Vera Schultz Award

In 2002 the Vera Schultz Award was created to honor achievements of organizations which embody her activism, leadership, courage, and vision, and like Vera, have made lasting contributions to the cultural life of our community.

Vera Schultz was a trailblazer for Marin County women in politics and the embodiment of constructive contributions which women continue to make to our society. The first woman elected overwhelmingly to the Mill Valley City Council in 1946, Vera successfully pushed for a city manager-form of government and a parks and recreation department. By clever “ceding” of 17 acres of private dumpsite owned by the Biggio family to the city and our school district, Bay Front Park and the Mill Valley Community Center exist as Vera’s legacy to Mill Valley.

In 1952 Vera survived Tammany Hall-like election chicanery to become Marin’s first woman supervisor. With her brilliance, charm, innovation, and tireless determination, Vera transformed Marin’s provincial “courthouse gang” government into one with modern professional public administration practices. She led the way in creating the county administrator and county counsel positions; public works, parks and recreation and purchasing departments; effective planning; and establishing a county personnel commission.

True to her own credo “Why not the best?” Vera persuaded the esteemed architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design Marin’s new civic center. She persevered over fierce personal, vindictive, and incessant opposition. Almost everything that is superior about Marin County government can be credited to Vera’s triumphant will. Marin County’s Civic Center, an architectural jewel which was completed in 1962, is her legacy to the world.

Vera died on May 3, 1995 at age 92. Her one unachieved goal was to attain age 100. That would have been in 2002, her centennial and that of the Outdoor Art Club (the first recipient of the Vera Schultz Award). Vera served as the club’s program chair and incidentally introduced members to the art of Dick and Ann O’Hanlon. Ann O’Hanlon was the first recipient of the (now-named) Milley Awards for Creative Achievement.