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Endorsements: Novato gets down to business
Development vs. town character in tight council race

The Novato City Council race features five candidates, including one incumbent, for two seats. Jim Leland, currently serving as mayor, is not running. Pat Eklund is the veteran incumbent.

Pat Eklund, a Terra Linda High graduate and a senior manager at the Environmental Protection Agency, has served on the Novato Council for three terms and been extensively involved in a broad cross section of neighborhood and community organizations for many years. Additionally, she has been active beyond Marin and is past president of the League of California Cities. She believes the three most important issues facing Novato are producing a sustainable and balanced budget; protection of Novato's environment and small-town character coupled with smart growth; and continuing economic revitalization of downtown. She also lists public safety as an important priority. She says Novato is "at a crossroads in retaining our small-town character while creating higher paying jobs and shopping choices." Eklund has a long list of ideas for improving Novato's sustainability and its downtown vitality. She supported a downtown SMART station.

Eric Lucan argues that "as a younger resident and Novato native I will be the most effective when it comes to making long-term decisions that will affect our future." He graduated from Novato High in 1999, describes himself as a business consultant and is an associate pastor at his church, the Assemblies of God-related New Life Christian Center. Lucan lists his three most important issues as stabilizing the budget, increasing public safety and repairing infrastructure. He argues that the city should buy office space instead of paying so much for leased space. He believes the current council has "done well on some occasions" but also has acted childish. He says the city "has grown and can continue to grow at a smart, planned pace." When asked about preserving Novato's best current features, he responds that "the small-town character is the people, not the places. I run into people I know all around town and that makes Novato feel like home." He wants to see additional retail to build the tax base. He thinks the decision not to have a downtown SMART station was correct.

Denise Athas is a real estate broker who is also past president of the Novato Chamber of Commerce and current president of the Downtown Novato Business Association. She lists as the three most important issues facing the city: budget, public safety and finding things to do for teens as well as addressing the needs of seniors and aging baby boomers. She is critical of the current councilmembers for not engaging effectively with each other and cites petty jealousies as a problem. When asked about how and where Novato should grow, she says that "one of Novato's biggest issues is how long it takes to get things done; we are not known for being a development-friendly town." She believes growth should be directed in the North Redwood corridor, and the city should also look at Vintage Oaks and Hamilton. She says she followed city budget discussions closely and points out that taking money from reserves to balance the budget is not sustainable. She suggests that the city adopt a property transfer tax to provide additional revenue. She believes a town's character is more based in its people and its spirit than its physical features. She supported a downtown SMART station.

Eleanor Sluis, a retired teacher who also ran in the last council election, says she is running to create a balance between economic growth and sustainability and to "defend Novato's homeowners, schools, neighborhoods, local businesses and environment from overdevelopment." Her three most important issues are overdevelopment, increase in traffic and lack of affordable housing. She says all of these issues "are a direct result of disregarding the existing policies [which work to preserve Novato's small-town character] and are a result of ignoring the concerns of Novato's citizens." She 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 re-evaluating the current pension plan for city employees, and protecting their retirement needs, funding for the public pool and gymnasium and the need to build new city facilities or remodel existing ones.

John Coleman, whose ballot designation is "retired," did not respond to the Sun's queries. He is reported as saying he will not spend money or seek endorsements for his campaign.

Eklund is a hard worker and can cite her leadership on important issues such as adoption of an urban limit line, green building standards in Novato, curbside recycling, affordable housing and transportation solutions. While she has been criticized for not being the easiest person to work with, conversely, she is independent, asks tough questions and is not afraid of conflict when she believes it serves the interest of the city and people she represents. Lucan and Athas both emphasize budget, business and development issues as their priorities. Both use very similar language to make a point that they believe the town's character is based on its people more than its physical presence. While that's true to a degree, the lasting decisions made by city councils are more related to physical planning—growth and development—than they are about people. All Marin communities balance development with the natural environment and small-town character. We are convinced that both Lucan and Athas would advocate for business. If that's your overriding priority, then they will deliver. Of the two, we think Athas has a deeper grasp of city issues and more developed skills. We think Eklund has a record of balancing a devotion to sustainable planning with budget, public safety and other needs, and we like that approach. Sluis is the candidate who emphasizes concerns about over-development and the need to protect neighborhoods as well as small businesses. She also supports participation in the Marin Energy Authority, in contrast to Eklund, Athas and Lucan. For us it comes to a choice between Athas and Sluis for the second seat.

The Sun endorses Eklund and Sluis.