Summer Concert Series, graffiti discussed at annual meeting

By Dave Schwab | SDUN Reporter

The North Park Community Association (NCPA) elected officers and were updated on a number of important neighborhood issues, including battling graffiti, a citizens law enforcement patrol and this year’s Bird Park Summer Concert Series at its annual board meeting, held April 24 at Queen Bee’s Art & Cultural Center, 3925 Ohio St.

By affirmation, four board members – Nikki Berdy, Lynn Elliott, Omar Passons and Victor Flake – were reelected. New members elected were Sean Karafin, Alan Bennett and Jeff 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’s term on the board ended this year.

In candidate statements, the seven elected board members discussed their interest in civic affairs.

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 “witnessed tremendous growth and change in the community,” adding “momentum has to keep going.”

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 “working toward the goal of making North Park an exciting, safe, thriving and comfortable place to live.”

The Saturday summer concerts kick off June 15. “We’ve got some good bands,” she said. “It will be a great year.”

A public works and land use attorney and former board president, Passons said he chose to live in North Park “because it was a good mix of the diverse people and places that I love about San Diego.” The best solutions to community issues “must start within our neighborhoods and be driven by those of us who live and work in North Park,” he said.

“I really appreciate what NCPA does for our community and am excited to become more involved in its work,” said Flake, an educator who appreciates “the unique qualities of our diverse population” while “enjoying safe, walkable, friendly neighborhoods.”

A new North Park homeowner and first-time board member, Karafin said the NCPA “provides … the opportunity to be engaged in, and improve, our community.” 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.

Bennett, an Army veteran and retired land use planner, said he wants to “nurture the thriving diversity we enjoy in North Park,” and would like the NCPA to claim the title of “Gateway to Balboa Park” in time for the 2015 Balboa Park Centennial Celebration.

Also new to the board, Kucharski, a scientist for a small drug discovery company, cited “the ability to walk and ride our bikes throughout our neighborhood with ease” as his favorite trait about North Park. “I am looking for more opportunities to become involved in the community,” he said.

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.

“We’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,” he said, adding he would like to see a partnership with the North Park Historical Society to add a “local history component” to offer youth “hands-on learning.”

Graham Blair, who oversees the nonprofit’s 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.

“We have a network of volunteers reporting and removing graffiti,” Blair said. “Five years ago we were covered with graffiti. … There’s a huge improvement with what we have now.”

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 [email protected].

Current NCPA board member Lohr and San Diego Police Officer Jenny Hall discussed the North Park Citizens Patrol.

“We’re now doing day patrols,” Lohr said, adding that volunteer citizens’ law enforcement patrols are no longer “a night thing” only. He said the patrol’s significance “is all about exposure.”

“Burglars don’t really like to work. If they see us patrolling, they’ll move on. That’s what we’re hoping,” he said.

Hall warned that bicycle thefts are on the rise. “It’s been happening not just in North Park but all over mid-city,” she said, noting bike thieves have been concentrating along 30th Street and University Avenue.

Hall advised residents to report thefts and get their bikes engraved with serial numbers, which will greatly help in recovery.

For more information about or to join the NPCA visit northparksd.org.