Sobieski, Woodside and Blaustein lead race for three open Sausalito City Council seats

Two incumbents and a former Marin County counsel were the leading vote-getters for three open seats on the Sausalito City Council, according to the initial results released by the county for Tuesday's election.

Councilmember Ian Sobieski was in first place with 1,421 votes (22.5%) while former county counsel Steven Woodside was second with 1,403 (22.2%) and the other incumbent, Councilmember Melissa Blaustein, was third with 1,326 (21%) in the five-candidate race for the three seats.

The other two candidates in the race were former Sausalito city councilmember Sandra Bushmaker, who had 1,121 votes (17.7%), and certified public accountant Jacqueline Amrikhas, who had 1,052 (16.6%), according to the initial results. The next updated vote count is expected to be released by the county by 5 p.m. Friday.

Sobieski is a Stanford University-educated entrepreneurial investor and chair of the Band of Angels, a startup investing group. He currently is serving as Sausalito's mayor, a position the council votes on annually among its members. He was first elected to the council in 2020.

Blaustein was also first elected in 2020 and served as the city's mayor last year. Woodside has previously served as county counsel for Marin, Sonoma and Santa Clara counties and currently chairs the board for the nonprofit Call of the Sea, which built a historical recreation of a tall sailing ship for educational use called the Matthew Turner.

Housing was a main issue in the race to represent the Mediterranean-style city across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Sausalito needs to plan for 724 new homes in the next eight years, according to its latest Housing Element allocation determined by the state.