Matt MacDougall is elected to the Ladera Ranch Civic Council

Ladera Ranch residents picked Matt MacDougall to join the community’s Civic Council where he’ll also serve as its treasurer.

MacDougall joined the five-member council after the Sept. 20 election. Public safety and business development top MacDougall’s list of priorities for the Civic Council, he said.

“It is time for me to give back to the community and be an advocate for the residents of Ladera Ranch,” said MacDougall.

MacDougall works at Fidelity Investments, specializing in financial services with an emphasis in workplace benefits and compensation programs. He is also a certified financial planner who oversees clients’ retirement plans, investments and taxes, to name a few.

“With my personal and professional background, I believe I can bring a unique perspective to the Ladera Ranch Civic Council,” said MacDougall.

MacDougall has been a resident of the Ladera Ranch community for more than 23 years, first in the Oak Knoll neighborhood and then moving to the Flintridge neighborhood in 2003. He and his wife, Lindsay MacDougall, have raised their four children — sons Nolan, Jack, Ryan and daughter Quinn — in the community.

MacDougall served as a youth flag football coach for 11 years for the Ladera Flag Football League, and he was a member of the Ladera Ranch Little League board for three years, including serving as its treasurer.

Six candidates, including MacDougall, bid for the position, and 636 total votes were recorded during the election, according to Vice Chairman John Gresko.

MacDougall assumes the treasurer role from previous member Kevin Martin, who served in the position for two years.

Additionally, Brandon Willnecker was reelected alongside MacDougall as a councilmember. Willnecker was first elected in 2022 to the council.

The Ladera Ranch community is an unincorporated area of Orange County that does not elect any government officials, said Gresko. The Civic Council serves as the community’s governing body in place of a city council and provides input and resolutions to its local governing official, County Supervisor Katerina Foley.

Each member of the council serves for a two-year term and can then run for re-election.