For the second year in a row, Sausalito has broken with tradition to select its top leaders.<\/p>\n
The City Council unanimously elevated Vice Mayor Steven Woodside to mayor on Tuesday. The panel bypassed Councilmember Jill Hoffman for vice mayor for the second year in a row. Instead, the council voted 4-1 to select Councilmember Melissa Blaustein as Sausalito\u2019s next vice mayor.<\/p>\n
Hoffman, who has been a lone dissenting vote on many issues, left the council meeting before the panel voted. Blaustein declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The leadership selections came after two dozen politically active residents spoke in favor of the nominees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have a tradition in this town,\u201d said Sonja Hanson, who delivered a petition with 150 signatures supporting Hoffman. \u201cIt\u2019s a rotation where everyone goes through the rotation in the same order. Last year, unfortunately, Jill Hoffman should have been elected vice mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJill does a tremendous job representing all of our city, but she has a special point of view for those of us in the north,\u201d said Laurette Rogers. \u201cPlease make this right this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight is not about turns. It\u2019s about trust. It\u2019s not about rotation. It\u2019s about results,\u201d said Charles Melton, who supported Blaustein. \u201cTonight\u2019s decision is about who is best-positioned to help lead the council right now. And right now Sausalito doesn\u2019t need more division.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlaustein has consistently demonstrated collaborative and respectful leadership,\u201d said Beth Swierk. \u201cThis would be the kind of thoughtful, effective partnership our town needs to continue the important work already underway.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments reflect different factions in the city and governing perspectives.<\/p>\n
Woodside, who nominated Blaustein, is part of a four-member majority whose most contentious decisions have involved housing policy that concentrates most future multiunit apartment sites in the city\u2019s north end.<\/p>\n
In November, Sausalito voters passed two ballot measures to rezone a dozen parcels to meet the state\u2019s mandate to add 724 more housing units by 2031.<\/p>\n
Measure K, which was opposed by many north-end residents, allows an affordable senior apartment complex on the perimeter of Martin Luther King Park.<\/p>\n
Hoffman has been a strident defender of that section of the city and frequently has been a dissenting vote in many housing and zoning decisions.<\/p>\n
Blaustein, in contrast, has been more of a centrist and more often voted with the majority on housing issues and progressive environmental proposals.<\/p>\n
Both council members are prior mayors.<\/p>\n
Blaustein was elected to her second four-year term on the council in 2024. She served as mayor in 2023 and vice mayor in 2022.<\/p>\n
Hoffman was elected to her third four-year term on the council in 2022. She served as mayor in 2016 and 2021, and vice mayor in 2015.<\/p>\n
After Woodside nominated Blaustein, Hoffman put her name in nomination and made brief remarks.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo sitting council member has had the support of the electorate as I have enjoyed during my three uninterrupted terms on the council,\u201d she said. \u201cWhy is their top vote-getting candidate, who is actually carrying the promises made during her campaign, not receiving the respect from the council and elevated to a leadership position?\u201d<\/p>\n
While supporters praised both candidates, several members of the public said it was important the mayor and vice mayor were like-minded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve watched a lot of City Council meetings over the years and participated myself,\u201d said Peter Van Meter, a former council member. \u201cAnd I think that spirit of collaboration \u2026\u00a0 has been essential.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve served as mayor twice, right? I\u2019ve solved huge problems. So the fact that someone\u2019s saying that I am not a leader is ridiculous,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cI get it. You guys don\u2019t want me to be mayor. That\u2019s fine. I gotcha. You know what, have your vote. Have a great \u2013 have a great holiday. I bid you all good night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoffman then left with her husband. The vote was called. The remaining four council members voted for Blaustein.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to all of you for coming tonight,\u201d Woodside said after the vote. \u201cThese are decisions that sometimes don\u2019t disappoint; sometimes they do disappoint. But more importantly, we move on, and we try to move on together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the second year in a row, Sausalito has broken with tradition to select its top leaders. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[7,55763,23,992,55764,180,993,266,101,103,102,3624,3625,104,106,105,55765],"class_list":{"0":"post-102577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-jill-hoffman","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-marin-county","12":"tag-melissa-blaustein","13":"tag-newsletter","14":"tag-north-bay","15":"tag-northern-california","16":"tag-san-francisco","17":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","18":"tag-san-francisco-news","19":"tag-sausalito","20":"tag-sausalito-city-council","21":"tag-sf","22":"tag-sf-headlines","23":"tag-sf-news","24":"tag-steven-woodside"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}