Friends and Colleagues Remember Supervisor McGlashan

The county is reeling from shocking news Sunday night of .

“It was a huge shock, huge shock,” said Supervisor Hal Brown, whose district covers Sleepy Hollow, San Anselmo, and Fairfax.

McGlashan, a Mill Valley resident, collapsed outside the residence of Mill Valley Councilwoman Shawn Marshall in Tahoe Vista on Lake Tahoe’s north shore a few minutes after 5 p.m., according Sgt. Paul Schmidt of the Nevada County Sheriff/Coroner’s Office. McGlashan had been skiing with friends at Northstar-at-Tahoe resort earlier Sunday and was just about to leave for home when he suffered a cardiac arrest while sitting in the back seat of a car, Schmidt said.

McGlashan’s extensive work on environmental issues and with the Marin Energy Authority made him particularly close allies in the San Anselmo and Fairfax communities.

“He was such an important part of what the county has been doing,” said San Anselmo Councilwoman Barbara Thornton, who also sits on the Marin Energy Authority board.

McGlashan spearheaded the December 2008 creation of the Marin Energy Authority, a joint powers authority consisting of the county of Marin and seven Marin municipalities, including San Anselmo and Fairfax. In May 2010, the authority launched its , which took advantage of a state law passed in 2002 that allows cities and counties to purchase or generate their own electricity and sell it to customers.

“He really did manager to shepherd the MEA through some very perilous times. He should have gotten combat pay for what he went through,” said Fairfax Councilman Larry Bragman, in reference to the fierce battles the energy initiative faced against PG&E.

Bragman remembered first meeting McGlashan the night of the 2004 elections, when McGlashan won his seat on the County Board of Supervisors and Measure B to ban growing genetically-modified foods in the county, which Bragman worked on and McGlashan had endorsed, also passed.

“It was a great night,” said Bragman of that day six years go when the group celebrated the victories. “It was a hopeful and optimistic moment for Marin. And, his accomplishments really validated the optimism.”

And, though everyone agreed McGlashan played a pivotal role in important Marin County actions – from banning plastic bags to bringing about the Muir Woods shuttle – all also agreed he had been taken far too soon.

“It’s a tragic loss. He was a young, vibrant, passionate man, who passed away too early,” said Brown.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, whose district includes all of Marin, said in a statement that she was “heartsick over the sudden death of my friend,” calling McGlashan “a good man and a dedicated, visionary public servant who represented his community with uncommon diligence and decency.”

“He brought to the Board of Supervisors a fierce commitment to environmental causes and an acute sense of right and wrong,” she continued. “He embodied the very best of Marin County's spirit of progressive activism.

State Assemblyman Jared Huffman said he was stunned by the news.

“This is terribly sad news – the kind of news you just can’t quite believe because Charles was so full of life,” he said in an email. “Those of us who knew and worked with him will always remember Charles as a vibrant, engaging, and brilliant person with authentic environmental values. He will be hugely missed.”

Friends and supporters have also flocked to his facebook page to express their condolences and support.

McGlashan was born on July 15, 1961 in Hillsborough and spent his childhood in Santa Barbara and the Lake Tahoe area. He graduated with a degree in English from Yale University and received an MBA from Stanford. McGlashan moved to Marin in 1991, and later launched an environmental consulting firm that took on Marin County as a client.

He was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board of the Marin Municipal Water District in 2003, and ran a successful campaign for supervisor the next year, winning re-election in 2008.

In more than six years on the board, McGlashan established himself as a staunch advocate for progressive causes.

“Now, his work is our work,” said Bragman.

The Board of Supervisors have a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. at the Civic Center and are expected to convene a moment of silence and share remembrances of their colleague.