2003 ANNUAL MEETING
May 27, 2003
Over 100 Franklin Hills residents, City officials and nearby neighbors gathered at King Middle School for the FHRA Annual Meeting. After enjoying 6' subway sandwiches, fruit and vegetable trays, and, of course, cookies...what meal would be balanced without them..the crowd, which included at least a dozen brand new FHRA members, got down to work.

There was a warm welcome by the King Middle School Principal Byron Maltez and a "state of the hill" report by FHRA president Charley Mims. Then neighbors elected 6 members to the FHRA Board of Directors, newcomer David Shindle plus five returning directors:  VP Chris Boutelle; Treasurer Bruce Carroll; Joseph Hahn, the man behind the Shakespeare Bridge Holiday lighting; Norm Harriton, founder of the Franklin Hills Community Garden; and Overview editor Carol Skinner.

After the slate of directors was approved on a unanimous voice vote, the crowd three times again raised their voices in unison. First to approve a slight shift in the FHRA's boundaries...they now include both sides of Talmadge, Franklin, St. George, Tracy, Hyperion and Fountain. Next they voted to raise the FHRA dues starting in 2004 from $10 to $15 per person...$30 per household. Treasurer Bruce Carroll explained that the FHRA is already spending about $15 per member for all the FHRA community projects. The final unanimous vote approved a change the the FHRA Bylaws allowing the annual meeting to be scheduled anytime in the second quarter of the year...not just April or May...see ya next June?

After the required business of the meeting was out of the way there were reports from many FHRA committee chairs about everything from graffiti abatement to Welcome Baskets, from the Median to murals, from the Community Garden to Neighborhood Watch. Next came the real Neighborhood Watch experts LAPD Senior Lead Officers Al Polehonki and Sam Salzar. They brought the very good news that Northeast Division has been honored for the biggest drop in crime in the City. Earlier in the evening a minute of silence was observed to remember their colleague Stacy Miyamura who died of cancer earlier this year.

Next the group heard from Jeanne Kim of the City Attorney's office about their efforts to control neighborhood nuisances including success in closing the notorious "Bates Motel." Public Works Commissioner Adriana Rubalcava and several department reps spoke about service problems and planned improvements. Then it was time for Councilman Tom Labonge to face questions that ranged from street repair, to bulky item pickup, to traffic concerns on Hyperion, and work on cleaning up and landscaping the area under the Shakespeare Bridge. He also spoke about the city's budget dilemma which was before the council.

Even after the formal meeting had ending LaBonge,  the LAPD officers and other city representatives stayed around for more one-on-one questions from the community.  Thomas W. Thomas from Street Services was asked about potholes on Hoover near Sunset. He apparently took FHRA members' concerns seriously and the street was repaired in a few days. It would be great if all the city's problems could be smoothed out so quickly.

Neighbors gather, gab, and gobble
before the start of the meeting.


FHRA President Mims reports on
The State of the Hill.


LAPD Senior Lead Officers Sam Salazar and Al Polehonki report generally good news
about declining neighborhood crime.

Councilman LaBonge fields
questions from FHRA Members.


It seems almost no one wanted to leave.

 
FRANKLIN HILLS RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
2003 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION

Six of the eleven seats on the Franklin Hills Residents Association Board of Directors are up for election at the annual meeting to be held at the King Middle School on May 27, 2003. The election for Board of Directors is open to FHRA members who are current in their dues and is governed by the FHRA by-laws provision below:

(Article 8, section 4) “Elections to the Board of Directors shall be by secret ballot. No member shall be allowed to cast more than one vote for any candidate. The candidates receiving the most votes shall become the new board members at the conclusion of the meeting at which the election is held. Absentee voting shall be permitted to any Individual Member."

Should you wish to cast an absentee ballot please mark your selection, and/or enter write-in name(s) not listed on the ballot below. All ballots must be received by 5pm PDT, May 26, 2003.
Mail to: PO Box 29122, Los Angeles, CA. 90029-0122.
Please include your return address on the outside of the envelope.
FHRA   2003   BALLOT

Six candidates have been nominated for two year terms on the FHRA Board of Directors. Candidates marked (i) are incumbents. Members may vote for 6 or fewer nominees or write-ins.

___ Chris Boutelle (i) – FHRA Vice President and in charge of Overview advertising and distribution. On the FHRA board since 1991 active in disaster preparedness and always on the lookout for graffiti to paint-out. Twenty year Franklin Hills homeowner and 25 year motion picture and TV industry veteran.

___ Bruce Carroll (i) -  FHRA Treasurer, Membership chair, founder of the FHRA hotline, e-mail system, and website, frequent contributor to the Overview and curator of the FHRA historic photo collection. FHRA member since it's founding in 1989, on the board since 1991, moved to Franklin Hills in 1970. GGPNC board member.

___ Joseph Hahn (i)- Attorney and area resident since 1999. Worked to make holiday lighting of the Shakespeare Bridge a reality. Concerned with traffic on Hyperion and Fountain and replacing auto body shops with businesses more compatible with the residential nature of the neighborhood. GGPNC Board Member.

___ Norman Harriton (i) –  Coordinator and driving force behind the creation of the  FHRA Community Garden…getting City approval, government funding, and overseeing contractors. Franklin Hills resident for over 40 years. Children attended Franklin Elementary, King Jr. Hi and Marshall. FHRA member since 1990.

___ David Shindle - Professional manager, computer expert and anthropological archaeologist working at Arizona and Middle East sites. A two year Franklin Hills resident with his wife Wendy, an earthquake scientist with the USGS. Interested in traffic problems, Neighborhood Watch, graffiti and other community safety issues.

___ Carol Skinner (i) –  Editor of FHRA's Overview newsletter, represents the FHRA on both the Northeast Community Police Advisory Board and the Hillside Federation. An FHRA board member since 1993,  Franklin Hills resident for 32 years and a retired LA school district choral music teacher.
FRANKLIN HILLS RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
 Proposed Boundary, Dues and By-Laws changes - May 27, 2003

Your FHRA Board of Directors feels it's time for some changes. Voters at last year's meeting amended the FHRA By-Laws, for the first time since 1995. This year the Board has proposed an additional By-Laws amendment, to allow greater flexibility in scheduling our annual meeting, plus measures to adjust the FHRA boundaries and dues as authorized by last year's revision to By-Laws Article 2, Boundaries, and Article 10, Dues. The complete By-Laws may be found at www.FranklinHills.org/bylaws.pdf

Unlike the election for the FHRA Board of Directors, where absentee voting is permitted, only those current FHRA members present at the Annual Meeting may vote. The two measures require a simple majority. The By-Laws change requires a 2/3 majority of those voting as specified in By-Laws article 12. FHRA By-Laws can be found at www.FranklinHills.org/fh-bylaws.pdf
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Measure 1...The FHRA Board of Directors has voted, subject to meeting approval, that:
"The boundaries of the FHRA shall include both sides of the perimeter streets: Talmadge Ave., Franklin Ave., St.George St., Tracy St., Hyperion Ave., and Fountain Ave."
This is a change from current boundaries which, prior to the 2002 amendment to Article 2 of the By-Laws, were limited to the center line of each of the above streets.
FOR_______          AGAINST _________
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Measure 2...The FHRA Board of Directors has voted, subject to meeting approval, that:
"The annual dues of the FHRA shall be set at fifteen (15) dollars per member, thirty (30) dollars per household, beginning January 1, 2004."
Starting in 1991 yearly dues were fixed at ten (10) dollars in the By-Laws. Last year's amendment to By-Laws Article-10 gave the power to set dues to a majority of those attending the annual meeting. The Board cited the cost of expanding activities such as Neighborhood Watch, Community Garden plus ongoing costs for the Franklin Avenue Median, insurance, and other programs in determining the need for a dues increase starting in 2004.
FOR_______           AGAINST _________
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Amendment to By-Laws Article 7- Meetings:
To allow greater flexibility in scheduling future annual meetings the FHRA Board of Directors recommends amending article-7 section-1 to require that the annual meeting be held in the second quarter of each calendar year (April, May or June) rather than limiting meetings to just April and May as is currently the case. Section 1 is copied below with the new language in italics and the deleted language in strike-through type.

Section 1. This Association shall have its Annual Meeting in April or May the second quarter of each calendar year, to hear the annual reports of the officers and committee chairmens as requested by the President, and for the election of Board Members, as well as to transact such other business as may come before the meeting. The business year of the Association shall extend from the adjournment of one Annual Meeting until the adjournment of the next, and the terms of its Officers shall be measured in such years.
FOR________       AGAINST ________
 

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2002 ANNUAL MEETING REPORT

If you couldn't make it to the FHRA Annual Meeting held at ABC-TV on Wednesday, June 12, 2002. About 180 FHRA members and neighbors had a chance to hear and discuss many neighborhood issues. The hottest topic was the proposed Hollywood secession and how to fix LA without dismembering it.

The meeting heard from our City Councilman, Tom LaBonge, who agreed with the overwhelming feeling of the community that the Franklin Hills should not be divided between two cities.

In the FHRA Board of Directors election the five nominated candidates were elected by acclimation. We welcome to the FHRA Board of Directors three new members:
Mary Frances Smith-Reynolds, Neighborhood Watch Chair
Eric Frase, Graffiti Abatement Chair
David Campbell, Environmental economist

and welcome back two re-elected Board members:
Adam Weisman, FHRA Chairman
Charley Mims, FHRA Secretary
 
 

In the vote on By-laws amendments, both proposals explained below were approved unanimously on a voice vote of those attending the meeting.

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 BY-LAWS AMENDMENTS 2002

Article 2 of the By-Laws sets the boundaries for the FHRA. But they reach only to the center of our boundary streets. Thus only half the Franklin Ave. Median and our Shakespeare Bridge are technically within the FHRA territory. Similarly only one side of our other boundary streets (St. George, Tracy, Hyperion, Fountain and Talmadge) are within our official boundaries, although we clearly have common interest with people on both side of these streets.

The amendment  DELETED the final line of Article 2: "The boundary shall be the center of the streets named."
And replaces it with: "The Board of Directors may adjust the Association's boundaries subject to the approval of a majority of voting members present and voting at the Annual Meeting"

Article 10 of the By-Laws set the annual dues at $10 per member. This had not been changed since 1991, a time when the FHRA had far fewer projects and responsibilities. We now maintain the Franklin Ave. Median landscaping and other cleanup and planting projects. Have active Neighborhood Watch and graffiti paint-out programs. Plus our Welcome Basket outreach to new residents and the ever growing Franklin Hills Community Garden. The FHRA has also been pushed by events to buy insurance after neighboring groups in Silver Lake were forced to bankruptcy by lawsuits over a traffic accident wrongfully alleged to have been caused by their median landscaping.

The amendment DELETED the former language in Article 10 section 1: "Dues of this Association shall be $10/member, except that the Board may, upon request, waive or adjust an individual's dues based on ability to pay."
And replaces it with: Dues of this Association shall be set by the Board subject to the approval of a majority of voting members present and voting at the Annual Meeting, except that the Board may, upon request, waive or lower an individual's dues based on ability to pay "

As of this time the FHRA dues remain the same $10 per person per year.
 
 

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