County of Marin
City Council Digs Into the Marin County Restrictive Covenants Program
The County of Marin has been taking steps to identify and rectify historical documents and records that reflect its shameful past. At the Mill Valley City Council’s meeting in late October, Liz Darby, Social Equity Programs and Policy Coordinator for the Marin County Community Development Agency, gave a presentation on the County of Marin’s Restrictive Covenant Project.
Read MoreMarin County Public Health Lifts Indoor Mask Mandate for Vaccinated People in Most Settings
Just three days removed from metrics that appeared to force Marin to wait at least three more weeks before it could lift its indoor mask mandate, those metrics took a sharply positive turn late last week. As a result, the mandate, in effect since August 2, was lifted effective today at 12pm, making Marin the first county in the Bay Area to stop requiring face coverings in nearly all public places.
Read MoreCO$T Gathers Star-Studded Panel to Dig Into the Road Ahead Amidst a Housing Crisis
A panel this week on the housing crisis, moderated by former Mill Valley Mayor and longtime Marin IJ columnist Dick Spotswood and featuring State Senator Mike McGuire, State Assemblyman Marc Levine, Novato City Councilmember Pat Eklund and Susan Kirsch, made it clear that the landscape has shifted in recent months on the housing front.
Read MoreAmidst Fire Season and a Drought, Marin Agencies Up Seek to Empower Community at Free OAC Event – Sept. 15
Between the seemingly ever-expanding fire season and this year’s drought, on the heels of 2020 the second driest year in almost a century in 2020, Marin has been on high alert for months. A pair of local agencies are teaming up with the Outdoor Art Club for a virtual presentation on both of those issues and, most importantly, what they are doing to combat our new realities and what residents can do to protect themselves and be proactive.
Read MoreAs Marin’s Staffing Shortage Continues, the Debate Over What’s Driving It Rages On
Of all of the complexities of the COVID-19 crisis, few have been more perplexing than the staffing crisis, particularly in the service industry. Staffing remains a major limiting factor when it comes to Marin’s major industry sectors returning to normalcy, particularly for restaurants, some of whom have had to reduce capacity because of lack of sufficient staff.
Read MoreMarin County Parks Seeks to Put Measure A on June 2022 – Have Your Say in Their Community Survey
Marin County Parks, the agency that manages the vast majority of those parks and open spaces, is asking users to take a community survey about their use and value, particularly as it seeks to put an extension of Measure A, a quarter-cent sales tax to support parks and open space that was first approved by voters in 2012, on the ballot in June 2022.
Read MoreCity Council Unanimously Backs Extension of Urgency Ordinance and Outdoor Business Program Through June 30, 2022
The Mill Valley City Council unanimously rejected a proposal to terminate its COVID-19 urgency ordinance, as well as its related outdoor business program that has been a lifeline for dozens of businesses across myriad industry sectors. Instead, the Council pivoted, agreeing to extend the ordinance through at least June 30, 2022, a nod toward the massive popularity of the outdoor business uses – including al fresco dining, outdoor spin classes and much more – that have become some of the few bright spots of the past 16 mont
Read MoreBungalow 44 Dives Into Reusable Takeout Containers With Dispatch Goods, But Needs More Mill Valley Restaurants to Join Them
As if pandemic hasn’t presented enough conundrums over the past 16-plus months, Bungalow 44 co-owner Peter Schumacher had another one drop into his lap several months ago. “Through the course of the pandemic, we obviously leaned on takeout heavily because we were so limited with indoor and outdoor dining for long stretches,” Schumacher says.
Read MoreMarin Joins Bay Area Health Officials to Require Masks Indoors to Prevent COVID-19 Spread
#MaskUp, ya’ll. The recommendation to wear a mask in indoor public spaces is back to being a mandate. Marin County Public Health officials once again locked arms with their fellow Bay Area public health officers to require masks indoors in public places, regardless of vaccination status, starting at 12:01am on Tuesday, August 3.
Read MoreCity Proposes Terminating COVID-19 Urgency Ordinance and the Outdoor Business Program It Spawned – MV Chamber, Business Owners Seek Compromise at Aug. 2nd Council Meeting
At its August 2nd City Council meeting, the City is proposing to terminate the urgency ordinance it passed in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak on Nov. 30, as well as the outdoor business program it created that has been a lifeline for dozens of businesses across myriad industry sectors. Many popular, outdoor features that have blossomed amidst the pandemic would go away at the end of November.
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