This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Planning for Reality: Which San Rafael Council Candidates Grasp Reality?

There are two San Rafael city council seats up for grabs in the upcoming local election. This means we are all about to be beset with glossy direct mailers with beaming candidates faces no doubt set to a rural Marin backdrop. However as exposed elsewhere on this blog many politicians seem to have agendas of urbanizing Terra Linda, and would be better presented against a backdrop of mid-rise 5 story apartment blocks, with roads jammed with parked cars and congested traffic - since they assumed wrongly the thousands of new residents would take the SMART train.

Good Candidates: #1 Randy Warren (I endorse Randy)

Congratulations to Randy Warren for entering the San Rafael city council race standing up against high density housing and the Civic Center PDAs.

Randy, a 19 year resident of Terra Linda, clearly has his feet landed in reality and has my strongest support. I encourage others opposed to high density housing to vote for Randy Warren. :

Greg Brockbank - Mr (Un)Sustainable (I Do Not Endorse Greg)

Greg answered a number of my questions on high density housing here on the Quiet and Safe San Rafael website.

At present I cannot in good faith support or endorse Greg. I find him likable and keen to engage and appease. However a review of Greg's endorsers  signal that Greg is part of the "old guard" who got us into this high density housing mess. A mess that is causing many of us to waste untold hours trying to put the train back on the tracks of planning right, truly incorporating community input and achieving the right outcome.

Greg is highly involved in Sustainable San Rafael. I question some of the "blind logic" behind this sustainability group where there appears to be a failure of due diligence. This manifests either as denial recognizing cars are becoming greener than transit, especially trains, or delusional thinking that train ridership will be as high as East coast trains running to city centers with concentrated employment such as New York City.

This group also seems to endorse an approach that adding high density housing near transit will result in the new residents taking transit when evidence in Portland is to the contrary. This Powerpoint deck containing photos of transit oriented developments adjacent to Portland's Maxx Light Rail has photos showing how the residents all have cars (yet the TOD housing provides insufficient parking so cars line the streets) and stats showing 90% of residents use their cars and not adjacent transit, which unlike SMART actually takes riders to a major employment hub - Portlands city center with minimal connection issues.

Instead the transit oriented development advocated will simply serve to congest 101 and only increase CO2 emissions per passenger mile. This said I am open to and encouraging dialog that may convince otherwise.

Kate Colin - Old Guard Ties (I Do Not Endorse Kate)

Kate has demonstrated that she can listen, but so far has *not* acted. She came from the San Rafael Planning Commission which seems to be a preening ground for council candidates. Good listening, while a quality, is irrelevant and does not differentiate her from other candidates. She is in the spotlight alongside Mayor Phillips on the 2 person council subcommittee reviewing the Civic Center PDA. If this subcommittee were to advise and enact removal of this PDA my endorsement may change.

Kate's list of endorsers again appear to indicate "old guard" ties that that got us into this mess where council actions contradict community opinion. 

I submitted to Kate the same questions as sent to Greg nearly 6 months ago - she has not provided responses.

Maribeth-Bushey-Lang: The Old Guard Planner

Maribeth also appears to be endorsed by the "old guard" including Barbara Heller and Mayor Phillips. Maribeth, like Kate Colin,  is a longtime member of the San Rafael City planning commission who voted for the Airport Soccer Complex. I have emailed Maribeth the same questions as Greg many weeks ago but she has yet to respond. We expect councilors - especially prospective ones to be responsive.

Disclaimer: Views May Change

These folks are welcome to respond and advise otherwise and I absolutely will change my position if they clarify and or commit to changing their positions. I embrace that we often hold differing opinions. I want to see voters informed and transparency, not a popularity contest based on long and meaningless lists of endorsements or who looks the best on their slick, glossy mailer paid for potentially by special interests. 

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