Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 6; Democratic Party

Knowing that Democrat Cynthia Murray has 14 years of public service allows you to only scratch the surface in understanding the depth and quality of her experience helping Marin and Sonoma residents.

Cynthia has made a positive impact on many issues facing North Bay families including transportation, the environment, economic vitality, job creation, education, water quality and reliability, health care, public safety, senior services, criminal justice and agriculture.

As a Marin County Supervisor, Cynthia is responsible for a budget of $387 million and oversees 22 departments. During her time in office, she has served on over 40 boards and commissions where her leadership and vision helped to find practical solutions to our region's most serious challenges.

Cynthia is serving her second term on the Marin County Board of Supervisors, and was first elected in 1998. Before becoming Supervisor, Cynthia spent seven years on the Novato City Council. In total, she has spent 14 years in office, getting things done for her constituents. Cynthia is known for her balanced approach and ability to produce real results.

Responding to her constituents' demands for traffic improvements, Cynthia is a leader on transportation issues, fighting for Marin's Transportation Sales Tax Measure to provide funding for carpool lanes on Highway 101 through San Rafael, and other transit and transportation improvements. She advises Caltrans on getting rid of the bottleneck between Marin and Sonoma as a chairperson of the Marin/Sonoma Narrows Policy Advisory Group. Cynthia sits on the Golden Gate Bridge Board, Transportation Authority of Marin, Marin County Transit District and the Water Transit Authority's Citizen Advisory Committee.

To safeguard the environment, Cynthia added 1600 acres of wetlands at Bel Marin Keys to the 1000 acres of wetlands she had saved at Hamilton, creating the largest wetlands restoration in Marin history. She also worked with the environmental team to purchase the wetlands and open space at Bahia, which saved another 600 acres. All told, these preservation projects added approximately 3000 acres of wetlands and removed over 1200 units of potential housing units from ever being developed. Cynthia spearheaded the effort to combat Sudden Oak Death and her campaign led to the discovery of what was killing our oak trees and treatments, helping to save oaks and other trees around the world.

Cynthia introduced Marin's Green Business program, now the fastest growing program in the Bay Area. Cynthia has also been a leader in water conservation, recycling and reuse. She has successfully lobbied for legislation on the state and federal level, including securing grants for regional projects, such as the Napa Reuse and Recycling Project, which reuses and recycles wastewater from Marin and Sonoma for beneficial uses like environmental enhancement and irrigation. As chair of the Bay Area Water Forum, Cynthia is working on the integrated regional water management plan and its implementation.

Seniors are the fastest growing demographic group in Marin, so Cynthia successfully pushed for the development of the "Live Long, Live Well" strategic plan to provide a road map on how to best meet the needs of seniors. Hearing from seniors that affordable and accessible transportation was a real problem, Cynthia created the senior-friendly EZ Rider shuttle service that improves the mobility of Novato area seniors. She is also a founding member of the Partnership for the Prevention of Financial Abuse, which trains bank tellers to recognize and report financial abuse of seniors. The Chronic Disease Management Task Force she chairs helps seniors remain independent and stay in their own homes as they age or become disabled.

Cynthia's other healthcare accomplishments include fighting Marin's high rate of breast cancer through funding epidemiological studies and other efforts. She was instrumental in getting the mobile mammogram van back in Marin. Cynthia is proud that her efforts to have all children under 18 insured in Marin County are nearly accomplished. As Director of Emergency Services, Cynthia has improved the readiness of the County staff to respond to medical emergencies, including bioterrorism and other disasters. She developed a program where a corps of medical professionals is trained to act as backup if there is a need for mass inoculations or other event requiring large numbers of medical professionals to respond.

Cynthia is an active member of the School to Careers Partnership and regularly provides student job shadowing and internship opportunities. She has helped on school funding initiatives, served on school district committees, chaired the Olive School site council and volunteered in the classroom.

Cynthia is a member of many other boards and commissions. She chairs the Disaster and Citizens Corps Council and Marin County Audit Committee. Cynthia sits on the Marin County Open Space board and is a member of the Association of Bay Area Governments' Regional Policy Committee, Bay Area Economic Forum, Coastal Counties Sudden Death Oak Council, Major Crimes Task Force Oversight Committee, Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, and the Marin Housing Authority. Cynthia was as a founding member of the North Bay Watershed Association and Friends of Tolay Lake.

Cynthia Murray is a Democrat, and has lived in Marin County since 1978, moving to Novato with her family in 1988.