Neighborhood News

2015 President’s Annual Report

Dear Members,

This past year has been especially eventful for the Hollywood Park Neighborhood Association. Perhaps most significantly, the HPNA made substantial progress on the neighborhood sign project begun in 2014. The HPNA board chose an accomplished local artist and fabricator, Casey Marshall, and three sign designs that the membership narrowed down to one final sign design at the September 2015 general meeting. This iconic sign, which is as much a public art installation as it is a traditional sign, will be sure to make Hollywood Park a place everyone in Sacramento will know about. Although funds have been promised from City Councilmember Jay Schenirer and County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, the HPNA will raise additional funds before construction begins. Once the board approves a detailed proposal for the project, fundraising efforts will kick into high gear. For more information on the sign project, please visit our web site at hollywoodpark.org.
Among other HPNA firsts, we kicked off the year with a huge citrus harvest event in partnership with Soil Born Farms’ Harvest Sacramento, Harvest Hollywood Park and Centennial United Methodist Church. Over 100 volunteers from all of Sacramento came to Hollywood Park to pick over 3,000 pounds of citrus. The next Hollywood Park Neighborhood Harvest will be held once again at Centennial United Methodist Church on Freeport Blvd. at 9AM on February 20, 2016. To sign up contact Christina Maradik-Symkowick at harvesthollywoodpark@gmail.com or 916-524-2754.

We also made a foray into city planning by sending comment letters to do the following:
  • Encouraging trees and sidewalks to be installed as part of the Soccer Planet parking lot project.
  • Supporting North Franklin Business District grant applications to study Franklin Blvd. improvements.
  • Opposing the fuel center for the Curtis Village development.
  • Requesting that the storefronts for the new Raley’s / Land Park Commercial Center project be re-oriented towards the street.
  • Requesting that the Environmental Impact Report for the Raley’s / Land Park Commercial Center project include a traffic / pedestrian / bicycle safety study.

We continued to coordinate quarterly neighborhood meetings with interesting speakers and topics. Some examples include the following:

  • Jay Schenirer, Hollywood Park’s City Councilmember.
  • Patrick Kennedy, Hollywood Park’s County Supervisor.
  • Tenley Luke, Principal, Hollywood Park Elementary School.
  • Captain Dave Peletta of the Sacramento Police Department to discuss crime and safety.
  • Marti Brown of the North Franklin Business District to discuss a potential traffic lane diet for Franklin Blvd. and 24th Street.
  • Dominic Allamano of Soil Born Farms to discuss ways to make the most of our urban food sources.
  • The Raley’s development team to discuss the plans for the new Raley’s / Land Park Commercial Center on Freeport Blvd.
  • Bill Busath, Director of the City of Sacramento’s Department of Utilities, to discuss the departments infrastructure needs and proposed rate hikes.

The HPNA coordinated several wonderful events. Once again, Hollywood Park had a wildly successful 4th of July parade with the addition of volunteers stationed at neighborhood intersections to ensure the safety of all those bike-riding kids following Hollywood Park resident Wally Clark’s fire truck. In September, the HPNA coordinated the annual Hollywood Park Ice Cream Social and Movie Night with several new volunteers and neighbor-supplied side dishes and salads. Special thanks go out to City Councilmember Jay Schenirer for providing the movie, Big Hero 6, and popcorn. The HPNA also coordinated three successful neighborhood cleanup days in partnership with Eleakis and Elder Photography, Sutter Bicycle Company, and the Jointed Cue. And, the mega yard sale was once again a huge success!

The HPNA worked with City Councilmember Schenirer’s office and the Sacramento Police Department to successfully convince squatters to leave two neighborhood residences. While Hollywood Park remains an incredibly safe neighborhood, the HPNA’s own efforts to coordinate neighbors to address crime and safety has had its own fits and starts in 2015. A neighborhood watch meeting was coordinated by neighbors in the spring and in an effort to encourage block-based neighborhood watch groups to form, the HPNA board voted to provide micro-grants to any neighbors that formed such groups. However, no such groups came forward. The HPNA board then voted in December for the resurrected HPNA Safety Committee to coordinate a Hollywood Park Community Watch Program and to use the grant money for the purchase of materials to help facilitate the program. Look for more from the Community Watch Program in 2016.

The HPNA successfully published four neighborhood newsletters and volunteers delivered them to 1,500 residences throughout the neighborhood. The HPNA emailed monthly updates and added new content to the web site, including multiple blog posts, a sign project section, financial reports, and meeting agendas. The ever vibrant Neighborhood Improvement Committee coordinated mistletoe abatement and tree-planting canvassing efforts as well as the Holiday Bow Project and the Holiday Decorating Contest. The Business Committee signed on so many new business members and sold so many ads for the newsletter that there is no more room to add any more.
Finally, an annual report would not be complete without thanking all of you for your continued support. Without the volunteers and members of the HPNA, none of this could have occurred.
Thank you and happy new year!
John Maradik-Symkowick