Sausalito's new city manager, Elaine Forbes, was arrested early Saturday morning after allegedly being discovered aboard a yacht with empty alcohol bottles, according to reports.
Forbes, 53, who began her role as city manager just three weeks prior to the incident, was reportedly found inside the wheelhouse of a 75-foot vessel named the Lisa Marie. The yacht's captain, Bill Aubrey, alerted authorities after hearing its horn blaring shortly after 5:30 a.m. Aubrey stated he found Forbes locked inside the wheelhouse, sounding the horn. He reported that she appeared disoriented but not visibly intoxicated.
Upon boarding and asking Forbes to leave, she reportedly responded cheerfully, "Good morning!" However, Aubrey later discovered that two bottles of alcohol, a Grey Goose vodka and a tequila, which he had noted as full the previous night, were empty. Forbes initially told deputies the boat was hers, but investigators confirmed she did not have permission to be aboard.
Forbes was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of felony burglary and was being held on $50,000 bail. The incident occurred less than three weeks after Forbes commenced her $275,000-a-year position on July 1. The arrest followed a closed-session meeting by the Sausalito City Council, which had placed her on administrative leave two days prior, though the reasons for the leave were not publicly disclosed.
Forbes' family, through a spokesperson, stated that she is experiencing a "mental health crisis" and asked for the public not to "rush to judgment." The statement emphasized Forbes' dedication to public service and requested compassion during what they described as an "extraordinarily difficult time."
Before her appointment in Sausalito, Forbes served for nine years as the executive director of the Port of San Francisco. During her tenure there, she managed a staff of approximately 270 and oversaw major waterfront initiatives, including seawall reinforcement and planning for sea-level rise. She was one of the few women in the country leading a major U.S. port during her time as director, a position she assumed in 2016. She previously held financial and administrative roles within the Port and in public sector positions in San Francisco and Oakland.