Marin Magazine - July 2013

concern is privacy. We live in a fishbowl. Right now, we’re giving up our privacy and we don’t always know it. The challenge is that privacy is being used as a commodity. Give up your privacy, you get something in return like better service and that’s very tempting for people, but some of us, we may want to pay the extra dollar to not have all of that information tracked. Maybe I’m of the generation where I want informed consent. Now, my daughter will probably have no issue. She’ll most likely always want the latest and greatest because she’s growing up as a digital native, in a world where you are online or asleep, as Eric Schmidt has said. She’ll probably say, “Of course I will give up my geo-position because I want my friends to know where I am, I want companies to know not what I’m purchasing but why I’m purchasing so they can provide me service before I ask.” She’ll be living in a customized world that I can’t even imagine today.

Why does the one-way model of governing persist, in your view? As Lincoln said, “We’re all born originals, but we die copies.” To me, that describes the arc of a political campaign. We begin original and authentic during the campaign, but by the time we are termed out, we’re just like the ones who came before us. We die copies. The process of governing takes away your authenticity, takes away that voice. I don’t care what your political stripe is, you see that happen with all politicians. We might romanticize their impact after they are gone, but in actuality, while they governed, they encountered great friction and struggle in truly engaging with the public.

Are you excited for the America’s Cup? We worked so hard to get it here so it’s great to finally see it about to begin. To see a little bit of the AC world series, it gives people a sense of what it’s all about, but no one has seen these AC72s in competition. I think that’s going to change people who are on the sidelines and still wondering what all of this hype is about. My whole idea — the whole point of working so hard to get it — is to keep it, so they [Oracle] have to win. Then we build on it. This is the beginning of what I hope will become a legacy for the city. M

I still love having a studio,

but The
Tamalpais
is my
home.

Living well is another art that Peggy Osterkamp has mastered. Peggy, a renowned weaver, just had her first one-woman show. After working in her studio, she comes home to The Tamalpais, where she’s part of a weekly walking group and the nightly “dinner party”. She doesn’t have to worry about cooking, cleaning or medical care; perhaps you shouldn’t either. To learn more, call Soussan Cirillo at (415) 464-1755.