Contact Your Elected & Appointed Officials
Code of Conduct for Contacting Elected and Appointed Officials
There is power in the written word, do not underestimate it. Contact the people who set the policy for your children and ask them to make masking at school a choice. It only takes five minutes, do it today! Many of the people who run this site have been corresponding weekly for almost two years with the below individuals, they will be forced to listen when we push back en masse. Together we are stronger!
- Do not be disrespectful, respect and decorum goes a long way.
- Do not use threatening or vile language.
- Be direct and measured in your correspondence and requests, being angry won't help
- Think twice before hitting send, envision your email being posted on the front page of the Marin IJ. Remember, this fight is for our children.
We have ranked the contacts by most influencial given the current news. Newsom was top dog until Feb 28, now this is local. We are not sure who will be the best entity to advocate for choice. MDPH will say they support it but likely won't put their full force behind it. MCOE is a tough one and given their position is more amenable to the unions. We put our money on your child's superintendent and school board as being the most powerful if you want change. Start there!
Marin County Public School Districts + Independent Schools
Contact your individual Marin County public and private school principals and superintendents, let them know that you support mask choice for your children. See this list of the public school districts in Marin.
Independent private school parents will need to reach out to their individual schools, this is very fragmented as they are managed individually.
Marin Child Care Council
We need to fight for our preschoolers too, contact the head of the Marin Child Care Council Aideen Gaidmoore at aideen@mc3.org and ask that she supports mask choice for all the 2-5 years olds in Marin County's preschools and home day cares. There really may have been nothing more cruel than masking this age group.
Also contact your preschool's executive director or owner and ask them to allow your little ones mask choice.
Marin Department of Public Health (MDPH)
Marin County Public Health Officer - Dr. Matt Willis
*Dr. Willis is Marin's most senior public health officer and together with Lisa Santora and Mary Jane Burke (see below) sets health policy and mask recommendations. If you want to empower your local schools to allow for mask choice, the tone and the support will come from him.
Marin County Deputy Public Health Officer - Dr. Lisa Santora
*Dr. Santora is one of the key MDPH liaison with MCOE and Ms. Burke. Always copy her in your emails to Dr. Willis, surprisingly she always writes back and says she appreciates civil discourse. We agree, thank you, Dr. Santora! She has stated as of March 1 that she is for choice yet will strongly recommend that schools still mask.
Marin County Office of Education (MCOE)
Marin Superintendent of Schools - Mary Jane Burke
*Mary Jane Burke, along with Dr. Willis (above) is arguably the most influential when it comes to setting health policy in our schools. MJB is a caring mom and grandmother, so she gets it. She's got school children to protect but let's encourage her that choice is safe and we can do this!
Marin Assistant Superintendent of Schools - Ken Lippi
*Ken Lippi is also the main stakeholder in MCOE's COVID-19 Rethinking Schools, he has Mary Jane Burke's ear and assists Dr. Willis and Dr. Santora in the never-ending 32-point plan. Always cc' him when writing MJB.
Patricia Garbarino (President): pgarbarino@marinschools.org
Felicia Agrelius (Member): agrelius@marinschools.org
Marilyn Nemzer (Member): mnemzer@marinschools.org
Curtis Robinson (Member): crobinson@marinschools.org
Patricia Warren (Member): pwarren@marinschools.org
Clairette Wilson (Member): cwilson@marinschools.org
*The MCEO Board votes on the policies that Mary Jane Burke and Ken Lippi present, they are a powerful group. Let them know what you think.
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Contact your district's elected Supervisor
- District 1 (North San Rafael): Damon Connolly DConnolly@marincounty.org
- District 2 (Central Marin): Katie Rice krice@marincounty.org
- District 3 (Southern Marin): Stephanie Moulton-Peters smoultonpeters@marincounty.org
- District 4 (West Marin): Dennis Rodoni drodoni@marincounty.org
- District 5 (Novato): Judy Arnold jarnold@marincounty.org
*Dr. Willis, Dr. Santora, and Mary Jane Burke interface with the BoS on a regular basis and together then set the policies that manage Marin County residents. It is important to reach out to your district's rep and let them know you support mask choice. They may act indifferent and say we need to push on MCOE or MDPH, but they have lots of power to push local entities to reopen and unmask.
State of California - Governor and Public Health Officer
We'd originally listed contact information for Governor Newsom and Dr. Mark Ghaly, but this isn't a State level decision any longer. As of Feb. 28, 2022 this has been passed to local contract. Above is the list of the key players in Marin.