Point Reyes Station Has No Mayor. On November 12, the Closest Thing It Has Picks New Officers.

One week from today, on Thursday, November 12, the Point Reyes Station Village Association elects its officers at the Dance Palace. The meeting runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Two longtime officers are leaving. Secretary Mark Switzer and treasurer Laura Arndt are stepping down, so at least two new people will join a leadership circle that also includes president Steve Antonaros, vice president Chris Hulls and Pamela Bridges, who chairs the design review committee. Rhonda Kutter sits on the four-person nominating committee. She told the Point Reyes Light that more than 30 people had already expressed interest in serving as an officer.

Thirty candidates is a lot for four volunteer seats. The interest makes more sense once you see what the job has become. The association has no permitting power and a few thousand dollars in the bank, yet the county sends it the plans for every project proposed in town. The officers chosen next week inherit the docket and also a question the members have started asking out loud: can a town of this size keep running on advice alone?

Fifty Years of Being Asked First

The association's standing comes out of coastal politics. California voters passed Proposition 20 in 1972 and the Coastal Act in 1976. In the association's own telling, that framework required each coastal village to write a community plan and form a village association to protect it. The list was Muir Beach, Stinson Beach, Bolinas, Olema, Inverness, Point Reyes Station, Marshall, Tomales and Dillon Beach. The Point Reyes Station association says it has advised Marin County and the California Coastal Commission since 1974.

The working document is the Community Plan. The county and local residents drew it up in 1976, and the community revised it under local leadership in 2001. Its goals include protecting the town's historic character, managing the effects of tourism, supporting affordable housing for residents who work locally, and encouraging public participation in planning. When a project is proposed, county staff send the association copies of the plans so it can review and respond. Bridges's design review committee does that evaluation. The association responds. The county decides.

What Lands on the Table in a Single Year

Meeting summaries posted on the association's website show what that advisory role adds up to over twelve months. In order:

1. September 2025. Members discussed whether a proposed subdivision application was complete, raised traffic and environmental concerns, and asked one another to write county officials and seek a meeting with Supervisor Dennis Rodoni.
2. October 2025. A CLAM update described an $11.5 million award for the Coast Guard project, which is meant to provide 25 farmworker units. Members also proposed looking into one-way traffic on Third Street and asked Public Works to come and discuss traffic and parking.
3. December 2025. Members questioned a county parking study and were told the county planned a January meeting on parking, traffic and pedestrian access.
4. May 2026. The Good Luck Fund gave updates on the Western Saloon renovation, a pharmacy project and plans for monthly community gatherings. Historian Dewey Livingston presented a new study that will evaluate every building and structure in town for historic significance and possible National Register eligibility. Members also heard that the subdivision proposal was best described as paused, not cancelled, while the applicant waits for new form codes. Water and septic requirements will be central when it is resubmitted.
5. June 2026. Members looked ahead to a June 15 meeting with Public Works on Main Street parking and circulation, and they raised concerns about an unsafe entry at the Giacomini Wetlands.
6. September 2026. Seamus Tompkins showed a new "Local Updates" tab on the website that tracks local development permits, water testing and road work. The Dark Sky initiative reported 541 signatures toward its goal of 1,000 for updating the county's lighting ordinance. The Good Luck Fund mentioned its monthly Downtown Get Down events.

That is housing, traffic, historic preservation, night skies, a subdivision and a saloon yard, all heard by a group whose role is to respond. For that subdivision, water and septic carry real weight in West Marin. Our earlier piece on septic systems under Point Reyes Station covers why.

The Ledger Behind the Docket

At the May meeting, the association reported about $7,000 across its accounts and fixed monthly expenses of $145. That money supports a website, a permit tracker, monthly meetings and design review for every project the county sends.

Two neighboring villages are set up very differently. Marin LAFCo's June 2022 West Marin service review describes the Tomales Village Community Services District as providing wastewater collection and treatment plus parks and recreation. The same review describes the Bolinas Community Public Utility District as providing drinking water, wastewater, drainage, solid waste, and parks and recreation. Those are agencies that run systems. The Bolinas district's long-running limit on water meters shows how much authority a district can hold, and we covered it in a piece on Bolinas water meters. Point Reyes Station has nothing like it. Its village association can comment on a plan and cannot raise a dollar to carry one out.

The association's governance worries start there. The Point Reyes Light reported that the new leadership's first business will be reevaluating the association's internal governance, revisiting the bylaws and adopting a formal budget.

The Options on the Table

Members raised several alternatives at the October meeting, according to the Light. Some could sit alongside the village association instead of replacing it. The September meeting also asked for a future session on governance options, including a municipal advisory council, a community advisory group and a parcel tax, with invited speakers such as Ken Eichsteadt, Rhonda Kutter and Julia Krog.

The county is building something nearby too. The association's July summary described a planned West Marin Visioning Community Advisory Group as a Brown Act commission. The association's own visioning project, Point Reyes 2050, is moving in parallel. In September one participant suggested monitoring and working with the county's process instead of trying to lead it alone, and others floated a community-wide visioning workshop.

Membership is part of the same conversation. At the October meeting, past president Ken Levin pointed to Hispanic Heritage Night at West Marin School, held the same evening, as the kind of event members should attend. He told the room, as the Point Reyes Light reported:

"We can go elsewhere rather than expect people to come to us."

Stepfhanie Gallegos, program director at West Marin Community Services, suggested recruiting younger members through the youth centers at West Marin School and Tomales High. Tompkins, who does part-time communications work for the association, said he hoped for a focus on getting all of its information out in Spanish.

How the Vote Works on the Twelfth

The bylaws open membership to property owners and residents of Point Reyes Station and to representatives of businesses and nonprofits based in town. The nominating committee must present a single slate. Any member can still run for president, vice president, treasurer or secretary. The October meeting drew about 20 people at the Dance Palace and 20 more on Zoom.

Whoever wins on November 12 will take over the design review queue the county keeps filling, a $145-a-month operation with about $7,000 behind it, and a members' list of governance models that ranges from a recommending council to a taxing district. Supervisor Dennis Rodoni represents District 4, which includes coastal West Marin. For more on the town itself, our Point Reyes Station neighborhood page and our look at thirty years of the farmers market at Toby's cover other institutions that keep the town running.

The plans for any project in Point Reyes Station go before the Village Association's design review committee before the county makes its decision. If you want to understand how a project or a parcel moves through that review, B.G. Bates is glad to talk it through. Begin your West Marin story by connecting with B.G. Bates.