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Kirk Draheim
Our Hope for the Future of Fairfax
The votes are in and the message is clear. Two new council members have been elected by an overwhelming majority. Trailing behind by a large margin are the three incumbents vying for third place. The 2022 Fairfax rent control ordinances, along with Measures H and J, placed on the ballot and supported by the current Town Council, have been defeated.
The town has spoken. Yet it took an election, citizen’s ballot Measure I, the added expense of a town survey on road repair which predicted the negative election outcome, plus the extra cost of placing Measures H and J on the ballot, to make it VERY CLEAR that the current, ideologically homogeneous Town Council is not representative of its citizens.
We have been routinely asked to deny truths we see and experience.
Recently, in an effort to protect our children and town from fire, violence, theft and disturbing drug exposures experienced at the homeless encampment in our public park, it took a citizens’ protest demonstration to get the Town Council to place the issue of abatement on the November meeting agenda.
During the meeting, after a lengthy Council presentation about the bureaucracy involved in getting illegal campers to move their tents off public property, the problem was NOT dealt with and was essentially “kicked down the road” to be addressed by the upcoming elected council.
Defending the process is not the same as taking action. Defending the process is non-action and does not produce results.
Voters are very angry with the current Fairfax Town Council. Rather than completing tasks the Council was elected to perform, responsibilities have been shirked and authority deflected by the hiring of expensive consultants.
The current Council, obsessed with personal ideologies including identity politics, rent control, banning plastics and gas-powered appliances, and supporting controversial political proclamations, has forced Fairfax, at our expense, to become a stage for the enactment of divisive personal politics.
Institutions need to BUILD trust, not SPEND it. It is not acceptable to obscure non-performance with ideological culture wars.
To survive as an institution, government must be favorable to voters, ideologically heterogeneous, and encouraging of free speech. The existing two-minute time limit for public comments does not accomplish this.
“The people” need to trust that government is on the side of those who elected them, and that elected officials are not held captive by their own employees, processes or beliefs.
In an email to the Town Council on 10/30/24, the following criticisms of staff, published in a political column by Dick Spotswood in the Marin IJ on 10/29/24, was included:
“Whether Fairfax has an elected or appointed clerk [Measure H] is irrelevant if the town manager fosters a culture ignoring accountability and transparency.
"The buck stops at the Town Council, since it hires its top manager. A few managers mistakenly concentrate on pleasing the council while brushing off public criticism. This practice often causes council members to be defensive when hearing complaints about their senior staff, even when they’re valid. While a council hires the manager, that person works for all of the town’s citizens.
"Whether or not Measure H prevails, council members need to ask Abrams two questions: Will she change? Can she change? If the answer to either is negative, then the council needs to retain someone else to manage Fairfax’s staff.”
Councilmember Blash responded by email suggesting that these comments might increase the likelihood of the staff in question leaving. Well, that is the point, isn’t it? If town staff isn’t supportive of citizens and they are not supporting the Town Council in making them look good, then they are not doing the job they were hired to do.
In his 11/20/24 column Dick Spotswood continued his assessment of Fairfax government.
“To give the community a fresh start, council members need to decide whether to retain town manager Heather Abrams and town attorney Janet Coleson.
"Every city or town manager’s assignment is to make the council look good. Abrams failed. Experienced town attorneys understand that when they give advice, it’s fatal when they give the impression that they favor one town faction over another. Whether intended or not, Coleson appeared to favor those backing incumbent council members.”
When a political columnist for a major local media outlet, the Marin IJ, observes and openly criticizes the governing body of a local township for lack of transparency and accountability to their constituents, it is an invitation to pay attention to the problem and not an invitation to defend the failings of senior staff members.
In order to trust their governing institutions, “the people” have to believe that those running these institutions are on their side and that they will reform what isn’t working.
A successful institution must be transparent and open to internal critique, making it worthy of defense.
On 11/19/24, Town Manager Heather Abrams, working in conjunction with Barbara Coler, who will soon complete her role as mayor, called a special town council meeting with the minimum 24-hour notice, in an attempt to make a last-minute change to the council rules to provide that
“A majority vote is required to place an item on a future council meeting agenda.”
This anti-democratic move by current Council Members Coler, Ackerman, Cutrano, Hellman and Blash appears to be an intentional effort to limit the influence of newly elected Council Members Frank Egger and Mike Ghiringhelli before they can begin placing items on the Town Council agenda.
After a strong public outcry, the Town Council wisely voted to discuss the change after the new council is seated on Dec. 4.
The citizens of Fairfax seek ethical leaders better skilled at accomplishing goals and admitting mistakes. We’re looking for a “can-do” attitude demonstrating leadership and positive change, not leaders who hide behind procedures and the failures of a broken system.
This is our hope for the future of Fairfax.