Most city employees have been headquartered on Rowland Way since 2005, when an assortment of downtown bungalows that…More previously served as city offices were red-tagged by the fire marshal. The city pays nearly $800,000 to lease offices on Rowland, but it is looking for a permanent home. One option being contemplated is to purchase the current leased building, but some advocates would rather have civic officials based about a mile away in the downtown district near Grant Avenue.</p> <p>The Rowland building, owned by the Barker Pacific Group, is home to the city manager, the city clerk, other top administrators, building and planning managers, redevelopment agency managers, engineers, finance officials, technical specialists and the parks, recreation and community services staff. In all, about 70 employees are based there; others are based at corporation yards.</p> <p>As of August 2010, the city offices are closed every Friday as part of a cost-cutting effort.</p>

Christ Church North Bay is in a nondescript building on Redwood Boulevard that looks like a converted warehouse, but…More it is home to the church, the local office of the international nonprofit Jumpstart and the North Bay Christian Academy. The Rev. Isaac Stokes is the lead pastor of the nondenominational church, which is one mile south of Novato's downtown area.</p> <p><a href="http://www.jumpstartnetwork.com">Jumpstart</a>, coordinated at the Novato office by pastor C.P. Titus, offers ESL classes, computer training, counseling services and works to fight homelessness.</p>