Blog: With Brown Stepping Down a Familar Voice Moves On

from his position as Second District Supervisor on Oct. 29.

Hal has held this position for 29 years when he was appointed, coincidentally, by his cousin Gov. Jerry Brown, during his first term, to replace Barbara Boxer, who moved off the Board to Washington.

Twenty-nine years is a long time for any local public official to remain in office, virtually unopposed, but Hal faced every election (except an unsuccessful run for State Insurance Commissioner) as if it were the most important of his career, and it paid off every time.

Hal has kept a fairly low profile while in office. He usually is the County Board Member who has the least expenses, sticks close to his district, pays attention to district issues that will affect his constituents, and literally knows what is happening in every neighborhood.

Hal is a member of the Golden Gate Bridge District Board, having chaired the Board. He serves as a Transportation Authority of Marin Board Member, where he  closely watched highway construction dollars that might come to the Ross Valley. For awhile he sat on the SMART board, but wasn't crazy about having to drive all the way to Sonoma County from Marin.

For anyone who attended any of the meetings that Hal either attended or presided over, you could be sure that his comments would be brief and spot on, sometimes cutting his colleagues off at the knees in a humorous way that mostly was taken in good will. Whenever he chaired the Board of Supervisor's meetings you could be sure that the meeting would only go the allotted time. Quite often in smaller committee meetings, Hal would simply look hurried, do a quick hand-off to his aides or whoever was next in charge, excuse himself and leave. With work having be done, he isn't one to "hang around."

If you had a pothole of some other issue like planning, and you lived outside any city in county territory, Hal was the first one that you called and usually things moved forward with a speed not expected from government. At the same time he is always available to members of the various  Ross Valley town councils, giving advice and always providing support, such as when San Anselmo passed the $10 million measure for streets and drainage. Hal offered the County engineering services, at a reasonable cost, so that the town would not have to engage outside consultants.

Hal quietly played a key role in so many Ross Valley projects with the generous allocations of County discretionary funds to things like the Red Hill Field, Millennium Playground, , open space purchases, creek cleanups, and countless other projects that enrich the lives of his constituents. If he attends a dedication, he can always be found down in the crowd, and even behind a well-spaced shrub, waiting for his cue to say a few and usually, they are few words of acknowledging those who did all the work.

If you have ever attended Marin's major social event of the season, The Valentine's Ball, which nets thousands of dollars for Marin's child serving agencies, you can thank the sole creator of the event, Hal Brown. If you are opting in to the Marin Energy Authority's electrical power grid for service you are joining the long list of believers who worked behind the scenes long before it surfaced through the initial and quiet work of Charles McGlashan and Hal Brown.

Perhaps the largest thing that Hal has been both praised and yelled is the work he spearheaded after the devastating floods that drowned major portions of the Ross Valley. Hal set up community meetings that were held in the gym to listen to the residents and to see what the community wanted. Since the Ross Valley is protected by Flood Zone 9, it would be up the County to pull together a plan that was realistic from both an engineering and a financial position.

The Flood Zone District had something like $125,000, while millions were needed to make the necessary changes. The result of the meetings was a proposal to place a ballot measure on the ballot. However, that was modified to a fee, which the property owners would pay. The reasoning was that it was the real estate that was being protected, not the occupant. Against much criticism, Hal moved forward and helped the committee push the fee forward to victory, but just by a hair.

The election results were challenged in court and Hal was blamed for just about everything except the Spanish-American War. He stood his ground, and convinced the Board of Supervisors to support his efforts, rather than giving up. In the end he was correct and .

Speaking of engineering feats, not too many of us Ross Valley residents realize that we are crossing the "Brown Bridge" when we go over White's Hill. The bridge, which is an engineering first as to span width, (which best can be explained by asking an engineer) was named in honor of Hal for all the effort he had put into seeing that our streets and roads are maintained, even in tough times.

A lot more will be said about Hal in the next few weeks. He will graciously and humbly accept the words of affection knowing that he has given his best over the past 29 years and we, in the Ross Valley, are the beneficiaries of his tireless work.

The boots that Hal leaves by the back door as he goes are huge, well-worn, and will be hard to fill.