May 2008 Archives

Julie Rajan, executive director of the California Clean Money Campaign, and Trent Lange, the organization's president, will speak at the next meeting of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Associaiton at 7:15 p.m. June 18 in the Sunkist Building, 14130 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks.

They will discuss topics such as "Would Clean Money Campaign rules change L.A. City Hall?" and "Is this the one reform that makes all other reforms possible?"

Also to be discussed will be issues such as should the city subsidize campaigns to keep special interests from controlling elected officials, will it reduce the powerful developers and unions and will be the best candidates be elected?

For more information, call 818-377-4590, e-mail soha914@gmail.com or visit www.sohainfo.com.

Six candidates are running for open seats on the Encino Neighborhood Council.

They are, Diane Rosen, running for planning and land-use representative, Jean Strauber, running for education representative, Louis Krokover, running for business representative, Sherman Gamson, running for apartment/condo representative, Jeff Katofsky, running for businesss representative, and Sharon Brewer, running for park advocate/environmental representative.

The write-in candidate filing deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 25.

The election will be held from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 28, at the Encino Community Center, 4935 Balboa Ave., Encino.

For more information, call the L.A. City Clerk's office at 213-978-0001.

To download a candidate filing packet, visit www.encinocouncil.org.

A Neighborhood Safety Network is being started in Valley Village, with a focus on emergency preparedness and Neighborhood Watch.

Neighborhood Council Valley Village, in partnership with the Valley Village Homeowners Association and the office of L.A. Councilmember Wendy Greuel, will hold a town hall meeting about the new program from 6:30-9 p.m. tonight at Colfax Elementary School, 11724 Addison St.

The meeting will have a Community Emergency Preparedness Team (CERT) overview and information on the next training sessions necessary to become a member of the CERT program.

Expected speakers include Manny Arreygue, senior lead officer with the North Hollywood Police Department, Ken Saito, neighborhood prosecutor, Evan Roosevelt, from Councilwoman Greuel's office, Bill North, CERT coordinator for the Valley Village CERT program, Tony Willis, Valley Village CERT 3 coordinator, as well as Robin Ibrahim and Wayne Kartin, CERT coordinators for Battalion 14.

"With the recent earthquakes in China and other natural disasters around the globe, this is a wake-up call for all of us," said Dorothy Apple, NCVV board member and organizer. "Our goal is to protect Valley Village and make sure that our stakeholders are as prepared as possible for any natural disaster, and that we continue to watch out for each other as part of an effective neighborhood watch crime prevention program."

The meeting is open to all Valley Village residents.

Valley Glen has done fairly well in the recent economic downturn that's hit the San Fernando Valley - and the country.

That's according to a recent housing and economic forecast event sponsored by the Valley Glen Neighborhood Association.

Association member Mickey Jannol and the other panelists were not licensed economists nor do they hold advanced degrees in aconomics, but they did have plenty to information to share and trends to study.

For example, home prices in Valley Glen are down 10-15 percent for their peak, on par with Studio City.

The compares with Sherman Oaks, which has seen a 20 percent decline, and Reseda, which has experienced a 40 percent decrease, according to information shared at the event.

Jannol and the other panelists said Valley Glen is getting buyers from Studio City and Sherman Oaks, who sell their homes for perhaps less than the median price of $900,000 to $1 million, say for $800,000.

They have equity in their homes and good credit, which allows them to buy a $650,000 home in Valley Glen that is bigger and they can improve.

Home prices in Valley Glen will drop another 10 percent before it's all over, according to the panel. The first year that prices will stop dropping will be 2010, the panel added.

To read all about the housing and economic forecast for Valley Glen, visit www.valleyglen.org..

The Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council will hold a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 21, to discuss proposed improvements to the interchange of the San Diego Freeway (I-405) and the Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101).

Caltrans has stated the purpose of the project is to improve safety, operation, capacity and traffic flow.

Plans call to replace the existing connector from the southbound I-405 to the westbound U.S. 101 with an upgraded connector consisting of a new two-lane, 50-mph bridge, spanning over the spillway of the Sepulveda Dam.

Four different proposals are being considered by Caltrans.

One of the proposals would result in traffic from Burbank Boulevard losing access to both directions of U.S. 101.

Two of the proposals would result in construction of a loop on-ramp from Burbank Boulevard that would encroach onto the Sepulveda Dam Basin Wildlife Refuge.

Caltrans is accepting written comments regarding this project from the public through May 28.

Public comments will be accepted at the June 21 meeting. Residents are asked to fill out a "speaker card" to address the Neighborhood Council Board.

For more information, visit www.lakebalboanc.org.

The Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council has started a new program to honor one community stakeholder a month.

The inaugural stakeholder honored is Consuella Mackey, a resident of Granada Hills for more than 24 years.

She is the founder of Operation Confidence, a nonprofit that has helped more than 11,000 physically disabled individuals gain meaningful employment and live independently.

Not only has Consuella been recognized by the neighborhood council, she was selected nearly four years ago as a participant for ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which turned her two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom house into a five-bedroom, four-bath home full of beautiful furniture.

To read more about Consuella's honor or the Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council, visit www.ghsnc.org.

The Los Angeles Unified School District will hold a meeting about a new elementary school planned for the Sutter Middle School campus from 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday.

The meeting will be held in the auditorium of Sutter Middle School, 7335 N. Lubao Ave., Winnetka.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss construction time frames, possible inconveniences and who to contact for assistance.

A ground-breaking ceremony for the new school will be held at 1 p.m Wednesday, June 4, at the school site. The event will be open to the public.

For more information, visit www.winnetkanc.com.

In early April, the Los Angeles United School District offered to share campuses with nearly 40 charter schools. Taft High School in Woodland Hills was one of the proposed shared campuses, according to the Web site for the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council.

Shortly thereafter, former LAUSD Superintendent Ray Cortines re-joined the school district, this time as the senior deputy superintendent.

Then, the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council convened a town hall meeting at Taft and a standing-room-only audience let Cortines, LAUSD Boardmember Marlene Canter and a full panel of LAUSD officials know that the community was vehemently opposed to compromising the Taft High program by sharing the campus with a charter school, the neighborhood council's Web site states.

Recently, LAUSD announced that, in spite of the threat of litigation, the district is rescinding seven of the charter offers that were made, including the offer to CHAMPS Charter for classroom space at Taft High School.

Shortly after that, LAUSD announced that all responsibilties for day-to-day district operations have been shifted to Cortines.

LAUSD will hold a public meeting about construction of Valley Region High School #4 in Granada Hills from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, May 15, according to the Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council's Web site.

It will be held in the auditorium of Patrick Henry Middle School, 17340 San Jose St., Granada Hills.

Construction of the new school, located at 10445 Balboa Blvd., is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2008 and expected to be complete in 2011.

For more informatin, call Joseph D. Pina, LAUSD Community Outreach, at 213-893-6809.

A switch-on ceremony was held Friday for a long-awaited - and much-needed - traffic signal in the Rancho Cascades area.

The signal, at the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Yarnell Street, has been under construction for more than a year, according to the Sylmar Neighborhood Council's Web site.

The installation was initially delayed because the original wiring was obsolete and needed to be replaced.

Construction was further delayed because of challenges meeting requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It appears the signal could not be turned on until there was a crosswalk, which could not be painted until there was a curb cut and ADA-compliant sidewalk.

The signal was required by the developer of Cascades in order to mitigate traffic resulting from the development.

In the next few days, there will be street improvements such as striping and reflector installation at the corner of Yarnell and Foothill.

Looking for some deals?

The Valley Glen Neighborhood Association will hold its seventh annual yard sale from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at 13422 Oxnard St.

The association appreciates all donations, but cannot accept couches or sofas.

Would you like your items picked up on Friday, May 16, and transported to the sale?

To schedule a pick-up time, call Mickey Jannol at 818-613-6311.

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be the speaker at the next meeting of Valley VOTE (Voters Organized Toward Empowerment) at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the second-floor meeting room of Galpin Ford, 1555 Roscoe Blvd., Van Nuys, near the 405 Freeway.

Villaraigosa's last visit to Valley VOTE was back in February 2005, when he was a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles.

He made a number of commitments at that meeting on his plans for the Valley.

He stated, "For too long, the San Fernando Valley has been treated as the neglected stepchild of Los Angeles. For me, the message is very simple: 'Slow down, take notice, share with us and include us in the City of Angels' ... As mayor, that is just what I will do."

There will be a question-and-answer session after the Mayor's presentation.

Space is limited, so if you're going to attend, please RSVP to either Joe Vitti at javittisr@cs.com or Richard Leyner at rleyner@socal.rr.com or 818-742-1638.

For more information, visit www.valleyvote.org.

BongHwan Kim was named general manager of Los Angeles' Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) yesterday.

He has served as interim general manager since last November and is the first Korean-American general manager in the city's history.

He took the position on the interim basis after the death of Carol Baker Tharp.

According to a press release from the city, Kim will work with Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Neighborhood Council Review Commission (INCRC), who will serve as a consultant to DONE.

Last September, the NCRC issued its final report, exploring the neighborhood council system created by voters in 1999 and recommending changes to make the system more effective.

DONE's mission is to promote public participation in government through the neighborhood council system, according to the city's release.

Many people look around their community and don't realize how much neighborhood councils do.

The Tarzana Neighborhood Council's Web site recently outlined several of the donations it has made to improve the local community.

Donations include:

$500 to the Valley-wide Student Art Show held at the Madrid Theatre

$500 to the annual Salute to Recreation celebration

$2,500 to the Valley Cultural Center's summer concert/film series held in Warner Center Park

$1,600 for a counselor at Nestle Elementary School

$2,977 for a customized computer for the Los Angeles Fire Department

$2,243 for benches at the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies, located in Tarzana

$1,800 for "A Thirsty City," an educational environmental program by Theatre of Will, to be presented in all elementary schools in Tarzana

$2,579 for a sound system at the Tarzana Recreation Center

For more information, visit www.tarzananc.org.

Are you an organization in Chatworth that has a wish list?

Why not share it with the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council>

There's a link on the council's Web site, www.chatsworthcouncil.org, where organizations can identify things they need.

Two organizations that have posted information are the Friends of the Chatsworth Library and the Chatsworth Equine Cultural Heritage Organization.

The Friends' group is seeking volunteers to help at its used bookstore inside the Chatsworth Library, and the equine committee is seeking donations to support its efforts to educate the public about Chatsworth's equestrian lifestyle and support its protection.

At the April 28 meeting of the Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council, LAPD Officer Dario Del Core gave crime statistics for northern Granada Hills.

He said violent crime is down and property crimes decreased by 1 percent compared to last year.

There was one recent fatality that involved a young motorist.

Dario said it was so slow in the Devonshire Division in April that the division actually sent a car to the Westside to help with a call.

For more information, visit www.lapd.org and select the Devonshire region or sign up for a free newsletter.

The Winnetka Neighborhood Council sent a letter recently to the Los Angeles Planning Department supporting approval of requested zoning changes, an alcohol permit and site plan - include a 24-hour drive-thru - for the proposed Long's Drugstore at 19725 Vanowen St.

The plan calls for landscaping, a walkway and a patrio on the west side of the parking lot as well as the remodeling of a nearby Marshalls department store.

The council also asked that the property owners request that Long's Drugs and the existing Vallarta grocery store and Marshalls install a shopping cart protection system.

In the letter, the council said the community is plagued with abandoned shopping carts, some of which come from the Vallarta.