Here are my recommendations for the November 7, 2017 Fairfax, California ballot. Since there are no statewide races or ballot measures this time, I'm only dealing with my local ballot.
I urge you to research the issues and candidates on your own. There are two websites I find particularly helpful: Voter’s Edge, sponsored by MapLight and the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, and Ballotpedia. Both sites enable you to look up your own ballot and find information about the various candidates and issues on the ballot.
I urge you to research the issues and candidates on your own. There are two websites I find particularly helpful: Voter’s Edge, sponsored by MapLight and the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, and Ballotpedia. Both sites enable you to look up your own ballot and find information about the various candidates and issues on the ballot.
Fairfax Town Council (vote for 3)
Barbara Coler
Cindy Swift
Bruce Ackerman
Barbara Coler
Cindy Swift
Bruce Ackerman
Three seats on the Fairfax Town Council are up this election. Two of the incumbents, Barbara Coler and John Reed, are running for reelection. The third, David Weinsoff, is retiring. There are four other candidates: Cindy Swift, Bruce Ackerman, Deborah Benson, and Charles Cornwell.
My feeling is that we have a pretty good town council. It used to be divisive and rancorous, but that changed for the better a few years ago. Now it’s much more civil, respectful, and functional, which doesn’t mean that everyone agrees on everything.
There are some misconceptions floating out there about our town council.
One big one is that they’re going to close Bolinas Road to automobile traffic and make it pedestrian-only. That’s an idea that came out of a workshop held by the town. The workshop was open to anyone, and participants came up with a variety of proposals, including that one. It didn’t come from the council and it is not something that is being seriously considered by the council.
Another is that the council is moving to allow unbridled growth and will destroy the small town character of Fairfax. It’s simply not true.
In my opinion, there are four very good candidates: the two incumbents plus Cindy Swift and Bruce Ackerman. All four have had extensive, positive involvement with the town for many years.
Incumbent John Reed has been on the council for eight years and before that he worked on the town’s general plan and was a board member of Fairfax Volunteers.
Incumbent Barbara Coler is in her fourth year on the council. She previously served on the Fairfax Planning Commission and on the Open Space Committee. She has been praised for her well-reasoned influence on the council. “She always does her homework,” one of her colleagues told me.
Cindy and Bruce both currently serve on the Fairfax Planning Commission, and they’ve been involved with the town in a variety of other ways. Cindy’s volunteer resume is especially impressive (Citizen’s Disaster Council, Community Emergency Response Team, Parks and Recreation Commission, Fairfax Volunteers board, etc.). Bruce was Chair of the Fairfax General Plan Committee and Climate Action Committee, and is committed to finding longterm solutions to problems.
The two remaining candidates lack the depth of experience of their opponents. I don’t think they’d have anything positive to offer and I fear they could return dysfunction to the council.
Initially I planned to support the two incumbents (Barbara Coler and John Reed) and choose between Cindy Swift and Bruce Ackerman for the third seat. However, after having meetings with Cindy and Bruce, and being favorably impressed in each case, I decided I had to support both of them.
It was a tough, close decision, but I’m recommending votes for Barbara Coler, Cindy Swift, and Bruce Ackerman. I wish I could vote for John Reed too. I ended up dropping him out of the top three because I feel that, while he does have some great ideas and has certainly contributed a lot to the town, sometimes he comes up a little short on followthrough.
I encourage you to do your own research. And make sure you vote on November 7!
My feeling is that we have a pretty good town council. It used to be divisive and rancorous, but that changed for the better a few years ago. Now it’s much more civil, respectful, and functional, which doesn’t mean that everyone agrees on everything.
There are some misconceptions floating out there about our town council.
One big one is that they’re going to close Bolinas Road to automobile traffic and make it pedestrian-only. That’s an idea that came out of a workshop held by the town. The workshop was open to anyone, and participants came up with a variety of proposals, including that one. It didn’t come from the council and it is not something that is being seriously considered by the council.
Another is that the council is moving to allow unbridled growth and will destroy the small town character of Fairfax. It’s simply not true.
In my opinion, there are four very good candidates: the two incumbents plus Cindy Swift and Bruce Ackerman. All four have had extensive, positive involvement with the town for many years.
Incumbent John Reed has been on the council for eight years and before that he worked on the town’s general plan and was a board member of Fairfax Volunteers.
Incumbent Barbara Coler is in her fourth year on the council. She previously served on the Fairfax Planning Commission and on the Open Space Committee. She has been praised for her well-reasoned influence on the council. “She always does her homework,” one of her colleagues told me.
Cindy and Bruce both currently serve on the Fairfax Planning Commission, and they’ve been involved with the town in a variety of other ways. Cindy’s volunteer resume is especially impressive (Citizen’s Disaster Council, Community Emergency Response Team, Parks and Recreation Commission, Fairfax Volunteers board, etc.). Bruce was Chair of the Fairfax General Plan Committee and Climate Action Committee, and is committed to finding longterm solutions to problems.
The two remaining candidates lack the depth of experience of their opponents. I don’t think they’d have anything positive to offer and I fear they could return dysfunction to the council.
Initially I planned to support the two incumbents (Barbara Coler and John Reed) and choose between Cindy Swift and Bruce Ackerman for the third seat. However, after having meetings with Cindy and Bruce, and being favorably impressed in each case, I decided I had to support both of them.
It was a tough, close decision, but I’m recommending votes for Barbara Coler, Cindy Swift, and Bruce Ackerman. I wish I could vote for John Reed too. I ended up dropping him out of the top three because I feel that, while he does have some great ideas and has certainly contributed a lot to the town, sometimes he comes up a little short on followthrough.
I encourage you to do your own research. And make sure you vote on November 7!
