In 2023, when the Marin Board of Supervisors decided to change to an “executive” form of county bureaucracy, there wasn’t talk of increased cost.

There certainly wasn’t talk of it adding more than $4 million to the county’s annual budget.

The move was sold as a culmination of changes the county management had been moving toward, where more and more departments were answering directly to the county administrator.

It was sold as sort of a formality, although there were doubters who were concerned that departments would be answering to the county’s executive officer rather than supervisors.

Essentially, the days of department heads challenging the county administrator’s budget proposals and having supervisors decide between them was history.

It certainly made life easier for the five sup

See Full Page