted to renew the City of Piedmont’s expiring four-year parcel tax with a twelve-year parcel tax with annual rates between $743 and $1,254 per single family residential City Council Minutes
November 20, 2023
parcel, $1,254 or $1,882 per commercial parcel, or $515 per multifamily dwelling unit, subject to CPI adjustment, raising approximately $3,272,000 annually?”
SECTION 9. The City Council directs the City Clerk to submit to the City attorney a copy of the measure, and the City Attorney is hereby authorized and directed to prepare an impartial analysis of the ballot measure showing the effect of the measure on the existing law and operation of the measure.
The impartial analysis shall be submitted by the City Attorney to the City Clerk on or before December 4, 2023, at 4:00 p.m., shall not exceed 500 words in length, and otherwise shall comply in all respects with the applicable provisions of the Elections Code of the State of California.
SECTION 10. The last day for filing direct arguments for or against the measure shall be December 15, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. and all such arguments shall be filed with the Piedmont City Clerk, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, California and shall not exceed 300 words in length. The City Clerk, upon receipt of arguments and after the filing deadline, shall immediately transmit copies to any known opposing parties who may then submit rebuttals within the time period described in Section 11 below.
Arguments received prior to the deadline shall be confidential until the deadline.
SECTION 11. The last day for filing rebuttal arguments for or against the ballot measure shall be December 22, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. and all such arguments shall be filed with the Piedmont City Clerk, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, California and shall not exceed 250 words in length. Arguments received prior to the deadline are confidential until the deadline.
SECTION 12. Pursuant to Elections Code Section 9295, the ten (10) day public review period for direct arguments submitted pursuant to Section 10, above, shall open at 4:00 p.m. on December 15, 2023, and shall close at 4:00 p.m. on December 25, 2023. If a rebuttal argument is submitted pursuant to Section 11, above, the ten (10) day public review period shall open at 4:00 p.m. on December 22, 2023, and shall close at 4:00 p.m. on January 2, 2024.
SECTION 13. In all particulars not recited in this Resolution, the election shall be held and conducted as provided by law for holding municipal elections.
SECTION 14. The City Clerk is authorized to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.
Consultant Services
Contract Amendment
for the 6th Cycle
Housing Element
Approval of a contract amendment with Lisa Wise Consulting, Inc. for services related to the 6th Cycle Housing Element Update (0045)
There was no Public Comment received.
Resolution 72-2023
RESOLVED, that the City Council approves the Consent Calendar Moved by Ramsey, Seconded by Andersen
City Council Minutes
November 20, 2023
Ayes: Andersen, Cavenaugh, Long, Ramsey
Noes: None
Absent: McCarthy
REGULAR AGENDA The Council considered the following items of regular business:
AC Transit Realign
Bus Service Network
Plan Update
Marie Henderson, External Affairs Representative, and Owen Goetze, Transportation Planner, with AC Transit presented the Realign Bus Service Network Plan update post pandemic, draft service proposals for routes in and around the City, rider demographics, transit service in Piedmont today, what is Realign and why it is happening, Realign project phasing, guiding principles, and draft service scenarios overview, balanced coverage scenario, frequent service scenario, and unconstrained vision scenario. They reviewed route maps for Lines 18, 88, 29, and 12, a system-wide summary, phase three of public engagement, and the take-one handout.
There was no Public Comment received.
(1065)
Housing Element
Program
Implementation
Update
Planning and Building Director Kevin Jackson announced that the City received a Letter of Substantial Compliance for the Housing Element from the California Department of Housing and Community Development on November 9 and that the draft revision process is underway in collaboration with the City attorney’s office to revise the zoning ordinance that implements several areas of the Housing Element programs. He noted public engagement efforts and multiple study sessions to adopt the revised ordinance in early 2024.
Associate Planner Gopika Nair presented the status of the Housing Element programs implementation plan by category, meeting schedule, revisions to the zoning ordinance categorized by date, other programs to be implemented within a strict timeframe, and programs that are underway and those that have a more generous timeframe. She discussed the opportunity for public review of the environmental impact report (EIR) and Draft General Plan Amendments and shared a screenshot of piedmontishome.org.
There was no Public Comment received.
(0515)
Third Quarter 2023
Piedmont Police
Department Report
Police Chief Jeremy Bowers presented the Piedmont Police Department (PPD) Quarterly Report for the 3rd Quarter 2023, crime data for the last three years, crime summaries 2007-2022 yearly robbery, burglary, larceny, and vehicle theft and 2023 third quarter comparison, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) incidents, arrests for the last three years through third quarter 2023, and the PPD Crime Response Plan. He reviewed crime maps for major offenses by location, a heat map for all categories, and reported traffic collisions for the last two years. He noted the next Public Safety Committee meeting scheduled for November 30 at 5:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers.
Public Comment was received from:
City Council Minutes
November 20, 2023
Georgina Russell asked for staff to inform the public of the expectations of officers during patrol times and related key performance indicators (KPI) and public funding metrics.
(0785)
REPORTS AND
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Councilmember Long announced an upcoming Housing Element Community Workshop meeting on November 30 at Veteran’s Hall to discuss the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan.
Vice Mayor Andersen announced the League of Women Voters Piedmont fundraiser event and conversation with form Mayor Libby Schaaf on December 1 at 801 Magnolia, East Bay Community Energy has become Ava Community Energy, the Lights Up celebration at Piedmont Community Hall on December 6 hosted by the Piedmont Recreation Department and Piedmont Beautification Foundation, and the upcoming street sweeping and notification on the City website.
Mayor Cavenaugh announced the ongoing toy drive hosted by the Piedmont Fire Department, Turkey Trot at Piedmont Park and book collection at City Hall, and Dearing Memorial Project video soon to be available on the City website. She acknowledged school organizers and participants for the Ruby Bridges Walk to School event and noted that City offices will be closed this week on Thursday and Friday.
ADJOURNMENT With no further business, Mayor Cavenaugh adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m.