Gail Meyers, Noted Character at City Meetings, Passes Away

As Novato's most prominent and vocal political critic for four decades, Gail Meyers only missed a handful of significant city meetings and regularly stepped to the microphone – often several times per session – to voice her concerns. She would even provide commentary from her seat, prompting the mayor to bang the gavel and call for order.

When she was recovering from a mild stroke in 2011, Gail missed more than a month’s worth of council sessions, making the meetings far less entertaining but quite a bit quicker. At her first meeting back, another public speaker welcomed Gail back, sparking a spontaneous ovation. Gail, who ran unsuccessfully several times for City Council, clearly was appreciated and respected for her tenacity and passion.

Although some rolled their eyes when Gail stepped on her soapbox – including the elected officials and city staff members – many residents admired her gumption to challenge the political process, toss the occasional verbal dart and make sure the decisions that shaped the future of her town were strong ones.

Gail, a Novato resident for more than 45 years, passed away May 23 at the age of 84. A Celebration of Life is planned for 11 a.m. June 22 at Novato City Hall. As a tribute, attendees are invited to wear a flower in their hair, as Gail often did.

It’s been about five or six years since Gail took up her sentry post at a council meeting, but she continued to watch live broadcasts of the meetings. She pushed elected officials to be transparent with the public and eliminate deals conducted behind closed doors. She once hosted a show on public access TV and discussed the hot Novato topics of the day.

In 2007 and 2008, a derelict industrial property was cleared in a prominent downtown location, and plans were unveiled for a condominium complex with a grocery store on the lowest level. Marin Independent Journal columnist Dick Spotswood wrote: “A leading opponent of the scheme was Gail Meyers, for decades Novato’s resident gadfly. She was ignored, in part, because of her quirky and gruff approach. Meyers spotted the plan’s defects and shouted the alarm but no one paid attention.” The Millworks building at De Long and Reichert avenues was built and dwarfed all other structures in the Old Town area. When jaws dropped at the complex’s relative size and some politicians backpedaled on their support of the project, Gail couldn’t help but say, “I told you so!” Today, Novatoans have grown used to the Millworks building.

In 2011, city staff proposed to develop standards of conduct and accountability for disruption of public meetings that would prohibit distracting exclamations. Nobody outwardly called it the Gail Meyers Rule. Gail was drinking a soda from a straw during the city manager’s presentation and grew infuriated. Just as the city manager started to cover what constituted inappropriate behavior, Gail got to the bottom of her drink and made a sucking sound with the straw that was audible by everyone in the room.

Gail Elaine Smith was born March 10, 1935, in Lafayette, Alabama, but soon moved to her mother’s home state of Connecticut. Gail grew up in Waterbury in the final years of the Great Depression and World War II. She spent a lot of time with her cousins, helping with chores at many of the family farms.

It’s believed that Gail’s first visit to Novato came in 1949 during a cross-country road trip with her grandmother, her great aunt, and her great aunt’s daughter, who was a teenager like Gail. It was well before the interstate highway system was built, and she referenced the trip often for the rest of her life.

Gail went on to graduate from Crosby High School, attended the University of Connecticut for a couple of years, worked as a bank teller supervisor, and continued traveling. She and two friends, with whom Gail remained in contact throughout their lives, decided to see if their destiny lied in San Francisco, and the trio drove across the country. They all secured jobs in the San Francisco banking industry and took time to explore the state.

The three friends were a piano bar called the Shadow Box in Laurel Heights on October 1, 1960, when they met three young men. One was Bill Meyers, who was there between assignments from an international accounting firm. He had returned from opening the Rio de Janeiro office and was planning to open the next one in Lima, Peru. Gail and Bill wed eight months later and settled in Peru, where they had their first two daughters.

The third daughter arrived after the young family had moved to back to Connecticut after a short time in Massachusetts. After enjoying New England for a time, the Meyers family moved to Novato in 1974.

Gail’s interest in the growing community was peaked as it slowly changed from rural ranchland to subdivisions. Novato had incorporated in 1960, a full 100 years after Petaluma, and many of its early civic leaders were political newcomers. When a developer tried to take over a hill behind her house in 1975, she decided to get involved.

Gail ran for office, several times just to make sure more candidates were running than there were seats open to ensure that debate and discussion occurred. Although she never secured enough votes, she constantly attended the City Council meetings to be sure Novato remained Novato with sufficient open space, cultural activities, and a strong local economy. She was a member of committees and task forces that either helped to preserve small town charm or carefully considered measured growth. She used her public access TV show, “Pulse of Novato,” to convey her thoughts on local issues, and she volunteered in countless situations to preserve Novato’s character. Most of all, she made sure the city leaders followed law and protocol.

On the home front, Gail put family first. She was an accomplished pianist, an artist, a great cook, a fan of musical theater, and an avid traveler.

Her 80th birthday coincided with a City Council meeting that also represented her 40th year of attending the council meetings. On that occasion, Gail received the Key to the City of Novato.

Gail is predeceased by her husband, William Stephen Meyers, her mother, father, stepfather, and sister Sylvia Diane Van de Kerkhove (Smith). She is survived by her three daughters, Gail (Nicolai), Sherry (Timothy) and Judith (David); her niece Kimberly (Zachery), her grand niece and nephew, and countless first, second, and third cousins, all of whom she loved.