![\"web](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/web-BestCopyNPCALogo-very-large.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBy affirmation, four board members \u2013 Nikki Berdy, Lynn Elliott, Omar Passons and Victor Flake \u2013 were reelected. New members elected were Sean Karafin, Alan Bennett and\u00a0Jeff Kucharski, and they all join current board members Edwin Lohr, Mike Berry, Rimah Khouri, Chuck Van Hise and Coral VanLandingham to form a 12-person board. Rene Parada\u2019s term on the board ended this year.<\/p>\n
In candidate statements, the seven elected board members discussed their interest in civic affairs.<\/p>\n
Current board President Berdy joined the NCPA after attending her first Bird Park Summer Concert. A nine-year North Park resident, she said she has \u201cwitnessed tremendous growth and change in the community,\u201d adding \u201cmomentum has to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 30-plus year North Park resident, Elliott is a human services professional and current chair of the Bird Park Summer Concert Series. Elliott said she is \u201cworking toward the goal of making North Park an exciting, safe, thriving and comfortable place to live.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Saturday summer concerts kick off June 15. \u201cWe’ve got some good bands,\u201d she said. \u201cIt will be a great year.\u201d<\/p>\n
A public works and land use attorney and former board president, Passons said he chose to live in North Park \u201cbecause it was a good mix of the diverse people and places that I love about San Diego.\u201d The best solutions to community issues \u201cmust start within our neighborhoods and be driven by those of us who live and work in North Park,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really appreciate what NCPA does for our community and am excited to become more involved in its work,\u201d said Flake, an educator who appreciates \u201cthe unique qualities of our diverse population\u201d while \u201cenjoying safe, walkable, friendly neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n
A new North Park homeowner and first-time board member, Karafin said the NCPA \u201cprovides \u2026 the opportunity to be engaged in, and improve, our community.\u201d An economic policy analyst for the San Diego County Taxpayer Association, Karafin said he hopes to use the experience on the board to support the community.<\/p>\n
Bennett, an Army veteran and retired land use planner, said he wants to \u201cnurture the thriving diversity we enjoy in North Park,\u201d and would like the NCPA to claim the title of \u201cGateway to Balboa Park\u201d in time for the 2015 Balboa Park Centennial Celebration.<\/p>\n
Also new to the board, Kucharski, a scientist for a small drug discovery company, cited \u201cthe ability to walk and ride our bikes throughout our neighborhood with ease\u201d as his favorite trait about North Park. \u201cI am looking for more opportunities to become involved in the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Following the board elections, Flake discussed the latest developments of the North Park Rangers, an NCPA-sponsored youth group created to provide youth with meaningful educational experiences while teaching them community pride and ownership.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re doing weekly programs for kids, getting them involved in sketching local birds and plants [and] working with local artists to help develop their artistic talents,\u201d he said, adding he would like to see a partnership with the North Park Historical Society to add a \u201clocal history component\u201d to offer youth \u201chands-on learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham Blair, who oversees the nonprofit\u2019s Stop Graffiti Now! program updated the board and attendees on graffiti in North Park. Passons originally started the program, which relies on residents being proactive to fight graffiti in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a network of volunteers reporting and removing graffiti,\u201d Blair said. \u201cFive years ago we were covered with graffiti. \u2026 There’s a huge improvement with what we have now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blair said graffiti is an ongoing issue, noting 500 locations with graffiti in North Park were reported this past year, some with multiple tags. Graffiti can be reported by e-mailing gblair@northparksd.org.<\/p>\n
Current NCPA board member Lohr and San Diego Police Officer Jenny Hall discussed the North Park Citizens Patrol.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re now doing day patrols,\u201d Lohr said, adding that volunteer citizens’ law enforcement patrols are no longer \u201ca night thing\u201d only. He said the patrol’s significance \u201cis all about exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBurglars don’t really like to work. If they see us patrolling, they’ll move on. That’s what we’re hoping,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hall warned that bicycle thefts are on the rise. \u201cIt’s been happening not just in North Park but all over mid-city,\u201d she said, noting bike thieves have been concentrating along 30th Street and University Avenue.<\/p>\n
Hall advised residents to report thefts and get their bikes engraved with serial numbers, which will greatly help in recovery.<\/p>\n