NoHo West Neighborhood Council Elects Board of Directors

The North Hollywood West Neighborhood Council elected its first official board of directors Wednesday night, completing a process that began back in 2007.

Led by Cara Alson, Corrie Wisner, George & Nancy Characky, Jim Kompare and other active community members, the council began in an unofficial capacity and started the process of being recognized by Los Angeles as an official neighborhood council. On Jan. 11, the North Hollywood West Neighborhood Council was .

Wednesday night was a very civil affair, as none of the seats were contested. There are 15 open seats, and 13 stakeholders were running in various categories, including Senior, Residential and Business.

Each candidate was given two minutes to speak to a crowd of around 65 stakeholders that gathered in the auditorium of James Madison Middle School. With their election all but assured, the candidates used it as an opportunity to introduce themselves to the community and state the chief issues they hoped to tackle.

Cleaning up the neighborhood, removing graffiti and improving the infrastructure was a common theme.

"When we first moved out here, in the 90s, this neighborhood actually started falling apart," said Jim Kompare, who was running for an at large seat. "On Sherman Way we have lost supermarkets, we lost Home Depot and the neighborhood started getting shabby ... while things aren't perfect right now, I've seen things steadily getting better, and I think the neighborhood council is a great way to keep improving on all this."

A name that was not on the ballot was Alson's, who has been deeply involved with the council since it first started. She is credited by many as being key in spreading the word around the neighborhood and moving it toward certification. Since certification in January, Alson took on the role of outreach chair and has sent out weekly emails keeping the neighborhood informed about the upcoming election and other important issues like construction on the 170 and 5 freeways.

But once the council was certified, she said she made a tough decision to take a step back and not run for a seat on the board.

"I went back and forth over the fence before the application process. We met here, and some people brought up that it may, since I keep the records, that some people may think I had an unfair advantage," Alson told Patch. "This went round and round for a half hour, and finally I said, 'Look, I will keep doing what needs to get done, but I don't want one little spark, not one shadow of question about the neighborhood council,' so I went up and I took my application back."

Alson laughed when asked if she felt a little like Moses, having led her people to the promised land but being barred from entering it herself.

"I thought, 'Geez, I might feel bad about it later,' but now I realize it was the right thing to do and I'm really sort of glad," said Alson, who added that she hopes to continue serving as outreach chair, which is an unelected position. 

There are still a few unfilled seats on the council and Alson said the board will be looking to fill them soon. On May 25, the board will elect a president, vice president, treasurer and other positions.

The new board of directors of the North Hollywood West Neighborhood Council is as follows, with the number of votes they received in parenthesis:

Residential - four seats

Isabel Charleston (52)

Robin Ibrahim (57)

Sriwong Koziel (44)

Donna Miller Hackney (45)

Business - two seats

David Hechter (63)

Dario Svilder (51)

Community Based Organization - three seats

Lorraine Matza (64)

David Rouze (53)

third seat vacant

Senior - one seat

Kent Stewart (61)

Youth - one seat

seat vacant

At Large - four seats

Gregory Howie (62)

Jim Kompare (55)

Willie Lewis (59)

Vincent Stamboni (56)