Community Policing is incredibly important to building stronger relationships with our families and our police departments. So proud to have partnered with the LAPD Foothill Community Police Station and getting out to Strathern and Arminta Elementary Schools to pass out after-school popsicles to students on October 13, 2016!
Join us as we relax under the stars with a movie in the park this summer:
NHNENC honors the memory of our long time Board Member Florence Dorick who passed on May 29, 2016. She served our Board and community with a generous heart and a cheerful spirit. She created a sense of home in North Hollywood with our NHNENC banners and always took the lead in providing hospitality at our meetings and events, coordinating the food and greeting guests. “She was the living heart of our Council, the sweetest part,” reminisced NHNENC President Ernie Moscoso.
She championed efforts for the homeless, working with the Hope of the Valley Mission and encouraging others to support the Misison. She worked tirelessly on the Whitsett Slope Beautification project and ably represented us by speaking at the Dedication Ceremony and was a member of our delegation at City Hall to accept our achievement certification. She will be missed by us all.
2015 was a very productive year for the North Hollywood North East Neighborhood Council (NHNENC). We were recognized by City Hall for the work we did in collaboration with Councilmember Krekorian’s office and NoHo West Neighborhood Council to create the Vintage North Hollywood Mural on Whitsett and plant the surrounding slopes with drought tolerant plants. In conjunction with the recognition ceremony we were given a special tour of City Hall and met the LAX PUP team. We were also honored for this project by the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils.
Our Council continues to focus on creating community in North Hollywood and meeting our neighbors through events:
During one of our strategic planning sessions, we chose to focus on cleaning up our community with the goal of not only making things look better but helping neighbors take ownership. We helped put on three clean ups in 2015:
We take great pride in keeping the community informed on our goings on and community news. We keep our website updated with events and news items and our meetings focus on topics of interest to the community: Veteran’s Issues, Raise the Wage, and the LA Family Housing Density Plan. We consider land use issues such as a new Costco Business Center on Sherman Way and alcohol licenses. We have also had guest speakers such as the newest Commissioner of the Board of Public Works: Joel Jacinto and we held a Town Hall on Paid Sick Days.
One on the most fun events we supported was funding a field trip to Underwood Family Farms for 135 kindergarteners at Strathern Elementary with a $1,500 Neighborhood Purposes Grant. The students had a great time and we received their creative thank you notes and drawings displaying what they learned at one of our meetings afterward.
We invite you to get involved in improving North Hollywood, increasing civic engagement and making government more responsive to our needs. Please join us at one of our meetings which are held on the third Thursday of the month, 6:30pm at Fire Station 89 in the Community Room. The meeting usually starts with refreshments and an opportunity the meet the Board Members and your neighbors.
This year you also have the opportunity to run for a seat on the Board during our elections on April 7. Now is the time to register your candidacy. The filing deadline is February 7. Find out more: https://nhnenc.org/elections
On August 4th, cities, and communities, and neighborhoods across the country celebrated National Night Out. Our own Neighborhood Council joined with our neighbors at North Hollywood West, our local Neighborhood WATCH groups and others to take part in this annual event.
Our local celebration was held at the City Department of Transportation lot at the corner of Whitsett Avenue and Saticoy Street, above the now-iconic Vintage North Hollywood mural. Both of our Neighborhood Councils had worked with the office of Councilmember Paul Krekorian to clean up this area and turn a hazard into a work of art.
National Night Out recognizes the efforts of Neighborhood WATCHes and others to do much the same. Since 1984, the National Organization of Town Watches have organized Neighborhood WATCH groups, community organizations, non-profits, and others to take back the night. It was envisioned as a gathering that would bring people out of their homes in the evening, without fear, and showing the strength of a community that stands up together. Many National Night Out events have featured marches of neighbors walking proudly down dangerous streets or cleanups of abandoned and blighted areas. Others are more festive with music, food, and entertainment encouraging people to meet each other and build trust in a community.
The National Night Out earlier this month was a gathering in the same spirit. Of course, our co-sponsor Councilmember Krekorian was there, but we were also happy to host and speak with US Representative Tony Cardenas and City Controller Ron Galperin. There was food, music, and games. Chuck Loring from our own Council MC’d the event with music and his ever-present presence, while NoHo West demonstrated mastery of the grill and cooking.
By the end of the night, everyone had eaten their fill, caught up with their neighbors and maybe caught the ear of some of our elected’s, and praised the progress we’ve made in making our area a little bit better. A few pictures from the night on Flickr can be found from our photo page under the Archives tab.
And for everyone who couldn’t make it, we’ll see you next year.
On April 11, our Neighborhood Council joined with Councilmember Paul Krekorian’s office for another neighborhood cleanup.
More than 50 high school volunteers volunteered their Saturday morning to make a difference in their neighborhood. And after a quick breakfast snack and some inspiring words, they set out for Sherman Way and Laurel Canyon to tackle some of the worst and most public streets in our Council area.
The streets and sidewalks near this intersection have long been a difficult area to keep tidy, and the Council has devoted a few cleanup efforts to improving them. It is an ironic twist that each cleanup finds less trash and debris in this area, but it’s more noticeable since it also stands out that much more. And by repeatedly cleaning the same area, we’re showing people in the community that a former eyesore can be a clean place, encouraging everyone to help keep it that way.
A special thanks for support goes to Yasser Durghalli and Handy Mart Liquor on Laurel Canyon north of Strathern. The very good Mr Durghalli, as a strong and respected community business leader, donated all of the water at the cleanup event. The support of our neighbors like this helps bring us together to make our corner of the city a better place.
This also represents our last major scheduled cleanup for the fiscal year. We haven’t decided on the time and location for the next one, but it will probably be after our new fiscal year starts in July. If you have any suggestions about an area in our Council that needs a small army of volunteers, be sure to let us know. You can contact us through this website, or attend one of our Board meetings or a meeting of the Outreach Committee.
On the evening of March 12th, the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils, the oldest and largest Council alliance in the City, held an anniversary event. And as Council members from across the Valley ate, met each other, and listened to some excellent speakers, awards were presented for achievements during the year. Our own Neighborhood Council, along with our neighbors at the North Hollywood West Council, were recognized for “Best Collaborative Project to Instill Community Pride” for our work towards the new Vintage North Hollywood Mural.
For the past several years, our Council has worked with North Hollywood West and the office of Councilmember Paul Krekorian to clean and improve the Whitsett slope. Once an eyesore of overgrown weeds and trash, today the area on Whitsett north of Sherman Way near Saticoy is planted with local vegetation and hosts one of the largest public murals in the City, and certainly one of the newest. Visible from the 170 freeway, the Vintage North Hollywood mural reflects the history of our community, from old agriculture to a tribute to Nudie Taylor, designer for the rhinestone cowboy craze.
As a Neighborhood Council, we are proud to have made this long-standing commitment to positive change in our community, especially when it has brought together our community with many volunteer efforts over the years and strengthened the bond between Neighborhood Councils and our Councilmember. It is by working together that we can achieve great things, and that was the recognition of this award. We appreciate everyone who has lent a hand and supported this work with us, and thank in advance all of those who will join us in the years to come as we do more for our community.
On November 15th, our Board joined once again with our neighbors at North Hollywood West Council and Paul Krekorian’s CD 2 to dedicate the Vintage North Hollywood mural. At 9,000 square feet, it is one of the largest murals in the city and is a big symbol of the revival of this classic Los Angeles art form.
At 240 feet long, the mural took over 10,000 gallons of paint and the work of more than 100 volunteers. Members of the community helped artists Ernie Merlan and Levi Ponce create this installation, in addition to autistic adults from Mr. Merlan’s Exeptional Minds, a non-profit work center and animation studio.
The mural dedication also marks the culmination of one of the biggest and most successful renovation cleanups in our area. For years, the slope on Whitsett Boulevard south of Saticoy was an overgrown eyesore, strewn with weeds and trash. Over the course of several years, community groups, including our Neighborhood Council have picked up trash, pulled weeds, swept dirt, planted drought-resistant plants, installed a watering system, and more. Slowly, the area transformed from a blight to an attraction.
Saturday’s dedication was a great community event with speeches, food, and news cameras. Hundreds turned out to see the new mural, and Nudie Taylor’s custom car, courtesy of the San Fernando Valley Relics Museum. Nudie, the original rhinestone cowboy fashion designer, was one of many vintage parts of North Hollywood that made its way into the mural.
Special thanks to Nancy of Teesdale Neighborhood Watch for the cover picture for this article.
This past Saturday, the Vintage North Hollywood mural moved a step closer to completion with the help of some dedicated and artistic volunteers. When the call went out, they chose to spend a lovely Saturday morning making their neighborhood a more beautiful place with a vast concrete canvas on Whitsett. This was the second day of public painting. Of course, regular readers will already know this from another article on this website.
Councilman Paul Krekorian of CD 2, who has been leading the mural effort, has also announced a planned dedication date on November 15th. Our own Neighborhood Council, partnering again with our neighbors at NoHo West NC, will be helping to support this event.
To follow the developments on the mural, keep watching right here. Or follow #nohomural.
Our Council, in coordination with the City Council District 2, and our neighbors at the North Hollywood West Neighborhood Council, returned to the Whitsett Slope on March 31. Our Council has visited this slope many times over the past years for trash cleanup, weed removal, planting, and now another weeding, including hundreds of volunteer hours. And the results speak for themselves. This slope on the west side of Whitsett south of Saticoy may be small, and may be very close to the freeway, but it has gone from an eyesore to a symbol of the kind of changes we can make in our community.
As we consider the many Saturdays that have gone into restoring this small piece of land, we also see the kind of dedication and persistance that can be needed to make this kind of turnaround. Changes don’t happen overnight, but our Council, our neighbors, and our partners have demonstrated that we can follow through and make a difference.
Our thanks and recognition go out to everyone who was able to join our efforts on Saturday, as well as everyone who has generously donated their time and effort to this project in the past. None of this would have been possible if we had not come together as a larger community.
