Carolyn Jordan is a sweetie. In a Los Angeles filled with so many vying for attention, Carolyn Jordan is about as mild-mannered, soft-spoken, sincere, friendly and real as they come.
She was born in LA. Her parents moved to Brentwood when Carolyn was 7, and she has never left the area, since.
She attended Brentwood Elementary School (now Brentwood Science Magnet), Paul Revere Junior High School, Uni High, UCLA and UCLA Law School.
“I love our neighborhood,” she said. “I love Brentwood.”
Jordan is the relatively new chair of the Brentwood Community Council. She took over from Michelle Bisnoff.
The Brentwood Community Council serves in an advisory role to CD11’s city council and other elected officials. Brentwood is unusual, according to Jordan, because Brentwood touches city, county, state and federal lands.
Dealing with different agencies can become confusing, especially when there is overlap in jurisdiction. Much of the BCC’s success depends on maintaining close relations with all these elected officials and those who run the different agencies and departments.
Jordan takes a “steady as we go” approach to running the council.
She said she doesn’t have a big agenda she wants to push. She just wants to represent the wishes of Brentwood and help solve problems.
In recent years, according to Jordan, most issues seem to center on: homeless individuals who appear menacing to Brentwood residents; trash pickup and illegal dumping; and fixing potholes.
The different agencies she deals with are mostly quite responsive, she said. It just takes persistence and follow-up, she added.
For many years, the monthly BCC meetings were held in the meeting room on the second floor of the Kaufman Branch Library. During COVID, the library took over the meeting room so as to spread out librarians.
The BCC is now meeting the second Wednesday of every month at Brentwood Presbyterian Church, on the southeast corner of San Vicente and Bundy. Meetings start earlier now, going from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
There is a meeting room inside Brentwood Presbyterian Church that has big, sliding glass doors that allow plenty of ventilation.
At BCC meetings, various government officials representing the different branches of government attend and give updates on issues facing Brentwood (crime, homeless at the VA, traffic, etc.).
It is common to invite a guest speaker who goes into great detail on a particular issue of interest (water conservation, wildlife preservation, mail theft, fire prevention, home security systems, public transportation, etc.).
Jordan says NextDoor is a good source of hyper-local information. Recently, she heard of a mountain lion roaming the streets of Brentwood and BCC put out an email alert to tell local residents to keep a close watch on pets and children.
But sometimes residents who post on NextDoor get worked up about something that’s not actually true, she said. It can take few emails or phone calls to verify something or find out what’s really going on, she added.
Jordan said, while head of the BCC, she’d like to update BCC’s website, do more to create a feeling of community, and “greenify” Barrington Recreation Center, which is currently riddled by gopher holes. COVID did a lot to derail lots of plans in recent years, she said.
Any thoughts or plans on how to improve rush hour traffic on Sunset?
“I wish,” she answered.
Jordan is a real estate attorney with the firm of Glaser Weil. She is married to another attorney, Dan, also at Glaser Weil. The couple have two grown children and they take care of Carolyn’s father, now in his nineties, who lives with them in their house.
Though she juggles a lot, Carolyn Jordan doesn’t show any stress. Steady as we go.
