The Town of San Anselmo is one of five jurisdictions participating in a discussion about the use of Sir Francis Drake’s (SFD) name on the boulevard that traverses east-west across the

central part of Marin County. The other jurisdictions through which the road passes are the County of Marin, City of Larkspur, and the Towns of Fairfax and Ross. Each of the jurisdictions appointed two Councilmembers to the SFD Ad-Hoc Working Group. The Town’s Council representatives are Vice Mayor Fineman and Councilmember Burdo. Collectively, the ten elected officials have been participating in a series of public forums (i.e., community listening and learning sessions) and three Working Group meetings.

At their December meeting, the working group agreed that members should return to their respective jurisdictions to take up the issue of whether to move forward at the local level with renaming SFDB.  The group also agreed that each jurisdiction should complete its community process and make a final decision no later than March 31, 2021. Through its working group members, each jurisdiction will report back at the full working group’s early April meeting.  This request is focused on the concept of whether the name should be changed and not on selecting a name. The selection of a name would be a separate multi-jurisdictional process that would occur after decisions are made regarding the renaming of SFDB.

At their meeting on January 12, 2021, the Town Council received a report outlining the working group’s progress. At that meeting, the Council directed staff to set-up a community forum to allow San Anselmo residents a chance to provide input to the Town Council regarding the issue of renaming Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. On Wednesday, February 17, 2021, the Town held a community forum, which was moderated by Vice Mayor Fineman and Councilmember Burdo. 41 people signed on to the forum, and 23 provided input. 

At their meeting on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, the Town Council will discuss and consider the concept of renaming Sir Francis Drake Blvd. and provide formal direction to the Council representatives to the Marin County Sir Francis Drake Ad-Hoc Working Group.