Local volunteer Brian Earley is seen as ‘a natural fit’ for new role as MAD manager for La Jolla’s Village

After a surprise resignation by Maintenance Assessment District Manager Mary Montgomery, the Enhance La Jolla board has named community volunteer and La Jolla Shores resident Brian Earley as the new MAD manager.

Enhance La Jolla administers the MAD with authority to enhance services in The Village provided by the city of San Diego, including landscape maintenance, street and sidewalk cleaning, litter and graffiti abatement and additional trash collection, and to privately fund and complete capital improvement projects in public spaces, such as upgraded trash cans, bench installation, sign augmentation, park improvements, more public art and tree canopies on main thoroughfares.

Earley said his goal is to develop solid relationships with various city departments so crews “act faster when something happens in an area of need.”

“The position is both administrative and boots on the ground,” he said. “I hope to continue the same level of service to the assessed property owners and the people who use our sidewalks to shop and enjoy the sights that are uniquely our coastal enclave.”

In addition to MAD manager, Earley is chairman of the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board and a supporter of the La Jolla Historical Society.

“When people heard about the [MAD] opening, a lot of people recommended Brian” because of his presence in the community, said Enhance La Jolla Chairman Ed Witt. “And we’re thrilled to have him.”

Witt added that Earley is “methodically and extremely thoughtful and he knows The Village and the city and its processes. He’s a natural fit, and I have every confidence that he will be successful.”

Earley said he was drawn to the position as he’s followed the establishment and development of the MAD in recent years.

“Most people who keep their eye on the community of La Jolla read about the formation of the La Jolla MAD [in 2016]. I was one of them,” he said. “Knowing about the MADs and how they are called into action and formulated, you have to know there is a need for a higher level of beauty for the most visited areas of La Jolla … one of California’s great coastal communities, if not in the country. It’s visited by people all around the world, so it is a unique honor to be chosen for the district manager position.”

A month after his appointment, Earley was on hand at the La Jolla Village Merchants Association meeting this month to tout Enhance La Jolla’s flower basket replacement project, in which more than two dozen freshly planted flower baskets suspended from lampposts along Girard Avenue between Prospect and Silverado streets were rehung from new brackets and chains.

Enhance La Jolla began meeting in 2017 after the MAD was approved by local property owners the year before. With the MAD now solidly in operation, Earley said he sees his role as helping to continue to find opportunities to “take a stressed infrastructure, such as the sidewalks, and do more with what we have. We look to use every dollar of our budget and make it count in as much acreage as we can get to.”

Montgomery was appointed MAD manager in July 2020 and recently resigned without warning. Witt said he
doesn’t know the reason. Montgomery could not be reached for comment.

Enhance La Jolla meets quarterly or as needed. The next scheduled meeting is at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 20, at a location to be determined. For more information, visit enhancelajolla.org. ◆