Recently in West Van Nuys / Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council Category

I'ts now official and the West Van Nuys Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council's Web site displays it proudly.

The L.A. City Council in October adopted a corrective measure officially naming the southwestern part of Van Nuys as Lake Balboa. This follows the placement of street signs designating the area as Lake Balboa back in 2002, but the administrative procedure was never finalized - until now.

The neighborhood council's Web site proudly states "Welcome to the new home of the Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council."

In its approval, the City Council also OK'd changing the proposed boundaries so that they omit the industrial area north of Saticoy Street, east of Van Nuys Airport and the airport itself. It also omits the area south of Victory Boulevard and west of Balboa Boulevard, but includes the park area south of Victory to the L.A. River.

That means Lake Balboa is in the community of Lake Balboa.

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.