March Wake Up! Newport – State of the City with Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill

Mayor Will O’Neill was elected to the Newport Beach Council Council in November 2016 and re-elected in November 2020.

He served as Mayor in 2020, which he initially designated as “The Year Of The Volunteer” as a way to recognize the many people improving our community and surrounding areas using their time and talents.  2020, of course, did not go as planned and Will helped coordinate the city’s response to COVID and its attendant government shutdowns, attended to a community in mourning after losing nine members in a helicopter crash, helped coordinate a city-wide campaign to #SupportLocal, and spent significant time working with the local schools to ensure a safe return of our children to a structured environment.

He is currently serving in his second term on City Council and second term as Mayor, having been re-elected to City Council in 2020 by more votes than any other candidate in Newport Beach history.  He has been a stalwart champion of fiscal responsibility as a multi-year Chair of the city’s Finance Committee, emphasizing balanced budgets, fully-funded public safety programs, and reducing debt and unfunded pension liabilities.

He graduated from Stanford University (B.A. History) where he lettered on the track and field team.  He then graduated from U.C. Hastings College of the Law (J.D.), where he later served as the President of the U.C. Hastings Board of Governors in the 2016/2017 term.

His wife, Jenny, is a former elementary school teacher.  They met at the Stanford-USC football game in 2007.  They have two children who will hopefully understand someday how blessed they are to be raised in Newport Beach.

He regularly shares local news on Instagram and Twitter under the handles @RealWillONeill and can be contacted directly by email at woneill@newportbeachca.gov.