Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 05:28:25 :
Marin Independent Journal
Saturday, Nov. 23, 2002
San Anselmo activist Toal dies
by Nels Johnson
Pieter Toal, former San Anselmo mayor and longtime Ross Valley civic activist, died yesterday at home in San Anselmo. He was 81.
Mr. Toal, who served on the San Anselmo City Council from 1974 to 1986, was a popular, hard-working public servant noted for walking door-to-door to meet constituents and discuss civic affairs.
When he topped other contenders for re-election in 1982, polling 1,306 votes, he attributed his triumph to a campaign in which he walked every precinct.
"Holy smoke," he said on election night. "I'll be damned. I'm deeply grateful to the voters."
Holding the line on taxes and promoting public transportation were among Mr. Toal's top priorities.
He opposed plans to widen Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, saying "the bus system, bicycles and horses" were the only way to resolve traffic congestion along the thoroughfare.
"If people want to go west, let them take the bus," he said.
Traffic concerns also prompted Mr. Toal to urge San Anselmo to cooperate with Fairfax on efforts to acquire the old Marin Town and Country Club site.
Mr. Toal championed affordable housng, pushing legislation allowing second units, but also advocated an annual "maximum growth limit" and strict curbs on development.
He promoted preservation of the city's ridgetops, parks and open space.
Mr. Toal was a retired civil engineer. He served as a professor of engineering at the University of Indonesia in Bandung, and worked as an engineer in Thailand, Greece and Tunisia before moving to the Bay Area in 1956, where he worked for Bechtel and other firms. He was a construction manager for the San Francisco wastewater program and an engineering consultant to the Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
Mr. Toal, a native of The Netherlands, attended elementary school in Indonesia where his father worked as a Royal Dutch Shell employee. He graduated from Delft Technological University with a master's degree in civil engineering.
He was placed in a forced labor camp during World War II, and after the war worked as ain interpreter for the U.S. military.
He moved to San Anselmo in 1964 and served on the San Anselmo School District Board from 1965 to 1969, then chaired the city's general plan committee.
He was a strong advocate of the public's right to know, and sued the Marin County Board of Education in 1972, arguing the board had no right to keep the names of applicants for a vacant board seat private. The school board subsequently released the applicant list.
"Pieter Toal acted as a citizen on behalf of all citizens of Marin County," an Independent Journal editorial said at the time, hailing him as a "guardian of the public's rights."
Mr. Toal is survived by his four children: Paul Toal of Santa Rosa, Rich Toal of Ridgecrest, Marya Byrne of Santa Rosa and Inge Toal of San Anselmo, and five grandchildren.
His wife, Helde, whom he married in 1951, died in 1994.
A vigil is at 7 p.m. Monday at the Chapel of Hills at 330 Red Hill Ave. in San Anselmo. funeral services will follow at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Anselm's Church at 97 Shade Lane, San Anselmo.
The family asks memorial contributions be made to Ritter House in San Rafael.
|
powered by SpudBoard |