Former Santa Clarita City mayor and councilman Frank Ferry has announced his intentions to run for the 12th District Los Angeles City Council seat.
The 12th District, located in the northern part of the San Fernando Valley, includes approximately 250,000 residents currently represented by Councilman Mitchell Englander. However, Englander, the sole Republican sitting on the 15-seat L.A. City Council, announced in October of last year he would be stepping away from public office to pursue other job opportunities, according to Ferry.
Having moved to the 12th District in 2014 after serving 16 years as an elected official in Santa Clarita, Ferry said he made the decision in December to make a run at filling the vacant seat, according to paperwork he filed with Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.
“I was born and raised in this part of the northern San Fernando Valley,” said Ferry. “And I’ve always had a passion for public service.”
After moving to Santa Clarita in 1990, Ferry worked as a high school teacher at both Valencia and Saugus high schools. While working as a teacher, and eventually becoming principal of Alemany High School, Ferry also served as a Santa Clarita city councilman from 1998 to 2014, and as mayor in 2002, 2009 and part of 2012.
“When I moved back to the northern part of the San Fernando Valley five years ago, I thought the opportunity like I had in Santa Clarita, as both an educator and public servant, would never present itself again.”
But after hearing the 12th District seat would be determined in a 2019 special election, Ferry decided to put his years of experience to use once again.
“A lot of the challenges I addressed while on the Santa Clarita City Council, between building new parks, protecting open space, establishing the public library system, helping on transportation issues, are the same issues here in this part of San Fernando Valley,” Ferry said.
If Ferry does take the seat he will replace his predecessor as the only sitting Republican council member for the City of Los Angeles.
“I hope I can bring a new fresh perspective and bold ideas to the council,” said Ferry.
