Have you met Betty Marvin? The silver-haired historian works for the city of Oakland in a little department called the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, a specialized library in the Community and Economic Development Agency. With her tucked-in collared shirt and her small frame, she looks dwarfed next to the towering cabinets in her office that teem with files and binders. But her small hands handle the large clothbound ledgers with ease.

For some 20 years, Marvin has answered inquiries about all the buildings built in the city. Every land survey, permit, field note and neighborhood newsletter has a place in the archives. And now, City Council has put her and her office on the budgetary chopping block.

Some 40 supporters who have benefited from the survey—architects, homeowners, realtors, students and landmark preservationists—went to last week's City Council meeting on March 2. They came to protest the city administrator’s recommended cuts and plead for a reprieve for Marvin and her office.

Hardly just a history fairy who collects sepia-toned photos, Marvin uses the power of information to push projects through to the finish. She’s a librarian and planning consultant rolled into one. Among the historical survey stacks, she moves deftly between records as if she sees what she seeks before she reaches it. Her expertise has provided historical context to the Fox Theater refurbishment, house details that help realtors sell a story, and structural knowledge that aids the city in enforcing code compliance. Marvin has the facts that inform the practices. And, since her arrival to the job in the 90s, she has recovered countless historical documents, some of which she salvaged from dumpsters outside City Hall.

“The office first opened in the 1980s,” she said recently in her sun-lit office at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, “when the planning and zoning department surveyed neighborhoods across the city. The OCHS started out primarily stockpiling information, but has since been mainstreamed into multiple review processes.”

Naomi Schiff, board member and former president of the Oakland Heritage Alliance, organized the demonstration at City Hall. She said she believes the city could become more efficient in its review processes by keeping the survey staffed.

“Usually, consultants hired to write Environmental Impact Reports will come in and copy-and-paste old text generated at the OCHS. They repurpose something Betty Marvin has already written but on the company’s dime. Then the city has to review the findings at the city’s expense. Now there is a way we could do this in-house,” Schiff said.

The rallying cry of campaigners for Marvin and the historical survey was not lost on Councilwoman Pat Kernighan.

“I voted to retain her position,” Kernighan said, “and for it to be general funded while the Oakland Heritage Alliance folks and staff work on funding it through a combination of fees and grants.”

Such staff presumably includes Eric Angstadt and Walter Cohen from the city’s Planning and Zoning division, who presented to the council on the proposed cuts in the Community and Economic Development Agency. Funding ideas include raising building permit fees and payment of services. An architect who attended the council meeting put down $1,000 of his own money toward saving the survey. The Oakland Heritage Alliance pledged $7,000, and hopes to encourage other professionals to donate to the cause.

For now, and until the funds can be found, the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey will not close its doors. But it's clear that it's going to take more than a bake sale to save the brains behind the survey.

And, like a true scholar, Marvin has the contemporary data to match her historical cache. In her office, large directories with clothbound covers fraying at the edges stand spine-to-spine with the computer database. No matter what the format, Marvin uses all sources in concert to full effect.

“What have I done today?” Marvin mused, her eyes sparkling behind the frames of her glasses. “I’ve talked to environmental consultants, assisted planners with code compliance cases…”

Minutes later, a 20-something woman walked in with an inquiry about a building. Her headwrap and sarong skirt indicated she wasn’t one of the “train geeks” who usually come by asking about railroads. She’s just one of many appointments on a typical workday for Betty Marvin.

About Patsy K. Eagan

Patsy K. Eagan is a nonfiction writer who covers city history and culture. Her articles have appeared in Elle, Bitch and Oakland Magazine, and she also works as a development writer for businesses and nonprofits. An Oakland native, she currently lives in a Glenview house and has a nursery of raccoons living in her basement. Read her neighborhood blog at OaklanderOnline.com; contact her at oaklandgrown@yahoo.com.