The LA City Board of Neighborhood Commissioners recognized the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council (HHPNC) Sept. 22 for their community impact, engagement, collaboration and service at the newly titled Joy P. Atkinson Neighborhood Council Excellence Awards. Since 2002, HHPNC has been an all-volunteer board serving over 60,000 stakeholders who live, work, study or own property or a business within the HHPNC boundaries.
Vice President of HHPNC Adan Martinez said the Joy Atkinson Award was created to honor the late Joy Atkinson, whose public service included serving as Vice President of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners.
“[Atkinson] was probably one of the few neighborhood commissioners who actively took the complaints of neighborhood councils seriously and actually escalated them to the point of city council.” Martinez said. “She was a tireless advocate.”
HHPNC President Darren Gold said he has always been involved in his local neighborhood councils.
“I’m the type of person that doesn’t just want to point out all the problems in my neighborhood,” Gold said. “I want to do something about it. I want to be involved. I want to meet my neighbors. I want to understand the different viewpoints in the neighborhood.”
Gold said he feels satisfied to be recognized for having a positive impact on his community.
“This is not about me. This is not about any one person. This is about us as a council coming together,” Gold said. “Despite a lot of disagreements and different personalities, we are still able to come together and do so many great things for the community.”
According to Martinez, HHPNC meets the first Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at the Highland Park Senior Center.
“[The Neighborhood Council] is one of the few forms in which we can actually come together as a neighborhood that, with Los Angeles being such a large city, does not feel impersonal,” Martinez said.
HHPNC Secretary Richard Petrey said he has not lived in Highland Park for very long, but he has always seen it as his responsibility to give back to his community in any way that he can.
“Every week, we’re out here, doing our best to hear the needs of everybody and see what’s practical with the limited funds that we have, and the limited time that we have as volunteers.” Petrey said. “By having neighborhood councils, we can actually interface between the public and the city council in a more organized and effective way.”
Rhianon Irilli, one of HHPNC’s at-large directors, there are 99 neighborhood councils that operate as a bridge between each unique neighborhood and the LA City Council.
“We’re very engaged in our neighborhood and very passionate about impacting our community because we really love living in Highland Park” Irilli said. “We all have different backgrounds, different interests and passions, but coming together and being able to stay focused on what’s best for the community is what matters.”
Clara Solis, another at-large director, said an important role of the HHPNC is that they are specifically in the charter for the city of LA , and therefore have the power of advising the City Council. According to Solis, the HHPNC sends letters and community impact statements on different concerns to the City Council.
“Community impact statements say, ‘We’re in favor of an issue. This is impacting our community’,” Solis said. “That kind of gives our community a voice.”
Caroline Aguirre is the HHPNC chair of public safety. Aguirre said Gold’s positive leadership and encouragement led all the board members to go forward in organizing and presenting programs that enhance public safety and awareness for Highland Park and LA.
According to Aguirre, the neighborhood council has done a lot of safety outreach by bringing in the fire department, police department, detectives and other vendors who talked about fire, personal, or public safety.
“We’ve had two earthquake prevention programs [and a] fire prevention [program] after what happened in Altadena,” Aguirre said. “We had an earthquake simulator, and we had people from different vendors — they came down from Sacramento, Central Valley — to advertise their products for fire safety.”
According to Gold, there is still a lack of understanding or awareness of what the HHPNC is.
“I think the entire neighborhood council system could use more engagement,” Gold said.
According to Gold, the easiest way to engage with the HHPNC is to sign up for their weekly newsletter, which announces meeting times and events. Gold said residents can attend committee-specific meetings, which include arts and culture, environmental and land use committees, attending board member meetings and serving on the board.
“They call [the neighborhood council] the first level of government, you know —closest to the people,” Gold said. “Even though we’re a part of the community, we’re also a part of the city. So we kind of bridge that gap, and it’s cool that the city of Los Angeles has that.”
Contact Marco Zapien at mzapien@oxy.edu
