Ten Questions and Answers about my stance

By Tarey Ayn Read

The Marin IJ surveyed each candidate with these questions. Here is my full response.

• Bio

Age: 64

Occupation: Incumbent Marinwood CSD Board member; Tax and Estate Planning attorney; US Coast Guard Auxiliary

Education: Juris Doctor, University of Puget Sound School of Law;

Master of Tax Law, Golden Gate University School of Law;

Bachelor of Economics, Boise State University

Ethics training for elected officials and Employment Practices, SDRMA. Finances for special districts, CSDA. Organization of leadership in emergencies (Intro to Incident Command System), FEMA. Protecting Personal Information, Sexual Harassment Prevention, Ethics, DHS. Fire Ops 101, 2013 and 2015. Fire in Marin. GetReadyMarin.

Experience: Incumbent Marinwood Community Services District Board of Directors, 9 years; Marinwood CSD President 2009, 2015, Marinwood resident 23 years; estate and tax law 25 years; financial analyst 15 years; environment and consumer protection advocate.

• IJ Q&A

1. What is the key issue in this race? Restructuring to maintain service levels with minimum or zero tax increases. Our property tax base is very slow-growing and limited. We are ineligible for sales taxes. We must find money inside our budget and with outside means (grants, donations, joint purchasing, and other means of increasing revenue) to deal with pension issues and other needs.

2. How many affordable housing units, and how many market rate units, should be allowed as part of Marinwood Plaza development? Housing is not in the primary scope of interest for Marinwood CSD; our charter is for fire and emergency services, parks and recreation, open space, and street lighting. However, we are concerned that our current residents of Marinwood are not impacted by ongoing attempts to increase the number of units in Marinwood's sphere of influence. The ultimate number depends on what plan can be worked out that makes development economically feasible. Idealism must be married to reality for anything to be built. Final numbers are dependent on that marriage.

3. Should Marinwood's fire department be merged with San Rafael's to cut costs? Marinwood and San Rafael Fire have a long history of cooperation and collaboration. We should continue to explore any and all options that provide the highest levels of service to our residents and those that visit our community, while ensuring that we maintain local control and ensure financial equity and responsibility. Public safety is our most important function and we need to do what is necessary to protect those we serve.

4. What will you do about the Marinwood district's unfunded pension liability? We will continue to move forward with the significant changes we have already made, while coordinating with State and other local efforts to ensure the long term viability of the plans. We will continue to aggressively look for ways to address the unfunded pension and OPEB liabilities and pre-fund whenever possible. Within Marinwood we still have some avenues to explore that could help change the projections.

5. What do you think about George Lucas' plan to build an affordable housing complex at Grady Ranch? Again, housing is not in the primary charter of the Marinwood CSD, but any and all development will have an impact on our beautiful community, and as such we need to pay close attention. I am a strong supporter of workforce housing (Firefighters, Teachers, Law Enforcement, Nurses, etc. should be able to live near where they work) and support affordable housing for Seniors. We have a terrific community and we should be honored that people wish to be or remain a part of it.

6. Where would you cut Marinwood's budget? Marinwood has been examining and refining its budget since before the recession. I will continue to look for and explore ways to save money without a cutback of the exemplary programs and services we now provide. Where would you add to it -- and where would the money to do that come from? We need firm plans for dealing with pensions, OPEB, maintenance and capital replacement. We have a dedicated and talented staff and need to retain them. I will continue to work closely with my colleagues, the staff, the commissions, and the community to refine our business model, and to aggressively seek outside funding.

7. How can county government better serve Marinwood? The County can work more closely with county agencies both large and small to address the wants and needs of our residents.

8. What's your view of Supervisor Damon Connolly's performance so far? Damon has been visible, present, responsive and responsible. I look forward to and rely on the Board of Supervisors to help us deal with Marinwood Plaza in the best way possible.

9. Another issue and what I will do about it is: "Your commentary here." Transparency in Government: I will work for a policy that gives more time for the public to examine and comment on contract terms before decisions are made. Conversely, the move to have every offer, whether or not accepted, audited and published would result in a huge cost in time and money to a small district like ours, and some provisions likely are banned by the Brown Act.

10. Do you support or oppose Measure H and Measure I? Why? I strongly support Measure H (Fire tax) and Measure I (Park tax). I support the Park tax because it is responsible long-term planning and it removes a major objection to workforce and senior housing. I support the Fire tax because it allows for inflation, and we should use taxes for the people that pay them.

Tarey Read Marinwood CSD President Candidate for reelection to same

415.505.9805 tareyayn@gmail.com