Housing remains one of Sausalito’s top issues as five candidates are competing for three City Council seats in the Nov. 5 election.
The Mediterranean-style city across the Bay from San Francisco needs to plan for 724 new homes in the next eight years, with only 294 being market-rate, according to its latest Housing Element allocation determined by the state. Pressure to build apartments along the city’s low-density historic waterfront district is illustrated in a controversial proposal this year for a five-story condominium there.
Two of the candidates are incumbents, Mayor Ian Patrick Sobieski and Councilmember Melissa Blaustein. The council votes annually on which councilmember serves as mayor. The other three candidates in November’s race are Sandra Bushmaker, Steven Woodside and Jacqueline Amrikhas.
Ian Patrick Sobieski
Sobieski is a Stanford University-educated entrepreneurial investor and chair of the Band of Angels, a startup investing group. He sees Sausalito’s aging infrastructure as a top priority, especially considering the need for adaptation to sea level rise.
According to his website, he proposed a pilot project where homeowners would voluntarily fund the undergrounding of wires near their homes, with the city handling the paperwork and administration.
Sobieski was first elected in 2020. He served on workgroups that managed the acquisition of a Bank of America building for the Sausalito Center for the Arts and helped hardscape the downtown area near the ferry landing.
Sobieski is endorsed by the Sierra Club, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, state Assemblymember Damon Connolly and Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters.
Melissa Blaustein
Blaustein was also elected in 2020, as part of the city’s staggered term system. The Mill Valley native served as mayor in 2023 and worked to identify spaces for new housing.
“During my tenure as Mayor in 2023 we passed and received state approval for our housing element, identifying more than 1,000 sites for new units of housing,” she said in an email. “The immediate next step is to incentivize developers to build on these sites and create more affordable housing in our community. This means partnering with 100% affordable developers, working with the state to secure funding, and streamlining our approval processes.”
Sandra Bushmaker
Bushmaker is a former Sausalito city councilmember and mayor, who says she attends and contributes to most of the city’s general plan and housing element meetings. Her online statement emphasizes the urgency of updating infrastructure in preparation for sea level rise. She is endorsed by the Marin Women’s Political Action Committee, and City Council members Jill Hoffman and Janelle Kellman.
Steven Woodside
Woodside has served as county counsel for the counties of Marin, Sonoma and Santa Clara. He focuses on volunteering with charitable educational nonprofit organizations, most recently Call of the Sea, a nonprofit that built a historical recreation of a tall sailing ship for educational use called the Matthew Turner. Woodside is endorsed by the congressman Huffman and state Sen. Mike McGuire, as well as Moulton-Peters from the county Board of Supervisors.
Jacqueline Amrikhas
Amrikhas is a certified public accountant who said in an email that the city’s multi-year budget deficit, currently at $1 million, is a number one priority.
“Residents can clearly see the lack of spending on sidewalks and roads, which led to the loss of insurance coverage this past year,” she said. “I am the only candidate, and if elected I will be the only councilmember, who is a finance professional. This skill is clearly needed by the council, and for the financial health of Sausalito.”
Amrikhas is against the controversial waterfront condominium but stresses the importance of finalizing the state-mandated Housing Element, which includes re-zoning for affordable housing, but in a way that protects the historic district.
“Workforce housing is vital to sustaining the fabric of our community. Sausalito is proud of our history that has opened its arms to artists, musicians and boatbuilders along our working waterfront,” she said.
