The May 7th Piedmont City Council meeting on Blair Park confirmed again, the fraternal interplay between City Staff, Council Members and some tax-payers. There is a obvious double standard and unequal treatment towards two groups of taxpaying residents. The upper classmates (PRFO) wants to destroy a 100-year-old park so they can build a spiffy sports edifice. The other class (FOMC) wants to preserve and protect a historical park, so every one has fair & equal access to enjoy it.
From day one, City officials picked sides and gave PRFO the green light. The City supplied unlimited resources, a CEQA attorney and monies from the general fund for PRFO's flawed adventure. PRFO and Officials boasted verbally about the virtues of another public-private partnership.
There was even a written "contract" that PRFO would pay all the costs. At the May 7th meeting we, learned that the City Council has spent at least $250,000 of the taxpayers' scarce assets on staff time alone. It gets better! PRFO owes the City of Piedmont $ 220,000.00 in bills — and they refuse to pay.
Administrator Grote buried known PRFO Oct.-Nov. billings so as not affect the Council's December 5th vote on the project. Grote now admits that even more bills are still trickling in. I predict the PRFO bills will amount to at least $350,000 and Grote and Council will "stiff" the Piedmont tax-payers with the whole vile tab. These are wasted monies that could have gone to Piedmont's real primarysport: THE SCHOOLS!
There is a biased Two-Tiered Treatment (TTT) of service and favoritism to certain taxpayers in Piedmont. The Haves and the Have-Nots. We witnessed it clearly in the blatant mishandling of the PHUUD — $ 2,500.000, Crest Road — $300,000, Kurtin Lawsuit — $ 575,000.
City Council has lost sight of their primary duty is to "all of us" as our public servants. The only tool the disenfranchised Piedmont taxpayers have is the ballot box. I thought the historic defeat of the sewer tax, the MTRC and the LWV report would send a clear message that Council needs to redeem itself — get its act together. I was wrong.
On May 7th Council was not contrite at all, they arrogantly doubled down with their PRFO cronies and kept the lawsuit-prone EIR in place, for another run at Blair Park. How much will the 2014 Blair Park II cost us? Piedmont's financial hole is getting deeper and bigger. Very soon, the City Staff will be pleading with us again to vote for new parcel taxes to reward and prop up the whole flawed TTT system in Piedmont.
I, the Have-Not, will be voting "No" on any future parcel taxes in Piedmont.
Neil Teixeira
Piedmont, CA
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