Doug McIntyre, morning talk show host on KABC Radio, will be the speaker at the next meeting of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, in the Sunkist Building, 14130 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks.

He will give his personal perspective on "Life in Los Angeles."

Learn the views of this controversial commentator who is a frequent guest on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" and "Politically Incorrect With Bill Mahr."

For more information, call 818-377-4590 or visit www.sohainfo.com.

The Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council's next community forum will feature a "Panel of Visionaries" offering perspectives and philosophies on what makes a great street.

The forum will be held from 8-11:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, in the auditorium at Kaiser Permanente, 5601 De Soto Ave., Woodland Hills.

Sustainability, mobility, accessability, walkability, ridability, enjoyability and profitability are all benefits of having a great street in a mixed-used development, according to the forum organizers.

Rick Cole, who has been city manager of Ventura since 2004, will be on the panel.

Called "one of Southern California's most visionary planning thinkers" by the L.A. Times, Cole is widely cited as an urban policy expert.

He previously served six years as city of manager of Azusa. Under Cole's leadership, Azusa was described as the "most improved city in the San Gabriel Valley" by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

For more information about the upcoming community forum, visit www.whcouncil.org.

LeeAnn M. Pelham, executive director of the L.A. Ethics Commission, spoke at the recent Valley VOTE meeting.

She discussed the Full Public Financing program that is being discussed in L.A. political circles and is currently under review by the L.A. neighborhood councils.

She said the office has been looking into FPF, has drawn some conclusions about it and is concerned about some issues.

Specifically, unlike the "Clean Money" approach - where a new public financing system would be started from scratch - her staff believes that it would be better for the city to build on its already-in-place "Partial Public Finance" system that has been used for many years for citywide offices, such as the mayor, controller and city attorney.

Among the critical issues are determination of how much a FPF program would cost the city and the amount of public funding that should be made available to each of the various candidates.

To read more about the Valley VOTE meeting and Pelham's talk, visit www.valleyvote.org.

The next meeting regarding a new K-8 school in Porter Ranch will be held at 6:30 p.m. July 9 at Germain Elementary School, 20730 Germain St., Chatsworth, according to the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council's Web site..

The purpose of the meeting is to review building placement and the proposed architecture style.

At the April 2 meeting about the school, there was "animated" discussion about drop-off access, sufficient kindergarten parent parking, emergency equipment, classroom features and a technology center, the Web site states.

For more information about the upcoming meeting and to see a color rendering of the school, visit www.prnc.org.

Neighborhood Council Valley Village is re-invigorating its Neighborhood Watch program, which it's now calling the Neighborhood Safety Network.

There are still block captain and grid captain spots available.

To register, visit www.myvalleyvillage.com and click on the "Neighborhood Watch" link at the top of the page.

In other Valley Village news, the Valley Village Homeowners Association will hold its annual Fourth of July Parade, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

To join the parade, meet at Colfax Elementary School, 11724 Addison St., North Hollywood.

The parade will head west on Addison, then north on Ben Avenue, east on Ostego, go across Colfax, head south on Irvine, east of Hesby and end at Valley Village Park.

L.A. Councilmember Wendy Greuel recently told the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association that she plans to expedite the installation of speed humps in the Library Square neighborhood of the community, according to the association's latest newsletter.

Speed humps and permanent bumpouts will be funded from a voluntary contribution by the developer of Best Buy, located west of the neighborhood, into the Library Square Traffic Mitigation Fund.

The association added it's waiting for a bid from the city contractor on the cost of bumpouts along Moorpark Street, as the engineering process has now been completed.

More than 300 people attended the Destiny of the West Valley community forum recently, showing a commitment to making Woodland Hills-Warner Center a great neighborhood, according to Stephen Box, of the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council, which sponsored the event.

The day began with the usual questions about 311 and potholes, Box stated, and L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky summed up the event by encouraging residents to take charge of their neighborhood.

The Daily News wrote a story about the forum. You can read it by clicking here.

The next community forum about the West Valley will be held on Aug. 16, Box stated.

The latest newsletter from the Valley Glen Neighborhood Association features lots of news about the community.

One story lets residents know that the Greater Valley Glen Council has purchased 100 Neighborhood Watch signs for posting throughout the community.

This is a great way to promote safety in your neighborhood. Residents and stakeholders who want signs posted in their area should contact Terry Anderson at 818-902-9066 or complete a request form at www.gvgc.us.

The newletter also states that the L.A. Parks Department reports that Valley Glen Community Park has $49,000 in state Quimby Act funds available for capital projects.

Improvements to the median along Whitsett Avenue, near Victory Boulevard, are complete. Twenty new trees have been planted, the newsletter states.

Also, work continues on the Vanowen Triangle at Vanowen Street and Fulton Avenue, where Sprint is completing its cell tower. An American flag will be displayed from the tower soon.

To read the entire newsletter, visit www.valleyglen.org.

The Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council will host a town hall meeting with L.A. Councilman Tony Cardenas, of the Sixth Council District, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26.

The meeting will be held at a private residence at 6455 Dempsey Ave., Lake Balboa.

For more information, call Cardenas' Van Nuys office at 818-778-4999.

A community forum called "Destiny of the West Valley" will be held from 8-11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 21, in the auditorium at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, 5601 De Soto Ave. Woodland Hills.

The free, public meeting, sponsored by the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council, will feature a panel of officials who will cover important issues that face the West Valley including traffic congestion, urban design, water reclamation, energy conservation, mass transit, accessibility, mobility, walkability and livability.

"I know many of you are as concerned as I am about our community and its quality of life," said Joyce Pearson, chair of the neighborhood council. "And only you, as a community, can bring a force for the right kind of change on our neighborhoods."

Denny Zane, former mayor of Santa Monica who spearheaded the revitalization of the Third Street Promenade, will address the economics of a walkable community as well as the funding sources for an effective mass transit system.

Gloria Ohland, vice president of Reconnecting America and host of the recent StreetCar Conference in LA, will present transportation options that improve the quality of life in the community, have a positive economic impact for property owners and that relieve congestion and provide viable choices for commuters.

Larry E. Smith, executive director of North East Trees and innovator behind the Green Streets project, will demonstrate how a commitment to improving the quality of life by restoring nature's services will result in water-reclamation standards that will be the envy of the city.

For more information, call Stephen Box at 323-962-6540

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke at the most recent Valley VOTE meeting.

According to a report by David De Voss, Villaraigosa said he's had a good relationship with the organization because, though he was against the San Fernando Valley's attempt to secede a few years ago, he didn't berate the people behind the move.

He wanted to listen to their concerns and fix the problems.

Read DeVoss' entire report follows:

Because of the importance of the proposed gang injunction to Sylmar, the Sylmar Neighborhood Council will hold a town hall meeting at 6:15 pm. June 18 to serve as a forum where residents can get their questions answered and hear all sides of this complicated issue.

The meeting will be in Spartan Hall at Sylmar High School, 13050 Borden Ave., Sylmar.

Panelists will include representatives from LAPD and the city attorney's office as well as L.A. Councilman Richard Alarcon and Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes.

For more information, visit www.sylmarneighborhoodcouncil.org.

The Winnetka Neighborhood Council's events committee is gearing up to sponsor Family Cultural Earth Day, in cooperation with the Valley Cultural Center, from 2-8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, in Warner Center Park on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, south of Califa Street, in Woodland Hills.

The event, which will feature musician BJ Thomas, is designed to bring residents and businesses together to have fun and learn about energy conservation that can help the environment and save money.

The event will feature businesses and organizations from the greater Los Angeles area, live entertainment/music, food, games, gifts, prizes and guest speakers.

It will showcase the latest products and ideas to consumers that promote energy conservation such as energy efficient lighting, solar and alternative power systems, irrigation systems, energy efficient appliances, windows, doors and air conditioning/heating systems. Fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles, waste disposal systems and other ways to save money will be featured.

To feature your business, please contact TJ Martens 818-772-9275.

BJ Thomas, the artist known for "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" and "Hooked on a Feeling," will peform at 6 p.m.

The Greenbike™ will have a celebrity Greenbike ride, which will end at Warner Center Park. After they finish, all participating celebrities will sign one bike, which will be raffled during the afternoon.

The Mayor's office is planning to donate 100 one-gallon trees to give away. The neighborhood council plans to provide fans as giveaways.

The Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council will sponsor a celebration of the new shade coverings at Holleigh Bernson Park from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.

The board heard many complaints about the lack of shade at the park, which opened in June 2006, and partnered with L.A. Councilman Greig Smith to solve the problem.

The PRNC spent $17,000, which was matched by Smith, to provide the two beautiful coverings. And just in time for summer.

Lunch will be provided at the celebration, prepared by the Red Cross as part of its continuing emergency training.

Also on hand will be Carol Parks of the LA Office of Emergency Preparedness, Brownies, Cub Scouts, Girl and Boy Scouts, Boy Scout Venturing, Fire Explorers, Red Cross Youth Volunteers and the YMCA.

All will offer emergency related information, volunteer and participation opportunities and freebies.

The park features a children's play area, restrooms, two basketball courts and a baseball diamond.

It is located at 20500 Sesnon Blvd. in Porter Ranch and is open from dawn to dusk.

For more information, visit www.prnc.org.

At its next meeting, the Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council will discuss whether to give money to the West Valley Alliance to continue to combat graffiti in the area.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church of Granada Hills, 11011 Hayvenhurst Ave., Granada Hills.

The West Valley Alliance is the nonprofit contractor assigned to remove graffiti in the West Valley.

The alliance removes the graffiti for free, including on private property, with the owner's permission.

To report graffiti to the West Valley Alliance, call its new phone number, 818-885-8885.