WGNA Board Election and Survey Results

 

The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association (WGNA) recently held our annual election for the WGNA Board.  Kris Cunningham of the Nominating Committee has counted the results and has certified the election of the nominated slate:

President: Ed Rast

1st VP: Joan Bohnett

2nd VP: Jim Spence

Secretary: Judith Enright

Treasurer: Steve Kaylor

Elected Board of Directors:

Harvey Darnell

Hugh Graham

Charles Luckhardt

Stuart Moore

Appointed Board of Directors:

(to be named by the incoming President)

 

Nominating Committee :

(to select next year's slate of candidates)

            Helen Solinski (chair)

Kris Cunningham

Sharon Fierro

Jim Gardner

Lynn Repetsky

 

 

The slate of candidates was unopposed and so voting may have seemed a little silly, but it's not: your votes give the incoming Board the mandate to speak and act on behalf of the WGNA membership.  The WGNA bylaws require a quorum of at least 10% of the eligible voters to vote for a meaningful election (and some years it's been hard to get to that 10% participation), but this year 99 people voted, the most ever and close to 40% of those eligible.  (If you're a WGNA member who is behind on paying the membership dues -- only $20/year for a household! -- you can download a membership form at www.wgna.net/memb-frm.htm; if you're not yet a member, go to www.wgna.net and join!).

 

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This year's ballot also included several survey questions.  The April newsletter (www.wgna.net/nl-apr-06.htm) gave some background information and provided examples, and then posed the following three questions.

 

 

Question 1: how do you feel about "chain stores" on Lincoln Avenue?

There has been a lot of discussion over the years about chains on Lincoln, and it appears that the majority of our membership recognizes that many chain stores are chains because they've been successful, selling products that the people want.  But they don't want an "anything goes" attitude -- they do want to maintain the character and feel of Willow Glen:

 

1 person said there should be no chain stores at all, and those already here should leave;

14 votes for no new chains, but those already here should be "grandfathered" and allowed to remain;

65 people felt new chain stores would be welcome, provided they fit it: parking, signage, hours of operation, etc. (e.g., a Trader Joe's would be welcome, but McDonalds would have to tone-down the golden arches); and

20 people felt that the free market should dictate what goes in (be it a third and fourth Starbucks or a big-box warehouse store).

[Note: the total exceeds 99: people who were ineligible to vote for WGNA Board could still express their opinions.]

 

 

Question 2: what should be done about parking?

 

No one said that there should be no parking requirements: they all want businesses to deal with parking somehow -- there should be no blank-checks for landlords and developers;

20 voted to relax the current requirements: people can walk to the local shops, and so the requirements that are appropriate for the car-cultured suburbs may be too much here;

73 said the businesses should share their spaces -- as at the shopping centers, people want to park once and then shop at the various stores, rather than facing all those signs that in effect say "parking for customers only while inside only this store, your car will be towed away if you also shop at the store next door"; and

16 people said that there should be no changes in the current policy: each shop should be required to provide adequate parking for their customers, with no concessions.

 

 

Question 3: what do you think about trees? 

There are city policies on the removal of trees, with permits and fines, for trees between the street and sidewalk, and also for larger trees in private back and side yards.  This question evoked a wider distribution of results, sometimes with the two members of a household taking extreme opposite views:

 

11 people said that there should be no permits or fines: whatever I do on my own back yard is my own business;

15 thought the current fine structure was adequate;

24 thought that the proposal to double the fines was best; and

56 thought that trees are especially important to Willow Glen, and that contractors that repeatedly violate the tree-removal ordinance should not only be fined, but should also have their contractor's license suspended for 30 days.

 

 

Thank you, everybody, for participating in the election and survey.  We will share the survey results with city planners and elected officials, business district representatives, and others -- you may well have impacted the direction of Willow Glen!