Repost
Happy New Year!
We are excited for another year to make a difference in our community. Your board had its first meeting of the year and we are off to a great start.
We welcomed and seated our 2023 Board of Directors.
2023 Board of Directors
1. Desobry Bowens; President
2. Brian Hale, Sr; Vice President; Crime and Safety Committee
3. Chiquita Emel; Senior Committee
4. Connie Steppes; Membership Committee
5. Alvetia Smith: Postal Services
6. Teresa Taylor-Bolds; Communications/ Marketing
7. Stewart Gilbert; Neighborhood Clean Up Committee
8. Roy Rivas; School District
9. Melissa Sagerian (1 Yr term filled vacancy John McWhirter); Interim Treasurer
10. Marilyn Fonseca(New Board member)
11. Jan Davis(New Board member)
12. Serena Wright-Black (New Board member); Secretary
Emeritus Advisors
1. Rick Aldridge 2. David Oliver 3. Dorothy Harris 4. Tracie Lyons
Advisors
1. Florence Ochi 2. Ezra Bolds (Finance/ Treasurer)
Special Discussion: As many know we recently lost one of our board members and a longtime resident of our community John McWhirter. John's commitment to the community and Ladera Heights was unmatched. He was always quick to volunteer and be present to support any community efforts. To show our appreciation LHCA sent flowers to the memorial on behalf of the community and are working with the family to determine other ways we might honor his long time commitment to Ladera Heights.
The Board Q1 focus: ● Current and continued engagement with Supervisor Mitchell(SD-2) and LASD (LA Sheriff Department) on combating crime and increasing the number of daily cars available to Marina Sheriff by three. We recently had a face to face with all MDR Sheriff service area customers and SD-2 to discuss this pressing issue ● Current engagement with DPW (Department of Public Works) with regard to curb repair concerns and upcoming paving projects ● Current engagement with SD-2, DPW, and MDR Sheriff with regard to unhoused, motorhomes, and sleeping in cars on the Fairfax corridor between Slauson and Stocker ● Current engagement with CD-11 and LAPD with regard to Centinela motorhome and unhoused issue
Upcoming events: ● Community Meeting end of Feb 2023 (details to follow) ● Shredding event in conjunction with DPW and SD-2 TBD for Spring 2023 ● Movie Nights return in June and during the summer 2023 ● Ladera Park Picnic TBD July 2023 ● Community Mixer TBD September 2023 supporting our local businesses ● Holiday Event Goals: ● Increase neighborhood safety ● Increase community membership and participation ● Invigorate block clubs and neighborhood watch ● Continue to engage with county service providers and elected officials to ensure we are receiving the expected level of county services.
We look forward to working for you this year and continuing to keep Ladera Heights an awesome place to live and raise a family.
Please get involved, join a committee, join us on zoom, join us at a community clean up, join us at an event or on Facebook or our website.
Please direct your questions or ideas to Info@laderaheights.org
Thank you,
Desobry E. Bowens
2023 President
Ladera Heights Civic Association