| PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE |
CHARTER REFORM
FATE WITH VOTERS 
Chet Wildom, a past president of LAHq is Vice Chair of the Elected
Commission on Charter Reform.
On June 8, Los Angeles voters will, decide an issue of farreaching
consequences - charter
refom. The charter proposal
was placed on the ballot following two Years of spirited citywide discussions generated
largely by the elected and appointed charter reform commissions.
Accountability (a major focus of the charter) is also addressed by the charter 's
expansion of mayoral authority to include appointing and dismissing
commissioners; managing
litigation; settling lawsuits; and overseeing emergency
preparedness and response.
The charter would also
restructure the City Planning
Department, providing a
minimum of 5 area wide planning commissions overseeing local issues as well as a City
Commission for city-side issues. Overall efficiency will be improved by subjecting all
departments and programs to performance audits and streamlining budgeting and contracting.
Another provision is the
establishment of neighborhood councils. Funded by a newlycreated Department of
Neigh-borhood Empowerment, the councils will increase citizen involvement in government
decisions which affect them locally.
Further expanding citizen
representation and diversity
would be an enlarged City
Council. This would also help
keep communities intact and
improve accountability.
The importance of charter reform cannot be overestimated. Nor can the result of
the June vote on this issue, which will impact Los Angeles and its residents many years
into the future. |
SERVICE AWARD The
William Harkness Service Award is given each year to a member of long standing who has
devoted many years of
service to the association.
This year’s selection committee, Sharon Kaplan, Carole Linn and Barbara Trister
chose Norman Murdoch as this year 's
recipient. Norman has
enthusiastically supported every program, committee, and event every year for over two
decades and has been a loyal and dedicated Board Member.
NORMAN'S CONQUEST
Norman Murdoch receives the Harkness Service Award from Vice President Sharon Koplan.
Previous recipients have
been Pete Soohoo, Executive Director for over 30 years; and Barbara Trisler, only
three-term President, long time Board Member and continuing Chair of the Annual Awards
Luncheon.
GREAT VENUES
This past year, Board Meeting venues were supplied by Ed Casey, Rich
Davis, Marian Harvey, Helen McCann, Sandy Paris, Teresa Powell, and John
Whitaker. We thank you for
arranging and allowing the
Board to hold meetings at
your respective firms.
NEW OFFICERS
The Nomination Committee,
was chaired by Past President Marilyn Pepper and included Past Presidents Stan Michota,
Sandy Paris, and Barbara
Trister; and Board Members
Rob Jernigan, Patricia Sullivan, and President John
Stern as ex-officio member.
The Officers and Directors
were all elected to serve a
second term.
|
JOHN STERN
LAHq
is a very unique
organization. We are a volunteer organization and have been successful in attracting
members that make time to help improve our city. During this past year we have provided
leadership and/or support for development reform, a new sports arena, expansion of LAX,
charter reform, the Figueroa Corridor, upgrading our public schools, attracting new
businesses to L.A., economic development and many other causes.
As LAHq
concludes its 38ft year, I feel honored to have been elected for a second term. The
people inside LAHq, love the city of Los Angeles. Our dedicated oficers board members,
committee chairs and general membership have been wonderful to work with and we have
accomplished many of our goals.
As
promised, we now have our new website which features our newsletter and all upcoming
events.
Our
monthly membership programs under the leadership of Tom Freiberg, Jr., Tom Neary and Fritz
Kastner have been dynamic. The Business Networking Committee which we formalized under
co-chairs Carole Linn and Bob Taylor has been very successful. The Membership
Committee headed by Teresa Powell has recruited a diverse group of new members. The
Economic Development/Environmental Committee breakfasts chaired by Ed Casey, Allan Walz
and Marian Harvey have targeted subjects of interest to a broad spectrum of our
membership. |
Our Government Relations
Committee led by Sandy Paris
and Norman Murdoch and its
ad hoc committee on Charter
Reform chaired by Craig
Lawson and Larry Kosmont
were the first to convene an
interactive program of the
chairs of both the appointed
and elected commissions on
Charter Reform.We continue to applaud the
success of our Education
Committee's efforts and the
progress of the 3rd and 4th
grade students at the Utah
Street School and more recently its computer lab. The Association’s financial support
under the direction of Co-chairs Parker Jones and Bob Mosier is an integral aspect of the
school 's budget. We continue
to have our Christmas Luncheon for the students every year along with our spring
adventures guided by Committee Co-chair Mary Miyata.
Special thanks are due to Past President Marilyn Pepper, who edits and publishes our
newsletter, FOCUS.
We also owe our appreciation to Sue Reeves, the Association’s terrific Executive
Director.
As in past years, Special Events Chair Barbara Trister has exceeded all of our
expectations with the program and planning of our Awards Luncheon.
This year our volunteer organization voted to honor Ed Roski Jr. for the Spirit
of L.A. Award. Chick Hearn for the Community Award
and the Japanese American National Museum for the Cultural Award.
We are very proud of all of the Award recipients and of our great city.
In closing, I would like to
ask all of you to continue to
support LAHq in our efforts
to make Los Angeles the
greatest city in the world.
John Stern is a principal and Executive Vice President of CRESA Partners.
CRESA has 43 offices nationally with over 600 people. John specializes in tenant
representations locally and nationally. |
