Political Gadfly Gail Meyers Returns to Council Following Stroke Rehabilitation

An ovation broke out at the Novato City Council meeting Tuesday when the return of Gail Meyers was noted by a public speaker.

Novato’s most prominent and vocal political critic was as comically ornery as usual, at one point pasting a sticker on her face in support of Leslie Peterson Schwarze, who is running for Novato City Council this fall.

Meyers is recovering from a minor stroke July 7 that caused her to miss all the civic meetings since then — although she has watched proceedings on television in recent weeks. She had gone several decades having missed only a handful of significant city meetings and taking up her allotted minutes at the microphone.

Former Novato Planning Commissioner Marie Hoch was the first to tell Novato Patch of Meyers' condition last month.

Meyers has made several unsuccessful runs at a council seat, hosts a show on and often has harsh words for council members and city staff.

Meyers suffered what doctors called a mild stroke while behind the wheel of her car and was banged up in a minor crash. She was pulling her Lincoln into the office on Seventh Street to pay a visit to the public access TV studio inside the NUSD building when the crash occurred.