• SHARED DISPATCH SERVICES WITH SAN ANSELMO?

    The public is invited to attend a community meeting to provide input on the possibility of shared dispatch and records services between the towns of Fairfax and San Anselmo.

    The two Town Councils held joint meetings in the spring of 2007 to determine if there were services that could be shared to reduce expenses and/or improve services. A Joint Shared Services Subcommittee was created, composed of two Council members from each Town, to study the issues further.

    The subcommittee has agreed to hire an outside consultant to conduct a study on potential cost savings and/or benefits of combining the two Police dispatch/records units into one that would serve both towns. The consulting firm of Lewis-McCrary Partners has been hired to conduct this study.

    An important part of the study is a community meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to collect facts from community stakeholders regarding potential concerns. The community meeting is scheduled early in the study so that stakeholder issues can help guide the process. The meeting will be moderated by Michael McCrary of Lewis-McCrary Partners.

    The community meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at Isabel Cook Community Center, 1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo in the Vista Room (located toward the rear of the parking lot).




  • Town of Fairfax Hires New Public Works Director

    On April 3, 2008, Fairfax Town Manager Michael Rock announced the appointment of Kathy Wilkie as the Town’s new Public Works Director. Kathy is currently the Senior Management Analyst for the City of Fairfield, CA, a position she has held for over a year and a half. Prior to working for the City of Fairfield Kathy worked for the City of Walnut Creek for over 19 years in Community Development and Public Works Departments.

    Over her career Kathy has performed traffic engineering, project management and administrative analyst duties including solid waste contract management and grant administration.

    Kathy was awarded “Employee of the Year” for the City of Walnut Creek in 2002 and received a resolution from the Walnut Creek City Council for her outstanding work coordinating the Safety Faire in 1998. Kathy has a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s College in Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from California State University at Hayward. Her Master’s Thesis was titled Engaging Citizens in Governing, The Case of Walnut Creek.

    Kathy’s responsibilities will include oversight of all public works projects, parks projects and maintenance, storm drainage, and Town facilities. She will continue work on the Town’s disaster recovery projects, Measure K infrastructure bond priorities, street improvements, and ensure that day to day service requests are fulfilled.

    “Kathy’s skills and experience are a good match for the many infrastructure issues she will manage in Fairfax. I am especially impressed with her understanding of how to work with the community and her many years of local government experience” said Town Manager Michael Rock.

    Kathy is filling a vacancy in the Public Works Director position that occurred after former Director Michael Rock accepted the Town Manager position.

    Her first day with the Town will be Monday, April 28th and she will be introduced to the community at the regular Town Council meeting of May 7th.




  • CHAMBER AND COUNCIL WORK TOGETHER TO ENHANCE DOWNTOWN

    Prize winning business consultant, Pam Gibson, presented her assessment of downtown Fairfax businesses and what can be done to make them more successful at a very well attended Town Council meeting on Saturday, April 26th. Ms. Gibson has been hired by the Town to guide us in creating a more sustainable and successful business climate downtown. She will be visiting the downtown merchants and surveying as many as possible as part of her efforts. A video of the meeting and a recording are available for those of you who were unable to attend the meeting in person. It was exciting and positive to hear from the various merchants, from the Chamber, and from the Town Council about their commitment to work together to make our Town the most vibrant place in Marin. Some of the topics covered included:

    The Chamber's Bolinas Road Street Tree Improvement Plan to provide seating and shade with new tree planting and a crosswalk at Mono Alley to make the street more attractive and pedestrian friendly.

    The Town's plan to widen sidewalks along Bolinas Road and the identification of funding to make it happen as well as suggestions about how to make the sidewalks decorative and unique.

    Creative solutions for filling the vacant commercial spaces were presented by Ms. Gibson and by others.

    Discussion was held about branding Fairfax as the entertainment capital of Marin or the greenest town, or some other designation as a way of marketing the amenities available in Town.

    The positive impact for citizens when they shop locally was explained.

    Appreciation from the Chamber and from business owners was expressed for the willingness of the Council to create a positive pro-business environment.

    The value of retail businesses in the downtown and how to encourage retail was discussed.

    Discussion of the possibility of the establishment of a Redevelopment Agency.

    Discussion of how to use the Town's Web site to make it more helpful to businesses.

    Discussion of how to build customer loyalty and the possible use of business mentors for new businesses in town.

    The discussion about how to bring more customers to the downtown included suggestions like creating great places to "hang out," building centralized parking nearby to encourage walking, and creating community gathering places.

    The importance of the community values and the unique culture of Fairfax was discussed. There was a consensus of those present that this local culture could be used to draw people to the downtown area.

    Check the Web site for the progress of this exciting new effort to “grow” our businesses downtown.




  • CENTER BOULEVARD PROJECT NOW IN FULL SWING

    As many residents and visitors have noticed, the Center Boulevard Improvement Project is in full swing. Concrete has been poured and new sidewalks are in along with new ramps for disabled access. There has been much discussion about how many crosswalks are being installed and at what locations. There are three crosswalks being installed. One will be at the Post Office, one at Center and Pastori, and one at the main entrance to Fair-Anselm.

    The contractor, Ghilotti Brothers, estimates that they will complete the project at the end of May of this year. There will still be work on Pastori well into the summer, including the overlay of Pastori once the new storm drain is installed.

    PLEASE BE REMINDED ALL ALL BUSINESSES ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS THROUGHOUT THE CONSTRUCTION PERIOD AND THERE WILL BE ACCESS AT ALL TIMES.