Minutes of the January 22, 2007 Board meeting

Motion - Due to a late vacancy on the Board, Cynthia Watanabe was appointed by the Board to fill the vacancy left by Mary Varela.

Motion - The Board approved the appointment of Mike Williams as the primary HHIA representative to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, with Jean Robson being the secondary representative.

Law Enforcement - CHP Officer Chris Valencia reported on traffic accidents and speeding vehicles. In the last 13 days, he wrote 130 moving violation tickets. Information about the mobile "speeding trailers", please call Officer Stage at the CHP Public Affairs office. He noted that DUI arrests, accidents and fatalities always increase over the holidays.

L. A. County Deputy Sheriff Brain Sanford shared about the resolutions to a string of home robberies and purse snatching: five cases were solved involving 10-15 suspects. Two female gang members were caught tagging - one strongly smelled of aerosol paint and the other was arrested for outstanding felony violations. The COPS team spoke about resolving drug sales issues and robberies. As a result of a search, many stolen items were recovered. Deputy Sanford reminded everyone about the importance of the Neighborhood Watch program.

Charles Norris moved to appoint Cynthia Watanabe to fill the vacancy left by Mary Varela. A question arose why this vacancy was not filled by the election. Jean Robson commented that, despite the efforts of the Nominating Committee, including many personal calls to the membership, no one volunteered to run for the Board. Charles Norris pointed out that we were making every effort to retain Mary Varela on the Board, but her resignation came after the nominating and election process was passed. The By-laws provide for the Board to fill vacancies as they occur. Cynthia will fill the one remaining year on Mary Varela's term and will need to be subject to the election process for 2008.

Dickie Simmons, Supervisor Knabe's field deputy, introduced Nick Damico as the new Code Enforcement Officer replacing Mr. Witlack. He will be working with the Nuisance Abatement Team, phone 213-974-6453. There will be an E-Waste roundup on February 24 in Diamond Bar. Supervisor Knabe is asking for 7 day coverage for graffiti removal, concentrating on parks and major roads over weekends. Community meetings will be held soon to discuss a contract for a trash vendor.

New Board members were seated tonight including filling vacancies: Cyndi Watanabe, Jim Snyder, Donna Steinmetz , Mae Chu and Shan Lee. Members leaving the Board included President Mike Williams and Lucy Pedregon, Public Relations Chair.

Nominations to fill the officers for the Board were approved: President, Mike Hughes; Vice-President, Charles Norris; Secretary, Scott Martin: and Mary Tang, Treasurer.

Plaques were presented to Mike Williams and Lucy Pedregon recognizing their service to Hacienda Heights and HHIA.

The Board's annual planning meeting will be held on February 1 at the Casa Blanca restaurant.Mike Hughes stated that he would need to step down as the primary representative to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments and designated Mike William's to succeed him in that capacity; Jean Robson offered to serve as the secondary representative. Copy of these actions will be sent to the SGVCOG. By-Laws will be given to the new members.

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