Candidate for
Council Member; City of Mill Valley

(For a better formatted version of the following materials with pictures, click here: http://www.GarryLionForCityCouncil.com/about_garry_lion.html)

Garry is a Marin native and has lived his entire life in Marin County (Ross, Kentfield, Sausalito and Mill Valley) except for brief stints in school and the military. He has been a Mill Valley resident for 33 years (first 4 years were outside City limits in Tennessee Valley). He and his wife, Nini, raised a son and a daughter in the Scott Valley neighborhood (see MORE ON FAMILY below).

Garry earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He more recently attended Stanford Advanced Management College, a program for senior executives.

Garry works professionally as a management consultant with expertise in the inter-related disciplines of strategic management, business transformation, and information technology. He has managed over 70 major consulting projects, predominately for large global corporations in the high technology, consumer product, and natural resource industries. He has authored or co-authored six publications in his specialized areas of expertise. He has held the following positions:

• Consultant/Manager, Arthur Young & Company (5 years)
• Senior Consultant/Practice Leader, Arthur D. Little, Inc. (12 years)
• Principal/Vice President, A.T. Kearney, Inc. (10 years)

(picture here at http://www.GarryLionForCityCouncil.com/about_garry_lion.html) Garry and Mark receiving the Sausalito Business of the Year award from Rob Franco, Chief Executive of the Sausalito Chamber of Commerce in 2003.

Garry became active in Mill Valley community preservation when he served as President, Marinview Homeowners' Association and later as President and Vice-president of the Scott Valley Homeowners Association. He began to represent the neighborhood's views to the Mill Valley Planning Commission and City Council, and eventually led a Coalition of Mill Valley neighborhood in the fight against massive hillside housing projects (over 1000 units on Horse Hill, Kite Hill and Eucalyptus Knolls alone). He had significant success in down-sizing a number of the developers' proposals, and eventually accepted a grassroots effort to run for the City Council in 1986.

Garry was the top vote-getter in the Council election. During his single term as Councilmember, he actively participated in rewriting the City's General Plan in which the City down-zoned 288 acres to protect prominent hillsides. This reduced planned development (allowed in the prior General Plan) from 1044 homes to just 84, and preserved 176 acres of open space (see MORE ON CONTROLLING DEVELOPMENT below). While serving as President of the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin, Garry established a reserve fund which today contains $3.4 million for emergency repairs or replacement of equipment in the plant. Garry organized a project to build a precise replica of a Mt. Tam Gravity Car with fully donated labor and materials, and it still sits in Old Mill Park today, a reminder of our railroad heritage. He helped revive the North Bay Division of the League of California Cities (this group represents the interests of the cities' to Sacramento) and served as the first President of the new Division. Garry was elected Vice-mayor during his third year and in his final year, as Mayor, he led the acquisition of the remainder of Horse Hill.

Following an employer change involving more distant business travel, and having accomplished many of his primary goals, Garry decided not to run for a second term at the time. But he indicated he might return for his second term (a Mill Valley tradition) if the City really needed his help in the future (that's now!). Nonetheless he has remained committed in City activities:

• He served on the Municipal Services Tax Committee in the mid 90's.
• He was campaign manager for Councilmember Dick Swanson in 1999.
• He drafted an ordinance on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce legalizing merchandise displays and outdoor dining on the City's sidewalks.
• He helped on the recent Municipal Service Tax reelection campaign which achieved a 75% turnout and a 75% YES vote..
• He still serves on the City's Downtown Parking Committee.

Garry led Artisans, a 28-year Mill Valley educational arts institution, to a new home and financial stability after being forced out of Mill Valley due to sale of their building and escalating rents (see MORE ON ARTISANS below).

In the mid 80's, he led a community effort to keep Hillhaven Convalescent Home open for our aging residents. He subsequently served as President of a newly formed Hillhaven Convalescent Home Citizens' Council until his election to the City Council.

Garry maintains a very active lifestyle. He plays competitive tennis at Scott Valley Swim & Tennis Club and the Olympic Club, where he has captained a dozen USTA teams. He founded, and has captained for 11 years, a slalom and giant slalom ski racing team for the Olympic Club. He mountain bikes around southern Marin, free dives for abalone off the Mendicino coast, scuba dives in the tropics and water skis in the Sierra foothills.

MORE ON FAMILY

Garry's family is the love and pride of his life. It includes from left to right: (Picture here at http://www.GarryLionForCityCouncil.com/about_garry_lion.html)

Son Mark is co-founder and Creative Director for Lion Associates (http://www.LionAssociates.com). He uses his graphic design education from California College of the Arts to design award-winning websites for a variety of clients. He is on the Executive Board of the Sausalito Chamber of Commerce, which awarded Lion Associates "Business of the Year" in 2003.

Daughter-in-law Laurie is co-owner of Viva Diva boutique in the Rockridge District of Oakland. With an education from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, she is also the buyer for both her store and the Viva Diva store in San Rafael (http://www.VivaDivaBoutique.com).

Wife Nini is a figurative artist with a private studio in Art Works Downtown in San Rafael. She works in pastels on metallic gouache, ink drawings and ceramic sculpture (http://www.Nini.LionAssociates.com). She has been an active Board Member for the Marin Arts Council and Artisans, and a member of the Mill Valley Art Commission. She met Garry when she graded his written case analyzes at Harvard Business School.

Daughter Casey is finishing her professional education (BA from Princeton summa cum laude, MPH from UC Berkeley, MD from UC San Francisco) as a Pediatrician in residence at Seattle Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center.

MORE ON CONTROLLING DEVELOPMENT

In the 1980's, Garry represented the Mill Valley neighborhoods in opposing some major development proposals on the prominent hillsides and ridge lines of Mill Valley. The 1975 General Plan allowed a range of 293 to 1044 new dwelling units on these properties (see 3rd and 4th columns of table below). But of course, the land owners were pushing for the maximum allowable number of units on each property.

Garry helped the City analyze the appropriate land capacity for each property as it came to the Planning Commission or City Council for review. The properties had significant problems relating to existing landslides/unstable lands, access and traffic issues, steep terrain, fire vulnerability, municipal services and visual impacts which limited their development potential.

Based largely on his success in minimizing these projects, Garry was elected to the City Council in April, 1986. The City Council then declared a development moratorium and spent almost four years updating the City's General Plan. In December 1989, Garry had the honor as Mayor of formally adopting the revised General Plan.

The following table (from page 214 of the City's current General Plan, except an addition error in the number of units is corrected) summarizes the changes in the range of dwelling units and the acres of open space dedicated as a result of the revised plan.

(See the table at http://www.GarryLionForCityCouncil.com/about_garry_lion.html)

The maximum proposed development was reduced by 92% ((1044-84)/1044) and over 60% of the lands were dedicated to open space. Immediately thereafter, the Council acquired the Project H property (The Horse Hill area visible from the freeway) for public open space, and those 13 housing units were never constructed.

MORE ON ARTISANS

Garry started consulting with the financially struggling Artisans educational arts organization and gallery in 2002. He brought in community leaders for brainstorming sessions on survival strategies.

He eventually joined the Board as Vice President in 2004. He provided Lion Associates' expertise to completely redesign their website (http://www.artisansartgallery.org).

In the fall of 2005, Artisans' home of 28 years was sold and Artisans was informed its rent per square foot would effectively at least double. Garry assumed the Presidency and developed an alternative location on Fourth Street in San Rafael, including installing substantial leasehold improvements, rebuilding the customer base and refreshing the artist membership.

After a challenging two start-up years, Artisans is doing well in San Rafael and launching a series of "a la cARTe" art walk events (http://www.SanRafaelalaCarte.com) this fall which the Board hopes will secure Artisan's long-term viability.