Do you know who your county supervisor is?

By Toni Kendall

Demand a higher standard from Marin County's Board of Supervisors

There is an emerging movement toward making local and regional governments more substantial. Perhaps the first major progressive recognition of the importance of county government come in 1992 when the Rio Summit on global warming fingered local and county governments as critical to actually cutting pollution levels. Since then, many progressive agendas, whether for transportation, land use, crime or education, are taking a new look at regionalism:

Transportation: County governments nationwide are implementing transportation plans to reduce congestion and pollution while making neighborhoods more bicycle and walk-friendly. Denver has created a regional integrated public transit system, and the Boston Metropolitan area's transit authority has banned outright the purchase of diesel buses, a major pollutant. Napa's school district has made a similar move. Marin is behind the curve. With the major traffic problems we have here at both 101 and Tam Junction, Marin County should take a lead in efforts to reduce traffic congestion. Instead it is grid locked, with ten years of studies and plans, but no end in sight. Fighting suburban Sprawl. A major reason for Marin's transportation gridlock is that Marin has no firm policy on sprawl. The Board of Supervisors is currently attempting to pass the buck by allowing a new annexation of county farmlands by San Rafael, dodging accountability the subdivisions - and the traffic - that will result. As long as developers can lobby their ways to permits for new subdivisions, the only option for environmentalists fighting "Los Angeles-ization" will remain to oppose highway widening. That is why a firm county policy against sprawl is so critical to solving traffic congestion. Many Bay Area communities are trying to put a stop to strip malls and endless subdivisions. The next area targeted by developers here is the Marin Baylands, which the Board of Supervisors should fight to protect. Marin County should get with it and (1) stop the rezoning of wild and farmlands which causes land speculation, (2) oppose city annexations of county land like San Rafael's Silveira Ranch and St. Vincent's, which lead to sprawl; and (3) seek readily available funds to protect open space. Only then can we move on with a truly sustainable traffic reduction initiative.

Environment: In Massachusetts, Barnstable County's government has led ten Cape Cod towns to form a countywide cooperative of all willing citizens and businesses to purchase their electricity, which is the largest cause of global warming. The county initiative will enable communities to dramatically expand conservation and green power development. While California law forbids "Community Choice," ten California cities and counties have already asked the state legislature to allow it here. San Francisco has taken a leading role, and Main County should get with it.

Campaign Finance Reform: Santa Clara County has the best campaign finance laws in the state. Why not Marin? If we wait for state or federal governments to act, we are fooling ourselves. U.S. courts have already struck down state laws that limit campaign spending, and while Congress talks about campaign finance reform, it has done nothing. Local reform is a better strategy.

These are just examples to show somecity and county governments thinking globally and acting locally. Culver City has a municipal credit card whose interest proceeds go to reopening and maintaining a public pool. Berkeley's school district has phased out frozen junk food in favor of fresh organic school lunches. San Francisco is developing a health insurance cooperative for residents. The list goes on......

If we think globally & act locally,there is a lot that county government can do, both in terms of finding real solutions to global warming, suburban sprawl, traffic congestion and public health, and in terms of getting more citizens involved in democracy. So some might doubt whether local government can clean up its act, but it is the best chance we've got. It is, in this sense, its own cause, its own "issue." We need a higher standard.