Page 3 – Pacific Sun | Marin County, California

Fact Check: County points out reporter’s error, admits its own policy flaw

Jun 4, 2024

Fact Check: County points out reporter’s error, admits its own policy flaw

Last month, I received an email from the county telling me that I made a mistake in an article. Indeed, I erred.

Typically, the Pacific Sun would run a correction, and that would be that.

But Sarah Jones, director of the Marin County Community Development Agency, didn’t ask for a correction. We spoke at length about the situation, agreeing that it might benefit all involved to delve deeper and publish a second story.

In the original news article, which ran in the Pacific Sun’s May 8-14 edition, I wrote that the county had failed to inform Marin City residents when a private developer sought and subsequently received approval in 2020 to build a proposed five-story, 74-unit affordable housing project at 825 Drake Ave. This was inaccurate.

The county used four methods to alert Marin City about the proposed development before providing approval. From May to August 2020, these efforts included posting three signs on the property, creating a county webpage, sending out postcards to property owners within a 300-foot radius and holding a 10-minute workshop at a Planning Commission meeting on a weekday afternoon.

After the plans were approved in November 2020, a group of young Marin City residents working with the county requested that staff hold a public Zoom meeting to discuss the project, according to Tiawana Bullock, a group member. About 70 people attended the December 2020 meeting.

Yet most of the 3,000 residents in this unincorporated county area remained unaware of the plans until more than two years later, long after the project received the county’s approval. And when folks finally did find out that a large apartment building—the tallest in Marin City—was slated for their densely populated neighborhood with serious infrastructure issues, they were mighty upset.

So, what happened? Simply put, the message didn’t reach its intended audience.

Jones, who started working at the Community Development Agency in November 2021 and became the director two years ago, admits that the county fell short in its communications with Marin City by using a one-size-fits-all approach. And she wants to make changes.

“Outreach and what’s an effective way to communicate with people is definitely something that we’re struggling with and trying to work through,” Jones said. “It’s different in different communities.”

Marin City, a historically Black community, is now one of the most diverse areas in the county. While Marin ranks among the wealthiest counties in the United States, more than 9% of Marin City’s residents live at or below the poverty level, according to the latest census data. The median household income is far lower in Marin City than in the rest of the county.

Consequently, Marin City residents experience what is known as the digital divide—having less access to computers and the internet than the rest of the county. Digital literacy and language barriers also contribute to the problem.

Emails, online surveys and county website postings aren’t the best means of sharing important information with Marin City residents.

Ditto for public meetings held during the workday. Many residents don’t have the luxury of flexible work schedules.

“I understand that some people in Marin City don’t have the time,” Jones acknowledged. “It’s not fair to demand that somebody be a professional citizen to stay informed.”

Leaders in Marin City, including those who run nonprofit organizations and churches, say they know how to connect with folks. They do. I’ve attended countless standing-room-only events and meetings in the community.

“There are a variety of methods to do outreach to a population of 3,000 people,” said Felecia Gaston, founder and director of Performing Stars of Marin, a nonprofit serving Marin City. “Make it user-friendly. You can’t just do digital.”

Texting, disseminating flyers in different languages, going door-to-door, posting banners at the freeway exit and tabling in front of Target at the nearby shopping center top Gaston’s list. She emphasized that the community is small enough that these efforts have a big impact.

Golden Gate Village, a public housing project in Marin City, is home to about 700 people. Royce McLemore, who serves as the Resident Council president, pointed out that there are numerous homeowner and tenant associations in Marin City—all of which communicate with their members.

“The county could use those various organizations to get the word out,” McLemore said. “But nothing beats going door to door.”

It takes manpower to knock on hundreds of doors, and that’s not necessarily practical for the county. However, these community organizations regularly connect with their members, and the leaders who I spoke with want to help keep residents up to date on issues.

“We have a whole street outreach program,” Gaston said. “We are so good at it that I brag about it. Clipper Card contacted us specifically because we know how to research and contact people in Marin City.”

Rev. Floyd Thompkins of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City believes the county’s first step is developing a communication policy with Marin City. According to Thompkins, some departments within Marin County, including public health and behavioral health, have made strides in this area.

“There’s no plan on the county level on how you talk to Marin City,” Thompkins said. “What is the procedural plan when something is going to affect Marin City? It’s always ad hoc. The county should do it for all unincorporated areas. Even if they develop that plan without us and tell us what it is, we will have an expectation of how they will communicate.”

Jones agrees that her department needs to proceed differently moving forward. But she also realizes that new policies won’t remedy what occurred in the past.

Ultimately, she says that the county would probably be in the same place about 825 Drake Ave. It’s not a good place either. Last year, Save Our City, a community group opposing the project, sued the county and developer to try to stop it. That lawsuit is wending its way through the courts.

It’s true that the county had no choice but to approve the project. When the developer submitted the project application, unincorporated Marin County was subject to Senate Bill 35 because it had not met its state-mandated housing production goals. SB 35, a 2018 state law, requires a streamlined approval process for multi-family housing projects that meet specific criteria, and 825 Drake checked all the boxes.

Still, one must wonder what might have happened if a significant number of residents were aware of the proposed housing project while the county was reviewing it, before the developer sunk tens of millions of dollars into the property. Instead of raising funds to pay for a lawsuit, perhaps the community could have bought the one-acre plot—the last buildable site in Marin City.

Another incarcerated person dies in Marin County Jail cell

Nikki Silverstein

May 30, 2024

An incarcerated man died in the Marin County Jail early this morning, marking the fourth in-custody death since August.

He has been identified as Derrek Leeds, 43, of San Rafael.

A deputy performing a routine check of jail cells found an individual in need of medical care at about 2:09am, according to a press release issued by the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies performed life saving measures until the San Rafael Fire Department arrived minutes later to continue those efforts. However, Leeds was pronounced dead at 2:42am.

At the request of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail, the San Rafael Police Department will conduct an independent investigation into the death.

The autopsy will be performed by the Sonoma County coroner’s unit, said Deputy Rob Dillion of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

This recent spike of in-custody deaths has caused concern among activists in the community, who have been calling for a civilian sheriff’s oversight commission for years.

In February, Marin County unveiled a proposed ordinance to establish an oversight commission. At the time, Supervisor Mary Sackett said that law enforcement labor unions must sign off before the board of supervisors can consider the ordinance. Sackett anticipated that negotiations with the unions would last until late spring.

Store harassed homeless people with loud music, lawsuit claims

Nikki Silverstein

May 24, 2024

Store harassed homeless people with loud music, lawsuit claims

A court order put the kibosh on a San Rafael tire store “blaring loud music” from speakers pointed at the adjacent homeless encampment.

“Blaring” and “loud” aptly describe the noise I heard when Arthur Bruce, a homeless advocate, called me from the camp on Sunday, just before 7pm. In fact, I had to turn my phone volume down because the carnival-like music was annoying—not to mention ear-piercing when it hit high notes. This marked the third night that East Bay Tire Company’s loudspeaker played music continuously. The two previous days, it blasted from 6pm to 6am, Bruce said.

During a later video call, Bruce showed me a tower with loudspeakers and flashing blue lights that stood on the tire store’s property, just on the other side of the fence from the encampment. The 22-foot tower and accouterments are components of a mobile security unit leased by East Bay Tire.

On Monday morning, Bruce Gaylord, a resident of the homeless encampment on Mahon Creek Path in San Rafael, filed a lawsuit against East Bay Tire Company for intentional infliction of emotional distress and creating a public nuisance. The lawsuit states the speakers emitted noise levels ranging from 51 to 118 decibels.

To give that reading some perspective, manufacturers of gas-powered leaf blowers report that their equipment reaches a decibel level of 65–80 from a distance of 50 feet. The World Health Organization recommends less than 40 decibels of nighttime noise outside of bedrooms to prevent adverse health effects.

At a hearing last Tuesday, Marin County Judge Sheila Shah Lichtblau listened to both parties and then issued a temporary injunction preventing the store from playing music when the volume exceeds the limits of San Rafael’s sound ordinance.

In a commercial zone, San Rafael sets the limit for nighttime constant noise at 55 decibels.

The judge’s order seems entirely reasonable, although I wondered if Gaylord could have achieved his goal by contacting the San Rafael Police Department about his noisy neighbor. Police typically respond to complaints of loud parties in the wee hours of the morning. This is a somewhat similar situation, albeit the tire store and encampment aren’t in a residential area.

“I called the police on Friday night—non-emergency number,” Gaylord said. “I asked them, ‘Can you find an ordinance they’ve violated to get this shut down?’ Somebody called back to confirm what I had told them, and I explained again.”

But Gaylord said the police made no effort to abate the noise. The camper thinks three officers walked down the Mahon Creek Path after his call that evening but can’t be sure because his vision is poor and he doesn’t have eyeglasses. However, there’s nothing wrong with his hearing, and he’s certain the music continued for three consecutive nights, leaving him sleep deprived and on edge.

San Rafael Police Lt. Scott Eberle verified that the department received a call on May 17 for advice about a tire shop using cameras and playing loud music at night. Officers responded to the location, according to Eberle.

“We went out there and spoke to the individual who made the call,” Eberle said. “They didn’t want to press charges. It seemed like they just wanted advice on what they can do.”

More than 30 homeless people live in the tent encampment on the Mahon Creek Path, making it likely that officers spoke to yet another person concerned about the noise. Regardless, the music played on that night and the following two nights.

Gaylord’s tent is a few dozen yards from the equipment that blared the music. Confined to a wheelchair and set up on a campsite designed to accommodate his special needs, he couldn’t simply relocate. Besides, he shouldn’t have to. A federal judge’s order protects Gaylord and about 50 other homeless people, allowing them to live at the Mahon Creek Path encampment while a different lawsuit works its way through the court, according to homeless advocate Robbie Powelson.

**STOP THE MUSIC** East Bay Tire’s mobile security unit, as seen from the homeless encampment. The top of the 22-foot tower houses the loudspeakers and strobing blue lights.

East Bay Tire conducted “psychological warfare” against the campers with its unwanted overnight music, Gaylord contends. The noise exacerbated his mental health conditions, and even with prescription medication that causes drowsiness, he didn’t sleep a wink on the second and third nights that the music blared. Gaylord felt violated.

Indeed, there is a long history of using music to disorient people. The FBI employed the tactic during a 1993 standoff with the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. military subjected prisoners of war in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay to nonstop loud music to break them and obtain information in interrogations.

A 2020 report issued by the United Nations Human Rights Council identified loud music as a method of psychological torture. The ACLU is one of many other organizations that concur.

“It was cruel—extremely cruel for East Bay Tire Company to play that music,” said Jason Sarris, who was homeless for more than a decade and serves on the Marin County Lived Experience Advisory Board. “It was done on a weekend when the business was closed and there was no way to address the noise with their management.”

After court on Tuesday, I went to East Bay Tire to speak with assistant manager Robbie Derho, who represented the company during the hearing. Derho denied that they are targeting homeless people in the encampment, saying the security equipment is used to prevent crime.

“We’re not here trying to torture anyone,” Derho said. “We just want our employees and customers to be safe.”

Derho and two other employees appeared genuinely frustrated. People living in the encampment or visitors throw trash on the store’s property, and there are more serious issues happening outside of their gates, such as prostitution and drug use, one of the staffers said.

At a San Rafael City Council meeting last year, East Bay Tire’s general manager, Jay Ress, pointed to the encampment as the reason for declining business at the location. East Bay Tire bought the store from Brandon Tire two and a half years ago, and the homeless encampment was established about a year later, in March 2023.

It’s unclear when the store brought in the mobile security unit with its 22-foot tower, blue lights and loudspeakers, but Derho claimed that a third-party monitoring service—not East Bay Tire—made the decision to play the music.

LiveView Technologies (LVT), the company supplying the security equipment to East Bay Tire, confirms that it uses a third-party for monitoring. However, that service doesn’t determine how the equipment is used, according to LVT, which has installed thousands of mobile security units at businesses across the country.

“The LVT Unit’s features and capabilities are set up with the customer prior to implementation,” Matt Deighton, communications manager at LVT, wrote in an email. “Changes cannot be made by the monitoring service without customer approval.”

Most LVT customers use the loudspeaker to talk to potential “bad actors” on their property as a deterrent, according to Deighton, who also acknowledges that some do use the audio feature to play continuous music to prevent loitering and “illegal squatting at or near private property.”

For now, East Bay Tire won’t be deploying the loud continuous music feature. The next hearing on the issue is scheduled for June 28.

Remembering ‘The Serial’ writer, Cyra McFadden

Nikki Silverstein

May 21, 2024

Remembering ‘The Serial’ writer, Cyra McFadden

In November 1975, Cyra McFadden’s “The Serial,” a weekly satirical column capturing Marin’s self-indulgent ’70s, premiered on the pages of the Pacific Sun. “The Serial” quickly gained popularity, spawning a best-selling book and an underappreciated film.

McFadden focused “The Serial” on the idiosyncratic lives of a fictional middle-class Mill Valley family, leaving no ’70s trend unturned. Deft descriptions of open marriage, consciousness-raising groups, communal living, primal screaming, macrame, Fetzer Cabernet Sauvignon, orgies, Werner Erhard’s est training, bonsai, hot tubs, permissive parenting, cults and oh so much more delighted Marin readers. Others, who didn’t get the joke, took offense.

McFadden died last month on her houseboat in Sausalito at age 86. The celebrated author is survived by her daughter, Caroline McFadden, also a member of Sausalito’s houseboat community.

Almost 50 years later, “The Serial” holds up as the quintessential ’70s story, replete with far-out lingo and, of course, McFadden’s “Marvelous Marin” family, the Holroyds, who live in a tract house in the flatlands of Mill Valley’s Sutton Manor, just off 101, and aspire to move “uphill” like their more successful friends. And that’s not all they dream about.

The hedonistic adventures of middle-aged Kate and Harvey Holroyd play out in fern bars, restaurants and living rooms throughout the county. While the couple tries to get over each other’s hang-ups, their relationship soon goes on the rocks, and Harvey hops onto a waterbed with the young grocery store cashier.

“It resonated,” said Natalie Snoyman, a librarian and archivist at the Mill Valley Library. “‘The Serial’ became this really sharp, but funny critique of the broader societal trends of the ’70s, including the New Age fad and the whole self-help movement that Cyra McFadden was observing in the county at the time.”

McFadden wasn’t the first to write “The Serial” for the Pacific Sun. That distinction belongs to Armistead Maupin, who was just beginning his writing career when he penned the feature in 1974 for the short-lived San Francisco edition of the alt-weekly newspaper. Steve McNamara, the owner of the Pacific Sun from 1966 to 2004, filled me in on the magnificent history of “The Serial” in the hands of Maupin and McFadden.

“The first installment appeared in the issue of Aug. 1 to 7, 1974, and Mary Ann Singleton was looking to be picked up in the frozen food section of the Marina Safeway,” McNamara said. “It was an immediate hit.”

The Pacific Sun ran five of Maupin’s tales before the San Francisco office closed. Although Maupin was eager to try a Marin version, McNamara and his editor, Don Stanley, reluctantly declined the offer when the talented young writer said that he wasn’t very familiar with Marin.

“Well, it wouldn’t work because the charm of this production really is based a lot on local knowledge,” McNamara said.

Stanley and McNamara needn’t have worried about Maupin. Two years later, his charm and local knowledge landed him a regular column in the San Francisco Chronicle, where the original version of “The Serial” took the title “Tales of the City,” launching 10 books, a PBS miniseries and a Netflix revival.

In the meantime, the Pacific Sun’s publisher and editor were on the hunt to replicate “The Serial” in Marin, but couldn’t find a suitable writer. McFadden had previously written serious reviews for the paper’s “Literary Quarterly,” although the content didn’t showcase her proficiency for parody.

“Then we received unsolicited, through the mail slot, a review of a French restaurant located somewhere in Mill Valley that was populated by motorcycle gangs—with the French food as seen by the bikers,” McNamara said. “It was very funny, clearly a send-up of the more proper, well, pretentious sorts of food reviews that were common.”

The writer of that mock review was McFadden, who had the chops to take on “The Serial,” Marin style. It took some convincing by Stanley until McFadden finally agreed.

Pacific Sun art director Tom Cervanek’s stylized illustrations of Marin’s hip crowd with flowing hair and en vogue clothes complemented the clever prose McFadden put out week after week. And most readers were digging it, really staying in touch with their feelings for the Holroyd family. After all, who in Marin couldn’t get into rapping about Japanese hot tubs versus saunas?

Apparently, Emily Woodward of San Anselmo was one who couldn’t. She found “The Serial” insulting with its overabundance of cliches and “preposterous plot,” according to her letter to the editor about the fourth installment.

Despite Woodward, Marin’s love affair with the saga continued. By September 1976, the 30th installment ran. However, the following month, a notice appeared in the paper saying that “The Serial” was on vacation.

“The last chapter is, unfortunately, a little bit sour,” McNamara explained. “Cyra has this big success on her hands, and she engages a very effective New York publicist who negotiates a wonderful contract for her. The problem is at that time, copyright law was such that the ownership of a work of literature, if you will, belonged to whoever had first published it and had run a little copyright plug. The Pacific Sun Publishing Company owned the rights to ‘The Serial.’”

McNamara and McFadden had a somewhat tense lunch meeting, eventually agreeing that the paper would give the writer the copyright in exchange for 10-15% of the book sales and movie revenue. The issue placed a permanent wedge in their relationship.

McFadden wrote 22 more chapters for the book, The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County, published in 1977 by Alfred A. Knopf. It contained a unique spiral-bound cover and Cervanek’s illustrations—and soon hit the New York Times’ best seller list.

Along with the national acclaim came criticism. In 1978, NBC ran a documentary, I Want it All Now, featuring an interview with McFadden and depicting Marin in an unfavorable light. Although NBC was later censured by the National News Council for inaccuracies, some in the county were unhappy with the attention.

In an oral history recorded with McFadden by the Mill Valley Historical Society, she discusses the book’s reception and how it impacted her personally. She received angry letters and late night phone calls. People threw eggs at her Mill Valley tract house.

McFadden soon fled from Marin. In 1985, she began writing a regular column for the San Francisco Examiner. The following year, she published a second book, Rain and Shine: A Family Memoir, detailing her youth on the rodeo circuit with her father, as well as other family relationships. The book was a finalist for the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction.

Finally, in the late ’90s, McFadden returned to live in the county that she satirized so well, settling on a Sausalito houseboat. While she felt nervous about the move, all had quieted.

“I had achieved enough local, or rather, national notice that I was now sort of the fair-haired daughter of Marin, and it turned out everybody liked the book,” McFadden said. “Everybody said, ‘Oh, I loved that book. I thought it was wonderful. I felt so bad for you with all those letters to the paper.’ And I thought, ‘You’re sure you didn’t write one?’ Because all of a sudden, I had nothing but fans, which was very nice.”

Developer agrees to reduce size of controversial Marin City housing project

Nikki Silverstein

May 8, 2024

Developer agrees to reduce size of controversial Marin City housing project

Marin County struck a deal with an affordable housing developer to reduce the size of a hotly contested five-story, 74-unit project planned in Marin City.

Though not yet inked by the Idaho developer or the county, the agreement calls for no more than 42 units at 825 Drake Ave. in Marin City, with the remaining units to be built at another location in Southern Marin.

While the county claims the revised plan responds to concerns expressed by the community, officials kept residents in the dark about the negotiations. Some in Marin City say they’re unhappy with the outcome.

Save Our City, a local group embroiled in a lawsuit against the county and developer to stop the project, rejected a similar offer last year. Developer Caleb Roope, chief executive officer of The Pacific Companies, proposed building 40 units at the Drake site. The group told Roope they wanted him to abandon the Marin City location altogether.

“From the beginning, Save Our City/Stop 825 has wanted Marin City residents to control the 825 site and its land use,” said Bettie Hodges, a Marin City native and founder of Save Our City.

The county is not in a position to purchase the property from Roope, according to Sarah Jones, director of Marin’s Community Development Agency. Instead, officials have taken a proactive role in working with the developer to decrease the size of the Marin City project and find a second site for the other units.

“This approach was not what Save Our City asked for—they wanted to see no project here.” Jones said. “He [Roope] wasn’t willing to do that, but he was willing to pursue making the project smaller. We think it’s a better outcome for Marin City than a 74-unit project.”

At first blush, an outsider may consider Save Our City’s position a page from the “Not In My Back Yard” playbook—simply a neighborhood pushing back against development and affordable housing. However, Marin City, a historically Black community, is already densely populated and contains far more low-income housing than any other unincorporated area of Marin County.

Digging deeper, this story stems from a complex set of issues. California’s housing crisis has prompted state legislation to mandate development, leaving local authorities with less control. The new laws and attractive financing have encouraged for-profit developers to build big and maximize revenue.

Taking the brunt of the blame is Marin, a wealthy, predominantly white county that subjected its Black residents to decades of housing discrimination and segregation, and still gives them little agency today over decisions affecting their community.

The current issue began in 2020, when the county failed to inform Marin City leaders that a developer bought the one-acre property at 825 Drake. Soon after, the county approved plans for a five-story, 74-unit affordable housing project on the site and neglected to share that news with the community.

Although not required, the county could have notified the neighbors after approving a project of this size. Marin City’s infrastructure is already taxed—the area is in a state-designated high fire hazard zone, prone to flooding, and served by only one road in and out.

It wasn’t until 2023 that most Marin City residents learned about the project. The Marin County Board of Supervisors had scheduled a hearing on the issuance of $40 million in tax-exempt bonds to develop 825 Drake. Despite community outcry, the board approved the bond issuance, saying it had no choice.

While county officials were obligated under Senate Bill 35 to streamline approval of the project, questions remain as to whether the board had to approve the $40 million issuance of tax-exempt bonds—an amount that will fund most of the development’s estimated $57 million cost.

SB 35, legislation passed in 2017, restricts local governments from rejecting multi-family residential developments if the municipality hasn’t met state mandates aimed at resolving California’s housing shortage. When the county received the application to develop 825 Drake, it had not yet hit the required housing allocation.

But were the county supervisors required to approve the issuance of tax-exempt bonds for the project? That is the crux of Save Our City’s lawsuit, which asserts that county counsel advised the board incorrectly before the vote approving the bond issuance.

Last year, a Marin County judge issued a temporary order preventing the California Municipal Finance Authority from issuing any of the project’s tax-exempt that had not yet been released.

However, that ship may have sailed. Roope says the $40 million in tax-exempt bonds were issued prior to the judge’s order.

“All the bonds have been issued,” Roope said. “It’s all basically funded and set aside for this project.”

Marilyn Mackel, a Save Our City member and plaintiff in the lawsuit, sees the distribution as merely a bump in the road to permanently shutting down the Marin City project.

In February, an expert witness for Save Our City, Jack Chen, stated in a declaration to the court that if Marin County’s approval of the bond issuance is not valid, it “would create a cascade of consequences invalidating every financing agreement related to the Project.”

“In my opinion, the most likely action that Citibank and bond investors would take is to declare Events of Default under the Drake Financing Agreements to terminate those agreements, unwind the structure and seek a return of their capital,” Chen said in the declaration.

For his part, Roope doesn’t seem worried. Last year, he said that he could find other financing if necessary.

But he acknowledges that he needs to provide 74 units in Marin to fulfill his obligations to the state, county, lenders and investors. If push comes to shove, he owns the 825 Drake property, has approval for all the units at that site and will move forward. However, that’s not the way he wants to develop the project at this point.

“I’ve never had this kind of opposition before,” Roope said. “I’m trying to be as sensitive as I can, given the situation I inherited, as well as the financing that we have already. There are all these considerations, and I’m just trying to balance as best as I can.”

Adding a second location significantly increases development costs, according to Roope. Another challenge is finding a site that can accommodate the project because the 74 modular units have already been constructed. It will require a substantial design reconfiguration to fit the modules into two buildings on two different properties.

“It’s really kind of tricky from a real estate perspective,” Roope said. “I have a Rubik’s Cube process to go through.”

In the meantime, details about the new site remain vague. Roope says he’s still looking, while Jones maintains the county has identified a property in Southern Marin.

“First steps have been taken to pursue it,” Jones said. “I say that to let you know this is serious. This is not speculative.”

Save Our City says it will continue with its lawsuit to stop the development at 825 Drake, emphasizing that the community lacked a voice in the project and the county has not advanced their interests.

“The latest 40-unit agreement between the developer and the county continues this pattern and is emblematic of the power imbalance between Marin City and the County of Marin that Save Our City/Stop 825 is hoping to change,” said Hodges. “The deal between the county and the developer does not change our objectives. Our pursuit of that goal continues.”

New legal battle emerges from San Rafael cops’ use of force

Nikki Silverstein

Apr 26, 2024

New legal battle emerges from San Rafael cops’ use of force

A legal battle has erupted because the City of San Rafael says it needs a witness’ help to prevent ex-cop Brandon Nail from getting his job back. Police Chief David Spiller terminated Nail last year.

Julio Jimenez Lopez, the witness, wants his testimony in the employment arbitration proceeding between Nail and the city kept confidential. San Rafael refuses. Consequently, Jimenez Lopez isn’t keen on testifying, despite the subpoena he received from the arbitrator.

On Tuesday, attorneys for San Rafael and Jimenez Lopez will square off in a Marin County courtroom. San Rafael wants Judge Stephen Freccero to compel Jimenez Lopez to testify without any restrictions, while Jimenez Lopez’s motion asks the judge to issue a protective order requiring confidentiality of his testimony.

San Rafael’s attorneys maintain that Jimenez Lopez’s account of a July 27, 2022 police use of force incident could sway the arbitrator to uphold Nail’s termination. It just might.

Jimenez Lopez testified in a criminal hearing last year that Nail and then-officer Daisy Mazariegos assaulted and injured him during questioning about an open container of beer.

As a result of that hearing, Judge Beth Jordan ordered both Nail and Mazariegos to stand trial for assault under color of authority with a sentencing enhancement for causing “great bodily harm” to Jimenez Lopez. Nail also faces a felony charge for making false statements in a police report.

It’s curious that San Rafael refuses Jimenez Lopez’s request for confidentiality, even as its attorneys repeatedly state his arbitration testimony is important.

“There can be no dispute that Mr. Lopez is a key witness and recipient of the conduct underlying the City’s decision to terminate Mr. Nail’s employment,” San Rafael’s outside counsel wrote in their opposition to Jimenez Lopez’s motion to keep his testimony confidential.

Theo Emison and Anthony Label, civil attorneys representing Jimenez Lopez, believe the city has a hidden agenda—namely to use their client’s testimony against him in yet another upcoming legal proceeding based on the use of force incident.

Last year, Jimenez Lopez filed a lawsuit in federal court against San Rafael, the police department and the two former officers for violating his civil rights. One can hardly blame him. Medical reports and his testimony at the criminal hearing indicate that he suffered a broken nose, concussion and injuries to both knees and shoulders, with the left shoulder requiring surgery.

Adding insult to injury, the police arrested Jimenez Lopez on felony and misdemeanor charges, stating in a report that he hit Nail and attempted to put him in a headlock. While the videos from the then-officers’ body-worn cameras verify Jimenez Lopez’s account of the incident, they do not show him striking or putting Nail in a chokehold. The Marin County District Attorney dropped all charges against Jimenez Lopez after watching the videos.

“Though Mr. Lopez supports the City’s efforts to keep Mr. Nail off its police force, the City refuses to agree not to use Mr. Lopez’s testimony in Nail’s employment arbitration as a double-edged sword against Mr. Lopez in his pending federal civil rights trial against the City,” Emison said. “This raises serious questions about the City’s motive in calling Mr. Lopez to testify at Nail’s employment arbitration.”

San Rafael’s outside counsel, the attorneys who are opposing Jimenez Lopez’s motion requesting confidentiality for his arbitration testimony, call Emison’s claim “speculation and unsupported by any facts.”

If Emison’s theory is wrong, why not simply agree to the confidentiality request? In fact, Spiller and Rob Epstein, city attorney for San Rafael, both told me that Nail’s employment arbitration is confidential.

I called Epstein to discuss the arbitration, and he agreed to consult with outside counsel and provide written answers. However, many of his responses simply do not shed light on the issues raised.

“This arbitration is a confidential proceeding, which means that members of the public cannot observe or listen to the arbitration hearing,” Epstein wrote. “The question whether any or all of the arbitration transcript will remain confidential after the arbitration is concluded is an open question that may need to be decided in a future court proceeding.”

Does a court really need to decide? San Rafael could simply agree to keep the confidential arbitration, well, confidential.

I asked whether Jimenez Lopez could receive a transcript of the entire arbitration to use in his civil rights case against the city, police and ex-cops. After all, what’s good for the goose should be good for the gander. Again, Epstein wrote that this, too, remains “an open question that may need to be decided in a future court proceeding.”

Epstein also noted that the city can’t waive the rights—“whatever they may be”—of the other defendants to use the arbitration transcript against Jimenez Lopez in the federal lawsuit.

It sure seems like all the parties would want the answers to these questions before they put up their witnesses, including Nail and Spiller. But by now, more than a month after the arbitration began, they’ve likely already provided their testimony. The roadblock to finishing the arbitration is Jimenez Lopez’s refusal to testify without a confidentiality protection, according to San Rafael.

Although a memorandum of understanding between the City of San Rafael and the San Rafael Police Association gives terminated employees the right to submit a grievance and initiate the arbitration process, it does not specify the parameters of the arbitration—except that the arbitrator’s decisions are binding and final.

It’s unclear whether the city and Nail made any agreements before the arbitration began. Could they have agreed not to use arbitration testimony against each other at Jimenez Lopez’s civil rights trial?

Jimenez Lopez is a witness and “recipient of Mr. Nail’s improper, disrespectful and aggressive behavior,” according to the city. Even as the city admits he’s a victim, he remains in the dark about any of the arbitration stipulations that could impact him.

I’m speculating now, but a sentence in the city’s opposition to Jimenez Lopez’s motion for confidentiality appears quite telling.

“Live testimony will also allow the parties and Arbitrator to note any inconsistencies between the testimony and the prior statements made by Mr. Lopez, and assess his credibility,” the city’s outside counsel wrote in the court filing.

If the city’s only motive is to keep Nail from returning to the police department, wouldn’t inconsistent testimony hurt the city’s case?

And could inconsistencies assist San Rafael and Nail in their defenses to Jimenez Lopez’s civil rights lawsuit? I asked if in this instance, do the city’s and ex-cop’s goals align?

Epstein didn’t respond to any of these questions.

What’s cooking with Novato’s Curtis Aikens

Nikki Silverstein

Apr 23, 2024

What’s cooking with Novato’s Curtis Aikens

Celebrity chef, author, athletic coach, master gardener, literacy advocate and diabetes educator—Curtis Aikens Sr. is a Renaissance man.

I spent a couple of days last week getting to know Aikens, who is instantly likable. We met at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy in Marin City, where he’s transforming a neglected garden and teaching children how to grow fruits, vegetables and flowers.

Aikens, 65, puts his heart and soul into the project, not to mention some serious sweat equity. On a sunny and hot afternoon, I watched him haul huge bags of mulch, mow the lawn and weed. But his favorite gardening activity is working with the kids, sixth graders from teacher Michelle Rampulla’s class.

A few children took me on a garden tour, proudly identifying each plant or tree. They showed me radishes that had just been harvested and gave me a lesson in root vegetables. Aikens’ work is having an impact.

“Curtis is great at connecting with children,” Rampulla said. “He knows how to talk and engage with them.”

Rampulla also shared that Aikens, despite his great success, is humble. He doesn’t want the children to focus on his celebrity status.

Yet, Aikens is quite the celebrity, a familiar face to people nationwide. In 1990, he began appearing regularly on ABC’s The Home Show, and then on Good Morning America. Three years later, he was hired as one of the original chefs on the Food Network, where he spent the next decade hosting his own cooking shows, including Pick of the Day, From My Garden, Meals Without Meat and Food in a Flash.

He developed a large and loyal following, among them three first ladies—Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. The chef was invited to the White House several times, and not just to cook. Bush, also a literacy advocate, recognized him for his work in the field.

Growing up in Georgia, Aikens never learned to read. But he faked it. He faked it so well that after graduating high school, he was accepted into college, playing football for Southern University. However, it was nerve-wracking to keep up the façade, so he transferred to the University of Georgia, where he again played football.

“I run from Southern to the University of Georgia so I can hide some more, and I got another year to pretend,” Aikens said.

Even his family didn’t know his well-guarded secret. He fled Georgia in 1981 and moved to Marin. Although he started a produce company, illiteracy stopped him again. He found it difficult to run the business without being able to read and write.

Aikens felt defeated. Then he saw a public service announcement on TV that spoke to him.

“So, this commercial pretty much said, ‘You’re not the only one who can’t read. If you want help, call us, the Literacy Volunteers of America in Marin,’” Aikens said.

He dialed the number on the TV screen, which led him to meet regularly at the Fairfax Library with two volunteer tutors from the group. At the age of 26, Aikens learned to read.

For the first time, he could read letters from his mom. She had often asked her son why he didn’t write back, and he replied that he liked calling her.

Today, Aikens speaks openly about literacy and his own struggles. His goal is to motivate others who can’t read and write.

“That’s what it’s all about—getting people to read,” Aikens said. “I tell folks, ‘If you read, you can succeed.’”

Reading opened a new world for Aikens. In 1986, he closed his Marin business and moved to Manhattan. He became a “foodie” while working at Balducci’s, the city’s premier gourmet grocery store at the time. From there, he moved into food styling for television commercials and then to craft services, where he prepared food for the cast and crew of television shows.

His mother wanted him to return to Georgia, so he picked up and moved again. In his hometown of Conyers, he started another produce company and opened a produce store, both family businesses. Then, he wrote his first book, Curtis Aikens’ Guide to the Harvest.

A publicist friend sent Aikens’ bio to TV stations. WXIA in Atlanta invited him to discuss his book on one of their shows. He was a hit. The station asked Aikens back again and again, eventually hiring him for a weekly segment. Soon enough, he began appearing regularly on more than a dozen television stations in the Southeast, talking about how to select the best produce and showing people how to cook it.

ABC’s The Home Show had him come on for a five-minute segment about zucchini. The producers realized the chef had a certain je ne sais quoi, and he walked out with a contract from the network. Aikens had reached for the stars, and he had made it.

While he guest hosted The Home Show with Sarah Purcell, they did a segment on literacy. He didn’t know a word on the teleprompter, and while on the air asked Purcell about the word. A few seconds later, he burst into tears, believing the stumble would end his television career. Instead, the phones started ringing at ABC, all supportive of Aikens. Literacy centers, too, received calls from people wanting to learn to read.

Dan Rather heard about the incident, prompting him to feature Aikens’ journey to literacy in his book, The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation.

Eventually, Aikens made his way back to Marin, settling in Novato in the early ’90s. He commuted to New York and Los Angeles to continue his television career. In 1993, Aikens joined the Food Network, and his star continued to rise. A decade later, he retired from the cable network to spend more time with his children.

The downtime also allowed him to fulfill a lifetime goal. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Limestone University in South Carolina.

Aikens enrolled in a graduate program at Dominican University in San Rafael. Attending classes wasn’t enough to keep the student busy, and he signed on as the assistant women’s basketball coach at the school. In 2013, he graduated with a master’s degree in education.

“I love learning, especially now that I can read,” Aikens said.

The celebrity chef also loves sharing what he’s learned. Diagnosed with type two diabetes, Aikens took on another project, educating others with the disease.

“I got a chance to work with incredible dietitians and nutritionists, and I learned so much,” Aikens said. “I travel the country teaching people with diabetes how to cook good food that’s good for the body.”

There’s also volunteer work—he recently served on Marin County’s Human Rights Commission and a working group that developed the framework for the civilian sheriff’s oversight commission.

Somehow, Aikens also found the time for a new two-episode cooking show, Cooking with Curtis. The first episode is airing in April on Lifetime Real Women.

“I built the shows around the Costco rotisserie chicken,” Aikens said. “We’re doing six recipes from one $4.99 bird. If you’re a family on a budget, you can get two of those birds and feed four people for a week.”

Aikens comes up with new ideas constantly. Clearly, he has more in store for the world, and I’m eager to learn what’s next on the menu.

Autistry Studios Creates Community for Autistic Adults

Nikki Silverstein

Apr 16, 2024

Autistry Studios Creates Community for Autistic Adults

My wonderfully offbeat friend, Ken Pontac, has told me for a dozen years about a magical place in San Rafael called Autistry Studios. Last week, I finally visited. Pontac, who recently began working there, wasn’t kidding.

Somehow, it seems too mild to say that I was absolutely enchanted by every person I met and delighted by each piece of art I saw. Autistry Studios feels alive, a bustling beehive of gifted students and mentors working together—not just to create artwork, but also to empower young autistic adults to stretch and reach their potential.

I hesitate to share the stats and clinical definition for autism because at Autistry, it’s a footnote. But to offer some perspective, about one in 36 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Autism is a neurological and developmental condition that affects social interactions, communication, learning and behavior.

Yet, the purpose of Autistry Studios, a nonprofit, isn’t to keep students occupied with busy work to pass the time. As Autistry co-founder Janet Lawson likes to say, “We don’t make macaroni art here.”

Indeed, they don’t.

A retail store at the downtown studios, the Autistry Makers Market, sells the students’ original artwork. One collection includes beautiful hand-turned wood pens possessing the perfect weight and feel for writing a long letter. Captivating hand-sewn puppets—decked out in jaunty hats and whimsical outfits—look like they deserve starring roles in the next Muppet movie. Wall clocks, themed coasters and greeting cards with sweet, hilarious and even dark sentiments are just a few of the other items found in the store.

**Chloe, a student at Autistry Studios, is comfortable working with large equipment to help create her artwork.**

Autistry also offers theater and animation programs, as well as reading, writing and math remedial classes to give students what Lawson calls “the dignity of risk.” The education, vocation and life skills programs are designed to help an individual achieve their highest level of independence.

“We challenge them,” Lawson says. “If you can draw, can you paint? If you can paint, can you sculpt? If you can sculpt, can you make that move into animation?”

Pontac mentors the students in animation and storytelling, seeing his role as identifying their superpowers. An expert in the field, Pontac spent the last four decades writing for classic shows including Gumby, Arthur, Woody Woodpecker and Happy Tree Friends, to name just a few.

Autistry students work on animation projects using the Story Xperiential platform, which follows Pixar’s process. It requires working on computers, drawing and writing.

“My interaction is helping them ferret out their ideas,” Pontac says. “I’ll point out that maybe a close-up would be good here. Or this needs perspective. If a student wants a character posed at a certain angle, I’ll take a picture with my camera of the student posed like that. They can copy the picture and be on their way.”

Pontac loves sharing the story of a young autistic man brought to Autistry Studios by his special education teacher. Courtney, according to the teacher, would never be able to read or write. Soon enough, with Pontac’s spelling help, Courtney was writing his own animated story. Today, his trajectory is pointed sky high.

Partnerships with businesses and community groups equip students with new skills. Double Rainbow operates a coffee house at Autistry Studios and trains students in the art and science of all things java and tea. And here’s a scoop—Autistry will soon be the new home of Marin’s favorite Double Rainbow Ice Cream shop.

**Baristas Ian (left) and Tenaya stir up java masterpieces at the Double Rainbow Cafe inside Autistry Studios in downtown San Rafael.**

An alliance between the Marin Shakespeare Company and the Autistry Drama Group recently burst onto the stage. On April 26, they’re presenting Dorothy’s Adventures in Oz. Again, this isn’t a “macaroni” production, and tickets are a hot commodity.

Autistry’s theater director, Tim Flavin, was the first American to win a prestigious Olivier Award, England’s equivalent of the Tony Awards—and he went on to take home three more of the British statues.

Theater, too, provides invaluable opportunities for students to hone their abilities. Scripts must be read and memorized. Physical routines involve coordination. And participating in a production necessitates working with other people.

“We help individuals create identity,” Lawson says. “Many autistic students haven’t had the identity-building experiences that one usually has in high school. Like being part of a sports team or a drama team—anything that has to do with being with other students and testing your personality against theirs. That’s how you build.”

In 2008, Autistry was born of necessity, established by Lawson and her then-husband, Dan Swearingen, in their backyard. Their son, Ian, is autistic, also known as neurodivergent.

“Neurodivergent,” says Lawson. “I love the phrase because it’s not shaming. It just says, ‘I’m wired differently.’”

When Ian was diagnosed as a young child, Lawson, a licensed therapist, and Swearingen, an astrophysicist and engineer, set out to learn everything they could about the condition.

Through that process, the couple was presented with a new revelation. Lawson saw tears running down Swearingen’s face while he read a book about autism by Temple Grandin, a well-known college professor and author who is neurodivergent.

“He said, ‘I don’t know about Ian, but this is me,’” Lawson recalls. “And that was a real sea change right there because it explained so much of his life and his childhood.”

During Ian’s school years, Lawson and Swearingen grew concerned that the secluded special education classes, laser focused on keeping children safe, stymied development.

“They have no expectation that these students can challenge themselves, grow further and excel,” Lawson says. “Partly because they don’t want them to be hurt, be disappointed or fail. But if you don’t have an opportunity to fail, you also have no opportunity to succeed.”

The couple couldn’t find programs after high school that would help Ian and people like him prepare for college, employment and independent living. Lawson and Swearingen felt forced to take matters into their own hands and opened Autistry Studios.

Currently, there are 42 students and 26 staff members, some of whom are former students. About 15 people are on a waiting list, a testament to the success of Autistry’s methods.

Some students go on to community college. A few obtain bachelor’s degrees.

“But for the majority of our students, succeeding in community college for several semesters is sufficient to give them the confidence and increased executive functioning that enables them to live with minimal in-home support,” Lawson says.

Although Autistry Studios teaches students practical skills and how to interact in the workplace, finding employment for those who are able to take that step can be difficult. Successful placement primarily depends on the employer’s understanding and acceptance, according to Lawson. Autistry works with students through the interview and hiring process, remaining involved to help the employee and employer adjust to the new culture.

On average, people stay in Autistry’s programs for three years, but some have remained for more than a decade. Those who have been in the workshops for years help those young people just starting out, allowing the magic of Autistry Studios to continue.

“There’s a great need, and that’s why we plan on expanding,” Lawson says. “Autistry has become not just a program, but a productive and supportive community.”

For tickets to Autistry Studios’ theater production of ‘Dorothy’s Adventures in Oz,’ click here.

Marin County Jail’s new program aims to reduce recidivism

Nikki Silverstein

Apr 10, 2024

Marin County Jail’s new program aims to reduce recidivism

The young woman felt compelled to steal from Rite Aid, Safeway and other stores, partly because she knew selling the merchandise would help provide for her two sons.

It’s hard to say whether Deja Munson, 25, possesses much talent for thievery. While admitting to stealing regularly, she also seems to get caught frequently enough, spending almost four of the last seven years behind bars at various correctional facilities, including a 22-month stint at the women’s state prison in Chowchilla.

Munson, a Vallejo resident, currently lives in the Marin County Jail. A January arrest for stealing from a CVS store in San Rafael also triggered a parole violation. Taking a plea deal, she received a three-month sentence for both offenses.

On April 16, the young mom will leave her cell and rejoin life with her two sons, ages 2 and 7. Determined never to be locked up again, Munson believes she can stay on the straight and narrow this time.

“I’ve just been so stuck on the easy route,” Munson said. “But I want more. I want so bad to be just, you know, a regular citizen doing the right thing, living the right way, working hard for it.”

Describing herself as impulsive and prone to self-sabotage, Munson knows she has a tough road to navigate when she gets released. Resisting the temptation to steal has proven too daunting in the past. Whether she succeeds will depend on her commitment to understanding her behaviors and learning problem-solving skills.

Munson, who is bright and enthusiastic, says she can do it. I believe her.

Last week, I met Munson twice at the jail. The first occasion took place when the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail, invited the media to the launch of the Family Reunification Program. Munson, the first participant, had a “contact” visit with her children and mother, allowing her to hug them after three months of separation.

Before the reunification program, a wall with a glass window stood between an incarcerated person and their loved ones during visits. Now, those who qualify for the program see and touch their family in a cheery, newly remodeled room, replete with a comfortable sofa, chairs and plenty of toys for the kids.

Dressed in a brown uniform, Munson entered the room, hugging and kissing her boys. She greeted her mother, Sumatra McGilbery, affectionately.

“He’s getting so tall, Mom,” Munson said of her 7-year-old son. “I miss you.”

McGilbery, seated next to me on the sofa, watched her daughter playing with the children on the floor. Softly, the grandmother began to cry, saying that her daughter has been incarcerated for too much of the children’s lives.

Indeed, Munson missed four of her eldest son’s seven birthdays. The youngest child was born while Munson was in state prison. Two days later, McGilbery brought the infant into her home.

McGilbery has devoted years to raising her grandchildren, taking them in each time her daughter has landed in a cell. She hopes that during these family visits, Munson will realize what “she’s been missing out on and won’t leave them again.”

That is the primary purpose of the Family Reunification Program. Although Sheriff Jamie Scardina didn’t attend the inaugural family contact visit, the program is part of his initiative to reduce recidivism, according to Deputy Phil Marsh, a jail reentry team member.

Visitation helps families maintain meaningful relationships. In addition to decreasing the reoffense rate, plenty of research shows that these visits are invaluable to the well-being of an incarcerated person and their kids in several ways, including improved mental health.

“Where the visitation is of a high quality, it is associated with positive outcomes for children,” concluded a Maryland Law Review article, “Prisoners of Fate: The Challenges of Creating Change for Children of Incarcerated Parents.”

Family reunification is one of many programs offered by the jail’s reentry team, which consists of four people. Marsh said they work with other county agencies and nonprofits to provide classes, all designed to ease an incarcerated individual’s transition into the community after being released.

Bay Area Community Resources, a nonprofit, leads in-custody classes on parenting, anger management, changing behavior, mindfulness and more. Once released, a person has the opportunity to continue with programs on the outside, according to Pattie Williams, a manager with the organization.

Munson credits the programs, and particularly Williams, for the “mind-blowing, life-changing” difference in her outlook. During past incarcerations, she couldn’t get into these types of classes due to long waiting lists. But she had no such problems at the Marin County Jail.

“There are so many skills that I’ve learned, especially with responding to anger,” Munson said. “Active listening is a big thing for me because I tend to talk, instead of listening to understand the other person’s point of view. Just proper communication, you know, stopping and thinking.”

Next week, Munson will move in with her father. Although she won’t live with her children, she will begin co-parenting them. Munson’s mother, McGilbery, wants her daughter to acclimate to life outside of jail before she begins caring for the boys full-time.

“She needs time to stabilize,” McGilbery said. “Deja’s a good mom. I know she loves them. They’re her children.”

I visited Munson again at the jail, allowing me to meet with her one-on-one. She’s clear on the fact that she committed crimes for complicated reasons, and it’s going to take all the grit she can muster to avoid her previous behaviors.

Her goals are simple: a job, spending quality time with her sons and maybe returning to school. Munson is grateful that her family has stood by her and knows she has hurt them.

Even though she’s getting out soon, Munson spoke wistfully of the time that she has missed with her children, saying she constantly wonders what they smell like. The expression on her youngest son’s face during their contact visit tugged at her heart.

“He kind of was like looking at me like, ‘I know who you are. But where [have] you been at?’” Munson said.

Fortunately, Munson is young. She has plenty of time to build bridges and strong bonds with her family. With their support and her drive, Munson is well on her way.

Employees say no deal on offer from Marin Housing Authority

Nikki Silverstein

Apr 2, 2024

Employees say no deal on offer from Marin Housing Authority

Despite meeting for months, the Marin Housing Authority and its 30 unionized employees have yet to reach a labor agreement.

The contract between the Marin Housing Authority (MHA) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1021 expired on Dec. 31.

Both sides have engaged in bargaining sessions since November. At last count, they’ve sat down at the table 18 times to hash out their differences.

The primary sticking points include wages and benefits. In addition, the union wants MHA to staff up with in-house employees, rather than using outside vendors to provide contract workers.

MHA’s wages are 20-30% less than other housing authorities in the Bay Area, making it difficult to hire and retain qualified union employees, according to Joel Evans-Fudem, an SEIU 1021 field representative. Increased health insurance costs also take a bite of an employee’s paycheck.

Carrie Smith, an MHA housing locator, said the lack of competitive wages and benefits has created financial hardship for many MHA staff members.

Last month, I interviewed several employees while they walked the picket line in front of MHA’s office in San Rafael. Some say they are on the brink of losing their own housing. One worker couldn’t afford the health insurance offered by MHA and was forced to place her children on Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.

“I can’t afford to pay for child care while I’m at work,” said Jessica Jackson, an MHA case manager. “It’s hard. I’m one step away from drowning.”

The descriptions of their struggles led me to the obvious question: Why do these union workers stay at MHA? The answer I repeatedly heard was that their clients need them.

Those clients include thousands of Marin residents. Many live in the 496 public housing units operated by MHA. Others are part of the Section 8 voucher program run by MHA, which currently consists of 2,300 households. The union maintains that the ongoing labor issues negatively impact the people MHA serves, especially when jobs are farmed out to contract workers.

“This is work that we truly, truly care about,” said Ceena Ford, an MHA program specialist. A lot of us have been housing insecure. Our clients need help from people that have that understanding and passion and will treat them with dignity. Even though some employees are struggling, they can’t bring themselves to hurt our clients by leaving.”

If they resign, the employees fear they’ll be replaced by the contractors that MHA has relied on for years. They cite serious issues with one of those contractors, Nan McKay and Associates.

Marin public housing residents and voucher holders lined up at recent MHA Board of Commissioners meetings to complain about the firm. Some spoke of Nan McKay and Associates failing to send the necessary paperwork, losing submitted documents and sending unjustified eviction notices. These aren’t isolated cases.

In November, the San Francisco Housing Authority filed a lawsuit against Nan McKay and Associates for breach of contract, contending the firm hurt the city’s vulnerable population by “providing services poorly or not providing services.”

Still, in February, the MHA board approved a one-year contract with Nan McKay and Associates for $425,000 and the option for another year at $125,000. However, Kimberly Carroll, MHA’s director, agreed to a transition plan to bring these case management positions in-house and to another vendor within 12 to 15 months.

And so, the MHA employees stay on for the sake of their clients and hope they can hammer out a new labor contract. Whether MHA and the union workers are close to an agreement depends on who you ask.

In an email, Carroll said that she is confident the matter will soon be resolved with a fair and reasonable multi-year contract.

“Marin Housing has significantly improved its offers over the course of these negotiations,” Carroll said.

However, the union disputes Carroll’s claims, maintaining the housing authority refuses to bargain in good faith and lacks the transparency required of public agencies.

“They haven’t moved from their proposal and don’t seem interested in creative solutions to get to an agreement,” Evans-Fudem said. “They keep promising and failing to deliver current, accurate financial data.”

As a result, the union filed an unfair practice charge with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), claiming MHA is bargaining in bad faith and has failed to provide the requested information. In a February letter, PERB said it would schedule an informal settlement conference soon.

In the meantime, MHA provided a “last, best and final offer,” with two options that would remain in effect through March 31, 2027. Neither addresses that employees earn 20-30% less than workers in similar positions at other Bay Area housing authorities.

The first option provides union employees with a 6% increase after the agreement is accepted and a 3% annual raise during each of the following two years. Additionally, MHA would pay 90-100% of the Kaiser health insurance premium.

MHA’s second option offers the same 6% wage increase after acceptance of the contract and a 4.5% bump in both 2026 and 2027. However, the employee would be responsible for a larger portion of the health insurance cost.

MHA apparently wants union employees to choose between wages and health care. Should a full-time worker at a public agency in one of America’s wealthiest counties have to decide whether they prefer to put food on the table or take their kids to the doctor?

Evans-Fudem believes the MHA board needs to provide more oversight to the agency. He’s not alone. The board, which includes the five members of the Marin County Board of Supervisors and two “tenant commissioners,” has often been criticized for not paying enough attention to the agency they govern.

As an example, Evans-Fudem points to the December meeting, when the board quickly approved MHA’s 2024 budget of $92 million.

“There were almost no numbers in the short budget presentation,” Evans-Fudem said. “The board asked hardly any questions.”

There are other concerns. MHA is top-heavy, with almost one manager for every 1.5 workers, according to Evans-Fudem. And poor conditions at the public housing properties have been an ongoing issue.

Historic Golden Gate Village in Marin City, with its 296 units, is by far the largest property MHA manages. Residents have long complained that apartments are rife with rodents, mold, plumbing leaks, broken heating and faulty wiring.

An MHA employee of seven years, Jose Godinez, spoke about the conditions at Golden Gate Village during public comment at last month’s MHA board meeting. He works on the property’s maintenance.

“We have right now in the system over 350 work orders,” Godinez said. “We need more help.”

Indeed, it seems that MHA staff members require more support from their employers to enable them to provide clients with the services they deserve.

Currently, the union hasn’t accepted either of the options in MHA’s “last, best and final offer.” It remains to be seen whether MHA will put out a better plan. Until then, the stalemate continues.