{"id":5197,"date":"2026-07-23T04:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T04:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5197"},"modified":"2026-07-23T04:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T04:12:12","slug":"sausalito-city-manager-to-leave-jail-get-mental-evaluation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5197","title":{"rendered":"Sausalito city manager to leave jail, get mental evaluation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A judge released Sausalito\u2019s new city manager from jail on her own recognizance Wednesday while she defends herself against a slate of criminal charges.<\/p>\n

Read more Containment on Little Fire grows, with forward progress stopped at 1,007 acres<\/a><\/p>\n

Elaine Forbes, who had her arraignment Wednesday afternoon, also received a court order to get a psychological evaluation at MarinHealth Medical Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, that\u2019s fine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Forbes did not enter a plea to the misdemeanor charges, which include one count of prowling; two counts of unauthorized lodging on different boats; and one count of petty theft of personal property. Authorities allege she stole a woman\u2019s clothing.<\/p>\n

Judge Cindee Mayfield set the plea hearing for Aug. 11.<\/p>\n

Forbes, 53, appeared upbeat in court and waved at a relative in the audience.<\/p>\n

The hearing was the latest development in a rapid succession of events for Forbes, who started as Sausalito city manager on July 1. Previously she had been director of the Port of San Francisco for nine years.<\/p>\n

Last Thursday, the City Council granted Forbes a two-month leave of absence but did not publicly explain why. The next morning, the Marin County Sheriff\u2019s Office received a missing-person report from someone concerned about Forbes\u2019 welfare.<\/p>\n

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The report prompted authorities to check sites in Marin and San Francisco, including residences, hospitals and shorelines, according to incident logs. Authorities also notified the Golden Gate Bridge patrol office and transit agencies. Forbes did not turn up.<\/p>\n

On Saturday morning, authorities received a report about a break-in on a vessel at the Sausalito Yacht Harbor. Officers found\u00a0Forbes on board, and she told them to get off her boat, according to the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Forbes does not own the yacht, but she has a floating home farther up the shore of Richardson Bay.<\/p>\n

Sheriff\u2019s deputies booked Forbes into the county jail on suspicion of felony burglary. The bail amount was $50,000. Forbes, whose annual salary is $275,000, did not bail out.<\/p>\n

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The Marin County District Attorney\u2019s Office filed the misdemeanor case on Monday. Through a spokesperson, family members of Forbes said she \u201cis experiencing a mental health crisis\u201d and \u201cwe hope people will respond with compassion, patience and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forbes had an initial court appearance Tuesday, and the arraignment was delayed one day.<\/p>\n

Read more What does it mean to buy locally in Los Gatos?<\/a><\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, the Sausalito City Council discussed Forbes and the administrative upheaval in closed session. Then Mayor Steven Woodside issued a statement outlining the city\u2019s next move.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to continue city business as seamlessly as possible, we are in discussions with Sausalito\u2019s former City Manager Chris Zapata to come back in a temporary advisory role as soon as possible,\u201d the statement said. \u201cChris has indicated his willingness to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChris is currently the Assistant County Executive for the County of Marin,\u201d Woodside said. \u201cIf we can complete negotiations with him and the county, he would be on loan to us from the county. We are grateful to Derek Johnson, the Marin County Executive, for facilitating Chris\u2019 assistance to help us stabilize matters as we go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woodside said Forbes remains on leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince it is a personnel matter, there is not a lot we can share publicly right now,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I can tell you that no decisions were made regarding her employment. She remains on a leave of absence, and I want to assure everyone that we are gathering and evaluating all of the facts surrounding this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woodside also said he and other city officials are very concerned about her.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on public statements that have been made by her family and representatives, our thoughts are with Elaine and her family right now. Tonight, I am asking everyone for patience and compassion,\u201d he said. \u201cThis moment calls for a sensitive balance between individual privacy rights and the rights the public have for accountability. It\u2019s not easy. But we will get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

During public open time at the council meeting, several residents said Forbes didn\u2019t deserve the public scrutiny she has received and questioned why she was even arrested.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was compelled to come here tonight because I hate to see someone knocked down and beat up when they\u2019re down,\u201d said Carol Morales. \u201cWe don\u2019t make fun of people who have cancer. We don\u2019t shun people who have cancer. We don\u2019t fire people who have cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t blow up your whole life in one night and everybody jumps to conclusions,\u201d she said. \u201cI want everyone in this room to know that at one time we had a woman who was mayor, who was a convicted felon, and who spent two years in the penitentiary, who was a bootlegger, which was illegal, and who was a woman of ill repute in San Francisco during World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resume matches that of Sally Stanford, who died in 1982.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe became a council member for two terms and became mayor,\u201d\u00a0 Morales said. \u201cFlawed people can do great things. And let\u2019s not forget we are a colorful town with colorful people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zapata, who served as city manager from June 2021 through last month, did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Read more House passes bill to rename San Jose VA clinic after late NFL star, veteran Pat Tillman<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four days after her arrest on suspicion of burglary, Elaine Forbes was arraigned on lesser charges and released on her own recognizance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSausalito city manager to leave jail, get mental evaluation - 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=5197\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sausalito city manager to leave jail, get mental evaluation - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Four days after her arrest on suspicion of burglary, Elaine Forbes was arraigned on lesser charges and released on her own recognizance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5197\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-23T04:12:12+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=5197#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5197\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Sausalito city manager to leave jail, get mental evaluation\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-23T04:12:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5197\"},\"wordCount\":898,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5197#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5e0ce1040556a7488f6a5f7a94340eb6.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5197#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5197\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5197\",\"name\":\"Sausalito city manager to leave jail, get mental evaluation - 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