A new working group representing seven coastal villages has been established to better communicate the concerns of local residents with county and state agencies, namely in regards to tourism, traffic and waste management. “Ever since I moved here in 2010, I’ve wondered why the villages haven’t had a council,” Bob Johnston, the representative for Inverness, said. “It’s a basic rule in politics: if you don’t form a coalition, you can’t get anywhere.” The other West Marin representatives are Lori Kyle of Marshall, Karen Gray of Point Reyes Station, Karen Anderson of Olema Valley, Peter Gradjansky of Inverness Park, Jennifer Blackman of Bolinas and Mike Matthews of Stinson Beach. The communication cadre grew out of Senator Mike McGuire’s town hall visit to Point Reyes Station last month, an event co-presented by the Point Reyes Station Village Association. Representatives, each of whom were nominated to volunteer on the group by their respective village association or the equivalent, will have quarterly meetings with representatives from Sen. McGuire’s office, District Four Supervisor Dennis Rodoni’s office, the California Coastal Commission, California Highway Patrol, Caltrans, Point Reyes National Seashore and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. The first meeting is slated for May 4, when Sen. McGuire said they will identify action plans for each of the three issues and design a schedule to keep everyone on track. “I’m a big believer in follow-up action plans and timelines,” Sen. McGuire said. He said the group will also discuss each question asked by audience members at the town hall. Mr. Matthews, the Stinson Beach representative, said his focus is on traffic, which can transform his town into a nightmare on summer weekends. “There are people who could sit in traffic for two hours,” he said. “I was the one who suggested that local people could be trained to direct traffic. I think it would have to be a process through the Sheriff’s department, but it could start with coverage on the weekends. That’s when we need it—when we have an extra 7,500 people in town.” Tourism continues to have both positive and negative effects on the community. The Point Reyes National Seashore released an economic analysis last week stating that 2.4 million tourists came to the seashore last year, spending $107 million in the surrounding communities. That money, according to the peer-reviewed analysis, in turn supported 1,361 jobs in West Marin.