Brian Brennan is a former Ventura County Planning Commissioner and a 16-year veteran of locally elected offices in the city of San Buenaventura. He served as a city councilman from 1998-2013 and mayor from 2003-2005, representing the city on numerous boards and commissions including the California Coastal Commission for three years. A professional restaurateur for over 25 years, Brian has opened and operated restaurants in coastal California, Hawaii, Florida, and the Virgin Islands. He is an alumnus of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland and was appointed by Gov. Christie Todd Whitman to the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology for his work in Brownfield and Greyfield redevelopment along with advocacy for fuel cells and the Hydrogen Highway. While serving as chairman of the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau, Brian was one of the founding members of the Ventura County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. He has been at the forefront of coastal and wetland protection policy both locally, regionally, and statewide for all of his adult life, which culminated in an appointment by Gov. Jerry Brown to the California Coastal Commission in 2011. He presently serves as Executive Director of BEACON, a California Joint Powers Authority that advocates for adaptive living shorelines and coastal resiliency in the face of rising sea levels. An avid sailor and surfer, Brian learned to sail on Galway Bay, increasing his sailing skills while in the Caribbean, and upon moving to Ventura fell in love with the community on sailing trips out to our Channel Islands. Brian continues to crew on racing sailboats in Ventura Harbor whenever he is invited!