Progressives Lose Ground In Sausalito - SF Chronicle April 15,1998

Progressives Lose Ground In Sausalito
They no longer have City Council majority

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 15, 1998

SAUSALITO -- The intense political fight over Sausalito's future turned sour for the self-described progressives, who lost their majority in yesterday's City Council election.

J.R. Roberts and Sandra Bushmaker beat out incumbent Bill Ziegler for his seat and the seat being vacated by Glendon Miskel. Bringing up the rear in the divisive race were challengers Douglas Power, Douglas Storms and Richard Aspen.

Elsewhere on the ballot, voters rejected Measure F, a Ziegler- backed proposal that would have allowed the City Council to make some decisions about public property without asking voters.

The election was, from the beginning, a campaign for the hearts of city residents -- with a new generation of municipal leaders squaring off against those aligned with the activists who once dominated local politics.

Some saw the election as a battle to preserve the romantic small- town appeal of Sausalito, but others considered it a struggle to ensure the future viability of this waterfront community.

Ziegler is part of a majority formed two years ago when his allies, George Stratigos and Paul Albritton, won seats on the council. Since then, the three councilmen have attacked their predecessors as do-nothing preservationists who left residents with a deteriorating, badly run town.

Power, a local businessman and planning commissioner, and Aspen, a Sausalito parks and recreation commissioner, were aligned with Ziegler in supporting ``renewal'' projects like a new downtown waterfront plaza, a sprawling fitness club on rundown school property, and a business and boating community in the Marinship area.

Bushmaker, a family law attorney and mediator, and Roberts, an architectural consultant, emerged as their chief rivals. They accused Ziegler and Power of being little more than shills for developers who want to turn Sausalito into another Fisherman's Wharf.

Storms, a commercial diver and chaplain, sided with Roberts and Bushmaker. They all said Ziegler and his associates abused their power by railroading decisions through without public input.

The most bitter disagreement was over Measure F, which Bushmaker, Roberts and Storms said was an underhanded attempt to negate an existing law requiring a public vote on the selling, leasing or changing of public property.

The measure, which proponents said was needed to prevent an election on every minor improvement, would have allowed the council to ``take necessary actions to facilitate public access and enjoyment of public properties,'' without a vote.