The newly elected board of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council was sworn in last night by City Council Member David Ryu as the board conducted the first meeting of its next two-year term. Ryu administered the same oath to Board Alternates a bit later in what was a largely procedural meeting where the board also elected officers and filled several empty board seats.
Caroline Moser, Area 14 Director (Windsor Square) was elected president. Moser succeeds Owen Smith, who had served as president since 2010. Smith remains on the board representing Area 1 (Brookside). Max Kirkham, Area 9 Director (Oakwood-Maplewood-St. Andrews) was elected Vice President. Patricia Carroll, Area 10 Director (Ridgewood-Wilton-St. Andrews Square) was re-elected Treasurer, and Julie Stromberg, Area 15 Director (Windsor Village) was elected Secretary. Conrad Starr, Area 11 Director (Sycamore Square) was appointed Assistant to the Secretary.
Moving on to board vacancies, Brian Donahoe was appointed to the fill the vacancy for Area 3 (Country Club Heights), created when long-serving director Frances McFall resigned before the election (and no candidates ran in the election to replace her). City Council Member Ryu presented a commendation to McFall for her nearly twenty years of service to the GWNC. Also, Cindy Chvatal-Keane was appointed Alternate to Area 6 (Hancock Park) and Bridget Bones was appointed Education Alternate.
In addition to new board member Brian Donahoe, Erica Gutierrez, Area 12 (Western-Wilton) and Hayden Conner Ashworth, Renters Representative, are also new to the board this year.
In other business, the board heard reports from LAPD Wilshire Division Senior Lead Officers Dave Cordova and Hebel Rodriguez. Both reported that overall, crime in the neighborhood is down at the moment. Both officers have been temporarily re-assigned to the Melrose area as LAPD deploys more police officers in an effort to tamp down property crime in that area.
Rodriguez reported on LAPD’s recent arrest of a burglary suspect in the Longwood Highlands neighborhood on Tuesday April 2, 2019. The suspect was caught after he was bitten by a police dog, though police were unable to capture two others, whom they believe assisted in the crime. Police were alerted when the resident of the home called 911 when the suspect entered the house. The resident, a teenager, hid in the bathroom until police arrived. The suspect ran out of the house and was ultimately found by the police dog.
“We warn everyone when we are sending in police dogs who are trained to bite if you move or attempt to run away,” explained Rodriguez. “It’s very important that residents stay inside and resist the temptation to go outside and see what’s going on.”
Rodriguez thanked Longwood Highlands resident Daphne Brogdon for her help in getting the word out to residents.
Reports from Jack Humphreville, the GWNC’s Budget Advocate, DWP representative and LA Neighborhood Council Commission representative, were read by Julie Stromberg. The board also heard reports from the Outreach, Transportation, Sustainability and Land Use Committees.
The board took the following actions on motions presented by the Land Use Committee:
- Prepare a community impact statement urging the City Attorney, the petroleum administrator, and the Department of City Planning to compile and issue their long-overdue report regarding human health and safety buffer zones near oil wells in the city; and
- Oppose an application for a mixed use project at 6535 Melrose Ave., because there has been no presentation to the Land Use Committee (despite invitations to the developers). Both motions passed with a large majority.
The next GWNC Outreach Committee Meeting will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2019, at 9am, at Bricks and Scones Café, 403 N. Larchmont Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90005.
The next GWNC Transportation Committee Meeting will be on Monday, April 15, 2019, 7:00 p.m., at Marlborough School, 250 S. Rossmore Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90004.
The next meeting of the GWNC Environmental & Sustainability Committee Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 10, 2019, also at Marlborough School.
The GWNC’s Land Use Committee’s next meeting will be held at 6:30pm on April 23, 2019 also at Marlborough School.
The next meeting of the GWNC Board will be held at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at The Ebell of Los Angeles, 743 S. Lucerne Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90005.
Everyone is welcome to attend all the meetings of the council and its standing committees.
 was sworn in last night by CD4 City Council Member David Ryu at the first meeting of the two-year term.){kind=link}