Community Guide 2017
Autumn 2016 2016 Gala Honoree, Steve Kinsey by Wendi Kallins
On a crisp clear day in 1981, Steve Kinsey was admiring a ridge- line view above Forest Knolls accompanied by a friend who was urging him to move here from Arizona where he was finishing school. Steve was struck by the natural beauty, but he remarked, that it would never stay that way. “Oh no,” said his friend. “The people here won’t let it happen.” That revelation led to a lifetime of service to help protect Marin’s precious open spaces. Steve soon became head of Friends of the Valley, in an effort to protect those lands on which he stood. A decade later, he was elected to the Board of Supervisors. By that time he had been involved in issues that spanned fish protections, securing Marin’s water supply, trail enhancements, funding for the Community Center and developing a gym/arts/ teen complex. Running for office was a “natural extension of the community service I was already involved in,” he explained. “I have a deep appreciation for this place we call home and for strengthening community,” he added. After almost 20 years in office, Steve has much to be proud of as he looks back on his accomplishments. He put together the package that gave us the Stage Coach, finally providing regular transit services to West Marin. Over the years he helped to strengthen and diversify Marin’s agricultural network. “The industry was going down when I started. We urged ranchers to create value-added products like cheese and eggs or helping them go organic.” He took the lead in getting the Board of Supervisors to join in the current lawsuit with the [National] Park [Service] in order to preserve agricultural use in the park that has been going on for 150 years. “It’s 20% of our agriculture industry, and we also need to keep supporting the ranchers and farmers in reducing the impact on the land,” he explained. Considered one of the region’s foremost experts on transporta- tion, Steve headed up the local Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for many years. He worked to pass a local transportation tax which now supports local bus service and Safe Routes to Schools. He’s glad that the County finally stopped the ongoing sinking of White’s Hill and built Brown Bridge. The bumpy road through Samuel P. Taylor Park was finally paved after 90 years. “It was an enormous challenge given all the various agencies and special interests involved. It was essentially a fish project with a road in it.” An avid hiker and runner, he also oversaw a significant expansion of the county’s trail network.
Steve’s many successes hinge on the fact that he takes the sys- temic approach. “I play off the idea that all things are connected. You don’t just solve one problem but look at the range of issues that address many problems at once. It takes a lot of work and communication. You have to break down the pattern of isolated activity within a bureaucracy.” His love of place is especially strong here in his home of the San Geronimo Valley and he admits taking special care to bring resources to the Valley. “The Valley has a cohesive sense of com- munity that respects privacy but comes together to help each other. We have a predominance of natural surroundings with so many points of access into it.” Here in the Valley, Steve also helped to acquire the senior housing at French Ranch and the trailer park. He is happy that we were able to secure 400 acres of open space and trail systems on French Ranch and further protected open space expansion of Giacomini Open Space. The Loma Alta purchase opened up trails down to White Hill school. Even before he was elected to office, Steve took a lead role in winning a Healthy Start grant that launched the health and services program at the Community Center. While in office, he used his design skills to make sure the new gym integrated the Loft teen center. He is pleased to have been able to get ongoing funding at the Center allowing the Center to expand cultural activity to include Latinos, the Food Bank, and senior services. He hopes the Valley can find a way to continue to protect and restore salmon by working in a spirit of cooperation. “Marin’s biggest challenge is keeping it a place where our chil- dren and seniors can afford to stay,” he says. “But it’s bigger than housing. We need to improve mobility on congested streets and highways for all users.” The fiscal and environmental challenges of climate change are also high on his list of priorities. But the housing crisis is getting so bad that he thinks we are seeing a shift in public opinion and that is now becoming a majority view that we have to address this crisis. “With good design and early com- munication, I hope that we can find a way to resolve the extreme shortage of housing.” But he worries it will also take courage for elected officials to take action even though some people will make a lot of noise. “I hope that the Marin community can cre- ate a new vision like the one we have been guided by for the last 50 years that protects our land and our community.”
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