Page 11 – Pacific Sun | Marin County, California

Data shows racial inequities in Mill Valley policing

Nikki Silverstein

Sep 28, 2022

Data shows racial inequities in Mill Valley policing

Two new reports reach vastly different conclusions about racial disparities during police stops by the Mill Valley Police Department, one stating significant bias exists while the other infers the opposite.

The police department and a community group, Mill Valley Force for Racial Equity & Empowerment (MVFREE), both analyzed detention data collected by the police, including the perceived race of detainees and the outcome of stops conducted from June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022. The staff report by Mill Valley Police Chief Rick Navarro doesn’t mention racial profiling by officers and makes no recommendations for improvement. MVFREE’s report finds racial bias and provides recommendations for addressing the issue.

The MVFREE number crunchers paint an alarming picture in their report, released on Sept. 26. Their analysis “reveals large and persistent racial disparities in Mill Valley police practices.” In addition, the report states the disparities occur throughout the detention process.

The Mill Valley police detain Black people at 6.5 times the rate of white people, according to the MVFREE analysis. Latinx people don’t fare much better, with the police stopping them at 3.2 times the rate of white people.

And it’s not just the police doing the racial profiling. Members of the Mill Valley community call the police about Black people at almost 20 times the rate of their calls about white people, according to the MVFREE report.

Conversely, the police staff report issued by the chief on Sept. 26, seemingly rejects that racial bias exists within the Mill Valley Police Department. For example, Navarro claims there’s an insignificant amount of data to conclude that Black and Latinx people are stopped at a rate much higher than White people, yet the data set includes 1,776 stops.

“MVPD additionally recognizes that data analysis will be more representative of MVPD’s overall work and perceptions when looking at data collected over a longer period,” the police staff report states, repeating the sentence from last year’s report, which was based on only three months of data collection.

Like other MVFREE members, Frank Shinneman, a retired business executive, takes issue with the Mill Valley police report. Simple math demonstrates the report contains flawed conclusions, such as looking at the daily influx of non-residents who come to Mill Valley as a reason for the increased stop rate of Black people, Shinneman said.

“While the MVPD report does show that Black people constitute 4.9% of the stops but only 1.2% of the residents, it waives any possible profiling conclusion by stating that the daytime in-commute brings in 15,000 people, doubling the population,” Shinneman said in an email. “The report provides no data on the makeup of the races of those 15,000 people. Yet the claim is essentially that if enough of the 15,000 are Black people, the daytime population would be similar to the stop percentage.”

“This can easily be calculated. It would take 1,250 additional daily Black commuters coming into Mill Valley to reach 4.9% of the city’s daytime population, which would then match the percentage of stops. That would be equivalent to 17% of Marin County’s Black residents, who live outside Mill Valley, visiting the city every day. Not too likely.”

The MVFREE report highlights the differences in the actions taken when Mill Valley police officers detain Black, Latinx and white people. Although Black people are searched at 3.12 times the rate of white people, the two groups are equally likely to possess contraband.

Black people are held in a police car during their detention at 3.25 times the rate of white people, and the duration of their detentions averages 36% longer, the MVFREE report states. Latinx people are detained for 20% longer than white people. Paradoxically, the report indicates there is no link between the lengthy detentions of Black and Latinx people and increased criminality.

Edmonson is quick to point out the racial inequity in detentions isn’t just a Mill Valley issue. Study after study has demonstrated that racial disparity in law enforcement is systemic, and frequently stems from implicit bias, rather than a conscious decision on the part of officers.

In contrast, Navarro’s report states that one reason police stops of Black people last longer than those of white people is because there are more passengers in the vehicles driven by Black people, presumably meaning that stops involve talking to each passenger. Still, this doesn’t explain why Black people are held longer in police cars during detention than white people. Nor is there an accounting for why Black people are searched during detention at a much higher rate than white people.

Although numerous studies show that scientists often reach divergent conclusions from the same data set, the variations in these two reports is somewhat surprising. MVFREE and the police chief have been meeting on a regular basis for more than a year to examine racial bias and best practices in policing. Navarro and Tammy Edmonson, a retired attorney and MVFREE member, agree the alliance is beneficial to the Mill Valley community.

“We have developed an active partnership with MVFREE,” Navarro said in an email to the Pacific Sun. “Through this collaboration and others, we have implemented several changes and expanded vital training for our staff. “

While some law enforcement agencies in Marin are resisting pressure for reform or implementing policies under the threat of civil litigation by aggrieved citizens, others are seeking the input of city-sanctioned committees and community groups. Edmonson commended Navarro, who has served as chief for less than two years, for being proactive.

“The police chief reached out to us,” Edmonson said. “From the get-go, the chief took a remarkably collaborative approach. He said, ‘I know it’s an important moment for policing, and I want to work with you.’ It’s resulted in an anti-bias policy that is stronger than in any other police force in the county.”

The new Bias-Free Policing policy implemented by Navarro contains substantial changes to the way Mill Valley police conduct business. California law mandates police officers attend approved refresher courses for racial or bias-based profiling training every five years; however, Mill Valley’s now requires the training every three years.

Another policy shift allows officers to determine, based on their bias training, whether calls for service from members of the Mill Valley community have “a legitimate law enforcement purpose before taking action.” With the MVFREE report showing that calls about Black people are at almost 20 times the rate of calls about white people, the new policy could reduce the number of Black people detained in the city.

Still, Edmonson is concerned about the considerable differences in the analyses contained in the two reports, both of which will be presented to the Mill Valley City Council at a meeting on Oct. 3.

“The purpose of the Chief’s Report seems to be to avoid and deflect from the compelling evidence of racial profiling in the MVPD RIPA [Racial and Identity Profiling] data,” Edmonson said. “This is disappointingly inconsistent with the candor and cooperation we have sought to cultivate in the year and a half that MVFREE and the police chief have been meeting.”

Despite the revelations in the MVFREE report, the group wants to make clear that the purpose of the report is to provide documentation of racial disparities and influence change, not to condemn the police department, Edmonson said.

The data used in the dueling reports was gathered by the Mill Valley Police Department to meet the requirements of Assembly Bill 953, the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 (RIPA), which requires law enforcement agencies to collect, maintain and report information on vehicle and pedestrian stops to the California Attorney General’s Office.

The legislation also established a RIPA board tasked with “eliminating racial and identity profiling, and improving diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law enforcement.” The board advises using the “Ratio of Disparity” formula when analyzing the racial disparities in policing.

MVFREE applied the recommended ratio to the vast amount of raw data collected by the Mill Valley police, which allows for weighted comparisons of data from racial groups of varying sizes. It’s an essential component of an accurate analysis because Mill Valley’s population is 85% white, according to 2021 U.S. Census. The police staff report did not use the RIPA board’s ratio.

The question now is whether the Mill Valley City Council, and the police chief himself, will accept the analysis and recommendations in the MVFREE report.

The city council wasn’t receptive to a 93 page-report, issued in December 2020 by the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force, which offered specific recommendations for systemic change throughout city government, including the police department. Shortly after the task force presented their report, the city council disbanded the group without implementing any of the recommendations.

Many believe the city council established the 22-person DEI Task Force simply as a performative measure to calm a conflict caused by Sashi McEntee, the former mayor. One week after George Floyd’s murder in 2020, McEntee responded to a question about what Mill Valley was doing to show that Black Lives Matter by stating that the council doesn’t “take action on issues that are not of immediate local importance.”

The members of the forsaken task force formed MVFREE, which now has a roster of more than 50 people working on various DEI projects in Mill Valley. MVFREE’s police working group has made the most impact to date, largely due to Navarro stepping up to the plate for police reform.

Despite the progress made under Navarro’s leadership, his report fails to acknowledge the experience of Black people in Mill Valley and throughout Marin County, which is troublesome when the data indicates the distinct possibility of racial profiling.

“This is one year of data,” Edmonson said. “Think about the total number of Black people affected year after year. Think about it. Black people have been saying, ‘It’s happening,’ and white people say they don’t see it. Now, we have the evidence that it is happening right here in Mill Valley.”

The MVFREE and Chief Navarro’s reports will be presented on Oct. 3 at 6:30pm during the Mill Valley City Council meeting.

Read MVFREE’s report at 2022 MVFREE RIPA Analysis & Report.

Read Chief Navarro’s report at https://cityofmillvalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=1182&meta_id=85287.

Sausalito’s cannabis dispensary ballot measure stirs controversy

Nikki Silverstein

Sep 20, 2022

Sausalito’s cannabis dispensary ballot measure stirs controversy

My head was spinning after speaking to the supporters and opponents of Sausalito’s ballot initiative on cannabis. And I wasn’t even high.

Sausalito voters will decide on Measure K in the Nov. 8 election. If approved, the initiative repeals the ban on cannabis businesses and allows business licenses for one cannabis retail store and one cannabis delivery service.

Currently, a Sausalito ordinance bars all medical, recreational, commercial and delivery cannabis businesses, although delivery services based outside the city are permitted to drop off products to anyone 21 or older.

A “yes” vote on the measure scraps the city’s current prohibitions on marijuana sales and paves the way for two cannabis businesses. Vote “no” and keep the status quo. Majority vote wins.

While it seems straightforward enough, the initiative has brought out impassioned opponents, including past and present elected officials and a cross-section of Sausalito residents.

The “Measure K is Not OK” folks have a long list of objections, beginning with Otter Brands LLC, the company behind the ballot initiative. The opponents maintain that Otter Brands is Big Cannabis and doesn’t belong in Sausalito, a small city with a population of around 7,200.

One of Otter Brand’s three partners, Conor Johnston, owns Berner’s on Haight, a successful retail cannabis store in San Francisco. Long-time Sausalito resident Karen Cleary is the initiative’s sponsor. Chris Monroe owns CrossFit Sausalito.

Johnston acknowledged in an interview with the Pacific Sun that the three partners and their attorney wrote the 14-page initiative, which contains extremely specific requirements that companies must meet to qualify for either of the two cannabis business licenses that would be up for grabs, provided Measure K passes.

Interestingly, Measure K requires that one owner live in Sausalito; one owner have experience managing, operating or owning a business in the city; and one owner have experience managing, operating or owning a storefront cannabis retail business in California. Sound familiar?

“Measure K seeks to prioritize people with connections to the local community,” said Johnston, who recently moved from Seattle and is now staying in San Francisco before a planned to move to Los Angeles. “We don’t see that as a weakness.”

Perhaps another company might be able to meet those requirements. But the field of qualified applicants will greatly diminish when considering that, prior to April 21, 2021, the business must have submitted a detailed draft development agreement to the city and met individually with at least three current or then-current city council members to express interest in opening a retail cannabis store.

There are other conditions, too, that needed to be met 17 months ago. Without a time machine, it’s virtually impossible for another company to qualify for the retail store license, leaving Otter Brands in the catbird seat. Yet Johnston refused to admit that the initiative shuts out competitors from the process, pointing to a provision in Measure K that states if no company qualifies, a less restrictive set of requirements comes into play.

That scenario could materialize if Otter Brands failed to receive a state license for a cannabis retail store, Johnston said. However, Otter Brands’ partners have worked for almost five years to get Measure K on the ballot, making it hard to imagine they haven’t dotted all their i’s.

Otter Brands won’t be vying for the delivery license, according to Johnston. Under state law, cannabis retail dispensaries can also deliver cannabis goods. Conceivably, there could be two delivery services located in Sausalito.

The ballot initiative also dictates the operation regulations for the cannabis retail dispensary and the delivery service. Sausalito City Councilmember Ian Sobieski opposes Measure K because the council will essentially lose control of determining policy for cannabis businesses operating in the city.

“An important detail everyone should consider—if passed, Sausalito City Council will be prohibited from issuing any tweaks or changes to how retail cannabis is administered in our town,” Sobieski said in an email. “Any unforeseen problems that require changes will have to wait for, and be contingent upon the slow, cumbersome and expensive process of future ballot initiatives. This is no way to manage the affairs of our town.”

Some naysayers object to Otter Brands’ lack of diversity ownership. California’s Proposition 64, which passed in 2016, legalized marijuana use for adults and retail sales. While Prop 64 doesn’t require social equity among marijuana retail store owners, the state encourages it by providing incentives, such as fee waivers and technical support, to people harmed by cannabis criminalization, which includes a disproportionate number of the Black population. None of Otter Brand’s owners are Black.

Sausalito resident Allison Behr is outspoken about her opposition to passing Measure K. Behr said she struggled with marijuana addiction, yet she doesn’t disapprove of marijuana use for adults. One of her primary concerns is that a cannabis retail store may target underage youth.

Johnston’s existing cannabis retail store in San Francisco and its website carry youth-oriented products, according to Behr. She fears an Otter Brands retail location in Sausalito may carry the same goods, such as a popular strain of marijuana called Cookies and backpacks designed to hide the smell of weed from parents and teachers. Still, Behr wouldn’t mind a cannabis storefront in Sausalito if it had sufficient regulations to protect people under 21, but she doesn’t believe Measure K provides such protections.

Behr cited a litany of other objections to the measure and Otter Brands, including an inadequate amount of annual revenue guaranteed to the city, the store’s proximity to schools and parks, and traffic and parking issues.

Measure K provides that the retail store must pay Sausalito $50,000 or 7.5% of net profits in revenues, whichever is greater. Behr is convinced Sausalito will never receive more than the guaranteed minimum.

“It would be easy for Conor Johnston to shelter his net profits so that whatever he pays won’t be more than the $50K minimum,” Behr said.

Johnston scoffs at the accusations. The measure he co-authored requires that the storefront be 1,000 feet from schools, which is more than state law dictates, and no one under 21 will be permitted inside the store, according to Johnston. In addition, the measure states that the selected retail store commits to providing $300,000 in community benefits over the first five years, which could include donations to nonprofits.

Behr remains unconvinced. Cannabis retail is complex and has many cons, especially with the way Measure K is written, according to Behr.

“We need to educate our community about cannabis and this initiative,” Behr said. “People need to make a choice based on the facts.”

San Rafael police officers under fire and investigation for use of force

Nikki Silverstein

Sep 13, 2022

San Rafael police officers under fire and investigation for use of force

Two San Rafael police officers are under investigation after one of them beat and bloodied a local gardener during questioning about an open container of beer.

The violent incident took place in late July and was captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras. A police report indicates the man was arrested and booked into the Marin County Jail on the same day, facing charges for a felony, obstructing and resisting an officer, and three misdemeanors, including battery on an officer. The following day, the case was turned over to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office.

The Pacific Sun’s deep dive into eight videos recorded by several officers at the scene, police reports of the incident and other documents, revealed a disturbing picture. In addition to the beating, there are questions about the conduct of officers who arrived afterwards, the police department’s initial lack of transparency and procedures in the DA’s office.

Despite a police report’s claim that an officer was battered by a suspect and its admission of use of force by two officers, the San Rafael Police Department, which frequently issues press releases about arrests, did not inform the public of the event. The DA’s office filed charges against the gardener on Aug. 2.

However, the man’s attorney, Charles Dresow, told the Pacific Sun in an interview that the DA’s office filed those charges before watching the body cam videos. After viewing the videos on Aug. 22, an assistant DA dropped the charges on Aug. 26.

Dresow sent a letter to District Attorney Lori Frugoli on Sept. 7, requesting that she open an investigation or refer the matter to the California Attorney General’s Office. Later that day, Frugoli issued a statement that an investigation by her office was underway.

The incident quickly became worldwide news when portions of the videos went viral after KGO-TV broke the story on Sept. 1. During the station’s news report, viewed more than a million times on YouTube, reporter Dan Noyes dubbed the gardener “Mateo.”

We will also use the name Mateo because Dresow has requested the media not identify his client, who fears for his safety. The community has adopted the name as well. During marches, demonstrations and public comments at last week’s city council meeting, residents from around the county have demanded “Justice for Mateo.”

Two protestors at a demonstration calling for Mazariegos and Nail to be fired from the police department. San Rafael City Hall, Sunday, September 4. Photo by Nikki Silverstein.

It all began on Wednesday, July 27, at 6:52pm, when San Rafael Police Officer Daisy Mazariegos confronted three men who had open containers of beer on a barren section of Windward Way in the Canal area. After instructing the men to sit on the curb, in English and Spanish, Mazariegos remained in the street and questioned Mateo, body camera footage shows.

All three men cooperated, and Mateo responded respectfully and reasonably to Mazariegos, according to Saul Godinez, a San Rafael resident who interpreted the Spanish portions of videos for the Pacific Sun. Mateo explained that the three friends had gathered to drink after work.

Officer Brandon Nail arrived two minutes later, just as Mazariegos asked the three men for their IDs. The situation devolved rapidly when Mateo stood up to retrieve his identification from his pocket.

A frame-by-frame review of Mazariegos’ and Nail’s body cam videos shows that, in less than 60 seconds, a series of aggressive maneuvers by both officers resulted in Mateo lying face down on the pavement in a pool of his own blood with his hands cuffed behind his back. Mateo was arrested and placed in the back of a police car.

This video contains graphic content. The footage, showing the two officers using force against Mateo, was taken from Officer Daisy Mazariegos’ body camera on July 27, 2022.

Corporal Oscar O’Con and three other officers then arrived, each wearing a body camera. Some officers, including Nail and Mazariegos, are smiling. Laughter is heard.

The two other men, still sitting on the curb, are issued citations for having an open container in public, which is an infraction, and released. But Mateo remained in the police vehicle for more than 50 minutes before an officer was instructed by O’Con to transport the bloodied man to the hospital, and then jail.

Dresow is outraged by the content of the videos, and Mazariegos’ and Nail’s reports. Indeed the reports are baffling, with some of the two officers’ accounts almost identical, yet not entirely accurate.

“Officer Mazariegos’ immediate aggressive tone towards my client was quickly escalated into physical violence by Officer Nail,” Dresow said. “The officers then weaponized the criminal justice system against my client by filing false police reports.”

Mazariegos’ report, written on the day of the arrest, lists Nail as the “victim,” due to his “injuries.” Mateo is identified as the suspect, despite the report noting that he is 5 feet tall and 130 pounds, while Nail is 6 feet two inches and 250 pounds.

The report also states that as Nail took Mateo to the ground, Mateo placed the officer into a headlock. At the scene, body cam videos show Mazariegos repeatedly saying that Mateo is “drunk.” She doubled down in her report, stating Mateo slurred his words and showed other signs of being under the influence. Mazariegos’ assertions are not evident in the videos, and Godinez, the interpreter, said Mateo didn’t slur when speaking.

Inexplicably, Mazariegos’ report states that hospital personnel indicated Mateo’s x-rays and CAT scan came back clear. The Pacific Sun, however, independently verified that Mateo was diagnosed with a broken nose and concussion.

Nail’s report states Mateo attempted to put him in a headlock, but he pushed Mateo away. Mateo then struck Nail several times on the left side and back of his head, according to the report. Again, the videos do not show these actions.

Both Mazariegos and Nail said in their reports that when Mateo grabbed onto Nail’s vest, the officer punched him in the nose. The videos show Nail took him down, and for a fraction of second some of Mateo’s fingers hooked onto the officer’s vest.

Mazariegos, who finished field training in May, is still on her probationary period. Nail has been on the force for almost three years, after a two-year stint in the Sausalito Police Department. Both are now on paid leave from the department, police spokesperson Lt. Scott Eberle told the Pacific Sun.

The department’s decision to pay the officers while they are on leave was frequently criticized by speakers during public comment at the recent city council meeting. However, the City of San Rafael’s attorney, Rob Epstein, explained in an email that the police department does not have an option of placing officers on unpaid leave.

San Rafael Police Chief David Spiller told the Pacific Sun he intends to find out what happened during and after the incident.

“An independent investigation will look at all of the officers involved,” Spiller said.

On Friday, Sept. 9, the city announced it had hired Paul Henry, of Independent Investigative Consultants, a former Santa Rosa police officer, to conduct the investigation. The choice is controversial.

“The selection of Mr. Henry, who while a police lieutenant, was heavily involved in the Santa Rosa Police Department’s justification of the Andy Lopez killing, is shockingly insensitive and displays a lack of empathy towards the Latino community,” Dresow said.

Dresow sent a letter to the city attorney, Epstein, on Sept. 13, outlining four other concerns about Henry. To address the concerns, Dresow requested that the city appoint a co-investigator, chosen by Mateo, to work alongside Henry and co-author the report.

Interestingly, District Attorney Frugoli, whose office is conducting an investigation into whether any crimes were committed by Mazariegos and Nail, is also a former police officer. Frugoli worked at the San Rafael Police Department and the Santa Rosa Police Department.

The publicity surrounding the incident is taking its toll on morale in the police department, according to Spiller. In addition, the police station is receiving “very angry, very hateful phone calls.”

“I’m committed to hearing and addressing the concerns of the Canal community and policing effectively,” Spiller said. “My role is to lead the organization, address shortcomings and move forward in a positive way.”

Spiller’s task might be easier once the two investigations have concluded and more information is provided to the public. Until then, Mazariegos and Nail are considered innocent until proven guilty.

The Bay Area’s algal blooms are wreaking havoc for fish

Nikki Silverstein

Sep 7, 2022

The Bay Area’s algal blooms are wreaking havoc for fish

The Bay Area is experiencing a harmful red tide, which peaked in August, yet still lingers in September.

The tell-tale signs are tea-colored water, foul odors and dead fish. Check, check and check.

A phytoplankton, named Heterosigma akashiwo, is the culprit behind this phenomenon. Heterosigma akashiwo is usually found as a cyst set into the bay’s sediment. Under certain conditions, the cyst becomes a mobile organism and blooms. Often called algal blooms, they release toxins and cause the discoloration of the water.

The continued proliferation of the bloom is dependent upon warm water, around 59-68 degrees Fahrenheit, a lot of sunlight, clear skies and lack of wind, according to Aundi Mevoli, a field investigator and policy advocate at San Francisco Baykeeper, a nonprofit dedicated to the health of the bay and its tributaries.

“The bay is rich with nutrients,” Mevoli said. “If you put fertilizer on plants, it helps them grow.”

Some nutrients are flushed into the water from the 40 sewage treatment plants in the Bay Area. Although most of the solid material is filtered out, the effluent released into the bay contains nitrogen and phosphorus, two of the three primary nutrients used in commercial fertilizer.

Still, Mevoli says it’s not yet conclusive whether the sewage treatment effluent is directly correlated with red tides. The nutrients can’t be filtered out until the infrastructure is updated, which will cost billions of dollars. The sewage is a source of great concern to people who work to protect the bay.

“We don’t want this to be the new normal,” Mevoli said.

Red tides, first documented in Japan during the 8th century, sometimes occur naturally. However, scientists say the incidence of red tides is increasing around the world. Extensive research is being conducted, but scientists haven’t definitively determined whether humans are contributing to the frequency of red tides.

The occurrence of red tides has been predicted due to the warming of the water and wastewater, according to Levi Lewis, PhD, a fisheries ecologist at the University of California, Davis.

“Climate change is causing increased water temperature,” Lewis said. “The fertilizers from agriculture and wastewater disrupt and destabilize bodies of water. It’s supercharging the system. These could be the causes of the red tide—or not.”

The current red tide has negatively impacted the bay’s sturgeon population, which is a species of concern, Lewis said. The State of California monitors the white sturgeon because it’s vulnerable to fishing mortality. There are restrictions on how many a person can keep in a year.

Another type of sturgeon found in the bay, the North American green sturgeon, is endangered. No fishing for this type of sturgeon is permitted, as it is under conservation measures.

“We don’t know the percentage of sturgeon we lost,” Lewis said. “There are the dead fish that we’re seeing, but we don’t know how many are dying in murky water. Sturgeon can live for decades and grow very large. Losing a large number is like losing an old growth forest. It’s a tragic and unparalleled loss.”

Both Mevoli and Lewis advise that people and pets stay out of the water during the red tide because it can cause skin rashes and respiratory problems. But what about the people who make their living in the water?

Nathan Rea, a Sausalito resident, is a scuba diver who cleans the growth that accrues underneath boats. With the red tide so prevalent, Rea didn’t get into the water for about a week-and-a-half.

“The red tide makes visibility more difficult,” he said. “We usually get three to four feet of visibility, but it was down to six inches [last month].”

While the bay had red tides in 2002 and 2004, Lewis said the current one is different.

“This is unprecedented in the San Francisco Bay,” he explained. “A lot of the folks studying the system for a long time are devastated to see the loss from this red tide.”

Hollywood descended on Sausalito to film mini-series

Nikki Silverstein

Sep 7, 2022

Hollywood descended on Sausalito to film mini-series

Did Sausalito forsake its homeless residents for Hollywood?

On Aug. 15, Sausalito closed its city-sanctioned homeless camp, which was located on the tennis courts at the corner of Marinship Way and Testa Street. Days later, a film production crew rolled into town and set up its base camp on the opposite corner of the intersection, just 105 feet from the former homeless encampment.

Curious timing.

Anthony Prince, attorney for the Sausalito Homeless Union, doesn’t think the encampment closure and the arrival of the film crew occurring almost simultaneously is a coincidence. The union is concerned that the city’s insistence on the homeless residents leaving by Aug. 15 may be linked to an existing agreement with the film production company.

The Sausalito Homeless Union and the City of Sausalito were involved in a lawsuit, which was settled on Aug. 5 after the city agreed to pay $540,000 to house 30 homeless people for approximately six months. Prince said the city began to harden its position on the Aug. 15 deadline when the two parties were close to an agreement. The city said the entire settlement would be at risk unless the union went along with the date, according to Prince.

“The city was adamant they would not change that date, even when it was demonstrated that there wasn’t enough time to find people housing,” Prince said. “Twice I requested an extension after the agreement. They said ‘no,’ and refused to reveal a reason.”

Sausalito Mayor Janelle Kellman told the Pacific Sun that the film crew had nothing to do with the deadline to move the encampment.

However, Kellman said the city has known since March that an Apple+ mini-series, The Last Thing He Told Me starring Jennifer Garner, would be setting up a base camp and filming in Sausalito.

It also appears the film production company was aware of the homeless camp’s existence.

“When they later heard the tennis court was emptied, they requested to set up their equipment in Marinship Park,” Kellman said. “The City of Sausalito denied that request.”

Of course, the city couldn’t allow the production’s base camp in Marinship Park because it’s contaminated with fecal matter and closed until the restoration is complete.

Prince says the rushed closure of the encampment pushed people into motel rooms, which has used a significant portion of the housing assistance funds received from Sausalito. If the city had given the union more time, the money could have been better allocated to durable housing, according to Prince.

On Aug. 29, Prince notified the city that they were required to preserve evidence of its relationship to the filming production company. That could signify a legal battle is once again brewing.

“The deadline of Aug. 15 was separately negotiated with Mr. Prince and again, had absolutely nothing to do with a film crew,” Kellman said.

Marin Municipal Water District slow to replace leaky tanks

Nikki Silverstein

Aug 31, 2022

Marin Municipal Water District slow to replace leaky tanks

Lyle Christie, completely frustrated, called the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) in early July to voice an interesting complaint.

“I’d like to report a gross misuse and waste of water, about one million gallons a year, and the culprit is you,” Christie said he told the agency.

It wasn’t the first time he contacted MMWD to air his grievance about the profusely leaking redwood water tank a few hundred feet from his San Rafael home. That would have been over a year ago, Christie told the Pacific Sun in a July interview.

During Christie’s initial call, he said MMWD told him the water tank on Bret Harte Road, dubbed the Courtright Tank, is “redundant” and they would take care of it. However, month after month, throughout the statewide drought, it continued to leak.

To make matters worse, the leak saturated the ground next to the tank and created puddles of water. Next came the mosquitoes, according to Christie. He and his wife wrapped themselves up in blankets when they were outside in the evenings.

“Vector Control did a test for larvae and mosquitoes in the ground where it was swampy,” Christie said. “Larvae are proliferating.”

Neighbors told Christie, who moved into his home in 2020, that the redwood tank, which is almost 50 years old, has been leaking for the past decade. During that time, MMWD would “hammer in redwood slivers” to try to stop the water leaks, according to Christie.

Recently, a neighbor placed a kiddie pool under the biggest leak in an attempt to put the otherwise wasted water to good use. The collected water was shared with nearby residents for their gardens.

In a surprising move, MMWD objected and removed the pool catching the water.

“They told us, ‘You’re stealing water,’” Christie said. “The neighborhood was up in arms.”

Another neighbor, a water engineer specialist with the State of California, calculated the tank was losing two to three gallons per minute, which equates to more than a million gallons annually. That’s the figure Christie gave to the MMWD in his recent complaint.

The MMWD employee who took the report said he would speak to the “upper ups,” Christie said. The neighbors decided to give MMWD a week to take some kind of action. Nothing happened.

Finally, on July 10, Christie took the neighborhood’s concerns to Nextdoor, a social media website, by posting a video of water gushing from the bottom of the tank and puddling in the grass. The video was accompanied by a summary of the situation.

Over the next couple of days, the post received 83 comments, with many Marin residents writing that they were outraged about the water waste and would also contact MMWD. One person, who doesn’t live in the neighborhood, emailed Larry Bragman, a member of the MMWD’s board of directors.

Bragman responded to the woman within minutes that he was “on it.” A follow-up email from Bragman said that the Courtright Tank replacement was on the agenda for a meeting scheduled on July 15.

Three days before that meeting took place, an MMWD crew arrived to repair the redwood tank. Christie posted a new video on Nextdoor the following day to show that the water had stopped flowing from the bottom of the tank and the ponding appeared to be gone. Christie credited social media for helping to resolve the issue.

It seemed like that was a wrap. MMWD had fixed the leaks and was discussing replacing the tank. Story over. Well, kind of.

We contacted Christie again last week to check-in. While the largest leak had been remedied, water was still escaping from other areas of the Courtright Tank. A visit to the site revealed shims and wedges had been inserted into the redwood in several places.

“It’s better,” Christie said. “You should have seen it before.”

The process to replace the Courtright Tank has been accelerated, Crystal Yezman, MMWD’s director of engineering, told the Pacific Sun in an Aug. 26 interview.

The project was advertised on July 14, according to MMWD’s website, just four days after Christie’s post on social media. On Aug. 16, the board of directors awarded the contract to D & D Pipelines, Inc., a general engineering contractor based in San Francisco.

The construction is expected to begin in September and conclude in November, at a total cost of $277,000, including MMWD’s own labor costs for the project design and construction management.

Instead of installing a new tank, MMWD plans to add 520 feet of pipe to connect the service area to another larger one, which serves 540 customers and gets its water supply from the Bret Harte Tank. Fortunately, that tank is made of steel and has a 500,000-gallon capacity.

Removing the 50,000-gallon Courtright Tank wasn’t a priority because it’s relatively small, serving 108 customers. When addressing issues in their system, the MMWD considers criticality.

“Risk is the probability of failure and the consequence of failure,” Yezman said. “If a small asset fails, there’s a small consequence. A larger asset might not have as much risk, but could have a much larger consequence if it fails.”

MMWD has been slowly replacing the redwood tanks in its system because the wood degrades over time. There were 50 and now there are six, including the Courtright Tank, Yezman said.

Christie’s post about the estimated million gallons a year leaking from the redwood tank was alarming to the public. However, Yezman pointed out that in a seven-year period, MMWD has saved 2 million gallons of water a day, with two full-time employees devoted to its leak detection program.

MMWD uses audio equipment to locate leaks underground and finds a leak approximately once every day. With 930 miles of pipes, it takes 18 months to go through the system.

“We do have to provide a water loss report to the state,” Yezman said. “We’re at about 10% loss, which is normal.”

Still, none of this explains why the redwood Courtright Tank wasn’t repaired sooner or maintained on a regular basis. Once MMWD sent out a crew, the water leaks were substantially reduced in less than a day.

Tyler Silvy, a senior communications specialist at MMWD, said during an interview with the Pacific Sun that he couldn’t find the timeline of complaints about the Courtright Tank.

Both Yezman and Silvy maintain that reports of wasted water are taken seriously. But Yezman was quick to say that although the rest of California is experiencing a severe drought, Marin is not.

“The water district of Marin has adequate water storage levels,” Yezman said. “We’ve lifted local emergency conservation. With the hydrology of our Mt. Tam watershed, it doesn’t take much rain to fill it. Marin is kind of magical the way it’s situated with the watershed, which is probably why the Native Americans revered the mountain so much.”

Hopefully, MMWD respects Marin’s precious water as much as the Native Americans—and the Courtright Tank neighbors.

Anchor-out’s boat saved from destruction

Nikki Silverstein

Aug 31, 2022

Anchor-out’s boat saved from destruction

A federal judge recently changed her ruling in a case, giving hope to a pregnant woman whose boat was scheduled to be destroyed by a local government agency.

In a July hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Maxine Chesney, Kaitlin Allerton was denied a preliminary injunction, which cleared the way for the Richardson Bay Regional Agency (RBRA) to crush the 32-foot sailboat that she had lived aboard for the better part of the last four years.

A series of events prompted Allerton, 28, to submit new evidence to the court in August. In a surprising move, Chesney reconsidered her previous decision in a hearing on Aug. 19 and granted the preliminary injunction, now preventing the RBRA from demolishing Allteron’s vessel, the Silver Bow.

Allerton initially filed the legal action after the RBRA, a joint powers authority of Mill Valley, Tiburon, Belvedere and Marin County, seized her boat from Richardson Bay on July 12 and towed it to the San Rafael Yacht Harbor. The RBRA harbormaster, Jim Malcolm, stated in an email that her boat would be destroyed the following week.

While the RBRA contended in court that the boat was marine debris, Allteron insisted the Kendall 32 was a rare boat in good condition, making it valuable. Furthermore, she said photos of the Silver Bow, submitted to the court by the RBRA, looked bad because she had failed to clean up the sea gull waste after she moved onto land for the last few months of her pregnancy.

Although the judge originally agreed with the RBRA, a few days after the hearing, Allteron’s friends, who also live aboard boats in Richardson Bay, went to the San Rafael Yacht Harbor and began scrubbing the Silver Bow. Michael Ortega led the group of people working on Allerton’s vessel, which included Arthur Bruce.

The San Rafael police were summoned to the yacht harbor to remove the folks working on the Silver Bow, according to Bruce.

“The registration has Katy [Allerton’s] and Michael [Ortega’s] names on it,” Bruce said. “An officer asked Malcolm if he could produce documentation that the RBRA owns the vessel and he couldn’t. The police let us stay.”

Louis Tenwinkel, a long-time mariner and shipwright, surveyed the Silver Bow at the yacht harbor and provided Allerton with a declaration that he found the boat to be valuable. That document and photos of the clean boat turned the tide for Allerton, despite objections from the RBRA’s attorney.

“It could go to a marina now the way it looks,” Chesney said.

Allerton received another gift last week—she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

A story of affordable housing, corporate greed and good ol’ American grit

Nikki Silverstein

Aug 24, 2022

A story of affordable housing, corporate greed and good ol’ American grit

This is the second part of a two-part series. Read part one here.

Dozens of homeowners may soon lose their Marin homes. Not to foreclosure or wildfire or rising sea levels.

Residents of the RV Park of San Rafael say they will lose their affordable housing due to the greed of Harmony Communities, a property management company hired last summer by the long-time owner of the park, Donna Chessen, who is in her mid-80s.

Harmony, which owns or manages 33 properties in California and Oregon, is threatening to close the San Rafael park, displacing the homeowners and their families—in total, more than 100 people. Residents recently received an unsigned letter from Harmony, which stated, “The reality is the land is worth much more than operating an RV park for affordable housing.”

Harsh words, especially from a company that touts their dedication to affordable housing. Matthew Davies, founder of Harmony Communities, “is trying to solve one of the most pressing issues of our time: lack of affordable housing,” according to his company’s website.

On Aug. 1, Davies’ company sent eviction letters to one-third of the San Rafael park’s residents.

The basis for Harmony’s mass eviction is related to health and safety code violation letters issued to 15 park residents by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on July 19 after a June 28 inspection of the park by an HCD employee.

The Pacific Sun obtained copies of the HCD letters, which showed some violations could be addressed by simply removing an awning, while others would require more work, such as moving a structure six feet from a neighboring one. The department gave the residents eight weeks to correct any violations, with the deadline looming this week. The HCD’s goal is park safety, but the agency doesn’t require the eviction of residents for non-compliance.

Yet, a Pacific Sun review of 15 letters Harmony sent to residents with violations, showed the eviction proceedings began more than three weeks prior to the HCD’s correction deadline. What’s the hurry?

The eviction notices included a copy of the HCD violation notice, which could have confused some residents, by making it look like the public agency is endorsing the evictions.

Since Harmony took over the park, residents say they dread opening their mailboxes for fear of receiving another eviction notice, a new set of restrictive park rules or the official park closure letter. Five families recently left their homes behind, defeated by the constant pressure from Harmony, according to other park residents.

Enham Leveille, regional manager for Harmony Communities, disputes the residents’ claim, instead placing the responsibility for the vacancies with the HCD.

“These vacancies are the result of a California state agency (the Department of Housing and Community Development) inspecting the resident-owned structures that were on these lots, and finding serious health and safety violations which could cause injury, illness or death for the structures’ inhabitants or the other residents of the park,” Leveille said. “These lots are now vacant because a public agency enforced the state’s health and safety laws.”

It’s curious that Harmony has left these lots vacant, while at the same time crying poor to justify a recent attempt to raise the rents by 18%.

The park residents are likely being used as pawns in Harmony’s battle with the City of San Rafael. Last year, Harmony raised the monthly rent from $550 to $650—almost seven times higher than allowed by the city’s rent stabilization ordinance. To force Harmony to comply with the ordinance, the city filed a lawsuit and won a preliminary injunction, stopping the $100 a month rent hike per space. The litigation continues.

Harmony’s basic contention in the ongoing legal proceedings is that the RV Park of San Rafael isn’t a mobile home park, since most of the vehicles in the park are RVs, and therefore residents are not subject to the mobile home rent stabilization ordinance.

However, Civil Code Section 798.3(b)(2) defines a trailer or other recreational vehicle as a mobile home if it occupies a mobile home site in a park for nine or more continuous months. The homes in the San Rafael park meet that definition, according to a 2004 Marin Superior Court ruling, before Chessen even bought the property.

While the City of San Rafael is able to fight Harmony on violating the rent stabilization ordinance, the city’s attorneys do not represent the park residents. The RV Park of San Rafael houses low-income families, disabled persons, immigrants and seniors—vulnerable people who are in need of legal representation.

Alex, 70, has lived at the RV Park of San Rafael for 22 years. Although Alex is disabled, he’s the primary caregiver for his 95-year-old mother, who lives with him.

“I’m being harassed by Harmony,” Alex said. “They sent me four letters that I have to be out of here. We don’t have the resources to go anywhere.”

If the park closes, the homes owned by the residents, in most cases, will become virtually worthless. Mobile homes aren’t, in fact, very mobile. They’re expensive to move and are easily damaged in the process. Vacancies in mobile home parks are scarce, leaving mobile homeowners at the whim of park owners, who can ratchet up rents. These are some of the reasons 86 cities, including San Rafael, and nine counties in California have rent stabilization ordinances for mobile home parks.

Some residents have been scraping together small amounts of money to consult with Bruce Stanton, a leading attorney in California mobile home law. Until Harmony or Chessen give official notice about the park closure, the residents are left in legal limbo.

“The park owner has been acrimonious to the city,” Stanton said in an interview. “And the city is going to come down hard. The owner is like a wounded animal, lashing out in every direction.”

In the same letter to residents that threatened the park closure, Harmony condemned the City of San Rafael for failing to work with the company on raising rents. Harmony can request a rate increase higher than allowed by the ordinance but, oddly, hasn’t done so.

“The headline here is that the city’s actions are about to put 45 low-income households into an extremely precarious situation,” Leveille, Harmony’s regional manager, wrote in an email. “The city has driven the park to the brink of insolvency and now 45 San Rafael households are about to be scrambling to find housing.”

Harmony’s letter about the closure didn’t provide a timeframe or process. However, Leveille disclosed some specifics last week to the Pacific Sun.

“The official closure process will be initiated in 7 to 10 days,” Leveille said on Aug. 15. “[Chessen’s] understanding of California state law is that the process will take approximately one year, so we expect the park to close in 2023.” (As of the Pacific Sun’s Aug. 23 print deadline, Harmony had not begun the process.)

Still, the residents aren’t giving up that easily. They are organizing, scheduling informational meetings with experts and meeting with tenants’ rights organizations. We’ll be watching this David versus Goliath story.

San Rafael residents fight to keep their affordable homes

Nikki Silverstein

Aug 17, 2022

San Rafael residents fight to keep their affordable homes

In tony Marin County, where the median home price hit $1.5 million in July, Beverly Mason and David Potts recently bought a new home for just $110,000. That’s not a typo.

Mason and Potts made it to mecca, Marin style—they found affordable housing. Or so they thought.

For the last two decades, Mason has lived in the RV Park of San Rafael, a mobile home community with 45 spaces, which was established in 1952. Her partner, Potts, moved in with her five years ago.

After a fire destroyed their first manufactured home, Mason and Potts didn’t think twice about purchasing a new mobile home and moving it right into the same affordable park, where they enjoy living in the tight-knit neighborhood with seniors, working folks and young families.

However, since last year, the couple’s dream of living peacefully in their community has turned into a horror film, complete with hostilities, threats, name-calling and even intimidating “thugs,” hired by the park’s management company, according to some residents.

In July 2021, Harmony Communities, a company that owns and manages mobile home parks across the country, was hired to manage the RV Park of San Rafael, owned by Donna Chessen. Harmony scheduled a meeting with residents, just days before taking over the park, to discuss improvements and new rules.

Melissa Lawley, a regional property manager for Harmony, arrived at the meeting and began going over the new rules and policies, which had been sent to residents previously.

Mason, who had read through the packet before the meeting, said she asked Lawley questions about proposed changes that might affect the current residents. Lawley indicated that no rent increases were planned, and most residents would be “grandfathered in,” meaning changes wouldn’t apply to them.

Still, the residents felt the meeting was somewhat hostile. Lawley was overheard asking another resident, “Who is that bitch?” as she gestured to Mason, several residents who attended the meeting said.

While some residents felt relieved after the meeting that they could remain in the park, their optimism came to an end a few days later when Harmony hit all the residents with an 18 percent increase in their monthly rental fees, equating to another $100 per month for most people.

In Mason’s case, Harmony attempted to increase her rent by $600 a month, which she believes was in retaliation to the questions she posed to Lawley at the meeting. It was later reduced to $100 a month.

A letter from Harmony explained that the park was operating at a deficit and the rental increases would “staunch the bleeding.” The residents reluctantly began paying the increased rent.

People unfamiliar with mobile home parks might suggest Mason, Potts and their neighbors simply move their homes to another park. Unfortunately, they can’t for a variety of reasons.

With affordable housing in short supply, mobile home parks rarely have vacancies. And the name mobile home is somewhat of a misnomer because the homes aren’t actually very mobile and it’s an extremely pricey proposition to move them. Damage may easily occur if the home is moved after it’s been installed at a location. The final nail in the coffin is that many mobile home parks don’t accept used homes.

That leaves a mobile homeowner in a bit of a pickle. Enter the government. States across the country have passed laws to protect mobile homeowners. In 1978, California enacted the Mobilehome Residency Law, which allows a mobile homeowner to sell their home to a qualified buyer. The MRL also allows for cities to enact rent control ordinances, which San Rafael did years ago.

The San Rafael Mobilehome Rent Stabilization Ordinance gives park owners the right to raise rents by 75 percent of the local Consumer Price Index each year. In this case, the RV Park of San Rafael could increase the monthly rent by $15—not $100 as they attempted to do. However, if the park’s owners aren’t making a “fair and reasonable return,” they are permitted to file a request with the city to increase the rent beyond what is provided for in the ordinance.

For some reason, neither Harmony Communities, nor Donna Chessen, who has owned the park since 2006, have gone through the proper process to ask for a rent hike.

Harmony Communities threatens to close a San Rafael mobile home park on West Francisco Blvd., displacing 45 families.

With the RV Park of San Rafael refusing to back down from the rent increase, the City of San Rafael’s attorney, Robert Epstein, wrote a letter to Harmony Communities on Aug. 9, 2021, to explain the city’s law. Epstein also included an informative 2004 ruling from a Marin County Superior Court judge which states the RV Park of San Rafael is subject to the City of San Rafael’s rent control ordinance for mobile home parks.

In fact, in the 2004 case, it was the same question, same court, even the same mobile home park. Yet, Harmony and Chessen believe the ruling shouldn’t apply to the RV Park of San Rafael.

While it’s true that most of the homes in the RV Park of San Rafael are technically RVs, and RV parks are subject to different ordinances than mobile home parks, the RV Park of San Rafael is a mobile home park under the city’s law. The RVs are mostly immobile and can’t relocate. Some have been in the same place for decades. Then, there’s California’s pesky MRL that states a park is a mobile home park when a home occupies a space for nine consecutive months or longer—whether that home is an RV or a mobile home.

Of note is that all the current residents of the RV Park of San Rafael have lived there from five to 40 years, which is obviously more than nine months. But who’s counting? Certainly not Harmony and Chessen.

Both the City of San Rafael and Chessen filed lawsuits last December regarding the identical issue from the 2004 suit. A federal court judge dismissed Chessen’s case. A Marin Superior Court judge so far has agreed with San Rafael and stopped the $100-per-month increases for now. The litigation is continuing.

Harmony’s responses haven’t really surprised anyone. The company has begun to send residents multiple eviction notices and an “informal” letter stating they intend to close the park at an unspecified date in the future because “the reality is the land is worth much more than operating an RV Park for affordable housing.” Park residents who are able to read the letters try to translate for their neighbors who aren’t fluent in English and don’t understand the demands and threats.

“Harmony refuses to translate the letters into Spanish and Vietnamese,” Potts said. “They said it’s too much trouble. Some people have just packed up and left the homes they owned.”

Mason said that in her 20 years at the park, she’s never seen vacancies before. There are currently five.

If Harmony acts upon its threat to close the park, it must go through a process that will include compensating residents. By evicting people or simply making life stressful, the park could empty through attrition. But if folks stay, Harmony has a plan.

And so do the residents.

Pick up next week’s Pacific Sun to read part 2.

Marin City History

Nikki Silverstein

Aug 10, 2022

80th anniversary festivities uncover forgotten stories from the community’s rich legacy

Felecia Gaston has been Marin City’s unofficial historian for more than three decades, collecting oral histories and memorabilia from some of the community’s first residents—Black people who helped build World War II ships at Marinship.

The relics, as well as thousands of documents and newspaper articles dating back to Marin City’s inception in 1942, fill an entire room in Gaston’s office. All the materials she’s gathered and pored over for years served as her inspiration for Marin City 80, a celebration of the community’s 80thanniversary.

Gaston teamed up with Jahi Torman, a musician and writer, to produce Marin City 80 events that reveal the relatively untold and fascinating history of the county’s Black population. As part of the festivities, two exhibits and a play are opening in San Rafael this month.

The Bartolini Gallery is hosting The Legacy of Marin City – A California Story, which covers the first 20 years of Black history in Marin City. The exhibit features never-before-seen photographs and memorabilia from the Black shipyard builders, including a suitcase with a story to tell.

After the United States entered World War II in December 1941, 30 shipyards sprang up almost overnight in the Bay Area to produce ships and tankers for the war. People were recruited from around the country to fill jobs at the new shipyards. Thousands of Black people, many escaping the racist Jim Crow laws in the South, answered the call, including Annie Small.

In 1943, Small boarded a crowded, segregated train in Shreveport, La., and headed for the West Coast. Finding there were no seats left, she placed her suitcase on the floor and sat on top of it for the three-day trip.

Like other Black people, including women, Small became a shipbuilder at Marinship, which was established in 1942 on Sausalito’s waterfront. Marinship produced 93 Liberty ships and tankers before the war ended and, at its peak, employed 20,000 workers, according to Marin author Eric Torney’s book, Marinship (Images of America).

Small worked as a welder and lived with her family in Marin City, an unincorporated area of Marin County, where the federal government quickly constructed temporary housing in 1942 for about 6,000 Marinship workers. Marin City was racially integrated, with Black and white people living side-by-side, just as they worked shoulder-to-shoulder at Marinship.

However, Marin City’s housing integration ended when the wartime shipyard closed in 1946. Most white people left Marin City with money in their pockets from their well-paying jobs at Marinship. Black people had money, too, but they stayed in Marin City because of redlining, the discriminatory practice of preventing them from buying homes in other areas of the county. Renting outside of Marin City was also next to impossible.

Housing is the subject of another Marin City 80 exhibit, The Legacy of Marin City – A Housing Story, at the Marin Civic Center. The exhibit delves into the housing discrimination experienced by Marin City residents for decades and pays tribute to those who chose to stay and the people who supported them.

Redlining wasn’t the only problem facing Marin City’s Black population. There was a contingency that didn’t want Black residents anywhere in the county, including Marin City. Gaston found documentation that Marin County leaders discussed the future of Black people in Marin City as early as 1943, two years before the war ended.

“They were asking ‘What are we going to do with the Black people?’” Gaston said.

But the Black shipyard workers weren’t going back to the Jim Crow South—not during the war and not afterward. In the years after Marinship closed, the shoddily built temporary housing rapidly deteriorated, leaving the residents living in poor conditions.

“The exhibit has images of the temporary housing,” Gaston said. “Wooden sheds with kerosene lamps and kerosene stoves. Cold air came through the wood. There were no sidewalks, and the ground was mud and puddles.”

**HOUSING CRISIS** A Marin City woman, circa 1960, standing in front of a temporary home built for World War II shipbuilders in 1942. Photo by Emme Gilman, courtesy of Anne T. Kent California Room, Marin County Free Library.

Black-owned businesses existed in the community, according to Gaston. There was a shopping area, including a market, candy store and more.

Year after year, the former shipyard workers and their families lived in the dilapidated homes. Then, a force to be reckoned with entered the county political scene.

In 1952, Vera Schultz, a strong advocate for Marin City, became the first woman elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors. Schultz had a vision for Marin City: establish an integrated community again by replacing the ramshackle temporary buildings with affordable housing.

The Marin City 80 housing exhibit honors Schultz, who fought an uphill battle with some fellow supervisors serving on the board. Ultimately, she won. Schultz secured funding for new housing in Marin City and played a significant role in the development of Golden Gate Village, a public housing complex that opened in 1961.

After spending 15 years in the substandard temporary housing, Marin City residents finally had new homes, although it took decades for the neighborhood to become racially integrated. Today, the community of more than 3,100 people is 33 percent white and 22 percent Black.

Another Marin City 80 event opening this month is The Spirit of Joseph James – From Marinship to the California Supreme Court, a play, directed by Torman, about the remarkable life of Joseph James, a Black man who was a successful singer and actor. During World War II, James worked as a welder in Marinship and had an unfortunate experience.

The United States government, desperately in need of workers after the country entered World War II, ordered all wartime shipyards to operate without racial discrimination. However, a labor union, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers of America, had other ideas.

The union had a “closed shop” agreement with Marinship, which meant that skilled workers must be members of the Union to be employed at the shipyard. “Negro” workers weren’t permitted to join the union but were forced to pay dues to an auxiliary unit. Many refused, including James, who filed a lawsuit in Marin County, on behalf of himself and 1,000 other shipyard workers, against the union and Marinship for violating the United States order against discrimination.

The case was eventually heard by the California Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall, who later became the first Black justice to serve on the United States Supreme Court, was one of the attorneys representing James. In February 1944, James and the other workers won the lawsuit.

Marin City 80 also published a cookbook, “Grandmothers Feed Us Love,” curated and edited by Gaston. The 49 recipes came from Marin City women who were born before 1942. Anyone with a hankering for a traditional Black meal, spiced with Southern flavor, should order a copy of the cookbook, which includes recipes for salmon croquettes, Louisiana fish stew and Mama Ruby’s German chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting.

A partnership with Dominican University, a private university in San Rafael, that began several years ago was instrumental in producing many of Marin City 80’s activities and books. Student interns began by archiving Gaston’s collection of documents and newspapers from the last 80 years and graduated to curating the exhibits and assisting with the cookbook and a Marin City commemorative book debuting in the fall.

On Labor Day, Marin City 80 is hosting an all-day concert, Blues ’n’ Soul Party in the Park, featuring blues, jazz, gospel, zydeco and soul music. The concert is also the kick-off for the Marin City Historical and Preservation Society.

Torman calls Gaston Marin City’s “culture keeper,” and he credits her for making Marin City 80 and the Marin City Historical and Preservation Society possible.

“Shipyard workers and the original pioneers of Marin City entrusted Felecia with their artifacts and oral histories,” Torman said. “From that legacy, we show the residents’ beauty, resilience and ability to thrive against incredible odds.”

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Join in the Marin City 80 Festivities

Exhibit: The Legacy of Marin City, A California Story at the Bartolini Gallery in the Marin Center, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. Aug. 20–Nov. 1, 10am to 5pm. Free admission.

Exhibit: The Legacy of Marin City, A Housing Story at the Marin Civic Center, 1st and 3rd floors, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael. Aug. 20–Nov. 1, 10am to 5pm. Free admission.

Play: The Spirit of Joseph James – From Marinship to the California Supreme Court at the Showcase Theater in the Marin Center, 20 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. Two performances on Aug. 27 and 28 at 2pm. Ticket price is $20. Purchase at tickets.marincenter.org.

Cookbook: Grandmothers Feed Us Love is available at Book Passage in Corte Madera and Sausalito Books by the Bay.

Labor Day Concert: Marin City 80 Blues ’n’ Soul Party in the Park, 100 block of Drake Avenue, Marin City, Sept. 5, 11am to 7 pm. Free admission.

For more information on Marin City 80, visit marincity80.com.