Letter: League of Women Voters and Marin Association of Realtors Support Sanitary District Consolidation

If you live within the boundaries of the Homestead Valley, Almonte, Richardson’s Bay or Alto sanitary districts, your deadline to vote on confirming consolidation of the districts is May 7. If you have not voted in this vote-by-mail election, we urge you to do so in favor of consolidation.

The League of Women Voters of Marin County and The Marin Association of Realtors support the Marin Local Agency Formation Commission’s action in establishing this consolidation.

It does not make sense to operate a system with 20 elected directors and four managers to serve a population of less than 15,000. We agree with the 2009 Grand Jury’s report that aptly states: “The Grand Jury acknowledges that the politically and territorially entrenched labyrinth of districts that exists today will be difficult to deconstruct and reformat. Change can occur in stages, over time. …. The process may be complicated, arduous and time-consuming, but it should begin now, and in the end will be well worth the struggle for the districts, their employees and the people they serve.” Our view is that one government agency with directly elected officials constitutes the best governance. This consolidation takes us one step closer to that reality.

The four districts are part of a major closed system consisting of five districts and one city working in a joint venture partnership, the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin (SASM). Services consist of the collection, transport and treatment of wastewater in a manner that protects the public health and the environment.

In 2008 a major spill into Richardson Bay took place. The resulting assessment of $1.6 million in penalties by federal and state agencies was allocated to all the partners. SASM's policy is made by elected officials from the six participating agencies. Relationships between the agencies and the major player, the city of Mill Valley, contract manager of SASM, are strained as evidenced by filing of a lawsuit by Richardson Bay to recover alleged damages resulting from the 2008 spill.

The balkanization of districts was a contributing factor then and remains an exposure now. The larger consolidated district will bring more weight to bear in governance within the partnership. The problems faced today involving the entire southern Marin region are aging collection systems, deferred maintenance, inflow and infiltration exposure and the impact of rising sea levels. The current structure of the system does not allow for adequate consideration of increasingly complex issues related to operations.

We believe that there should be accountability to the public. As it stands now, there have been no contested elections for the four districts in the past 10 years. By reducing the number of board seats available, we can expect to see more vigorous public participation and contested elections in the future.

The League and MAR urge your vote in favor of this consolidation.

Scott McKown, Co-Chair Local Governance Committee LWVMC

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