Belvedere honors former mayor for community service

Former Belvedere mayor James Campbell has been chosen for the city’s 2023 “citizen of the year” award.

Campbell received the honor at city’s annual meeting last week. The citizen of the year committee, which is composed of previous winners, cited Campbell for his volunteerism and leadership in the community.

“I think it’s such a great tradition in this community that they do every year to recognize a couple volunteers because the greatest gift you can give a volunteer is thanks,” Campbell said. “So this is a really nice way of saying thank you for what you’ve done.”

As a volunteer, Campbell runs Harvey’s Garden, a water-efficient, pesticide-free public plot at Blackie’s Pasture in Tiburon. He also organizes the yearly photo contest and the coastal cleanup event at Richardson Bay.

Campbell said previous community leaders asked him to help, then later handed him the baton.

“I’m a guy who can’t say no,” Campbell said. “I tease — it’s really been a great pleasure, and all these things are really fun.”

Campbell is a counselor with the Save the Redwoods League, a nonprofit organization that raises money to buy and donate land to conserve the trees. He also is a commissioner with the Great Redwood Trail, a 316-mile project that connects San Francisco Bay and Humboldt Bay through a hiking and biking trail that uses old railways.

Campbell moved from San Francisco to Belvedere around 17 years ago. He quickly became involved in the Belvedere Parks, Open Spaces and Lanes Committee and was appointed its chair.

He joined the Planning Commission and became the chair, and when a spot on the City Council opened up, he was chosen for it. He spent two years as an appointed member before getting elected.

Campbell said he appreciated the engagement of the public during his time on the council. He said in bigger cities, people might feel like their opinions on an issue would not make a difference, so they do not participate in public meetings.

“People know who you are and they are paying attention to what’s going on and they will tell you things,” Campbell said. “This is a very engaged community where people really do pay attention to what’s going on and let you know how they feel about things.”

Campbell said his favorite part of Belvedere is the sense of community and its small town feel.

“Everybody knows everybody else in town and it’s just the perfect size where you can really be familiar with your neighbors,” Campbell said. “It’s just a small town feeling that feels very homey to me. I just love it.”

Mayor Peter Mark said Campbell is an exceptional candidate for the award. He said the award cannot be presented to someone on any city boards, councils or committees — which Campbell had been for the majority of the time he has lived in Belvedere.

“James has been a huge asset and it’s been a privilege to work with and for him in many cases,” Mark said. “It was a long time coming.”