August 10, 2023
Vice Mayor Urban Carmel and Councilmember Stephen Burke announced today the group of community members appointed to join the City’s Infrastructure Funding Study Committee. City leaders have identified a number of infrastructure investments critical to the safety and well-being of our residents that will require significant funding over the next 10-15 years. The Committee's mandate will be to review the City's infrastructure challenges and craft a financial strategy to recommend to Council by the end of the year.
“We were frankly overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response we received from the nominees,” Vice Mayor Carmel said. “We are deeply appreciative of their dedication to the betterment of our community, and are really looking forward to getting to work on these critical issues.”
Emphasizing the significance of community involvement, he added, “All of the Study Committee meetings will be open to the public and we sincerely hope that any interested community members will attend and participate in the upcoming discussions. We’d love to have as many people attend as possible.”
Vice Mayor Carmel and Councilmember Burke worked to appoint a team with a diversity and balance of professional backgrounds, community contributions, and life experiences. Committee member names and brief bios are listed below, and we ask you to join us in extending our sincere appreciation for their forthcoming service!
Study Committee Members
Mara BrazerMara Brazer founded Brazer Communications in 2002, providing marketing, branding, public relations, crisis communications and more across a range of industries, from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies. Clients have ranged from Pepsi and UCSF to (then) start-ups TCHO chocolate and One Medical. She also is an executive coach. Earlier, Mara founded an economic development corporation in San Francisco, was an executive at an international PR firm, and has produced concerts and festivals. She serves on corporate and non-profit boards of directors and speaks Portuguese and Italian. Originally from Michigan, Mara has lived in the Bay Area since 1985; Mill Valley since 2003. She has a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Michigan. |
Jerry Cahill Jerry Cahill grew up in Kentfield and has been a Mill valley resident for 45 years. Jerry’s background includes a CPA and three years with one of the major accounting firms, 15 years in commercial construction, and 30 years in real estate development and management as co-owner and principal. MBA from Stanford in finance and accounting. Has enjoyed 23 Dipsea Races and many cycling century and double century events. |
Jamie FirmageAs a native of Mill Valley, Jamie attended Park, MV Middle, and Tam High School. Inspired by his daughters and wife, local dentist - Dr. Vivian Broadway, Jamie's volunteer involvement includes leadership roles, on Kiddo!, MVSC, the Strawberry Seals Swim Team & most recently as Chair of the Mill Valley Parks and Recreation Commission. Professionally, Jamie has been helping for-profit and non-profit organizations align their development, community impact, and marketing programs for multiple decades. Jamie will bring project management, solution-based partnership experience & relationship-building skills to the Committee. He enjoys the great outdoors, mentoring youth and sports in general, with a passion for football or Soccer, its preferred name in America. |
Brad FrazeeA San Diego native, Brad Frazee has lived in Mill Valley since 2002. He raised two children here, who attended Park School and graduated from Tam High. Brad is a wheelchair user, having suffered a spinal cord injury while bicycling on Highway 1 above Tam Valley in 2006. He is a practicing emergency physician at Highland Hospital in Oakland. His very favorite thing about Mill Valley: the wonderful public library. |
Al GrumetAl Grumet is an environmental activist and multimedia artist. He recently served as the Vice-Chair of the Mill Valley Climate Action Plan Task Force, which updated the City’s climate action plan. He is a co-chair of Sustainable Mill Valley and collaborated with the City of Mill Valley on climate and sustainability initiatives, including improvements to our bicycle network and micro-mobility policies. Al is also the Associate Director of Art Works for Change and a member of the steering committees of Green Change and the Marin Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Prior to his current work in arts and activism, Al worked in the financial markets, including as a tax lawyer and corporate-finance professional. |
Anne JeffreyAnne Jeffrey is former Vice President and owner Solem & Associates – public relations, governmental affairs, campaign management and quantitative and qualitative research, who has worked with companies such as Lucasfilm, Marin General Hospital, and Kentfield School District. Her community service includes serving as the Vice president and treasurer of the Board of Directors of The Redwoods, and Vice-chair of the Southern Marin County Congestion Management Advisory Committee. She is a former member of the Mill Valley Parks and Recreation Commission, the Mill Valley School District’s Facilities Task Force, a member of the campaign committee that renewed Mill Valley’s Municipal Services Tax, and a former member of Mill Valley’s General Plan Advisory Committee. |
Victoria LimVictoria Lim currently serves on the City of Mill Valley Emergency Preparedness Commission and has been a Commissioner since March 2021. Her professional experiences include 15 years working in global investment banking and private equity. She has also served the City of Mill Valley on Communications projects and the City of San Rafael on cross-departmental Economic Development initiatives, working closely with Finance, Public Works, and Public Safety teams. Victoria holds a BA in Economics and English from Stanford University and an MBA in Finance from Wharton School of Business. She resides in Strawberry with her son and rescue pup. |
Sally LowSally Low, her husband, and two toddlers moved to Mill Valley from Chicago in 2009. Prior to starting a family, she worked for several years as an engineer with the US Dept of Defense. Once her youngest started school at Old Mill, she volunteered as treasurer for the school PTA, then the MVMS PTSA and spent the “COVID years” as treasurer for the Tam High Foundation (THF). She is currently the vice chair for THF, on the Board of Trustees for our fantastic library and on the volunteer executive board of the San Francisco Symphony. Sally and her family feel lucky to live in such a beautiful and unique town and she looks forward to helping Mill Valley adapt to our changing environment. |
J. Hunter MooreJ. Hunter Moore is the Chief Executive Officer of The Redwoods – A Community of Seniors and the Chair of the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce. Hunter has more than 30 years of experience as a mission-oriented management, operations, facilities development, and strategic planning professional. He started his professional career conducting research for, and providing strategic planning to, financial institutions. He has worked extensively in the U.S., as well as in the U.K., Canada and Germany, with retirement communities. He also has experience working with elected officials and governmental bodies on the local, regional, state and national level. |
John PalmerJohn Palmer has resided in Mill Valley since 1970, and currently serves as the President of the Scott Valley HOA. He founded a real estate investment firm in 1984, specializing at the time in the restoration of historic buildings, and still serves as its President. He has built an apartment building in San Francisco, and has restored dozens there and in Los Angeles. He also serves on the Board of the San Francisco Ballet and plays guitar in a duo called Open Road, which recently completed a tour of Italy with more shows scheduled in Ireland and Scotland this coming fall. |
Jim ParrinelloJim Parrinello and his wife Colette raised their family in Mill Valley. Jim was on the Mill Valley Little League and Soccer Club boards and a founder of Mill Valley Girls Softball. He has served as the Vice Chair of the City’s 1990 General Plan Steering Committee, the Chair of the Land Use and Mobility Working Group for the 2040 General Plan and as a member of the 2016 Traffic and Congestion Advisory Task Force. He was a founder and a managing partner of the law firm Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni where he is of counsel. He is an avid fly fisherman, golfer & sometime skier. |
Kendra PollackKendra Pollack has been a Mill Valley resident for twenty years, where she raised two young men in the public schools. For the past fourteen years she has dedicated her time to our community with volunteering at the schools and her commitment to other organizations in Southern Marin including one of the founding members of Heart of the Village. Other organizations in which she has volunteered include Old Mill School PTA, Mill Valley Middle School and the Tam High School PTSA Executive Board. She is currently the NRG Captain for Cascade Canyon, participates in the City Manager Working Group and is a fundraiser for Growth Circles, a Marin City Youth travel experience. |
Daniel VasquezDaniel Vasquez is an economist and investor with nearly three decades of academic and Wall Street experience (The Conference Board, Harvard Business School, Morgan Stanley, and Hamilton Lane (CalPERS)). He is a Board Trustee for the Marin County public pension plan (MCERA) and the MarinHealth Medical Center. He serves as an Army Officer (Lieutenant) in the California State Guard, Emergency Response Command. He previously served on the City of Mill Valley Emergency Preparedness Commission (Vice-Chair) and was the Head Coach (JV) of the Redwood HS Football Team (his alma mater). He is a graduate of Berkeley, Chicago, and Oxford universities. |
We are also pleased to welcome the following to the Committee - their bios are forthcoming:Helena GoddardJessica Newman |
Council Liaisons (Non-Voting)
Urban Carmel was elected to a 4-year term on the City Council in March 2020 and is currently serving as Vice Mayor. Prior to his term on the Council, Urban spent almost four years on the City's Planning Commission, serving as Chair in 2019. In 2009, Urban restarted the dormant Mill Valley Library Foundation, served two terms as its President and helped create a multi-million dollar endowment. Urban served on the Old Mill and Middle School Site Council for six years, including a term as President. He has been the Co-Chair of Building and Grounds for the West Point Inn for several years. After 10 years as a head coach and commissioner, Urban was given the President’s Award by the Mill Valley Soccer Club, its highest honor.
Stephen Burke was appointed to the Mill Valley City Council on September 20, 2021. Prior to his appointment Stephen served on Mill Valley’s Parks and Recreation Commission, as well as the 2021 Marin County Civil Grand Jury and as Mill Valley’s representative on the Transportation Authority of Marin Citizen Oversight Committee. Stephen previously served Mill Valley as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner from 2010-12, a member of the City’s General Plan Advisory Committee in 2012, and on its Traffic Advisory and Congestion Task Force in 2016. He has also been active as a youth basketball coach, both for Mt. Carmel CYO and at Tamalpais High School.
Infrastructure Funding Study Committee Information Page