After a contentious year of Valley politics, members of the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group elected a new steering committee this week that promised to welcome all opinions and leave its decisions to the entire group.

A nonprofit organization representing about 300 people, the Planning Group makes local land-use recommendations to county government, which has authority over the unincorporated Valley.

Vying for a seat on the group's nine-member steering committee, which governs the organization, 12 candidates sat before a receptive audience at the San Geronimo Cultural Center and introduced themselves to a crowd of about 100 on a rainy Monday night.

As in previous years, many of the candidates had been active members of the group prior to running for office. And once again, most of the officer candidates were running for a one-year term unopposed.

"I'll try to keep this short," said Woodacre resident Frank Binney, the sole nominee for chairman. "Environmental protection is my thing, but at the same time I'll listen to different points of view ... We've got to make a living and have a good life here."

Lagunitas resident Brent Harris, the lone candidate for group vice-chairman, said the steering committee should support the overall membership. He said it should be more of a "custodian" than a decision-making body.

"Do tell the steering committee members what's on your mind," he said. "Get involved in a committee."

The nominee for treasurer, Woodacre resident Brian Staley, added he expected to work effectively with the other steering committee members. "I'm looking forward to a positive collaboration with the people you choose to vote for tonight," he said.

And Judith Gilbert of Lagunitas, the candidate for secretary, said the group should strive to bridge the "disconnect" between different Valley residents, whom she said shared more in common than not.

The four officers were elected en masse after Staley suggested a motion should be made to vote them in as a slate. Nearly all in the audience raised their pink ballots in the air to affirm their approval of the new officers. There were no votes against them.

Because only the villages of Woodacre and Lagunitas were represented among the officers, the group next had to select village representatives for Forest Knolls and San Geronimo from the eight remaining candidates.

The only Forest Knolls resident before the group was Walter Stevens, who had warned the audience earlier in the evening about the potential development of more than 800 lots in the Valley. Like the others, he said he would trust the democratic process to deal with the issue. The audience affirmed him as the committee's Forest Knolls village representative.

As for the San Geronimo village representative, two candidates were available - incumbent Edie Robinson and Pamalah MacNeily. With a shrug and a smile, MacNeily immediately conceded the position to Robinson, a member of the group since its founding in 1972.

Quietly considering the challenge against Robinson, MacNeily joked, "It's suicide."

A 40-year resident of the San Geronimo Valley, Edie Robinson said she hoped to continue as a "calming influence" on the steering committee. She told the group she had only two desires for the Valley: "I want to see it keep its marvelous rural character. I also want to see harmony among the people."

The group selected Robinson to the committee by a unanimous show of hands.

With six remaining candidates available for three remaining seats on the committee, the audience was asked to complete their secret ballots. When the votes were finally tallied, the top recipients were David Reich of Woodacre, Pamalah MacNeily, and Diane Matthew of Lagunitas.

Reich told the audience that Valley residents expected the group to serve as an environmental watchdog. He said he would strive to keep members and the community at large informed of the group's activities, and to ensure the group accurately represents Valley opinion.

Matthew said her interests leaned towards sustainability, food security, and a vibrant economy, but she noted that land-use decisions have to be made collectively. "The steering committee should really facilitate the group process," she said. "The members should make the decisions."

MacNeily noted she hasn't been actively involved with the group but said she would give it her best effort now that she had been nominated. "Somebody knows I'm a worker bee," she said.