Michelle Kenyon, Piedmont City AttorneyBurke, Williams and Sorensen, LLP Legal Interpretation of Section 9.02 of Piedmont City Charter INTRODUCTIONQuestions have been posed regarding whether a vote of the electorate is required under City Charter Section 9.02 to modify the permitted or conditional uses or increase densities within an established zone. Both the Charter and City…
Piedmont’s long-standing City Attorney, Michelle Kenyon, retired this month. Piedmonters didn’t get a good look at her work – most of the legal analysis she prepared was not available to the public under attorney-client privilege, and the more complex legal matters for the city were contracted out to specialists. She frequently did provide advice on…
A recent op-ed, “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” despite its curious distractions, inadvertently underscores frustrations shared by many residents. There is clear agreement: the city administrator’s performance is lacking, and the council’s composition is a problem. The author is also correct that the manufactured rivalry between Upper and Lower Piedmont is a distraction from our shared governance…
The evidence of failure in city leadership is no longer anecdotal; it is concrete and costly. The swimming pool renovation debacle squandered millions of dollars on a project that remains unfinished. And the rapid erosion of civil discourse at council meetings points to a profound failure in management. These are not isolated incidents. They are…
Harry Truman once said, “You want a friend in Washington. Get a dog”. He meant that Washington was a backstabbing town where no one could be trusted. That statement takes on a whole different meaning in Piedmont. Go to any one of Piedmont’s dog parks on a regular basis and you will meet some of…
When individuals are hit with Trump Derangement Syndrome we are treated to opinion pieces by the contributor of the recently published piece titled “Upper Piedmont’s Playbook: Same as Trump’s, Same as Always” . As an Upper Piedmont resident, I am quite offended that this Lower Piedmont contributor (LPC) … who has an obvious chip on…
As trash conquered our streets, City Hall’s “contingency plan” was simple: nothing. No preparation. Just surveys and begging calls to Republic Services while rats toured Piedmont Park. The ringmaster? Our beloved City Administrator—whose sole talents are intimidating residents, ignoring disasters, and bullying critics. Why hire a Sustainability Manager to applaud this farce? Or trust the…
Read a few pieces from fellow residents lately? Same story, different author. The pattern’s undeniable. Just like Trump handed favors to the wealthy, ” Upper Piedmont” – our local wealthy elites and deep-pocketed developers – runs this show. They’ve got the council’s ear, the power. The rest of us in “Lower Piedmont”? We’re shut out….
We’re now days into this garbage crisis. Garbage bins line our streets like monuments to municipal failure. The City’s solution? “Leave them out.” That’s it. No timeline. No backup plan. Just rotting waste baking in the July sun—attracting pests, creating health hazards, and degrading our community. Where is the leadership? Specifically, where is our City…
Wow — I just found this blog, and it hits so close to home. We moved here for the schools and sense of community, but what’s really going on? Courts at Linda Beach redone at huge cost — now locked up for weeks, just sitting there. Our tax dollars literally behind a fence. Then there’s…
