Bo-Stin district to shelter tots

Thu, 3 May 2012 09:30:24 -0700

In what could be a first step towards universal, publicly-funded preschool for the Bolinas-Stinson Union School District, the board of trustees adopted resolutions on Tuesday expressing their commitment to including the two Bolinas and Stinson preschools in the district and authorizing an ad hoc facilities committee to begin work assessing facilities needs for the proposed move. After lengthy discussion, both measures passed unanimously.
The board votes came after a presentation by principal Leo Kostelnik last Thursday in support of offering district housing to the two struggling preschools, Stinson Beach Preschool and Bolinas Children’s Center, beginning the 2013-14 school year. Stinson Beach Preschool currently rents a classroom on the district’s Stinson Beach campus but is slated to become homeless next June, when a one-year lease extension expires; the Bolinas Children’s Center, while not facing the same level of existential threat, would benefit from greater financial stability as a result of the move.
“My take is that I believe that this is good for our community,” Kostelnik said. “It’s a really great opportunity for the education of our youngest children, our preschoolers.”
According to Kostelnik’s proposal the district would provide facilities for both programs at little or no rent, although the preschools would remain privately operated. In the most likely scenario the Stinson campus would absorb the additional preschool students and continue to house the kindergarten class, while the Bolinas campus, which currently serves third through eighth grades, would take on the first and second grades currently located at the Stinson campus.
By offering a home to all the area’s preschool students, Kostelnik said the plan would provide immediate stability to the struggling preschools, foster greater collaboration between the schools and the district, and initiate a pathway for their eventual incorporation into the district.
The idea, he said, came in part from a desire to solve the housing woes currently saddling Stinson Beach Preschool, which would face the real possibility of dissolving in the absence of district  action.
“I thought, ‘This is a problem with an opportunity attached,’” Kostelnik said. “And I thought, ‘Why don’t we try to take care of these systemic problems once and for all and bring the preschools under the umbrella of the district?’”
In January, Kostelnik wrote an open letter to the board and school community outlining the challenges facing the district and proposing a solution. Last Thursday night’s meeting, he said, “was really about whether or not the board wanted to get serious about investigating the possibility” of moving forward with the proposal; at Tuesday’s meeting, they signaled that they do.
“For this school, and for both preschools, I really think that universal preschool is a wonderful idea and that we should go for it, and I think that this is a great starting point for us to do it,” trustee Nathan Siedman said last week, echoing comments from the majority of the board. “There’s going to be problems, we know there will be, but I am confident that if we get started the pertinent problems will present themselves and we can start formulating solutions to them as we go.”
While raising important questions about the proposed move—including the possibility that the effort to unify district preschoolers could be obviated by a new preschool’s opening in Bolinas—Ward Young, director of the Bolinas Children’s Center, was warm to the proposal.
“This is not new for me,” he said. “I have felt strongly that a universal preschool would serve my families because many of my families do not come very many hours during the week. If the universal preschool means publicly funded, ultimately I think that’s what’s the most important part of this. It would allow families to have children in preschool as much as they want.”
For Susan Tacherra, longtime head teacher and director of Stinson Beach Preschool, the move represents a possible solution to the troubling uncertainty that has long shrouded her program. If nothing happens, she said, the 25 families the school currently serves would be left with nowhere to go upon the lease’s expiration.
“It’s a step towards the district supporting and ensuring stability in the preschools,” she said of the proposal. “It’s a great step.”
Kostelnik said the district would need to create an additional two standard-sized classrooms, or 1,800 square feet of space, in order to accommodate a projected influx of 25 to 35 students. The ad hoc facilities committee, comprised of two certified teachers, two staff members, a board member, two parents, one community member and Kostelnik, has a tentative timeline of completing a draft proposal by the scheduled June 5 board meeting.
At the high end of the spectrum of facilities modifications would be a $4 million overhaul that both anticipates future district needs and addresses longstanding needs, like a gym or science facilities; at the very minimum would be a plan that costs in the tens of thousands and creates the additional space by converting a building currently used as all-purpose space. The necessary funding for any upgrades related to the move would come from a general obligation bond.
Kostelnik said the district will hold at least one open community meeting in the upcoming weeks as the process unfolds.

Huffman, Solomon reflect on West Marin

Thu, 3 May 2012 09:26:48 -0700

At first glance, congressional candidates Jared Huffman and Norman Solomon have much in common. Both are democrats hoping to inherit Lynn Woolsey’s seat, and both campaigns emphasize the need for job creation and environmental protection. They even share endorsements from Forests Forever, the California Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees International Union.
Both men are vying for the second congressional seat, which, due to redistricting, now extends north to the Oregon border and is the largest district in California. Because of the state’s newly adopted Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act, all candidates compete in one primary, regardless of party affiliation—meaning these two could be running against each other this November 6. Most polls show Huffman in the lead, with Solomon as a close second. Both weighed in on the issues that effect West Marin, and what they plan to do about them.
Originally from Independence, Missouri, Huffman was educated at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and has been a Marin resident for the past 22 years. Since his election to the state assembly in November 2006, he has earned a reputation as a legislator willing to “reach across the aisle” to forge consensus on seemingly intractable issues. He has received over 700 endorsements from an array of organizations and officials, including Senator Dianne Feinstein, Marin County District Four Supervisor Steve Kinsey and the Sierra Club.
On housing and immigration issues in West Marin, Huffman had a lot to say.
“Immigration as a policy has a lot to do with the challenge to find affordable housing,” he said. “Efforts to address that challenge would include more flexible work visas and more opportunities to go between countries for work, so that year-round housing would not always be needed.” This problem has been far more difficult to tackle with a border policy in place that discourages workers from going back to Mexico, he added.
“With seasonal workers, there is a pressure to stay and not go home,” Huffman said. “I want to give undocumented workers a path to citizenship, and those that don’t want that should still benefit from a more flexible policy regarding agricultural workers.”
But even under such a policy, agricultural workers would still need seasonal housing—and a strong congressional advocate to help them get it.
“A member of Congress has to understand the unique character of West Marin, and agriculture is a strong element. It is unique because of the federal land ownership,” Huffman said.
A number of issues related to agriculture in Point Reyes National Seashore will come to a head under the watch of the next member of Congress, and Huffman said he hoped and believed there will be a solution that will respect environmental values and wilderness policy, while also sustaining local agriculture in the seashore.
“Agriculture should remain a part of the seashore in perpetuity,” he said. “Many who are leasing ranchlands are very nervous about how the park views that. I’m hoping that as the next member of Congress, I can secure assurances that can begin to ease the divisiveness and conflict around their long-term status.”
Local journalist and media critic Norman Solomon describes himself as being very much in synch with the politics that prevail in West Marin.
A resident of Inverness Park since 1998, Solomon is the author of a dozen books on media, political discourse and public policy, including “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” He has written extensively in opposition to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is the national co-chair of Healthcare Not Warfare, along with Congressman John Conyers and Donna Smith of the California Nurses  Association.
He has been endorsed by United Farm Workers of America co-founder Dolores Huerta, who just received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Solomon described Huerta as “the one living person who epitomizes the struggle for human rights for farm workers” and said he was “really honored” by her endorsement. “We share that commitment to all working people, including farm workers,” he said. Solomon has also received endorsements from an array of other influential people, such as Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, actor Sean Penn and journalist Barbara Ehrenreich.On providing affordable housing in West Marin, Solomon said it is part of the quest for a society that takes care of people, rather than Wall Street.
“We need a massive increase in Section Eight housing,” he said. “I’ve gone up and down the coast, talking with veterans and others who have been on the waiting list for years. It’s just wrong.”
He said this problem was compounded by the “outrageous profit-taking” by the major banks, via the foreclosure process.
“I am the candidate with the most emphasis on challenging Wall Street,” he said.
But creating affordable housing will require a drastic change in priorities coming out of Washington. ”The working population, homeowners and renters alike, need a strong advocate in Washington. This is about budget priorities.”
“We’re told we don’t have money,” he said, “But we have plenty of money for wars. Meanwhile, people are suffering.”
Solomon is also the co-chair of the Commission on a Green New Deal for the North Bay.
“That’s ‘green’ as in sustainable,” he explained. “What’s needed is massive public investment, and the money can come through a reordering of priorities.”
One of the measures that could help accomplish this would be a .25 percent “transaction” tax for Wall Street to create jobs. This would create $150 billion for job training and job creation, Solomon said.
“Traveling the coast from Marin to Eureka, I’ve seen roads, offices and public buildings that were all built as part of the New Deal of the 1930’s,” he said. The hope is that the Green New Deal will help counter what Solomon calls the “tremendous assault” on the public sector.
About the debate over Drake’s Bay Oyster Company, he stressed the need for transparency and science with integrity.
“The park service has failed in both those realms,” he said. While he said he does not support politicians “trying to micromanage” such issues, he nevertheless underlined the importance of scientific integrity.
“Scientists can’t determine people’s values, and there are legitimate debates that people should have over maintaining a public ethos for parks. We need science that gives us information to base our debates on.”
Huffman agreed that the process and science must have integrity. While he conceded that there had been some questions regarding both, he said he hoped the parties were on a better track now. “I have good friends, good people on both sides. It’s troubling to see it become so vitriolic.”
On health care in West Marin, Huffman said it would be important for the next member of Congress to understand the particular nature of rural needs.
“Rural clinics are really the frontline facilities for primary care for many people in that district, including West Marin,” he said. “Real pioneering work to provide innovative care is being done there, and I want to support that in any way I can.” Huffman is advocating for more emphasis on funding digital recordkeeping and telemedicine, and vows to defend the Affordable Care Act.
Solomon, whose wife, Cheryl Higgins, is a family nurse practitioner in Point Reyes Station, said he’ll fight for long-term funding for the Coastal Health Alliance, and will stand up against insurance and pharmaceutical conglomerates.
The candidates also commented on the state of schools in West Marin. Huffman said that he hopes to secure better funding for special education programs.
“The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is essentially an unfunded mandate,” he said of the federal program requiring kids with disabilities and learning difficulties to be given the opportunity to study in a mainstream school setting.
“As an unfunded mandate, a small district like Tomales can have a student or two [with special needs] literally break the bank, with teachers being laid off very abruptly,” Huffman said. “The federal government has a unique responsibility to prevent that from happening.”
Solomon stressed that while local teaching methods shouldn’t be micromanaged from Washington, local schools needed enough funding to “help them help themselves.”
“The money is there,” Solomon added, “we just need to rearrange our priorities.”
Democrats also running in the race are Marin County Board of Supervisors member Susan Adams, Andy Caffrey, William Courtney, Larry Fritzlan, businesswoman Stacey Lawson, and Petaluma Vice Mayor Tiffany Renee. The republican candidates are professor Mike Halliwell and investment company president Daniel Roberts.

Merle Lawson, lifelong fisherman, dies at 86

Thu, 3 May 2012 09:24:31 -0700

Merle Lawson, a dedicated family man, longtime operator of Lawson’s Landing campground and resort and legendary fisherman whose passion for the pastime was matched only by his desire to share it with family, friends and the generations of visitors who vacationed at the landing, died April 23 in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 86.
Lawson worked at the family-run landing and summer destination campground—Merle’s grandfather Sylvester purchased the Dillon Beach site in the 1920’s—for 45 years. After growing up alongside the landing then run by his uncle, Merle took over the reins in 1956, establishing with his brother Mike the successful business today known as Lawson’s Landing. He continued as operator until his retirement three decades later.
Under Lawson’s management the resort’s popularity soared, with as many as 650 guests, many of whom returned year after year, traveling to the landing to enjoy the area’s famous clamming, fishing, biking and kayaking. For years Lawson skippered a 56-foot party boat called The Tracer, escorting guests to the most fertile Tomales Bay fishing grounds; he also oversaw, at various points, a charter boat service, abalone barge and sand quarry operation that served local dairy farmers and a golf course.
“Everything that he ever touched just grew in leaps and bounds,” longtime friend Tom McHale said.
Beneath a frequently gruff persona, Lawson was well known for his dry sense of humor and deeply caring nature. Pam George, now a longtime worker at the landing and de-facto member of the Lawson family, said she had initially been intimidated by her new boss when she and her husband were hired in 1974.
The ice broke, she said, after the day she had been asked to clean a bag of fish heads, their awful smell amplified by a night of decomposition. George, pregnant with one of her daughters, felt she was going to become ill from the stench. “I just couldn’t take it,” she said. “I remember saying, ‘Merle, you just don’t pay me enough.’” Lawson burst out laughing, and the two went on to become close. Upon her former boss’s death, George, who still works at the landing, transferred the wooden nameplate that had adorned Lawson’s desk to her own.
“I think we formed a bond,” she said. “If you were upset he was right there for you. He was a marshmallow. That’s how I always saw him.”
As a businessman, Lawson was known for his sharp economic sense and get ‘er done attitude. Instead of stalling plans in deference to what he viewed as an unfairly expensive and bureaucratic permitting process, Lawson preferred to simply make things happen. His disregard for the county’s regulations resulted in a protracted feud that straddled decades: According to McHale, when one unsuspecting building inspector was sent to talk about compliance, Lawson asked the man how fast he could run and proceeded to fire up his tractor and chase him off the property.
“The guy never came back,” McHale said.
Still, Lawson’s legendary stubbornness and tenacity weren’t enough to permanently forestall county action: after his retirement the sand quarry was eventually shut down due to permitting conflicts, and the landing’s camping quota had to be drastically reduced.
The bad blood between her father and the county, Lawson’s daughter Nancy Vogler said, was born in part from generational differences: Lawson was cut from the mold of an era in which there was greater freedom to run a small business without the county always looking over shoulders to ensure proper standards were followed.
“That hurt his feelings in the last part of his life,” Nancy said of the quarry’s closing and the continued dispute over regulations. “All the trials and tribulations that you have to do, he just could never understand that.”
As a fisherman and boatman, Lawson’s reputation was unmatched. Growing up on the bay, he quickly developed a love of the sea that remained throughout his life, and over the decades he acquired an uncanny familiarity with his small part of the ocean. “He knew the bottom of that thing like he walked on it every day,” McHale said.
And in a fisherman’s town, Lawson cast the rare rod that inspired not only admirers, but quite literally followers.
“Everybody was always chasing Merle around, where was he going, what was he fishing for,” McHale said. “If you were near Merle, you were catching fish. All the charter guys from up in Bodega Bay wanted to know where he was at, what he was doing.”
Lawson engineered boating trips for guests, for family, for friends.
“He lived for fishing,” said McHale, who first met Lawson in 1956 and spent many an afternoon at his side. “It was such a joy [for him]. And I think that’s why I got along so well with him—it was just a pleasure to watch him watch other people fish and catch fish.”
Indeed, much of Lawson’s unbreakable bond with the sport was derived not from fishing for himself, but from teaching others. “Usually what he liked to do,” his grandson Willy Vogler, now in his early 40’s, said, “was just take somebody’s rod, use it to hook up some fish [and say]: ‘This is how you do it!’”
“Keep that rod-tip up!” was a famous line of encouragement, as was the frequent bellowing and cries of “Dammit!” when something went awry. In his desire to train young fishermen, Lawson could be blunt: If the novice happened to do something wrong, or forget to put his thumb on the spool, for example, “you would not forget a second time,” Willy said from experience.
Lawson was as generous as he was skilled. For years he supplied the food for the landing’s annual fish fry, genuinely satisfied to watch others enjoy the fruits of his labor. When he was “on the catch” he didn’t keep the hot spot to himself, as many fishermen do by either lying about their success or fabricating the exact location for zealous competitors; rather he took to the radio and broadcast the coordinates where the fish were biting. He did this so often, his grandson said, that other fishermen would sometimes avoid fishing near Lawson because they knew that if his rods got hot, a flock of boats would likely soon appear to share in the good fortune.
“He wanted to share those fish with everybody,” Willy said. “There are other guys who do that, but there’s not many.”
Not that Lawson didn’t keep any fish for himself. Even when leading a trip for paying guests, Willy said, there were two rods outside the boat’s cabin doors that were permanently reserved for the skipper. If someone happened to be in the way once one of the rods was bent, the passenger quickly learned to steer clear next time.
“It only takes one time getting knocked over and you knew what was going on,” Willy said. “He loved to catch fish. And every fish he caught was the biggest one ever.”
Lawson was born on May 3, 1925 in Woodland, to Wally and Nita. When he was a young boy the family moved to Dillon Beach, where Wally had bought land alongside his father’s to start a dairy ranch. Young Merle spent his days running horses on the ranch and catching halibut on the bay. “They let him pretty much have the run at the beach,” Nancy said. “He would go from the ranch to the dunes to the bay.”
The fastest boats visible from Dillon Beach at the time were rumrunners—which inspired the boat-crazy Merle to temporarily want to grow up to join in the illicit transport. He also loved tractors and trucks, although perhaps not surprisingly one of his fondest early memories took place on the water: when Merle and his cousin Kent were both about 13 their grandfather took them on a trip to the edge of Tomales Point.
Instead of the usually choppy waters, the trio was greeted by a strangely calm surface, and the boys were allowed the rare freedom of stepping from the boat onto the rocks to gather the abundant abalone. The image of that particular day—the calm waters, the splendid catch, the time spent with his grandfather—stayed with him the rest of his life, Merle’s daughter said.
Lawson joined the Navy in 1941, two months after his 17th birthday. After a brief stint of radio school in Colorado, he was dispatched to Polynesia, where he remembered being trampled—his revolver stuck on a sandbag—by squadron mates clamoring for the foxhole amid incoming Japanese fire. At the end of the war Lawson trained flight crews over the Bermuda Triangle and the Florida Keys before hitchhiking home to California.
He married Icymae Stearns, who was attending UC Davis with Merle’s sister Ada, on September 1, 1946. Stearns had come home with Ada the previous Thanksgiving. “The minute he walked in from the back porch and saw the little classmate his sister had brought in, he knew he was going to marry her,” Nancy said. Icymae, however, jokingly maintained throughout their 65-year-partnership that despite her future husband’s confidence she herself never knew she was going to marry Merle.
After their small outdoor wedding in the southern California town of Pomona, the newlyweds headed back north, stopping along the way to look at trucks and visit decidedly unromantic agrarian towns like Bakersfield and Fresno. Upon their return to the ranch, Lawson worked until he could afford to start the new business, and the couple had two daughters, Nancy and Gloria.
Throughout the 50’s and 60’s, before a regular coast guard was established, Lawson’s boating expertise was called on regularly for a number of harrowing rescues. “For the most part if somebody got into trouble out there, it was up to other boats to help rescue them,” Nancy said. And Lawson never hesitated to head out, yet again, into the night waters—even after a number of the mishaps had proved fatal. “My mother and I always thought Dad would pass in a boating accident. I don’t know how many funerals we planned,” Nancy added.
In 1990, after Lawson retired, he and Icymae moved to Arizona, where the couple had been vacationing for ten years. While his health permitted it, Lawson made frequent trips to Dillon Beach to visit family and help out on the landing—and catch a few fish. For a man who spent so much of his life on the water, nothing was more important than passing on that same love and wisdom to younger generations. Some of his earliest memories, Willy said, are of boating trips with his grandfather. As a boy he would frequently get seasick, throwing up on or even before boarding the boat, but Lawson was undeterred. “He was going to make a fisherman out of me,” Willy said.
And he did. Willy now co-owns the landing his grandfather established.
Last year, when Lawson was in frail health, Willy’s two young boys went out for “one last trip with great grandpa.” Their dad said the boys already know where their love of fishing comes from, that they already associate their great grandfather with fun times on the water. But they were most impressed, he said, by Lawson’s determination in reeling in the catch. At one point during the day their great-grandfather had a fish on the hook. In the race to reel it in, the lifelong fisherman ended up falling to the floor of the boat.
Lawson fell. His rod tip stayed up.

Merle Lawson is survived by his wife, Icymae Lawson, of Gold Canyon, Ariz.; his daughters, Gloria Duby and her husband, Al, of Putney, VT, and Nancy Vogler and her husband, Bill, of Superior, Ariz.; his grandsons, Nathan Duby and his wife, Sherry, of Greer, SC, Willy Vogler and his wife, Nicki, of Dillon Beach, Tad Vogler and his wife, Erin, of Dillon Beach, and Jacob Duby and his wife, Cheryl, of Putney; his granddaughter Lavon Duby Butts and her husband, Dan, of Putney; and his great grandchildren Kimberley Butts of Baltimore, Jennifer Butts of Burlington, Zachary Duby of Putney, and Cameron, Gage, Daniel and Tristan Vogler of Dillon Beach. He is predeceased by his father, Walter Lawson, mother, Nita Lawson, sisters Anita Kjobmand and Ada Granger and his brother, Walter “Mike” Lawson.

Papermill preschool faces crisis

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:14:52 -0700

The Papermill Creek Children’s Corner, Point Reyes Station’s preschool since 1972, is in serious financial trouble. In addition to a crippling amount of back debt, the low-budget nonprofit is facing surging insurance rates, a decreased enrollment, cut community grants, and lower private donations owing to the depressed economy.
“The Papermill is needing the community to step in and help support its institution,” said director Judy Radiloff.
The school’s fiscal crisis is magnified by the pending resignation of Radiloff, who is leaving at the end of June to complete her dissertation work. Radiloff was hired as the school’s head teacher in December 2008 and as director in June 2009; she has been filling both slots, as well as making other sacrifices, including delaying her own pay, in a prolonged effort to keep the school afloat.
She said the school has been recognized recently by the early childhood development community. “The irony is there’s a lot of positives,” she said. “It’s a wonderful program—it’s just struggling financially.”
Of the school’s $170,000 annual operating budget, tuition fees account for approximately 80 percent. It’s the remaining 20 percent, Radiloff said, that is suffering. A few years ago the preschool, which provides a high number of scholarships to low-income families, lost a $3,000 a month county grant, and the school has been receiving less donated money in response to solicitation letters.
Adding to the woes, Papermill was recently forced to pay an $1,800 DeCarli’s bill. “We’ve been such a shoestring budget that anything like that really affects us,” Radiloff said.
She added that the board is working to come up with a creative solution to make the school sustainable, including the possibility of being absorbed by a larger local organization.

Gloria Lafranchi, 1954 – 2012

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:13:48 -0700

Gloria Lafranchi, a devoted mother, unwavering friend and ubiquitous church and community presence known and loved for her famously warm and outgoing personality, died of a stroke on March 14. She was 57.
Lafranchi worked much of her adult life as an independent caregiver, traveling to her clients’ homes and offering assistance during their time of greatest need. By dedicating her own life to improving the lives of others, Lafranchi found satisfaction. “She had fun doing it. She liked to talk about the people she was taking care of,” said her son Ricco.
The same compassionate, joyful nature that built her reputation as a caregiver also enamored her to the West Marin community she called home for four decades.
“It was her personality,” said her sister, Mary Thompson. “She had a giant personality. She really sincerely cared about each person. She was just a happy person, inside and out.”
In a community known for its tight-knit relationships, Lafranchi counted perhaps dozens of friends. Her social prowess was never more evident than during her 50th birthday party. Held at a friend’s place in Nicasio, the celebration had everything: live music, food, drinks. And as many as 100 guests.
“I was amazed as to how many people she knew,” Thompson said. “I knew it, but it was still one of those [unbelievable] things.
At the celebration many of Lafranchi’s friends, Thompson said, realized for the first time the impressive breadth of the host’s social relations. “Each one would assume with good reason that they were her best friend,” Thompson said. “She had time for everyone. It still amazes me.”
Of her numerous roles, Lafranchi’s most treasured was easily that of mother. And she made sure that her son, now 30, and daughter Natalie, now 27, knew it.
“She cared about us kids,” Ricco said. “That was her main thing—she always told us that she cared about us more than anything.”
As a single parent, Ricco said, Lafranchi was both protective and extremely loving. She emphasized the importance of education as well as respect and proper manners. The words “please” and “thank you” were common in the Nicasio house where the kids grew up; junk food was not.
No matter what the situation—sad, happy, fun—Natalie said her mom was always there to support her kids with a love that was transparent and unconditional. “She was a one-of-a-kind mom,” Natalie said. “She would do anything for us.”
Gloria Nevarez was born September 29, 1954 in Durango, Mexico. When she was a little girl, she moved with her mother, Luz, and older sister, Irma, to Texas. Soon after the trio migrated again, this time to California, where Luz married a man named José Llamas. José and Luz had another daughter, Mary, and the family of five settled in Sunnyvale.
Growing up in California the girls went to the beach, played at home and regularly visited a nearby creek with their parents. They also went to church on Sundays, frequently walking the long distance from their home when José’s arthritis prevented him from driving.
“We had a simple life, yet it was a big one,” Thompson said. “There was lots of love and lots of family always coming over.”
Three years her junior, Mary mostly followed Gloria’s lead as they entertained themselves. The two played house and cowboys, played with the hula hoop. “We were never bored,” Thompson said.
At least once a year, the young family would return to Mexico to visit relatives.
In the little ranching town of El Encinal, outside Durango, Lafranchi’s cousin Rafael Herrera, who later moved to California himself, would be thrilled by the visits from Gloria and her family. The girls would bring presents, play with the local animals, and go hiking and climbing in the area’s mountainous countryside.
Gloria, in particular, never hesitated to play with her younger cousin Rafael. Six years older, she would poke him in the ribs or tug on his ears—anything to provoke a laugh or smile.
“She was a total nut when it came to playing around,” Herrera said. “She needed some company that could be as joyful as she was.”
Once, during a visit coinciding with the local festival honoring Semana Santa, the Catholic holy week, Gloria charmed her way into persuading the village’s usual pyrotechnics operator to let her set off one of the celebratory fireworks, something resembling a stick of dynamite. As part of the holy week the villagers were walking from one town to the next to accompany the traveling Virgin; when it was Gloria’s turn to set off the firework she used a softball-like pitch and inadvertently struck the ground with the hissing explosive. Instead of flying into the air, the firework headed straight towards the crowd, bursting with a loud bang.
“They almost forgot about the Virgin,” Rafael said. Luckily no one was hurt, and the incident was memorialized in the village as a hilarious accident from that “crazy kid from the States.” More than 40 years later, Rafael still chuckles about the near-miss. “She was just fun, fun, fun,” he said.
Lafranchi’s early life was also marred by tragedy. When she was 17, her mother and four other family members were killed in a car crash in Mexico. Mary and José moved to Arizona, but the independent-minded Gloria, who had just graduated from high school, decided to move to West Marin, where a friend of hers lived.
Living on her own, the teen-aged Nevarez worked hard to establish her new life in the new community. “It was very difficult,” Thompson said. “Gloria found jobs wherever she could. Just whatever came up—she used to take care of people’s homes. She was always working.”
Only two years after the car crash, José died, and Gloria went to Arizona to bring her younger sister back to California. Throughout their lives the two stayed close: when Mary lived in Sacramento, during Gloria’s visits the two would walk downtown or hike along the American River; in recent years, when Mary had moved to Portland, Oregon, the two sisters enjoyed frequent trips to Multnomah Falls or the Timberline Lodge.
Even when they were far apart, Thompson, who has been struggling with ill health, always knew her sister would be available if she needed her. “If I had a broken arm, she was there. If I was sick, she’d be there. She was very nurturing to me, which I appreciate.”
About a year ago, when Thompson was extremely sick, her sister gave her a rosary for protection. She said it was blessed. “She put it around my neck and said, ‘This will keep you safe,’” Thompson said. “I didn’t appreciate it as much then. I appreciate it more now.”
As a young woman in West Marin, Gloria eventually met and fell in love with Randy Lafranchi. The couple married in the early 1980’s and established their life together in Nicasio. Gloria gave birth to Ricco in 1981 and Natalie three years later; the marriage would eventually end in divorce in the late 90’s.
Throughout her life Lafranchi never lost the deep Catholic faith with which she had grown up. She attended mass regularly, usually at St. Mary’s in Nicasio, and learned how to teach catechism. She put her social skills to work as a tireless fundraiser and volunteer; at Christmas she employed her well-known artistic ability to provide colorful decorations.
“She’d hate to miss,” Thompson said. “Even when she’d come visit me in Sacramento and Oregon, she’d find the church. The first thing we’d look for, wherever we moved, was, ‘Where is the church for Gloria?’”
Nor did Lafranchi ever lose her contagious sense of fun and love of the outdoors. Growing up, Natalie said, her mom would take her and her brother on laughter-filled trips to see the local elk or to the beach. “It was just fun to laugh with her,” her daughter said. “She was always the loudest one.”
On Mother’s Day, the three would have a barbecue on Heart’s Desire Beach, where they cooked chili dogs. “That was her choice,” Natalie said. “She just loved chili dogs. That’s all she wanted for Mother’s Day.”
The last year and a half of her life Lafranchi lived with her son in Ignacio, outside Novato. Ricco said his mom had recently developed a passion for black and white photography. She also loved music and bargain shopping: at a recent garage sale, Gloria found a great deal on a Jimmy Hendrix portrait. For each season—Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving—she would fill the home with festive decorations, and occasionally friends would stop over for a barbecue or to swim in the pool.
From his mom, Ricco said both he and his sister inherited their politeness and friendliness. They also love kids, as she did, and embody her sense of warmth and caring, even if the two kids aren’t quite as social as their famously affable mom was.
Lafranchi’s memorial service was held March 23 at the Sacred Heart Church in Olema. Perhaps not surprisingly, the event was well-attended, with more than 100 friends and family members showing up to commemorate Gloria’s life.
Ricco said he always knew his mom was a special woman, that through her warmth and friendliness she was loved in the community. But now he knows even better. “After this happened,” he said, “I came to realize it even more and how many people’s lives she really did touch.”

Gloria Lafranchi is survived by her son Ricco and daughter Natalie, both of Novato; her sister Mary Thompson and her husband Kent, of Portland, Oregon; her niece, Inger Mendoza, and her daughter Maggie, of New Mexico; and her nephew Joaquin Mendoza, his wife Barbara, and their children Jackson and Eva, of Sunnyvale. She was preceded in death by her sister, Irma Ortega, and her mother, Luz Llamas, both of Sunnyvale.

Seashore suspected of fraud over noise data

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:10:27 -0700

To an increasingly disturbing set of allegations against the National Park Service, local biologist Dr. Corey Goodman has added a new charge: fraud.
In its efforts to oust Drake’s Bay Oyster Company from a potential wilderness area in Point Reyes National Seashore, Goodman claims the park service distorted and falsified evidence of noise pollution supposedly produced by the 70-year-old farm and concealed relevant data that disproved its conclusions.
After reviewing hundreds of hours of sound data, Goodman discovered that the base level of ambient noise reported in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the farm was set at least ten decibels lower than was realistic. This led to a 30-fold exaggeration of the distance the sound of the oyster boats could travel—a distance far enough to disturb the harbor seals hauling out in Drakes Estero.
This week Goodman filed his fifth complaint against the park service in a letter sent to the Interior Department’s acting Inspector General, Mary Kendall, and science integrity officer, Ralph Morgernwreck, and the park service’s science integrity officer, Gary Machlis.
“Data and metrics were distorted, invented, falsely represented, overestimated, underestimated, and exaggerated, and the real data concealed, all with the result of showing that [Drake’s Bay Oyster Company] boats and equipment could be heard for miles, when in reality they could not,” he wrote.
Goodman’s complaint charges the park service with knowingly deceiving peer reviewers of the DEIS, and calls for a retraction of that document—which cost the park service $600,000 in commission charges alone—as well as an investigation of possible fraud.
The question of fraud was first raised last week in a letter sent to Secretary Ken Salazar by Senator Dianne Feinstein, who called the use of 17-year-old data from New Jersey jet skis as documentation of noise from oyster boat engines “incomprehensible” and “potentially fraudulent.”
Goodman emphasized that the park service “should not be involved with an investigation of itself,” raising the possibility of a second Inspector General investigation at the seashore. “False representations of data, concealment of data, and deception equals fraud,” Goodman said. “That is [the Inspector General’s] territory.”
A recent investigation by a field solicitor for the park service, Gavin Frost, fell short of a finding of scientific misconduct even as it determined that scientists at Point Reyes had allowed ideological agendas to influence their findings.
Goodman maintains that the park service has not only misled the public with unrelated and exaggerated sound data but also suppressed its own on-site research because it showed “little to no disturbance.” A microphone placed on a bluff overlooking the estero took sound measurements throughout the summer of 2009 to monitor the effects of aircraft noise as part of the development of an air tour management plan.
According to Goodman, the recordings provide substantial evidence of the real levels of noise pollution and their effect on local wildlife.
Goodman also said that his access to the sound data was repeatedly hindered in recent weeks by park service employees, including Machlis, who Goodman claims broke the Department of the Interior’s Code of Scientific and Scholarly Conduct by restricting access to already published and highly relevant data.
“It is difficult to examine this record of false representations and suppression of data without coming to the conclusion that these actions were knowingly undertaken,” he said.
Machlis said he was unable to  comment.
Point Reyes National Seashore’s outreach coordinator for the DEIS, Melanie Gunn, said her agency is working hard to be transparent. “We’ve devoted extensive web pages to the unprecedented number of public comments [about the Drakes Estero debate],” all of which she said were available online through the park’s website.
Both she and seashore Superintendent Cicely Muldoon said they were unable to comment on the new allegations filed by Goodman.
“The key thing to keep in mind,” Muldoon said, “is that there is a lot of passion and many people on all sides who care a lot about the issue. Our goal is to keep a civil tone and stay away from the politics of personal destruction.”

Farallones race leaves deadly wake

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:39:20 -0700

The 2012 Full Crew Farallones sailing competition ended in tragedy Saturday when a 38-foot schooner with eight crewmembers capsized near a rocky embankment on the main Southeast Farallon Island—injuring three, killing one and leaving four lost at sea.
The Low Speed Chase, one of 52 sailboats that took part in the annual race officiated by the San Francisco Yacht Club, was circling the island at around 3 p.m. when a series of 12-foot swells overturned the hull, tossing most crew members overboard. Three were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and the body of one, Marc Kasanin, of Belvedere, was recovered. The remaining four crewmembers—Alexis Busch, of Larkspur; Alan Cahill, of Tiburon; Jordan Fromm, of San Rafael; and Elmer Morrissey, of Ireland—had not been located as of late Sunday, when rescuers suspended their search.
A vigil was attended by more than 400 on Sunday at the yacht club in Belvedere. “The San Francisco sailing community is large but tight-knit and this tragedy will remain in our hearts and minds for a long time,” club officials said.

Seeking autonomy, Lagunitas Waldorf petitions for charter

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:36:30 -0700

On a sunny late morning earlier this week, a little blonde girl, her class on a break, sat alone at her wooden desk inside a classroom at the San Geronimo School. Her attention was focused downwards, at her carefully moving hands. She was knitting a purple sock.
On the other side of the two-school campus, an energetic group of first graders was beginning a Spanish lesson. “Buen-os dí-as Señ-ora Shea-fe,” the kids chanted in unison. Only a few feet beyond the classroom’s back window were three penned sheep, grazing and amicably tolerating the affections of a few lingering students. The sheep were spending the night in a neighboring barn; they were brought to the school as part of a lesson about tending the land and interaction between humans and animals.
All were part of Lagunitas School District’s public Waldorf-Inspired Program, one of three unique elementary education programs operated by the district. But next year that number could be down to two: at a district board meeting on Tuesday, Matt Andrews, a parent representative from the Waldorf-Inspired Program (LWIP), submitted a petition for independent charter status, which would allow greater administrative and fiscal autonomy for the eight-year-old program. By law the board has 30 days to conduct a public hearing on the petition and 60 days to make a decision on whether to grant the requested charter status; the hearing is scheduled for May 10, and the board hopes to announce its decision on June 12. State law provides for a possible 30-day extension to the 60-day time limit.
If granted charter status, the LWIP would remain public, stay in its current location on the Lagunitas campus and likely continue to share the majority of its facilities under an arrangement with the district. The program would also, however, become responsible for its own administrative and personnel decisions and no longer be subject to existing regulations about the number of allowable inter-district transfers. Because its students would not fall under the fiscal umbrella of the district, the move would effectively reduce both Lagunitas District’s operating budget—state-provided funds would fall in accordance with the lower enrollment—and the number of students the district budget is responsible for serving.
A unique, progressive program Principal Laura Shain oversees 270 students spread among two schools and four programs. Lagunitas School and San Geronimo School are separated only by a short walk through the green, rolling campus the two schools share just off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in the San Geronimo Valley. Housed in the two buildings are three kindergarten and elementary-grade programs—the Waldorf-Inspired program, a Montessori program and an Open Classroom program—as well as a middle school program where students who have graduated from all three elementary settings come together for grades six through eight.
With only 44 students, the LWIP is the smallest of all the programs. Eight of the 44, or 18 percent, Shain said, have transferred in from other districts, the highest percentage of incoming inter-district transfers of any of the programs.
The Waldorf-Inspired philosophy emphasizes a holistic approach to education, focusing on development of body, mind and spirit. Each school day begins with some kind of dynamic exercise—for example yoga, or studying math by skip-counting—and then will focus on one topic for an extended period of time. The program is also designed to adapt to the natural rhythms of the school day, implementing more physically or mentally challenging activities at optimal body-rhythmic times: immediately after lunch, when it’s harder to think, the students might work on more physically-geared activities, like handcrafts. Every Friday morning the students go for a hike.
“I think there’s something about the gentle approach to childhood—there’s almost a purity,” Shain said about the program’s appeal to parents. “The academic pressure is not as stressful I think for some kids. I think it’s the emphasis on arts and nature and the natural rhythms.”
Kindergarten and first grade LWIP teacher Dorothy Iselin, a longtime Waldorf educator in her first year at Lagunitas, stays in close contact with many former students. The best way to judge the program’s merits, she said, is by looking at the people its graduates have grown up to become.
“I’ve graduated a class who are now having their own children, and another class who are now in the middle of high school,” she said. “They’re extraordinary people. The thing I would say that’s most characteristic is they know themselves—they’re able to speak with confidence and I think many of them choose to make a difference in the world.”
Amid struggles, a life raft?
Yet as popular as the program is among LWIP educators and parents, to many its future is clouded by doubt: Owing to a perfect storm of state and federal funding reductions and a drop in local property tax increases, the district has been treading on unstable financial ground the last several years, wedging a constant uncertainty into budget considerations.
According to district business manager Amy Prescott, much of the fiscal pain is born from the district’s heavy reliance on property taxes: 55 percent of the annual budget comes from the revenue. When Prescott began working as business manager five or six years ago, she said, the district could expect projected annual property tax increases of six to nine percent. The last couple years that projected rate of increase has been consistently declining—or worse, not increasing at all.
“All the programs in the last couple years have been suffering from cuts,” she said. “The drop in property tax increases and the downfall of the state budget in general have affected every program on the campus. All the programs in their own ways have struggled.”
Yet perhaps none quite so visibly as the LWIP. This year the program employs 2.6 teachers. The .6 is Kerin Meri, who teaches fourth and fifth grade but can only work part time because of budget limitations. At noon, when Meri leaves, the fourth and fifth grade students join up with the third grade. “It’s not an ideal situation,” Shain said. “And she feels a loss. It’s hard for her.”
But for many involved with the Waldorf-Inspired Program the real flashpoint came last spring, when two LWIP teachers, coincidentally the two least-senior teachers in the district, were given pink slips because of budget shortfalls. After some shuffling and a resignation by a more senior teacher, the two LWIP positions were reinstated, yet for many LWIP parents the message was shockingly clear: the program they loved could be easily and quickly dissolved because of greater district budget woes.
Andrews said that beginning three or four years ago the LWIP program started losing families. He draws a connection between the drop in enrollment and a lack of reassurance from district decisions, most notably the pink slip incident. “That was sort of one of those watershed moments that everyone said: ‘If they’re willing to do this then they’re not supporting us,’” he said. “They made some decisions that really scared people.”
After lengthy discussions considering a host of possible options for the program, beginning in October, Andrews said, he and other members of the LWIP’s elected parent Administrative Council (AC) began talking seriously about petitioning for charter status. The group later received a donation to conduct an initial fiscal impact study, and after a series of meetings, numerous emails and untold hours of work, the group decided to move forward with the petition. Signatures of support were collected from parents, and the AC announced at a board meeting last month their intention to submit the petition at Tuesday’s meeting.
In addition to granting the program control over its own budget and personnel decisions—LWIP teachers would not fall under district seniority rules and an additional administrator would be hired—the move is intended to attract at least some additional out-of-district residents, which would allow for an immediate switch to three full-time teachers and a gradual move away from the current shared-grade model.
LWIP teacher Bill Kobabe, watering plants at the school on a break from class, emphasized that the LWIP’s motivation in seeking charter status is really about nothing other than trying to ensure the longterm viability of the program.
“What we see as being one of the problems here right now with being part of the district—our program’s been on kind of a downward spiral and we see that eventually [it could disappear],” Kobabe said. “This is our opinion about it, the people who are involved with doing the charter—eventually the district’s [small size is going to become prohibitive] and we’re going to have to shut down this part of the program, so on a certain level we’re doing this to ensure our own survival, our own future here as a program.”
Andrews was somewhat more pointed. “If we thought we had the support we needed from the district, we wouldn’t be making the move we are making here,” he said. “For us this was the best course for not only the program’s surviving, but thriving in future.”
Big questions
Heather Podoll, whose efforts were behind bringing in the school’s popular temporary animal visitors, is among the most veteran of LWIP parents: besides a first grader and a fifth grader currently enrolled in the program, she has a seventh grader who began with the district’s first Waldorf-Inspired kindergarten class. She was drawn to the curriculum in particular because of its emphases on nature-based learning and development of rich language skills.
“It’s been such a wonderful environment for my kids to learn. It’s been really inspiring on every sensory level—it’s just been so nurturing for them and I see at each of these different ages just how much they’ve gained from that,” she said.
With the potential for a big change on the horizon, she said, she and other LWIP parents are feeling both hopeful and uncertain about the future of their program.
“I feel optimistic but I also feel like there’s a lot we don’t quite know yet about how all the finances are going to work out,” she said, keeping one eye on the children playing with the sheep. “And I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping we can find a way to make this a workable, winnable situation for everybody, and I think there’s kind of still a lot to be done to figure out exactly how that’s going to fit.”
And while generally the LWIP parents are feeling grateful for the work put in by their peers and hopeful the proposal will work out, Podoll added, there is one LWIP parent in particular who has been raising a lot of questions.
That parent is Robert Ovetz. A social sciences community college professor, Ovetz runs a blog called Lagunitas School District Watch that “monitors the decisions of the Lagunitas School District to hold it accountable to its students and all the residents of the Valley.” He has posted several entries sharply questioning the LWIP’s proposal for charter status. The latest, from April 14, was titled “Shut Up and Sign”; in it he described the meeting held for the petition signing as essentially a schmoozing event lacking any real debate or discussion about the petition.
Ovetz said he hasn’t in fact made up his mind yet about the merits of the switch, but rather is troubled by what he perceives as a lack of transparency and responsible governance on the part of the program’s Administrative Council, where the main push for the charter petition has come from. “I want to know more,” he said. “I want to be able to have an open, honest and transparent discussion before this is rushed through. It has not happened.”
While the majority of LWIP parents seem to cautiously support the proposal, parents of children in the district’s other programs are far more skeptical.
The concern, of course, is that the move would end up hurting the remaining programs in the district because of diminished financial resources. Rebecca Jenkins, mother of one Open Classroom student and one middle schooler, said she and other parents are scared about the potential impact, especially because of Lagunitas’s status as a basic-aid district, a classification of funding that she understands has traditionally suffered more when it has implemented charter schools.
“At the end of the day I totally believe that everyone involved just wants what’s best for their kids,” she said. “I just hope they don’t take our school district down.”
Andrews emphasized that the AC proceeded with the petition only after concluding that the move would not harm the district financially. “One of the things we were most concerned with was the fiscal impact [on the district],” he said. “That’s something we felt very strongly about because we’re a part of this community. Some of us have kids in the Open Classroom and middle school—it’s not like we wanted to hurt the district.”
And from their initial findings, he said, the move would in fact benefit the district financially. Andrews argues that even as the district would lose two percent of its overall revenue, because it would also be losing 20 percent of its population, district spending per pupil would actually significantly increase as a result of the move, from $10,827 per year to $12,500. Andrews said the switch would certainly mean restructuring, “but there’s no way they can actually look at this and say the district is going to be hurt fiscally.”
Prescott wasn’t convinced. Speaking before Tuesday’s petition submission and emphasizing that she had not yet been able to conduct a proper analysis, she said she anticipated the charter status would indeed have a negative fiscal impact on the district. Measuring only the amount spent per pupil, she said, can be misleading because of the numerous other factors involved: special education students, for example, require much more spending per student.
If the move resulted in a district budget loss of at least $75,000, as was expected before the petition’s submission, Prescott said an impact on the district would be inevitable.
“My philosophy on budgeting is you always want to reduce where you can before it affects actual staffing reductions. I don’t have a reduction of $75,000 to $100,000 of supplies that you can cut out of the budget, so it [would] impact programs in every way.”
At Tuesday’s board meeting, a discussion on the petition process offered a preview of what may be in store for the district as it seeks to answer questions before next month’s public hearing and ultimately reach a decision in June. A flurry of occasionally tense questions for the board and the district’s hired legal counsel, attorney Ed Sklar, surged from the 30 or so concerned and confused parents who crammed into the Lagunitas classroom where the meeting took place. The parents and educators raised questions about everything from the potential impact on transportation safety to the definitions of the five vague criteria that can legally be used to determine the merits of a charter proposal.
At one point trustee Denise Santa Cruz-Bohman appealed for civility and informed decision-making.
“I’d like to point out—if you hear nothing I ever say, listen carefully—no one in this room should have made up their mind whether this is a good idea or not because this petition has not been read. And there’s been some back and forth, us and them kind of stuff already going on, and I would really appreciate it if that would stop. I would really like us to really take a deep breath, read this [petition] and try to support each other as we go through this.”
For her part, Principal Shain said that she could see potential pros and cons from the charter move.
“I hope that wherever we end up we are able to create a new form of working together that will be positive,” she said. “I just hope it’s not too messy wherever it goes, because I really feel like either way we can make it work. Nobody’s asking for anything horrible.”

Dick Davis, 1922 – 2012

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:00:06 -0700

Richard Davis, a former Nicasio homeowner and financial advisor who played a pivotal role in the formation of Marin Agricultural Land Trust, died March 25 at age 89. Davis’s work as a financier earned him the reverence of colleagues and many hobbyist investors, who saw in him the unwavering integrity and regard for clients’ needs that could and should epitomize the financial industry. “Dick always did the right thing; he was incredibly honest and he always made sure his clients’ interests were paramount,” Lance Varellas, a portfolio manager and former associate, said. His impeccable character was generously rewarded: in 1969 Davis was elected chairman of the California Group, Investment Bankers Association of America; 11 years later he was named Investment Banker of the Year by the San Francisco Bond Club.
Davis’s investment acumen became an incredible asset to MALT in the early 80’s, when the organization’s financial backing was still growing. He was a member of the inaugural board, became a perennial patron and, with his wife, Ginny, hosted gatherings in his home. “The fundraising we did back then was really critical to developing the staff that could carry out the functions of MALT, so Dick was important in setting the stage for the organization to be well received and viewed as viable by the community,” MALT co-founder Phyllis Faber said. “Dick was a wonderful person; he was thoughtful, had a great sense of humor and could always make complicated financial issues clear. He just created this ever wonderful, rich world around him.”
Richard Mercer Davis was born on November 23, 1922, to George W., a piano salesman turned investor, and Ruth, a concert pianist. The family owned a modest two-story in San Francisco, which George, who had a penchant for Persian textiles, filled with ornate rugs. Davis enjoyed the outdoors and grew especially fond of the hills and forests surrounding Pinecrest Lake, where the family vacationed most summers.
After attending the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied business administration and was active in the ROTC, Davis enlisted in the Navy. He served as a gunnery officer and as a lieutenant, junior grade, and was stationed in the Pacific for three years, until 1946. He never talked much about the experience, his daughter Laurie said, but he did say that, from the deck of his ship, the U.S.S. Stevens, he once saw a kamikaze crash into the flank of another ship.
Davis earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1948 and returned to California to join his father’s firm, Davis, Skaggs & Company. The following year he met Ginny at a party in San Francisco; the two courted briefly and were married at the Stanford Memorial Church in 1950. Not long after, Ginny gave birth to their four daughters, Alison, Martha, Laurie and Robbie.
Davis was good at what he did, in part because he worked tirelessly at it, but also because he was fascinated by the elevated degree of strategy that it took to succeed in the world of finance. “Dad loved it all,” Laurie said. “Even when his health continued to fail in the last couple of months, we would still get on the computer and go look at the Dow Jones. He just loved the excitement of finding something really good that you could purchase cheap and hang onto for a long time and let grow.” Davis became a general partner at Davis, Skaggs & Company in 1958, and in 1964 he was named CEO and chairman. He oversaw the expansion of the company, first with the opening of a branch in Menlo Park, and later with offices in Sacramento and Larkspur. His mantra through it all, Varellas recalled, was, “Buy quality, stick with it, and when it goes down buy more of it.”
For all his professional achievements, Davis remained intent on prioritizing his life at home. He worked long hours, but spent most if not all of his spare time in the company of Ginny and the girls, drawing alongside them and teaching them to chop wood and live simply. “What I loved most was that he was someone we could count on to give good advice,” Laurie said. “His responses were always measured and thoughtful; I felt that I could go to him about anything.”
Alison agreed. “Dad didn’t rattle easily and was always very supportive of us, even when we made some pretty unconventional choices—Laurie went off to be a ballet dancer for a while; I went to China to teach English,” she said. “Not only was he supportive of me, I remember the year I was gone he took a class in Chinese. It’s not like he got very good at it, but the effort he gave made a big difference to me.”
Davis eschewed the stereotypes of affluent investors, the luxury cars and ornate houses. He drove a rusted 1941 Ford pickup, rarely ventured beyond the mountains and lakes of his native state, and, in general, preferred rusticity. “He was the opposite of the normal financial planner, who maybe lives in Healdsburg and jets off to a mansion on some island for vacations,” Mike Lipskin, a neighbor, said.
“Dad was an investment banker, but I don’t think of him that way,” Allison said. “I think of him more in terms of jeans and cowboy boots.”
Over time, Davis’s broad historical interests narrowed into a fascination for California’s 19th century immigrant culture. He devoured books and scholarly research on the subject, and led the family on several horse-packing trips into the high county in search of settler artifacts like old wagon wheels and dining utensils. “I think he really admired the spirit of what it took—the gut and the grit—to make those journeys,” Allison said. He sketched many of the items he unearthed and donated nearly all of them to the Tuolumne County Historical Society.
Davis and Ginny moved to Nicasio in the late 70’s. Davis built a small workshop and installed a blacksmith’s furnace on the property, and quickly became an integral member of the community. “He was a guy that brought us all together,” Bill Harrison, a neighbor, said. “Dick represented a lot of the community spirit and connectedness of Nicasio in the earlier days and all the way right up to his death.”
Davis was also an active member and supporter of the Nicasio Valley Volunteer Fire Department, and volunteered on the Old Rancheria Road Committee for several years. He and Ginny were avid supporters of Halleck Creek Riding Club and the Nicasio School Foundation, to which they donated an old school bell. In 2000 they relocated to Villa Marin in San Rafael, but frequently visited Laurie on weekends. Davis, who had been diagnosed with late-onset Parkinson’s disease in the late 90’s, retired from the firm a year later, though he kept a desk there for informal visits, which he made on occasion.

Dick Davis is survived by his wife, Ginny; daughters Alison, Martha, Laurie and Robbie; grandchildren Matthew and Anna; and siblings Donald W. Davis and Nancy Davis Fouquet. Donations to a charity of choice or Marin Community Foundation’s George W. Davis Fund can be made. Those wishing to celebrate Dick’s life can contact wordsout@sbcglobal.net for information. Friends may share tributes at dick-davis.memory-of.com.

Neighbors dash Grady Ranch plan

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:29:03 -0700

Lucasfilm announced Tuesday that it has quashed its bid to build a digital production studio on the old Grady Ranch in Lucas Valley, citing opposition from nearby homeowners and an unending county approval process.
“The level of bitterness and anger expressed by the homeowners in Lucas Valley has convinced us that, even if we were to spend more time and acquire the necessary approvals, we would not be able to maintain a constructive relationship with our neighbors,” the company said in an open letter. “We love working and living in Marin, but the residents of Lucas Valley have fought this project for 25 years, and enough is enough.”
Characterizing Marin as a county “committed to building subdivisions, not business,” Lucasfilm said it plans to construct the studio elsewhere, “in communities that see us as a creative asset, not as an evil empire.”
“We realize our solution to creating open space by placing low-impact commercial facilities on farmland, while permanently preserving over 95 percent of the total acreage, has not been accepted by our neighbors,” it added. “Nor are they or many of the public agencies interested in the [$50 million to $70 million] restoration of the stream. Maybe we’re ahead of our time.”
Lucasfilm’s decision, which follows recent concerns by state and federal agencies over the proposed onsite restoration of Miller Creek, shocked proponents, who saw the project as a source for local jobs and county revenue, as well as foes.
County officials were equally stunned. “It caught us all significantly by surprise,” Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who immediately reached out to the company after hearing of the decision, said. “[George Lucas] has done nothing but give good things to this community. This is a pathetic example of what destructive, self-centered activities by a few can do to a proposal that would benefit many.”
Grady Ranch was to be Lucasfilm’s third development in the valley, preceded by nearby Skywalker and Big Rock Ranches, which house various sound and editing facilities and the George Lucas Education Foundation. Its plans included a 263,701-square-foot main building—significantly smaller in size from the one approved by county planners in a 1996 master plan—underground parking, bridges, a state-of-the art geothermal heating system and the creek restoration.
The project was approved by the planning commission in February, but final approval by the board of supervisors stalled earlier this month after the Lucas Valley Estate Homeowners’ Association appealed the project on the grounds that it would increase traffic and could cause undo ruckus, and after questions about downstream impacts from the proposed creek restoration surfaced.
“We were never flat-out anti-development, so we are not happy that they’ve decided that they are going to go somewhere else,” Liz Dale, a member of the homeowners association, said. “But, though it’s lovely to have benefits and jobs, no one should be asked to suffer, and I think this just may not have been the right site for the development. The name of the game is for everyone to be happy. I thought that was a possibility, but… I’m very respectful of Lucasfilm’s decision to go elsewhere, and I hope they get what they want.”
Since the construction of Skywalker Ranch in 1978, the company said it’s allayed fears of “helicopters landing with celebrities and tour buses coming down Lucas Valley Road.” Traffic has not increased, as some predicted, and the company has donated 95 percent of its land—about 5,000 acres—to the county to be preserved as open space.
But in 2001, after learning that plans to expand its corporate headquarters and video game and visual effects companies would likely be denied, Lucasfilm moved a majority of its employees to San Francisco’s Presidio park. “We’ve had a great partnership with the Presidio Trust and created a low impact facility which offers great benefit to its surrounding community,” the company said.
Lucasfilm had requested that the supervisors delay a final decision on the Grady Ranch project earlier this month, saying it needed more time to review written concerns from the homeowners association submitted only days before the last board meeting. Kinsey said supervisors were prepared to approve the project.
“This is an enormous loss and I’m just trying to get my head around it,” Kinsey said, adding that the creek restoration—which was not required in the master plan—was a great gift that had been unduly scrutinized.
Lucasfilm said it plans to sell the property, “expecting that the land will revert back to its original use for residential housing,” and that it hopes to find a developer with interest in low-income housing. “If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit,” it said.
Kinsey doubted the likelihood of that happening. “The land is so valuable that unless [Lucas] wanted to donate it to affordable housing it’s impossible for me to see how that would play out,” he said. “Any future development by nature will be more sprawling on the land, and yet that’s the pattern those homeowners seem to have set out to prevent.”

Shoreline adds administrator at Tomales

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:26:30 -0700

As part of a personnel move that adds over $20,000 in expenses to a budget already accommodating the recent $33,000 acquisition of an interim principal, Shoreline Unified School District last Thursday introduced Nancy Neu as an additional administrator at Tomales High School for the remainder of the academic year.
The hiring comes amid a period of exceptional turmoil and scrutiny for the district that began after a controversial March 11 meeting in which then West Marin School principal Anne Harris requested the termination of a bilingual teacher’s contract; two weeks later Harris abruptly resigned, and an evaluation of district superintendent Stephen Rosenthal is ongoing.
Marin County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke hired Neu, who retired last June after serving the past 12 years as principal of Redwood High in Larkspur, to both ease the transition for incoming full-time Tomales High principal Adam Jennings, who will begin next year, and allow Rosenthal, who also currently serves as the high school’s principal, more time to focus on his role as district chief. Neu will begin Monday.
“I’m really excited to do this,” she said. “I’m here in a support role—it’s going to be fun. This is the end of the year—there’s lots of activity going on and it’s a stressful time when you’re ending a school year and starting up the next year, so I’m going to do whatever it takes to help make that a smooth transition.”
Neu will be paid $666 per day. Including travel and other expenses, the total cost related to her hiring comes to over $32,000, nearly $11,000 of which will be paid by the county. The extra cost to Shoreline Unified adds to the approximately $33,000 the district is paying for the temporary hiring of Jim Patterson, who stepped in as interim principal at West Marin School after Harris’s departure two weeks ago. Harris remains a paid employee until her resignation becomes effective at the end of the school year.
Concern about Shoreline Unified’s ability to incur the extra cost was somewhat mitigated by Thursday morning’s news that the U.S. Department of Education was paying the district another $645,000 as part of its reimbursement for lost property taxes related to Point Reyes National Seashore’s location within district boundaries. The government funding, called Federal Impact Aid, is granted periodically to some 200 districts in the country primarily because of lost property tax revenue due to the presence of tax-exempt lands. For the current fiscal year, Shoreline Unified had budgeted $1,125,000 for the impact aid; including the newly announced funds it ultimately received a total of $2,388,000.
“When we receive [the funding] is very unpredictable, so it was a surprise but not a shock,” said Susan Skipp, the district’s chief business official. “I knew that there was some money they might be sending us, but I didn’t know about timing—if it would get here before the end of the fiscal year.”
The introduction of Neu at Thursday’s meeting came as the district continues to seek mended community relations amid a firestorm of criticism related to the swift resignation of Harris and what many perceived to be unduly hasty and opaque district personnel decisions.
The board was also confronted with questions about swirling rumors related to a Tomales High teacher recently placed on administrative leave, including one rumor posted on Facebook alleging a pornography investigation. After a tense exchange with a parent concerned about a lack of sufficient official response regarding the rumors, Rosenthal denied any criminal investigation. When pressed with other questions on the issue, he and board members said they were unable to comment.
“There are many talks about what is going to happen and what are the best steps for the district to take,” trustee Kegan Stedwell said about the board’s action related to the teacher. “It’s something that’s being carefully looked at, carefully examined.”
While the board met in closed session at the high school, several parents wandered aimlessly through the school’s empty halls, re-reading posters and gazing at student artwork; others chatted in clusters inside the small auditorium where the meeting took place.
After more than two hours, board president Tim Kehoe emerged from the private talks to greet a mostly fatigued group of parents before returning for further discussion. His message was simple: “No reportable action.”

Jennie Poncia, 1920 – 2012

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:23:09 -0700

Jennie Poncia, a lifelong Tomales dairywoman known for her resourceful spirit and inexhaustible energy, died April 1 at age 92. The mother of two, grandmother of six and great grandmother of eight, Poncia touched many. “Jennie was a strong woman and a caring lady, and one of the easiest people to talk to,” family friend Kathleen Sartori said. “She loved her grandchildren and spent as much time with them as she could before they left the nest. She was very good to her family. She got along with everyone.”
On most days for much of her adult life, Poncia could be found outdoors, chucking hay and slugging dirt. “People would drive by and always see her out in the garden or in a field, in her classic little getup—rubber boots and coveralls, bandana and cotton gloves. She worked her tail off,” her son, Al, said. “If she didn’t have anything to do, she’d find something to do.”
Poncia’s work ethic was renowned. “She was the hardest working woman I ever knew,” friend Mary Zimmerman said. “No sooner than married a week and she was out milking the cows. She raised her kids and still went out to milk the cows. Back and forth to the barn, always checking up on the cows. It never happened that you went by without seeing Jennie doing something. I wish I had half the energy that she had.”
Jennie Marie Albini was born January 10, 1920, in Bodega Bay. Her parents, John and Marietta, were Italian-Americans who had emigrated from the Lake Como region of Italy, where they labored as peasant farmers. “They made their life out of sustainable living,” Al said of the small dairy they built on Coleman Valley Road. “They milked their own cattle, made their own cheese. There was no electricity or running water. They came here just like a lot of immigrants, looking for a better life.”
The third of four children, Poncia learned of the demands and dividends of outdoor labor at a young age. She and her siblings, Americo, Alice and Elsie, worked on the family’s dairy nearly every day, doing chores before and after school, in evenings and on weekends. Poncia loved the work, in part because of the luxuries it afforded: in her spare time she took to riding a black horse named Beauty in the hills.
Poncia went to Tomales High School, but dropped out to work full time on the dairy after her father became ill in the late 1930’s. Never graduating was one of her biggest regrets; decades later, and well into her 60’s, she completed her GED. “She was very proud of that,” Al said.
In 1938, at 18, Poncia married a dairyman from Fallon named Alfred. The two managed a small dairy north of Tomales, milking 35 cows by hand twice a day. They built a house and eventually gave birth to Al and his sister Eduardeen, or “Deenie.”
The dairy’s modest size allowed the Poncias to spend more time together and with friends than some other dairying families. “We didn’t get up quite as early in the morning or come in quite as late at night,” Al said. By late-morning work typically broke for a couple of hours. “Mom would put together lunch and Dad would maybe go into town to pick up the mail. Oftentimes people would drop by, have a drink—a glass of wine, a shot of whiskey or some coffee—some salami, cheese, bread. They entertained a lot.”
Poncia was adept in the kitchen, and was known both for her classic Italian and standard American dishes. A specialty was her Jell-O pudding, which, according to Al, was stuffed with cottage cheese, fruit and nuts. Her home was always well decorated, and was known as a refuge for students and peers during raucous nights out. “Our place was always a safe house for anyone who was out partying or anything,” Deenie said. “Everyone would wind up on the couches and on the floor. Mom loved knowing we were safe.”
Poncia was also a woman of class, and enjoyed social occasions in which she could dress up. “The most amazing things about Jennie was after a long day’s work she would come in the house to freshen up, put on a lovely outfit and get all decked out in her high heels, jewelry, lipstick and nail polish and step out of the house being one of the most beautiful women in the county,” her daughter-in-law Cathie Poncia wrote in an email. “She looked pretty damn cute all made up,” Al said.
To her grandchildren, Poncia was a helpless doter and lasting role model. “Noni loved us unconditionally, perhaps to a fault,” her granddaughter Jessica wrote. “[She] never fussed, never scolded us. She wanted us to feel free to play, find fun, and be kids.” When they visited, she set a warm bowl of tapioca pudding on the kitchen counter.
Poncia adored animals, particularly gimpy ones. “Everyone knew her as the Mother Teresa for animals,” her grandson Loren said. “She’d take in any stray pet and turn them into the most wonderful creature. She would save anything.”
Eventually the children left the ranch, and Poncia busied herself in the community—the Lady Druids, the Tomales PTA, the Altar Society at Church of the Assumption—and took a part-time job driving the school bus for Shoreline Unified. “She would get up at the crack of dawn and feed the calves and then head to the bus shed,” Cathie wrote. Loren, who rode her bus, said Poncia always brought candy with her for the students. “She was not much of a disciplinarian, to be honest,” he said. “All she’d ever say was, ‘Hey, you kids knock that off.’”
Poncia worked on the ranch into her late 80’s, despite former vows to slow down. “It was the only time she lied to me,” Al said. “I remember it was 2002. She pulled me over and said that she would finally retire when she was 85. She didn’t.”
In the last few years, Poncia spent as much time as possible with her immediate and extended family. Her health deteriorated, but her spirit kept on. “It was hard to see her inactive the last year or so,” Sartori said. “I think she worked so hard, the good Lord just decided to finally give her a rest.”

Jennie Poncia is survived by her son, Alfred L. Poncia; daughter, Edwardeen “Deenie” Vendetti; grandchildren Jennifer Poncia, Melissa Williams, Jessica Valentine, Loren Poncia, and J.C. and Darin Vendetti; great grandchildren Lindsay William Valentine, Callan Wells Valentine, Tate Forest Valentine, Perrin Neely Valentine, Fallon Delia Williams, Chapin Gregory Williams, Avery Jane Poncia and Julianna Colman Poncia.