Elaine Forbes barely had time to settle into Sausalito’s top administrative job before she was arrested on suspicion of felony burglary in an incident involving a yacht she allegedly did not own. Authorities said the 53-year-old city manager was found aboard the vessel early Saturday morning after deputies responded to a disturbance at the Sausalito Yacht Harbor. Forbes had officially started the job on July 1, meaning the arrest came fewer than three weeks into her tenure.
The Sausalito City Council unanimously appointed Forbes in May after she spent nearly a decade leading the Port of San Francisco. Her new position was an appointed administrative office rather than an elected political post, and the city had agreed to pay her a base salary of $275,000 per year. Two days before the arrest, the council met behind closed doors and approved a leave of absence for Forbes without publicly explaining the reason.
The incident began shortly after 6 a.m. on July 18th, when authorities received a report of a noise disturbance at the harbor. Marin County Sheriff’s Lt. Domenick Yazzolino said deputies found Forbes inside a large yacht and determined that she did not own the vessel or have permission to be aboard it. He said she had allegedly manipulated the boat’s controls while trying to take it and had either consumed or discarded alcohol found onboard.
The City of Sausalito confirmed that Forbes was taken into custody at 6:50 a.m. while she was already on leave. The city declined to discuss the specific allegations, citing an “active and ongoing investigation” by the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. The county’s official public booking log https://apps.marincounty.gov/BookingLog provided arrest and custody information, and published reports said Forbes was booked on suspicion of felony burglary with bail initially set at $50,000.
Yazzolino told SFGATE that Forbes had allegedly broken into the yacht and “manipulated the control” while attempting to steal it. According to the outlet, Forbes reportedly told officers that she was having a “bad morning” and ordered them to get off what she claimed was her boat. Authorities contacted the actual owner, who reportedly confirmed that Forbes had no permission to enter the vessel.
A yacht captain who was moored nearby gave The San Francisco Standard a more detailed account of the disturbance. Bill Aubrey said he heard a horn blaring before dawn and found Forbes locked inside the wheelhouse, where she continued sounding it. When he boarded and told her to leave, he said she calmly replied, “Good morning!” Aubrey said nothing appeared broken or damaged, but two liquor bottles that had been full the previous night were empty by morning.
Forbes’ family later issued a statement saying she was experiencing a “mental health crisis” and asking the public not to “rush to judgment based on limited information.” Family spokesman Sam Singer said Forbes was seeking legal and healthcare counsel and asked that people respond with “compassion, patience and respect.” The statement did not dispute or otherwise address the specific allegation that she had entered a yacht without permission.
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The arrest followed an unusually abrupt start to a job that city leaders had publicly celebrated only weeks earlier. When the council announced Forbes’ appointment, Mayor Steven Woodside described her as a “strong executive,” while Vice Mayor Melissa Blaustein praised her “caliber, experience, connections, network, and also kind personality and demeanor.” Forbes previously served as the Port of San Francisco’s director from 2016 through 2025 and had earlier worked as its chief financial officer.
Publicly available reports described Forbes as arrested and booked on suspicion of felony burglary. As of Tuesday morning, no publicly available charging document reviewed for this article established that prosecutors had formally filed the case, and Forbes has not been convicted of a crime. Acting City Manager Brandon Phipps has been handling city operations during her leave.
The City Council was expected to discuss Forbes’ future at its Tuesday meeting. In its official statement, the city said, “The work of the City of Sausalito continues without interruption under the leadership of Acting City Manager Brandon Phipps and our dedicated municipal staff,” adding that council members would discuss “next steps” at the upcoming meeting.
Watch another California Democrat get confronted for his alleged crimes here: