In addition to federal, state, county and special district representatives along with 10 statewide ballot measures in the Nov. 5 election, Piedmont citizens will also vote for City Council and school board members and a school funding tax.
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Piedmont residents registered by Oct. 21 to vote in Alameda County will elect two City Council and three school board members. The ballot also includes Measure P, a Piedmont Unified School District parcel tax that would replace Measure H, the district’s existing special tax that was adopted in 2019. If approved, Measure P would become effective June 20, 2025.
The county Registrar of Voters began sending vote-by-mail ballots on Monday. Ballots can be submitted by mail or deposited in any of the 66 secure ballot drop boxes throughout Alameda County by Nov. 5. In Piedmont, a 24-hour secure ballot drop box is near the mailboxes at Highland Way and Mountain Avenue.
Voters choosing to participate in-person can vote Nov. 2-5 at any of the county’s 100 vote centers. The Veterans Memorial Building at 401 Highland Ave. will serve as Piedmont’s vote center on those days. Several smaller vote centers will open 11 days before the election and starting on Oct. 26 will include one near Piedmont at Oakland Technical High School (4351 Broadway in Oakland).
Voters submitting a ballot who sign up and use the Registrar of Voters’ “Track My Ballot” tool can receive notification when their ballot has been mailed, received and counted. The department, local voting registrars and city staff repeatedly issue reminders to everyone that regardless of method — mail or drop box — signing the back of the return envelope is crucial. Without a signature, a vote will not be counted.
Four candidates running for the two open Piedmont City Council seats are Conna McCarthy, Lorrel Plimier, James Green and Nancy “Sunny” Bostrom-Fleming. McCarthy is a licensed attorney and an incumbent who was first elected to the council in 2020. Plimier is a U.S. Army veteran, attorney, data scientist, longtime volunteer in Piedmont’s schools and the League of Women Voters chapter and has two teenage children in the city’s schools.
Green is the director of government affairs and public policy at Google LLC, an active community volunteer and has a child enrolled at Piedmont Middle School. Bostrom-Fleming identifies as an artist and scholar, has been active in the community for many years and has previously run for Piedmont’s City Council and school board.
Four candidates running for the three open school board seats are Michael Malione, Suzy Struble, Victoria Rosenbaum and Max Roman. None of the candidates are incumbents, and more information about each can be found on their websites. Collectively, their campaign statements emphasize working collaboratively, organizing and prioritizing district funding and maintaining the high-quality educational standards of Piedmont’s schools.
Measure P seeks approval for renewing the school parcel tax for eight years. By levying a special tax at the uniform rate of 50 cents per square foot of building improvements per year, the district would receive $5 million in funding that cannot be taken away by the state. Use of the funds would have independent citizen oversight and be locally controlled.
Dr. Jennifer Hawn, the Piedmont school district’s superintendent, said she is most focused on ensuring that Piedmont’s Measure P school funding tax is clearly understood and approved. (photo courtesy of the Piedmont Unified School District)
The money would be used for teacher and staff retention and to continue advanced academic programs. Exemption from the tax would be granted to homeowners under certain economic or health conditions. An annual report issued by the district would include the amount of funds collected and spent and the status of projects funded by the tax revenues. Passage of the measure requires a two-thirds “yes” vote from all eligible voters.
Dr. Jennifer Hawn, the Piedmont school district’s superintendent, said in an interview that “In Piedmont, whether you are a parent with kids in school or a resident homeowner with no kids in school, you know the city is all about high-quality schools and city services.
“That’s heightened beyond other communities in the Bay Area that often have more businesses that provide tax revenue for services and attract potential homeowners. If you live in Piedmont, you recognize your property values benefit from having outstanding schools. People move to Piedmont for the schools specifically.”
Hawn says the East Bay has many great opportunities for schooling with Piedmont schools “at the top” but that staying competitive is still challenging. The 9% pay increase over three years currently offered to staff requires roughly $1.4 million in cuts for the 2024-25 school year and the same amount in the year to follow, she said, and that approving the new parcel tax would reduce the cuts 50% by limiting them to only the first (current) year.
“If the measure does not pass, we would have to make budget cuts,” Hawn said. “We would have to cut staff and programs and give lower raises. Our schools are seeing declining enrollment, exactly like most areas across the state, which means less revenue from the state. I can’t offer examples of what would be cut at this time. We’d hold a study session in January (of 2025) to make recommendations for reduction.”
Hawn said she is most focused on ensuring the measure is clearly understood and approved. Asked for two primary reasons voters should vote “yes” for Measure P, she said that “First, to attract and retain the best teachers, you have to be competitive. We’re trying to move our staff and education team to higher levels of compensation.
“The second reason is to offer our students continued, high-quality programs. The state has reduced our funding, and we don’t qualify for the funding we need to cover what is already in place. The state’s cost-of-living assessment has diminished over the years. It’s so small we actually lose money if we don’t get other revenue.”
Looking beyond this year and the critical Measure P, Hawn said her long-term goal since joining the district in 2023 is to better build up the district’s reserves.
“The state mandates a 3% reserve, which we maintain but spend. We might think about having a more robust reserve and developing future strategies so we can create summer programs and new sources of revenue while maintaining the standards that make our schools special.”
Lou Fancher is a freelance writer. Reach her at lou@johnsonandfancher.com.