The O’Grady household is a busy one. We are raising our four children at the family home (that Tomas built) in Los Feliz. Eireann (15) is in 10th grade at Marshall High School Magnet and plays on the Marshall Tennis team. Lauren (13) is in her final year (8th grade) at Thomas Starr King Gifted Magnet School in Los Feliz and is a musician. Ryan Tyler O’Grady (11), as he likes to be called, proudly graduated from Franklin Elementary school and has just begun his first year at Thomas Starr King Gifted Magnet School. He fancies himself a good soccer player. Baby Dylan (5) is no longer a baby. A recent graduate of the Neighborhood Nursery School in Silver Lake where both Tomas and I have been active for many years, Dylan just started kindergarten in Mrs. Garvey’s class at Franklin Elementary.

CITY HALL COULD USE SOME OLD FASHIONED VALUES

I was raised on a farm in Ireland, so I’m no stranger to hard work and know the value of being resourceful when “throwing money at a problem” simply isn’t an option.  Justine and I are raising our 4 children in Los Feliz with the values given to us by our parents. Put in an honest day’s work, mind your pennies, care for the land, save for a rainy day and look out for your neighbor.

I came to the United States with $80 in my pocket and was lucky enough to meet Justine, a California girl and we began our life together restoring old brownstones in Hoboken, New Jersey. We look back with the fondest of memories of those long days of woodworking.  We designed and built our family home in Los Feliz with our own hands and we hope that it will remain in our family for many generations to come.

We live within our means. We think City Hall should do the same. We worry about the kind of city that our children will inherit. While the other candidates are very nice people, we simply think that because they are from city hall, they will be unable to make the changes that are clearly necessary.

We are trying to raise our children to not only be ambitious but to carry with them a sense of responsibility for our planet and for others. We have tried to lead by example. Tomas and I have served and helped in just about every capacity that you can think of in our public schools over the years. We think it a well lived life to do so, even though we do overdo it sometimes. Our home is the HQ for EnrichLA and our campaign office. We like the hustle and bustle, most of the time at least. Eireann and Lauren are getting to the age where they are becoming more independent. We hope that we will get to know you and your family throughout the campaign. By Justine Tyler O’Grady