Five candidates running for three Corte Madera Town Council seats will share a stage for the first time at a public forum on Wednesday, Oct. 7.

The Corte Madera Chamber of Commerce is hosting the event from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Town Hall Council Chambers, 300 Tamalpais Drive. The forum comes less than a month before the Nov. 3 general election, in which voters will fill three four-year council seats.

The candidates are Eli Beckman, David C. Bell, Ava Fruin, Deborah Gallegos and Pat Ravasio, according to the town's event listing. Each will deliver an opening statement, respond to predetermined questions, take previously submitted audience questions and give a closing statement.

Ravasio, an incumbent seeking reelection, is running alongside fellow incumbent Eli Beckman, whose council term expires in November 2026. Ravasio is also the subject of an independent legal investigation. The Town Council voted Sept. 15 to authorize a $15,000 contract with A.W. Blan Workplace Legal Services of Sacramento to probe allegations that Ravasio violated the Brown Act, the state open-meetings law, by disclosing confidential information from a May 20 closed session and misused her town email for campaign purposes, as the Marin Independent Journal reported. The council broadened the scope to cover closed sessions from March 3 through Sept. 1, increasing the contract from an initial $12,000. Ravasio recused herself from the vote. Councilmember James Andrews abstained.

The town had already referred the allegations to the Marin County District Attorney's Office and the Civil Grand Jury on June 26, as the Independent Journal reported in July. Neither entity had announced any action as of Sept. 16.

At the Sept. 15 meeting, Ravasio called for a separate investigation into the June 16 closed session where the council voted to refer her case. "That is the meeting where my attorneys say the real Brown Act violations occurred on the part of the town," she said at the meeting, according to the Independent Journal. The council declined her request.

The controversy has spilled into the broader race.

At a Sept. 1 council meeting, more than 100 residents turned out to demand answers about the firing of Town Manager Adam Wolff, as the Independent Journal reported. Beckman, who grew up in Corte Madera, was first elected to the Town Council in 2018 and reelected in 2022. He has served as mayor twice and is an architectural designer, small business owner, writer and photographer, according to the town.

Bell is a retired environmental engineer and 18-year Corte Madera resident who has served seven years on the Corte Madera Flood Control Board. Fruin is a Larkspur-Corte Madera School District trustee. Gallegos serves as deputy controller for the California State Controller's Office.

Ravasio, elected in 2022 and a former mayor, lists a free community swim program at Redwood High School, new restrooms at Town Park and the Tamalpais/101 pedestrian overcrossing among her first-term projects.

Residents who cannot attend in person can watch via Zoom (Webinar ID: 845 2427 0684) or call 1-669-444-9171. Questions for the candidates can be submitted in advance to [email protected].