In what can be described as one of the most bizarre county budget hearings in the last 35 years, the Marin County Board of Supervisors last week reduced the county budget by $2.6 million dollars. What made the budget talks bizarre is that only three members of the public testified during the nine-hour process. What made the hearings more striking is that in the entire nine hours of discussion, not one of the county department heads made a request for deferral or argued with the County Administrator's recommendations that were finally adopted, with Supervisor Judy Arnold actually halfway out …
Many residents of the Ross Valley love to head south to enjoy taste of the real Mexico. But, many of our friends are now afraid to visit our southern neighbor, because of all the violent crimes and general chaos reported in the American media. Would you plan to drive down to Mexico City? Clearly, it would be foolhardy to make the drive across the US-Mexico border these days on any local road. It appears that the drug cartels are spinning out of control and have no regard for anyone who is in their way or just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I recently returned from a two-…
Take a Google Earth trip, looking down on Marin and the Ross Valley in the year 2016. From this high up not much appears to have changed since 2011, when Jerry Brown was inaugurated in January, his second go around at the job. Not too many recall the Governor’s dire predictions made in late 2010. He noted that the state’s budget deficit could exceed $30 billion during his first year in office. He said that it “was time to tear the band-aid off,” referring to the smoke and mirrors budgeting that had been done in California for many years. The overall gloom swept across the state and its …
Last Friday, I had the privilege of attending a very unique and moving graduation ceremony honoring some thirty-eight proud fathers who completed a special 12-week course, "Back to Family," taught both in English and Spanish. I also had the honor of meeting each individual as he was handed his certificate of completion. After the usual speeches, testimonies, and cheers, we all adjourned to a very informal reception where cookies and juices were served while the graduates took pictures with their instructors. When all the activity settled down, there was one student who was elated beyond words…
At the end of October, Brad Briehaupt, the editorial page editor of the Marin Independent Journal penned a column acknowledging the 35 staff members of the IJ Printing Division and the fine work they have done over the years. Brad's praise and thanks were but a tiny piece of the whole story -- the story of how the Bay Area News Group laid off 35 locally based jobs here in Marin and shipped the printing of the IJ "off-shore" to Contra Costa County. The longer story is that since USA Today was no longer going to print its West Coast edition at the IJ plant, printing only the IJ here in Marin …
The situation with the Ross Valley Sanitary District seems to only get more cloudy as time goes on. The hearing at the Board of Supervisors did little to resolve the questions posed by Supervisor Brown and a group of elected Ross Valley leaders over the past several months. To add more to the cloudiness was the abrupt resignation of board member Sue Brown, who has been the leader of the board over the past six years, with the assistance of her mentor, Bruce Baum. Baum reportedly attended all board meetings and gave visual signals to Brown or asked leading questions to guide the conversations …
Next month, the residents of Marin will be asked to approve a $10 annual renewal vehicle license fee. The fee is authorized under legislation, SB 83, passed in October 2009. The legislation places strict conditions on the use of funds collected. In Marin, the fee would generate approximately $2.3 million each year as there are close to 230,000 vehicles in the county. (That number equates to almost one vehicle for every man, woman and child here in Marin -- a phenomena for discussion another day!) The money collected can only be used to pay for programs related to or that benefit the owners of…
On Wednesday, Aug. 25 the discussion of the traffic situation continued on for the eleventh month with a workshop held at San Anselmo Town Hall. The Town Manager, Public Works Director, Chief of Police, two Police Captains, a Fire Department Battalion Chief, the Director of the Transportation Authority of Marin, and four council members gathered together with about seven members of the public to hear a traffic consultant consider -- for at least the sixth time -- the ever-growing traffic concerns on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Many interesting facts about the situation were clarified and …
Residents living along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in western San Anselmo are tired of living on a speedway and are seeking relief from the town. This issue has not just recently come to the attention of town officials and council members. A series of studies over the past 10 years has offered many different possible solutions to this persistent problem. The problem is simply becoming worse, it seems, at least to the most concerned residents. They point to sheared off utility poles, trees "trimmed" by passing trucks and buses, and, most seriously, several traffic accidents. Walking along the …
