Sunday, December 25, 1994
Will we have another
meeting with you?" The homeowner
asked.
Smiling, looking down at the Marin County
spreadsheets and budget scenarios, Bob Roumiguiere responded, "Kind of
depends on when you have your next meeting.
December 31st is my last day."
"I still can't believe it," another
from the crowd of 15 said. "What
is the new fella's name, anyway?"
"Kress.
John Kress." another replied.
"Will he go to meetings like you
have?"
Rick Carlson, the county planner sitting next to
Roumiguiere, responded, "No one, for as long as I have been here, goes to
meetings like Roumiguiere does. I don't
know how he does it."
Again, peering down at the table, Roumiguiere
smiled and quietly responded, "Thank you, Rick, I appreciate
that."
"I meant, will he have meetings with us
like you have?" the questioner
continued.
"I think so. Once he settles in." Roumiguiere responded.
"Will you be coming to those
meetings?" another asked.
"Well, that will be up to John. I'll help him in any way I can. But if John feels uncomfortable having me in
attendance, I won't get in his way. He
might want to work these things out in his own manner, and that's perfectly
understandable. If, on the other hand,
he wants me to help while he settles in, I will."
That night this group of involved citizens
devoted two hours discussing how 450-plus Santa Venetia waterfront, Marin
Lagoon and Marin Cove property owners might agree to form a Special Benefits
Assessment District. Over the next 7-10
years the District needs to raise approximately $1 million dollars. Without the money, the Las Gallons watershed
will suffer from siltification. With
the
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‘...if John (Kress) feels uncomfortable having
me in attendance, I won’t get in his way.’
------------------------------
money,
dredging will cleanse the watershed.
Bob Roumiguiere, previous chair of about 101,822
committees, will wake up this New Year without, for the first time in 22 years,
having to leave either his Marin Lagoons or Lake County home to scuffle in F.
L. Wright's Big Caterpillar. As
Roumiguiere wistfully said at another community meeting, "In a way, I feel
like a tremendous burden has been lifted.
I don't expect I'll be waking up at 3:00 a.m. wondering how to take care
of the problems that were always waiting at work."
These Santa Venetia property owners were already
missing his energy and laser-like political insights. It was only natural that they would ask what he thought of his
successor.
Roumiguiere spoke as he always seemed to dress
-- well, with a little color and a smile.
Nothing negative was said about John Kress. Several times he stressed he was "encouraged” by recent conversations he had with him.
There was no
vindictiveness in his voice. He even joked that the group might consider asking
the guy who
-------------------------------
‘In a way, I feel like
a tremendous burden has been lifted.’
-----------------------------
put together
Kress’s campaign pieces, "if he'd
do some for your group. He certainly
did good negative pieces on me and if he could do the same quality positive
pieces for you, it will help your campaign.
"This is a consuming job. Stuff comes at you from every direction, and
you learn a lot on the job. I think
John’s getting a sense of that, and I'm encouraged. You should be too."
Indeed, Roumiguiere is leaving his job like he
came in over 8,200 days ago: polished
shoes, flower in his lapel, pressed suit, colorful tie and some color and a
smile on his cheeks. You could disagree
with him and he with you but, unless he was overly tired, the disagreement was
handled with class.
Say, Bob, when were you last tired?
Dwayne Hunn, a resident on Mill Valley, is a
local consultant and free-lance writer.