Blog Post < Previous | Next >
Cornell.edu
Don’t Be Fooled By Sears’ Misleading Campaign Propaganda
Marin mailboxes have recently been inundated with brochures from candidates seeking three seats on Marin’s Board of Supervisors. Beware that Incumbent Kate Sears, who is running for reelection as Supervisor of the 3rd District, has sent out campaign literature that is very misleading. Over the course of Supervisor Sears’ time in office, many residents have urged her to take stands on issues that adversely affected their communities to no avail. If Kate Sears ever did do anything her constituents wanted, it was the bare minimum and only after years of strong community advocacy. Now, Sears’ campaign slogans tout her constituents’ beliefs as if they were her own. However, her voting record tells an entirely different story.
For example, Sears’ campaign brochure states that she supports “lowering housing density” and “blocking overdevelopment”. Nothing could be further from the truth if her voting record represents her true intentions.
- In 2012, Kate Sears voted to amend the Marin County Development Code and establish that for “affordable housing located in all districts that allow residential uses, allowable density will be established by the maximum Marin Countywide Plan density range."
- In 2012, Sears also voted to amend the Countywide Plan Policy CD-1.3 “Reduce Potential Impacts” to exempt certain multifamily housing from minimum zoning limits for lands with sensitive habitat, within the Ridge and Upland Greenbelt or the Baylands Corridor, or lacking water or sewer systems. For some land use designations, such a change means a possible 10-fold increase in the number of units.
- In 2013, Sears voted for the 2007 to 2014 Marin County Housing Element (the County’s housing plan). State law required the Housing Element to plan for 773 housing units but instead the Housing Element planned for 1144 units (50% more than required). The plan targeted potential high-density housing (up to 40 units per acre with a density bonus) at extremely hazardous sites in Tam Junction, which increased the risk of harm to the environment and jeopardized public health and safety. The plan included programs that expedite permitting and maximize potential density for certain multifamily housing developments.
- In 2014, Sears voted for the 2015 to 2023 Marin County Housing Element. State law required the Housing Element to plan for 185 housing units but the Housing Element planned for 378 units (100% more than required). The plan included programs geared to housing developments that substantially raised height limits (up to 45 feet – similar to the WinCup), reduced parking requirements, and promoted streamlined and “over the counter” review.
- Sears’ campaign brochure states that Sears lobbied for AB 1537, a bill that lowered Marin County’s default density from 30 to 20 units per acre. This statement is true but fails to reveal the full story. When it came time to apply the new default density to sites identified in the last Housing Element, Sears, along with other Supervisors, voted to increase the developable acreage of each applicable site. Therefore, despite the lower density, the rise in developable acreage kept the number of potential units at each site the same and essentially voided any benefit from the bill. Moreover, it increased the risks of adverse environmental impacts due to enlarging the potential footprint of future development.
- Sears finally voted to remove the Tam Valley/Almonte and Strawberry areas from the Hwy 101 Corridor Priority Development Area of Plan Bay Area but only after her constituents spent much time (E.g. From 2011 to 2013 for Tam Valley & Almonte residents) and expense advocating for elimination of the designation.
- In 2016, Sears voted to increase the intensity of development and traffic congestion in Strawberry by approving Bentley Holdings’ application to change 25,000 sq. ft. of professional office space to medical offices at Belvedere Place.
Don’t be fooled by Incumbent Kate Sears’ campaign propaganda. Her voting record and past actions (or inaction) tell the truth.