Voting Underway for November 3 Election

Ballots for the November 3 General Election have been sent to all active registered voters in Marin County as required by California Assembly Bill 860, and mail ballot voting is taking place at the Elections Department in San Rafael.

Registered voters may go to the Elections Department (Marin Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive, Suite 121) and vote on a mail ballot between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays or until 8 p.m. on Election Day. An accessible ballot marking device is also available. The department will be open the weekend before the election — October 31 and November 1 – from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to assist voters with registration and voting.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people allowed in the Elections Department at one time is limited to four, and visitors are expected to wear a face covering and practice safe physical distancing.

Those eligible to vote can still register by October 19 and automatically receive a ballot in the mail. After the deadline, eligible persons will have to register and vote at the Elections Department or register online at www.registertovote.ca.gov. During the late registration period from October 20 through 8 p.m. on Election Day, voters will have to fill out ballots in the Elections Department or visit their polling place to register and vote a provisional ballot when early voting starts on October 31.

Polling place voting will be different for the November election. There will be fewer locations that are open three days before Election Day for eight hours and on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. as outlined in Senate Bill 423. Voters are assigned to a specific location and should contact the Elections Department if they have questions. 

The assigned polling place is printed on the back cover of the voter information guide that was mailed to all voters on September 24-25, and hours of operation for early voting are posted at www.marinvotes.org.  Voters may access their information guide by signing in to the Voter Information Portal on the Elections Department website.

Safety measures will be practiced at polling places as they are elsewhere — physical distancing, masks required, and a limited number of voters in the polling place at one time.
Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day.

Instead of mailing, voters may drop their ballot at one of several drop boxes located throughout the county or at any polling place starting October 31. The list of drop boxes is printed in the voter information guide, is included with the ballot packet, and is posted at www.marinvotes.org. San Anselmo is hosting a drop box in the plaza in front of Town Hall. 

Remember to sign your return envelope or the Elections Department cannot process the ballot. Voters will receive a letter if their signature is missing or doesn’t match their voter registration form so they can fix the problem.

If you’re not sure if you are registered to vote but plan to vote in this election, check the Voter Information Portal to find out, or call (415) 473-6456. 

Playgrounds Reopen

Playgrounds around the county are reopening as the State updates COVID-19 guidance on their usage. As of yesterday, Memorial Park's Millennium Playgrounds along with the playground at Lansdale Park are open for public use. Each facility has a maximum capacity which is posted at the playgrounds, along with a list of rules and guidelines. To view these rules, published by the State of California's Department of Public  Health, CLICK HERE.

Public Composting at Creek Park!

Marin Sanitary Service has been working with the Town and the SA Sustainability Commission to establish a system for public composting and recycling in Creek Park. Green carts are available for composting (food scraps, soiled paper, but never any plastic!) and you can place bottles and cans into the brown metal cans for recycling. We are also working with the local pizza restaurants such as Creekside Pizza to pass out reminders to always place pizza boxes in the compost carts! Thank you for doing your part to help San Anselmo reduce its waste!

Guidance for Safer Halloween and Dia de los Muertos Celebrations during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The County of Marin's Public health Department has issued guidance for enjoying upcoming fall celebrations safely. This guidance outlines safer ways to celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 virus continues to circulate in communities within Marin County causing severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths among our residents. Individuals can spread COVID-19 even without symptoms. While the primary means of spread involves droplets created by coughing, sneezing and talking, aerosols caused by normal breathing and virus particles on hard surfaces can also spread COVID-19.

This ongoing risk requires everyone to follow necessary precautions. Reducing close contact with individuals outside your household, wearing masks, practicing hand hygiene, and staying home when not feeling well are all important measures to slow the spread
Many traditional holiday activities promote congregating and mixing of households, which increase the risk of transmitting COVID-19. For this reason, Marin County Public Health recommends that you choose a safer alternative way to celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos and strongly discourages trick-or-treating. It is important to plan early and identify safer options.

CLICK HERE to access Marin County Department of Public Health's     recommendations for enjoying a safer Halloween and Dia de los Muertos Celebrations during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Art On The Avenue

The San Anselmo Arts Commission is sponsoring the vacant storefront art exhibit at 538 San Anselmo Avenue. Featured artists are Helen Steele and Sunila Bajracharya. 

Stop by to check it out!  Please visit the commission's Website to see what else they are up too. 

A Note from the Library

You may have heard that changes are coming as Marin County eases restrictions on businesses and activities. Public libraries in Marin are currently working together through the MARINet consortium to establish protocols that will help protect the health and safety of library staff as well as our patrons as we move to a different level of service. These protocols, which will take several weeks to put into place, also need to be approved by Marin Recovers.

Services provided could include modified browsing, access to public computers, and picking up of holds, depending on the specific library, but will not include full access to services or extended time in the building. Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for more specific information. In the meantime, curbside service will continue in the same manner. 

Tell us what you think

We value your opinions about library services and hope you will take a little time to share those with us. We anticipate the next level of library service to be available around mid-October and we would like your input for what that might look like. Please take our short survey to better inform our planning process:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XTP3YDD
We appreciate your time.

Robson University and Robson Aftercare Are Up and Running!

Please visit the links below for more information and to register. Please e-mail robsonaftercare@gmail.com with any questions you may have.

Robson Aftercare          Robson University

Slow Streets

Organic Waste Program for 2020

For additional information, click here.