Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council: News Archive

On Monday, June 2nd LAUSD held the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the New Valley Region High School #4 at the site of the Granada Hills Community Hospital. There were performances by the James Monroe Cheerleaders, Mayall Elementary Dance Team, and LA’s Best Dance Team, with music played by the John F. Kennedy High School Band. Administrative dignitaries in attendance were Jean Brown, LAUSD District 1 Superintendant, the Honorable Tamar Galazan LAUSD Board Member District 3, Julie Korenstein LAUSD Board Member District 6, Scott Folsom, Vice-Chair of the LAUSD School Construction Bond Citizens’ Oversight Committee, Guy Mehula, LAUSD Chief Facilities Executive, and many others.

The speakers let the guests in attendance know how excited they were to finally get this project started, in order to begin working toward making sure that the children with not have to go through a track school calendar, but return to the traditional two semester calendar. This new school will create more jobs for the community, and will help relieve some of the overcrowding occurring at Kennedy High, Granada Hills High, Monroe High, and Northridge Academy High. The project is set to begin this summer with completion estimated for the summer of 2011, some three years later .

Ms. Alma Cuellar, Parent Representative from Langdon Elementary spoke and stated that, “Working together we will build a good future for our children “,while Mr. Scott Folsom of the LAUSD School Bond Construction Citizens Oversight Committee talked to the children about magic and how the children in LA become part of the magic : “You students are the magic and the promise of the future.” Upon closing remarks from LAUSD Board Member Galazan, there was about an hour of meet and greet along with photo opportunities with the special guests that were in attendance.

Neighborhood Alert
Car Robbery in Broad Daylight

Memorial Bricks Available for Granada Hills Rotary's Veteran Memorial Park Tribute Walk

Granada Hills Rotary has memorial bricks available which will be inscribed and placed in the Tribute Walk of its Granada Hills Veteran Memorial Park at the corner of Chatsworth St. and Zelzah Ave.

The Tribute Walk will lead up to the Centerpiece Statue in the Rotary's Memorial Park. The Tribute Walk and the Statue will be dedicated on May 26, 2008 in a Memorial Day ceremony. The donations for the bricks will raise funds for the Tribute Walk.

For more info, contact Dr. Carl Melnik at (818) 366-2020 or email Drmelnik@ghoc.com.

We would like to make special thanks to Mr. Mark Barrionuevo and Ms. Cindi Wood for their service to the community. Mr. Barrionuevo, in particular, helped implement many community improvement projects Mark Barrionevo

such as Graffiti Watch, "Keep Granada Hills Clean and Green" tote bags, the ghsnc.org website's "Stakeholder Spotlight", and the hiring of a security company, Security Specialists, to patrol the area during the night to assist in keeping us safe and our community crime free. Mr. Barrionuevo also spearheaded the GHSNC's donating of $500 to assist in Tulsa Street Elementary's Beautification Day, $500 to help the "Salute to Recreation", $500 to purchase entertainment for the Annual Spring Egg Hunt at O'Melveny Park, and he co-sponsored the December Tree Giveaway in support of the City of Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa's Million Tree Giveaway program. Moreover, Mr. Barrionuevo authored three resolutions to help combat blight and protect the environment. As Outreach Chairman, Mr. Barrionuevo used simple means (e.g. nameplates, the website, polo shirts, and even free refreshments) to reach out to Granada Hills stakeholders and let them know that the Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council is here to serve them. "I'm just grateful for the opportunity to have served and left Granada Hills better than when I moved here," Mr. Barrionuevo said. Having been accepted to a Top 20 law school, he with his wife and two sons are headed to the east coast.

Please help us to spread this information to the elderly and all residents in the SF Valley. It is imperative that no one is allowed into your home, unless you personally scheduled the workers or have first verified that they are properly identified as who they say they are.

All DWP Personnel carry identification and are glad and happy to answer your questions. If not, then call "911".

The Granada Hills tote bags are in! Come to the next board meeting and get a free tote bag. Let's help keep Granada Hills green and clean!

(Click the photo to see a larger, detailed version of it.)

We are offering a CERT class to be held at the same location as our Board Meetings. The class will start Tuesday, April 29th at 7pm and will be held there for the entire seven week course. The course is free to the public, and food and refreshments will be served. You can also sign up to make up any classes that you may have missed. If you are interested in enrolling in the course, please contact Emergency Preparedness Committee members Jim Yoder or Sean Rivas.

Just a few of the great attractions include the amazing fireworks spectacular, the Hawaiian Village, vendors and booths with arts and crafts and foods from around the world, games, prizes, music and dance performances, carnival rides and much more! Admission and parking are free!

Friday, May 30, 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Saturday, May 31, 12:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Sunday, June 1, 12:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Northridge Park
10058 Reseda Blvd.
Northridge, CA

The Granada Hills South area will have a professional security company patrolling our neighborhood. The plan is for the company, Security Specialists, to patrol the community three times a night for three nights per week in order to curb the increasing graffiti, gang activity, and illegal activities in general.

GHSNC supports a resolution to ban and remove all billboards in the neighborhood in order to stem the graffiti and vandalism as well as hold the billboard owners and operators accountable for inept upkeep.

Have you ever seen plastic bags floating through the air and wonder where they land? The GHSNC is voted to support a resolution to ban plastic bags in all of Los Angeles County.

Mark your calendar for the Grand Opening and Dedication Ceremony of Fire Station 87, Saturday, May 3 in Granada Hills.

Meet the firefighters and see the facility that will help keep our community safe!

There will be helicopter fly-overs, refreshments, face painters, Wilshire the Fire Dog, fire house chili, jumpers, music, tours of the station and more.

Saturday, May 3, 2008
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Fire Station 87
10124 Balboa Blvd.
Granada Hills, CA 91344
(1 block south of Devonshire St.)

On Saturday, May 3rd, the Mayor's Office, along with Council Members Smith and Zine will be sponsoring a Day of Service in the West Valley Communities of Chatsworth, Canoga Park, Winnetka, and West Hills. We are working alongside BigSunday, and it is likely that any projects you wish to join will be detailed on their website (BigSunday.org) starting April 1st.

There will be up to 50 projects in the West Valley, some of which will entail, for example, planting trees or pulling non-native weeds out of Chatsworth Trails, or "Human Interest" projects, such as collecting donations for the local animal shelter or distributing compact fluorescent light bulbs to small businesses.

The event starts at 8:00am at each of the project sites; and then at 12:00pm, we'll have a Closing Ceremony at the Chatsworth Train Depot.

Click here for more information.

The memorial's landscaping has been maintained by a coalition of Granada Hills community organizations, led by the Granada Hills Rotary Club, and funded through donations by individuals and grants, including a $1,500 grant from the Neighborhood Council. The $5,000 grant approved in January by the council will pay for improvements to the memorial, including brick pavers to enhance the walkways. These pavers can also be paid for by individual donors in honor of local veterans and residents. Please contact Carl Melnick at the Rotary Club for more information 818-366-2020.

At the January 2008 meeting the GHSNC voted to confirm that elections for membership will be held in September, 2008, under the supervision of the city of Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. Changes in the City Charter would have allowed the GHSNC to extend the currently elected board's terms until 2010, but the panel voted very strongly in favor of maintaining the current two-year-long terms for board members.

On Sunday, December 15, 2007 the GHSNC hosted a Million Trees LA Giveaway at the Granada Hills Recreation Center. About 100 stakeholders participated and were the recipients of 50 trees of three different varieties.

Many board members showed their support for the activity and assisted in serving at the table and even taking trees to stakeholders' cars. Special thanks to Sean Rivas, Bonnie Marie Bursk, Mark Barrionuevo, Julie Carson, Lottie Van Emden, Jim Yoder, Rob Norris, and Tessa Charnofsky of the Mayor's Office. Without their individual and combined assistance, this event would have not been the great success it was.

The free sandwiches, cookies, brownies, chips, bottled water and ice cream drew large crowds and interest. In our little way, our community and neighborhood council have assisted in adding shade, oxygen and beauty to our area. Thanks to everyone who participated and adopted trees.
More pictures.

The board voted on November 8, 2007 to continue to oppose the expansion of an apartment building at 16830 Kingsbury Street, adjacent to Petit Park; the building's owners want to convert public rooms (gym, public room, etc) into additional units, and propose to add parking to serve those units by curb cuts on Petit Park, elimination of landscaping, etc. The Council has voted against this consistently for several years (both before and after certification) and the CD 12 office staff is studying the issue.

The Safety Committee is considering recommending solar powered speed monitoring signs to encourage drivers to slow down. Please contact JYoder@GHSNC.org with your opinion on this.

Councilman Greig Smith's motion to have the City make a policy decision to stop the Las Lomas development, stop the annexation of the land into City of Los Angeles and reject the Supplemental Fee Agreement to allow the developer to expedite the project, was approved by the City Council today. The Las Lomas project was too big, too dense, and couldn’t be planned in a worse place. It would have a devastating effect on traffic and the environment, and would unacceptably strain our water, infrastructure and public safety resources.

The huge coalition of opponents to Las Lomas who came together to say no to this project have our gratitude and praise for stepping up to the plate to defend our community. Residents, community groups, elected officials, Neighborhood Councils, and environmental groups took official positions of opposition to Las Lomas, wrote letters of opposition, and made public comments against the development at Neighborhood Council meetings, City Council meetings and Planning & Land Use Management Committee meetings.

Today was a big victory for the San Fernando Valley in the fight to protect our quality of life and ensure that we focus on the needs of our communities.

The board voted on November 8, 2007 to continue funding for the maintenance of the Veteran's Memorial located at Chatsworth and Zelzah. The amount was $1,500 to provide services January through June 2008.

The triangle shaped median includes a flag pole, landscaping and the Welcome to Granada Hills sign which has a veteran's memorial on the back of it honoring veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars.

James E. “Jim” Smith, a resident of Los Angeles for more than 60 years and veteran of two wars in three different branches of the United States armed forces, has died. He was 85. He was honored at the November 8, 2007 GHSNC meeting. Stakeholders are invited to recommend other residents to be honored by the board. Please submit your recommendations to board@ghsnc.org.

Smith, who had lived in Northridge since 1963, died Oct. 19, 2007, at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills after a short illness.

Born and raised in Grand Junction, Colorado, Smith moved to Los Angeles in 1940. During WW II, he enlisted in the Coast Guard and was commissioned an officer in the United States Maritime Service, surviving three sinkings in combat.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1946-1948, and married Constance H. Smith (nee Greer), of Cranford, New Jersey, in 1948. The Smiths returned to Los Angeles in 1948 and would have celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2008.

Mr. Smith was recalled to active duty with the Army in 1950 during the Korean War, served in Asia and the Pacific, and was wounded in action in Korea. He was honorably discharged from active duty – for the fourth time in a decade – in 1952. Mr. Smith went on to a 35-year-career with IBM, rising to the level of national manager in the Los Angeles office. The family had moved to Northridge in 1963 and the Smiths were very active in the community, including serving on the founding board of the Granada Hills High School PTA in the 1960s and with BSA Boy Scout Troop 522 in the 1970s, where Mr. Smith served as scoutmaster for six years.

Mr. Smith is survived by his wife, Connie, of Northridge; their children and spouses, Marsha and Bruce Ellis, of Gisborne, Australia; Sally and Jerre Reimers, of Simi Valley, California; Patricia and Bob Ollry, of Mission Viejo, California; Jim and Maria Smith, of Murrieta, California; and Brad and Maria Smith, of Granada Hills, California; 13 grandchildren, James, Andrew, and Christopher Ellis, of Gisborne; Jennifer and Jeffrey Reimers, of Simi Valley; Margaret Ollry, of Mission Viejo; Justin, Matthew, and Lindsey Smith, of Murrieta; and Douglas, Thomas, Catherine, and Caroline Smith, of Granada Hills; and six siblings, Robert Smith, Kay Smith, Alice Condren, Mary Lou Ward, Frank Smith, and Larry Smith.

The family asks any donations be made to the S.S. Lane Victory Endowment Fund, San Pedro, California, at http://www.lanevictory.org/endowments.htm. Services were October 26, 2007 at Riverside National Cemetery.

The City of LA has launched two new websites: See www.preservation.lacity.org to explore the new Office of Historic Resources web site, containing profiles, maps and photos of Los Angeles' 22 Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs), a summary of Los Angeles' historic designation process, and links to useful information on historic preservation and preservation incentives.

A second, linked web site, www.surveyla.org, is devoted solely to "SurveyLA" -- the ambitious, multi-year Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey. Be sure to check out the interactive "Historic Resource Identification Form" that will allow community members to describe lesser-known Los Angeles places that deserve further consideration in the survey as potential historic resources.

GHSNC hosted a booth at the Granada Hills Street Faire Saturday, October 6, 2007 as part of our outreach to the community.

There was a public hearing held on Thursday, September 20, 2007 on the proposed Kohl's. The project was accepted as proposed, with a few changes to the variance requests. The set back and height were modified, but the overall size was not changed.

There were 120 people in attendance opposing the project. 38 of them testified as to the problems that Kohl's would create in the community in terms of traffic problems, size, affect on the neighborhood and more. Read the meeting summary provided by two attendees.

The Board has taken a stand against the proposed Kohl's overbuilding project. We have held two public meetings in March and April of 2007 to discuss the proposal.

See our Kohl's page for all the documents describing the proposal and our concerns.

Ground Breaking Ceremony for New Valley Region High School #4

Neighborhood Alert Car Robbery in Broad Daylight

Neighborhood Alert
Car Robbery in Broad Daylight