Even though Max Korten technically is not a Marinite, my editor, Daedalus Howell, and I made an exception. Hopefully, you’ll agree that this guy qualifies as someone who truly appreciates Marin to the max!
What do you do?
I’m the director of Marin County Parks. It’s honestly the best job I can imagine. I was hired in 2014 and became the director in 2016. We manage 45 parks and 34 open space preserves across about 18,000 acres in Marin County.
Where do you live?
In Berkeley. I’ve worked in Marin for 17 years.
Where can we find you when you’re not at work? I love parks, both at work and in my personal life. That said, I’ve been coaching my son’s soccer team for the last few years, so being out on the field with a bunch of wild 10 year olds is where you’ll otherwise find me.
If you had to convince someone how awesome Marin is, where would you take them? Marin has so many awesome places, but an easy hike that is breathtaking is the Phyllis Ellman Trail in Ring Mountain Preserve in Tiburon—a short loop to the top of the ridge, with incredible views of San Francisco, Mt Tam, the Richmond Bridge and pretty much everything else in the Bay Area.
What’s one thing Marin is missing?
A ferry or train connection to the East Bay.
What’s one bit of advice you’d share with your fellow Marinites?
That your local government is extremely accessible. We have a calendar of free park activities: parks.marincounty.org/discoverlearn/events-calendar. And don’t hesitate to reach out if you have ideas or concerns. My email is ma********@ma*********.gov .
If you could ask anyone to join you at dinner, who would you invite? My mom—she died when I was 25—would have loved for her to meet my wife and son.
What’s some advice you wish you knew 20 years ago? That it’s OK to make mistakes.
What’s something that 20 years from now will seem cringeworthy? That it was so challenging to build affordable housing.
Big question. What’s one thing you’d do to change the world? One of my goals as the director of Marin County Parks is to ensure we welcome and provide benefits to everyone in our community. Parks help us stay healthy, exercise, relax, connect with friends and family, and experience nature, and they should be accessible to everyone.
Nish Nadaraja was on the founding team at Yelp, serves on the San Anselmo Arts Commission and needs to look at that park activity calendar more.
