DEL REY HOMEOWNERS & NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION
BOARD MEETING OF MAY 7, 2007

Italicized remarks are post-meeting comments by the Recording Secretary.

Roll Call and Introduction of Guests: Janice Santos, Parliamentarian; Chris Nevil, President; George Gross, 1st VP and Webmaster; Wendy Averill, 2d VP; Elizabeth Pollock, Recording Secretary; Tobyann Mandel, Corresponding Secretary; Marlene Savage, Director; Casey Anderson, Director & Membership Chair; Steve Knight, Advisor.
Guests: Donald Dombrowski; Gail Sharp of Venice Japanese Community Center; Drake Madison, Senior Lead Officer; Gloria H. Prado, Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office; Veronica de la Cruz-Robles, School Safety Prosecutor; Steve Sugerman, publicist for California Landmark Properties.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the April 9, 2007 board meeting were reviewed and approved.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Michelle Rudo could not attend the meeting, but before the meeting, she circulated a Treasurer’s Report with the dues received and expenses paid during April 2007. This report was approved as submitted. The budget report for 2007 must be revised to incorporate changed budget figures and probably will be submitted at the June 2007 meeting.

NEW BUSINESS
Senior Lead Office Drake Madison has replaced Pete Llanes. He has been with the Los Angeles Police Department since 1997 and in Pacific Division since 1998. The graffiti in the area is more tagging than gang work. The L.A.P.D. is still working on the home invasion robbery that occurred at 11322 Youngworth St. on April 23, 2007.
Guest Don Dombrowski asked why the local police bike patrols do not bicycle to the beach along the Ballona Bikeway. (SLO Madison is bike certified.) Don Dombrowski will donate two bikes to the L.A.P.D. if they will be used in the Del Rey/Mar Vista area.
If one needs to call the police: (1) call 911 if someone’s life is in danger; (2) call 1-877-ASK-LAPD if there is a nonemergency disturbance (quality of life issues); (3) if officer input is needed, call SLO Madison’s cell phone [SOMEONE PLEASE SUPPLY – I DID NOT GET THE HANDOUT]; (4) if one has a low priority call, call the Pacific Division receptionist (310) 482-6334. He did not know if Pacific Division still needs citizen volunteers to free up officers for policing duties.

School Prosecutor Program – In March 2007, the City Attorney started a pilot project at Venice, Fremont, Arleta and Paramount High Schools. City Attorney Veronica de la Cruz-Robles has been working at Venice High. She is an alumna and lives in Del Rey. She can prosecute misdemeanors, and part of her assignment has been to ensure that local liquor stores do not sell alcohol or cigarettes to minors. She has checked on the 14 registered sex offenders living near the school, and 13 are in compliance with the reporting laws. Funding for the School Prosecutor program is about to be cut (four months after the start of the program). The Los Angeles City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee is slated to hear the matter on May 10, 2007.
DRHNA agreed to write and send a letter of support, delivering it before the May 10 hearing. Tobyann Mandel abstained.
[Tobyann: Do you have a copy of the letter as it went out?]
The City Council did agree to fund the program for the July 1, 2007- June 30, 2008 fiscal year.

Del Rey Arts District: Steve Sugerman’s client, California Landmark Properties, has four projects in the Glencoe Maxella Specific Plan Area (1000 housing units). He wanted DRHNA’s support to designate the area bounded by Del Rey Avenue on the west, Washington Blvd. on the north, Redwood St. on the east and Maxella on the south as the “Del Rey Arts District.” George Gross expressed that although “Del Rey Design District” might be appropriate, not enough artists live and/or work in the area to warrant an “Arts District” designation. DRHNA decided to hold off and reconsider the issue in six months. The Del Rey Neighborhood Council (“DRNC”) was slated to consider the issue on Thursday, May 10, 2007.
Steve Sugerman is a former Fleishman-Hillard executive who founded Sugerman Communications Group. In a plea deal in 2005, Sugerman admitted that he had assisted in the overbilling the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power by over $120,000. In September 2006 Sugerman was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to 250 hours of community service.

Traffic Committee: Tabled.

Newsletter: Tabled.

Council District 11: Councilman Rosendahl’s field deputy, Nicole Velasquez, has been admitted to the U.C.L.A. graduate program in urban planning. She is hoping that she can continue as the Del Rey deputy while she in school.
The website, www.councilmanrosendahl.com highlights key local issues.
The Mar Vista Community Council’s Concept Committee has scheduled a meeting to discuss the future of the Palms/Mar Vista/Del Rey Community Plan.
She is still waiting for an update on the status of the left turn lanes at the intersection of Culver Blvd. and the 90 freeway.
On May 14, 2007, at 6:30 p.m., the Empowerment Congress Transportation Committee will be meeting to discuss converting Olympic and Pico Boulevards to one way streets. She circulated application forms for people interested in joining Councilman Rosendahl’s Empowerment Congress.
The Department of Transportation cannot prohibit U turns at Centinela and Alberta, but a longer green light at the Centinela/90 freeway onramp intersection has been been requested.
City funding for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is likely to be cut in the 2007-2008 budget.
Grieg Asher, Councilman Rosendahl’s planning deputy, has said that the new owner of the former U.S. Postal Service property on Jefferson Blvd. is planning to lease the building as warehouse space for three to five years.
The recent repairs to Jefferson Blvd. were paid for by Playa Vista.
What is the status of the lighting on the Centinela Bridge?

General Meeting - The Marina Middle School auditorium is difficult to find, so we will look for a different venue for our next meeting.

Website – Webmaster George Gross recently posted information about some musical programs being offered in Del Rey. He will “post what he gets.”

Del Rey Neighborhood Council – Next meeting is Thursday, May 10, 2007, at 7 p.m.. The DRNC will discuss holding a Concept Plan workshop to review the Palms/Mar Vista/Del Rey Community Plan. They will be discussing some bylaws changes, the 2007-2008 budget, a motion to endorse POWER’s plan to get a DASH bus for Del Rey. Geoff Maleman will be making a presentation about the Upward Bound project in Culver City. The project provides music education for underprivileged youth.

Culver City Liaison: Still looking for someone for this position.

Del Rey Map: Elizabeth Pollock has the map program we will need to make a new map of the DRHNA’s boundaries, but before we order the map, the DRHNA board needs to agree on which areas should be included in DRHNA’s territory.
DRHNA’s boundaries are not contiguous with the DRNC’s boundaries because DRHNA includes the county land west of Centinela, whereas DRNC is a City of Los Angeles entity. DRHNA does not include the Villa Marina area because Villa Marina has its own homeowners’ association. However, Villa Marina is covered by the DRNC. (The map at www.villamarinacouncil.com shows Villa Marina as being bounded by the Marina Freeway on the north, by Mindanao Way on the west, and by commercial properties on the east and south.) DRHNA’s members are residents of Del Rey, not businesses; DRNC’s “stakeholders” include anyone who lives and/or works in Del Rey.
In 2006, DRHNA changed its boundaries to include DRNC’s Area A, which is bounded on the north by Washington Blvd., on the west by Del Rey Ave., on the south by Maxella Avenue, on the east by Alla Road. However, the area bounded by Maxella on the north, Alla on the east and Glencoe on the south and west is not part of DRHNA. The area used to be commercial, but it is becoming more residential. A shopping center runs along the west side of Glencoe. Should residents in this area be contacted about joining the DRHNA?
Marketing of Del Rey: A panel of realtors will be invited to the June meeting to discuss how Del Rey can develop an identity. The DRNC will discuss its outreach program at its June 12 meeting. Marlene Savage, a DRHNA director and the DRNC’s parliamentarian, is in charge of outreach for the DRNC.
Comment: DRHNA and DRNC should collaborate to prepare some kind of welcome kit that could be given to each new resident of Del Rey. It would provide local contact information and perhaps a weblink to a list of local businesses, kind of like a Del Rey telephone directory.

CERT Funding: The board voted to send a letter to the City Council’s budget committee urging approval of funding for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The letter was to be prepared by Corresponding Secretary Tobyann Mandel and sent to the Mayor and the budget committee by Thursday, May 12.
Tobyann: Do you have the letter as it was sent?

The City Council voted to continue funding of the CERT program for another year.

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, JUNE 4, 2007

ADJOURNMENT: 9:00 P.M.