Corte Madera Mayor and business entrepreneur Eli Beckman calls Mariner Cove home! He shares, “With the exception of my time at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, I’ve lived in Mariner Cove since I was two years old!” An architect by training, Eli began a start-up company that sells prefab backyard cottages called HAUS+ and does freelance architectural work on the side.

​

As a longtime resident of Mariner Cove, Eli loves the natural beauty and sense of community that are hallmarks of Corte Madera. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, going to the beach, and reading the news. He may be spotted around town dining with his twin brother Spencer at one of his favorite restaurants, Flores. For the past two years, Eli had the distinct pleasure of being the youngest elected official in Marin County. However in 2020 Eli shares, “I was bumped to third youngest – Ouch!”

​

Please enjoy learning a bit more about Eli and his role as the Corte Madera Mayor from his answers to the following interview questions.

​

What do you love the most about serving as the Corte Madera Mayor?

Being mayor of my hometown is the most rewarding thing I could have asked for. I love working on the long-term issues like fiscal sustainability and climate change that set Corte Madera up for a successful future.

​

What accomplishments as mayor make you the proudest?

My time as mayor has been almost entirely dominated by COVID and our response to the pandemic and recession, and I couldn’t be more proud of how the Town pulled through. As far as I know, we are the only town in Marin that was able to balance the budget, keep all our staff, and avoid any cuts to programs or services for residents. Through it all, we created new opportunities for the community to come together virtually, helped keep local businesses afloat, and created a housing assistance program that saved about 50 Corte Madera residents from eviction or foreclosure.

 

In spite of all this, we still managed to make headway on other priorities as well. We adopted a landmark Climate Adaptation Assessment (50+ year blueprint for how we protect Corte Madera from flooding and wildfire), reigned in our pension debt, and implemented a new financial reserve policy.

What a year!

​

What town endeavors and projects are you currently working on or are planning for in the near future?

One of my biggest remaining goals for the rest of my term relates directly to Mariner Cove. I want to see the Town engage the neighborhood (including Marina Village) on collaboratively developing a plan to protect our homes from sea level rise over the coming decades.

​

For our neighborhood, flood hazard should be at the top of our minds, as it’s a serious threat to our homes and property values that may well rear its head sooner than we expect. While an earlier draft of our Climate Adaptation Assessment included a robust section on protecting Mariner Cove and Marina Village, the section was pulled following pushback from some of our neighbors, and re- developing a credible blueprint for protecting our homes is a top priority of mine.

​

What closing thoughts do you want to leave with your Mariner Cove neighbors?

Here’s my ask: Please sign up for the Town’s weekly newsletter.

​

I know we’re all incredibly busy, between summer plans, work, and family, and I know that most people aren’t tuned into what’s going on in local government. (I know I sure wasn’t before I started to get involved!) This newsletter is an easy, but important, way to keep an eye on Town Hall and make sure you don’t miss out on issues that matter to you! Each newsletter starts with a bulleted list of topics, so you can quickly scan and see if anything of interest to you is coming up.

​

If you want a more curated newsletter that only comes out once a month, you can sign up for my Beckman
Briefing here as well.