Sausalito derelict boats removed
Emergency preparedness, racial justice, pandemic response and city processes are the top concerns for candidates seeking a spot on the Belvedere City Council.
The four candidates are vying for three four-year seats. Mayor Nancy Kemnitzer, elected in 2016, is seeking a second term. The other candidates include Chelsea Schlunt, a contracting company owner and former journalist; James Lynch, a former planning commissioner and retired attorney; and Steven Block, a retired business executive and attorney.
Councilmembers Bob McCaskill and Claire McAuliffe declined to seek reelection.
Kemnitzer said the most pressing issues facing the city are sea level rise and longterm financial responsibility.
“Experience is the most important thing,” she said. “While several of the candidates have different experiences that are worth looking at, I’m the only incumbent and currently mayor. So I have to takeamore active role in some of the committees.”
Schlunt said that while she has not held an elected position with the city, her community involvement and fresh perspectives would benefit the council. Schlunt, who has three children, said she is well connected to other families in her neighborhood and is ready to adapt to change.
“All want to do is bring balance to table,” she said. “The demographics of southern Marin are changing. Many young families are coming in and it would be an honor be elected as a representative on the council that mirrors the community.
“I want to listen to the people and represent the people.”
Block said he is involved with emergency preparedness through the block captain program and the Belvedere Community Foundation. He said getting residents involved in these and other groups is vital in preparing residents for a disaster like an earthquake, sea level rise or a fire.
“I’m interested in community engagement,” he said. “There are a number of opportunities that we have in the city for our citizens to volunteer for, and, if elected, I want to make sure those opportunities are well advertised and open to all.”
Lynch said he would bring eight years of experience as a member of the Planning Commission, adding that he understands the frustration residents have had through planning and building process. Streamlining the building process is one of his top priorities.
“There is alwaysmore to do,” he said. “We must continue to listen and hear and what the community is focused on and do best to streamline those processes so applicants can get their projects done in the
least amount of time and expense.”
Because Belvedere does not have a downtown, the candidates agree that the success of Tiburon’s downtown merchants is crucial.
The issue of racial equity in policing was brought to the forefront after an incident in downtown Tiburon in August, when police investigated why people were inside the Yema clothing store at 1 a.m. The group included the Black owners of the business.
The candidates said they were disturbed by the interaction and agree that changes need to happen within the police department to ensure that everyone is welcome in downtown, especially while towns and cities are recovering fromthe effects of the pandemic shutdown.
Block said he was particularly distressed when he heard that store owner Yema Khalif felt unwelcome.
“We need local merchants to prosper because our retail base is suffering as it is,” he said. “And as it relates to Belvedere police, we had a limited presence in that interaction. But I think it’s fair for us in Belvedere to expect our police interact professionally andwith respect to not only residents but to visitors. We need to hold them accountable when they are not.”
While Kemnitzer helped lead the city through controversy by co-hosting an online community discussion with the Tiburon Town Council, all candidates said they support the business and agree that more diversity training is needed.
Lynch was the only candidate to say police officers violated the owner’s civil liberties. He said when police demanded that Khalif had to show identification, they were really asking him to cede his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.
“People of color don’t experience police interactions the same wayWhite people do,” he said. “Yemawas told that he had to identify himself and give one of the officers a legal justification for being in the store at that hour. That is wrong by a matter of law.”
He said he was surprised how divided the community is on the issue and how many people said Khalif should have just shown his identification. But he said it boils down to the fact that he and otherWhitemen are privileged.
“The reason they don’t understand it is because their right to be somewhere hasn’t been challenged,” he said. “Many of them have not been stopped while walking across street and asked, ‘Who are you? Where are you coming from? Why are you in town? Where are you going?’ Yema has, so I think a community education piece is needed.”
Other key issues include the removal of vessels on Richardson Bay that could crash into homes and docks on the western shore.
Candidates agreed a humanitarian approach is needed, but aired their support for the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency’s transition plan.
Schlunt, like other candidates, said she supports the harbormaster, CurtisHavel, but understands that it’s a delicate and complex issue.
“People needhelp andensuring that there is a mechanism in place so they are not just forced off, but that there is alternative housing provided to them,” Schlunt said. “We don’t want to rip people away from their homes. We can’t do that to people.”
A sunset date to remove derelict vessels from the water has not been set, with discussions ranging between five to 10 years. Block said he’d like to see one implemented sooner than later.
All candidates shared their support for the Belvedere-Tiburon seawall project, which is still in the design phase. The council is leaning toward approving a $21 million version of the project.
Lynch and Kemnitzer have been working on the project and suggested that a more centralized county effort would help towns and cities implement projects that would protect them from rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Kemnitzer said it’s important to involve groups at the state, county and
federal levels to push emergency preparedness.
Lynch agreed. He said Belvedere needs to coordinate better with neighboring cities and county governments.
“If one little town like ours puts up a seawall and shores up for earthquakes, that just protects one town, but we are all interconnected,” he said. “There are two little roads in and out of town and then Tiburon has two little roads to get to 101, which has flooding issues and quakes that could imperil the bridges
and roadways.”
Rising pension costs are also a chief concern in the race.
Block, a board member of the Marin County Employees’ Retirement Association, said he would set up a committee to develop a financial plan to grapple with pension costs that are set to double in the coming years.
“It could be two pages of setting forth priorities over intermediary and long-term for the city to come in and reach consensus on,” he said.