Candidates

plate readers.”

At that forum, and at a debate sponsored by the Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers on April 21, Daly went on the offensive, criticizing various Marin County actions and policies. Saribalis did not participate in the COST event.

Daly faulted the way a plan to eliminate a traffic lane along a 1.5-mile stretch of Point San Pedro Road in San Rafael to install a bike lane was handled by the county's public works staff. The county eventually put the project on hold after neighbors raised objections.

“People are very upset about what happened,” Daly said.

Sackett said, “I attribute a part of this to Zoom.” She said informing the public about the project over the internet complicated matters.

Daly, however, said Zoom meetings have actually made it easier to garner public participation.

“We have a real problem with transparency and trust,” she said. “I would never have let this happen under my watch.”

Saribalis agreed with Daly, saying, “It was just approached with the community in a very wrong manner.”

Daly also took issue with the county's handling of homelessness.

“There are real gaps in the way the county has approached homelessness,” she said. “One of the most serious gaps is that we do not operate an interim shelter.”

Daly said that because the county lacks such an interim shelter there is no way to clear the homeless camp on Caltrans property near Fourth and Hetherton streets in San Rafael.

“The county can and should be stepping up to shift some of that burden away from individual cities and towns,” she said.

Sackett noted that hundreds of homeless people have been permanently housed in Marin over recent years because of the county's “housing first” policy.

Daly said the county also mishandled the Project Homekey site at 1251 S. Eliseo Drive in Larkspur.

“We need to start the process of educating the public much earlier, even before we have an approved project,” Daly said.

Sackett said, “I am incredibly proud of our Board of Supervisors for approving that project despite significant opposition.”

However, she also highlighted a couple of changes she thinks the county should make, saying it should outsource less of its work to independent contractors and beef up its public information staff.

“I would like to see us get to the appropriate staffing levels in the county and not rely on vacancies as a way to save money,” Sackett said. “I would like to see a much more robust public information system throughout each of our departments. We don't do a great job of telling the story of the good work that is being done.”

The county employs three media managers, five media specialists and three media technicians. Their annual salaries, not including benefits, total more than $1.1 million.

Asked during the COST forum whether they favor reopening state hospitals to house the mentally ill, the candidates also differed.

Sackett said she liked the idea but added, “institutionalizing people involuntarily is not something I agree with.”

Daly said, “There does seem to be a needed balance on issues like this that really isn't there, because right now we've swung to only civil liberties. It might be time to think about taking some steps the other way.”