GOP Activist Plumley Joins Council Race : Campaign: The longtime Glendale resident said her announcement was prompted by another candidate’s entry into the April election.

A longtime Glendale resident with strong ties to the Republican Party and real estate interests has become the second candidate to get an early start on campaigning for April’s City Council election.

Mary Ann Plumley, Los Angeles County GOP Central Committee chairwoman for the 41st Assembly District, said she had been in no rush to announce her candidacy because nomination papers cannot be filed until January. But she said the October decision by Eileen Hadley Givens to enter the race prompted her to make her candidacy public last week.

“I have been very involved with the Republican Party,” said Plumley, 60. “To come right out of one election and to plunge right into another campaign is something I wouldn’t have preferred.”

Givens has the backing of several business leaders, and Plumley said she went public to line up her own endorsements. “I think there will be some tapping into each other’s supporters,” Plumley said. “However, I feel my philosophy is more conservative.”

Although the race is nonpartisan, she said, “I think I will draw upon the people who share my viewpoint on fiscal responsibility, free enterprise and property rights, but not too much government interference.”

At stake in the election April 2 are the council seats occupied by Larry Zarian and Jerold Milner. Neither has stated publicly whether he will seek reelection.

Like Givens, Plumley declined to criticize Glendale’s present elected leaders.

“Our city is soundly managed and run with a sense of purpose,” she said in a prepared statement. “I don’t wish to change that. I want to maintain and build on the achievements our city has reached over the last eight decades.”

She described herself as a “preservationist candidate,” dedicated to retaining Glendale’s “small-town charm and character, while welcoming desirable businesses which are needed to keep our city prosperous.”

Plumley said she opposes a proposed city bond measure to buy scenic hillside properties to prevent construction of houses on them.

“I’m against bonded indebtedness,” she said. “I think a lot of the hillsides are undevelopable, so I’m not sure there is a need to spend the money to buy them up.”

Plumley also said she wants to consider legislation to protect Glendale residents who are pestered by homeless people. “I understand there is an ordinance in Santa Barbara now to basically keep them off the street,” she said.

When she made her candidacy public on the steps of City Hall, she was accompanied by her employer, real estate businessman and former council candidate Joe Ayvazi. She was also joined by political consultant Allen Brandstater, whose wife, Lynn, is a member of Plumley’s campaign staff.

Plumley has lived in Glendale for more than 30 years and worked in real estate for the past 15. Her husband, Bill, is executive officer of the Glendale Board of Realtors.

In addition to her GOP activities, her community affiliations have included the Glendale Family YMCA, Glendale Chamber of Commerce, March of Dimes, Women’s Civic League of Glendale, Verdugo Hills Business and Professional Women’s Club, and Glendale Symphony Assn.