Sep. 25--TW0 YEARS AGO, Mill Valley voters sent a message to their City Council: It was time for a change.

Three veteran council members retired and three new members were elected to help lead the city.

They joined Councilmembers Andrew Berman and Shawn Marshall, who say they have heard residents' complaints about what they perceived to be City Hall's top-down attitude and have reached out to broaden community involvement in major planning decisions, such as the Miller Avenue plan.

Berman and Marshall instantly became the council's veterans in 2007. They have proven themselves to be up to that responsibility.

They recognized that City Hall needed to shift gears and do a better job of engaging longtime residents and newcomers in city issues.

For instance, rather than continuing to push for a sweeping overhaul of Miller, a busy stretch of road and an important collection of businesses residents depend on, they opted to slow down, regroup and take on Miller's issues in smaller pieces.

Marshall, a 44-year-old consultant, and Berman, a 49-year-old high-tech executive, are seeking second terms on the Nov. 3 ballot. Their experience and leadership should be retained.

"The street (Miller) will evolve over time, plan or no plan," Marshall told the IJ Editorial Board.

She's right. The city needs a community-based plan to guide traffic improvements and to steer new building and development, which always will be an issue as landowners seek to improve their property. Sometimes

that involves a new building, a different use or both.

Marshall's background as a planner with expertise in building affordable housing and Berman's business and high-tech knowledge are valuable assets on the council as it steers the city toward addressing key local issues.

Those attributes also will be important as the city recruits and hires a new city manager to replace Anne Montgomery, who just announced she is stepping down at the end of the year.

Challenging Berman and Marshall on the ballot is George Gordon, an investment consultant who also ran two years ago. He has raised questions about city financing that the council should address -- fully and in public. In particular, Gordon is worried about the city's employee pension fund and that Mill Valley is not financially prepared to meet its long-term obligations.

"You don't know how close the cliff is," Gordon said. "This is the kind of thing that got General Motors and Chrysler hung over the edge."

Both Marshall and Berman, after seeing the city's contribution to employee pension benefits skyrocket to cover the state pension fund's stock losses, are now pushing for money-saving reforms and making sure money is being socked away to cover the city's long-term costs.

Gordon may be right in his warning about the cost of the city's pension benefits, but he can't match Marshall and Berman in terms of their expertise in the wider variety of city responsibilities.

Berman has been involved in such local municipal issues as emergency response, sewage treatment and telecommunications. Marshall has been a prime force in the formation of the Marin Energy Authority, a local public green power broker. We have reservations about this costly initiative, but we agree with Marshall that more needs to be done to promote green power.

Berman has supported it as well, but he wants to make sure that local consumers' choice to stay with PG&E is as public-friendly as possible.

Gordon was not well-versed on this vital issue.

Shawn Marshall and Andrew Berman are solid civic leaders. This is a time when their experience and knowledge are needed. Mill Valley voters would be wise to keep them on their council for four more years.

The IJ endorses their re-election on Nov. 3.

Read more Mill Valley stories at the IJ's Mill Valley section.

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