California city official reportedly found on someone’s yacht is arrested on suspicion of burglary

The former director of the San Francisco Port who was just hired as a city manager in Marin County has been arrested on suspicion of burglary, authorities said.

City officials in Sausalito, where Elaine Forbes began her job as city manager on July 1, said the weekend arrest was “a difficult development for our city staff and our community.”

The Marin Independent Journal, quoting sheriff’s Lt. Domenick Yazzolino, reported that authorities got a call about a burglary and found Forbes inside a yacht that didn’t belong to her. Marin County jail records show that Forbes, 53, was arrested on Saturday at 6:50 a.m. at 501 Humboldt Ave., which is home to the offices of the Sausalito Yacht Harbor.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office referred questions to the Sausalito Police Department, which referred questions to a spokesman for the city, Joe Vazquez. Vazquez referred to the city’s statement, which said that officials were not commenting on specific allegations.

Forbes was being held on $50,000 bail.

A statement issued on behalf of Forbes and her family said that Forbes was “experiencing a mental health crisis.”

“We ask that no one rush to judgment based on limited information,” said the statement, issued by family spokesperson Sam Singer. “As the facts become clearer and Elaine obtains legal and healthcare counsel in the coming hours and days, we hope people will respond with compassion, patience and respect for her and her family during an extraordinarily difficult time.”

The statement said that “Forbes has devoted much of her life to public service and is widely respected by the many people who have worked with her over the years.”

The arrest came just two days after the Sausalito City Council held a special meeting, discussing in private the employee performance of Forbes, according to the agenda.

On Sunday, the city said in its statement that it had approved a leave of absence for Forbes during that Thursday meeting. The City Council is expected to “discuss next steps” at its next meeting, which is on Tuesday.

Sausalito’s City Council voted unanimously on May 5 to hire Forbes, who officially started her job on July 1. Her base salary was set at $275,000.

“Forbes brings more than two decades of public-sector experience, including nine years as the San Francisco Port Director,” the city of Sausalito said in the spring about her hiring. “Returning to Marin is a homecoming — Forbes lived in San Rafael as a child.”

“I am honored to be coming home to Marin,” Forbes said in the spring statement. “I am excited to get to work supporting the city’s long-term fiscal sustainability, preparing for sea level rise, and building a strong organization that delivers exceptional service.”

Forbes was director of the San Francisco Port from 2016 to 2025. Among the issues she oversaw during her tenure was the need to upgrade the seawall along San Francisco’s Embarcadero, which was built more than a century ago and is at risk of significant damage in an earthquake. Shaking from a quake could damage wharves, piers, buildings and roadway above the seawall.

Forbes was also a public figure in a proposal to redevelop Fisherman’s Wharf, which envisions constructing a public plaza and adding a new overlook and lighting to the wharf’s inner lagoon.