3 Supervisor Seats On June Primary Ballot In Marin County

MARIN COUNTY, CA - Thirteen candidates, including two incumbents, are vying for three seats on the Marin County Board of Supervisors in the June 7 election.

Eight of those candidates are running for the Fourth District seat of Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who has been on the board of supervisors since 1996 and is not running for re-election.

Incumbent Katie Rice, of San Anselmo, faces a re-election challenge in the Second District from Frank Egger of Fairfax, the director of the Ross Valley Sanitary District, and environmental attorney Kevin Haroff of Larkspur.

Third District Supervisor Kate Sears is running against businesswoman and nonprofit executive Susan Kirsch, co-founder of Citizen Marin. Sears, of Sausalito, and Kirsch, of Mill Valley, both oppose using pesticides in parks and public land in the county, and have called for adding a third traffic lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Sears and Kirsch also seem to agree that Marin County cannot build its way out of the affordable housing dilemma in a county where the median price of a home is more than $1 million.

Sears said allowing second and junior second units -- bedrooms converted to small apartments -- should be explored before rushing to build more housing.

Kirsch also says building more housing benefits developers, investors and bankers and is rarely affordable. She favors preserving existing housing, smaller units and shared spaces to make housing more affordable.

Campaign contributions between Jan. 1 and April 23 show that Sears and Kirsch have received nearly $550,000, the costliest of the three contests.

Candidates in all three districts must file another campaign contribution report on or by May 26.

The eight candidates in the Fourth District are risk management consultant Al Dugan, sociologist Alex Easton-Brown, rancher and business owner Dominic Grossi and safe routes director Wendi Kallins.

Also on the ballot are disaster operations supervisor Tomas P. Kaselionis; Dennis Rodoni, director of the North Marin Water District; planner, designer and builder Brian Staley and singer, songwriter and homemaker Mari "Mari Mack" Tamburo.

In each district, the candidate that wins 50 percent of the vote plus one vote is elected to the seat. If no candidate in a district race gets above 50 percent, the two candidates with the most votes face off in November.

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