MEET TOM RAMSEY
Running for Piedmont City Council, 2022
Experience:
We came for the schools, we stayed for the friendships, location, and the services delivered by the city. Piedmont operates well because of a dedicated staff of city workers and first responders, an engaged public and a group of volunteers that make the city work.
We have an "A" Team on City Council now, our leaders are attorneys, experts in law, business and public policy. I bring a different experience to add to the mix of talent: I've been helping people build in the Bay Area for over 30 years and for the past 7 years I have served on Piedmont's Planning Commission. I like to solve problems and I've spent my career building and leading teams.
That's a good recipe for our City Council.
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Piedmont Experience:
Piedmont Planning Commission 2015 - present
Chair, Piedmont Planning Commission 2017 - 2018
Piedmont Design Review Guidelines Committee 2019
Measure A1 Advisory Committee 2020
Seismic Safety Advisory Committee for the Piedmont Public Schools 2006 - 2007
Piedmont Community Service Crew / Rebuild Together Oakland Team Leader 2009 - current
Why are you running?
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Piedmont’s a great town. 25 years ago, my family moved here for the public schools, and now that our daughters graduated PHS, we stayed for the friendships, location, and services delivered by the city. I value safe neighborhoods, and I expect fiscal responsibility. Our town does have work to do. We have a pool to build as construction costs increase. We have public facilities with deferred maintenance issues. We have the difficult task of navigating the state mandates for housing density in a small town already built out and full of beautiful historic homes and civic buildings. I’m an architect, a problem solver and for over 30 years I’ve been building and leading diverse teams around the Bay Area. I’ll leverage my professional experience and my seven years on the planning commission to continue to accommodate growth while preserving Piedmont’s physical character. I’ve served on committees: Seismic Advisory, Design Guidelines, Measure A1 and I’ve worked with Piedmont’s youth through Scouting’s Community Service Crew for over a decade. I’m confident that when our town is fully engaged and works together, we can successfully resolve the issues in front of us; that’s what makes Piedmont a great town. [Source]
From the Piedmont Post -
September 14, 2022
Week 1 Questions
1. If elected, what are your plans for housing in Piedmont? What would additional housing in Piedmont cost and what would it look like? (mixed use/ single family homes/ market rate apartments, etc.)
2. What do you see as some of Piedmont’s critical infrastructure needs and what are your plans for reinvestment or repair?
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The six city council candidates vying for three open seats
were sent these questions on Friday, September 9, and were asked
to reply with 150-word responses.
TOM RAMSEY
1) Housing
We have the responsibility and legal obligation to create a plan to integrate affordable housing into our beautiful town, but not to be a developer. Our town is not in the housing construction business, nor should it be. Here are two examples of what we can do:
1. Create Objective Design Standards for potential duplexes and lot splits allowed by state law. There are great examples of historic multi-family housing in Piedmont hiding in plain sight today. Let’s control negative impacts of SB9 by creating thoughtful Design Standards specific to Piedmont.
2. Look for opportunities for Public Private Partnerships that provide affordable housing and leverage public improvements for parks and city infrastructure. These collaborative efforts could provide non-City funding. I’ll use my 30 years’ experience as an architect and seven years serving on the Planning Commission to assure that our housing efforts preserve the character of our town.
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2) Infrastructure
We have great public services in Piedmont with dedicated staff and first responders. However, our infrastructure and facilities do not reflect the same quality. Our police and fire stations do not meet minimum building code requirements for essential facilities. For example, a 2020 review revealed that fire apparatus could be trapped inside the garage following an earthquake.
Our work ahead should include:
1. Updating our Civic Center Plan
2. Evaluating existing conditions, options, costs, and phasing. Estimates suggest that rebuilding the fire station is less expensive than remodeling – Let’s vet all assumptions with the current market.
3. Evaluating efficiencies by combining redundant support facilities.
4. Working with the Budget and Finance Committee to determine appropriate funding options.
5. Evaluating a Public Private Partnership approach.
6. Implementing the proposed Emergency Operations Center Improvements. As an architect, I’ve spent my career tackling these issues. I’ll put that experience to work for Piedmont.
From the Exedra -
September 27, 2022
We asked all city council and school board candidates to fill out a questionnaire to better understand their priorities and positions. Many are hosting meet-and-greets and can be spotted around town, but if you can’t make it to one of their events, these Q&As are a good starting point.
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(Editor’s note: We received responses from all candidates except for Sunny Bostrom as of Tuesday, Sept. 27. We will update the site when we receive her questionnaire.)
What is your age and how long have you lived in Piedmont?
I’m 59 years old and have lived in Piedmont for 25 years.
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What you do for work, either in or out of your home?
I am a California licensed architect and a vice president with a national real estate project management company.
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Have you worked or volunteered in the Piedmont community (or elsewhere) previously? If so, in what capacity(ies)?
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Planning Commission: 7 years; Chair for one term
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Public Schools Seismic Advisory Committee
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Design Guidelines Committee
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Measure A1 Committee
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Piedmont Community Service Crew: Led low-income housing repair projects with Piedmont students (10+ years)
What inspires you to run for office?
I like to solve problems and I’ve spent my career building and leading teams. Like my neighbors, I value a safe community and expect fiscal responsibility. I want to leverage my professional experience and my service on the planning commission to help my town with the planning and building issues before us such as: Building a pool in a time of escalating construction costs. Tackling the deferred maintenance issues of our critical facilities and navigating the difficult task of managing the state mandates for housing in a small town that is fully built out and full of beautiful historic homes and civic buildings.
What are your qualifications to be on the City Council? Any special skills or experience the voters should know about?
In addition to my volunteer work listed above, I’ve been a California licensed architect since 1990. I was an owner of an architectural firm for 18 years and today I am a vice president with a national real estate project management company. I am an owner’s representative managing teams and overseeing the client’s scope, schedule, and budget. I’m fortunate to work with forward thinking companies and talented groups of architects, engineers, and contractors on large, impactful projects around the Bay.
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What do you see as the most challenging issues currently facing the city?
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I want to help Piedmont navigate the State Housing Mandates. I want to do it in a way that is transparent and keep as much local control as possible. We can control what is built, where it’s built and what it looks like.
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It’s also time to address the condition of our police and fire stations and city hall. Our critical facilities do not meet minimum building and life safety code requirements. Let’s fix that.
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And thanks to many people in this town, we will soon be constructing a new pool. I want to help get the project across the finish line.
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What do you see as strengths of the Piedmont community?
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The people. We have an engaged, talented, friendly community.
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The schools. This is what drew my family here.
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The services. We have an average police response time of 4 minutes, a fire station in the center of town and a hardworking city staff. Like many families here, we came for the schools, we stayed for the quality services.
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What will be your top priority if elected?
For several budget cycles, our City Administrator, our Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee and City staff have listed critical infrastructure as a top priority for Piedmont. I agree. It’s past time to make needed upgrades to Piedmont’s aging infrastructure and facilities. Our critical facilities need to be safe, so our first responders can keep us safe. I also agree that our financial stewardship includes an obligation to plan for the substantial repair and/or replacement of our facilities.
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The facility upgrade process will take time, robust public engagement, careful consideration of the phasing of work, and a commitment to seamlessly deliver excellent public services during the work.
I’ve spent 30 years working as an architect tackling this type of work for commercial clients. I’ll put that experience to work for Piedmont.
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Do you see yourself being especially involved in any particular city issue or program, whether or not it’s your top priority?
Planning, design and getting projects built is what I do. Issues around housing, planning for our infrastructure improvements and dealing with construction challenges that we may see with the pool are what interest me and where my architectural and project management experience could be put to good use.
Talk about any leadership roles you’ve held and what you learned from them.
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For over a decade, I’ve volunteered leading low-income housing repair projects with Piedmont Community Service Crew students. I learned not to underestimate our youth.
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I’ve served on the Planning Commission for 7 years, with one term as Chair. I learned to listen to every comment and read every letter before making a decision.
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I was a small business owner for 18 years. I learned the value of relationships.
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I’m a vice president with a national project management company. I learned the value of building a good team.
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Share an example of your decision-making style.
I‘m a fan of a collaborative decision-making process that combines input from all stakeholders. When my company was brought on to help manage the design and construction of a new facility for a local utility, the early programming process that was already underway was difficult. We quickly realized that the users and workers of the proposed facility did not have a seat at the table during the utility company’s programming meetings. We changed that. We identified points of contact from each user group, toured other facilities with them, and made them part of the design team. There were still challenges but the engagement improved the final product and improved the process.
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What project have you worked on that you are especially proud of?
I worked on the committee that updated Piedmont’s Design Guidelines. It had been 30 years since the document was last updated. We met with local architects for their input, gathered data on variance applications to see what was and was not working well, reviewed design award projects, reviewed guidelines from other jurisdictions and presented drafts of the document in public forums. We surveyed the public, consolidated information, and added lots of photographs. The result is a user-friendly document with a focus to accommodate growth while preserving the existing character of our town. As a resident and an architect, that’s important to me.
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City Council members must navigate a wide range of community opinions and demands. How will you handle those pressures?
A wide range of community opinions and demands are a sign of an engaged public and Piedmonters are not shy about engaging. My experience serving on the Planning Commission has not only made my skin a bit thicker but has taught me to encourage participation. Because public engagement improves our decision-making process. Our town is home to an impressive depth of expertise. This collective wealth of experience is a great resource and I’ll leverage that resource as much as possible.
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What should the city’s priorities be when it comes to upgrading city infrastructure?
We have great public services in Piedmont with dedicated staff and first responders. However, our essential services buildings do not reflect the same quality.
Our police and fire stations do not meet minimum building code requirements for essential facilities. For example, a 2020 review revealed that fire apparatus could be trapped inside the garage following an earthquake. Our work ahead should include:
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Updating our Civic Center Plan
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Evaluating existing conditions, options, costs, and phasing.
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Evaluating efficiencies by combining redundant support facilities.
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Working with the Budget and Finance Committee to determine appropriate funding options
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Evaluating a Public Private Partnership approach.
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Implementing the proposed Emergency Operations Center Improvements.
As an architect, I’ve spent my career tackling these issues for commercial clients. I’ll put that experience to work for Piedmont.
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Piedmont is required by the state to meet new affordable housing goals. What is your view on the approach the city has taken so far to comply with the law?
Piedmont has been updating the State required affordable housing goals every eight years since 1969. This time around, the State assigned high target numbers to all jurisdictions. Should we have fought the assigned numbers? 27 other jurisdictions spent time and public dollars to challenge the numbers and 27 other jurisdictions failed. I agree with our town’s approach to save our resources and work together to create a plan instead of fighting the State.
Piedmont is committed to submitting the State required planning documents (referred to as the Housing Element) on time. The Housing Element is a plan and does not require owners of privately owned land or publicly owned land to develop their property if it is not in their best interests. If we do not submit the Housing Element on time, we risk losing local control over our planning process to the State. I agree with the approach to comply with State law and keep Piedmont in control of our planning process, not the State.
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What would you do to promote diversity in Piedmont, including among City staff?
We have work to do, but I do see actions that the city is working to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. Among other things:
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We need to “own” our collective history of redlining.
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We can lean on our local home-grown community groups for facilitation and outreach.
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Let’s continue and expand training to recognize implicit bias.
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Let’s continue anti-racism training for City Council members and consider expanding training to various city committees and commissions.
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Piedmont has recently received an award for its sustainability accomplishments and goals. What would you do to further Piedmont’s Climate Action Plan?
I’m proud to live in a town that is a leader in Sustainability Best Practices. I’ll continue that progress.
Our city facilities reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 12% from 2010 to 2019 and city wide our community reduced emissions by 30% – that’s great news – but the next 12% – 30% reduction will be more difficult.
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I support Piedmont’s commitment for the new community pool to be an all-electric facility. And I support the city’s effort to explore funding options through State or Federal grants.
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I support Piedmont’s adoption of REACH codes for existing facilities and believe we should look for ways to incentivize residents to convert to all electric services.
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I think the city could do a better job of communicating to our residents what we’ve done and what specific steps still need to get done to reach our Climate Action Plan 2.0 goals
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What do you think about current recreational opportunities in Piedmont, and do you have other ideas for adding, subtracting or changing programs?
I can’t wait for the new pool to open. Next door to the pool and with some minor improvements, the Piedmont Recreation Department Building could be better utilized opening more space for more programs. That would really add to the pool’s design concept of providing a recreational hub in the center of town.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with voters about your candidacy?
I’ve found that the best part of this campaign has been getting to meet new people and reconnecting with neighbors. I appreciate the opportunity to use this forum provided by the Exedra to help community members learn more about me and my candidacy. Please feel free to reach out to me at tom@vote4tomramsey.com with any additional questions or comments.
Thank you and be sure to vote on November 8th.
Do you have a website and email to share with voters? If so, please add below.
https://sites.google.com/view/vote4tomramsey | tom@vote4tomramsey.com
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From the Piedmont Post -
September 28, 2022
Part 3 in a series (part 2 was for School Board)
In advance of the November 8 Municipal Election, six candidates have filed papers for three available seats on the Piedmont City Council. They were asked to answer the following two questions, which were sent to them on Thursday, September 22.
This marks week 3 of the Post’s election coverage. Next week the focus will return to the school board candidates. Beginning with the October 12 edition, the Post’s weekly coverage will include questions and answers from both City Council and School Board candidates until the election on November 8.
Week 3 QUESTIONS:
1. What do you consider as the City’s most pressing problems? How do you plan to address them?
2. If elected, how do you plan to make yourself available to residents?
TOM RAMSEY
1. Most pressing problem For several budget cycles, our City Administrator, our Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee and City staff have listed critical infrastructure as Piedmont’s most pressing problem. I agree. It’s past time to make needed upgrades to Piedmont’s aging infrastructure and facilities. Our critical facilities need to be made safe, so our first responders can keep us safe. I also agree that our financial stewardship includes an obligation to plan for the substantial repair / replacement of our facilities.
The facility upgrade process will take time, robust public engagement, careful consideration of the phasing of work, and a commitment to seamlessly deliver excellent public services during the work.
I’ve spent 30 years working as an architect tackling this type of work for commercial clients. I’ll put that experience to work for Piedmont.
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2. Availability The best part of this campaign has been getting to meet new people and reconnecting with neighbors. If elected, I’ll expand connecting with residents by:
• Encouraging participation because public engagement improves our decision-making process. Our town is home to an impressive depth of expertise. This collective wealth of experience is a great resource and I’ll leverage that resource as much as possible.
• Transparent communication. I believe that transparency is a best practice to promote accountability. I’ll always make myself available via email, a chat at a public event or better yet, a conversation over coffee at Mulberry’s. And as I’ve done for the past 7 years through my service on the Planning Commission, I’ll listen first, ask questions, read every letter, and work together to make decisions with Piedmont’s best interest front and center.
From Piedmont Connect -
October 18, 2022
Hello Candidates,
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Thank you for offering to run for Piedmont City Council and School Board and to serve as a volunteer for our community.
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Piedmont Connect is a non-profit organization based in town that advocates for sustainability policies in city and PUSD operations as well as engages our community in sustainability awareness. To that end, we consider it especially important for city leaders to address certain key sustainability issues.
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The Connect Board and its membership would be interested in your answers to the following questions.
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Thank you for your commitment to Piedmont and we’d be happy to answer any questions you have. Piedmont Connect is a 501(c)3 organization and cannot endorse political candidates.
Piedmont Connect Board of Directors
Question 1: The City of Piedmont increasingly confronts sustainability issues in city operations and via international, national, state and local objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or to conserve water. Most East Bay and Peninsula cities already have working, permanent Sustainability and/or Climate Action committees, served by community volunteers, to address these issues in their communities.
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Would you support establishing a Piedmont Sustainability Commission in 2023?
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Answer:
I’m proud to live in a town that is a recognized leader in sustainability and support the continuation and expansion of this leadership through both City and citizen actions – Sustainability is an important part of my ethic as an architect, community member, and father. I believe there is an important role for government, from federal to local, in addressing climate change, starting with acknowledging the role of human activities in changing our climate to taking action to mitigate and adapt. While Piedmont has a very small direct carbon footprint, there are creative opportunities for community climate leadership and, if elected, I look forward to working with organizations such as Piedmont Connect to identify and implement the most impactful options.
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For the second year in a row, Piedmont was awarded the Institute of Local Government (ILG)’s Platinum Spotlight Award for Sustainability in 2022. We have a dedicated Sustainability Program Manager on our city staff, 90% of our residences are served by East Bay Community Energy's (EBCE) 100% Renewable energy service plan, and our updated Climate Action Plan lays out specific actions to guide our policy and reach our goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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The Climate Action Plan 2.0 was written by staff with the guidance of the Piedmont Climate Action Plan (CAP) Advisory Group, a group of Piedmont volunteers including subject matter experts in energy and sustainability.
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We still have work to do to meet our goals, but the process to engage the public, set goals, and provide oversight through the CAP Advisory Group has been successful. Establishing a permanent commission would require more staff time, and be subject to the Brown Act, and our local subject matter experts may not be available to the time commitment that a commission requires. I think the focused effort of a CAP Advisory Committee on an “as-needed” basis is effective for this issue.
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Question 2: Piedmont’s municipal Reach codes currently apply to low-rise residential buildings which now encompasses much of the multi-family housing contemplated in the draft Housing Element. Revisions to the California Building Code, going into effect in Jan 2023, redefined low-rise residential as single-family housing, thereby eliminating multi-family housing from compliance with Piedmont’s Reach codes.
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Should the City implement more comprehensive Reach codes for building types other than single-family housing (multi-family, religious, commercial, municipal, et al.), so that all new construction of any kind must be all-electric, and renovations to any building-type must abide by the same energy-efficiency rules?
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Answer:
Piedmont again has shown leadership in sustainability and energy efficiency by adopting REACH codes beyond the minimum state requirements that will go into effect with the new code cycle in 2023. I would certainly support serious consideration of expanding REACH Codes requirements and applications through the community input process described in the response to question #1.
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Question 3: According to Piedmont’s most recent annual greenhouse gas inventory, residential energy use accounts for approximately half of Piedmont’s annual greenhouse gas emissions with virtually all of these emissions attributed to the use of natural gas in Piedmont homes.
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What ideas would you propose and support to incentivize or require installation of electrical appliances in Piedmont’s homes at time of the replacement or remodel?
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Answer:
Piedmont’s City Council adopted reach codes that build on the State’s Energy Code by requiring electrification and energy efficiency measures for new construction and existing residential building renovations. It’s important to note that REACH codes that are related to energy efficiency must prove to be cost-effective and show that money saved from the reduced energy costs will cover the initial cost of installation over a reasonable amount of time.
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Piedmont’s webpage lists incentives currently available to homeowners for building electrification. The city could also consider some additional incentives to make building electrification easier such as fast-tracking the permit process and waiving permit fees with “over-the-counter” approvals for electric conversion work or heat pump installations and increasing our public outreach to local architects, contractors, and homeowners. However, the first cost of electrification is only one of the barriers to homeowners making these investments, other barriers include a lack of information on how to evaluate and implement efficiency, storage, PV, and electrification options. Piedmont, perhaps in conjunction with organizations such as Piedmont Connect, can help fill this information gap.
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Question 4: Piedmont is known for its tree-lined streets, parks and historic homes, all of which support mature, healthy native tree specimens. Piedmont may be the only Bay Area municipality without a tree ordinance to preserve the important public-benefits these biological assets provide.
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Should the City adopt a tree ordinance that requires a permit and establishes reasonable criteria for the removal of healthy, mature native or non-invasive trees on municipal, PUSD, or private property?
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Answer:
We have a wonderful urban tree canopy in our town that provides an overwhelming benefit to residents. So, how do we preserve and maintain our tree-lined streets?
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Tree Maintenance and Protection on Public Property: A local Landscape Architect told me that there are over 90 different species of trees in Piedmont and most of our street trees are non-native exotic species. There are some existing protections and ongoing maintenance in place for trees on public property. Chapter 3 in our City Code provides some guidance, Piedmont’s Heritage Tree Program was developed to identify notable trees and our public works department is currently inventorying all trees in Piedmont to improve our comprehensive tree maintenance program.
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Tree Maintenance and Protection on Private Property: Just like Piedmont has the largest per capita supply of historic housing in the State of California: but no historic code, we also have a beautiful urban tree canopy and no tree ordinance. I think there is justification for this approach in Piedmont. Not all communities have a tree or native tree ordinances and the towns with tree ordinances can charge +/- $400 for a permit, take 5 weeks to process a permit, and include an appeal process that could extend the 5-week schedule. Managing this program will require additional staff time, increase our administrative costs, and force the city into an enforcement role for neighbor-to-neighbor disputes. The city does have a tree view ordinance in place and new construction, or major remodels are required to submit a landscape plan conforming with Bay-Friendly landscape requirements for planning commission review. What the City could do is provide homeowners with information about the importance of the city’s trees and provide support for maintaining and perhaps increasing the number of native tree species in town.
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PUSD: The city does not have jurisdiction to regulate trees or any development on the grounds of the Piedmont Unified School District.
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IN THE NEWS
1 / Off to the races: Tom Ramsey seeks City Council seat in Nov. election | Exedra | July 19, 2022
A licensed architect and vice president in a national project management company, Ramsey has been helping companies plan and build in the Bay Area for over 30 years. He owns and manages commercial property and was an owner of an architectural firm for 18 years.
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In addition to his seven years of service on the Planning Commission, Ramsey’s community service includes work on the Piedmont Schools Seismic Safety Advisory Committee, Design Guidelines Committee, and the Measure A1 Advisory Committee. He has also been a team leader with the Piedmont Community Service Crew’s yearly Rebuild Together-Oakland project for over a decade.
2 / Tom Ramsey is the first to take out Papers for City Council | The Post | July 20, 2022
See link above - Piedmont Post is still not online and not linkable
3 / Planning Commission approves new home plan over neighbors’ objections | Exedra | February 9, 2021
Commissioners Tom Ramsey and Allison Allessio, who also voted to support the Sullivans’ project, both praised the design, and said changes to the overall height, and to the driveway that faces Mountain Avenue, should help ensure a better project.
4 / Planning Commissioners recommend City Council reject Crown Castle wireless applications | Exedra | October 30, 2019
Commissioner Tom Ramsey said he wonders whether one day every utility pole in Piedmont will host a cellular antenna. And as for Crown Castle’s current proposal, Commissioner Allison Allessio said, “There are just way too many sites on this application.”