Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council's Upcoming Election

If "R Neighborhoods Are 1" Then all of San Pedro's neighborhoods should be one with creating the three best Neighborhood Councils for OUR community.

Northwest San Pedro and Coastal San Pedro Neighborhoods Councils are great groups! Their Boards work for their neighborhoods very well and both organizations are run by good members of the Boards who can work together, even with differing views, to be at their best for their stakeholders.

Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council has a chance to become more like Northwest and Coastal because of their upcoming election on September 9, 2008.

The balloting for five "at-large" spots on Central's Board begins at the Port of Los Angeles High School on Tuesday September 9, 2008 at 3:30 PM.

The voting will last until 7:30 that evening.

Just about anyone who does business in downtown San Pedro, lives within Central's borders, works in their area, does volunteer work in that area, or has a special interest in the Central San Pedro area is eligible to vote.

This election will probably determine whether Central remains as a viable, trustworthy, ethical, and growing organization, to support the downtown area. Or it will become more mired in the troubles it has had for too long, even with an election last year, of some really good folks.

The current officers other than the treasurer, have not AS YET been placed on the ballot, even as a write-in candidate.

Perhaps Mr. Joe Gatlin, the current President, Ms. Mayra Perez, the current Vice President, or other officers may try to have themselves as write-in candidates.

If these folks try for another term, I suggest we allow then the opportunity to become FORMER officers or FORMER members of the Board at Central.

If the Secretary, Ms. Pamela Foster is on the ballot, then that would be a good thing, I feel.

Of the five seats being contested, I have my opinions on who I will vote for, and why.

First and foremost, of course Mr. Art Almeida needs to be voted onto the Board.

This wonderful gentleman is one of the greatest San Pedrans ever and he compares very favorably to Mr. John Olguin.

As John is to the beach, Art is to the wharf, pier, and dock.

Ms. Jilonda Johnson may be new to San Pedro, but she comes to OUR community with vim, vigor, grace, and the great will to serve.

'Jill' is the current President of the S.P.H.S. Lady Boosters. She is heading the 'Big Give' Campaign to support teachers and programs at S.P.H.S. and she seems to have boundless energy and even more will and inspiration to serve not only the students, staff and parents at S.P.H.S., but also help everyone else.

Mr. Phill Trigas is not on the Board YET, but that doesn't mean he is not interested in working with Central.

Mr. Trigas is on at least several committees, he spoke at the candidates' forum with passion for Central and projects he is concerned with and he demonstrates what is great about San Pedro, I feel.

Mr. Max Pierce (sp?) is someone OUR community needs to keep us in the know about a very important project.

Mr. Max works for the City of L.A. currently, specializing in treatment plants.

Mr. Max is an architect who, when he retires from the city, will open up his offices more in the Brown Bros. Building.

I think we all need Mr. Max as we deal with the Clearwater Program and try our best to make sure it get its access shaft dug on Terminal Island and not in any neighborhood in OUR community.

I feel Central and the rest of OUR community can call on Mr. Max's knowledge to help us in a very important program for years to come, along with his interest in the revitalization of downtown San Pedro.

My last pick is a write-in candidate.

Mr. Ray Buffer is the manager/leader/guru of The Relevant Stage theater company.

Mr. Buffer has an office in downtown San Pedro where he works for his theater company and also is becoming more involved with downtown issues.

I cannot wait until Mr. Buffer lets me help announce the next season of The Relevant Stage.

OUR community will be very impressed and we will have another great venue of arts and entertainment in downtown San Pedro.

Mr. Buffer is also now to the neighborhood, but he strikes me as someone who is not afraid to get involved and work with others to look at issues, become more involved, and work for the betterment of Central's area.

There are two others on the ballot that deserve mention, I feel.

Mr. Frank Anderson is very involved with port issues and youth sports.

Mr. Anderson's involvement with port issues means he deals with issues that are important to Central S.P.N.C. because so much of their area involves the port.

It seems Mr. Anderson wants to see the waterfront redevelopment go forward and he seems willing to roll up his sleeves and work with others to move that monster closer to final completion.

With Mr. Anderson's interest in youth sports, he can be involved with bring more youth activities to Central's area, which doesn't have the park spaces, the other two N.C.s have.

The other individual I need to mention is Central's current treasurer, Mr. Aphram Khalhourji.

I feel we should all offer Mr. Khalhourji a 'hale and hearty' thank you for his service and allow him to become a FORMER treasurer and FORMER Board member at Central.

According to so many folks who know more about Central's issues/problems for the past several years, it has been too many of the officers of the Council who have been involved in those issues/problems.

I feel it is time for an 'almost' clean sweep of all of the officers at Central.

Ms. Pam Foster is the exception and it would be a great loss if she is not re-elected to be the Secretary, IF she has to be voted on this September.

With the election of five new Board members, none of whom are re-elected, it means that Central's Board will be completely changed from what is was for most of 2007 and for years before that.

There are so many issues to ponder, regarding just about everywhere in San Pedro and OUR community.

Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council's area is just what it describes; central to many of those issues.

The old guard, especially with what was witnessed on August 12, 2008, has demonstrated that it cannot remain on board if Central is going to become a real player in the issues and really supportive of the revitalization of downtown San Pedro, I think.

It has been too long for a change at Central. The time is right to help create a unified, strong, and respected group of three Neighborhood Councils in San Pedro.