Novato council member resigns, citing stress and ‘vitriol’

Less than two years after being elected to the Novato City Council, Amy Peele has abruptly resigned.

In her announcement at the council meeting on Tuesday, Peele cited mental and physical stress from the pandemic, the political climate, vitriolic public discourse and the inability to meet in person with fellow councilmembers as the reasons behind her decision.

Her resignation took effect Wednesday.

“As a medical professional, I have seen firsthand the short- and long-term effects of stress and I am unwilling to subject myself to it any longer,” Peele told the council. “When I began my term, I looked forward to working collaboratively with my colleagues on the City Council. However, due to a combination of severe restrictions imposed upon us by the Brown Act and the shutdown precipitated by the COVID epidemic, this has hardly been the case.

“Instead, I have found that we work as government by silo. We have only had three in-person meetings in my almost two-year tenure and we are not allowed to meet with more than one council member at a time to discuss matters outside of those meetings. It seems like we have been addressing one five-alarm fire after another without a workable path to resolving so many of the issues that have been raised.”

Peele, a longtime Novato resident and former director of transplants at the University of California San Francisco, was elected to the council in November 2019 to represent the Hamilton area in District 5. Her five-year term was set to expire at the end of 2024.

Peele, Councilwoman Susan Wernick and Mayor Pro Tem Eric Lucan were elected to five-year terms because of the state’s decision to move all future elections to even-numbered years after 2019.

Wernick, who was elected at the same time as Peele, said her resignation is a huge loss for the city and council.

“I thought she was incredibly brave and incredibly honest in what she said and I admire for her that greatly,” Wernick said on Wednesday. “I certainly hoped the community listened.”

Mayor Pat Eklund thanked Peele for her time on the council, calling her a “fervent community advocate” with a “true servant’s heart.”

“I’m sorry that Councilmember Peele resigned because I thought the five of us have been working very well this year as a team,” Eklund said in an interview on Wednesday. “I can definitely understand her frustration.”

Marin Supervisor Judy Arnold, who encouraged Peele to run for office, said she was a “perfect candidate.”

“Her interaction with people through empathizing and understanding was amazing to watch,” Arnold wrote in a statement. “She could also make people laugh. People loved Amy.”

While in office, Peele said, she took on a focus on the city’s homeless population because she was once close to being homeless and because of her family’s history of mental health issues. Despite the city’s efforts to provide transitional housing at Homeward Bound of Marin, she said the city has been met with pushback from both sides of the issue as well as an ongoing lawsuit over city camping regulations.

“What a gift it would be to seek a common ground through mediation with our community and save the tax dollars for services for our community,” Peele said.

Peele also expressed concern about the “constant name-calling, vitriol, shaming and toxic comments and emails from members of our community.”

“People need to continue to show up and speak up and participate in the decision-making process that impacts the future of our city,” Peele said. “But please, I implore you, we need to do so with more respect and civility toward our staff, elected officials and fellow community members even when we disagree on the issue at hand.”

Peele said the other council members and city staff “have been nothing short of extraordinary” to further the growth of Novato during one of its most difficult periods.

While the council often votes unanimously on most issues, Peele had occasionally broken from the majority. She was the only council member to oppose a controversial plan by Costco to build a gas station at the Vintage Oaks Shopping Center. She also advocated for reestablishing the Novato Youth Commission to bring more youth participation in city government. The council shelved the idea in February with plans to revisit the proposal this year.

Peele said Wednesday that she will continue to be involved in city issues and promoting youth participation.

The council has a few options for how it could fill Peele’s seat, which it will discuss at its Sept. 28 meeting, according to City Manager Adam McGill. One option is to have the majority of the council appoint a successor who would serve until the next general election in November 2022. The appointee would be a District 5 resident. Voters in the district would then choose a candidate during that election to serve out the remainder of Peele’s term.

Another option is to leave the seat vacant until that election, McGill said.

A third option is hold a special election. The council would need to call for one within 60 days and then decide when the election would take place. The city would also need to pay for the full cost of a special election, McGill said.

On Wednesday, Peele said that if the council appoints a temporary replacement, she hopes it will appoint someone from the Latino community.

“I believe we need a more diverse council,” Peele said. “I think our census data should be looked at seriously.”

Given that Peele’s seat has three years left on its term, Eklund said she favors having a replacement chosen by voters rather than appointed by the council.

“We have been working very well as a team, so there is no reason why we have to appoint,” Eklund said.

Wernick said she would be open to appointing someone because of the many issues the council will be voting on in the coming year, but also said she wants to discuss the option more with the full council.

The last time a Novato councilmember resigned was two years ago, when Josh Fryday stepped down for a gubernatorial appointment as the state’s volunteerism officer. The council did not appoint a replacement because Fryday’s resignation came just months before the November 2019 election, which was also its first by-district election.

Peele is the fourth council member in Marin to step down this year. David Kunhardt in Corte Madera and Tricia Ossa in Mill Valley resigned because they were moving out of the county. David Kulik in Tiburon stepped down shortly after being elected, citing family reasons.