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Our Town
An E-Newsletter Connecting City and Community
 Volume 2, Issue #8                                                        December 2, 2011

In This Issue...

. City Council Election Results

. City Employee Profile: Robert Cubley

Maintenance Staff Repairs Downtown Fountain

. Community Development Director Announces Retirement 

. Holiday Celebration This Weekend

. Volunteers Needed: Board and Commission Vacancies 

. Flood Preparedness and Safety Information on City Website

Marin Map GIS Services Available to Community

Holiday Crafts Faire This Weekend

electionCity Council Election Results

Voting BoothOn November 28th, the Marin County Elections Department certified the results for the November 8th election. Seven candiates ran for three open City Council seats.

City voters elected newcomer Eric Lucan and re-elected incumbents Madeline Kellner to a second term and Jeanne MacLeamy to a third term.  The final vote tallies are available at this link.

Mr. Lucan will formally join Mayor Kellner, Mayor Pro Tem Denise Athas and Councilmembers Pat Eklund and MacLeamy as a Councilman on December 6th. At this meeting, the Council will formally reorganize and appoint a new Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem. 

The City congratulates the three winners and also thanks all the candidates for a spirited campaign and for their willingness to serve the Novato community.

CubleyEmployee Profile: Robert Cubley
Robert Cubley, Senior Building Inspector

Future Our Town newsletters will feature employee profiles to help the community learn about City employees and the services they provide to the public. The profile will also include highlights of the employee's interests and community contributions outside of their professional role with Novato. 

The first profile is of Robert Cubley.          

 

What is your position/job with the City?

Robert: I am a Senior Building Inspector in the Community Development department.  My responsibilities include checking building plans, staffing the One-Stop Shop, providing customer service to the public by answering code enforcement questions and supervising building inspectors.

How long have you worked for the City?

Robert: I have been with the City for approximately 27 years.  I originally served as a Building Inspector and advanced to the Senior Building Inspector position. 

What do you like best about being a Building Inspector with Novato?

Robert: I enjoy being able to help the public. In my role, I help provide a good quality of life for residents by ensuring building safety. Building inspectors ensure that homes and businesses are safe and I believe this is an important public service we provide to our community.

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

Robert: I am most proud of being able to help residents and businesses over the past 27 years. Everyday people thank me for my work.  I truly have a great job!

What are some of your personal interests outside of your role with the City?

Robert: I love my family and I really enjoy playing basketball, running, biking and martial arts. 

What is an interesting fact about you that people may not know?

Robert: I have a large number of relatives in Novato. The last time I counted, I had 23 relatives living in the City. 

Editorial Note: Robert has actively volunteered in the Novato community as a youth baseball, basketball and football coach. In addition, Robert can be seen on the cover of the City's current Parks, Recreation and Community Services Activity Guide. 

fountainMaintenance Staff Repairs Downtown Fountain

You may have noticed the recent improvements to the Downtown Fountain.  These improvements are the result of work recently completed by two workers in the City's Maintenance division. The fountain was orginally installed in 1980 by the Novato Rotary Club.

 

Peter Torre and Bill Johnson from the Parks and Islands maintenance team took the lead and did a great job making repairs and coating the fountain pond to seal small leaks and vastly improved the appearance of this distinctive feature. They installed a new motor and pump assembly and other mechanical parts. Peter and Bill also patched and painted the concrete pool with an improved epoxy for longer life.  Lastly, they made repairs to the fountain structure by rebuilding some of the redwood structure that had deteriorated and repaired an internal leak so the fountain works more efficiently.

 

Thanks Peter and Bill for your great work!

wallaceCommunity Development Director Announces Retirement
Dave Wallace
Dave Wallace, Community Development Director

Earlier this month, the City's Community Development Director, Dave Wallace announced his intent to retire from the City at the end of the year. His retirement is the culmination of 27 years in the planning profession. 

 

Dave joined the City of Novato in April 2003. Since that time he has been an effective leader of our Community Development Department. He has led a number of important projects within the City. Most recently, he served in the challenging role as the staff liaison to the City Manager's Housing Element Working Group. As he finishes his tenure, Dave stated, "I have very much enjoyed the time I have worked in Novato. The level of community involvement here is invigorating and demonstrates how much people care about their community. I am proud of Community Development staff's ability to work with the community on development projects like Hamilton Market Place and to address tough issues such as the Housing Element."

 

The City of Novato wishes Dave all the best in retirement. He is a consummate professional and has worked tirelessly and with exceptional dignity during his tenure.

holidayHoliday Celebration This Weekend
Holiday TreeThe Novato Holiday Celebration will take place this Saturday, December 3rd, from 4:30pm-8:00pm on Sherman Avenue.  The event will include children's booths, face painting, jewelry making, crafts and hot drinks. A special appearance by Santa Claus and his elves will take place at 5:30pm. The evening's festivities will culminate with the Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony (which will feature new and enhanced lights) and brief comments from the Mayor. 

Come out and help Novato get into the holiday spirit!
 
More information, including a commercial for the 2011 event, is available on the City's website.
volunteerboardVolunteers Needed: Board and Commission Vacancies
The City continues to have a number of vacancies on City boards, committees and commissions.  The City is looking for volunteers to fill these important assignments.

For more information and application instructions, please visit this link on the City's website.

floodFlood Preparedness and Safety Information on City Website

As part of the City's floodplain management program, staff conducts outreach to residents in the floodplain each year and submits reports to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on our various activities. Due to topography and proximity to creeks, certain areas in Novato are more susceptible to repeated flooding damages. One way to identify these areas is to review the locations of properties for which two or more claims of more than $1,000 have been paid by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) within any 10-year period since 1978. Nationwide, these properties account for nearly one-third of all insurance claim payments; however they represent only 1% of all the NFIP's insurance policies.

 

The City has posted information on flood preparedness and safety on our website.  This information is available here and here.
marinmapMarinMap Services Available to Community
The City is a member of MarinMap through the Marin General Services Authority. MarinMap is a collaborative between Marin County, the 11 cities in the county and two special districts and provides on-line mapping and other data. This collaborative serves two main purposes: 1) to improve information sharing among local governmental entities and 2) to provide data to the public. For example, MarinMap is working to improve the precision of watershed boundaries geographic information systems (GIS) data for Marin jurisdictions. MarinMap also allows residents to access the information and obtain information on their property, such as if their property is in a federal flood zone.

Please visit the MarinMap website here.

FaireHoliday Crafts Faire This Weekend

The Novao Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department will be holding its annual Holiday Crafts Faire tonight from 6pm-9pm, and tomorrow, December 3, from 10am-4pm at the Margaret Todd Senior Center located at 1560 Hill Road, Novato.  There will be more than 55 artisans selling handmade crafts including jewelry, ceramics, specialty foods, wreaths, ornaments, bath and body products and more! 

 

One of the Faire co-sponsors, the Novato Garden Club, will be selling fresh greens, wreaths, and swags.  The Novato Senior Club, also a Faire co-sponsor, will be selling hand crafted items and raffle tickets for a beautiful quilt. There will be entertainment throughout the event and food will be available. 

 

Don't miss this great opportunity to purchase unique holiday gifts!  Admission is free. 

CITY OF NOVATO
75 Rowland Way, #200 Novato, CA 94945 415/899-8900
FAX 415/899-8213

[email protected]

 www.novato.org
Novato 50th

Our Town
E-Newsletter Staff

Contact Us:

 [email protected]

 

Cathy Capriola, Editor-in-Chief

Dane Wadl�, Editor/Production

Maureen McNiff, Production

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Did you know...
Coffee CupIn 1843, Charles Dickens wrote his famous Christmas story "A Christmas Carol" in only six weeks. The story became an instant hit, selling 6,000 copies by Christmas Day.
Plan for Winter and Spring Fun!

Winter/Spring Activities Guide is filled with many classes and programs for all ages! 

The guide is posted on the City's website. You can also pick up a guide and register at one of our customer service centers:

Novato Gymnastics Center
950 Seventh Street
Novato, CA 94945
415-899-8279
415-897-6395 Fax
M/W/F 9-4:30PM
Tues & Thurs 9-6PM

Margaret Todd Senior Center
1560 Hill Road
Novato CA 94945
415-899-8290
415-897-0239 Fax
Mon-Fri 9-5PM

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