Our facilities division provided the retaining wall behind City Hall with a much-needed paint job to keep our City Hall clean and well-maintained. It’s amazing what a pressure washer and a new coat of paint can do to brighten the area and enhance the public’s perception of the City
In December 2017, construction commenced for the Measure E-funded Public Safety Center (PSC), a new state-of-the-art facility for police headquarters and public safety services. On August 26, 2020, the City’s PSC achieved final completion. Due to the lengthy construction of the building and the increased demand from fire trucks and heavy vehicles stationed at the...
In a project managed by Junior Engineer Shawn Graf, the City’s contractor Ghilotti Bros., Inc. and their electric subcontractor, Columbia Electric, are replacing the traffic signal poles in the intersection for the new configuration of the crosswalks.
We are very excited to announce that the Public Safety Center Project has achieved substantial completion. On July 1st, the last items required to operate the facility were substantially completed by the contractor, Alten Construction. The surveillance cameras and building security, as well as the heating and air conditioning systems were commissioned and finalized. The...
Big thanks to our DPW facilities team led by Supervisor Omar Garcia, and his crew Michael Reiser and Anthoney Heaven for their hard work and positive, can-do attitude! The Public Safety Center Project is complete but miscellaneous additions continue to come up to make the building and its surroundings safe and 100% ready for occupancy....
Starting this month, Pubic Works Admin employees Erika Spencer (Administrative Assistant II) and Iman Kayani (Administrative Analyst) will be taking on new duties with other departments. Anne Derrick of Community Development will be retiring at the end of the month, and with the hiring freeze, a replacement won’t be made for some time. To assist...
Huge Thank you to Matt Von Bima and Trevor Thomas! These two have a combined work experience of over 20+ years working for the City of San Rafael. Recently, these two took on the task of painting seven (7) crosswalk intersections, stop legends, many directional arrows, and 22 bike lane symbols on Las Gallinas Ave –...
The coronavirus pandemic is not a wildfire, it’s incomparable to a natural disaster confined in time and space; it has affected many aspects of our daily lives, including turning a simple task like going to the grocery store into a possibly nerve-wracking experience for some and simply unsafe for the more vulnerable members of our community (this includes anyone over the...
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) created a “watch list” for counties whose COVID-19 data has raised concerns regarding spikes in COVID-19 cases within their communities. Indicators raising concern are things like, community spread, increased hospitalization, and limited hospital capacity. Marin County was added to the State’s watch list for all three indicators on July 3rd. The State recommends the following actions to address the drivers that originally placed Marin on this watch list: ...
As our Facility staff were inspecting the Public Safety Center, they found two safety risks. They wanted to tackle these issues immediately before anyone got hurt! On the backside of the building, there was a 4 foot drop with no indication of elevation change. We installed temporary railing to ensure safety of our staff and...
The San Rafael Police Department is dedicated to helping at-risk youth create better opportunities for themselves and help set them on a positive path forward. One of our most influential programs is Camp Chance, a program designed to offer under-served kids an opportunity to experience traditional summer camp, as well as interact and build rapport with police officers. At the forefront of this program was Rebecca Kuga. Earlier this month, Rebecca lost a...
Here are some volunteer needs in the community right now. Please note that you should always bring your own face covering with you and maintain the physical distancing recommended by the Health Department. Also, these organizations are really struggling to meet the huge demand for food and other services. In an attempt to make things...
Have you been interested in running for office but you didn’t know where to start? Well the City of San Rafael and San Rafael City Schools have open Offices up for election in the November 3, 2020 General Municipal Election. The open offices include: Mayor (at-large) Councilmember, District 1 Councilmember, District 4 City Attorney (Part-time) City Clerk and Assessor ...
We are seeing a sharp rise in cases of COVID-19 in Marin. With the 4th of July right around the corner, COVID-19 has altered many plans from travel, to family gatherings, to firework shows. Many local shows, events, and parades have been cancelled to avoid large group gatherings. Local first responders are planning for a potential influx of visitors, especially to Marin’s coastal communities. Get creative this...
The County of Marin has decided to suspend many of the reopening guidelines for the June 29th reopening because of the recent spike in COVID-19 positive cases. According to the testing data on Marin Health and Human Services data and surveillance page, Marin County has seen a spike in cases, currently with 12 hospitalizations. Industries still permitted to open June 29th : Hair Salons / Barber...
Starting tomorrow evening, Thursday from 5—9 p.m., “Dining Under the Lights” will begin, sponsored by the Downtown Business Improvement District as a way to support our local restaurants and help people get back to work. An on-street, socially distanced dining experience, the program will take place every Thursday this summer. If you decide to head out to Fourth Street...
Welcome back to another week, we hope you were able to enjoy your weekend. Last Friday, the County of Marin issued a press about Social Bubbles, as well as, additional reopening guidelines that will go into effect on Monday June 29th. With the completion of and compliance with a Site-Specific Protection Plan, many more of our businesses will be able to reopen and restaurants can offer indoor seating (at reduced occupancies), which...
Have you heard? Marin County Schools will be back in session for Fall 2020. On Thursday, June 18th the County of Marin released the news with details for a safe return to in-classroom learning. Through a collaboration between Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Public Health and Mary Jane Burke, Marin County Superintendent of Schools, a 30-point safety protocol structure was created. The Marin Office of Education (MCOE) created a...
Due to the lingering effects of Covid-19, the Downtown Summer San Rafael Farmers Market held on Fourth Street will not be occurring this Summer. The City of San Rafael and the Agricultural Institute of Marin (AIM) look forward to resuming the market in 2021. We will miss seeing everyone’s smiling (masked) faces this summer! However,...
The City of San Rafael is excited to announce that, following the County’s updated Public Health Order, we will be opening the Terra Linda Community Pool on July 6. The Health Order lays out specific guidelines for pool capacity and safe operations, which will impact the programs that the City is able to offer this...
Shops and restaurants are expanding their operations to offer indoor retail (starting today) and outdoor dining on sidewalks and parking spaces. If you don’t have any plans this weekend, consider taking a stroll downtown to experience new shopping and dining options and support our San Rafael businesses. Many of the products you need can be purchased right here in San Rafael. We recently installed more bike racks throughout...
Need more activities during your shelter-in-place life? Do you want to reduce your impact on the planet? Take part in the virtual Sustainability Scavenger Hunt organized with some of our community partners to learn strategies for living more sustainably while connecting with local climate action organizations. This online contest starts June 15th and ends July...
One of the action items identified in the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan is to “explore and gauge community interest in other revenue generating possibilities.” The City recently worked with a third-party to conduct a survey of local voters to determine community sentiment for a potential ballot measure to increase the local sales tax rate. On Monday evening, the...
At their May 18 meeting, the City Council provided direction to staff to get community feedback and initiate a letter of interest for two “priority development areas” (PDA) in San Rafael. Since then, City staff created a webpage with an online engagement platform to collect comments and held seven virtual community meetings. The meetings provided an opportunity for participants to get a better understanding of PDAs, the current thinking and recommendations, ask...
WATCH VIDEO San Rafael restaurants are excited to bring more outdoor dining to the community and we’re excited to be helping them hit the ground running! We created new, free permit types to accommodate businesses who want to use the sidewalk, plaza, or parking space in front of their business for outdoor dining and retail. Interested in dining outside at one of your favorite San Rafael restaurants? Not...
The past few months have brought a number of unprecedented challenges to our local system of care. This newsletter will provide an overview of six of the most significant ways in which the City, the County, and our local homeless service providers are responding to the COVID-19 crisis. If you or someone you know is...
The City is seeking proposals from qualified engineering Consultants for design and environmental clearance services associated with the City’s Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (MCSTOPPP) Full Trash Capture Device Project. Proposals shall be submitted by firms that have a capable and demonstrable background in the type of work described in the section entitled “Scope...
This week, we worked with various City departments to create a free and automatic temporary encroachment permit that will allow businesses to use the sidewalk or plaza space in front of their business for outdoor dining or retail. Next week we plan to offer businesses the option to use parking spaces in front of their businesses as an additional outdoor dining location option. In addition, we’re building a crowd-sourced restaurant map so diners can easily find...
From your Mayor & City Council We stand with everyone in our community and across the nation against systemic racism. Enough is enough. Our communities are demanding change that is deserved and past due. It’s time for all leaders to listen and do more to support our black community. And we won’t stop there. We...
The Sidewalk Repair Program, like most construction in the State stopped and took a pause in March and April. With the amendments to the Shelter in Place order allowing construction to resume, the City and contractor, Van Midde and Son concrete have slowly started repairing sidewalk again. Additional protective and preventative measures are being taken...