HomeMy WebLinkAboutTC Res 2014-03-05RESOLUTION NO. 05- 2014
A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL
OF THE TOWN OF TIBURON
HONORING MERVIN FIELD FOR MORE
THAN SEVEN DECADES OF PROVIDING INVALUABLE SERVICES
TO HIS COUNTRY, HIS STATE, AND HIS TOWN
WHEREAS, Mervin Field, widely and warmly referred to as "Merv" was born in New
Brunswick, New Jersey in 1921, the same year Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize for
Physics and,
WHEREAS, in his teen years, through an interesting convergence of the universal time space
continuum, Mery did indeed meet Prof. Einstein on a ball field at Princeton where an errant
soccer ball from Merv's game flew in the Professor's direction and which he deftly returned to
the astonished young Merv, thereby enabling him to fondly recall that he had "played football"
with Albert Einstein, and
WHEREAS, through a chance meeting in Merv's junior year in high school with famed
polling pioneer, Dr. George Gallup, Mery became inspired to want to understand and predict the
outcome of elections and controversial issues of the day, and
WHEREAS, Merv's love for the study of survey methodology in the emerging science of
public opinion sampling was such that he continued his studies when off -duty during his military
service in WWII as a Merchant Marine, and if that weren't accomplishment enough, he
simultaneously studied and obtained his Third Mate's license, Second Mate's License, and Acting
Chief Mate License, and
WHEREAS in 1946, not without fast overcoming considerable financial obstacles by
working nights in a service station, he founded the Field Research Corporation and, in 1947, the
Field Poll. Both became leading national organizations for which he continues to this day as
Associate Director, and
WHEREAS, Merv's characteristic unflinching honesty became the hallmark of Field's
election poll reporting, and this scrupulousness was made bedrock by the fact that the Field Poll
neither worked for nor received funds from candidates or special interest groups involved in the
campaigns, thereby making the poll results completely non - partisan, objective and unassailable,
and
WHEREAS, newspapers began to define the enormous impact of his public opinion polls on
the American people, as in 1984 when the San Jose Mercury News called Field "The most cited
source in the world on what Californians think, love, vote, hate, fear, eat, drink and smoke," and
in 1999 when The California Journal stated "Field became the lens through which most of the
nation viewed California," and
WHEREAS, many prestigious awards have been bestowed upon Mery from institutions such
as the Market Research Council's Hall of Fame; he also received the University of California's
Institute of Governmental Services Distinguished Service Award, the designation of Regents
Professor at University of California, and an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from California
State University, and
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WHEREAS, the Tiburon Peninsula Community has benefited from Merv's knowledgeable
election -year presentations at the Library and Town Hall, assisting our citizenry to make
informed decisions prior to voting, and
WHEREAS, in retirement, Mery balanced out the powerful and vastly influential portion of
his life with a comedic side which led him to write his "Mery Field's File" column, a collection
of humor and obscure news items and to periodically weave his humor and pollster skills into an
act taking off on Johnny Carson's "Camac the Magnificent' ' where he became " Mervi D. Fiend,
Swami of Swamis and Sayer of Sooth" to the delight of those in attendance,
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town of Tiburon does hereby thank and
honor Mervin Field for more than seven decades of varied and invaluable services to his
Country, his State, and his Town, for helping us be a more informed democracy, and for being
our good friend and neighbor.
PASSED and ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Town Council on March 5, 2014, by the
following vote:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ATTESLw
DIANE CRANE 1ACORrTOWN CLERK
Doyle, Fraser, Fre ericks,_O'Donnell, Tollini
i
ALICE FREDERICKS, MAYOR
Town of Tiburon
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