Meet Your New Supervisor: Katie Rice

Sitting in a chair that has been occupied by someone else for the past 29 years takes lots of guts and self confidence, both qualities evident in the 2nd District's new .

I had the opportunity earlier this week to sit down with our newest Supervisor and  get to know her, and how she has spent her life until she was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in mid-October.

Rice was born in San Francisco and the family moved to Mill Valley when she was six years old. Her grandfather, George Wright, was a renowned American biologist and financial patron of the management of both wildlife and fauna in the National Park Service. In the late 1920s he wrote:

"Unless the sources of disruption (ie. coralling the animals) can be traced and eradicated, the wildlife will ebb away to the level of the country at large."

Rice's mother, Pamela Lloyd, a lifelong activist in Marin's environmental and political history, was deeply involved in the development of the first county plan and the founding of the Marin Conservation League, which is dedicated to the protection of Marin's open spaces. She was also president of the Marin Municipal Water District during the great drought of the late-1970s.

Her father was a civil engineer for one of the larger construction companies in San Francisco. Rice Has two brothers and one sister and attended Old Mill and Mill Valley Middle School. While at Tamalpais High, she said, she was a "wrangler" at a children's summer program in Mill Valley. She recalls, with fondness, riding her horse -- pretty much unrestricted -- all over much of what is now Tamalpais State Park and the National Seashore. 

After finishing high school, she enrolled for two years at the University of Colorado, until she realized that she wanted to be closer to home. She then enrolled at Sonoma State University and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Integrated Studies.

During the years she describes as her "formative years" after college, Rice lived in West Marin, five years each in Tomales, Marshall and Bloomfield, holding a wide range of "interesting jobs," she said, that ranged from multitasking in oyster farming to writing feature articles about West Marin and Sonoma County for the Petaluma Argus Courier and the North Bay Business Journal. It was in the research and writing of various stories that her interest in local political issues emerged.

Eventually, she moved back "over the Hill" to settle in Sleepy Hollow, in a home that maintains the wide open space feeling she enjoys. It was from here that she stepped out and was the co-founder of the YES Foundation, promoting arts and enrichment programs in the .

Her next interest was the Environmental Forum of Marin -- and that almost completed the loop back to the outdoors that she started in. She still walks daily, and extra when she has a particularly difficult or hectic day, first as an aide to former Supervisor Hal Brown and now as Supervisor.

Rice's interest in local politics turned into active involvment when she volunteered as a campaign worker for Supervisor Brown. She said that it was during one of Brown's "easier" campaigns, but Brown always considered campaigns critical, even if there was only token opposition and he had already served tree terms. Brown recognized her organizational skills and that she was a quick study. Opportunity struck and Brown was about to have an opening in his office. Rice applied, was hired and became Supervisor Brown's aide all the way until his retirement.

Her long-time residence in and working knowledge of Marin, its people and its politics positioned her well to attract the attention of the Governor when it came time for him to appoint Brown's replacement. Rice admits that at first she was somewhat reluctant to make the huge jump into the "really large" chair that had been Brown's for so many years. She said that it is always difficult to establish your identity when the people of the 2nd District have become so accustomed to former Supervisor Brown. But, throughout that time, she has also been Brown's ambassador to the district's constituents during his lengthy illness and recovery period.

Amid all of the activity surrounding her new role, Rice always makes time to be involved and supportive of her children. Kellam, 24, lives in San Francisco and works in commercial real estate. Jamie, 21, will be graduating from Santa Barbara City College this year. And Aiden, 14, is a student at .

When asked about running for a full Supervisor term next summer in 2012, Rice did not hesitate for even a second. With a resounding "Yes!," she made it clear that she is throwing her wrangler's boots into the ring.

As a final question during our interview, I asked her, "What would you say if you were walking up to the door of a constituent that you did not know?"

She thought for a short minute and made this introduction: "Hi, I'm Katie Rice, and I am walking in your neighborhood today." 

She is off to a great start in our neighborhood being her natural self and should comfortably walk right in to the big chair recently vacated by former Supervisor Brown.

What questions would you ask of our new Supervisor?