CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

2026 PICK PICK CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

8/20/26 – Brewport Taphouse & Kitchen

Speech Transcript

Thank you, everyone, for being here tonight for the launch of our campaign. It’s wonderful to be at Brewport. Brewport has been a fixture in the El Segundo community since April 21, 2017. And if you’re wondering why I know that, it’s because that’s the night I met my fiancé, Sean O’Brien. Not at Brewport, though. That would have been a much better story. But this year, Sean and I did come here to celebrate our and Brewport’s ninth anniversary!

Then in June, we got engaged in El Segundo at Rec Park at the 3rd Annual Gundo Pride. We haven’t had an engagement party, so if throughout the night you could just congratulate us, that would check that box and save us a lot of money. Thanks.

When you run for office, having a supportive partner makes all the difference. So thank you, Sean, for doing this with me. I love you.

And I love El Segundo. What I love most about El Segundo though is not how unique it is, but rather how familiar it feels.

I grew up right outside of Philadelphia in a place called Drexel Hill. It was a tight-knit community where everyone, much like El Segundo, knew each other’s business. Where everyone had a favorite pizza place. And where everyone flocked to the Pflaumer house to see the best Christmas lights around.

I loved growing up there. From the time I was born until the time I graduated college, pretty much my entire life existed within an eight-mile radius. And I’m proud to say that here in El Segundo, I’ve gotten that down to about an eight-block radius. I don’t know… it depends if I make it over to Sugar Monkey that week.

But looking back, the thing I appreciate most about Drexel Hill is the same thing I’ve come to appreciate most about El Segundo: when someone in this community is in need, we show up.

I lost my dad to cancer when I was nine years old. In the immediate aftermath and in the years that followed, Drexel Hill was always there for my mom, my three older sisters, and me, in ways big and small. It taught me early on what a community can mean in someone’s life.

And I see that in El Segundo, a place that feels like home in so many ways. Even down to the accessibility of Philadelphia soft pretzels.

I first got involved in El Segundo in 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. My involvement grew into sustained work to ensure more residents had a voice in El Segundo, especially those who had too often felt overlooked or excluded. And the more involved I became in local issues, the more I saw how easily residents could be left out of the process.

We all want our elected representatives to support our police and fire departments, strengthen partnerships with our schools, maintain our parks, and provide quality programming. And when those things are working, it is easy to assume everything else is working the way it should too.

But some of the most consequential decisions happen outside those everyday services, and residents may not hear about them until the process is already well underway, or even after the decision has been made.

Recently, I’ve been out front on a lot of those issues.

There was the Council’s push to make El Segundo a Charter City. Which would have been a major change in how the City could govern itself. The issue wasn’t whether you thought a charter was good or bad. The problem was the process: there was little public education, few meaningful opportunities for residents to weigh in, and a rush to get it onto the ballot.

I led the push for a more transparent, collaborative process. And guess what happened? The more people learned about the proposal, the more questions they had, the more uncertainty grew, and ultimately Council abandoned the plan.

Not long after, the proposed data center came before the Planning Commission. Residents from El Segundo and surrounding communities showed up in force to say this development was NOT right for our town. After dozens of public comments against the project, and before everyone who wanted to speak even had the chance, the developer withdrew the proposal mid-meeting.

These were major victories for transparency, for public process, and for the power we have as residents to shape what happens in our City.

But one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in civic life is just how fragile progress can be. I ran cross country and track at Villanova, and my coach, a four-time Olympian, used to tell us, “Don’t act like you’ve arrived.” The idea being there’s always more to be done, the job’s never finished. And each victory does not guarantee the next.

Last week, the Council's decision on the Tesla car dealership was that painful reminder. A Council majority overruled staff and the Planning Commission who had concluded the project was not permitted in that particular zone. They disregarded procedural mandates, and approved the project anyway. Instead of changing zoning through the public process, they just did what they wanted.

And here we see the limits of public participation. When the people in power are determined to get to a particular outcome, there is only so much residents can do from the outside. That’s why having a seat at the table matters so much. That’s why I’m running for El Segundo City Council.

In 2024, we finished less than 1% from winning one of those seats. Just 197 votes. Not that I still think about it!

But make no mistake, the loss did not deter me. In the two years since, I’ve only become more invested in El Segundo. As Chair of the Arts & Culture Committee, I worked with my fellow committee members to develop the City’s Cultural Arts Master Plan and fought to get it adopted by Council. It became our blueprint for transforming the Cultural Development Program, now El Segundo Creates, into both an economic engine for the City and the primary means for enriching community life.

Last year, I co-founded a nonprofit with neighbors to support individuals and groups doing meaningful work in their communities through grants. And in my broader civic efforts with Sea Change, I’ve continued organizing residents, building coalitions, and turning ideas into action that yield meaningful outcomes.

Being a community organizer has taught me how to get things done in local government.

To change the course of major City policy, you have to understand who has the authority, how the process works, and where decisions are made.
To stop a major development proposal, you have to understand zoning, environmental review, staff analysis, and the roles of Planning Commission and Council.
And to illuminate a water tower in rainbow lights, you have to be persistent and know how to file a public records request.

My work has given me a practical understanding of City Hall and how to produce real results. And when elected, I’ll use that experience to take on the challenges ahead like:

Creating housing opportunities in the right places while building a more walkable, connected, and livable city.
Making our streets safer and addressing dangerous intersections before they become the site of tragedies.
Building stronger relationships with our industrial neighbors while holding them accountable when their operations harm our quality of life.
And pursuing economic development that not only strengthens our tax base but also serves our community at large.

However, I believe serving on City Council is about more than policy. It’s about bringing people together, and being willing to step forward when the moment is difficult or politically uncomfortable.

Earlier this year, after the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE, people in this community were hurting. They were looking for a place to grieve and come together. In less than 24 hours, I worked with neighbors to organize a candlelight vigil with speakers, poetry, and live performance. Hundreds of people showed up. No one assigned us that responsibility. We saw what the community needed, and we stepped forward.

The strength of a five-member Council is that each person contributes something different. No single Councilmember can bring every perspective or every kind of experience.

What I will bring… is leadership that emerges when the moment demands political courage.
What I will bring… is experience getting things done in local government from the inside and out.
What I will bring… is a belief that process is king, not the officials making the decisions. And that residents deserve a meaningful role in shaping those decisions.
And what I will bring… is a vision of El Segundo as a community of opportunity where whether you’re young or seasoned, whether you rent or own, whether you grew up here or arrived within the last year, El Segundo can always feel like home.

But it cannot be done without your help.

So if you believe in our vision, talk to your neighbors—try for 197 of them! If you believe in our vision, put up a yard sign. Knock on a door. Make a call. Donate. And most importantly, vote.

Together, we will win this race and bring a new voice to the El Segundo City Council that reflects more of the community it serves.

Thank you.