Dear Neighbors,
Sausalito is a wonderful place and I want to help keep it wonderful.
When endorsing me (and BLAUSTEIN and WOODSIDE), the Marin Independent Journal said: “Sobieski is a problem solver.”
My campaign has centered on debunking myths about our finances and offering specific solutions to two big strategic challenges: how to pay for fixing our streets and renewing our infrastructure and how to meet the state housing mandate while keeping big projects out of your neighborhood, preserving our small town character, working waterfront, and what makes Sausalito special.
Fear and anger are powerful motivating forces, but so are love and hope.
As a community, we have what it takes to tackle these challenges, with optimism and a spirit of possibility ✨.
Sausalito has a strong financial foundation 💵, built by careful planning by the current and past City staffs and Councils. We ended this last fiscal year with one of the largest surpluses in our history. Our pension and emergency reserves have millions more in them today than four years ago, and we have $36 million saved across all our different accounts.
As a small town we are more vulnerable to economic shocks and so we must always be vigilant and cautious. But we don’t need to live in fear.
In his public letter about our budget, former mayor and finance expert, Dr. Ray Withy said, “Sausalito has never been so well positioned financially”.
This foundation allows us to work toward a Sausalito Renaissance.
A Sausalito where roads are smooth, the waterfront is thriving, maritime work is buzzing, our shops are bustling, and we have more art, theater 🎭, and community gatherings.
A Sausalito where young families can set down roots and stay as their kids turn into teenagers and where seniors can age in comfortable dignity in their homes or move locally within our town, staying near life-long friends.
A Sausalito where smart housing solutions preserve our small-town character, respects our working waterfront, and provides a place for teachers, maritime workers, hourly workers, and city employees to live in the place they work.
I believe in this hopeful and optimistic vision for Sausalito, and I hope you do, too.
What stands in our way is not a lack of potential or ideas, but the easy human habit of criticism without alternate solutions.
Most solutions involve compromises and the require the sustained engagement that comes from positive community spirit.
We need less contention and more compassion, less litigation and more cooperation 🤝. It’s time for us to come together as a community and to move forward together. We will make progress together if everyone picks up an oar and paddles a little bit.
“The best way to save Sausalito is not to try to freeze it in amber, it's to adapt to the realities of the new present. Sausalito is a vibrant creative community full of doers, makers, innovators, iconoclasts. It is not a museum piece. Let’s rekindle this creative, innovative spirt and work together to make our town better!”
I’m honored to have been endorsed not only by the Marin Independent Journal and the Sierra Club 🌎 but also by most current and former Sausalito mayors and council members. So too were Blaustein and Woodside.
Let’s choose hope. Let’s step into a brighter future together. Let’s build a Sausalito Renaissance, where we move forward with optimism, confidence, and a commitment to one another.
Let’s move forward together!
Ian
