October 2007 Archives

BY SUZANNE LEWIS
Member, Neighborhood Council Valley Village

A record number of residents showed up at the polls Oct. 17 to elect eight members to the Neighborhood Council Valley Village who have promised to stop mansionization.

A total of 995 votes were cast, with seven provisional ballots. The polls were at Colfax Elementary School.

The new board of directors – which ran as the “Slate of Eight” - are: member at large- Paul Hatfield; business owners Richard Gauthier, Annalisa Engelback and Andrew Sacher; community service-based organization representative David C. Engelbach; and renters Tony Braswell, Suzanne Lewis and Steven L. Stokes.

The new board members vowed to protect local neighborhoods and put a halt to mansionization, which has been a significant issue in the community.

From November to January, 60 holiday trees purchased by the Reseda Neighborhood Council will be displayed in the downtown business district, along Reseda Boulevard, from Valerio and Hart streets and along Sherman Way, from Wilbur to Lindley avenues. In mid-January, the decorations will be replaced with 60 “Welcome to Reseda” banners, which were redesigned by the council.

Airport Noise Committee Chair Wayne Williams reports that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has appointed three new resident-friendly members to the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council (VNY CAC). VNY CAC is almost exclusively pro-aviation and has been successful at moving the frustation of residents away from public officials.

By replacing pro-aviation members with new individuals, Villaraigosa is supporting crowded communities that are affected by aviation noise in the valley. Williams, a member of the VNY CAC and appointed by City Councilmember Jack Weiss, thanked Villaraigosa for his awareness and action supporting the residents. Williams hopes to soon have anti-noise supporters appointed to the advisory council by L.A. Councilmembers Wendy Greuel, Richard Alarcon, and Dennis Zine. This would bring balance to the VNY CAC.

Claims of less traffic have been made for the Library Square neighborhood, near the new Best Buy on Van Nuys Boulevard. Pat Davenport, field deputy for Councilmember Wendy Greuel, reports that the requests on how to reduce traffic have been honored. Signs forbidding trucks more than 6,000 gross weight will take effect at the intersection of Milbank and Sylmar soon, as well as in Milbank Street and Hazeltine Avenue.

Other issues to be considered include delivery trucks cutting through residential neighborhoods, not including resident deliveries. Davenport also reports that the city's department of street services is installing new bumpouts, or curb extentions, along Moorpark Street. These bumpouts are being paid for with $175,000 contributed by Best Buy.

Ana Munsell of Tom LaBonge's office has stated that the North Holloywood portion of the bike path that runs from Vineland to Mariposa avenues in Burbank will be completed in March. Rain delays have pushed the schedule back, though work progressis going quickly now.

The WVNLBNC announced the winners of its Emergency Preparedness Slogan Contest, which was judged by LAFD Capt. Stacy Gerlich, the director of disaster preparedness for Los Angeles and head of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training. Gerlich personally attended the neighborhood council meetings where the prizes were handed out just to congradulate the winners.

The first-place prize - a $25 gift card to SOS Emergency Preparedness Supplies – was given to Arnie Meisner for his slogan: “Seismic Matters – (But) You'll Be Less Scared if You're Prepared!”

There was a tie for the second-place prize, which was a EP Kit with water, food, a light stick, an emergency blanket, a whistle and first-aid supplies in a vinyl carrying case. It was awarded to Nadine Ritter and Alan Litt. Ritter's winning slogan was “The Window of Opportunity is Before it Breaks!” Litt's winning slogan was “California Has Its Faults!” or “California is Full of Shift!”

The third-place winners were Bob Fink, Karen Kenny, Karen Olds, Rebecca Westberg, Bill McRae, Elmer Jesperson and Jeff Edelstein.

On Oct. 21, the American Legion Post 308 celebrated its 80th Birthday with a dinner/dance in the late afternoon. The party was held at lodge, 7338 Canby Ave., Reseda. The party was to celebrate the formation of Post 308 on Oct. 15, 1927 by 14 local men, including Dr. W.K. Hendrick, who was the first post commander, and one woman. They were all WWI veterans. The current post commander is John Mika.

On Oct. 6, the SCNC board voted unanimously to support a Community Impact Statement reinforcing concerns about Senate Bill 1818. Los Angeles Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky sent a four-page letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa expressing the flaws of the SB1818, which allows for a range of density bonuses up to 35 percent based on the percentage of affordable units in adevelopment. Villaraigosa says the efforts to increase afforable housing by limiting the height of buildings is a “poorly thought-out effort.” Villaraigosa shares some of the same concerns and hopes to work them out.

The Crime and Safety Committee (CSC) of the Studio City Neighborhood Council (SCNC) contacted the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and subsequently had 11 new area lights installed on Arch Drvie and nine new area lights in the alley behind the motels on Ventura Boulevard. It's hoped they will counter the increasing number of crimes in this particular section of Studio City.

The next Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council's public safety meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 6:30p.m. The meeting location will be at the VIVA Gallery, 13261 Moorpark St., Sherman Oaks. To learn more about the meetings, contact the PSC Co-Chairs Zach Behrens at zbehrens@shermanoaksnc.org or Anthony St. John at astjohn@shermanoaksnc.org.

Help save some horses that will be slaughtered! There's a drastic reduction of horses being used to produce Premarin, which is made, in part, with pregnant mare urine (PMU). Many farms have not only PMU baby horses, but also PMU mares that will be sent to be slaughtered if they are not adopted. For more information, visit theanimalfarm.com , heavencanwait.us or unitedpegasus.com.

The NHWNC is looking for stakeholders in the North Hills West area who would like to be on the grievance committee whose job it is to listen to grievances, also known as legal complaints, by the public to the council. The council will have a panel of five randomly selected stakeholders who would like to be involved.

Once the committee is put together, it is one member's job to write a collective report with recommendations to solve the grievances. The report should be written 14 days after the panel meets.

If you are interested, place email Secretary Linda Freeman at Irlee@prodigy.net.

From Nov. 3-10, the Cub and Boy Scouts in Reseda will have their annual food drive called “Good Turn for America,” where they walk around the community asking people to donate non-perishable food. On Nov. 10, Troop 148 plans to deliver the food collected to shelters and local pantries in the San Fernando Valley for Thanksgiving. To directly deliver food for the food drive, go to 7060 Amigo Ave. in Reseda, one block south of Sherman Way and two blocks west of Reseda Boulevard, or contact Scouting for Food Chairman Sami Dahdal at (818) 915-1411, who can arrange a pick-up.