Five candidates for three Tiburon Town Council seats will take questions at a public forum Tuesday, Sept. 29. The Ark is hosting the event, with the League of Women Voters of Marin County moderating.

The forum runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Town Hall council chambers at 1505 Tiburon Blvd. Residents can submit questions for the candidates in advance by emailing [email protected] or at the event; candidates will not see the questions beforehand. The Community Media Center of Marin will record the forum and post it afterward.

Incumbents Alice Fredericks and Jack Ryan are seeking reelection alongside challengers Kathleen Defever, Chuck Hornbrook and Faris Jafar. Mayor Jon Welner's seat is expiring, and he is not running again.

The town council called the general municipal election at its June 17 regular meeting, according to council records.

The Marin Independent Journal endorsed Ryan, Defever and Hornbrook on Sept. 23. Traffic congestion on Tiburon Boulevard, the town's only true evacuation route, was among the key issues the candidates discussed, the IJ reported.

Defever, a consumer insurance attorney and Tiburon Planning Commission member, told the IJ she wants stronger coordination with local fire departments. "We need better planning and we need to make an effort for more cooperation with our fire departments," she said in the Sept. 23 endorsement. "We are not ready at all for an emergency on the Tiburon Peninsula."

Ryan joined the council in 2020. Hornbrook serves on the Tiburon Parks and Open Space Commission. Jafar is the only candidate with young children attending Reed schools. Fredericks has served on the council since 2001.

The Sept. 29 forum is the first dedicated to the Tiburon race this cycle. A separate Corte Madera council candidates forum is set for Oct. 7.

Tiburon residents can cast ballots on Tuesday, Nov. 3.