The unique personalities of Marin's towns and cities were on display again in the Nov. 3 election. Someone looking for a countywide trend would be hard-pressed to find one in the nine council races.

At the southern end of Marin, Sausalito's voters, given a clear choice, picked Carolyn Ford, the candidate who ran a strong anti-development, open government campaign, rejecting the more business-oriented candidate, real estate agent Buddy DeBruyn. At the other end of the county in Novato, the top vote getter was the real estate agent, Chamber of Commerce candidate Denise Athas, while the candidate who finished last, Eleanor Sluis, was the strongest proponent of slower growth. Of course personalities, individual capabilities and strength of campaign, among other things, are also factors in races, but the policy difference is stark.

In most towns incumbents did well, but not in San Anslemo, where the major earthquake in this local election cycle occurred. All three sitting members of the council were swept out in favor of three challengers, though one of the challengers has prior council service. Incumbents Ted Freeman, Judy House and Peter Breen lost to Kay Coleman, Jeff Kroot and Tom McInerney. Breen received more votes than the other two incumbents, but still finished 73 votes out of third place. Coleman and Kroot who sounded similar themes about councilmembers being out of touch with the community, finished second and third, respectively. The newest face in the race, McInerney, was the top vote getter.

Perhaps the oddest thing about this election is that Kroot and Coleman strongly opposed the anti-monster home ordinance adopted by the council and made it an important part of their campaigns. Voters approved the ordinance while defeating its proponents and electing its opponents. Voters did reject a hotel tax proposed by incumbents and opposed by challengers.

Voters in the town of Fairfax, with the largest field of candidates in the county, swept in the progressive slate of Pam Hartwell-Herrero and John Reed, turning out incumbent Susan Brandborg while retaining David Weinsoff. Fairfax voters apparently didn't buy the more conservative budget message of the defeated candidates. To complete the picture, voters overwhelmingly passed their city services bond measure with 73 percent of the vote.

While school district bonds and parcel taxes passed in Marin along with the bond in Fairfax, San Rafael voters provided a contrast. They didn't provide the two-thirds vote necessary to pass the city's bond proposal, Measure G, which would have funded upgrades for police and fire facilities. Some 61 percent of voters approved it. Apparently enough voters, while still a minority, agreed with opponents' charges that there are more cost-efficient ways to upgrade the facilities.

"Mission City" voters also returned veteran incumbent Barbara Heller to the council along with newcomer Marc Levine, both of whom supported the bond. Well-funded challenger Gary Ford, who ran a campaign based largely on fiscal issues, finished fourth, ahead of three other candidates who were well back in the pack.

In the one countywide race, voters made challenger Diana Conti the top vote getter in the college district board race, ahead of incumbents Wanden Treanor and Barbara Dolan. The latter barely finished ahead of appointed incumbent Annan Paterson, with Mark Ginalski coming in a more distant fifth.

In more predictable races:

Corte Madera voters returned incumbents Carla Condon, who finished first, and Michael Lappert to office and picked Diane Furst, who drew more votes than Lappert, for the one open seat.

Larkspur voters re-elected incumbents Joan Lundstrom and Daniel Hillmer, picking new face Len Rifkind to fill the open seat, while veteran planning commissioner Chris McCluney finished last.

The town of Tiburon made incumbent Alice Fredericks the top vote getter, while picking two of the three planning commissioners running for the other two council seats, Jim Fraser, who finished second, and Emmett O'Donnell, who edged out fellow commissioner John Kunzweiler for the third seat.

In the least surprising race in the county, Mill Valley voters returned incumbents Andrew Berman and Shawn Marshall to office. Together they received about 80 percent of the vote vs. challenger George Gordon's 20 percent.

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