Valley Village: Anti-mansionization key to election of new council
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.
In April, the previous neighborhood countil board passed a motion to exempt the are west of Laurel Canyon Blvd. Ordinance that the Los Angeles Planning Commision later approved and the L.A. City Council will consider soon.
Some resident in the Valley Village area have been constructing large, multistory homes or expanding existing ones, often building right up to their property lines.
“Words cannot express how thankful we are to all who turned out to vote for us (and) walked, talked and e-mailed our message,” said Hatfield.
“The most important result of the election is that we have a motiviated majority on the board with diverse skills and energy. We can now make some real progress.”
Hatfield won his seat with 804 votes; his opponent, Mark “Shraga” Silver, received 177 votes.
All the winners received more than 700 votes, while non of tht hose not elected received more than 199 votes.
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