Candidates for District 5
Kelly Brown
Kelly Brown, 49, is the Director of Media Relations and Communications for the UC Irvine School of Humanities and serves as the Chair of the Costa Mesa Parks and Community Services Commission. She highlights her experience in public policy, strategic planning, budgeting, and communications, including work with government agencies at multiple levels, management of multimillion-dollar budgets, and service as a city commissioner.
Brown holds a Ph.D. from UC Santa Cruz and is communications director for UC Irvine's School of Humanities. Outside of work, she is active in the Costa Mesa community and enjoys reading, live music, camping, baking, and astronomy.
Brown's campaign focuses on affordability, quality of life, public safety, environmental sustainability, and government transparency. She advocates for expanding housing opportunities while maintaining design standards, supporting small businesses through streamlined city processes, and investing in parks, open space, and community amenities.
Brown emphasizes arts and culture as an economic and community asset, and supports investments in safe streets, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and traffic-calming measures. Her public safety platform includes support for fully staffed police and fire departments, improved emergency facilities, neighborhood-based community building, and protections for vulnerable residents.
She also supports implementation of Costa Mesa's Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, including initiatives related to clean energy, green jobs, and environmental resilience.
On governance, Brown calls for greater fiscal transparency, public engagement, and process improvements at City Hall, arguing that government should be more accessible, responsive, and accountable to residents.
Brown has earned endorsements from numerous local and state elected officials, community leaders, and residents, along with a broad coalition of labor, political, and advocacy organizations, including the Orange County Democratic Party, Women in Leadership PAC, the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, the Orange County Labor Federation, the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA), the California Working Families Party, Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324, Women for American Values and Ethics, and Moms Demand Action..
Learn more about Kelly Brown at https://kellyforcostamesa.com/
Stephen Moore Smith III
Steve Smith, 38, should not be confused with the Steve Smith who previously served on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board and the former Fairview Park Advisory Committee. This Steve Smith, whose full name is Stephen Moore Smith III, works for TTEC Digital, a Colorado-based technology consulting company.
Smith's financial disclosures indicate investments across the technology, energy, real estate, and financial sectors, including holdings in companies such as Tesla, Palantir Technologies, and AGNC Investment Corp. He also reports income from a family trust associated with a residence in Naples, Florida. Since April 2025, he has served on the City's Animal Services Committee.
Beyond these disclosures, relatively little publicly available information exists regarding Smith's background, community involvement, qualifications, policy priorities, or length of residency in Costa Mesa. Compared to other candidates in the race, voters may find it more difficult to evaluate his experience and positions on local issues.
Smith's campaign centers on preserving public access to Fairview Park, strengthening public safety, maintaining fiscal discipline, supporting local businesses, and improving government transparency. As with any campaign website, voters should carefully review and fact-check the claims and information presented.
He opposes revisions to the Fairview Park Master Plan that he believes could limit long-standing recreational activities, including RC glider flying. He argues that the park should remain accessible to families and community groups. On public safety, he advocates increasing investment in crime prevention and law enforcement, citing concerns about property crime and quality of life issues.
Smith also argues that Costa Mesa faces a "structural budget deficit" and says the City should maintain essential services while promoting fiscal responsibility. He supports reducing regulatory burdens on businesses and encouraging economic growth, while emphasizing transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to District 5 residents.
In The Orange County Register, he argued that new housing required under state mandates should be concentrated along commercial and industrial corridors identified in Measure K and distributed across the city to minimize impacts on any one area. Smith stated, “The best way to meet the state’s mandates is to use the commercial and industrial corridors already identified in Measure K, and to distribute the units so we do not unduly stress the city’s infrastructure. Place the required new housing on those corridors and spread the capacity so no one area absorbs all the consequences.”
But then he also said, “Costa Mesa does lack diversity in its sources of revenue, so economic development is the straightest shot we have. A stronger business base from the commercial corridors — we can most readily contribute to this by changing our relationship with businesses from the antagonistic one we have now to one that is steady, reliable, and consistent.” So which is it, housing or businesses on the corridors?
Smith has been endorsed by the Orange County Republican Party, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, State Senator Steven Choi, and Sprinkler Fitters UA Local 709.
More information about him is available on his website: https://www.smithforcostamesa.com/
Visitors may want to lower their speaker volume before opening the site. As always, voters should review campaign materials carefully and independently verify factual claims when evaluating any candidate.