Arlis Reynolds is a Costa Mesa Council Member and represents Costa Mesa District 5, one of two westside Costa Mesa districts. She is the first person elected to represent District 5 as part of the City of Costa Mesa’s historical first District Elections and was sworn in on December 4, 2018.
Arlis grew up in the Freedom Homes neighborhood of Westside Costa Mesa and attended all local schools, including A Child’s Place, Pomona Elementary, Victoria Elementary, TeWinkle Middle School, and Estancia High School (where she captained the varsity volleyball and soccer teams). Arlis earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a member of the Executive MBA Program at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business. She works as a consultant in the clean-energy industry, specializing in impact evaluation of energy efficiency and clean energy projects and technologies.
Prior to joining the City Council, Arlis served as Vice Chair of Costa Mesa’s Parks and Recreation Commission and as Commission liaison to the Fairview Park Steering Committee. She is committed to protecting our parks and public spaces and supports protecting Fairview Park as a passive, public nature park. Arlis is committed to broader sustainability and environmental efforts, and in 2016, was recognized in the Daily Pilot’s “Unsung Hero” series for her approach to sustainable living and my contributions to stopping the development project at Banning Ranch.
Her priorities for Costa Mesa include improving public safety, making our neighborhoods more walk- and bike-friendly, enhancing our local parks, and protecting the charm and creative spirit that defines Costa Mesa.
Arlis comes from a long line of public service, as her grandfather worked in law enforcement, and her grandmother was a school principal for more than 40 years with the L.A. Unified School District. Both her parents had 30-year careers as public school teachers, and her brother, also an Estancia High School graduate, is a Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice.
Councilmember Reynolds lives in the Freedom Homes neighborhood of District 5 with her pup Zoe and her cat Peanut and hosts a Little Free Library to share books and notes with her neighbors.
