{"id":5016,"date":"2026-07-20T17:09:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5016"},"modified":"2026-07-20T17:09:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:09:03","slug":"sausalitos-new-city-manager-arrested-in-burglary-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5016","title":{"rendered":"Sausalito\u2019s new city manager arrested in burglary case"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The city manager of Sausalito has been arrested less than three weeks after starting the job, throwing the city into a period of potential turmoil.<\/p>\n

Read more How to play the day away in Monterey<\/a><\/p>\n

Elaine Christina Forbes, 53, was booked into the Marin County Jail early Saturday on suspicion of burglary, a felony. Her bail amount was set at $50,000.<\/p>\n

Forbes spent the night in jail and remained in custody Sunday morning. The booking log lists her as a San Francisco resident, but she recently moved to a floating home she bought just outside the northern city limit of Sausalito.<\/p>\n

The alleged crime happened at about 6:50 a.m. at the Sausalito Yacht Harbor along Humboldt Avenue. Authorities received a call about a burglary and found Forbes inside a yacht belonging to someone else, according to Lt. Domenick Yazzolino of the Marin County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Sheriff\u2019s deputies handled the preliminary investigation as a courtesy to Sausalito police, Yazzolino said. Forbes said she was having a \u201cbad morning\u201d and told officers to get off her boat, Yazzolino said.<\/p>\n

Deputies took Forbes to the county jail. The state penal code section for the offense defines burglary as entering a building or vehicle with the intent to commit a felony.<\/p>\n

The arrest follows an unusual closed session of the City Council on Thursday to discuss Forbes. After the meeting, the council issued a short statement announcing that Forbes was on administrative leave, and officials took no questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sausalito City Council met in closed session today and approved a leave of absence for Elaine Forbes through September 8,\u201d the statement said. \u201cAssistant City Manager Brandon Phipps is Acting City Manager and will oversee the day-to-day responsibilities of City Manager during this period. In order to respect privacy rights and employment laws, the City will not further discuss this personnel matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mayor Steven Woodside and Phipps could not be reached on Sunday. The city released a statement saying it would not comment on the allegations because of the ongoing investigation, but called the arrest \u201ca difficult development for our city staff and our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is anticipated the City Council will discuss next steps at its upcoming City Council meeting,\u201d it said. The council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The council appointed Forbes as city manager in May, and she assumed the post on July 1. Her annual salary is $275,000.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI feel prepared and deeply called to serve as your city manager,\u201d Forbes said in a letter to the council at the time of her appointment. \u201cSausalito represents a natural evolution of my career and, in many ways, a homecoming.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Before joining Sausalito, Forbes was the executive director at the Port of San Francisco for nine years, overseeing a staff of about 270. Forbes was raised in the Bay Area and attended Bahia Vista Elementary School and Davidson Middle School in San Rafael.<\/p>\n

Forbes replaced Chris Zapata, who held the job for five years and is now one of Marin\u2019s assistant county executives.<\/p>\n

The arrest of Forbes comes as the city faces an array of pressures from without and within.<\/p>\n

Like other parts of Marin, the city is managing a surge in state-mandated housing production and development proposals of extraordinary scale. It also is trying to fortify its sea-level defenses; prepare for one November ballot measure and possibly another involving the Marinship maritime sector; and manage ongoing budget uncertainties.<\/p>\n

In June, the City Council adopted a $29.4 million placeholder budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year that includes a $1.3 million deficit. Half of that deficit was to accommodate three new staff positions that Forbes requested: community development director, administrative aide and information technology manager.<\/p>\n

In February, an auditor found that city officials made $1.37 million in unauthorized expenditures during the prior fiscal year.\u00a0The spending, which could have been approved by City Council budget adjustments, occurred in 14 funds.<\/p>\n

The city ended that fiscal year with revenues exceeding projections by $1.5 million.<\/p>\n

During a council meeting on Feb. 17, Woodside said the unauthorized spending was \u201cnot acceptable\u201d but apparently not chronic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had three different finance directors during the period, and it\u2019s pretty clear the controls were not as rigid as they should have been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more William Shatner, 95, to debut his heavy metal band The *uckers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The city manager of Sausalito has been arrested less than three weeks after starting the job, throwing the city into a period of potential turmoil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSausalito\u2019s new city manager arrested in burglary case - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sausalito\u2019s new city manager arrested in burglary case - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The city manager of Sausalito has been arrested less than three weeks after starting the job, throwing the city into a period of potential turmoil.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-20T17:09:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5016#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5016\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Sausalito\u2019s new city manager arrested in burglary case\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T17:09:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5016\"},\"wordCount\":729,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5016#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/39f48cd427ced71d4dcd5fae01170fa2.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5016#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5016\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5016\",\"name\":\"Sausalito\u2019s new city manager arrested in burglary case - 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