Activists Announces Council Candidacy

Painting himself as a moderate who could build a bridge between environmentalists and businessmen, Ventura activist and restaurant manager Brian Brennan announced his candidacy Thursday for the November City Council election.

Brennan made his announcement at noon on the Ventura Pier, making him the first person to declare candidacy for the city election.

“A healthy, quality environment helps beget a healthy business community,” Brennan said, appealing to the two groups that have traditionally polarized Ventura politics.

He explained that he does not want to be viewed as either an ally of the “Chamber of Concrete” or as a “tree hugger.”

Brennan said he hopes to focus on strengthening the local economy, managing urban sprawl on the city’s east end and taking care of Ventura’s most valuable resource--the Pacific Ocean. He said he would also like to bring some closure to the library issue.

But he would not offer any specifics on how he would do that. “I would like to do whatever is best for the community,” he said.

The terms of four council members--Steve Bennett, Rosa Lee Measures, Jim Monahan and Gary Tuttle--expire this fall.

Tuttle has said he will not run again, and the other three have not publicly declared their intentions.

Brennan, 45, has worked as general manager of the Chart House restaurant for seven years. He was chairman of the Visitors and Convention Bureau for two years, and is a former vice president of the tourism committee of the Chamber of Commerce. He is also an active member of the Surfrider Foundation, and sits on the county Planning Commission.

He said slow-growth advocate Bennett and centrist Councilman Jim Friedman encouraged him to run.