Marin County Supervisor Adams Loses Seat, Arnold's Race is Close Call

By Bay City News Service:

 San Rafael City Councilman Damon Connolly appears to have defeated Marin County Supervisor Susan Adams in the Marin County Board of Supervisors District 1 election, according to Tuesday's unofficial returns.

 With all 30 precincts reporting Tuesday night, Connolly had 58.9 percent of the vote to Adams' 40.7 percent -- a 1,704-vote margin.

 In the District 5 race, Supervisor Judy Arnold was locked in a contest that was a close call with businesswoman Toni Shroyer.

 With all precincts reporting, Arnold led Shroyer by 140 votes. Arnold got 4,226 votes and Shroyer tallied 4,086.

 Connolly, an attorney and chairman of the board of Marin Clean Energy Authority, said his priorities are fiscal responsibility, transportation and the environment, and climate change. He said he is concerned that 70 percent of new development under the county's housing element in the unincorporated area of the county is in District 1, which includes San Rafael.

 He said he favors converting existing houses into affordable housing, and that affordable housing doesn't have to mean high-density housing. Connolly says the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit passenger train must have connections to local bus and ferry service so the system is efficient and convenient.

 Connolly also said he favors cutting wasteful spending to fund programs that address community needs, and policies that grow the local economy and create good paying jobs. He wants revenue increases to be spent on vital public services that include libraries, paramedics and parks.

 Adams, a woman's health nurse practitioner who has 12 years on the Board of Supervisors, said her priorities are protecting open space and addressing climate change, solving growing traffic problems and expanding health care. Adams said the Board of Supervisors has taken measures on pension reform and pay down future liabilities, but she favors compensation and public pensions for public employees rather than drastic changes to pensions with negotiations with employee unions.

 Adams said the number of homeless residents in the county was halved after she helped implement services and programs in the past five years. Shroyer, 46, listed her priorities as public safety, public employee pension reform and eliminating wasteful government spending.

 She said she supports adequate funding for public safety in unincorporated parts of the county, attracting and expanding businesses in the county, aligning salaries and benefits for public employees with those in the private sector, and using the Board of Supervisors' "slush fund" to finance incentives for new businesses to locate to Marin County.

 Arnold, 73, said her priorities are finishing the Novato Narrows widening project on U.S. Highway 101, reopening the Novato Theater to create jobs and revitalize downtown Novato and address flooding, water conservation and habitat restoration with the Novato Watershed program.

 Arnold said pension reform must be fair to employees and fiscally responsible to residents.

 Arnold said she also pushed to make the county's Community Services Program more transparent, spearheaded making information about the county's restaurant inspections available to the public online and supported preserving the Black Point Nature Preserve as open space during her seven years on the board.

 Marin County District Attorney Ed Berberian and Marin County Sheriff-Coroner Robert T. Doyle were re-elected without opposition. Voter turnout was about 29 percent as of late Tuesday night, according to the county's registrar of voters office.