September 18, 2019 | $1.50 inside TIBURON • BELVEDERE • STRAWBERRY Belvedere cop City slashes Walker pleads Named the nation’s best seriously hurt timE-limit for tiburon to small community weekly 2018 & 2019 winner, 2014-2017 finalist in crash on penalty for ban invasive General Excellence, National Newspaper Association San RAfael Ave. hOmE builder weeds at trail Designer’s Volume 47, Issue 38 | thearknewspaper.com Page 5 Page 7 Page 11 first-open Best place for mooring field, transient Boy killed, checklist: anchor-outs is off Belvedere, experts say father is Areas off island, cove free of habitat-critical eelgrass arrested By GRETChEN LANG [email protected] Find&Replace ——— in boating Marine ecologists hired to find the best location for a permanent mooring field on Richardson Bay have their top candidate: the waters off Belvedere accident dates on Island. At the Sept. 12 meeting of the Richardson Bay Regional Agency board of directors, Keith Merkel Man faces manslaughter charges, of San Diego-based environmental-consulting had been drinking, police say Master Pages firm Merkel & Associates Inc. said a patch of water running 600 feet off the western shore of By hANNAh WEIkEL Belvedere and extending into the center of the bay [email protected] would move boats away from Sausalito and help ——— protect environmentally sensitive eelgrass beds. A prominent land developer was arrested ——— ABOVE: MERKEL & AssOCiaTES INC. | BELOW: KEviN HEssEL / ThE ARK at his Corinthian Island home after a fatal See Anchorage, page 20 A rendering shows eelgrass frequency in Richardson Bay from 2003 to this boating accident near Angel Island that year. A mooring-field study by merkel & Associates Inc. for the Richardson Bay killed his 11-year-old son and severely in- Regional Agency says the best way to protect the beds is to move the Richardson jured the boy’s older brother. Bay anchorage into Belvedere waters. Below, the anchorage is seen The brothers were reportedly ejected from from above Belvedere’s West Shore Road. the boat and then struck by it when their fa- ther attempted to rescue them. Javier A. Burillo, 57, of Belvedere was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with a vessel, will- ful harm or injury to a child and reckless operation of a vessel. Police say Burillo had been drinking, and a boating death becomes legally non-accidental when the operator is suspected to be under the influence of alcohol. ——— See boat, page 20 Strawberry gun suspect surrenders Unsolved slaying 10 years ago after evacuation and manhunt By hANNAh WEIkEL his apartment but later learned he had this week still mystifies Tiburon [email protected] left the area before deputies arrived. ——— It’s unclear whether he ever led them By hANNAh WEIkEL chased down every possible lead and A Strawberry man surrendered to believe he was inside the building. [email protected] studied each shred of evidence col- himself to Marin County Sheriff’s Phillip Hosea Smith, 65, was ——— lected from the scene — but each time deputies in Oakland one day after he booked into Marin County Jail Sept. The decade that has passed since the trail has gone cold. allegedly brandished a gun during an 13 on suspicion of criminal threats, Joan Rosenthal was killed has yielded However, leaps in DNA testing have altercation with a neighbor, causing a brandishing a firearm, vandalism and no new information about the identity kept hope alive that the perpetrator massive police response and evacua- possession of a firearm and ammuni- of her killer or what motivated some- will someday be caught, said Tiburon tion of a North Knoll Road affordable- tion with a prior felony conviction. His one to shoot the 75-year-old Tiburon Police Chief Michael Cronin. housing complex. bail is set at $50,000. widow on her patio in one of the safest “We are continuing to re-examine Authorities at the time believed the ——— neighborhoods in the country. ——— Rosenthal man had barricaded himself inside See Gun, page 18 Over the years, police say they’ve See Rosenthal, page 19 Belvedere 7 | Tiburon 10 | Strawberry 13 | Police Logs 17 | ArkBeat 21 | Classifieds 23 Weekend Weather | B Friday 72° 54° | B Saturday 73° 56° | H Sunday 74° 57° CLIENT FOCUSED RESULTS DRE #01863705 | C 415.419.4510 | ScottCWoods.com 2 ThE ARk • SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 thearknewspaper.com 250+ Million in Sales Since 2018 facebook.com/thearknewspaper September 18, 2019 • ThE ARk 3 mEETINGS & Agendas SINCE NOVEMBER 15, 1972 Public meetings of local interest Sanitary District No. 5 of marin agenda Office: 415-435-2652 Display ads: 415-435-1190 Tiburon Town Council: 7:30 tonight, Sept. 18, council cham- The Sanitary District No. 5 of Marin meets at 5 p.m. Sept. 19 in Ad deadlines: 5 p.m. Wednesday; camera-ready, noon Thursday bers, Tiburon Town Hall, 1505 Tiburon Blvd. the office of the main treatment plant at 2001 Paradise Drive. The following items are on the agenda: Owner: AMMI Publishing Co. Inc. Sanitary District No. 5 of Marin board of directors: 5 publishers: Alison T. Gray and Arthur H. Kern p.m. Sept. 19, district office, 2001 Paradise Drive. • Approval of minutes of Aug. 15 meeting. Director of Business & Advertising Tiburon Design Review Board: 7 p.m. Sept. 19, council • Review all electronic fund transfers and approve warrants, Henriette Corn, [email protected] chambers, Tiburon Town Hall, 1505 Tiburon Blvd. checks and payroll for previous month through Sept. 12. Executive Editor MCE Clean Energy board of directors: 7 p.m. Sept. 19, • Financial reports for August. Kevin Hessel, [email protected] board room, headquarters, 1125 Tamalpais Ave., San Rafael. • District manager’s monthly report. Assistant & Special Sections Editor Tiburon Heritage and Arts Commission: 6:30 p.m. Sept. • Review and approval of Resolution No. 2019-08 approving the Emily Lavin, [email protected] 24, council chambers, Tiburon Town Hall, 1505 Tiburon Blvd. form and authorizing the execution of the California Sanitation Calendar & Copy Editor Risk Management Authority’s Memorandum of Understanding Diana Goodman, [email protected] Southern Marin Fire Protection District board of di- rectors: 7 p.m. Sept. 25, Strawberry fire station, 308 Reed Blvd. and authorizing participation in the Special District Risk Manage- Accounts Manager ment Authority’s health-benefits program. Leigh Pagan, [email protected] Tiburon Planning Commission: The meeting scheduled for • Review and approval of Resolution 2019-09 accepting the dis- Staff reporters Sept. 25 has been canceled. Deirdre McCrohan, [email protected] trict’s sewer portion of the town of Tiburon contract award with Hannah Weikel, [email protected] Hillside Drilling, Inc. for the Vistazo West washout repair project. Contributing writers Tiburon Town Council agenda • Review and approval of 2019 sewer rehabilitation project, Michelle Aschwald, Joan Bekins, Carol Benet, The Tiburon Town Council meets at 7:30 tonight, Sept. 18, in change orders Nos. 1 and 2. Marybeth Bond-Sheppard, Hillary Don, Gretchen Lang, council chambers at Tiburon Town Hall, 1505 Tiburon Blvd. The • Consideration of quotes for cost of 3.5-yard combination vac- Heather Lobdell, Diane Lynch, Ann Mizel, Rosine Reynolds, following items are on the agenda: uum truck and authorization for the district manager to issue a Cynthia Shaver, Diane Smith, Robin Scott Wray • Adoption of amendments to Chapter 25 of the Tiburon Mu- purchase order for the truck. Contributing photographers nicipal Code relating to operation of unmanned aerial systems, or Frank Fennema, Elliot Karlan, Jocelyn Knight, Diane Smith • Review and approval of main plant rehabilitation project drones. bond payment, not to exceed $637,675, to Bank of New York Mel- Layout & Design | Digital Content: Kevin Hessel • Adoption of a resolution continuing the declaration of a local lon Trust Company. The Ark is an adjudicated newspaper of general circulation by the emergency related to damage caused by February 2019 storms. Marin County Superior Court on Dec. 19, 1973, case No. 69007. • Review and approval of Perotti & Carrade engagement letter Published and delivered by mail on Wednesdays. All rights reserved. • Adoption of a resolution approving the Memorandum of En- for audit and other professional services for fiscal year 2018-2019 through fiscal year 2019-2020. Copyright © 2019 AMMI Publishing Co. Inc. croachment between the town of Tiburon and Mina Group LLC for valet service for restaurant at 5 Main St. • Review of California Public Employees Retirement System The Ark (USPS012310) is published Wednesdays and is delivered • Review and comment on a draft request for proposal for Gen- ——— by postal mail for $69.50 one year, $129.50 two years ($84.50 one year, eral Plan Update and Environmental Analysis. See Letters, page 8 $154.50 two years outside the 94920, 94941 and 94925 ZIP codes) by AMMI Publishing Co. Inc., 1550 Tiburon Blvd., Ste. D, Tiburon, CA 94920. No refunds. Periodical postage paid at the Belvedere-Tiburon Post Office, Tiburon, CA 94920. postmaster: Send address changes to The Ark, P.O. Box 1054, Tiburon, CA 94920. LETTERS TO ThE EDITOR SUBmISSIONS pOLICY: AMMI Publishing Co. Inc. reserves the right to relicense, re- produce, reprint and republish without compensation to the author and/or submitting SUBmIT YOUR LETTER TO ThE EDITOR: The Ark welcomes letters to the editor. They should be 350 words or fewer and submitted electroni- party, all or any part of submitted works including, but not limited to, articles, letters, notices, artwork, images, photographs and advertisements submitted to The Ark. cally. The Ark reserves the right to edit all letters for clarity and will not knowingly publish those containing false or misleading informa- AMMI Publishing Co. Inc. shall have the absolute right to use the above-mentioned tion. Legally objectionable letters, those of a commercial/promotional nature or news announcements will be rejected.