Filing deadline extends as Tiburon councilmember won’t seek third term; Belvedere draws late challenge

Tiburon Mayor Jon Welner is not seeking a third term in the Nov. 3 election, assuring the Town Council of at least one new member, and in Belvedere a first-time candidate filed hours before the deadline to challenge both incumbents.

The Aug. 7 deadline settled nine of the 12 contests on Tiburon Peninsula ballots.

The Tiburon council, the Reed Union School District and the Tamalpais Union High School District stay open until 5 p.m. Aug. 12 because an incumbent in each did not file.

Welner took out nomination papers July 28 but did not return them before the 5 p.m. Aug. 7 deadline, leaving him off the ballot. Because a sitting officeholder did not file, the nomination period extended five days for everyone but incumbents.

Welner, who joined the council in 2018 after serving on the Planning Commission, said the town was better off than when he arrived. “It has been my great honor and privilege to serve the town of Tiburon over the last 16 years, first as a planning commissioner, then as a councilmember and finally as mayor,” he said.

He pointed to the town’s climate action plan and its sustainability element, which he said was the first in a California general plan. He also cited the acquisition of the Martha property, the purchase of the former sanitation pond next to McKegney Green, a master plan for the town’s parks and a traffic study of Tiburon Boulevard.

“All in all, we have left the town of Tiburon in better shape than we found it,” he said. “That’s a legacy to be proud of.”

Four candidates qualified for three seats. Incumbents Alice Fredericks and Jack Ryan filed and qualified July 29. Challenger Chuck Hornbrook, a member of the town’s Parks, Open Space & Trails Commission, qualified July 31. Faris Jafar, founder of a wealth-management firm, qualified Aug. 3.

Fredericks, first elected in 2001, is seeking an unprecedented seventh term.

With Welner out, two potential returning challengers pulled papers Aug. 10: Andrew Thompson, a former mayor and councilmember from 1992 to 2003, and Kathleen Defever, a planning commissioner since 2018. Neither had filed.

In Belvedere, Kate Benediktsson took out papers Aug. 6 and filed Aug. 7, challenging incumbents Peter Mark and Jane Cooper for two seats. As of Aug. 10, the city had not yet listed her as qualified.

Benediktsson is the daughter of Catharine Benediktsson, president of the Sanitary District No. 5 of Marin board, who filed for reelection a day earlier, on Aug. 6. She has written publicly about coyote management in Belvedere, faulting both the city’s approach and the wildlife contractor it hired and calling for lethal control of aggressive coyotes. The city has fought over coyote policy for three years, weighing federal sharpshooters in 2023 before shifting management to Marin Humane.

Because both incumbents filed, Belvedere’s nomination period closed on schedule. Mark qualified July 16 and Cooper qualified July 23. Both were first elected in 2022 and are seeking second terms, their last under a local custom that limits councilmembers to two terms.

Still open until 5 p.m. Aug. 12

All three already have more candidates than seats.

Reed Union School District: Four candidates have filed for three seats. Incumbents Mike Ghaffary and Board President Shelby Pasarell Tsai filed July 14 and July 22, and challengers Lina Godfrey and Krupa Antani filed July 27 and July 28. Board member Afsaneh Zolfaghari, who had announced she would not seek reelection, did not file.

Tamalpais Union High School District: Seven candidates have filed for three seats, the most crowded race on peninsula ballots. Incumbents Cynthia Roenisch and Kevin Saavedra filed July 24 and July 31. Challengers Brian Sutherland, Maria Sandoval and Leslie Harlander filed July 16, July 28 and July 30. Valerie Wynn, a retired district teacher, filed Aug. 5, and Joy Koo, a Mill Valley resident who co-organizes the Marin Youth Job Fair, filed Aug. 7. Brandon Johnson, a Forest Knolls web developer and youth basketball coach, took out papers but has not filed. Incumbent Emily Uhlhorn had announced she would not seek reelection and will finish her term before becoming executive director of the Tam High Foundation in January.

Tiburon Town Council: Andrew Thompson, a former mayor and councilmember from 1992 to 2003, and Kathleen Defever, a planning commissioner since 2018, pulled papers Aug. 10 but had not filed. Residents may obtain nomination papers from Town Clerk Lea Dilena at 415-435-7377 or ldilena@townoftiburon.gov.

Closed and contested

Six races drew more candidates than seats and are set for Nov. 3.

Belvedere City Council: Three candidates are running for two seats.

Marin County Board of Education: Challenger Avery Lieber­man filed Aug. 5, setting up a two-way race with incumbent Marilyn Nemzer for the Trustee Area 5 seat, which covers the Reed Union district and the Tiburon Peninsula. Lieberman is an associate professor of restorative dentistry at the University of the Pacific and University of California at San Francisco schools of dentistry. Nemzer filed July 28.

Southern Marin Fire Protection District: Seven candidates filed for four seats. All four incumbents are running: Kurt Chun filed July 16, Peter Fleming July 17, Cristine Soto DeBerry Aug. 6 and Tom Perazzo Aug. 7. Challengers Thomas Clark, a retiree, filed Aug. 5; Eric Steinhofer, an energy consultant, filed Aug. 6; and Amy Svendberg, a small-business owner and restaurant managing partner, filed Aug. 7. An eighth resident, Nicole Foster, took out papers but did not file.

Richardson Bay Sanitary District: All three incumbents filed in the final two days, setting up a four-way race for three seats. Patrick Walravens and Peter McIntosh filed Aug. 6 and Mark Fitzgerald filed Aug. 7. They face challenger John L. Turnacliff, chair of the Marin County Republican Central Committee, who filed Aug. 4.

Strawberry Recreation District: Four candidates filed for the three four-year seats. Incumbents Sohrab Saghezchi and Sarah Waterfield filed Aug. 6 and Aug. 7, joining incumbent Peter Teese, who filed July 21. Challenger David Morgenthaler, a Strawberry resident and critic of the former seminary redevelopment, filed Aug. 5.

Strawberry Recreation District, two-year seat: Board member Doug Twillman filed Aug. 3 against challenger Aliza Hawkins, an advertising account specialist who filed July 30. Twillman, who was appointed to the board in 2025 over Hawkins, had been undecided about which seat to seek.

Closed and settled

In three contests, no more candidates filed than there are seats to fill, leaving the incumbents unopposed.

Mill Valley School District: Natalie Katz, Sharon Nakatani and Yunhee Yoo, all first elected in 2022, are unopposed for three seats. The district serves Strawberry, where it runs Strawberry Point Elementary School.

Tiburon Fire Protection District: Board President Joy Ho and board members Richard Jones and Cheryl Woodford are unopposed for three seats.

Sanitary District No. 5 of Marin: Board President Catharine Benediktsson and board member Tod Moody are unopposed for two seats.

Candidates for county and district offices file with the Marin Elections Department, Suite 121 of the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael. Contact Marin candidate services at 415-473-6437 or candidateservices@marincounty.gov with questions. For more information, including a candidate guide, visit marinvotes.org.

Reach Executive Editor Kevin Hessel at 415-435-2652.