NoHo West Neighborhood Council Installs First Board of Directors

The first official board of directors of the North Hollywood West Neighborhood Council was installed Wednesday evening at the James Madison Middle School auditorium on Hart Street.

The twelve members (whose names can be found by Sriwong Koziel was not present Wednesday) repeated an oath read by Mshak Ghazarian, the field deputy for Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Krekorian. The oath competed, the neighborhood council for NoHo West welcomed its new board. 

Leyla Campos of the city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment led the  main business of the evening: the board's election of its various posts. Board members were elected to the following positions: President: Jim Kompare; Vice President: Robin Ibrahim; Secretary: Gregory Howie; Treasurer: David Hechter.

Campos raised the possibility of filling the positions of the Youth and Community-Based Organization seats on the board; there were no prospective candidates present, and so the board agreed to revisit the issue before the next meeting.

Committee formation was the next item on the agenda. The Executive Committee will be comprised of the president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer of the board. After some discussion, it was decided that the Outreach Committee would be chaired by Isabel Charleston; she will be joined by Donna Miller and Willy Lewis from the board, and stakeholders Cara Alson.

The Bylaws Committee will include Kent Stewart, David Hechter and Lorraine Matza from the Board. They will be joined by stakeholder Sonia Ley.

A Public Safety Committee was proposed and approved. Vincent Stamboni, Willy Lewis, Robin Ibrahim from the board will be joined by stakeholder Leyton Merritt. A Planning Committee was proposed, and board members Dario Svilder and David Hechter volunteered to serve.

The board also discussed its upcoming training retreat with the City's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. The dates proposed were June 4, 11 and 18, with a final date to be agreed upon in consultation with Campos.

In other meeting news, Ghazarian gave the assembled board members and local residents an update on plans for a new pocket park on the northeast corner of Fulton Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard. Ghazarian answered the concerns of audience members, confirming that it "is an area where some gang activity does go on." He said that it would be a priority to make the park feel safe and comfortable. To that end, said Ghazarian, the park will be closed at night to reduce the potential problem of gang members loitering there. Although he did not give a date for the park's completion, he said that significant progress should be made by the end of the year.