Councilman Zine's Newsletter: Holiday Toy Drive, LAPD Officer Appreciation Day and More

[The following information was taken from a newsletter sent out by the office of Councilman Zine.]

Brand New Playground Opens at Reseda Park
Despite the rainy weather, Councilman Zine welcomed the latest addition to the Reseda community, a brand new playground at Reseda Park. The new playground cost approximately $206,720 and was built with cost savings from the newly renovated pool and bathhouse that came in under budget. The playground has a slew of amenities such as shade structures, a drinking fountain, a rubberized surface, six swings, and three slides for all to enjoy. As a representative of Reseda, Councilman Zine has made it a personal commitment to improve Reseda Park that now includes a refurbished lake, the new pool and bathhouse, and now the new playground. All totaling $10 million in facility improvements so far.

More improvements to the park are on the way. On January 12, 2013, Councilman Zine will return to the park with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Dodger Dream Foundation to celebrate the newly remodeled baseball fields. The field improvements are being supported by the Dodger Dream Foundation. Please join us for this great occasion.

Councilman Zine would like to thank the Department of Recreation and Parks and members of the community for their support and involvement in completing the playground. The new playground will serve as a wonderful resource for the families and community members of Reseda for many years to come.

Officer Appreciation Day at West Valley 
If you were in the business of customizing an event to appeal to the heart and soul of Councilman Zine, you would be smart to have it look like the Officer Appreciation Day that was held on Wednesday at the West Valley Division of the LAPD.

Perhaps the biggest single common denominator that anchored this experience for the Councilman was the fact that his own resume includes over 40 years as an active duty and reserve member of the LAPD. When you also factor in his unshakable ongoing commitment to public safety he has demonstrated over 12 years in the West Valley, it is obvious why he made this event a priority. Joining in the acknowledgement was Captain Nick Zingo from the West Valley Division, along with other high-ranking LAPD staff.

Officer Appreciation Day was originated by the late Ann Kinzle approximately 13 years ago for the officers assigned to the West Valley Station. The intent was to honor the officers and civilian personnel of the station with an 18-hour feeding cycle to include all three shifts. Each LAPD officer was given the chance to eat and volunteers would start cooking scrambled eggs at 5:30 a.m. for the early shift officers and end the day at 7:00 p.m. with some phenomenal tri-tip and tasty desserts.

All of the edibles and dry goods were a result of the generosity of the West San Fernando Valley communities. Special thanks to the Community Police Advisory Board and the leadership of member Nani Shaked for this stellar event.

Tarzana Neighborhood Council’s November Board Meeting

. A full house of newly elected board members and community members were present and listened to Councilman Zine as he thanked the incoming and outgoing board members for volunteering to serve the community in such a commendable leadership role. Councilman Zine also shared some of the current issues at City Hall and the district itself, including his opposition to proposed tax increases, his allocation of $700K to install LAPD surveillance cameras, his support to continue fighting unruly medical marijuana shops, and his commitment to continue funding core services like the resurfacing of Reseda Blvd., Victory Blvd. and Ventura Blvd. and tree trimming & tree planting projects. Also present was City Attorney Carmen Trutanich who covered some of the relevant issues facing his office and the impacts to our communities. For more information about TNC, please visit www.tarzananc.org.

Holiday Toy Drive
Councilman Dennis P. Zine is partnering with New Economics for Women (NEW) to collect toys for the Annual Holiday Toy Drive. The toy distribution will take place on Saturday, December 15th in the children’s play area at the Dennis P. Zine Community Center in Canoga Park. We hope to collect over 600 toys for families in need. Help make a difference this holiday season, bring your new, unwrapped toy to our District Office located at 19040 Vanowen Street in Reseda. For more information, please contact Jose Martinez at Jose.M.Martinez@lacity.org or (818) 756-8848.

LAPD Alert
"LOCK IT, HIDE IT, KEEP IT!" Don't be a victim this holiday season!
This is a friendly reminder during this heavy shopping season to refrain from leaving your newly purchased items in your vehicles. If you must, be sure and keep the vehicle locked and hide the items, preferably in the trunk. If you have a full day of shopping planned, we suggest making stops off at your residence to prevent having a car load of goodies.

Be aware of your surroundings at all times! Burglars only need less than a minute to smash your car window and remove all of the gifts for your loved ones.

Please help the LAPD by thinking, "LOCK IT, HIDE IT, KEEP IT" during this holiday shopping season!

City Planning
Warner Center 2035 Specific Plan Update
The Warner Center 2035 specific plan update went through a series of workshops, had its first public hearing in September, and was presented to the full City Planning Commission on Thursday. It gained unanimous approval in City Planning Commission with commissioners expressing that they thought it was a model plan for all the new ones coming in the future. Councilman Zine has been instrumental in keeping the momentum going in this process and the plan is expected to move on to the City Council in early 2013. You can view the draft plan here: http://planning.lacity.org/ordinances/ProposedOrdinances.htm.