Barbara Green started her political career as a precinct walker, knocking on doors in her former hometown of Sunnyvale for the campaign of Congressman Pete McCloskey. It was there that Green’s talent for translating politics from an abstract idea into a personal connection with constituents became evident. After 32 years of boots-on-the-ground politics in the Bay Area, Nevada City, and Truckee, Green is stepping away from local office because health problems no longer allow her to practice politics the way she always has — walking from door to door, engaging in a form of rural retail politics that is done in person and on foot.
Green, 74, leaves a long and significant imprint on local politics. Since 1994 she has nearly continuously held local political office, serving as a Nevada County Planning Commissioner, Nevada County Supervisor, Truckee Town Council member, and Truckee Mayor. In those 18 years of decision-making, she has gained a reputation as an astute listener, a thorough questioner, and someone who tirelessly works for the good of the community.
“She has an unusual talent for really listening to her constituents,” said Stefanie Olivieri, a long-time supporter of Green. “When she was first running for town council she knocked on every door in Glenshire and asked for [residents’] votes.”
John Eaton, who has known Green since 1969, calls her a person with good principles.
“She was always doing the right thing,” said Eaton. “She was kind of a continual force for the good.”
Of course, politics is not all back pats and kudos, and Green has participated in her share of controversial issues. In fact, in a kind of political baptism by fire, Green’s earliest years as a Nevada County Planning Commissioner landed her in one of the most incendiary political battles Nevada County has ever seen. Natural Heritage 2020, a proposal for a county-wide open space and habitat protection plan that Green helped shape as a planning commissioner, exploded into a no-holds-barred political battle that at times took turns toward the surreal. A rancher stood up in a public meeting and alleged that the county would ask property sale proceeds be donated to a Mikhail Gorbachev-run organization, and private property rights activist Drew Bedwell called the proposal an attempt to “put a hex on private property owners.”
By 2002, the proposal had so deeply divided the community that it was dropped. Nevada County Supervisor candidates like Bedwell, running on a platform of private property rights, ascended to county supervisor seats. And Green finished out her term on a borderline dysfunctional Nevada County Board of Supervisors that was still fighting a war whose battle lines had been drawn during the Natural Heritage 2020 process.
Despite at times being treated like “that woman from Truckee who did not know anything,” Green walked door to door and pounded on the county executive’s desk as she lobbied successfully for a new wing for the Truckee Library.
Truckee Town Council
After leaving the county, Green was elected to the Truckee Town Council in 2004, and called the environment she walked into at the town council a “night and day” difference from the county’s political climate.
As a Truckee Town Council member at the height of the building boom, Green focused on reviewing development proposals submitted to the town.
“It is for the good of the community that you have an oversight committee that pushes and pushes and pushes until they get the right project,” said Green.
That focus tied together a theme in her 32 years of public service that centered on appropriate development and the protection of natural habitat.
“I am so pleased that I have had a hand in how the Bay Area developed, how the county developed, and how Truckee developed,” said Green.
The Green Team
It’s a cold December night at Cottonwood restaurant in Truckee, and the chatter of a dozen lively political discussions fills the fireplace room, signaling that the Green Team has convened.
During the eight years of Barbara Green’s Truckee Town Council tenure, a largely unseen group of Truckee locals of differing backgrounds has given her constant feedback and support. The core group came together during Green’s first Truckee Town Council campaign. And as the campaign ended, Green said the group showed no interest in disbanding. So they’ve met regularly over the past eight years, discussing town topics, community concerns, and local special districts. Long-time locals like Ruth Hall, Patty Lomanto, Dan Warren, Beth Christman and Andrew Essler were all part of the Green Team gathering at Cottonwood.
There has only been one rule for the Green Team over the years, Green said: “I have never invited anyone to be on it. I’ve wanted people to come to me and want to be on it.”
But even as Green steps down from political office, it seems certain the Green Team will continue.
“We’re all family now,” said Truckee resident Rolf Godon, a long-time Green Team member. “We can’t get away from each other.”
With the Green Team gathered around her, Green is in her element. She does not preside over the meeting, she’s just one of the group, until the end as the gathering winds down. It’s the last Green Team meeting she will attend as a town council member, before she steps down from political office, and she has a few words to say.
“We are going to have some work to do,” Green says. “We need to be asking questions and being in the audience. Everybody should get out and get involved.”
Thirty-two years after dedicating her life to public service, Green is marshalling the next wave of volunteers, involved citizens, and local office holders.
“If you care about your community, get involved, be a watchdog, be an outspoken advocate,” Green said, in an interview preceding the meeting. “Ask questions. It doesn’t make you popular, but I have done that my whole life.
“If my legacy is a lot more curious citizens who ask questions — that will be great.”
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