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; Michelle Rudo, Treasurer; Tobyann Mandel,
Director; Casey Anderson, Director and Membership Chair; Marlene Savage, Director.
Guests: Lydia Athan, Paul Sumida, Paul Davis, local residents; Reza Akef, Field
Representative for Congresswoman Jane Harman (36th District); John S. Brady,
Area Representative, Neighborhood & Community Services, Office of the Mayor;
Kathryn Frengs, Field Deputy for Councilman Bill Rosendahl.
Approval
of Minutes: The minutes of the June 5, 2006 meeting were reviewed and approved
with one revision to identify the location of the condominium conversion projects
by street names rather than by their proximity to a board member’s home.
Approval
of Treasurer’s Report: Before the meeting, Treasurer Michelle Rudo circulated
the Transaction Detail Report for June and a Budget Summary Report comparing
the actual inflows and outflows with the budgeted amounts. We are on target
for the year. These reports were approved by the board.
Commemorations: The Feral Cat Alliance will be sending us an acknowledgment of our donation of $50 in recognition of Kathy Brier’s many years of service to the DRHNA. We wanted to honor our former president, the late Guy Doeh, by contributing to the Community Garden on Mesmer Ave.. Several of the plants died in the recent heat wave, so Charlotte DeMeo will purchase replacement plants and put them near the plaque that was placed in the garden when Guy Doeh stepped down from his presidency.
Presentation by John S. Brady: The Mayor’s education reform proposal is
the key issue for Summer 2006. If the proposal is accepted, by September 30,
there will be legislation that will change how the Los Angeles Unified School
District is governed beginning January 1, 2007. The plan increases the superintendent’s
authority, and it places the 36 lowest performing schools under the mayor’s
supervision. The legislation will sunset after six years.
Wendy Averill, who taught for 38 years, said the system should work more with
teachers at the site level, not put the school administration into the hands
of non-educators.
Introduction of Reza Akef: Congresswoman Harman supports the Green Line Extension.
He works primarily on issues of transportation, low cost housing and as a liaison
to the Middle Eastern community. (His parents came from Iran.) Home Depot’s
plans for the post office site on Jefferson probably will become public in August
2006.
Police/Crime Report: We do not have a report for the June meeting because our
representative was ill. We will ask if the Del Rey Neighborhood Council’s
representative prepared a report.
Traffic
Committee: No meeting was held in June.
Newsletter:
Not yet ready. Goal is to print and distribute it by August.
General
Meeting: George Gross suggested that affordable housing should be the topic,
and at the end of the meeting, the board agreed on that topic.
Membership:
Nothing to report. We are still checking whether a module of the Mas 90 program
would help us to manage our database. Casey Anderson was given a copy of the
petitions that were circulated regarding the annexation of the DRNC’s
Area A. These individuals will be included as nonmembers when we do our next
mailing.
After the meeting, Elizabeth Pollock distributed manuals with a board roster, copies of the policies manual and bylaws and a map of the DRHNA’s area. However, her map did not include the corner of Del Rey that is bounded by Culver Blvd. on the north, Lincoln Blvd. on the west and Jefferson Blvd. on the south. Until recently, there were no residences in that part of Del Rey. Now that people live there, should those people be included in the DRHNA, or do they want to affiliate with Playa Vista?
Elizabeth Pollock is also trying to determine which census tracts are in Del
Rey and how expensive it would be to send a mailing to those census tracts.
There may be a way to use a print shop’s bulk mail permit.
Website:
George Gross has posted all minutes except the revised June 5, 2006 minutes.
He also posted the photographs of the two valedictorians at Marina del Rey Middle
School who received savings bonds from DRHNA at the June 20, 2006 awards ceremony.
After
the June 2006 board meeting, we learned that there were at least three salutatorians,
so we decided to just make awards to the valedictorians. Voting in favor of
the limitation were: Chris Nevil, Aaron Bernardin, Tobyann Mandel, Elizabeth
Pollock, Michelle Rudo, Casey Anderson and Marlene Savage.
We may
want to post photographs of the board members on the website.
Del
Rey Neighborhood Council: Will be meeting on Thursday, July 13, 2006, at the
Westchester Community Office at 7 p.m..
U.S.P.S.
Facility Park Task Force: Home Depot bought the property. It is unknown if they
would be willing to set aside some land for parks in exchange for tax credits.
Culver
City Liaison Report: Tabled. Aaron Bernardin not present.
OLD/CONTINUING
BUSINESS
Motion Regarding Green Line (Light Rail): A draft of the motion was reviewed
and approved unanimously. Chris Nevil will prepare the motion in final form
and send it to Ken Alpern.
Problem
with Trailers and Other Potentially Illegal Uses of Vehicles: Problem is also
on Maxella, Short, Mindanao. 1-800-ABANDON has resumed towing of vehicles. The
city is considering an ordinance that would restrict parking from 2 a.m. –
6 a.m.. Councilman Rosendahl is trying to find out if Lot C at the airport could
be used for these encampments. Kathryn Frengs will investigate whether the vehicles
exceed the approved weight limits for the streets where the vehicles are parked.
It may be that the weight limit signs should be posted again.
Chris
Nevil finalized the letter of concern that we approved at our March 2006 board
meeting. He had been holding off because of a possible ordinance change that
would have rendered the letter moot.
Status
of Proposed Adult Cabaret at 6820 S. Centinela Ave.: Apparently blocked, but
the application has not been withdrawn. Presumably, there will be more notice
if the application process is reactivated.
Starbucks
at Jefferson and Centinela: The conditional use permit has not yet been approved.
A wooden fence has been erected to keep people from living on the property.
Bills are being glued onto the wall, but the bills are more attractive than
the weeds and trash, so the neighbors have not complained.
Centinela
Resurfacing: Resident Paul Davis is concerned about the resurfacing from Gilmore
to Washington Blvd., plan P35290. He spoke with the project manager, Kelton
Kirby, tel. (310) 575-8620, who is a city employee. Exel Paving, a private company,
has the paving contract and will do the east side of the street, and then the
west side. Completion is set for March 2007. The rainy season starts October
27.
The lot at the southwest corner of Centinela and Louise Ave. (?), next to the
taco stand, has been cleared, and the project manager, Brian Tar, has said there
will be a mixed use (residential and commercial) building there.
Kathryn Frengs will try to arrange a meeting between DRHNA and Kelton Kirby
so he can explain what arrangements have been made to ensure emergency vehicle
access during the construction. Also, the mayor’s initiative requiring
construction crews to stop work at 3 p.m. was implemented after this project
was approved, so the original completion date may have been pushed back.
Letter
to City Requesting Condo Conversion Limitations in Del Rey: Wendy Averill prepared
a draft letter to be sent to the city. The board will revisit the issue at its
next meeting. The concern is that the proposed projects increase population
density in our area, and projects are being allowed even though they do not
include an affordable housing component.
We need more information about the housing laws. Can the number of occupants
per apartment be limited? Marlene Savage suggested that we invite Jane Bloomfield,
the Principal City Planner, and/or Sharon Mayer, the Mayor’s Neighborhood
Liaison to the Neighborhood Councils, to attend the Fall General Meeting and
explain what is in the City’s General Plan for Del Rey.
DRHNA
Board Potluck: Will be held on Sunday, August 27, at 4 p.m. at Wendy Averill’s
home.
Bureau
of Street Lighting Handout: Someone provided a flyer about the types of street
lighting that exist in Los Angeles and how one can get more lighting on one’s
street.
Community
Service: Elizabeth Pollock will contact Venice High School and try to identify
some students who would like to earn community service points by organizing
the archives of the DRHNA, i.e. records that have been stored by Charlotte DeMeo,
Lillian Jenkins, Steve Knight and others. We will also inquire whether there
are any journalism students who would like to use their desktop publishing skills
to help us prepare one newsletter each semester.
NEXT BOARD MEETING ON MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2006.