Dick Spotswood: Marin election filings include provocative developments

Filing for local elected offices closed last Friday for posts where the incumbent filed for reelection. There’s a filing extension through Wednesday for races where an incumbent officer holder does not file for another term.

We’re already seeing provocative developments. Clearly, 2024 is a year in which politics changes at warp speed, even here in Marin.

I have often mentioned the positive rewards of serving in public office, whether elected or appointed. We are now seeing proof-positive just how rewarding elected office in small towns can be. A surprising number of past mayors who left public office years ago are vying to make comebacks this November.

It’s an impressive list. Former Tiburon Mayor Andrew Thompson is running again after a 12-year hiatus. He’ll face incumbents Holli Thier and Isaac Nikfar and anyone else who files at the last minute.

Most past mayors are running again for reasons similar to what Thompson recounted in a recent interview.

“I loved my time on the council, and we made huge gains,” Thompson said. “I’m not running against anyone. I’m doing it because I can provide better leadership.”

Thompson now has ample time to serve, as his daughter is grown and he’s semi-retired as a commercial real estate broker.

In San Anselmo, two prior mayors took out papers, attorney Ford Greene and architect Jeff Kroot, though both haven’t yet made a final decision whether to run. Hub City Councilmember Brian Colbert won’t run for reelection as he’s a top-two candidate for the Second District seat on the Marin County Board of Supervisors. He is running against Kentfield businesswoman Heather McPhail Sridharan. Thus, filing in San Anselmo remains open until this Wednesday.

In Fairfax, one of the town’s best-known figures, past mayor Frank Egger, is running after a long gap, as is former mayor and restaurateur Mike Ghiringhelli. Both were defeated in the brutal 2004 town election. Now, after 20 years off the council, Egger says of his old rival, “Mike and I have become friends. He’s even selling my Cazadero wines.”

Egger believes his town’s government has gone astray. He wants to get it back on what he believes is the right track.

Last year, past San Anselmo Vice Mayor Doug Kelly, a current Ross Valley Sanitary District director, moved from his old home to a new residence in Fairfax. Kelly, who is running for Fairfax Town Council, says he’s hardly a stranger, since “I’ve lived within 1.3 miles of Fairfax Town Hall for the past 28 years.”

Until the end of 2023, Adam McGill was Novato’s city manager. Previously, he was the city’s police chief. Now he’s throwing his hat into the ring to campaign for the seven-member Marin County Board of Education in Novato-centered Area 1. McGill, who wrote “father/city manager” as his occupation to be printed on the ballot, will run against the incumbent Li Delpan and newcomer Barbara Clifton Zarate.

Sara Aminzadeh has taken out papers to run for one of the open seats on the Kentfield School Board. She was appointed to the board to fill an opening just last year. Her day job is deputy secretary of external affairs at California’s Natural Resources Agency, where she leads federal relations with California’s congressional delegation. In 2022, Aminzadeh lost a hard-fought race to become the Marin-Sonoma state assemblymember. The narrow election was won by Damon Connolly. It’s another example of how rewarding it is to serve – even as an unpaid school trustee.

At least one incumbent council member won’t seek another term. Mill Valley’s Jim Wickham has long said he wouldn’t run again, honoring the city’s informal term limit tradition. Wickham, a retired city police captain, a popular consensus-building mayor, is stepping down after 10 years of service.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes on local issues Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.