Ask Your Councilman: David Weinsoff

After giving you a chance to ask new Fairfax and San Anselmo council members, and , questions, last week we turned to . Now, we're putting Fairfax councilman and Supervisor candidate David Weinsoff on the spot.

First, we're giving you a chance to get to know your councilman.

Then, it's your turn to ask him the questions YOU want answered in the comments section below. He's said he'll respond to those he can in the comments.

Please keep your questions relevant and courteous -- and, of course, they must comply with our regular standards of commenting.

--

Why did you move to Fairfax?

Shortly after Idie and I were married, we scraped together the down-payment on the smallest unit in one of the first loft buildings opening up in the then gritty South of Market area of San Francisco. In the shadow of the Bay Bridge and not far from what is now AT&T Park, we became "urban pioneers" in the that old warehouse district. When our son Jake came along two years later, we realized that three of us living in a small room would soon become a bit crowded, and our loft was far from any schools, with very few children anywhere near. Idie had recently been hired as a fifth grade teacher at the Ross Elementary School, where she met the wonderful Diana Hammer, a parent and realtor who suggested we move up to Marin and recommended a home in Fairfax. It took us a little less than a minute and a half to fall in love with the town and what would soon become our new home up on Ridgeway Avenue. We became Fairfaxians.

What is your favorite trail in Marin?

In Pt. Reyes National Seashore, I like the climb up the Mount Wittenberg Trail (the first right off Bear Valley), a short hike high up along the Sky Trail, and a return on either the Meadow or Old Pine Trails back down to the Bear Valley. It is the hike I make every year around my birthday in April and was the last one Jake and I took together before he headed off to study abroad after high school.

Last night, what did you do after work?

Dinner from the chefs at the "new" and the Warriors game on the tube.  We are long-suffering Warriors fans

What did you study in college and what do you do now?

I studied history at the State University of New York at Binghamton, terrific preparation for studying law. I have for more than 25 years worked as as an environmental attorney, as a lawyer for government (the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the California Coastal Conservancy, the San Jose City Attorneys’ Office) and nonprofit environmental organizations up and down our state. In this work I have been privileged to advocate for the protection of our state’s coastal resources, wetlands, and forests, and litigating against polluters of our ground and surface waters. The experience I have as an attorney prosecuting citizen suits under the federal Clean Water Act, the California Coastal Act, and local government laws form the foundation of my profound dedication to protecting our County’s natural resources and scenic wonders.

In addition to my environmental work, about two years ago I began representing homeowners in "predatory lending" cases against the “Too Big To Fail” national banks.  It has been the most seering experience of my life.

What is the number one, biggest thing you want to accomplish while on the Fairfax Town Council?

My two terms on the Fairfax Town Council have been bracketed by the December 2005 flood and our work to recover from the currrent “Great Recession.” The flood closed our Town Hall, inflicted hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to our infrastructure, and created great hardship for so many of our residents and businesses. In the months following the flood, the council often met two and three times a month, collaborating well on the issues that have lead us to full recovery. With Fairfax's participation in Flood Zone 9 (on which I sit as Fairfax's representative), and the work under way by the County's Department of Public Works with funds from the flood fee championed by former Supervisor Brown, we are well underway to ensuring that we prevent any repeat of the level of catastrophic flooding that has endangered our community in the past. 

No sooner had the council and Town Staff corralled the flood issue, however, then all of us fell victim to the ongoing "Great Recession." I believe that the community's support of local property and sales tax increases, generously approved by the voters, reflects Fairfax residents' support for a council and well-managed town government that, while certainly not perfect, attends carefully to the budget and continues to effectively provide essential services in these very difficult times. Critical to our economic recovery have been two recent events - the very close collaboration of the council with town staff bringing our pension obligations into balance, and the successful effort to reduce costs through consolidated efforts with neighboring jurisdictions. Toward this end, Fairfax has contracted with the Town of Ross to provide its police dispatch services, expanded the Ross Valley Fire Department JPA to provide full voting membership to the Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District, and if negotiations this spring are successful, expanding the JPA further to include the Ross Fire Department. Councils across the Ross Valley are finding that wise efficiencies are available across our municipal borders. In these extraordinarily tough economic times, the Council is focused on ensuring that every penny of our residents’ hard earned tax dollars is dedicated to maintaining essential services.