Tiburon Town Council: Thier, Nikfar on track to hold on to seats

Tiburon voters are on track to reelect incumbents Holli Thier and Isaac Nikfar to the Town Council, with the pair beating back challenges from Chuck Hornbrook and Andrew Thompson in the four-way race for two seats.

For complete local election coverage, visit thearknewspaper.com/election2024.

As of The Ark’s Nov. 11 press deadline, Thier, the current vice mayor, had received 44% support in the pick-two Nov. 5 election, or 1,615 votes, with Nikfar winning about 43% support, or 1,577 votes. Meanwhile, former mayor and councilmember Thompson is about 100 votes behind in third, with 40% support, or 1,468 votes, and Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission Chair Chuck Hornbrook earned 30% support, or 1,116 votes.

Some 3,701 of 6,745 registered Tiburon voters cast ballots in the race, putting turnout at about 55% so far, though the county continues to count mail-in ballots. Ballots postmarked Nov. 5 or earlier are still eligible to be processed, but they must arrive at Marin County’s election department by Nov. 12 to be counted.

Thier, 59, is set to serve her second full term on the council; she was plucked from the parks commission and appointed to an interim seat in June 2017, won an election that November to serve the remainder of that term and won a full four-year term in November 2020 after no challengers emerged for the seat.

She’s poised to take her second turn as mayor in December when the council does its annual shuffling of seats. In a text message, she thanked Tiburon for the support and for residents’ “confidence in my leadership.”

“Together, we will reduce traffic along Tiburon Boulevard, bring back Friday Nights on Main and other family-friendly/senior events, ensure public safety, implement our parks master plan, continue our efforts on broadband, Tiburon trolley and so much more,” she said.

Nikfar, 45, is poised to win his first full term on the board. The former parks commissioner was elected to an interim seat in August 2023 to finish out the remainder of Noah Griffin’s term after Griffin resigned that January.

Nikfar in a text message said he is “very grateful to the many Tiburon residents that have supported the campaign and look forward to continuing the work of delivering on my commitment to bring needed improvements to Tiburon’s parks, solving our traffic issues and improving public safety.”

In an email to his supporters, Thompson, 62, conceded the election and congratulated the winners, writing that his campaign came close despite him joining the race later than others, “lacking the organization and resources of established candidates” and being outspent. He said coming close to unseating an incumbent “is a testament to the strength of our message and the passion of our supporters.”

“My commitment to Tiburon remains unwavering,” said Thompson, who previously served on the council from 1992 to 2003. “I will continue to be an active voice, engaging in the debates that shape our future and focusing on issues closest to my heart — strengthening community ties in every neighborhood, fostering connection and addressing the needs of everyone, from young families to our older residents.”

Hornbrook, 57, conceded the race by email, saying it’s “tough to beat incumbents, particularly one incumbent that raised so much money compared to others in the race,” referencing Thier raising more than $63,000 in her reelection efforts. By comparison, Hornbrook raised $6,731, Thompson raised $12,140 and Nikfar raised $5,750, according to campaign finance filings.

“My plan is to stay engaged and hope other Tiburon residents do as well,” Hornbrook said. “It is hard with competing interests and family/life priorities, but through engagement/participation, you can keep the town and decision makers accountable, and we can get to optimal solutions.”

During the Town Council campaign, candidates offered their approaches on addressing traffic concerns on Tiburon Boulevard; the town-commissioned parks master plan, which will guide the use of the Tiburon’s parks and open-space system; and housing, following a Marin Superior Court judge’s decision to remove 4576 Paradise Drive as a site for potential housing in Tiburon’s certified 2023-2031 housing element, leaving the town about 40 units short of the 639 it must plan for under state mandates. The town plans to appeal that ruling.

Considering that decision, Thier said during the campaign her preference was for more accessory dwelling units, though she wanted a “communitywide process” to decide where any of at least 40 units would need to go. She is in favor of expanding the maximum eligible for ministerial-level approval to 1,200 square feet, as only 1,000 square feet is allowed, and for allowing accessory dwelling units to be sold like a condo.

She said the most important thing was protecting Tiburon from the builder’s remedy, where certain affordable housing must be allowed by right in municipalities with noncompliant housing elements, regardless of local zoning, and said her vote to approve 4576 Paradise Drive’s inclusion in the housing element was done because the town “was at risk of … not providing the information to (the California Department of Housing and Community Development) for a certified housing element,” and that she thought Tiburon avoided it and “a rejection in the protections that our residents care about.”

On housing, Nikfar continued to express support for getting local control back into Tiburon’s hands, though he acknowledged in his campaign that “making sure that we have a housing plan that will get fulfilled isn’t going away.” His preference was also for having more accessory dwelling units in town, while also making it easier to build those units by developing incentives with permitting fees and timing.

He said he is hesitant on adding more units downtown, saying it had already absorbed the brunt of the element, while he opposed 4576 Paradise Drive’s inclusion, though he abstained from the formal vote last year, which took place the same day he joined the council, saying there had been many previous conversations he wasn’t a party to.

On improving traffic, Nikfar said his goal is to make it so anyone at any time can travel from downtown to Highway 101 in 15 minutes. He said he’d accomplish that by collaborating with Caltrans on its 4½-mile preventive-maintenance project on Tiburon Boulevard, set to take place in winter 2026, using that time to upgrade technology across the boulevard and “ensure that we have the right mechanism at every intersection that’s needed to get that traffic flowing out of town more quicky.”

He said the town’s in-progress traffic study, which will analyze major thoroughfares, is important to understanding how much traffic comes in and when as well as where it comes from and where it goes.

Thier during her campaign continued advocating for an open-air electric trolley, akin to the type that runs in Laguna Beach, to supplement Marin Transit’s Route 219 and help ease traffic; local tourism and marketing agency Destination Tiburon picked up the idea and presented it to the council in late 2021, but it hasn’t made the council’s annual priority lists since.

She said she envisions the trolley starting on Tiburon Boulevard while eventually making its way into hillier parts of town, which Route 219 no longer services, to make it easier for those with mobility issues. Funding for the trolley, she previously said, could come from state- and federal-grant programs or Proposition 4, the $10-billion statewide bond measure that passed last week with 58.4% of the vote, which would go toward providing safe water supplies and preventing wildfires, among other environmental investments, with $850 million to go toward building clean-energy infrastructure.

Other traffic-mitigating measures suggested by Thier included limiting how many cars are allowed on job sites by incorporating vehicle limits into construction-management plans. She also said Caltrans’ plan to install Class 4, or separated bike lanes, on Tiburon Boulevard during its preventive-maintenance project is going to help with reducing cars on Tiburon Boulevard.

Both Thier and Nikfar expressed support for the town’s master parks plan but stressed that any proposed larger-scale improvements would need to be vetted by the community first. Councilmembers are tentatively set to vote on approving the final draft of the plan at their Nov. 20 meeting.

Thier said during the campaign that she is supportive of safety improvements and infrastructure upgrades across parks while also expressing support for improving recreational water access and inclusive playground structures when new structures are built or upgraded.

Nikfar said he wanted to get the master plan approved and determine what projects can be started within a year. While he expressed a personal preference toward building a community center and upgrading playgrounds and said he’s willing to prioritize a standup paddleboard and kayak launch as an amenity, he said the “north star” in deciding what projects to pursue would be community feedback.

Reach Tiburon reporter Francisco Martinez at 415-944-4634. DONATE to support local journalism, or SUBSCRIBE NOW for home delivery and access to the digital replica.