Sara Weber announces run for District 7 seat on Newport Beach City Council

Lifelong Newport Beach resident Sara Weber announced Wednesday she’s tossing her hat into the ring for the District 7 seat on the Newport Beach City Council.

Weber is the first to announce her intentions to run in the district, which is comprised of Newport Ridge and Newport Coast. Mayor Will O’Neill will be vacating the seat in November as he finishes his second term. That means Weber and any other potential District 7 candidates would not be running against an incumbent, though Newport Beach does have an at-large election system, where voters of the entire city elect all members of the City Council.

Weber grew up in Harbor View Hills and currently lives in Spyglass Hill, where she and her husband are raising their two daughters. Weber described Newport Beach as her “forever home” and joked that when most people bleed the city their colleges were in, she bleeds Newport Beach.

Weber is a public accountant and small business owner, characteristics she said position her uniquely to run from a fiscal governance standpoint.

Her top three priorities for the city are maintaining the quality of life, fiscal responsibility and public safety, especially in schools.

“I had the most wonderful childhood growing up here, and I want to make sure my children get to have the same. Newport Beach is a very special place, and it’s important to keep Newport Newport,” Weber said. “I’ll also be the first to admit that Newport is a really well-run city. I was born and raised here, and I didn’t really hear of any issues around Newport because it’s managed well.

“It’s a testament to the fact that we have good people running our city, especially in the Finance Committee. It’s good to maintain a stable budget and remain strategic about growth opportunities, where I think I can add some value in that area.”

As for District 7 , Weber said she hopes to be able to help highlight and continue protecting the existing amenities there.

“My youngest daughter is 4, but she’ll be 5 in April. Both of my daughters go to Our Lady Queen of Angels Elementary School, so I officially had one drop-off and one pick-up. I was wondering what the next chapter of my life was. I was at a big firm for 15 years, then started a firm with my husband so I could be at home more with my kids. Now that they’re attending the same school, the next step was what was important to me,” she said. “What’s important to me is making sure where I live was what I wanted it to be and what Newport Beach wanted it to be.”