Future of Sunland Tujunga Town Hall Recap

It was a great event. Here's a recap: Tonight "the Future of Sunland-Tujunga" was discussed during a Town Hall at the North Valley Neighborhood City Hall. About 25+ community members attended, some long-standing residents wanting to get back into participating and some newcomers wanting to know what's up and some somewhere in between. I thought I'd take a moment here and post a few of the highlights: ~ The question of whether or not people wanted to bring new business into Sunland Tujunga was asked of the audience. The overwhelming majority rose their hands in support. ~ The question of whether they wanted to have say of the kinds of businesses that came in also drew support, however, some raised their own questions about how far we go in forcing what we want on someone who owns a piece of property or business location. ~ The audience shared ideas of what they'd like to see and some of those great ideas including putting a median with trees down the center of Foothill; getting some place in Sunland Tujunga similar to Penelope's in La Crescenta, possibly having an auction as a fundraiser, and bringing festivals back to Sunland Park for free. ~ One audience member expressed her appreciation and support of Sunland Tujunga's "Gateway to the Angeles National Forest" movement...Thank You! hoping that it would continue. For those of you who agree, rest assured that the branding efforts - while temporarily halted - are back on track. We're just waiting for final clearance to be able to take things to the next level. NOTE - Welcome anyone who wants to join the branding committee; details on how we'll move forward will be coming soon. ~ The Town Hall raised the issue of how community members often tell the Neighborhood Council members about some issue or some wanted something and say things like, "You should do something about it." While the Neighborhood Councils do (for example, members are responsible for bringing Panda Express, Starbuck's, and Fresh N Easy into town), the reality is that that's not the Council's job. It was clarified that the Neighborhood Council's role is to serve as a liaison between the community and the city itself. ~ The question of how people got their information was asked. Several people just drove by and saw the signs for the Town Hall. A few saw the flyers at the post office. One mentioned Facebook. In all, it's pretty clear we haven't hit on a "best" communication vehicle - so open to ideas. Signing up for the email news from the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council (from the website www.stnc.org) is easy and provides all details you may want to know about what's going on, however, some said people didn't want to give their email addresses. Catch 22. People say they want to know what's going on, but it's nearly impossible if those people don't meet us half way. ~ Re: the watermelon festival and Easter/spring carnival and other events...the city fees to host events at Sunland Park have become prohibitive, hence why the Lions Club moved the watermelon festival to the Rose Bowl. The Spring Carnival will take place and the Neighborhood Council President is meeting with Councilman Fuentes to seek assistance in city fees to be able to hold it at the Sunland Park (and/or to finalize a venue). ~ The need for more people to get involved and participate was stressed. There's a silent majority in Sunland Tujunga who want change for the better. Now is the time to raise your voices and to help make a difference. January 22 is the deadline for us to throw our hats in the ring and file as candidates for our local Neighborhood Council. Truly hope some of you will consider. (empowerla.org/stnc - then click on 2014 Elections) ~ Finally, the Battalion Commander of the Planning Section of the LAFD Chief Drake presented. The LAFD he said takes in 404,000 calls each year; 85 percent of those calls are EMS/not fire. The LAFD is working on a 3-5 year strategic plan to be able to maximize their efforts, organize more efficiently, and improve their performance and value. Chief Drake asked the audience to share thoughts AND they are asking ALL of us to do so on a short survey accessible here: https://surveymonkey.com/s/LAFD - please let your voices be heard to better safeguard our community, our homes, and our loved ones. Deadline to submit is February 1. -- Thank you to Paolina Milana-Edwards, VP Community Improvement, for this recap