Candidates for Fourth District supervisor, Dotty LeMieux and Steve Kinsey, on Tuesday spoke to 150 people who attended a forum at Lagunitas School in the San Geronimo Valley. What follows are their answers to questions either specific to the Valley or discussed at recent meetings of Valley organizations.
Four more forums are scheduled before the Nov. 5 election: Tomales Town Hall, 10 a.m. Oct. 19; Novato Rotary Club at Red Lobster, Vintage Oaks, 7:30 a.m. Oct. 22; Stinson Beach Community Center, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 22; Larkspur City Hall, 7:30 p.m.
What do you think separates you from your opponent on agricultural issues in Marin?
Kinsey: "The differences are going to be more in terms of being able to work with the different factions...You need to be balanced in your approach to bringing a new agriculture into the existing ranchland. I have experience in working closely with the water district to find a win-win situation where the water district can make some money and growers can find some water."
LeMieux: "The key difference between us is my long track record of working with the agricultural zoning laws and land use and being willing and able to stand firm to make sure we didn't make any inroads that would harm agriculture...I have to question Steve's scheme for bringing water from MMWD reservoirs for agriculture. It sounds very nice, but what's going to keep that water from fueling the kind of growth we don't want?"
How do you feel about unapproved second units?
LeMieux: "Second units is one of the ways we can provide alternative housing. I think it's important that they be in scale and truly second units, not houses. We need to have mechanisms in place so that they can be built properly and can be affordable, whether that means some sort of rent control, I'm not sure, but we have to look at the options."
Kinsey: "It is the responsibility of the supervisors to accommodate and continue the opportunity for those unapproved second units to exist. If anything I would like to remove the stigma of an outlaw that exists around second units, whether or not it comes through an amnesty program or through a continued non-enforcement policy."
What are three concrete proposals each of you have to strengthen the public schools?
LeMieux: "It is the supervisors' duty to be involved in education and there are a number of areas, areas of public health, that we can be involved: AIDS education, public health in drug awareness, and the county needs to be involved to make sure those programs are part of the public school system. The fourth district also encompasses the Canal district of San Rafael, so I would support bilingual education and other programs that help the kids [afterschool programs, parent organized art and soccer programs]."
Kinsey: "The most significant thing supervisors can do to support our public schools is to continue to beat on our state officials around the funding issues. Collaborations like Healthy Start...are very helpful for bringing together the county government, the nonprofits and the school community...And lastly there are the few and special opportunities to provide seed funding for school programs."
What are you going to do about a safe bike/walk trail from Woodacre to Lagunitas?
Kinsey: "We are going to have to sit down and talk about where the areas are creating safety problems, and go about making it right."
LeMieux: "I really can't address your issues of your bike path. But I think it's an important issue overall, one of the issues that the supervisor has to look at...It's important to have safe bike paths, not just for kids but for adults too."
Is there anything that can be done to stop French Ranch development or at least reduce the number of houses from 32 back to 26?
LeMieux: "I know that many of you supported the outcome that has been reached and many of you do not...Whether it can be reduced at this point, I'm not in a position to say. As a supervisor, I will make sure developments like this are done with the advice and consent of the people who are concerned...I will sit down with you personally to make sure the development is the right development or if it's not the right development, it doesn't happen."
Kinsey: "With the French Ranch development I took a leadership role in working with the community. A wide range of community interests were satisfied with the outcome...We have an approved master plan. There really is no going back. Keep in mind that this was a project supported by our school district, community based plan group, equestrians, property owners, county board of supervisors and planning department."
Some of your [Kinsey's] very articulate supporters have said the French Ranch deal was a "win-win" situation. My question is, what did we win in the Valley?"
Kinsey: "What would have been protected [as open space] was 450 acres of land for a private equestrian center that we could only look at. In addition to that, we've created a sustainable future with an innovative waste treatment program. We've cleared the hills from any visible homes from our school campus so our kids when they look out see the land as a resource, not as a result of some material world...We put a maximum cap on the total square footage of houses so we could hold our community character."
LeMieux: "I think it is important to note it's ARP [agriculture-residential planned] zoning, the same zoning as the [filmmaker George] Lucas property. Buildings have to be clustered, and the rest of it has to be either open space or agriculture...Typically developers deed over the open space lands to the county because it takes away any liability from them...We certainly would have had the open space one way or another because of the zoning."
Did you [Kinsey] personally make this [French Ranch] deal up and bring it to the county or was it a consensus?
Kinsey: "The question is whether I cut a deal for our whole community on the French Ranch. The answer is, of course not. This project went through an incredible process in which...Jean Berensmeier and I went to each county supervisor as representatives of the two organizations, talked about the possibility of securing additional benefits from the board of supervisors, came back, spoke with the individual organizations involved, then took a proposal to each of our organizations...My role was as a catalyst, a creative problem solver."
LeMieux: "I'd like to respond to that just to say I think you need to ask the community and other people involved that question."