Matt Da cunha
Rooted in Fairfax
A natural leader who has dedicated his life to community and safety
Fairfax from the start
Matt Da Cunha was born at Children's Hospital in San Francisco in 1969 and brought home to Fairfax just days later. He's been here ever since.
He attended kindergarten at Manor School, then spent first through eighth grade at St. Rita Elementary. By his teens, he'd found his calling for service: in 1984 he joined the Fairfax Police Explorers which led to working as a full and part-time police dispatcher, the voice on the other end of the line when neighbors needed help, (1985 to 1990); in 1985, he became a Ross Valley Fire Department Fire Explorer and volunteer firefighter (1985-1992). Matt became a paid professional firefighter with the Corte Madera Fire Department (1989-1996) and then the Santa Rosa Fire Department (1996-2020) eventually retiring in December 2020. Matt’s public safety career spanned over 35+ years.
That instinct never left him.
Still Showing up
Matt is a member of Native Sons of the Golden West, Fairfax Parlor #307, carrying forward a tradition of local civic life that goes back generations in this town.
He's been coaching San Anselmo Recreation Soccer since Fall 2021 and West Marin Little League since Spring 2022. Most of Matt’s weekend mornings are spent on Fairfax’s grassy fields teaching local kids the fundamentals, and a few of the intangibles too.
His deepest commitment, though, traces back to 1997, when he founded the North Bay Firefighters' Burn Relay, a fundraiser supporting the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation so children with burn injuries can attend camp. Nearly thirty years later, it's still going. Matt also spent five years as a counselor at the Foundation's Champ Camp, working directly with the kids that relay was built to help.
Now retired, Matt stays just as involved in Fairfax as ever — still coaching, still volunteering, still showing up for the community that raised him.
Running for Town Council
Matt isn't new to Fairfax, and he isn't new to service. He's spent a lifetime here, as a dispatcher, a firefighter, a coach, a fundraiser, quietly doing the work that keeps a small town a community. Now he's asking to bring that same steady, hands-on approach to the Town Council.
He's running to give back to his town, to help build a stronger Fairfax and make sure it's stewarded with the fiscal responsibility this community deserves.
A young Matt, Fairfax Sleepy Hollow Little League, circa 1980.
North Bay Firefighters' Burn Relay, 1998. This annual fundraiser for the Alisa Ann Rich Burn Foundation was started by Matt (kneeling in front) in 1997 and he coordinated this event for 20+ years. Funds raised sent children with burn injuries from the north bay to an annual summer camp named "Champ Camp." Funds also funded programs and services for burn survivors of all ages in California.
Matt, assigned to Santa Rosa Fire Dept. Truck 1, operating an elevated master stream preventing further fire spread to the Luther Burbank Events Center. Tubbs Fire, Santa Rosa, October 2017.
Manor Elementary School Halloween, October 1974. Matt on the right.
Matt assigned to Corte Madera Fire Dept. Engine 13, as part of a Marin County fire agencies strike team response to the Oakland Hills Fire, October 1991.
Matt tagging a home after a cleared search. Hurricane Irma, FEMA Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) CA-TF4, 2-week deployment, Florida Keys, September 2017.
Matt (pictured under the "S" of Larkspur) assigned to Corte Madera Fire Dept. Engine 13 on an automatic aid response to an early morning landslide on Old Quarry Road North in Larkspur, winter 1994/1995.
Matt on a 2-week deployment response to the greater Houston area of Texas for Hurricane Harvey. Members of FEMA Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) CA-TF4 about to enter a flooded residential neighborhood to rescue trapped residents of Katy, Texas, August 2017.