Beverly Hills Public Works Commissioner and Immediate Past President of the Beverly Hills Rotary Club, Sharona Nazarian, Psy.D., has announced her candidacy for the Beverly Hills City Council.
Dr. Nazarian has lived in Beverly Hills for over three decades and has generational roots in the community. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology from USC and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in multicultural psychology. Active in the community for decades, she has served as a board member for the Maple Counseling Center, treasurer for the Beverly Hills Residents Association, chair of the Beverly Hills Human Relations Commission and a member of the Beverly Hills Women’s Club.
“I plan to bring a new perspective to the Beverly Hills City Council. I will be innovative, creative, think outside the box and work to build consensus on behalf of the community,” Nazarian told the Courier. “All my community involvement, life experiences and background have prepared me to be an effective City Council member. I will build a solid coalition, run an effective grass-roots campaign and focus on the issues important to our residents.”
Nazarian’s vision for Beverly Hills includes three pillars. The first is to rebuild trust in public safety and security. “In tandem with a heightened police presence to ensure a sense of security among residents, my planned increase in resource allocation will improve police response times, prioritize serious and violent crimes and build a deeper relationship between officers and the entire community. With the coming of two new subway stops, I will push for an increase of police presence at both stops,” said Nazarian.
She also emphasized the importance of addressing the economic ripple effect caused by the pandemic. “I plan to revitalize our small business community by addressing the challenges it now faces as a result of COVID, which permeate through pockets within our city and are reflected in the numerous empty storefronts throughout Beverly Hills. Such changes include implementing new measures to keep current businesses afloat while simultaneously attracting new businesses that are integral to the community through introducing financial incentives, minimizing delays, and unnecessary costs,” said Nazarian.
Specifically, Nazarian proposes a task force dedicated to encouraging brick-and- mortar businesses to fill empty storefronts and allow local businesses to flourish.
Another aspect of Nazarian’s platform is quality of life in Beverly Hills, with an emphasis on housing, sustainability and infrastructure. “Maintaining a future-centric outlook to guide my decisions, I will prioritize long-term
goals to improve sustainability, young professional housing, and infrastructure investment. This will prevent our city from becoming stagnant and encourage new families to move here,” she said.
Priorities will include strengthening the budget for essentials such as emergency water reserves. On the sustainability front, Nazarian helped spearhead the Disposable Foodware Accessories Ordinance, which the Council is set to hear in September.
“By asking consumers to request disposable foodware accessories (plastic cutlery, paper goods, and condiments) we wish to create an ethic of reduce first before we have to reuse or recycle. Another initiative we have launched is RethinkBHTap. Not only are we promoting the city’s high quality drinking water, but we want to reduce the use of plastic bottles,” said Nazarian, who was recently appointed to the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Community Task Force.
Nazarian and her husband, Daniel, reside in Beverly Hills with their three sons. The entire family (with the exception of the youngest son) has completed Team Beverly Hills. Nazarian will announce her campaign steering committee shortly and can be reached by email at Sharona@SharonaNazarian.com
