by Jefferson Graham
Brenda O’Leary has been living in the South Bay for over 30 years, initially splitting a small place in Hermosa with five roommates, and then moving on to Manhattan Beach in 1991.
“At the time, Manhattan Beach was the fun place to be,” she says, even with the daily commute to Century City, where she began her investment management career.
O’Leary, one of six candidates vying for the three open spots in the Manhattan Beach City Council election, works in finance, as a principal and consultant for Delaney Street Capital, where she assists in capital raising.
Why is she running for office? Her answer is similar to many, in that she says she wants to give back to the community. “Leadership is a meaningful opportunity to make a difference,” she says.
O’Leary, one of two candidates endorsed by the local Democratic Party (along with candidate Joe Marcy) is breaking with the party in supporting the election of Nathan Hochman, who seeks to unseat current Democratic district attorney George Gascon and is supporting longtime city councilmember Steve Napolitano in his bid to win a race to be a judge for the county. (Napolitano is endorsed by all the members of the current council).
Her issues, she says, include bringing back outdoor dining to the city and getting more police hired. She serves as an alternate on the City’s outdoor dining task force.
“It’s meaningful for everyone in our community to enjoy the outdoors,” she says. (The latest initiative to bring back outdoor dining, a pilot program, was rejected in a recent council vote.)
She’s concerned about spending, and says that as a finance expert, she’d be in a position to take a hard look at how taxpayer money is being spent.
“It’s time to take a step back and look at everything from the top down,” she says.
“We need to pay up for good people, but some of the salaries we are paying are out of line with local government, and more in line with Wall Street.”
She’d like to see affordable housing for locals, specifically teachers. “They need to live near their jobs, and what’s considered low-cost housing is something for people who make $85,000 a year. The average teacher in Los Angeles makes $65,000 a year, so we have some work to do.”
She’d like to find space on Sepulveda, which is home to office buildings and businesses to build apartment buildings. “If we don’t build some level of housing, the state will come in and build it for us. I’d rather we do it.”
On her BrendaOleary.com website she writes about owning a condo in Mammoth that she often donates for community events and that her daughter Ashlyn graduated from Mira Costa High School last year. Also last year, O’Leary married Allen Glass on the Amalfi Coast after an eight-year courtship.
Though still working full-time, she often works from home, enabling her to devote herself to “serving the people.” ER
I live in Redondo Beach, but I met at Brenda years ago in a bunco group. It turned out we worked in the same industry. I wish we were lucky enough in Redondo to have Brenda run for city Council. She is a fierce advocate for children’s mental health. She’s intelligent, hard-working, and dedicated. Manhattan Beach is lucky to have her running! I strongly recommend voting for her as I wish we could have somebody like her in Redondo Beach.