The "C" in Arley C. Marley III stands for Cleveland, like President Grover Cleveland, who held office when Marley's grandfather Arley C. Marley was born. As for the rest of his rhyming name, Marley says it's a family name passed down through the years. His son—Arley C. Marley IV—is the latest to carry on the tradition.

Marley III—chairman of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors—says his name got him in trouble as a kid, when schoolyard bullies decided to pick on the scrawny kid with the funny name, only to find that their chosen prey did not give up easily.

"I wouldn't take any crap from anybody," Marley, 62, says with a laugh.

Today, Marley says his name no longer gets him in trouble, but his "take no prisoners" attitude is still firmly intact, as is the positive outlook his parents gave him while he was growing up in Indiana.

And those traits have carried him from Indiana to the West Coast, to Seattle to work for Boeing, and down to Sunnyvale, where he started his own business working with bar-code tracking technology.

His drive fuels the 26.2-mile marathons he runs and motivates him to help those stricken with leukemia and lymphoma. And for the next year and a half, he's going to use that drive as he tackles Sunnyvale's business community as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce's board of directors.

Armed with a positive attitude, a plethora of community contacts, the runner, cyclist and pilot set about to clean up the tattered relationship between the Chamber of Commerce and the Sunnyvale City Council as soon as he took over this year.

"I'll be as positive as possible, but I won't take any prisoners," Marley says.

Marley's drive to succeed began even before his first job—as a shoeshine boy in his hometown of Gary, Ind. He put together his own ham radio kits as a child and tried to take care of himself so his parents could focus on caring for his three siblings.

"Because I was the oldest child, I knew that I had to raise my own money for school so my parents could take care of the others," Marley says.

Marley says he got his positive attitude from his mother and father. He says he was taught there was nothing he could not do as a child, a lesson he tried to pass on to his four children.

"We couldn't use the word can't in the house; that was a four-letter word that we just didn't allow," he says.

He drove a milk truck and did electrical work to raise money while earning his bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University. After graduating, he got a job with Boeing as a flight test and design engineer.

Through that work he developed—and now owns part of the patent on—the first failsafe automated landing system, still used extensively on major commercial airliners to land in poor weather conditions.

Marley arrived in Sunnyvale in 1986 after three years in Sacramento (where he moved after a divorce from his first wife). His first major involvement with Sunnyvale was through the Sunnyvale Neighborhoods Actively Prepare program of emergency preparedness.

In 1987, he met his current wife, Mary, at a dance for single people in Los Gatos, and today he laughs that it was both of their first—and last—time at one.

In 1990, Marley started his own company—Info-Scan Technologies Inc.—specializing in bar-code tracking technology. His first customer was power giant Southern California Edison, who came to him with a need for more efficient tracking.

"I found what they were looking for was not a product, but a solution," Marley says. "I am extremely solution-oriented: I like to get things done and make things happen on every step I take."

In 1997, with business under way, he began networking in town, meeting Pat Vorreiter, Fred Fowler and Chamber President/CEO Suzi Blackman. Through community work with them he began friendships that help him to this day.

In 2000, he joined the Sunnyvale Rotary Club and was honored as Rotarian of the Year that same year for his work with Rotary's bone marrow registry program. His work with the bone marrow project continues today and has become a major cause in his life.

That recognition and his continued community work brought him to Blackman's attention, and she asked him to join the Chamber of Commerce board of directors in 2001.

Marley says he wasn't planning to take over the board until former Chairman John D. Sweat Jr.'s time was up, but Sweat's sudden step down left a leadership void that had to be filled. It meant more of a chance to make a difference in town.

"That's been a few more hours each week that each of us hadn't planned for, especially because he took the job early," his wife, Mary, says.

When he finally took the reins, Marley says he found a bad situation had been growing between the Chamber and city of Sunnyvale

"There were things happening at different levels with people in the community—and with people not communicating, and the negative associations that come with that, problems just spread like a cancer," Marley says. "So I just figured if I was going to be out in front of everything, I was going to be upfront with everyone."

His first step was to bring Mayor John Howe, Vice Mayor Dean Chu and the rest of the council to the literal and figurative table, to reopen lost lines of communication and begin moving forward.

"He wants to make sure that the partnership with the city remains intact, so he brought all the parties to the table to talk," Blackman says.

Since then, he and Blackman have become a fixture at council meetings, sitting together, answering questions together and standing up for the needs of the Chamber together.

"I really feel like we're partners," Blackman says. "He's not having to drag me along, and I don't have to watch over him."

Although taking over the Chamber board meant losing valuable time to train for marathons and travel with Mary, his wife of 15 years, it also meant making more of a difference in Sunnyvale.

"When you're a chair of something for just a year, it's not much time to get our goals and objectives into play, so now Arley will have at least 18 months to make significant changes," Blackman says. "It's great for me, because I know this is what I'm going to be working with for a year and a half."

Marley says he has a lot to accomplish in his tenure as chairman. His primary goal is to rebuild a fractured relationship with the city and show the community the benefits of involvement in the Chamber of Commerce.

"There's still a misconception of what the Chamber actually is. Most people think it's just events, but it's a source for people to get their questions answered," Marley says. "The Chamber is a tool, so if you know how to use it, it will work for you."

As he does with everything in his life, Marley says he hopes he can bring a more positive feeling to city and Chamber business and encourage those around him to do the same.

Marley says his bottom line is being proactive instead of reactive, and he works hard to find positive, constructive solutions to the myriad of problems he faces.

Right now, with downtown development on the horizon and businesses waiting anxiously for an economic upswing that has been forecast for months, there is a lot of tension, anxiety and fear of the unknown to deal with in Sunnyvale.

"There are a lot of things going on, and if we do it right, it can be a win-win for everybody. But the only way that will happen is if we have nothing negative around us," Marley says.

One thing about Marley that many seem to agree on is his way of talking to people who may not see eye to eye with him. Blackman says that he doesn't flaunt his opinion or experience in anyone's face; instead, he tries to engage people in positive conversation.

His wife—who says her opinion of him is biased in his favor—says his humility helps him when dealing with stressful situations, because he never comes across as overpowering or aggressive.

"He always laughs at himself, and he doesn't take himself too seriously," Mary says. "And he brings out the humor in everyone around him."

Marley says he tries to remain positive no matter what he does, so even if he disagrees with someone, the exchange does not degrade into bickering or silence. He also says he tries to acknowledge his own limits and show people how they can help each other achieve their common goals.

"I'm not an expert and I don't pretend to be—but if I can find the people that are, and I can get them on the team, then we're ready to go," Marley says.

Even though city council candidates—including some people preparing for the 2005 race—often go to him for advice before elections, Marley says he has no current plans to hold office, because he thinks the level of involvement necessary would prevent him from being able to focus on the causes that really matter to him.

"Things I do, I can see them making an instant difference, but when you're on city council, while you can be proactive, I think you end up being more reactive to things," Marley says.

When he's not meeting with business owners, attending council meetings or helping his own business grow, Marley puts aside his dress shoes for a pair of sturdy running shoes and takes to trails around the country.

He ran his first marathon—26.2 miles—in 2000, after finding the sport through his wife, who had taken up racewalking a year earlier. Two prior knee surgeries prevent her from running marathons with her husband, but she often walks them and trains in the same places as he does, so they can be together.

The couple is heavily involved in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. So far the two have raised about $50,000 for the organization through sponsored runs and walks.

As part of his efforts to stop disease, Marley got all of his running teammates to register their DNA with the national bone marrow registry for potential donors. He would register himself, but the oldest a donor can be is 60 years old.

The couple regularly trains in nearby Rancho San Antonio Park, but also makes trips to Pacific Grove and Monterey to train near the beach. Marley is also an avid cyclist, having completed a 100-mile "century" ride in Tahoe.

He says he doesn't see himself stopping anytime soon and has only recently begun running true marathons. He's hoping to train up to marathons longer than 30 miles—known as "ultras"—before eventually tackling a 100-mile marathon.

"When I did the New York Marathon, there was a guy who was 92 running in it," Marley says, saying that he's always the oldest on the team. "So I figured I should be able to do this until I'm at least 92."