The November 6 ballot in Marin will contain a variety of school board and special district races in addition to a race for the College of Marin Board of Trustees and seats on five city councils. The 'Pacific Sun' will endorse in only the college board and city council races, as well as the San Rafael mayoral race. These endorsements will continue to appear in the coming weeks.

The Mill Valley City Council will undergo the most significant change of any Marin city or town council in the November 6 election. Three incumbents are retiring, and six candidates are vying to replace them. Mill Valley residents have the opportunity to choose from an exceptional field of bright and well qualified candidates who have deep roots in the city. The single most prominent issue in Mill Valley in recent months has been the Miller Avenue Precise Plan (MAPP). Much of the election and recent politics in Mill Valley have revolved around the plan at the expense of attention to other issues. With the exception of George Gordon, all candidates generally support SMART as well as local transit solutions. They believe much more needs to be done to prepare for fire risk and want to work to promote a healthy climate for small businesses.

George Gordon, an investment adviser who says he has operated his own company since 1971, says "a real estate development mentality seems to be the forefront of what City Hall is about." He believes the current council "has been on the wrong track," sees very serious flaws in MAPP, most of which cannot be fixed, and believes the primary focus of the council has been to foster development and building. He proposes e-mailing "a synopsis of all meetings of record to all citizens within a three-day period of time so that a real exchange of ideas can take place." To address traffic issues he proposes widening East Blithedale from Camino Alto to the freeway. Gordon has been an outspoken leader of the anti-MAPP forces.

Kerry Stoebner Katzenbach says she would bring "analytic and problem-solving abilities, listening skills and over 30 years of legal experience to the council." Stoebner Katzenbach thinks the current council "has done much to encourage and coordinate volunteer participation in such programs as Emergency Preparedness, Safe Routes to School, CERT and Stairs, Lanes and Paths," but she has also been a vocal critic of the council's action regarding MAPP. She says "the latest provisions of MAPP are more reflective of the vision of an outside, highly compensated design firm, than with the concerns and goals of the local residents and small businesses." She would offer city shuttles at no or low cost and wants the Golden Gate bus line 21--connecting the Mill Valley loop with College of Marin via the Corte Madera shopping centers and Marin General--reinstituted and financed with Measure A funds.

Stephanie Moulton-Peters has chaired the city's Emergency Preparedness Committee and the City's Safe Routes to School Task Force and been president of the West Blithedale Canyon Neighborhood Association. She describes herself as an experienced facilitator who has spearheaded corporate environmental compliance programs and managed local neighborhood debates. She believes she has "established a successful model of decision-making that brings people together to act for the greater good." She praises the Housing Element update to the General Plan adopted by the current City Council as responsibly dealing with the tension between the need for additional housing at all income levels and the development realities in a city that is largely built-out. She would develop and implement a plan to reduce carbon emissions in the city. She say she participated in many of the MAPP community sessions and felt the effort made to solicit public input was sincere but believes it would have been helpful to have a means to systematically track how input was being received and incorporated. She believes that a regional transportation network is essential to reduce dependence on automobiles and continuing excessive consumption of fossil fuels.

Ken Wachtel has served on the Mill Valley Planning Commission for six years as well as a host of city and school committees and boards. He ran for the council in 2005. He believes the most important issues facing the city are maintaining Mill Valley's small town character, fire safety and emergency preparedness, and housing. He believes the free market will control the price of market-rate housing, but the city can take actions to promote affordable housing, such as investing in projects like Old Mill Commons and encouraging affordable second units. He generally praises the work of the current council but believes the MAPP process could have been handled better. He says Mill Valley needs an updated zoning ordinance to avoid ad hoc decisions along Miller, but the city needs to take three steps back to seek and better understand the community's values. Regarding transportation, he would explore "congestion pricing" during commute hours on 101 and would consider pursuing a southern Marin bond measure to fund shuttles and jitneys.

Maureen Parton, who was trained as an attorney, is an aide to Supervisor Charles McGlashan and previously held the same position with Annette Rose. She says that in her four years on the Mill Valley Planning Commission she has been "a steward of our built and natural environment, protecting community character and habitat, while advocating watershed-sustaining approaches and green building techniques to assure beauty, safety, energy efficiency and flood protection." Her top issues are the need for local transit and the imperative of climate change, a workable community-supported plan for Miller Avenue and a plan to keep community businesses in business and grow a healthy economy. She believes the current councilmembers have been good stewards but says the council has been viewed by some as closed to different ideas and perspectives, which has impaired the council's effectiveness on issues such as the Miller Avenue Plan. She proposes a number of measures to make city deliberations more accessible and also has detailed proposals to promote a greener, more sustainable community.

Gary Lion previously served on the City Council, choosing not to run for a second term when he was mayor in 1990. While on the council, he says he helped rewrite the city's General Plan, controlled excessive development proposals, founded an Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council, revived the North Bay chapter of the League of California Cities, served as president of the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin and created the Gravity Car replica in Old Mill Park. He says the current City Council has done a commendable job and believes they do listen to the public and do factor public comments into their decisions. However, he does see serious flaws with MAPP, and says it could produce zoning changes that would have broader unintended consequences for the entire city. He says that during his first term on the City Council, he was a major proponent of downsizing overzealous development proposals and permanently preserving prominent ridgelines around Mill Valley in public open space.

We would like to see Mill Valley preserve its charm and character and do so in a creative, forward-looking and sustainable way. We believe this race comes down to picking three candidates among Lion, Parton, Wachtel and Moulton-Peters. Parton has the skills, knowledge and commitment to sustainability to excel on the City Council. The concern with her is a potential conflict between her county job and city business. She says she will put the city first when conflicts arise and has an understanding with her employer. We believe this is a serious issue, but think she is smart and sincere and will avoid problems. Moulton-Peters is also well-grounded in community service, has plenty of skills and has a progressive vision for the city. Her experience with process as a facilitator could be useful, but it could also be a weakness if she becomes too bound up in procedure and looses sight of the goal. Wachtel probably lost in his last run because he was seen as too adversarial. He says he has spent the last two years working to change his behavior and has evidence of success in his endorsement list, which includes some 10 former mayors and many community leaders who opposed him last time he ran. Gary Lion has valuable experience on the council and demonstrated the ability to balance business and housing needs with environmental protection. He's clearly smart and skilled at weighing the needs of a variety of community interests. We believe he is committed to preserving Mill Valley's small-town character but wonder whether he is as conversant with sustainable development as the other three. We believe any three of these four would provide high quality service to Mill Valley.

*The Sun endorses Gary Lion, Maureen Parton and Stephanie Moulton-Peters.*

The Novato City Council races features six candidates for three open seats with two incumbents running. Carole Dillon-Knutson is a 12-year veteran of the council, while Jeanne MacLeamy has served one four-year term. They are running against Eleanor Sluis, Donald Ricco, Annan Paterson and Madeline Kellner.

Donald Ricco is running as a "young (37-year-old) working-class (letter carrier)" guy who has lived in Novato virtually his whole life and wants to protect it by preserving its open space and supporting all "green" measures. He opposes high-priced residential development and wants more affordable housing. He supports bike paths, a commuter train, more carpools and developing fun things to do in Novato. He has a MySpace page which is unusual for most Marin candidates. Previously Ricco taught history at Hill Middle School.

Eleanor Sluis believes "the current City Council consistently favors the plans of developers over the general public's opinion," and says "she would be an independent voice and advocate for the natural environment, small businesses and neighborhoods." She supported Novato's green-building ordinance and wants to see another one for commercial development as well. She is the one candidate to oppose SMART. Her budget priorities include reevaluating the current pension plan for city employees and protecting their retirement needs, funding for the public pool and gymnasium and, the building new city facilities or remodeling existing ones.

Madeline Kellner is a healthcare consultant with master's degrees in both public health and business administration and says she has spent years managing large institutions with budgets and payrolls larger than Novato's. She also has served on the Planning Commission for four years, has chaired the city's Citizens Budget Advisory Committee and was vice-chair of the Novato Community Strategic Plan Committee. She says Novato must focus on its fiscal health and maintaining critical city services, fix its crumbling facilities and engage citizens in a forum to develop a vision for the 2008 General Plan update that will guide development for the next decade. She would like to see a downtown space for residents to gather like the squares in Healdsburg and Mill Valley and an independent store selling new books located in the downtown. She says the existing Urban Growth Boundary defines development limits.

Annan Paterson, a school psychologist and guidance counselor who narrowly lost a bid for the council two years ago, has been active in Novato organizations, including chairing the city's Multicultural Commission and serving as president of Sustainable Novato. She believes the people of Novato deserve a true advocate at City Hall and that citizens should have more influence on local government and politics than big moneyed special interests, which is why she says she formed Fair Campaigns Novato in 2006. The group gathered over 2,000 signatures in less than two months and convinced the council to adopt an ordinance that established a $400 cap on political campaign contributions for Novato elections. She says she will work to bring a locally owned, independent bookstore to Novato, featuring speaker programs, and will work with teens and groups such as the Youth Leadership Institute to design weekly activities in a variety of venues for Novato youth.

Incumbent Jeanne MacLeamy, an architect, says that Novato has very little land left to be developed because of adopted open space, hillside and ridgeline measures and the Urban Growth Boundary and says that maintaining these protections will prevent urban sprawl. She believes that the council often reacts negatively to a development project because the neighborhood has concerns, and that the final approved project is often based on reacting to opponents rather than being based on good planning and design. She sees the current process as "costly and unnecessary" and says it will be greatly improved by amending the General Plan to attain a "clear balance between environment, neighborhood and development." She also says her priorities include developing a sustainable budget and addressing deferred maintenance of city facilities. Her husband chairs the city's Design Review Advisory Commission.

Carole Dillon-Knutson, a 12-year council veteran, cites as a priority the need to generate more sales tax revenue to support city services and points to expanding retail space on North Redwood Blvd. as a way to generate revenue and provide more retail opportunities for residents. She wants to complete remodeling of the City Hall then proceed with plans for a community center. She also wants to create a historic district downtown encompassing historic buildings such as the Simmons House, the old Park and Recreation Craftsman-style house and some others. She continues to support the city's Urban Growth Boundary as well as the need for more affordable housing. Dillon-Knutson sits on the SMART board and voted to put SMART on the ballot. She says the SMART board has worked very hard to have quiet zones, clean diesel fuel and welded tracks. "SMART may not be perfect, but we need alternate forms of transportation."

This is a field of strong candidates, all of whom care deeply about their city. Paterson speaks more about needs of children and families than other candidates and has demonstrated impressive energy, a commitment to citizen involvement and reforms, and a clear dedication to protecting Novato's environment and the best of its character. She's an easy choice. Dillon-Knutson has shown during her council service that she cares about Novato and its people, supports sustainable planning and is willing to devote the time necessary to address important issues. We support her re-election. MacLeamy and Kellner are both smart and capable. We would rather not see a councilmember's spouse serving on an important city advisory committee, as MacLeamy's does, and we would like to be more confident about her commitment to protecting Novato from over-development. Kellner has impressive management experience, is well respected for her service on the planning commission and provides fresh energy.

*The Sun endorses Annan Paterson, Carole Dillon-Knutson and Madeline Kellner.*

LAST WEEK'S ENDORSEMENTS:

San Rafael Mayor

Al Boro

San Rafael City Council

Greg Brockbank, Damon Connolly

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