Marin IJ: Marin County Executive Derek Johnson is Proposing the County Create a New Strategic Plan, Its First Since 2001
“Ultimately, the strategic plan should be our North Star. It should guide our work plans, our capital investments and your policy decisions,” Johnson told county supervisors during a budget workshop on Monday.
He recommended starting the process immediately so the plan could be completed about a year from now.
Supervisors were presented with the results of a “strategic planning voter survey,” which the county paid FM3 research about $50,000 to conduct. The survey of 851 Marin voters was conducted via telephone and online from Nov. 8 to 19.
Participants were asked if the county “has a great need for continued funding, some need, a little need, or no real need for continued funds” to provide the level of services they want. Sixty-four percent said there is a great need or some need. Twenty-four percent said little or no need, and 12% expressed no opinion.
“This level of support was interpreted as a strong baseline for simple majority funding measure, while also suggesting that additional public education would be necessary to build broader consensus for a higher approval threshold,” a county staff report said. The report didn’t mention what such a funding measure would be for.
The survey identified the respondents most likely to say there is an additional need for funding as women ages 30 to 50 with no college degrees who have children, rent and have an annual household income of $25,000 to $50,000.
When asked if the county is headed in the right direction or on the wrong track, 37% said in the right direction, 31% said on the wrong track and 32% expressed no opinion.
When asked an open-ended question regarding the most serious issue facing Marin residents that county government could address, 31% cited housing, 17% homelessness, 11% traffic/congestion, 10% infrastructure/roads/street maintenance, 9% cost of living/inflation and 8% growth/development/overpopulation.
“A notable share of respondents raised concerns about growth and overdevelopment, and I think this highlights an ongoing tension in Marin, strong concern about housing affordability, alongside a concern about how growth is managed,” said Linn Walsh, a deputy county executive.
At the bottom of the list of concerns was immigration/border control, which was cited by 4% of respondents, and economy/jobs and health care, which were both cited by 3% of respondents.
County supervisors’ current top six priorities are addressing affordable housing/homelessness, disaster preparedness, county infrastructure, advancing race equity, climate resiliency and community/economic vitality.
Walsh said Marin voters tend to be “white or Caucasian, older, highly educated, predominantly homeowners and relatively high income.”
“So to broaden engagement,” she said, “we have partnered with the Marin Community Foundation, which has offered to conduct a companion resident survey, which is aimed at soliciting perspectives from community members that are often unrepresented in regular surveys.”
Johnson said a new strategic plan is needed now so the county can prioritize spending in a way that addresses Marin’s greatest challenges.
“Marin is experiencing some structural shifts that will shape our budget and services for years to come,” Johnson said.
Marin’s population has declined 3.5% since 2016, and its K-12 enrollment declined 12% from 2019 to 2025. The median age in Marin is 48 compared to the statewide median age of 38. At the same time, the county is becoming more diverse, with 20% of residents identifying as Hispanic.
“We’ve seen an economy that has not fully returned to prepandemic employment levels,” Johnson said, “and in some areas is underperforming compared to the rest of the state and other areas in the Bay Area.”
Talia Smith, a deputy county executive, said there are 5,000 fewer jobs in Marin today than in January 2020, and 3.6% fewer workers. Only 37% of Marin residents work in the county, and the remainder commute to other counties.
Josh Swedberg, the county budget director, said that while the budget isn’t overly dependent on sales taxes, it does rely heavily on property taxes. Swedberg said he has revised downward his projections for growth in the assessed value of Marin County property for fiscal year 2026-27 from 4.5% to 4%. The assessed value has grown at an average rate of 5% over the last 20 years.
Johnson said unified purpose will be required to meet the county’s many challenges.
“Ultimately, it’s going to require us on the administrative leadership side to really align our department heads to engage our community in an effective way,” he said.
He said cross-jurisdictional coordination also will be necessary.
“I had a chance last Friday to spend time with all 11 city managers throughout Marin County,” Johnson said. “I would say there’s a universal understanding of the data trends and the acknowledgement of us needing to work together towards community and economic vitality. I would encourage this board as it thinks about the work program for the next two years to really put an emphasis on that.”