What's in Store for the New Tarzana Neighborhood Council?

The results of the Tarzana Neighborhood Council elections, which were held Thursday, were announced Friday. Among those re-elected was Leonard Shaffer, current business seat holder and president. Shaffer was re-elected to his business seat (the titles of president, vice president, treasurer etc. will be decided upon at the first meeting of the new Neighborhood Council members, which takes place in October).

Patch caught up with Shaffer and asked him about the elections, the new board, and what his plans were in relation to the Council over the coming year.

What do you think about the newly elected board?

I think we've got a nice mix of new people and experience. I certainly hope that the people who ran and weren't elected will stick around, too—we'll do everything we can to keep them around.

Who are the brand-new members?

We've got three new homeowners [Eileen Maronde, Doug Sarver, Jonathan Reich]; we’ve got one new renter [Jason Hayes], we’ve got a new business person [Esther Weider], we’ve got new at large seats [Diana scott, Susan Blauner, Matthew Austin] and a new special-at-large [Varant Majarian].

Will you run again for the role of President when the new board meets in October?

I’ll run again! What we need to do is get somebody who, in the future, says, 'that would be an interesting thing to do.' It’s a lot of time, and fortunately I have some time to devote to it so that I can do that. Win, lose or draw [in October], I'll still be active.

What’s on the agenda over the next couple of months?

We could use some new and revived committeees, we've got people who’ve got these special interests—youth and education, public safety and public preparedeness,government action, pending legislation, those kind of things, that are of interest both to Tarzana specifically and citywide.

Once again we have to continue outreach efforts—they've been really good this year. We’ve got to look again at this because that’s what brought out the new candidates. We need more outreach to get more stakeholders involved. Candidates tend to bring people out to vote. We seem to have a lot of people [in this election] who voted just for candidates they knew.

For more stories on the recent Tarzana Neighborhood Council elections, click on the links below.

Tarzana Neighborhood Council Election Results Announced

Canvas of Tarzana Neighborhood Council Votes Not Posted; Recount Pending

Larger Turnout Than Expected at Tarzana Neighborhood Council Elections

Tarzana Neighborhood Council Elections Are Just Over a Week Away