AwardsCover GalleryContact Update contact infoDonate Submit a Biz Buzz announcementSchool News Submit a Chalkboard announcementSports Submit a sports scoreObituaries Submit paid obituaryEntertainment SearchTiburon police to conduct DUI patrol on Cinco de MayoKevin Hessel1 day ago1 min readTiburon police will conduct a special overnight DUI patrol operation from 7 p.m "Impaired driving is preventable," Capt If you've been drinking or taken drugs that impair make the right choice by finding a sober driver or alternate transportation to take you places." The department said that impairment can come from sources beyond alcohol which remains illegal to use while driving despite being legal for recreational and medicinal use in California First-time DUI offenders face an average of $13,500 in fines and penalties The enforcement effort is funded through a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration DONATE to support local journalism, or SUBSCRIBE NOW for home delivery and access to the digital replica Comment on this article on Nextdoor The Ark, twice named the nation's best small community weekly accountability journalism with a mission to increase civic engagement and participation by providing the knowledge that can help sculpt the community and change lives. Your support makes this possible © 2025 The Ark, AMMI Publishing Co. Inc.  |  1550 Tiburon Blvd. Ste. D, Tiburon, CA 94920  |  415-435-2652  |  Privacy Policy  |  Designed by Kevin Hessel In a class of its own: The Hyundai Future Mobility School IONIQ 9 premieres at Goldstein House in Los Angeles One step further: Celebrating the historic milestone of 100 million vehicles produced Hyundai Motor Company’s Carbon Neutrality Vision When the Tiburon burst onto the automotive market in 1996 it made considerable waves in Korea and beyond As Hyundai’s first independently developed sportscar the Tiburon inspired a generation of car enthusiasts highlighted by a sleek coupe-like silhouette and powerful Beta 2.0 engine soon became a symbol of Korea’s emerging sportscar scene with a dedicated following the team was made aware of how much dedication and passion went into creating the Tiburon Designed entirely in-house and before the expansion of digital process streamlining tools the Tiburon was a collaborative undertaking that brought together specialized teams from across the company and tooling experts all contributed to creating an entirely new vehicle All steps and parts were repeatedly analyzed and meticulously crafted to reach the creator’s perfectionist ideals returning a vintage Tiburon to its peak performance was the project of a lifetime This comprehensive undertaking was not only a personal thrill for the team but also a way to honor Hyundai’s sports car heritage with the Tiburon representing a significant milestone along the journey PureWow editors select every item that appears on this page, and some items may be gifted to us. Additionally, PureWow may earn compensation through affiliate links within the story. All prices are accurate upon date of publish. You can learn more about the affiliate process here Want to know which buzzy products are *really* worth buying? Sign up for our shopping newsletter to uncover our favorite finds The clogs in question are the Tiburon Trekkers black and maple) and are probably one of my most-worn shoes thanks to their incredibly comfy feel have an easy slip-on design and the upper material is flexible enough that they didn't need any breaking in but sturdy enough that they never slip off the Tiburon Trekker clogs are made from waterproof buffed leather waterproof tumbled leather or water-resistant suede and a molded recycled rubber insole that's leather-lined They also have a textured Vibram XS Trek outsole that provides plenty of traction and an anatomical footbed to keep your arches supported—which I especially appreciate when I slip them on after a workout the clogs are only available in whole sizes so the brand recommends sizing down if you're in-between. I'm usually an 8.5 in shoes but I went with a size 8 and they fit perfectly—no scrunched toes or hanging heels I get so much wear out of the Tiburon Trekkers that I'm seriously considering picking up a second pair (especially if they're going to keep earning me compliments from strangers!) and I'd recommend them to anyone looking for a comfortable versatile shoe they'll want to wear daily. If that sounds like you go ahead and snag a pair now—you won't regret it I Spotted Jennifer Garner Out in L.A. Wearing These $100 SeaVees Sneakers—Turns Out, She's Not the Only Celebrity Fan of the Brand CMPD Animal Care & Control is featuring Tiburon Tiburon loves car rides and is a potty trained pup He also loves to give kid-friendly cuddles Watch to find out how to give him a furever home CMPD Animal Care & Control is looking for fosters, adopters and those willing to do staycations as their shelter is overflowing. If you are interested in adopting Tiburon or any of the other available animals at CMPD Animal Care & Control, please visit animals.cmpd.org The home was built in 1968 and boasts views of the San Francisco Bay A North Bay cottage owned by legendary actor and filmmaker Robert Redford has sold for half a million above asking price As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Tiburon property, located at 2517 Mar East The split-level home was listed at $4.15 million on Dec The wood-shingled residence boasts four bedrooms garden and more than 1,000 square feet of decks overlooking San Francisco Bay It was built in 1968 and was personalized by Redford “to take advantage of the unspoiled views and their indoor-outdoor lifestyle,” Mavromihalis said in a Dec The Redfords have a long history with and great affection for the town of Tiburon and they enjoyed the house’s light-filled rooms and Bay views the couple said in a statement shared with The Press Democrat The pair said they were also attracted to the privacy that the home offers Still, the couple decided to sell the house as they spend more time in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Szaggars Redford has been creating new art and focusing on her fine art gallery, Sibylle Szaggars Redford Fine Art. The Wall Street Journal reported that the buyer is a trust linked to Cricket Wardein, owner of fitness studio chain Mighty Pilates The chain currently has seven locations throughout the Bay Area and in Los Angeles who opened the first Mighty with friends in 2009 in San Francisco told The Wall Street Journal that she was “thrilled” to purchase the property SearchTiburon resident wins silver in world tennis tournamentFrancisco Martinez5 days ago1 min readTiburon resident Angela Lawrence-Hendy (second left) took home silver in the 40-and-up women’s doubles competitions at the International Tennis Federation’s World Individual Championship she partnered with teammate and Corte Madera resident Mariko Fritz-Krockow (left) Slovakia’s Silvia Chuda and Germany’s Manon Kruse (via Angela Lawrence-Hendy)Nearly five years after she decided to spend more time getting back into competitive tennis Tiburon resident Angela Lawrence-Hendy is making her mark on the international stage The 48-year-old was the runner-up alongside teammate Mariko Fritz-Krockow of Corte Madera in the 40-and-up women’s doubles event at the International Tennis Federation’s World Individual Championships She also captained the Australian 45-and-up women’s team at the Margaret Court Cup as part of the World Team Championships March 9-14 in Manavgat about competing in more tennis tournaments and what it would take to get to that level I’m not really done competing,’” Lawrence-Hendy recalls “I’d like to see if I can try and make top 50 in the world.” Read the complete story in our e-edition, or SUBSCRIBE NOW for home delivery and access to the digital replica the company’s first independently designed sports model a group of enthusiasts has come together to restore a model and relive that memorable era This is the first article in our two-part series documenting the restoration from rusty start to a fantastic finish It’s one thing to feel nostalgic about the Tiburon almost 30-year-old model to its former ‘like-new’ glory is quite another the entire undertaking had a twofold goal: to give something back to the car that ignited his imagination all those years ago and to recapture that sense of contagious youthful enthusiasm and share it with like-minded project members As a man with a deep attachment to this special vehicle Jang-hyuk Heo has chaired a Tiburon Owner Group club in the past known as ‘The Miracle on the Han River,’ set the stage for the launch of the Tiburon Hyundai was seemingly light years away from reaching its 100 millionth car milestone there were only about 200,000 registered cars in the country – a far cry from the 25 million vehicles today It was during this vibrant time of technical advancement and design experimentation that Hyundai’s sportscar heritage began The Tiburon thoroughly shook up the Korean automotive scene - especially in the field of motorsports the Everland Speedway in Yongin opened its doors to professional competitive racing It was there that the Tiburon demonstrated what it was capable of and quickly became a top performer Its popularity and winning track record soon attracted sponsors and further moved motorsport into the Korean mainstream This led to a boom in the domestic tuning market with enthusiasts modifying their cars to mimic the race versions they saw on TV Jung-yong Park was instrumental in launching the Tiburon into the rally-driving arena In his role as the familiar face behind the wheel of the Tiburon he dominated the early domestic racing scene He was also the first Korean to compete in the grueling Paris-Dakar Rally in 1988 earning him legendary status in Korean motorsports the Tiburon continues to be a source of inspiration for Hyundai engineers and designers paid tribute to the Tiburon in a 2021 Elantra N world premiere video The short film shows a young man whose passion for performance cars was formed by first driving the Tiburon The message: Tiburon holds a special place in Hyundai’s history and many of those it inspired went on to shape Korea’s automotive industry as we know it today SearchTiburon girls help Marin Volleyball team win trip to nationalsReader submitted5 days ago1 min readMarin Volleyball’s 14 Green team Devon Humes and Kate Craine with assistant coach Tyler Finley (Joe Belluomini photo)Tiburon middle blocker Lola Belluomini and opposite-side hitter Chloe Weibel helped the Marin Volleyball’s 14 Green girls team win a shot at the American division 2025 USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship in Dallas in June The team had a dominating performance at the Red Rock Rave Junior National Qualifier in Las Vegas April 19-21 The event included more than 100 other regional teams with just one team advancing from the American division The 14 Green team will go on to face the American division winners of the 12 other regional national-qualifier events at the championships June 25-July 3 SearchTiburon Mayor Thier launching Assembly bidFrancisco MartinezApr 161 min readTiburon Mayor Holli Thier will join the crowded 2026 contest to replace Damon Connolly in the California State Assembly who is in the first year of her third term on the Town Council announced last week she intended to run for the District 12 seat which covers all of Marin County and nearly half of Sonoma County was elected in 2022 and has announced his campaign to replace President Pro Tem Mike McGuire Thier confirmed her candidacy to The Ark in an April 11 email citing issues such as the rising cost of living insurance companies not writing policies for California homeowners and a need for “strong advocates … who can protect our residents against the dismantling of our democracy” with President Donald Trump in office for a second term Thier said she’ll stay on the Town Council “until the successful conclusion” of the Assembly race SearchTiburon to celebrate 55th Earth Day with parade, enviro fairFrancisco MartinezApr 161 min readTiburon Peninsula residents can celebrate the 55th annual Earth Day with an April 27 parade from Zelinsky Park to the Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry Co where several organizations will offer educational booths on environmental topics It’s one of several local events planned to mark Earth Day including an April 24 fundraiser for San Francisco State University’s Estuary & Ocean Science Center on Paradise Drive; and a Nature Day at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary and Marin County parks-organized cleanup of Ring Mountain and Tiburon’s belated celebration is set for 10 a.m.-1 p.m SearchTiburon Councilmember Nikfar misses yet another state financial report deadline Francisco MartinezApr 231 min readFour Tiburon Town Council­members have disclosed economic interests totaling at least $2.84 million for 2024 while Councilmember Isaac Nikfar has once again failed to submit legally required financial reports by the state deadline Councilmember Jack Ryan leads with a minimum of $1.17 million in economic interests followed by Mayor Holli Thier with at least $1 million Councilmember Alice Fredericks reported at least $453,013 while Vice Mayor Jon Welner disclosed at least $210,001 California law requires these annual economic-interest statements The California Fair Political Practices Commission mandates that all elected officials and public employees “who (make) or (influence) governmental decisions” submit these disclosures The failure to file state-mandated financial disclosures for his office reflects a pattern for Nikfar who missed two deadlines for campaign-finance disclosures related to the November 2024 election Nikfar also missed his initial campaign-finance disclosure requirement in July 2023 before a special election that August Nikfar has declined to comment on any of the campaign-finance reporting lapses SearchDeveloper files preliminary application for 120 new housing units downtown Francisco MartinezJan 246 min readUpdated: Jan 30 including at the old Bank of America and Shark’s Deli sites and the parking lot next to Town Hall The residential-only concept from the firm’s developer and project applicant, Fairfield-based Russell Square Consulting would put 82 of those units at the Beach Road corner with the old bank and its parking lot and 4 Beach Road; 12 more would go on the opposite corner at the former deli site at 1600 Tiburon Blvd.; and the remaining 26 would go into the 1525 Tiburon Blvd The bank and deli buildings would be demolished while each of the three new buildings would have a three-story mix of studios and one- to three-bedroom units ranging from 540 to 1,266 square feet Sonoma-based A&C Ventures which does business locally as ACV Argo Tiburon LP bought the commercial Tiburon portfolio of the now-late Barbara Zelinsky Abrams in 2012 The properties include the buildings housing Bungalow Kitchen and Caffe Acri along with the Maritime Center across from the downtown fire station plus the terminal serving the Golden Gate Ferry has a local office above his Main Street tasting room “We’re excited to help provide housing solutions to Tiburon’s mandated housing initiative,” said Senior Vice President Bob Brown some of which include more affordable multifamily sites has been positive and we look forward to hearing the next steps following the submittal of our application." The new residential concept includes 112 units at market rates and eight designated as affordable to very-low incomes, enough to trigger California density-bonus laws that allow A&C to develop more units than the underlying zoning allows to receive an unlimited number of development waivers to ensure the affordable-housing project can be built at the bonus capacity and to get at least one concession that reduces construction costs the sites cover 2.86 acres in a neighborhood commercial district that allows 30-35 units per acre The eight affordable units make up about 8% of that the preliminary application seeks allowances for no retail reductions of open-space requirements and building heights that exceed the 38-foot limit for downtown buildings fronting Tiburon Boulevard “exceeds 45 (feet) with flood-(plain) consideration”; renderings show a foundation rise to level out the building on a changing grade The preliminary application was filed under the streamlining rules of Senate Bill 330 which locks in fees and development standards until the developer can submit a full The 40-unit redevelopment process of Mallard Pointe in Belvedere took a similar path the preliminary application was followed by community meetings and public study sessions with city officials to adjust the plan based on community and city concerns before the formal application was filed though it still faced significant community opposition and underwent several major revisions before it was approved It’s not yet clear what next steps A&C will take It was also unclear why the submission came as a single preapplication as the three projects appear to be distinct and individual they share single affordable-housing and density-bonus calculations that could distribute the density and locations of affordable units in ways not allowed under separate applications — and that still may not be allowed by Tiburon by Ark calculations using Tiburon zoning laws and state-density-bonus requirements the 1.64-acre bank site would allow for 58 units where 82 are proposed with none left to use for any density overages desired elsewhere 23 units are allowed where 26 are proposed A&C would have to add 5% very-low-income units there to win the minimum density bonus or two affordable units for 10 total across the three-site project under separate applications as the 0.39-acre deli site seeks no bonus with 12 units proposed where 14 are allowed Because preliminary applications are not subject to review for completeness Tiburon Director of Community Development Dina Tasini said she would not comment until a formal application is submitted it would go under 30-day review by the town for completeness with the developer then getting another 90 days to amend the application with revisions or additional materials if necessary before public hearings would be scheduled Tiburon will only be able to apply local objective design and development standards as it reviews the project and any project that complies with those standards within the town’s general plan and zoning ordinance must be approved unless Tiburon can “make significant written findings that there would be a specific adverse impact to the public health or safety and this impact cannot be mitigated,” according to a Jan The project would be subject to no more than five total public hearings including all review by the Design Review Board Under the state density-bonus requirements using very-low-income housing the offered units must be identical to those offered at market rates — unless A&C uses its single construction-cost-savings incentive to reduce amenities — and be rent-controlled for no less than 55 years; Tiburon municipal code requires the deed restriction be "in perpetuity or for the longest term possible." Department of Housing and Urban Development for the San Francisco metro fair-market-rent area or up to $97,900 for a four-person household where the area medians are $130,600 and $186,600 are then pegged at 15% of the area median for the household size currently $1,632.50 for a one-person studio and $2,332.50 for a four-person three-bedroom though unit sizes for the affordable units in A&C’s proposal have not been specified The preliminary application comes as Tiburon must issue permits for 639 new housing units, 303 of those affordable to lower incomes, in the next eight years under its state-mandated 2023-2031 housing element and California’s goal to build 2.5 million new homes by 2030 The element identified all three A&C sites for potential housing with combined realistic capacity of 79 units The bank site and its lot was projected with a realistic capacity of 49 units or 33 fewer than proposed; the deli site was projected with a realistic capacity of 11 units one fewer than proposed; and the lot adjacent to Town Hall was projected with realistic capacity of 19 units the bank site would cover 102,236 square feet and include a fitness room lounge and bicycle parking on the first floor The design shows two courtyards and three amenity spaces on the second floor It would have an underground garage for 82 vehicles with most parking organized as semi-automated puzzle lifts and some regular parking spaces designated as accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act The former Shark’s Deli site would be 19,057 square feet where the renderings call for a fitness center and leasing office with Juanita Lane serving as the entry point for the 12-vehicle garage; most parking stalls would also be puzzle lifts The second floor would include a courtyard and amenity space four two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units The Town Hall-adjacent parking site would be 29,205 square feet with the garage entry along Tiburon Boulevard and bike parking on the first floor near the lobby An amenity and courtyard would be on the second floor four two-beds and four three-bedroom units 27 with a comment from A&C Ventures and information on Tiburon's inclusionary-housing requirements Reach Tiburon reporter Francisco Martinez at 415-944-4634 SearchMan arrested in Denver in connection with 2023 Tiburon armed robberyNaomi FriedlandApr 161 min readThe passenger and gunman is seen with the red Kia involved in the November 2023 robbery of a Tiburon resident (via Tiburon Police Department)A man wanted in connection with a November 2023 armed robbery in Tiburon was arrested April 5 by Denver police during a traffic stop is facing felony charges of robbery and negligent discharge of a firearm both with special enhancements for violence prior convictions and involving a minor — the then-17-year-old suspected getaway driver who was arrested shortly after the incident The felony complaints against Yancy were filed Aug with court records showing he was arraigned in Marin Superior Court on April 11 and was expected to enter a plea on April 15 Marin County — Caltrans is scheduled to activate on a no right-turn-on-red sign at State Route 131 (Tiburon Boulevard) and Trestle Glen Boulevard on Tuesday as part of a safety project on the corridor It only illuminates when a right turn is not allowed during a red signal for the Westbound Trestle Glen flow of traffic into the intersection A High Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK) signal will be activated at SR-131 and Ned’s Way in the coming months as part of the same project Slow for the Cone Zone and Be Work Zone Alert Caltrans thanks motorists for their patience while we work to maintain our state's highways SearchTiburon lifts 8-year ban on new utility-burying districtsFrancisco MartinezApr 161 min readPreliminary trench locations for a potential utility-undergrounding project along Mar West Street account for 2,323 feet of trench that would impact roughly 39 parcels according to Public Works Engineering Manager David Eshoo (via town of Tiburon)Tiburon has lifted its nearly eight-year moratorium on forming new utility-undergrounding districts and will contribute to some preliminary planning costs to help residents obtain accurate project estimates before deciding whether to bury their lines The Town Council voted unanimously April 2 to allow new districts to form paving the way for Mar West Street neighbors to explore burying their electric infrastructure The council also decided to help pay for the final engineering report for proposed projects with the town’s contribution to be determined case by case property owners would reimburse Tiburon for its contribution if they vote to form the district and proceed with the project but the town would lose its funding if residents vote against undergrounding Dear Reader,Unfortunately our comment platform isn\'t available at the moment due to issues with our paywall and authentication vendor A North Bay cottage owned by legendary actor and filmmaker Robert Redford has hit the market The Tiburon property, located at 2517 Mar East Listed on Dec. 2 by Steven Mavromihalis of Compass the wood-shingled residence was built in 1968 and was personalized by Redford “to take advantage the unspoiled views and their indoor-outdoor lifestyle,” Mavromihalis said in an email to The Press Democrat Tuesday “The Natural” star and his wife have a long history with and great affection for the town of Tiburon having previously owned other homes in the area “We were immediately struck by the warmth of the home with its light-filled rooms the San Francisco Bay and Angel Island — the home has lovely and distinct views from each room,” the couple said The Redfords are selling the house as they spend more time in Sante Fe, New Mexico, where Szaggars Redford has been creating new art and focusing on her fine art gallery, Sibylle Szaggars Redford Fine Art Redford, who retired from Hollywood in 2018, is also spending more time with his wife working with Santa Fe-based nonprofit The Way of the Rain which produces educational and artistic performances to promote global conservation efforts In the four years that the Redfords owned the home at 2517 Mar East they made cosmetic changes to the interior “to brighten things up and create more of a coastal feel inside,” they said They also improved the outdoor terraces and gardens creating more of an inviting flow between the home’s indoor and outdoor spaces and Tiburon’s climate is perfect for plants like lavender which now grace the outdoor spaces around the home,” the Redfords said in the statement For more information, go to 2517mareast.com Search‘Marin County Jane Doe,’ whose body was found in Tiburon in 1966, has been identifiedKevin HesselMar 203 min readUpdated: Mar 24 whose married name was Dorothy Jean Vaillancourt (via DNASolves) A body found on a cliff near Paradise Beach Park in 1966 has been identified using stored DNA samples and advanced testing by a Texas laboratory red-haired woman was about 5-foot-2 and 105 pounds white loafers and a Westclox wristwatch with a yellow band on her left wrist She wore no rings and had a pack of cigarettes and a scarf in her pocket she has been known only as National Missing and Unidentified Persons System No or “Marin County Jane Doe.” Now she’s known to be Dorothy Jean Vaillancourt The cause of death could not be determined and authorities at the time said there were no signs of foul play She was buried at Mount Tamalpais Cemetery and Mortuary in San Rafael before her identification according to a March 19 press release from Othram which specializes in forensic genealogy to solve cold cases a crowdfunded DNA database that works with law-enforcement agencies “From the perspective of the family of this woman she just disappeared and they may have thought they’d never know where she went Vaillancourt’s body was originally spotted on Dec about 25 feet below the 3400-3500 block of Paradise Drive by 15-year-old Michael Hunter O’Hara of Paradise Cay according to a Daily Independent Journal of San Rafael article the following day The Ark could not locate O’Hara by press time Authorities at the time believed she had been in the underbrush for at least eight to 10 weeks Tiburon Peninsula Fire District firefighter Thomas Murphy quickly came forward to say he saw her at the Trestle Glen fire station about three or four months before her body was found Murphy said she was walking by when she approached him and said she had no money for a taxi She asked if she could spend the night at the fire station she walked off toward Tiburon Boulevard,” the article said Thomas said he then notified the Sheriff’s Office no other agencies responded to a statewide bulletin for missing person matching her description Authorities initially traced a report that a woman fitting the description had recently stayed at the Tiburon Lodge hotel and had been a patient at Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute in San Francisco though by January 1967 the FBI had ruled that out Marin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Adam Schermerhorn said his agency submitted information about the case to the California Department of Justice about 20 years ago, but the technology wasn’t in place then to be able to identify the woman. He said with the rise of genealogy sites that allow people to submit their DNA, like Ancestry.com there is more data available to solve cold cases working with the state Department of Justice which developed “an ultra-sensitive DNA profile using forensic-grade genome sequencing” that led to relatives of the woman Schermerhorn said the coroner’s division of the Sheriff’s Office has been in touch with the family which said it sought to stay out of the media at least one family member posted about the case online “The coroner has told me today that the woman in the ditch is in fact my mother I am in shock right now,” a user on cold-case site Websleuths posted Dec three months before Othram publicly confirmed her identity One of the woman's identifying characteristics was a stainless or silver medical implant in her eye socket but the Websleuths user said their mother had been in a car accident and had surgery The user did not respond to requests for comment by The Ark’s press deadline KRON4 KRON4's Lindsey Ford reports: https://www.kron4.com/?p=2158697&preview=true Made in the Bay Area and being shown on the big screen local filmmakers discuss being featured at SFFilm Festival this year Video shows aftermath of tree crushing San Francisco parklet One man is in jail and another was hospitalized after a seemingly random attack in the Castro on Easter Three people are dead and three more are hospitalized with serious injuries after a Volkswagen Tiguan hit a tree on San Geronimo Valley Road just west of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard shortly before 7:30 p.m San Francisco Fire Department firefighters rescued an injured dog and an uninjured person from a cliffside along Mile Rock Trail in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Thursday afternoon Bay Area photographer Lani Tinio shared a timelapse of the Moon rising over the Bay Bridge on Sunday with KRON4 and there is no shortage of activities going on around the Bay Area KRON4 Chief Meteorologist Lawrence Karnow has 4 Fun Things going on this weekend Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here Marin County — Caltrans has activated a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) on Tuesday March 18 on State Route 131 (Tiburon Boulevard) and Ned’s Way in the town of Tiburon The PHB is a traffic-control device designed to help pedestrians safely cross higher-speed roadways at midblock crossings and uncontrolled intersections The beacon head consists of two red lenses above a single yellow lens The new beacon will allow pedestrians to cross SR-131 without walking a long distance to a standard traffic signal The high-intensity crosswalk is better known by its acronym The signal is fastened to a boom overhanging the road The beacon will not flash unless someone presses the crossing button The button activates a series of flashing and solid lights signaling motorists that they must stop to look for pedestrians The flashing red phase resembles how motorists would proceed at a stop sign For a video on the HAWK system in Caltrans’ District 4, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ3OJD6gWT4 Motorists are encouraged to allow extra time and plan their routes ahead of time SearchMarin supervisors undo sale of Tiburon apartment complex's common facilitiesFrancisco MartinezMar 192 min readThe Tiburon View Homeowners Association representing 68 apartment units on the interior of Circle Drive central parcel (bordered in red) that serves as a shared common area Marin County accidentally sold the parcel at a tax auction for $6,600 in March 2024 but the Board of Supervisors reversed the sale last week Apple Maps)A group of Circle Drive apartment owners has regained ownership of two shared pools a recreation area and laundry facilities that were snatched up by an investor last year after the county mistakenly included the property in a public tax sale with District 5 Supervisor Eric Lucan absent at its March 11 meeting to formally reverse the sale which allowed Wyoming-based buyer AssetRenew LLC to buy the common area for $6,600 at the March 2024 auction the board unanimously backed a resolution to rescind the sale The homeowners’ association comprises owners of a complex of eight parcels on Circle Drive seven of which feature the buildings housing 68 apartment units center parcel features the common facilities and under state law its value is supposed to be folded into the seven others Marin issued tax bills and penalties totaling $1,606 — bills attorney Richard Zuromski previously said the association “did not receive nor should they have expected to receive.” County officials have said they thought the parcel was vacant land because there wasn’t an assessed value for improvements.Because no one paid up DONATE to support local journalism, or SUBSCRIBE NOW for home delivery and access to the digital replica SearchTiburon doctor developed stents used in surgeryFrancisco MartinezFeb 275 min readTiburon resident Bill Heydorn a cardiothoracic surgeon whose work included the development of valves and stents Heydorn spent nearly three decades in the U.S enlisting in 1960 and retiring as a colonel in 1989 where he spent 14 years at the Letterman Army Medical Center in the Presidio he was the lead author in a 1977 paper documenting how he and fellow researchers used Gore-Tex breathable fabric membrane often used in rainwear Heydorn worked with the manufacturing company to incorporate the material into stents and valves produces thoracic stent grafts meant to repair an­eurysms and transections in the thoracic aorta Heydorn also authored or co-authored more than 30 articles in medical journals and a medical textbook over his career and grew up in Kinderhook and Pleasantville While the elder Heydorn was a college student which they dubbed an “epochal tour,” from Michigan to New York in 1927 using a Ford Model T built from junk parts totaling $10 with no top and chalked with all the cities they had visited The journey inspired the junior Heydorn to attend his father’s alma mater where he received a bachelor’s in chemistry in 1955 Heydorn was part of a local fraternity and played football as an offensive tackle and guard He helped the team to a conference championship in 1953 and was named to the all-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1953 and 1954 Heydorn received the university’s highest honor for alumni They had three children together — Barbara Kathy and Will — and were married until her death in 2003 The family moved around due to Heydorn’s military career Germany and Colorado before moving to Tiburon in 1975 While he had the opportunity to play professional football with the Chicago Cardinals who now play in the Phoenix metro area as the Arizona Cardinals Heydorn instead attended Yale University’s medical school Daughter Kathy Winkler of Strawberry said that while her dad was “very proud” of getting an offer to play pro football he decided he’d have a longer career as a doctor Heydorn was surgery chief at the 5th General Hospital in Stuttgart Germany; the commanding officer at 44th Surgical and 11th Evacuation military hospitals in South Korea; and a thoracic surgeon at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver he would often tell us stories about any time the beds were not full he would take in children or locals from the village and operate on them if they needed hernia repair or a cleft-palate surgery or whatever,” Winkler said Heydorn in 1975 joined the surgery department at the now-decommissioned Letterman Army Medical Center teaching hospital in the San Francisco Presidio By 1978 he was department chief and by 1987 Heydorn during his military career received the Legion of Merit and Meritorious Service Medal Gore & Associates on incorporating Gore-Tex into stents and valves Will Heydorn said his dad wanted to give back to medicine and to humanity when developing those stents “I think it was for the greater good,” he said but was a very busy dad at that.” He was on call for patients and dedicated to professional interests as a thoracic surgeon but able to support his kids’ sporting endeavors whether it was being a lane judge at a swim meet driving Will to Tiburon Peninsula Little League practice or assisting the local Scouts BSA troop Those were “all the little things that you take for granted as a kid accreditation and education for various entities including as a field representative for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education which accredits and evaluates medical residencies and internships; a clinical professor of surgery at the University of California at San Francisco and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda as a surveyor of international medical facilities with the nonprofit Joint Commission visiting more than 40 health-care facilities in 22 countries Heydorn was a keen tennis player and swimmer at the Tiburon Peninsula Club with his children noting he swam at the club seven days a week later in life Explorers and Commonwealth clubs and wrote “Geronimo: The Rest of the Story,” which documents how the Apache leader converted to Christianity in 1900 and 1901 with Winkler noting “he loved being a grandfather,” and enjoyed traveling Turkey and Jerusalem as part of a longstanding interest in Biblical history his all-time favorite place to visit was Holland Will Heydorn said his dad knew he wanted to reside in the Bay Area adding he loved the views from Tiburon and the people living in town “He was so happy and content,” Will Heydorn said what better commute than to go across the Golden Gate Bridge every day to the Presidio and then come back to Tiburon?” Winkler said her father was a very faithful family man with a strong moral compass who always wanted to bring out the best in others and improve others’ lives She said that has trickled down into her own life noting she and her daughters sometimes find themselves giggling and asking themselves “Why wouldn’t you aim for or expect to be the best?” but that’s where the bar should be set,” she said Kathy Winkler of Strawberry and Will Heydorn of Capistrano Beach He was preceded in death by his wife and his parents Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Belvedere and livestreamed on its YouTube channel the Yale School of Medicine or the charity of one’s choosing SearchSF State will close Estuary & Ocean Science Center in TiburonGretchen LangFeb 128 min readEstuary & Ocean Science Center Interim Executive Director Katharyn Boyer She said researchers are ‘despondent’ about the center’s pending closure (Elliot Karlan archive / For The Ark 2022)San Francisco State University is closing its Romberg Tiburon Campus due to lack of funding throwing marine biology students and faculty at the Estuary & Ocean Science Center into confusion and despair university President Lynn Mahoney said the school would immediately begin phasing out operations at the Paradise Drive center — San Francisco Bay’s only marine science lab — and moving students and faculty to the university’s main campus Despite “significant efforts,” Mahoney said in the statement “the university has not been able to raise enough funds or support to sustain operations at the 52.7-acre Romberg Tiburon Campus in the face of high maintenance costs at the facility.” Estuary & Ocean Science Center Interim Executive Director Katharyn Boyer said the announcement had caused confusion and distress among the center’s scientists as it remains unclear whether the work of adjunct professors and researchers will be able to continue Boyer made a last-ditch plea to any donor who could help save the struggling marine biology station which is also home to the Smithsonian Estuary Research Center West and San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve “My only hope is that someone comes out of the woodwork and says The 52.7-acre Estuary & Ocean Science Center at San Francisco State University's Romberg Tiburon Campus off Paradise Drive has been conducting marine and environmental research on the bay since 1978.Carmen Domingo a biology professor and the dean of the College of Science and Engineering at San Francisco State “This is the only research center situated on the bay asking questions about the health of the bay,” she said does the whole region understand the implications (of the closure) This should be heartbreak for the whole region.” formerly known as the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies was established in 1978 and provides research facilities laboratories and classrooms for San Francisco State scientists Then-university President Paul Romberg led the May 1977 acquisition of the property from the federal government which had been using it as a marine lab under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its predecessor agencies since the 1960s codfishery and cannery before its federal purchase to become a U.S nautical training school and the Naval Net Depot producing steel anti-submarine and anti-torpedo nets for the Pacific during World War II Center scientists and their graduate students publish regularly on topics such as the effects of climate change and ocean acidification on marine life shoreline resiliency and marine mammal behavior in San Francisco Bay The center also hosts visiting lecturers with talks open to the public and science education programs in local schools The center’s Discovery Day open house last fall drew more than 500 visitors from around the Bay Area to explore marine science-based activities and exhibits San Francisco State is primarily responsible for funding the campus and receives only a small amount of money from the larger California State University system Most of the research on site is funded by grants San Francisco State allocates money for instruction and facility maintenance have been expensive to upgrade and maintain the university announced it could no longer support the facility An advisory committee was formed to address the problem and last year the committee submitted a plan to the California State University chancellor’s office outlining a path to self-sufficiency within five years The hope was to renovate some of the derelict buildings on the site and rent them to scientific institutions to provide a maintenance income Boyer said she had already lined up $5.8 million in grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency to build an aquatic research training facility along with grants from the California Coastal Conservancy She said she was awaiting approval of the plan when she instead received word that the university was pulling the plug and will now have to decline the money Boyer said the center was still short $500,000-$600,000 and that she would need $1 million yearly to maintain the campus “We’ve been working so hard and we’ve come so close to covering our costs University administrators say the closure is essential as San Francisco State’s finances have reached a crisis point With a structural deficit of $13.9 million and anticipated state cuts to the California State University budget as well the university needs to reduce its budget by $25 million The statewide system has seen declining enrollment and an 8% funding cut in California’s state budget forcing the elimination of some courses and programs entirely at other campuses The statement from Mahoney said the closure will “allow (the university) to redirect critical funding into the main campus during a challenging period for the university Shuttering the doors will save the university about $800,000 but it may cost that much or more to relocate its facilities to the main campus “But this is such a small cost savings compared with the problem And they’re not considering at all the value of this place The university said no layoffs are planned The center is home to 17 tenured and adjunct faculty and 11 research assistants About 40 graduate students use the center’s laboratories and facilities for field research the center’s interdisciplinary master’s program in estuary science offered at the center was discontinued in the 2023-2024 school year There are no classes or lectures at the site this spring due to cost-cutting measures 1 that Mahoney had recommended closing the center but held out a slim hope as the chancellor’s office had not weighed in The statement from the president’s office that a decision had been made caused shock and confusion While the president’s statement said “very few” students and faculty will be directly impacted by the closure Geography and environment professor Ellen Hines who recently retired after 14 years teaching at the center said the impact of losing field-based study at the site was immeasurable “They are trying to make it about the numbers,” Hines said “This field-based experience has affected countless students and inspired many scientists over the years Our science and our students have incredible reputations throughout the Bay Area She vowed: “We will continue to fight to retain our site and our community.” staff and students will be relocated to the university’s main campus in San Francisco not all the scientists at the site may find a place there One research associate said principal investigators working at the center and their research assistants had been told there will be no space for them to continue their research on the main campus use the center’s laboratory space to conduct research that is funded mainly by state grants A portion of their grant money goes to the university to pay for laboratory upkeep a senior research associate working with retired adjunct professor Wim Kimmerer who has studied and worked at the center for 20 years said her current project is studying the feeding habits of the endangered longfin smelt She said she and Kimmerer must now look elsewhere for laboratory space to continue their research “We cannot do that work on (the) main campus they don’t even have a seawater system,” she said the spokesperson for the president’s office “The plan is to move all (principal investigators) back to the main campus,” he said There are also questions as to how to house the many marine animals in tanks Administrators said the animals could be moved to the recently completed science building on the main campus but Boyer questioned whether there would be space enough to accommodate the graduate students and their experiments a biology professor who specializes in eelgrass propagation will be unable to keep the bayside eelgrass tanks Administrators conceded the main campus does not have the facilities to house them Boyer has been awarded federal grant funding to study eelgrass propagation in Richardson Bay part of the Richardson Bay Regional Agency’s program to restore eelgrass beds damaged by anchored-out boats in the bay Questions also remain about what will happen to the laboratories and conference spaces at the site The derelict buildings from the old naval base will need to be secured and tanks and equipment near the water’s edge removed “I think what we don’t have clear is the cost of closing the campus,” said Domingo “We haven’t had time to have a conversation about what it’s going to cost to remodel labs on the main campus.” Administrators said it is unclear if the bayfront site can be sold The university purchased the site from the federal government for just $1 with the stipulation that it be used only for educational purposes It might be possible to sell all or a part of the property to developers if the terms of the property transfer can be renegotiated Boyer said the closure brings an end to the dreams of scientists and administrators who hoped to make the center a hub for scientific thought on climate-change adaptation and marine science “We built this to grow the leadership of the (center) to grow the regional capacity for doing this,” Boyer said “We had a place where people wanted to come and have these conversations and push the science forward.” Ecologist Andrew Chang is the program lead at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center West’s marine invasions research lab at the Estuary & Ocean Science Center in Tiburon as the San Francisco State University-operated center is shutting down Staff and students will move to the main campus but the future for partner agencies is uncertain (Clara Lu archive / For The Ark 2019)Andrew Chang an adjunct professor of biology at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center West on the Paradise Drive campus said the Smithsonian center would need to relocate its research on the effects of invasive species in San Francisco Bay to another facility “I am confident that we will continue with our work,” he said very difficult to match the opportunities and benefits provided by the central location and colleagues at the (Estuary & Ocean Science Center).” Domingo said despite some small fund­raisers Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Belvedere last year she was frustrated by the community’s lack of support for the facility A recent grant application to the Marin Community Foundation was rejected “A lot of this work was around Marin County,” she said “Marin benefits from having (the center) it its backyard but I don’t think they got the required support from Marin Now you might just see a big ugly fence around this place.” Domingo and Boyer both said they still hoped a large institution perhaps another university or private donor Contributing writer Gretchen Lang of Belvedere covers the environment Comment on this article on Nextdoor Bring your friends and family and join the Belvedere Tiburon Library for their 25th anniversary "Breakfast at Tiffany" Teddy Bear Tea 2025 at the Belvedere Tiburon Library with seatings at 10 am This event is ideal for families with children ages 2 to 8 Make your reservations early because this popular event always sells out decorate a commemorative 25th aniversary teddy bear and enjoy story time with beloved children’s librarian Alicia Tickets are $40 per seat or you can purchase a whole table with 10 seats for $400 All guests 2 years and over need a ticket and all children must be accompanied by an adult Learn more and order your tickets at beltiblibrary.org Belvedere Tiburon Library is located at 1501 Tiburon Boulevard in Tiburon SponsorsPromote your business here SearchDowned line knocks out power to 3,900 Tiburon Peninsula customersFrancisco MartinezJan 162 min readNearly 4,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Co including all of Belvedere and most of incorporated Tiburon east of Trestle Glen Boulevard 16 following reports of a downed power line at Tiburon Boulevard's intersection with Lyford Drive with the final 985 Tiburon customers having their power restored by 3:16 a.m. according to PG&E's online outage tracker (Pacific Gas and Electric Co.)Updated 11:30 a.m A downed power line near the intersection of Tiburon Boulevard and Lyford Drive cut power to more than 4,000 Tiburon Peninsula customers Jan with nearly 1,000 Round Hill residents left in the dark until early the next day mostly clustered north of Tiburon Boulevard’s intersections with San Rafael Avenue and Lyford Drive 17 — more than eight hours after the outage began — according to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s online outage tracker Power was restored in waves throughout the evening then Reed Heights-Tiburon Knolls by 8:41 p.m. while Belvedere and downtown Tiburon followed by 9:11 p.m The utility first reported the outage around 6:55 p.m. leaving 2,826 Tiburon customers — mostly concentrated east of Trestle Glen Boulevard within town limits — 1,118 Belvedere customers and 80 customers in unincorporated areas of the peninsula without power PG&E did not respond by The Ark’s press time on what led to the power line going down Tiburon Police Chief Michelle Jean said the department lost power for about 10 minutes because its backup generator didn’t start due to a dead battery computer and all pertinent equipment functioned properly,” Jean said Jean said the Public Works Department successfully jumpstarted the battery and PG&E restored the department’s power about 10 p.m More than 3,900 customers on the Tiburon Peninsula lost power just before 7 tonight No cause nor estimated restoration time was available on Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s outage-status tracker PG&E media officials did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment Some 2,826 customers in Tiburon — concentrated mostly east of Trestle Glen Boulevard in town limits — and 1,118 customers in Belvedere lost power during the outage according to a PG&E outage map as of 7:12 p.m 6-1 over Eliot Spizzirri to win the event championship The victory marked the first ATP Challenger title for Basavareddy Basavareddy stormed through the bracket with five wins starting with a three-set win in the round of 32 over Bernard Tomic Indiana native took out the event’s No The strong play continued as the weekend arrived with Basavareddy reaching the championship match after downing Jack Pinnington Jones A rematch of the 2022 ITA Fall National Championship match the Stanford junior claimed the title in one hour and one minute Stanford’s Kyle Kang and Nico Godsick also participated with Kang winning a qualifying match against Kiranpal Pannu 7-6 (5) and Godsick appearing in both singles and doubles The Cardinal continues its fall slate with another professional event Stanford’s next collegiate event will be the ITA Regional Championships SearchIconic gift shop Diana’s of Tiburon closing after 30 yearsFrancisco MartinezFeb 51 min readNovato resident Diana Maureen 28 inside her Boardwalk shopping center shop is retiring after 30 years and closing the store in April gifts and more during her time in business (Francisco Martinez /The Ark)Diana’s of Tiburon The Boardwalk shopping center boutique known for its unique collection of greeting cards is set to close in April after 30 years in business Owner Diana Maureen said she’s ready to retire visit her daughter in Arizona more often and help take care of her family moving to town in the summer before fourth grade and attending Reed Union School District schools before graduating from Redwood High School Her retirement caps 46 years working at The Boardwalk as she worked at variety store Standard 5 and 10 while in high school and on breaks from Arizona State University She managed the store until 1994; it closed in 1996 Comment on this article on Nextdoor Located on the shores of San Francisco Bay in Tiburon Blackie's Pasture Playground (also known as the Leo J Tugenberg Playground) involves a pleasant walk or bike ride along the Tiburon Historical Trail Blackie's Pasture is named after its namesake Blackie an old swaybacked former Presidio cavalry horse who lived in the meadow for many years but a life-size statue commemorates his time in the pasture While this may not be the largest playground in Marin County if definitely wins the prize for having the best views It's not only a great spot to play on a sunny afternoon but it's a fanastic photo op location as well Blackie's Playground is divided into two sections: one for tots and the other for older kids The playground is adjacent to an expansive grassy meadow perfect for kite flying and games of all kinds and the waters of Richardson Bay are right nearby and ready to explore so bring the bikes and strollers and make a day of it Equipment includes the usual climbing structures The toddler area is completely fenced in and offers some shade on sunny days Plenty of benches and a few picnic tables can be found in the surrounding area You can also spread a blanket out on the lawn and have picnic there On the other side of South Knoll are several sports fields which are usually busy with kids' soccer games on weekends The adjacent Tiburon Historical Trail leads all the way into downtown Tiburon and it's a fun doable walk or bike ride for all ages Amenities at Blackie's Pasture Playground include: You'll find the entrance to the parking area at Blackie's Pasture just after the intersection of Tiburon Boulevard and Reed Ranch Road The entrance is at the bottom of the hill and can be easy to miss if you're not familiar with the area The two parking lots here often fill up quickly Parking on Greenwood Beach Road near the pasture is an option on busy days head south on either the paved or gravel trails—both will lead you to it It's approximately a half-mile from the parking area which is staged in the building’s upstairs gallery with an artist’s reception from 6 to 8 p.m grew up among the orange groves of Southern California and later on the farms and orchards of the Central Valley and she says she has great affinity for California land SearchTiburon OKs Little League block party on lower Main Street to kick off year’s festivals Francisco MartinezFeb 121 min readTiburon Peninsula Little League will once again celebrate the start of its season with a parade and block party on lower Main Street It’s set to be the first of this year’s six closures for street festivals — though that number could increase with the league’s players and families gathering at the Lyford Drive parking lot and marching down the sidewalk from Tiburon Boulevard to Main Street and include pitching and carnival games for kids a merchandise station selling league-branded gear with Little League President Mark Marsella telling councilmembers that alcohol sales would be limited to an age-restricted area and not overlap with youth activities Food will be available at local restaurants Comment on this article on Nextdoor SearchFire chief, a Tiburon native, to retire after more than two decades in roleEmily LavinJan 222 min readTiburon Fire Protection District Assistant Fire Chief Tommy Hellyer (left) promoted last year into the newly established role from battalion chief is slated to take over the agency with the Feb 28 retirement of longtime Fire Chief Rich Pearce a Tiburon native who joined up as a paramedic 31 years ago and worked his way up to chief in 2002 (Naomi Friedland / The Ark)Tiburon Fire Protection District Chief Richard Pearce will retire Feb 28 after a 31-year career with the agency in which he started as a paramedic and worked his way up to the top post He’s slated to be succeeded by Assistant Fire Chief Tommy Hellyer who will assume the chief position March 3 pending formal approval of his contract by the district board next month; Hellyer was promoted into the newly created role last April to create a direct line of succession in anticipation of Pearce’s departure a Tiburon resident who grew up in town and has spent nearly a half century working in the fire services noted he expects his day-to-day to look “pretty different” after he steps down He said he’s proud of what the agency has accomplished and the team he has built during his nearly 23 years leading the Tiburon district “I think that we have an amazing group of individuals who are committed to the organization they are committed to the success of it moving forward and those in the organization are always looking out for everyone’s best interest,” he said SearchMartha belongs to Marin: Land deal complete as 110-acre Tiburon Ridge parcel now open space preserveFrancisco MartinezSep 5 20247 min read(Leo Leung / For The Ark)After a half-century of preservation efforts 110 acres of land on the southern Tiburon Ridge is now public to all as open space rare species and panoramic views from the Richmond Bridge and San Francisco skyline to the Golden Gate Bridge Another direct access point is from Spanish Trail Road, with the Spanish Trail running north to connect with the Paradise Tank Fire Road off Paradise Drive The trust’s senior project manager, Erica Williams of Tiburon, said one post-mounted “private property: no trespassing” sign that rattled activists when it was discovered in 2016 — installed by drilling a hole into the Founders Rock landmark — has already been removed She said Marin County Parks will create trailheads after removing other signs and fences dog walkers and sightseers who’d sometimes cut locks and chain link to access the land Many were then run off by the local family members who owned it said he had hiked there a few times before and saw others ignore the signs at the Martha property He said the land acquisition was good not just for the environment but for the community as a place to exercise and enjoy the views Loeffelholz added that there are times when people support the concept of public space — until the wrong word gets used “To know that we can share something and be nice and civil about it in a positive way is a good thing,” he said Tiburon Open Space President Jerry Riessen said in an interview that the acquisition was “glorious “I consistently say to people that it is a great result “And that’s how it’s come together — as a community effort.” Though his group and others are calling the collective area the Tiburon Ridge, the county already has a 15-acre Tiburon Ridge Preserve across town near Highway 101 The trust then sold the land to Marin for the county’s share Most of Marin’s share is coming from Belvedere and southern Tiburon taxpayers, who in November 2022 voted nearly 79% in favor of a 30-year, $335-per-parcel Measure M parcel tax to fund a bond sale Some $23.2 million comes from that bond and two 1990s bonds used to buy the Old St Another $6 million is from the county’s Measure A sales tax that supports parks and open space “It’s been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated public private and community partners to help realize this historic win-win for the community,” Williams said Some housing advocates have criticized the preservation efforts, saying that about 85% of Marin is protected for open space or agricultural uses as officials then assert it’s too “built out” to accommodate California’s regional assessment of some 14,405 new housing units countywide by 2031 “I think there’s a lot of people questioning the amount of money on open space — and there’s a lot of people who aren’t willing to say it because it’s a third rail,” Silva said Pro-housing groups like the Oakland-based Greenbelt Alliance promote “climate-smart growth” and fight against urban sprawl by backing infill development and the preservation of green spaces That organization formally supported the acquisition of the Martha property “(It) not only protects this valuable and pristine open space but also reduces the risk of fire to local communities and prevents further traffic congestion within the community,” it wrote in 2022 it ensures that we preserve this land for wildlife habitat.” a threatened species known to breed near Keil Pond also could have been significantly impacted by the development said that while it’s unlikely visitors will see these species without a nature guide his agency is excited that the property is now open space and part of the countywide network He said there will be a community-engagement process to make improvements to the trails after initial work on trailheads now it’s our responsibility to take care of it and steward it and make sure this place is accessible for people,” Korten said District 3 Marin Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters congratulated Riessen and the broader community “for their vision and their tenacity to bring this many-year project to fruition,” along with Williams Korten and their respective organizations for facilitating the deal whose family has owned the property since the 1920s said he was thankful the community supported the bond issue He said parts of his family on the side of his late father held a farewell gathering for the property Aug but police responding to neighbors’ calls said the gathering included about 100 people who turned out for a food truck and live band Reed called the land trust “professional” and said it “was very easy to work with and very responsive.” “Had other local groups in Tiburon not been involved this deal could have easily been done five years ago,” he said who was a leading figure in the trails group said in an interview that the acquisition means residents and visitors can “get a sense of freedom and peacefulness you don’t get when you’re inside a city.” “The bottom line is that there are some places that should never be built on,” Wodehouse said who co-founded the Marin chapter of the Sierra Club and was a legal adviser to the trails group to the table was an arduous process that eventually led to that suit He called the view from the plot one of the best overlooks in the Bay Area really happy and can finally relax and not worry about it anymore,” Lukens said “I’m just very appreciative of everybody’s efforts and I think when the community comes together — it takes a village — it shows we can get things done.” While those cases were in court, the family in 2018 put the property up for sale for $110 million reducing it to $95 million the next year and $63 million by 2020 as it negotiated with the preservation groups Tiburon Mayor Alice Fredericks has been a champion of preserving the property and has said it motivated her foray into local government she thanked the Reed family for its stewardship while adding that mere thanks to Riessen and Tiburon Open Space “are inadequate for their 30 years of public education “The process of acquiring the Martha (property) in itself provided so many opportunities not only for recreation but also for public education about the natural resources in the (peninsula’s) open spaces,” she said Fredericks said preserving Easton Point as open space provides recreation alternatives and more “at a time when there is pressure to urbanize our informal open spaces into parks with built amenities.” “It is a rededication by our community to preservation of natural resources reminding us to lighten our footprint on this earth and remember the greater systems that we can sustain so they can continue to sustain us,” she said 6 to reflect additional reporting for the Sept Reach Tiburon reporter Francisco Martinez at 415-944-4634. Support local journalism by SUBSCRIBING NOW for home delivery and access to the digital replica Comment on this article on Nextdoor SearchTiburon teen turns childhood passion into youth chess networkFrancisco MartinezApr 161 min readMarinChess Executive Director Stanley Wong (left) and instructor Leo Maso observe as third graders Anthony Lopez (left seated) and Mark Abraham are in deep thought over their next moves during the program's after-school class March 28 at Vallecito Elementary School in San Rafael (Francisco Martinez / The Ark)Tiburon resident Stanley Wong observes the eight kids gathered in a classroom at Valle­cito Elementary School in San Rafael on a recent Friday afternoon The kids are there for an after-school chess class the special move where the king and rook simultaneously move along the same rank to bring the rook into action while protecting the king The students raise their hands eagerly when they have questions and ideas with some running up to the board to tell their instructor Wong, the 19-year-old executive director of MarinChess says he enjoys seeing the students’ enthusiasm to learn the game which he says teaches kids larger problem-solving skills and you have to find your way to maneuver out of it how to find yourself in the best position possible,” Wong says “I think chess is a really great analogy for … all of that.” Thanks for visiting SearchEx-Tiburon Mayor Gary Spratling was key figure in antitrust prosecutionFrancisco MartinezApr 98 min readThe late Gary Spratling served on the Tiburon Town Council from 1982 to 1986 and was mayor for a year in 1983-1984 (via Cathy Spratling)Former Tiburon Mayor Gary Spratling who was instrumental in the development of the Point Tiburon condominium complex and cultivated a storied career as one of the nation’s top antitrust attorneys died March 26 at his Round Hill home following a 1½-year battle with brain cancer Spratling served on the Town Council from 1982 to 1986 and was mayor for a year beginning in April 1983 He previously served on the town’s Planning Commission from 1978 to 1982 and was commission chair from 1980 to 1982 A key focus during Spratling’s time in local government was the redevelopment of former Southern Pacific Railroad property which had seen its last train depart in 1967 who served with Spratling on the council between 1984 and 1986 Tiburon needed to form a redevelopment agency to improve the Southern Pacific property which would result in several districts — including the Reed Union School Tiburon Fire Protection and Marin Municipal Water districts among others — losing tax revenue during the redevelopment process “There was probably no one better than Gary Spratling to convince elected representatives of other districts to forego income for a fairly long period of time.” As Tiburon’s property values soared in the 1980s developers purchased prime land tracts on and near the Tiburon Ridge and other areas with great views This led to residents wanting growth to be slowed and limited though opinions varied on how aggressively to restrict development The council approved several emergency moratoriums between 1985 and 1986 While some advocated for a two-year building moratorium intended to buy time to amend Tiburon’s general plan to significantly downzone properties Spratling and other councilmembers favored limiting growth to 1.25% annually Voters approved the two-year moratorium in April 1986 The moratorium was later struck down in court Spratling worked nearly three decades in the Justice Department’s antitrust division he became deputy assistant attorney general for criminal enforcement Spratling’s most significant professional achievement came in 1993 when he created a plan for business-cartel participants to self-report in exchange for government leniency The plan offered automatic immunity for self-reporters immunity for company principals who cooperated with federal investigators and potential immunity for principals who offered evidence after an investigation started the former chair of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section said in an April 3 interview from the law section’s annual conference in Washington that Spratling’s program exposed antitrust conspiracies that proliferated over prior decades MacLeod presented Spratling with the section’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 and called him “the architect of modern criminal enforcement” in a March 30 post on social-media platform X and the likelihood of paying grave penalties for getting caught increased substantially thanks to this program,” MacLeod said “And that is the sort of thing that will inhibit people from considering it.” in San Francisco to Ernest Spratling and Margery Bramwell He grew up on 16th Avenue near Pacheco Street and was the second of four sons born after brother Robert and before Donald and Richard Spratling attended Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco where he was a member of the school’s forensics team and participated in interschool debates and original oratory competitions across California He received a bachelor’s degree in 1964 and a master’s in business administration in 1966 both from the University of California at Berkeley He started law school at the University of San Francisco in 1966 in which he served two years of active duty the first teaching at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana the second in military operations in southeast Asia said her husband delivered payments to soldiers stationed in the area Spratling returned to law school at the University of San Francisco president of real-estate development firm The Innisfree Companies which developed the Point Tiburon condominiums and commercial space in the 1980s wonderful man” who was “never short of encouragement never short of giving us a high-five — or a scolding if we were out of line.” Irmer said Spratling encouraged him to get involved with the project saying that because he was local and had the knowledge “That meant a lot to me,” Irmer said of Spratling’s encouragement “That encouraged my early commitment to Southern Pacific to take on the project the husband of Ark contributor Diane Smith called Spratling one of his favorite people and “the smartest guy I’ve ever known.” “He took more notes in interviews and presentations than anybody that I’ve ever known and used those notes to keep things in focus,” Smith said who served on the council from 1978 to 1982 while Spratling was on the Planning Commission said Spratling “knew just the right words to use to tiptoe through that mire without sinking the whole ship.” Spratling began working at the Justice Department’s San Francisco field office in its antitrust division after graduating law school He eventually became the field office’s antitrust division chief from about 1984 to 1995 civil and merger litigation across 11 states After Spratling was named deputy assistant attorney general he would commute from Tiburon to Washington Spratling said that neither prosecutors nor private companies thought it would work because it was perceived as too friendly by the government and businesses didn’t trust the promise of leniency because I thought self-reporting was the key,” he told legal trade publication Law360 in 2010 he received the Presidential Rank Award from Presidents George H.W when it also named Spratling one of its 10 most admired competition attorneys Spratling left the Justice Department in 2000 and joined Gibson he advised companies facing cartel investigations with a significant portion of his work telling clients “if and when it makes sense” to self-report who was Spratling’s paralegal from 1978 to 1985 said Spratling would get four to five hours of sleep a night “for as long as I’ve known him,” working from 4 a.m until midnight so he could be an antitrust prosecutor at the same time as being Tiburon mayor “He decided he needed to live two lives in the same amount of time that everybody else lives one,” Murphy said adding as she looked back on his accomplishments “I feel like he carved out that career with his bare hands.” one client said they’d drop his firm “unless it was Gary Spratling who would do their work,” Murphy said Cathy Spratling first met her future husband after moving to San Francisco from Washington about 1981 through a friend working for him as a paralegal She and Spratling started dating in 1983 and wed in 1999 She said the first thing that came to mind about Spratling was his sense of humor adding that he had a great sense of adventure in his travels — they visited Wyoming and Montana early on and Europe — and she learned a lot about food and wine from him The couple would host Christmas parties so large that the invite list would be split in two with one group attending in the early afternoon and another coming after the first group left and he was just way over the top on everything that he did One of Spratling’s interests that nearly everyone mentioned was his love for cars who lived in Tiburon for over 50 years and is the founder and director of the Tiburon Classic and Exotic Car Show first met Spratling when O’Neill co-chaired the development of Shoreline Park in 1986 Their friendship strengthened when they discovered a shared passion for cars and O’Neill worked on starting the classic car show O’Neill said Spratling enjoyed American cars and had an appreciation for Italian vehicles O’Neill and Spratling also traveled to local and international car shows which honors racing cars and motorcycles from 1948 to 1966 and is held at the Goodwood Circuit in Chichester He was a board chair of Shifting Gears USA a Marin County-based nonprofit supporting technical-education programs in the county the first board chair of the Marin Community Foundation and served on various other local nonprofit boards “He was a person of ultimate honesty and truth the highest level of integrity,” O’Neill said adding that Spratling was “a person that would do anything for a friend that he was asked of.” “spent much of his rare leisure time with his beloved family,” including his brothers and their wives in a group affectionately dubbed the “Six Pack.” Irmer said Spratling was someone who could be phoned anytime Spratling “was a hell of a guy you could have a beer with,” Irmer said “He was one of those men in my life who was extremely meaningful to me.” MacLeod said attendees at this year’s antitrust-law conference “are basking in the legacy of Gary,” himself included — he interviewed antitrust authorities from Greece and Italy for a conference session and they talked about their leniency-program successes “Gary took this idea and spread it around the world,” MacLeod said Bergsund said Spratling was a public servant who would “do the right thing,” while Coxhead said he was held in high regard “Gary devoted hours and hours of time to benefit Tiburon,” Coxhead said “He served Tiburon with distinction and integrity.” Spratling is survived by brothers Donald Spratling of Corte Madera and Richard Spratling of Calistoga He was preceded in death by his brother Robert A private memorial service will be held June 1 Donations can be made to Shifting Gears USA; brain-tumor research efforts at the University of California at San Francisco; or Sonoma Equine Rescue a nonprofit Cathy Spratling co-founded that rescues rehabilitates and places horses in responsible and caring homes SearchIncumbents, challengers square off for two seats on Tiburon Town CouncilFrancisco MartinezOct 2 Four candidates are competing for two seats on the Tiburon Town Council in the Nov who says she wants to take Tiburon to the future; Councilmember Isaac Nikfar seeking his first full term on the board to continue work improving the town’s parks for residents; Chuck Hornbrook Open Space and Trails Commission who says he is looking for more accountability among town leadership; and former mayor and councilmember Andrew Thompson who says his focus would be on changing community behaviors and connecting residents to improve livability in town For complete local election coverage, visit thearknewspaper.com/election2024 The winners will serve through November 2028 and will take their seats at a busy time for the council the board is expected to approve its long-awaited parks master plan which is intended to guide the long-term use of the town’s 70 acres of open space and parks including the Richardson Bay Lineal Park system that spans from Blackie’s Pasture to South of the Knoll Park and includes all of the Old Rail Trail It will also face the prospect of finding additional sites for new housing after a recent Marin Superior Court order that the town remove 93 units identified at a Paradise Drive site from its already certified 2023-2031 housing plan over concerns about the environmental study Hornbrook wants to ‘not kick the can down the road’ moved to Tiburon in 2017 from San Francisco and lives in the Hill Haven neighborhood with his wife who attended Reed Union School District schools and is now a sophomore at Marin Academy in San Rafael He works part-time as an adviser to renewable-energy companies on sales and operational needs Hornbrook graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva He went on to receive master’s degrees in business administration and environmental science from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and at Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young before moving to the Bay Area in 1998 working at digital-printing tech company Electronics for Imaging Inc Open Space and Trails Commission since 2019 and is currently in his second turn as board chair He previously applied to fill an interim seat on the council in March 2023 councilmembers chose not to make an appointment and to instead hold a special election that August; Hornbrook did not run for the seat Hornbrook in 2020 mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Reed Union School District board finishing third among four candidates for the two available seats He also served as a treasurer for Tiburon-Belvedere Residents United to Support Trails one of the local activist groups that sued the Martha Co in 2017 over public access to the once-private Easton Point annex of the Old St He’s served on the Hill Haven Neighborhood Association board since 2019 and the board of directors for Muir Beach-based nonprofit Slide Ranch since 2021 and the Golden Gate Ferry Passengers Advisory Committee since 2020 Hornbrook said he’s been civic-minded his entire life as his father was a commissioner in Denver and involved in local Republican Party affairs before becoming an independent voter Hornbrook himself in the mid 2000s ran for a seat on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee and says he did disaster-relief work about the same time in Mississippi and Indonesia for similar reasons: “I am very unsettled saying ‘That is someone else’s issue.’” Hornbrook said he considers his Town Council campaign “a continuation of all the things I’ve been working on” and said he thinks most councilmembers fail to make things happen or don’t make hard decisions saying the only current board member who comes close is Jack Ryan He said he wants to be on the council to contribute to the town and “be able to make good decisions to help move things forward and not kick the can down the road and have us be frustrated and waste people’s time.” So far, he’s issued position papers on improving trail safety, community safety, Tiburon Boulevard traffic, community gatherings and town accountability that are also posted on his campaign website, hornbrook4tiburon.com One of the major local issues Hornbrook wants to see addressed is implementing the parks master plan He said the only major investment he’s seen the town make into parks was pledging $1 million toward Marin’s purchase of the 110-acre Easton Point annex to Old St “it’s not parks and spending time on updating play equipment and getting to understand what the needs of our citizens are.” He criticized the council’s recent approval of a plan to fill in and grade the sanitation ponds near McKegney Green with a gentle slope The town purchased the ponds from the Richardson Bay Sanitary District and will add the swath of land to its parks system and has said the fill-and-grade work is necessary as part of state-imposed closure requirements; Town Manager Greg Chanis has said significant areas will be “essentially flat.” Hornbrook called the decision to slope over the ponds adjacent as a “figure things out later” method that isn’t cost-effective given that survey results show a desire for flatter playing areas has suggested a community pool since her own stint on the parks commission and it’s ranked highly among community desires in multiple resident surveys But Hornbook said he doesn’t support a community pool or pickleball courts at the location which he says is a “bad use of capital.” Consultant WRT which is developing the parks and recreation master plan has ranked the implementation feasibility as “low” and estimated a recreation pool with deck and drainage would cost at least $3.2 million before other amenities Having pickleball on-site would be detrimental because of noise and winds and placing a tent over courts would eliminate the view of Richardson Bay In considering proposed improvements to parks as a councilmember he would trust the recommendations of the parks and planning commissions and the Design Review Board He cited his own experience as a parks commissioner saying there have been times he felt the group’s recommendations were rejected by councilmembers who seemed unaware of why an item was before them in the first place “They’ve been appointed by the Town Council but sometimes I feel as though the Town Council doesn’t appreciate the due diligence that their commissions do,” he said “That’s what the commission should be doing is acting as a filter to make their job easier.” He’s noted the parks committee made recommendations to the council two years ago that a kayak and standup paddleboard launch — the No 1 priority identified by residents in a recent survey for the parks master plan — would be ideal at Ark Row and Beach Road at Belvedere Cove and when $600,000 in seawall repairs there were added to the latest town budget officials didn’t consider adding the launch to that project Another issue Hornbrook looks to address if elected is Tiburon Boulevard traffic where he says the council has also previously failed to act He was on the consultant-selection committee this spring for an updated traffic study but he points out that ideas recommended in the town’s 2001 traffic study were never pursued he says construction parking weekdays should be staged at the Blackie’s Pasture dirt lot which would reduce the distance to leave the Tiburon Peninsula; he’s said he’s received positive feedback from nearby residents Hornbrook is also looking at potential carpooling programs for both construction workers and for Reed Union schools staff and he says he’d reach out to local businesses to determine what regular shifts are to help develop park-and-go carpooling via the Marin Transit fleet or local buses Hornbrook also said he wants Tiburon to do a better job of communicating its public-safety measures and programs amid perceived safety concerns Tiburon has had record-low crime for the third consecutive year in 2023 and is routinely among California’s safest towns while police have attributed recent car thefts and tampering almost entirely to vehicles being left unlocked overnight frequently with both the keys and thousands of dollars worth of personal items inside One suggestion was for the Tiburon Police Department to introduce technology to aggregate residential and local cameras in the event of a crime but when The Ark noted a voluntary security-camera registration program already exists Hornbrook said he wants to increase the program’s visibility as “there’d be tons of residents,” himself included He also suggested increased police patrols during holidays and summers when homes are vacant a block-captains program like the one in Belvedere and quarterly reports from the Belvedere-Tiburon Joint Disaster Council statistically speaking — totally understand that,” Hornbrook said it’s still a traumatic event and you need to approach that with an empathetic way and let people know what we’re doing in trying to address that.” Hornbrook said he’d make the entire bike path of the Old Rail Trail 10 mph based on its current congestion and width and he supports widening the bike path 4½ feet and he would look to increase maintenance budgets for the Old Rail Trail he wants to see broader shoulders or bike lanes along Tiburon Boulevard for cyclists who want to travel faster Hornbrook said he would again reach out to the Community Congregational Church and Tiburon Baptist Church through Senate Bill 4 nicknamed “Yes in God’s Backyard,” which allows religious houses of worship the right to build affordable housing on their property even if zoning doesn’t apply The Baptist church had been on early town lists for potential redevelopment — which would spread some growth and keep some commuter traffic in northern Tiburon — but church officials weren’t interested is to increase density in the downtown area and the former Bank of America building and its parking lot Both sites are already included in the housing element but the council rejected the Planning Commission’s recommendation to remove the controversial 4576 Paradise Drive site and instead allow more downtown density with fourth stories Hornbrook said the Paradise site’s inclusion in the housing element “was a bit of a stretch,” citing past experiences cycling Paradise Drive and that there’d need to be community engagement and feedback sessions on downtown redevelopment to ensure “that there’s no views that are impacted.” But Hornbrook said traffic needs be addressed before any alternate sites are examined as any additional housing would receive backlash given potentials for increased traffic Hornbrook says he wants town commissions to work with the Belvedere-Tiburon Library and Tiburon Peninsula Chamber of Commerce to develop an annual slate of events which would include doubling Friday Nights on Main from two to four nights He also wants to improve direct town communication with residents including hiring a staff member solely for online strategies Hornbrook is also calling for increased accountability with regular reviews of several town items such as quarterly for the municipal budget and its expenses revenue and capital-improvement projects; quarterly or annual reviews of building-permit turnaround times; regular reporting from joint-power authorities like the library The Ranch recreation agency and the Tiburon Peninsula Traffic Relief board; and regular sessions with the chairs and vice chairs of the Planning Commission Design Review Board and other boards to align goals and priorities it’s that accountability needs to much more kind of the rigor of running a town He said he wants to listen to all stakeholders in town in the time that we’re here and our quality of life to not solve issues or decide that there’s nothing to do,” Hornbrook said first living in the Bel Aire neighborhood before moving about a decade ago to the Del Mar neighborhood who are all students at Redwood High School He grew up in Santa Clara and earned his bachelor’s in business from San Francisco State University a portfolio-management certificate from Stanford University and an executive business certificate from Duke University Nikfar has coached youth sports for his kids’ teams and has been a leader for Tiburon Cub Scouts Pack 48 He’s also the volunteer athletic director for the St Open Space and Trails Commission starting in 2017 where he helped develop the town’s integrated-pest-management policy that restricts herbicide usage and served on the subcommittee working with the town and consultant WRT to develop the parks master plan Before winning the August 2023 special council election Nikfar mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the board in November 2022 Nikfar said his top priority if elected to a full four-year term is improving parks and open space in Tiburon pointing to his past commission work on the parks master plan as an example of the continued effort he looks to take on He said that as important as it is to be frugal and pay down debt and pension obligations as required “it’s also really important to make sure that we are using the town funds wisely for specific improvements that are important — and priorities — to the residents of Tiburon.” Nikfar said it’s easy for someone to take a “pot shot” at consultant fees the town has approved for the parks master plan or for a traffic study of Tiburon Boulevard but added that the work done by consultants can be valuable goes beyond “standing in the middle of a park and talking to people and seeing what they want in the park.” It includes ensuring everyone in Tiburon receives a survey to offer feedback making recommendations based on the survey and looking at similar-sized towns not living in a vacuum and making decisions in a vacuum it’s about making sure that we have the best of the best in terms of information and resources at our fingertips,” Nikfar said Nikfar said his preferences for possible parks and open space amenities lean toward having a community center and upgraded playgrounds and he said he was willing to prioritize a standup paddleboard and kayak launch But he said the “north star” should be the survey itself in determining what residents want pointing to neighborhood meetings he’s had with residents from Bel Aire it’s our job to represent the people in town,” Nikfar said “It’s our job to listen to the neighborhoods and what their preference is.” Nikfar said he has a vision of improving traffic to the point where anyone in town can go from downtown to Highway 101 in 15 minutes Part of that comes from having the best technology possible and being strategic when installing it He pointed to Caltrans’ plan to conduct its 4½-mile preventive-maintenance project on Tiburon Boulevard in winter 2026 “We have the benefit of Caltrans coming in and repaving the roads so that we can start to upgrade our technology up and down the boulevard and ensure that we have the right mechanism at every intersection that’s needed to get that traffic flowing out of town more quickly,” he said which was approved by the council in May and will examine Tiburon Boulevard from Blackfield Drive to Beach Road Trestle Glen Boulevard between Tiburon Boulevard and Paradise Drive and Paradise Drive between Main Street and Trestle Glen Boulevard is important to understanding not just how much traffic comes in He said he’s also spoken to Belvedere Councilmember Sally Wilkinson and Mill Valley council counterparts about the traffic issue He said reducing resident reliance on cars is an area the town still needs to work on but suggested the Yellow Bus Program and carpooling to help keep cars off the road noting his kids carpool to school and to after-school activities With Tiburon’s approved 2023-2031 housing plan now in limbo after the court’s decision on the Paradise Drive site Nikfar expressed support for getting local control back into Tiburon’s hands but said the town needed real the requirement to designate housing and making sure that we have a housing plan that will get fulfilled isn’t going away,” he said Nikfar said his preference was for more accessory dwelling units He added that he wants there to be incentives with permitting fees and timing that makes those units easier to build noting that focusing on accessory units spreads out housing “which can ease traffic congestion and smooth that housing impact out” versus having “massively concentrated elements and apartment complexes or condo units” and what he says will be massive construction zones downtown for higher-density housing “I’m a supporter of letting Tiburon residents build out and be a part of this process and putting the control back in Tiburon residents’ hands,” he said “I think that is the only viable path forward.” Nikfar said he felt downtown had already absorbed “a significant amount of the housing in this housing element,” which required the town to identify sites for 639 new units over the next eight years “I think it’s already overburdened when we think about the impact of those new units,” Nikfar said “I don’t think there’s a circumstance where I would be in support of adding more units downtown to what’s already been allocated if there’s any other mechanism to do so.” He also expressed his opposition to the controversial inclusion of the Paradise Drive site in the housing element in the first place Nikfar was on the council when it approved the site and he’d been seeking his seat for more than a year when including his prior run for council He said there had been too many conversations that he wasn’t a party to Nikfar also said he wanted to improve public safety in town including making the Old Rail Trail safer for pedestrians and he added it’s important to “enable and empower” the Tiburon Police Department and firefighters “to do their job and trust that they’re doing everything they can for our community.” Nikfar said he trusted what Police Chief Michelle Jean was doing with the department and said he would support funding any technology upgrades that may be required as well as looking into any additional technology to help keep the town safe and more easily “find and identify people that have come to town to commit crimes.” Nikfar said it’s important that residents elect councilmembers who know how to work with Town Hall staff pointing to his experience on the council and on the parks commission He said he understands Tiburon’s age demographics and the need for “someone who’s willing to roll up their sleeves and really has the time to represent (residents) and continue improving on things in town.” “I think it’s incredibly important that you have someone that cares about the community and has been a part of the community and lives in the community,” Nikfar said Thier focused on taking Tiburon into the future Son Benjamin is a sophomore at the University of California at Davis and daughter Jaqueline is a student at Redwood High School Thier has bachelor’s degrees in political science and international relations from the University of California at Davis and received her law degree from the University of California College of the Law in San Francisco An attorney by trade and owner of a construction-management and public-relations firm Thier has also worked in commercial-business litigation public government as a contract attorney for Vallejo and then as a deputy city attorney for San Francisco administrative-law judge and judge pro tempore Thier was president of the city’s League of Women Voters chapter and was elected four times to the city’s Democratic County Central Committee to represent the 13th Assembly district she finished fourth in a race for the Democratic nomination for the state Assembly Open Space and Trails Commission before getting appointed to an interim Town Council seat in June 2017 She won an election that November to serve the remainder of that term and then was reappointed to a four-year term after no one stepped up to challenge her for the seat She’s hoping to continue work on several longtime priorities a Tiburon Boulevard trolley and a community pool Thier said parks and the parks master plan are major issues facing the town She said safety issues and infrastructure upgrades are important “Whatever happens in that space in the future is a community process but this has to be done right now,” she said But Thier said she is “not willing to say where anything goes” for larger-scale improvements noting she wants to let the community decide on where big-picture projects should go Thier has long floated the idea of a community pool on the site of the sanitary ponds She said a pool is generally a popular concept pointing toward its “high priority” designation in the community survey in the parks master-planning process but again she said she’ll leave it up to the community to decide where it should go I’m going to respect the community process I’m going to … work with the community in determining a good location if that’s what the community still wants,” she said Thier was more explicit in her support for improving recreational water access on the Tiburon Peninsula saying she’s hopeful to provide it in some way given that many residents have told her they don’t have access but want it She also expressed support for inclusive playground structures saying that when new playgrounds are built or upgraded “we need to make sure they’re accessible so all children can play in Tiburon.” Thier has long suggested an open-air electric trolley similar to the type that runs in Laguna Beach Local tourism and marketing agency Destination Tiburon picked up the idea and presented it to the council in late 2021 but it hasn’t made the council’s annual priority lists since Thier said she envisions the trolley starting on Tiburon Boulevard while eventually making its way into hillier parts of town to make it easier for those with mobility issues — something Route 219 no longer does Funding sources could be pursued from state and federal grant programs a $10-billion bond measure on the November ballot that would go toward providing safe water supplies and preventing wildfires with $850 million to go toward building clean-energy infrastructure “I think it’s critical to look at all funding sources because this is the kind of transportation that is being encouraged right now,” she said “And it’s something that not only will reduce traffic but it’s going to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.” Thier also said Tiburon has made inroads to improving pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure in town pointing to the work she did helping write the town’s pedestrian-bicyclist-driver safety plan while on the parks commission But Thier said there’s more work to be done adding that Caltrans’ plans to install Class 4 bike lines on Tiburon Boulevard as part of its 4½-mile preventive-maintenance project will help with reducing cars on Tiburon Boulevard Thier also voiced support for reducing how many cars are on job sites by incorporating vehicle limits into construction-management plans In light of the court decision to remove the 93-unit Paradise Drive site from Tiburon’s housing element Thier said the most important thing was ensuring the town remained certified to avoid the builder’s remedy where certain affordable housing must be built by right in municipalities with noncompliant housing elements “And I’m going to make sure that our housing element stays certified and that Tiburon is protected from the builder’s remedy.” The council may have to decide whether to appeal the court ruling redo the environmental study to preserve the Paradise site or come up with new housing sites Thier said she had a preference for accessory dwelling units but she wanted a “communitywide process” to decide where any of at least 40 units would need to go Thier said her votes to approve the Paradise Drive site were done because Tiburon “was at risk of … not providing the information to (the California Department of Housing and Community Development) for a certified housing element.” and we made sure that the town was not exposed to a rejection in the protections that our residents care about,” she said of her vote Thier also expressed support for continuing Tiburon’s mitigation efforts against climate change considering herself an environmentalist “3,000%” and supporting building electrification and having more electric-vehicle charging stations in town She said getting people into alternate modes of transportation would not only reduce traffic but also help lower greenhouse-gas emissions who chairs the Diversity Inclusion Task Force on which all five councilmembers serve alongside five community members expressed support for Tiburon’s diversity initiatives saying she wanted to see potential changes in town hiring processes to reach out to organizations and ensure the town has more diverse job candidates She also said she supports increasing community and cultural events respecting history but also bringing needed services to residents where she and Welner examined the feasibility of installing broadband in every Tiburon home A consultant has since suggested partnering with Caltrans during its preventive-maintenance project with the town now exploring the installation of a fiber-optic trunk line that could provide initial benefit to downtown agencies like Town Hall police and fire agencies and Reed Union schools and to downtown businesses but also allow for adaptive traffic signals and smarter traffic management Thier said she rejects the “glass half full saying she sees “what could be” and that she responds to residents and their ideas “I know that our residents believe Tiburon’s great and I look at how I can make it better for them,” Thier said “And you need someone on the Town Council who’s looking at the future.” Thompson says he has the skills to bring town together lives in a Mar West apartment near the Tiburon Peninsula Club and owns the Reedlands home he grew up in a senior at Chapman University in Orange County who plans to work in investment banking after graduating He graduated from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in 1985 with a bachelor’s in international affairs and economics but has made a career in commercial real estate He is currently a vice president at San Francisco-based Colton Commercial & Partners Inc Thompson previously served on the council from 1992 to 2003 but did he not run for reelection after unsuccessfully pursuing a seat on the Marin Board of Supervisors in 2004 Thompson created a series of annual homeowners’ summits where leaders of homeowners associations and other residents could tell councilmembers their concerns He was one of the main proponents in the 1990s of building Town Hall at its current downtown location The current Police Department headquarters also opened during Thompson’s council tenure Thompson said he wants to restart the homeowners association summits he created and fix sources of neighbor conflict which he says should be reworded to show who’s responsible for cost allocation He says recent changes have led to unintended consequences with devastating effects as property owners with no clear responsibilities or costs don’t feel any obligation to preserve their neighbors’ rights Disputes then turn neighbors into adversaries and result in costly legal battles He added that growing up in town gives him an advantage that other candidates don’t have “I think my generational perspective and experience gives me this unique insight and wisdom,” Thompson said “And I think I can help the town tremendously.” Thompson said he wants to join the council again because of what he calls contentious sentiments between neighbors or across the community adding he “can see clearly how we can make significant things better in town.” I look at everybody in Tiburon as part of my extended family,” Thompson said Like Hornbrook, Thompson has posted a number of policy positions to his campaign website, andrewthompson4tiburon.com His overarching message is an initiative he’s calling “Tiburon Together” to promote community interconnectedness and reduce conflicts between neighbors via working with neighborhood associations local Rotary clubs and other volunteer groups; enhance town communications with community forums newsletters and social media to increase engagement in Tiburon affairs; and increase town-organized community events such as barbecues and celebrations for local groups He said he thinks the town should hire a full-time staff member to focus on the initiative it’s interacting more face-to-face,” Thompson said “And it’s also bridging barriers between racial backgrounds gender differences — it’s just bringing people together And I think our community is going to really react to that in a very positive way.” Thompson said he’ll be proactive as a councilmember in part through revived neighborhood-association summits which he said are valuable ways to find out about issues and nip potential problems in the bud “You’re figuring things out early before it gets bad so (the summits have) to be reinvigorated,” Thompson said Thompson said he’s received positive feedback from local faith congregations neighborhood association leaders and residents at large on his attempts at change ‘What is the limited social responsibility of the town,’ but what is a community need?” Thompson said Thompson said he wants to see the Old Rail Tail widened for pedestrians but he also wants to figure out how to teach people where they should walk when they’re on the trail “In Germany and some of the other countries — in the Netherlands — if you step out of the walking area onto the bike area And instead of people festering and arguing something While he supports the idea of a parks master plan Thompson took issue with what he considers excessive spending on the plan and hired consultants Thompson said he would have limited consultant usage and instead used the Parks Open Space and Trails Commission and potentially other communities but he conceded “the horse is out of the barn as far as the contract on the consultants.” like volleyball netting or even a bocce ball court could be a good start because they’re lower impact and allow for incremental improvements over time that one of the four settlement ponds by McKegney Green could be filled with sand and used as a volleyball court to gauge use and the community’s response “What I’ve learned in Tiburon: You start small what’s popular and then you build from there,” he said “That is the formula for success — just the opposite of a big It scares the hell out of everybody … and then everyone’s fighting instead of working together.” Thompson said he wants to have smarter light sequencing on the roadway to give more time for drivers to funnel through While drivers on artery streets would wait longer he wants to see police officers “put on their white gloves” and run everyone through quickly as a temporary fix Thompson also said he wants to see the Yellow Bus Program improve its punctuality and he expressed concerns with Caltrans’ plans of adding bike lines as part of its 4½-mile preventive-maintenance project will “slow down traffic even more.” He said he wants to figure out how to get more uses out of the Old Rail Trail from getting e-bike riders to ride slowly to having more kids use it to get to school Thompson also said he wants to explore the use of roundabouts encourage more residents to use mass-transit options and implement technologies for real-time traffic updates to help drivers better plan their travel comes down to telling people to change when they leave town during rush hour “Everyone needs to remember and have it super clear in their head when crunch time is and know that ‘If I don’t have to leave and add to that right now,’ then you don’t,” he said While encouraging e-bike use for local shopping is possible it won’t have a significant impact on traffic “Let’s just look at the realities of who lives here and the individual freedom that a car gives you,” Thompson said Thompson said he supports looking at where workers in Tiburon commute from to see whether any area has a concentration of workers and possibly send vans out to bring them into town whether it’s through using Marin Transit or other entities Thompson said he views Tiburon’s state-mandated housing allocation of 639 units excessive adding that he’s willing to challenge the state if the town can unite with other local jurisdictions in similar situations Tiburon was one of 28 jurisdictions to appeal its housing allocation to the Association of Bay Area Governments in 2021 and all but one — 35 units were moved from Contra Costa County to Pittsburg — were denied “This is causing horrible land-use planning,” Thompson said adding that any potential fire blowing south would make it impossible for the peninsula to evacuate Thompson expressed support for accessory dwelling units saying they can help households bring in income but he added the process to build and set up a second unit with utilities needs to be simplified and made less expensive He also wants to improve residents’ access to broadband with a short-term plan to challenge Xfinity on discriminatory and monopolistic pricing practices that could include bringing in state regulators he wants to continue exploring the potential benefits of a fiber-optic backbone along Tiburon Boulevard While Thompson said there’s a certain grandiosity to his overarching goal to change residents’ social behaviors he noted there are “practical realities” of youths glued to their phones and neighbors not knowing each other He said he wants to “obliterate that whole feeling.” “I think it’s not going to happen overnight But he added that neither did building Town Hall without additional taxes or creating the neighborhood summits Thompson reiterated he has the generational knowledge to pull off the change he thinks is needed on the Town Council “When people start talking to me about that Reach Tiburon reporter Francisco Martinez at 415-944-4634. DONATE to support local journalism, or SUBSCRIBE NOW for home delivery and access to the digital replica Comment on this article on Nextdoor SearchSam’s Anchor Cafe cited, shuts docks for repairs after disabilities-rights activist's complaint Kevin HesselJan 317 min readUpdated: Feb 3 While ‘Tie up to the pier’ is part of Sam’s Anchor Cafe’s identity the two docks have been legally closed to public access with metal gates since November 2020 after California Building Code and Americans with Disabilities Act requirements weren’t addressed following an early 2019 remodel Sam’s had been flouting the closure until October when a disabilities-rights activist formally complained to the town prompting an inspection and citation in November and application for repairs in December 30 triggered the requirement that the docks be temporarily closed until the work is complete (Scurfield Group photo 2022 via PR Newswire)Update: Sam's representatives commented Feb 3 in response to the original online-only version of this article posted Jan It is now updated to reflect the version appearing in the print edition of Feb Tiburon officials say the temporary closure of both docks at Sam’s Anchor Cafe is a requirement of a permit issued Jan 30 for Americans with Disabilities Act repairs lingering since the restaurant’s remodel in 2019 While Sam’s has been defiant of a four-year-old requirement that its gates be locked to prevent public access until the fixes were made the latest moves were set in motion by a formal complaint from a noted Marin disabilities-rights activist in October triggering a town inspection and a citation for violations of the original remodel permit and for illegal repair work However, the first day of the closure, the restaurant posted on its website and Instagram that Tiburon “ordered Sam’s to close both their docks to all boats” without mention of the repairs and on Instagram appeared to blame Mayor Holli Thier directing those asking the reason for the closure to contact her instead Sam’s has used its postings to air grievances about Thier before, writing during her November election campaign that she has “consistently acted to the detriment of Sam’s and the town.” Last week’s post sparked additional comments online accusing Thier and the town of being antibusiness Town Manager Greg Chanis and Community Development Director Dina Tasini rejected the implication saying Thier and other councilmembers don’t get involved in permitting who said she was unaware of the closure “until someone called me out of the blue.” “Sam’s has had many years to make their docks accessible to everyone including people in wheelchairs,” Thier said “Sam’s needs to comply with the ADA law and stop blaming everyone else.” Tasini said Sam’s and project architect Evan Cross were already aware that the docks would need to be closed once the permit was issued and until construction was complete which will allow the docks to legally reopen for the first time since the remodel “The reality is they put themselves into this situation,” Tasini said of Sam’s (The dock closure) was a condition of approval when they did their renovation ‘You have to keep these docks closed until you make this one compliant.’ … I really have been working with them to get them to comply I wish they would change that Instagram post and take some responsibility.” Tasini said her department is working with Cross and expects the repairs Sam’s principal Conor Flaherty of Tiburon did not respond to multiple requests for comment before an initial version of this article published online but he emailed The Ark in response to it early Feb He rejected assertions that Sam’s violated town requirements adding that he “cannot speak to the state of mind of the town” regarding the closure and was simply referring residents to Thier because she is mayor “We are not trying to create a buzz,” Flaherty said He asserted the remodel work was completed at the time but that the town then raised new issues during normal maintenance afterward Building Official Doug Haight last week cited the 2019 remodel permit number when saying accessibility improvements “were not fully completed,” that “access points to both boat docks were closed to public use as a condition of” that permit and that the new permit was required to finish the work Flaherty said Sam’s has now hired a certified access specialist to review the entire restaurant and it will be making other upgrades “to ensure full compliance with all applicable codes “Sam’s has been fully cooperative in these processes and any suggestions to the contrary are simply inaccurate,” Flaherty said “Sam’s has and will continue to enjoy providing Tiburon and its visitors an extraordinary dining venue and experience.” with the eastern dock nearest Waters Edge Hotel designated as accessible It replaced the gangway there during its early 2019 remodel and the town said that to win its occupancy permit the restaurant would have to ensure the dock was level side to side to comply with California Building Code and Americans with Disabilities Act rules for safe grade instead accepting an alternative that both docks be permanently closed to the public with metal gates and “No Access” signs to make them a nonpublic area not subject to access laws until the dock was repaired Tasini said the town allowed Sam’s to take food down to boaters but the public has not been allowed on either dock or gangway as at least one must be accessible for either of them to be open while Sam’s has allowed the docks to remain open in violation of that permit ever since — The Ark observed a boater using the eastern dock and gate to access the patio as recently as Jan 29 — Chanis and Tasini have said Tiburon does not conduct additional code-compliance inspections unless it needs to investigate a citizen complaint for enforcement In response to a California Public Records Act request 31 obtained a series of late-October 2024 emails from Richard Skaff the executive director of Designing Accessible Communities and a member of the California Department of Justice’s Disability Rights Working Group Skaff became paraplegic in 1978 after falling from a tree he was trimming and he’s been a disability-rights activist working to get governments and private businesses to voluntarily comply with access laws He was the first president and executive director of the Marin Center for Independent Living; a Corte Madera Town Council member and mayor; was San Francisco’s first chief building inspector and Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator opening the Mayor’s Office on Disability; and he sat on several of the federal access board’s advisory committees 22 email to Chanis and Building Official Doug Haight copied to the California Department of Justice Skaff filed a formal complaint about Sam’s alleging violations including the “the two noncomplying gangways and new floats that were recently installed the men’s room toilet stall height of the grab bars” and that the bathroom door required greater-than-allowed force to open Haight confirmed by email that he conducted a compliance inspection on Nov 7 and that Sam’s was cited for the open gates to the gangways and docks in violation of the post-remodel occupancy permit as well as for related repair work conducted without a permit He said the inspection also confirmed that gaps of at least a half inch were present in the decking — another lingering compliance concern from the 2019 remodel — which poses a hazard for tripping and wheelchair casters Haight said he advised Sam’s to hire a certified access specialist for a full inspection and recommendations for corrections but that a permit to repair the deck wouldn’t be required if no materials were replaced Sam’s filed the construction application for dock repairs a month later and it was approved by the town the next day with the closure requirement triggered when Sam’s pulled the permit Jan The same compliance issues are at the root of an ongoing wrongful-termination lawsuit against the town and “civil conspiracy” claims that included Sam’s and Flaherty Former Building Official Clay Salzman was the inspector who ordered Sam’s to repair the deck gaps and level the dock back in July 2019 According to court filings and other documents obtained by The Ark when Salzman first inspected Sam’s in November 2020 Salzman was then placed on COVID quarantine leave during which time the town conducted another inspection and made the decision to allow chains to close off the docks and approved wood slats filling the gaps the second with a disabilities-access lawyer and says he found the gap shims removed and the chains unlocked with boaters actively using the docks to access the patio He then notified Tasini by email that he refused to approve the permit unless repairs were made as he originally requested Flaherty complained to the town about the unscheduled visits reportedly in part for hiring the lawyer without authorization and for not scheduling the inspections though Salzman asserts in his lawsuit that both the COVID leave and the suspension were to sideline him and push through fixes that Sam’s could easily remove the town contracted a certified specialist to examine the deck gaps and chains — but not the docks — for disabilities-access compliance she ordered the gaps be repaired once again and for the chains to be replaced with locked metal gates with “No Access” signs Another contract building official then signed off on the occupancy permit in January 2021 the day before Salz­man returned from suspension Salzman was later terminated in December 2021 filed an administrative claim against the town in June 2022 and the wrongful-termination lawsuit in November 2023 just days after Skaff’s access complaint and ahead of a Dec 20 amended lawsuit from Salzman that also drops the conspiracy allegations Reach Executive Editor Kevin Hessel at editor@thearknewspaper.com VW Sell More EVs, Yet Makes a Lot Less Money Ram Reveals Revamped, Stylish Sub-$50K 1500 Express Home/NewsWhat if Hyundai revived the Tiburon to challenge Honda's new Prelude?Once a popular market segment personal coupes have faded into near-irrelevance in recent times With Honda announcing the return of the cult-classic Prelude perhaps a revived Hyundai Tiburon might not be such a stretch after all Maybe you're old enough to remember a time when Hyundai made compact coupes that offered cheap thrills in a practical and efficient package. Before the rear-wheel drive glory of the Genesis Coupe which was significantly less intriguing both aesthetically and mechanically and its technical successor was the Veloster which had two doors on the passenger side but just one on the driver's side front-wheel drive sports coupe to its lineup the Tiburon has the right pedigree and cult status to offer up its well-regarded nomenclature Using generative text-to-image artificial intelligence we take an imagined look at what a revived true-to-its-roots Hyundai Tiburon could look like incorporating current Hyundai N design cues and imagining what currently existing powertrains it could optimize These images are for speculation purposes only and in no way depict any actual Hyundai products The Hyundai Tiburon was a front-wheel drive compact sport coupe sold by Hyundai from 1996 until 2008 the Tiburon was mostly available with several different four-cylinder offerings Perhaps the most exciting offering came from the second generation 2.7L V6 mated to either a 6-speed manual gearbox or an optional 4-speed automatic almost every one of these vehicles either no longer exists or has become something entirely different such as a five-door hatchback or crossover SUV As demonstrated above in Hyundai N's signature Performance Blue paint color a revived Hyundai Tiburon could take advantage of the N Performance Division's hard-earned reputation for outstanding and exciting performance to add some much-needed thrills to the compact coupe Packing the turbocharged 2.0L four-cylinder engine found in the contemporary Hyundai Elantra N the Tiburon N could benefit from 276 horsepower and 289 lb-ft of torque Paired with either a 6-speed manual gearbox or an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic the Tiburon N could send its power to the front wheels but with less overall weight and sportier proportions the Tiburon would stay true to its roots by offering a relatively spacious–at least for its size–four-seater cabin layout and other red stitching accents strewn about the Tiburon's cargo space could benefit from a fastback-like tailgate allowing for cargo to pass through into the cabin even without folding down the rear seats and there should be enough space to fit some suitcases Cars these days seem like they're more expensive than ever, and the lack of selection compared to years long gone by doesn't make things any easier for driving enthusiasts–especially those who don't want to daily drive their cheap, sporty coupes. If you want a sporty coupe in North America, the least expensive options are the $30,000 Toyota GR86, the $31,210 Subaru BRZ could be sold at an MSRP just south of the Elantra N's $34,250 it could make for an attractive alternative for those who would gladly sacrifice rear-wheel drive dynamics for significantly more power Would you take the proposed Tiburon N over a less-powerful but rear-wheel drive Toyota GR86, Subaru BRZ, or Mazda MX-5 turbocharged Tiburon N more intriguing than the upcoming hybrid Honda Prelude Let us know what you think in the comments–we love to hear from you LLC and respective content providers on this website Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website Springtime is a perfect time to take a family hike at Ring Mountain Preserve near Tiburon The preserve's wildflowers are starting to bloom and the display gets more and more amazing as we head into spring You'll also be rewarded with spectacular views of San Francisco It's one of our all-time favorite family hikes and other colorful flowers coming into bloom It's especially lush this spring after all the rain we've been having lately Make sure you bring a camera — it's a great place for a family photo This preserve on a hill above Tiburon and east Corte Madera was saved from development back in the 1990s and is home to a number of rare plants like the Tiburon Mariposa Lilly Large boulders and rocks are scattered throughout the hillside You'll even find remnants of Native American settlements here in the way of petroglyphs and a grinding rock Numerous trails criss-cross the 367-acre Ring Mountain Preserve The Phyllis Ellman trail leads from Paradise Drive up to the top of the mountain; you can return to the Paradise Drive trailhead via the loop trail Most families will want to head for the fire roads on top of Ring Mountain They're largely smooth and flat (some sections are even paved) and are fine for sturdy jogging strollers Ring Mountain is a short distance from almost anywhere in Marin County From mid-March through April the whole hillside is often carpeted in flowers I like to think that my photos are pretty good but they really don't do the view justice — you have to go there and see it for yourself Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve is located near Tiburon and Corte Madera off Paradise Drive take the Paradise Drive/Tamalpais Avenue exit and head east on Paradise Drive Follow Paradise toward Tiburon and turn right on Taylor Road Follow Taylor Road uphill and park at the end There are also trailheads on Paradise Drive near Marin Country Day School and at the end of Reed Ranch Road The Taylor Road trailhead is in a residential area Park on the street here and head right on the road that looks a little like someone's driveway; this will lead to the trailhead The Taylor Road entrance is the one we usually use It's best for families with kids and it's the closest entrance point to the preserve's wildflower display There are no amenities like restrooms or water fountains here For more information, including a printable trail map, visit Marin County Parks' Ring Mountain page