Current Board Member Bios

I live with my husband and our two young children on the east end of the neighborhood.  I work as a voice over artist and as a sales rep for my favorite comfort shoe company. My family and I love going on adventures through the neighborhood and China Camp, enjoying the diversity of people that live here as well as the incredible diversity of nature surrounding us. I’m also an Advisory Board member for CSA 18. I have chosen to volunteer on the SVNA and CSA 18 boards as a way to give back to our community.
As a Santa Venetia native, I’ve been able to enjoy the neighborhood throughout many stages of my life. I remember going to Tiny Tots for preschool followed by Gallinas Elementary. What fun it was to have classes taught by the biologist, storyteller and educator Ane Rovetta and to go for walks with Mrs. Terwilliger.  They really instilled a great respect for nature in me, and boy did they make it fun to learn! I remember playing on the big cheese at Pueblo Park and riding bikes through Castro Park when it was an abandoned baseball field, there were no bridges along the marsh and there was a swing at old man Sanders’ place. Those were the days when parents would tell kids to go out and play, all day… Just make sure to come home by the time the lights came on, we never saw parents out at the parks unless someone was in big trouble. Nowadays, it’s a rarity to see children out and about without a grownup, our parks serve as a meeting place for families, folks out to walk the dog or those just out for a stroll that want to connect with their neighbors. It’s really wonderful going to the same places I played when I was growing up, now with my own kids. I’ll continue looking forward to seeing plenty of smiling faces (some familiar, some new) whenever we’re cruising through the neighborhood.

Mark Wallace, and his wife, Terri Leker, moved to San Rafael from the East Bay in 1994, and have been residents of Santa Venetia ever since. They raised their daughter Ann here, now a 
UC Davis student majoring in Atmospheric Science. Mark is a software engineer and an avid cyclist and hiker dedicated to balancing Marin’s natural environment with the need for affordable housing. You will find him most days walking their dog along the levee trail.

I am a California native and have lived in San Rafael almost my entire life. I went through the public school system here from San Pedro, to Davidson, to San Rafael High School, to College of Marin. Growing up in Marin County was quite a treat! I’ve been a Santa Venetian, and creek-side resident, since 1989. I was drawn to the area because of its beauty and serenity and hardly a day goes by that I don’t think to myself, “I am SO lucky AND happy to live here.
Since my teens, I have volunteered and been active in my community, so it was a natural progression to join the SVNA Board shortly after moving here. For me, my involvement and time invested is a way of “giving back” and expressing my appreciation and gratitude for all that I have and the joy I get from living here. For those of you who have never tried it, I recommend it highly!
I am a self-employed accountant and business consultant and with my free time, I… (HA! What am I saying? I don’t have any free time). But if I did, I’d like to spend more time in my yard, visiting with my family and friends, tap dancing, crocheting, playing on my computer, and having my dog “walk me” around the levee. And, after 40 years together, my partner and I recently tied the knot so we hope to spend even more time having fun!

I was the second president of the Santa Venetia Improvement Association which later became the SVNA and I am the only active Board member from the original Board, having served for over 30 years. I am also a Board member of CSA 18, CSA 19 and the Sheriff’s Advisory Board. I am also quite fanatic about the neighborhood medians. My vision for Santa Venetia is that we treat our neighbors as we want to be treated, that we try to assist seniors, and that we pick up after our dogs.

My name is Roderick. I grew up in Southern California, went to Cal, and then headed back to the L.A. area to work in education—as a school teacher, and later as a principal at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. These days, I’m an Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services in a district far, far away… and I also serve as a full professor at USC, where I teach in the Rossier School of Education.  I moved to San Rafael about 12 years ago, and my wife and I bought our home in Santa Venetia in 2019. We absolutely love it here and feel incredibly fortunate to be part of this community.
We enjoy getting involved and supporting our neighborhood whenever we can. We have a daughter who’s headed into high school, and we love hosting friends for dinner, good conversation, spinning 1970s-2000s vinyl and great wine. I look forward to running into you on a walk or at one of our beautiful parks here in Santa Venetia!

I have lived on Gallinas Creek since 1977. I volunteer for Friends of China Camp State Park and Gallinas Creek Watershed Council. I work for REI Corte Madera and my interests include hiking, biking, kayaking, and nature.

I was born in Berkeley and raised in East Oakland. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and a Masters Degree in Civil/Sanitary Engineering.  I am a registered Civil Engineer. I moved to Marin 40 years ago when I got a job at Nute Engineering in San Rafael. Nute Engineering is a private consulting firm with the majority of clients being public agencies. I mainly designed sewers, wrote reports, acted as Assessment District Engineer, and did right-of-way research.

I first lived in an apartment near San Rafael High School and then bought a condominium in Larkspur where I served on the Board of Directors during litigation, usually as President. 

In 1990, I bought a house on Crestview Drive on the hillside above the Chalet Basque restaurant. In 1999, I married and in 2001, we became the father of triplet boys, two of which are identical.  The boys were educated at Gallinas/Venetia Valley K-8 and Terra Linda High School.  They are now sophomores at San Diego State University,  University of Minnesota and the University of South Carolina.

I worked on creating the Santa Venetia Community Plan with other members of the community. I am interested in the traffic issues on North San Pedro Rd and when I drove my boys to school, I dropped them off early to avoid the congestion.

Before triplets, I was a mountain bike commuter and returned home from Downtown San Rafael over Gold Hill Grade down to the 7-11.  During the Covid lockdowns, my wife and I walk the streets and levees of the neighborhood, China Camp State Park, and the trails of San Pedro Mountain.