My Years on Council

I love Fairfax and cherish the outsized influence for good that we have in the County and beyond. My seven years on Town Council continued my lifetime dedication to my local community and the future of the living earth.

Fairfax has long had a split personality: being justifiably proud of the town’s leadership in open space protection and environmental action, but sometimes circling the wagons against new housing or things that might change. I value the work done by previous generations to prevent overdevelopment of Marin — our Council expanded the formula business ordinance to cover CH as well as CC zones, and kept the prohibition on ridgeline development firmly in place, and I brought forth the reduction of maximum house size from 5000 to 3500 sq.ft.

I have brought respect for Fairfax countywide and beyond as a model for policies that address energy and climate.

About the Town Clerk’s Role

It may not be understood by many citizens that there is an Elected Clerk, and then paid professional staff, deputized by the Elected Clerk, who do most of the complex work of the Clerk’s Office. Not long ago the Elected and paid clerk were the same person, Michele Gardner, but the legal structure was the same. Currently our Deputy Town Clerks are Christine Foster and Janabai Owens.

The Elected Clerk, if overtaken by the misplaced desire for retribution that motivated the failed recall petition, could potentially create disarray for the Town government's effective and efficient operations. The Clerk could even, per state law, unilaterally deputize other people than Town staff, creating more disarray (Sec. 40813). Consider this: one person could, independent of the Council, take over the staff’s careful and legal processes involving administering elections, managing agendas and minutes, record-keeping, and more. Would this be democracy? Or does it sound like DOGE?

Were a scenario like this to actually happen, Staff would likely quit if they weren’t fired. We just lost our Town Manager. I work closely with Staff on another project and know how worried they are. This is a serious threat for our Town.

Greater Transparency

In addition to doing what I can to maintain sanity and insure that the work of staff continues, I would also keep citizens informed of what’s happening in Town Hall, through the Town Newsletter or otherwise. Our Staff work hard for us all, but much of that behind-the-scenes work is not seen, and it should be - especially as some Councilmembers have talked about firing staff or reorganizing the government structure.

I currently serve as Secretary of the Climate Action Committee, where I put out prompt and very thorough minutes of our meetings. My opponent serves on the Tree Committee, which by contrast does not even publish minutes.