Barbara Coler to Run for Fairfax Council in November

Fairfax Councilwoman Barbara Coler has formally announced she will run for Fairfax Town Council in November. 

The longtime resident was appointed to the Fairfax council this spring to fill a seat vacated by Pam Hartwell, who moved out of state. Coler’s appointment lasts until November, when the seat will be put on the ballot for a four-year term. Now Coler, 61, hopes voters will pick her to continue on the council in what’s shaping up to be a crowded council race.

The seat of Councilwoman Renee Goddard, who was appointed to the council earlier this year to replace Ryan O’Neil after he moved outside the town limits, will also be on the November ballot along with the seats occupied by Vice Mayor David Weinsoff and Mayor John Reed.

San Anselmo will also have four of the five council seats on the ballot this November.

Coler has lived in Fairfax for more than 17 years (She lives near White’s Hill) and has served on the Fairfax Planning Commission and the Open Space Committee. She has spent most of her career doing environmental work, and has been a manager in the compliance and enforcement division of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District for more than four years.

“Fairfax is such a special place with high community values including no pesticide use on the commons, paying living wages, reducing waste with emphasis on reuse and recycling, making sure new development is consistent with the scale of what already exists, keeping our police station open 24/7 and protecting our ridgelines and community open space,” she wrote in a release announcing her candidacy. “The next four years will be very challenging and I am up to the task. As revenues stabilize, Fairfax will be in a better position to repair and maintain our roads and infrastructure.”