Thirty-Four Candidates File for Twenty-One Spots, as Several Incumbents Are Seeking Another Two-Year Stint
By Nick Antonicello
The filing deadline for the 2025 Venice Neighborhood Council elections has passed with 34 candidates competing for 21 positions on this all-volunteer unit of city government.
Venice has historically had the largest number of candidates with multiple contested elections as well as leading the city in voter participation and turnout.
In 2023 there was a sharp drop in interest as Venice was largely involved in the 2022 municipal elections that saw two Venice attorneys, Traci Park & Erin Darling compete for an open seat on the LA City Council.
Both first time candidates, Park bested Darling by a 52%-48% margin.
Incumbent President Brian Averill, a longtime local activist, will seek reelection unopposed.
This will be Averill’s third run for the presidency as he lost a razor close campaign four years ago only to coast to victory in 2023.
Longtime board member and Vice-President Jim Robb is not seeking another term and two new faces will compete for the position in Gary Pearl and Danielle Leilani.
Incumbent Secretary Tima Bell will run unopposed.
For the position of Treasurer, first-term incumbent Helen Fallon finds herself in a three-way race for reelection. The canal resident is being challenged by Crystal Lopez and board incumbent Deborah Keaton, who serves as chair of the Oceanfront Walk Committee while Fallon chairs Finance.
There will be a new chair of the Land Use & Planning Committee, more commonly referred to as “LUPC,” as longtime Venetian Mark Mack and Ted Henderson will compete for probably the most important and technical of board posts.
Incumbent Steve Bradbury will switch gears and is running for the position of Communications Officer unopposed.
Bradbury is a Marina del Rey resident who currently serves as a community officer.
Erica Moore who filled an unexpired term as Outreach Chair after being originally elected as a community officer, has two challengers in Brandon Gibbins and Alex Neiman, a former board member who ran for VP with Brian Averill four years ago.
There will be 19 candidates seeking 13 spots as at-large, Community Officers this year with eight incumbents seeking another term of office.
They are:
- Yolanda Gonzalez (Inc.)
- Mehrnoosh Mojallali
- Michael Levy
- Fran Solomon (Inc.)
- Susan Hewitt
- Kenya Lee
- Gina Hardin
- Gabriella Baracchini Ross
- Christopher Lee (Inc.)
- Brennan Lawson
- Clark Brown (Inc.)
- Jim Fitzgerald
- Joe Friend
- Joseph Garcia
- Jason Sugars (Inc.)
- Nico Ruderman (Inc.)
- Alley Mills Bean (Inc.)
- Lisa Redmond (Inc.)
- Richard Stanger
For the position of Community Interest Officer, longtime incumbent Bruno Hernandez will not be seeking reelection and there will be a race between Mary Barbour and Sarah Mahir, a longtime Venice activist.
Nick Antonicello is a thirty-three year resident of the Venice community and extensively covers the deliberations of the Venice Neighborhood Council. Yo! Venice will be interviewing all interested candidates and to arrange a time, please contact Antonicello via e-mail at nantoni@mindspring.com. You will be sent a series of questions or set a time to discuss your campaign. A headshot is requested along with a candidate profile or resume to participate.
