Grand jury played a role in the creation of MWPA

I served as foreperson for the 2018-2019 Marin County Civil Grand Jury. Since then, I have been often asked by those considering it if the work of the grand jury actually brings about change.

The grand jury chooses subjects to study that involve local government within the county. The grand jury then extensively investigates those subjects and writes reports based on the investigations. Elected officials responsible for the areas researched are required by law to respond to the recommendations contained in the report.

The fires in Los Angeles have emphasized one great success of the grand jury. In the shadow of the 2017 wildfires, the 2018-19 grand jury wrote “Wildfire Preparedness: A New Approach,” which was Issued on April 25, 2019. A couple months later, 17 eligible agencies had agreed to form a joint-powers authority to work together to mitigate wildfire risk and prepare for inevitable wildfires. In March of 2020, Measure C, a 10-year tax agreement, passed with 70.8% of the vote. The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority was born.

The collaboration that MWPA created is unique in California and perhaps in the United States. Much has already been accomplished. There are vast vegetation management projects, including the Ross Valley and Novato shaded-fuel breaks and the San Rafael-San Anselmo fuel-reduction zone project. There are projects working on evacuations like the evacuation ingress-egress risk assessment being conducted by Sonoma Technology.

Of great interest, the MWPA is working with insurance companies to see that mitigation efforts being taken by the agency and by homeowners are being considered in setting rates.

Marin Civil Grand Jury reports do bring about change. Sometimes that change is the role reports play in creating impactful organizations like the MWPA. Sometimes change is more gradual.

— Patricia Randolph, San Rafael

Now is not the time to close Ross fire station

The recent wildfires in the Los Angeles area leveled homes, took so many lives and caused injuries. That should be a good enough reason to keep the Ross fire station open and staffed with an engine around the clock every day of the year (“Ross Valley fire board reaffirms Ross station closure target,” Jan. 16).

Worsening the response time for any community is not worth the risk right now. We have witnessed how quickly wind and fire can be so destructive and deadly, and we know that all residents need all the protection possible at any time.

— Ron Naso, Kentfield

Garbarino remembered for community kindness

Thanks to the IJ editorial board for recognizing the recent passing of Joe Garbarino while mentioning all he has done for recycling and turning your garbage away from landfills wherever possible (“Garbarino helped Marin set the tone for recycling,” Jan. 5).

I remember an article in National Geographic magazine about Mr. Garbarino and his work on recycling. I recall that it included a family photo with his young daughter Patty Garbarino, who is now president and CEO of Marin Sanitary Service.

Mr. Garbarino should also be remembered as being a giving member of our community.

He would give any group a tour of his military-vehicle collection. I recall that he truly took care of the people that helped him with the restoration of his antique vehicles. He truly tried to help everyone in Marin.

Mr. Garbarino was always there to give a hand. Marin County was so fortunate to have such community-minded individuals like him and former Mayor Al Boro. I will miss their energy and generosity of their time.

— Gladys C. Gilliland, San Rafael

Mill Valley School District needs help with budget

I attended the recent Mill Valley School District meeting (“Mill Valley School District approves $6M in cuts to narrow deficit,” Jan. 18). I went to support transitional kindergarten, but I left convinced that the district needs help.

At the meeting, the superintendent presented the board with a plan to help with the disastrous surprise budget deficit. TK is one of the items to be cut. Like many in attendance, I was disappointed.

But what I heard in that board meeting convinced me that MVSD has larger issues. I don’t think the board members have a grasp of the budget problem. They appear to have a fundamental misunderstanding of their roles. Our elected representatives need to provide fiscal oversight. In fact, the board must be the final word on fiscal oversight.

While I am aware that some committees exist to monitor MVSD funding and spending, I think there needs to be a dedicated budget oversight committee.

Our community is full of motivated, intelligent people. If the Mill Valley School Board of Trustees needs help with finance, it’s OK to ask for help. I am certain a qualified group of volunteers from the community would be willing to meet regularly and provide the financial guidance and oversight needed to fix this budget deficit.

— Jonathan Kathrein, Mill Valley

US should lift all trade sanctions with Cuba

I, for one, am glad to see some restrictions on Cuba lifted (“Biden moves to lift state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba, part of deal to free prisoners,” Jan. 15).

I believe that if all trade sanctions on Cuba were lifted, it would naturally drift toward capitalism.

The economy has been repressed for so long that Cubans are hungry for trade and would pretty quickly be courted by U.S. companies wanting to do business there.

Once the repressed Cuban population sees what capitalism has to offer, it will like what it sees. Personally, I see cruise ships, resorts, casinos, McDonald’s, IKEA, Best Buy, Amazon and 90-inch TVs in its future.

The people who hate Cuba because the Communist Party is the sole ruling party now should have more faith in the strength and appeal of capitalism.

Given the chance, I think capitalism will quickly overwhelm it as demand for imports soars from Cubans with money in their pockets.

I believe that having a large island only 90 miles away from the U.S. as a friend is a plus for everybody. It’s high time to reconsider our relationship with Cuba.

— Michelle Kaye, Corte Madera

There’s too much frivolous waste of public funding

I hold a faint hope for “dribble down” fiscal responsibility from the new administration. But regardless if that happens or not, I think we are throwing way too much public money to consultants regarding the bicycle and pedestrian lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Back when it was approved, I think transportation officials were trying to assuage bullies in the bicycle coalitions. After spending all that money to install it, we had to pay even more public money to decide what to do about the little-used lane.

Meanwhile, far too much public money is going to support the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District. There are far too few people riding it, even with free or deeply discounted tickets. I don’t think there is a faint chance that it will ever pay for more than a tiny fraction of itself.

Meanwhile, public money goes to support schools with leadership, in some areas, that seem to prioritize name changes and divisive courses like ethnic studies over the core literacy and mathematics achievement scores (which I consider low and dropping — even in affluent districts). I find it especially frustrating that Marin has so many fully staffed tiny school districts (each with its own funding) while areas with much larger populations do fine with just one.

This total lack of common sense would be amusing if it were not so appalling.

— Carol Lankford-Gross, Muir Beach