Civic-minded resolutions

Long Beach residents aren’t just making New Year’s resolutions to lose weight or earn more money in 2010. The city is rich with active civic associations, new and old, all of which have goals they want to accomplish in the coming year.

West End Neighbors Civic Association

One of the most vocal and long-standing civic associations, West End Neighbors wants to foster a stronger working relationship with the City of Long Beach and its departments, said association Secretary Karen McInnis.

The West End has more than 2,200 households and the group looks to increase membership, as well as meeting attendance, and give residents more opportunities to become involved in the organization.

“Any member that has paid their 2009 dues is eligible to join a committee,” McInnis said.

The group is looking to start a Neighborhood Watch program this year, and have been meeting with Richard DePalma of the Long Beach Police Department to get the watch started.

The program involves a block captain who acts as a liaison between the association and the neighborhood, in an effort to look out for any suspicious activities or crimes, in an effort to make their streets safer. “We’d like to continue to open up dialog with our block captains to see how we can better assist our neighbors,” McInnis said.

The association also plans to start a fundraising committee and update its bylaws.

The Walks Neighborhood Association

At the Walks -- the historic 10-block neighborhood that is without street access, driveways or garages -- the year-old association will focus on beautification projects, said board member Jamie Lynch.

Last year, using Housing and Urban Development grants, the city installed antique-style signs in honor of the area’s long history, as well as started to post new street signs. This year, Lynch said the group hopes to procure more grants to install light fixtures, but admitted that the project may have to be done in stages, in order to make it more financially prudent.

Lynch said one major issue the group look to address is the dated sewage and utility system within the neighborhood. “They were not by any means designed for the population they have now,” Lynch said of the system that was built when the area was mostly used as summer homes, cottages and housing for soldiers before the 1950s. “Whey they fail, it’s going to be chaotic.”

High Rise Association

While President Beverly Jones said the association, which represents co-operative apartment and townhouse owners, does not have any specific 2010 goals, the group will continue to help its members run their buildings.

“It’s a lot of money issues,” Jones said of the typical problems the group tackles, including energy and utility management, working with managing agents, insurance coverage and fire safety.

Jones said the most helpful thing the association has is a question and answer exchange in which a member will contact Jones with a specific inquiry – like the name of a good plumber – and she will transmit the information to other members of the association.

“You can find out what other people in Long Beach are doing,” she said about the system.

North Park Civic Association

With its first meeting of the year still being organized, President Leary Wade said a major focus for the association will be the stalled bayfront redevelopment project.

“[We want to know] how we can get that started, where they are on this, and how we can be a part of it,” Wade said.

He went on to say that the association will focus on jobs, housing and enhancing communication between residents, city departments and other organizations.

The association also formed a Land Trust Alliance, which aims to keep properties owned by people within the community to prevent gentrification. Wade explained that the trust would own the property, but the homeowner would own the house on the property. With the trust owning the lot, it would remain with the community and could not be sold to developers or other owners.

Long Beach Latino Civic Association

Newly-inducted city councilman Len Torres, who is a project manager of the association, said the group is beginning its shift from an advocacy platform to service.

Torres, who writes the grants that fund programs run by the association, said the group started with a Long Island Occupational Mentorship Program, which graduated 125 non-English speaking construction workers with 100 hours of OSEA safety training, asbestos safety and CPR training. Apprentices got hands on experience by working in the field with licensed contractors. Torres said the program will be revamped and expanded to make it more affordable for students.

Project BEACH, a cooperative project between the Long Beach School District and the association that raises community awareness about the area’s brownfield, will also move forward by working with universities to continue testing the soil, water and air quality.

“We need to do this with everyone involved,” Torres said of the cleanup effort. “Eventually we’ll get the clean up money for it.”

Torres said a new project will be to work with area churches to create an accurate census count so that residents who are undocumented or live in illegal apartments can be accounted for anonymously.

“When it comes to representation, and dollars for police, firemen and infrastructure, we can help to build that using real numbers,” he said.

Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.