Politics & Government

Back To Business For Cock, Ravasio

With the election over, Corte Madera's Town Council has a lot of work to do.

This year's election race might have seemed like a sprint to the finish, but it was really a marathon for the candidates for Corte Madera Town Council.

Bob Ravasio's exercise regime must have helped during the past six months he was preparing his re-election run. Ravasio and Mayor Alexandra Cock both held onto their seats on the council in a tough race against former councilwoman Melissa Gill.

"I'd really like to thank my supporters who worked so hard for me. It gave me a lot of encouragement to work so hard. It was an amazing experience," said Ravasio, the leading vote-getter in Tuesday's election.

"I'd like to reiterate that I'm grateful for all the support I received during the campaign. I honor that trust and I'll do my best for the town in the next four years," Cock said.

Ravasio claims the victory for the incumbents is a show of faith in the town's current leadership.

"It says the citizens of Corte Madera agree with the direction we've set in the last four years," Ravasio said. "They feel the town is on the right track."

Ravasio made sure to commend Gill for running a strong campaign.

"Melissa made it a great campaign by entering the race. She raised the bar for us and brought a lot of issues to light during the campaign," Ravasio said.

Ravasio and Cock based their campaigns in large part on fiscal fitness, which seemed to strike a chord with voters.

"Budget issues are the biggest challenge we face. We're just starting to come out of the troubles of the past few years a bit," Ravasio said. "The sales tax revenues are creeping up in the right direction. We need to keep a close eye on spending. It's more than just keeping the budget balanced for the next few years. As I said earlier, I'd like to build a reserve. We can do that through a combination of controlling our spending and finding opportunities to save money through additional shared service agreements with other towns."

Ravasio points to the Twin Cities Police Authority, which services Corte Madera and Larkspur, as one of the greatest successes of a joint services agreement.

"That's allowed us to put more detectives on the street. That's a huge positive," Ravasio said.

City council members in Larkspur and San Anselmo have also shown interest in sharing other services with Corte Madera.

"I'm in favor of looking at how we can share services with neighboring towns like Larkspur," Cock said

Corte Madera most recently voted to become a member of the Marin Energy Authority, a joint powers authority that now includes every municipality in Marin County. Cock is hoping to revive talks about new projects to make Corte Madera greener.

Ravasio was thrilled to see the overwhelming support for Measure C, a renewal of a $60 parcel tax which will help fund the town's paramedic services. The measure passed with nearly 88 percent of the vote. Supporters feared Fire Station No. 13 on Paradise Drive might have been shut down had the measure failed, but it seems safe for now.

"I'm thrilled it passed. It's extraordinary for a measure to pass with such a large percentage o the vote in Marin," Ravasio said.

Measure A, the first step toward building a new school to relieve overcrowding in the Larkspur-Corte Madera School District, also passed with 70 percent of the vote. The tax measure will raise $26 million to repair facilities at Neil Cummins Elementary and Hall Middle School and to build a new school on the former San Clemente School site on the bayside of town for 325 students.

Measure B, which renews a parcel tax for 10 years to provide funds for the Tamalpais Union High School District, was another easy winner. Supporters worried that had the measure failed, the district would have been forced to cut teaching jobs and classes.

"Our schools are victims of their own success," Ravasio said, stating that in his job as a Realtor he sees young families moving to the area in large part because of the quality of the schools. "Investing in our schools is the best decision we can make. Our kids need a state of the art facility. … Our kids should see we value education as much as shopping malls."

So, with the election over it is now back to business for Ravasio and Cock, along with fellow council members Michael Lappert, Diane Furst and Carla Condon.

The Town Council will soon review an ordinance on the keeping of bees and chickens, an issue that has been a headache for the Planning Commission for weeks now. And, with the passage of the ballot measures, local groups are ready to pick up the issue of a community garden again.

"I'm looking forward to the ordinance on bees and chickens, but the Planning Department is still working on that," Cock said.

Corte Madera is also likely to see some big changes coming within the next year with the redevelopment of the former Wincup property on Tamal Vista from a steam-spewing plastic cup manufacturing plant to a mixed housing and business site.

Also, Mini of Marin is already clearing the way to set up its dealership at the former Honda dealership site.

"I still want to work on one of my biggest passions, which is economic development for the town," Cock said. "We have some vacant spaces. I'd like to se what businesses we can attract to our town that maybe aren't retail, businesses that serve our residents."


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