The Mayor’s Week in Review: April 29-May 5

Let’s consider things “such as Alto Tunnel,” housing and safety...

Three issues consumed my week. As always, safety first: 

We held our annual evacuation drill on Saturday. 

This year’s focused on the “Edgewood – Panoramic” part of the city. The goals of this exercise included: a limited evacuation of residents from a high-hazard, wildland-urban fire threat; activation and testing of the Telephonic Emergency Notification System (“TENS”), Cascade Canyon siren, and aerial warnings; cross-functional collaboration between and among fire, police, CERT (community emergency response teams), Humane Society, Red Cross, Marin Medical Reserves Corps, Salvation Army, Whistlestop on Wheels, and County Search & Rescue; gathering participant feedback; and of course, training. 

The drill was run under the command of our Fire Chief, Jeff (yes, “the best looking man in Mill Valley”) Davidson, who was joined by Police Chief Angel Bernal, and other representatives from the Marin County Sheriff’s Department, Marin County Fire, Southern Marin Fire, and public safety agencies (both police and fire) from virtually every other city in the county. 

Simply put: an amazing display of force and protection. Needless to say, there was an air of solemnity with actual fires taking place in southern California, to which we have dispatched teams, looming over everyone’s heads. 

So what hit me square in the face today?

No. 1: Mill Valley faces a serious fire threat, and will be a very difficult place to fight any fire.

No. 2: Mill Valley continues to provide the “best practices” for others in the county in preparing for a major fire.

No. 3: Mill Valley has great relationships with all the other public safety agencies in the county – and we will need their friendship to deal with any fire here.

No. 4: Our community volunteers are amazing – and will be the feet on the street helping many of us in an actual disaster (since the firefighters will be very busy, and the police will be dealing with all the other safety issues).

No. 5: Our employees – and particularly fire, police and public works – are amazing too – and make no mistake here: when a fire hits, all of them will be involved.

No. 6: All hail Jeff and Angel and their departments. These folks will always be front and center, and I sleep better at night just knowing that.

No. 7: It’s important to do basic fire prevention at home, particularly since this is Wildfire Awareness Week. For starters: create and maintain defensible space around your home!

‘Nuff said.  Get Ready!

Next ... Housing:

This is a very important topic too, and arose as part of the General Plan Advisory Committee’s (“GPAC”) review of the draft Housing Element (which is both a standalone document and a part of the draft General Plan). Here are some of the important principles you need to know on this topic (many of these points well articulated by GPAC member Burton Miller):

• The GPAC process is well conceived, well managed and well considered.
• The GPAC has and will continue to do its best to craft a Housing Element responsive to our vision, community values and specific needs. 
• Overall the Draft Housing Element is a vast improvement over the 2003 certified Housing Element. The most notable improvement is the move away from an overlay district of large, multi-unit, mixed-use developments concentrated on Miller Avenue to a more typologically diverse, dispersed or “scattered” planning methodology. 
• The consultant team – Karen Warner Associates and Metropolitan Planning Group – “get it,” and have developed a planning model appropriate to Mill Valley and our small town character.
• Success (a state-certified Housing Element) requires being true to Mill Valley’s needs while carefully navigating those of outside agencies.
• We will get a legal opinion on the validity of an affordable housing impact fee before even considering one.
• We recognize that the City Council will ultimately decide whether an advisory housing committee should be created.

And then there’s things “such as Alto Tunnel” ... Suffice it to say that the GPAC unanimously agreed to support consideration of the feasibility assessments for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, such as Alto Tunnel, Camino Alto, and Horse Hill, that may connect Mill Valley to more of Marin.

Come see us at the Community Center on May 14 and learn more.

What else:

May is National Bike Month. National Bike Month started in 1956 and has inspired countless bike rides, safety inspections for bikes and helmets, share the road promotions, and other celebrations of bicycling in communities across the nation.  One of the most popular activities during Bike Month is encouraging people to ride bikes to work and school. Mill Valley schools will be hosting a Ride to School Day on May 8. The following day, May 9, is Ride to Work. Ride on!

May is also Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month calls attention to the dangers and vulnerabilities motorcyclists face on the road.  Please remember to share the road with motorcycles too. Be aware and be safe!

Around town this coming week:

Monday: City Council Meeting - 7:30 p.m. - City Hall. 

Tuesday: First Tuesday Artwalk – 6 p.m. - various locations. 

Wednesday: American Experience Book Club - "Play It As It Lays" by Joan Didion – 7 PM - Creekside Room, Mill Valley Public Library. 

Thursday: Emergency Preparedness Commission Meeting - 7 p.m. - City Hall. 

Saturday: 

• Bloomathon Planting – 9 a.m. - at the Community Center, Golf Course, and Lytton Square.
• Origami Boat Race – 12 to 1:30 PM - Creekside Room, Mill Valley Public Library. Origami expert Jeremy Shafer will demonstrate origami boat making, then move outside to Old Mill Creek Park and send our boats merrily down the stream. Wear old clothes and rubber boots - there will be mud!
• 1st Annual Marin Healthy Palooza! From 10 am – 5 pm at the Community Center, this health & wellness fair feature speakers, lectures, workshops, natural products and services with fitness demonstrations from health and wellness experts, including Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Elson Haas, Dr. Joshua Coleman, Joanie Greegains and more. 

Take care this week.  And thank you, as always, for reading.

Andy