Five candidates are competing for three Tiburon Town Council seats on Tuesday, Nov. 3, with parks spending, housing mandates and town finances at the center of the race.

Incumbents Alice Fredericks and Jack Ryan face challengers Kathleen Defever, Chuck Hornbrook and Faris Jafar. Mayor Jon Welner is not seeking reelection, guaranteeing at least one challenger wins a seat. Winners will serve four-year terms through 2030. The council formally called the election at its June 17 meeting and requested consolidated election services with Marin County.

The sharpest divide is over how to pay for roughly $12 million in park improvements the town is weighing at four sites, including a proposed basketball court, two beach volleyball courts and shaded seating at the former sanitation ponds near McKegney Green. Town Manager Greg Chanis told councilmembers on May 20 to consider taking on debt and raising taxes to fund new projects.

Ryan, 59, a retired derivatives trading manager seeking his second full term, has suggested a half-cent sales-tax increase and said the town has spendable reserves "that will carry us a long way in developing the parks." Fredericks, 86, the longest-serving councilmember in Tiburon's history, said she is open to a parcel tax or bond measure but noted the town's long-standing policy of avoiding debt.

Hornbrook, 59, a Parks, Open Space & Trails commissioner since 2019, said he wants to pursue grants before raising taxes. Defever, 48, a Tiburon Planning Commissioner since 2018, said the town should reduce spending in areas like litigation first. Jafar, 42, a wealth-management firm founder making his first run for elected office, proposed paid parking for nonresidents at parks.

All five candidates said they support an independent finance committee, similar to Belvedere's, to improve oversight. That call comes as the town works through a two-year audit backlog. The council unanimously approved a $195,000 contract with Rogers Anderson Malody & Scott LLP on Aug. 10 to complete delayed audits for fiscal years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, according to Marin Independent Journal reporting. The town received its first monthly financial report at its Aug. 19 meeting.

Housing is another fault line. Tiburon has permitted just 62 of the 639 units the state requires by 2031. The state Department of Housing and Community Development can conduct a mid-cycle review as soon as summer 2027. Defever and Fredericks both criticized state mandates over the loss of local control. The Ark published full interviews with all five candidates covering parks, housing, finances, traffic and the town's Flock license-plate reader cameras.

A candidate forum hosted by The Ark and moderated by the League of Women Voters of Marin County is scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Town Hall, 1505 Tiburon Blvd. Questions can be submitted in advance to [email protected].