NANCY REYERING

Advocate for Volunteers

I was an active volunteer in my home town of Woodside for 9 years, serving on the General Plan Task Force, and appointed twice to both the Architectural and Site Review Board (ASRB) and the Open Space Committee.  The Town recognized me as the “2012 Environmental Champion,” one of the highest awards bestowed by the Town.

I served for 7 years on the Town’s ASRB, members of which are appointed by the Town Council.  The ASRB ensures that projects are consistent with the General Plan and are in keeping with the Residential Design Guidelines.

I became concerned about an apparent conflict of interest when a member of the Town Council who sat on a subcommittee crafting building ordinances submitted a project asking for exceptions to the Town’s ordinances and the Residential Design Guidelines.  I raised these concerns in an email to the Board.

The Town Council member in question retaliated by filing allegations that in raising this concern I violated the Town’s Ethics guidelines.  Rather than addressing the Council Member’s apparent conflict of interest, the Town chose to investigate ME.

As one of the local newspapers reported, the Town “unlawfully enforced a code that violated clearly established constitutional free speech rights of which a reasonable person would have known.”